Kusari: Surprise! Kai got sick, so this time I'm filling out for him!

Shang: That's a relieve... Kai was beginning to work on my nerves as an interviewer. Okay, so tell me what the readers wish to know.

Kusari: Sure, but before that: when will some chicks appear?

Shang: ... My kingdom for a NORMAL interviewer...

Kusari: Okay, okay... Chill. Actually, there doesn't really seem to be questions this time around. The reviewers just want to congratulate you on a job well done. Oh, wait, there are some who wrote there wasn't enough Naruto-sensei is the last chapter...

Shang: Well, there won't be much of him in this one either, I'm afraid. But I think you'll find it entertaining anyway... won't say more :wink:

Kusari: A short interview this turned out to be...

Shang: Thanks for all your reviews. I'm really glad to know that you like my story and that you keep reading it. Hope you'll sacrifice a minute or two of your valuable time to leave a review for this chapter as well. Remember, I'll try to answer ANY question you have about this fic (if it won't be a big spoiler).

Chapter #21: Live up to Ones Name

Chapter Cover: an eight-year-old Takaru is standing out front with a wide smile and right behind him Tsunade is bending over, also smilling, and holding her hand on her sons head

"Takaru, do you know what your name means?" asked Tsunade as she bended down to her eight-year-old son with a smile.

"Well, taka means hawk, falcon, but can be also translated as quantity…"

"That's not it at all" interrupted the Godaime. "At first I wanted to call you Takara, but that's rather a girl's name, so I changed it into Takaru. Do you know what takara means?"

"Yes" nodded the young shinobi. "A treasure."

"That's right" agreed Tsunade, taping her hand on his head and smiling even wider. "That's what you are to me, Takaru. My treasure…" she paused and walked towards the window. "I am the Leaf's Hokage. I have many duties due to which I can't always take care of you. As a Godaime the village is my responsibility and every, single person in it is precious to me. But above anyone I care about you the most. That's why I choose that name for you, Takaru. Remember that!"

"I will, mom!" promised the young boy.

"There's also another reason…" announced Tsunade after a moment of silence. "In order for you to become a Leaf shinobi, a lot of people put their lives on the line. They risked their lives for you, Takaru… I know this is much to ask an eight-year-old, but I hope you'll be able to prove that you deserted the risk taken. Takaru, Konoha ninjas are family! They don't abandon their comrades. I hope that you, just like me and those who joined me back then, risked their lives to save you, you'll also do your best to protect your comrades."

Takaru looked at his mother with mouth opened and eyes widen.

"Takaru, I hope you'll be able to live up to your name" announced Tsunade turning back to her son. "Please… become Konoha's treasure… shown that you were worthy of the sacrifice…"

Takaru just stood there in silence, looking at his mother before he was finally able to reply:

"I… I promise I'll make you proud, mother!"

Tsunade smiled at those words and gave the child a kiss on his forehead.

"A man shouldn't break his promises" she announced.

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Takaru slowly got back on his feet as the memory of that day faded away. As he raised his head, he saw both Ibuki and Kusari lying on the ground, barely moving, Kumiko shaking few meters away and Kai trying to stand up as the swordsman stood next to him, ready to cut the blonde gennins head off.

"Mother, I will keep my promise" he thought to himself as his eyes stopped at the tree-nin.

"He got up even after Karuto's cards cut his legs and hands?" Ryu stopped in his tracks and observed the Godaime's son. "That brat is sure determent. Just like the blonde one."

"No matter what…" began Takaru as he fought with the pain. "… I will protect my comrades!"

"Boy, you guys are stubborn" announced the swordsman, looking at Tsunade's son. "You can barely stand. What are you planning to do?"

"I don't have much chakra left" Takaru thought to himself. "Barely enough to perform one, two techniques at best… guess I'll just have to go all out…" and with that he began forming the right hand seals.

As he finishes, he called out:

"Mori Kasai no Jutsu!" and suddenly a long, fire scourge came out of his fingers.

As the Fire Lance came closer to him, Ryu noticed that dodging to the left or right was pointless as the attack would get him anyway. Jumping into the air was risky, because he wouldn't be able to avoid another attack once in mid-air. Therefore he perform a quick set of hand seals and with the last symbol he called out:

"Suiton: Mizu Kekkai!" and in an instant his body was surrounded by the sphere of water.

As Takaru's attack reached the barrier, the two jutsus canceled each other out, lifting into the air a ton of steam, thus blocking the swordsman view. As the steam faded away, the former mist-nin spotted Tsunade's son flying above him and finishing another chain of hand seals.

"Gougi Insei Tooriame!" Takaru let out in a desperate voice as a huge fireball formed in his hands, which he threw right at the swordsman.

Ryu smiled under his mask as the fireball came closer, but then, to his surprise, the fireball exploded in half way and hundreds of small fireballs were now coming right at him.

"Dammit!" he thought to himself as he prepared himself to dodge and began performing another set of hand seals. "He left some of the chakra inside the ball so that it'd explode after a moment and separate the huge one into a shower! That brat sure has some talent…"

As the chain of hand seals was completed, Ryu called out:

"Mizu no Yaiba!" and suddenly a blade of water appeared in his hand with which he blocked the meteors he wasn't able to dodge.

"So this is it" thought Takaru. "If the next attack fails, I've lost…" and with a short set of hand seals he called out: "Kasai Funka!" and instantly tens of fire bullets came out of the ground right at the former mist-nin.

Acting on instinct, the swordsman perform a quick set of hand seals and just a moment before the fireballs reached him, his body was exchanged with a wooden pale.

"Kawarimi" whispered Takaru as his feet touched the ground.

"Looks like you've lost" he heard Ryu's voice coming from behind and then felt cold steel on his neck. "Move and you'll die…"

"Who cares whether he moves or not?" yelled Karuto, picking out his cards. "He's dead!" and with that he threw the cards right at the boy.

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Kouba received a powerful kick in the face which send him flying towards the wall. Fugou instantly unleashed the storm of kicks and punches at Naruto, but the blonde jounin didn't seem to have problems in blocking and dodging all of her attacks. Suddenly Fugou's speed increased, but still not enough to lay a single punch on the leaf-nin.

"So she can open the gates as well, eh?" Naruto thought to himself as he jumped away from the tattooed kunoichi. "But it seems her limit is the third gate… but with the charms activated it'll be enough to make her speed equal to mine… this can be troublesome…"

As his feet touched the ground he found himself dodging shurikens that the tree-nin threw at him right after he got back on his feet. As he avoided the last of the shinobi stars he saw Fugou's leg coming right at his face. Not being able to dodge, he blocked it with his hand but it was then that his feet were once more trapped by the roots.

"These guys are really something… if it was just one I could take them rather easy but it seems their great at teamwork… fight both at the same time is really a pain in the…" but before he could finished, he received a hard punch in the stomach and then in the face.

But to surprise both Fugou and Kouba, Naruto's leg ripper out the roots and before the kunoichi knew it, the blonde jounin's knee already smashed her chin. Her head went back and the leaf-nin jumped into the air.

Using Fugou's stomach to bounce of it he went flying at the tree-nin. The black hair didn't react in time and received a powerful kick to his left cheek. Kouba rolled on the ground for few meters before he came to a stop and got up.

"Enough is enough!" announced the tree-nin as he began a new set of hand seals and called out: "Mokudon: Ibara Niwa!" and suddenly thorns started to shoot out of the floor.

In the matter of a second the whole hall was covered with the spiky plant. The next moment the spikes on the thorns started to shoot out in Naruto's direction. Acting on instinct, the blonde jounin began dodging as many of them as he could, but still few were able to cut his clothes and skin.

"How do you like that?" he heard Kouba's voice coming from behind the thorn wall. "My ultimate jutsu. Even if you were to open the seventh gate you won't avoid all the thorns. This ends here!"

"Damn, he does have a point…" thought Naruto, still dodging the thorns. "The number of thorns is still increasing… if I won't do something soon…" but suddenly something hit his senses. "What the…? That chakra! Could it be…?"

On the other side of the thorns Kouba and Fugou had the same feeling.

"You sense that as well, right?" asked the kunoichi. "Who is that?"

"I don't know, but it's definitely not Ryu or Karuto…"

"Seems that I can't waste any more time playing with you guys" announced Naruto. "Since HE arrived, I have to end this now."

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"Damn brat!" Takaru heard Karuto's voice and observed the cards flying right at him, not being able to move.

But before the cards were able to reach him they all burnt in a powerful fire blow. Takaru and both of his opponents turn in the direction the fire appeared from and saw a man in the black hood, wearing a black and white tiger mask.

"Well, that was unexpected" announced Ryu. "What does a Konoha Anbu doing here?"

"Hokage-sama send me as reinforcements" replied the anbu member. "And I see that he made a good decision. That dope can't even take care of his students."

"So I guess you're here to stop us" continued the swordsman. "There's no helping it then. Mind telling me who you are? I prefer knowing who I'm about to kill…"

"As an Anbu I shouldn't reveal my identity… but since you guys will die soon by my hands, I guess I can take that as last request. I'm the heir of the greatest Konoha clan…" and with those words the man took of his mask revealing medium-length, black hair and red eyes. "… Uchiha Sasuke."

And with that the 21st chapter is done. Hope you enjoyed it, especially since another can take a while before I'll write it. Please tell me what you think of it.

PLEASE READ THIS: Actually, I just got a bit curious. You offen ask me things in your reviews so treat this as my question to you. You don't really need to answer, but I was wondering which character from the new team number seven (not counting Naruto) you like the best. If you feel like it, please answer this. You may even choose more then one (practically saying 'I like all the same' goes as well). And, if you like, I can post the result in the next chappie. That's all.

Now for the jutsu encyklopedia (sorry if this time it'll be a little unclear, but it's pretty late over here):

Suiton: Mizu Kekkai (Water Element: Water Barrier) - jutsu used by Ryu. Hard to perform as the user must first release chakra from many parts of the body and then, with the use of right hand seals, release some more, only this time in the form of water. As the second 'charge' of chakra enters the air, it begans spinning on the routes created by the previous 'charge', thus creating a persistant, water sphere that surrounds the user. Even though it's hard to perform, it stops practically EVERY, fire-based attack.

Gougi Insei Tooriame (Great Meteor Shower) - a higher level of Insei Tooriame (I guess I should note that Takaru was the one who invented it). At first it works as a typical Meteor Shower: the user gathers chakra in his hands and releases it in the form of flames, forming a huge fireball. However, the user also places a small charge of chakra inside the ball. The charge explodes after a short time, thus separating the fireball into tens (sometimes even hundreds), small fireballs.

Mizu no Yaiba (Water Sword) - a jutsu by mist-nins. The user first gathers chakra in one of his hands and then, with the use of right hand seals, he releases it in the form of water. Once the chakra leaves the body in the form of liquid, it shapes into a blade, thus creating a blade of water. It's not very powerful, but it works perfectly if the users intends to counter fire attacks.

Kasai Funka (Fire Eruption) - another jutsu invented by Takaru. Can only be used after Gougi Insei Tooriame. If some of the meteors from that attack dig into the ground, the user may 'order' them to raise up and once more attack the opponent. This is possible only thanks to the fact that the charge of chakra, which made the fireball separate into small meteors, remains in the smaller fireballs. The user keeps control over those, tiny bits of his chakra and thus it is possible for him/her to use the meteors that weren't destroyed.

Mokudon: Ibara Niwa (Tree Element: Thorn Garden) - the jutsu invented by Kouba. The user sends his chakra into the ground, which then searches for thorns. Once it finds them, it circles around them, thus allowing the user to manipulate the thorns. After the thorns appear near the user (they're still surrounded with chakra), he/she can higher the pressure, thus making the thorns shoot out of the thorns straight into the opponent.

Okay, I think this covers this chapter. Please, leave me a review once you're done.

Best wishes and hopefully till the next chapter.