Sorry about the wait. It's been a while. I hadn't planned to take so long, but one thing turned into another and another, and then before I knew it, three months of school went by and I was left exhausted. So, since it's Spring Break, I thought I'd pass this chapter along to you guys. Hope you enjoy.

P.S. - I'm not a review hog, but...some more would be nice. If nothing else then to inflate my ego. It's been pretty...flat lately.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter Four

Naruto's eyes darkened slightly as he lowered them to look down at the tabletop. "In our time dimension," he began, "the same things have occurred, just as they have in yours, Kurenai-sensei. The point where everything changed was upon our graduation from the academy. Only for us four has this change been so drastic – especially me. When I was twelve in our dimension, I failed the genin exam…badly."

Frowning, the other three time-travelers paid close attention to the blond's words, having never truly known what had happened that fateful day. All they had known was Naruto had failed the exam, and had miraculously appeared in the graduating class with a shiny, new hitai-ate. Sasuke's hands clenched his white shorts as he reigned in old emotions, while Sakura's eyes glimmered with old memories of earlier days. Naruto's eyes snapped up to look at Hinata, who had placed a hand gently on his shoulder to help ease him past the harsh past he had lived. After blinking a few times, Naruto's mouth formed a hesitant grin and he nodded slightly. Turning back to Kurenai, he continued:

"The task, like usual, was to form two workable Bunshin, and, unfortunately, I was incapable of such a task. So, I failed. 'Course, I was pretty torn up; after all, who wouldn't be upset over such a failure? When all the graduates gathered outside to boast of their success to their parents, I sat on the schoolyard swing, watching them with envy."

Rubbing the back of his head tiredly, Naruto said, "Though I hadn't known it at the time, I wasn't envious of the fact that they had passed, so much as the fact that they were recognized…by someone. Anyway," he said, waving his hand and laughing slightly, "back to the main story. I was sitting on the swing when lo and behold, Mizuki appeared. Surprise, surprise," came the sarcastic comment from the blond. "The bastard hooked me line-and-sinker into thinking I'd pass the genin exam if I got the Scroll of Forbidden Seals and learned techniques from it. 'Course, like some dolt, I believed him and stole it, and concentrated on learning one of the many jutsus listed. Through practicing for a few hours, I gained the new skill of Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…which seems kind of ironic, since I couldn't even make a regular Bunshin.

"Iruka-sensei found me after those few hours, and yelled me a good one. How was I know it was forbidden in all cases, with none being exempt from the rule? It was after this that Mizuki appeared and then all chaos reigned. I was informed of the beast in my body, and my world completely shattered."

Chuckling slightly, a pained expression crossed the vessel's face and he continued with, "I ran after that. I didn't want it to be true. I didn't want to hear that Iruka-sensei hated me, and that he hated me for something I couldn't control. I didn't want to face the idea of everyone hating me because of something I couldn't prevent. I was scared, pathetic…and stupid. Somehow, I thought I could outrun a chuunin and live to tell the tale. Yeah, right – the bastard found me, injured Iruka-sensei, pissed me off, and so I beat the shit out of him."

He grinned at Sasuke, teeth glinting. "I liked that part."

Kurenai's eyes were clouded as she took in all Naruto had told her. "I see," she began thoughtfully. "Umino-san awarded you based on finishing off the traitor, I would assume?"

"That," said Naruto, eyebrows raised slightly as he explained, "and the fact that I successfully performed the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and made at least two hundred clones or so."

Sasuke and Sakura traded glances, each one now understanding how he'd managed to graduate finally. The last Uchiha looked over at Naruto, murmuring, "Well, that solves that question. It was after that event that we met Kakashi-sensei, right?"

"Of course," said Sakura, interjecting softly. "We did our share of D-Rank missions until Naruto felt us competent enough to attend to a C-Rank mission – helping Tazuna of the Wave Country. We were approximately in the same place in the timeline before as we are right now."

"Tell me more of this C-Rank mission," commanded Kurenai gently. "I'm not quite sure I feel genin to be ready for a C-Rank…even though I am reassured that you three would probably do just fine. But, how did you do before?"

"Nearly died," quipped Naruto.

"Cried myself to death," Sakura muttered.

"Found myself spiked to the brim with senbon needles, and therefore placed into a state of near-death," said Sasuke sardonically. "Found myself to be inadequate against someone who wasn't even a ninja, and also woke up with approximately two hundred kilos on me."

Sakura stared at him in disbelief. "I don't weigh two hundred kilos, you…you… I don't weigh that much!"

"Felt like it…"

Sakura slammed her hands on Kurenai's dining room table, and a crack ran through the dense wood. Kurenai's right eye began to twitch, though Sakura hadn't noticed until Sasuke pointed at her, and then the table. Upon seeing the repercussion of her action, she jumped back and glanced over at Kurenai. "I…" she began slowly, holding her hands in surrender. "I can fix that, Kurenai-sensei… My apologies."

Hinata and Naruto sighed softly, each silently admonishing the rosette as Kurenai's eye continued to twitch. "It's fine," said the genjutsu specialist. "I…needed a new one anyway."

Sakura sighed in relief, and Sasuke smirked. She glared at him, sat back down at the table and began to mutter, "Damn duck-butt."

"I don't have a god-damned, duck-butt haircut, damn it!" yelled Sasuke, slamming his own fist into the table. Another crack seeped through the table, intercrossing the first and allowing the table to break apart into four pieces. Kurenai's left eye had begun to twitch rapidly as well, and Naruto shifted over towards Hinata more to get away from the now shaking genjutsu mistress. Hinata frowned slightly at Naruto's actions, and she quickly stood to take Kurenai's hand, and drag her to the living room. Naruto followed, sparing a last glance toward the still arguing Uchiha and Haruno.

The three sat down on the couch and Naruto cleared his throat to gain their attention. "Yeah, so, moving on… We weren't ready for that mission yet. It turned out to technically be a B- to A-Rank mission. We encountered Momochi Zabuza of the Kirigakure, and found ourselves in a hell of a lot of trouble. Let's see, the first time we fought him, we barely scraped by: Kakashi-sensei was forced to use the Sharingan, then he got trapped in Suirou no Jutsu, and I formulated a quick plan with which both Sasuke and I executed. Kakashi-sensei got released, and fought again with Zabuza, winning the battle before Haku, disguised as a hunter-nin, took the guy away."

"Wait!" Kurenai exclaimed softly, giving Naruto her full attention. "You fought against Momochi Zabuza? He's supposedly one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist!"

"Not supposedly," said Naruto with a frown. "Is, or was, or whatever. Anyway, the guy was amazingly strong, and Haku was strong, too."

"Who's Haku?"

"Some kid Zabuza picked up and trained as a ninja tool. I hated Zabuza for that, but, Haku seemed to adore the guy."

Kurenai gaped slightly, softly saying, "I see… How…informative."

"Anyway, we killed those guys in the end, and when we came back, we hit high time for the Chuunin Exam. All the rookies participated, and the first exam was nothing special. Right, Hinata?"

Hinata glanced at him quickly, mustering a small grin. "I suppose not, seeing as you chose not to answer a single thing."

"You win some, you lose some," Naruto muttered, frowning at the Hyuuga heiress, who beamed back. "It was the second exam that proved detrimental to everything."

He looked up as Sasuke came up from behind him, and he grinned, saying, "Oh, did you finish your duck-butt conversation?"

Sasuke ignored him, and focused his angry eyes at the jounin. "It was the second exam that screwed me for life. Orochimaru appeared, and decided to have a little fun."

"Orochimaru!" exclaimed Kurenai, so surprised that she quickly rose from her seat on the couch. "You fought Orochimaru? Why didn't you run?" she continued to demand, fists clenching. "He's a S-Class Nukenin!Why didn't you run?"

"I didn't particularly feel like dying without a fight," came the curt reply. "We fought that bastard, and he left me a gift that ruined what little humanity I had remaining. I'm sure you know of it – that woman, Anko or whatever, has it, too."

Kurenai's face began to lose color, and she fell back on the couch with a defeated expression. "Anko-chan," she whispered. "What," she began, looking up at the glaring Uchiha, "does that seal do, exactly?"

"The Cursed Seal of Heaven gives its victim a highly-energized power boost, allowing the person's chakra to multiply by nearly ten times. It carries three stages in actuality, though I was only able to reach the second level. First stage heightens your power, while the second allows for a transformation of sorts. The price of the technique is the mental breakdown of whatever innocence or purity one contains in his body. Evil thoughts begin to penetrate and turn you away from what you originally stood for."

Whatever color was left in Kurenai's quickly disappeared, leaving her absolutely ashen. Sakura and Hinata readied themselves, in case Kurenai found herself incapable of staying conscious. "That bastard," she whispered softly. "That's why Anko has periods of pain in her neck, right? Next time he comes around, I swear: I will kill him myself."

Naruto laughed, clapping a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, take a number. That guy, he'll definitely appear again at the exams. Anyway," he said, frowning, "we got out of the second exam alive, more or less. Because there were too many people, we had preliminary fights, with which the winners were…me, Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Shino, and the sand applicants: Temari, Gaara, and Kankurou."

Kurenai looked slightly relieved after hearing one of her students passed, but felt the need to ask about Kiba. Naruto grinned, saying, "I beat him. Sorry Sensei."

Nodding slightly, Kurenai turned towards a stone-faced Hinata, asking, "Hinata?"

"I nearly died when Neji-nii-san decided to take his anger out on me."

She sighed at Kurenai's soft hiss of disbelief. "At this stage, he still blames the Main Branch for his troubled times, though he was much better after Naruto beat some sense into him. Which brings us to after the preliminaries – a month passed and the third exam finally took place. We had a few battles, but that's when Orochimaru began his attack. Konoha suffered severe damage due to the war, and the Sandaime lost his life. Orochimaru killed him."

Kurenai eyes widened immensely and she turned towards Hinata quickly. "Hokage-sama…killed? Is this true? Hinata, please tell me you're just joking!"

Hinata was unable to meet her instructor's eyes, and instead looked down at the ground in shame. "I…am deeply sorry, Kurenai-sensei. There was nothing that could be done in that situation."

"There's more," said Naruto softly, a frown on his face. "While Orochimaru was fighting the Old Man, I was busy dealing with a sand genin named Gaara who is also a jinchuuriki. Unfortunately, his seal wasn't as…tightly constructed as mine is, and so, he unleashed the demon within him."

"Gaara is a jinchuuriki, too?" asked Kurenai. "I hadn't realized the Sand held a jinchuuriki in their village as well. What is he like?"

Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Sakura traded glances, each frowning. "Well," began Sasuke, "he's a bit…unstable, to tell the truth. Unlike Naruto, he never gained any recognition from his village at all, and he'd been lied to at a young age, which completely screwed him over."

"After Naruto beat him, though," continued Sakura, "he was a bit more sociable, and eventually, we became allies to the Sand, even though they had originally been paired with Orochimaru for the destruction of Konoha."

Sakura noticed Kurenai's confused face, and laughed hesitantly. "Ah, I suppose we went just a bit out of order. We're not sure how long he was carrying such a façade, but Orochimaru had killed off the Fourth Kazekage a long while before the Chuunin Exams. In addition, he went around acting as the Kazekage, and no one but the Sand's council had realized it. The Sand was led to believe the destruction of Konoha would be in their best interest, and so, in the final exam, the Sand and Sound villages launched a full-scale attack on Konoha."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, placing his hands on his hips as he stated, "Luckily, Konoha was able to deal out a good defense, and we're lucky we had one of the Sannin on our side, though I'm not sure how much help that guy really was. Anyway, our ninja were able to repel the enemy forces, and as we did, news crept across the village of the Hokage's death…"

"I didn't know until I woke up in the hospital after my battle with Gaara," whispered Naruto, eyes downcast. "After the attack, we had the Hokage's funeral, and it seemed that everything was at peace again. But, it was at this point when Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin, offered me a chance to train and assist him in a retrieval mission."

Kurenai said nothing from where her face was buried in her hands. The four genin flinched slightly when they heard soft sniffles coming from the jounin, and on each one's face, an expression of guilt surfaced. "Hokage-sama," Kurenai whispered as she desperately tried to wipe away the tears running down her face, causing the four to flinch back even more. The soon-to-be-called "Ice Queen of Konoha," the woman who had always faced battle with a straight and calculating expression, was crying softly in front of them. Naruto clutched at his black shirt tightly, unable to look at the jounin, while Sasuke turned away from her, eyes closed tightly. The other two genin, Sakura and Hinata, moved closer to comfort Kurenai, each feeling like heels because of their callous words.

"Sorry, Sensei," muttered Naruto, his fists clenched. "It's a been a long time for us, so we've had time to get over the pain. We didn't think about your feelings. Sorry."

Approximately five to ten minutes passed before Kurenai found herself able to focus on the matter at hand again. Her eyes were a dull red as she glanced at the blond boy, nodding her head slightly as she rasped out, "So, what happened after Hokage-sama…passed away? You said Jiraiya took you with him for training and a mission?"

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei," said Naruto after a slightly pause. Glancing at his companions, he turned to face Kurenai completely. "Due to the Hokage's death, the village needed a new leader; while the elders had turned towards Jiraiya for help, he basically blew them off and took me halfway across the nation to find Tsunade. We found her after a coincidental run-in with Orochimaru, again, and found he wanted to restore his arms – the ones that the Sandaime killed off with his life-eating jutsu thing."

Sakura frowned over at Naruto, taking up the helm by saying, "Shiki Fuujin: the Dead Demon Consuming Seal," she stated, looking next towards Kurenai. "Because the Sandaime felt Orochimaru had finally gotten out of control, he tried to kill off the sannin through the use of this jutsu, but was already in a near-death situation by that time. Because of this, Hokage-sama took away the ability to perform jutsus from Orochimaru, thus ending that aspect of the declared war on Konoha. Konoha scraped by with a win, and that was solely due to the ending efforts of the Hokage."

Kurenai frowned slightly, before she tilted her head into a gentle nod. "Continue. What happened after you found Tsunade? Did something else happen with Orochimaru?"

"Of course," continued Naruto, placing his hands in his pockets. "After we found Tsunade, and heard that Orochimaru had tried to make a deal with her – his healed arms for both her revived younger brother and lover – she started talking bad about the Hokage. Of course, I didn't take that sitting down, and challenged her," the boy said with a grin, showing off his pearly teeth. Glancing down at his hand, he said, "I charged up an incomplete Rasengan to try and finish her off, and ended up flying halfway across the town after she flicked my forehead with her finger. She challenged me, saying she'd give me her necklace if I mastered the Rasengan."

"And?" Kurenai prodded. "Did you master it?"

With a small, sad smile, Naruto nodded, his hand automatically reaching for a necklace that was no longer around his neck. "I won… But, the day I mastered it, was the final day for Orochimaru to receive an answer from Tsunade. She basically said no, and all the Sannin got into this huge fight. Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice, fought with Kabuto, Orochimaru's right-hand man, but ended up losing. So, I decided to join the fight with my newly mastered jutsu! Got my ass handed to me at the beginning, but then I dealt the bastard a good blow with my Rasengan!"

The blond began dancing randomly in the middle of Kurenai's living room, much to the amusement of everyone else. "And!" he declared in continuance while he was still dancing, "I nearly died. I don't really recall what happened. All I can remember is when I woke up in the hotel room in town, though I did find out about how Tsunade ran Orochimaru off and that she was going to become the Fifth Hokage. So, the retrieval mission was said and done with."

Sasuke gently tapped Naruto on the shoulder, causing the latter to become silent. Turning towards the thoughtful jounin, Sasuke said, "That's not all. During the time immediately after the war, after Naruto had left with Jiraiya-sama, my brother and his friend, Kisame, came to the village."

Kurenai's eyes widened slightly, her lips thinning as she stared up at the last Uchiha. "Uchiha Itachi is going to come back? What does he want now?"

"I'm getting to that," Sasuke said softly. "It was because Kakashi got hurt that I found out Itachi was in the village, and so I sought after him since I heard the bastard was after Naruto. I didn't know why, but I knew I had to find my teammate. Didn't do much good in the end, but…"

Kurenai turned her gaze from Sasuke, to Naruto, and back again. "What was he after Naruto for?"

"He was trying to get the bijuu in me," Naruto said softly. "Itachi and Kisame are part of an organization called Akatsuki, and their mission is to gather all the bijuus for some world domination ideal. Anyway, he didn't get me, so let's fast forward. Let's see," he murmured, cupping his chin with his right hand. "Ah, right, I remember. After that was basically the Sasuke Retrieval Mission. Sasuke went off to join Orochimaru, and the Konoha Nine, no, Eight, had to deal with the Sound Four – Orochimaru's elite bodyguards. Yeah, that was a toughie, and we ended up involving the Sand genin, too."

Noticing Kurenai's confused expression, he quickly said, "Remember: we declared peace with the Sand after they found out what Orochimaru had done, and so, we were all happy, happy by that point. Anyway, even the Sand genin helped us, but in the end, it came out to a one-on-one duel between Sasuke and me. Mano a mano."

Kurenai's eyes flicked over to glance at Sasuke as she took in his grim expression. "So, who won?"

"Well," Naruto began, drawing out the word, "I definitely lost. He went to Orochimaru. Basically, end of story. Jiraiya got me out of the hospital, and I went on a long, long, training journey. Fast forward to three years later. I came back, met up with the gang, and found out we had a new teammate for Team Seven, blah, blah, blah, and so on. Main things to consider at this point at that we met Sasuke again, got beat down again, and went back to Konoha in pain, again. Somewhere along the way, Sasuke killed Orochimaru, people of Akatsuki were killed, Jiraiya was killed…lots of killing. This is enough for you, right?"

The female jounin took in a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh. "I suppose that will do for now. I don't want more information getting in the way of what's to immediately take place in the next few months. First things first," she said, standing up and looking down at the time travelers. "All of you, unless within range of me, donot perform any jutsu you have not been shown in this timeline. I also don't feel it's a good idea for just me to know about this – it would be better if Kakashi-san knew as well, seeing as he's your instructor. Right now, I plan to go ahead and ask the Hokage to allow Team Eight to assist you three with your mission. We can't afford such risks to take place if what you said leads to be true.

"In addition, I will help all of you to the best of my ability, though I've one more request," she said, her tone softening with each word. Looking at Sasuke, she gently asked, "May I also include Anko in all of this? If nothing else, maybe you can help her control that…thing on her neck?"

Sasuke sighed softly, shrugging. "It probably wouldn't hurt. But, if there's nothing else, we're going to go ahead and get some rest. We'll see you in the morning."

Sakura bowed her head towards the jounin, stating, "As you're a reconnaissance team, consisting of a Byakugan user, an Inuzuka, and an Aburame, please go ahead of us. We'll let Kakashi know when we all meet up at the Zabuza site."

Kurenai took another deep breath, nodding as she let it out. "Where's the best place to begin reconnaissance, Sakura? Is there a certain system you would like me to employ, or a specific target to keep sights on, aside of Zabuza?"

Hinata, Sasuke, and Naruto gave Sakura full-reign while she immediately launched into a plan: "There's a hunter-nin boy, Haku, who watches the fight between Zabuza and Kakashi from afar. However good his intentions were, he caused a lot of problems for all of us later on, which led to his death. Our battle plan this time around is to minimize deaths by as much as possible, so, we'll need you to capture that boy and keep him out of the way. Your team, since Hinata is on it, should be able to do that on their own, and so, I need, or rather, request of you, Kurenai-sensei, to assist Kakashi-sensei in defeating Zabuza. But, do not kill the man – surprisingly enough, he turned good in the end, and could prove a useful ally to us."

The woman nodded when Sakura finished, asking, "Where should my team wait for your arrival?"

"There's a small lake on the road towards the village, after you've reached the Land of the Waves. That's where our battle will take place, and it would be preferable if you could lay out a few traps to catch the two beforehand. If we're lucky, those will stop them, but odds are that they won't. These are all of the suggestions I can give. Ah," she murmured, turning towards Hinata. "Make sure to keep Kiba and Shino away from our fight. Until we tell them what's going on, we can't risk them getting in our way."

"What?" asked Naruto incredulously. "We're telling them, too? Are you serious? What happened to this huge secret to be kept under wraps?"

Sakura ignored his sarcasm, glaring at him. "Oh? And what are we supposed to do if one of us happens to accidentally unleash a Rasengan, Chidori, or if I happen to start healing people automatically? Or even if Hinata launches out a Chuuzuri Hakkeshou Kaiten? We can't take those kind of risks! Knowledge of the future is precious, and if something goes wrong, are you going to take responsibility for it? No?" she asked, eyes narrowed dangerously as he turned away. "Then shut up about it, and let us rework this from every angle we can!"

Hinata and Sasuke traded glances, and Hinata laid a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "We should go, and give Kurenai-sensei some time to herself."

Sakura's eyes flew to glare into Hinata's lavender ones, before seeing them calmly staring back at her. Clearing her throat, Sakura bowed her head at Kurenai, walking out of the living room area and towards the door. Sasuke and Hinata made to follow, but the latter looked back to see Naruto still standing stock-still, not having moved at all. Raising an eyebrow at the blond, he shrugged his shoulders and ushered himself and the other two out the door. Kurenai heard the door click closed, and watched Naruto move towards it and lock it tightly. When he returned to the living room, Kurenai looked at him expectantly, her blood-red eyes weary and tired.

His cloudy eyes cleared significantly as he gestured for the woman to sit down again. "You know now what our plan is for the betterment of Konoha. However, you don't know a slight drawback to this plan of ours."

"What's that?" asked the genjutsu specialist. "Enlighten me, Uzumaki."

"You're a smart woman," continued Naruto, "so you know that attack I made on you weeks ago wasn't just some playtime act. I greatly hesitate to talk to the others about this, because this is something that could ruin our plans very easily. Unfortunately, what I'm about to say doesn't make a lot of sense to me, either, seeing as it concerns a lot of demon bonds and whatnot."

"Elaborate."

"That day, I had taken a trip down into the murky depths of my mind to talk to the Kyuubi about our situation, and how we could have landed in the past. What I found, though, is not anything I could have at all expected."

Taking a deep breath, Naruto released it quickly, moving to begin a pacing regiment. Moving quickly to and fro in front of Kurenai, he asked, "Of course you know that when people travel in time, no one person can exist as a double of any other. It's scientifically impossible as well as a ticking time bomb. However, that's what I saw when I went into my depths – I saw my Kyuubi, another Kyuubi…and myself."

Kurenai's eyes widened slightly. "Two Kyuubis? And another you? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying something happened during the process of my Kyuubi calling upon a demon spell to send us to the past. A mishap took place, and while he should've put us in the exact spot we should have been transported to, a misalignment occurred. Meaning, we veered slightly off course, and are therefore in this timeline with our doubles within our mental confines."

Completely unused to hearing the blond speak with such technical terms, she raised her head a small fraction, though he quickly caught the movement. Smiling shakily, he explained, "Sorry. I was in ANBU for a while, too, so I was drilled to have a better understanding of the world. In other words, I can't act like some country bumpkin all the time anymore. May I continue?"

"Ah," the woman said, taken aback. "Please do, if you would."

Naruto gave her a quick grin, and she felt her heart quiver slightly. For a small fraction of a second, she almost felt as if she couldn't see the twelve-year-old boy in front of her, but rather his actual twenty-year-old self. That was ridiculous though, she quickly concluded as Naruto cleared his throat. Right now, it's not too hard to believe he's actually from a different timeline, Kurenai thought to herself. This is not the Naruto I remember running through the streets a couple of months ago. He's…different. He's…older. He's…

Cutting her thoughts quickly where they were, she nodded at Naruto to continue. He gave her one more grin and said, "So, since we have doubles, as the Kyuubi explained it to me, we have a hell of a lot of trouble. You see, for the most basic of the problems, all four of us now have a another person running around inside of us – the twelve-year-old version. Were we not as strong as we are, there would be the issue of our inner selves somehow taking control of their bodies again; while that wouldn't be too bad a thing overall, our own consciousness would fade as if we were never there from the beginning. If we want to save the world, that's not an option.

"Luckily, the other selves are now in a hibernating, or comatose, state due to Sasuke's, Hinata's, Sakura's, and my own more dominant personalities. Because of this, we are not receiving the chakra levels our twelve-year-old selves contained. Perhaps this isn't so big a thing for the others, but for me…"

Naruto gritted his fists, and threw a glance towards the window quickly. Kurenai watched his ears and nose twitch slightly, before his body relaxed and he looked back at her. "Sorry," he apologized, eyes slightly narrowed. "For me, I had a crap load of chakra from the start, excluding what I received from the Kyuubi. Were I to take in that amount, I'd be in a less than stable condition. If we add my Kyuubi, and the Kyuubi belonging to this timeline, I'll die. Quickly. And, it seems that I've ruined things once again."

His cornflower-blue eyes were bright with unshed tears as he looked up at the jounin, a smile wobbling shakily on his face. "You see… Well, I don't really understand it fully myself, but, there's a type of demon blood bond between this timeline's Kyuubi, Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, and me. Alone, if any of our other consciousness's wake up, it's fine, but…if this timeline's Kyuubi wakes up, it's fatal, for everyone. Me, my friends, this timeline's Konoha…everyone within vicinity of the Kyuubi's power. I don't understand it, but if I do something wrong, and he wakes up, my friends will all die, like nothing."

The pupils of Kurenai's eyes tightened slightly as her eyes widened, causing her red irises to stand out even more so than usual. "What are you saying, Uzumaki? And why are you telling me this?"

"You're the only one who would believe me, probably," he said, shrugging. "But, that's another reason I'm entrusting this secret to you. You, who I've made a blood contract with. This blood bond this timeline's Kyuubi has cannot ever be evoked, and because of that, I need your help. I need favors – but, I understand if you decide to say 'no'. I'm asking a lot of you, and you've given quite a lot already as is, but…"

Kurenai wrapped her arms around herself, meeting the blond's eyes with her own. "Tell me what you need."

"Thank you," the boy said, bowing fully to her, "Kurenai-sensei. I need for you to find a way to contact Jiraiya. As a Seal Master, he can help me to split up the cage between my two Kyuubis, lowering the probability of this timeline's Kyuubi waking up. He can also help me create different methods of sealing away my other self, as well as the others' selves, too. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to find a way to keep this timeline's Kyuubi in a comatose state for a good period of time – long enough to do what we need to do.

"I also need you to tutor me in the use of genjutsu – the more genjutsu knowledge I can acclaim to, the easier time I'll have to find more ways to store my chakra without having a reaction from the Kyuubi. I don't know if you know this or not, but, whenever I get in trouble, or suffer chakra depletion, the Kyuubi assists me. I can't have either Kyuubi feeling a pull from my depleted state, or the other one will wake up. Because of this, things will be a bit more difficult this time around, and I'll actually have to think before I act. Another thing I'm wary of, too, is if I die, this timeline's Kyuubi will be let loose. He isn't directly caged to me, so…there won't be anything holding him back when I'm gone. I can't have that, either.

"Lastly, I want you to guarantee you will not stop me should I do something outrageously reckless."

Kurenai frowned, rising to her full height. "What are you talking about? How reckless do you mean?"

Naruto chuckled. "I have a few plans on how to get rid of the Kyuubi without causing damage to everyone else, but it's very, very risky."

The jounin narrowed her eyes slightly, and Naruto looked away quickly. "Remember when we told you about the Akatsuki? How they're taking bijuu for world domination? Well, what happens when someone has two bijuu…and gives the troublesome one away? That person won't die…but the enemy will get an upper hand. But, what if that bijuu happens to cease to exist when taken out of my living consciousness? I'll still have another bijuu, so, I won't die, right? What will happen?"

The direction of Naruto's thoughts hit Kurenai like a ton of bricks. "You wouldn't… That…how can you think of doing something so incredibly reckless? I will not agree to it! There must be another way!"

Naruto gave her a small smirk, and turned to walk towards the door. The jounin quickly reached for the boy, but her hands touched nothing but swirling leaves. Eyes wide and hands shaking violently, Kurenai quickly wrapped her arms around her body again, taking in deep breaths and letting them out quickly.

What kind of person did one have to be…to play with death?

She shook her head hard, realizing she had a job to complete on her end of the bargain. Completing a Shushin no Jutsu, Kurenai found herself in the lobby of the Hokage Tower, and she wasted no time in swiftly moving towards the receptionist at the front desk. The woman raised her golden eyes to look at Kurenai, slightly throwing the genjutsu mistress off balance. Clearing her throat slightly, she requested, "I need to see the Hokage. Immediately."

The golden-eyed woman raised a thin eyebrow. "Do you have an appointment? If not, I'm afraid to say his schedule is completely full for the rest of the evening and night."

"No," Kurenai said, her patience beginning to fail her. "I do not. However, I must see the Hokage – please allow me this."

"Hmm," the woman murmured, shifting through her many papers. "Would you like to make an appointment? There's an opening next week…say, Tuesday?"

"Again, no," came the polite, but terse, reply. "I must see him. Now. If you won't give me clearance, I assure you that I will still be going to his office one way or another."

The woman's eyes flashed dangerously and she stood up, walking around her desk and coming to stand a foot away from Kurenai. Both women looked at one another before the former said, "I'll ask you to leave right now, miss, before I call security to escort you out."

Kurenai's right eyebrow rose slowly, and her lips tightened into a frown. Tilting her chin up slightly, she shook her head and brushed by the woman, glaring back when she felt her elbow grasped. The frown on her face slowly flitted into a small smirk as her body faded out of the woman's eyesight. The woman stared at the space where Kurenai had been, blinking quickly as she rubbed her eyes. What had just happened?

The genjutsu specialist sighed softly as she lowered her right hand from the Ram seal while pulling her elbow out of the golden-eyed woman's grasp. Catching the woman before she fell, Kurenai set her down next to the receptionist desk, shaking her head gently. "Sorry," she whispered softly. "This may be a matter of life or death for a couple of people."

After one last glance at the receptionist, Kurenai's eyes looked up in alarm when she heard a couple of people's voices floating down the hallway. Heading for the stairs quickly, she took them two to three at time as she went up the tower. Upon reaching the top level, Kurenai placed a hand over her chest as she tried to steady her breathing. Taking a deep breath, she left it out slowly and rose her eyes up to look down the hall, her gaze determined. The "Ice Queen of Konoha" took long, purposeful strides towards the Hokage's office, and she nodded at the two ANBU guarding the entrance. Neither paid her any attention until she reached for one of the big, oaken door's handles, with which one ANBU placed a hand over hers in warning. Turning her blood-red eyes towards the guard, she was about to ask what the problem was when both of the big, oaken doors opened.

She stepped back quickly to allow the person to come out, and her eyes widened slightly when she saw the silver-haired jounin step into the hallway. Holding his beloved "Icha, Icha Paradise" book, Hatake Kakashi looked down at the woman with indifference. "Kurenai," he said, nodding at her. Feeling her etiquette grab a hold of her, she nodded in return, saying, "Kakashi-san."

After watching the silver-haired man amble down the hallway, Kurenai faced forward, proceeding into the office quickly. She approached the center of the area before the Sandaime's desk, and bowed deeply. "Professor" Sarutobi looked at Kurenai with surprise apparent on his face, a frown finding its way to his mouth. "Kurenai," he began, confused. "I had not realized you had made an appointment."

"I realize this is a bit unorthodox on my part," Kurenai started, still bowing, "but I couldn't afford to let this wait for another day."

"I see. Well, as you're already here, tell me what's on your mind."

She ignored the sounds of the ANBU closing the large doors. "Yes, Hokage-sama. A few things have been brought to my attention in the past few hours…"

The next day found Naruto standing at the main gate against the outer wall, scuffing his sandal against the green grass as Sasuke and Sakura both sighed irritably at their teacher's tardiness. His eyes rose from the green vegetation to look up at the sky, narrowing his eyes slightly as he noticed a few clouds within the area. He looked over to catch Sasuke's gaze, the latter returning it with the same amount of mild concern. Shifting his gaze a bit more, he accidentally locked onto Sakura's troubled eyes. Hesitating slightly, he forced himself to look away, causing a fleeting look of disappointment to fly across Sakura's face before disappearing. All three genin looked back to see the old man Tazuna and their jounin instructor Kakashi come walking towards the main gate. Expelling a sigh of irritation quickly, Naruto stood up straight and glared at Kakashi. The latter didn't bother to meet the blond's gaze and said,

"Is everyone ready?"

With silent, mutual agreement, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke began to move forward, unconsciously forming a V-shaped formation with Naruto in the lead. Sakura looked behind them quickly to see Kakashi trailing behind their client, and she nodded slightly. For the road ahead, their formation would do well…if they could approach the enemy before the enemy got to them. She reached to her waistband where she placed all her medical supplies and thumbed through a few pockets. Upon locating her senbon needles, she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She saw Sasuke rubbing his arm where he had sealed a katana, and saw Naruto rubbing his hands together in slow strokes for optimal chakra retrieval. While they couldn't show much to Kakashi in the upcoming Demon Brothers battle, they could at least be prepared for the Momochi Zabuza battle.

She also found the first hour of walking to be extremely boring and tiresome – they didn't really have a need to talk to Tazuna about his situation since they already knew it, and they didn't feel they could talk to Kakashi since he wasn't in on their little scheme yet. Talking amongst themselves might have been okay, but because they could shift through topics very quickly, no one wanted to take the risk of saying something wrong or giving away something of the future. Yes, the first hour before the first battle was a long hour indeed.

She noticed Sasuke and Naruto tense up slightly after they crossed over a bridge and walked by a puddle of water. Sakura tightened her fists, feeling chakra automatically run down her arms and hover around them. Sasuke cracked his knuckles, a grin on his face as he walked further along, while Naruto carried the most serious expression of them all; his eyes were dark with infallible determination.

I don't even know why we're getting so anxious about this, he thought to himself, eyes narrowing slightly. The battle didn't take very long the first time…I don't think. I just remember a flash and then Sasuke taking them down.

All three genin noticed Kakashi shift slightly and each tensed more before they heard the light footfalls against the dirt road. Each one turned around quickly as they saw two men dressed in black with chains coming from their claws. The two men dashed around Kakashi quickly and swung their chains around the man, pulling quickly and causing the man to rip into pieces quickly. Naruto frowned slightly as he noticed Kakashi retreating to the trees this time around. As soon as he heard one Brother say "First one!", he quickly signaled over to Sasuke and Sakura, each one rushing to their positions quickly. Sakura seemed to disappear for a short time before she appeared in front of Tazuna, right hand armed with a kunai and the left with a senbon between each finger. She shifted her center of gravity to a lower position, eyes focused on the two oncoming brothers.

Sasuke flew forward, hitting the ground hard and expelling chakra from his hands and feet as he rose up high into the air. Running through several hand seals, he yelled out, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

Balls of fire spouted out of Sasuke's mouth towards one of the Brothers, entrapping him and causing him to scream out from the heat. As Sasuke floated down from the high altitude, he reached into his supplies and pulled eight kunai, each one between his fingers on both hands. In a large sweeping motion, the Uchiha let the kunai fly down towards the Brother, each one hitting a portion of the man's neck and cutting through cleanly. Sasuke touched down on the ground lightly, rolling as he went. Dirt rose up in waves as he slid through towards the fiery mound that had been one of the Brothers. He turned to watch Naruto's progress, and saw the blond and four clones in battle with the other Brother.

Naruto slid through the dirt, reaching behind him to gather a few kunai and throw them towards the one remaining Brother as he was entrapped by the clones. The kunai attached themselves to the Brother's clothing and locked him tight against a tree. Each clone dissipated as Naruto ran forward, a blue ball of chakra spiraling in his hand. Sasuke and Sakura looked at him in alarm and the latter yelled,

"Naruto!"

The blond's chakra vanished immediately as he turned to look at the rosette. His eyes widened slightly and he hesitated, allowing enough time for Kakashi to jump down in front of him. Surprised, Naruto jumped back, his eyes shifting to look over at Sakura. Disapproval gleamed in her leaf-green eyes, making him feel even worse than having tried to use the Rasengan. Kakashi looked down at him, his lone eyebrow risen. Naruto glanced back up at him, a frown apparent on his face.

It's just like last time, he thought, tightening his small, childlike hands. I screwed up again. I'm lucky Sakura yelled at me, or it would have been really bad.

The silver-haired man frowned behind his mask, thinking quickly, That looked like the Yondaime's technique…impossible. Completely impossible…Naruto just has too much chakra than he knows what to do with.

He looked behind him to see the last Demon Brother unconscious and drooling slightly. Narrowing his one eye, he pulled out one of Naruto's kunai from the tree and slammed it into the Brother's chest. Turning back to glare at the older man, he said, "Tazuna-san. May I have a word?"

Naruto left the two older men and walked over to where Sakura and Sasuke were waiting. Looking first at Sasuke, he saw the raven-haired boy nod just barely over at Sakura, and he felt his heart sink a bit. Looking at the rosette, who had taken to glaring over at a tree, he said, "Sakura…I… Thank you."

He bowed down to her, eyes shut tightly, and she looked at him with surprise. "Naruto," she whispered, before sighing softly. "You idiot. We're in this together, remember? Besides, you didn't finish the jutsu, so it's all right. For the most part."

Naruto swallowed and a few moments passed before he said, "I'm also sorry. For…you know."

Shadows appeared in Sakura's eyes as she looked down at the blond, her mouth turning into a frown. "We'll discuss that at another time. But, for now, I suppose I forgive you. If you forgive me, that is."

Blue eyes rose up quickly to stare into Sakura's leaf-green ones, and a fox-like grin appeared on Naruto's face. "Of course, Sakura-chan!"

Looking over to look at Sasuke, he said excitedly, "She forgave me! Isn't that great?"

Sasuke looked from one teammate to another before sighing and turning away. "You're both idiots."

"Love you, too, Sasuke-chan!" the blond shot back, drawing out the last word. Sakura smiled softly, her white teeth glittering. Sasuke growled at Naruto, cracking his knuckles again. "You trying to get yourself killed, idiot?"

"Oh-! And what are you going to do to me, Sasuke-chan? Growl at me 'til I die?"

"That's it!" Sasuke exclaimed, bringing out two kunai. "The blond dies!"

The two boys were about to begin their spar when they heard a loud whistle soar through the area. Sasuke and Sakura looked over at Kakashi while Naruto clutched at his ears, muttering out profanities. The three walked over to where Kakashi and Tazuna were situated, Naruto still muttering out various profanities. The jounin crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at his students as he said, "Here's the situation: Tazuna-san, due to money shortages, gave false information for what should be a higher ranked mission. Because there ninja running after him, that automatically brings our mission up from a C-Rank to a B-Rank, which is way out of all of your leagues. So, as far as I'm concerned, we'll take him back as far as the Wave Country border, and then we're finished."

Naruto glanced over at Sakura, who raised her eyebrows slightly, before he looked over at Sasuke, who gave him a glare. "Yeah," he began, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, Kakashi-sensei. I don't feel like leaving the geezer to die if there happens to actually be someone after him. As far as we're concerned, the mission won't be over until that bridge is done and over with."

"Oh?" Kakashi replied, looking at the blond. "And why do you say that, Naruto?"

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, their blue depths swirling with determination and strength. "I don't quit. This mission isn't over until that bridge is done."

"Agreed," said Sasuke, while Sakura just nodded softly. "Whatever ninjas there are," the raven-haired boy continued, "let them come. Rank be damned."

Tazuna looked at Kakashi with a pitiful expression, leading the jounin to sigh softly and say, "Fine."

Then, after the shinobi had come to an agreement over the technicalities, the rain began to fall.

Suirou no Jutsu – Water Prison Technique
Shiki Fuujin – Dead Demon Consuming Seal
Rasengan – Spiraling Sphere
Chidori – One Thousand Birds
Chuuzuri Hakkeshou Kaiten – Midair Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin
Katon: Housenka no Jutsu – Fire Style: Mythical Fire Flower Technique

First completion: 3/18/2008 9:46:49 PM

All right, so, I'm still looking for a beta. The ones I've tried before aren't...cutting it. So, anyone want to raise their hand and volunteer? Also, I'm really sorry about this boring, boring chapter. The next part will get better though. Enter: Team Eight with Kurenai and Momochi Zabuza of the Mist!