Note/Explanation: Posted at the end to let you enjoy the story. You can scroll there first.

Inside a sparring dojo within the walls of the main compound, a large series of structures was built high up long ago before the Yondaime Mizukage who adopted the castle-like compound and spent most of his time in isolation, fearful of being assassinated. Two young genin stood within standing straight as they eyed each other down. Naruto and Chojuro nodded to one another before beginning.

Chapter 13

First, Chojuro dashed forward and went for a false strike to the blond's head, effectively drawing his guard and using the momentum he built to knee Naruto in the upper abdomen instead. The blow disoriented him for a moment but, always predictable, Naruto used the close proximity required for the knee to his own advantage: head-butting Chojuro in the face and effectively dropping him to his knees with his hands clutching his bruised and slightly bloody ego while Naruto took a few steps back to recover from the strike to his solar plexus.

When they were both ready, they took their stances in preparation for the next attack, unintentionally mirroring one another; it seemed natural as the two of them had quickly found out sparring together, because they were so similar to one another and yet had different strengths, eventually their fights would become predictable, and the predictability often put the two of them into a rough match of trading blows.

Naruto's taijutsu was improving with a strong sparring partner in Chojuro, and the rivalry and animosity they had toward one another allowed for them to push themselves past their normal limits ensuring that they both grew markedly.

Ready once more, Naruto made the first move by running around the blue haired boy to strike him from a different angle; Chojuro's eyes followed him, but he only moved enough to keep Naruto in his sights. When they finally did clash, Naruto took a step or two toward him from his side forcing Chojuro to turn enough to parry his attack, but then he kicked off harder on one leg and cut across the opposite direction, locking up the young shinobi's legs as he tried to turn back around, and tagged him with a wild backwards kick of his left leg after passing by his shoulder, aiming at the back of his head with the heel of his foot.

Ducking, Chojuro grinned, but his expression changed to one of surprise when, after landing, Naruto let himself roll backwards onto his shoulders after missing the kick to the back of his head, and then sprung himself upward to the boy's jaw as Chojuro was standing back up.

His heels connected with his jaw and one of his hands easily knocking him squarely onto his back.

"Oh, fuck." Muttered the young mist nin, groaning at the pain from the powerful twin-strike to his face.

"You should've blocked my first kick instead of ducking it." Naruto said, grinning mischievously.

The blue haired boy looked up and glared, his eyes taking on a different glow than normal as he tensed up suddenly. "You should've kept attacking me…" said Chojuro, locking his legs around Naruto's left leg as he stood before him and rolling with it to throw him off balance, sweeping him, and then afterwards used his weight to force him to the ground; with his left hand he positioned himself over Naruto's back and quickly wrapped his right around the boys neck as he was trying to lift his head up. Naruto, panicking tried to roll over, but when Chojuro placed his other arm behind his head and cut off his oxygen supply to his head, Naruto knew it was over.

He tapped, but Chojuro held on. Naruto muttered a curse and passed out a few seconds later, Chojuro finally released his grip only after the boy was incapacitated.

He stood up from the ground and looked down on Naruto with a smirk on his face, his pointed teeth showing.

When Naruto came to, he looked up and glared at Chojuro, who simply said:

"… until you knocked me out. Sparring is done differently here in Mizu. If your opponent is still awake or can move, then your match isn't over… it used to be that one of the participants of a fight had to die, before it was over; so show me some gratitude."

"Fuck you." Naruto cradled his throat and took a few steps back to distance him from the skilled genin.

"Listen, I'm trying to become one of the seven swordsmen. I have to get stronger but still, I can no longer challenge the wielder of the Hiramekarei, the shape-shifting two-handled sword, so I have to prove myself some other way."

Naruto lifted a brow, "I thought she said that was the only way to pass the sword down?"

He nodded, "Normally, but the previous owner is dead now…"

Naruto grimaced, "Ah, I see… well, then I guess they'd have a backup plan for that, then, huh? So what's the deal? How are you going to earn it?"

"I don't know yet… whatever it is, it has to be something crazy. Have any ideas?"

Naruto smiled impishly, "Kill Orochimaru; I think that might just be worth it."

"The sannin? Hell no. I wouldn't go near that bastard… I'm actually surprised you're alive. Honestly. All that time you've spent with him… ugh."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah… I thought I was going to die when we reached the beach and he started walking toward Mizu."

Chojuro smirked, "Why, scared of falling out of the boat?"

Naruto's face paled when he briefly relieved the moment of Orochimaru dragging him out of the water by his hair and throwing him onto the surface of the water, expecting him to stand up and start walking again. "No… Orochimaru and I walked the whole way."

Chojuro's eyebrows furrowed making him look confused.

"Water-walking."

"What? That's not possible. You didn't come on a boat?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Oh shit… well, how did you manage it? Aren't you a genin?"

Naruto simply nodded not sure what to say, and Chojuro grimaced, shaking his head. "You must have some crazy stamina. That's more than thirty minutes, I think. I can only water walk for around ten or maybe fifteen minutes, tops."

Naruto nodded again, shrugging. Chojuro grinned, "So now I see why you want me to kill him… well, we both know that ain't gonna happen. As in, it's never going to happen because I'm never going to try to, and also I know I can't… I'm scared of him, he's a freaking lunatic."

"You have no idea."

After a while, the two of them went at it again clashing in the center of the dojo to fine tune their taijutsu. Naruto wasn't great on proper form, but Chojuro was, and in exchange for helping Naruto with his form, Chojuro was taught by Naruto how to switch up into different methods of attack quickly and also a few weird ways to counter. Naruto also asked him to show him that grappling move that had him unconscious so quickly, and so the two young boys who started off aggressively towards one another became fast friends, and then, with the passing of time, good friends that would protect and stand up for one another though neither of them would ever admit it.

Orochimaru turned and gazed at the young blond boy as he entered the room and walked over to his bed. He looked exhausted, perhaps tired after a long day's worth of training.

"Perhaps you'd like to see what I have gained from trading you to Mizu?"

Naruto groaned, lying down on his bed which he had moved all the way to the other side of the room to be as far away as possible from the snake sannin. "Nope. Not really… I'm sure it's something to help you with your world domination plot. I really don't care." Naruto let his head rest against his pillow as he closed his eyes, sighing contently as he let the soft comfort of the bed envelop him.

"There are two of them, in case you change your mind, gaki. Both of them are from your village." Naruto's eyes opened and the sannin let his tongue slither out of his mouth with a smile and licked his upper lip. "Who knows? Perhaps they'll be familiar to you?" Orochimaru's smile widened when Naruto shot up from his bed and looked at the man in confusion, hurt written all over his face since the Mizukage had never mentioned having leaf prisoners, even though they talked often.

"Who are they?" Naruto asked, collected, but hardly calm.

"You'll have to find that out for yourself, Naruto-kun."

"Who are they?" Naruto demanded in a loud voice, but Orochimaru just swung the keys around in his fingers and shrugged before walking toward the door.

"How should I know? Probably someone much more useful and polite than you ever were. I'll be leaving now. You're welcome to follow, if you like."

The look on Orochimaru's face was one of unbidden glee; he looked like he just found out some good news and couldn't help but be happy about it. The worst part about it was it didn't seem sincere, everything about the man was so creepy and devious, spiteful. He left Naruto with no choice. Naruto steeled himself for whoever he was going to see and followed a few steps behind him.

They exited the room and walked down a long hall from their room to a spiral staircase in the center of the large building they stayed in. Naruto wasn't sure where it was coming from at first, but he heard a light chiming sound that was so soft it was almost drowned out by his own footsteps. Orochimaru's were silent. Walking down from the fifth floor, they went down two basement levels after the first floor and stood before two guards; one was standing directly in front of the door with a giant sword clutched in front of him, while the second had his hands placed to the left side of the door on the wall where a seal was drawn into it. Apparently, if someone strong enough to dispatch the first guard came, the second was there as an insurance policy to protect the prisoners of the Hidden Mist.

Naruto had a feeling it wasn't simply out of the kindness of the Mizukage's heart.

"State your business." Asked the first guard who was intrigued by Lord Orochimaru's presence.

Orochimaru smiled, "I'm here to see how my prizes fare… the two Hyuga."

Naruto turned to look at Orochimaru and wondered if one of his classmates, Hinata was one of them.

"The Hyuga? Do you have your keys?"

Orochimaru extended his arm out and handed the guard the keys which were used to open the first door. "Come on, I don't got all day."

Naruto walked in behind Orochimaru and was surprised to see a wave of different prisoners in a circular room, pairs of them behind bars with symbols etched into them. He looked around for the signature pale eyes of a Hyuga, but could not spot one. It wasn't until they came up close that he noticed the two young teenagers were lying back on their bunk beds, staring up.

Naruto frowned, they both seemed to be nourished properly, but the lack of exercise was starting to show and they appeared sluggish when they were ordered to stand and come meet their visitors.

Both of them were Hyuga, but the boy, who was also shorter, had a caged bird seal on his forehead. The other was a tall young girl without the seal; their eyes were wax white and pale lavender respectively. Naruto figured they were both older than him because of the way they looked, but their height played a part of his assumption as well. They were both at least a head taller than him, the girl being a little under two taller than he was.

"Here's your key, you can take them today or you can come back for them some other time, just don't expect me to be this nice to you next time." The guard walked off after handing Orochimaru the key, who merely smirked, looking the foolish man in the eye as he walked away.

Orochimaru turned to the two Hyuga and smiled, "You're from the branch family," he quickly stated, brow arched as he looked at the young Hyuga teen, who frowned as he noticed just who was talking to him.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

"Ah, you know me then?"

"… of you, yes, my lord." Naruto looked at the young man and saw a look of acknowledgement coming from behind his emotionless Hyuga eyes; it surprised Naruto, but it must have been a part of his general body language that was saying that the Hyuga had met Orochimaru at least once before.

The teenage girl standing beside him blushed prettily when she looked up at Orochimaru, whose androgynous features could be quite compelling and alluring in the right light. His style of dress was the same, he still wore flamboyant kimonos and the one he wore today was no exception. In the front he wore the symbol of a serpent in a vibrant blue the color of Naruto's eyes, the serpent crawling up a sword to the hilt, but on the back he wore the face of a large dragon, its eyes gazing out of the man's shoulder blades.

Naruto was spooked slightly because it seemed like the eyes of the dragon were looking at him. He soon realized that they were small bells that hung and bounced as the sannin walked, chiming gently with each movement.

"Well then, Naruto-kun, let me introduce you three: this is my fledgling companion and disciple, Namikaze Naruto."

Naruto looked at the sannin incredulously, "The last thing I want to be introduced as is your disciple." They shared a small look, Naruto's eyes full of hatred and Orochimaru's of playfulness.

"Naruto-kun, don't be harsh," Orochimaru started, but Naruto interrupted him bitterly.

"Oh, and don't call me Namikaze; I am an Uzumaki. Uu-zuu-maa-kii."

The sannin grinned and turned to look back at the two Hyuga behind the fence. "As I was saying, this tall little pretty one is Tessen-chan… this determined young man is Gunbai."

Naruto nodded at each of them and turned back to Orochimaru, "So are you going to let them out?"

Orochimaru chuckled and the two teenagers took a step back from the door while he shook his head, "When the time is right. Come along."

Naruto watched as the sannin walked off, going back to the front door to get his other key. Naruto turned to look at the two of them and frowned, "Why would he know your names if you seem to have only met him today?"

Tessen crossed her arms over her chest and turned away while Gunbai just glared.

Naruto received nothing but silence, so he turned and walked away to leave the two of them alone for now.

Later that evening, when Orochimaru turned in for the night, he set the pair of keys down on a coffee table by the television that had not been used this whole time they stayed in Mizu. Naruto was already lying down, seemingly asleep, but his eye popped open and he pushed himself up off of the bed and picked up the pair of keys. Walking down the hall and five floors down the winding staircase, Naruto ended up in front of the bodyguards with the keys in hand, and was surprised that the main guard didn't bother heckling him. He stepped through with his second key and walked over to the room with the two Hyuga, his eyes catching the eyes of some of the other prisoners as he walked. They were all people he didn't know or recognize, but none of them seemed to be leaf shinobi besides the Hyuga.

When Naruto stood in front of the cage, Gunbai got up out of his bed and walked over to him, gazing back into Naruto's blue eyes as they waited in silence while Naruto gathered his thoughts.

Finally, Naruto spoke, "You are a Hyuga… how did you get caught? Why are you here?"

Gunbai looked at him as memories of Orochimaru and a terrible deed flooded his mind.

"Orochimaru freed us from Konoha." He said simply.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, that sounded backwards. "Freed you?"

"We should be dead." Gunbai sat behind his side of the cage while Naruto took his own seat to listen carefully to the story.

"It's all… because of this caged bird seal and this accursed clan." He pointed at his own forehead with his thumb and lowered his eyes to the ground under Naruto's scrutiny.

"Why are you telling me this?" Naruto asked, concerned about his openness.

Gunbai narrowed his eyes and looked at Naruto carefully, "You came to ask me, didn't you? You are my guest, and so I wish to treat you hospitably."

Naruto grimaced; so his subservient attitude that he brought with him from the Hyuga clan stuck, huh?

"So are you a shinobi?"

Gunbai nodded. "All of the branch house is shinobi. We are geared from the very beginning to have no fear, and to protect the main family of the house with our lives."

Naruto clenched his jaw, not liking the sound of the 'no fear' aspect; so what does that mean? They're made to have no fear of putting their own lives on the line to save people that subjugate them?

Naruto sat down in front of the cage and Gunbai followed suit, kneeling down respectfully on his side.

Naruto continued to ask, "What about the main house? Are they required to train as shinobi?"

"They are required to practice the gentle fist; mastering that is more important than becoming a shinobi… but generally a gentle fist practitioner makes for a very capable shinobi."

"And your friend, Tessen? I've never met her before, is she one of Hinata's sisters?"

Gunbai shook his head, "No; Hinata-sama only has one sibling and that is Hanabi. Tessen is the granddaughter of the fourth seat in the Hyuga committee. They are each heads within the clan; hence, why we call each of their families branches."

"So where does that place her… and you for that matter?" Naruto was still surprised that he was being so open. It almost seemed too convenient that he would be getting a lecture on Hyuga politics by a prisoner in the middle of Mizu.

"She is not exactly royalty, because Hinata-sama and her father, Hiashi-sama are the current heads of the entire clan, meaning they are the ones with the most influence and power at the moment, like the crown on top of the head; however, things are changing… have changed… and the other branches are trying to reach out and grow further."

Naruto nodded. "And you?"

Gunbai smiled, finally. "Dead; thank goodness."

Flinching, Naruto asked carefully, as if he was scared it would turn out Gunbai would turn out to be a zombie. "How are you… dead?"

Suddenly, from behind Gunbai's kneeling figure, Tessen came and sat down on her knees besides the sealed boy, kissing his cheek to get his attention. "It's like what Orochimaru once said: death is dead to him, as it is to us."

"In other words, Konoha suspects that we both already died committing suicide because we couldn't be together." The couple held each other's hand and shared a knowing look as Naruto suddenly felt like a third wheel sitting on the other side of the gate here. Actually, he was glad to have the distance.

"So, you mean, no one knows you're actually here, hanging out in a prison cell in Mizu together… way convenient."

Tessen smiled softly, batting her eyelashes at the boy, "Not quite; Terumi-dono is very sweet and accommodating. It seems like things have changed, though, if she has been fooled into taking you in as her ward in exchange for us. It is exactly what Orochimaru-sama intended for us."

"Hush, Tessen. We may reveal only what we were told to, please remember."

She nodded and smiled marvelously at her lover before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and leaning into him. He placed his head into the nape of her neck and kissed her collarbone just above the neckline of her shirt.

Naruto was blushing, but he had to keep talking and asking this all-too-willing couple for more clues as to why Orochimaru was orchestrating this whole ordeal. That very thought left Naruto extremely uncomfortable, and the root of understanding began to take as he realized a very important question that he had to ask of them.

"When were you two… when did you…?"

He couldn't ask, but Gunbai got the gist of it, "We faked our deaths six months ago. Four months ago we arrived here as prisoners of war, since Water has no treaties with Fire."

Naruto nodded slowly, realization dawning on him, all too much like a fiery sun in the East.

"I have a hard time believing that you easily got away from the Hyuga… and there's no jutsu that they cannot see through with their eyes, so how did you fool them? How did you make it look like you were dead?"

Tessen shivered and Gunbai lowered his head, placing his palm down on his lover's knee as he prepared to spill the details of their faked deaths. "Orochimaru has a multitude of forbidden techniques that we were prepared to use. He used our cells to make a construct of our own faces, and we provided the bodies…"

Naruto's stomach clenched and he lowered his head.

"Do you know what happens when a person dies? Their chakra leaves the body through their tenketsu and rejoins the Earth. To a Hyuga, a dead body looks nothing more like an empty shell, a cage without its bird."

"And this jutsu… who did you kill in order to find the appropriate bodies? Don't they have to be similar in shape and size to you two?"

Tessen nodded, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes as she spoke angrily, "We killed a group of older genin doing a D-rank mission. It was one that Orochimaru had commissioned using one of his assets and he personally used the jonin sensei's face to help us… take care of them. The girl was just tall enough to pass for Tessen, and one of the boys had very long hair, like mine."

Naruto stood up, "I have to leave."

Tessen shot up as well and immediately reached through the cage, grabbing Naruto by the black undershirt he wore. Naruto stared in surprise and a little bit of fear etched on his face as he tried to pry her hands away. She was strong!

"Please, don't think badly of him. He only did it because he cared about our predicament and it was the only way! Thanks to him, our love can continue on and we won't ever have to hide it again as long as we don't return to that wretched place, and neither of us would ever want to!" She gazed into his eyes. It was the first time he noticed that they really did have pupils, they were just white.

"We would gladly give up our lives for him, because he gave us so much more. These past few months together, even locked away in a cell like this, has given us a new perspective on life."

Naruto glared at the girl, angry at the way Orochimaru had them wrapped around his little finger; warped around the idea that he could possibly care for them.

When seeking for the perfect underling, you search for any of the three ones: you find the stupid ones, the ones who have no one, and the ones who are different. By seeking out these poor lost souls, you can build an army willing to die for you or your cause without any hesitance; without that useless instinct for self-preservation.

"So after finally coming together and being free from your cage you walk right into a new one, one made of lies and deceit?" Naruto's fists clenched as he thought of the sannin, the golden eyes illuminating in the darkness with a few strands of hair obscuring one of them.

"You judge us, yet you don't understand us… I'm sorry that it sounds like we are being used, and we are…"

"So why can't you see that it's wrong?"

"Because!" Yelled Gunbai, his eyes narrowing, "It's not wrong. We're together… finally... and that's all that matters." They met together in an embrace and he whispered into her ear, "Nothing more."

Naruto stared on in anger, annoyance, and disbelief. He turned around and started walking away, but had to turn back to grab the key that he had left on the floor. He looked up at them and Tessen smiled.

"Take it. Even if you leave it for us, we'll never use it. We will wait for Orochimaru-sama's next orders and follow them without fault."

Naruto picked up the key and left.

When he returned to the room, he set the keys back down and prayed that sleep take hold as soon as he hit the bed. Tears were in his eyes as he remembered a blonde girl back in Konoha that he had not seen since the messy kiss they shared before the fangs of the predatory snake hooked into him and clutched him tight as he was slowly being strangled to death. The longer the kiss in his mind lasted, the more venomous the fangs became. His dreams reflected the state of regret and fear that he felt, and Naruto began to sob into his pillow, but sleep never came.

Naruto visited the couple several more times, learning more and more about the things they did when they were younger, how they met, the trials they faced, and he shared some of his own, and of girl he wondered if he could love, somewhere in Konoha; until one day they were gone. And so was Orochimaru. He rubbed his forehead as he sat by himself, trying to sort out the demons as he wondered what was happening back in Konoha, and where Tessen and Gunbai would go.

He saw the dragon's face. The golden eyes and the purple makeup; the pale face of death stared back at Naruto as the only possible answer to the questions he had about his old, and newly made friends.

"Orochimaru-sama, please forgive me for my ignorance, but is it worth leaving the only son of the Yondaime there in Mizu? Perhaps he could be of better use to you if you had given him to Iwa or Kumo?"

Orochimaru turned his head and smiled at Tessen, his face slowly changing into an amused grin, "Kumo and Iwa would probably do something foolish like kill him on the spot. He is much too important for that. You see, when you want to capture prey, it is sometimes good to leave some bait on a lure."

Gunbai nodded, understanding the concept while Tessen bowed her head, "Again, forgive me master! Of course, that is brilliant!"

Orochimaru chuckled. He turned around and continued walking, leading the two of them Northeast, after arriving on the mainland by boat, in the direction of Kumo.

In other circumstances it is best to throw the entire bucket of chum into the water and be prepared to take the prize with the net.

Ok, so I posted earlier today… sometime in the morning/afternoon in a rush. But I began to read it. So, I read and read and I felt like it wasn't going anywhere, so I decided I didn't like it. This chapter though feels majorly improved and I just liked it better how it ended up. I hope that it makes up for me posting and removing the chapter, I'll be more careful with that next time so as not to get your hopes up, but thank you all for your comments and love.

I like the idea of a time skip, but I don't think I could do it properly enough and there's still so much more to touch base on with Sasuke, Ino and the others and I don't want to just zap it all in there like what I'm going to write about later comes out of nothing… but anyways, thank you very much EpicWeaver, and I promise that the only training/mentoring that will come in will be small tidbits like the one you witnessed in chapter 12… Didn't notice it? Read again :) If at all, they will be plot driven, and if I forget, beat me up until I remember it, damn it!

Oh, and anyone notice that the word chum for fish bait is also a word used for a friend? I think that's hilarious.

Much, much luv,

Mos