Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I will never own this great series, I am doing this for free, and for you enjoyment

AN: I really didn't like how I ended this chapter, so I went back and edited it. I hope you enjoy the new ending!

Chapter 2: Power Surge

The Fox returns to his lair,

As the keeper watches over him

Soon the ceremony shall begin, and the fox will wield

The power of the storm;

Thus arise the Arashi Kitsune

It was peaceful, in the forest. Birds twitter and fluttered to and fro, squirrels chewed on acorns, and would chitter when a rival tried to steal his nuts (get your herd out of the gutter you pervert!); fish swam lazy in a nearby stream. All in all, it was a beautiful, tranquil scene, despite the darkening weather. It is unfortunate that the tranquility of the forest was shattered when four young humans race through the tree tops on their way home. To any non-shinobi, the people would only appear as four distinct colored blurs, lavender, pink, orange, and last but not least, stretchy green. The four youths were Neji, Tenten, Naruto and Rock Lee. The four were travailing in a straight line in the aforementioned order, all wanting to get back to Konoha as quickly as they could. Since they no longer had to escort civilians, they could move through the trees at a shinobi's pace. While they all wanted to get back quickly, they all had their separate reasons.

Neji wanted to get back so he could make the mission report and then relax. It was up to him to make the report because Naruto, Lee, nor Tenten had the patience or eye for detail to do it properly. Lee (after spending a few hours mopping about 'wasting such youthful curry') wanted to tell Gai-sensei about his latest adventure and, if time allowed after their training in the springtime of his youth, see if he could ask Sakura-chan out on a date. Tenten wanted to just get home and sleep in her own bed. Sure camping out was fun, but nothing beat a nice warm bed in your own home. Naruto, strangely enough, didn't really have a reason. No, it was more like an instinct that urged him to hurry home. That wasn't to say he wasn't bored, oh no, not at all. Once a shinobi got the hang of tree jumping, it became like tree climbing and water walking, it became instinct, leaving their minds to do other things. And Naruto was bored!

He didn't want to talk to Lee because that would just cause him to do another one of his 'Springtime of Youth' speeches/rants. And after you heard one, you heard them all. This caused Naruto to wonder if Gai-sensei's 'Flames of Youth' were some twisted form of the Sandaime's 'Will of Fire' or something. He couldn't talk to Neji since he was too far up front, so that just left Tenten. Instead of trying to think of a topic to talk about, Naruto just decided to ask her the first question that came to mind.

"Ano, Tenten?"

"Hmm?" she turned to face him.

'Well,' he thought, 'here goes nothing.'

"What type of blades do you think Raiga used against us?" Tenten's eyebrows shot up into her forehead protector, of all the questions she expected the spiky headed blond to ask, that one was the least expected. She would have expected him to ask her if she ever had Ichiraku ramen or something equally unimportant, but the question he asked was, actually, rather intelligent.

"What do you mean, exactly?" Naruto scratch the back of his head as he tried to be a little more specific.

"Well, Kakashi-sensei said that both Zabuza and Kisame used Zanbatōs, but when I look it up in the dictionary, the picture they had looked nothing like what I saw Zabuza and Kisame use." Tenten nodded, now it made sense, Naruto wanted to know what type of sword Raiga used, like a katana or a ninjato. Turning to check and make sure that she wasn't going to run into a tree (doing that once was enough) she looked back and replied.

"That's kinda hard, Naruto. But if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that he used two straight, single edged kodachi style blades since they weren't long enough to be katana and were much longer than a pair of tantos; but considering their construction, they my very well have been something completely else before they were modified..." Before she could say any more, Neji interrupted.

"Naruto, Tenten, back in formation. I would like to get back before night fall, and we can't do that if one of my teammates is rendered unconscious from running into a tree. So please keep your eyes forward and your mind on dodging any trees that get in the way, you can talk about sharp and pointy things later." Tenten leveled her fiercest glare at their leader.

'Damn it Neji, it only happened once! I didn't need you to bring it up now of all times! Especially in front of someone who didn't already know!' she thought 'And for the record, Mr. Know-it-all, I don't talk about 'sharp and pointy things', they're weapons damn it! Trust me; I'll get you back for that!' She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Neji for good measure.

"I saw that"

Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, Chuunin of Konoha, most well known as Ibiki's henchmen during the Chuunin exams, were currently dozing off. Why were they dozing off, you might ask? Simple, they were currently manning the gate keepers post. The job of manning that booth was, to some, considered a punishment; but to Kotetsu and Izumo? It was like getting a paid vacation. They rarely had to do any thing, besides checking the travel permits of unknown people entering the village, and watching the ninja arrive and depart. Today, however, something odd was happening. The weather report had said that the sky would be clear all through the week, but now, the skies began to cloud over with inky black storm clouds.

"Looks like a storms brewing" said Izumo, as he peeked his head out from under the booth. The deal was that one would be awake in order to wake the other one in case they needed two shinobi in order to take care of something. And something was coming up the road towards them. Izumo elbowed his spiky haired, bandage wearing partner.

"Unnn, huh, what's going on Izumo?"

"Take a look" Izumo said nodding towards the road. As Kotetsu wiped the sleep from his eyes, he looked down the road and saw what exactly what Izumo was referring to. There, walking towards them at a sedate pace was a man. He was wearingwaraji, or straw sandals. His body was covered in an ornate kimono robe that was colored a dark purple and had silver detailing depicting a sword wrapped up in vines. The clothes looked very comfortable, if the way he was walking was any indication. He had a pretty, aristocratic face with chin length blond, almost white, hair that when combined with his bright pinkish-red eyes and height (about a 5'8-9") made him very attractive. The only thing that marred his hansom features was the scowl that would occasionally cross his face when he looked down at his mist hitai-ate, which was tied around his neck. Once he sighted Kotetsu and Izumo, he quickly made his way over to them.

"Greetings Konoha Shinobi, I am Shashu, and I am the Mizu no Kuni (land of water) representative from Kirigakure no Sato (the hidden mist village), here on request of Tsunade-sama about news of one of the seven swordsmen." The man said while pulling a scroll out of his sleeve. Kotetsu and Izumo were floored, not only did the guy have good looks, but his voice alone would make him an instant lady-killer. It was because of their astonishment that neither of them noticed the small drop of blood on the edge of the scroll, which would show that the scroll was obtained through less than diplomatic means. The man had just put scroll back in his sleeve and was about to sign in, when he suddenly exploded into motion. Pirouetting on his left foot, he swung around brining up his hands as if to hold a bow and arrow, but stopped halfway through the motion. It appeared that four young shinobi had jumped out of the trees lining the side of the road and landed behind the mist representative, startling and provoking his response. These four shinobi were a group of familiar genin. Clearing his throat, Neji spoke.

"Team Gui and Naruto, returning from extended mission in River country." Shashu took a few steps back; it was common knowledge that local ninja took priority over foreign visitors. 'So, these are the shinobi that the Hokage sent to deal with Raiga' Shashu thought as he let his eyes wander over the assembled Genin, until his eyes came to rest upon Naruto, or rather, what was sticking out of Naruto's pack.

'So, it appears that you have survived, but why are you hiding? Could it be…' his gaze shifted from the henged OoburiFutago to the one carrying them. 'Ahh, I see, so that is why. Don't worry, I'll play you game for now, I just hope that you have chosen wisely' Shashu thought as he watched the genin head off towards what appeared to be the hokage tower. Clearing his throat to grab the attention of the gate guards, Shashu decided to do a little information gathering.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me about that spiky haired, blond genin that just went by?"

"Huh, you mean Naruto? Well, he's sort of a local hero, other than that your going to have to talk to Hokage-sama." Giving a curt nod, Shashu walked off. Once he was sure he was far enough away for the chunin gate guards not to notice him, he removed his hitai-ate and, in an incredible display of strength, snapped the metal plate of the hitai-ate in two with one hand before throwing the whole thing in a near by garbage can. 'Lady Tsunade should consider herself lucky that I was able to intercept that mist ninja, if he had reach Kiri with that message then…' Shashu shook his head, there was no use thinking of 'what-ifs,' all he could do now was wander about for awhile before meeting with the Lady Hokage. That would probably give the Storm Twins enough time to perform the ceremony. He looked to the gathering storm clouds, 'yes; it shall indeed be a magnificent sight to behold.'

________

"…and then we arrived back here at the village, Tsunade-sama" Neji said with a slight bow, finishing his oral mission report. As he bowed he sent Tenten a scowl. Hokage-sama did not need to know that the reason he couldn't contribute much to the final battle was due to the fact that he was knocked out by ultra-spicy curry, twice. Tenten just gave him a foxy grin, 'revenge is a dish best served with a side of embarrassment or a dollop of humiliation.'

Tsunade couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at the report. When it was officially authorize, it was a B-, borderline A-class mission because of the rumor of Raiga Kurosuki being the boss of the Kurosuki family. For them to fight him not once, but twice without sustaining a single causality was miraculous. Since Naruto was the one to strike the killing blow on both occasions, the (sizeable) bounty that was on Raiga's head would go to him; she would deposit it straight into his bank account. Fortunately, the last person that tried something funny with Naruto's savings was ratted out and old Sarutobi-sensei had executed the perpetrator by slow torture to serve as an example to the masses. Continuing with the report, Tsunade had to commend both Naruto and Neji on their plan to draw out the Kurosuki family and determine the extent of their powers; the double layered Kage Bunshin and Henge no jutsu was genius. The news of the boy called Ranmaru and his was a surprise; his abilities were no doubt one of the many 'lost' Kekkei Genkai (bloodline limits) that was wiped out in the land of water. It was for the best that the boy no longer had a desire, or capability to be a shinobi, otherwise the Hyuuga clan would be all up in arms. All in all, Tsunade had to say the mission was an outstanding success. Looking up, she noticed that Naruto was starting to get impatient, and was visibly fidgeting.

"Thank you for the report, you're dismissed. Take the next couple of days off to relax and enjoy yourselves." With that, Naruto let out a whoop and literally ran out of the office. Lady Tsunade could only shake her head, 'kids these days, always on the move.'

_____

As soon as Naruto left the Hokage tower, he made a bee-line to the commercial district. The reason was that Karashi had forgotten to include an obi belt with the clothes he had given him, a simple over sight, but still a major one. So, Naruto decided to take a page out of Lee's book and use his hitai-ate as a belt, the only problem was that his head band was too short; that, and he would have to get a replacement head band to keep the hair out of his eyes. He also thought about getting some shin guards to go with the new out fit like the creepy second examiner of the chunin exam wore. Besides, getting kicked in the shin really didn't feel too good.

Coming to a stop, Naruto looked around at the different shops. While he was at it, he figured he might as well stock up kunai and shuriken since he was getting low and the ones he currently had were, er-hem, 'well-used'. Stopping in the middle of the commercial district, Naruto looked around at all the shops. It was getting late and dark out so he decided to get all his shopping done in one go. Going to one of those 'super-stores' would probably not be a good idea because of the sheer size, and the fact that they also catered to civilians as well as shinobi. Instead, during their trip back Tenten advised him to go to an 'Equipment Emporium' instead of a super-store because they tailored more to shinobi customers.

Looking around, Naruto located one, the 'Yasuo's Equipment Emporium'. Entering the shop, Naruto was surprised at what the store contained. Inside was everything a shinobi would ever need, form the basic kunai and shuriken to scent removing shampoo to explosive tags, the shop had every thing he, or any ninja, ever dreamed of. It didn't appear as if anybody was around to help him, so while he waited Naruto decided to make a list of what he needed to get or replace so he wouldn't forget anything.

After a minute of writing, he had completed his list. The strange thing was what he added to the end of his list that he didn't even remember writing: shampoo. A little known fact about Naruto was that he washed his hair with soap since most shop keepers wouldn't let him in their shops to buy shampoo. The end result of that made his hair stiff and clump together into his usual thick spikes. After thinking about it, he merely shrugged his shoulders, Ino and Sakura had nice hair because they used shampoo and maybe if he tried it his hair would look and feel better. Naruto was so lost in thought, that he never noticed the man in purple robes watching him from the shop windows smile before heading towards the Hokage tower.

"Can I help you?" Naruto turned around to face the one who spoke. The man appeared to be in his late 30', maybe early 40's, with his long brown hair tied back in a low ponytail, warm amber eyes, wearing a plain tunic and a pair of brown working pants. Oh, and a name tag that read "Kaito Yasuo." Obviously, this man was the owner/operator of this emporium.

"Umm, yeah, I need to get everything on this list, please." Naruto decided that his usual loud approach wouldn't do here; the last thing he would want is to tick the guy off and get kicked out. He decided to take the advice Sakura-chan gave him a long time 'when in doubt, act polite.' Taking the list from Naruto, Kaito gave it a once over before quirking an eyebrow.

"Doing a post mission restock?" He asked. Naruto grinned and started scratching the back of his head before replying.

"Yep, that and a little extra!" Kaito didn't ask anything else; being a former shinobi, as well as a shop keeper, he knew not to ask about the recent mission just in case the information was classified or something bad happened on the mission that the kid would not want to bring up. He knew who the kid was, Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko, a hero at least twice over for not only holding back the Kyuubi, but stopping a rampaging Shukaku from entering and leveling the city. It was sad in the beginning how so many people mistreated him as a kid, ignoring him, glaring at him where ever he went. Kaito was proud to say that he cracked some heads when he saw people glaring at the poor kid. He respected the Yondaime Hokage's final wish, if Naruto had came into his shop when he was younger, Kaito would have made sure that the kid had a safe haven and a place to buy from without being cheated.

"All right then, if you'll allow me; I'll help you out so we can get exactly what you want without wasting any time."

An hour and a half later saw Naruto leaving the shop and heading back home with a couple of over stuffed bags under his arms and a smile that threatened to split his face in two. Not only did he get exactly what he wanted, but he got everything at half price. Kaito-san had said that while it was a one time deal, it was a just reward for all the service had had done for Konoha. Naruto's smile just got a little bigger as he raced home.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and sighed, with the help of Shizune she had finally managed to get caught up in all her paperwork. Pulling out a bottle of sake from her 'secret stash' that she had hidden away, she figured a drink would be a nice reward for finishing the paper work. She had just opened the bottle and started to pour herself a drink when Shizune popped her head in through the doors.

"Tsunade-sama, the Kirirepresentativeis here to see you about the encounter with the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu." Tsunade pouted, she was in the mood for a break right now, not more dilly-dallying with politicians. She shrugged, like it or not the representative (and therefore work) came before any 'me' time.

"All right, Shizune, let him in." she replied, while bring out an extra sake dish. It was only the polite thing to offer her distinguished guest some as well. When Shizune open the door to let the representative, Tsunade was shocked. She had expected one of two things, either A, a pompous (and most likely fat) politician with an ego the size of the hokage monument, or B, a senior shinobi who would be all business and no fun at all. Instead, imagine her surprise when in walked a man with the grace of a shinobi and a face that, when he smiled, would cause ladies to swoon. There was something else as well, the man's eyes never wandered to her chest like most peoples did; his eyes were always locked with hers. After Shizune closed the door behind him, the man bowed.

"Hokage-sama, I am Shashu, let me say it is an honor to finally meet you in person" Tsunade only smiled in return and motioned for him to take a seat. 'Good looks, a wonderful voice, and manners, it's a wonder that girls aren't dropping form left and right, if I was about 30 years younger I know I would be.' Tsunade thought.

"Thank you, Shashu-dono, have a drink and tell me how things are in Kiri these days?" Taking the drink, Shashu said:

"I don't know and frankly don't care" before downing the drink in one gulp. This immediately set off warning bells in Tsunade's head, she opened he mouth to speak but was abruptly cut off.

"I know what you're going to say Lady Tsunade, and I would like it if you would hold your questions until I explain. You should consider yourself lucky that my associates and I managed to intercept your message before it got to Kiri, otherwise the Mizukage would be knocking on your doorstep right now with a battalion of his best shinobi to back him up, peace treaties be dammed." Shashu leaned back, steepeling his fingers in front of his mouth. Tsunade was put off, this man was obviously not associated with Kiri, and if what he was implying was true then Kiri was willing to go to war over something involving the seven shinobi swordsmen of the mist (because that is the reason she sent a letter to Kiri in the first place).

"All right wise guy, start talking, mind you that if I'm not satisfied I'll throw you in an ANBU cell myself." She said, putting on her best 'game' face. Shashu only grinned and put his hands in his lap before leaning forward.

"Then prepare yourself, Lady Hokage, for a tale that very few have the honor of hearing, and one that very few dare believe, but is entirely true…" he said, as his grin evolved into a full blown smile.

Opening the door, Naruto watched the steam billow out of his shower. Walking out whilst drying himself off with a towel, he couldn't believe how good he felt after washing his hair with shampoo, it felt oh-so-light and silky now. The moment he walked through the door he had emptied out his back pack and shopping bags before putting away a few things and setting out his new clothes. He was very happy with his purchases; Kaito had found a burnt orange headband-belt for his hitai-ate that perfectly matched the color of the lining of his new outfit. The new head band that he got to hold back his hair was cool as well, it's primary color was black while the front side of the headband had an interlock 'S' shapes in an alternating white and silver color. The shin guards were top quality, they were ultra light and had added protection for the top of his foot while leaving his toes open, and didn't restrict his flexibility or movement. Kaito had suggested that he get a pair of open healed sandals like Kakashi sensei wore to further increase his flexibility. Naruto had whole-headedly agreed.

In addition to the purchases for his new outfit, Naruto had bought some other shinobi equipment that he had needed; solider pills, blood clotting pills, first aid field kit, a spool of the highest grade of ninja wire, more explosive tags, flash bombs, some blank scrolls and writing equipment, a book on basic sealing so he could carry things around like Tenten, to some other little accessories a shinobi might need. Putting those thoughts aside for the moment, he finished drying his hair and put the towel he was using around his waist. Taking a spare towel from the rack, he wiped the fog off the mirror; he wanted to see how his hair looked now. The moment he saw his reflection in the mirror, he froze.

What a difference a single bottle of shampoo can make.

When he used soap, his hair clumped into thick spikes, now, because of the shampoo, his hair was in thinner, natural spikes. If he thought he looked similar to the Yondaime before, now he could say that he was a dead ringer for him at his age. The only difference between the two was that Naruto's side burns weren't as long and his eyes weren't as narrow as the Yondaime's. Naruto could only stare in amazement; heck, besides the previous mentioned differences, and the whisker marks, he was literally a clone of the Yondaime. Shrugging his shoulders and a muttered 'cool' later, Naruto left his bathroom and exchanged his towel for a pair of green boxers with orange squiggles on them.

Looking to his bed, Naruto grinned. Before going to bed, he decided to try on his new outfit at least once to make sure everything fit (and to see how cool he looked in them). Tying his new headband in place, he put on the pants that Karashi included with the out fit. The pants were a sandy tan color and were tighter than what he normally wore, not by much, but still enough for him to notice a difference. The ends of pants weren't loose enough to require tapping down with bandages so, instead, he slipped on his new sandals and snapped the shin guards into place. Getting up and walking around his bedroom, Naruto had to admit it felt a bit weird, the way the shin guards griped his leg and the feel of the air on his heels. Bouncing from one foot to the other Naruto admired the new found flexibility that the sandals and armor afforded him. He ended up performing a spinning round-house kick that, unfortunately, ended up connecting with one of the bed posts. The Good news? His leg didn't hurt at all and his armor didn't even a dent or scratch on it from the impact. The Bad News? His bed post now had a big f-ing crack in it.

Putting both feet on the floor, (and telling himself to calm down a little) Naruto secured his Kunai/shuriken holster to his right leg before doing the same for his newly bought 'scroll holster' on his left. The scroll holster was simply a larger version of his kunai holster that was meant to carry large round objects. In this he placed his spool on Ninja wire and a special scroll that was a scroll, brush, and ink well all in one. The other reason he put the scroll holster on his left was that he realized that he naturally did some things with his left as he did with his right. He sighed, now came the tough part: doing the 'bandage shirt'. It was his good fortune that he and Karashi thought alike and the instructions were easy to follow and in a little under fifteen minuets he had the shirt done. Naruto swung his arms in large circles, testing the tightness of the bandages. Amazingly, it wasn't all that tight, and it felt really weird when he moved in certain directions. He shrugged, nothing he can really do about it, he would just have to get used to it.

'Now for the fun part' he thought, looking at his bed. There, lying on top of the bed was his newhitai-ate-belt, the asymmetrical robe/shirt, and the gloves. Before he took his shower, he had remover the metal plate of the hitai-ate Iruka-sensei had given him and attached it to the belt, whilst keeping the original head band as a keepsake. As he put on the robe/shirt, he noticed some alterations that Karashi had made; he had reduced the collar so he could clearly see over his shoulder and had widened the sleeve opening to give it a more mystic feel, in addition to adding a small pocket inside of the sleeve that could hold at most a pocket note pad. After tying off the belt and putting on the gloves, he walked over to the full body length mirror.

Looking at his reflection, Naruto let his hands fall to his sides and his grin melt off his face. While he would never say it out loud, he could now admit that he not only looked like, but now felt like a serious shinobi; not like an ignorant child running around in bright orange. Turning back to his bed, he set his eyes upon the final addition to his change. The OoburiFutago. Picking up the blades, Naruto admired their balance and weight. He thought it was odd how comfortable and natural in felt for him to hold them; he thought it should have been like the bandage shirt, awkward at first, then slowly getting used to it over time. Shaking his head, he gave the blades a twirl so that he held them in a reverse grip before sliding them into his belt. Unlike Raiga, who was both taller and bigger than him, Naruto didn't push the blades all the way to the hilt; instead, he stopped once he reached the second claw. Now that was done there was one last thing; the first Hokage's necklace. Putting it on, Naruto turned to the mirror before crossing his arms.

If some one were to compare the Naruto of that morning to the Naruto of right now, it would be like looking at night and day. The Naruto that everybody knew was full of bright colors, loudness, a carefree attitude and a desire to become Hokage so he could be recognize as the best, who would boast his skills to anyone and everyone. This Naruto, on the other hand, was calm, cool, collected, approachable but cautious, more humble, yet exuded an aura of seriousness, but was still willing to put everything on the line for those precious ones.

He remembered one of his very first precious people, on he had almost forgotten, an old caretaker that took care of him when he was in the orphanage, a beautiful brown haired lady with odd purple markings on her cheeks who always wanted him to call her 'Rin-neechan.' She had taken care of him until he was four and then Sarutobi had given him his apartment and told him that when he was six he would be eligible to enter the academe program. Of course at the time he didn't understand much of what Hokage-jiji said at the time besides the fact that he could got to the academe. In those two years before the academe, he had trained his butt of when he wasn't pranking and had essentially forgotten Rin-neechan. 'I'll have to see if she is still around, and if she is, say I'm sorry for forgetting her. I know she wouldn't have forgotten me.'

He turned to start taking his equipment off when he realized with a start that he couldn't move. His body refused to respond to his commands. Before he could resist further, his vision was filled with a bright flash of light before he found him self no longer inside his apartment. Now he was in his mindscape. Now Naruto normally wasn't prone to swearing, but now seemed like a very good time to do so.

"Ah, FUCK, now what?!"

"Come" A voice commanded, or rather, two voices. Naruto recognized them immediately; they were the voices from his dreams. He went through a weapons check before confronting the voices: Swords? No, missing, along with his kunai. Claws? No, didn't work. 'Well,' Naruto figured, 'At least I have my Taijutsu' as he walked down the halls of his sub-conscious to the location he knew the voices were coming from. As he walked, he noticed something different about his mindscape, it appeared as though the water had cover the floors had been receding, and it was almost completely dry now. As he rounded the corner into the seal, he paused. There, standing before the cage was the two figures, watching him. But this time they were no longer wreathed in shadow. The one on the left was definitely a man; from head to foot he was clad in samurai armor. The armor it's self was a dark grey with silver thunder clouds highlighting it. He even had the classic samurai helmet with the decorative horns; the only part of his skin that was showing was a small strip around his eyes. Coiled around his right arm was a long spiked chain.

The figure on the right standing about in the middle of the room was most definitely female. Unlike her companion, her armor was cut down for speed, leaving her midriff, biceps, and thighs completely exposed. Her helmet was also cut down and the decorative horns were styled as two lighting bolts sweeping back over her head. Her left gauntlet had some sort of latch like thing on it. Before he could make any more observations, the female spoke as she and her companion lock their eyes with his, and both figures had eyes the color of polished steel.

"You found us" she sounded almost happy, or relived for some reason. As both figures started walking towards him Naruto shouted.

"Who are you?" This time it was the man that spoke up, and his gruff voice sounded very similar to Zabuza's.

"You already know the answer to that question gaki (brat)" That's when Naruto noticed what hung on the figures' waists. Two very familiar blades.

"OoburiFutago…" The twin stopped in front of him and gave what he thought to be a smile, he really couldn't tell with those helmets.

"…But how?" he asked. To this the twins both put a hand on Naruto's shoulders.

"It is because we are living weapons, Naruto" the sister

"And we've chosen you to wield us" the brother

Before he could ask another question, he found himself back in his body, but no longer in his apartment. He was on the roof of his apartment complex. Hearing the deep roll of thunder, he looked to the sky. There, directly above him, the storm clouds were rotating like a hurricane with him at the center. Bolts of lightning raced across the sky from one part of the clouds to the other. The OoburiFutago spoke to him

'Now Naruto, take us...' the sister spook, only to be finished by the brother. It continued this way as they spoke

'…and raise us to the sky'

'Search deep inside of your self…'

'…there you will find what you want.'

'Now raise us…'

'…AND SHOUT OUT OUR NAMES!'

Raising them above his head, Naruto suddenly knew. As if it had been a part of him sense birth, he knew their names. And so, he shouted their names for the world to hear.

"Inadzuma… Jinrai… HADOU (surge)!"

Lighting bolts from all across the sky raced to a single point above Naruto's head before converging and lashing down to touch their newest master.

Tsunade rubbed her forehead, attempting to quell the coming headache. However the headache wasn't caused by the sake that she and Shashu had been drinking, but by Shashu himself and the information he had provided.

"Alright, let me see if I got this right; first off you, Shashu, are the 'Lord Marshal' or in other words the head of your organization simply called the 'Templar'. Do I have it right?"

"That is correct, Tsunade-sama," replied Shashu, before taking another drink of sake. So far he had consumed at least there bottles of the rice wine and showed no signs of getting drunk. "Membership in the group is hereditary and my position in particular is an elected by the current members of the Templar. The goal of our group is simple: ensure that the blades of the seven souls do not fall into the hands of the evil or the corrupt. The second duty of the Templar is to repair or re-forge the blades should they be damaged or destroyed"

"OK, I'm with you so far, now what about the Mizukage…" Tsunade began only to be cut off by Shashu; it was his only bad habit.

"Instated the tradition of passing the swords down from master to apprentice to cut my organization out completely and prevent the swords from ever leaving Kiri's possession altogether. So, in response, the Templar began using whatever means necessary to retrieve the blades when their masters fell or were about to pass the blades on and return them to Temple of the Seven Souls."

Tsunade nodded her head; nobody liked being cut out of the loop, the reasons being good or ill. That was one of the problems Narutos' father, Minato, encountered when he tried to streamline the Konoha political machine.

"Could you give me another example of the Mizukages' actions that were in violation of your agreement?" She asked, for during his narrative Shashu had mentioned and explained the agreement the Templar had with Kiri. One of the details that had intrigued her was the fact that if a sword 'chose' a shinobi that wasn't from Kiri then the remaining swords (and swords currently in use after their wielders deaths) would be transferred to the country of the new wielders origin.

"The most obvious violation that comes to mind is the theft of the incomplete blade known as 'Kubikiri Houcho.' The blade was actually a replacement that we forged after the destruction of another. The spirit of the destroyed sword returned to the temple to inform us of what happened and we proceeded to forge a new sword before Kami forced the spirit to depart to the afterlife."

"The Mizukage, being a member of theKiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu and a holder of one of the blades, was present during the forging and, when we were about to begin the ceremony to re-connect the soul to its' new blade 'body' he attacked, killing one and critically wounding the other Templar members. Since the soul's new body was stolen it was forced to pass in to the afterlife. When we recovered enough to make the trip to Kiri to demand the Kage return the blade, he gave us an ultimatum: swear undying loyalty to Kiri, or else."

"I bet that went over well," Tsunade said sarcastically.

"It actually did in fact, I showed the Mizukage we would take the 'or else' path by blowing the head of one of his swordsmen off before taking the soul blade in his position back to the temple to be protected" Shashu replied offhandedly.

Tsunade felt a shiver run done her spine at how offhandedly he mentioned blowing the head off one of the swordsmen. Clearing her throat, she decided to change the topic.

"So exactly how many of the swords do you have safe then?" she asked

"Currently, three of the seven. The four that we don't have in our possession are Uzumaku Dokuhane held by the Mizukage Yagura; Samehada which is currently wielded by Kisame Hoshigaki; Kubikiri Houcho formally wielded be the late Zabuza Momochi; and finally, the Ooburi Futago, the most powerful of the seven," at this point the rather neutral look that had dominated Shashu's features morphed into a grin and said, "which, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm not, currently resides in this city either knowingly or unknowingly in the possession of one of the genin that was part of the team that slayed Raiga."

This sent Tsunade for a loop, one of her genin had the swords? And not only that, but the fact that the swords in their possession were the strongest of them all scared her. She immediately ran through the mental list of who could have the swords and eliminate the ones who didn't. Neji and Tenten were out because Neji packed light and would have noticed and handed the blades over to her. If Tenten had them then Shashu wouldn't have been able to sense them since she sealed everything she had in her scrolls. So that left two possibilities: Naruto and Lee. If she was a betting woman, and she sure as hell was, she would place everything on Naruto having the blades. Before she could voice her concerns, Shashu waved her off.

"There's no need to fret Tsunade-sama, soon the Ooburi Futago shall finish their ceremony and the rest of the swords will be yours."

What ever response Tsunade had ready caught in her throat. 'Finish their ceremony? He makes it sound as if the swords were alive somehow…' She was broken from her thoughts by the sound of Shashu going 'tsk, tsk.'

"Tsunade, Tsunade, Tsunade, did you not listen to what I have told you? The only reason the genin would have the swords, knowingly or not, is if they were meant to be together," he said, leaning back in his chair and steepeling his fingers in front of his face, "In the 2000 years of the Templar's existence, the Ooburi Futago have only had four other masters. The reason the twins are so picky in choosing a wielder is because they judge there potential masters based on their heart and dedication. For a shinobi as young as the one who has been chosen to have such qualities, had to of grown up in an environment that promoted great freedom. This is something that Kiri has lost, but Konoha seems to have in spades. I believe that your Sandaime Hokage had a phrase for it, 'Will of Fire'?" he finished, looking out the side window.

Tsunade opened her mouth to speak when a clap of thunder and a wave of energy hit the Hokage tower. Since it had been storming recently, very loud thunder claps weren't uncommon, but this one was sounded like a bomb going off right next to the tower. That and the wave of energy was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was like an enormous pressure had suddenly placed upon her. It only lasted a second, but it was enough to give her a shock. Looking out the window, Tsunade saw a massive pillar of light piercing the clouds before hearing Shashu speak once more.

"A toast, Lady Tsunade," he said, raising his dish of sake; "to the Konoha no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu, the seven shinobi swordsmen of the leaf."

A legend had been born.

Edit 9/16/09 WHile it did take me awile, I finally got around to fixing that data dump at the end, I hope that you enjoy the new end! R 'n R please!