AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys, here's the new chapter of Unknown! Hope you guys will enjoy!

The eccentric girl pointed a thumb to herself and cheerily said, "The name's Kushina! Remember it cause one day I'll become the next Hokage!"

Naruto forced out a smile. "That's... interesting." The blond Uzumaki took one step backwards, awkwardly shuffling her hands behind her until she found a stool to sit on.

Kushina took the stool next to Naruto and told the older of the two, "The ramen's just heavenly here, right?" Kushina didn't wait for an answer, quickly saying, "Of course it is, 'tebane! You would be crazy if you said otherwise!"

"Naruto-san! Your to-go order's are ready!" Teuchi yelled out, alerting Naruto. Naruto paid the man and took her order.

The woman bowed her head down to Teuchi and Kushina, quickly saying, "I'm sorry, I'm in a bit of a rush Kushina-chan, Teuchi-san." She flashed a small smile to Kushina, "And the ramen's heavenly!" and she left.

After Naruto left, Kushina let out a disappointed sigh. "Do you think Naruto is an introvert?" The redhead wasn't really much of the type of person who put honorifics before anyone's names.

"An introvert?!" Teuchi let out a hearty laugh. "That Naruto is anything but." The ramen maker once saw Naruto bring three children with her, and Naruto acted even more lively than Kushina, which was surprising to say at the least.

"Then if that's not the problem, do you think Naruto is avoiding me?" She shook her head rapidly. "No, I mean- you know how she is new and all in Konoha? I feel for her, cause I know how it feels like to be new and all to some new place. It's- it's culture... culture shock! Yeah, 'tebane!"

Teuchi chuckled. "You've only met the woman twice, Kiddo. Try again another time to talk to Naruto-san." He placed a hand on Kushina's hair and sloppily messed it up.

Kushina growled, "Yeah, yeah, Old Man. Now give me a bowl of miso, or else you're losing a customer, 'tebane!"

"Here, you guys. Go eat," Naruto gave Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko their bowls of ramen. "I already ate my ramen, so I'm going to go to my room. Excuse me," Naruto got out of her chair and pushed it back into the table before anyone could reply.

Walking back to her room, Naruto's mouth was in a thin line. The three children who were on the table looked worryingly at their blond guardian, but decided upon themselves to leave her alone for the time being.

Closing the door behind her, Naruto jumped on her bed successfully without any sound. She turned over so that she was looking straight at the ceiling. She lay there, staring quite intently at the off-white ceiling, suddenly seeing images of her mother.

"Hey," a deep voice rumbled from Naruto's head. "Why do you sound so lethargic?"

"I'm not in the mood for you right now." Naruto hugged her pillow. When there was no reply from Kurama, Naruto, after minuets of contemplating to herself, called out to her companion, "Hey, Cotton Booty?" There was still no answer. She groaned, "Kurama, I know you hear me."

She could feel the smirk radiating from Kurama's face. "Yes?"

"About my mother..."

"The brat before you?"

Naruto gave the wall a blank stare. "Yes." She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, "I don't know how to approach her."

"Approach her? Isn't she your mother?"

"Yes, but she doesn't know the relation between me and her." Naruto hooded her eyes as her mouth was in a thin line once again. "I feel paranoid. I keep thinking that you might disappear if I get near her."

"Me? Disappear?"

"Yeah. The Kurama inside of her will merge with you, and I'll be lonely in this, this unknown world where nobody knows my name, my life, who I used to be, me-!" Naruto wiped the tears welling up in her eyes. "You know, sometimes I feel like I don't even know what the hell I'm supposed to do, that my mission was a waste, and I can't do anything to stop what is inevitably going to happen!"

"How long have you felt this way?"

Naruto's voice shook. "The first time- it's when I felt Jiji stare at me with foreign eyes." A thin, damp, streak of a tear ran down Naruto face. She didn't bother to wipe it as more tears joined the first. "My own mother doesn't know me."

The nine tailed fox sealed inside Naruto sighed, "I'm no good in comforting anyone, but I'll tell you one thing—I know you the best."

Naruto sniffled, "Why do you think I'm scared to get near her? I don't want to lose you too."

"Look, Naruto. I'm not going anywhere. After going so far, we're not stopping now!" Kurama glared at the pooling water at his feet.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not. But, I just know that I won't be departed from you just because of your flimsy paranoia."

Naruto wiped her eyes. "You think?"

"I know so," Kurama stated in a confident tone.

"Do you gals know what makeup is?" Naruto took out a makeup pallet from her desk's drawer.

A girl raised her hand. "Isn't that the paint seductresses use on missions?"

"That's right... kind of. But the official textbook meaning is cosmetics such as lipstick or powder applied to the face, used to enhance or alter the appearance." Naruto then took out lipstick and powder out of her desk as another example. "I know you girls are still young, but can I ask if you or anyone you know wears makeup in daily use?"

"Sometimes, I see some pretty girls on the side of the alley wear makeup."

Naruto opened her mouth, but closed it in realization. "Okay," Naruto said awkwardly. "Thank you for your answer, Riko-chan. Anyone else have an example?"

"For special occasions, like festivals, my mom wears light makeup." A girl said after raising her hand.

"Good, good!" The teacher opened the lipstick's cap and put some lipstick on. "As you can see, I'm going to give you girls a tutorial on putting on makeup." Naruto took out a hair brush to brush her hair out of her face. "Now, take out the makeup from your desks and imitate me on how I put my makeup on."

The girls did as told, and by the end of the lesson, everyone looked more mature than before. "Good job, everyone! If I do say so myself, you all did an amazing job! This is your first time doing it, right?"

All girls nodded their heads. Although some girls' makeup smeared, everything looked more than acceptable. Naruto closed up her makeup pallet and told everyone to clean up. After, class was dismissed.

Naruto placed all her things inside a folder, then inside a bag. However, in the middle of cleaning her things, there was a small knock on the window of her classroom. The blond teacher looked at the window, seeing a dark silhouette of a person from the outside.

She flared her chakra, signaling for the person to enter. Naruto recognized the person to be Sakumo, unsurprisingly. "If the office called you to come here, then they would have notified me. So what are you doing here?"

Sakumo feign hurt. "So I need an appointment to see you?"

"What?" Naruto narrowed her eyes at the innuendo.

Sakumo cursed in embarrassment mentally. "Sorry I didn't mean-"

Naruto waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, I get I it." She finished packing and looked at him with a smile on her face. "So did you need anything, Sakumo-san? If not, I'm going to go right now for some late lunch."

Sakumo raised an eyebrow. "Was that an invitation?"

The woman across him hissed, "Don't get ahead of yourself, Hatake."

"Okay, okay, I got it!" He raised both his hands in surrender. "But I am looking forward to food. I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

"I didn't ask you to join me, Sakumo-san."

"Whatever, Sensei. And by the way, I'm going by my own reasons. So where are we headed?" He led her by hand to the door.

Naruto rolled her eyes and jerked her hand away from Sakumo's reach. "Just turn off the lights and follow me."

Sounds of children playing, the usual guitarist playing at the edge of the park, singing songs for some extra change, and the wind blowing on trees, making their leaves chatter. Naruto, who stood beside Sakumo as they walked, asked the older man. "So how's Kakashi?"

"Kashi-chan?" Sakumo scratched his cheek. "If you mean home-Kakashi, he's a bit different."

"Oh?"

Sakumo laughed. "Yeah, I've noticed that when he's around people, he acts more 'cool' and more meanly. But-"

"There's always a 'but'."

"But," he continued, "at home, when it's just the two of us, Kashi-chan is a bit more like a child who strives for attention."

"Really?" She laughed loudly at the thought of a clingy Kakashi holding onto Sakumo's pants. In a few moments, her laughter died down into chuckles, which then turned into a warm smile. "But I guess you can't blame him. You are an active shinobi, Sakumo-san."

"Yeah," a sigh escaped Sakumo's lips, "that's why when I got a month leave from duty, I was a bit relieved because I could spend more time with Kashi-chan."

"A month leave? For what?"

Sakumo gave her an incredulous look. "Wait, you don't... know?" Naruto still gave him a confused look. "About my mission? The Sandaime didn't inform you?"

There was no answer from Naruto. Sakumo sighed and began explaining quietly to Naruto as they walked to a more secluded part of the pathway. "Do you remember when you first came to Konoha?"

"Of course."

"And your torture by Tozoki-san-"

"Of course," Naruto looked away, ashamed to remember that she got tortured right in front of Sakumo.

Sakumo led Naruto to a park bench in which they both sat on. He patted her shoulder, getting Naruto's attention back. "Well, honestly, the only reason the Sandaime didn't give orders for you to be... spirited away was because you gave aid in helping Konoha win this war."

Naruto frowned, looking distant. "Spirited away, huh?" She felt a stab to her heart when she registered what Sakumo just said. But she sighed and pulled herself out of depression. Breaking down in front of Hatake was not a good idea. "Is that why when I told people that I was the one who attacked Iwa, they were blown away?"

"Yeah," the silver haired nin said almost awkwardly, "But anyway, because of that, you helped shorten this war. And with the mission itself, you saved me from a lot of trouble."

"Trouble? You mean..." Naruto gaped, slowly closing her mouth with her hand in shock. She had just realized that she just saved the Sakumo Hatake from killing himself. Many questions plunged into her head, questions like how Kakashi will grow up to be, what will change in Konoha's future...

"Yup," he said informally, "I was the one who was supposed to destroy those warehouses that were filled with weapons, medical, and food ration storehouses. By not destroying those warehouses, the war could've been prolonged, and inevitably, Iwa would win."

"Weapons, medical, and food rations?" Naruto gave him a confused look. "When I destroyed those warehouses, they exploded."

"Exploded?" There was a shocked expression on Sakumo's face. "Then, the Sandaime's limited information was wrong. There must've been explosives stored in those warehouses!" His raise of tone indicated, to Naruto, how severe it would've been to Konoha if she had not destroyed the warehouses.

"They could've used the explosives as a trump card against Konoha."

"Relax, Sakumo. It's all done and over with." She put a hand on Sakumo's arm.

"You're right." After his brief outburst, Sakumo took a few calming breaths and looked at her with a gentle smile. "Oh, and, um…before I forget again, I'd like to thank you for saving my life back then."

"Okay, so thank you for crashing all that important stuff on me," Naruto looked at him with a playful frown. She punched him lightly on the shoulder, "And by the way, it wasn't much." She gave him a mischievous smile and grabbed him by the arm. "But if you want to thank me, you can pay for the lunch today. C'mon, let's go already!"

Sakumo stared at Naruto's back as she dragged him like a rag doll to the unknown restaurant they were going to attend to. He wouldn't lie, Naruto was really attractive, but Sakumo never saw her in that way. To him, she was only an interesting kunoichi who had skills to defeat platoons of ninja without much effort, but was a huge klutz at the same time.

Had she always been this attractive? He thought to himself that maybe it was because he saw Naruto's face so up close...

Because, for the first time, right at that moment, Sakumo unknowingly noticed how beautiful Naruto looked when she smiled.

"Please! Pleaseeee! I take it back, I take it back! I'm not paying for you anymore!" Sakumo pleaded, bowing so low that his head touched the dirt-filled grounds of Konoha's most famous ramen stand.

"Nu-uh." Naruto waved her chopsticks around in a rejecting manner. "When people pay for me for food, I go all out. I don't even try to be polite and reject this once in a lifetime opportunity." She smirked at him, "I betcha only offered to pay for my ramen, thinking that I would be the typical polite girl and reject it." She laughed hysterically. "No one can stop me, not even the police!" She smirked when she got a light reaction from the "customer" next to her.

Sakumo cried dramatically, looking at his wallet thinning right before his eyes. "I haven't even touched my food, and you're already on your seventh bowl."

Teuchi looked at Naruto with a quizzical look. "That's right, whenever you come here, Naruto-san, you always get one or two bowls at a time." He pinched his chin. "And you would always eat slowly."

Naruto snickered, bringing her hand to her lips. "Yeah, that's cause I need to save money cause I still have three other mouths to feed. If you guys don't know yet, I'll remind you: ramen is-"

"The food of the gods!"

Naruto looked behind her and found who owned the familiar voice. Kushina looked at Naruto with stars in her eyes. The redhead took Naruto's hands and held them in her own. "You think that ramen's the food of the god's too?"

Naruto awkwardly plucked her hands out from Kushina's and looked down on the floor, while her right hand stroked her belly, conscious of the little furball inside. The blond took a deep breath to psych herself up and beamed at Kushina,"Of course I do!"

A smile slowly appeared on Kushina's face, astonishing Naruto at how their smiles looked similar. The blond swallowed the lump that was forming on her throat.

"My name's Kushina, by the way, if you didn't remember, 'tebane! I know your name's Naruto cause that's one of my favorite things in ramen!"

Naruto thinned her lips into a smile, there were butterflies forming inside her stomach. It bothered her so much that Naruto wanted to punch herself in the gut to get rid of her triggering emotions.

"Today, didja know what happened? Well..." Kushina trailed off, talking to Naruto as if she was not a stranger.

"Tomato-chan, Tomato-chan!" Three boys chorused until they stole Kushina's attention away from Naruto.

"What?!" Snarled the redhead. She just had it with people making fun of her that day. "Do you want to get beaten again, huh?"

The boys snickered, sneering at the girl with rude remarks that were not true. "I hear that she's just some loner. She's such a loser, she's not even from Konoha, she's just an outsider..."

Naruto frowned at the boys' behavior to the girl. She recognized them as children from the Academy. Naruto looked at Kushina and saw a Konoha forehead protector on her.

Before Kushina could retort back at the boys, Naruto cut in. "Hey, you boys are the last year bunch right?"

"What's it to you, Lady?"

"If I remember correctly, you boys are still in the Academy?"

One of the boys grunted in agreement, almost like he wanted to deny the proclamation. He probably thought that he was already good enough to be a ninja. Naruto smirked.

"So?" The boy next to him snobbishly shouted.

"I don't see any forehead protectors on you." Naruto sighed before she flipped her hair back. "You shouldn't insult those who are obviously superior to you, especially if those people are active shinobi of the leaf."

The boys glared at Naruto, silently thinking of any comebacks. "So?" The shortest boy said lamely.

The blond repeated, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, that isn't the right thing to do to people who risk their lives for you every single day."

Kushina looked at Naruto in awe. For the first time, someone was standing up for her. The redhead smirked at the little kids, and even stuck her tongue out.

"Kushina-chan..." The blonde called her in a disapproving tone.

"Sorry, Naruto," she snuggled back into her stool and unstuck her tongue, but she couldn't stop smiling.

Naruto shook her had at Kushina's actions, then faced the boys once again. "The day I see you graduate from the Academy, that will be the day you learn to respect not just shinobi, but of all people around you. Got it?"

However, despite Naruto's lecture, the boys stuck their tongue back rudely to the pair and left, snickering for what they were worth.

Kushina held her fist in a threatening way, but Naruto stopped her. "They'll learn sooner or better not to mess with anyone like that one day." The blonde amicably pinched her cheek. "Don't take everything to heart either. It'll only make you feel worse."

Kushina laughed cheekily and scratched her cheek embarrassedly.

Sakumo stared at the pair and sighed. "Did you really just forget about me, Naruto-sensei?"

Naruto looked at him. "You just reminded me, Sakumo-san. Teuchi-san, another bowl!" She looked at Kushina,"Do you want one too? Sakumo-san's paying."

"Hey-"

"'Course, 'tebane!" Kushina bowed her head to Sakumo,"Thanks, Mister!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just eat your guy's fill." He sarcastically said, silently wept on his stool.

"Just ignore him, Kushina-chan. It's his fault that this happened to him." Naruto cheekily stated.

"Really?" She waved her hand. "Then, Old Man! Another four bowls, please!"

"Right away!"

Sakumo groaned at the loss of his money.

Naruto wasn't worried about her paranoia anymore. Kurama wasn't going anywhere... and the same went for her mother. Now, all she wanted to do was take advantage of her time traveling situation to learn more about her mother. "So, what's your favorite ramen flavor, Kushina-chan?"

"You know, I never said that you had to treat me today. You should have just taken me to a different restaurant at a different day or something." Naruto sniggered.

Sakumo glared at her and snapped back, "You should've told me beforehand. And for your information, you're the one who urged me to pay!"

"Oh, grow up, you child in a old man's body!" She laughed boisterously.

"Old?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm only twenty-eight!"

"Yeah right. A twenty-eight-year-old guy with grey hair? That's pretty fishy."

"Grey? It's silver!" He pulled on his hair to make his point. "Sil-ver!"

Naruto shook her head. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Mister."

"You're an insane woman, ya know?"

"I've been told that once or twice in my lifetime." She smirked.

"Don't act cocky about it! It's not something you should be proud of, you insane woman!"

Naruto snickered. "You're funny, Sakumo-san. Actually, the first time I met you, I though you would be the serious type. Turns out, actually, that you're the sissy type."

Sakumo rolled his eyes. "Your words hurt me, Sensei."

She stopped laughing and settled for a soft smile. Sakumo unknowingly stared at her face.

The kunoichi glanced at the setting sun and wistfully said, "It's already six, huh."

"Yeah," Sakumo scratched the back of his head. He grabbed one of Naruto's takeout ramen bags, "Here, lemme help you with that. Do you want me to walk you home?"

Naruto took the bag back from Sakumo's hand. "Naw it's fine. I won't get lost."

"No, that's-"

"G'night, Sakumo-san!" She waved her hand and began walking to her apartment.

He smiled and put his hands to his hips. "Fine then, but next time, you're payin, Sensei!"

A shrill and embarrassed shout came from Naruto, "Don't get ahead of yourself, Hatake!"

Sakumo snickered and turned his back the other way and started to walk back home.

"Hokage-sama," Uchiha Karou bowed before his leader.

"Stand." Sarutobi Hiruzen commanded his subordinate. "It has been over five months since Naruto-san resided in Konoha, Sir."

"Hmm, you're right. Anything?"

"So far, there is nothing suspicious about the girl, Sir." Karou frowned. "Although, there were a number of times my policemen reported that they have felt that Naruto-san knew that we were on to her."

"They felt or they knew?"

"They felt, Sir. To be honest, Sir, I felt something powerful within Naruto-san one time when I was the one following her." He swallowed dryly at the memory. "It felt ominous."

Hiruzen sighed. It must have been Naruto's bijuu chakra that she explained to him. "That's good, Karou. Tell that to your men, also."

"Yes, Sir," Karou knitted his brows together, "but may I ask you one thing?"

"What is it?"

The younger man hesitated. "I was wondering why you have a teaching job to Naruto-san. What if-"

He was cut off by Hiruzen's chuckles. "Sorry, Karou. I knew you were going to say that." He readjusted the pipe hanging on his mouth. "The reason why I ordered Naruto to teach was because one, we were really short on teachers, and two, to keep a close eye on her. That way, we would be able to know where she is for half the day. I knew you and your men would keep an eye the girl, so I knew that no children would ever get hurt in any way by, if it ever happens, Naruto's hand."

Karou was touched. The Hokage just implied that he trusted him and his men. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. It's an honor."

Karou noticed his Hokage seemed much more happier than before now that the was was ending shortly. Karou, himself, had similar feelings.

"Yes, yes. You're dismissed now, Karou."

"I give you my farewell, Hokage-sama." He gave one last bow and left the office.

It was the next morning Hiruzen was informed of the forthcomings of his students. A small, tan toad with black spots on it's back was presented of top of Hiruzen's paperwork. The Hokage stared down at the small creature until it threw up a small note written in Jiraiya's handwriting.

Hiruzen gulped, worried about his students. What could have happened?

He unsealed the small note and read through it once to understand. It read:

Please send reinforcements to Ame.

Hanzo attacked again

Army twice as big

There's only a little bit of time left

Help army headed towards Konoha

Betrayer of Konoha

The Hokage was in shock. He wouldn't think that Hanzo would actually head towards Konoha. That would be suicide! Anyway, if Ame were to come, it would only take the army two days to get there.

He sat down on his chair. There would be need of immediate evacuation of the villagers. All Shinobi present in the village needed to get ready for battle.

"ANBU!" All ANBU present in the room appeared. "Call for an immediate meeting for all shinobi! There no time left! Hurry!" The ANBU all shunshined away, leaving the Hokage to ponder more about the note.

For all the note stated, all Hiruzen could think about the last line. Betrayer of Konoha. Who could that be?

However, as he kept thinking about it, the aging leader could only have one suspect on line: Naruto.