A/N: It has been some time. I could go into long winded explanations, but no one wants to read it any more than I want to type it. I actually have a backlog of un-posted chapters at the moment, though, so you should see those come up over the course of the next month.

"Last chance, Osamu," Hiroto warned to his student as they came to a stop outside of the brig, "Interrogations can get nasty."

"The man essentially decapitated me and enjoyed it," the teen replied seriously with a grim look on his face, "I think I can handle seeing him in pain."

"Fair enough," the jonin shrugged, "Just stay quiet and observe."

He didn't wait for an answer as he opened the heavy pressure door into the brig. The place looked somewhat ill kept. It was likely that the captain had little use for it. Across from the now open portal were a set of bars, behind which a sullen Arashi sat on the dusty floor, his injured leg placed out before him in bandaging Osamu had done about an hour before.

"So here we are," Arashi drawled, "Me crew dead, boat scuttled, and meself captured and lame. I s'ppose yer here ta question me?"

Hiroto nodded as Osamu shut the portal behind them.

"I've no qualms about tellin' ya whatever," Arashi smirked, "So long as I remain in good health."

"You wish to make a deal?" the older shinobi asked rhetorically, "Captain Kyoha holds your fate in his hands."

"Aye," Arashi confirmed his understanding, "By tha laws o' tha sea, he should be stringin' me up here soon. Ya got some pull with him, though. Enough to save me skin, I'd wager."

"I might be able to..." Hiroto hedged, not wanting to get on the captain's bad side by promising Arashi anything without good reason "but he can still turn you over to the authorities in just about any port. They'll likely kill you if your reputation is even half true."

"All I want is a boat and me life," Arashi told him.

"What will you do?"

"Supposin' I survive tha open ocean? retire," the bald pirate chuckled, "Ain't no reason ta go on piratin' after this disaster."

"I'll get you released," Hiroto finally agreed, "Now... about Gato."

"That tool hired me ta thin his competition," Arashi began immediately, "Basically just paid me ta not hit his ships, really."

"Then why are you hanging around Wave?" the jonin pressed curiously, "Pickings would be easier farther from Fire."

"That they are," the captain agreed readily, "Tha problem was that freak Gato asked me ta cart around."

"Kirau..."

"Yea, that guy," the pirate confirmed grimly, "I was gettin paid enough, so I didn't ask too many questions, and tha guy could do some nifty shit with his chakra."

"I'm guessing by your tone you stopped appreciating his service," Hiroto commented.

"Fucker comes ta me one night and demands we start stalkin' these waters about a month ago," Arashi spit on the brig floor to indicate what he thought of that at the time, "I tell him to fuck off. That's when I felt this pressure in me chest. Piece of shit was workin' his hoodoo on me."

"Did he do any gestures or say anything?" Hiroto's brow furrowed.

"Not that I saw," the captain replied.

"So you agreed?"

"No shit," Arashi gave the ninja a withering look, "Lucky fer me, Kyoha does trade runs tween Fire and some islands farther out ta sea this time o' year. Two week round trip. I hit him on his way out and on tha way back. Decent haul all told, and I was smart enough not ta piss him off... Until tonight."

"What changed?"

"What do ya think?" Arashi's face grew livid, "Fuckin' freak tells me we're takin' tha ship, and how do I argue? You know about how that went."

"That doesn't make much sense..." Hiroto frowned, "If Kirau can seize the blood in your system, why didn't he just do that to me?"

"That fucker just let ya kill my men?" Arashi gaped. At Hiroto's nod he began a string of creative and colorful curses. Apparently the pirate captain had assumed Hiroto had found some way around the sorcerer's tricks.

Hiroto let him have his tantrum as he considered what possible play the sorcerer had planned. Whatever it was, he was dead now.

"Sensei..." the jonin's thoughts were interrupted by Osamu who was tugging on his arm rather insistantly, "Sensei! His aura is changing!"

Looking up at Arashi didn't show Hiroto what his student was seeing, but he did notice the jerking motions. When they calmed, a pair of hateful eyes looked back at him. They were still the pirate captain's, but they held a familiarity he couldn't quite place.

"Such a rude child you are, Hiroto-san," the voice was Arashi's, but the patterns had changed drastically, "Speaking about me behind my back. If you wished to know of me, you need only have asked."

"He's got the same aura as Haru," the boy whispered with mixed anger and fear.

"Kirau?" Hiroto narrowed his eyes. It was only a guess, but Hiroto had been through too much weird shit in the recent past to not ask.

"Indeed," the man before them confirmed with a wicked smile, "I was hurt you didn't recognize me in the engine room, though."

"Why should I have?" the jonin asked warily.

"I suppose I did look very different," the possessed body sighed, "Making a host body a good vessel for my spirit can take a heavy toll. Some bear it better than others. I miss that old form in Lightning."

"What..." Hiroto face became a mix of confusion and annoyance.

"The caves..." Kirau said slowly, "Crazed teammates... A vicious cut from your first love... Surely you remember that?"

Hiroto's face twisted into rage and he slammed his hands into the bars, "What do you know about my old team!? What happened to them!?"

Kirau forced Arashi's face into an even more twisted look of glee, "I only know what I heard from your delusional mutterings as I sealed your chest wound. Master wouldn't tell me anything after I sacrificed that body to keep your name clear."

"WHAT DID HE DO TO THEM!?" Hiroto screamed through the bars. There were few things that could make the jonin lose his cool. The fate of his first team was one of them.

"Perhaps you should worry more about your present team," Kirau chuckled darkly as the body he inhabited began to noticeably swell, "I'm afraid I must go, and I was told to leave you with a parting gift. Tell your Hokage his little charade is quite amusing."

Hiroto's rage quickly turned to fear as he recognized the beginnings of a form of suicide technique. He'd almost forgotten Osamu was with him in his surprise and anger. Now they were stuck in a small space with something awful about to happen and nowhere to go.

Hiroto moved himself closer to his student who seemed paralyzed, probably by fear. He began a unique series of seals he'd been working on since the incident where he'd saved Anko. The water shell had proven a decent defensive technique, so he'd improved upon it. The problem was, he didn't have enough ambient water to form it. This was going to hurt... a lot.

He took in a massive breath; one that swelled his chest to impossible proportions. When he let it out, a massive gout of water surged from his mouth. Shaping the chakra laden water with his still sealing hands, he formed the water around Osamu and himself in a bubble of super-dense water six feet across.

No sooner had the bubble taken shape, than the hapless pirate finally popped. He'd grown to almost three times his normal size, and from the look of pain and fear on his face, he felt every moment. He burst much like a water balloon, but with the force of an explosive tag. Judging by the way the outer layers of water steamed away, the gore had been heated to extreme temperatures as well.

Once Hiroto was sure the danger was past, he let the mass of water fall. He and Osamu gasped for air, but the poor boy was barely able to take a breath before he was vomiting in the knee high water from what he'd just witnessed. The largest chunks left of the erstwhile pirate were his thumbs.

XxXxXxX

I'm sorry..." Kyoha said slowly, "Could ya repeat that?"

"He exploded," Hiroto wheezed.

The soaked jonin was leaning heavily on an equally waterlogged Osamu, exhausted from a massive expenditure of chakra and suffering from burnt out tenketsu in his lungs. Team Five's other two members stood nearby, making sure none of the sailors got too close to hear the crazy story, but they were well within earshot themselves.

I don't even know what ta do with that information," the captain ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair.

"You need to drop us on a small boat, turn around, and get back to Bikou as fast as possible," Hiroto told him, "Find any shinobi at the military station there, and tell them 'The past is dust.'"

"And what will that do?" Kyoha looked extremely upset about the whole situation.

"It will get this mess cleaned up discreetly," he coughed weakly, "You may want to send word to the Daimyo to increase his security. No telling what the hell is happening right now."

"I get tha second part," the captain scratched the stubble on his chin, "but besides keepin' my men from jumpin' ship, what will bein' discreet do."

Hiroto began a much longer fit of coughing. He motioned for Osamu to answer for him.

"Information is like a living thing, Captain," the boy told him, "Most of it is harmless, but some bits can cause serious harm. Sensei isn't sure how this will play out and wants to send the info higher beofre it leaks."

Kyoha blinked a few times, "I'll never get ya shinobi and yer shadow games... Ya want me to pass along a message ta yer Hokage?"

"I'll take care of that myself," Hiroto managed weakly after his coughing fit, "About that boat..."

XxXxXxX

It was sunrise when they drug their small motorboat up onto the rocky shore of South-eastern Wave. A coughing Hiroto was shooed away from helping them get the relatively heavy thing into the tree line and hidden and then from helping with camp. His boys had everything well in hand, but he felt a leader stood at the front, so to speak. Osamu was even taking care to get them fresh food, a much better way than rations to recover from chakra exhaustion, by sending Yancha to hunt some wild hares.

"I'm not dying, you know," he finally wheezed out in exasperation.

"No..." Osamu agreed, "You're just suffering from mild chakra exhaustion and overloading your lungs."

"What the hell is going on anyway?" Masaru asked, "That story you told the captain was wild."

"It was true, too," Osamu almost whispered, "Someone, or something, has it out for Sensei."

"Speaking of which..." Hiroto began trying to climb to his feet, "I need to get a message back to the Hokage."

"Oh no you don't," Hotaka was on him in a second. It seemed his mother had passed on some sort of nurturing instinct that kicked in around the unwell, "Sit. Stay. Rest."

"So you run this team now?" Hiroto gave him a sardonic smile, "Whose gonna summon us a messenger, then?"

The boys looked at one another, and it seemed as if an entire conversation occurred within a few seconds of looks and minor movements.

"I will," Hotaka finally said, "I have a decent chakra supply, and I've been practicing my hand seals really hard."

Hiroto stared at him for a a full minute before saying, "Show me."

Hotaka proceeded to perform his string of seals perfectly, if slowly.

"They need to be faster for combat," Hiroto stated simply, "But that will work for now, I suppose."

"Really?" Hotaka started to get a little excited, "I get to learn to summon cats?"

"You weren't this excited about learning ninjutsu a month ago," Masaru commented idly.

"It'll take away from my taijutsu," Osamu did an excellent Hotaka voice, but made it rather whiny.

"Shut up. I'm allowed to change my mind," Hotaka didn't even bother looking at them, "What are the seals, Sensei?"

"You just did them," the jonin replied as he fiddled with his pack.

"But you said..."

"I lied," Hiroto interrupted him, "Well... sort of. The seals don't do anything without this."

He pulled a small unadorned scroll from his pack and tossed it to Hotaka, "Unseal its contents."

Hotaka examined the small scroll before unrolling it on top of the detritus of the forest floor and doing as ordered. A poof of chakra smoke later and a massive ornate scroll had appeared before him. He slowly undid the clasp and pulled the scroll open. Names he didn't recognize, written in blood still as bright as if it had been freshly spilled, covered the scroll. He saw a few Sakibou on it, then the last name: Ryoukou Hiroto.

"Right next to mine," Hiroto told him.

Hotaka pulled a kunai and pricked his right thumb. Squeezing it to coax more blood out, he placed his slanted chicken scratch next to his Sensei's flowing script. He then stamped his thumb down below his name to seal the contract.

"Now what?" the boy asked eagerly.

"Now, with your blood flowing, you do the seals and press your hand to the ground," Hiroto instructed, "Fix in your mind what you need from the cats, and the right kind should appear."

"Should?" Masaru and Osamu snorted together.

"I've only ever summoned the Tora Kagai and the cat boss," Hiroto shrugged helplessly, "The theory is sound, though."

Hotaka was already going through the seals as carefully as possible. When he was done, the blood seal formed at his feet and a cloud of smoke obscured him for a second. A moment later, it cleared leaving a lanky spotted great cat in its wake.

"Hi-I'm-Issoku!" the cheetah rattled off at breakneck speed, "I'm-a-courier-Need-me-to-run-something!?"

A moment later the cheetah began to bounce around, "I'm-really-fast-I-swear."

The humans stared for a moment, which was, apparently, too long for the hyperactive cat.

"I-can-prove-it!" he cried, and then took off so fast he quite literally disappeared with an odd humming sound left in his wake.

He was back three minutes later with a leaf from one of the Land of Fire's massive trees.

"Did you just..." was all Osamu got out before he was interrupted.

"Run-across-the-water-to-the-mainland-and-grab-this-leaf?" the cheetah asked for him, then quickly answered, "Sure-did!"

Hiroto stepped forward and shoved a scroll into the cheetah's maw and held it there to shut it up. It seemed to get the message, but its hindquarters began doing something akin to a little dance while the jonin held it still.

"You need to get that to the Hokage in Konoha as fast as possible and bring me his response," the exhausted leader of Team Five instructed, "Do you know where that is?"

Issoku shook his head as vigorously as it could with the jonin holding it still.

"Masaru," Hiroto coughed, "Map."

It didn't take long for their messenger to figure out where he was or which way to go, and after a brief description of the old man, he darted off at ridiculous speeds.

"I will never ever summon one of those if I can help it," Hiroto sat back down heavily, "When are we eating?"

XxXxXxX

The Hokage was shuffling through some papers when he heard the strangest buzzing noise. He looked up from what he doing while reaching for a hidden kunai and preparing a few different jutsu he could cast without seals. Before him stood a quivering, sweat lathered great cat he was sure wasn't native to Fire. The feline had a scroll in its mouth, which it dropped on his desk.

"Hi-I'm-Issoku!" the energetic cheetah rambled out, "Message-from-some-guy-who-summoned-me-He-asked-for-a-response!"

The Hokage blinked a few times in surprise. Hiroto was the only one in the village who could summon felines... that he knew of. He took the scroll and after careful examination, decided it was safe to open.

Hokage-sama

Complications in transit. Ran into a chakra sorcerer who can apparently jump his spirit into different bodies. Osamu claims his aura matches the one he saw take over the criminal Haru, whom he executed. The sorcerer, Kirau, seems to have a specific interest in me, but did make mention of a charade you are party to. I have more info, but it's too sensitive for anything but face to face. Current mission is still viable. Awaiting further instructions.

Ryoukou Hiroto

The message had been properly encoded and held the jonin's personal security seal, so Sarutobi believed its authenticity. He quickly made out a response for them to continue on their current mission and keep all information regarding their run in to themselves.

No sooner had he given the cheetah his reply than the lightning fast cat was gone.

XxXxXxX

The camp was completely set up, and they were roasting a couple of hares over a carefully made smokeless fire Masaru had produced when Issoku returned. His arrival was preceded by the odd buzzing his amazing speed seemed to produce.

"I'm back," the tired feline panted heavily after dropping the Hokage's reply next to Hiroto. His long run had apparently slowed his speech a bit.

"It's only been three hours!" Hotaka exclaimed, "How could you possibly run that fast?"

"It's what the Cheetah Clan does," Issoku answered proudly, "The lions guard the plains leading into our jungle, and we are their messengers. The word of a cheetah is instantly trusted and has gathered the Cat Tribe for battle fast enough to prevent many invasions."

"There's a lot of fighting where you're from?" Hiroto asked from where he lay. He was sounding stronger, but still weary.

"Not for a while," Issoku laid down to rest, but his tail flicked back and forth incessantly as if he had to move some part of his body, "The last fight was between us and the toads from the mountains. Many of the clans claim we should have just let them pass and have their battle with the serpents."

"They didn't want to fight you?" Masaru inquired with interest, "What happened?"

"Gamabunta made an offhand comment about how surprised he was Toraneko was our leader," the cheetah answered, "Silly tabby took it as an insult and attacked the toad. Things went downhill from there."

"Woah..." Osamu's eyes went wide, "That means two of Konoha's summon tribes are enemies."

Issoku flicked his ears, "Most of the clans don't really care, but the toads took a great deal of offense. They generally appreciate a good fight... so long as they aren't negotiating when it starts."

"I'd heard the scroll was under new management," the cat commented after a few heartbeats, "Which of you is Hiroto-sama?"

"That would be me," the jonin held up a hand in greeting, "These boys are my team. Osamu, Masaru, and Hotaka, the one who summoned you."

"A pleasure," Issoku bowed his head respectfully, "There's been some grumbling about Toraneko just dumping the guardianship on the first guy to sign the scroll after the Sakibou fell, but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"The other cats aren't happy with Sensei?" Hotaka frowned.

"He has powerful allies in Mouko-sama and her kin," the spotted feline replied, "but many aren't happy that there aren't more summoners yet. It's more a problem with our chieftain, anyway."

After they had a moment to mull that over, the cheetah rose and stretched, "If you don't have any other tasks for me, may I go? I need to recharge."

"Before you go, are you my personal summons?" Hotaka asked, earning himself a bemused look from the cheetah.

"Not many receive the honor of a personal summons," Issoku chuckled ,"I'm not suited to such a responsibility anyway."

"Could you recommend anyone?" Hotaka plowed ahead, not really taking the hint.

"Try the Kari Kurohyou," Issoku told him, "Due to a grim view of their methods, most of the cougars and panthers are willing to give others a chance. They may accept you if you're up to snuff."

"Thank you, Issoku-san," Hotaka told the cat sincerely, "You're free to go."

XxXxXxX

Tazuna called a halt about three miles from the coast, "We need to wait till morning for the fog."

Kakashi nodded his head in agreement and set his team about getting their camp ready. When all was done, they immediately went to practicing the techniques he'd taught them without even being told. As he watched them, Kakashi realized he wasn't seeing shadows of his former team anymore. He was seeing Team Seven.

"As little as you can manage," he reminded Naruto, who was about to start a tunnel, "Remember that the shape matters if you don't want it to collapse. You may want to go further from camp, too."

Naruto nodded his understanding and trekked further from camp just in case another incident like the exploding hill occurred.

"Try doing them separately and then putting them together, Sakura," he offered the girl who was growing more frustrated by the day that the combination Kawarimi/Genjutsu eluded her.

She growled her assent and redoubled her efforts to get the two disparate techniques to work in tandem.

"Just focus on getting the chakra to flow from your skin, first," he offered Sasuke as the boy tried to send fire in all directions, "Maybe you need some more tree climbing to refine your control."

Sasuke just grunted, but his focus did shift away from producing fire to simply getting his chakra to flow evenly from his skin.

"I gotta say," Tazuna groused when Kakashi took a seat nearby and pulled out his smut book, "You seem to be a pretty good teacher."

"Not as good as I should be," Kakashi replied in a seemingly bored tone. One that covered his unease about how well his team was really doing.

"When I was an apprentice architect," the tipsy builder replied, "My master told me not a day passed that he didn't learn something new. It's a two-way street Kakashi-san."

Kakashi's one visible eye glanced up to regard the large man for a brief moment before a cry sounded from where Naruto was. The jonin was gone in a burst of wind and leaves, only to reappear next to a slanted hole. The blonde genin was just beginning to climb out of it. Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief that the boy hadn't run afoul of something.

"If I have a clone dig it, while I shore it up," the orange-clad shinobi said to his suddenly less worried Sensei, "I can dig really fast without it going kablooie."

Kakashi graced his student with his signature eye smile, "Good work, Naruto. I'd like to see you do it without any supplemental techniques, but that was a very creative solution to your control problem."

"Really?" the boy looked at him with a small amount of surprise, "But I kinda cheated..."

Kakashi looked at him incredulously, "We're shinobi, Naruto. That's what we do. You don't think the instructors at the academy didn't see every time someone cheated on a test?"

"I was told cheating would get me thrown out," Naruto replied.

Kakashi frowned behind his mask, "They're supposed to let you get away with it, if you do it well enough..."

"You mean... we're supposed to cheat?" the boy asked confused.

"Sensei..." Sakura came walking up with a look of utter frustration on her face, "Can you show me that seal combo again? I'm not sure I'm doing this right."

"Sakura," Kakashi brightened at remembering she had the highest academic grades in the class, "How often did you cheat on assignments?"

"Umm..." she pondered for a bit, "The first year or so, Ino and I had a system where we would each study half the material then use a series of signals to pass each other answers. When we had a falling out, I had to go legit."

Naruto just stared at her dumbfounded.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked him curiously.

"The instructors told him he would get kicked out if he cheated," Kakashi explained grimly. He'd be having a word with the Hokage about that.

Sakura's face screwed up in confusion, "They told us the first day that they didn't care how we got the answers, so long as we got them. Didn't you get sent out into the hall that day."

"I was out in the hall for three hours," Naruto grumbled, "All I did was sneeze."

"I always thought the instructors were letting you know what you missed when they held you after class," Sakura mused, "Wonder why they wouldn't."

"Ehehe..." Naruto's face took on a look of extreme discomfort, "No idea."

"You missed the class on Konoha hand cant, too," Sakura put her hands on her hips, "Do you know it?"

"No," Naruto confessed miserably.

"Why wouldn't Hiroto-san teach it to you?" Kakashi asked him.

"Cause I never really told him what was going on at the academy," Naruto answered, "He learned about some stuff, like my taijutsu, and fixed it as best he could. He always seemed so stressed, though, so I kept a lot of stuff quiet."

"You can help me later, Sensei," Sakura huffed in annoyance.

"Why's that?" the jonin asked here with a raised brow.

"Cause I'm gonna teach Naruto our hand cant," she grabbed the boy's arm and began dragging him back towards camp, "I'm not dying cause numbskull here doesn't know what he should."

XxXxXxX

Sasuke wandered back into camp, tired but happy with his progress. He'd managed to singe most of the plant life around him on his last attempt, and he suspected the only thing preventing him from performing the full jutsu at the the moment was low chakra. With twilight falling over the land, he figured it was time to give it a rest. What he saw as he came into the small clearing in the woods gave him pause.

Naruto was currently attached to a tree. Had the world been sideways he would have been laying down on it. His feet were at least two feet off the ground, and Sasuke could see nothing pinning him there. Sakura was in front of him making hand gestures and asking him questions.

"Can I come down now, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked timidly, "I'm getting really hungry."

"You've almost got it down," Sakura replied, "Just one more, and you can eat if you get it right."

She tapped under her left ear with two fingers then point off in the same direction. Her hand then swept down, then she proceeded to point in directions about thirty degrees off of the original direction.

Naruto watched intently, and thought for a moment, "Heard possible threat at nine o' clock, low. Two break off to flank contact and determine danger."

"Very good," she congratulated, "You can let go now."

"Woohoo!" Naruto simply dropped from his tree and ran over to his pack. He pulled out an energy bar and began to munch on it. Between bites he asked, "What are we having for dinner?"

It was Sakura's turn to cook, and she began to delve into her own gear for supplies, "Catch me some real meat and we'll eat good tonight."

"I'm on it!" Naruto exclaimed as he darted out into the growing darkness.

"That idiot will just chase off anything worth eating," Sasuke muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear as he sat down next to their fire.

"Not likely," Kakashi replied without looking up from his book, "Naruto's best course at the academy was survival; he and his partner ranked number two on their grade for it."

Sasuke showed his surprise by raising a brow, "Who was his partner?"

"Nara Shikimaru," their sensei replied, "Judging by what I hear from Asuma-san about how lazy that kid is, it's telling that they got number two."

The camp lapsed into a silence marred only by Sakura setting up a small cauldron over the fire. Their client had dozed off from his saki a while ago, and Kakashi was content to read his book. The quiet began to grate on the Uchiha boy. He was used to people trying to chat him up, and when he was blessedly free of the sycophants, the bustle of Konoha. He wasn't exactly sure what to say, though. Years of ignoring others had stunted his social skills.

"What were you teaching him, Sakura?" he asked after another minute of surprisingly disturbing quiet.

"He didn't know hand cant," she explained as she began to empty a few extra canteens of water into her pot, "He got it a lot quicker than I thought he would."

"Why was he hanging from that tree?" he still couldn't see how the blonde had been suspended.

"It was his idea," she answered. She unsealed some fresh veggies from a storage seal and rinsed them off with yet more water, "He has trouble chakra walking, so he's been sticking himself to things to improve his control."

"Pretty creative middle ground between the leaf exercises and tree climbing," Kakashi piped in as he turned a page, "Naruto has an almost freakishly large chakra supply. It can be hard to control, so excreting it from so much of his body at once makes it easier."

Sasuke grunted in acknowledgment and began to consider the possibilities. He knew full well that the 'dobe' was more of an act than anything. Sure the kid was dense as a rock, but anyone could see how creative he was just from his pranks alone. He'd even evaded close to twenty chunin after the monument. Sasuke had never actually felt Naruto had no skill, the Uchiha had just figured he was a loud clown. That was being called into question as he began to see just how seriously the blonde took his training. The fact that he was walking back into camp not half an hour after he'd left with a good sized deer carcass just helped his case.

"Wow, Naruto," Sakura gave a low whistle, "It takes close to twenty minutes to field dress a deer. You must've caught that just after you left."

The blonde seemed taken aback at the praise, but recovered quickly, "Thanks, Sakura-chan. Anyone got an empty storage scroll for the extra meat?"

The pink haired kunoichi tossed him the one she'd gotten her vegetables from. As he began to carve off hunks of meat for the stew, she began to toss two or three veggies above the pot at a time and dicing them up with rapid slashes of a kunai. It seemed even she was beginning to take things seriously. That was good. As little use as Sasuke had for them, he didn't really wish to see them come to harm.

He settled back and watched as Naruto and Sakura bantered. It was odd how well they actually got along now. It seemed the last few months had seen them becoming an actual team while he did his best to strengthen himself. He felt a pang of loneliness when he realized how much like a brother and sister they acted; Naruto annoying Sakura, who would, in turn, put him in his place. That realization quickly triggered awful memories that always lurked beneath the surface of his psyche.

Images from that awful second that had lasted nearly three days flitted before his eyes. He remembered so much pain and anger. He had wanted nothing more than to kill Itachi over and over again to make him suffer for every life he had ended. The ordeal had left his mind in shambles as the deaths played over and over again, even after Itachi had released his technique. He still wasn't sure how he had found his way out of that nightmare. It was as if something simply swept away all the terrible feelings those images inspired, and then something else drug him away from them, hidden him in a safe place in his own mind.

"... sit on an anthill?" he caught the last part of a question Naruto had asked him.

When he looked up, he saw the blonde mimicking him with Sakura trying very hard to keep from laughing.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"I said 'What's with the face, Sasuke? You sit on an anthill?" Naruto repeated for him. He then went back to mocking the Uchiha's dour look.

Sakura, through some giggling, managed to get out, "Stop it Naruto. Sasuke-kun doesn't look like that. You look constipated."

Sasuke had to admit, Naruto did look as if he were having trouble producing a bowel movement. The unexpected, yet apt, description swept away his dark thoughts. He felt his mouth tug up into a smirk, and he suddenly became disgusted with himself. How could he ever hope to avenge his clan if it was this easy to distract him.

Sasuke stood and disappeared into the darkness of the late autumn night. He had to get away from those two. Naruto had always had an annoying habit of distracting him. It often came in the form of pranks that realigned his ire towards the blonde for at least a few hours. Now it seemed Sakura was becoming an issue as well. The whole of Team Seven was just one big distraction.

XxXxXxX

"What crawled up his butt?" Tazuna yawned. The savory scent of Sakura's stew had drawn him from his repose.

"Sensei, stir the stew, please," the kunoichi requested politely before grabbing a surprised Naruto by the wrist and dragging him into the woods after their dour teammate.

"Hey, what the hell!?" Naruto protested as she pulled him along.

"You have the best night vision on the team," Sakura explained. She released his hand as he began to keep pace on his own, "Help me find him."

"What for?" the blonde grumbled as he began to scan through the trees, "If he wants to be alone, let him. Not my fault he can't take a joke."

"That's not it, Naruto," she sighed in exasperation, "We were attacked by nukenin three days out of Konoha. There could be more."

Naruto's face went from annoyed to determined in a second. Sakura had been coming to see that Naruto wasn't nearly the dunce he came off as. He was still a bit of an idiot, but he had shown a great deal of promise as a shinobi. He also cared about the team.

Naruto had a great deal of stamina and could run circles around her, but he never complained about her speed during the runs. He always stayed a step behind her, encouraging words never far from his lips if she seemed like she was flagging.

"There he is," Naruto pointed to a denser copse of trees that she would never hope to see into.

Trusting his eyes implicitly, she veered for it and could soon hear muttering. Her teammate stopped some distance away and began to sweep the area with his sensitive eyes.

"Sasuke?" she called out softly, "Are you okay?"

"Go away," came a reply she felt was meant to be harsh, but just sounded tired.

"It's not safe to be alone out here," she said, picking her way into the thicket. She came to a stop a few feet from what looked like Sasuke.

"You didn't have any trouble sending Naruto off hunting," she could hear the sneer in his voice, "Don't care about the dobe?"

"Naruto has extremely good senses and can evade some of the best in Konoha," she explained. She was starting to get annoyed, but managed to keep it out of her voice, "He has a good chance of escaping anyone trying to hurt him."

She felt a familiar presence behind her, "I set up a perimeter with some clones."

"Thank you," it seemed all the discussion about the usefulness of his signature technique hadn't gone to waste.

"I didn't need your help," Sasuke said sharply, "Why are you always bothering me?"

Sakura recoiled at his angry tone. She and Naruto were just trying to make sure he stayed safe.

"Listen here, asshat," Naruto pushed her to the side so he could get in Sasuke's face, "I am sick and tired of your shitty attitude."

Sasuke tried to form a reply, but the angry blonde cut him off.

"No... shut-up and listen," neither had ever heard Naruto sound so commanding, "Despite the fact that you act like an arrogant prick, Sakura-chan still cares about you. For some strange reason, so do I."

"You aren't alone," Naruto told Sasuke, "No matter how much you want to be, and I don't understand why you would, you're stuck with us."

"What do you know about it?" Sasuke spat back, "You've never had to lose everything you knew."

"Maybe not..." Naruto replied sadly, "But I do know what it means to be lonely. At least there are people still willing to help you. Until I was five, all I had was jiji, and he was always so busy. That's why you confuse me, Sasuke. I can't understand why you would want that kind of pain."

Sakura was starting to feel left out here. Except for some serious teasing in her earlier years, she had a pretty easy life.

"Pain makes you strong," Sasuke answered the blonde, "I need to be strong."

"I don't think that's right..." Sakura piped in. She felt two sets of eyes regarding her suddenly. She swallowed nervously, but plowed on, "Tou-san says that strength comes from overcoming adversity. It doesn't sound like you've overcome... well... you know."

A quiet ensued, and for a moment, Sakura thought she had overstepped her bounds.

"How am I supposed to just forget what he did?" the Uchiha's voice was pitched dangerously low, and he was suddenly standing, "How can I betray the memories of my family and clan like that?"

"N-no!" Sakura almost cried out, "I never meant that, just..."

"Just that living in the past will never get you anywhere near your goal," all three genin jumped in surprise at the new voice, but quickly realized it was their sensei, "The stew is done, and my original would like to sleep some time tonight. You have ten seconds to get back to camp, or he will double any punishment you incur during the mission."

The self-admitted clone then used a kunai to pop itself. No other words were exchanged as the genin darted back for camp before their bastard of a team leader made good on his threat.

Suiton: Juusui Toku (Water Release: Heavy Water Shelter)

Type: Ninjutsu (Denfensive)

Rank: B

Effect: A technique developed by Hiroto for the sole purpose of defense. By infusing local moisture with his chakra, he can pull it into a protective bubble around himself and nearby allies. The water becomes so dense that anything entering the bubble loses all momentum in milliseconds. Hiroto is capable of forming the bubble from chakra alone, but the expenditure for this form of the technique is massive.