Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

New AN: This chapter has been reposted. I accidentally left out a significant part of this chapter out the first time I posted it. Normally, I would just let my mistakes stand, but I think this chapter needed to be reposted. I doubt the additions will change people's opinions of this chapter, but

AN: I'll say this now. I suck at writing fight scenes. Therefore, most of them will be recaps.

Rivers of Hades

Chapter 15

-- -

"Alright! You guys made it!"

"YOSH! Was there ever any doubt we would prevail?"

Naruto had run into Tenten and Lee in the tower inside the Forest of Death.

"So, where's Neji at?"

"When we left him, he was staring out a window. What have you been up to?"

"Nothing much. I've spent the last couple days running messages and directing the visiting jounin to hotels, bars, equipment shops, and training grounds. So... how have the Exams been going for you?"

"So far, they haven't been too bad. Neither part was easy, but they could have gone much, much worse. It's what happened before the first part that nearly cost us."

Naruto blinked. "Why, what happened before the first exam?"

Tenten sighed. "Lee here challenged the Uchiha to a spar before the first exam. If it had gone on much longer, both teams would have been disqualified, for fighting outside the designated portions of the Exams and for being late."

Naruto turned to Lee. "Why did you challenge the teme? You have at least an entire year more experience than him. Unless something really bizarre happened, you would have won no matter what."

"I challenged him, Naruto-kun, because I wished to see where I stood against the most recent Rookie of the Year. It was a most unusual fight."

Tenten coughed. "Unusual? Try heavily one-sided, Lee. The Uchiha never got a single blow in."

"That is true. I called it unusual because after I dealt him a blow to the face, his eyes changed color. He seemed confused at first. Then Gai-sensei intervened, ending the fight."

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. "He was confused, Lee, because his fight with you activated his Sharingan. Had you not fought him, he probably wouldn't have gotten it until the second phase of the Exams, if even then."

Tenten punched Lee in the arm. "Great, just great. Your stunt just made getting promoted that much harder."

"That might not be true," came a voice from down the hall. The source of the voice came closer, revealing the Hokage, smiling.

"H-Hokage-sama!"

"My dear, Team Seven has not made it to the end of this portion yet, and time is running out. Besides, even though Uchiha Sasuke has the use of the Sharingan now, he has had no time to learn how to use it. He has been preoccupied with the Exams. Should he make it to the third part of the Exams, however, you are right. The other examinees may have their work cut out for them."

"Do you really think that, Hokage-sama? That he is unbeatable now?"

Sarutobi chuckled. "Heavens, no. The Sharingan is a formidable thing, but it isn't everything. It is possible to compensate for facing an opponent wielding it, though much harder for the average genin to do."

"Then why did you say it would be harder?"

"I have been Hokage for a long time, longer than the other three combined, and I have presided over many promotion Exams. I have seen how the majority of ninja, from both Konoha and other villages, react to facing a Uchiha. They fear losing the results of their hard work instantly, so they don't use skills that could give them the advantage. They choose to keep the range of their abilities a secret, and it often costs them dearly. Our profession may be one of secrecy and deception, but when it comes to promotions, one should always do their best."

"I see what you mean, Hokage-sama. Thank you."

"My pleasure. Now then, I must be going. Good day, and congratulations on making it this far. I wish you luck with the remainder of the Exams." With that, Sarutobi headed down the hall.

Lee turned to Naruto. "Your sensei is most youthful for setting us straight. Though I must ask if he should have helped us, giving away information."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, a sly smile on his face. "How did he help? All he did was tell you why so many people have lost to Uchihas in the past. It's also his job to encourage you to do your best, so he gave a pep talk."

--

Naruto stood off to side, only half-listening to the speech his sensei was giving to those who passed the second phase. He had heard most of it when he was told about his personal extended mission. Looking over to the genin still in the running, he decided Konoha had put in a good showing this time, not that he was an expert.

Something had happened to Sasuke, but Naruto had no clue as to what. He knew someone had interfered with the second part of the Exams, and judging from the look on sensei's face when he found out, it was bad.

Looking over at Gaara and his siblings, he was pleased to see that they seemed to have bonded a little. Temari and Kankurou were still tense and nervous around Gaara, but it had lessened noticeably from when Naruto had first met them. The afternoon after his fight with Gaara, Temari and Kankurou had come up to him and said that if he ever used that jutsu on Gaara again, his body would never be found. Even without their threats, Naruto was more than happy to comply. Dealing mental damage to people just wasn't his style.

Turning to his right, he looked up at Zabuza, who had a shit-eating grin beneath his bandages.

"I'm almost afraid to ask this, Zabuza-sensei, but why are you in such a good mood?"

"Gaki, you have no idea how good it feels to be part of the Chuunin Exams again. Proctoring them was one of my favorite non-combat missions back in Kiri."

"Oh. So, what were the Exams like back in Kiri?"

"Well, the first and third parts are pretty much the same no matter where you go. It's the second part that is unique to the village holding it, and is meant to be the hardest part of the Exams. Here, it's a five-day survival exercise. Back in Kiri, it was one-on-one combat with a shinobi of chuunin class or better."

"Chuunin class or better? You mean jounins?"

"Not just them. There was a big roulette wheel with the names of shinobi of various ranks, though the ranks weren't revealed. The wheel was spun for each examinee. The genin would then face off against a shinobi who could be a chuunin, jounin, or even plain-clothes ANBU. Hell, if they were really unlucky, they wound up going against one of the Swordsmen or even the Mizukage."

"Holy crap! What was the point?"

"We didn't go all out. We were just supposed to push them into displaying whether or not they were up to the base physical standards of chuunin. Chuunin level chakra control and the like. As for why it was one-on-one, it has a lot to do with village mentality. Here, teamwork is stressed, which is alright. To Kiri ninja, teamwork is all well and good, but it's more important to be able to stand on your own two feet first. Besides, the Exams in Kiri and Konoha are rather tame compared to Kumo or Iwa's."

"What's so special about theirs?"

"In Kumo, the test takers are basically put through a watered-down interrogation session. They can call it quits at any time, but they need to last past a certain time without cracking to pass. In Iwa, you'd be dropped off in a quarry and do physical labor for a full day. You pass if you make it through the full day."

"And the point for doing that to genin is..."

"To show them what happens if they get captured. Interrogation, then a forced labor camp, depending on the capturing village. Konoha imprisons them, other villages execute them after interrogation. The entire reason the second phases exist is to drop genin into a situation that they probably didn't consider when they put on the hitai-ate for the first time. Being trapped in hostile territory without the safety net of a jounin sensei, or having to fight solo against a superior foe. The second Exam is the main reason why so many genin quit and return to civilian life, followed by making their first kill."

"Wow. So what about Suna or the minor villages?"

"Suna hasn't had the funds to hold the Exams in a long time, but theirs was improvised building; making shelters, weaponry, traps, that kind of stuff, from what was around you at the time. The smaller villages usually send their genin to the major villages for the Exams, but every once in a while, they hold their own Exams. Missing-nin love the minor village Exams."

"Really? I thought that missing-nin stayed away from ninja villages if they could."

"Most of the time they do. The thing is, when the minor villages hold an Exam, they allow missing-nin to participate. Of course, the nin in question goes through a check on just why they left their previous village. If they left under suspicious circumstances, they're usually turned away. If they left peacefully, or because of a disagreement with the running of their old home, they can usually participate."

"So why would missing-nin want to surround themselves by shinobi when they have bounties on their heads?"

"First off, if they're taking the Exams, they are covered in the general truce that applies to anyone taking them. As long as they don't leave the village or commit a crime, they are safe for the duration of the Exam. Second, depending on how well they do, people and villages will start bidding for their services. That way, a nin could find a new home village, or at the very least, legitimate work. Businesses hire them for private security forces, or non-shinobi villages hire them to act as a town watch. So by sticking their necks out a little bit more, they could wind up not being a missing-nin anymore. It's actually a fairly low-hassle C-Rank mission to send a Chuunin or two to the minor village Exams."

"Why would a major village send Chuunin to watch the Exams?"

"Most, if not all the villages send observers. They scout the participating missing-nin for talent, and update their village's Bingo Book as well. It's policy, enforced by damn near every daimyo, that if a missing-nin gains legitimate employment or the protection of a village, be it ninja or civilian, they aren't missing-nin anymore, and can't be hunted. Of course, that's only if they don't continue to live the missing-nin lifestyle. If they keep acting like missing-nin, they're fair game."

"That actually sounds pretty cool. Oh, hey, the preliminaries are about to start!"

--

When the fighters for the first match flashed on the screen, some of the Konoha genin began laughing, Tenten and Lee among them. Kiba was rolling on the ground. Apparently it was no secret what had happened earlier.

Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee

"It appears I did not need to challenge you before the first Exam. Oh well, it makes no difference. You may have the Sharingan now, but you still stand no chance against me, Uchiha-san."

"Like I'm going to lose to a dobe like you."

"Everyone except the combatants head to the observation deck."

When the fight began, it became clear to everyone watching that Sasuke, the newest Rookie of the Year, was no match for last year's dobe. Naruto didn't know why Sasuke wasn't using the Sharingan, but he wasn't sure that it would have helped. At the moment, all he could do was block. Lee was just too damn fast, raining blows on Sasuke without missing a beat. Finally, one punch sent Sasuke flying to the other end of the arena.

Struggling to his feet, Sasuke growled out, "I refuse to lose to you!" Suddenly, strange black marks began appearing on Sasuke's skin, and spread quickly.

The senior Konoha nin and some of the genin tensed. It was like time was standing still. Glancing over at Sarutobi, Naruto saw that he had paled, and his hand was clenching and unclenching.

'What the hell's going on? Why are they all so nervous?'

Sasuke now had a wild look in his eyes. "Now, you will die for daring to harm me!"

Naruto yelled, "Lee, finish it now!"

"YOSH! Will do!" With that, Lee sped forward and delivered a punch. The next thing anyone heard was Sasuke screaming, cradling his newly broken arm. From Naruto's vantage point, it was a compound fracture, broken in at least three separate places. Hayate reacted, ending the match.

"That's enough! Shousha, Rock Lee!"

Kakashi shunshined down and gruffly began to cart Sasuke off to the medics. When Sasuke began fighting him, wanting to stay and watch, Kakashi knocked him out. Before he left, he turned to face Sai and Sakura.

"Sai, Sakura, if I'm not back in time for your matches, I want to wish you both luck."

As Lee made his way out of the arena, Sarutobi called Naruto over to him. The color had begun to return to the man's face.

"Naruto," began Sarutobi, "why did you tell Lee to end the fight? He seemed to be doing well enough on his own."

Naruto sighed. This was one of the harder exercises he had to go through. Sarutobi would give him a situation and some background information, ask him to make a decision on how to proceed, and make him defend his choice. He didn't normally do too well. He could make good decisions, but he had trouble with explaining the reasons.

"I told him to do it because of what was going on with Sasuke. I had no idea what was going on, and I felt the fight had to end as quickly as possible. That is what you, Kakashi, Gai-sensei, and Zabuza-sensei have all taught me to do. 'In combat, if you see something that doesn't seem right, end the fight immediately.'"

"How do you know it wasn't just some new jutsu?"

"If it was a jutsu,why were you, the jounin, and some of the genin so worried? I saw some of them reaching for their weapons or beginning hand seals. They were expecting something bad to happen."

"So you told Lee to end the fight before someone decided to intervene, disqualifying both Sasuke and Lee?

Naruto nodded, waiting for the final verdict.

"For a split-second decision, I think you did well. However, as you said, it was appropriate only for a combat situation. In leadership of a large number of people, you will need much stronger reasoning, and often proof as well. Now then, I believe the next match is about to start."

--

Naruto's final opinion of the preliminary fights was mixed. Some of them were really good, and some were one-sided.

Ino had faced Tenten. While the match showed that she had begun taking her training seriously, it became obvious that Asuma had been getting her up to par physically, but hadn't done much else. In the end, it was Ino's taijutsu against Tenten's weapons. The Shintenshin no jutsu was out as well. The instant Ino used it, Tenten would turn her into a pincushion. Needless to say, Tenten won.

Kiba's fight was enough to make half the genin present break down laughing. He and Akamaru had the Oto nin Zaku boxed in. However, when they attacked with a Gatsuuga, Kiba wasn't able to stop in time to keep himself from following Zaku into the wall, knocking them both out. After a stunned moment, Hayate declared Akamaru the winner, though officially, the match was a draw. Both human contestants were carted off to have their head injuries seen to.

Sai's fight was one of the better ones. Akadou Yoroi, his opponent, had first tried to get in close and drain Sai's chakra with some weird ability. Sai proved able to evade the older nin, and attacked with animals he had drawn on a sketch pad. Sai won when Yoroi drained the chakra from one of Sai's creations, turning it back into ink. Yoroi then slipped on the ink. When he landed, Sai pinned him with wire. Naruto was tempted to try and recreate the jutsu when the preliminaries were over, but finally decided he wasn't that good of an artist. Besides, there was just something about standing back and letting someone or something else do your fighting for you that didn't appeal to Naruto. Of course, he had always been a hands-on type of person.

He had gotten the same feeling watching Kankurou's fight against Sakura. Puppetry looked cool and all, but it just didn't seem right. Kankurou eventually won because Sakura hadn't been able to get past his puppet to attack him.

Temari's fight against Chouji had really impressed Naruto. He had never seen someone fight with a fan before. From what he saw, the big fan was powerful, but slow, and Temari wasn't carrying any other weapons that Naruto could see.

Naruto was torn when Neji's fight came around. He wanted his fellow Konoha nin to win, but he wanted someone to take Neji down a couple pegs more. He wasn't getting the chance to do it himself, but Gaara, Neji's opponent, would do just as well. Gaara's sand prevented Neji from getting within range to attack. Eventually, Neji lost his temper and charged Gaara, who picked Neji up with his sand and slammed him several times into the ground, without once moving from his spot. That spoke volumes about the change in Gaara. He had told Naruto that normally he killed anyone who challenged him in combat.

Finally, it came time for the winners to draw for their positions in the finals. Sarutobi spoke to the nine finalists: Temari, Shikamaru, Shino, Sai, Lee, Tenten, Hinata, Gaara and Kankurou.

"All nine of you have done remarkably well. In one month, you will all face each other in the finals. First, however, you must draw a tile from this box to determine the order in which you will fight."

When the nine finalists had drawn, Sarutobi announced the order.

Let's see. The first fight is Sai versus Tenten. Second fight, Nara Shikamaru versus Hyuuga Hinata. Third is Sabaku no Temari versus Rock Lee. The fighters in the fourth match are Aburame Shino and Sabaku no Kankurou. Lastly, Sabaku no Gaara versus Uzumaki Naruto."

At Naruto's name, some of the disqualified genin, mostly Sasuke and to a lesser extent Kiba and Neji, began to speak out.

"Why is he in the finals? He isn't even taking the Exams!"

"Uchiha-san, my student is listed as an alternate for the finals, and has been for the last three weeks."

"Damn it, I want in the finals! I demand that you give me the dobe's spot!"

At that announcement, Naruto and the senior nin, regardless of village, tensed. Sarutobi dropped his smile, staring directly at Sasuke, who defiantly stared right back.

"Uchiha-san, you are a genin. I am a Kage, your village's leader, and your superior. You are in no position to make demands of me. You are one step away from being insubordinate to me, and trust me, if you take that step, you will be punished. I may be known for being more tolerant of such things than others, but there is a limit to my patience."

"Hmph."

"Tomorrow morning, you will report to the Hokage Tower at nine. The entrance could use a good cleaning, and you've just volunteered for the job." Sarutobi looked around at the assembled genin. "Now then, does any one else wish to lodge a complaint about Naruto fighting in the finals?"

Sakura raised her hand. "Um, Hokage-sama? I don't have a complaint, but doesn't Naruto have an unfair advantage over the other finalists? He's seen them fight, but none of us have seen him."

"Haruno-san, you have forgotten my little speech before the preliminaries. This is a war in miniature. In your career as shinobi, you can't be assured of always knowing who your opponent is and what they are capable of. In such situations, it is entirely possible that while you know nothing about them, they may know a great deal about you. It is with this in mind that Naruto is serving as an unknown."

Kiba scratched his head. "You know, this sounds really familiar."

"It should. I believe Morino Ibiki told you much the same thing after the first Exam. If you can't bring yourself to take a chance and face the unknown, you aren't ready to be chuunin, much less shinobi."

"Well, that makes sense, I guess. It's weird that Kabuto didn't know about this. He sure knew enough about everyone else involved with the Exams."

At this, the senior nin in the room turned to face Kiba and the others. Kurenai asked the question, "Kiba, what are you talking about?"

"One of the other Konoha genin, Kabuto, he had info on everyone taking the Exams. Mission records, stats, the works. We checked ourselves out, and the info was legitimate."

Sarutobi was twitching imperceptibly. Something was not right. He needed to wrap things up quickly.

"Now then, are there any other questions? No? Then follow me back to the village, and we will see you at the arena in one month."

--

"Hokage-sama. Your guest is waiting in your office."

"Ah, good."

Sarutobi walked into his office.

"Okay, sensei, what on earth is so important that you called me back?"

"Hello to you, too, Jiraiya. Hold on one moment, please. I need to speak with two ANBU first."

As if on cue, two ANBU entered the office and knelt down before Sarutobi. "You sent for us, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, I did. It has come to my attention that we may have a spy in our ranks. I want you two to investigate one Yakushi Kabuto. If he is a spy, I want to know who he is working for. Do not confront him. Understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," they answered him.

"Dismissed."

After the ANBU departed, Sarutobi sat down at his desk.

"A spy, huh? What was the tip-off?"

"If what I was told is true, he is or was in possession of information that no one person, especially a genin, should have access to."

Jiraiya whistled. "That's a pretty big red flag alright. Back to my question, though. What am I doing here, sensei?"

"Straight to business, eh? In that case, I'll come right out and tell you. I want you to perform a long overdue inspection on Naruto-kun's seal."

Jiraiya blinked. "Eh? A check-up? Why now, after thirteen years?"

"Because as someone recently pointed out to me, Minato was an exceptional seal expert, but one thing he was not capable of was breaking one of the main tenets of fuinjutsu, namely that seals lose strength without upkeep."

"You're right about that, I'll admit. But what about..."

Sarutobi sighed, leaning back in his chair. "The excessive wait, I know. There are a multitude of excuses I could use, but here is the simple truth. At first, I didn't ask for you to do this because it was my belief that if I showed faith in Minato's abilities, the rest of the village would follow. Having you around so often to inspect the seal would have undermined what I was trying to do. Also, how could I have arranged for an annual inspection without revealing his secret to him? One year turned into two, then three. As he grew up, I saw no additional signs of his tenant's presence and assumed the seal was holding. I had grown fond of the boy, and it blinded me to the risk I was taking. It took Hyuuga Hiashi pointing that out to me to make me realize the potential danger I was engendering. That was when I wrote to you, asking you to return."

"So it wasn't because you thought I'd want to take him with me?"

"You had still wanted to take the boy with you? I thought you had given up on that years ago. In all honesty, there were times when I had given your offers serious consideration."

Now it was Jiraiya's turn to sigh. "At first, I was really angry with you for not letting me take him with me. Then, I had a really, really bad encounter. The gaki would have been five, maybe six. I got into a huge fight with a bunch of missing-nin. After the fight, I sat there recovering. I remembered getting into similar situations when Minato and I were on our training trips. That led me to think about Naruto, and I started wishing he had been with me for company. Then I slapped myself for wanting to drag a little kid into life-and-death battles. After that, I stopped pestering you about taking him with me. You were right to keep him here, I just didn't see that."

"Jiraiya, I have no doubt that if I had let you take him he would have become an amazing shinobi."

"He'd have been a powerful shinobi, true, but not much else. Here, at least, he had a normal childhood, friends his own age, that sort of stuff. I couldn't have given him that, not with my nomadic lifestyle. Besides, I'd say he's got a better teacher in you than I could have ever been. You're twice as patient as I will ever be."

"He's had a childhood, but it didn't start to resemble anything close to what you or I would call normal until he was ten and moved in with Kakashi."

"He moved in with Minato's student? Why?"

"Naruto's apartment burned down. Several months prior, I had given Naruto his inheritance from Kushina. He was attacked in his apartment, and invoked Phlegethon in self-preservation. After that, I reread Minato's written wishes regarding him, and discovered things I hadn't seen before, such as the names of those Minato entrusted to protect Naruto, which happens to be you, me, and Kakashi."

Jiraiya's brow furrowed. "Why didn't you see this before then?"

"Because your student wrote the list himself, and didn't tell us what he wanted to our faces, outside of his final wish. His inability to express himself in words struck at one of the worst possible times, and his son suffered for it."

"Hm. So, what's the boy like?"

"He is remarkable, not just as a shinobi or as my student, but as a person. Almost too remarkable at times." At Jiraiya's unspoken urge, he continued, "He adapts to just about anything. His other two instructors, Kakashi, and I have been trying for some time now to help him choose his specialties, and nothing is working. With any other shinobi, such a thing would be dismissed as genius, but with Naruto, there is an extra variable to consider."

"Do you suspect the Kyuubi?"

"It seems a plausible explanation, but I have no proof. Were I to blame the Kyuubi without rock-solid evidence of its involvement, I would be no better than some of the villagers. As much as it pains me to say this, some of the more... stubborn villagers continue to blame him for any undesirable event, from hangnails and stubbed toes to an animal defecating in their yards."

"Huh. Would you like me to see if the Kyuubi is responsible when I do the check-up?"

"Please do. It would be one less thing for me to be constantly worried about."

"I can understand you being worried that this could be a sign that the seal may have weakened and that the beast may have a greater influence on him than we would like, but what if the seal is still stable?"

"It will still be less of a worry to me, and I will be able to sleep again. Jiraiya, I haven't had a restful night of sleep since Hiashi convinced me to send for you. Ever since that day, I've been lying awake at night, going through my memories, looking for warning signs I might have missed the first time. I find none, but it does little to ease the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I made a rookie mistake, losing my objectivity like that, and it is especially nerve-wracking to me after what happened the last time I allowed my personal feelings to cloud my judgment."

"Are you afraid you're making him into another Orochimaru, sensei?"

"I hate to admit it, but there are times when I am very afraid that I am doing just that. He has a similar drive to learn and talent. What's more, he has a great destructive force within him and more than enough reason to lay waste to the village. If that ever happened, I doubt I could bring myself to try and stop him. If I did, it would be more out of a sense of duty than anything else. It is partly for that reason that I have decided against teaching Naruto-kun to conceal his emotions, for the moment at least."

"Why, in Kami's name, would you deny him that?"

"We have only recently managed to convince him to tell us what he really thinks, not just what he thinks we want to hear. Training him to have a poker face at all times would throw all that work out the window, at least at the moment."

"He sure doesn't seem to have any trouble speaking his mind to me, from what I've already seen and heard."

"You would think so, but he can be notoriously tight-lipped and sensitive when he wants to be. Of everyone he truly trusts, he trusts both me and Kakashi most of all, and there are things that he won't talk to us about. On more than one occasion, he has failed to let us know when he needs new supplies. When we asked about it, he replied that he was afraid we'd think he was careless."

"He cares too much about other people's opinions?"

"Yes, especially the opinions of those he cares about. He's desperate for acceptance, and once he gains it, he becomes unwilling to do or say anything that could cause him to lose that acceptance. In professional life, this is unacceptable. If a mission fails because he had vital information in his possession, but didn't share it because he thought the others wouldn't want to hear it..." Sarutobi left the thought unfinished. "It's the classic problem between civilians and shinobi. Parents raise their children to be honest and tell the truth, but their profession requires them to lie, cheat, and steal. Naruto-kun needs to know when to speak his mind and when to be silent, when and when not to volunteer information, and when he should give his opinion and when he should be objective and state only the facts.

Sarutobi sighed, "It is one of the few areas in which he is truly deficient, and until that situation is remedied, I can't have someone teach him emotional concealment. It could potentially ruin him, both professionally and personally."

"Personally, sensei?"

"I know I'll sound like a scheming woman, but I want Naruto to have a family of his own one day. I know from experience how important communication is to forging and maintaining a healthy relationship. As such, I want to give Naruto every chance possible to have the best life he can. We are, however, working on getting him to not let his emotions cloud his judgment. It's not the same, but it will have to suffice until he is ready to learn to suppress emotions when he is on the job.

"Overall, I may have my personal fears, but I know they are unfounded and Naruto-kun disproves them easily. When I'm not being seized by those lingering fears, he reminds me more of you than Orochimaru."

"Sensei, Oro-teme burned you. Bad. You had high hopes for him, and he stabbed you in the back. I can totally understand why you're so afraid it could happen again. You don't like making the same mistake twice. Who does? Besides, I'm sure that if Naruto starts behaving like the traitor, someone is going to notice."

Sarutobi sighed, looking much older than he had when he had walked into his office earlier. "I suppose you're right, Jiraiya."

"I know I am, sensei. So, mind telling me why Momochi Zabuza is training the boy?"

The sudden change of topic stunned Sarutobi, but he recovered quickly. "There are three main reasons, political, practical, and personal."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"Many people in the village are leery of being around him. My political reason is to give him a chance at gaining acceptance. Practically, his time as part of the reserve forces is almost up. I need to see what would be the best course of action to take with him. So far, I have decided that a genin team is out of the question for the time being, and he is much better teaching advanced kenjutsu than beginning techniques."

"And the personal reason?"

"So impatient. I was getting to that. By a strange coincidence, Zabuza's jounin-sensei was Uzumaki Kenji, one of the five refugees, and the one who lived the longest of them all. If not for Naruto's birth, the clan would probably have died with him."

"Probably, sensei?"

"After all this time, there is still no definite answer as to the fate of the Uzumaki that was bound for Iwa. I think that it is fairly safe to say that Naruto is the last Uzumaki. Anyhow, Kenji took Zabuza under his wing when no one else in Kiri would. He feels he has a debt to the man, and teaching Naruto-kun is his way of repaying that debt."

"You said Zabuza was teaching him, not just training. What else is the gaki learning from him?"

"I thought you would have figured it out, Jiraiya. Right now, Momochi Zabuza is the closest thing in the world there is to another Uzumaki. So, he is teaching Naruto-kun about what it means to be an Uzumaki."

"I can buy teaching him to repay a debt, but how in the hell would Zabuza know anything about the Uzumaki clan traditions? The clan may have been unconventional, but I highly doubt they would let outsiders know their most guarded secrets."

"I have my suspicions as to why Kenji did so. Remember, the almost complete decimation of the clan was unexpected. They expected the refugees to be safe, and to start taking measures to rebuild their clan. The way I see it, Kenji taught Zabuza some of the clan traditions in preparation for having him help rebuild the clan by marrying into it."

"That makes sense, I guess. Well, if you don't mind, sensei, I'll take my leave."

"Certainly. Would you like me to summon Naruto-kun?"

"Nah, don't bother. I've spent all day traveling. I'm beat. I'm sure I'll run into him at some point. I'll let you know when I've finished looking at his seal."

Sarutobi chuckled. "I have a sneaking suspicion that once you meet him, you'll be fighting to take over his training from me."

"Sensei, you know I swore that I'd never take another student."

"Yes, I know. I swore the same thing myself after the three of you began making your own paths in the world, and look at what I'm doing now."

"Point taken. See ya later, sensei."

"Alright. Have a good day."

-- -

AN: Before I get a shitload of complaints about Sarutobi fearing Naruto may turn out like Orochimaru, I'd like to defend myself. Sarutobi was screwed over by someone he cared for. Any normal person would be afraid of it happening again, the same way people who almost drown sometimes develop hydrophobia. If it could happen once, it could happen again. Yes, it's irrational, but that's the way it works a lot of the time. Thank you.

Next time: Results & New Complications