Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything Naruto related except my ideas and if Kishimoto would use those ideas then I would be honored.
I would like to say this, there are thirty days in every month in the Narutoverse and 28 days in a moon cycle as usual.
Oh and before anyone says anything- just because I have a quote it doesn't imply anything HUGE, its just a quote and will stay that because I like quotes.
Like in Genin of the Leaf, I do not know Japanese, so any names I use will most likely be gibberish and have no meaning. And if a word does have a meaning I would like it if you could tell me what it means, just so I know.
Chuunin of the Leaf
"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential." – Winston Churchill.
Naruto Uzumaki looked at the saying on his wall while he sat resting on a cushion, something new he had added to his small house, having loved the quotes from the western man so much that he had bought nearly two hundred wall hangings with such sayings on them. 'You have to make effort all the time in order to become stronger, just like I'm doing right now!' Though it didn't seem it now, Naruto was working harder than anyone else in the Leaf.
-----
Rock Lee and Guy ran with all their might, never slowing down, only getting faster, a little ways behind them was Jakon Orashi, a boy who's family jutsu's sucked all the pigment out of the body, leaving him with all white skin and hair like that of an albino's and bright red eyes. Farther behind him was Naruto, or rather several Naruto's, all of which where shadow clones. They all ran, following Lee's usual routine of training, which involved waking at dawn, doing 300 push-ups, jumping rope for ten minutes, 200 crunches and 200 sit-ups, running ten miles (which they were doing now), followed by sparring, kicking a strong log 1000 times or until it broke, punching a tree 500 times with each hand, sparring with weights, then ending with another ten mile hike, that one while wearing 100 pounds more in weights.
The leading Naruto, who was a good thirty feet behind Jakon, wondered how they could do it, though he kept going, until he finally landed face down in the mud, going up in a puff of smoke, the others going where he could not.
-----
Tenten, the young girl wearing baggy pants and a pink shirt that zipped shut on her right side and her hair still in two buns, threw kunai after kunai and shuriken after shuriken, hitting her target every time. Then she turned and watched as her 'student' for the day practiced with his kunai and shuriken throwing, "Good! Now you know the basics, that's to be expected, so the warm-ups are over. See the tree over there? Your going to hit that, like so." And she threw a Kunai, kitting a tree that was easily a hundred meters away.
"Tenten, I don't know what kind of training Guy puts you through, but I couldn't do that if my life depended on it."
"Pffft! You will never know if you don't try… fine, will you do as I ask if I show you my new invention?"
This caught Naruto's attention, "Sure!" though he knew that he could hit the target, it was just a matter of taking his time and taking careful aim, unlike the hasty Tenten.
The girl pulled out what looked like a ball and threw it away, taking cover after she threw it, then there was an explosion and she looked up, seeing the crater that the explosive had made, but Naruto was gone, a puff of smoke and a single piece of metal in his place, "Opps! I forgot to tell him to get down. Looks like a fragment of shrapnel hit him somewhere… hey that's a great name, a 'Frag!'" She had forgotten Naruto for the moment and the practice that she had agreed to in order to help him with his throwing skills, "But it seems a little incomplete, needs something more, can't just call it a frag, Hmm…
-----
Hinata and another Naruto clone sat in the Hyuga complex's garden, their backs against a great tree that had been grown by the first Hokage himself, clearing their minds and concentrating on a problem that had been on their minds recently. It was during times like this that Hinata couldn't help but be at her calmest and happiest. She opened her eyes eventually, looking at the nearly unmoving Naruto, his head lowered, shoulders relaxed completely, and drool coming from the corner of his mouth…
Hinata looked at him a second longer before realizing he was asleep. She crawled over to him, a grin on her face, and wiped his mouth clean and snuggled close to him, his arm coming up automatically around the girl who he had grown so close to and so fond of in the past four months since Chuunin exams ended. 'This happens every time we try to train together!' she thought to herself, snuggling in closer.
-----
Hanabi and Naruto sparred, a fierce session that any spectator would assume was a full on fight to the death, Hanabi's mind racing as the two traded blows, 'Dodge, duck, thrust, follow through with a kick, bock, pull out a kunai, jump, parry, thrust, stab, bring up, go onto my back, kick with both feet, do a flip backwards, parry, parry, punch, thrust, kick, substitution jutsu!' And with that last thought she did the seals and went up in smoke, doing a substitution with the air behind his back (The strange Puff thingy the sensei always do), sliding her hands under the sleeves of her long battle cloaks, she made some hand signs and attacked him from behind, making the clone disappear, never knowing what attack she had used. "DAMMIT!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, "it still isn't doing what I want it to do! AHHH! Where's that scroll?" she started to search through her bag for one of the scrolls that she had been teaching herself from.
-----
Shikamaru and Naruto sat across from each other, playing a game of shougi, it was Naruto's turn and he was looking at every move he could see. Finally he moved a piece and looked at Shikamaru in a triumphant way. Shikamaru glanced down and moved a piece, "You lose Naruto, now hand it over!" with that Naruto pulled out a deflating frog pouch, giving Shikamaru his winnings. Then the Chuunin with the pineapple hairdo turned to his side and looked at the second game he was playing making a move that sent the next Naruto looking for any possible way out of his predicament. "So Naruto, have you even taken that thing off yet?" he asked, referring to the chuunin vest Naruto wore.
Indeed Naruto had taken to wearing the vest, along with a pair of black pants, a strip of matching green going down the legs, extra holders on them for scrolls and the such. Naruto put a big grin on his face, his hands now behind his head, "Hehe, nope! Been washing with this baby ON for the past four months!"
Shikamaru just put his hand on his head as he got up, throwing Naruto his money back, "Naruto… I give up!" Naruto just made a 'v' for victory at his winning bluff.
-----
Yamato and Naruto both looked down at the scene that was unfolding below them, both standing on pieces of ground raised up by Yamato. Farther below, in a wooded area just outside of Konoha, there where roughly fifty shadow clone Naruto's, each transformed to look like someone different, participating in a mock battle. Naruto was in command of eleven of these clones, who looked like a different member of the Konoha eleven, himself included.
"Excellent strategy Naruto, now what if the enemy was coming at you like this?" he said having his Mokuton clone giving out orders to the clones below that it was in charge of, the heads of each four man squad of 'enemy' clones looking like Sasuke, Orochimaru, Kabuto, or a member of Akatsuki.
"I would have Shikamaru hold as many of them back for as long as possible, with Lee, Neji, Hinata, Tenten, Akamaru, and Kiba helping him. Ino would take control of them one at a time, trying to cause infighting among them. And Shino would be calling his bugs to crawl over them, in numbers that they wouldn't notice, being too distracted from the fighting. Mean while me, Choji, and Sakura would be setting traps that can only be set off by us and getting to the best positions, that way the others could retreat, luring the enemy into false security and rushing in. Then I would have Sakura hit the ground, either trapping the enemy or scattering them, in which case me and Choji will set off the traps we used, and engaging any enemy that gets out in combat, the others splitting up to help either me, Choji, or Sakura. From there we should be able to handle the rest… Well, except for the leaders, the guys you picked would be impossible for even YOU to fight!" he added the last part as a little joke.
"Ok, then how do you deal with this." And he made a single hand seal, sending Naruto's platform back into the earth, the clone disappearing with a poof as it hit the ground, and with another set of seals raised it back up, "Hmmm, HEY, Sasuke, get back up here and take over for this guy!" and the shadow clone turned into Naruto again, his team disappeared, and he ran up the side of the raised earth, "Oh, and not more stupid remarks, ok?" The clone just saluted him in a goofy way, 'Well that's a start.'
-----
BAM! Sakura punched the ground, putting her all into the hit. Cracks formed, the ground began to shift, and finally it broke apart, leaving a crater about six meters across on every side, the pink haired kunoichi in the middle. She looked over the edge at Naruto, who was wide eyed as usual when he saw her do that, and she gave him a cute little smile and said in the meekest voice she could muster up, "Your turn!"
She jumped out of the pit she had made and watched as he stored his chakra up in his hand and arm and hit the ground as hard as he could, releasing it all at once. The result, a decent sized imprint where his hand hit the ground and the clone rolling on the ground, its knuckles broken from the force it had hit the ground with, "ow ow ow ow ow ow ow OOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!"
The Hokage's apprentice just grabbed him by the arm with her hands, yanked up the hand in question and started to heal it, fixing the bone so soon after and accident was easy for her, she was an expert, "COME ON!" she yelled, "AGAIN! I had to go through the same thing when I learned this stuff and I didn't have nearly as much chakra or stamina as you do! Now you asked me to teach this to you so get up and learn, we ain't stopping until night falls!" This Naruto wished he could have had the easy routine with Lee and Guy instead.
-----
A dog scrunched up its large nose, smelling the air, and gave a small growl back to the two people that walked with it, both keeping their eyes open, looking around, "Akamaru says he can smell that the herd moved through here about a minute before we showed up, come on, lets get that thing before it gets away!" and the picked up their pace, running now as they followed the dog.
Finally they broke though into the clearing they sought, a group of fifteen to twenty deer all grazing. Though they looked up they did not bolt, they were used to human presences. The group of three walked among the deer to a women who looked at them all, surprised that they had found her there, "You know this place is supposed to be for those of clan Nara only?" but she saw the dog and knew that they had been sent from the village, "So which one of those pineapple headed idiots sent you to find me?"
"The older one," said Kiba quite cheerfully, "he said that you would need to get some more antler for the Akimichi clans new pill, and that they are offering money for this delivery instead of food. He also said that you can just make Shikamaru process and deliver it all instead of doing it yourself."
"Well he DOES have the day off today." Said Naruto's clone with a smile, happy to make the lazy shinobi do some work for once.
"Well so do you too, so you can come help me with this and send it straight to him!" she said, giving the two boys an evil smile.
'Now I can see why both of them are afraid of her!' thought Naruto, remembering the horror stories from Shikamaru about his mom, "Hey would you look at that, we have a chance to practice our air substitution jutsu's!"
And the two made the signs, sending the three figures up in smoke, only to appear with the women already behind them, "Nice try, but if I can catch those two then I will have no problem with you guys, now start working!"
-----
A Naruto clone stood directly across from Kurenai, looking each other in the eyes, "Come on Naruto, you need to concentrate… good, good… okay, now break the jutsu… no, break it, make your chakra stop moving… excellent work Naruto!" said the red eyed kunoichi who was looking past him now, trying to see a group of Naruto's that all stood behind him.
"Relax Kurenai-sensei," said Naruto, following the older women's gaze, "they'll be ok! They have me looking after them after all!"
The women just shot him a death glare, "For your sake, Naruto, they better be and you better start picking this up faster, they need a nap at around noon." The women couldn't wait for their session to be over so she could get back to her twins, a girl named Takara and a boy named Oboe, both of whom where a mere month old and surrounded by Naruto clones that tried to entertain the kids, or at least not make them cry. This had been the first time that Kurenai had let them come out like this, enjoying the fresh air, while she helped train Naruto.
She looked at the boy again, placing him in one of her genjutsu, letting him see what would happen to anyone who endangered her kids… Naruto was scared.
-----
Out in the middle of the woods, Naruto was bent over a log, inspecting it for strange bugs, somewhere around him was Shino, who had no problem finding new creatures to study. Finally Naruto found one, a pair of them actually. He picked them up and ran towards where he had last seen Shino, who was still standing over his first log, in deep talks with the insects, becoming one with them, "Hey Shino! I found some new ones!" yelled the newer Chuunin.
Shino looked over at him and held out one hand, "One at a time please Naruto, I want to make sure I know what kind they are." So Naruto handed him the first one, which he turned his hand and let fall off, "That was a piece of dirt and the next one?" This time Shino looked at it a little while longer, but he spoke eventually, "You killed it… It was a very rare breed of insect, and you killed it the second you skin's oils touched it… You killed it…" Naruto was unsure of what the boy would do, and he was to scared to find out, as the clone soon dispelled itself.
-----
Naruto was with Ino in her families flower show, looking at the different plants they kept behind the counter. Ino was currently talking about one of her favorite flowers, "… the red and the black make it seem so mysterious and to top it all off, it's a key ingredient in powerful poisons. Heck if you where to eat the flower you would be dead in three days, but when you refine it with this one and this one," she pointed to two other plants, keeping her eyes glued to the red and black pedaled plant, "it will act even faster, probably giving you a day to live. So… are you listening?"
"Yes," he said half truthfully, "your favorite flower can kill you in three days." This earned him a smack to the back of the head.
"WRONG! It is not my favorite and it can kill you in less than three days if you use it right. Now this one…" Naruto had just wanted to know about more about the different edible and poisonous plants, not getting a one on one with which ones Ino liked most.
-----
Naruto watched as Choji lifted the weights, adding more and more for him to lift, "300 sounds good for me, so how much do you want?"
Naruto just looked at the set of weights, Choji would be lifting over 300 pounds over his head, Naruto could almost lift 150, which was a considerable amount, seeing as most shinobi were meant to stay slim and wiry, "Give me 100." That wasn't nearly enough to be compared to Choji, though he just wondered how long he could go at it with 100 pounds. Naruto just watched Choji at first, lifting the weights above his head, squatting down, lowering the weights to his chest, and doing another squat. He repeated that ten times before Naruto even did one, 'Ino would take back everything she ever said about him if he saw this.' He thought to himself, not knowing that she had seen this and had, to herself at least, taken back the bad things she had said.
-----
Naruto jumped up, dodging the spear of ice that was thrust at him from nearly point blank range, fast enough to not receive a cold death. Lyn moved her arms with every motion, having lost some of her ability since having the five-tails cut off from her, and sent ice at him in waves of jagged spikes. Sticking to one of the trees that covered the hill, a giant waterfall coming out of nowhere, and a bridge going across it, he leapt at the girl, who simply brought up a barrier of ice, which the clone slipped along, landing in the ever growing lake at the bottom of the falls, having tripled in size in the past two months alone.
As the clone was going down it caught a glance of another clone on the wooden bridge, making hand seals with Kakashi, "Faster! Hurry up Naruto, you remember how fast Itachi was with his hand seals, well when I fought him he was able to create shadow clones while making one of the clones explode and pull out three shuriken, and I was barely able to see the movements with my Sharingan, something you don't have the luxury of!"
Still working his hands as fast as he could, Naruto said to the one eyed man, "But Itachi's dead, I killed him already!"
"But what about the others in Akatsuki?" asked the man, drilling Naruto, "What about Orochimaru? He has the Sharingan now, he has Sasuke's body, in addition he holds complete control over the curse seal. What about Danzou and the rest of Root, you think that there aren't exceptional warriors among them?" he took Naruto's hands, which had fallen idle and pushed them out again, starting him on the seals again, "You think you're the best, but the people who you have compared yourself to have almost all been from the Hidden Leaf. The Stone Village has warrior with endurance beyond anything I have seen. The Cloud Village has the fastest men and women in the world, people who would put Lee, Guy, and Itachi to shame. The Grass has shinobi with the most unusual abilities, the element of surprise being their ally till the last man has shown his all, in battle and out. The rain has the best marksmen that have ever been known. You are just one out of a million, an exceptional one, but one none the less. Now faster! I have learned over 1000 jutsu, well its time I started to share some of them, and as soon as your fast enough as I see fit I will start to teach them to you." 'You must be strong Naruto, we all need you to be strong!'
In the lake below there where at least twenty clones, some doing stretches on the water and others meditating while holding themselves afloat. Two of them where right by the water fall, "Come on, I have done it, now its your turn!" said one clone.
"I don't know? Why don't you just disappear and let me see if you really did?"
"Tsk, because then you would have already have done it too, what would be the point in trying to meditate under the waterfall if you already know you can, where's the excitement?"
"Fine! But I'm warning you!" and one of the clones began to crawl under the water fall while holding himself above the water level. As soon as most of his back was submerged in the falling water the clone went under from the force.
"Well then," said the remaining clone, "I guess you CAN'T meditate under a waterfall!" and he began to walk away, only to be hit by another clone, falling from his fight with Lyn, submerging them both and causing hundreds of little bubbles to surface when they blew up.
-----
Sai sat in the Konoha library, a place where he could find peace and quiet, to read up on people and personality, which he had given up for the most part except as a hobby, or to draw the beautiful interior of the building, which had a large tree going up and straight through the room which had been built around the tree grown by the first, and still maintained by a member of the ANBU black ops who had seemed to share the first's gift. Today he was doing a drawing that most people would think weird if they simple saw the picture, but next to the real thing it was quite normal. The interior of the building, bustling with people, or rather a person, just many of that person: Naruto (Who'd a thunk it?).
Naruto's scurried around, looking for scrolls that he may find something interesting in, though not reading them all the way through, all of the clones doing that would cause the mental strain upon the clones disappearance to be terrible. A decent sized pile had formed, all of them for Sai to take back to Naruto's house when they would all head out to dinner tonight, as had become tradition with Naruto's biweekly mass clone training.
Sai finished up his sketch and looked up at the Naruto's, a group of three something around. Getting up Sai went and saw what they were chasing, one of the books. This book, it seemed, was sealed by the creator so only he could read what was inside it and now it was running away from Naruto, who was either going to kill it or read it. Putting his hand on his head, cursing himself for what he was about to do, Sai put on a smile and started to chase after the book as well. It took them an hour to catch it.
-----
Neji stood with several clones in a windowless room, the temperature nearly freezing. Neji looked at the clones, who seemed ready to pass out from the sight of what they were doing. Neji had brought Naruto to a section of the Konoha Hospital where autopsies were performed and shinobi could study the bodies of men and women who donated themselves after death. This was one of the rooms used by ANBU, jounin, and medic nin to learn of the bodies, though Naruto felt he may never be any of those things after today.
"Naruto… Naruto look at it… NOW! Good, now you see his spine, each of the vertebra can be hit to do different degree of damage or paralyze. Not if you where to hit this one with enough force you can take a man down for the rest of his life. Here," he said, feeling the spot on Naruto's back so he could understand better, "Now we're going to remove the spine totally so… Naruto… Naruto?" the clones had passed out and where no longer there.
-----
Naruto sat on a cushion in his house, taking in all of this information in stride, while things much larger than him began to move in greater force than ever before. For it was at this time that Hiashi was walking down the hall of his home to meet with his daughter in the gardens of the complex. Up ahead of him was a man, seemingly waiting for someone. When Hiashi was close enough the two great Hyuga meet eye to eye, Hiashi Hyuga and Forsu Hyuga.
Bowing down, overly low in mock loyalty, Forsu greeted his superior, "Lord Hiashi, it is a pleasure to come across you on this day, though there is still so much left unresolved in the counsel of the Elder Hyuga, such things as the Law of Lord Hyuga. Would you please tell me once more, what does the law say." His eyes had suspicion in them now, his voice just a hint of spite.
"Very well cousin," he said, not letting any emotions through, "since you cannot remember such a simple thing. The Law of Lord Hyuga states that when there is more than one heir to the title of clan head, they shall wage war. Only on the eve of the full moon shall the heirs to the clan fight, using no kunai or power that is not of the Hyuga, until one is lost in body, spirit, or energy." Hiashi ended it at that.
"There is more to it I believe?" he asked, knowing the answer already, "Yes, I believe that the last part was something along the lines of, none shall know of my law, let it be heir apparent or Lord to which the Clan may serve. Yes I believe that was part of it as well. Though a strange thing has been happening, on the eve of the full moon for the past four months, the heirs to the Hyuga clan have been on missions. Now we cannot ask the Hokage not to send them, she would question us and that might break the Law, and we cannot have the two fight on a night other than that of the full moon, that too would break the Law." He looked at Hiashi now, his eyes full of hate, "Now what would be the chance of the Hokage sending them on missions during the full moon this month Hiashi?"
"Are you trying to imply something-"
"You know what I am talking about Hiashi! You have broken the Law, I know you have, and as soon as I have the proof I will make sure that the other elders know of it!" the man now had his hand pointed straight at Hiashi's heart, a killing blow if he had struck out at him.
"Forsu, my young friend," he said, grabbing the mans fingers and turning them, as well as his whole hand, "you make accusations that could destroy this clan from civil war! You should be more careful." And he began to walk once more, "Oh, and Forsu, I AM Lord Hyuga! Remember that before you make an enemy of me!" and soon he was in the garden, never seeing Hinata destroy the clone so the two of them wouldn't be seen together as they were.
"Tsk, Tsk! He really needs to learn his place in the world, doesn't he brother?" said Ophelia, coming from seemingly nowhere, "Well once Hinata is in power we will have enough support in the counsel to change the clan in our way."
"Yes, you will join the main house where you should be and Danzou will have a clan undivided to aid in the building of the empire."
-----
They where not the only ones preparing their plans to come to fruit. Orochimaru himself couldn't help but feel happy, something he had not done since hearing about the death of Sasori, his former teammate from Akatsuki. He was moving quite capably by himself, training for the first time in almost a year as he walked by himself to the Sound. Sasuke was not dead, but when Orochimaru had control over the body they shared he had actual control, not the shaking and weakness there had been before. Sasuke was no less a part of the snake ninja than he had been before, but Orochimaru had only recently begun to steady his own hand, fight with his own sword, and walk by himself.
There were complications still: There where times when his 'split personality' would come out, taking perfect control over the body for different periods of time. There was the whispering of the Uchiha in his head, night and day, trying to corrode away Orochimaru's will and if he gave in for one second then he would be lost to the Uchiha. Orochimaru also could not use either the Curse Seal or the Sharingan without Sasuke taking over the body fully. But the seal would soon require him to lose his chakra and Sasuke couldn't keep the Sharingan activated night and day when he had taken over. The most disturbing part for Orochimaru was the fact that Sasuke's will would be too strong for him when it came to certain things, such as placing his own face over Sasuke's or trying to write out and use Sasuke's jutsu, specifically the Chidori and its children jutsu. These things where Sasuke's and he made that know to all.
None the less Orochimaru had the body he wanted and in time, he was sure, he would get the Sharingan and seal he wished to have power over as well. Until then though he would call for Kabuto and set out, they had been too long in one spot and needed to move. One thing that Sasuke HAD done for the man was give him time to think, think about what they would do next, what new experiments he might try, and what Orochimaru would leave behind should the unthinkable happen. He had decided that he would live forever, no matter what way that would be: either through true immortality and godhood, which he would never give up his dream of doing, or through the legacy he left behind, which he had started to do.
'Sasuke-kun… your listening to me, I know you are, but even if you take over my body today I will still live on. Kabuto is in the North Base, gathering notes on every experiment we have ever done, what we plan to do, and all of our dirty little secrets. Soon his experiment will be over too! And with that no one will ever be able to stop the Sound, not even you!'
'Kukukuku… No, I wouldn't, but then if I took over I would be the one to lead the Sound. You took everything from me, so it wouldn't be THAT bad of a trade off. Kukukukuku, your pathetic, true immortality is only in what you leave behind, but who will read the notes of an outcasted necromancer like you? People remember the emperors and leaders of the great nations, not the priests and Living 'Gods' that maniacs insist they are. kukukukuku.'
The only part of that that scared Orochimaru was that he knew it true in his heart, 'An empire, eh? That doesn't sound that bad.' Sasuke knew at that moment: this little man was his to use as he saw fit. And he too began to plan his return, with all the power of the Sound and Orochimaru as his call he could do anything he wanted. He just waited though, all back of the bus like, as some might say.
-----
The clones where gone and evening was closing in on the Village Hidden in the Leaf. "MORE STEAK!" Choji and Sakura both raised their plates up for the servers to see, "Well she has a healthy appetite!" Whispered Shikamaru to Naruto at his side, Hinata, who was next to Naruto as well, just laughed along with the two boys.
They where all gathered, sitting around a giant table in a diner that had often been frequented by Team Asuma, now a frequent gathering spot for the large group of Chuunin and Jounin , Kurenai being the only one missing recently, sitting as such: Choji (who had declared an eating contest to any takers), Ino (Who looked at Sakura in disgust), Sakura (Who had decided to accept the challenge since Choji was paying), Sai (who barely touched his second stake, let alone finish his first plate), Hanabi (Who, as usual, seemed wide eyed because she was around Kakashi, one of the greatest Shinobi ever (she didn't get over that)), Kiba (Who was disqualified for getting help from Akamaru), Akamaru (Who was getting stroked by Hinata while eating off Kiba's plate), Hinata (Who had barely touched one steak after seeing them eat), Naruto (Who had an arm around Hinata while talking to Shikamaru, not eating), Shikamaru (Who figured it was too troublesome not to come, yet too troublesome to join in on the contests that where often held), Lyn (Who just stared in awe at Sakura), Shino (Who had picked up the steaks and placed it inside his jacket for the bugs to eat), Neji (Who never ate after helping Naruto in one particular field of study), Tenten (Who had given up after the first plate and nearly throwing up), Yamato (Who was a Vega), Kakashi (who had an empty plate in front of him, never having taken his mask off that anyone had seen), Guy (Who was cheering on the competitors), Lee (who was mowing through his second plate while trying to catch up to the others), Jakon (Who was over full as it was), followed by Choji once more who was half in second place now, halfway though his third plate of steaks.
They all talked merrily, about what missions they had been on, different training routines, what had happened during the day, and any new gossip they had heard. This went on until about eleven o'clock, when they were kicked out as usual. They all went their different ways for the most part, Hinata, Naruto (his arm around her and vice versa), Hanabi, Neji, and Jakon all walked together. The youngest two of the group had become more comfortable around each other again, though they didn't have thoughts any serious thoughts about being 'in love' still. When they got to the Hyuga manor they all went in and sat in the garden together, talking more.
The party was a happy one, a party that kept the eyes in the Hyuga complex away from Hiashi as he snuck out to the Hokage's tower.
-----
Hiashi lived for the Hyuga clan, but he also lived for his daughters and thy would come first in all things. Never once had he made mention of the law, but he had done what he felt he must, the same thing that he would do tonight as he had four times before in order to ensure that at least one of the girls was on a mission outside of the village during the full moon. The full moon that would be coming in seven days.
As Hiashi walked up to the tower he turned his Byakugan on, making sure there was no one following him and that his business went unnoticed, as it should. Looking around for at least four hundred feet, which was his maximum range, he saw the people moving in the tower and others who wandered by it, getting to the places they where going at this late hour, for Konoha never sleeps, there are always people to be seen and no one is ever truly alone.
Inside the building he goes up a flight of stairs, then another, and another, finally knocking on the door at the top, getting a yell from Tsunade. The Hokage's tower is given that name for it is where the Hokage works AND lives, unless they have a family like the first and second Hokage.
Stumbling to the door, Tsunade opened it, a little worse for ware, but over all presentable and more importantly awake, "What is it, is the village under attack?"
"No-" the door was slammed in his face. Knocking again, Tsunade opened the door, her other hand on her head, over the diamond shaped seal on her head, "Hokage-sama, I must speak with you, perhaps if you had something to drink you would feel more awake."
"Good idea." Said the women, half asleep still. She motioned for him to come into the messed up house, clothing thrown about and one wall with a hole in it where the woman had lost her temper and a card game, solitaire. She walked into the kitchen area of the apartment which, when cleaned up, would be quite roomy, and she pulled out a bottle of whisky.
Taking a quick mouthful of the stuff she turned back to Hiashi, offering him the bottle, "No, thank you." He waited until she put the bottle back before talking, "My Lady, I have recently been contracting some request for Shinobi, normally sent to the Hyuga's directly, through the village. You have been very kind in sending my daughters on these missions for me, but the elders has decided that I have given too many jobs to the Leaf and we must take more to increase the wealth of the Hyuga." This much was true, he had given many jobs that would have been for the Hyuga alone to the Leaf, telling the elders of the clan that it would help to strengthen the village and Hyuga bonds within the village. He had not told them of the part of the deal involving his daughter
"Well all good things come to an end. I filled your request to have Hyuga who would normally do these tasks to do them still, including your daughters, but I do believe you woke me up for something more, yes?"
"Yes," he said, not wishing to reveal too much, his Byakugan still activated, "I would like to test my daughters further, I want you to send them o a mission, one that will be long and will test them to their limit." He lied, but he did it for a good cause.
Tsunade didn't know why he was doing this, why he had his Byakugan on, or why she was still awake, but she processed it all slowly, "Hinata I cannot do this for until her team gets back from a reconnaissance mission she will be leaving for tomorrow, but I may be able to find something for Hanabi, but why? Why do this, I'm sure that the Hyuga are more then capable of testing their young-"
"No, it must be this way Tsunade-sama. Please, do this for me."
The woman looked at him, his composure would have seemed perfect to any one who did not know him, but to Tsunade he was disheveled and frantic, there was something wrong, "Very well Hiashi. You should know that I would do anything for you and the Hyuga… I take it you would prefer for this to be kept silent, hence you keeping your Byakugan on, and I will honor that if you ask it."
The man seemed relieved at this, "I would thank you very much Tsunade-sama. I must be going now, I do hope you find something for Hanabi soon, before weeks end if you could."
"Very well." She said as the man left, not knowing if he heard a word of it. Soon however she was off to sleep again, not waking until around seven, 'Shit, I should have started on my paper work already… I would think living above your office would give you time to sleep in.' but it didn't and soon she was up, dressed and in her office, looking through what new requests had been made. It was a little while after giving Hinata, Kiba, and Shino the briefing on their mission that she received the first of the four birds.
They were from spies hidden in other countries, the first from the Cloud Country read: 'a small group sent to the Village of Mind, had been found out to be spies, though they carried nothing that indicated their village or anything relating them to a country, the group of three had been tried and hanged on the walls of the village where they where spying.'
While the man did not say anything that would incriminate himself it was clear, her three man cell who had been sent there to gather information on the village had been found and killed. The part that made this burn the most was that they had only been able to send one relay, two months ago, simply saying that they have found someone, a missing nin from the Leaf, though the name was not sent. She would need to come up with a new strategy, conventional spies had proven unsuccessful, from her or from the Mizukage.
She received two others like that first one, the teams she had sent had been found and killed. The other two teams had been no more successful in gathering information on the villages as the first had, merely a drawing of the villages and talk about some of what they saw, but little else. She was considering bringing on a ANBU black ops team when the forth bird came, this one sent from the team that had been in village of Mind, 'No, the Village Hidden in the Mind. They are more of a danger than we thought… Oh My!'
The letter was strange, yet to Tsunade it made perfect sense: 'Three have sprung, two with roots of their own, the other taking the Roots from within the Mind of another land. Though two may have grown from their own their roots have become intertwined with those of the last, there is one in the third who no longer faces Towards the Sun.'
Tsunade couldn't believe it, the message was too much, both good and bad. When you understood the double meanings of things like she did it was quite easy to understand. She quickly called for the Village Elders and her two apprentices, all of whom arrived around the same time. Gathering around her desk they read the letter in turn, then they translated it out loud for each other, so they would all know what it meant.
"'Three have sprung,' clearly the three new villages, Rose, Fist, and Mind." Said Tsunade, holding the letter as Shizune wrote down what was said, "'Two have sprung with roots of their own,' two of the villages have been formed on their own, no outside aid from any enemy we or they knew about. 'the other taking the Roots from within the Mind of another land.' The Village hidden in the Mind though was formed with the help of Danzou and the remaining members of Root, you can tell from how he capitalizes the word Root, it's a name not just a metaphor."
"Tsunade…" began the female of the two elders in the room.
"Wait until I have told you everything elder, I wish for you to know what I think before you pass judgment." The women gave a reluctant nod before letting Tsunade go on, "'Though two may have grown from their own, their roots have become intertwined with those of the last,' The two villages that where not aided by Danzou have become deeply involved with the Mind, many bonds, just like roots. 'there is one in the third who no longer faces Towards the Sun.' This last part took a second for me but I know what it means, they had found a Hyuga there. Hyuga means 'towards the sun,' so one who no longer looks towards the sun would be a Hyuga, one who has betrayed the village and the clan."
"Tsunade," began the old woman once more, "we know that you have no love fro Danzou and his Philosophies, but this is impossible. There is no proof that Danzou has done anything yet, nothing besides what you are getting out of this letter."
"Further more," said her male counterpart, "Why would any of the Hyuga betray the clan? It just hasn't happened, not in a very long time. The last time anyone of the clan betrayed the clan was when WE were still genin, the man would be ten, twenty years older than us, no man is immortal and this man would be dead if the Hunter nin have not found him yet." The two elders stood up now and the old man put his hand on her shoulder, "You need to relax, There is nothing to be worried about quite yet. We have Danzou under watch just in case all the same."
"If it makes you feel safer then you may send teams, any teams you think able enough, to look further into the allegations of the letter. But please do not obsess so." And with that the two elders left, barely believing a word that had come out of her mouth.
"Damn it." She said quietly, "Damn it Shizune, what are we going to do?"
The younger woman looked at her, then spoke, "Well for starters we're going to get together three teams and send them to the villages, this time not as just spies, but as open ambassadors."
Tsunade looked at the women with a smile on her face, "I don't know if I should make a wager against or for the idea of them succeeding, I have no idea which way things are turning. Sakura, get team Guy, team Nara, and team Uzumaki in here."
"Which team Uzumaki?" asked the pink haired kunoichi.
"Kakashi, Naruto, Jakon, Hanabi, and yourself, Yamato will need to stay in the village to keep an eye on Lyn, and Sai has been doing some work for me recently and will be able to keep Yamato company while your all away… Oh and send for Anko as well, we will need three team captains and one of with must be female."
Shizune waited for orders but they did not come, soon Tsunade looked at her, "Shizune, I love you. You are the sister that Dan has given me, and you are like a daughter to me. I want you to know this, should anything happen to me you are my-"
"Stop it!" said the younger women, looking a little upset at the woman's words, "Nothing will happen to you and I am not your daughter, I'm your friend and, yes because of Dan, sister. So here's a little sisterly advice: stop sounding so pessimistic. We all need you to be strong, so please, do it for me too, I need you to be strong too."
Tsunade stood up and stretched out her arms, "Well bitch," she said teasingly, getting a little smile out of the younger girl, "I guess your right. Either way your going to be my Sixth, in case anything happens you're the one I trust most to do this. It wouldn't do Kakashi or the village any good having him stuck behind a desk all day and there is no way I'm putting Naruto in here yet and I'm never letting Jiraiya get my job. Oh and I expect you to fight to the death to make sure my will is seen through."
"I would never do anything less sis."
It was a good twenty minutes before all that had been asked for had made it to the tower, during which time Tsunade wrote up several documents that would be important for the mission she was about to give out. When they all gathered in the office Tsunade read the letters that they had received as well as telling them what she thought of the last letter. Neji and Hinata almost seemed as suspicious as the elders had, but they had not out right denied that it was possible for the rebel Hyuga to be alive, Jakon actually thought it very likely, especially after learning his grandfathers age. Finally it was told where they would be going.
"The three villages have different sets of skills, abilities, and/or attributes that they prize over all others, the Village Hidden in the Rose is a village of all Kunoichi, no man is allowed inside its walls even at birth, the Village Hidden in the Fist prizes those skilled in taijutsu over anything else, and the Village Hidden in the Mind is a village of elitist and genius's, the seek out only the best and most powerful, those who come from clans or have Bloodline limits. So I have decided to send you. The team that's going to the fist will be team Guy, which will be headed by Guy, with Lee, Choji, and Jakon under him. The Kunoichi team will be headed by Anko with Sakura, Ino, Hanabi, and Tenten all under them. The last team will be heading to the Mind, Kakashi, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji. Are there any questions? If so ask them now."
"Yeah" asked Anko, a little unhappy at having to lead a team of arrogant little girls, "Why do we have an extra teammate?"
"Because, that is one village I want as many details about as possible." when the other women in the group looked at her a little confused she elaborated, "The kunoichi in the Leaf need more motivation, something to put the fire under them so we won't be a dieing breed. So I want you to keep you eyes peeled for anything we might be able to use here."
While Anko may not have looked it, on the inside she was won over to the Hokage forever because of that, 'OH YEAH! We're going have a whole platoon of women after this! We may start our own guild! I am Women hear me Roar!' she was definitely a feminist at heart.
"Anything else… good. Here are the details for each village." And she gave packets to the closest member of each team, which included a message from Tsunade herself, a proposal for peace and alliance, info they had on the village, and a map of the world that held the shinobi villages in it. "This is an upper class B rank mission because you will not only be official ambassadors to the villages, but also spies under their noses. Should you be found out then there will be repercussions felt throughout the whole village, yet if you succeed then we may have up to three new allies from which we can count on. Go now, and come back safe. I want a message on how your doing every week, no exceptions. Should I fail to get a response within two weeks we will send to find out what has happened and save you if possible." She looked at them all, "There is one last thing you should know. We think that the three villages have a way of fast communiction, though how we do not know. So If any of our teams are found out then all of you could be in danger." She looked them over again, wondering if she would see them all again, and saw Naruto looked like he was about to burst, "Well seems like you've been waiting you whole life for this mission Naruto."
She only need wait seconds before hearing how happy he was, to everyone's great disappointment.
As they exited they broke off into their new teams, went over the new information, gathered equipment they would need for an extended trip, and went their own ways, not knowing the next time they would meet, if ever.
Ok, I know what your going to say, well not much happened here except at the end, well your right, this was just a intro chapter, set the mood and get things moving, shinobi and the world at large wait for no man and during our little time skip things have been happening, big things.
Please review, and nice juicy ones too, because I will keep writing the story but I will not update until I get six reviews, which seemed to be the average review count for Genin of the Leaf. Tell me what you loved, hated, thought I should have done differently, what you want to see happen, I may use your idea if you actually put it forth.
DB3200
