Opening - Eternal Blaze by Nana Mizuki

Naruto woke, and sat up as soon as his eyes were open. He yawned, stretched, and crawled out of bed. He quickly changed into a black shirt and neon orange pants, then stuffed his mother's Rinnegan scroll in his pocket. He made himself a bowl of ramen for breakfast and packed two more dry rectangular packages of instant ramen into the weapons pouch on the back of his pants. After that, he made his way to the front door of the manor and opened it.

Hinata stood on the other side, with her fist raised to knock. "Oh! H-Hi, Naruto-kun."

"Hinata-chan!" he greeted her with a hug and a quick, yet hesitant kiss, at which they both blushed. "I figured you'd be waiting at the training ground."

"N-no, I wouldn't go without you." She blushed again, and toyed with her index fingers. It seemed that little habit had resurfaced, despite her efforts to suppress it. "So, this is the Uzumaki manor?"

"Yeah… hey, maybe I could show you around after we train with Jiraiya-sensei?"

"I-I'd like that."

Along the way to Training Ground Thirty-Five, Naruto grinned as another topic of conversation came to him. "Hinata-chan… you remember those pranks I always used to pull?"

She giggled. "You spray-painted the Hokage Monument just a few weeks ago."

"…Not one of my better ideas," Naruto admitted. "But hey, I just thought of an idea for a good one. I was thinking maybe you and I could pull some massive prank against Team Seven."

"Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Rock Lee, Kakashi Hatake… you really think the two of us could…?"

"I haven't really thought of anything, but maybe you and I could brainstorm tonight, huh?"

"That… actually sounds really exciting…"

"Great! And maybe if we had our faces covered… they'd still suspect me, at least, so we'd have to use a jutsu no one thinks we know… They say the Rinnegan lets its user learn any jutsu really quickly, and use all the elements, so maybe if I used something like an Earth Release…" He paused. "Wait a minute, I just remembered… Hinata, when you use your Byakugan, does it look to you like everything has chakra? Not just people?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "I've talked to the other Hyuuga, but they never saw it that way! They always say… it's just a side effect of my weak Byakugan, and it's not really chakra, but… I can tell…"

"So, they don't see it?"

"I don't think so. If they do, they're lying when they say they don't."

"Maybe your Byakugan is special, if you can see something no one else can. And one day, we'll figure out how to use this chakra we're seeing."

"I… never even considered that…" Hinata replied. "Do you really think so?" Naruto nodded immediately, and she flashed a smile back, then looked down thoughtfully. "When I woke up after the effects of the soldier pill, I couldn't find Asuma-sensei or Kiba-kun. I asked Hokage-sama, and he said they were training alone outside the village. He told me our team wouldn't be getting any missions until after the Chuunin Exams, and I haven't seen Asuma-sensei or Kiba-kun at all since then."

Naruto pondered this. "Huh… maybe that's a good thing. Kiba's gonna need to get strong too, and Asuma-sensei taught him a lot of Fire Release jutsu in Wave… I think Kiba's best suited to learning from Asuma-sensei, and with all that time being trained one-on-one… we'll all do great in the Chuunin Exams, I can feel it."

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed suddenly and excitedly. "I just realized… if your Rinnegan can see chakra like my Byakugan… can you see my chakra network or any of the points on it?"

Naruto replied sadly, "I can see where you're going with that, Hinata-chan, but it's a bad idea."

She looked down sadly. "Teaching you the Gentle Fist… you're right, my father would have you killed for knowing those techniques. Can you see them, though?"

"I can see the network glowing though your whole body, but all that light just blends together. I can't make out the actual chakra pathways at all."

Shortly after that, they arrived at Training Ground Thirty-Five, where Jiraiya was waiting. It was a simple paved field dotted with wooden dummies and posts, some of which were badly damaged. "Good morning," the Toad Sage greeted with a cheerful grin. "Now, I'd like to be clear on something before we get started. I'm gonna push you two harder than you'd ever dream of pushing yourselves. But, I'll do it in such a way that you won't resent me for it, and in the long run, you'll become powerful shinobi with what you learn from me. You might even thank me. But before that, there's gonna be pain, exhaustion, and maybe fear for your lives. We'll start off slow; you are still Genin after all, but after that…" Jiraiya trailed off. "You two think you can handle it?"

"No problem," said Naruto as Hinata nodded solemnly.

"Good." Jiraiya reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out a water balloon. "Hinata, break that with just your chakra control. Spin your chakra around in your palm until it makes the water rip the balloon open." He tossed it to her, and she caught it. "That's step one out of three to learning the Rasengan."

Naruto withdrew his mother's scroll from his pocket, and opened it to confirm it was the right one. "Jiraiya-sensei," he called, "should I be studying this to learn the Six Paths, or do you have something else planned?"

"Hm?" Jiraiya took the scroll and scanned through a bit of it. "Ah, this is… significantly better material than what I had in mind." He handed it back. "It's all there. What the Six Paths do, how to unlock each of them, all the kekkei genkai techniques the Rinnegan has to offer… and it's all in Kushina's tidy little handwriting, too. She must have studied the Rinnegan extensively in hopes of unlocking her own. She probably went so far as to condense all of the Uzumaki Clan's knowledge on-"

There was a loud, startling popping sound, and a splash of water hit the ground. Naruto and Jiraiya turned to look at Hinata, who had dropped the remains of the water balloon and was blushing furiously. "S-Sorry! I hadn't meant to interrupt!"

"Stage One of the Rasengan in maybe twenty seconds…" I'd known the Hyuuga had incredible chakra control, but twenty seconds? That's just ridiculous! Jiraiya snapped free of his thoughts when he noticed Naruto smirking at him. "What's so damn funny, kid?"

Naruto repeated what he had said in the Hokage's office with a grin: "Two weeks. Believe it."

Jiraiya blinked, then grinned back. "If you're serious, then that just means I get to put you through one and a half months of hell before the Chuunin Exams. So maybe you should take your time."

Naruto considered that for a moment. Before he could come up with something to fire back, Hinata asked, "What's Stage Two of the Rasengan?"

Jiraiya handed her an air-filled rubber ball. "Break that with your chakra. Don't just make it spring a leak, burst it to pieces."

"Hm…" Hinata concentrated, and the rubber ball shook slightly in her hand. "Is there anything I'm missing, any advice you could give me?"

"Only one thing. If you're pouring all your chakra into the ball and it won't break, try spinning it the other way. Actually, which way are you spinning it?" he reached out and laid a hand on the top of her head.

"L-Left," she replied, and looked up at his wrist above her forehead. "What are you doing?"

"Checking which way your hair swirls. It goes to the right, so spin your chakra that way."

"O-Okay…" She focused her chakra again, and yelped in surprise as the balloon exploded in her hands, revealing a glowing blue-white ball of swirling chakra that promptly fell apart in her hand. The resulting gust of wind took Hinata's breath away and nearly knocked her down.

Jiraiya slapped a hand over his face to hide the look of deep thought that he wore. She got through two stages of the Rasengan in as many minutes. Damn it, Naruto might actually be right. At this rate, Hinata might learn the Rasengan by the end of the day, and I'm scared to even look at what Naruto's done behind my back.

As if on cue, Naruto's voice said with perfect clarity, "Here goes nothing. Shinra Tensei!" Jiraiya turned, just in time to see five dummies obliterated by a wave of invisible force. "Whoa!"

"I knew a boy named Nagato who had the Rinnegan, which makes him a distant cousin of yours," Jiraiya began, then continued after a brief pause, "He found that he could use Shinra Tensei once every five seconds, longer if he added more power to the jutsu. So don't rely on Shinra Tensei too heavily."

Naruto nodded. "So, I've unlocked one Path. Two if you count the one I used to bring Hinata back. If I can unlock a third over the next two months, do I pass your test?"

"The Outer Path is somewhat separate from the Six Paths. It's kinjutsu, and I suggest you never use it again. Unlock two more Paths in two months."

Naruto looked down at his scroll. "Oh… all right! Two more Paths, coming up! In just two weeks, Jiraiya-sensei, believe it!"

Jiraiya nodded numbly. "Hinata." He pulled out and inflated a balloon with air, then handed it to her. "Stage Three is the hardest of all. The first stage taught you to spin your chakra, the second taught you to do it with power, the third will require you to do both, and maintain it in a stable sphere shape. You'll do that by creating your first Rasengan inside this balloon without breaking it."

Hinata took the balloon and nodded. "That doesn't sound so bad…"

"For you, it might not be. The Rasengan was created over a period of three years by Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, who taught it to me and his student Kakashi Hatake. Both of us took months learning it, and you've already reached the third stage. You're a Hyuuga who uses ninjutsu… it's like you were born to master this jutsu."

Hinata looked down at the balloon in her palm, and mused, "It was created by the Fourth Hokage? Naruto's father?"

Naruto turned to watch and listen to this conversation at the mention of his father.

"That's right. I'm planning to teach it to Naruto later, but he's not ready for it yet, and the Rinnegan is more important to his skill set. The original idea the Fourth had was for a powerful jutsu that required no hand seals, taking one's power over the shape of their chakra to the highest possible point. After that, he'd planned to add his own nature type to the Rasengan, but he'd died before he was able to complete the jutsu. Ironically enough, it was the Tailed Beast Ball that inspired the Rasengan."

Jiraiya paused, and looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "Look at the time!" he turned an apologetic look on Hinata, then Naruto, as he added, "Sorry, you two, but there's important research I have to work on. Stay here, continue what you're doing for a few hours, then go home. I'll meet you here again tomorrow."

"Hey, wait!" Naruto called, and reached for Jiraiya's shoulder as though it would help.

"Body Flicker Jutsu." Jiraiya vanished.

"Damn it…" Naruto muttered. "What the hell was he talking about when he said research?"

"I…" Hinata blushed, and admitted, "I did a bit of research on Jiraiya-sensei last night. It turns out he's an established author, and… his books are intended for… adult readers," she said in a small voice.

"Adult readers?" Naruto asked, puzzled. "I don't get it."

"Ah, um…" Hinata played with her fingers and blushed deeper. "Once I started looking up the phrase 'Icha Icha,' that's when people started giving me funny looks. I found out the series has a lot of… um… explicit content?" Naruto still looked confused, so she finished, in a very quiet voice, "J-Jiraiya-sensei writes p-porn."

Naruto blinked. "So… the research is…"

"He's probably spying on people."

The greatest prankster in Konoha flashed a mischievous smirk. "Remember how I said pranking Team Seven would be fun? Pranking Pervy Sage would be way better."

"P-Pervy Sage?" Hinata repeated in disbelief.

"The name fits, doesn't it?" Naruto grinned.

X

Several hours later, Naruto opened the front door to the Uzumaki Clan manor and held it for Hinata to step through. He'd spent the morning learning to properly use Shinra Tensei, and had managed to deactivate his Rinnegan with a sequence of hand seals. The whites of his eyes were white again, and the only visible change to his original eye color was the black circle set into each shining blue iris, a suppressed version of the Rinnegan's pattern.

Hinata looked around at the first room of the mansion, eyes wide. It must have been built in the style of Uzushio, not Konoha. It doesn't look anything like the Hyuuga estate… Her Byakugan showed her that the walls were tough clay brick underneath, coated in tiles of white marble streaked with grey. The floor was a pattern of ceramic tiles, deep blue with a mosaic pattern of teal swirls over the whole floor. Uzushio got worse weather than Konoha… tsunamis, typhoons… I suppose a building like this would be able to withstand that…

She followed him down one of the hallways leading from the entrance, and they emerged from the hall into a large room with a floor of concrete, with a sizable swimming pool set into it. "Last night, I read through a bit of the Uzumaki Clan's history. Apparently they tested the strength of their children's Wind Release, by having them whip up a whirlpool in a pool like this. I haven't tried it yet."

"So, like the Hyuuga test the strength of a child's Gentle Fist?"

Naruto nodded. "When a child could make a maelstrom that touched the bottom of the pool, they were considered an adult Uzumaki. It's also kind of like how the Uchiha Clan required their members to know the Fire Ball Jutsu." Naruto smiled. "I mean, this was still a swimming pool, but it was important. Uzumaki kids like me would grow up swimming in it, knowing one day they'd make a whirlpool in it…" he sighed. "Well, technically no Uzumaki kid actually used this pool to make a whirlpool, but the ones in Uzushio were identical to this."

"Hm… so, the Wind Release runs in your family, then? Like the Fire Release and the Uchiha?"

"I guess so. That would explain why the Uzumaki liked it so much, and why I have it in a ninja village full of Fire and Earth Release users. So maybe the Water Release is in the Hyuuga blood."

"Maybe." Hinata stared into the crystal-clear water of the pool. "Naruto-kun? I still have your haori."

Naruto nodded. "Right… I left it with you in the Land of Waves…" he beamed. "You used the Water Dragon Bullet back there, Hinata-chan! It was awesome; you even kept it going for a while!"

He looked down at her hands, which were suddenly forming seals. "I-I'm going to try it again, with the water in the pool," she announced shakily, and added, "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet."

The head of an angry dragon rose out of the pool, followed by its long, snaking body which writhed furiously. The creature growled at her refusal to attack something with it, then slithered back into the pool with only a small splash. Hinata smiled proudly. "I really did it! A year ago that jutsu almost killed me…" she beamed, and turned to Naruto. "So, what did you have in mind for a prank on Jiraiya-sensei… I mean, Pervy Sage?" Naruto's eyes widened. "I-I know, I can't believe I just said that either…"

"No, that's not what I was thinking. I was thinking, 'that's gotta be my new favorite sentence.'" Naruto grinned. "I thought maybe we'd blow Pervy Sage's cover when he's spying on somebody, and make sure they get a good look at his face. Then, whoever he's spying on is probably gonna spread the word, and then everyone's gonna be ready for him, next time he tries it. And, as a bonus, that means he'll be stuck training us more, instead of doing his 'research.'"

As they returned down the hallway they had arrived through, Hinata mused, "We'd definitely have to cover our faces. I could cover my eyes and use my Byakugan to see through, and you could keep your Rinnegan suppressed. He doesn't know you can do that."

Naruto nodded. "If we used any jutsu, he'd probably recognize our chakra… but then, he'll suspect me anyway. I've been a prankster my whole life, and you can bet Hokage-sama gave him a warning about me right away. So, that's good. Jiraiya suspecting me will deflect his attention away from you… I'll use Shinra Tensei and throw him into whatever group he's spying on. He'll drag me away, then you show up with even your eyes covered, and tell the girls he's ogling that they were rescued by some all-powerful group of S-rank ninjas, and we'll come up with a good name for ourselves…"

"I don't understand. What's the point of all that?"

"Um… well… you remember Shikamaru Nara from the Academy? He once beat the tar out of me at shogi. He's a genius, believe it. Anyway, he told me something like, 'in any good strategy, the first attack is always a feint.' So the first attack is ruining Pervy Sage's cover. Even if he covers that up, the people he's spying on… say, for instance, they're a bunch of cute girls in a bathhouse, they'll be talking about being saved by a shinobi group not even the Hokage knows about. That's the second attack."

"We're gonna make Pervy Sage, heck, most of Konoha, think there's a team of S-rank ninjas stalking the streets at night, and for added fun we'll say I'm one of their leaders. Then, when the time is right, we'll reveal it was just us, but we'll do it so it's a little… um… ambiguous, and then people won't be sure what to believe, but both stories are good for us." He paused for a moment, letting his plan sink in.

"And then," He added with a grin, "there's your alter ego in the group, a kunoichi so skilled that she could stalk and expose a peeping Sannin without using her chakra or even her eyes. So, the group has you, or that version of you, as well as their only identified member, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox A-K-A me, as two members of an organization of shinobi, possibly missing-nin, which claims to be vast, powerful, and hidden throughout Konoha right under the nose of the Hokage."

"N-Naruto-kun… how long have you been thinking about this?" Hinata asked, wide-eyed.

"Since this morning, when we found out that Pervy Sage was actually a pervy sage." Naruto grinned. "Not too bad, huh?"

Hinata nodded. "So, a name for a team of S-rank missing-nin… the only existing group like that which comes to my mind, is Akatsuki."

"But we don't want to pattern ourselves after them; otherwise people might think the two are connected. Even if we go with the theme opposite to 'Daybreak' or 'Red Dawn,' it shows we're trying to match ourselves to them somehow. So, we should go with a name that has no connection to 'Akatsuki...' ideally, something without the name of a color in it, and hopefully, no connection to a time of day like morning or dusk… Maybe an animal theme, or a weapon we'll all wield?"

Hinata nodded thoughtfully. "The ANBU already have an animal theme, with their masks. Maybe we should all carry a certain kind of sword?"

"We can use both. Ninken. Depending on how it's written, that could be 'Ninja Swords' or 'Ninja Hounds.' We won't wear dog masks, though, that's too much like the ANBU… I've got it! We'll wear traditional black ninja outfits, but we'll add fur to parts of the costume, and carry swords on our backs." Naruto grinned. "Follow me, Hinata!" he shouted gleefully, and led her down a new hallway at a run.

"N-Naruto-kun, where are we going?!" she called back, following.

"The Uzumaki Clan armory," Naruto replied, as they came to a stop in a room lined with shelves. The shelves, in turn, were lined with weapons, and the most common type was a slightly curved, thin one-handed sword in a leather scabbard. The hilts of these weapons were often glistening brass, but a few were painted black. All were meant for a single-handed grip, and the handguards were bars of metal that extended past the wielder's knuckles to connect the base of the blade to the pommel. Naruto handed one to Hinata, in a soft black leather scabbard.

"It's called a cutlass, apparently. They were used by pirates off the coast of the Land of Whirling Tides, who sailed from far away in ships a lot bigger than the ones we have here in the Elemental Countries. The Hidden Village of Uzushio decided they'd make great ninja weapons, and the Uzumaki in particular made them a symbol of our clan, but they changed the design a little. These are longer than a pirate's cutlass would be; the blade's maybe thirty inches." Naruto reached for a cutlass with a bronze hilt that was close to a dull orange. "I'm not much good at melee combat, but if the Wind Blade Jutsu can turn a kunai into a scimitar this size, imagine what I'd have if I used the same jutsu on a cutlass. I'd be swinging around a sword like Zabuza's, with one hand, easily. That's a pretty good deterrent for any close-range opponents."

"Have you always been putting this much work into a prank?" Hinata asked, unsheathing the blade, which was still wet with oil and razor-sharp.

"Not really, but this is a big one and I want it to work. Plus, it's the first time I've ever worked with you on a prank, so that's another reason I want to put a lot of work into it. And think about it! If we pull this off, everyone's going to be talking about Ninken. We'll be able to reuse the costumes, to keep up the illusion of a group of missing-nin helping Konoha, and maybe the whole world might end up believing we actually exist! And then the other Hidden Villages would be afraid to mess with Konoha because they'd be messing with Ninken too! And it's even better if we publicly claim Ninken doesn't exist, 'cause then it's like we're trying to stay hidden!"

"T-That's insane," Hinata replied hesitantly, blushing at her own words. "There are only two of us… This is the kind of thing that kicks off the plot of a shounen manga."

"You read shounen manga?" Naruto asked, wide-eyed.

"No, but you've told me about a few, remember?"

"Ah… you're right, though. There's no way we could keep up the charade with two people. Maybe we could recruit more people after the Chuunin Exams, then make some grand return."

"So, in order to prank Jiraiya-sensei, you're going to actually put together a team of ninjas with the intent of protecting Konoha and rivaling Akatsuki?" Hinata couldn't help herself; she let out a giggle, and reddened further. "S-Sorry!" she said through more giggling and blushing.

"Hinata… I think I should just tell you the truth… Akatsuki. I know what they're after." Naruto looked down at his feet. "They want the Bijuu to reassemble into the Ten-Tails so they can take over the world with its power. The Jinchuuriki containing them, which includes me… they'll die when their Tailed Beasts are torn out of them."

Hinata's eyes widened. "What do you mean? How could you possibly know that?"

"I met my parents last night. My dad… he sealed my parents' remaining chakra into me along with the Kyuubi. They told me everything."

Naruto-kun is... the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki... She blinked. It all makes sense now! Why didn't we figure this out years ago? Why did no one tell him... "...And that's why your idea is growing so fast," she realized. "You know you'll have to fight Akatsuki anyway." She slid the sword back into its scabbard, and announced, "Let's do it. I'm not sure if anyone will believe it, but a scheme like this… It could be the most exciting thing we ever do as Genin." Blushing, she stole a quick kiss. "S-Starting today, we're N-Ninken."

It took Naruto almost two months before he realized that this was when Hinata found out about the demon sealed within him.

X

Jiraiya grinned, as he inspected the perfect orb of swirling chakra in Hinata's right palm. It had been two days since the formation of Ninken, and the plan for their debut was coming together nicely. "Excellent work, Hinata. You've actually learned the Rasengan in three days. That has to be the most incredible thing I've ever seen done by a shinobi below Jounin rank, and I doubt there's a shinobi in the world other than the five Kage that could learn the Rasengan this quickly. Now, use it on that dummy over there." Jiraiya pointed to the wooden mannequin, with a bullseye for shurikenjutsu on its chest.

Hinata nodded, and glanced down at her Rasengan, then back to the target. She pulled back her hand, and Jiraiya blinked in surprise. "What are you-?"

She threw her Rasengan, which struck the target's chest and obliterated the entire dummy, melting a small crater into the pavement in the process. Jiraiya stared. "W-was that wrong?" Hinata asked, terrified at the silence that hung in the air.

"I… can't believe it…"

"What's wrong?" she asked with a hint of panic in her tone.

"You… threw it. You threw it!"

"I-I'm s-sorry! I thought I was s-supposed to…"

Jiraiya turned, shocking her with his grin. "The Rasengan… was based on the Tailed Beast Ball… a projectile attack! It gets more powerful when you throw it! I should've known!" Jiraiya formed his own sphere of chakra and threw it at another dummy, bellowing "Rasengan!" as it struck, to explode and blow a significantly larger hole in the ground than Hinata's Rasengan did. "I can't believe it… I really shouldn't have underestimated you two. Two weeks…"

"Naruto-kun never goes back on his word," Hinata proclaimed with determination and subtle admiration in her voice. "He told me this morning that he intended to unlock the Preta Path by absorbing one of his own ninjutsu, and the Human Path by learning a jutsu from all four nature types other than Wind Release. He can do that in two weeks, I just know it."

"Maybe so… I never said he had to master any Path over the two months…" Jiraiya grinned again. "I'm damned glad he convinced me to train you, Hinata-chan."

She beamed and blushed at the praise and use of an honorific. "T-Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei. I'll c-continue to make you p-proud."

Jiraiya nodded, and wandered off while muttering something about his research. Hinata emulated Naruto's mischievous smile as best she could, aiming it at the back of Jiraiya's spiky white mane. Jiraiya-sensei… Pervy Sage… you really have no idea what's coming. I almost feel bad about this.

When Naruto returned a few minutes later, he noticed Jiraiya's absence, and handed Hinata a green scroll. "I finished the storage seals; it's really basic fuinjutsu, but I've never done it before, so it's kind of confusing me at this point. Your outfit and sword are in there, and it takes maybe two seconds to open the scroll and take it out of the seal. Plus, these things are reusable, so you can put the outfit back in, just by pushing it into the paper with a burst of chakra." He pulled an identical scroll out of his weapons pouch, and showed it to her with a grin.

X

Four shinobi and a very lifelike puppet entered Konoha that night, wearing the forehead protectors of Suna, the Village Hidden in the Sands.

Gaara no Sabaku was the first to pass through the gates of the village, with his arms folded over his chest and a subdued scowl on his face. Inside, however, he was grinning madly. Can you feel it, Mother? Many powerful shinobi… we'll taste all of their blood, Mother!

Yes, my child. Kill them all, when the time is right, Shukaku replied. Kill them all…

Gaara looked forward, and he let himself smirk. "I look forward to proving… the value of my existence," he growled quietly.

Please Review!