Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Naruto" – Speaking

'Naruto' – Thoughts

Naruto – Flashback

Naruto – Jutsu

Spiraling Comet of Konoha

Hidden in Plain Sight

Previously on Spiraling Comet of Konoha,

It was the same room as Sasuke was placed in for his nasty coma. Sasuke was expected to be in here instead but the Hokage had some punishment for the boy to be dished out. The Uchiha was forced to share a room with another patient; one that gives everyone nightmares for his loud proclaims of the 'Flames of Youth', Rock Lee. Now, Sakura was placed there after how she was reported to have some swallow cuts all around her body and an even nastier conclusion.

But what really was ugly was the mental state Sakura was in. She was something close to that of a vegetable but Tsunade was amazed that she was still able to hold onto her sanity. That granted the Hokage with all the time in the world to fix the injuries and then there were the gifts. From Sakura's favorite snacks packaged from her favorite flowers to be replaced only once a week.

It took over a couple of weeks to fix it all but Tsunade managed to tell Sakura's parents that their daughter will make it. But the Hokage had quite the headache when the two civilians complained about it all; she tried to tell them that Shinobi get injured and hurt more times than one can count, even during training. Hopefully, something like this won't happen again anytime soon.

"J-just what happened to me?" Sakura stuttered, suddenly shivering. "I-I remember feeling l-like my b-body w-was on auto-drive o-or something. A-and there w-were t-these t-things I-I couldn't s-see and they h-hurt…" Sakura tried to make out why she couldn't keep her voice steady until she felt something else, like a warm and gentle hand on the top of her head; Sakura lost her voice at the sensation.

"I am sorry for doing it but Sakura, a Shinobi life is always with danger. Even among comrades. This trauma is nothing compared to what can really happen to you." Naruto said, hurting inside since he knew that he was making a bad apology. But instead Sakura dove in his chest, seeking comfort. Hinata twitched but managed to keep in place, knowing that that Naruto won't take this chance to do something regretful when Sakura gave herself to the blonde. Instead, Naruto hugged her back.

"D-does that m-mean t-that I am a b-bad e-excuse for a Shinobi?" Sakura tried to speak once again but this time, she felt like she was being sandwiched between two warm bodies, softly.

"Everyone has their doubts about something in their lives. That is why friends were invented, so we will know how to help one and another." Naruto said. "And to tell the truth, both of us felt exactly like that one time or another in our own lives. We know how it feels Sakura, remember that."

Sakura couldn't bring herself to look at Naruto or even trust her own voice, so she resorted to just nodding in the blonde's chest. And after a period of silence that felt like an eternity, gentle and low snoring were heard from Sakura. Naruto just shook his head amusingly, that poor girl had finally fell asleep. All Naruto and Hinata knew was that Sakura is sure to have pleasant dreams for the rest of the day; and some of them can be about what she is going to do in the future days.

XXXXX

And while all this was happening within the disbanded Team Seven, the team that everyone within Konoha had placed all their hopes and dreams into making them proud, a certain Uchiha was elsewhere entirely and was not feeling like interacting with Naruto at all. In fact, he was the one who took this hard, even more than Sakura. Sasuke was outdone by Naruto, more than ever before, and he hated it all.

'Why?' Sasuke thought to himself from his lonely branch during the twilight shade. 'Why can't I just prove that a Dobe is always a Dobe? Why can't I get everything first and better than the Dobe!? I am Sasuke Uchiha! I am an elite! I am the prince of Konoha, the greatest village in the world! I am supposed to get it all from the world so why!?' Sasuke was still delusional from the suggestions imprinted by the civilian council who pampered him spoiled to the extreme.

Seeing how no one is going to answer his thoughts, Sasuke gave up. 'Whatever. I will show them, I will show them all that I can become a Chunin like that Dobe and this time, I will show him that I don't need some whore in debit to gain what you don't deserve!' Despite how dark those next thoughts were, one can see actual determination of a young and ambitious man in those words. "You can count on it!"

And so, a month had passed since Tsunade was appointed as the Godaime Hokage and Sasuke Uchiha had finally awoken from his coma. Things are looking from good to worse. The Civilian Council was still in outrage that Tsunade's first order as to give the Chunin rank to Naruto. They believe that even after how Sasuke refused to rid himself of a cursed seal and how he humiliated Konoha during the Chunin Exam Finals, that the Uchiha was the best of the Genin competing to gain the promotion.

But Tsunade was solid on her decision to keep Shikamaru and Naruto as the only Genin of the Konoha Twelve worthy of the promotion. After all, she wasn't going to let some overzealous old men and meddling civilians push her around like they used to do to her former teacher. She was the Hokage and thus Tsunade owns the village, not them.

Then again, there was this. "What the hell do you mean Sasuke-sama!?" The civilian council was having something they had been doing since the Massacre of the Uchiha Clan; secret meetings behind the Hokage's back. "You are more than a match for the demon brat! You ought to challenge him and beat him right in front of the old bag! That will prove that she gave the promotion to the wrong Genin!"

"I said this before." Sasuke said in a gloomy and disrespectful tone, one that the members of the civilian council ignored. "I did face Uzumaki and I saw just what made him a Chunin, a high ranking one at best. It eclipses my own power greatly. Not even my Sharingan was any use against his Jutsu."

"But the Sharingan can copy any Ninjutsu! Use the demon's power against him!" Another member shouted at Sasuke, almost like demanding of the boy and telling Sasuke how to fight his battles.

"Shut up. You are civilians, not Shinobi so you have no right to tell me how to do anything." Sasuke shocked the Council by actually arguing back. He never done that before, Sasuke always went to them like a beaten puppy or a dissatisfied child to his mother. "You only have your power on paper and voices that no one wants to hear. Uzumaki has my real respect because he is a real Shinobi."

"He is a demon and it is bad enough that he is nothing but a sad sack of lies but he is also a thief!" Yet another foolish member of the Civilian Council shouted. "He stole a Jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll and the one that the Yondaime Hokage invented. We need to make sure he never gets too powerful for even us to control!"

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke roared, shaking the room slightly and the civilians even more. "I didn't come here to listen to you old people talk about control. This isn't about controlling anyone! This is about how you are going to get rid of the only person that ever stuck by my side, claiming that is going to make me stronger! You are wrong!" Sasuke yelled at them all. "I got stronger being Uzumaki's friend, even though I can't say his name thanks you all, then being just his teammate! And I am going to be his friend because we are more like each other than you can ever agree on!"

"But Sasuke-sama…" The first civilian to actively and loudly complain tried to speak again.

"But nothing! We need each other and we are going to stick together. If you don't like it then too bad, you don't control anyone and you don't cage a fox without getting bitten first! That is what I learned about Uzumaki!" Sasuke finished his rant and then disappeared in a spiral of fire. But when the closest member of the civilian council tried to exit the room, the door revealed to be locked.

"What the hell is this!?"

"What the hell is that!?" The same civilian, that will remain unnamed, turned to see that there was something right on the spot that Sasuke disappear from. It looked like the standard Konoha style of kunai that had something attached. And it wasn't just one piece of paper with markings, it was bristle of them that were all attached the hollowed out end of the kunai by separate strings.

And the fact that the civilians had no clue on how these worked, they just tried to get a better look at the piece of paper. Only to notice that the same paper pieces had suddenly fell to the floor, as if they were sticking to it. But in the dim room, no one noticed that the floor had suddenly be covered in similar markings in some kind of pattern that also covered the floor walls and the ceiling.

Then came the smell that was familiar to those who witness paper burning or the fuse of fireworks alit. And it seemed to be filling out the entire room, causing some of the civilians to gag in disgust. "Just what the hell is going on…?" That was to be the last that unknown and unnamed civilian would say before his work turned reddish white, into nothing.

XXXXX

Outside, everyone was in shock to see that one of the meetings rooms had suddenly exploded into flames. In fact, when one of the civilians that lived in that section had revealed that the civilian council had organized a meeting with Sasuke, Tsunade was outraged. The civilian council, made of the least people she tolerated as Hokage, had the nerve to try and meet without her consent; just like what was truthfully happening since the Uchiha Clan Massacre.

Everyone else who knew about the unofficial council meeting were taken to Ibiki Morino, the most sadist interrogator in the land. But then came the icebreaker when everyone saw something they never even dreamed of witnessing; Sasuke walking up to Naruto, smiling like a kid on sugar.

"I did as you said Naruto. I did good right brother?" That left a thousand questions in their minds. And they could count on one boy to speak for their heads that felt like a hurricane, trying to get out. "What the hell is this bullshit?! No one changes that much in only a month! What kind of crap!?" Kiba launched out like rockets from their bases in terms of proverbial ranting.

"Kiba. A monster understands the actions of another monster." Naruto said in a sage like tone. "So coin this for the today and for now one; a lonely man understand the actions of another one. Sasuke and I are those lonely men, just not so lonely anymore."

"Not with you guys and this big, second chance that I have. To make up for everything that I was modelled into. That I was weak to resist and blind to notice." Sasuke continued and while everyone still felt confused, they just nodded.

"Don't think that I am letting you off the hook like that Uchiha! It will take a bullcrap load of making up to do for me to change my mind!" Kiba was now the most stubborn of the Konoha Twelve, trying to use that trait to intimidate this 'new and improved' Sasuke Uchiha.

"Name it! And I will do it until I drop! Believe it!" Sasuke shouted a lot like how a certain blonde boy used to do within the Academy. And yet nobody stated their terms for Sasuke, they were still in shock at the sight. "I guess that I hid better than we thought brother!"

"Hid? What are you talking about?" Ino asked, "You are not hiding. We can see either of you as plain as day." But that answer never came when Kiba suddenly spoke for himself instead the general crowd.

"Whatever, I challenge you to a rematch Naruto!" Sasuke froze at that proclamation while everyone was now in complete doubt about Kiba's sanity, challenging the same blonde that beaten him already as a Genin; just how will the heir think he will 'flair' against a Chunin-level Naruto?

XXXXX

"Challenge me Kiba? That is the second time since I got this rank that a Genin said that to me, still sounding as foolish." Naruto said coolly, reminding Sakura and Sasuke about what happened a month ago.

"I said that I want a rematch because it is not fair for you to get the promotion!" Kiba shouted. "I mean we all worked hard to get it and only two of us did get the rank!"

"I also worked hard despite having the worst teacher possible and I was among the few to make to the finals. And yet I still didn't get a better teacher for it thus I wasn't supposed to beat Neji." Naruto said. "But I still wanted to get the rank because I hoped that it will solve my problems for once, at least I won't have to relieve on others to train me all because they said so. I only got it because I also beaten a Genin that our Rookie of the Year failed to do so and I even helped Tsunade-sama fed off Orochimaru. She made me Chunin mainly because I changed her life for the better than anyone else alive combined."

"You will have to come up with a better story to convince me Dobe!" Kiba suddenly turned from speaking Naruto's name to 'dobe' again; a sure sign that stubbornness has accelerated to the next step, Arrogance. "I don't care about ranks, I can still beat you since you won't be as lucky as you were in the stupid Preliminaries!"

"If you care little about ranks then why do you want to be a Chunin so badly?" Naruto asked and Kiba flinched. That was a good point and the boy with a dog in his hood couldn't find an answer for it. "But if you are going to fight me seriously then I will have to accept."

"Just shut up and fight me! Now!" Kiba shouted before he was hit with a hay bailer of a punch. "Hey! We didn't start! I wasn't ready!"

"Kiba, when you start a fight with your enemies, the one that makes the first move or a leaf falling will start the match. There are no referees from the matches in actual Shinobi battles. I just saw a leaf fall between us so I moved accordingly." Naruto said. "Also, you should tell your enemies that you are not ready. It only means that I can kill you without any effort."

Kiba growled as he picked himself up with a visible bruise on his face. "But as an apology, I will let you make the first move while I will not move from this spot. That ought to make things fair." Kiba smirked and then charged with a kunai in hand, only to fail when Naruto's shifted his head to evade.

"Hey!"

"I simply said that I won't move from this spot and that you can have to first move Kiba. I didn't say that I will play practice dummy and let you hit me." Naruto smirked a smirk that Kiba growled at. "Now here I come. Ready or not!" Kiba took out another kunai just in time to par with Naruto's pair.

They kept this up for so long, it was nearly impossible to see who will win. In fact, there were some sparks from the grinding metal to cause some burns to the skin and burns to the clothes; thankfully, they were too busy occupied to even notice. And take in account that moving fast had caused any flames born from the sparks to be extinguished immediately. But after a good hour, they came to a standstill; they couldn't budge forward and all they could was to prevent the other from pushing them backwards.

And, as Kiba kept himself and Naruto at that standstill, Akamaru appeared from the hood. Akamaru was a small puppy with white fur, and resembles a Great Pyrenees, regularly carried on Kiba's head or inside his jacket. Akamaru's eyes are usually squinted, appearing closed, and he has a brown nose, as well as brown patches on his ears and a brown outline around his mouth. His fur on top of his head is styled to somewhat resemble a Mohawk.

"Sorry Naruto but my partner is my third arm." Kiba said, thinking that he had gotten advantage while the small puppy suddenly went from adorable to feral and charged at Naruto. But before Akamaru could reach and possibly bite onto Naruto's head, the white dog was stopped by simply nothing and was then cast aside the very next second.

"Your third arm Kiba?" Naruto said to the clan heir who was between fighting the standstill and helping Akamaru. "Say hello to mine!" And then Kiba was sent flying away from Naruto with the force like that of an iron baseball bat. One that Kiba could have sworn to feel wet for some reason and he even felt a breeze too.

XXXXX

And while Akamaru and Kiba were trying to get themselves back up, the audience were in shock still that Naruto had sent both the clan heir and his puppy partner away without even using his arms. What no one noticed was that Sasuke was shivering, a lot like a freshly born fawn or a child watching a horror film.

'It is that again. I just know it. I couldn't do a thing about it, even with my Sharingan! Just what was it?' Sasuke had nearly tore himself apart with such panicking thoughts. But only for a few seconds until he smiled in realization. 'That's it! Oh brother, you still surprise me!'

Meanwhile, Kakashi knew that something was up about Naruto. It is just that his naked eye couldn't see anything wrong with the blonde. So he used his other eye, his hidden Sharingan. With it, he could see the chakra of any technique and understand how they work and used it for himself. That is why the Sharingan was seen as 'the eye that steals the techniques of others'.

"What?" But Kakashi didn't know what to think when he used his Sharingan to take a different view on Naruto. It was like seeing three images of the blondes all sided together in some attempt to put the three side to side. "Neji, Hinata. Try it for yourself." Kakashi spoke to the Hyuga who both nodded.

They then activated their own special eyes. The ones they show twenty four seven may give the impression that they were blind but they could see better than anyone else when they activate their Byakugan. Their Byakugan can help them see chakra too with the addition of some kind of x-ray like vision that allows them to see through any disguise but also see where the person's chakra pathways; when they do, they can use their inclusive style of Taijutsu to strike against those pathways to do some serious damage to other Shinobi.

But what they saw was the layout of three identical chakra pathways that were overlapping each other, a lot like Kakashi is seeing. "We see something around Naruto-kun Kakashi-sensei but that is just it."

"Yeah. It is nothing I ever seen before, even while training under Guy-sensei." Neji added to Hinata's remark that doesn't help solve what Naruto is doing. That is until Sasuke started to laugh like a little kid who had won a game over an adult. This caught all their attention for sure.

"You are so cool Brother! They still haven't figured out your overcoat thing!" Sasuke shouted in a childish style that still creeped everyone out. They all had spent an academy's timespan to be used to a gloomily, emo and cocky young man. No, this Sasuke was innocent and easily impressed like a little boy watching his big brother in action. They all then noticed that Naruto chuckled loudly at those words; that was when they were shocked to see Naruto covered from head to toe in both water and wind that seemed to be hidden very well. They never even noticed it all day.

"It is just my own branch of the Bunshin no Jutsu that includes both the Kage Bunshin, the Mizu Bunshin, and the Doro Bunshin (1) I have seen before in my career." Naruto said calmly until everyone saw the now visible water moving around the blonde and settled to form a complete replica of Naruto's head on the right shoulder. "This is my Mizu Jake Bunshin…" And then came one made of wind on the other shoulder. "And this is my Kaze Jake Bunshin. They both are examples of the Jake Bunshin no Jutsu."

"Jake Bunshin no Jutsu?" The Genin were understandable but it was how this new Ninjutsu style had gotten the Jonin amazed and interested that really made a difference. It is not every day that someone invents a completely different, separate style of Ninjutsu. Everyone thought that all the styles were already made. In fact, more people had made Jutsu under those styles since that is much easier.

But then again, there was still that duel between Naruto and Kiba left unsettled. And Naruto continued by taking out a bunch of kunai to send flying towards Kiba. The dog boy managed to jump and dodge but Kiba then found himself surrounded by some kind of fog. But that wasn't the worst. Kiba then felt like some kind of sharp whip had hit him in the stomach. "Suiton: Mizurappa!"

"What!?" Kiba couldn't believe what just happened and it happened so suddenly that he had to let his guard down. That could explain how he felt really bad around the bruising from that Jutsu.

"What? Taijutsu and weapons are out and now it is time for Ninjutsu." Kiba then realized that he had lost sight of Naruto and could only hear his voice throughout the mist. "And what do you think of the Kirigakure no Jutsu? It is a memento of a friend that I lost a while ago."

'Keep talking…I will find you in this stupid mist…' Kiba thought to himself and saw something of the right shape to be, "Gotcha Dobe!" Kiba lunged and pierced what he thought to be Naruto and instead, the sound of water splashing into flesh bouncing on the ground. Kiba growled that he only hit the Mizu Bunshin that Naruto had made through that Jake Bunshin style.

If only he had paid more attention, then Kiba would have noticed that the water from the Mizu Bunshin had suddenly and somehow receded in another direction. 'Just where is the dobe!? I can't get his scent and Akamaru…'"AKAMARU!" Kiba then realized at last he couldn't find is partner but also didn't realize until too late that he had given himself away to the creator of the fog; Naruto himself.

"Suiton: Mizuankashindou!" Kiba felt like he some sea animal hit by a ship's anchor falling to secure it at the sea floor. It sent the dog trainer Shinobi away several feet with an even worse bruise than the last Jutsu.

'Dammit!' Kiba cursed to himself, actually learning something from all this. 'My senses are useless here and I can't call out to Akamaru without alerting the Dobe to where I am.' Kiba tried to think of a way to move around this disadvantage of his. 'But…if I leave this fog…' Kiba thought to be a good idea and hurried as silently as he could to exit the fog.

And when he managed to leave it, Kiba tried to turn back and see if he could find his partner. But he never counted on a white chain appearing from outside the fog and piecing him! But instead of pain, Kiba felt a little dizzy and weak in his balance. That was prevented him from easily being dragged back into the fog and right into Naruto!

"That was just a dandy idea but you made yourself an easier target without the fog to hide in. That was your latest mistake Kiba." The said boy could only see faintly that Naruto had his Kaze Jake Bunshin to be the source of the white chain, like the tongue of a frog or a snake. And then there was the anchor made of water that surrounded Naruto's opposite fist coming at his face, with Kiba barely able to stop it from reaching him.

"I win."

Those two words weren't going to be the last Kiba will hear. It was the ones after his accelerated heart beats rose again, after the whimpering of a puppy and the shackling of chains. Without his partner to back him up, his body betraying him, Kiba felt like even his own spirit was leaving him high and dry. He couldn't fight anymore. "I lose. "

Those words were low and yet peaceful which matched how Kiba felt like his spirit was forced out of his body in a burst of a sensation didn't feel like pleasure or pain. That was the sensation of losing conscious. And yet Kiba never saw what could have given him hope to fight further; Akamaru racing for him with a desperate look on his face. That was the source of the whimpering after all.

End of Chapter 3.

*Thanks for the support and here is the hint about Naruto's new power like I promised in the last chapter. And I got all this from a self-made Jutsu I cooked up ages ago but never got to use it in any of my stories before. Tell me what you think, I had to spend some restless nights thinking hard on this.*

It is just my name for the type of earth clone that Orochimaru keeps using to be only more annoying. It is all because he could always find mud to take his place as a clone and this one even fights back when revealed. Can you imagine that a mud clone could give you a hard time?

Translations:

Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique

Kage Bunshin – Shadow Clone

Mizu Bunshin – Water Clone

Doro Bunshin – Mud Clone

Mizu Jake Bunshin – Water Jacket Clone

Kaze Jake Bunshin – Wind Jacket Clone

Jake Bunshin no Jutsu – Jacket Clone Technique

Suiton: Mizurappa – Water Release: Wild Water Wave

Kirigakure no Jutsu – Hiding in The Mist Technique

Suiton: Mizuankashindou – Water Release: Water Anchor Impact (Personal Creation)