The Beginnings of Change: Hengesai Naruto

Summary: In a world were Mizuki wasn't evil, and he and Iruka had been training Naruto in secret during his time at the academy, Naruto will realize his true potential, and become the true Henge Master! (Note: I am not that good at summaries.)

Warnings: Sasuke bashing, Sakura bashing, slight Kakashi bashing(increases when in Naruto's POV), possible Harem for Naruto, good Orochimaru (not pedophile!), possible non-Yondaime father. Possible Soul Caliber Crossover, Bleach, Yuyu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, Nintendo and Square Enix.

Pairings: tentative (Subject to change w/o warning)

Kakaski/Iruka

Mizuki/Wife

Naruto/Harem?

Asuma/Kurenai

Sasuke/Naruto(onesided)

Lee/Sakura(onesided:If Sakura is redeemed, she will return his feelings)

Shikamaru/Temari

Gaara/Matsuri

Sasori/Deidara

Chapter Four: Breaking the Illusion (Part One)

Naruto was getting very close to committing unsanctioned homicide. As a ninja, there would be times when he would be called upon to do certain...unpleasant things. Things that Konoha would forever deny, in order to maintain peace. Anko-sensei, Ibiki-sensei, Iruka-sensei, and Mizuki-sensei had all warned him about this.

Anko and Ibiki-sensei even used pictures.

Of all the terrible horrid soul-damning things they had warned him of, this was not one of them.

"Avenger One, I have the target in sight." an arrogant, emo voice sounded in his ear.

"Hime Two, I also have the target." came a screechy voice, right into his still recovering ear.

"All right. Gold Snake Three, acquire the target." the lazy voice of his deceptive sensei was a relief, after the aggravation of listening to his teammates.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei." Before he could move, he was stopped by further communication.

"No, you will use my codename, Gold Snake Three."

"But it's..."

"No, use it."

"Fine. Understood."

"I'm waiting..."

"Super Pimp Zero."

"Good. Now, acquire the target!"

We, Team Seven, are genin. Ninja of the lowest rank. Still, this was not in the job description. I mean, to have to catch...

"Sen'eijashu!" Snakes flew down his arms from beneath his tank top shoulder sleeves, somewhat awkward, but most effective. The serpents hit there target, binding it with coil and fang. There was silence.

Then an earth-shattering cry of pain.

"MEEE-OOWW!!" ...well, maybe not earth-shattering. Still, it was very brief. Likely from the sedative nature of the venom which had been injected into the target, which he retracted the snakes to bring to him. The target was definitely unconscious...

"Gold Snake Three, confirm the target."

"Confirmed, ribbon on right ear that says 'Tora.' Target captured, Super Pimp Zero."

...a cat.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(In the Mission Office)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Five Minutes Later...

Naruto looked on as the large woman strangled her cat with her chest in her attempts to express joy at his return. He was somewhat concerned. Not because this seemed almost blatant animal abuse, but because the cat hadn't woken up when she started squeezing it. The pain should have brought it out of unconsciousness.

Unless he had misjudged the dose of soporific venom and its concentration.

How to avoid getting in trouble for accidentally killing the target?

It was the daimyo's wife fault. How many times has she nearly suffocated the cat? This time its luck ran out.

Yeah, that could work... wait, blaming the one who pays for the mission is bad...

It was Sasuke, he accidentally killed it in transit. By mishandling it.

Did Sasuke ever hold the cat on the way back from the mission?

Of course he did, he'd never trust such an assignment to anyone else, as they are not Uchiha. Thus they couldn't possibly get it right...

Yeah, that was a good one...

Hey, where'd she go? Crap, I need to stop spacing out when I need to think.

Returning his attention to Hokage-jiji, Iruka-sensei, and the mission list; Naruto couldn't help but wonder what kind of crappy excuse for a mission they'd receive next.

He knew that there was no way they'd be sent on real assignments for a while, but come on. These things were chores.

112 missions, now 113. 57 of them had been the retrieval of the bloody cat, while the rest had been more simple chores, such as fence-painting, garbage collection, sewage clean up, baby-sitting... shudders. Like what was thought before, this was not true ninja work, and Naruto was unwilling to credit the village council with the ability to come up with a truly good reason for making genin do this shit.

Although... they would probably claim it was traditional. That all genin teams in the history of the hidden villages had done chore-like missions. If only Iruka-sensei hadn't been telling the truth about the traditional intro into being a full-fledged ninja.

If only they could go on a real mission, perhaps he wouldn't feel the urge to psychotically murder something...

Sarutobi-jiji took one look at Naruto's face, and told them to take the rest of the day off, and he would give Kakashi their next mission tomorrow.

Naruto went home, deciding that it would be best that he avoid his real sensei for now, as some of them could get really scary when he showed up in a foul mood. Ibiki-sensei did not take attitude well, and Iruka-sensei....

Well, he'd rather not go there.

Naruto went to bed, convinced that tomorrow, would not be much better then today.

In his defense, it wouldn't be.

Just not the way he thought.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()((Mizuki's POV))()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

One of the two Academy related sensei of young Uzumaki was in fact trying to fulfill Naruto's mission based needs. While Iruka was willing to let things stay as they were for a while longer(the mother hen that he was), Mizuki understood that his young and impressionable student had needs, like all ninja.

While many of the pacifistic minded people in the ninja world would like to believe that killing and fighting were only a sad fact of ninja life, there was a truth in the fact that as human beings, ninja needed confrontation. Violence was only one of many different types of conflict available. It was also one of the best ways to satisfy that need, and it was completely acceptable in shinobi society.

Naruto, he could tell, was in need of some violence, before he hurt something he wasn't supposed to. Like the cat his team kept getting sent after, that had been around Mizuki was a genin. Every ninja had had that mission, ever since there had been a village to answer to the Fire Daimyo.

As Mizuki snu-infiltrated the missions office to look into getting a better assignment for his protege, he wondered if there was any truth to the rumors that someone had found documentation that proved that the Daimyo's cat was older then the ninja world.

Finding the missions folder for the next day, he began scanning the books, looking for something difficult, but doable. He couldn't get their student killed off, though with Kakashi there, C was definitely within the range of acceptable risk.

'Let's see, escort, protection, escort, protection, blah blah blah, whoa, this looks promising.' Opening the related file, he read over the mission data.

This was going to be perfect for Naruto's team. They'd get out of the village for a few weeks, and meet people. Plus, it would be good for Naruto to spend time with more experienced genin.

Yes, plus there was the entertainment factor of watching Gai and his "Eternal Rival" stuck on the same mission. With their brats. While guarding a celebrity.

If only he could get it on film...

While Mizuki was day-dreaming about the possible hijinks that could make such excellent blackmail material, he slipped Team 7's file into the mission folder. Because of his distraction, he didn't realize he'd also added Team 10's.

Putting the folder back and placing everything where it was when he came into the room, Mizuki left, ready to end his day. The things he did for the sake of his student...

Satisfied that his self-appointed mission was finished, Mizuki headed for home, absent-mindedly concealing himself from ANBU patrols the entire way.

It was a good thing he'd hinted to Naruto's other five sensei that he was planning to help Naruto get a better mission, otherwise he might find snakes in his bed when Anko found out.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()((Anko's POV))()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

There were moments when Anko felt she might understand her former instructor. This was not one of them.

In her hands, thoroughly checked for traps, poison and seals, among other things, was a letter. From her former sensei, Orochimaru of the Sannin.

He had sent her a package to go with this letter. And like the letter, there was nothing wrong with it. Well, other then the fact that he'd managed to send it to her in the first place. And that it's contents were rather hard to find and make, not to mention expensive as hell. That was probably one of the perks of being one of the strongest ninjas in the world, on top of being an S-rank criminal. Walking kill-zones don't pay for much of anything.

The letter explained the meaning behind sending her this unique gift. Apparently, he'd found out she had a student from the serpents. She should have known that they would tell him.

After all, he was the one who had written the contract. However, she wished she could understand their willingness to be his messenger service. She knew they were responsible for this.

After all, serpents were more then devious enough to spy on his behalf, and were very willing to oblige their primary summoner. It explained both how he could have found out, and how the package got here.

She was vaguely reassured, by the fact he didn't seem to know the name of her student, but that could just be him testing her.

Even though they had parted on...difficult and confused terms, that she was completely in the dark about. She had the feeling that there was something going on with that that no one was telling her...

Anyway, back to this... present from her sensei to her deshi.

It was just so...perfect. How did he know she'd been looking for something like this?

Maybe he really was keeping tabs on her, like she'd thought...

Oh well, might as well take it as it was meant, meaning Naruto was definitely getting this in the morning.

For now, she needed some sleep before she wrote the reply letter.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()((OC POV))()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Oshiro Koohii was confused. His line had been personal assistants(AN: cough*secretaries*cough), ever since they had left farming behind. This position was guaranteed them when they discovered the art of defeating paperwork. Their office management skills were second to none. It was for this reason, that Oshiro Koohii had never been a regular genin.

He had been scooped up by the Hokage tower staff the moment he graduated the Academy. He had been joined by his only friend in the Academy, Haruno Ruri. Her bright blue hair had made her something of an outcast in the Haruno clan. That, and her desire to be an actual ninja instead of a trophy wife or princess, unlike her immature little sister Sakura.

In fact the fifteen year old pair of chuunin (office based promotions, they needed to have authority over the interns), had both graduated pretty low on the scale of their class rankings. Koohii because his talent was in administration as opposed to physical combat, and Ruri because well, she was born into the Haruno clan. They didn't allow her to do real training.

Sipping at his coffee(possibly number 18) to help stay awake at this kami-forsaken hour of the morning, known amongst night shift everywhere as 0'dark thirty, he continued to arrange for mission information to be sent to the appropriate ninja for later that morning.

Distracted as he was by the caffeine and his "friend", he almost missed the other two genin teams in the mission file he was reviewing. He could have sworn that this was a one team mission for genin Team Nine. But that was probably just the coffee talking.

Wait a minute, when he'd been in the office earlier, Sandaime-sama had promised all three of the newly graduated genin teams that they would learn of their mission tommorrow. Team Eight was on restricted duty pending psych-eval of all the team members, except the Aburame. Everyone in the ninja system knew that they were total sociopaths, there was no need to check. The Hyuuga apparently had self-image issues, as well as stalker-like tendencies, much like Harunos. Other then Ruri-chan of course.

As he thought about how wonderful and different Ruri was from the rest of her clan, he wrote up two scrolls explaining the mission. Unfortunately, in his distraction, he wrote a third. This would not have been an issue, if one of the messenger hawks hadn't snatched the spare scroll he didn't remember writing while his back was turned.

Thus, it happened, and thus he would not be blamed.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()((Later That Morning: Kurenai's POV))()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

One Hour Later...

Team Eight under Yuuhi Kurenai, was awaiting the decision of the Sandaime. Sitting in a circle, Hinata and Akamaru visibly nervous, Kiba self assured, and Shino being an Aburame.

Yesterday, during a semi-routine mission, in which they sought the killer of Tora the cat, there had been an outburst of relatively small proportions.

Kiba had not taken the fact Naruto had killed something before he could at all well. Especially when it was a cat, the arch enemy of Inuzuka everywhere. Because there were totally more of them, secretly controlling the world behind the screens. Totally not side characters. Especially not to people like Uzumaki Naruto, who are mentioned in the title.

As they sat in the pre-dawn light, high above a messenger hawk circled. This hawk had not been sent out with particular instructions, having swiped the scroll it carried from behind the scroll-writer's back.

Teach him to not pay attention to the ninja hawks...

As he circled high above the ground, a scent wafted up into his naval cavity. He was stunned by this most excellent scent and swooped down from the skies in order to find it.

Spotting the four ninja sitting in the field, the hawk knew that the scent was coming from one of the females. Most likely the younger one, as the older one had smoke and booze in their scent, not to mention that weird scent that adult humans sometimes got.

Naturally, he dropped the scroll from his talons upon her head as he rushed to attain the scent. Swooping down from the skies with the grace of a leaf in the wind. Of course, this meant that he was flying around as if intoxicated, which was likely true.

Falling into the startled Hyuuga's lap with all the grace of a high as a kite avian, the messenger hawk made a summoning pact with her without even informing her of it.

After all, he was going to be sticking around for a while, he could inform her of it later. When he was sober again, instead of high off adrenaline and the various other fumes that had reached him that day.

After all, anyone with hands that talented was worth keeping around. Plus, he was somewhat sure that part of her smell came from using various medical herbs. Meaning that it was entirely possible for him to get access to more of the good stuff if he stuck around.

That's right, he was a druggy. And damn proud of it! Did people think being a ninja was easy? So what if he was a messenger, and a hawk? This shit was stressful man!

Oh he liked this one... Calm, mellow, and smelled like the good stuff. Plus, she was hitting all the right places with her fingers.

While the hawk was enjoying the tender scratching and petting from Hyuuga Hinata's slender fingers, her sensei was reading through the message scroll.

It wasn't everyday that a young new Jounin instructor wondered if her team was going to be disbanded. Especially if it was because of a clan heir's outburst drawing attention to how very dysfunctional and mentally unstable they all were.

Mentally and intellectually, Kurenai could understand it. Being a ninja was a highly stressful and mentally traumatizing job already. There was no reason to allow people who already had problems of that variety to become even more stressed and strained.

It was things like that that lead to nukenin of such caliber as Uchiha Itachi, who had massacred his entire clan save for his younger brother in a single night.

(AN: Overachiever much? He is such a show off...)

All clan heirs were watched much more closely for signs of mental issues. And damn her luck, she had three on the same team. Sometimes she wondered if this was some kind of test of her ability to handle being a Jounin.

But that was neither here nor there, especially since her team had apparently been cleared for a long term C-rank mission.

Perhaps Hokage-sama had faith in her ability to keep her charges and students safe and sane after all. And here she'd been worrying because she'd overheard some snatches about her being unsuited for her position.

Just because her family was civilians before her did not mean she couldn't handle this profession. Just like being a woman didn't mean she was incapable of being a professional in this field. Just because she liked her bright white and red bandage wrap dress.

After all, many clans of ninja had been started by civilians, hundreds of years ago. Kurenai was determined to be like them, and begin her own clan. Like the Kurama, they would be genjutsu specialists. And their clan colors would be red and white.

But enough of her ambitions and dreams, she had a mission to prepare her students for.

"Shino, Kiba, Hinata. I need you to head home and pack for a three week mission in Yuki no Kuni." They stared at her blankly for a moment, the early hour not being conducive to their awareness level. But once it hit them, they headed off to pack like the over eager children they could sometimes be.

Well, that was mostly Kiba. Shino acted like normal, and Hinata was being nervous.

Still, they were going home. This was progress over their previous disregard for her instructions.

Perhaps Hokage-sama was sending her team on this mission to teach them to be a team.

Which would be why the mission scroll mentioned Teams 7, 9, and 10.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()((Asuma's POV))()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Looking at the scroll in his hands for the fifth time since he had told his team to go pack for the mission, he couldn't help but wonder if his father was punishing him for something, or giving him an unknown reward. Much like a cookie, or a pack of smokes.

(AN: What was it with their clan and being chimney-stacks?)

Seriously, he was getting out of the village for a while, while being in the company of his friend Kakashi, and watching the hilarity of his interactions with The Green Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai. The taijutsu specialized jounin had memory troubles stemming from his area of interest. He'd taken a few too many blows to the head.

But that wasn't important. It wasn't like Gai would forget something like how many teams Hokage-sama had sent on this mission.

(AN: snickers)

Ah well, no need to dwell further upon it. He needed to head to the ninmart. He was going to need a lot of smokes on this trip.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()((Naruto's POV))()()()()()()()()()()())()()()()()()()()()()()

One Hour Later...

Naruto looked around his apartment as he packed the necessary supplies for the three week mission to Yuki no Kuni. Everything he considered important to him had been sealed inside a scroll so as not to leave it vulnerable while he was out of the village.

'Let's see... I've packed 50 instant ramen packets to supplement my other meals, five sets of my cloths, many weapons sealed in scrolls and twenty kunai in my kunai pouch with my 2000 senbon. I am good for this mission, cause I've got my scrolls.' Naruto shut his pack and hoisted it unto his back. All he had to do now was head to the gate to meet up with the rest of the ninja going on this mission.

As he headed for the door, he spotted something coming towards his window out of the corner of his eye. Jumping backward to get completely out of its way, he was unsurprised when the flying blur resolved into a banner held up by kunai, which read:

'Konoha's Sexiest Kunoichi: Mitarashi Anko!'

And standing in front of it, looking just as dangerous and psychotic as always, was his beloved Anko-nee-chan. And she looked like it was her birthday come early.

This was either going to be really good, or really painful. Or some sadomasochistic combination of both that could only truly be achieved in a ninja lifestyle and culture.

"Hey, Naru-chan! Didn't think you'd go off on your first real mission as a ninja without a goodbye from your sensei, now did you?" the smile on her face was just as sweet as the tone of her voice, and just as dangerous to the unwary as the serpents she had taught him to summon.

Fortunately, for him anyways, he was not one of the blind and foolish masses who could not comprehend the truth of Anko-sensei's behavior.

That didn't mean that he wasn't careful anyways. One of the first things she had taught him was to always be wary, even of those you trust.

Which is why when she thrust the parcel into his face, he took it with some trepidation. After all, many times he had received things from her that had been pranked/trapped, which is were he had learned some of his detection skills that had done him in such good stead when he was off pranking the village. Or when villagers had managed to get into his home again.

Unable to spot anything wrong with it, he unwrapped the package. When the paper fell to the ground, inside was a scroll. It was smaller then average, but Naruto recognized it for the storage scroll that it was. Glancing at his sensei for prompting, he unrolled the scroll and channeled his chakra into the seal.

With a brief puff of smoke, Naruto found a very interesting object laying on his apartment floor. Lifting it up with shock and no small amount of awe, he turned his eyes to his smiling instructor, confirming that it was indeed what he thought it was.

Unable to restrain himself, he hugged his sensei, shocking her slightly with the depth of his gratitude and appreciation. Slowly, she returned the gesture, reminded for the first time in a long while, why she had decided to train this gaki.

However, the sentimental moment could not last long, as neither of them was very comfortable with such displays when not done in jest for their amusement. Ruffling his spiky hair in affectionate teasing, she pushed him towards the door.

On his way out, he put the carefully re-sealed present into his pack. He had some other sensei's to visit before he left Konoha on a mission for the first time.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()((Sakura's POV))()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Haruno Sakura was(AN: in her opinion), a sweet, kind, and understanding soul. She was in no way violent or quick to judge. She was an excellent kunoichi who looked forward to the day she could truly prove her worth to her beloved Sasuke-kun. And then politely and without smugness and jubilation, show Ino-buta to a different husband.

Inner Sakura piped in her own opinion: "After shoving it in that blond bitch's face, shannaro!"

Quieting her inner self quickly so as not to alert her precious future husband to any kind of problem that would cause him to marry elsewhere out of misunderstanding and fear for her safety. After all he could believe that it was his fault she was like this!

Being one of the first to arrive at the gate, she was somewhat annoyed with the delay in her teammates arrival. Sasuke-kun had shown up almost fifteen minutes ago, looking as calm and cool as ever with his black travel pack that was belted onto his back (AN: OMG! Crappy Haruno Poetry!). He was so awesome...

Ahem, she shook her head slightly, needing to clear it so she could continue to focus on what was going on in order to be of the most use to her beloved future husband.

Almost everyone was here, including some people she hadn't been expecting. While Kakashi-sensei had told her that Team 10 would be on this mission, as well as Team 9, which had graduated last year, she had not been informed that Team 8 was coming. She didn't mind all that much of course, as Hinata was not interested in Sasuke-kun, although why anyone would be attracted to Naruto was beyond her. Oh well, it just meant she only had two girls to worry about instead of three. Although there was the fact that their charge was a young women. After all, not everyone could be as blind as the creepy Hyuuga bitch.

Although, Sakura wasn't completely certain that Hinata was attracted to someone other then Sasuke-kun, or even that that person was Naruto. She just made the assumption because of what she had overheard once at a Uchiha Sasuke Fanclub meeting.

However, that was unimportant at this time, as she needed to focus on keeping Sasuke-kun safe from the clinging grotesque parasite before it infected him with its venom as part of the Blonde Blue Conspiracy to keep them apart.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()((Unknown Cave))()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

For the thirteenth time that week, the slender blond member of the organization felt the urge to set off to Konoha in order to destroy the Haruno clan. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, the other members of this elite organization recognized the behavior, as it had become fairly prevalent in recent months. It had also been determined, in spite of the majority vote in favor of allowing the clan genocide, that it would not occur, as the lone dissenter from those who were not the leaders of the group, had in fact gotten the approval of the leaders.

It was for this reason the slighter blond male ended up at the bottom of a dog pile made up of most of the organization members. His arms were restrained to his torso by the metallic tail of his partner, the tan hand of a friend held him to the ground, and the pale hands of a cursing zealot kept him from lashing out too much with his legs with the help of the multicolored hands of a strange man. The blue hand of the dissenter's partner pinned his head in place, while the dark haired pale dissenter smirked at him from beside the leader and his blue haired partner.

"You really need to stop doing this, it is becoming troublesome Deidara."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()((Sasuke's POV))()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

While Sasuke was contemplating what his newest mission meant in terms of how much closer he'd gotten to that man's level in order to avenge his clan, he was not paying that much attention to the clinging blonde fangirl currently latched onto his arm.

In fact, he was not paying much attention to anything, as it was all beneath the notice of one so exalted as himself.

Thus, the dobe's arrival was something he barely registered, and then only because the dobe was on his team, and thus was his. The silver haired sensei from the Academy, Mizuki, was walking with him, smiling as the blond at his side spoke enthusiastically while holding a scroll to his chest.

For a moment, Sasuke wondered what was going on between the two, but he swiftly realized it was beneath him, as they were both just barely above civilians. And all Uchiha knew that civilians were beneath ninja, particularly Uchiha. After all, the dobe had no clan to speak of, and Mizuki was from a clan that was barely above the level of civilian. That put them on similar levels, which would explain why they interacted with each other at all now that the dobe had finally managed to graduate from the academy.

In Sasuke's mind, the weak sought to help one another to the best of their feeble and limited ability. The strong had no need to receive help from the weak beyond the first instruction of an ability. The strength and skill of the strong came without the help of others. The strong could only truly be taught by others who were strong as well.

This teaching relationship could last only until the student had surpassed the master, at which point only the briefest and most basic of instructions would be needed, as the stronger would be much more intelligent and perceptive then their weaker master.

While Sasuke was contemplating his view of the world, Naruto was putting away his new weapon that Mizuki-sensei had given him, a new kusari-gama by the name Fuutetsu. It was made of well crafted steel, and had a matte black finish with gleaming blade with a razorsharp edge.

After they departed for the docks, Sasuke began to take in the world around him a little more meaningfully, as they were now outside the walls of Konohagakure. For the first time in his life, he was on the other side of the defensive wall that protected the village from invasion since the time of the Shodaime Hokage Senju Hashirama. As a member of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke had been taught all about the founding of Konoha by the Senju and Uchiha clans, he just hadn't been very interested in such information. And after he joined the Academy, it had seemed even less important. Who cared about history beyond what was needed to get the highest score on the tests? It wasn't going to help him fulfill his ambition to kill that man...

Once more lost in his own mind as the two fangirls attempted to gain his favor and drive away their competition, Sasuke walked in front of the client and the individual they were apparently supposed to be guarding. Team 8 was to the subject's left, while the rest of Team 10 was to her right. Kakashi-sensei was right behind him and the Haruno, while the dobe was behind the subject, completing the diamond formation thanks to the presence of Team 9, who were also behind the subject. The Jounin-sensei were staying with the majority of their students, which meant that Fujikaze Yukie was as guarded as possible from all directions.

It was somewhat pleasing to be in the front, where he belonged as leader of these weak and inexperienced genin. After all, by right of his lineage and training as a Uchiha, he was much better prepared then they were for any signs of trouble or difficulty.

It was for this reason that they made it to the boat that would take them all to Yuki no Kuni without any trouble or delays. The enemies who would have attacked had all sensed that there was no point in even trying to defeat one so powerful as a mighty Uchiha. Thus, like smart weaklings, they stayed away.

It had nothing at all to do with the fact there were four jounin rank ninja on this trip, nope, not a thing. After all, without the immense and powerful nature of Uchiha chakra, there was no way for unrefined bandits to sense their immanent demise.

Yeah, that had to be it.

Delusion shored for the time being, Sasuke climbed up onto the boat that would take them on to their mission destination, the place were they would guard Fujikaze until the filming was done.

At the same time, an entity that existed within the depths of Sasuke's mind rolled their metaphysical and metaphorical eyes in exasperation. What was it with these Uchiha, that made them think they were so superior? Perhaps he should introduce the little fanbrat to the harsher realities of the world?

'Pointless.' There was no need to inform Outer Sasuke of the existence of the real world. After all, everytime they were in a real dangerous situation, he got more control. Soon enough, he would be strong enough to take full control from the book-smart and spoiled little wannabe.

Then he could find the one who had caused this mess, and make them fix it. After he took care of the rest of the mistakes that remained in the world, of course.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(Sakura's POV)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Walking around the deck trailing behind her Sasuke-kun, Sakura had barely enough presence of mind to keep on the alert for interruptions to the private moment she kept trying to have with her beloved but shy crush. After all, there were at least two potential thieves present, ready to try and steal Sasuke from her.

They just couldn't accept that fate had decided that she would be Sasuke's beloved when she and Sasuke were put on the same team. That should have been clear enough a sign that she, and not they, were meant to be Sasuke-kun's wife and beloved. Of course, if he had been put on a different team from her, she wouldn't have given up on him, convinced it was merely a test of her devotion to her beloved.

She therefore, did not take any chances that Sasuke would be alone with any of the females on this mission. Even though one of them was a Jounin, and the other a famous actress who had no need to put up with Sasuke's self-centered attitude in order to get even more handsome attention when she wanted it. She also ignored the fact that one of the three females close to her in age had a rather extreme crush on her other teammate, and the one slightly older then her knew better then to mix work and personal business at their current skill level. And besides, if she was going to be attracted to anyone, it would at least be someone she knew.

And so Sakura continued her illusionary campaign to defend her claim on Sasuke's affections, providing amusement and concern in equal measures to her two slightly more sane teammates. Sanity is relative, after all, and in a world were it is considered a career option to be a killer for hire, their relative calmness was considered fairly sane.

As she followed Sasuke around the ship, the others were busy watching over the the actors as they went about filming some of the scenes for the newest movie involving Fuun-hime. It was because of the locations of the various ninja on board, and their relaxed states at the time, that no one noticed when a small shard of ice shot through the center of the ship, from aft to prow.

It even ruffled the tail feathers of the Uchiha's hairstyle. This, of course, went completely unnoticed, even by the superior skills of the inner version of Sakura.

Of course, that may have been because the superior skills in question were true genin level, instead of Academy level with Chuunin book knowledge.

Anyway, the two continued on their way along the corridor, never realizing that there was a really good reason to report suspicious occurrences to Kakashi.

You can't report something suspicious if you never even noticed it in the first place, after all.

Sakura thus continued her delusion of being Sasuke-kun's girlfriend, and eventual wife, blissfully quiet as her imagination began to fill in evermore details that fleshed her delusion into a reality all its own in her perception.

Unbeknownst to her, the hidden personality of Sasuke was at that very moment wondering if he had sensed anything in the bit of breeze that had ruffled his hair. It had been cold, which meant it could have been the air conditioner.

So, the two genin who weren't watching over the client for the moment continued to walk about below deck. Sakura because she was protecting her claim on Sasuke, and Sasuke because he didn't want to reveal the fact that watching the water had been making him seasick.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(Outside the ship, on the water)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Following in the wake of the ship, unnoticed by the ninja on deck, and the film crew, were many things. Much marine life had been attracted to the disturbances that ships created in the ocean. Because of the waters temperature, there were very few predatory fish, although there were some dolphins earlier who had checked it out.

These things were natural, and would of course be following one of the rare ships to the frozen land of Yuki no Kuni.

The three people standing on the disturbed waters like it was the most natural thing in the world, however, would not.

The tallest of the three was ash blond and had green eyes. He was also the oldest of the three, at least in appearance. He wore a black robe with a silver sipper, black gloves, and black boots.

To his left was a young man in more typical shinobi garb, wearing a fishnet shirt, slightly baggy gray pants, and a white toga that went over one shoulder. His shoes were more like cloth wraps, and didn't cover all of his feet. His eyes were an icy light blue, and his hair was light green in the bangs, and light blue in the back.

Between the two, and in front of them, was the shortest, and youngest looking member of their trio. Wearing a black hakama and swordsman kimono, with a white haori over it, and a pair of tabi and straw sandals on his feet, he was dressed more like a swordsman. Especially since he was wearing a katana almost as long as he was tall on his back, in a dark blue sheath held in place by a green band of cloth. His hair was white, and his eyes a piercing teal. And although he was the youngest, he was also the one who had sent the ice shard through the ship.

As they watched it continue forward, the tracking squad of Yuki Shinobi followed, alert as possible for any sign that the multiple teams of shinobi on board had noticed their presence.

They could have boarded, and grabbed the objective of the mission, but that was the other squads job.

And none of them wanted the other squad to be bitchy about it for Kami knows how long.

Even if their assignment was boring as anything they'd ever been assigned, with the possible exception of administrative duties.

Even Yuki Shinobi, developing village that they were, feared the evil known as paperwork.

And being such a young village, they had not yet managed to attract one of the families of the Oshiro clan to make it easier.

So, the three stoic ninja continued to follow the ship, with the coordinates being transmitted to the other squads at regular intervals.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(On deck:Kakashi's POV)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

So far, everything was going well. He had gotten to read a few more chapters of his favorite book without interruption, Sakura and Sasuke were below deck and thus out of his hair, and Naruto was not maiming anyone out of mission induced frustration.

Sure, he had to put up with the presence of Maito Gai, and the rookie jounin kunoichi with something to prove, but on the plus side, his friend Asuma was also here.

On the negative side, there were nine genin on board whom he wasn't used to ignoring the antics of, while still paying attention to his surroundings. That was why he had only managed to read a few chapters instead of the whole book.

Sure, the Aburame and the Nara were okay. And Naruto was behaving like a real ninja as usual, so he was still the most tolerable member of his team. But the male Hyuuga was always glaring at the female one, the Inuzuka was being a noisy and nosy nuisance, the Akimichi would not quit it with the chips, and the Yamanaka wanted to go find 'Sasuke-kun'.

Gai's kunoichi was just fine, and being serious about the mission. But Rock Lee was behaving like a Gai-clone.

Which meant he was surprised no one had tried to throw themselves overboard from the trauma of seeing that Sunset. Perhaps it was because they knew that he was there to help them learn to cope with being in the vicinity of people who randomly made challenges and declared the dreaded and feared 'Power of Youth'?

Looking over at the mostly calm and not shouting Gai, he got the feeling that the reason he'd thought of probably wasn't the complete answer, but it was still a possibility.

However, it appeared that the crew was preparing to go ashore to film a segment of the movie. The three teams of genin, plus the single member of his own team to stay above deck, were all spread out amongst the actors and crew, curious about what such a job required. Naruto, he noticed, was scanning the area from his position near Yukie-san.

The young Inuzuka, Kakashi thought he might be named Kiba, was watching his young student with a hostility that he couldn't quite grasp the reason for. Perhaps something to do with their last mission...?

Well, whatever was the Inuzuka's problem, he didn't need to worry. Naruto was a much better ninja then any of the other brats, which is why he'd told Naruto about some of his previous missions. Like his last mission to Yuki no Kuni so many years before, and that very interesting armor that made chakra based attacks next to useless. It was...nice...to have a student who was actually interested in being a ninja, instead of being an avenger or a damsel in distress.

As he watched the actors set up to begin filming the scene, he thought he detected a chakra signature that was slightly familiar to him. Right as the actor playing the villain Mao drew back his hand as if to cast some horrid spell upon them, there was an explosion further up the glacier.

As everyone turned to look at it in confusion, Kakashi took his place in front of Yukie-san, Naruto having been a good ninja and taking a similar place at her right. The other jounin, having kept some tabs on their fellows, noticed these moves and took up their own positions, trusting in Kakashi's instincts not to lead them astray on this mission.

It was moments like these that made Kakashi proud to be a Jounin of Konohagakure no Sato.

He didn't get very long to bask in that pride, however, as the smoke of the explosion cleared to reveal three Yuki ninja, two shinobi and one kunoichi. And one of those two shinobi looked very familiar to Kakashi. And it wasn't in a 'we are allies and have fought on the same side way', but a 'we have taken shots at each other before, how the hell aren't you dead?' kind of way.

That meant that it was Rouga Nadare, member of the Yukigakure Jounin Squad 9.

And the man had been trouble the last time they'd met...

Though from the look in his eyes, he was having the recognition moment as well. And Kakashi had improved since their last the Yukigakure ninja had elemental turf advantage in their domain, they didn't have the kind of resources necessary to make truly powerful ninja the way major villages could.

Meaning that it was entirely likely that the Konoha group could take all these snowbound morons and bury them deep beneath the ice.

The only problem with that logic is that there were some very powerful ninja in Yukigakure. Not many, but there were some in that village who could give any A rank ninja a very hard fight for his life.

But fortunately for them, when he'd gotten the data on the area they'd be going to from the ANBU, the ninja in question were all last seen heading into Mizu no Kuni, possibly to deliver something to the Mizukage.

Therefore, he only had to worry about the 27 other jounins that worked for Yukigakure, most of whom B-rank at most.

Its not like the ANBU could have been wrong, right?

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(Up on the mast)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The shinobi with the white haori and long katana felt the brief urge to sneeze, but ignored it.

After all, he needed to keep watch on Squad 9, and make sure he got accurate information on the group of ninja protecting the young woman.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(In the battlefield on the glacier)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Kakashi went for Rouga Nadare as Nadare's two companions went for Yukie, trusting in the ability of his comrades to at the very least delay the kidnapping attempt long enough for him to get back and stop it.

After all, there were three jounin down there, and only one of them was a rookie.

Plus, there were the genin, and there was no way that all ten of them could be useless.

Trading kicks and punches as they ran around the upper portion of the glacier was a lot easier then it had been the last time he had engaged Nadare, he noted.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(Team Eight's POV)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The silver haired jounin rushed up the icy cliff to engage the leader of the enemy squad, and the large guy with the squinty eyes came barreling down the cliff on some kind of board that allowed to get some real speed.

The large guy lifted his arm and shot some kind of cord at Yukie-san, but Naruto pulled out some kind of blade with a chain attached and deflected it away back towards the sender.

In other words, the dobe was showing him up again.

There was no way he was going to allow that, not with the way Hinata was looking at the baka as he stood there, glancing around for further threats, periodically glancing back toward the squinty guy who smelled of bad okonomiyaki.

Kiba jumped up into the air and went into his cyclonic spin, crying out the name of his attack as he went for the boarding guy.

"TSUUGA!!"

Spinning through the air as he leapt of the camera crew's platform, nearly upsetting their equipment in the process, he launched himself at the recovering enemy ninja.

The enemy managed somehow to dodge his skillful and shocking assault, using the strange board that had come out of his sandals. That was okay, because he would get him when he rebounded-

WHAM!!

Startled and unprepared for plowing into the snow covering the ice, Kiba went rolling sideways into the cliff, striking it painfully with his back.

As the colors danced across his vision, moving steadily toward black, he heard his teammate Hinata cry out his name.

"Kiba-kun!" She was so sweet...

Shino, looking over at his temporarily downed comrade, commanded his kikai beetles to go forth.

This led to them coming up to his skin, and turning right back around to head toward the warmth in him, which they began to consume.

Shino, cursing himself internally for making such an amateur mistake, then moved himself over to the heater in order to warm back up and rejoin the fight.

Meanwhile, Kurenai rushed forward across the snow, using her more precise knowledge of chakra to figure out the method on which to cross the more difficult terrain. Thank kami she had been on missions to Suna, and knew water walking, or this would have taken longer to figure out.

Stopping in front of the kunoichi in order to block her from getting closer, as Asuma had the snowboarding guy and the genin were ranged around the actress, she began to cast one of her genjutsu, deciding to go for shock factor with the trees.

The light purple haired kunoichi with the strange hat-like hitae-ate smirked, and knelt briefly to touch the snow, sending snow up from the ground that swirled behind her for a moment, before racing forward in the form of birds to attack Kurenai.

"Tsubame Fubumi no jutsu!" The birds of snow rushed toward Kurenai with great speed, to her anyway.

And before she could dodge, they impacted and froze on impact like rain in the winter.

Clumps of ice covered her at irregular intervals, making a distant part of her mind grateful she was wearing a long sleeve sweater and sweat pants under her wrap dress. That part of her was also noting that she should have taken the cloak that was offered, as the snow had wet her cloths before the chakra in the attack caused it to freeze into ice.

As she began to collapse from shivering and hypothermia, she saw the kunoichi raise some kind of ice barrier in front of herself, and the green surrounded her form and she lost consciousness from the relief at the reintroduction of warmth.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(Maito Gai's POV)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

As he grabbed the jounin team leader of rookie genin squad 8 he moved immediately into an attack on the kunoichi who had struck her down with the strange snow jutsu.

Kicking through the icicle barrier that the enemy had called, Gai just barely missed getting her with more than the shrapnel, but she jumped straight up and unleashed these strange wing contraptions from her chakra armor.

He could have followed and struck her back down to the ground, but he had a comrade to take care of, so he had to make a choice between the health of a comrade, and the mission.

Luckily, there were others there to pick up were he left off.

A knife attached to a chain pierced through the armor surrounding her striking her in the left hip from the front.

Relieved, he turned briefly to congratulate Tenten on her youthful support...

Only to find that it was Kakashi's student, Uzumaki Naruto, who held the other end of the chain.

Pulling on his kusari-gama, he tried to bring her down, but only ripped the kunai he had stabbed her with free.

"Kuso!" He began to spin the kusari in preparation for the throw in order to trap her (and/or exectue her), but suddenly even more enemies appeared.

These had to be the chuunin squads that were assigned to the command of the enemy jounin squad.

This was not good, as it made an excellent delay tactic on the part of the enemy.

This could only be...

"Cannon fodder ASSAULT!" Naruto declared as he swung the kusari out and slit some throats and beheaded some of the luckier snow nin, as the ones with cuts got frostbite and couldn't even scream.

"TENTEN!" He knew his kunoichi knew what to do.

"HAI!" Leaping into the air she unleashed the barrage of deadly weapons, and felled those who had come, while Neji poked to death those who escaped the deadly shower.

Meanwhile, his most youthful pupil demonstrated his hard work on the rest.

Team 10, under Sarutobi Asuma, was meanwhile doing a most excellent job of detaining someone for interrogation and helping Hinata and her conscious teammates protect the civilians on the boat. Team 8 as stated, was on the boat with civilians, as Gai tossed Kurenai on board into the care of her genin.

As the slaughter wound down, as some of the amateurs revealed themselves...

(Naruto misjudged a swing and merely cleaved a guy's foot off, sending him careening into Tenten's shot to the chest.

The two genin immediately glared at each other.

"You messed up my shot!" Tenten yelled as she picked off another hapless chuunin.

"You took my kill!" Naruto beheaded someone behind him, and then killed the ninja sneaking up on Tenten with kunai headshot!)

As they brought down the last of the chuunin, two gigantic narwhales made of ice and snow rose from the water and crashed into each other, cancelling each other out.

Obviously, Kakashi was doing what he did best, regardless of how unyouthful such an action was.

As the other jounin brought his enemy down, Gai couldn't help the feeling that this had gone a little too well...

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(Kakashi's POV)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

After punching Nadare in the face and disorienting him, he began dragging the other jounin over toward the ship.

As he looked over to see everyone wrapping up and heading for the ship he saw a slight glimmer above the mast.

Having a bad feeling about that glimmer, he pulled his hitai-ate back up off his Sharingan, which widened in shock.

To be honest, he could not be blamed for his shock, for heading toward them all...

...was a giant ice dragon.

Wait a moment...

Processing what his eyes were telling him, Kakashi's quick mind recalled one of the more dangerous techniques of the squad he'd been warned about.

Which was an ice dragon attack much flying toward them right now.

If this was what he thought it was, it could take out everybody on the glacier, meaning...

Dropping the deadweight, he launched forward, grabbing his student and Gai's female student, booking it for the ship.

Gai, noticing his ....um...haste... grabbed the other two members of his squad, also booked it for the ship.

Their haste barely got them to safety, as the dragon of ice roared down and hit the glacier behind them, sending the snow in a wave impacting the gate they'd barely raised in time.

Mizore jumped towards the glacier, escaping capture and the ship with interrogating jounin.

The ship sailed away, not risking a second assault from the deadly Squad Zero.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(Author's Note)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

....

I apologize for the delay, the fight scene was battling with me for every sentence.

Writer's block struck hard here.

Fortunately, while I was fighting with the fight scene, I did some work on the future plot of the story, which means the next chapter probably won't take as long.

Especially since I won't be quite so busy for a few weeks.

Comments? Suggestions?

Thank you for your patience.