Chapter 2

Reishi had just arrived at the Ramen Stand only to smile at the way his new teammates looked. Then his smile turned into tears. Everyone seemed to hate him being gone. First Konohamaru, then the Inuzuka, and now the entire family from Ichiruka Ramen. Above the doorway stood a small shrine directed to him, picture and candles included. His composure almost cracked at the sight. Hinata was once again almost in tears from the trauma of Naruto being dead and gone. No one had even erected a damn grave of some kind over the boy, and now he could only sit and watch his own misery becoming fruition. "Hey, Reishi-san!" Kiba called out as he entered stand only to find Ayame and her father standing there with several bowls of ramen in their hands. "Come on and eat!" he shouted, stuffing his mouth with more ramen.

Taking a stool next to his old one, where the shrine stood now, he nodded at the old man before he placed a large bowl of miso ramen in front of him. Looking at his team, he sighed as he opened the mesh from his newly placed mask. He hadn't any intention of eating here, but knew that he would need his energy for much later. So slowly taking his time to savor the meal in front of him, he began to talk to his new team as they waited for Kurenei so that the team meeting could begin.

Before he knew it however, Reishi was staring at ten empty bowls in front of him. Smiling as shamelessly as he could, Reishi was about to ask for another bowl before a pop introduced the team to the arrival of their sensei. "Hello everyone." She smiled, her red eyes twinkling in the morning light from outside. But as she looked at Reishi and his empty bowls of ramen, she gapped as he looked back at her sheepishly. "Woah." She stammered finally.

"You wouldn't know the half of it." A deep and lazy voice called out from behind her, causing Reishi to stiffen noticeably as he watched a certain silver haired Jounin walk into the stand behind her. "So, Reishi-san was it?" he asked, standing against the door of the stand. Receiving a nod from the Genin he smiled as he shook his head. "Why do I not believe you?"

"Why would I believe you?" Reishi asked. "After all, making false statements against your own student should leave a foul taste in your mouth. I know it would mine."

"How DARE you accuse me of something I didn't do." Kakashi growled, bolting upward from his leaning. "You know nothing!"

"Oh really?" Reishi sighed, turning back toward the Jounin from his empty bowls. "You know what, I'm not dealing with you." He began. "And from what I read, Hatake-san, you should be glad to have known someone who felt that you were like a brother." He said, now at the door to the stand after paying for the meal. "I don't care what you think you know, Kakashi Hatake, son of the White Fang." He sighed. "But you should be more careful about what statements that you make."

"And what would that be, Genin, that I made a mistake on?" the Jounin asked.

"Oh I don't know Jounin." Reishi sneered. "But you have five people here who don't want to see you, since you claimed to have seen your student die in front of your eyes, without doing anything to stop it."

"You don't even know what your talking about!" Kakashi shouted.

"I think I would." Reishi began. "After all, the last person to see Uzumaki Naruto alive, was not you or your pathetic students." He smiled evilly. "But just little old me." He growled, making everyone in the shop gasp at him.

"LIAR!" Kakashi panicked, looking affronted by a simple Genin. "You lie! Uzumaki Naruto died for being a stupid child in front of a Jounin Missing-nin!" he yelled out in his defense.

"Well, then. I guess your lazy AND a liar." Reishi smiled, walking to sit beside Hinata in case she needed someone to lean on. "Considering I was the one he told to come to Konoha and to protect his precious people."

"That dead last is dead, boy!" Kakashi yelled, holding his fists tightly. "That demon should have been killed at birth!" he snapped.

With a snap however, Kakashi was wrapped up in a red chain from knees to shoulders. "You should be glad that I do not enact Sarutobi-sama's law." Reishi growled, the chains tightening ever so slightly. "Meet one of my abilities everyone." He shouted, garnishing everyone's attention. "My chains here can pretty much go whatever shape I want them to be." He began, his chains tightening rather painfully for the Jounin. "Hurts, doesn't it you copying son of a bitch." He growled. "Be it normal shaped or even capped with razor blades, my gauntlets will produce the required chain. The entire length is able to be moved just by my will." He smiled at the purpling Jounin. "However as Kakashi-san here is experiencing right now, I do not have the strength to sufficiently kill or slaughter someone. I would need more practice to be done for that alone." He explained as he looked around at everyone. "I can also disconnect them from my gauntlet to allow my hands to be free."

Needless to say Kiba and Shino were impressed. Hinata was worried that something might happen to the Jounin. So as soon as she had the courage, she reached up and touched the boys hands. "Peace, Reishi-san." She smiled as best she could. "You must know peace." She whispered. "You cannot continue on like you are. You must not hate."

"Fear is the mind-killer, NOT hate." Reishi growled. "If you hate something, or someone, you cannot be overzealous over what needs to be done."

"Very profound, Reishi-san." Shino said, making everyone including Reishi himself, look on at the boy in wonder. "Where did you learn that style of thinking?" he asked, his bugs flying about.

"A scroll in the library stated something about a chant that would calm one down who is indeed near losing their minds. If you think that you hate someone, you can use it for a short amount of time. But if you FEAR that person or need, it may make you sloppy. But it will keep you going much farther than it will not matter." He explained.

Needless to say, Reishi took that to heart. He immediately smiled as he turned toward another round of Ramen. Turning at the grunting from Kakashi, he smiled as he slurped up a noodle. "You must really think that I am that stupid to let you know what I saw, Kakashi. Or else, WHY are you here?" he asked. "Uzumaki Naruto was lying near death when I saw him. He gave me his journal and his will, leaving everything to me." He lied. "You should be grateful."

Kurenei was moving instantly, walking next to her new student. "Team, let us leave these two alone. They have things to discuss I am sure." She sighed, looking to the other teammates.

The team was quickly moved out of the stand and moving toward their training ground. "Reishi, please find us after you are done talking with Kakashi-san." Kurenei ordered.

"Will do, Kurenei-sensei." Reishi growled before looking Kakashi in the eye. "You make me wanna puke, Kakashi-san." He sighed, turning to finish his ramen only to find a hand on his. Looking at the origin, he smiled to see Kakashi sitting on the shrine dedicated to Naruto. Taking a look at the pile of chains he saw a log tied up. Returning his chains to his bracer, he looked back at Kakashi. "Like I said, practice is needed."

"You will give me the sword, Naruto." The Jounin growled. "You do not deserve it. Sasuke does. You will never reach your dream." He explained.

"Okay, for one thing, Kakashi-teme. Get your hand off me." Reishi growled, jerking his hand free. "Two, I am sure you are already aware of the news buzzing around here now, mainly because you're the one who started it. Uzumaki Naruto is DEAD. You know, Abius Corpos?" he laughed. "And if you wanna accuse me of being a dead man, I would think about that one. If I was dead, hmm I think something would not be able to happen, like me wrapping you in chains or even having friends."

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Kakashi growled.

"My NAME is REISHI, you one eyed copycat." Reishi growled, already having his patience tested. "I don't care who you think that YOU are, but only the living can have friends." He explained. "And you are causing problems with this Ramen stand, since you are disgracing the very stool that your student use to sit on." He frowned. "Then again I didn't think that you would have much respect for the dead."

With a flash, a kunai was at Reishi's neck. "If you were in fact dead, then you would not bleed." Kakashi growled, cutting into Reishi's skin.

"Do you ever get tired of being wrong, Kakashi-san?" Reishi asked. "You were wrong about my father, you were wrong about even your OWN father. Now you're wrong about me being a great man." Reishi grinned as he felt blood running down his neck.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" Ayame yelled, holding a frying pan in her hand as she appeared at the back of the stand. "Kakashi-san, what do you think you are doing with that kunai?!" she shouted.

Almost instantly, a pair of senbon needles stuck into Kakashi's hand, causing him to drop the kunai into Reishi's lap, nearly causing him to lose his manly bits. With angry resolve, Reishi punched the Jounin in the face, causing him to crash into the wall… in the other building. Looking at the Jounin's attacker, Naruto was quick to stand up as the Hokage and several ANBU stood at the entrance. "Problems, Reishi?" the old man asked. "I thought that you were due to meet with your team today." He questioned.

"Oh they were here, Hokage-sama." Reishi began. "But due to Kakashi-teme here having no love for me, nor for one of the greater heroes of this village, my team is waiting for me at a training ground so that I could talk with Kakashi-teme here and have him talk back, only for him to say that I am Naruto, then immediately taking to using a kunai to prove his point." He explained, causing the ANBU to look at Kakashi before looking back at him, anger in their stance the entire time.

"Hokage-sama, I don't think that Kakashi-sempai could do this without being provoked." The Tiger masked ANBU began, looking at the old man.

"I don't care what you ANBU think." Teuchi said as he entered the back entrance of the stall. "But considering that this has nothing to do with ANBU, I hope you would please EXIT my stand!" he shouted, a cleaver in his hand.

The Hokage barely contained his laughter at the way his ANBU started to shake. Ichiruka-sama is correct." He smiled. The ANBU were gone in less than two seconds.

Barely controlled laughter erupted out of the stand soon after, quickly followed by screams of pain. Kakashi had pulled out the senbon needles out of his hand. And he did it wrong.

Streets of Konoha ~ Later that night

The entire village was in an uproar after hearing that the demon brat as they so called him, was dead. Many were out on the streets, most of them were congratulating the Uchiha and Haruno as if it was THEM who killed the brat. As it were in a small bar, Kakashi was now drunk off his ass from people buying him drink after drink. However, a rather sizeable group of shinobi were off in a dark alley. None of them were worried about getting caught, since all they were doing was praying for the safe passage of one Uzumaki Naruto into heaven. Kiba, Hinata, Shino were there, to name a few. The Hokage had built a sort of pyre for the blonde, none the wiser for everyone who hated the boy, but for those who loved the boy, there was a sense of peace in front of the pyre. It had originally been a sort of shrine for the boy, but for those who knew him most, the Inuzuka, the Ichiruka family, even Ino's father was there, holding a large candle in his hand.

"You may have been the Kyuubi's container, Naruto." Ino's father began. "But you did not deserve to die like that. Betrayed by your own team." He muttered.

"Thank you all for your kind words." A familiar voice called out from the mouth of the alley.

Everyone gasped as they looked at the end of the alley. Standing there in his orange jumpsuit, was Naruto. Blonde hair, blue eyes and whisker marks. Standing tall in his outfit, he smiled at them. "I know you guys aren't exactly happy to see me. But I assure you, I am still burned and thrown in the river." He chuckled at his own joke. "I am just here, dead and haunting." He shrugged, looking at Sarutobi and shaking his head.

Hinata was the first to recover. "NARUTO-KUN!" she screamed, running through Naruto in hopes of clasping him to her. When she looked at what she went through, she cried. She had passed through him with no change in his appearance. "Nooooo!" she cried out, hitting the ground. "I love you, please come back!" she begged as she saw him seem to disappear.

"Hinata-chan. Whether I am dead or alive," Naruto began as he walked closer to her. "I will always be with you." He smiled his foxy grin. "Believe in yourself, and you will see me again. I promise."

"Naruto!" Sarutobi called out from behind a dumpster. "You came to us now of all times?" he asked, giving the 'ghost' a quiet stare only to have it answered simply.

"You think that me being dead is gonna cause me to not visit my own shrine?" the 'ghost' asked, walking closer to the old man. "She needs to move on. She's been following my other persona for over two freaking days!" he whispered, receiving a nod from the old Hokage. "Be careful jiji. You know that someone is gonna try and steal shit from you." He sneered at the aged Hokage, mouthing the word 'betrayers' before shifting out of existence with the wind, leaving many with sad smiles at seeing the deceased blonde one more time.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata sighed, looking up at the darkened sky and imagining her favorite blonde smiling back down on her. It seemed to stem the tears abruptly. "Watch over me." She whispered. "I may not be able to change my family." She began. And as a lone tear fell down her face, she smiled. "And if I am unable to do so, then I will just fulfill your dreams for you." She smiled.

"Umm, Hinata-chan?" Sarutobi began, making her look at him. "You do know that you will have to work hard for that right? No more being timid and shy." He suggested.

All he got from the Hyuuga was a smile and a shy nod before she walked out of the alley and headed home.

Reishi's apartment

Reishi could only stare out at the people in the streets as he stood outside at his secluded balcony. "If I had only had this apartment from the beginning." He sighed, glad that he could at least watch the festival finally. Just as he was about to jump down to the streets, he was jerked out of his intentioned leaving by the sharp knocking at the apartment door.

Opening the door, he was shocked to see Anko Mitarashi and Hana Inuzuka standing in his doorway. Taking a quick look down at himself, he saw that he was at least smart enough to wear his mesh mask (under-cover of his animal mask) and was still slightly dressed in his tank top and a pair of short pants.

But when he looked at Anko again, he saw a small blush on her cheeks as she seemed to be sizing him up. "Umm, hello." He muttered as he turned to Hana. She seemed to have a stern look on her face, as if she didn't like being there at all. But just as Reishi was about to say something to her, Reishi was affronted to being pushed to the ground by the Grey Triplets, who had somehow pushed their way through the two kinouichi legs. Reishi could barely contain his laughter as he was pushed to the ground and proceeded to be licked in the face by all three dogs as they wagged their tails in happiness at seeing him.

"Well shit I guess you were right, Hana-chan." Anko laughed as she seemed to pluck a dango stick out of thin air and placing it in her mouth to chew on.

"Not like I wanted to be right damnit." Hana growled. "I would have hoped that they would leave him alone or completely forget about him." She sighed as the two walked in and proceeded to pull the dogs off of Reishi.

It took several minutes and a large bowl of raw stew meat to calm the trio down so that they could talk. "Okay, Reishi-san. My kaa-san has read the scroll you gave her." Hana began. "After she stopped screaming QUITE colorfully I might add, she sent me to give you this scroll along with saying that she is looking forward to speaking with you soon." She explained.

Reishi on the other hand was quite concerned with what the matriarch of the Inuzuka clan could want to talk with him about. Slowly taking the scroll from the woman, he proceeded to open it, only to be stopped by Anko. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom gaki? I think I drank too much before coming here." She blushed as she looked around the apartment.

Reishi laughed before he pointed to where the bathroom was before opening the scroll and looking through it. It was a simple scroll really. It read:

Reishi-san,

This is to let you know that I have read the will and Journal of our mutual interest. I however cannot at this time agree wholeheartedly about your request to join this 'alliance treaty' that our younger acquaintance has talked about in his words, but I would very much like to talk with you about this and other things in the future. After today has happened, I am due for a council meeting with the Hokage and will be speaking with him about the alliance to make sure it will be possible, though I do not doubt your claims to having a bloodline.

As I said while you were at my compound, I assure you that as long as you or your clan do not hold ill will toward my clan then you and yours are welcome to visit us and our animals.

Tsume Inuzuka

Reishi smiled shyly. Wait a minute, is that lipstick under her signature? He asked himself as he looked at the scroll more closely.

Just as he was about to ask for more information, a loud crashing was heard from the bathroom, causing Reishi to slap his head in utter disbelief. BAKA BAKA BAKA!!! He thought, remembering what had been hanging above the toilet in his bathroom.

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Bathroom

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Anko had calmly done her business and was on her way out of the bathroom before she looked above the toilet only to see a picture of her, or rather a rather LARGE picture of her! She instantly recognized a picture that she had posed for when she was still a Genin. One of her proudest moments, being after her first B rank missions being completed. Looking around for any other kind of memories that may have been collected, she noticed that several napkins were in the trashcan, all of them covered in coagulated blood spurts. She smiled at thinking that she may have been the object of affection and many other things for this new-found shinobi. But as she looked around, she saw that there was another thing in there that caught her attention, a kunai sitting on the sink, covered in blood and looking almost rusted. Then, against her own better judgment, she picked up the weapon and gave it an intense scan. But when she looked near the ring holder and saw an inscription, she smiled. It read:

To the best of the gaki

Anko Mitarashi

She chuckled to herself before she realized something. I gave this kunai to… she thought, looking outside the door now before she hit the floor, passed out with a sorrowful frown on her face.

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Apartment ~ Reishi

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Reishi growled at his own stupidity before he looked at the bathroom. "I'm going to go check on her." Hana shouted, making Reishi wince.

Note to self, kill Kyuubi and Zabuza… AGAIN, for heightening my hearing! He growled to himself as he heard the medieval pair's laughter at his expense. "Please?" he begged, looking at her in concern. "I don't want her thinking that I am a pervert if I find her with her skirt down or something." He explained when she gave him a stern glare.

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Ichiruka Ramen Stand – Next morning… Seven o'clock

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Reishi held his head low as he nursed his head against a bowl of ice as he slowly fed himself his ramen for the morning before he had to meet his team. He was just glad that the two kinouichi had left him AND his apartment in pretty much good shape. After she had finally come too, Anko had been righteously upset at finding the kunai, much less the picture on his wall in his bathroom. Reishi had shown her Naruto's Will, and she had promptly beaten the snot out of him, although she was quite surprised to see that he wasn't some pushover. Even now, he was happy to know that she was nursing her own cuts and bruises at her apartment.

As he finished what he promised would be his last bowl for a while, Reishi pulled out the 'Will' that he had made up. It simply read:

To whom it may concern,

I write this in the hopes of bringing some light to some peoples lives. I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune's demon container. I am in no way the Kyuubi itself, I assure you, I do not hold nine tails behind me every day and I sure as hell do not cause Tsunami's everywhere I went.

I am at this moment dying due to chakra exhaustion and a severely bad wound. I swear I find out who pulls a trap that can cut off a leg in an instant, I would kill him, after shaking his hand of course.

I do not hold many earthly goods in my apartment, nor do I have many on my person, nor in any kind of bank account. As such, I am not sure I am doing this right. Everything I own, in the past and in the present, is to be given to the man who brings this to light. He keeps calling himself 'Reishi' for some reason, saying that he was just out for a stroll when he came upon me. I am sure that he is some sort of ninja, but I can see no hitai-ate and can feel no murderous intent from the boy. He said that he would bring this to Konoha so that the truth may be brought out.

I was on my way back to Konoha after my first C rank mission turned I don't even KNOW what rank it was. Zabuza, Demon of the Mist had come upon me and my team while we were escorting Tazuna-san from Konoha to Wave. We drove him off, but were unable to kill him, I guess since Kakashi-teme hasn't had a good workout in oh I think maybe eight years or so, I have no idea. When we reached Tazuna's house we quickly set out the next morning to training in the art of tree climbing. I don't know why it was so hard though. I found that it took me a long time to learn it, but oh well. I learned it. I quickly found that Kakashi-sensei, albeit a good man, is an Uchiha loving bastard. He tool Sasuke when he was only half-way up the tree exercise to give him some one-on-one training. It pisses me off so damn bad that I almost didn't think to send a Kage Bunshin to find out what was happening. Damn it to HELL!

Anyways, I'm rambling, and the medicine Reishi gave me is making me temperamental. After two weeks of training, I made it to the point that I was able to make it up the tree several times before even stopping, though I feel I could have done better with some actual training on the matter.

When the two weeks were up, and everyone went to the bridge, we were attacked. Or they were, since I had worn myself out the day before and was asleep when they left without me. But when I woke up, I found that I was alone in the house. Hearing ruckous outside, I found both Tazuna's daughter and her son being restrained by two swordsman. I unfortunately saw red at that point. Next thing I know I had both Tsunami-chan and Inari-nee-chan clutching me telling me that it was okay. I looked at the men behind them only to see pools of blood and chunks of body parts strewn across the acreage. But after I left to get to the bridge that we were supposed to be guarding, I saw Sasuke unconscious on the ground, and Zabuza about to kill Kakashi. Well needless to say both of them got laid out soon after, thanks to me releasing some of the Kyuubi's chakra. All I know now is that I have been betrayed by my own sensei and my own team. They will probably demand that I be thrown out of the shinobi program for apparently disobeying a direct order. But I don't care. I want them dead as it is. Anyways, as it is I wont make it much farther. I am sorry Old Man. I love you and I love Konoha. Please tell everyone that I will always be with them and that I will miss them dearly.

Oh, and Sarutobi-sama, please give someone the order to give Tsume-chan a smack on the ass for me?

Naruto Uzumaki

Reishi had to laugh quietly as he read it again and again, wanting nothing to go wrong with his Will.

He was about to pull it back into his pouch when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. "You should be aware of your surroundings more, boy." A deep and depressing voice called out from behind him.

Turning around, Reishi had to stop himself from punching the boy that stood behind him. Sasuke Uchiha smirked as he looked at the new dobe's face. "You look so much like my former teammate that is almost scary." He laughed, Sakura walking up behind him.

"Whatever." Reishi began. "That right there just lets me know that I will never take a mission with you. After all, grave-robbing is such a thing that is frowned upon. Did you know that, Sasuke-teme?" he asked.

"Naruto cut the crap." Sakura growled. "We all know you are just scared of Sasuke-kun."

"Would you people stop calling me Naruto!?" Reishi shouted, slamming his hand on the counter. "I have already told the three of you this multiple times already, MY NAME IS REISHI!"

"Whatever you say, dobe." Sasuke smirked. "Give me those bracers and Zabuza's sword." He ordered.

"Can't have what I don't have, Sasuke-teme." Reishi growled, holding up the bracers still attacked to him. "And these? Their chakra bound you little spoiled bitch." He said, exasperated at the face on the two of them. "Okay, Sakura come here." He sighed, watching the girl. "If you want Sasuke to have them, come here and take them." He said, holding out his arms.

The girl was in front of him instantly, grabbing ahold of the bracers. But just as she touched them, lightning crackled from them to her, causing her to shoot back out of the stand. "And Sasuke, tell your little girlfriend there that she has a Water Affinity." Reishi growled, paying for his meal before leaving the stand to somewhere he thought he would need to be.

Hokage's Office

Sarutobi could only growl as he watched Sasuke Uchiha and his fangirl trying to take things that weren't theirs through his crystal ball. He knew that today Reishi and his new team would be coming through for their missions. As he thought of what to give them, he was rewarded with his crystal ball becoming full of static. Looking up, Sarutobi smiled as Reishi walked into the office. "Hokage-sama, I need missions, and a LOT of them." The boy growled.

"Okay where is your team?" the Hokage asked.

"It's a clan training day so the team isn't doing anything and Kurenei is with Anko. She had a scare last night and needed some comfort I guess." Reishi shrugged. "Not to mention, I need to blow off some steam, since I know you saw what happened with the pathetic Duo." He sighed.

"Naruto, I need to know something." Sarutobi sighed, casting a silencing jutsu.

"Its Reishi, old man." Reishi sighed. "I may be the same knucklehead on the inside, but I am trying to be the new me all the time, and so far it is working." He explained, wringing his hands in front of him. "Ever since the village celebrated Naruto's death," he began, but with a twitch of an eyebrow he interrupted himself. "By the way, still pissed about that being allowed to happen." He sighed. "Ever since Naruto's ghostly goodbye, Hinata has been doing really well in our training sessions. And according to what I overheard from a few branch members after dropping her off, she has been taking some of the members apart in clan training."

"I can understand that." Sarutobi sighed. "But that is not what I was going to ask you." He began. "You told me several days ago that the sword that belonged to Zabuza broke into four parts. The bracers and the swords." He said, looking at the bracers on Reishi's arms. "But I never see you use the swords at all. Not even in team training."

"Okay, first things first. The swords have some kind of seals on them, and they worry me. The bracers have some seals as well but it seems that the chains are instinctively used when I want them to be. So that is the reason for me only using bracers. They are also able to block sword strikes." He chuckled as he looked at his hands.

"Well, anyways." Sarutobi smiled as he looked into a shadow of the room. "I cannot give you a mission as of yet right now, since you have no team available. But I can give you another thing that can solve your plight." He said, looking at Reishi's worried expression. "I know you don't like the idea of having a tutor, or even someone to help train you in your own ways, but I found you have a sensei now." He laughed as Reishi's mouth literally dropped as he looked at the aged Hokage. "You can come in now." Sarutobi yelled, dropping the jutsu.

The door seemed to cave in, and in walked someone Reishi never thought he would ever see. I am sooooo dead. He thought, wondering if he should let out his chains against the coming problem that walked into the office.

In walked Reishi's new sensei… Anko Mitarashi. And she did not look happy.