Legacy of the Rasengan III
Chuuten
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Chapter 2: Catching Up

Konoha, Training Grounds
8:00am

He waited as patiently as his overeager body could allow. He was concealed within a bush a fair distance ahead his target and was watching his target carefully. He did not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to himself than he could prevent.

Walking nonchalantly in between his teammates, his target was wearing an overly-large grin on his face and was talking in a voice that slightly quieter than he was known for. It would seem that his target had grown up in more ways than just his height. Plus he seemed to have acquired himself some new weapons, a katana and some kind of flying surfboard.

He soon realized that if they drew any closer than they were, his position would be compromised. He bit down on his thumbs and quickly smeared the blood upon his palms. 'Fire' and 'bird' were written in kanji on his right and left palms respectively. Channeling his chakra into those blood-seals, he quickly went through the fifteen handseals.

"Sarutobi no Jutsu!" he whispered to himself.

His target and his companions scarcely had a moment's warning before they were beset by a large stone head that erupted from the earth and charged them. Well…they would've if they hadn't sensed his presence as they were approaching him. Due to their lack of surprise, each reacted accordingly. His target and his dark-haired male companion each leapt to opposing sides of the path. The girl merely jumped up and over the Sandaime Hokage-shaped face.

His target was on the move, already seeking him out. That was why he had turned and ran off as soon as he'd launched the jutsu. He needed to get a better spot.

Feeling a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, Konohamaru abruptly halted. Throwing his hands into the hitsuji handseal, he erupted into smoke and was quickly replaced by a drop-dead gorgeous brunette with long ponytails.

As the smoke cleared, Konohamaru turned to where 'she' knew Naruto to be standing, showing off 'her' rather substantial assets.

"Ohayo, Naruto-kun," 'she' said in a very seductive voice, even winking at him suggestively.

The only reaction from Naruto was a slight twitch of his lips, even as Sasuke and Sakura quickly joined his side. Realizing that his jutsu had no effect on its creator, Konohamaru dropped it quickly with a large grin.

"What did you think of that, Naruto-niisan?" he asked, voice laced with mischievous deviousness. "Bet you didn't see that one coming!"

Grinning slightly, Naruto nodded. "Not bad, Konohamaru, you've mastered the Sarutobi no Jutsu a lot sooner than I'd thought you would. But…you shouldn't use the Oiroke anymore."

As Konohamaru was staring at his friend and 'big brother,' Sakura felt her respect for Naruto go up several pegs. He didn't want his 'little brother' using that repulsive jutsu anymore? Naruto certainly had grown up.

Sasuke, however, was the only one to see the minuscule smirk cross the blonde's face. Oh boy, here we go, he thought, having a pretty good idea of what was coming next. And Naruto didn't disappoint him either.

"Such a jutsu is mediocre now!" Naruto said, quickly going into his 'full rant' mode. "Behold the newest perverted kinjutsu I've created!"

Just as Naruto was putting his hands into the hitsuji seal, Sakura's backhanded fist connected with his cheek as she screamed, "BAKA!!"

Momentarily stunned from the unexpected blow, Naruto barely had time to stumble when Sakura grabbed him and began shaking him vigorously while continuing her own rant about his seemingly low maturity level.

Sasuke just watched the scene in amusement. It would seem that Sakura was indeed very happy to see Naruto hadn't changed too much, in character at least. Glancing over at Konohamaru, he noticed that the pre-teen had disappeared and was hiding behind a nearby tree. It didn't take Sasuke long to realize he feared that Sakura would turn her wrath—and strength—upon him next since, technically, he had been the one to use the Oiroke in the first place.

Walking forward, he grabbed Sakura's shoulder firmly as he said, "That's enough, Sakura. You're scaring Konohamaru."

The enraged kunoichi paused and looked over towards the hiding Konohamaru before she let the limp blonde fall to the ground.

"Naruto seems to have become more like you in these past few years," Tsunade muttered disapprovingly as they too watched the scene unfold from not too far away.

Such beauty and strength, Jiraiya was thinking with a sad frown. You've been raising another 'Tsunade' yourself, haven't you?

"Actually," he said quietly. "the brat tried to use his Rasengan on me each time I tried to get him to accompany me on my research expeditions. It wasn't until I started threatening his ramen supply that he started to really learn what I was teaching."

"I did not want to hear that," Tsunade growled dangerously to him, only a few hairs away from pummeling the elder pervert.

"Gomen, gomen!" he said hurriedly. "Must be the nostalgia getting to me."

"Sure," she drawled, returning her attention to Naruto and his team for a moment. Turning, she started to walk back to the Hokage Tower, pulling Jiraiya with her. "Now tell me what you've learned of this 'Seigi no Migite'."

Ichiraku Ramen Bar
8:15am

"Oi, Ojisan!!" a loud voice yelled from the street. "Better fire up some broth, I'M HUNGRY!!!"

It was a voice that caused many customers that were currently residing within the confines of the restaurant to turn away in disgust or to suddenly leave with their meals half finished.

But it was a voice that she had been waiting to hear since his clone had left her. Turning away from her own bowl of miso ramen, Hinata watched as the blonde of her dreams rushed to the counter and sat down next to her with a wide smile. Behind him, Sasuke and Sakura were only a few steps away. But seeing as they'd already eaten, they merely sat down on Naruto's other side.

"Ah, Naruto!" Teuchi said smiling, happy to have his best customer back. "The usual?"

"Hai!" Naruto replied, smiling happily and waving cheerfully to Ayame. "And make it a good one!"

"How are you doing, Hinata-hime?" Naruto asked, turning his attention to the girl. "Not still getting fevers all the time, are you?"

A faint blush lit up her cheeks as she shook her head. It would take quite a bit of getting use to being called her Naruto-kun's 'princess.' Hinata was quite sure though that Naruto knew it was a blush that always lit up her cheeks. Why did he always say that it was probably a fever? "I-I've been doing q-quite well, Naruto-kun."

"Hime?" Sasuke asked from Naruto's left with an arched eyebrow.

"That's right!" Naruto said still wearing a smile though a faint blush began lining his own cheeks. "Hinata-hime's way too pretty to be called Hinata-chan anymore!"

That drew a small peep from Hinata and a quiet gasp from Sakura. Both boys looked towards the girl they were closest to. Hinata wore an even brighter blush on her cheeks and could not find the strength of will to even be able to glance towards the boy next to her. H-He called me…p-pretty!

Sakura looked surprised for a moment. But that look quickly changed and she suddenly looked as though she'd been sucking on a lemon. So I'M not pretty enough?! That was her feminine pride speaking as she cast Sasuke a questioning glare. Is that why he hasn't ever called me Sakura-chan before?

"Relax," Sasuke whispered, somehow knowing approximately what her thoughts were. "You know how he gets with her."

It was as he was saying this that a memory rose up in her mind of the time when she had tried to show Naruto her first original jutsu. An accident had led to Naruto and Hinata experiencing their first kiss. Hinata had fainted afterward, of course. But Naruto, though he had no doubt greatly enjoyed it, had vehemently sworn that it had been unintentional and that he would never had violated Hinata's privacy like that. In fact, Sakura had a sudden suspicion that he still stuck to that belief.

"What's that suppose to mean, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, easily hearing his hushed voice.

"Only that you're in love with Hinata-san, dobe," Sasuke said nonchalantly. In his mind, he counted down to the impending explosion. Three…two…one…and…

"WHAT?!!!" Naruto practically yelled, standing up from the stool he was sitting on reflexively.

"I didn't stutter, Naruto," Sasuke said levelly, barely hiding his smirk or the amusement from voice. Oh he loved this!

If there was one thing that could've stopped the impending brawl from happening, Hinata's convenient fainting was just that. The blonde was only just barely able to catch her before she collided with the ground. Hoisting her up, he laid her up against the counter as he continued talking, "Teme! I'm not in love with Hinata-chan! We're just friends!"

"Oh, really?" Sakura asked, mirroring Sasuke's small grin.

"Don't get started, Sakura-chan!" Naruto practically begged. The last thing he needed right now was for both his teammates to be involved on this issue. "This isn't one of your sappy romance stories, you know!"

"Hm…" was all Sakura purred, watching Naruto every movement near the unconscious Hyuuga heir with all the finesse of a magnifying glass.

Turning back to Sasuke, Naruto's sent a hybrid of a glare and an amused glance towards the Uchiha. "What do you mean 'dobe'? I'll have you know that I wasn't just peeping these past two years!"

Sasuke's familiar smirk returned as he eyed the blonde with a knowing sneer. "You don't know yet, do you?"

"Know what?!"

"Of our graduating class," Sakura said. Though she was hoping to stave off another fight, she couldn't contain a slight smirk of her own. "All of us have been promoted to Chuunin...all except you."

There was a moment of complete silence that hung over the group in Ichiraku. Despite their attempts, Naruto's face remained an annoying stoic expression for just that moment. Then, almost faster than the untrained eye could follow, it morphed into a horrified and disbelieving gawk.

"WHAT?!!?!?!" Naruto screamed so loudly that all within a ten-meter radius of him was suddenly experiencing an extreme case of ringing eardrums.

After a moment, Sasuke decided to add extra salt to the wound. "I was promoted to Jounin about six months ago."

Even a civilian could've seen the jealousy that was writhing behind that bright blue eye. But rather than start ranting, Naruto just set his jaw and turned back to his ramen while swearing to himself to enter the very next Chuunin Exam. Nothing short of a global crisis would prevent him from surpassing his greatest rival!!

"Hey, look here!" a loud bark called from behind them. "I thought I recognized that stink earlier."

Turning, Team Seven spotted Inuzuka Kiba walking towards them. Slung haphazardly over his shoulders were several bags of what seemed to be dog food and various other miscellaneous items. His common beastly smile was as wide as ever, a hint of devious cunning glinting in his eyes.

"Well, well," he said walking up to the group. "The team's back together again." He couldn't help but chuckle as he glanced between the three members. Somehow, each of them suddenly knew what he was about to say. "The Konoha no—"

Kiba suddenly found his windpipe closed, courtesy of Sakura, and with a katana digging uncomfortably into his side. Two of the members of Team Seven had a steely gaze of barely restrained anger in their eyes as they glared at the gasping Inuzuka. The final member, Naruto, was just glancing back and forth between the trio in confusion.

"Don't you ever say that…nickname again, Kiba-san," Sakura said fiercely. Of the three, she was rightfully the most embarrassed by it and that…nickname would forever haunt her now.

Kiba's grin, though very strained from his awkward position and lack of oxygen, didn't falter. If his throat wasn't currently clamped shut by Sakura's steel grip, he would've been chuckling at their reactions.

"Sakura, Sasuke," Naruto said cautiously. "What are you doing?"

After a moment, Sakura lowered Kiba down though she kept a resentful glare on him. Sasuke merely sheathed his weapon and turned back to the counter. Rubbing feeling and blood flow back into his aching throat, Kiba's grin continued.

"You mean you haven't seen it yet, Uzumaki?" Kiba asked, grinning slyly.

Now Naruto was becoming worried. Having spent the last six months since that mission in the desert, he was rather out of date on current events. "Seen what?"

"Our mission to Snow Country," Sakura muttered quietly. In an instant, all was made crystal clear for the blonde.

"Y-Y-You mean h-he actually made it?!" Naruto stuttered, his mind running rampart with thousands of terrible scenarios. Of the situation, he could only thank all the gods that had ever existed that Hinata had fallen unconscious earlier. "I…I hate that bastard!"

"Yup, he certainly did make it!" Kiba said, grinning widely as Naruto's horror-struck expression. Just to add salt to the wounds, he began listing off the details. "It took them quite a while, two years actually, to put it together though. It got first released about two months ago. And if you don't like it so much, why did you participate in that movie?"

"It wasn't like we had a choice at the time, Kiba," Naruto grumbled. Glancing over at Sasuke and Sakura, he could not contain his dread as he asked, "What did they call us?"

"'Princess Gale and the Konoha no Gogyou' was the title," Sasuke answered stiffly. "And ever since then, everyone has been calling us that…despicable name."

Naruto was momentarily torn between his feelings for this new and unwanted nickname. On the one hand, the name was a somewhat good one. But on the other hand, the last thing he and his teammates wanted was to be associated with that movie. Rather than say anything, he decided to happily dive headlong back into his cooling ramen.

However, Kiba was far from ready to abandon a prime teasing subject. "Wanna know what the real shame is? That they wasted the best-selling film of the year on you guys."

Snorting slightly, Sasuke stood and started to walk away. "I'll see you guys at the Hokage Tower in an hour."

"Oi, wait for me!" Naruto yelled, quickly slapping money down for his single bowl of ramen. In his rush, Naruto failed to notice the group's surprised stares. Honestly, how often was it that Naruto only ate one bowl of Ichiraku's Ramen?

Outside the Hyuuga Compound
8:50am

It was nearly time for him to report Tsunade. However, he was quite content to walk slowly back towards the Hokage Tower. He had just come from his old apartment and dropping off the Kazeodori. It had relieved him to see that Ero-Sannin had been thoughtful enough to leave his discarded rucksack inside the small apartment.

As he slowly trudged down the street, re-exploring Konoha, he found himself delving into nearly-forgotten memories. It had been a long time ago that he had first taken this route on his way to the Shinobi Academy. At the time, he had been lost and almost late to his first day to start training on how to become a shinobi.

Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate of him, he had taken a left instead of a right turn. He had found himself racing a series of streets that always had a lot of Hyuuga on. Thankfully at the time, he had only run into a single one when he had accidentally dropped his lunch of cup ramen.

Smiling slightly, Naruto clearly remembered his first impression of Hinata when he had first seen her. In fact, it was rather appropriate in his mind at how he met her. She had been wearing a white kimono and daintily carrying her academy supplies and bento box in a bag, standing just outside the main gate of the Hyuuga Compound.

He had been wearing merely a filthy, orange shirt, black shorts, and sandals that were three-sizes too large for his small feet. He had dropped his cup ramen and stumbled while trying to race back and get it. However, he had found himself at Hinata's feet. His first thought of her was actually more of an impulse.

Wow…pretty!!

Of course, since he was only six at the time, he had tried to shake that thought from his mind since all girls had cooties after all. But she seemed…different from the other girls. And though his feelings for girls in general hadn't changed after that encounter, he would always try to go out of his way to be friendly towards his Hinata-chan.

This sentiment only increased as he got to know her a little bit and she never once tried to push him away. As a child raised in an orphanage, unable to call anything his own (not even the clothes he wore), then kicked out as soon as he could fend for himself, he latched onto the girl tightly. She had been the first person of his age group that hadn't shunned him, making her his instant best friend and more precious of people. And though he could play with her when they were younger, they had grown to share a rather special bond.

At least he liked to think so.

Lost in his daydreams and memories, Naruto hadn't realized that he'd stopped and was gazing unseeingly at the very spot where two young children had met long ago. But when a sudden spike of killing intent was thrown his way, shinobi instincts kicked in.

He bounced lightly to the top of the building on the opposite side of the street. Though nothing happened, he knew that the intent's originator would've thrown a hail of shuriken in his way if he could've. For a long moment, Naruto just stared down at a pair of hate-filled white eyes that glared back at him.

The Hyuuga in question was the usual atypical Hyuuga Chuunin. In his late teens, hair as dark as black and reaching to his longer back and with a body that might've had him a small fan-club if he'd only wanted to show it off. Yet the fury that the Hyuuga was sending Naruto far surpassed the common disgust and anger that the villagers usually threw his way.

Did he somehow personally offend this Hyuuga?

"What do you want, Hyuuga?" Naruto asked cautiously, ready to flee if need be.

For a moment, it seemed as though he wouldn't receive an answer. But then the Hyuuga darted forward and leapt up the building as well, landing less than ten meters away. The only thing preventing Naruto from dropping into a defensive stance was the lack of any real killing desire that he could sense from the Chuunin's aura.

"What is your relationship with Hinata-sama, Uzumaki?" the Hyuuga demanded.

"You know," Naruto said slowly, annoyance coloring his voice. "It is considered rude to not introduce one's self to another they have called out to."

"Hyuuga Himochi," the Hyuuga growled, clearly straining to keep his voice civil. "Now answer me!"

"Why does it matter to you?" Naruto asked. He was getting a very bad feeling about this Hyuuga.

"I know you like her," Himochi said. "Consider this a…friendly warning, she is not meant for you."

A moment of silence hung over the two glaring teenagers before the blonde-haired Genin said, "Let's let her decide that…"

"There's no need," Himochi said, a sneer pulling at his lips. "It's already been decided."

"By who?" In an instant, Naruto made the connection. There were only one or two groups of people who would want to seriously keep Hinata-chan away from him. And those people were…her clan council or the village council.

"Seeing as you are not a member of the Hyuuga clan," Himochi said, puffing his chest up slightly in pride. "you are not privileged to information that does not immediately concern you."

"Then why don't you give your 'oh-so-wise' council a message for me," Naruto said, narrowing his eye slightly. If Himochi had looked close enough, he'd have noticed a hint of purple filtering into his blue eye. "Have them tell the bastard that he'll have to deal with me if he—"

"You'll do what?" Himochi demanded in a very conceited tone.

Naruto's earlier bad feeling towards the Hyuuga suddenly multiplied fivefold. He's the one… It took all Naruto's self-control and then some to not slam his Fuuton: Rasengan into Himochi's face in order to wiping that sneer from his face.

"…It would be within your best interests to never again cross my path again," Naruto growled, sending a concentrated wave of bloodlust upon the Chuunin as he stared into the young man's eyes with a pair of red ones.

As dignified as he could manage under the suffocating aura, Himochi sneered at the blonde one last time before dropping to the street and walking back into the Hyuuga Compound. Naruto's bloodlust followed him every millimeter of the way.

Ne Headquarters
Same time…

Seated at a desk, a scarred old man growled to himself. In front of him was a report of one of his operatives. It was with disgust that he set the report to one side. So, the demon's returned…

There had once been a time when he'd thought that the boy would come to him, seeking acceptance and guidance. The boy's power had been immense right from the start. It had practically been screaming at him to wield it as it should've been. That was the only reason that he hadn't sent on his ANBU to deal with the brat when he was younger and vulnerable.

But the boy had shown himself to be stubbornly loyal to Konoha and the Hokage. He knew that there was no chance of him being able to recruit the boy under his wing. The man known as Danzou had little doubt that the brat would throw himself headlong into the chaos that was to come. And he'd do it all in an attempt to 'protect his home' from the forces that he had been raised and taught to believe were evil.

Yet…perhaps there was a way to guide him down the path that the Sandaime Hokage had turned him away from. If he could tweak certain situations then there was still a chance that he'd start to…see things as how they were. Rather than how he thought.

It was this thought that caused him to come to a new revelation.

I shall have to modify my plans after all.

(Author's Note) Well, there's Chapter 2. I'm sorry that it isn't longer but I wanted to introduce some background knowledge and scenarios before continuing on. Considering the timeline I'm working with, this was only available time open to do so. Unless, of course, you all had wanted to wait until after the whole 'Rescue Gaara' arc.

Sorry about the late arrival. This time I can't completely blame it on work. I was also experiencing slightly writer's block and a severe case of laziness. Hopefully, it won't carry over to the next chapter.

Cherif Sow: I haven't been ignoring you, in case you're worried. The fact is that when I tried to email you, it wouldn't connect. Could you possibly set up a new email (i.e. hotmail, yahoo, etc.), and we'll talk some more okay?

So, Team 7 has been given a new unofficial nickname. One they abhorred, apparently. The Hyuuga seem to have plans in the works for Hinata-hime. And Danzou is plotting something already. Big surprise, eh?

Konoha no Gogyou—Five Elements of Konohagakure: Technically, Gogyou doesn't necessarily mean the elements of Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Lightning. But for the purpose of the story, we'll just pretend it does okay?
Himochi—fire-holding qualities
Ne—Root, division of the ANBU under Danzou's leadership