Not Alone, Not Anymore

by Cyb0rg67

Shintaro has made his fair share of choices all having consequences and his most recent one will be one that will impact everyone's life both in past, present, and future. That choice is to prevent the death of Naruto Uzumaki. Follow Shintaro in his quest as he puts everything on the line for one boy that'll change the world. Mainly focuses on OC then alternates to Naruto later

8. Remembrance, Grievance, Acceptance

A/N: For those of you confused about why I updated this chapter after a day I posted it is simple...I screwed up. I forgot to put in a line when Shintaro had his monologue in the bathroom. And when Ayano said something that probably confused some people so I fixed that. Other than that everything else is still the same. Sorry about that, amateur writer here trying to make up for his mistakes.

Chapter 8

As the two siblings finished their breakfast the boy decided to bring something else up to his sister.

"Sis."

"Yes, Niichan?"

"There's been something I've been wanting to do for a while now."

"What's that Niichan?"

"I've been thinking about this, a lot, and I wanted to make sure you were old enough to understand."

"I'm 8 years old Niichan, almost 9. I'm not a dumb little girl you know." she said with sass

"I know, I know. It's just that this is a big deal what I'm gonna ask you."

"What is it?" the girl said getting more exciting

"Well, I've been thinking you've stepped up in your training these last few weeks, and...I was thinking that'd I start training you for...sigh train you to be more like me. You know teaching you certain ninjutsu, taijutsu techniques, and I was even thinking, if you want to, to train you to use a sword like me." the boy said causing his sister's eye's and mouth to widen with every word to the furthest they would let them.

"Really!? You'd let me do that niichan!? But wait, what about Sakura-sensei? I still want to be a medic nin." the girl said causing the boys eye to twitch in anger at the name but calmed himself quickly so that his sister wouldn't notice.

"I'm not saying to ignore being a medical ninja, but since your...teacher's been busy with finding a cure I figured you shouldn't waste time like this. There's no way in hell I'm admitting you to those schools, Kami knows how many of the teachers are infected much less the students, and like I told you before the city is dangerous with the civilians getting more and more desperate. It's been getting worse, food is scarce, and clean water is getting harder and harder to come by...for them at least. As far as we go we're set for a couple of years. So, do you want to learn more about being a more serious ninja like me or do you want to wait until you're older for this?"

"Keep in mind this training is gonna be tough, and I'm not going to go easy on you. I'll be just as hard as my sensei was on me, but it'll make you a stronger person. It'll be hard, painful physically, mentally and maybe even emotionally, plus this training will determine if your capable of handling being a ninja in the world of today. So, you still want do this or did I scare you out of it?" the boy said as his sister's grin turned into a grimace thinking of what her brother might put her through.

The girl was uncertain no doubt, but like her mother she always thought things through hard. The girl wanted to be like her adoptive brother, but she was unsure if she could handle his training; on the other hand what he said was true. He forbade her from leaving the house grounds due to the incident 3 months ago, and spent more and more time with her never leaving his sister's side. Just as she was about to say no a thought came to her mind.

"If I go through with Niichan's training, then I'll have to something to show off when I get to go see Mom and Dad. Sure it'll be hard, but I want to show them something that they'll be proud of. I'll never stop trying to be a medic nin, but since Sakura-sensei is busy with finding a cure I can't do that right now. So..."

"I'll do it. I want to train like you do Niichan. Please teach me!" the girl said determined with a fire in her eyes causing the boy to smirk under his mask.

"You sure?" he asked while his sister nodded vigorously not changing her mind.

"There's no turning back from this."

"I want to do this Niichan. I've made up my mind."

"OK then. Keep in mind things are gonna be different around here." the boy said getting up from his chair

"Bring it on Niichan! I'm ready for anything!" the girl said excitedly with her fist in the air and a confident grin on her face

"Very well then...(takes a deep breath) Alright Missy head outside right now! We're going on a 5 mile run for a warm up and I want don't want hear any complaining!" the boy yelled in drill sergeant like voice that stunned his sister with a confused look

"Niich-"

"What are you deaf? I said move it! Outside Now! Now now now now!" the boy yelled freaking his sister out causing her to run outside.

"What did I just do?" the girl thought to herself despairingly while her brother smirked to himself thinking what he should start off his sister with for her new training regime.

---

7:12 a.m

As the sun made it's way to Shintaro's room he began to have the usual nightmares that covered various moments of his entire life that he would get every night, and despite having them over many years he still hadn't gotten over them.

'We need to move now!'

'I won't let go, I'll never let go!'

'Yumiko, no!'

'Damn it I'm not letting any more of my friends die!'

'Mom….Dad? Where are you?'

'I can't...please...don't make me!'

'Kill the monster!'

'He's a freak, a fucking freak!'

'Misaka-chan! Why Shintaro, why would you do this to me?'

'Shintaro….I love you.'

'I't's your fault all your fault!'

'You join us or never speak to us again that is your choice.'

'You bastards! You killed them, you killed them all! I'll never forgive you for this! NEVER!'

'I...will...KILL YOU!'

'Then don't bother coming back unless you get your shit together gaki!'

'Listen kid, it's you or those villagers what's it gonna be?'

'I'm sorry….I'm so, so sorry….'

This was something he did not need after the long mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting day that Shintaro had; it didn't help the knowing feeling of utter, and total shit. A lot had happened though yesterday, after not only finding some people he didn't expect to be alive, you know….alive, and bringing them back up drained him more than he would admit.

Then having to deal with personal issues that Kushina who unknowingly kept bringing up memories reminding Shintaro of his past that he would rather forget. Then having to deal with the 3 ninjas he met after gaining the property, the stupidly angry mob early in the day, going to the Hokage's office….twice immediately one after another, dodging dinner multiple times only to end up in bed hungry, going to the Uchiha District to deal with those paranoid Uchiha "Police Force", dealing with Shusuke with his little rebellion issues, and then having to finally end the day making his best friend cry, not the best ending to any day, made Shintaro go through a rough night of hardly, if any, good sleep.

Trying to pry his eyes open Shintaro yawned heavily as he rose from his bed like a corpse from it's grave.

"Kami, I hardly got any sleep at all. Oh well, 'sniff' yeesh! Man, I need a shower." Shintaro said as he got up from his bed searching his bag for some spare clothes.

"Alright. Now, I'm sure the water is still working in this dump otherwise I'd have to go to one their public baths." Shintaro said going through a pile of clothes he took out from one of his scrolls.

'Really? I just thought you'd want to bathe in a river liked you used too.' Uncle Ku said to Shintaro slightly mocking him

'Ha ha, very funny uncle….though that doesn't sound like a bad idea since it'll be more private.' Shintaro thought to himself as exited his room with spare clothes

'You know, spending all that time in a forest may have altered your perspective on a normal life.' Uncle Ku said sarcastically

'It's not like I had a normal life uncle.' Shintaro said dishearteningly

'Besides what normal kid spends most of their time leading a group of other kids trying to keep a secret from everyone around him?' Shintaro said as he made his way to the showers

'Since I, or my clone anyways, already checked this place out I know that the personal showers aren't working in the rooms, but at least the two dividing sections of showers work. Now, if I remember they were right over….there!' Shintaro thought to himself as made his way to the dividing section of the men and women showers. But when he arrived there something seemed off to him as he looked at the signs.

"Huh, that's strange. Could've sworn the men was on the left, and the women on the right….oh well, my clone was tired as hell when I got here, and I'm tired as hell now so might as well go in." Shintaro said stopping as he heard the sound of water rushing down, and steam coming out of the entrance.

"Huh, looks like someone's already in there, wonder who it could be." Shintaro said as he made his way to the showers….well it was more like a bathhouse, but again Shintaro just knew this was a place to clean up yourself.

As Shintaro made his way into the shower with only his towel, and towel around his face (gotta keep up appearances) he walked into the shower that looked more like a bathhouse than anything. With shower heads aligned against the wall poking their heads out of the steam fog barely with a huge bathtub for at least 10-15 people Shintaro decided to screw it and relax in the tub first seeing as he had some stress to wash away.

Walking towards the bathtub the sounds of water splashing with every step he makes Shintaro reaches the bathtub also filled with steam covering up most of the layout of the room, but notices a towel laying to the side of the floor signaling that someone else is in the tub as well. Just then Shintaro began to evilly chuckle to himself

'Hehehehehe time for a little surprise to lighten up my day.' Shintaro thought to himself as he took a few steps back to give himself a running start

"CANNONBALL!" Shintaro yelled as he ran and jumped into the bathtub letting out some water out of the bathtub laughing as he surfaced out of the bathtub

"Hahahahaha! Oh man, that felt good! Whooo! So who's in here anyways?" Shintaro asked resting against a corner of the bathtub only to receive silence as an answer "

Come on! I saw that towel on the floor I know someone's in here." Shintaro said only to receive silence trying to look to past the steam to see some light blonde colored hair let down.

"Oh, it's you Sadao." Shintaro said only to receive silence again

"Probably asleep. Not surprising, He probably fell back asleep once he knew it was me. Whatever." Shintaro said as he sat in the tub relaxing until he heard movement from the other side

"So I take it you're finally up then lazy ass?" Shintaro said hearing a sudden stop to the movement only receiving a nod barely visible as a response

"Oh ok….guess you're still waking up from another long a nap you took. Well, since you're up I wanted your advice on something." Shintaro said again receiving a nod in response.

"Ok, sleepy head don't bother to give me an answer that requires you to speak not like I wanted to talk to you anyways." Shintaro grumbled to himself before he decided to break the silence.

"Actually, I wanted your advice on what I should do in regards about Ayano-chan. You see I was dealing with some of Shusuke's crap again, you know about how you guys are going to be ninjas here, which by the way great thinking might as well rip our masks off while were at it. Anyways, I ended up snapping at Ayano-chan then just left her there with Shusuke. Then when I get inside my room I hear Ayano-chan yelling at Shusuke for some reason….Ayano-chan never yells, not even when she's mad. Yet I made her mad, scared her or something to the point where it actually freaked me out a bit. I was trying to hear what Ayano-chan was saying, but I couldn't get a clear word out."

"All I could manage was she was defending me even after I lashed out at her. I felt like total, and utter shit at that moment, here I was dealing my with my own problems falling under stress, and letting Ayano take some of brunt of it, yet she still was defending me for whatever reason….Kami I'm an idiot."

"It took me a bit, but I worked up the courage to get up so I could apologize to her. However, when I went out I saw Ayano-chan with Ms. Uzumaki, who probably calmed her down, talking to about something, probably trying to cheer her up I'd bet. So I walked up, and started hearing Ayano-chan talking about dresses or something, probably about that promise about taking her out today. I admit I was both confused, and scared out of my mind when Ayano-chan did a 180 on her personality yesterday; but I thought it was because I haven't hinted at anything about her birthday the last few days. So I thought about something that I could think of at the moment that would make her feel better….which for some reason a date was the only thing that came to mind. So I'd said that I would take her out for lunch, dessert….which in all honesty doesn't sound much like a date, to me anyways now that I think about it.

"So, without telling her I've got something else planned for her, but it's a secret so I'm not gonna tell ya. All I'm gonna say is that it's going to blow her mind hehehehe man she's gonna flip. Anyways I've been thinking about some things Ayano-chan said to me last night. You know about my plan to leave the village, and personally don't care about, that's why I won't bother with the details. The thing is I actually told her in the heat of the moment even though you told me not to; though I failed to see the reason why, now I understand….Ayano-chan doesn't want me to be alone. Or at least that what I think anyways, so I then explained why I was leaving the village….and practically I said "you're not good enough to keep me there" to her face which in all honesty was probably the worst thing I could say even though I didn't say it outright."

"She should know that once I leave the village I'll be hunted down for the rest of my life because that damn village doesn't want to lose their big weapon, that's not a life I want for her at all. I just want her to be happy that's all, she deserves at least that after everything I've put her through, what with basically hiding what she actually looks like all for the sake of hiding from that bastard, to separating her from her mother the only adult that seemed to care about her with a few exceptions, and then forcing her to learn medical ninjutsu even though technically Hiromi was already a good enough medic."

"It's just that we needed someone else due to Hiromi's condition at the time, and the only one that I could think of with good enough chakra control for it was Ayano-chan. So I had her study something she probably wasn't even interested in the first place; at least she has something to brag about to her mom when she sees her again." Shintaro says as he dips himself in the bathtub again for a quick rinse

"Ahh! That hit the spot. Anyways what I'm getting at I'm starting to understand why Ayano-chan puts up with so much of my crap. I'm not sure if this is 100% true or not, hell I'll be surprised if it is, so don't say anything, but….I think Ayano-chan has feelings for me….you know the uh….love kind of feelings. If I'm right then….sigh." he said before a long pause the next time he talked."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do about it; the last thing I want to do is hurt Ayano-chan in any way possible, but….if she truly does love me, then I'm not sure if I can return her feelings….at least not all the way. When I start to think about Ayano-chan, the way we met, the way I treated her from the beginning, the way we became friends despite her….family ties, and to our journey up till now, I just don't see how any normal human being can ever fall for someone like me. However, every time I do think about those memories good or bad, I get this weird feeling I can't explain in my chest….it's a familiar feeling, one I haven't felt in a while."

"Heh, even then only a few managed to make me feel like this just by thinking about them, but 3 of them are dead with one more not even giving me the time of day. Though I can't blame her given that her memories were altered so she doesn't remember me; and even then she would probably hate me for what I've done to her if she did remember me….Kami, I'm feeling the same way to 5 different girls, what kind of hopeless loser am I?" he said banging his head backward against the wall.

"I swear I suck at girls, but Ayano-chan she's….I don't know how to say this, but she's….special. She's special in ways I can't describe in words just….Augh! (he dunks himself the water for a second) why is this so hard? I don't know why I'm even talking to you about this you're probably asleep like you usually are. Maybe I….sigh maybe I just want live the rest of my life without having to lose something or more likely someone I….I can't even say the damn word when it's only four letters even though I just said a few minutes ago."

"Ugh….anyways, if for whatever reason Ayano-chan did fall for someone who has his heart shattered beyond repair….then….ugh I just sounded like some cheesy romance novel. Heh, I have the mental mindset of an 18 year old man yet I can't even talk to myself about a girl that I may or may not even lo-like I mean like. A girl who's pretty…. smart…. cute-Auuuugggggh!" he screamed to himself banging his head against the wall

"Why 'Bang!' do 'Bang!' I 'bang!' have 'Bang!' to keep 'Bang!' thinking about her like that! 'BANG!'...ugh, now I have a huge headache." He said rubbing his temples.

"Wait a minute, I just thought of something if I give Ayano-chan that gift I gave her for her birthday a while back then that'll give me some closure on the subject….yeah, last time it glowed white, shed some petals down to five, then just made me look at Ayano-chan differently. Maybe that has something to do with it; problem is the only place where it'd be found is the Forest of Death where I….nearly lost my life doing so, but it was worth it seeing Aya-chan smile like that. Aya-chan? That sounds like a nickname I'd give her if we were da-nope! Get that thought out of your head now Shintaro, before you give someone the wrong impression….or worse hurt Ayano-chan's feelings. Besides other than I could call her even cheesier like Aya-hime-oh dammit I did it again! Only now it sounds like it belongs to someone's who marri-dammit! 'BANG' I can't think like that!"

"She deserves someone who could make her happy, someone who's not despised by everyone which in turn will divert to her, someone who she could have kids with, and "not" worry about their future, but that someone can't be me. I've already failed to protect so many I care about….Mother, Sentōki, all my uncles and aunts, Fumiko-Yumiko-Hakufu-Masori-Menma-Yin-Masami-Ichiro-Tadao-Haruko, and especially Aiko….(tears began to flow out of his eyes) Aiko…. she was just a baby, MY SISTER and I couldn't do ONE damn thing for her! (he punches the tiled wall making a hole) I promised mom that I would protect her with my life, yet she's dead, and here I am still walking. She….she was the only thing that kept me going, the reason I stayed in that god forsaken village, now she's gone and….(he begins crying audibly) dammit. Why? Why am I still alive, when everyone else I love is either dead or out of reach? I can't stay with Hiromi forever because I will find a way to her parents, Misaka doesn't remember me, and even if she did she wouldn't even consider me anything but an enemy, and Ayano….why did I just say her name? Do I love Ayano-chan? I can't believe I just said that….ugh" he groaned before chuckling to himself

"Even if I do love her I can't let myself have that luxury. I'm convinced that whoever I love be it a friend, family, or romantic otherwise is bound to suffer greatly or end up dead one way or another. Who knows, maybe that's why I'm so hard on everyone, why I'm the only one here who knows how end someone's life. I'll admit I don't like everyone here equally as much as I do with others, the teme alone proves that, but I didn't let that cloud my judgement when I assigned certain roles to the group or when we were hired to deal with bandits or the hunter nin that chased after us. Whenever we were hired I made sure I was the only one to go, and...dispose of them; no one in the original group, not even the teme, knows what it's like to end someone's life."

"Heh, and I wonder why I know that in the first place. Gee, it's almost as if I had to learn it in the first place." Shintaro said with obvious sarcasm

"But I digress...actually, if there's anyone I'm overprotective about it's Hiromi. I won't deny it, I've been babying her this entire time. I've always carried her bags, gave her the least amount of work allowing her to focus on being a medic nin, and I even gave her my share of food whenever she was hungry...which was all the time. Maybe it-no, it's definitely because she's my sister even though Hiromi's just an adoptive sibling. I have shielded Hiromi from this world harsh reality as best as I could, but she has seen no kid her age should see. Yet, it's because of my over protectiveness that Hiromi barely has any self-confidence if only when I'm around. You know what I mean, whenever Hiromi is around me she can act freely like her usual cheery self like how she was meant to be, but whenever I leave her side she turns into a shy, nervous wreck hoping that I come back soon."

"Hiromi...she's someone else that I'll have to leave behind when this journey of ours is done. I'm sure she'll be heartbroken, but I promised Hiromi back to her parents and that's what I'm gonna do...even if it means I'll be separated from the last remains of my family. Now that I think about, and I mean really think about it I'm the very last member of not only my family, but my village, group of first friends, even my family. " Shintaro said in a sorrowful tone before sighing then standing up from the tub leaning against the wall.

"This is getting me nowhere. I need to focus on other things like making sure Ayano-chan lives long enough to experience something like true love. All I can do is focus on today, and make sure this date will be the best one I can give her….which might make her lo-I mean like her even more….Kami, I wish I would've thought of something else other than a date." Shintaro said before speaking in a tired, but also a relieved voice

"Man, I don't what it is, but I feel both like crap, and like a huge weight's been taken off of me if that's possible. Maybe it's the setting, maybe it's the fact I've been rambling on like a girl about something like this, or maybe it's just nice talking to someone that's here, that may or may not be unconscious. But, I can say this. I have made many mistakes in my life, and because of that I'm a perfectionist when it comes to nearly everything. All because I never want to experience losing anyone else close to me, and now I have alienated myself from the original group. I need or I guess I have by now to accept the fact that I will make more mistakes. One of the last things psycho-sensei was this."

"It's fine to remember your mistakes, so long as you don't dwell on them."

"It's fine to grieve over the losses those mistakes have caused, so long as you don't drown in them."

"Everything that happens will happen, and it will change you for better. So long as you accept it."

"Remembrance, Grievance, Acceptance. The three key things you need in order to learn from your mistakes. I sure as hell have the first two, it's the third one I'm having trouble with...I'm sure with time I'll learn how, I just hope it won't be too late by then." Shintaro said in a grim voice

"Anyways it was nice doing something like this, maybe I'll do it more often in here. Oh well, time for me to get out. I've got a lot of stuff to do today, and it's not gonna get done in here. See ya later Sadao good talk." Shintaro said as he picked up his towel walking towards the exit as the steam let off.

---

(Meanwhile 10 minutes before Shintaro left the shower)

As Shintaro made his way into the showers the two signs suddenly switched by a string pulling the two fake signs down revealing that the women's bath was indeed on the right. The sounds of giggling children could be heard from across the room knowing their prank had been put into effect.

"Aww man this is gonna be so awesome!" Naruto giggled to himself

"Yeah, I can't wait to see the look on Shintaro's face when he comes out of there scared from every girl in there giving him hell." Suigetsu said

"Hey! Don't take credit for my idea! Gosh, boys are so annoying." Fu said annoyingly

"Whatever, let's just sneak in the air vent, and watch the magic happen from a better angle." Suigetsu said happily

"Pervert." Fu said glaring at Suigetsu

"Hey, you're about watch a "naked boy" go into a shower, and I'm the pervert? A well-toned, muscular, evenly tanned boy that you saw last night." Suigetsu said seductively making Fu blush a bit

"S-Shut up! W-whatever! It doesn't matter to me in the slightest!" Fu said flustered making Suigetsu roll his eyes.

"Hey, let's make a bet!" Naruto said to the two kids suddenly gaining interest

"Whoever has a nosebleed from this loses, and does what the last winner standing has to say!" Naruto said all cheery like making the two bickering kids give each other a look, and nodded.

"Deal!" they said in unison

"But if no one has a nosebleed the next thing is fainting or getting red on your face." Suigetsu said adding into the bet.

"Fine, but when you two perverted boys knock out I'm gonna reap my rewards in the form of you two being my manservant's." Fu said delighted thinking of ways to torture them.

"Fine, but when I win you two suckers are gonna go on a training marathon with Ling." Suigetsu said smiling all smug like.

"L-Ling! Dude she does a 10 mile run…. at 6:00 in the morning….as a warm up!" Fu said terrified of that

"Well if I win you two are gonna take me out to Ichiraku Ramen for as long as I want today." Naruto said confident, but was dreading the thought should he lose.

"How is that a punishment?" Suigetsu asked confused

"Well, I ate about 50 extra-large miso, pork, and beef ramen bowls yesterday, and Shintaro said something about a "crater in my wallet" I think that's what he said….uh guys?" Naruto said looking at the two children

"50 BOWLS!?" Fu yelled in disbelief

"Extra-Large?" Suigetsu said also in disbelief

"Who eats that much ramen?" Suigetsu said

"Who "can" eat that much ramen?" Fu asked wondering if Naruto was just telling a lie.

"I can, that's who!" Naruto proudly exclaimed with his chest puffed up.

"If I lose, I'll be flat broke." Suigetsu said as he paled at the thought of his savings being wiped before his every eyes.

"You, and me both shark boy." Fu said annoying Suigetsu.

"Tch! Whatever Moss Head." Suigetsu retorted.

"So then it's a deal? Naruto said with his hand extended to the two who quickly answered.

"Deal, but I'm gonna win." they said putting their hands on top of each other before looking at each other with intensity as sparks flew between the three children.

"Alright, who goes first?" nervously asked Naruto pointing to the air vent that was filled with darkness scary enough to frighten the two boys in fear of never coming or getting lost.

"I'll do it you big babies." Fu said as she climbed up and into the vent starting to crawl.

"Geez, is she like that all the time?" Naruto asked

"Only when she's around her friends." Suigetsu said as he followed Fu surprising Naruto with his statement

"F-friends?" Naruto said to himself

"Uh, obviously. She considers you a friend dude otherwise she wouldn't have let you talk to us in the first place. She has trust issues so I was kinda surprised when you wanted to talk, and she said "sure" which either means she hates you, and only means she'll let you hang out with us as a nicety or she wants to friends with you. I don't know I can hardly ever tell what's going through that girls head. So you comin or what shorty?" Suigetsu said extending his hand to Naruto

"Hell yeah I am!" Naruto said enthusiastically

"Well, someones excited to see some skin." Suigetsu said snidely making Naruto blush a bit

"N-no that's not what I meant!" Naruto said defending himself while looking at Suigetsu getting bonked on the head by Fu

"Oh don't pretend you're not enjoying this too you perverted fishboy." Fu said annoyed

"And yeah, I do want us to be friend's shorty." Fu said smiling at Naruto

"Really?" asked Naruto

"I just said yes shorty. What do you want me to change my mind shorty?" Fu asked annoyed

"No! I don't but, do you have to call me shorty?" Naruto said

"Yup, it's part of our friend thing. Everyone get's a nickname that relates to a physical trait, characteristic, or past action that comes to their mind at first thought. In Suigetsu's case it's his shark-like teeth, love for water, and the fact he wets the bed every night I call him either shark boy or bed wetter." Fu said happily

"Damn it! You know I have trouble with my kekkei genkai when I'm asleep so shut it Moss Head." Suigetsu said disgruntled

"Keka who-ha?" Naruto said confused

"Kek-kei….gen-kai. It's basically an ability that can only be passed down by a family line or belonging to a clan like mine the Hozuki clan." Suigetsu explained

"Oh….ok so what can you do?" Naruto asked "I can turn my entire body into water or certain parts of it if I want to." Suigetsu said with pride

"But every time he knocks out he loses control, and "liquefies" at random therefore….bed wetter." Fu said mockingly

"I swear if you call me that one more time Moss Head I'll tell Guren that it was you who switched her make up with itching powder." Suigetsu threatened

"Y-You wouldn't dare! She'll mutilate me!" Fu said paling at the thought of facing her wrath as a crystal style user

"If you do that then….then I'll tell Katsumi that it was you who tagged Tomoko and Tomoki "Cat's rule, and Dogs drool" in red paint!" Fu threatened

"That was only because she cheated at poker, and you know that!" Suigetsu said back at Fu

"What's poker?" Naruto asked with curiosity

"Basically it's a card game. It's a way to relieve stress, and it's a helpful way to decide who gets to do what for the day." Fu said

"Oh." Naruto responded

"Plus I like to think of it as practice for when I go big at the casino's" Suigetsu said priding himself

"Please, with your luck you'll go broke before seeing even a speck of cash." Fu mocked

"Tch! whatever, all I need is a little practice under my belt with some cash, and a whole lot of luck!" Suigetsu said smiling thinking of what he could do with a ton of cash

"So are we going through with this bet or not?" Fu asked annoyed turning around to start crawling again

"Yeah, Yeah I'm coming." Suigetsu said following her

"Me too! Wait for me!" Naruto said following the two.

As the three children were crawling through the vents they heard the voice of Naruto's mother.

"It's a good thing we went shopping last night. I gotta thank Shintaro for buying the ingredients I need to make Naruto some of my homemade ramen. Minato would...Minato. Heh, he'd always ramble on about how he'd love my ramen, even at the beginning when my ramen was obviously terrible he would finish every bowl. Minato..." Kushina said sadly before smacking her face to snap herself out of her trance.

"Alright. Since Naruto went to go play with his friends it's time for me to do a little house cleaning in here. After all, since my home got trashed, Minato's mansion and Minato's….safe house was no doubt teleported by his seals to some unknown location I got to make the most of it here until otherwise. I swear " Kushina said while tying her hair in a ponytail, dawning an apron before grabbing a broom to dust the cobwebs in the high corners of the room.

Dusting away Kushina noticed the sounds of bickering children in the air vent behind her.

"Is that? No, it couldn't be. Must be my imagin-"

"Ow stop pushing!"

"Then move dammit!"

"Guys be quiet. My mom's gonna hear us."

"Yeah right."

"Dude she was a ninja."

"You're just saying that to be cool."

"No I'm not. I'm telling the truth!"

"Shut up the both of ya!"

"You shut up!"

"No, YOU shut up!"

"No you!"

"No you!"

"Guys come on. Let's just find the girl's bathroom already."

"Grr...Fine."

"Pervert."

"This whole thing was your idea!"

"I know."

"Then why'd you call me a pervert?"

"Just to mess with you…and you're a boy."

"How is that my fault?"

"I don't know. Now let's hurry up before his mom hears us."

"Ok, so is it left or right from he-"

'CRASH!'

That was the sound of Kushina smashing the air vent exposing three frightened children holding each other for comfort knowing that they were caught.

Now Kushina may have been a mother for about a day, and she loved her son more than life itself; but she was not going to let her son be influenced in the perverted lifestyle like a certain hermit she knows. So like any good mother Kushina was going to discipline her son, and these other children as well if she had to. However, Kushina was not like most mothers due to her…methods.

Said methods were scaring the crap out the kid's by showing them the reason she was called The Red Hot Habenero.

"My my, what have I found here? It seems I found 3 little deviants off to do something naughty." Kushina said with her hair flying in the air like some monster while said deviants were shaking in fear, continuing to hold each other for comfort. As Kushina extended her arms to grab the paralyzed children they could only imagine what kind of horror they were going to endure.

"My one chance to see moss head suffer gone."

"My one chance to see bed wetter suffer gone."

"My one chance to have unlimited ramen gone."

---

(Back to the bathroom)

As more, and more steam began to dissipate the figure within the tub began to sob as she was comforted by another person in there.

"Hey Ayano, are you ok?" the girl asked "I don't know, I just don't know any more Guren-chan." Ayano said between sobs

"I just can't believe he just went in here, and just….you know said all that heavy stuff thinking you were that lazy bastard Sadao." Guren said

"If Shintaro-kun knew it was me he wouldn't have said all those things to me. I don't know what to do Guren-chan should I tell him that it was me-"

"Hell NO! Listen this is an opportunity, and you should seize it. Look you finally knows how the guy feels for you, and it was from his mouth! Even if he was confused as can be. If you do confront him about it he's gonna think of some way of avoiding you for all eternity, and do you want to know why? Because he'll either be too chicken to do anything or be too embarrassed to say anything. Listen, we all knew hell even you knew that he was crushing on Misaka for whatever reason, and no we have an idea why. Or at least the start of one, look I may not have known you guys all that long, but something is up I can tell. I wonder though, why in the hell would someone alter her memories? What did she do? What did "he" do that would make Misaka hate him so much?" Guren wondered looking at Ayano who seemed to be processing all the information putting the pieces together until she remembered something Shintaro said

"Shintaro-kun said Aiko-chan was his sister, but that can't be right she's was the heir to the….no, no that can't be right if it is then Shintaro-kun is-"

"What are you girls talking about?" a new voice said coming in the bathtub revealing it to be Kushina with a towel covering her body

"O-Obaa-chan!" Ayano said surprised looking at Kushina getting the tub as well

"Hey, who punched a hole in here?" Kushina said inspecting the hole Shintaro made

"Never mind about that what are you doing here? And why are you covered in dust?" Guren asked Kushina looking at her dirty face

"Oh this?" Kushina said pointing to her face

"I just so happened to catch 3 little deviants sneaking where they weren't supposed to sneak. I found them in an air vent so I punched through it, and grabbed them one by one lecturing them about how dangerous it is to be in there. Needless to say there won't be any peeping toms coming here now, at least when I'm around. Right, Fu?" Kushina said followed by a nervous laughter

"Hehehe, sorry " Fu said as she stepped in the tub with Kushina

"Morning my youthful companions!" Ling said as she slipped through the steam sliding on the water then somersaulted into the tub making a splash

"Do you have to be so reckless Ling?" Honoka said chiding Ling

"Yeah" Katsumi said agreeing with her "besides this is how you get in a tub. CANNONBALL!" Katsumi yelled as she jumped in the tub making a huge splash with her pups joining her

"Geez, can you not empty out the tub before I get a chance to soak in." Misaka said as she walked up with her towel stepping into the tub as well

"Agreed, now come on Karin let's get in before it get's too cramped." Honoka said

"Ok" Karin said as she walked with Honoka getting into the tub

"Aw man, I knew it'd be full when I got here." Momiji said

"S-sory Momiji." Hiromi said shyly next to her

"Eh, it's alright Hiromi you needed someone to help you with your bag, and since that no good brother of yours was nowhere to be found I was the only one there to help you, and I thought I told you to call me Momo, Hiromi." Momiji said lightly poking Hiromi's forehead

"Ouch!" Hiromi said

"Oh, come on you know that didn't hurt." Momiji said

"You don't know that." Hiromi said pouting at her

"Uh-huh, let's get you cleaned up then. I don't need you getting sick on us because you didn't take a bath." Momiji said as she and Hiromi found a spot in the tub as Momiji found some soap, and began washing Hiromi's hair.

"So I take it you girls got here first then?" Kushina asked as she began washing Fu's hair as the steam in the washroom finally cleared showing Ayano's face remembering what happened just a few minutes ago

"Hey, what's wrong sweetie?" Kushina asked "Sweetie? When did you two get so close?" Guren said wondering about their relationship

"Hmpf! Well I'll have you know that due to a certain incident last night Ayano, and I bonded; therefore I adopted her as my own niece since she still has a mother." Kushina said proudly puffing her chest showing her bosom to the young girls with Ayano blushing, and Guren looking in wonder.

"Soooo big! How'd you get them like that?" Guren asked looking for the secret to Kushina's breast size "

Oh these?" Kushina said slightly embarrassed "These are nothing compared to Tsunade's, heck even Hitomi's are bigger than mine." Kushina said trying to be modest

"Who's Hitomi?" Guren asked

"A friend of mine that belongs to the Hyuuga clan….Oh! That reminds me I have to see how she's doing with little Hinata, she must be about Naruto's age by now." Kushina said already planning a visit to her other close friend while Momiji felt a pit a pit in her stomach for a second shaking it off real quick

"So what are you guys doing here so early anyways? I mean too much steam "can" be bad for you, luckily I know just the right amount to keep my body nice, smooth, and silky for Shusuke-kun. Oh, and I saw Shintaro on his way out of here, said he needed to borrow his short sword for something "important" he said. When I asked what's he planning to do all he said was 'I'm gonna do some gardening, and tell Ayano-chan the date's still on at the usual time then he just ran off." Misaka said as she srubbed her body

"Oh, we…." Ayano said trying to think of something only to have those feelings she felt earlier come back in full force before starting to cry again trying to hide it, but ultimately failing

"Damn it Misaka! What'd you say to her now?" Katsumi said bopping Misaka's head

"OW! All I did was ask "Why are you guys here so early?" and said that I saw Shintaro earlier. Seriously who in their right mind does gardening with a short sword anyways?" Misaka said rubbing her head glaring at Katsumi while Ayano's eyes widen finally realizing what "special gift" Shintaro was planning to give her, and suddenly was racing to get out of the tub

"I need to get to Shintaro-kun! eep!" Ayano said falling flat on her face, but getting up quickly wrapping the towel around her body

"Ayano what's wrong?" Kushina asked concerned

"It's Shintaro-kun he's in danger!" Ayano said distraught running to find her clothes making Kushina somewhat worried also getting out of the tub

"If he's in danger then I'm coming too. I don't need both my niece, and her future boyfriend in mortal danger." Kushina said half-jokingly making Ayano stopping dead in her tracks

"B-b-boyfriend? M-me, and S-Shintaro-k-kun b-boyfriend, and g-girlfriend?" Ayano stuttered embarrassed, and blissfully happy at the thought of them together

"Well duh, you may be a bit young now, but like he said last night "give it a few years, and I'm sure you'll mature into a beautiful woman." and I could tell he meant every word too

"Shintaro really said that? Man, he must've went to the cheese factory for that line." Guren said sarcastically

"W-well, I-I thought it was s-sweet of h-him to say that." Ayano said flustered twiddling her fingers

"You tell em sweetie! Fight for your man!" Kushina said raising her fist in the air comically cheering for Ayano making her blush hard

"O-Obaa-chan!" Ayano said embarrassed

"Did the whole "Shintaro-kun's in danger!" bit pass in the span of 30 seconds?" Misaka said looking at Ayano stumble over own clothes bringing her to remember what she set out to do

"Y-You're right! I need to get to Shintaro-kun now!" Ayano said snapping out of her phase finishing putting her clothes on, and bolting out through the exit

"Wait! Ayano hold on!" Kushina said as she tried to put on the last of her clothes on.

"Hey Mil- I mean Ms. Uzumaki?"

"What is it Honoka?"

"What about your son?"

"Don't worry I already had a plan for that." Kushina said before making a hand sign very familiar to Shintaro

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Kushina said as another semi naked Kushina poofed into existence

"Ok, you stay here real quick while I go keep Shintaro, and Ayano from doing something stupid."

"Got it, but couldn't you have done this before you tried to put your clothes on." The clone said sarcastically removing her clothes

"Whatever." Kushina said rolling her eyes

As the clone took her clothes off again to retreat to the tub while the original Kushina finished with the rest of her clothes she quickly went out to find Ayano.

"Do you think we should do something?" Guren said to the rest of the girls

"Like what? That idiot's probably the strongest one in our group, but don't tell him I said that." Misaka said as she rinsed out her hair

"Yeah, besides if he's going out of his way to ask for his sword back, then he's probably gonna do some serious shit." Katsumi said

"You know I gotta ask you girls something." Honoka said to the group

"What?" they said

"Why are you bathing with those masks on your faces still?" Honoka asked

"They're really adamant about keeping their faces a secret Honoka. It's just how they are so I suggest you get used to it." Guren said washing her body

"Oh, ok?" Honoka said getting back to washing Karin's hair

10 minutes later...

"Oh, I just can't take it anymore! I'm gonna join them in the search for Shintaro, it would be un-youthful otherwise!" Ling said jumping out the tub

"Hey hold on a minute Ling! I'm sure the original me will be back sooner or later with the two of them. So just hold on." the Kushina clone said trying to grab Ling.

Which she did only for Ling to unintentionally bumping into the Kushina clone causing her to dispel.

"Whoops…sorry." Ling said nervously chuckling

"Ugh, dammit I'm going to. If Ling's going then something interesting is bound to happen than just sitting in this damn tub. And since she just killed off Ms. Uzumaki's clone might as well now." Katsumi said getting up from the tub with her pups swimming after her

"I-I'm going to! I wanna help big brother too!" Hiromi said as she tried to get out without slipping too fast

"Hey, isn't it Ayano's birthday today anyways?" Guren said nondescriptly

"That's it, I'm going to." Momiji said feeling guilty

"I guess I'm going too don't want to be left behind, and all." Misaka reluctantly said getting out the tub "It's her birthday today? Do you think we should do something sis?" Karin asked Honoka

"Ugh….If anything happens to Lady Kushina I can't face Lord Homura in person. Karin, you Fu, and Hiromi need to stay here it's too dangerous. Guren keep an eye on them will ya?" Honoka said to Guren

"B-but I want to help too!" Hiromi said complaining

"No, Hiromi you need to stay here where it's safe. The stuck-up red headed bimbo's right, Shintaro's gonna flip out if you're in danger because of him, and that'll just put more stress on his head than he needs; you don't want that do you?" Guren said to Hiromi

"But, but….no" Hiromi said dejectedly

"You know what'll make his day? If you come up rushing to him all squeaky clean to brighten his day." Guren said trying to convince Hiromi

"Y-you think so?" Hiromi asked

"I know so. Now come on, before you catch a cold, and Shintaro blames it on me….again." Guren deadpanned

"Hey! I'm not stuck up!" Honoka complained

"Oh how nice of you to wait for us to finish talking bimbo." Guren said mock happy giving Honoka tick marks

"Tch! Whatever, just watch the kid's will ya, and make sure you get behind their ears." Honoka said as she made her way to the changing rooms

"Yeah,Yeah whatever." Guren said as she looked at the 3 young girls playing with each other in the tub.

(Meanwhile)

'Ok, Kunai check, Shuriken check, my special secret weapon that Shintaro-kun gave me two birthday's ago….check! Oh thank goodness I thought I forgot about them.' Ayano thought to herself. As Ayano exited the building she began running up to the roof so she could get an overlook view so she had an idea of where to look for that forbidden place….The Forest of Death

"It's a good thing this building is tall, Shintaro-kun really knows real estate. Now where is it….last I remember it was….there!" Ayano said pointing to the direction to where she needed to go now making a run for it

"Ayano!" Kushina yelled catching up to her

"Obaa-chan!" Ayano said

"Where are you going? Do you even know where Shintaro is?" Kushina asked finally caught up with Ayano as they both were jumping from rooftop to rooftop

"Yes Obaa-chan, I do know, but…." Ayano said as she drifted off

"But what?" Kushina asked

"He's really fast, and knows the village layout well. I'm not sure if I can make it time to stop him." Ayano said disheartedly

"We will sweetie, now where's Shintaro headed?" Kushina said to Ayano

"He's most likely headed towards the Forest of Death Obaa-chan." Ayano said as she made a quick left turn

"The Forest of Death! Why is he headed there?" Kushina said surprised as she followed Ayano now taking the lead

"If he's headed there then we need to hurry up. Follow me, I know the fastest route there if memory serves anyways, just gotta keep a look out for the giant creepy forest ok?" Kushina said trying to lessen the tension for Ayano's sake

"Yes, Obaa-chan." Ayano said

'If Shintaro-kun is going after what I think he is, then….I can only hope he turns out better than he did the last time. If he's not….no, don't think like that Shintaro-kun is strong he's been through worse, and has come out alive no matter what. He can't die….he just can't.' Ayano thought to herself as she and Kushina made their way to the Forest of Death.

---

7:34 a.m

Shintaro was going over his current arsenal making sure he had everything he needed to enter a place that needed preparation, lest you face starvation, being poison, dehydration, and most likely death. Shintaro was currently wearing something similar to the outfit he was wearing yesterday; only his knapsnack was replaced with his trusty sword, Ketsueki Hiru (Blood Leech), strapped on his back. He'd also left his jacket behind only wearing a black tank top on his chest with nothing more than his fingerless gloves on his hands. His lower attire consisted of loose grey ninja pants that had various scrolls tied to waist belt. While his legs were tied at the bottom like his other pair with survival boots on his feet, he also was wearing two ninja pouches filled to the brim on each leg.

Now finally have reached his destination Shintaro was standing before the very gates that warned most "smart" people to "not" go in the giant forest that's crawling with death all over, hence the name Forest of Death.

"Giant ominous feeling of dread, intimidating picture of horror just from the trees, giant ass fence gate preventing entrance….yup this is it. The Forest of Death. Home Sweet Home, like no other place; well, time to get a move on." Shintaro said as he walked towards one of the gates only to be stopped by two anbu, one wearing a bear mask, and the other wearing a crow mask

"Hey kid, can't you read? The sign says DO NOT ENTER so what are you doing entering here of all places?" Bear asked demanding an answer

"Why, yes I can read. I can also write, talk in complex sentences, and even do math as hard it is to believe." Shintaro said in an obvious sarcastic voice giving them a "oh really?" look

"Oh, so you think you're funny huh kid?" Crow said

"Well, I do have my moments." Shintaro said feigning modesty

"Just answer the question kid or you're coming with us." Crow said

"I'm just gonna go pick some flowers." Shintaro said nonchalantly

"Flowers? In there?" Bear asked skeptically

"Yeah, it's for a girl so shut up." Shintaro said slightly embarrassed

"Oh, doing it for a lady friend huh?" Crow teased

"What's going on here?" a new voice said straightening out the two anbu

"Ma'am! We were investigating this child for he was about to enter training ground 44, also known as the Forest of Death." Bear said reporting what happened

"Geez, someone lost their balls in the span of 5 seconds." Shintaro said sarcastically

"Keep quiet kid." Crow whispered

"You there!" the voice said to Shintaro

"What do you want cranky pants? Suffering the aftermath of "that time of the month" or are you always this bitchy?" Shintaro said to the figure coming his way while the two Anbu were sweating nervously behind their masks thinking what kind of kid talks like this to someone who made two Anbu straighten up

'Does this kid have a death wish or something?' Crow thought to himself

"Tell me something kid. What makes you think you can talk to me like that?" the voice said

"Is she for real?"

"The fact I could care less about the temper tantrum your throwing right now. What about it?" Shintaro said unfazed by the girl coming up to him.

She was in her mid-teens,13-15 most likely, had long straight purple hair down to her neck; she wore an Anbu mask that of a cat with 3 stripes, one vertical on the top of her forehead, the other two horizontal on her cheeks. She was wearing standard Anbu armor consisting of black and grey armor, metal arm guards, and had a katana strapped to her back

"Do you realize that you're 10 seconds away from me dragging you to a torture session with Ibiki Morino? He's famous for getting anything out of anyone. " the female anbu asked

"If you can't tell that I between the voice of a ten year old to that of a man, then I don't see the point of you wearing that mask other than to hide your stupidity." Shintaro said looking into the eye holes of the anbu's mask

"Not to mention I told you it was me, so if that doesn't tell you who has the balls to speak his mind then you're out of luck lady….man whatever you are I can hardly tell with that voice of yours. It's so cranky I can hardly tell the difference." Shintaro said making the female anbu pissed off

"I'm a girl dammit!" the female anbu asked

"Really? Could've fooled me with that chest of yours, or is that padding for an attempt of womanhood?" Shintaro said continuing to mock the anbu

"Arrrrgh! Fine! (she takes off her mask) See! I'm a girl! The name's Yugao so there, a girl name." Yugao said

"Did she really take her mask off just because I pissed her off?"

"Wow, if that's all it takes to get an Anbu to take off their mask this village is in trouble." Shintaro said deadpanning

"You really need to brush up on your anti-antagonizing skills otherwise your ass is dead if you can't keep a secret like your identity, Yugao." Shintaro said grinning smugly underneath his mask making Yugao realizing he was right as she quickly put on her mask again

"S-Shut up! It's my first day as Lieutenant of the Anbu, and I'm stressed out as it is." Yugao said

"Does that mean you take orders from Cyclops, and the Uchiha "prodigy" or are you a "rebel" so to speak?" Shintaro said to Yugao

"If you're talking about Kakashi Hatake, and Itachi Uchiha then yes, I do take orders from them, but I also respect them as my mentors/ superiors and so will you." Yugao said menacingly

"Uh-huh, whatever." Shintaro said as he rolled his eyes

"Listen, kid-"

"It's Shintaro." Shintaro said flatly

"Listen, Shintaro why are you even here in the first place?" Yugao asked

"He's here to find flowers for his girlfriend." Bear said answering her only to have 3 kunai come his way to his pants, but before he could react his ninja pants fell off due to the accuracy Shintaro had revealing Bear's….bear boxer's.

"First off, she's not my girlfriend. She's just a good friend of mine, and I haven't done anything her last few birthday's other than say "Happy Birthday" so I thought this time I'd do something special for her. Secondly, I'm not just going in there for a pretty flower, I'm going in there for an important flower that means a lot to her, and would make her day if she manages to get the flower I have in mind for her. Thirdly….bear boxers? Really? What do you have a thing for bears or something?" Shintaro said looking at Bear questionably while all three anbu were thinking the same thing '

How in the hell did he slip those kunai past me?'

'Oh god oh god oh god oh god, pick em up, gotta pick em up now!'

'Huh, you know I always knew he'd do something like that. You know I'm gonna see where this is headed, at least it makes the day go by faster.'...ok maybe not the same thing, but one of them was on the right track

"Bear, pick up your pants no one wants to see that, and Crow quit smiling underneath, I know you are so don't even bother trying lying to me." Yugao said as the two Anbu said

"Yes, Ma'am!" they both said

"Ok, now that that's done, and over with I'm gonna go in now to the impending forest of doom that has what I need, so if you could just-"

"Yeah right kid, look here's what gonna happen: You're gonna go walk that way, go to the Yamanaka flower shop, and you'll find all the pretty flowers you can buy." Yugao said drawing her katana blocking Shintaro's path as he tried to sidestep her

"Careful now, I've been playing nice until you've pulled out that butter knife you call a sword, but if you think you can so much as scratch me with that oversized letter opener then you're in for a world of hurt courtesy of yours truly." Shintaro said glaring at Yugao

"You know, it's cute that you think that you can threaten me with empty words, and a sword that's shorter than you are kid." Yugao retorted

"Last chance, move or get hurt, and that includes boxer boy, and crow face over there." Shintaro said in a warning tone, but Yugao didn't even budge

"No, I'm gonna give you one last chance, and because I'm so nice I'll forget about how you humiliated one of my men. Even if he is an idiot he's my responsibility. So, why don't you-" but she didn't have time to finish that thought.

Because Shintaro feigned a punch to her face making her react to it then disappearing in a poof of smoke proving it was only a clone distracting Yugao only for her to not see the original behind her jabbing her pressure points paralyzing her in the process. The second Bear, and Crow saw this they were going to react only to be constricted of their movements courtesy of two snakes that snuck up, and bit them also paralyzing them in the process

"You see, this is what happens when you let your guard down for a kid with "empty words, and a sword that's shorter than you are" even if you have your weapon drawn you need to always be on guard no matter the opponent." Shintaro said as he drew his sword out for Yugao to see thinking he was about to kill her, but was trying to keep her cool

"And for the record (he bites his thumb to the point it bleeds and writes something on his sword with the blood, and his sheath) Ketsueki Hiru here (his sword changes into a katana twice it's original size, along with its sheath) is bigger than any sword you can handle or ever will, and since it's in its Akuma stage the threat is doubled." Shintaro says as he points the tip of his blade to Yugao's face as she inspected the sword as much as she could.

The katana was about 5 ft long, 1 ft. wide with its silver blade alone then it's handle being a ft. and a half making the total length being nearly 7 ft. The blade itself looked intimidating enough, yet beautiful in its design. Said design was a dragon breathing fire carved in from the hilt to the tip of the blade on one side; its hilt was colored red, and purple intertwined with each other like beautiful swirls of a wave.

As Shintaro raised his sword to strike, Yugao was struggling to move for she did not intend to die lying on the ground, but it was too late. The sword then came down to do what it was created for….slashing, hacking, and dicing; and in only 3 quick slashes the intended target was cut to ribbons….which was Yugao's armor strappings. Confused as hell Yugao could not find the word's to speak

"Confused? Well, as it turns out I'm not a fan of murdering girls in cold blood on the ground like some serial killer." Shintaro said as he stripped Yugao of her armor

"Huh, well whaddya know you, you do have boobs…..granted they haven't fully developed yet, but boobs nonetheless. Ok, time for me to get going, and thanks for the armor Yugao. As a token of my gratitude here (he takes out a bottle), this right here is the anti-venom to the snake bites Venom and Viper gave your little friends there." Shintaro said as he set the bottle next to Yugao

"How am I supposed to even give it to them? I can't fucking move!" Yugao said angrily

"Oh yeah, well let me fix that." Shintaro said as he flipped Yugao on her stomach which led him to hit pressure points on her upper body only

"Listen, you can move your arms now, and I suggest you get crawling now; Venom has a tendency to overdo the amount of, for lack of a better term, venom he lets out when he bites into people. Oh, and if you try to radio in for help I'll have Viper finish the job for me."

"Look you seem like a nice girl trying to put on a tough superior act riding on your high horse, but here's the thing." Shintaro said as flipped Yugao stripping her of her Anbu mask looking her dead in the eye only inches away giving her the same look he gave the Uchiha yesterday

"I could care less if you Anbu jag offs come after me with full force because I have other more important things to worry about, and the thing that I'm doing now is something to relieve some stress." Shintaro said now closing in on Yugao's face only inches away hardening his gaze

"Now, look into my eyes, and tell me with absolute honesty that if you weren't paralyzed right now you could take, and beat me in a "fair" fight with your pals against me." Shintaro said as he grabbed Yugao by her shirt raising his KI level to a degree he hasn't shown to anyone other than poor helpless ninja's, bandits, or anyone he wants to scare information out of….then kill with little disregard or pity.

This would explain the utter despair, dread, fear, and hopelessness Yugao was feeling right now before Shintaro threw her on the floor.

"I'm not in Konoha to make friends or allies with you people; I'm here to ensure the survival of my friends, and sometimes morale is an important factor when it comes to survival. So I suggest you stop pissing yourself, and get your friends that anti-venom in the next 10 minutes before they die an agonizing death that'll drive them insane if they don't choke on their own spit first."

"Move! Dammit! Move!" Shintaro yelled as Yugao snapped out of her trance, grabbed the anti-venom, and started crawling towards her comrades

'I think I might've been a little too hard on her.' Shintaro thought as he secured Yugao's armor onto himself

'It got her to move didn't it? Besides maybe this'll get her motivated to be a better Anbu. I mean she's just disgraceful as a Kunoichi in general, you managed to piss her off to the point where she revealed herself, and couldn't even handle your true KI level; any shinobi who couldn't handle that much less an Anbu doesn't deserve the title Lieutenant of Anbu.' Uncle Ku said

'Uncle, be nice. She said it was her first day on the job, and maybe she wanted to impress her superiors or something. Although, I see your point, anyone who falls to teasing like that needs to get some issues out….Hey, how long do you think it's gonna take her to notice that they're not poisoned just unconscious from some sleep darts I threw at them, and the "antivenom" I gave her was just colored water.' Shintaro thought to himself as he sheathed Akuma returning it back to it's original size

'If she's smart she'll notice right away the snakes you used weren't even those annoying snake siblings. That it's just a genjutsu of some common snakes that'll dissipate in the next 5 minutes; although she hasn't seen those snakes before maybe she'll notice the fact that those snakes didn't leave any bite marks.' Uncle Ku said to Shintaro as he jumped over the fence and started jumping from tree to tree

'Maybe she will, maybe she won't doesn't matter to me.' Shintaro thought as he made his way through the deadly forest disappearing from sight.

---

"Great, just great." Kushina thought to herself

As Kushina, and Ayano were closing in on the Forest of Death they noticed that someone else was closing in on them.

"Hey, slow down already!" Misaka said as she was trying to catch up "

Then stop dragging your feet with that fatass of yours." Katsumi said snickering to herself

"Yeah, well at least I'm not a bitch 24/7 literally!" Misaka said as she passed Katsumi

"Dammit! Come back here so I can tear your throat out!" Katsumi yelled

"Comrades, it is unyouthful to say such things to each other! We should be encouraging each other to do our best! Like, if I don't make it to Ayano-chan first then I'll do a thousand one-handed push-ups!" Ling said with enthusiasm as she took the lead

"Yeah Yeah, look let's just see if they if they need our help or not." Momiji said as he rolled her eyes at the two

"Well, I'm going regardless. Lady Kushina is heading somewhere dangerous, and I cannot live with myself if something were to happen without me doing anything to stop it." Honoka said

"You kids mind telling me why you're here? Especially you Ling?" Kushina said to the group of females catching up behind her knowing the answer who nervously chuckled

"We thought it'd be unyouthful of us to not help you two in the search for Shintaro-san." Ling said being the first to answer Kushina

"And the fact that none of us have anything worthwhile to give you on Ayano's birthday….yet, so us helping you out looking for Shintaro will have to do for now. Oh, and Happy birthday Ayano." Momiji said rubbing the behind of her head

"Uh, thank you Momiji-san for that, but you didn't have to do this for me." Ayano said sweat dropping at her statement

"Well, were here now, and we ain't going back till we drag that idiot's ass out the forest so I can smack him for messing with our shower time." Katsumi said pissed off at losing her

"On that we can agree on." Misaka agreed

"Well, I guess it would be easier if we could split up into groups, but it's too dangerous for girls like yourselves. I can't protect everyone by myself, and if something were to happen to you I don't think I could live with myself." Kushina said concerned for the children's safety

"Forgive my impertinence La-I mean Ms. Uzumaki, but I can personally attest to each, and everyone's ability to take care of themselves. I am too am perfectly capable of protecting myself in a dangerous setting when the need arise." Honoka said modestly

"What the kiss ass is trying to say is that we can handle ourselves. We wouldn't have survived on our own the past 5 years if we couldn't handle a rinky dinky forest." Katsumi said annoyingly giving tick marks to Honoka

"I'm showing respect for the Clan Head's daughter who's 3rd in line for the Uzumaki matriarch the 2nd is being Lord Kenshi-sama." Honoka said angrily at Katsumi

"Enough you two." Kushina said to the two girls in a stern motherly voice

"Forgive me ." Honoka said

"It's alright, look if you girls are coming with us then you need to stick close. The Forest of Death is not your typical forest with only small predators to worry about." Kushina said as she turned around to her destination

"We need to move fast if we're going to catch up with Shintaro. Alright then you girls ready?" Kushina asked the group of girls behind her

"Yes Ms. Uzumaki!" they said in unison

"My goodness you kids make me feel like an old school teacher ya know? Dammit!" Kushina said to herself

"Whatever let's go!" Kushina said as she sprinted off leaving the girls behind except Ayano who was keeping up with Kushina.

---

10 minutes have passed, and now they've finally reaching their destination; Kushina, and the girls saw some ninja's, even some Anbu, helping out 3 other ninja's while surrounding the gates of the Forest of Death. Finally seeing a familiar face….or mask Kushina decided to talk to one of her husband's students or at least confirm it was him

"Kakashi! Is that you?" Kushina said getting the attention of said masked ninja turning his head to see who was calling him, though he had an idea who it was. As he turned around he was greeted by a back breaking hug courtesy of the woman who nearly broke his spine….over the course of his life from the moment he met her, Kushina Uzumaki

"Hrk!" Kakashi grunted as he was being crushed by Kushina's hug of death "Lady-Ack! Kushina?" Kakashi managed as he being continually squeezed

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that. You know you can just call me Kushina right?" Kushina said releasing her death grip on Kakashi letting him breathe

"I-cough-forgot about that. So, Kushina what's with your army of Kunoichi behind you?" Kakashi asked looking at the various children behind Kushina

"Oh, them? They're just looking for a friend of theirs, and I'm simply helping them look for him." Kushina said

"Wait a minute, aren't you guys friends with that kid with the blue hair who just came through here?" Kakashi asked the girls

"Shintaro-kun was here?" Ayano asked with urgency

"He was, and did that over there." Kakashi said pointing to some medic nin's treating Yugao's paralyzed body along with her comrades unconscious bodies

"Shintaro managed to take down 3 Anbu by himself?" Kushina said in disbelief as another ninja came down to inspect the unconscious Anbu

"I'm here! So who was stupid enough to get bitten by a snake?" Anko said looking for the bite victim

"Over here!" a random ninja said to anko

"Alright, now run this by me again." Anko said urgently

"According to Yugao-san a young child sent out two snakes out of nowhere that quickly wrapped themselves, and bit them on a location Yugao-san wasn't able to see. They then fell immediately to the ground without a sound with snakes slithering away." the ninja said explaining the situation

"Hmm….Can't think of any venom that'll do that off the bat. Have you found the bite marks?" Anko asked

"Yes, we have found the bite marks located on their necks, but other than that there's nothing wrong with them." the ninja said

"On their necks? Let me see." Anko said as she inspected the bite marks

"Hold on….these aren't bite marks. The holes are too small, and too close to each other for any type of snake that even exists." Anko said getting back up

"That's impossible!" Yugao yelled

"I saw that damn….demon brat throw snakes at my men, and they even slithered around after they bit them!" Yugao said angrily

"Have you considered he used a genjutsu Yugao-san?" a random ninja said

"Yeah, because I don't see any snake tracks in the dirt here. Not to mention I was briefed that you were shaken up by this kid, and from what I've seen it's pretty accurate. Look your men haven't experienced any of the normal or rare symptoms of any snake venom known to man. Their breathing is normal, no spasms, no spit, no puking, no sweating, no nothing." Anko said shaking her head

"Then how do you explain why my men are unconscious without him even touching them!?" Yugao said angrily

"With something you didn't see even if he didn't use genjutsu." Kakashi said out of nowhere right next to the body

"What the hell are you talking about Cyclops?" Anko said confused

"It's a combination of genjutsu, and ninja tools. From the looks of it he used the snakes as a cover when he threw "these" at them." Kakashi said as he pulled something from one of the Anbu's neck

"What? I can't see anything." Yugao said annoyingly

"That's the whole point. It's a near invisible senbon needle when exposed to sunlight that melts poi into the body as whatever substance it was covered in. Which in this case was sleeping dart poison, and it's a good thing too these nearly melted all the way, that would've put them into a comatose state for weeks." Kakashi said crushing the senbon into dust

"Well, what about this anti-venom?" Yugao said showing him the now half empty bottle Shintaro gave her

"Let me see that." Anko said yanking it out of Yugao's hand inspecting it thoroughly

"This isn't anti-venom….it's water….colored water." Anko said trying her best to hold in her laughter, but ultimately failing literally rolling on the floor laughing

"Ahahahahaha! Oh my god! Oh, my, god! This is too good to be true hahahaha! Little Miss Hotshot pissed herself so much she gave those idiots WATER when she thought it was anti-venom!" Anko said between laughter

"It's not funny dammit!" Yugao said pissed off and embarrassed at the same time

"By the way I noticed your anbu mask is gone from your face. Care to explain why?" Kakashi said looking at Yugao

"Oh that!? I-uh-"

"You wanted to prove that you were a girl last time I checked." a familiar voice said getting the attention of everyone there

"YOU!" Yugao said angrily glaring at him

"Shintaro-kun! You're safe!" Ayano said in relief

"Ayano-chan? Ms. Uzumaki? Girls? What are you guys doing there?" Shintaro asked them

"We came here because "she" was worried for your sorry ass." Katsumi said pointing to Ayano

"Ayano-chan?" Shintaro asked before Yugao lashed out at Shintaro

"Hey! Don't ignore m-" but she was interrupted when a kunai was thrown close to her cheek just barely cutting her, but enough to draw blood. This shut Yugao up along with the fact that Shintaro was now inches away from her face

"Do you want a repeat of what happened a while back?" Shintaro whispered to her slowly raising his KI level glaring at her again with the look he gave her the first time with the same reaction of her being speechless only now she was gathering courage like the ninja she should be.

Since Shintaro didn't get a response he decided to turn around to talk to his friends; only now Yugao decided she had enough of this kid, and teach him a lesson. She gathered all her strength slowly walked up to him for a sneak attack, she set up a punch-kick combo behind him with all her might. As the punch was about to make contact Shintaro sighed to himself.

'Really want to make an ass out of yourself don't ya?' Shintaro thought as he evaded the punch without even looking, grabbed her arm, but due to her sluggish reactions she couldn't evade the sweep kick that Shintaro gave her followed by him raising his leg to a 90 degree angle then just drop kicked her into the ground.

As she hit the ground her body slightly rebounding off the dirt her face was greeted by a hard 2 quick punch combo courtesy of Shintaro making her nose, and mouth bleed badly before Shintaro grabbed her collar bringing her face to face with Shintaro bringing a kunai to her neck

"Listen, and I'm only going to say this once. Pick your battles wisely, especially when you're not in your best condition to fight in the first place. I suggest you rethink your career plan of being a kunoichi, otherwise see if you can hammer some common sense in that hollowed shell you call a head of yours, and learn how to deal with hardships of leadership." Shintaro said glaring at her as if he were staring into her soul. Only for a kunai being pressed against Shintaro's neck behind him

"Now now, that's not a proper way to talk much less handle a girl now is it?" Kakashi said in a nonchalant rhetoric voice yet you could tell he was serious.

"If there's one thing psycho-sensei taught me it's this: When threatening someone in their home territory make sure you have the upper hand." Shintaro said as Kakashi felt something slither up his spine constricting him of his movements

"Isn't that right Venom?" Shintaro said as another voice suddenly spoke up said cockily as Kakashi suddenly found himself unable to move

"Yessss Massster, I would have to agree with your adviccce that the Misssstresss gave you. Thisss one won't be moving for a while….or breathing if he doesssn't behave." Venom said as me moved his head to look Kakashi in the eye keeping a calm expression

"Hmmm….I ssssenssse another ssssnake sssummoner here." Venom said as he drove his attention away from Kakashi

"That'd be me skull face." Anko said as Venom twisted his head to her

"Ooooh thisss isss interesssting." Venom said with his poison dripping from his fangs

"Yeah, the names Anko. So I take it you're a snake summoner too kid?" Ankos asked Shintaro

"In a sense yes, but not the same as you. I don't have time to explain nor want to at the moment seeing as I have other business to attend to." Shintaro said as he dropped Yugao to the ground

"Venom, you can go now. I don't think the Cyclops is going to be any trouble now that I've dropped his precious cat from my evil clutches." Shintaro said sarcastically

"Asss ssssoon asss he removesss that knife of hiss from your throat." Venom replied

"I would if I can move my arms. Would you be so delighted as to give me back movement of them?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly giving Venom an eye smile

"Fine. Farewell, Massster." Venom said as he poofed out of existence

"Another thing psycho-sensei taught me was this."

"Whenever you meet another shinobi in a fight, give it your all don't hold back, and let age and gender be damned. They signed up for this so they don't have the right to complain nor does anyone else otherwise they can't a true shinobi if they can't handle punching a girl in the face. Women want to be treated equal well they can get equally knocked the hell out in the line of duty." Shintaro said retreating his kunai

"Your sensei doesn't sound like a very good role model, and must have a thing against women." Kakashi said

"She was a crazy, psychotic, snake charming, evil, sadistic bitch of an assassin….that raised me as her own family. Granted she nearly killed me dozens of times during training, poisoned me on a daily basis to build immunity, and never got down the "coddling" part of any sane guardian; but she was also one of the only people that ever gave a damn about me. So I don't want to hear any disrespect about psycho-sensei out of you or anyone else. Got it?" Shintaro said glaring at Kakashi

"Alright then. No need to get hostile." Kakashi said with his hands up pretending to be scared

"I don't know I kind of like this "psycho-sensei" of yours. Sounds like my kind of woman." Anko said intrigued

'You have nooo idea how ironic that sounds.' Shintaro thought to himself as he walked towards Ayano

"Sorry you had to see that Ayano-chan, but in my defense I was….you know defending myself." Shintaro said to Ayano

"I-I know Shintaro-kun, but don't you think you were a little too rough on her?" Ayano asked

"You call that rough? Ha, rough would've been breaking the arm she threw at me then I would've held her down with my foot on her chest hard. The way psycho-sensei taught me to show domination, and complete total submission." Shintaro said plainly as if what he said was no big deal while he was getting various looks from everyone there.

"Sooo what are you doing here really?" Shintaro transitioned out of nowhere

"Oh I um….I saw that Misaka-san wasn't holding your short sword anymore, and when I asked she said that you borrowed it for "gardening" so I panicked a bit thinking that you were in trouble. So I grabbed my gear, and ran to follow you in case you needed help because the only reason you would need your sword for "gardening" would be for like the last time you got this for me." Ayano said gently rubbing the flower in her hair

"Oh, ok….well shit. You caught me, or at least what the original is doing right now." Shintaro's clone said

"Wait, original? You mean you're just a clone?" Kushina asked

"Yup, the original just remembered he needed to take Naruto out for ramen today in order to keep a promise, and sent me out to fulfill that promise. That is until I ran into little miss hotshot ranting on about me." the clone said pointing to a bleeding Yugao

"Wait, so the idiot's still in there?" Katsumi said pointing to the forest

"I just said he's in there, and I'm just a clone. You can drive a kunai into me, and all it'll do is just annoy the original to the point he'll just send one clone to deal with Naruto, and another to deal with you people." the clone said annoyingly

"So Shintaro-kun is still in danger!" Ayano said worried

"Nah, he'll be fine." the clone said reassuring Ayano only for a second later a huge explosion was heard with smoke rising from said explosion area

"Uh….I'm gonna go ahead and assume that you're going in th-and you're gone." the clone said noticing Ayano's presence being gone

"Ayano! Hold on wait for us! Ugh, I thought I told you girls to stick close to me." Kushina said frustrated

"Kakashi, I need you to watch these kids while I go in after her." Kushina said instructing Kakashi

"Nuh uh! We're going in there too! Ayano's our friend, and we don't leave friends behind….even when they do stupid shit." Katsumi said disgruntled glaring at the Shintaro clone

"Look Honoka, and I will go with to look for Ayano. While Ling, Momiji, and Katsumi will go with….Kakashi was it?" Misaka asked Kakashi to which he nodded

"Ok, they'll go with Kakashi to find Shintaro faster since Katsumi can track him down faster than any of us. Is that ok with you guys?" Misaka said to Kakashi and Kushina

"Sounds fine to me plus it'll make the search easier for both of them. That sound good to you Kakashi?" Kushina asked Kakashi

"I'm not a big fan of babysitting, but as long as they can keep up, and not get killed it'll be fine." Kakashi said

"Have no fear comrade! Me, and my youthful companions shall do our very best to find our dear friend! For if we fail to find Shintaro-san first I shall run 20 miles with 100 pounds weights on all my limbs! For nothing can stop the power of our YOUTH!" Ling said while giving Kakashi a thumbs up, a sparkle in her eyes, and a sunset genjutsu appearing out of nowhere behind her with the kanji for "VICTORY" in golden, glittering, bold letters

"Oh god! Code Y! Code Y! Shield your eyes!" Katsumi said as her hands quickly covered her vision from the genjutsu in all it's horror

"What are guys rambling on ab-MY EYES!" Anko said on the ground rubbing her eyes trying to erase what she just saw.

"Huh, guess spending all that time with Guy has granted immunity to this sort of thing." Kakashi said shrugging at Ling

"So, you guys ready to move now?" Kakashi asked the kids to join him

"Yeah, we'll be fine. Let's go you guys." Momiji said removing her hands from her eyes

"Yeah, I'll be fine too thanks for asking. Tomoko, you're coming with me so we can find the idiot. Tomoki, you're going with the other's to find blondie understand?" Katsumi asked her pups behind her to which they barked in confirmation

"Alright, he's deep in there, but we can catch up to him if we hurry up." Katsumi said pointing to which the direction they needed to go

"Huh, alright then let's get moving then." Kakashi said leaving the area with his followers behind him

"So Shin-where'd he go?" Kushina asked looking for the clone

"Hey look, he left a note." Misaka said picking up the note the clone left

"Sorry guys, but when I heard Ling ranting about youth I got the hell out of here knowing what was bound to happen. Anyways I'll be heading over to this Ichiraku Ramen place with Naruto for a bit then head over for some cinnamon buns for dessert. Best of luck to you guys finding the boss (I just recently decided to call the original that) in that mess of a forest, only he knows how to navigate terrain like that without getting himself killed. See ya." Misaka said as she finished the note the clone left.

"Well that's just great. While I'm hunting for this idiot when I could be soaking in a hot bath he's off on some scavenger hunt, and getting some lunch at the same time; when I haven't even had breakfast yet." Misaka said complaining about her predicament when Kushina decided to…. persuade her

"Well, you could just back out now, and forever guilt trip yourself over the fact that you didn't help Ayano find her crush….lost in the woods….alone….on her birthday no less-"

"All right! All right! I'm going, I'm going. No need to get so touchy." Misaka grumbled to herself

"Good, now come on girls we've wasted enough time as it is let's move! Tomoki, lead the way." Kushina said as she headed out into the forest in the direction the pup pointed

"Wait for me Lady Uzumaki!" Honoka said as she chased after Kushina

"I swear I'm gonna smash that idiot's head in when I find him." Misaka said as she followed the two Uzumaki into the Forest of Death.