* * * Something you need to Understand* * *

Chakra is a combination of bodily energy, constructed in cells,

and mental strength, gained through experience. Chakra is one's

life energy. Mana, for short. The physical energy is translated into

Chakra with the use of mental strength, also known as force of will.

This Chakra is quickly applied into Jutsu, usually by means of hand

seals. Other methods include the molding of Chakra via a written

medium.

* * * A Key * * *

Genjustus = Illusionary Techniques

Taijutsu = Physical Techniques

Ninjutsu = All techniques empowered by Chakra, excluding those defined as Genjutsu.

The breeze did not caress; it struck with force untamed. Today was one to be written, one worthy of foolish Humans, lucky to even have your title capitalized, remain ignorant to what the dust and fossil upon which you stand rumbles out to you. For ignorance to be so common among a species...disgusting.

Fret and worry; the message is on it's way. You have no options, no choice. All shall crumble in his wake, and one shall rise, screaming cries of retribution all the way along the path on the hill.

A new stranger stood among the trees, bearing no resemblance to the last. He stood upon the ground at which the Namikaze had fallen, and walked on. Ash and scorch remained - reminder of pain and loss.

This child, with locks of red, and eyes of gold reached out with light footing into the foliage. Plucking a leaf, he wondered for a moment with narrowed eyes.

'What does it taste like?'

Taking a small bite, he spat in momentary disgust before recomposing himself and running forward through the dense fog of trees. Strange boy.

"No, no! You don't get it!" One of the two guards, sitting at post within the gates of Konoha. A great green structure, armed on either side with great walls of stone. Standing over a hundred men tall.

"There's nothing to get, dumbass!" The other yelled, punctuating his point with a slap to the back of his colleagues head. "What in the hell are you trying to play me at? There's no way some brat did that!"

"Idiot!" The victim of the head-slap retorted. "I didn't say I believe that he wasted that entire platoon! That's the kind of damn thing that gets blown out of proportion! It was probably just one or two men -"

"Then what the hell are you saying, dumbass?" By now it was painfully clear; these men's vocabularies were very limited, and mostly involved 'fightin' words'.

"Ugh...asswipe! I was getting to that!" He replied loudly, dodging a sharp glare from his fellow sentry.

"I was just sayin', how cool would it be to, uh...do what he did?" The dreamer explained...tried to explain, making abstract movements with his hands, complimenting them with homemade sound effects.

"That elemental chakra shit?" His friend inquired. But waited for no answer, making an offhand gesture.

"I don't think it's all that cool, man. Too much work to me. That brown-haired brat can go play with his rocks." He shrugged, resting his head in his hand. The inquirer gave, shaking his face within his hands. Muttering a final annoyed comment;

"He's blond, idiot."

Pay attention to the one with his face, with a peeved expression, between his hands. Remember his lengthy brown hair. Remember those annoyed, inqurious green eyes. Don't ask why, just do. I'm tired of all your questions.

The new stranger, with a tall stature for his age which was hinted at by his complexion, stood with pursed lips a small distance from the great stone walls of Konoha. His eyes emerging from a deep pool of boredom, a bright smile forming upon his lips.

Explosions followed, streaming along the base of the wall. A red blur flashed in a wide arc up an over the wall. The columns of smoke rose to be seen by all of the city, and panic infested those within the walls.9078

It was actually quite hysterical, you humans just don't get the punchline - you never have.

The stranger ran smiling, the village ninja en route.

The hokage sat, an aged and tired man. his facial features remained constant sharp and wise, but his eyes were the unfortunate bearers of a new, unfitting fatigue. A stark white hat, bordered with crimson sat upon his head. This hat he had come to despise. For it always reminded him of his loss, of his inability. Of his painful humanity.

The ANBU stood at attention. The elite, secretive warriors of Konoha; taught to show now humanity, no emotion to those opposed them. Yet expected to retain sanity when their adorned mask was removed. Such is the life of idiots; that of humans.

Yet, for some reason - among all the species, I am especially fond of you beasts. Inexplicably so.

"Hokage-sama! We have confirmed multiple explosions along the north and south walls!" One to the left of Hiruzen barked. The irony in those words being the woman, identifiable only by voice, wore a cat mask. The honorific, identifying him as the woman's superior, still stung as it had 14 years ago. It wasn't his anymore, yet the still gave it to him.

"The terrorists have not yet been identified, but we suspect at least two platoons, if not an entire army. Cloud is suspected due to the Hyuuga compounds being adjacent the south wall."

Hiruzen grimaced - the Cloud invading would quite possibly be the worst chain of events to be theorized. Especially with their hands always trying to reach the eye of the Hyuuga - the Byakugan, the great Doujutsu of sight.

Things could get bad.

And they would.

Just not yet.

Earth's Sun was bright and burning, a light wind biting into the legs and faces of civilians. The ANBU pursuing the cause of the explosions at the south gate were silent - preparing for death, lest they face it unprepared.

They approached the smoke with rehearsed caution, listening for footsteps, the thud of a kunai hitting the ground - anything. Their grimness was entirely inappropriate for the situation.

For, when the smoke cleared, the sillouhete of smiling boy was seen. A calculating, planned smile.

His hair fell off his head in sharp, crimson strands of varying harshness. Eyes of gold clouded by it; gentle red - lacking malevolence. He stood tall for one so young, with lax shoulders and wide, curious eyes. Thin, sharp arms relaxed at his side.

His form covered in a tunic of a deep, not dark, gray, splattered dirt telling of his travels, the once long hem ripped and torn to his waist. The sleeves burnt at the end of their length. A deep crimson spiral splashed with a great call for attention on his chest. His leggings equally simple, loose on his form but burnt and frayed; a lighter gray.

He contrasted quite sharply against al l the green; that of the grass and trees surrounding him on all sides, save for the wall.

The ANBU were on him in an instant - two facing him, the other watching the rear.

"Who are you?" One demanded in harsh seriousness.

"Well, I can tell you who I'm not, but first -" The crimson haired boy start nonchalantly, interrupted by the ANBU's next inquiry.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, that question I can answer; but only partially - I want to talk to the Hokage." He shrugged, seemingly unconcerned about his method of entry.

"What nation are you allied with?" They are quite to the point.

"Nation? That'd be none." This of course, led to the confusion of the ANBU, and on last question.

"Why have you forced your way into our walls?"

"Eh?" He twirled on his feet to face the, unexpectedly, whole wall behind him.

"I didn't force my way in. I walked." He pointed this out, easily - as if it was obvious. Which really, it was. Being that rubble was not flying through the air - or at the very least, sitting on the grounding, smothering the earth with heat. That may have confused you, but the way I figure - a chunk of wall that has just exploded is bound to be very hot. In fact, I'm sure of it.

The ANBU scoffed, at what they considered arrogance, but really wasn't. They just tend to take things to seriously too often. The way I see it, you humans aren't getting out of this life alive, anyway - so there's really no point in taking things so seriously, the need simply isn't there.

Of course, you still don't get it. I'm sure you don't.

"Oh, and I wanted to see the Hokage - I figured this would be the fastest way." They stare idly at the boy, with what must be annoyance or hate, before scoffing once more. Finally, they nodded with suspicion, motioning for him to follow.

Now, you may be questioning the lack of formality and procedure. Interesting thing - the procedure was followed down to the point.

1. Detain Suspect

2. Identify Suspect

3. Interrogate Suspect

This stranger may have very well been hog-tied, for there were more than just the four ANBU surrounding him. Many were incognito; as they always are. In the ninja world, a name is virtually meaningless, with all the skilled hunters and trackers - you could but a bounty on someone with a birth mark 3.4 inches above his large toe, and soon find the man.

Even if you had no idea who the man was.

The questions this stranger was asked, whilst informal, were quite proceduric.

I find myself getting boring. Let's move on.

They walked forward in boredom. It's strange what that will do to someone - human or otherwise. I'd rather not relate the stories I have of my own boredom. It's really not that pretty.

You don't know who I am, so you can't properly appreciate how much I truly mean that.

"Say, ANBU-san," The honorific was pronounced with a playful, and notably fake, smile. "How has the old man been, ne?" Of course the cat-mask ANBU new who he was talking about - they all called the Hokage that when no one was looking. The pronoun 'they' being subjective.

"Hokage-sama's hip has been bothering him lately," She replied in a voice that sound, rather cutely, like a pout. "Otherwise - he's been attempting to burn the paperwork, or somehow get away from it."

The crimson headed stranger nodded several times, before turning to the turtle-masked nin to his left.

"Hey, man - is cat-mask hot? Or is it just her voice?" The entire party, minus himt, stumbled on this words, for he made no attempt at secrecy. Cat-mask froze, stock still. A pot boiling over. Proverbially so.

"Brat! I'm twice your age!" She screamed, poking a finger into his forehead.

"So..you're 28?" He ask, twirling on his heel, gazing up through the terraces and roofs, through the lengths connecting larger market buildings, and towards the sun. This kid was annoying - but in a good way. Most of the time.

He smiled, and hopped along.

Smiling.

The black-clad ANBU stock still.

Cat-mask chasing after him, waving a katana through the air.

Hiruzen was ponderous, silent - his eyes closed, deep in thought.

A pile of paperwork to his left.

Pipe to his right.

Regrets behind him.

Explosions on two ends of Konoha ahead of him. His hands lay on his desk as he attempted to perceive the situation.

Such a difficult task with all the screaming. And the laughing.

That moment, if the foreshadowing wasn't obvious enough, black and gray exploded through the door.

"It was an simple question!" Gray-tunic argued, his back against the wall.

"Pervert!" Cat-mask continued shrieking, lunging for his hair.

"Ah! The hair! Why the hair? It hurts!" He grimaced, attempting to reclaim the red locks.

The Hokage was not amused, simply enough. But he was patient, and let out a mild cough to alert them of his presence.

"I'll kill you!" Growling, the irony again. Some were starting to realizing the absolute ill-fitting mask she had been paired with.

Sighing, "Stand down, Neko!"

"Neko, is this just some kid you picked up for asking you some 'perverted' question, or one of our possible suspects?" A flash of a grin, then set back to seriousness.

"Suspect and brat, Hokage-sama!" Another sigh. Silence for a moment, a dusty smell in the room.

"What is your name?" Hiruzen again. Starting simply.

I like that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Not a ton of plot near the end of this chapter, and it's short.

I posted it for two reasons, despite its lack of length:

1. I wanted to remind you I'm still alive

2. That I do have a commitment to my stories

3. I'm a review hungry bastard.

I didn't say three reasons, I know. I just decided to be honest with you. :3

Anyways, please, please review! It's what makes me stay up till 12:28 and write!

IF YOU DON'T REVIEW I'LL EAT YOUR SOUL.

Just kidding. Probably.

For those here who may read my other fic, 'Broken', I've an annoucement -

I'm currently re-writing it. It's going a bit slow, because I don't know exactly how I want to do it, and I've got school and such. But I am working on it.

So, review, please! I want to know what you think of this writing style of mine, the narration, the response, etc.

Oh, and I know this is all a bit silly, but I thought I'd to a tad homage to the canon, you know?

Plus It's 12:30. I'm brain dead.

Once again, review, review, review.

I know you're not going to.

But do it.

It's the least you could, really. :3

(P.S. Please point out an inconsistencies you see, and grammar and spelling. I don't currently have someone to clean up my messes. :3 Volunteer to beta, if you'd like!)