Homecoming

Walking towards the hospital of Orange Star City was a mother and child. The mother was dressed in a doctor's coat, she was the head doctor at the hospital. She had long curly dark blue hair and blue eyes. She was rather tall, but her beauty was unrivaled in the city.

"Mom, I don't want to be a doctor! I'm going to be a world known martial artist, not some stupid pencil pusher!" he yelled as he waved his fist in the air. The young boy was small for his age, standing under five feet. His hair was cut short and black. He wore a beige training gi and black boots. His jet black eyes were always full of dreams, dreams bigger than most people's imagination. He smirked as he crossed his arms across his chest. "We'll be an amazing combo, I'll beat the crap out of them, then you- AH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" the boy yelled as he grabbed his nose, which he received a slap to moments before.

"Watch your mouth!" his mom yelled with a dangerous tone, one that he knew meant that he was in trouble. "I don't care how strong you get, you will respect me, Mark!" she yelled at him.

"Yes ma'am," Mark whined as he failed to hold back tears. His mom stared at him for a long few seconds, and then smiled and pinched his cheek.

"It's only because I love you, sweety," she said as she released a giggle. She stood up and straightened her hair. "Come now," she said as she continued walking.

Mark followed his mom while still sniffling and rubbing his nose. He silently followed her, while dreaming of the great fight's he would have. He could already see himself winning numerous Tenkaichi tournaments, and all by a long shot. He would be the great defender of earth from any evils that approach. The world famous fighter, Mark the Martial Artist! Mark scratched his chin with a slight grin. He really needed to work on a cool name to go by, in order to install fear in his opponent's.

"Oof!" Mark grunted as he ran face first into his mother's butt. He backed away and furiously wiped his face. "What the heck mo-Augh!" Mark flinched as he was punched on the top of the head.

"I told you to watch your tone, Marky!" his mom said while sternly glaring at him. Mark cowered in fear of the fire in her eyes. He was relieved as she looked away and stared at the city's entrance. "Do you sense that Mark?" she asked with curiosity

Mark rubbed his head as he opened his senses. His mom taught him how to sense chakra as a young boy, in order to avoid the bullies that tend to gang up on him. After a few second's, Mark got irritated.

"Mom, are you yanking my chain?" he asked with annoyance. "I don't -" Mark halted as he sensed figures approaching. He could tell that they weren't native to the city, their chakra all seemed to be trained. One of them seemed eerily familiar.

"Let's go to the hospital, they'll be coming soon," the mother said as she continued her trek to work. Mark looked between her and the direction that the figures were approaching. He quickly ran to catch up with his mother.

As the two walked into the hospital, the mother looked at her brown skinned attendant. "There's some people coming here in a few seconds. Send them to me instantly." she said as she quickly walked to her operating room.

"Yes ma'am," The attendant said as she hung up the phone. "Hey Mark," she said in a soft tone as she saw the boy. Mark waved at her with a blush as he took a seat. He wanted to see the newcomers as soon as they walked into the building.

The attendant picked the phone back up and continued her conversation. Mark rolled his eye's as he realized she was talking about some guy named Quentin. He actually thought she liked him, but he see's that was bull.

Out of the corner of her eyes, the attendant noticed people approaching the door to the hospital quickly. Actually, beyond quickly. Immediately as she saw them, the door burst open entered a long raven haired beauty.

"Hurry, these kids need immediate treatment!" a tall lady yelled as she burst into the large hospital of Orange Star City. Mark stared at her with his jaw hanging to the ground. She was beautiful, her long silky black hair was exotic and her red and black eyes were beyond beautiful. Behind her rushed in a short chubby boy with black hair, as well as... a tail? That wasn't weird at all. He was carrying a pretty lavender haired girl in his arms with a concerned look on his face. Behind him was a blonde, who wore an orange jacket. He was carrying a boy that looked less than happy, he also had sharp teeth. The last too run in was a blonde with a long ponytail, carrying an injured puppy.

The only adult looked at the receptionist, whom just stared at the group in a face showing both curiousness and surprise. Her face turned into a scowl. "Do you not hear me?" she asked as she banged on the desk, causing both the lady and the object to jump. "I said, NOW!"

"R-right away ma'am!" the lady said with a shaky voice as she ran into the back room. "Follow me!" she yelled and was quickly trailed by Goku and Naruto, still carrying Hinata and Kiba respectively. Ino quickly ran to catch up to them.

"Where are you going?" Goku asked. "I thought you were going to help her!"

The lady turned towards Goku as she still ran. She noticed the look of concern in his eyes and couldn't help but smile. "We're going to see the best doctor in town. I promise, your friends are going to be OK."

"Alright!" Naruto yelled. "You hear that Kiba? You're going to be fine!"

"Of course I heard, Naruto," Kiba growled. "I'm an Inuzuka for crying out loud."

Back at the reception desk, Kurenai was reading the numerous plaques on the wall. Most were about the great hospital, but she was more interested in the head doctor. She smiled as she read how the doctor saved a young girl that fell down a hill. The damages seemed fatal, but nothing seemed impossible for this doctor.

"Hey, you think being a doctor's cool?" Kurenai turned and noticed the boy sitting in one of the waiting chairs.

"Yes I do," she said with a smirk. "I almost became a nurse once. It was what my mom wanted."

"You too?" Mark said with an exaggerated shout. "My mom always tells me to become a doctor. I want to be the world's greatest martial artist!" he said as he shadow boxed the air.

Kurenai giggled at the kid. "I see, it look's like you're pretty strong." she walked towards the boy and sat by him. "What's you're name?"

"I'm Mark!" the boy yelled as he smiled at her.

"And I'm Kurenai," the Kunoichi said, returning the smile. A questioning look appeared on the boys face.

"Hmm..." he said, scratching his head. "That name rings a bell somewhere..."

"Maybe you heard about me. I'm actually from here, but left to become a ninja."

"A ninja?" Mark yelled as he jumped to his feet. "Can you teach me? Huh? Huh? Canya?" he yelled jumping excitedly up and down. Kurenai couldn't help but smile.

"Of course I can, Mark," she replied.

"Calm down, Mark." Mark instantly stopped jumping up and down. He looked to the hall and saw his mother. She wore a white apron over her usual scrubs, as well as a mask covering her mouth. She was currently pulling on white gloves. "Hello, Kurenai." she said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

Kurenai looked at the doctor and exhaled slowly. This was the one part of the trip that she wanted to avoid. "Hello, Mom."

XxoxX

"Again."

Sasuke grit his teeth. He was trying to keep his patience with his annoying Sensei, but he was losing it by the second. Kakashi was teaching Sasuke his only signature technique. It was coming easily to Sasuke, but the mark on his neck was Hell. It messed with his chakra output and would randomly send painful waves through him.

They were sitting at the usual team 7 training grounds. The area was covered in burn marks and punctures that went a few inches in the ground. A few trees in the surrounding area were punctured as well. The lone training doll, however, was completely bare of any marks.

The doll was only three hundred yards away from him, yet he couldn't land a single hit on it.

Sasuke gripped his right wrist with his left and concentrated. He grunted as he felt the lightning chakra gather in his hand. The sound of thousands of birds echoed through the air as the energy in his hand rose in intensity. He grunted as the weight of the attack increased. He looked up at the doll as he ran full sprint at it. "Chidori!" Sasuke yelled as his sharingan was activated.

"You're weak." Sasuke flinched as he heard the voice. He looked ahead and saw Itachi staring him down. The red eyes of his brother stared at him as if he were being analyzed. Sasuke growled at the man, the one he was destined to kill.

"Shut up!" he yelled as he thrust the chidori forward. He smiled with satisfaction as he hit his mark head on. Sasuke watched as Itachi's eyes slowly moved down and stared into his. "Weak." he said again as he disappeared.

"Good job," Sasuke looked towards Kakashi and saw the Jonin still looking in his book. Sasuke looked back toward Itachi and saw that his hand was in the chest of the doll. "However," Sasuke looked back towards his sensei, " Most targets will be moving want you to hit your target fifteen times consecutively, and then we would be on to the next step." Sasuke growled at Kakashi as he ran back to the starting spot. If Naruto thought he could beat him in the tournament, to Hell with that. He would be sure to come out on top of this entire tournament.

XxxoxxX

"Whoa, so you're really my sister?" Mark said with enthusiasm in his voice. He stared into Kurenai's eyes with admiration.

"Yea, I guess so," Kurenai said as she scratched the back of her head. This was news to her as well.

Naruto jumped up and down as he stared at the lady.

"That's so cool, Sensei!" he said as he looked between the two siblings. "I wish I had a brother!"

"What's a brother?" Goku asked as he looked on at the situation. Mark looked at hi with a confused expression.

"You really are stupid, huh?" Mark said with a sweat drop.

"Be nice!" Ino said as she glared at Mark. Mark was stuck from he beauty, so he didn't retaliate. She looked towards Goku with a smile. "A brother is someone that has the same parents as you."

"Oh," Goku said. Everyone in the room sat silently as he held a finger to his mouth. "What's a parent?" Everyone in the room fell anime style at the boy's question.

"A parent is the person that gave birth to you!" Mark yelled with frustration as he crawled to his feet. "Shouldn't that be apparent?"

"Oh," Goku replied. "I don't have a brother."

"Don't worry, me either." Naruto said with a solemn expression. Kurenai looked at littler Goku with interest.

"Hey Goku," she said to the boy, whom looked at her.

"Yea?" he answered.

"Why do you have a tail?"

Everyone turned their attention towards Goku. He looked at Kurenai with a blank face. As if on cue, his tail wiggled.

"I don't know, my grandpa said all boys have them." Goku said with a calm voice.

"He's gotta be kidding me..." Ino said as she rubbed her palms. For such a cute boy, he really was dense!

"I don't have a tail!" Mark said as he jumped to his feet and pointed at the young boy. "You must be some kinda freak or something!"

"Mark!" The boy froze as he heard the familiar voice call his name. He slowly turned and looked into the angered eyes of his mom. The boys face was drained of color as he looked into the fiery eyes of his mother.

"M-mom..." Mark stammered as she quickly started walking towards him. "I wasn't calling him a freak, I promise-OW!" Mark yelled as he was punched on the top of the head. This caused Goku to snicker, and Ino and Kurenai to look away.

"Watch your language!" she yelled as she hit him again.

"Yes ma'am!" Mark yelled as he rubbed his sore head.

"I see that you haven't changed a bit..."Kurenai said to her mother. The elder lady smiled as she pushed her hair behind her ears.

"Just because I'm older doesn't mean I'll allow my kids to disobey me!" was her stern response.

"Excuse me lady, but how are my friends doing?" asked the hyperactive blonde shinobi.

The older doctor sighed. "Honestly, not too good." Naruto's face fell into a frown. Kurenai's eyes fell to the ground as she listened to the doctor. "The girl's wrist are both broken, as well as one rib. She's extremely low on chakra as well, her reserves aren't that well to begin with." Ino wiped a tear from her eye. "The boy's even worse. He broke three of his ribs, as well as a fracture in the sternum. One of his lungs was scraped, but I healed it before any serious damage could be done. The scratches on his face and body should heal eventually, but one horizontally on his cheek is deep enough to stay, possibly for life." Kurenai squinted her eyes tightly, trying to keep the tears from flowing.

"The dog also suffered from broken ribs, as well as his hip. He is extremely dehydrated from excessive amounts of vomit. It's a good thing you brought them here when you did." The group stared solemnly at the ground. They were full of sadness as they were delivered the news. "which one of you healed the group?" the doctor asked.

"M-me," was Ino's reply. She continued staring at the ground, shaking slightly. She flinched slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up and saw the doctor smiling into her face.

"You did good." she said while she looked at the young genin. "If it weren't for you, your friends would have died on the battle field." Ino shuddered at the mention of her friends death. A slow smile spread across her face.

"I'm proud of you, Ino," Kurenai said as she smiled at her lovers student. "I'm sure that Asuma would be proud too.

"Thanks," Ino said with a blush and a grin.

"Your friends should be waking up soon. Don't you all want to go and check on them?"

"You bet!" Naruto yelled as he and Goku raced to the back.

"W-wait for me!" Ino said as she trailed behind the two boys.

"Mark, go."

"Yes ma'am!" The young man raced after the young genin.

"Now, onto you." The doctor looked toward Kurenai. Her soft expression hardened as she glared at her daughter. "How the Hell could you let your students get hurt like this?" she yelled with furiousity. "You are their Jonin instructor, so it is your duty to protect them from harm. And not to mention that they were hurt by a missing nin! Imagine if he used a jutsu on them? How would you explain this to their parents? Or do you not think about things like this?" As the conversation went on, the older ladies voice rose.

"I..." Kurenai was at a loss of words. Everything her mother said was true, and it hurt her to admit it. She shouldnt've left her students, her job is to stick with them at all times! How could she let them get hurt to that extent? What would Asuma think of her?

"Oh, you don't have anything to say?" Her mother shook her head slowly as she looked at Kurenai. "Your just like your father."

Kurenai tensed at this response. She knew the reason her father and mother separated. Her mother accused her dad of cheating and kicked him to the curb. Kurenai decided to stay with her father and moved to the elemental countries with her father.

"Where is the cheating bastard anyway?" her mom asked with disdain in her voice.

"He's dead..." Kurenai harshly whispered. The air between the two women tensed. Kurenai wanted nothing more than to disappear at moment, but she knew that would warrant another argument from her mother.

"Kurenai, I-"

Suddenly, a large explosion could be heard coming from the town. Both ladies rushed outside, and were met by Goku's blue haired companion.

"What's going on?" Kurenai demanded.

"Oh my gosh!" Bulma yelled as she breathed quickly. Behind her, many townspeople ran around the city. "There's this guy riding on a brown bird! He blows things up, and that's not the scariest part. He has mouth's on his hands!"

The door behind the women opened and exited Goku, Naruto, Ino, and Mark. "What's going on?" Naruto asked.

"That!" Kurenai yelled as she threw kunai at incoming clay birds, causing a chain of explosions. As the explosions died down, there stood a man with long blonde hair. He smiled at the group with a widening expression.

"You, Nine tailed kid," the man said as he licked his lips. Naruto glared at the man. "You're going down, and in a bang."