THE UZUMAKI BRIGADE

Naruto was having a weird morning. When he woke up, Hinata was in his bed again. His shower was slightly red…Okay, strike that! His shower looked like it was pouring blood! Naruto had dashed out of the bathroom completely nude, making Hinata faint when she saw him. The eggs burst out of their shells, and began to bake on the counter. And that was just the half of it. All in all, it was a freaky morning.

When Naruto and Hinata finally escaped their apartment, they walked to the Hokage Tower, where Kurenai had said to meet them. But Naruto felt sorry for the cat. Onyx (what Hinata decided to name the cat) would be stuck alone in the house of horrors. If there was one thing Naruto hated, it was a poor, defenseless kitten being trapped in a horrible place. But he couldn't let the cat just roam about. They would lose him and they would never find his owner.

When Naruto and Hinata finally arrived at the Tower, they found Shikamaru waiting for them. He was clutching his head in pain with his left hand. His right hand was holding a scrap of paper. When Naruto got close enough, he saw extremely small text covering the entire page.

"Shikamaru-san, you're here early." Hinata said as she approached him.

"Uuuunh, I'm only here early because my mom wouldn't stop nagging me to go get a couple things from the store. Her voice rose to a pitch that gave me a migrain."

"Damn Shikamaru, that's a large list for a couple things." Naruto said indicating the paper

"If you met my mother, you would understand why this is a FEW things. She has no concept of volume, capacity, or the value of a ryo. If she had a bottomless coin purse, she would end up buying all of Konoha."

"…Remind me never to go to your house."

"If you only knew the half of it."

At that moment, Kurenai shunshined over the sign above the door. She might have looked cool, if she hadn't lost balance and face planted onto the ground seven feet below.

"O-Ow! Who the hell moved the sign?..Hey kids, um, how long have you been there?"

"…What day is today?" Asked Naruto.

"Friday."

"Hmmm…Drop the three…Carry the one…About fifteen years."

"Okay smartass, how long have you three been standing there?"

"Oh, about five minutes. REAL graceful landing there, teacher."

"Shut up, blondie! You look like you just went through Hell! You have no right to talk!"

"If you want to go again woman, I'd happily oblige. But this time I won't hold back."

Hinata slapped Naruto on the arm, then walked over to Kurenai and slapped her across the face a bit harder.

"Naruto-kun, be nice to our teacher…And you Kurenai-sensei, don't insult your disciples. All we have to do is put in a coomplaint, and Naruto here could have you discharged. You really don't want to mess with us."

Naruto put his arm around Hinata, pride on his face. Kurenai began tp rub her cheek where Hinata slapped her. There was a small bit pf anger showing within her eyes. Was it just her, or had Hinata done a complete 360 in her personality?

"Whatever, let's just get a job and get out of here," Kurenai said, upset that a student had slapped her across the face.

They walked through the halls in silence, Naruto holding Hinata's hand, Shikamaru clutching his head, Kurenai glaring at Hinata. When they reached the job offer lobby, Shikamaru decided to wait outside, saying something about too much noise in there. Everyone else just left him there, not really caring if he came or not. It gave him comfort that they had left him to his thoughts..

"Listen Kakashi, I don't care to hear any excuses! You leveled half of the freaking town! Twenty civilians lay dead in the streets, and five of the daimyo's personal guards are among them as well! Even if you DID complete the mission, you will only receive a quarter of the pay! Also, due to issues with the Fire Daimyo, you will be put under probation. Be grateful that the Hokage was able to pull a few strings for you, it won't be happening again!"

Naruto used his pinkie to clean out any blood that clogged his ear. He looked over at the desk, and saw Iruka chewing out some Jounin with white hair. But it seemed like he didn't care, as he was reading some orange book. Naruto couldn't tell what his face looked like, as it was covered up to the nose by a mask the same color as his suit, but it looked like he was blushing. Naruto had a vague memory of seeing this guy somewhere before, but he couldn't remember.

"Iruka-san, anyone ever tell you that your voice is too loud?..Look, I protected the old fart, and exterminated all of his attackers. I completed the mission, so why are you so pissed?"

Iruka shoved a couple bills and coins into the white-haired man's hand, then pointed to the door.

"Just get the fuck out of here Kakashi. I don't want to see your face for the rest of the day."

"Whatever Iruka-san. When you've learned to accept what I say at face value, let me know."

The man named Kakashi walked out, stopping to look at Kurenai and her motley team of Naruto and Hinata. When he say the boy, his eyes paused, almost as if they were looking into his very soul. He smiled, or at least Naruto thought he saw a smile. There was only a slight movement under the mask, but it was the eyes that gave the impression.

"Boy, seven, field three. Kurenai, how'd he do?"

"Fuck off, pedophile."

"Kurenai, sweetie, why you gotta be like that? I'm just asking a simple question!"

"Asshole, stop calling me sweetie! We dated for like, a week, and that was two years ago."

"What can I say, old feelings die hard."

"Piss off!"

Kakashi walked off, a sad, depressed feeling emanated off of him. Naruto dismissed I as N.H.B (None of His Business), and walked over to Iruka with his team. He walked up to the desk, and smiled at his former teacher.

"Good morning Iruka-sensei. Besides what just happened, I trust you are well?"

"Hello Naruto, good to see you. Yeah, I'm pretty good. It's just Kakashi is an ass."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But anyways, I'd like to see what missions are available."

"Ho ho, look at you, all serious-like. Has getting a girlfiend really done that much for you?"

"Iruka, let's just focus on the matter at hand. What's available to us? I know we'll only get d-rank missions, but I'd like to get started."

"…Fine, we'll talk later. Down to business." Iruka was surprised at Naruto's professional manner. He was going to have to talk to Hinata about what she did, in case anoher Naruto-like character came along.

"Kurenai Yuhei, recently promoted Jounin, reporting with a new cell. Ready to undertake d-ranked assignments for training my genin."

"Kurenai eh? Let me just say that you are going to have your hands full with this one," Iruka said indicating Naruto. "He has a large rebellious streak in him."

"You warned me little too late Iruka. I already found out first hand what this kid can do."

"Well then, I'm sure you know what to expect from him. Now one other thing, where is your third genin?"

"Waiting in the hall. Had a migrain and didn't need the noise."

'Alright then, here are the current missions available to your cell."

Iruka pulled three flies from a small folder, handing them to Kurenai. She in turn handed them to Hinata. Naruto looked over her shoulder at the papers, analyzing the details of each mission.

"Hmmm. A retrieval mission, community service, or gardening. How…trivial. What do you want to do Hinata?"

"Um, I'm trying to decide between the retrieval, and community service. Is there an image that comes with the retrieval Iruka?"

"Yes, here is the target. It is a small, black, male cat named Tora. He belongs to the Daimyo's wife. This cat is quite elusive and will attack if he feels threatened. He has fled his owner on multiple occasions. During the times when asked to retrieve Tora, genin will instead attempt to kill him, due to his defensive nature. He is, without a doubt, a constant for genin."

As he said this, Naruto could feel the distain for this cat come off of Iruka's voice. It was clear that Iruka had taken this same mission when he was a genin. Naruto disregarded this, and focused on the image in Hinata's hand.

"Is…Is that Onyx? Hinata, didn't we find this cat yesterday?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun. Apparently, we completed a mission before we even tried to get one."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that you two found Tora? How the hell did you do that?" Iruka was generally surprised at this, something that was beginning to happen frequently, givenn what Sarutobi had told him about Naruto.

"Long story, simply put, we found it while being tested by Kurenai-sensei."

"What….the…fuck."

"Anyways, I'll go back to the apartment and save - er- GET the kitten…I'll be right back."

Naruto shunshined out of the room, only to spawn back a second later holding Tora. He placed the cat gently on the table. When it saw Iruka, it hissed violently, and began to scratch and claw at his face. Iruka went ballistic trying to remove the furball from his face.

"YAHHHHH! GET THIS FUCKING FURBALL OFF OF ME!"

After a minute of watching him run around the room screaming at Naruto to get the cat off of him, Iruka finally yanked the tom off him. His face was littered with many cuts and scratches. He threw Tora across the room, where he smacked the wall hard. His leg twitched once…twice…and he didn't move.

"…Oh…Shit."

"Iruka-sensei! How could you?"

Hinata cried this at the top of her lungs, then ran over to Tora. She kneeled on the ground beside him, and picked up his limp body. She placed her hand over it's chest, trying to find a pulse.

"Oh thank God! Naruto-kun, there's a pulse!"

Iruka sighed heavily, relief plain on his face. Naruto walked up to him, and glared at him.

"Iruka-sensei, I'm going to warn you now. NEVER mistreat animals in Hinata's presence," Naruto hissed at his former teacher. It wasn't just a warning, it was a promise. One that Iruka could feel shake his bones.

"Naruto, what did you expect me to do? The cat tried to kill me a second time! I didn't intend for him to smash against the wall!"

"Look man, I'm just warning you, that's all."

"Anyways, I don't think we should get the daimyo's wife yet. Let's give Tora time to recover. I'll just place this mission on hold for your cell Kurenai. After a week, bring him back, and then we will call the owner."

"Very well then, but we still need to take up a mission. How about the gardening chore?"

"I'll fill out the paperwork right away. The address you are to report to is 781 Japa Street. Now, before anyone comes in and sees the body, you'd best make a quick exit."

"Right, c'mon Naruto, Hinata."

Kurenai began to walk out of the room, Hinata close behind with Tora, Naruto right behind her with the address. When they got Shikamaru and had left the building, only then was the silence broken.

"Kurenai-sensei, I think that Hinata should be sent home with Tora. It would be best for her to care for him."

"Good point Naruto. Hinata, I will grant you a temporary leave to care for the cat. When he is finally able to walk, you will return to duty."

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei."

Hinata bowed and shadow stepped away. Shikamaru, not being in the room at the time, began to pester Naruto about what happened. Naruto told him as they walked to the address, leaving out the part with Kakashi. When Shikamaru heard about how Iruka threw the cat at a wall, he burst out laughing, something that was quite rare for him. Naruto had simply glared at him during this period.

"Okay Shikamaru, calm down. We're here, so try to act professional okay?"

" was good…This is the place? What a shit-hole."

"You aren't a spot of sunshine yourself, doushe." Kurenai looked Shikamaru dead in the eye as she said this.

"…"

" Yeah, that's what I thought. Let's just get this over with so I can go home and get some scotch."

Back at Naruto and Hinata's apartment, Hinata was making a bed for Tora. It was a small cushion fashioned out of her blankets. She went over to the kitchen, and grabbed a small bowl, some milk, and a scrap of fish. She placed the milk and fish right beside the small bed, and walked over to her bed where she had placed Tora. When the cat was on it's small bed, she checked it's pulse again, then used a straw to move drop of milk over to Tora. She held the tube in front of it's face, and he began to lick the drops off of the tube. He purred at this, and fell asleep. When Hinata heard his breathing come at a steady pace, she knew he was fast asleep.

She walked into the complex hallway, and quietly made a clone. She relayed her instructions, and the clone dashed off. It's goal was simple: find a veterinarian to see how badly Tora was injured. After five minutes, the clone came back, a small pudgy man close behind her.

"Hello miss, where is the cat?" He asked at the real Hinata came up to him. The clone had dispelled upon sight of the original.

"Right through here sir."

Hinata led the doctor over to Tora's bed. He kneeled down and began to dig in his bag for something. A second later, he pulled out a y-shaped object. He placed the top of the forked ends in his ears and the other end on Tora's body. He moved it from time to time, nodded every now and then.

"Doctor?"

"His pulse is normal, nothing is twisted, and it looks like nothing is broken. I think he'll be fine, but just to be sure, I'd like to take him back to the office to perform a cat scan. Is that alright?"

"Yes sir, but I need to go with him."

"Good, because there is going to be paperwork. I need one of the legal owners to sign permission forms."

"…"

"Miss?"

"Um, can you keep a secret?…"

Over at the Hokage Tower, Sarutobi was lecturing Kakashi for what seemed like the thirtieth time this month. It seemed quite ridiculous to him. Why should he constantly scold the Jounin for doing his job?

"Anyways Kakashi, you leveled the city, yadda yadda yadda…Should be disappointed… Blah blah blah…Are we really going to go through this again?"

"I tried to lead them away from the village, but they caught on to me. I barely made it back in time to save the daimyo. When I got there, ten of the villagers were already dead, making a total of seventeen casualties, including the two guards on the main floor. I'll admit, I could've planned it better. But still, I got the job done."

"Listen Kakashi, I can't keep protecting you. Shape up, or you're fired. Now leave me, I have a headache."

"My lord."

Kakashi stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Sarutobi sighed heavily. Was it his destiny to torture the old man until the day he died? Sarutobi figured he could only screw up one more time. After that, Kakashi had to either do things right, or lose his job, regardless of how skilled he is. The old man turned around, and sat at his desk.

"You can come out now, Claude. You may be Anbu, but you still have a lot to learn."

Part of the left wall peeled away, showing a boy, about the age of seventeen. He walked over to the desk, and kneeled on the ground. He was a large boy, wide-shouldered, a bit chunky, with his brown hair sticking out beneath his hitai-ate bandanna. His clothes were a deep green, deeper than the normal uniforms. He wore classic samurai gauntlets, and steel plating covered his torso. His kunai pouch hung from his right thigh, and over all of this, he wore a black, open trench coat. Underneath that, a sword, and two daggers could be seen. But only if one was looking for them. While he didn't look too intimidating, he still looked like he could get the job done.

"I may still have much to learn, but I'm still the best at what I do, Sir."

"If only you were a bit more modest Claude, you'd make the perfect soldier. Anyways, how are the kids doing?"

"The Uzumaki boy is with Kurenai currently. The Hyuuga girl is at home caring for a cat."

"When did they get a cat?"

"They apparently found the Fire Daimyo Wife's cat during their scuffle with Kurenai yesterday. They are waiting for it to heal before they return it."

"Okay then. What is your assessment of them?"

"The boy has a massive amount of chakra."

"He is the son of Minato, and he contains the Fox Demon. That is only natural. Proceed with the assessment."

"The girl has a small amount, but seems to be feeding an excessive amount from some unknown source."

"That, I cannot explain. But that will reveal itself in time. Continue."

"The Nara boy has no clue as to what the two of them really are. But the Aburame child knows everything."

"I know. I let him know that he is to assist Naruto's force while hidden. When Naruto figures it out, Shino Aburame is engage him in combat. If Shino loses, he will join the team."

"And if he wins?"

"Then this planet is doomed."

"…"

"Claude, I want you to maintain a constant surveillance on Naruto and his allies. Once a week, you are to engage one of them in single combat. You may start with this week if you wish. But you are to flee if a second approaches, and do not attack the Uzumaki boy. Speak not a word to them. When you feel you have gauged their abilities adequately, I will arrange a public match between you and Naruto. We'll take it from there."

"Yes, my lord."

"Oh, and before you leave, you can claim your new mask over there. I had to apply some extra seals, but it should be adequate enough to take a hit and still remain in place." Sarutobi indicated to a white, round object laying on the table to the left. Claude picked it up, admiring the results of his recent promotion to captain. He placed it upon his face, where it snuggly fit the ridges and creases along his nose and eyes.

With that, Claude shunshined out of the room. Sarutobi sighed, heavy with exhaustion. He was getting too old for these things. He would have to pick a successor soon. He would start looking for one in the next…three years or so. But for now, he had to focus on the issues at hand. If he didn't groom Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru into capable, unstoppable ninjas, then the land of Fire…no…The WORLD was doomed. At least, that is what Gimmy said.

"Will they…CAN they succeed?"

Shikamaru sighed once more. His hands were blistered from gripping the hedge clippers too tight. The client, an old woman with a strange accent, had been nagging him almost as much as his mother did. And every time she said his name, he wanted to stab her with the shears. But nooooo…Kurenai had specifically said not to do that. It wasn't that she said his name wrong, it's just that whenever she said something with an 'r' in it, she rolled her tongue, making the sound repeat itself. It was an incessant, annoying job all together.

When they finally finished, they returned to the Hokage Tower to claim their payment. Iruka handed them the money without saying a word, something Shikamaru was grateful for. They walked out the door, dividing the reward as evenly as they could, with Naruto getting half of the cash, since Hinata didn't participate and he made up for her slack.

When they finished that, Naruto shunshined away, followed by Kurenai, leaving Shikamaru alone. To him, it was a blessing in disguise. How many more opportunities would he get to be alone once they all began to work together like a team should?

As he walked down the street, he thought about what he would spend the rest of the day doing. Most likely go find a quiet place to look up at the sky, as it was his hobby. It was simple, peaceful, and one of his favorite way to relieve stress.

As Shikamaru was approaching the outskirts of the business district, he felt something tingling on the back of his neck. It was one of those sensations that Shikamaru only got when he was about to get decked in the face.

He quickly sidestepped , seeing three kunai enbed themselves in the ground where he had been standing a moment before. Shikamaru didn't even blink at this. His mom could kill him with a glare. Whoever this was, they weren't skilled enough to put Shikamaru on edge…yet. He turned quickly, and his eyes widened.

Standing on the last building on the outskirts, was an ANBU sporting a very distinctive mask. While it was modeled after a normal person's face, it had this eerie glare and smile that said 'I think I'll enjoy watching you die'. Two small horns sprouted above his head, and while they were small, it was an added effect to the sadistic smile that covered half his face. And the teeth, they were sharp, long, and quite menacing, adding in the other effects on the mask. In short, Shikamaru was staring at an oni demon.

Shikamaru had a feeling that he should run, but fear paralyzed him, causing him to trip over his own feet. Shikamaru was truly terrified. Not because of the mask, but what laws UNDER the mask.

A few months ago, Shikamaru's mother had made him study up on ANBU, saying that if he tried, he could easily become one of the best. While he had been reluctant at first, the scrolls loaned to him by the Tower had only solidified his theories and rumors into full blown fear.

According to the scrolls, an ANBU wore a mask with an animal design covering it. Those designs represented the inner personalities of the ones behind the mask, and amped up their chakra capacity by double the starting amount. But there was only one of each mask, and each one contained special seals to prevent others from stealing and using the masks against the village. The seals only responded to a constant flow of chakra from the owner, making outsiders unable to use the mask. In addition, if the wearer aquired any negative intentions towards Konoha, the seals placed them under a sleeping jutsu, and alerted other loyal ANBU to recover their unconscious body. After that…well the scrolls didn't mention an 'After that".

But the other bad part was, certain high ranking ANBU were given special mask, that allowed a stronger chakra amp, as well as other benefit's the user could profit from. But these masks had a special similarity among them…They ALL resembled mythical half-humans. Everything from werewolves, to centaurs, and others, were found among the most elite of the elite. Of course, it was very difficult to attain this rank.

There were five requirements that needed to be filled to become an ANBU captain: 1) Master over fifteen skills, five in each of the three fighting styles: Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu.(This also meant that they had to have an exceedingly LARGE amount of chakra control. Enough to where they could use an A-class jutsu about twenty times in a row without tiring.) 2) Aquire an affinity to three of the five basic elements. 3) Be well versed in stealth and interrogation arts 4) Know how to use a multitude of weapons such as the Wakisashi 5) Complete twenty missions, all ranked between b to S. And of those twenty, five of them had to be assassinations.

Pretty much, an ANBU captain was just a step below Hokage. If you ever met one, they were either in disguise, off duty, or were about to slay your head off before you blinked. Most of the time, it was the latter of the three.

Yeah, so right now, Shikamaru looked like he might piss himself. The fact that the mask was an oni said that something of his personality was VERY BAD.

"I've got to control myself! Now then, I know what he is capable of, and he most likely knows the same if I am his target. I could try something unpredictable, but he might see through it. I could try to run, but I'd probably be commiting suicide. Hmmm."

Shikamaru adopted his thinking pose, somehow mustering the ability to move. He concentrated hard on all the possibilities, theories, and courses of action available to him. All of this happened in real time, over the course of a few seconds. Even still, Shikamaru's plans were really just shots in the dark, as he had no hard evidence on his opponent. Just one fact, one weakness to explaoit, and he might be able to do some damage.

Claude was watching Shikamaru intently. Truthfully, he was just toying with the genin, and all he had to do was toss a few kunai and stand there! It was funny seeing his eyes glaze over for a second in defeat, then see them blaze with the passion to survive. Claude almost lost it when Shikamaru went into his thinking stance. The kid thought he stood a chance? Claude knew he could win with each of his limbs tied behind him. But giving the brat a chance to show his mettle might make him actually work from now on.

Plus he wanted to see what a kid with a genius on par with the Hokage could pull off with no intel on his opponents. Most ninjas had to work under such conditions anyways. Call it…preparation for an inevitable future.

Shikamaru stood up, and Claude thought he could sense an air of confidence about the kid.

"I can't wait to see what this kid throws at me! Who knows, he might even defeat me by making me pass out from too much laughing!"

Claude stood up, and jumped from his place atop the building. He landed not twenty feet away from Shikamaru. He recalled what Sarutobi said about being silent, and quickly calmed the fit of laughter tugging at the back of his throat. Claude had to at least TRY to focus.

With that, Shikamaru began the assault.

"Umm, Aniki, what are you doing back there?"

When Naruto got home, he found Kamina, Gimmy, and Darry at their new apartment, helping with the cat, and waiting for Naruto about some new intel they got. It was right then that Kamina, now known as 'Aniki' to Naruto and Hinata, had decided that Naruto needed a special something to add a bit of zest to his physical appearance. While clothes did make the man, it was the way he wore them, walked in them, and acted with tham that defined who the man truly was.

That being said, Kamina was giving Naruto a tatoo. It would share a tribal pattern similar to Kamina's, but it would show the Konoha village symbol instead of a flame on his back. Naruto was representing his planet now, so why not do it in style, with everyone you know and trust having your back. It was a simple win/win kinda thing, Naruto looked cooler, and got a confidence boost.

Kamina, having done his own tatoo, was the only one in the room able to get every detail the way it to be. Besides, it felt like a good way to bond with his new 'soul brother'. As for Hinata, Kamina was teaching Darry to perform tatoo art every few days. She would want one too when Naruto got his. Why not be prepared for it? And it wasn't like Kamina could do it to his sister, as he would have to go under the shirt to apply the tatoo. NO, he was not crossing that wide, detailed line.

"Naruto my brother, by the end of this, you will be a stronger man for it. I personally guarantee this!"

Gimmy decided that Naruto could still listen while getting drawn on, and began to give his report.

"Our good friend Viral was willing to divulge some info about recent Anti-spiral activities. Thanks to this, we now have a good estimate of how long we've got to train you two into full fledged spiral warriors."

"So long as I don't have to use the M.I.L.F, I have no qualms about training," Naruto thought to himself.

"We have an estimated four months until the first wave arrives. Once they get here, we'll be too busy to train. As soon as we defeat one, the second wave will make an appearance, than a third, and so forth until we all die, or manage to defeat their commander of that particular fleet. They developed this trick to tire us. At that point, we'll be wiped out of existence. Our best chance is Naruto's massive reservoir of spiral energy, or chakra."

Everyone except Kamina nodded in unison, he was too busy with the design to nod and mess up the permanent artwork. He was almost done with the tribal pattern around the Konoha symbol. After that, Naruto just had to go without a shirt for a few days. This was something he had a feeling Hinata might enjoy. That seemed like the kind of girl she was anyway.

"We also have other possibilities to consider, such as defects in the gunmen. Hinata, yours is fresh off the line, so it will be closely inspected during training. And if Naruto will be recruiting more to join him, than we will have to order other gunmen too. Yes, these next four months will be hell for everyone."

Hinata had been taking all of this in silence. Now she spoke up her concerns.

"Gimmy-san, what can you tell us about the Anti-spirals? If we know what we're up against, we'll stand a better chance."

"Well Hinata, it's hard to explain as most of the bastards are silent to the bone. The ones that DO talk only brag about themselves while belittling us. Tactic-wise, they just rush us like Choji towards a free buffet. Mentally, they're unstable as shit."

Naruto sighed, as it sounded so much like the one person he hated with all of his heart: Sasuke Uchiha.

"I guess I should mention that we had an entire clan like that until a week ago. What a pain in the ass they'd been. And at that time, there was only about a hundred and fifty of the bastards. If I understand you right, you're saying we will be fighting the equivalent of a few thousand Uchiha's, minus the Sharingan?"

"I guess. I have no idea what a sharin-whatever is, so you lost me there. But expect legions, platoons, scouts…We're not talking thousands, we're talking in the tens of thousands. So again, our best strategy is to remove the commander. Everyone here knows how an ant community works, right? The queen ant cannot live without her workers. The same can be said for those workers. A simple 'Give and Take' relationship. By applying this tactic to the Anti-Spirals, we can effectively and quickly crush their forces. We can capture any stragglers from the fleeing party, and torture them to reveal secrets about the next advance and such."

"I can see how that might work, but I can see some holes in there. What if they anticipate this plan, and heavily fortify the commander? What if they leave him open as a decoy to trap us? We can't forget about these things. Doing that has killed many ninja. We can't underestimate our foes, less we forfeit our lives, and those of the universe."

Everyone looked at Naruto with an understanding of what he was saying. If they overestimated their foes, that was one thing. But to underestimate them was a deadly mistake.

"D-Damn Naruto, h-how long h-have you been a tac…tactician?"

Everyone turned towards the door, where the voice came from. Shikamaru was standing there, clutching his limp arm, breathing in shorts gasps. Everyone dropped what they were doing to help him. Hinata shunshined him to the hospital, for immediate treatment. Naruto got everyone else there a second later, using his shunshin. Everyone filed into the viewing room, silently sending out prayers for Shikamaru, or simply rooting him on directly to fight it off. Shikamaru turned his head to Naruto, and coughed up a bit of blood. When he regained control over his mouth, he began to mouth the words to Naruto.

When I get better, you and I should have a shogi match.

Naruto nodded, wishing he could help his new friend. All he could do was heal some of the minor wounds Shikamaru had.

"But that healing could make all the difference Master Naruto!"

Good point. Naruto dashed through the doors of the prep room, and entered the ER, much to the dismay of the doctors. Without waiting for a cue, he went straight to work.

"By the Divines, I shall treat friend and foe alike when they begin to suffer. My healing hands hold no grudge, no hate, and no hesitation to protect those around me. With my power, I shall prevail! Karu No Howaito! WHITE LIGHT!"

A bright light erupted from Naruto's outstretched hands covering Shikamaru in a white silk. Shikamaru felt the pain residing gradually from his shallow wounds. The deep ones still stung like a bitch, but they were now bearable. It was as if Naruto had infused his own life force into Shikamaru, granting him the ability to regenerate. If they didn't know it was Nina's ability, everyone around would've thought he was a medic ninja.

"N-Naruto…Th-thanks."

Naruto, also drained from the experience of using the healing skill the first time, only nodded. As he developed the technique to suite him, Naruto would only improve his over all chakra consumage to half easily. But for now, he was drained as shit. Naruto limped out of the room, leaning on Hinata's shoulder all the while. She liked having him close to her. It was like she was marking him as hers. Not that she ever had to. When they made It back to the waiting room, there were a flurry of questions for Naruto.

"How did you do that?"

"Can you teach me Naruto?"

"How tiring was that?"

"Can I go out with Hinata?"

At that one, Naruto turned to see who would DARE to try making a move on his girl. It was just a simple villager, but Naruto released a bit of KI towards the guy. It was a signal to back off, something the guy instantly recognized. Naruto was the alpha male, and NO ONE fucked with the alpha male. No one saw that guy around Hinata ever again.

Once the clamor had died down, Kamina began to finish Naruto's tatoo. Only the right arm had to be finished. It would only take about five minutes, and Naruto barely felt anything. But he would have to sleep on his stomach for a while, ink and all that.

"Aniki, can you tell me about Simon?"

Kamina stopped drawing then, and sighed a heavy, tired sigh. He knew Naruto would ask soon, but not that soon.

"Simon was the first family I ever had. He was my blood brother before I ever even left that damnable village and their ass of a chief! Until I met Yoko, he was the only person I ever put my trust in. Hehe, we had some crazy times together. When we got Gurren and Lagann, we began to meet all kinds of people. It was fun, until that bastard Viral and that ape guy cheap shot me. Next thing I know, I'm in Konoha. Crazy times man, crazy times."

"Let me guess, you really liked this Yoko, huh?"

"Wha-…How did you figure that out so quickly?"

"Your tone when you said her name, and the way you described her. Dead givaways too. But no big deal, I mean I have Hinata, so you must've had someone. Everyone does. Some of us just never figure that out until it's too late."

"Brother, you gotta start teachin' me how you do these things."

"Don't you miss her? Yoko?"

"…Big time. But I've been dead for about ten years from what Gimmy said. When we first met, we were the same age, but now she is at least twenty-five. I'm only sixteen."

There came a knock at the door, and in strolled Darry. She sat down, looking at the two of them with respect, but a bit of pity for Kamina.

"Heh, now would probably be a bad time to mention that she is coming to Konoha, wouldn't it?"

*Author's note*

Sorry about the delay, but I was being tied up with internet issues, and tests to take. School is such a pain in the ass, but it helps me post stories. Pray they don't block this site in the browser.