Katon: Gyuki no Jutstu: Jutsu

"Naruto!": Bijuu talk

'Naruto!': Bijuu thoughts

'Naruto!': character thoughts

"Naruto!": Regular speech

[Change:n. (someone or something) different; alter or modify. (something) with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better; substitute one thing for (another).]

Mebuki Haruno flinched as she accidently touched the steaming hot pot of rice by accident. The housewife had been happily preparing dinner for her family, until her daughter had busted through the door. Her twelve year old soldier could barely contain her excitement as she struggled to undo her sandal latches. Kizashi Haruno looked up from his paper intrigued.

"How was your first day on the job my little ninja." Kizashi greeted his daughter in a playful tone as he set his paper down on the kitchen table.

"Tou-san it was amazing!" The pinkette put a pause on her actions as suddenly took a whiff of the air. "It smells delicious in here! Mom is dinner ready?" Sakura finally kicked off her sandals before she took a seat at the dinner table.

"Well actually you made it just on time dear." Mebuki had set down a bowl of rice with curry gravy slathered across. The Haruno family listened to Sakura's regale about her day for the rest of the night.

"I better go to sleep early. Good night guys!" The kunoichi then bolted upstairs and went straight into her room. Mebuki and Kazashi looked at the bowl of rice that was barely touched in silence.

The girl was in ecstasy! Throwing herself into her bed the kunoichi rolled around in her sheets. 'Sasuke-kun said he likes me!' That moment had absolutely been the highlight of her day, even more than when she graduated. A knock from her window patio snapped her out of her musings. There her sensei was standing on her balcony waiting to be let in. Sliding open the veranda she went to greet the jounin.

"Hey Kakashisense-." Before she could even react the pinkette was grabbed and flung to the rooftop of her house.

"Why did you do that?!" Sakura cried out frustratingly. Her instructor chuckled as he held up his pointer finger to the sky.

"Ninja rule three: a shinobi must prepare before it is too late to." Sakura sorely wished her teacher could have taught her this lesson a more gentler way. "I had scheduled a conversation with you earlier today, did I not?" Sakura gave out an exasperated sigh then gave a defeated nod.

"Yes I do remember you saying that. So what is it that you want to talk about sensei?" Sakura asked. Closing his infamous orange Icha Icha book the grown mans nature had completely. Now that his attention fully on her is unnerved the gennin greatly.

"I've noticed that you put your body through unnecessary diets and on top of that, forgo conditioning your muscles on your own time..Sakura if you keep up with these unhealthy habits you'll be destined to meet your demise sooner than your peers in your shinobi career. To be frankly honest I don't even see you surviving a C-rank mission. Death waits for nobody and it is not picky. Heed my warning genin for if not: warnings will simply turn into predictions." A look of disbelief overcame Sakura she had not expected such brutal from her sensei.

Sakura held her head down to hide the shame in her she remembered Naruto's and Sasuke's promise to help her progress. Reassured by how positive they had been about how she could become stronger.

"I may be the weakest link for now sensei but I have what it takes." The girl definitely stood her ground, she refused to be so blatantly underestimated.

"I can take on anything you throw at me sensei." Kakashi's expression remained blank. His gaze barely affected the genin now. Kakashi retrieved his porn, and because of that the oppressing setting vanished too.

"Well I'll make sure to put your determination to the test tomorrow Haruno. You should go get some rest now, you'll need it." With nothing more to say Kakashi bid his student farewell by delivering a two finger salute. In a swirl of leaves the man vanished.

Sakura, now abandoned on the rooftop, slightly started to panic. She desperately searched for a way to get down back to her veranda. Fortunately for her she managed.

000

The next day

Blade collided against sand repeatedly as Yugao had been skillfully parrying bombardments of tendrils of sand, courtesy from Gaara. Currently the Anbu Captain was in a heated sparring session with the young jinchuriki. Yugao had been tasked to test his skills. A tradition every captain must partake in for every new recruitment. What she hadn't expected was for a twelve year old to keep her on her toes. While the veteran admits that she was quite miffed after being informed that a genin was chosen to be a part of her elite group. All feelings of envy were quickly squashed as she somehow found herself fighting for her life.

Creating two shadow clones, Yugao back peddled away from the rookie. The two clones then circled around Gaara in tandem with incredible speeds; managing to out right flank him. While the real Yugao leaped into the sky to perform an aerial attack.

"Konoha-Ryū: Mikazuki no Mai!"

Gaara chose to surround himself with a barrier of sand, successfully protecting himself. Yugao tried to retrieve her katana that was now embedded into sand. She struggle. But to her avail she failed.. The minerals then started to enfold the blade at an alarmingly fast rate. Trying to retreat the woman then noticed her ankles were ensnared by sand.

"Would you like to forfeit now senpai?" Gaara asked sincerely as he opened a small hole in his barrier sphere. Unknowingly taunting his purple haired captain .

"Yeah I guess that's enough for now." Yugao released a depressing sigh as she fell with the sand. Gaara then turned his attention to the rest of his squad that was spectating.

"Would anybody else like to evaluate my skills?" Gaara questioned the peanut gallery that consisted of his fellow squad members.

A sweat drop rolled down every anbu member's forehead as they collectively responded by shaking their heads with vigor. The platoon quickly learned to gain a mutual respect for Gaara after witnessing the rookie solo their squad captain for ten minutes straight.

"Senpai, Hokage-sama has issued us an A rank mission." Hawk appears next to Yugao to deliver the message via leaf shushin. Hawk was a seasoned anbu soldier who specialised in wind ninjutsu and covert missions. A rare affinity for a resident of the land fire. His light brown hair was slicked back and he only wore his armor plate as a top. Yugao then turned her attention to her fellow operatives, purple hair strands perfectly framing her face as sweat was cascading down her temples.

"Alright squad you guys know the drill. Two minutes to prepare and report to the Hokage." Yugao barked out orders as she wiped her forehead with her shirt.

Not long after we then find Yugao's platoon kneeling before the Hokage. The old man was shifting through a stack of papers, puffing away at his own leisurely pace.

"I assume that you have adjusted by now operative tanuki?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." Hiruzen exhaled his smoke and gave a sage nod as he examined a scroll.

"I'm assigning you four on an A-rank mission. Your task is to locate and eliminate Aichi Yakuza. A wealthy business owner who's family pioneered the invention of chakra paper. I expect you to complete this mission without failure. The payload from this client will be a huge asset for the village." Hiruzen was met with silence as he kept an authoritative glance upon his soldiers.

"...You are all dismissed."

"Hai Hokage-sama!" The squad had then set out to leave at once. Already haven packed essentials that could last them for weeks outside the village.

000

The Haruno residence basked in the golden sunlight. Painting the building in a soothing yellow, oozing off a heavenly aura. This is what Naruto and Sasuke were greeted with as they arrived to pick up Sakura.

"Which one do you reckon is her window?" Sasuke boredly asked as he rolled his eyes at the scenery. Naruto looked for the chakra signature that felt most familiar.

"That one." The redhead pointed to the window and balcony on the top most left side of the building. Hopping towards the opening Naruto knocked on the glass very loud hoping to awake his teammate. Sakura answered the window already dressed in her signature pink quipo dress.

"Goodmorning Sakura-chan, have you already eaten breakfast?" Sakura completely ignored Naruto as she tried to give Sasuke a hug.

"Goodmorning Sasuke-kun!" The Uchiha took a side step to the left, avoiding her affection. The Uchiha replied with a quiet 'Hn', not even bothering to make eye contact.

"It's good to see you in such an eager mood in the morning, mind starting off the day with a run?" Naruto started to stretch out his arms as he talked.

"You want me to run all the way to training ground seven?" Sakura asked incredulously, she had a hard time believing that her teammate was serious. Naruto responded with a resounding "Yup." Accompanied by a playful peace sign gesture.

"Training ground seven is at least two miles away from here!" The only female member of team seven threw her arms into the air to exaggerate the ridiculousness Naruto was implying.

"Yeah you better get to stretching then. Morning cramps are the worst!" Naruto exclaimed as he bent over to touch both of his toes. Sasuke was seen completing his own set of stretches also. Not long after, Uzumaki and Uchiha jumped off her porch as they both started off with a full brown sprint down the street. Sakura lagged behind clearly not as fast as the former two.

Mebuki and Kizashi sat behind their living room watching the trio race into the distance. Her focus was mainly on Naruto as the redhead struck a certain nerve of nostalgia.

"He inherited Kushina's ridiculous hair color and face. What are the chances that our children were placed on the same team." Mebuki took a sip of her coffee. Sakura's father lazily turned another page in the newspaper he was reading. The man was enjoying his morning, he had no time to indulge his wife's commentary.

000

"We are heading straight to Tonika village since it's at the edge of the border we must travel full speed." Yugao instructed as she guided her squad through the forest. Currently the platoon had formed a diamond formation. With Yugao leading, Hawk flanking the left, Gaara taking up rear for defense, and finally Kinoe the final member of the squad protecting right. Gaara had little to no difficulty keeping up with adults thanks to Kakashi vicious condition training. But boy did he sweat under the heavy gear.

'To think Kakashi moved around in this gear for all of his teenage years.' Snapping out of his musing Gaara took notice of the forest he so casually glided through. Counting this mission this would officially be the second time Gaara explored the wilderness. The young jinchuriki must admit that the forest infested with adamantine trees had somehow been comforting for him. These very same trees that were standing tall and basking in all of its glory were created by the Shodai. An impressive feat in Gaara's opinion.

Minutes turned into hours as the platoon glided through branches. Each limb shivering from every leap. Eventually Yugao called for a break so they could settle. Team Yugao now found themselves gathered around a small campfire Kinoe created.

"Alright troop we shall reach our destination in about two hours." She retrieved a beige scroll from her back pocket, unraveling it and pointing at a portrait. "This is our client Sendou Yakuza." A skinny young man with shaggy brown hair was wearing a very expensive looking white smiled confidently in the picture. His neck and ears were littered with golden chains and diamond earrings, very wealthy narrowed his eyes at the mention of the last name.

"Is the client the target's son?"

"Yes, the client is the target's son. Will that be a problem for you agent Tanuki?" Yugao replied as she sent him a curious glance…not that anybody could tell under her mask.

Instantly Gaara felt that completing this mission would be a hard pill to swallow. Memories of Yashamaru's botched mission started to haunt him. Suppressing a shiver Gaara tried his best to act professional.

"No that won't be a problem at all, may I suggest that I complete this mission solo?" Yugao shared a look with Kinoe and Hawk. A silent message was obviously shared between the three.

"Sure I don't see why not. But you must rendezvous with the client first before anything drastic occurs on the mission." Yugao pocked the flames with a stick, tossing the embers around. The light from the flames illuminating her neko mask. "Wait for the perfect opportunity to eliminate Aichi. No matter what we cannot let his murder be traced back to Konoha, understood?"

Gaara responded with a montone 'Hai' not breaking eye contact. Yugao stood up, Kinoe and Hawk mimicking her action.

"Alright let's get this show on the road." The platoon had set out for Tonika village. Right after Gaara used his sand to suffocate the flames. The diamond formation was formed once again as the group set off into the trees.

000

Sakura had a headache pounding against her temples like drums in a marching band. The poor girl could barely lift her limbs as she sat in the shade of a tree. Currently she was observing Sasuke decimate a whole army of Naruto clones with only taijutsu. An exercise created by the redhead himself. Normally she would be gushing at the spectacle before her. But Kakashi had basically ran her to the ground today. Removing any sort of energy she could muster.

After she had finished her jog with her teammates, the man had come down and instantly beaten her into a pulp. A harsh activity that the scarecrow man insisted would get her used to pain. It took longer for Sasuke and Naruto to fall by a vast margin but they collapsed eventually.

Yes the first day of training had been gruesome so far, but she would endure. She had to endure or else her teammates will leave her in the dust.

"Hey Sakura how are you holding up?" Naruto asked as he approached her, his large grin never leaving his face. One thing Sakura noticed about her redhead teammate was that he seemed to never get exhausted. A trait so valuable that it actually boggled her to no end on how she missed it when they went to the academy. The boy's stamina was absurd; he simply had no limit!

"I'll survive.." Drawled the pinkette with a tired smile. Naruto joined her under the shade as Sasuke approached them also. Cuts littered his knuckles as bruises decorated his arms. Quite alarming in her opinion but the Uchiha moved as if it didn't affect him.

"I'm impressed that you didn't give up yet to be honest." Sasuke added his two cents. Which was really surprising as the boy had not shared more than three sentences with her today so far. Sakura had no strength to gush over him as of now. So she simply responded with a smile.

"Ofcourse…I can't fall behind you guys. A team is only as strong as its weakest link after all." Sasuke nodded as he nonchalantly leaned against the tree.

"And if I ever want to surpass Ino I have to endure." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched at the mention of the gossip queen's name. Whenever the Yamanaka wandered into Naruto's and his training space, she would insist that he was her best friend. Yes he was glad that she wasn't a fangirl of his but damn did the blonde come with annoyances. She would constantly tease him about his healthy favoritism towards tomatoes. (Can the man not have a favorite food?) but Sasuke would never give into her bait, he knew better. For once he let a Yamanaka get into his mind he knew that's when she would win. No way in hell would his Uchiha pride let that happen.

"You and Ino-chan are friends Sakura? How come I didn't know that?" Naruto asked with a mixture of curiosity and surprise laced in his voice. Suddenly the pinkette found her sandals very interesting as she avoided eye contact with her teammates.

"Ino and I used to be very close friends at the beginning of the academy. She used to vehemently stand up against bullies that would mock my forehead. Honestly she was the closest friend I had at the time, and deep down I think I was hers too. But ever since she met Tsunade that one day she became extremely different. She started to only talk about her future as medic nin. Eventually we grew apart, her tunnel vision became increasingly hard for me to didn't take long for her to become top kunoichi in every subject. She would still talk to me in class and be friendly but she stopped hanging out with me after school. And now that we're fully fledged ninja I don't think we'll ever have time to reconnect."

Naruto slowly nodded his head as he listened. Sasuke had his eyes closed the whole time but his teammates knew he was listening. His guard was never down after all. Sakura then raised her fist in the air, energy returning in her voice and the will of fire burned brightly in her eyes.

"But now that I graduated, I have the chance to be on her level..better even!" Sakura then locked eyes with Naruto, particularly the nasty scar on his left eye.

"Hey Naruto if you don't mind me asking, how did you exactly get that scar of yours?" Naruto looked at the sky tracing his fingers along the damaged skin.

"When I was nine I was beaten on my birthday. One of the villagers tried to gouge out my eye with a kunai." Sakura hadn't said a thing, expecting his response to be a silly mistake, not a survival story. This was the time where Kakashi had decided to step in.

"You are one hundred percent correct Sakura after I'm done training you, you should be a competent chunin. Now that I noticed you finally have enough energy to move around lets start on your chakra control." Sakura raised an eyebrow at Kakashi's words.

"I already unlocked my chakra sensei." Sakura said

"Is that right? Well would you mind climbing that tree behind you?" Sakura gasped, the concept of scaling walls with just chakra had never occurred to her that it was possible.

"Naruto, would you please show her an example." The jinchuriki gingerly hopped up and then casually walked up the tree that they were relaxing under. The light blue flowing chakra covering his soles.

"All you have to do is send chakra to the bottom of your feet and the rest will work itself out." Naruto said with a grin as he backflipped off the tree. With an understanding nod the sole kunoichi of team seven rose to her feet to tackle the task. The results were quite mundane; she managed to get it on the first try.

"Took me six hours to complete it and she just got it on the first try." Jealousy laced his voice as Naruto crossed his arms. Sasuke just stood there aloof observing with his sharingan.

"She must not have that much chakra in the first place. That could explain why she isn't struggling." Sasuke then added, unintentionally clearing any confusion on Naruto's end.

"Of course.."

000

Team Yugao finally arrived at Tonika village. Said civilization was located on the edge of fire country. Buildings grouped together infested the plain field but the Anbu squad wasn't here for the village. No they were here for the colossal mansion that was pooled by plantains. Twisted trees with brown leaves neighboring the building harmoniously.

"Alright Tanuki, head to the plantation. Kinoe, Hawk and I will be camping here. Ready in case things go south. Use your sand as a tower for the signal, got it?" Gaara nodded as he created a sand clone that performed Henge. Disguising itself as Gaara in his normal gennin attire.

"You have twenty-four hours to complete this assisination. Any second later and we're coming after you, understood?" Kinoe said as he leaned against a tree. Gaara nodded as he set off.

The silver haired teen made his way to the mansion. The texture of the twisted trees were quite different from the Adamantiam trees he's been used to traveling on. The bark felt..softer almost as if it was withering. But the branches withstood his weight, quite odd.

In the distance on a beaten gravel path he saw a horse carrying a young man with brown hair and quite some jewelry on him. Getting a better look Gaara noticed that it was Sendou riding the stallion with men in samurai armor trailing him.

"Sendou Yakuza?" Gaara assumed as he landed in front of the young man. Presenting his mission scroll that was signed by Hiruzen himself. The Hokage stamp written on the bottom left corner of the page.

"You must be one of the Konoha shinobi I requested for! I'm sorry but I was led to believe that there would be more than one of you?" The diamond earrings reflecting light into the genin eyes as Sendou talked.

"My squad is on standby. This mission shouldn't be too difficult to complete." Sendou studied the silver haired teen as if he was an item on sale. Judging his worth by his stance alone.

"Men lower your weapons, this ninja will is an honorary guest of ours today." Tension in the air around the hired guard that were lined up behind him dropped considerably. Each soldier removed his hand from thy hilt. Sendou then turned his attention back to Gaara, his thumb placed upon his chin as a smirk donned upon his face."You know my family rarely gets visitors on the ranch. This mission may be my only opportunity to practice my host skills for a long time. What do you say, want a tour?" Gaara could only accept the offer. It wouldn't be sensible to decline the client.

"Excellent let's start by showcasing the lumberjacks!" Sendou took the lead as he continued to follow on the beaten path. He eventually came to a stop at many underdress men hacking away at the twisted trees with axes that were in terrible condition. As a ninja Gaara could tell the blade on each and every tool had been withered to barely usable. But each slave hacked away relentlessly, it was either that or get punished by the hired guard supervising them. One malnourished old man eventually collapsed...he did not get back up.

"These trees are quite special you see. There the only species of tree that can produce chakra paper. They also grow faster than any tree in the world, only needing a week to mature." Garra could tell the boy had a passion for the conifer by the way he was immersed in explanation. It was like Sendou was in his own little word, describing fun facts about the tree. After a moment of watching his slaves work Sendou continued on the path once again. Itching closer to the mansion in every trot.

"After we chop the wood we skin it and turn the bark into chips. After we turn them into chips my workers will then batter the wood with water to turn it into a paste." Sendoue halted his steed as he turned his attention to a group of slaves that were working diligently. Some were tiredlessy punching bowls filled with water and wooden until their knuckles bled. Some were lucky enough to have a giant club.

"You humans amuse me to no end, exploiting members of your own race so ruthlessly just to create paper. You animals breed for violence." Shukaku's raspy voice echoed throughout the jinchuriki's mind. Turning to his left he say giant men, most littered with scars or some type of wound, chucking the paste into burlap sacks. The product was then transported to the basement of the mansion. Smoke could be seen spewing from open windows and chimneys.

The young mechant led Gaara to a small elevator contraption on the side of the mansion. On his way there the anbu operative caught a glimpse of the inside of the basement. Men covered in dust and soot walked about smelling rancid. Majority of the slaves were coughing vehemently due to the fumes the machinery let off. The paste was placed into machinery that turned it into soggy parchment; witch would then be put into bundles. Women and men alike were carrying bundles to their own elevator contraption.

Gaara then rose to the top of the estate. What greeted him was a glass building. The air inside the clear dome had made the windows reflecting mirages. Opening the door Gaara was blasted with a heatwave that reminded him of Sunagakure. The silver haired ninja was disturbed at the sight before him. All of the workers were naked. Then again their choice to forgo clothing seemed reasonable for this heat.

"This is our greenhouse we use to dry each parchment. Then we cut the sheets up into fine little squares and wallah! There you have it, chakra paper." Sendou took a pause in his explanation as he finally recognized the pure disgust upon gaara's face. "You ninjas must not be used to seeing labor of this level with chakra being so steadily available for you at all time huh? You must understand that even if a sliver of chakra comes into contact with the tree it's properties will already be used and the chakra paper will be useless...let's get out of here shall we? I'm quite famished you wouldn't mind joining my family for dinner no?"

"I would be honored to have dinner with your family." The duo then made their way to the front door of the mansion. Opening it a tall Chubby man with brown slicked back hair and a goatee on his face looked down upon us.

'Target: Aichi Yakuza.'

"Sendou I see you brought company." Simple observation that was disguised as verification.

"Father, I've hired a ninja from Konoha for the day. He will be joining us for dinner as per one of his demands." Gaara's face remained blank. Aichi just like Sendou patted Gaard down with his eyes. Like father like son I suppose.

"Very well! Hurry along now, supper is about to begin."Aichi then walked off towards the dining room I assumed. As soon as his father was out of ear shot, Sendou's mood quickly turned sour.

"That man will run the company to the ground at this rate. We lose hundreds of yen towards petty products like make up, all thanks to my mother which my father blindly ignores. Not only does he turn a blind eye on financial issues he also doesn't care about any of my siblings. I'm the only worth in his eyes since I'm the heir to this business." Sendou kept his voice low but the pure disgust in his voice had been heard. Gaara kept in tow with him as they ventured down the long hallway that was decorated with riches and portraits of old men.

"Every fossil you see on this wall are my ancestors. Previous owners of the business jst like father. All the way back to four generations." Sendou waved his hand as he continued down the hallway. Finally he then took the door made out of white wood on his left. We finally arrived at their bodacious dining room. A ten feet mahogany table stood upon a stone pedestal in the center of the room. Stairs made out of marble went directly to each chair. Aichi sat on top of his throne at the far right end of the table.

A tall pale woman dressed in an all black dress took her seat next to Aichi. Who sat on the far left of the table.A diamond studded golden ring twinkled brightly as it clung to her ring finger; Gaara concluded that she was the mother. Next a little girl that looked exactly like her mother took her seat next to her. In Gaara's opinion the child wore an excessive amount of makeup. She also wore long white gloves that crept along her whole arm. Finally a young boy who was chubby like his father but had blonde hair just like his mother, took his seat right across from me. Like everybody else, he also wore riches. Interestingly enough unlike his other family members he had noticeably dirt under his fingernails and calluses along his fingers and knuckles.

"Children introduce yourselves to our guest of honor tonight." Aichi commanded as he raised his glass full of sake. The clear liquid swirling along the rims of the little porcelain cup. The blonde girl nervously arised slowly from her seat first as she graced me with an unsure smile.

"M-my name is E-emi and I'm g-g-glad you can join us tonight." At the end of her greeting Emi did a perfect bow as she sat shot back down into her seat. As if the chair would protect her.

"That was a splendid introduction, daughter." Aichi boasted, not caring for his daughter's speech. Emi did not respond. The young boy across from me practically flew out his seat now that it was his turn. A proud smile that covered most of the bottom half of face told me that he was eager to introduce himself.

"Welcome shinobi-san! It is I, the one and only legendary Kai Yakuza!" His grandiose behavior amused Gaara to no end.

"Splendid Kai. Servants! I want my glass filled now!" Aichi barked out orders as he leaned back into his chair. A slim man who was wearing rags came out of the kitchen holding a bottle of sake that looked suspiciously familiar.

'That bottle has the Yamanaka crest carved into it! Their brand must be continental at this point.'

"Father! I managed to chop down a tree all by myself today." Kai exclaimed excitedly as he swung his utensils in a chopping motion. Aichi made no visible reactions as he continued to scarf down his supper.

"You were supervised by a guard right? A collapsing trunk could have easily killed you." Sendou admonished as he pointed his chopsticks at Aichi.

"That is a slave's work boy. Focus more on your studies instead. Knowledge is what will get you far in life." Now normally Gaara would see nothing wrong with a response like that from nobility; only if Aichi hadn't delivered it in such a dismissive tone. Kai picked at his vegetables as he tried his best not to look so distraught.

"How many bundles did we make today Sendou?" Aichi drenched his rice in soy as he stabbed a tenteactle with his chopsticks.

"About eight hundred father."

"That's good ne-"

"All you did was lay back and yell at others! I actually did some work!" Kai aimed his utensils at his brother as he called him out. Sendou was amused but his father was not.

"Boy what did I tell you about speaking over me." Kai did not look up from his plate for the rest of the dinner. The table had become so quiet that Sendou had decided to excuse the both of us. The two of us were isolated as we ventured into a guest room. Now was the perfect time for me to inform him of my plan.

"Sendou once you have heard your father has been assassinated you will spring into action. After you heard your cue, you will go to the front yard where you will see burnt limbs placed right in front of you. You will throw them right back into the woods and instruct all of your guards to barricade inside." Gaara backed off as Sendou showed him the room he would be sleeping in.

"Alright I'll be ready." With nothing more to say the young man then retired to his quarters. Gaara's sand clone then laid in bed and pretended to fall asleep. The clone heard footsteps outside his door; they must be guards posted outside that were sent by Aichi.

Crouching on a twisted branch a few yards away from the mansion was where the real Gaara was located. The undercover ninja stalked under the moonlight. He waited hours for the drunken business to be consumed by sleep.

Sigh

'I am not a hero. I am a ninja.' Gaara grimly thought as he placed his tanuki mask upon his face. He shunshin right into the master's bedroom. Aichi had a room all to himself so he slept alone. Such narcissistic behavior shall be his downfall. Using his chakra control he walked all the way up to the ceiling so he could hang directly above the knocked out man. Unsheathing his white saber he let go of his chakra and used the momentum of his fall to stab Aichi directly into his heart. Sand quickly covered his mouth to muffle his screams. His dead beady eyes stared right back into Gaara's cold cerulean off of him Gaara made his way to the window.

Tap

Tap

Clunk

Gaara noticed a tatami mat made quite a hollow sound as he stepped on it. Letting curiosity get the best of him he moved the tile only to reveal an underground tunnel lit with torches. At the end of the pathway was a metal door that he used his sand to forcibly barge in. What greeted him inside was a spacious room that held a mountain of golden bars.

'What a fortune!'

"I still don't understand why you humans value metal so much."

At this exact moment Gaara was glad that Naruto was an expert seal master. He retrieved a scroll specifically designed for sealing vast amounts of objects. Gaara stored the gold and then left the cave.

Leaving the cave he noticed he sought a silhouette at the little girl was Emi, trembling as she viewed gaara in fear. Emi had a staring contest with the silver haired genin as she silently mouthed a 'thank you'. The light from the hallway highlighted the bruises that decorated her arms. Bruises he wouldn't have noticed from before due to the gloves. The girl even had traces of what had seemed like a blackeye something he definitely would have seen earlier if it wasn't for the make up. Observing even more the bruises looked to be the size of Aichi's fist.

Gaara left immediately, refusing to investigate even more. Sirens were set off as he jumped into the forest. He then planted an explosive seal on a tree. Gathering a couple of sticks he transformed them into his own burnt limbs by performing Henge. He tossed them out to the front yard; exactly where Sendou would arrive with his guards. Not long after his sand clone found his location with a node the chakra construct hopped onto the seal. An explosion was set off making it seem like 'Gaara' had died.

"Now that my fathers is dead I'm the boss of this business now. All of my orders are now final! Everybody, get inside and barricade the house. The first order I decree is that nobody speaks on this situation. If information that ninjas attacked my family our reputation will be slandered." Sendou's voice echoed behind the jinchuriki as he raced through the escape seemed easy, way too easy. Soon enough he regrouped with Neko, Hawk, and Kinoe.

"So how did the mission go recruit?" Hawk greeted Gaara with a question.

"The mission was executed flawlessly. No trace of Konoha." Gaara informed them as his tanuki mask reflected the flames from the campfire his squad was gathered around.

"Good job rookie. Alright team let's go back to Konoha. Tanuki be prepared to write down a full report when we reach the village." This time Gaara kept the flame going when they left the hoped the flames would spread and burn the twisted forest to cinders.

000

It was an early evening for Naruto in his living quarters. Currently we find the redhead studying seal scriptures with his clones. His concentration was distracted when Gaara entered his room via the window

Gaara said nothing,he did not need to as his gloomy face communicated a thousand words. Naruto stood still as he instantly noticed his friend was off. Before he could make his way over to his silver haired brother he was stopped in his tracks by Gaara shoving a piece of paper to his chest. Naruto observed the parchment mildly confused.

"Chakra paper?"

"Chakra paper." Naruto decided to cut off the sentimental staring contest he was having with his brother. And chose to instead focus his chakra through the parchment. The piece of paper split into two; one piece being shredded and the other becoming soggy.

"Good you have wind release just like me." Gaaara spoke up as he tossed a scroll towards Naruto. The fellow jinchuriki caught and unsealed the scroll, comically surprised by the mountain of gold that now vacated his whole living room/bedroom.

"How on earth did you even get this much gold!" Naruto asked incredulously as he and his clones gaped at the sheer amount of currency.

Gaara let out a nervous chuckle "That information is classified Naruto-nii. Have you started on mastering your nature release yet?" Naruto held his chin as he started to think.

"Nope! I've been too busy with seals and mastering my chains to worry about nature release. What's your idea?"

"We should try using our wind release to grind all this gold into dust." Gaara picked up an ingot; and channeled some of his wind release into the metal. Only the tiniest of marks were made at the edge of the bar.

"This might take a while." Gaara commented in his usual monotone voice. Naruto and his clones got the jist of Gaara's instruction and copied his action.

'Like Kakashi said..manipulate your chakra into becoming sharp blades.' Naruto thought to himself as he concentrated. After a couple of moments of each clone applying wind release on the gold none of them managed to make any major differences.

"This might take the whole night to do." Naruto and Gaara shared a look as they nodded. For the rest of the night the duo had worked tirelessly on their nature exercise. Barely managing to turn half of the ingots into dust.

000

Sakura had finally managed to arrive home in her beaten up state. The twelve year old barely could walk as she came stumbling inside her house. It was about nine o'clock at night and Kizashi was waiting for his precious daughter to return. He caught her before she could land on the ground.

"Being a soldier for the village is no picnic ride Sakura-chan. I remember walking home tired just like you." Kizashi heaved her over to the dinner table and placed her gently into her seat.

"Today was so tiring Dad but I can't give up." Sakura drawled out before forming a smile at what her mom placed in front of her. The same meal she had yesterday. "Thanks Kaa-san. Itadakimasu!" Mebuki chuckled as she heard the excitement in her child's voice. Unfortunately Sakura was speaking at such low volumes it made her shout quite really surprised her next was when she saw her daughter scarf down the meal in seconds.

"I'm going to sleep early tonight. My body is aching all over." Sakura slowly rose from her chair as she bid her parents goodnight.

"Promise you'll take a shower before you go to sleep alright Sakura-chan." Kizashi yelled as his pride went upstairs. Both parents kept a steady eye on carefully watching Sakura as she escalated the girl then went straight to her bed. She felt like she was in heaven as she sunk deeper into her cotton mattress. Steadily she raised her hand into the sky.

'Sasuke and Naruto will need a teammate that they can rely on. There's no way I can stay weak forever!' Sakura outstretched her hand to the ceiling as she got lost in gazing her dorsum. 'I must become strong for the village.' She then fell right to sleep.

From now on every chapter that signifies an end of arc with be titled so. After this chapter the story will take a heavy plummet into action.