Title: New Future of the Legends
Author: Nakora-chan
Email: nakora(dot)chan(at)gmail(dot)com
Series: Naruto
Rating: T (may end up M later on)
Pairings: None (If I have time later on, I will create an alternate version with pairings)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Summary: Three years have past since Naruto has left Konoha. It is about time that he returns, but when he does, he reveals things about himself and Konoha that has never been known to the public. Despite what he has become, he strives to break free from all bonds.
Warnings: AU, OC, OOC, blood, abuse, mutilation (last three will occur later on)

Chapter Two: Fought Battles Often Unfought

"Sakura-san?"

Darkness faded away slowly as a blurry figure appeared in the bright light. Wincing, she could only see a tall and dark form surrounded by light. The shaking she somehow had grown accustomed to during her sleep continued as it little by little woke her up. She asked dazedly and softly, "Who is that?"

"Sakura-san?"

Gradually, the light around the figure dimmed as the world came back into focus. Gradually, she saw dark, long hair surrounding a very familiar face and finally her eyes adjusted to the dimming light. Wearily, she blinked as her eyes focused on the figure. She slowly and carefully asked, "Shi…zune-san?"

A smile grew upon Shizune's face, but she still repeated, "Sakura-san?"

"Hai… Shizune-san?"

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you."

Rubbing sleep from her eyes, Sakura sat up and yawned widely before looking around confusedly. This wasn't where she remembered she last was. She remembered getting a missive from her shisou and coming to the Hokage Tower, but after that, she couldn't remember anything. Apparently, she had fallen asleep while she was waiting for Tsunade to finish up whatever work she was doing.

Sakura nodded and got up, stretching her taut muscles. Waiting to completely wake up, she nodded to Shizune, who smiled and waited to accompany her to Tsunade's office. "Was Tsunade-shisou busy?"

"Very," Shizune replied. "She had some visitors earlier. You were already here asleep when the visitors came up, so Tsunade-sama decided to let you rest. You've had a stressful year."

Upon reaching the door, Shizune opened it for her while calling out, "Shitsureshimashita."

Passing Shizune, Sakura nodded her thanks and left Shizune to close the door behind her. That Shizune wasn't accompanying her in front of Tsunade meant that whatever Tsunade called her there was very important. Tsunade usually did that whenever there were major events about to happen.

She stopped in front of Tsunade's desk and waited patiently. "You asked for me, Tsunade-sama?"

Looking up, Tsunade smiled as she laid down the papers she was looking at. She nodded and beckoned Sakura to step closer.

Stepping closer, Sakura could make out the slight worry lines wrinkling around her shisou's eyes. The light in her eyes was dimmer than yesterday, so that meant something happened recently that caused her to be in such a state. It wasn't too unusual to see her like this though; she was only like this once a year, but Sakura could never figure out why.

"Have you already finished your duties at the hospital, Sakura?"

"Hai," Sakura promptly replied, slightly dreading exactly why Tsunade had called her in alone. Better get the small talk out of the way.

Tsunade examined her face closely but didn't say anything before leaning back into the chair, obviously not satisfied with anything. Tilting her head to one side, she seemed to listen to something that wasn't said, or least something that Sakura couldn't hear. Nodding to herself, Tsunade suddenly asked, "Are you busy tomorrow, Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head slowly, unsure of what was going on. Tsunade rarely asked her if she was busy, since it was always her job to see if she was busy or not. The only times that Tsunade did ask was when Tsunade had to leave the office for sometime and needed someone to do her paperwork for her.

Immediately, Tsunade's face broke out into a wide grin. Happily, she exclaimed quickly as she rose to her feet, "That's great! Now, I want you to go to the Hishin Dojo tomorrow at one. We'll have a very special guest there, so don't be late." She pushed a confused Sakura towards the door.

Blinking unbelievingly, Sakura looked up at Tsunade's glowing face. "What?"

"Hishin Dojo, tomorrow at one. Don't be late!"

With that, Sakura was literally pushed out of the Hokage's office, and the door slammed in her face. She stared at the closed door in shock and stepped back to take a better look at the door before walking away.

Feeling slightly slighted by her shisou, Sakura grumbled about stupid errands. It wasn't unusual that Tsunade would call her to greet guests since she was the Hokage's apprentice but it was weird that Tsunade would call her in alone just for that person… unless the person was truly and very important.

Phht… As if… Tsunade just probably called her in alone just so that Shizune would think that she had to do something really important. But then… why did Tsunade kick her out of the office so quickly?

She glanced back at the door to the Hokage's office. "Tsunade-sama is acting very weird."

"Hatake-san."

Kakashi looked up from staring at the memorial. Closing the infamous orange book and putting it away, he turned to look at the speaker. Just an ANBU. "Hm?"

"Hokage-sama needs to see you."

"Hm."

"You're late."

"Hm."

"She was supposed to see you three hours ago, Hatake-san."

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Kakashi took just a moment longer staring at the memorial before nodding and walking off. As he passed the ANBU member, he said, "Tell her I'm coming."

The ANBU just nodded and disappeared, not a trace of ever being there left.

Leisurely, Kakashi walked the streets pausing every now and then. Once, he caught sight of both Asuma and Kurenai turning a corner and was about to call out to them, but he decided to leave them be. A while later, he saw Shikamaru and Temari patrolling the streets; he did nod to them but walked by sans a word.

He glanced down at his watch; he had only been walking ten or fifteen minutes.

Stopping in front of the bookstore, he stared at the latest edition of the Icha Icha Paradise series and couldn't help but feel a twinge that something was not right. He stayed there staring at the book for who knows how long, but it wasn't too long. Giving a lasting look at the book, he walked away.

He looked down at his watch; he was late by another thirty minutes.

Just walking down the streets, he felt uncomfortable; he hadn't felt discomfort of this sort since when his father died. Turning his head from side to side, he observed his surroundings as he passed by. Laughter and happiness permeated the air, so there was no reason for his paranoia.

Then why was he paranoid?

Of course, he had to be paranoid but this kind of paranoia annoyed him.

Focusing his senses, he tried to pinpoint from where his source of paranoia came only to find nothing.

Mentally retracing his steps, there was no paranoia when he left the memorial, but he did feel slightly uncomfortable. There was nothing to say that something went wrong; there was only that discomfort. Both uncomfortable and paranoid, he started again on his route to the Hokage's office.

Not long passed when he reached the Hokage's office but on his way, he felt eyes watching his every motion. He hadn't sensed anything as he walked to the office, but once he stepped inside, his shinobi senses went haywire. Calmly analyzing the situation and even though he couldn't feel any different chakra signature, he casually made his way up to Tsunade's office.

Shizune met him halfway there and escorted him, though he didn't really need her to. They passed Sakura asleep on a bench near Tsunade's office. Shizune only said that Tsunade had called her in and she apparently fell asleep while waiting. Despite the fact that it was unusual for Sakura for to fall asleep in the middle of the day, it was understandable; she was a medic-nin and tended to lack sleep. So they decided to leave her there until Tsunade needed her immediately.

Kakashi held the door open as Shizune went inside and followed after shaking away the brief sensation of déjà vu.

Tsunade sat behind her desk and for once calmly and efficiently going through the piles of papers around her desk.

"Hokage-sama?"

She gave the silver-haired jounin a hurried glare before finishing the papers she was working on. Setting down the inkbrush, she folded her hands together and looked at him.

With an eyebrow raised at her silent behavior, he put it off as one of her weird moments; he knew that she was prone to them during this time of year, marking another year of his students' departure from Konoha.

"Are you busy tomorrow, Kakashi?"

He stared at her. That was certainly unexpected. To summon him on his off-duty day just to ask whether he was busy when she controlled whether or not he was busy was just unusual even if today was one of Tsunade's strange days.

"I believe— "

"Doesn't matter anymore!" Tsunade said, her tone leaving no room for arguing. "Hishin Dojo, tomorrow at ten. Be prepared to fight. Now get out."

Kakashi simply nodded and walked out. Now, that was how Tsunade was supposed to act. He didn't have much time to ponder too much over Tsunade's odd request; he had to really get rid of the feeling of eyes on his back.

He turned his attention away from all that though. A pink blush appeared and a perverted giggle followed after he opened his three-year-old edition of Icha Icha Paradise volume two. 'Hehe…'

"Was all that really necessary?"

Tsunade turned to the spot that she knew both Jiraiya and Naruto stood, and the genjutsu that hid both of them fell apart revealing two grimfaced males. No one that entered the room had noticed them there, though several, like Kakashi, felt a different chakra than the usual ones. It was only a credit to Naruto's genjutsu abilities, but unfortunately, that was the only genjutsu the blonde boy could effectively do.

Naruto glared at Jiraiya. "Yes, it was. If Ero-Sennin hadn't sent a note saying that we were going to be back today, I wouldn't have had to seal their memories."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes back at his student. He crossed his arms, "If you had told your sensei what your plan was, I wouldn't have messed it up."

"If you had told me that we were returning to Konoha today, I would have told you my plan."

"If you hadn't run around town all day, I would have told you that we were."

"If you hadn't been peeking at the women's bath, I wouldn't have run around all day."

"ENOUGH!"

The males looked at Tsunade, a vein pulsating violently on her forehead. She grit out, "What's done is done. We can't do anything about it. Now, would you both stop arguing so we can get on with what we have to do?"

The two immediately straightened and saluted her comically. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

Sighing, she could only feel old for reprimanding the two two-year-old-acting males. What did she do to deserve this?

"As I was saying before you two imbeciles rudely interrupted," she growled out, "I need to know why it was that necessary for the memories of several of my shinobi to be sealed away."

With a serious expression, Naruto simply nodded and pulled out yet another scroll from the depths of his kimono sleeves. Tsunade noted that the boy just kept on pulling out more and more scrolls and papers from those seals and that he didn't carry a pack anymore. Apparently, he learned to seal equipment into storage seals made within his kimono sleeves. Inwardly, she praised him for his well-thought out tactic: enemies would never guess what would come out of his sleeves.

Taking the scroll, she unfurled it and quickly read over the seal process as Naruto explained the procedure. "It's a combination of the Yamanaka clan's Shintenshin no Jutsu and a seal, but my mind is never transferred into the mind of the target."

When Naruto raised a hand to ruffle his hair, Tsunade noticed his tense stance though didn't make any comments, pretending that she hadn't seen his nervous gesture.

"You saw in the ritual room that I had drew the entire seal out in a circle from their bodies. Well, in the circle, I had to write out exactly what needed to be sealed away. It's not as easy as it sounds: the seal itself is pretty straightforward; knowing how to get to the memory without damaging the rest of the mind is that hard part."

"Tell me exactly how you go about getting to a single memory." Gesturing to the scroll she had laid out in front of her, she told him, "I understand the seal itself; there's nothing wrong with it and it is workable save for that variable," pointing to one specific portion of the seal.

Naruto peered at where she was pointing to and shifted uncomfortably. "Well… blood is placed on twelve points on the target's body," moving his hand to point exactly where, "forehead, collarbone, left and right wrists, diaphragm, abdomen, left and right kidneys, center of the back opposite of point for the diaphragm, and on the back where the heart is."

She nodded but scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Why exactly those points?"

"The people that trained me knew a lot about the connection between mind and body. Those twelve points, if pressed simultaneously, can cause a person to spill anything and everything if asked to do so by the person whose blood is on those points. Blood is a projection of one's self and can only follow the wishes of the originator, so blood is used to control the mind."

Tsunade's mind raced with possibilities. All this was new information; as a medic-nin, she knew about the mind and body but never focused on controlling one with the other. She saw moreover to the demands of the body rather the mind, but she still knew mind techniques. This new information could bring more ways of interrogating prisoners and spies with a lesser chance of misinformation.

"Can anyone use this technique?"

Unfortunately, both Jiraiya and Naruto shook their heads, and the older man started to explain for Naruto. "It takes years of training to perfect the movement of blood separated from the body and to refine the mental focus."

Almost immediately, she leveled a cynical look on Jiraiya. "You're telling me that that boy," pointing to Naruto, "has a mental focus so refined that it usually take years for normal shinobi to achieve?"

Jiraiya only shakily laughed. "Maybe?"

Shaking her head, she waved for them to continue. Naruto continued, "With the blood as a connection, I can control the chakra in the blood to search out the memories that I'm looking for and then the seal will lock away the memory. The chakra will keep on searching and the seal locking until the chakra can find no more, then the rest of the seal will refine the edges of the sealed memories so that it seems nothing out of the normal. And after all that, we just have to put them in a logical place before waking them up, and they'll go about their life as normal without the locked memories."

Head nodding in understanding, she reviewed what Naruto said and pointed out, "It doesn't stop paranoia though, does it?"

Sadly, Naruto shook his head, "There's only so much the seal can do; the seal only focuses on the explicit memory, not implicit memory."

"So then you know that Kakashi could sense you through his paranoia."

He nodded and smiled grimly. "Still, the memories of everyone that saw me today needed to be sealed away. Naturally, if any news came out, the Council would rain down on us like a dog on food."

Tsunade leaned back into her chair and breathed out loudly. Massaging her temples, she couldn't believe that she had actually let the boy seal dozens of people's memories, but she knew that she had to in order to protect him. She kept on reminding herself: rights of others limit the rights of one. Those memories would be harmful to Naruto if the news that he was back ever came out.

She glared at Jiraiya, who cringed in fear instinctively. Damn Jiraiya, always had to mess up something intentionally or accidentally. Suddenly bringing the news that they were returning was a bad idea. After all, Akatsuki was still after Naruto, and with all the new things that both had learned over the years, undoubtedly, they gained several new enemies.

"Is there anyway that you can disguise yourself and your chakra signature?"

Immediately, Naruto grinned widely and gave her two thumbs up. "Don't worry, Tsunade-bachan. It's all taken care off."

Raising an eyebrow, she nodded, secretly anticipating whatever new surprise Naruto would concoct. Opening one of the drawers to her right, she stuck her hand into the deep mess of papers and fished out a loop of keys, throwing them to Naruto.

Slightly surprised, he fumbled for a moment before he had them secure in his hands. He looked down at the keys before returning his mildly confused gaze to her. Smiling, she waved her hand in dismissal.

"I'll call several proctors and several Council to be present for your evaluation tomorrow. Make sure your disguise is foolproof, boy. I especially don't want Hyuuga Hiashi to harp on me about you."

His face burst out in a smile and trotted towards the door. "Then, I'll see ya later, ba-chan."

Tsunade waved a small goodbye and waited for the door to close before she turned to Jiraiya. Leveling an even stare, she ordered, "Tell me."

Occasionally, she turned back to look at the Hokage Tower where her shisou had abruptly thrown her out. Pouting, she still couldn't figure out why she had been thrown out. Sure she had fallen asleep waiting, but Tsunade-sama would never kick her out the way she did just because of a little nap… or would she? Hypocritical, but she was the Hokage, so nothing else mattered.

Her hands unconsciously clenching, she decided to go over to Ino's. She was itching for something to do; might as well take it on Ino. A spar wouldn't be that bad of an idea either. Now, only if Ino were at home…

Sensing a familiar chakra signature nearby, she spun around and broke out into a smile. She waited for the duo to stop in front of her before asking, "Patrolling again?"

The lower ranked just combed a hand through his hair and mumbled, "It's too troublesome to argue with Hokage-sama."

Immediately, Temari smacked the chuunin on the back of the head. "Everything's too troublesome for you. Lazy ass." Once sure Shikamaru wasn't going to say anymore, she glanced at the medic-nin. "What are you doing?"

"I just came out of a meeting with Tsunade-shisou, and I'm heading over to Ino's."

The Suna kunoichi furrowed her eyebrows and said, "I thought I saw you going to that meeting several hours ago. Was the meeting that long?"

Sakura shook her head and blushed lightly. This was so hard to admit; maybe it would be better if she didn't say anything. "No… I just… um… fell asleep."

Silence…

This was even better than admitting that she had fallen asleep while waiting for the Hokage.

Thank God… only Temari burst out laughing, tears threatening to stream down her face. Between breaths, she gasped out, "You fell… asleep?"

"This is too troublesome."

Doing a 180 in attitude, Temari growled and again smacked Shikamaru. "Ass." With a smile on her face, Temari nodded in understanding. "You're a medic-nin and Hokage-sama's apprentice so you're more likely to fall asleep. I'm sure the Hokage didn't trouble you for falling asleep?"

Sakura nodded, still with a faint blush. "Yeah, but it's so embarrassing."

"So why did she call you in?"

Instantly, she turned towards the Hokage Tower and glared at Tsunade's office. Not really yelling at Tsunade, she shouted out, "What was your problem, Tsunade-shisou?"

Both shinobi beside her sweat dropped and stared at her, taken back by the sudden outburst.

Holding up a fist to the Hokage Tower, she turned back to the other two and grumbled darkly, "She just told me there would be an important guest at the Hishin Dojo and to be there at one, then she practically kicked me out of her office."

Shikamaru frowned, confused. "That's odd. Hokage-sama usually would beg for us to stay just so she wouldn't have to do paperwork."

Sakura nodded in agreement and added, "Tsunade-shisou also didn't let Shizune into the room when she was talking to me."

Flap… flap…

All three shinobi looked up to the sky and spotted a bird flying hurriedly towards the Hyuuga estates. They frowned and looked at each other.

She looked back to the bird. That bird. The Hokage only used that bird when she was summoning the Council to a special session or to a really important meeting. Turning to Shikamaru, she remembered that Shikaku, Shikamaru's father and the head of the Nara clan, was on the Council; briefly, she wondered if the missive Tsunade was sending out had anything to do with the guest at the Hishin Dojo.

Abruptly, Temari asked, "What's the Hishin Dojo?"

Brought back to reality, she answered promptly, "It's a dojo for elite jounins that must pay for membership a year before they can go into the dojo itself. It's a really elite dojo that only the top jounins can get into since the yearly membership payment is outrageous."

"Why this dojo?"

"This dojo is just about the best dojo in all of Konoha. The keepers of the dojo keep everything in tip top shape; you won't find a single flaw in maintenance."

"Except the outrageous price," mumbled Shikamaru, who was without delay smacked again.

Noticing that the conversation was ending, Sakura took a step back to indicate it was really ending and she was leaving. Raising a hand, she waved to them. "Well, you two better get back to patrolling. I wouldn't want Tsunade-shisou to start yelling at you for not doing your job."

Temari nodded while Shikamaru rubbed his head in annoyance, "Troublesome women."

Smack!

"Shikamaru."

Casually, he had to turn around. His father's tone left no room for defiance even though he just wanted to get to his bed and sleep. Stepping into the kitchen, he grabbed the nearest chair and flopped down into it, immediately laying his head down in his arms to fall into a semi-conscious doze.

"Konnichiwa, Nara-san."

Shikamaru opened one eye to see his Team 10 sensei walk in with his father before he closed it and tried to pretend that he was already asleep. Keyword: tried.

A hand came down on Shikamaru's shoulder and shook him. "I know you're not asleep, you lazy brat. Get up."

With his eyes still close, he rolled his eyes inside his skull and opened them to see both Asuma and Shikaku sitting down on both sides of him. Mentally, he couldn't help but wonder why everyone was so adamant on keeping him from sleep. These were the times that he wished for old times when he would do nothing but sleep.

But ever since he got promoted to chuunin and the constant blonde bundle-of-annoying-joy left, everything had gone to hell.

Shikaku immediately started off the conversation, seeing that his son was on the verge of returning to sleep. "I got a missive from the Hokage saying that she needed your presence at the Hishin Dojo at one tomorrow."

That surprised Shikamaru. "She sent you the missive? Why not me?"

"You were patrolling with that Suna kunoichi."

Nodding, he laid his head into his arms and again tried to get some sleep. And once more, keyword: tried.

"Shikamaru."

They could only see the nodding of the boy's head, believing that he was still listening. So they continued talking, only to realize a few minutes later that the boy had stopped nodding and was now snoring softly. Leaving the rightly tired chuunin to his peace, they took their conversation elsewhere.

To the villagers of Konohagakure no Sato, the next day was brighter and warmer, which was literally not true since the weather was the same. The air surrounding the village was just cleaner and easier to breathe in than yesterday. The market was full with civilians buying groceries and other necessities, and among the crowd was the occasional shinobi keeping the peace.

"Now really, Tsunade-sama, why are out this early? The evaluation isn't until one o'clock."

Tsunade glared at the boy. He was dressed in another black kimono and white hakama with flames sans the kanji on the back; unfortunately, he wasn't disguised yet. After all, she had woken the poor boy just half an hour ago. The only problem was that she had woken him half an hour before one.

"Gaki, if I hadn't woken you, you would have been late like your good-for-nothing genin instructor."

Naruto immediately pouted and remarked. "Don't put me in the same boat as Kakashi-sensei!"

Again, she gave him a death glare, and he cringed in defeat.

Both were on their way towards the Hishin Dojo with only a few minutes to spare before being tardy, but neither in a hurry to get there. Somehow to both their amazement, no one had taken a glance in their direction, even with Tsunade's aptitude at being spotted for being Hokage. Their journey to the elite training ground was in relatively quiet save for Naruto's occasional questions about the Rookie 9.

"Ne, Tsunade-bachan, I'm fighting Kakashi-sensei, aren't I?"

Tsunade nodded in answer. "I didn't think it would be fair in the eyes of the proctors if I sparred with you, so Kakashi would be one of the best viable choices."

Naruto, in agreement, asked as they slowed down and stopped at the door of the dojo, "Exactly what should I not do during the spar?"

A keeper opened the door of the dojo from the inside and peeked out from the small crack to peer at Tsunade's looming face. He smiled seeing Tsunade's face and opened the door wider to let both inside the compound. One way or another, the keeper didn't notice Naruto's entrance and seeing how he didn't notice Naruto period, Naruto had to quickly slide through.

"Konnichiwa, Hokage-sama. We have the field prepared for your use."

Nodding approvingly, Tsunade bowed slightly. "Then, please lead the way."

"Hai."

The keeper didn't take them far. Once inside the compound, they went through the first door in front of them and stepped into a training area fit for the evaluation.

It was huge. The area was clean; the field was unmarred by any previous combat; everything was perfect. It was like a courtyard within the compound designed specifically for combat. To one side of the open corridor, there were several cushions for the evaluators and a tea set by each as refreshments.

Naruto whistled an impressed air and Tsunade just nodded in agreement with the standards. The keepers really did keep their dojo in top shape, and it really was no wonder that this dojo was one of the top dojo in Konoha.

"Is it to your liking, Hokage-sama?"

Seeing that the keeper was waiting for her answer, she just plaintively nodded and he scurried away after indicating two waiting rooms to the side.

Once the keeper was out of sight, Naruto spoke up. "It was odd that no one noticed me."

"What? I thought you knew something about no one noticing you."

He shook his head but tilted his head to side with a questioning air. "But maybe…" holding his kimono sleeve up and peering down at it, he continued, "it's because of my kimono. My mentors did say that all the kimonos they gave me were special."

Frowning, Tsunade noted the fact and pushed it aside for other things. "You asked what you aren't allowed to do during the spar." Naruto gave a nod and Tsunade started a list. "You can't kill, can't permanently maim, can't cause damage that will scar, can't torture. You know, the usual sparring rules."

"Apparently," Naruto started and caught Tsunade's immediate attention, "I don't really follow the usual sparring rules since the sparring rule for the past three years of my life has been: everything goes. So you're going to have to explain to me the way the usual shinobi sparring rules again."

She immediately scowled at the boy who flippantly waved aside eminent threat. "Don't kill. Don't main. Don't cause damage that will scar. Don't torture. Got it, gaki?"

He returned a mock scowl. "Got it, baabaa."

Both their heads shot up in the next second and turned to look at one another. Quickly and quietly, Naruto slid into one of the prepared waiting rooms to don his disguise, in case the person that both had sensed was indeed a Hyuuga, one of the two that were invited.

Quietly, Tsunade whispered past the shouji door. "There's another chakra signature close by. I think it's Sakura. You better hurry, gaki."

"Hm," grumbled Naruto behind the paper door before retreating further into the waiting room.

"Hokage-sama."

Abruptly but not suddenly, Tsunade whirled around to face a scarred faced jounin before greeting him warmly. "Ah, Shikato, you're here."

Over the years, Nara Shikato hadn't changed much in three years. There were a few more age lines on his forehead and around his eyes. His hard eyes glinted in the overbearing light of the noon sun, and his clothes seemed to be more ragged than three years ago. Not that she blamed him; ever since the attack by Sound and Sand, shinobi were pushed to their limits to sustain Konoha's economy.

Shikato nodded grimly. "I told my son to get his lazy ass here."

Tsunade was just about to open her mouth when she sighted her apprentice walking towards them. "Sakura."

Walking up to them and bowing appropriately to both, Sakura greeted them with a warm smile. "Konnichiwa, Tsunade-shisou, Nara-san." She glanced around before asking, "Has our guest arrived yet?"

After indicating that the guest had indeed arrived, she moved them to sit down, and they did so, folding their legs to sit seiza. Taking the seat to Shikato's left, she said, "I'll wait until the others arrive before giving out formal instructions."

"Hokage-sama."

"Hiashi."

The calm collected Hyuuga, wearing a formal kimono, befitting his status as the Hyuuga Clan Head and as a Council Member, his forehead pressed with more wrinkles from the passing of time, merely nodded in acknowledgement before sitting down on the other side of Tsunade, Neji, who hadn't said a word, following suit, nodding his greeting, and sitting down on the other side of Hiashi.

Neji wore an outfit similar to a kimono, though it could be moreover described as an amalgamation of traditional and modern. He took on a more traditional Hyuuga look, growing taller, his hair still tied together at the middle with a white band. His appearance and posture screamed formality as this was an official and quite formal event, despite the rest of the audience's casual appearance.

"Tsunade-shisou," Sakura began as she peered around Shikato to look at her shisou, "for whom are we waiting?"

"Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, Inuzuka Tsume, Nara Shikamaru, Maito Gai, and Hatake Kakashi."

"So troublesome…"

Three heads turned, the Hyuuga obviously using their renowned Byakugan to identify the newest character though not really necessary. His (in)famous phrase always preceded him, so everyone in the room knew that the chuunin arrived. Flopping down onto the seat behind Sakura, Shikamaru nodded his recognition of his father, the Hokage, and the Hyuuga head.

Neji, in the meantime, turned to look at his uncle and said in a questioning tone, "Hiashi-sama?"

Hiashi merely nodded, and Neji got to his feet before settling beside Shikamaru with his legs tucked underneath him, compared to Shikamaru's very casual way of sitting.

"Konnichiwa."

Once more, people's heads turned to sight the newest newcomer. Inuzuka Tsume looked just as wild as ever, her hair untamed, and an almost feral smirk threatening to appear on her lips. Kuromaru was visibly absent, and before the others could ask where he was, she told them. "Kuromaru said that he didn't want to stay in the area. Something about this place being suddenly different."

Immediately, everyone's minds sped through the possibilities of what Kuromaru meant. Tsunade controlled all her vital signs, knowingly aware that the Inuzuka would catch even the slightest spike of fear, but her mind raced, suddenly wondering if Naruto's plan was really going to work.

"WE ARE HERE, MY ETERNAL RIVAL! THIS YOUTHFUL ARENA WILL BE THE GLORIOUS BATTLEGROUND THAT DECIDES WHO TRULY IS THE MOST YOUTHFUL! THE FLAMES OF PASSIONATE YOUTH SHALL GLOW STRONG!"

Everyone sweat dropped (including Hiashi, who admitted one of the two things that scared him most was the approaching and obviously insane jounin).

"What did you say?"

"YOUR HIP ATTITUDE WILL NEVER DETER THE FLAMES OF YOUTH THAT BURN ETERNALLY WITHIN ME!"

A bored Kakashi came walking towards them with a Gai that was on the verge of jumping up and down. Kakashi waved to them before returning to his orange book and then realized there were three females in the vicinity; he quickly put the book away and looked around innocently. "So when are we starting?"

Reining in her temper, Tsunade forced out, "As soon as our guest is ready."

"All done, Tsunade."

They all turned to see their guest when the younger members of the audience (Neji included) went slackjawed.

"Ohayo gozaimasu"

Tsunade smirked and introduced the newest arrival. "Meet Tsurugi Tenkou."

Blinking, Sakura leaned over to her jounin sensei and whispered her question, "Kakashi-sensei, who is this person?"

"A really cute girl."

With the same smirk on her face, his superior turned to him and remarked, "Actually, Tenkou is a boy."

"SHE'S A BOY?"

Tenkou held his sleeve to his mouth and giggled. Everyone immediately sweat dropped. 'Nope. Not possible. This person is a GIRL!'

The young man was dressed in a white kimono that made him look too much like a girl. From the split-toe sandals to the long gorgeous black hair that reached his ankles, it was easily understandable why he was often mistaken for a girl. The cerulean blue eyes twinkled underneath the frame of luxurious sable hair. His skin was flawless and unmarred by anything, and the only indication of him being a shinobi was the black headband that went across his forehead.

He didn't carry any weapons with him, not that he needed any. The way that he carried himself was different from anyone they knew: graceful and calm. Even if he wasn't anything else, this boy was still the prettiest person they had ever seen.

Getting up from her seat, Tsunade walked up to Tenkou and hissed furiously into his ear. "Gaki, what the hell are you trying to pull? You look like a girl!"

His face immediately changed into a scowl. "What the hell does it look like? I'm trying to make this look good, so just shut up and let me do my job."

She raised an eyebrow at his words but let things lie. After all, this occurrence may not turn out so bad.

To be continued…

Author's Notes:

OMG. I know I said that I would have this chapter up by the end of February or March, but now look, it's nearing the end of May and I've finally finished this chapter. I think I'm just going to write chapters that are 15 pages long since this one is 15 pages long, just like the last one was 15 pages and a bit. I've basically cut out the entire fight scene from this chapter. This chapter was supposed to be so much longer, and if I decide to forgo having an interlude, I just might edit this chapter again but just adding the interlude onto the end of this chapter.

So… the next chapter will be a long interlude with just the fight scene. It'll also probably be a continuation of Chapter 2 if you want to think that way, but you won't have to read it until the very end since it'll start something that'll be quite important. I didn't think I would have to make an interlude or anything of the sort, but I just keep on writing and it keeps on getting longer and longer by the second.

I'm finishing up my exams and finals, or well, starting them. I'll be done with them by the 25th of this month, then I'll be free to write more, but I'll also be working so not as much. I'm probably so adamant on writing because there are no good interesting fanfictions for me to read any more, so writing it is.

Since I haven't gone over the notes that I used to make this chapter, I'll later update this chapter will anything that you might need to know to understand the plot better.

This is a short A/N, so I'll just leave it this short.

This chapter hasn't been beta'd so I'll need someone to beta this chapter as well as the rest of this story for me.

Review!