DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto.

"hello"- speech, common jutsus

"hello"- thoughts, or other Japanese words (hope they're right though)

"hello"- Kyuubi talking, or some other major jutsu

I just want to bang my head to the wall whenever I find out that I made a mistake…well, actually, it was the website I was doing my research from that made the mistake. In chapter 6, I mentioned the name of the Snow Princess. This part of the fic was from Naruto Movie 1, and her correct name is actually Kazahana Koyuki. Just wanted to clear that up for those who already read this fic before I make the correction.

Since there was no Naruto this week, I hope this'll cheer you up somehow. Also starting with this chapter, I'm adding a glossary at the end of each chapter for your reference.


Naruto: Chapter 7 – New Bonds

The white-haired shinobi looked at the other man with weary eyes. The kunai in his hand was an assuring thing. If the other shinobi attacked, he knew it would be a very difficult battle, maybe even fatal. The other looked at the toad hermit coolly, not threatened at all by the kunai. There was no reason for him to feel threatened…no reason at all. He cocked his head slightly to a side and observed with amused eyes. "The years have been kind to Jiraiya," thought the orange-haired man.

"Don't worry, I won't harm you," Kazama said.

"One never knows…" replied Jiraiya.

"True…how long has it been? Two? Three years?"

"Three and a half, now."

"Ah, I see…no wonder you're restless. Here…as a sign of good faith, I'll keep my hands in plain sight and turn my back to you, then you can do what it is you came here to do."

The Akatsuki Leader raised his arms slightly to show he held no weapons in his hands, and turned about, exposing his back to Jiraiya. The toad hermit carefully walked towards the Akatsuki Leader, senses attuned for the slightest movement.

When he was close enough, he quickly struck the kunai vertically to Kazama's head. It was only when Jiraiya removed his hand could the fuda attached to the kunai be seen. Slowly, the kunai was absorbed into Kazama's head.

"It is now safe," Jiraiya sighed in relief.

"See?" said Kazama.

"You know I couldn't take any chances…the fuda only has a known lifespan of three years."

"Then why were you late?"

"Something came up…"

"Your short sword while peeping in a bathhouse?"

"No…Orochimaru's recent death."

Kazama turned around to face the Sannin member, eyebrows raised. "Killed by whom?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Kazama's eyes flashed in alarm, and began pacing back and forth. "Was the Soul Transfer Ritual performed?!"

"Yes. My informant has told me that Orochimaru started the ritual and was overpowered by Sasuke in the mental phase. Maybe he was really killed…" Jiraiya added hopefully.

"You know as well as I that once in that phase, it cannot be stopped."

"We could be wrong…my informant has also told me that Sasuke is in control."

"Where is he now?"

"He recruited one of Orochimaru's prisoners and they were headed for…"


Kirigakure no Sato

Sasuke and Suigetsu have been traveling for some time now. After Sasuke successfully recruited Suigetsu, they looked for some clothes for Suigetsu and then began gathering supplies for their journey and headed for the Hidden Village of the Mist.

Not wanting to enter the borders of the Country of Fire, the two detoured quite a ways and only entered the borders of fire country when they were near the Great Naruto Bridge. Upon seeing the name of the bridge, Sasuke grunted in contempt.

"What is it Sasuke?" Suigetsu inquired.

"Nothing. Come on."

After crossing the long bridge, Sasuke led them to a nearby plain. At the edge, nearing the forest, two wooden crosses were pegged to the ground. Behind one of the crosses, pierced to the ground, stood the head cleaving sword of Zabuza, the devil of the Hidden Bloody Mist.

"I'm amazed it's somewhere like this…" Suigetsu said. He walked over to the sword and lifted it off the ground. "Zabuza-sempai, this is mine now."

Testing the weight and feel of the large sword, Suigetsu did some practice swings. "Wow, it's pretty heavy…"

"Think you can handle it yourself?" inquired Sasuke.

"The swords of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu are passed down from generation to generation…" explained Suigetsu, "…and I started my training hoping to become a member. I might even be able to beat you with this…Anyway, if you're planning to recruit Juugo, I think this might come in handy."

Suigetsu struck the large sword into the ground and proceeded to attach a strap harness for the sword. The sword had a rather long handle which could be unlocked so the sword could be carried from your back without the length of the sword being a nuisance.

When Suigetsu was finished, he nodded to Sasuke that he was ready and the two continued on with their journey.


Otogakure no Sato

Kabuto had been moping for months now. With Orochimaru gone, he simply did not know what to do.

After the recent departure of Sasuke, he started organizing the shinobi of the Sound Village. Unfortunately for him, many of the shinobi did not respect him, and the only reason they did his bidding before was out of fear of Orochimaru.

They were insulted by the fact that Kabuto, being a younger person than they, had a higher position, and so the medical ninja was envied by many.

"To hell with this…" thought Kabuto. The medical ninja wanted to keep the Hidden Village of Sound organized, but he now realized that it was the Snake Sannin that kept the whole organization together. Removing that single power block, and the whole thing came crashing down.

Yakushi Kabuto was currently pacing back and forth in the hallway of the underground main base. He heard footsteps approach him from the nearby stairway.

The ninja was garbed in the Hidden Sound village's uniform, so his whole face was concealed, but Kabuto knew who he was because of the slight limp in the way the shinobi walked.

He was Tonomoto Akira and had just returned from a long and tedious reconnaissance mission from Earth Country.

Akira was living a peaceful life with his family in the Country of Earth before Orochimaru came. When the Snake Sannin wanted to form Otogakure, Akira, like so many others, was forced to join in; his family held hostage and imprisoned in one of the many holding cells that Orochimaru had.

He was a very skilled shinobi and one of the head captains of Orochimaru's army.

During the invasion into the Hidden Leaf village a few years back, Akira was one of the ninjas in the frontline. His right leg was severely injured during the mass retreat and a fellow Oto-nin carried him back to safety.

Because of the confusion and mayhem surrounding them, Akira wasn't able to receive immediate medical attention. Luckily for him, Kabuto was not far off and healed the severed artery.

The delayed healing caused complications, but Akira didn't mind the limp. He believed it was better to walk with a limp than be dead, and had respected Kabuto ever since.

"Greetings Kabuto-sama."

"How is everything Akira-san?" replied Kabuto.

"Chaotic," smirked Akira. "Everyone's thinking, with Orochimaru-sama gone and dead, we can look for our families and return to a life of peace."

Kabuto merely nodded dumbly, not knowing what to say. His thoughts had started to wander and it was a few minutes later he noticed that Akira was still standing near him "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"I'm waiting for orders…"

"Don't you want to go off and save your wife and child?"

"Sure I do…but after that, then what? Wait for the next guy to take them away again?"

A crease appeared between Kabuto's eyes, clearly confused.

Akira chuckled and looked at Kabuto with amused eyes. "Orochimaru is gone. The sound four no longer exist, Kimimaro is dead, which leaves only you and Sasuke-sama. Since Sasuke-sama isn't here, you're the only one left.

The other captains and I discussed what we were going to do. I managed to make them see that it was foolish to dissipate an already organized Village. Together, we could fend off enemies and any would-be opportunists.

We must act quickly Kabuto-sama, before news of Orochimaru-sama's death brings danger to us all."

"While you were gone, I…I already tried talking with them, but they wouldn't listen to me."

"They don't listen to you, but they listen to me…" Akira placed a kind hand on the young medical ninja's shoulder in a very rare display of friendliness, "…and I listen to you."

Surprised eyes look at Akira, then a slow smile. "Thank you. I'll help in organizing the village, but I don't want to be named as Otokage."

"Why not?!"

"In case Sasuke returns…he might want the job for himself."

The two made their way up the stairways to hold a meeting with the rest of the captains. Akira looked at Kabuto and asked, "Do you know where he is?"

"He freed Suigetsu before leaving, and is out to look for more members from the other bases. I overheard Suigetsu wanting to make a detour to Kirigakure no Sato"

"Why is he recruiting members?"

"He plans to kill his brother, Uchiha Itachi. And he needs the help of Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo."

"I've heard of this Uchiha Itcahi before. Isn't he the Leaf ninja who killed his entire clan?"

Akira looked at the grey-haired ninja by his side, expecting a reply. But he got none.

"Oh yes…I believe that you, Sasuke-kun, will kill Itachi-san. And after that, I will convince you somehow to become the new Otokage. I will watch over you just as I watched over Orochimaru. I will feed you misinformation just as I subtly did to him... What would Akira and the rest of them say if they knew my real name was Yoshinaka Omi, Leaf Shinobi – spy at the direction of Jiraiya, as well as Tsunade's first medical apprentice after Orochimaru left? They'd fart dust, neh?"

Kabuto had a faraway look in his eyes and a strange smile on his lips. Akira didn't know what was so funny and didn't bother to ask.


Akatsuki Lair

Naruto was sweating profusely and breathing heavily. Blood kept flowing over his left eye from a gash on the eyebrow, and the bone on his right forearm was fractured. His knuckles were chapped, and he tasted the metallic tinge of blood in his mouth.

Surrounding him were five clay golems and they had been battling him for what felt like forever.

A few hours earlier, Naruto had wandered into a large expanse of the cavern. He was looking for Kazama when he stumbled onto this section.

"Sugoi!!" thought the blonde. "This place is huge!!"

On one side, the wall was covered with large bookcases, filled with hundreds and hundreds of scrolls, each one a different jutsu. On another side, weapon racks stood row upon row.

He began examining the scrolls a few hours earlier, mentally storing the names he wanted Kazama to teach him since trying to learn them on his own was futile because of the chakra-blocking seal.

He was examining the different kinds of weapons when he heard a low rumbling noise behind him.

Out of the earth, sprung seven faceless creatures made of strong clay. The golems sprung on Naruto, and the blonde barely managed to jump out of the way, while grabbing a staff in the process.

He quickly swung out at the nearest golem's feet, hoping to topple it down, but the creature didn't even budge.

He turned his body sideways, avoiding the counter – punch, and continued to turn, using the momentum to roll along the arm of the creature so he could get behind it. At the max of his turn, he grabbed the end of the staff and targeted the lower back and struck with all his strength.

The staff cracked and broke into two pieces, the blow not affecting the golem at all. He grabbed the second piece of the staff and jumped. If he hadn't, he would've been crushed by another rushing golem.

At the peak of his jump, he threw the two pieces, broken ends facing forward, transforming them into stakes, down on the heads of two of his attackers. When the stakes struck into the heads, the two golems crumbled into a million pieces.

Now only five were left.

"Oh whoopee…"

Naruto landed a few feet away from the three bunched golems. "Wait, where're the other two?!"

Too late.

One came on each opposite side of him; he quickly did a backward roll, hoping the two would collide on each other. A loud boom confirmed his hope and when he looked, a large dust cloud had covered his initial position, giving him zero visibility.

Suddenly, an arm swung down from the haze, aiming for his head. He blocked with his forearm and punched back at the source but not before hearing an audible crack where the rock-like hand had struck his forearm.

The sharp pain made him cry out and he immediately retreated.

When the dust settled, the two golems had been combined after crashing into each other. To his horror, the thing in front of him began to disjoin, once again bringing the number back to five.

"That will do for now, Zetsu" said Kazama. The Akatsuki Leader had just re-entered the cavern when he heard the commotion.

Naruto sighed heavily in relief, still clutching his fractured arm.

"The boy has improved, Master Kazama..." Zetsu commented then stepped out from the shadows. "…and not as dumb as we thought."

Kazama chuckled, and called out to Naruto, "Come, I want you to meet someone."

After a few minutes, they arrived in front of a heavy wooden door. The Akatsuki leader did a series of one handed seals, and the markings on the door faded, allowing them to enter.

The room they came into was very much similar to that of Naruto's except for the girl sleeping on the bed.

"This is Nii Yugito. She will be your partner when you join Akatsuki", stated Kazama. "I'll leave you two alone for awhile to get acquainted."

Naruto didn't notice Kazama leave. He was too distracted by the beautiful girl in front of him, his mouth slightly open, finding it difficult to breath. But something happened at that very same instant that no one would ever expect.

It was not Naruto staring in awe at her.

When Yugito slowly awakened, the first thing her deep-purple eyes saw were black slit pupils in red crimson orbs.

Kyuubi no Youko, the master of hell, and the most powerful of all the bijuu, had fallen in love with a human without realizing it.


Glossary:

fuda – charm/tag

Kirigakure no Sato – Hidden Village of the Mist

Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu – Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist

Otogakure no Sato – Hidden Village of Sound

Sugoi – amazing

Bijuu – tailed demon


I know this chapter is pretty short, but I didn't want it to go any longer. Think of it as a 'setting up' chapter. I hope that you still enjoyed it.

As always, reviews are very much welcome. If you have any special requests, questions, or suggestions, don't hesitate and I'll give a reply on the next chapter's header section.

Next Chapter's Title: Revelations