So, this took a waaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer time than I thought. Sorry, guys, but college and new stuff hit me hard this year. I barely have any time for myself now. I'll try to put some free time into writing when I can, but it's going to be a little slow.

But, never mind that. I do want to speed the story up, but it's getting hard since I got off the canon track. Once the Chunin exams start, I'll probably be skipping the canon, and the story will pick up again.

But, that's for later. Until then, enjoy the chapter!

Kakashi and Sasuke sat in the living room. The gray-haired Jounin called the other in after he finished training. Naruto and Sakura had finished and went into town for shopping, so it was the perfect opportunity for this discussion.

"Sasuke, what do you think about Naruto?", Kakashi asked.

He scoffed. "He's a horrible teammate."

"Horrible? Horrible how?" Kakashi asked.

"He doesn't work with us at all. He's always disappearing on us, and he refuses to tell us anything. It's like he doesn't trust any of us.", Sasuke replied.

"I thought you wanted to be friends without trust.", Kakashi said.

Sasuke stood up from his chair. "There's a difference between trusting people and trusting comrades. At the very least, he should trust us to fight with him.", he replied, angry at Naruto. He had offered a hand in friendship, but Naruto did not follow through, even though he accepted the offer.

Kakashi put up his hands to try and calm Sasuke down. "Maa, maa, sit down, Sasuke." The black-haired Genin, still fuming, did as he was told.

Kakashi cleared his voice and said, "Sasuke, you have to understand. To Naruto, there is no difference between trusting people and trusting comrades. To him, it's all trust, and he does not want to be involved."

He scoffed again. "You make it sound like you know why he doesn't trust anybody."

Kakashi smiled. "You could say that. Sasuke, why did you want to be friends with Naruto anyways?"

Sasuke exhaled in frustration due to his sensei's roundabout way of talking, but he answered him. "He has power, and he knows what it is like to be lonely. Everyone knows he's an orphan, so-"

"You thought that he would make a good training partner that could help you kill Itachi." Kakashi's voice suddenly got serious.

A little taken aback from the change, Sasuke didn't respond immediately and finally nodded.

There was an awkward silence as Kakashi seemed to be deep in thought. Eventually, he looked up to Sasuke and said, "Look, Sasuke, Naruto may not like me telling you this, but you are right about one thing. This is supposed to be a team, and Naruto has not been fighting like he is on one. But, Sasuke, that's the only thing you are right about."

"Huh? What do you mean, sensei?

"He cannot be your rival. Rivals push one another to do better, right?", Kakashi said, remembering Obito. Even if their rivalry did not last long, he wouldn't be the person he was without his teammate.

"Well… yeah."

"And, you believe that Naruto can push you to do better, and you can push him to do better because you believe that you two have similar pasts, right?", Kakashi asked.

Sasuke nodded. "At least, I did."

"That's where you're wrong, Sasuke. Naruto may have been able to push you to do better, but you could not have pushed him at all." Kakashi said.

Sasuke gave Kakashi a confused look. "I don't understand. We have similar pasts, and we both seem to have some type of goal that made us this strong now."

"No, you are right about that. With similar pasts and goals needing power, it should be natural that you guys become rivals. But, you do not have a similar past with Naruto, Sasuke. It is very different."

"… Does it matter? We both are orphans without any of our loved ones. And, nobody in that village can help us with our goals. Even without similar pasts, we have a similar present.", Sasuke replied, almost with an arrogant tone in his voice, as if he was trying to win the argument instead of merely understanding.

Kakashi thought for a moment, looking at Sasuke as if he was unsure if he should continue. When Sasuke didn't budge or ask anything, Kakashi sighed and asked, "So, is Itachi not that important?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Be careful of what you say, Hatake. You might be my sensei, but that doesn't mean I am going to hear you question my goals, beliefs, or talk about him."

"So, your pasts do matter. That's actually one big similarity that you two have. Your pasts haunt you and affect how you think and act. The problem is, Sasuke, Naruto's past led him onto a different path."

"Different how?"

"Well, for one thing, he leads a life of fear and pain, while you lead a life of anger and revenge.", Kakashi began to explain.

"Fear? What is he afraid of?", Sasuke asked.

"I told you. You two are haunted by your pasts. Naruto is afraid that his past will become reality again. And considering his current line of work, it could be possible that something similar will come up around him or will affect him again."

"Then… that's no different from me!", Sasuke yelled, becoming frustrated at his sensei's beating around the bush. "I have to fight Itachi, so my past will come up around me and affect me again."

"But, he doesn't have to fight anybody, Sasuke. He could actually quit the ninja force right now, if he wanted to."

"If he doesn't need to fight anybody, then what's he afraid of?"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head as he sounded apologetic. "Sorry, Sasuke. I can't tell you that. Only Naruto can tell you what you want to know. Actually, if Naruto heard me saying half the stuff you heard, I'd be in trouble." He said the last part comically as a joke, but this only infuriated Sasuke more.

But before Sasuke could wake up the surrounding neighborhood with his anger, the door opened and slightly made a crashing sound as it hit the wall. Naruto, covered in blood, carried Sakura on his back into the house. Kakashi gave them a look of worry, but seeing that only Naruto was covered in blood and he seemed fine, he went back to the jovial tone he used on Sasuke. "Hey you two, looks like you had a fun night."

Naruto didn't say a word. He went past the two and out the living room. The two could hear the thumping of steps as Naruto went up the stairs. Sasuke was surprised, but he found himself even more so when Kakashi did not seem worried whatsoever. There was a silence that broke every once in a while from the thumping upstairs, but it was finally broken permanently when Sasuke asked Kakashi, "Is… Naruto that strong?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Where did this come from?"

"Naruto is drenched in blood, but you didn't even seem to care about that.", Sasuke said.

Kakashi looked at the door that Naruto kicked open. He thought for a little bit before saying, "I guess it depends on what you mean by strength, Sasuke."

"What do you mean? I mean, in terms of combat.", Sasuke said, quizzically.

Kakashi sighed. He should have expected that answer. "Look, Sasuke. There's a lot more to strength than beating your enemies. That would be more physical strength, and in that regard, you two could be equals." Sasuke's eyes brightened up a bit when he heard that.

"But," Kakashi continued, "if we're talking about mental strength and emotional strength, then it's quite different. In those types of strength, Naruto is both stronger in the sense that he is dealing with his horrible past quite well, considering, but also weaker than you in the sense that he is still affected by it."

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. Whatever happened to Naruto seems to be different than what he went through, that he was sure of, but it seems that the severity of their pasts are different as well, at least if Kakashi was telling the truth.

They heard thumping again as Naruto came back down. He came around the corner and back into the living room, wearing a change of clothes. Kakashi began to greet him and ask him to sit down to have a chat, but Naruto interrupted him. "Sensei, is it possible to perform jutsus without any hand signs?"

Kakashi's eye widened for a moment, gave Naruto a serious look, and then went back to his nonchalant self. "Why do you ask?"

"We were attacked", Naruto said. He then explained what happened with him and Sakura. He left out the part of how he got loose from the guy's grip and how he dispatched them, however.

At the end of it, Kakashi was silent and serious while Sasuke was a little surprised and frustrated. After all, Naruto not only killed people and didn't seem bothered by it, but he also did it again. He fought as if he wasn't on a team.

Kakashi spoke up. "It is possible, but… Hmm…" He thought again, and then he smiled. "Alright, I'll explain it to you tomorrow. All of you. We're moving onto the next step."

Both Genin looked at their sensei curiously. "Next step?", Naruto asked. "Is it the water-walking thing you did when fighting Zabuzza?"

"No, unfortunately. I wish we could, but I was talking to our hostage. It seems he believes that Zabuzza will come for him. Even if he doesn't, it seems that Zabuzza won't abandon the mission as well. We may need to fight Zabuzza again, and I rather have you three prepared to at least defend yourselves, in case something happens."

The two Genin nodded along as Kakashi explained. But, in the middle of his explanation, Naruto stopped and looked at Kakashi, and started to back away.

"What is it, Naruto?", Kakashi asked.

"What do you mean 'he'?", Naruto asked, leering at him.

"What are you on about, dobe?", Sasuke asked as well.

Naruto pointed at Kakashi and said to Sasuke, "He just called that hunter-nin a 'he'. But, I swore it was a girl. I mean, the face is too feminine. But, sensei is saying otherwise. But, how would he know?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know. He probably check-" Sasuke's eyes widened in realization. He stood up and backed away as well.

Kakashi looked at the two, confused. "What's wrong, you two?"

Sasuke leered at Kakashi as well. "Sensei, how did you find out that the hunter-nin is a guy?"

Naruto spoke up as well. "After all, if you can't rely on the face, you would have to either check their primary or secondary sexual characteristics, right?"

Kakashi, realizing what they were accusing him of, stood up and began waving his hands around. "No, no, I didn't do any such thing. He told me himself he was a guy." But, the two didn't seem convinced.

"I'm never sleeping without all my clothes on anymore on a mission, even if it is 90 degrees out.", Naruto said.

Kakashi started sweating. "No, I really mean it! I didn't check that way!"

The next day, the entire team was back in the forest. Kakashi looked at his students. Naruto and Sasuke were looking at him, expectantly. Sakura, on the other hand, was looking at Naruto. She looked tired, but she also looked scared and confused. Whatever happened last night must have dealt a bit of mental damage.

Kakashi cleared his throat, getting the attention of all his students. "Alright, before we start, Naruto, you asked me if you could perform jutsus without hand signs."

Sakura looked at Naruto with wide eyes. She raised her hand. Kakashi nodded in her direction. "But, sensei, isn't that impossible?"

"Well, Sakura, would you mind explaining how performing jutsus work?", Kakashi requested.

She nodded, still a little confused, but the anxiety seemed to melt away as she explained. "Basically, there are three parts to performing a jutsu: hand signs, recitation of the jutsu's name, and forming the chakra. The hand signs and reciting the jutsu's name allows the caster not only to concentrate but also to help form the chakra in the correct form. And as the caster does this, depending on which jutsu it is, he or she also must build up the correct amount of chakra and start forming it by his or her own will, as well."

Kakashi nodded. "Good explanation. So, in the most basic terms, it is possible to perform a jutsu without hand signs. Since hand signs only help you to perform the jutsu, if you master it and can form the chakra without the need of hand signs or recitation, then yes, Naruto, you would be able to perform the jutsu without hand signs."

He stopped to see if they all understood, and none of them looked confused, so he continued. "Mastering the jutsu, however, is difficult. It can take years to-"

"Oh", Naruto said, "I did it."

"Eh?", Kakashi looked back at Naruto, specifically, and saw the Kageken sticking out of his coat. His eyes widened as he didn't hear anything, no hand movements or recitation.

"Hmm", Naruto continued, "I can't seem to do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, though… I wonder why."

Sasuke was looking at Naruto with a jealous eye, while Sakura was smiling and congratulating him. But, Kakashi was not just surprised. He was worried. 'That shouldn't be possible', he thought. 'If what the Hokage said was true, he learned this the night he stole the Forbidden Scroll, but that wasn't even three months ago. And the fact that he can't do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu… I was going to suggest that it might be the Kyuubi helping him do the jutsu without any hand signs, but it must be that those demonic jutsus that are special.' He put on a happy façade and said, "Good job, Naruto. Well, that speeds things up. We can move onto the next part: learning new jutsus."

All three this time looked up at him with expectant eyes, until Kakashi pulled out a few pieces of paper. The sparkle in their eyes dies out quickly. Kakashi's eyebrow twitched in irritation. 'Damn kids and their short attention spans.'

He sighed and shook his head. Sakura raised her hand. "Sensei, what are those sheets of paper?"

"This, Sakura, is chakra paper. All three of you know the five elements, right?" Sakura nodded. The boys did not.

"Very good, Sakura. Well, for you two guys, I'll explain. Many jutsus have a specific element that they have an affinity for: fire, water, lightning, earth, and wind. For example, Sasuke, your Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fireball Release Jutsu) has an affinity for fire, hence its name."

This time, Sasuke was nodding along, understanding. Naruto however looked confused. Kakashi sighed again. "Do you not get it, Naruto?"

He shook his head. "That's not it. If there are five elements, then why can I use the Shadow element?" His Kageken materialized again. "I mean, it is called Intou: Kageken (Shadow Style: Shadow Blade) for a reason."

Kakashi replied, "Well, light and darkness manipulation is a big topic that is way above your current knowledge. There are more elements than the 5, but jutsus that use the other elements are very rare, while the 5 are very common."

Seeing Naruto comprehend, Kakashi gave each of his students one of the chakra papers. "Alright, you merely have to pump chakra into the paper. How it reacts will determine what element you have. If it crumples, your element is lightning. If it becomes drenched, your element is water. If it burns up, it's fire. If it turns to dust, it's earth. And, if the paper becomes cut, it's wind."

Sasuke went first. Pouring a small amount of chakra into the paper, the paper crumpled up then immediately burned up. Kakashi nodded. Sakura went next. Her paper turned to dust, which surprised him. Considering her high chakra control, he thought it would be wind or water.

Naruto went last. He poured his chakra into the paper. It first cut in half, which, again, surprised Kakashi as well. Wind needed some chakra control for close-combat, which Naruto lacked.

But, then, the paper's color began to fade. It slowly became gray as if the something was draining the bright whiteness of it. When the fading stopped, small faces appeared in the paper. They were all contorted with anger or pain, some screaming while some wept. Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke took a step back at the horror that resided in the paper.

Naruto, not noticing the increase in distance between his teammates, asked, "So, sensei, which one is this element?"

Kakashi was silent due to shock. The paper was treated carefully with chakra, however, it was treated in such a way so that only the basic elements should be showing. The fact that a sixth reaction occurred should have been impossible. It looked like the darkness element, but he didn't think the element was so chilling. The faces seem like a picture taken of hell's inhabitants.

"Sensei?" Naruto's voice shook him out of it. He quickly responded with, "Well, your first element is wind."

"I know that. You told us what element did what."

"… Naruto, do you mind if we have a talk after this?", Kakashi asked, sternly. Naruto, puzzled by the change in tone, simply nodded.

"Good", Kakashi said. "Well, let's move on. First, Sakura, Sasuke, here." He gave each of them a scroll. Both of them opened it up.

Sakura spoke up first. "Douton: Doryuheki (Earth Style: Earth Wall)?"

"It's a good starter jutsu. It allows you to create walls of earth as long as there's earth around. You can use it for protection, but it also allows you to change the battlefield. Plus, it only costs chakra to cast it. It doesn't need chakra to stay."

Sasuke asked as well. "Katon: Hibashiri (Fire Style: Running Fire)?"

"Seeing that you already know a fire-style jutsu, I thought I should give you one that doesn't rely on power alone for effectiveness. You can make any pattern with that jutsu if you will. Well, once you master it, you can. At first, you should just try making circles with the fire." Kakashi looked at both of them. "Well, you guys go practice these jutsus until you believe you could use them without a problem in real combat, alright?"

He turned to Naruto and motioned to follow him.

They returned to Inari's house. They returned to the living room that they were in last night. After both of them found a seat, Kakashi said, "Naruto, I know you got those Intou jutsus from the Forbidden Scroll."

Naruto visibly twitched, but he did not show any more signs that he cared. Kakashi continued, "Look, I'm going to ask right away. What Intou jutsus do you know?"

Naruto cocked his head to one side. "Sensei, do you know Intou jutsus as well?"

"No, I do not, Naruto."

"Then, why are you asking me what jutsus I know?"

Kakashi sighed. He thought for a moment, trying to figure out what the best approach was. In the end, he decided to just be blunt. "The Hokage told me about them."

Naruto nodded, satisfied with the answer. After all, the old man knew a lot of things. It shouldn't be surprising that he knew about the jutsus as well.

Kakashi continued. "Naruto, do any of your jutsus seem… wrong?"

Naruto froze. He wasn't sure of every single one of his jutsus. After all, he hasn't even tried half of the advanced Intou jutsus because he was afraid of them. But, that voice did use Intou: Kyofu no Zaiaku (Illusion of Sin). It forced Sakura to change her love, which did digust Naruto highly that he had the power to force people to feel things.

But, should he tell Kakashi-sensei? If he did, what would he do?

Kakashi, noticing that Naruto was not answering, said, "Naruto, I promise you. I would never let harm come to one of my students. You can trust me."

When Kakashi said trust, Naruto immediately put on a face of calm. Kakashi mentally facepalmed himself. 'Shit, I said the t word. I just told Sasuke that Naruto has trust issues.' He shook his head and quickly said, "Naruto, what I mean is that I'm worried about you. You can take that however you want. You can believe that the only reason I'm caring is for the team if that helps."

That addition seemed to relax Naruto. He nodded. "Yeah, truthfully, all of the advanced jutsus seem wrong. I haven't used any of them yet." He was telling the truth. The voice was the one who used it against Sakura.

"Advanced jutsu? What do you mean, Naruto?", Kakashi asked. Then, Naruto explained each of the jutsus and the Kagegan (Shadow Orb) ritual that he had to do first. When Naruto mentioned the ritual, Kakashi's face paled. He remembered what the Hokage said. 'As long as Naruto hasn't done the Kagegan ritual, it should be alright.'

Naruto noticed the change in disposition in his sensei. When he asked what was wrong, Kakashi snapped out of it and shook his head. "Nothing's wrong, Naruto. Just… look, when we get back, we have to go talk to the Hokage. He knows more about the jutsus than both of us."

Naruto hesitated for a moment before agreeing. He still didn't know what to think of the old man. He could be trustworthy, but he could not.

Kakashi went back to his cheery self. "Alright, well, to be fair, I have to teach you a jutsu as well, but your arsenal is quite big thanks to that incident with the Forbidden Scroll. So, instead, why don't we go have a chat with our captive?"

"Oh yeah, that hunter-nin girl."

"No, Naruto, it's a guy." Naruto began to edge away again. "I told you that I didn't do anything that you're imagining!", Kakashi exclaimed.

Haku stared out the window. It's all he could do nowadays since he was chained to the bed with seals. A woman, who seems to be the head of the household, comes to feed him, and she does attempt to strike up a conversation, but it's simply small talk. Hatake Kakashi came to talk once about Zabuzza, but since Haku refused to tell anything, the conversation didn't really go anywhere.

Two pairs of footsteps echoed into the room. Maybe the woman and the jounin were coming to see him.

He was half right. Kakashi walked in, but behind him was a blonde-haired kid in a black and blue outfit. It was the kid that ambushed him in the fight. They both greeted him and sat down near the bed he was chained in.

And again, it began. Kakashi started with small talk, but after seeing no effect, went onto interrogation. Of course, Haku didn't answer. How could he betray the one person that cared about him?

The blonde-haired kid seemed to be in deep thought. He didn't say a single word since entering.

Kakashi was about to give up. The boy just would not budge. Whatever reason he had for being loyal to Zabuzza gave him strength. He looked at Naruto and shrugged.

Naruto, instead of giving up, said, "Sensei, let me try something. I want to try and Intou jutsu."

Haku's ears perked up when he heard jutsu, but he never heard of an Intou jutsu. However, considering the worry in the jounin's eyes, he didn't think it was anything good.

Kakashi leaned over and whispered, "Are you sure, Naruto? We don't really know what they might do in the long run. Don't you think we should wait until we can talk to the Hokage first?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'd rather not be hit by a surprise attack by Zabuzza. If I had to choose between that and using one of those jutsus, I definitely will always take the latter."

Kakashi resigned. He knew that the constant beatings out of nowhere were probably the cause of this, so he didn't see a way to stop him. He let Naruto do what he needs to do.

Haku gave a strong look, but inside, he was afraid. What was the jutsu? Was it interrogation? Was it torture? What was an Intou jutsu?

Naruto took in a deep breath and began performing hand signs. Haku was both afraid and puzzled. There were signs in there that he didn't recognize.

When Naruto finished, he looked at Haku and said, "Intou: Warugi (Distrust)"

Haku shut his eyes, waiting for the jutsu to hit him.

He waited a moment.

Then, another.

Then, one more, until he realized that nothing had happened. Naruto had sat back in his chair and just began asking questions. "What's your name?"

Haku answered. There was no need to hide that information.

"How old are you?"

"16", he answered.

Naruto nodded and then asked the big question. "What is Zabuzza going to do?"

Haku knew that this would come up again. How many times would these Konoha-shinobi ask until they realized that he would not betray the one that cares for him?

…

At least, he thinks that Zabuzza cared.

…

Zabuzza had to care, right?

Of course, he had to. Even if he didn't, Haku would lay his life down for him no matter what.

Right?

….

Right?

…

'Why?', Haku thought. 'Why should I lay my life down? Why try so hard for someone that doesn't even trust me? Someone I don't even trust?! It makes no sense. Zabuzza and I were simply together for no other reason for convenience. Right? I think.'

Then, much to Kakashi's surprise, Haku began to talk. He told them that Zabuzza probably would leave him here, and once he recovered, he would attack Tazuna at the most opportune moment, whenever that was. Considering the wounds he had, Haku speculated that Zabuzza would attack in two days.

Naruto stood up and thanked Haku. He and Kakashi left the room and went back downstairs. Once they left the second floor, Haku suddenly was hit by a headache. It was painful, but it passed almost as quickly as it came.

Then, Haku realized it. He just gave Zabuzza's enemies crucial information. Why did he do it? He had no reason to! Haku went over the past couple minutes in his head, but it was all fuzzy. Then, he remembered Naruto doing that jutsu. It should be impossible for any jutsu to tamper with memories and feelings. It can only manipulate them through genjutsu, but it had to be it! That kid made him talk.

Haku looked up at the chains with seals that bound him to the bed. He swore that no matter how long it took, he would get out and take revenge on Naruto for making him betray Zabuzza.

Downstairs, the two were sitting in their original seats again. And to no surprise, Kakashi immediately asked Naruto, "What was that jutsu?"

Naruto scratched his head as he was a little ashamed at what he did. "It's a jutsu that messes with the head. It makes any trustful relationship they remember into a distrustful one temporarily. The scroll talked about how it was good in battle by creating chaos, but I thought it might help us with interrogation."

Kakashi's eye widened. When the Hokage said the jutsus were wrong, he didn't think it was on this level. This was immoral. To tamper with one's memories was almost like overwriting that part of their life they remembered. He gave Naruto a serious look before saying, "Naruto, never use those advanced jutsus again. I'm sorry. I didn't think they were as bad as they are. But, Naruto, those jutsus are really wrong. Please, don't use them again."

Naruto nodded. He was hesitant about using it against Haku at first anyways. But, again, if he had to choose between a surprise attack and using an immoral jutsu,

He would always choose to be immoral.

AND THAT'S IT. I don't know when the next chapter will go up, but I do have plans. Hopefully, nothing will happen, because I do kind of want to complete this one. I want at least one complete story on my profile.

And please, do review. I have a pretty solid idea of where this story is going, but I do like other ideas. They may help greatly.