Herald of the End Chapter 11: Who We Become, a naruto fanfic

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I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It not only has the longest fight scene yet, but it also has character growth for quite a few people, not to mention a few scenes that I'm sure will throw you guys for a loop; especially if you think about them in relation to things and events that happened in previous chapters. And this chapter marks the first time Haku's gender has affected the plot of the story, rather than just character interaction and character growth.

In addition, I have started writing a few drafts for other stories that are bouncing around in my head. There is a poll up in my profile to see what one you guys might be interested in. I want to reassure you guys that completing Herald of the End is still going to be my first priority, but I may start another story on the side. Either way, I prefer to write several drafts of what I'm going to write long before I ever publish it. And again, Herald of the End is not ending anytime soon!

Responses to your reviews are at the bottom.

And here is the next chapter! Chapter 11: Who We Become!

Naruto half walked half ran out of the Hokage Tower. The recent talk with the Hokage had cracked his emotional mask and anger was threatening to seep through the cracks. Seeking to burn off his anger, Naruto glanced at the nearest building beside the Hokage Tower. He walked up to the wall of the building and gazed upwards. Naruto crouched down and leapt upwards, spinning to grab the windowsill on the second story, and using it to hurl himself onto the roof. No sooner than when his feet touched the rooftop, Naruto took off, sprinting as fast as he could go; seeking to clear his head.

As Naruto passed the Hyuga Clan wall, a female cry of pain brought him up short. Hearing it yet again prompted Naruto to investigate, hurrying to the source of the sound. Had Naruto been paying closer attention to his speed, he would have realized that he was nothing more than a blur to the untrained eye. As the blonde grow closer to the sound, he heard an angry and harsh voice berating someone. Naruto soon spotted the source of the cry of pain. A older male Hyuga dressed in silk robes towered over a softly crying black-haired woman. The blow that caused a rapidly growing bruise on her cheek had also knocked her hair out of place, exposing a green seal seated on her forehead. Several other Hyuga members with similar seals stood in the area, their faces downcast and submissive.

"...And if you ever spill my tea again...I'll make this feel like a blessing in comparison!" The Hyuga Main House member snarled. He raised his hand to strike her yet again, but his arm's movement was instantly arrested. He snapped his head to see who dared stop him from "correcting" the clumsy Branch member. A head of sunny-blonde hair and furious blue eyes greeted him.

"Don't you touch her!" Naruto's voice was low and cold, carrying a hint of something dangerous. The Hyuga member tore his arm out of the blonde's grip and took two furious steps back, his face contorting into a ugly snarl.

"Don't you know who I am, boy?"

"No. And I don't care."

The Hyuga let out a inaudible growl and pulsed chakra to his eyes, activating his bloodline. He turned his enraged gaze to the intruder, only to slam his eyelids shut to block out the impossibly bright chakra emanating from the blonde. A sudden blow dropped him to his knees. He opened his now frightened eyes to see the blonde looming above him.

"I don't know who you think you are," Naruto's low deadly tone sending shivers of fear down the Hyuga's spine. "But you aren't going to ever touch her again! Or any of them!" There was a red glint in the blonde's glacier cold eyes. "If you do..." Naruto leaned in close, the air becoming impossibly oppressive, "I'll make this seem like a dream!"

Naruto stepped back and let the now terrified Hyuga rush past him, Naruto's gaze following him the entire way. After the Main House Hyuga had disappeared from sight, Naruto turned to leave, only for a soft confused voice to stop him.

"W-Why did you stop him?" The woman who had been knocked to the ground asked, confusion laced with utter gratitude in her tone.

"Because I was once where you were, helpless and praying for someone to rescue me." Naruto's voice was soft, his tone unreadable. "So if I can help someone who can't defend themselves, I will to do it without hesitation."

The woman looked upon her savior with undisguised awe. He had stepped in between her and a Main House member. This was not the first time she had been hit, but it was the first time it had been stopped. "W-What's your name?" She desperately asked as she started to push herself off of the ground, wanting to know her rescuer's name.

"Naruto Uzumaki." The blonde answered as he helped her stand. A slight tint of red dusted her cheeks as she felt her Naruto's warm hand hold her own as she stood to her feet. After Naruto let go of her hand, he turned and began walking away; his mission accomplished.

"Wait!" The woman called out, hurrying after the blonde. He turned to her with a quizzical expression on his face. "My name is Haruna!" She bowed deeply. "Thank-you for saving me!" Complete and utter gratitude was etched onto her face. All of the other members of the Branch House in the area bowed as well, complete gratefulness visible on each of their faces.

"Nice to meet you Haruna-San." Naruto returned politely, not sure as to why he was being thanked. He had only done what he felt was right.

As Naruto left again, a sudden terrible thought had Haruna calling out to him. "Naruto-Sama, when you were helpless, did anyone save you?" The answering shake of his head broke her heart. As she watched her blonde savior leave, she vowed to repay him in any way she could.

As Naruto walked towards his house, he wondered what the feeling he felt after saving Haruna was. It felt different then when he was protecting his precious people, but it wasn't a bad feeling by any means. It felt like...Naruto didn't know exactly how to describe it. It made him feel like he wanted to do it again, to save those how couldn't save themselves. It felt like...purpose.

Naruto shrugged off the feeling. Whatever it was, he had more important things to be doing right now. He had to grab his mission gear and meet his team. Naruto quickly sealed his gear into a small scroll, almost forgetting to pack his new tent that Haku had picked up for him. After receiving a farewell hug from the ice-user, Naruto headed off to meet his team.

Hiruzen let out a depressed sigh. It had been over an hour since Naruto had left the Hokage's office, but the revelation that his village had committed atrocities against the young blonde had all but destroyed Hiruzen's spirit. He had lost and sacrificed so much for the village, but they had become the very thing Hiruzen had fought all of his life to stop. Worse still, he had known that all was not right with young Naruto, but he had chosen to close his eyes and blindly believe in his village.

As Hiruzen sat depressed in his chair, the chair that had caused him to make so many poor decisions, the door to his office suddenly opened. A bandaged man with a cane slowly walked into the room. After he stepped into the room, he closed the door before walking slowly towards the Hokage. The slow tap tap of his cane echoed through the room. "What do you want Danzo?" Hiruzen tiredly asked, wanting nothing more than to be alone with his regrets.

"You are not acting like a strong Hokage." Danzo reprimanded. "You let the words of a young boy reduce you to this pathetic state!"

"Did you hear his words?" Hiruzen whispered, his posture all but defeated, "The village has done terrible things to him! I promised to look after him! But I failed! I failed Minato! I failed Tobirama! Biwako would be ashamed of me!" He covered his face with his hands in depression. "I have probably lost all chances to ever befriend Naruto!"

"Yes you have." Danzo brutally agreed. "What are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" Hiruzen asked, utter misery coating ever word.

"It is quite simple." Danzo stated. "You have two choices. You can wallow in self pity, or you can learn from your...mistakes."

Hiruzen was quiet for a long time. Thoughts and emotions warred within him. Slowly his resolve began to harden. His inner fire, long since turned to mere embers, reignited. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man once known as the "God of Shinobi" stood up.

Hiruzen walked quickly to the door of his office, his stride smooth and even, and opened it. "Hold my paperwork until tomorrow. Cancel any meetings for today." He ordered the receptionist.

"Where are you going Hiruzen?" Danzo asked, his tone unreadable.

"To something I should have done a long, long time ago." Hiruzen answered, his voice strong and determined. "I am going to train." And with those parting words, Hiruzen headed out, his spirit burning with resolve to become strong; strong enough to regain enough power to change the village. He couldn't change the past, but he could change the future. Naruto had awakened him from his slumber, and he would not squander this chance. The Supreme Shinobi had awakened once more.

Danzo watched his old ex-friend Hiruzen leave the Hokage office. He allowed the smallest of satisfied smiles to grace his face for the briefest of moments. "You are becoming quite the useful weapon...Naruto Uzumaki..."

After Team Eight met up at the East Gate, they headed off towards their mission area. As per normal, Team Eight pushed hard towards their objective, using the journey to train their speed and stamina. As evening approached, Kurenai signaled for the group to halt for the evening. Given that they had passed the half way point several hours ago, the Jonin was confident that they would reach the client next morning as scheduled.

As the two girls prepared to ask the blonde about sleeping in their tent, Naruto trotted happily over to an unoccupied area. Gathering chakra to his fingertips, he tapped the sealing scroll and the folded up tent popped out of the scroll with a small puff of smoke. The other members were taken aback by the sheer size of the tent. As Naruto started to set up the tent in question, he grinned and reported to Sakura and Hinata."Sakura-Chan! Hinata-Chan! I got a three-person tent so either of you don't have to be cold!"

Kurenai had to fight the almost overwhelming urge to laugh at the two girls slightly disappointed faces. But just as quickly a new expression of determination flashed across their faces. "I'll happily join you in your tent!" Sakura quickly said, unsuccessfully attempting to hide her blush at the thought of joining Naruto-Kun in his tent, even if he didn't realize the potential implications of his offer.

"I-I will j-join you as well Naruto-Kun!" Hinata managed to verbalize, despite the heavy flush covering her face. While she felt slightly faint at the thought of join Naruto-Kun in his tent, she couldn't afford to lose the chance of sleeping close to her object of intense affection.

After the girls quickly moved into Kurenai's tent to change into their sleeping clothes, they approached the door to Naruto's tent. As their neared it, they couldn't help but pause in slight nervousness. What if Naruto wasn't ready for them? "Screw it!" Sakura muttered to herself after she waited outside for a minute. She threw the tent flap open and promptly froze.

"Hey Sakura-Chan and Hinata-Chan!" Naruto greeted as he pulled on his sleeping t-shirt. The t-shirt was now on the small side, showing the blushing girls the outlines of the blonde's developing muscles. He waved the two girls into the tent and showed them where he had set up his sleeping bag on the far side of the tent.

Hinata frowned slightly. That just wouldn't do! She turned away from Naruto-Kun's muscled form and quickly thought up a reason for Naruto to move his sleeping bag. "Naruto-Kun, tonight may get cold. It would be better if all three of us slept next to each other!" Hinata fought the oncoming feeling of unconsciousness at her bold words. She kept her burning cheeks facing away from Naruto, knowing that they must rival the hottest campfire in sheer heat.

"Oh." Naruto scratched the top of his head thought. "I didn't think of that!" He quickly pulled the orange sleeping bag into the center of the tent. Sakura and Hinata quickly unfolded their sleeping bags beside his, each claiming a side. The Genins quickly climbed into their sleeping bags. Sleep came quickly for Naruto, having learned to sleep while he could.

Sakura shifted slightly in her sleeping bag, intensely aware of the fact that the person she liked was only a few short feet from her. Ever since she had the interesting talk with her mother about sex as well as boys, she had become even more aware of her best friend's looks. While Naruto was still a bit on the short side, Haku's meals had already given him much needed nutrients to grow. The blonde was quickly developing into the quite an attractive teen. Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated on Naruto's even breaths. She slowly slipped off to sleep.

Hinata was also having trouble sleeping. This was the closest she had ever slept to Naruto, and she was quite aware of the fact that only a mere four feet separated them. In fact, if both she and Naruto rolled over...Hinata blushed deeply and almost fainted at the thought. Gradually, the warm heat Naruto excluded lulled the blue-haired girl to sleep.

Naruto awoke slowly, feeling extremely rested and refreshed. For the first time since he could remember, he had slept the entire night without a single nightmare. As he became aware of his surroundings, he quickly became aware of two weights laying on his arms and shoulders. Naruto stealthfully cracked his eyes open slightly to figure out what was holding him down. His eyes widened as he saw Sakura and Hinata sleeping on either side of him, each of the girls resting their heads on one of his shoulders. Glancing down further, he realized that they were also clutching his arms tightly. If he had been more aware of the female body, Naruto would have realized what exactly was pressed into his upper arms.

Naruto grunted quietly to himself in consternation. While he couldn't disturb Hinata-Chan or Sakura-Chan, he really needed to get up. And unlike last time something like this happened, he couldn't move his hands to form a shadow clone to switch with. "I wonder if I need to make the hand signs for the shadow clone jutsu?" Naruto wondered to himself. Seeing no other recourse, he closed his eyes and concentrated. He imagined how his chakra felt as it was forming the shadow clones, how it molded and moved. And with that image firmly in his mind, Naruto pushed his chakra. White smoke blanketed the tent. After a minute the smoke cleared, revealing four clones carefully perched in the tent, making sure not to disturb the two female occupants. Seeing their creator, one of the clones snapped a thumbs up in Naruto's direction. Another clone carefully laid down in the exact same position Naruto was in. One quick substitution later and Naruto was free.

Naruto headed out of the tent, eager to start ramen for breakfast. As he walked towards the recently rekindled fire, he easily spotted Kurenai sitting near the fire. "Sleep well?" She asked, a teasing note to her voice.

Naruto happily nodded, oblivious to the double meaning behind the red-eyed woman's teasing words. "I slept really well!" Kurenai's mouth quirked upwards as she heard Naruto's happy explanation. She had originally intended on awakening two of her Genin to take over watch for her last night, but when she opened the tent flap the scene that greeted her was too cute for her to break up. Hinata and Sakura had scooted close to the blonde and wrapped their arms around his, laying their heads on his each of his respective shoulders. All three looked so peaceful and cute sleeping together that she didn't have the heart to awaken them. A soldier pill and coffee had her ready for the day.

"Naruto," Kurenai said as a thought occurred to her, "If Hinata-Chan and Sakura-Chan are still sleeping, how did you get up without awakening them?" Unless they had shifted positions once again, Kurenai knew that Naruto wouldn't have been able to form the hand-sign for his clone technique to escape like he did last time.

"Well," Naruto rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment, "I tried to make some clones without handsigns. It worked." He concluded simply, unaware of just how massive his achievement was. Seal-less techniques were extremely rare, and converting a jutsu that required seals to a seal-less technique was practically unheard of. Kurenai was in awe of her student. He had done was most believed was impossible, and for the simple reason that he didn't want to wake his friends.

"It would be classic Naruto to ignore all pre-established ideas for his precious people." Kurenai mused. Out loud she offered, "Well Naruto, we have to start packing up camp soon. I'll wake the girls up if you want to start a quick breakfast." Naruto readily agreed, eager to start the ramen for the group.

Hinata slowly awoke, feeling more rested then she had in a long time. She sleepily noted that her pillow was strangly shaped and not filled with feathers like normal. She sat up and stretched, a cute yawn escaping from her mouth as she did. She caught a bit of white fabric out the corner of her eye. Curious, she turned to look at what she saw. She froze instantly when she spotted Naruto's sleeping body a scant few inches from her. Glancing down, she realized why her pillow was so odd. It wasn't her pillow! It was Naruto-Kun's warm shoulder! Stunned, she could only glance down at her and Naruto's close position, before looking back at the spot she had started at; each time her blush growing slightly more prominent. After her fifth cycle, she noticed Sakura sit up as well.

Hinata frantically waved to Sakura to stay silent. Confused, Sakura halted mid-stretch. Hinata pointed down. Sakura slowly glanced down, her face going crimson as soon as she realized who she was sleeping next to. "What do we do?" Sakura whispered, taking care to direct her words directly towards her close friend and rival.

"I don't know!" Hinata whispered back, unsure if moving would awaken Naruto. Neither girl was eager to explain to their object of affection how exactly they ended up in such a position, especially given that they didn't know themselves.

"Maybe he's still asleep?" Sakura offered, hoping that they could simply pretend that this never happened. While she didn't mind sleeping next to Naruto, waking up to find you had moved to clutch his arm during the night was something else entirely. The tent flap opened and both girls froze, staring at the doorway with wide eyes.

"What's with that look?" Kurenai teased, "You two looked very comfortable last night..." Sakura groaned and hid her face in her hands in embarrassment while Hinata seemed torn on if she was supposed to deny her sensei's words. Kurenai enjoyed the looks on her Genin's faces for a moment before dropping the preverbal bomb. "You do know Naruto awoke a little bit ago right?" Seeing Sakura and Hinata look down at the sleeping form of Naruto with confusion, she explained further. "That's a clone."

Sakura, realizing that the clone would ask or have its creator ask questions that she didn't want to answer right now, reacted instinctively. She promptly punched the clone, dispelling it. Sakura chuckled sheepishly when she saw the shocked expressions on Hinata's and Kurenai's face. "It was just a clone!" She defended herself. Seeing Hinata's expression slowly changing into annoyance or perhaps anger, she hurriedly pointed out, "It would have told Naruto to think more about how we woke up..." Hinata, realizing that the crisis was temporally avoided, allowed herself to nod, agreeing with Sakura's reasoning, but still disliking the fact that Sakura had hit something that looked exactly like Naruto-Kun. The blue-haired girl stood up, took a deep breath, and walked out of the tent.

Hinata walked out of the three person tent and almost instantly spotted Naruto stirring a pot of what looked like ramen on the fire. "Hello Hinata-Chan!" Naruto cheerily greeted, his voice happy and upbeat, "How did you sleep?"

All thoughts of avoiding the topic of how their sleeping arrangements...shifted last night as blood rushed to Hinata's blushing cheeks. "J-Just f-fine Naruto-Kun!" She stuttered, her mind unhelpfully replaying how comfortable it had been to sleep next to him.

"I'm glad!" Naruto exclaimed, happy that he hadn't been the only one who had slept well, "I noticed you guys were sleeping really close to me when I woke up. Musta' been cold last night, eh?"

"It was really cold last night..."Sakura's voice interjected quickly, before Hinata could answer and possibly ruin a perfect opportunity for her to get closer to Naruto, even if she had to share him with Hinata. "You didn't mind did you, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto shook his head. "I didn't mind at all Sakura-Chan! Any time you want to sleep next to me you can!" He turned back to the ramen and missed Sakura's brain seemed to temporarily short-circuit as she thought of all the things Naruto's words could be taken to mean. Red completely overtook her cheeks and she hid her face in hands, feeling the heat from her blushing face.

"C-Can I sleep next you as well, Naruto-Kun?" Hinata asked, congratulating herself on only stuttering once even as her cheeks climbed to new heights in heat.

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded. He finished the last stir of the pot with a flourish and began pouring the delicious smelling broth into the awaiting bowls, seeming not noticing, or perhaps not caring about, how hot the pot of ramen was. After he divided up the ramen, he tapped his sealing scroll and a plate of freshly cooked eggs appeared next to him. He quickly passed out the protein filled eggs as well.

As Kurenai finished her last bite of the egg, having finished her bowl of ramen first, she questioned Naruto on how he was able to keep the eggs so fresh, given that he didn't have the time to make them before they had come out of the tent. "Well," Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassed pride, "When I was experimenting with creating sealing scrolls, I figured out how to store stuff in stasis. So it's just as fresh as when I sealed it!" Naruto explained, his tone indicating that he didn't see his achievement as something spectacular.

Kurenai was once again stunned by her student. While she didn't know exactly how a sealing scroll worked beyond how to use it, she was fairly confident that normal sealing scrolls didn't come with stasis capabilities. The Jonin part of her saw the different ways that sealing technique could be used, while the rest of her was immensely proud of her student. "That's amazing Naruto-Kun!" She congratulated, her voice showing her awe of Naruto's sealing prowess.

Sakura and Hinata congratulated the blonde as well, even if they didn't fully understand the achievement, Naruto deserved all of the encouragement and congratulations they could give. Once Team Eight had finished the wonderful meal they quickly packed up camp. Their speed in packing up the camp was aided greatly by Naruto's sealing scrolls. Seeing how useful and easy to use his sealing scrolls were, they had requested him to create sealing scrolls for them as well. Naruto had agreed, happy to apply his knowledge for the betterment of his precious people. When the rest of Team Eight was finishing pack up their personal items Naruto walked over to the campfire, preparing on putting it out. As he was about to start the handseals for the water jutsu Sakura had taught him, a sudden thought stopped him. He stared at the fire, then glanced down at the sealing scroll on his belt. "I wonder if..." Kurenai's call brought him out of his musings. Forming the hand signs quickly, Naruto extinguished the fire. He made a mental note to test out his theory once they got back to the village.

As Team Eight resumed their rapid pace towards the mission area, Naruto asked Sakura about her training with Haku, curious about the healing techniques Sakura learned. "Sakura-Chan, what exactly does your healing jutsus do?" Naruto had always eventually healed on his own, so he freely admitted that he had no idea of how normal or conventional healing worked.

"Well, the first technique Haku-Chan taught me was the diagnosis jutsu, a technique that allows the medic nin to figure out what's wrong with the patient's body." Sakura began, slipping into her lecturing tone, "This was followed by her teaching me the Mystical Palm Technique, a healing technique that allows me to speed up the body's healing process." Sakura then launched into a detailed explanation of how the techniques worked.

"...and by stimulating the muscle cells directly with chakra, you can have them repair themselves faster!" Sakura finished her hour long dissertation on the relationship of chakra and healing techniques. Naruto had done his best to listen, even if practically everything she had said was completely confusing. He understood two things about the medical techniques however. First, medical techniques required extreme chakra control to even use, so he couldn't learn them. And as far as the second thing went, he had a question for Sakura or anyone who could answer it.

"Sakura-Chan, would it be possible for me to transfer chakra to someone else so they wouldn't run out of chakra?"

Sakura's brow furrowed as she pondered Naruto's question. While she had never read of such a thing, she couldn't think of a reason why they couldn't try. "I don't know, Naruto-Kun." She finally answered, "But I don't see any harm in trying!"

Kurenai, who had been content to simply listen to her student's chatter, quickly spoke up before Naruto could attempt to do anything. "We can test your theory when we get back to the village. It's not good to attempt new, untested techniques on a mission; no matter how good the idea." Kurenai's voice was firm. Not only would figuring how to transfer chakra take time, but it could potentially be dangerous. Konoha had quite a few medical ninja, so Kurenai wanted to wait until they were nearby before attempting any such technique. Her team nodded, accepting her reasoning.

It was just after ten in the morning when Team Eight arrived at the crossroads. They spied their client, one Rokurou Ghuji, waiting by his wagon. He perked up as he spotted the ninjas approaching him. "Hello!" The slightly overweight man greeted warmly, "You must be the leaf ninjas! Team Eight I presume?"

Kurenai bowed in greeting, "We are Team Eight, here to escort you to Hana Village in the Land of Tea."

"Good!" Rokurou nodded happily. "Let me double-check I have all my wares and we can be off!" As the finely dressed man moved to check his wagon, he missed seeing Kurenai's eyes narrow in suspicion. Their client should not have known what team was going to assist him. Something was off, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was! Kurenai resolved to watch Rokurou closely, both to protect him as a client, and to make sure that he was just a civilian; not someone who would harm her students. And if he was a threat to her team, well, genjutsu was a subtle art...and accidents happened sometimes...

Several hours had passed since Team Eight and their client had started off. Rokurou had struck up a conversation with his escorts, and they learned from the friendly man that he sold high-quality silks and fabrics, as well as complete outfits. Sakura and Naruto had been shocked by the prices of his wares, Naruto for he hadn't ever even seen that much money in his lifetime while Sakura was worried that getting a high-quality outfit would cost so much, just in case she needed to go on a date, alone with Naruto. Rokurou explained that the village that was their destination had put in an order for Kumo-ko silk, also known as spider-steel. Spider-steel was extremely rare silk that was light and flexible as the highest quality silk, while being durable and protective as weapons-grade steel. The silk itself came from a rare, nearly extinct breed of spiders that few knew the location of. To complicate matters further, the spiders had deadly poison that could instantly kill a human ten times over. Needless to say, a single bolt of spider-steel was worth more then what your average ninja made in several years. His wagon held twenty. And as such, he was a much large target than normal.

Naruto's hand shot up, his fist clenched as he heard a branch crackle beneath someone's foot. Team Eight reacted instantly, their teamwork drills allowing them to spread out without a single word needed, the formation allowing for both maximum protection for the client while simultaneously maximizing the team's individual skills. A low chuckle reverberated from the trees surrounding the road, seemingly coming from all directions at once. "Who's there?" Naruto challenged, listening for the slightest noise that would give the person, or persons, away.

Movement from trees beside the road in front of Team Eight sent the team onto high alert. Five ninjas slowly ambled out of the trees. The one leading the pack rested his over-sized wakizashi on his shoulder as he stopped fifty feet away from Team Eight. "So your senses are even stronger then we were told," He congratulated Naruto, "But that won't save you. So do me a favor and just surrender. It'll hurt less that way. Trust me." He waited a brief moment before shrugging. "All right then." He waved the dangerous men behind him forward. "Take them out!"

The four missing ninja converged on Team Eight, each speeding towards a different member of the leaf ninja. Naruto was charged by a sword wielding ninja dressed in samurai styled armor. The ninja's sword had some kind of liquid spread across it, and it's very smell burnt Naruto's sensitive nose even at a distance.

Kurenai was charged by a masked individual who's mask oddly didn't include any eye holes. His hands glowed as he attempted to spear with her with his hand as the lithe Jonin was in range. Kurenai dodged out of the way, her hands already halfway through the hand signs required for one of her strongest genjutsus.

Hinata was also charged by another similarly masked individual, but unlike his fellow missing nin, he simply walked within ten feet of Hinata and waited for her to attack. Hinata, having taken a moment to activate her Byakugan, shot forward to meet his unspoken challenge; her hands glowing slightly as she prepared to unleash her clan's feared hand-to-hand combat techniques.

Sakura was rushed by a dark skinned ninja who wove his hands through a long series of hand seals as he approached the young kunoichi. As soon as he reached the twenty foot mark, he reached the final seal and punched the ground, a dragon made of mud and rock rising out of the ground in front of him. The earth dragon roared silently, and charged towards the wide eyed genin!

Naruto ducked a horizontal slash from his a opponent, slipping under the blade to attack the former samurai directly. The ronin proved to be surprisingly agile as he snapped his free hand down to block the blonde's rising punch. He instantly halted his sword strike and chopped down at Naruto! Naruto twisted out of the way of the deadly blade and leapt back, his hand flashing to his kunai pouch. Before the young Uzumaki had reached the apex of his jump, he pulled several kunai and sent them speeding towards the ronin. The ronin flicked his blade with blurred speed, blocking two of the kunai while dodging the remaining three. His eyes narrowed as he realized that their information on the blonde had been incorrect. Each of the Kunai thrown had been aimed with perfect accuracy, and more worryingly, then had been thrown in such a way that blocking them all with his sword was impossible; given that his sword would have had to been in several places at once. He sprung off of his planted back foot, charging towards the descending blonde!

Kurenai quietly cursed. Whoever her opponent was, her genjutsu was completely ineffective! It was if he could just see through her techniques. Not only that, his hands were covered in dangerous chakra, making close- quarters combat highly dangerous. She had seen the damage his hands could do when he had hit the ground when he leapt away. The hard packed ground had instantly fractured for a foot in all directions when his hand had merely brushed the ground! She snapped several kunai towards the masked ninja and was pleasantly surprised to see him dodge the thrown weapons. "Good! So he can't block weapons with his hands. Now to find a way to exploit that!" Kurenai flashed through the hand signs for the water bullet technique and less than five seconds later sent four condensed water bullets rocketing towards the missing ninja, but the masked nin hurled himself into the air with a flip, contorting his body to avoid the deadly water technique. He landed and instantly recovered, almost blurring towards the Jonin!

"Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms!" Hinata exclaimed as her hands blurred towards her opponents chakra points.

"Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms!" The missing ninja snapped back, his hands intercepting each of Hinata's strikes.

"W-What?!" Hinata cried, utterly shocked at how her technique had been blocked. How did this missing ninja know her clan's secret combat techniques?

The missing ninja chuckled at her shocked expression. He slowly reached up and pressed a hidden seal on his mask, detaching it from his face. It slowly fell from his face, revealing the terrible truth. The veins bulged around his pale eyes, the Byakugan boring into Hinata's horrified eyes. "I was once just a servant, a slave of the Main House," the ninja explained casually, "But when the Kyubi attacked twelve years ago, some of us took the opportunity to escape our bonds..." He chuckled again. "And now little Hyuga, let's see how much the clan has taught you!" His hands blurred toward Hinata, "Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!"

Sakura back flipped away from the mud dragon before having to hand spring away to avoid another mud dragon that had silently risen behind her. Her mind worked furiously to figure out a way to even the odds. Given that her opponent was a earth-user, her water techniques were next to useless. Luckily, water techniques wasn't her only option. She dodged to the side of the mud dragon when it made its next pass; utilizing the fact that it blocked the enemy ninja's line of sight. She sped through the hand signs for the area of effect genjutsu Kurenai had taught her. She ducked the second mud dragon's attack and slapped her hand on the ground, the genjutsu spreading out around her. "Step One complete! Now for Step Two!" Sakura snapped though several hands signs before flicking four senbon at her attacker. The missing ninja's eyes widened as the senbon glowed white before lines of electricity connected the senbon as the sped towards him! He rolled underneath the lethal looking technique with a muttered curse, his hands already forming the need hand signs for the earth spike technique!

Naruto dodged another sword cut. The missing ninja was fast, very fast. He was keeping the blonde on the defensive, not giving him a moment to form any jutsus. Naruto had tried clones, but they had almost died as soon as they were created, and the smoke that the released upon death was more of a detriment for Naruto then his attacker. However, Naruto was starting to see a pattern to the ronin's attacks. Now all Naruto had to do was time it right...

"There!" Naruto's hand snapped up and knocked the sword out of the way! Naruto flowed from his block to a punch, stepping forward to slam his hand in his opponents unguarded face. A sudden, sharp pain in his abdomen caused him to freeze his attack and look down. The ronin's wakizashi was buried to the hilt in his stomach. The ronin twisted the blade slightly, almost bringing Naruto to his knees.

A massive pain suddenly blazed though Naruto's body, feeling like every cell in his body had suddenly caught fire. He coughed wetly, tasting iron. Blood splattered the ground. "W-Wha-What did you d-do to me?" Naruto weakly asked the stone faced swordsman, still staring at the blade buried in his stomach.

"Poisoned you." The ronin answered. "We are contracted to kill your entire team." He continued. He started to pull his short sword back out of the soon-to-be-dead ninja when its progress was suddenly halted. He glanced down, surprised, and his eyes widened as he saw the blonde holding the blade, keeping in place!

"You want to kill my precious people?" Naruto lowly spoke, his voice taking on a lethal tone. He slowly raised his head to glare at the ronin. Red bled into his glowing blue eyes. Wisps of dense, corrosive red chakra began wafting off of the suddenly dangerous looking blonde. Naruto's mouth curled up in a lethal looking snarl.

Grasping the blade tighter with one hand, he shoved the blade deeper within himself, jerking the ronin forward towards him. Naruto's free hand burst into glowing chakra flames, bright blue and baleful red intertwining. He slammed the glowing hand into the ronin. Utter carnage.

The ronin's torso vaporized. As the intact parts of the ronin fell to the ground with a wet plop, all of the battles instantly halted. All eyes were on Naruto as he grabbed the handle of the short sword still embedded him. The blonde flexed, pulling the wakizashi out of him in a spray of blood. The jinchruiki's hand tightened on the handle. A ominous, terrible cloak enveloped him. A red chakra tail sprouted behind him. Killing intent threatened to crush everything. "You want to kill my precious people?" Naruto's voice was dark, terrible. "You will die for before you touch them!" He slowly turned his head to face the nearest ninja.

The masked ninja that had been fighting Kurenai steeled his quivering nerves. Wind chakra glowed around his hands and he leapt for the blonde, becoming a blur as he fell towards the red cloaked jinchuriki. Naruto slammed the short sword into the ground and blurred though hand signs. The missing nin was only five feet from his target when the blonde snarled, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" The overloaded wind technique slammed into the falling missing ninja with the force of a hurricane. He was blasted back, the powerful winds snapping his bones like twigs. He slammed into a tree with a meaty crunch, most of his bones turned to gavel. He died instantly.

As soon as the wind faded, a massive dragon made of pure stone barreled in Naruto's direction. The red chakra swelled in jinchuriki's hand and arm as he raised his left arm. Suddenly he snapped his hand forward, a massive claw made of pure red chakra rocketing to intercept the rock dragon. There was a brief power struggle before the rock dragon was knocked off course by the claw. The earth-user barely had time to cry out in horrified shock before he was snatched by the claw. He screamed as the corrosive chakra began to eat away at his exposed skin. Naruto suddenly clenched his fist, the massive claw mimicking his motion. A negligent flick of his wrist had the claw tossing the utterly broken body of the ninja aside.

"It's a mother-fucking Jinchuriki!" The former Hyuga that had been toying with Hinata screamed in complete terror, "This wasn't in the contract! We weren't going to face a demon!" He attempted to run, but a blur of yellow and red flashed in front of him. He cried out in pain as he was blinded by the sheer amount of chakra pouring from the blonde. A claw made of chakra snapped out and snagged the dead ronin's katana. It retracted, dropping the weapon into the jinchuriki's hand. The steel covered in the dark blood-red chakra flashed. The missing ninja slumped over bonelessly, his strings cut. A few feet away his severed head hit the ground with a thump.

Naruto turned to looked at each of his team, scrutinizing them to see if they had been hurt. Sakura had a few scrapes, while Kurenai was uninjured. Hinata had several bruises on her arms and hands. Seeing that his team, his precious people were mostly unhurt, the chakra cloak dissipated. Naruto fell back into the darkness, content.

"Don't strain yourself Bear-Kun!" Yugao warned, concerned for her teammate. After he had taken the fabled Three Coloured Pills of the Akimichi clan, he had easily defeated the attacking ANBU. However, the pills were not without their drawbacks. In exchange for immense power, the pills poisoned the user's body and voraciously converted all fat cells to chakra. Cat estimated that Bear had lost twenty percent of his entire body mass during the brief time he used the pills before he was able to neutralize the effects once the fight was over. Cat shuddered to think what would have happened if Bear had to fight all five of the traitorous ANBU, rather than only two.

The two surviving members of the ANBU team had reached the gates of their home village. "It is strange, " Bear mused to himself, as he glanced up at the gateway that towered above him, "Only six days have passed, but the village feels completely different. Or perhaps only I have changed." Bear shrugged. He was never one to try to psychoanalyze himself or his actions. Right now, he had a mission to complete. Two missions actually. To see Cat returned safe to her boyfriend/not-boyfriend, and to report his mission to Dog-Sama. To complete both, he and Cat had to give their report to the Hokage.

Hiruzen marveled yet again on how few paperwork he had to look over and deal with once the office workers actually did their jobs. They had tried to initially protest, but a quick flex of his chakra had quelled all protests. He had just filed a report from a chunin team stationed near the border when his door opened and two ANBU members, Cat and Bear walked in. Hiruzen opened his mouth to greet the returning ninja when his eyes widened and then narrowed. He had sent eight ANBU to complete the mission, and only two were standing before him. Not only that, but Cat had a heavily bandaged shoulder and Bear looked like he had lost fifty pounds overnight.

"Report!" Hiruzen ordered, his voice commanding.

Bear bowed and began his report, realizing that something equally changing had happened to the Hokage. "We left the village and made good time for the first three days. We were nearing the mission area when Crane called for us to halt..."

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair, his thoughts racing. Bear's and Cat's reports had greatly troubled him. ANBU was compromised, hopefully not beyond recovery. Dozens of idea were created, then discarded before the Hokage decided on a plan. "Bear and Cat. Rest up and recover. Once you have completely recovered, report back to me." Hiruzen's voice grew hard as he continued, "Once you two have healed, we are going to begin finding out who is loyal to the village and who is loyal to hate in ANBU. I will not tolerate such members in our forces!"

Bear and Cat nodded, determination etched in their body language. "Hokage-Dono," Cat finally asked the question that had been burning within her since they had entered the Hokage's office. "What happened to you?"

Hiruzen chuckled humorlessly, his tone slightly bitter. "I had my eyes opened, the blinders I chose to surrounded myself with shattered into ten-thousand pieces. I know what this village has done, and I will not allow it to continue!" Hiruzen withheld a sigh, knowing that dwelling on the fact that he had more or less completely failed Minato and his legacy wasn't going to help anything. Hiruzen could only hope that Naruto never found out about all of the secrets kept from him, because the aged Hokage honestly didn't know how the young blonde would react. The Hokage dismissed the two battle-weary ANBU and prepared to leave the office himself, wanting to train yet again today.

"I can make my way home on my own!" Cat protested indignantly as the two ANBU made their way slowly across the village. "It's just my shoulder!"

"I know you can!" Bear acknowledged, "But I'm not sure if I trust the village anymore!" Bear kept his thoughts about finding out exactly what Hayate Gekko, Yugao's significant other, believed regarding Naruto Uzumaki a secret. The big ANBU wasn't about to leave his friend in danger of betrayal from the person closest to her. As the two ANBU made their way across the village, Bear plotted on how to get Hayate alone to ask a few questions. A small smirk flashed across his face as he remembered the last time he had gotten Hayate alone, shortly after Yugao had started dating/not-dating the swordsman. Bear had a few...choice words for the man, making sure he knew exactly what would happen if he ever broke Yugao's heart...

Drip

Naruto awoke to find himself laying in his sewer-like mindscape. He sat up and trotted off towards the large cage containing the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. As he passed through the tunnels, he vaguely noted that the tunnels seemed to be brightly lit, verses the oppressive dimness that that had characterized his mindscape last time he was here.

Naruto found the Kyubi slowly pacing in its cage. When it spotted the blonde, it instantly moved to the bars. "Hello Kyubi!" Naruto greeted as he walked up to the cage door and stared upwards.

"Hello Naruto." The Kyubi rumbled, it's deep voice echoing in the chamber.

"So what's going on?" Naruto questioned, wondering why he ended up in his mindscape. He had called upon the Kyubi's chakra during the battle, but he had stayed in control the entire time.

The Demon Fox chuckled, as if it remembered a fond memory. "The armored sword user who you turned into a bloody mist had a poisoned weapon. The poison started converting your chakra to poison as it attacked your organs and nerves. " The Kyubi grinned, it's massive teeth bared in a vicious smile. "But when you drew on my chakra, the poison couldn't convert my chakra. I quickly purged the poison, but the damage had already been done."

"However," The Kyubi sounded satisfied, "The seal containing me allows me to push chakra to injured areas in your body. And since I was already there, I'm currently improving your organs, especially your heart, lungs, and nervous system." Spotting Naruto's lost expression at his words, the Kyubi laughed. "Remember that medical text book the Sakura-Girl had you read? Just because you didn't understand it doesn't mean I didn't." The Kyubi shrugged. "There will be some physical changes however." At Naruto's questioning and slightly panicked look, the massive fox quickly assured the blonde it wasn't anything too noticeable. "You just gained a few enhanced features. I suspect that those stupid humans won't even notice. Take a look for yourself to see the changes."

Naruto slowly looked down at the shallow water that filled the bottom of the chamber. He studied his reflection, cataloging the changes. His face had lost much of its lingering baby fat, and his facial structure was slightly more angular; but not to the point of looking inhuman. Feeling something sharp with his tongue, Naruto pulled up his upper lip and was surprised to see that his two canine teeth had enlarged slightly and grown sharp. He curiously probed one of teeth with his index finger. Naruto hissed slightly as he realized that the teeth were quite sharp. Taking a step back, Naruto studied the rest of his body. It seemed that he grew perhaps an entire two or three inches, and some of the lingering baby fat had melted away. Naruto nodded to himself, not seeing any issue with the changes. He looked back up at the Demon Fox as it cleared it's throat.

The Kyubi shook it's mighty head, it's expression turning serious. "But that's not why I called you here. Tell me Naruto, would you like to know who your parents were?" The Demon Fox watched the emotions flash across it's container's face. Shock, sadness, curiosity, and hope cycled past the blonde's face before settling on a cautious hope.

"Y-You know who my parents are?" Naruto questioned, his voice filled with shy hope.

"Yes. Your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, my previous container. I'm fairly certain that your father was Minato Namikaze." The Kyubi watched Naruto stumble back at the knowledge, tears threatening to fall.

"D-Did they want me? D-Did they love me?" Naruto whispered, expecting that they didn't, but the small embers of hope still burned within him.

The Kyubi snorted. "Love you? They loved you all right! For nine months all Kushina would talk about was her 'precious Naruto-Kun." Seeing the awe on Naruto's face, the Fox couldn't help but continue, some foreign feeling stirring within it. "Kushina and Minato planned on raising you with their entire power. They had plans on training you on everything from combat techniques to sealing. You would never have gotten a better mother!"

"Tell me about them!" Naruto begged, desperate to learn about the people who loved him. Happy tears spilled down his face unnoticed. It was the strangest feeling to know that you were loved, and the warmth it brought warmed him more than any fire could.

"Very well." The Fox nodded. It waited for Naruto to sit down, looking up eagerly at the massive fox. "I first met Kushina when she was about eight years old. She showed up here and asked if the chains were comfortable..."

"And then she goes 'but Minato-Kun doesn't need someone like you getting after him!' and punches the ninja-female right in the face!" The Kyubi laughed, remembering the annoyed look on Kushina's face as she retold the story of the time when yet another ninja-female attempted to hit on her best friend, Minato.

Naruto laughed, delighted to hear that his mother was protecting her precious people. Granted, he didn't know what a "slut" was, but he assumed it was some kind of specialized ninja training. "Kyubi," Naruto asked, "What's a 'slut'?"

The Demon Fox shrugged. "I have no idea beyond it's something females can be." It tilted it's massive head as it thought. "It's not just a ninja thing though. I remember a few time when Kushina called a few non-ninjas it too."

The Kyubi turned it's head to the side, as if listening to something. "Well, it looks like our time is ending for now. I've completed the changes and you are about to wake up."

Naruto stood and waved to the Fox. "Thanks for telling me about my parents!" He paused in thought for a moment before coming to a decision. "You're my friend!" Naruto declared, his voice unwavering and resolved. The Demon Fox was taken aback, surprised that Naruto would view him as his friend, especially given that if he was never sealed within Naruto, the blonde would never have been hurt or starved.

"Yes." The Kyubi rumbled, surprised that it felt the same. "You are my friend as well, Naruto!" It watched a massive grin stretch across Naruto's face as the blonde threw a thumbs up, slowly fading from the mindscape. After Naruto fully faded from the mindscape, the Kyubi's expression grew thoughtful as it pondered the strange emotion that Naruto's declaration of friendship evoked in it. Shrugging it's giant shoulders, it decided to figure it out a different day. For now, Naruto and his precious people would be protected. For that was what friends did, they protected their precious people.

So what did you guys think? Drop a review and let me know!

To my reviewers:

DepthSlicer: Naruto's protective darkness is one of the central ideas of this fic. It's the idea that he will stand against anyone who attempts to harm his precious people. In a world where your village comes before your friends, this is a radical notion. It's going to change everything, given that Naruto forces people to examine themselves and decide what they really believe. As far as the shadow council goes, I tried to craft a viable, long lasting threat. Given that the village is filled with killers, I envisioned that the shadow council would have to be very skilled at hiding their tracks as well as carefully combining their efforts to hurt Naruto. I'm glad that those ideas are being communicated successfully.

acw28: Well, you got your wish this chapter! Granted, it wasn't someone in Konoha, but Naruto was quite enraged. Haku is currently so far out of her normal comfort zone that she doesn't know how exactly to act. As she spends more time with Naruto and others she'll start to figure out her own feelings. I can't honestly believe that Zabuza would have sat Haku down and explained what certain things and feelings meant, especially if it didn't relate to her being an effective tool.

Animaman: Indeed! Quite a few of the secrets have been forced into the light. Hiruzen has now changed, for better or worse, and is now going to attempt to figure exactly were ANBU stands. About the civilian council, to be honest, it's a bit of both. They can't see Naruto for who he is, and they are seeking power to change the village into what they believe is best. However, not all of the council believes in the same ideas...I can safely tell you that the Akatsuki aren't good guys and Itachi is playing both sides for his own goals. He also hates betrayal, given what really happened on the night the Uchiha clan died. I'm honestly sorry to burst your hopeful bubble, but Kushina is dead. I'm sorry I gave you the hope that she isn't.

midnightscar17: Well, here's where it's a bit difficult to explain, but I'll try my best. As a reader, I enjoy Naruto/Sakura. I also enjoy other Naruto/female, provided it's well written. As an author, I have my characters react and grow organically. This means that everyone reacts to what is happening according to how they would view it. And as such, I'm honestly not sure of how the pairing is going to go down, considering that Naruto will never intentionally hurt any of them by choosing, and none of the girls are willing to share him at this time. As far as Haku goes, what part of her personality do you not like? Honestly curious here.

SeanHicks4: I try to interject humor where I can, provided it doesn't break story immersion. I totally understand what you mean. I'm the same way. If you want, I can leave out your review from the review comments section in the future.

Vanishing Raptor: Yeah, Hiruzen got his wake-up call. And it nearly destroyed him. But it didn't, and the village is nearing a wake-up call themselves. As far as Itachi's message goes, that will be shown next chapter. And you are almost right. Naruto has realized that he is staying in the village not because he believes in it, or anything like that, but because his friends and precious people live there. So if anything would happen to them...And yeah, the village will reap what they sowed.

Rimtuuk: I honestly don't know what's going to eventually happen with Haku, Hinata, and Sakura. I have a few ideas, but the story hasn't formed up enough for any of them to be concrete. That said, all three of them are dedicated to helping Naruto.

bloodbrother 18: Here's the next chapter! Like I said before, I honestly don't know if Haku is going to end up with Naruto or anyone at all. I'm glad you liked Bear and Cat. Whenever I create a OC that could, in theory, change the plot, I'm always worried that I've either created them too powerful, thus potentially writing a Gary-Sue, or too weak and making them pointless. I believed I struck a good balance with Bear, but it's always good to hear feedback. And you have nailed down the current issue with everyone's romantic relationship with Naruto. Naruto won't hurt any of them and they are young and not willing to share.

Kir: Thanks! Here's the next chapter! And as far as Kushina goes, she loves Minato. Granted, she never really had to choose between him and Naruto, but still she loves him. Granted, she's kinda dead, but her actions live on.

Nyaruto: Chapter 1 is probably one of my favorite chapters in this fic as a reader. I hope that you continue to read this fic and enjoy the other chapters as well!

Karl Skywalker: Thanks! I tried my best to think of how the characters would feel and react, and I think I pulled it off decently enough. As far as Sakura's parents go, you'll just have to see. Naruto is a fun character to write. He is inherently a "good" character, but at the same time he will do anything to protect his precious people. In this chapter you'll see the start of his more heroic tendencies coming to light. And you are right, it would take quite the massive event to break them out of their denial. Heh heh heh. Hiruzen is in an interesting place. He's trying to figure out how to salvage his relationship with Naruto, but he's also aware of just how badly he messed up. He himself isn't sure, if he were in Naruto's shoes, if he could forgive. Konohamaru will be making an appearance soon. As far as the village idea goes, I'm not sure. I know how this story is going to end, and I'm not sure how to answer your question without spoiling things. Rest assured, I have no intentions of adding any femslash. And your wish is granted, sort of. Naruto now knows about his parents, but he doesn't know about their final wish. Not yet anyway. Sasuke is slipping faster than in cannon, simply because Naruto isn't there to hold him back from falling into the dark. That said, Sasuke is pushing himself to become as powerful as Naruto and his brother. And power often can reveal things hidden in the dark...

loganhunter2: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

loganhunter2: The 'naruto lynching party' as you call it is a easy way to show the reader how exactly low the village is willing to go.

Trace Reading: I must have missed that misspell somehow.

loganhunter2: You'd be surprised at how much people can miss if they are actively in denial. I've seen it firsthand. And given that Naruto isn't one to complain, it's possible for those beatings to go unnoticed.

loganhunter2: That's part of the point. Naruto is a hurting hero who doesn't know he is hurting. But he'll be helped and slowly become something more.

loganhunter2: It's funny you should bring that up. Given that Naruto still hasn't gotten an answer to his questions about his strange feelings he gets while being around Hinata or Sakura, he will attempt to ask someone else. Someone like, Kakashi perhaps.

loganhunter2: Well, I hate to break it to you, but I don't have any plans of adding Ino to the paring. Perhaps if she had started out being close to Naruto, it would be different, but it's kinda too late now. That said, Ino will react to Naruto realistically.

loganhunter2: Thanks for the rating!

loganhunter2: Yeah, humans tend to hate things for the stupidest reasons. Not only that, but a lot of people tend to ignore logic and common sense if it doesn't fit their world view.

loganhunter2: That's going to change very quickly. Naruto is starting to get a bit of self-worth, and thus will start to wonder why he is letting people do those things. And I just want to take the time to thank you for taking the time to review each chapter, even if it was only a few words.

SilentSambo88: I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sorry that I gave the impression that I'm pushing for Sakura for Naruto's sole partner in this. And you are correct, unless something changes, Sakura/Naruto sole paring won't be the best for either character at this time. In the future, who knows? At this time I'm attempting to show that none of the characters really understand exactly what they are feeling, given that they are 12-13 years old. I don't know about you, but at twelve I was just realizing that girls existed. And you are right, currently a Sakura/Naruto only paring doesn't make sense. As far as Haku goes, you have to realize that Haku has only been with Naruto for less than a month. You can't break 10 years, give or take, of brainwashing in a month. That said, if you'll look closely, Haku has started to think about things she wants. Granted, as soon as she realizes that she is doing it she reverts back, but it's a step in the right direction. And I can assure you that it's not going to be Naruto/Haku sole paring. I hope that you continue to read and give me feedback about what's going on.

angel897: Thanks! I'm glad you are liking it!

MrPowell: Thanks! Here's the next chapter for you!

Goliith: I didn't realize that I didn't have the best summery. If you don't mind, could you let me know what parts of it you didn't like? And I try to figure out exactly why a character acts the way they do so I can better portray the character. I'm glad that I was able to communicate Naruto's mental state successfully. And as far as the "C-Rank" mission goes, what did you think? And here is the next chapter!

Guest: I tried to create realistic relationships between the characters, especially ones between Naruto and others. I can't honestly buy that preteens have any real idea of what exactly they want in a partner. And yeah, I'm trying to not only keep Naruto as realistic as possible, but to also keep in mind that killing people is something he was trained to do. Naruto is a very blunt and forward person. So I felt that how he acts in fights should be reflected by that. Not only that, but I felt that the neck-snapping scene was a great showcase on how far he is willing to go for his precious people. As far as Hiruzen goes, this will take a bit of explaining. I'm a cynical person. And if you carefully watch the series with a cynical attitude, you realize that all of Hiruzen's actions could be explained as carefully calculated things to bind Naruto to the leaf village. Want to keep your jinchuriki loyal to the village? Convince him to make his dream to become the leader of the village, telling him that's the only way to gain respect and acknowledgement. I split his personality somewhere down the middle for this fic. And exactly. While It's basically assumed that most of the class ways heirs, I can't find concrete proof of it, so it went in the AU section.