Chapter Six; Third Reel Surprise; Part Two

Land of Fire; Golden Leaf Hotel; Lobby

As soon as Koyuki arrived in the lobby all hell broke loose, fans of her princess movies flooding the area only for Red to step forward and unleash a minor dose of killing intent forcing the crowd to step back. With a route now clear, the duo leaves the lobby unhindered, as even the hidden black ops operatives within the crowd were left unable to act.

Land of Fire; Kohonoha; Kage tower

After being led up to the Hokage's office, they were instructed to sit and await the signal to enter despite having an appointment. Red remained standing, clearly on guard as he could sense all the hidden Anbu operatives in hidden cabinets around the corridor and the two visible ones in front of the door. Isn't it kind of redundant to have such high security this far into the village, even more so when considering the presumed strongest shinobi is sitting bored out of his mind behind a desk, any chance to flex his might will be met with haste no doubt. His musing was cut short as they were told that said man was now waiting for them to enter. Red offered a handout to Koyuki who took it gently and was guided into the room.

Land of Fire; Kohonoha; Kage office

Stepping into the office of the strongest shinobi, commanding over one of the premiere fighting forces of the five great nations was somewhat surreal for Lady Koyuki Kazahana as hers was bigger. Red was unfazed, having been here before not that anyone would know. What Red was more intreasted in however was the presence of three extra bodies that he knew shouldn't be here for these talks but remained silent until it was his turn to speak "Lady Kazahana. To what do we owe this pleasure?" said the man in the fire hat and white robes "Well, I can't answer that yet as I am unsure of the entire situation myself." She replies confusing the group but before they could say anything in reply, Red steps forward "If I may, Lady Kazahana?" to which said woman nods and steps aside "It was I who requested this meeting, with my Ladies blessing."
"Oh? And why is that shinobi-san?" asked Hiruzen noticing the mask glance at his old friends "I will get to that once these civilians leave. This is a military matter after all." Causing outrage from the two vocal elders and a slight stiffening of the bandaged man "Unless Root has been reinstated to which the bandaged man could stay." This caused a heavy, tense silence to drag on "I have no idea what you are…?"
"Sure you don't. Just as how I certainly don't have over twenty former root operatives among my ranks that, after being freed of their tongues, spoke rather highly of their working conditions. Surely, I must be imagining things then, right?" the old man just left, no words spoken but it was clear to see he was mad, really mad and the other two elders too quickly left without another word.

"Now then…" the third hokage bellows drawing attention back to him, Shikaku Nara and Anbu commanders flanking the old man "…you wanted to speak to me us all, yes?" and upon Red's nod the Nara steps forward "Before that, do you really have those Root operatives under your command?"
"I do. That was no mere bluff." Red states glancing at the man "…and depending on how things play out, you may have the opportunity to haggle for that information."
"Surely you could…
"I am not one of your shinobi. There is no good faith between us, in fact, were it not for the Fire Daimyo paying us, we would not even be here right now." Red announces shocking the group "Th… what does the Fire Daimyo have to do with anything?" asks Hiruzen but Red just pulls out a scroll with the fire lords personal seal upon it, handing it to the old man who promptly breaks the seal.

With the scroll presented were very clear instructions to listen to the operative presenting said scroll as if he were a Jonin commander but reminded them that he was not theirs to command. What caught their attention however was the symbols at the end were what raised alarm in their heads as Hiruzen looks up at the shinobi before him "Why is this symbol here?" presenting the scroll to the man, pointing at the swirl but also a hidden message visible thanks to his mask. The message allowed limited exposure, the leaf higher ups were cleared to know but security must be upheld. "I see. It seem's you have been authorised."
"Authorised?" the Nara questioned but before anyone could react Red smacked his arm through the shelf and dragged out a blank masked Anbu and placed a seal on the back of his neck before he could react. The man dropped to the floor like a puppet without strings "Now the spy is dealt with…" Red says despite everyone still being shocked at the ease of which that the man dealt with a threat none had even detected.

A privacy barrier was suddenly in place over the room, somewhat more robust than the one the leaf had on hand. As the markings fade away, the four Anbu in the room appeared within the room, forced out by the sealing array "What I am about to show you is to be considered an SS-class secret. We have gone through great lengths, morally questionable methods to remain unknown to all but our trusted clients. I, personally, believe that this is a bad idea however the Fire Daimyo is paying for all this so we will work with you until the contract is up. Do you understand?" they all nod "Very well, no one outside this room will speak of this upon the threat of death." The professor states firmly to leave no room to argue. Red nods as he reaches for his mask, removing his hood revealing his bright red hair, the cloak shows off the brown leathered armour soft red jacket bearing the Uzumaki swirl on his left peck. What caused the old man to drop his pipe however was the face, a face he had thought he would never see again "…N… Naruto…?" with eyes wide and shock clearly visible "It is good to see you again, old man." Naruto states as he seals away his gear allowing the room to see this well built, six-foot one-inch Uzushigakure shinobi standing before them "How? I thought…"
"News of my death had been greatly exaggerated. I am here on a mission so let's get…"
"Wait! Your hairs red, why is it red and not…"
"Clan secret. I won't be going into details." Naruto states firmly steel in his violet eyes causing them to settle down "Now then…" taking a deep breath "Our information tells us that this village will be attacked by two others during the invasion." Gasps were heard all round but Naruto continued on "Our best guesses are that new village, Hidden Sound, and your old allies the Hidden Sand to which seem like the most likely. Thus, at the request of the fire daimyo, we Uzu shinobi have infiltrated the village hidden in the leaves and will either prevent the destruction of the hidden leaf, or cause the invasion to fail to launch."
"How can you be…
"Your arrogance is your undoing." Naruto states glaring at the Anbu commander who began to spoke "Every time my men ran into yours on missions or just in passing, they all gloat about being the strongest of the big five, yadda, yadda, yadda. It's irritating and many beyond your walls would jump at the chance to give you a blooded nose and knock you down a few pegs." He continues "Are you one of them?" an Anbu asks from his back, venom buried within his voice was not missed by the redhead who just shrugs "What happens to this place is neither my concern nor my issue. So couldn't care less about it either way." He then turns back to the oldest man in the room "Right now however, my clan has been tasked with saving your asses again and as such, we will pull you out of this dumpster fire you have found yourself in. Just don't confuse this as us being friends. We aren't, this is just business."
"…but this is your hom…"
"It is not my home, old man. The Uzumaki is my home and when this village betrayed it, you betrayed us all." Naruto growls with so much venom, even the hokage flinched at that before his eyes harden "WE never betra…"
"We have proof to the contrary, oh great hokage. The betrayal was two-fold…" Naruto holding up two fingers "The first was tampering with our defensive seals – the second was not coming to our aide despite twelve separate message requests being sent. The birds carrying them were sighted by our informants here some days after the battle had begun, they were found dead by the battle end." Naruto yells hand slammed against the desk, rage in his eyes as the desk groans and cracks under the pressure of the seventeen-year-olds growing pressure.

Several deep breathes later and the return of the cloak and mask, Red addresses the room once more "My men and I will ensure this village survives. Keep your jonin in line. Our genin team however has a secondary mission to which they are competing to ensure the protection of one Saskue Uchiha."
"What do you want with the last Uchiha?"
"Who said he was the last?" Red countered which caused them all to stiffen but Red paid no mind as he helped Koyuki up from the sofa she was laying upon "Our forces will arrive during the last week of the month break. I will have numbers closer to the time, but they will be wearing our hitate so be sure to inform your own forces not to attack them." Red states as they head toward the door "WAIT!" Hiruzen standing up "Is the Uzumaki clan…?"
"Yes. Our numbers are recovering slowly, and we are taking very unorthodox measures to do so, as you may have figured out." Red states to which they all could only wonder but the Saratobe's eyes widen "You have a chamber too?"
"We have three that work. The other three are unserviceable right now." Red confirms "After all we gave you yours, why wouldn't we have them too?"
"That explains this older you. You should only be twelve."
"According to you, yes. The fox attack was Twelve years ago, however I celebrated my seventeenth birthday not long ago with the princess here."
"I see. Is there any chance…?"
"I doubt it." Red said flatly causing them all to falter at the immediate rejection, "Though I think the elder council may make an appearance during the final…" he stiffens abruptly as he looks to the window "Someone is trying to break through my barrier. He has some knowledge in fuinjutsu but is rather amateurish based on the feel of his barrier destruction jutsu." Red states unsealing the room before vanishing in a torrent of water, Koyuki in arm.

Land of Fire; Kohonoha; Roof near Academy

Red and Koyuki arrive atop the building his team was observing the test from "Isn't there a room set up for all the sensei to watch their teams in?"
"There is, that's why the sensei aren't here." Kori explained "Though to be honest I am concerned."
"About?"
"There's a strong smell of snake coming from that classroom." Kori explained "Snake?" questioned Red as he begins to focus on the classroom currently occupied by the Chunin hopefuls. At a glance nothing seemed out of place, but one signature stood out under scrutiny, it's dark malice was almost suffocatingly smothering with a hint of reptilian paired with the reserves comparable to the Hokage and himself he knew exactly what, or who that is "We have a problem." Red states glaring at the man who was now glaring back, his eyes widen upon realising that he had been discovered "Send word to the Hokage, that S-class missing ninja by the name of Orochimaru is currently sitting inside the exam room."
"Sir!" one vanishes in shards of ice as Naruto continues to glare openly at the disguised missing nin, liberating his sword from its sheath as Artic lands beside him, drawing his own blade in the process "Hey kiddo…" Naruto speaking into his radio "…don't react we have an dangerous opponent sitting four rows behind you, S-class." Naruto notices his son tense at that "I need you to prepare a barrier and deploy it on my say so." as he was explaining his plan, his chakra began flaring and folding in on itself, slowly getting ready to fight as if daring the man to challenge him. This caught the attention of every ninja nearby who all rush to investigate the two growing signatures as Artic was matching him both staring down the snake sanin.

A group of Anbu drop down around the two masked shinobi "What is the…" before they could ask the Anbu Commander and two additional squads arrived along with one of the Snow Jonin "Are you sure its him?"
"Positive and he is pissed." Red states as now everyone nearby followed his gaze to a grass konichi staring back at them "We'll engage, and he'll try to escape." Red states "You guys give chase and after we secure the room, we'll move to assist."
"Understood. Be careful, those are genin in there." The Anbu dragon reminds "I know. Thankfully two of my own are in position to erect a barrier. It won't be able to stop him indefinitely but for ten or so seconds for us to strike should be fine." The Anbu all nod along to this as the two Uzu shinobi crouch down, swords back "NOW!" the two erupt from the roof, aimed directly at the classroom with Arctic slashing first, a blade of frost freezes the wall with Red's water slash shatters it, the rubble and attacks reflect off the barrier erected by the Uzu-genin. A second explosion is heard, and the dust is blown away leaving Red and Artic glaring up at the hole in the roof with their blades covered in blood "He really is slippery sir." Artic states as he slashes his sword down flicking the frozen blood upon it "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Morino Ibiki, proctor of the first exam roars approaching the duo with Red approaching the man and placing a hand on his shoulder, a privacy barrier surrounding to pair "Sorry for interrupting but I just erected a barrier around the two of us. Time is short so let me finish before questions." Ibiki nods "Orochimaru was here, and we lured him out. Right now, three squads of Anbu, the Anbu commander, and a few jonin are in pursuit…" a flash of something caused him to snap toward a white-haired teen staring at him. Mornino follows the gaze of the man before him to also look at the teen "Him. He's a double agent." Red states "Are you sure?"
"Positive. He's greed, concern, and anger toward me is no joke. He hides it well, but my sensory abilities are on par with Lady Mito Uzumaki." Red states and the man nods "Very well. I'll clean up here and read your report later. Get moving." Ibiki states and Red nods before letting the man go and barrier dropping, turning back to Arctic who nods and the two vanish "Now then…" Ibiki calls out with a sinister smile "…should we continue."

Land of Fire; Konoha streets

Orochimaru was pissed. Somehow, he was discovered whilst masking himself perfectly, among a group of fresh Genin. Even that fool Ibiki didn't notice him, yet that masked shinobi did and forced his hand. No, he was not happy at all. Right now, he was desperately trying to outrun the Anbu on his tail, child's play for him a freaking Sanin. His thoughts go back to those two masked ninjas, the white on blue mask only stood out as most Anbu would have used darker colours. No. That mask with the Red markings and, though only for a second, he saw a spiral insignia beneath their cloaks. Then that Redheaded boy within the exams had it displayed on his arms. Could it be…?

Orochimaru suddenly leaps left, avoiding the frozen slash of Arctic but found himself losing an arm to Red, causing the Sanin to hiss and sneer. "Who are you people?" he snarls at them trying to buy himself time but to no avail as the pair charge him upon opposite sides, swords gleaming with murderous intent as they descend towards his pale flesh forcing him to spit out a new body, the previous trisected, frozen, then shattered. Red ducks a fast punch but takes a knee to the chin before Arctic slashes down and cuts the man's combo short, his hand covered in frost from the near miss. The leaf Anbu arrive just as the Sanin begins to sink into the ground in an attempt to flee but was stopped by a flash freeze that forced him to leap up as to not be frozen in place. Whilst airborne, the Sanin was impaled by numerous shuriken, kunai and even a few senbon causing him to fall like a sack of potatoes.

"Slippery Bastard!" Arctic growls as the group of trained assassins look down at the mud clone pin cushion that lay in the crater made from the fall of their target. Looking to his current leader "Any luck, captain?"
"I have three separate signatures matching his. Shadow clones most likely. I can't distinguish them apart at this range." Red states with a soft growl "Where's Levi when you need her?" Arctic chuckles as Red snaps to him, despite the mask Arctic was sure he was being glared at "Sorry."
"Regardless, this isn't our call." Red turning to the Hokage who had just arrived "It's yours…"
"That was rather reckless of you, was it not."
"A threat is a threat. More importantly, how did he get in? Are you not updating your security matrixes?" Red questioned causing the man to sigh hard, every year of age now visible for a moment "You don't have anyone to update them, right?" Red guesses and the old man just nod "We can maintain them but not…"
"He must be using that to get in and out." Red talking to Arctic who nods "Sounds probable. Should we plug the holes?"
"Bigger issues lay before us." Red says creating three shadow clones "They will lead a squad to each signature. Move out." And with that each Anbu squad moved with the clones in separate locations.

Red then looks to the Hokage "So, what brings you here, Lord Hokage?" the formality in his addressed caused a pang of guilt within the old kage's bones, this young man who once called him so affectionately was now a stone cold professional "The Council wishes to speak with us. Seems your presence has not gone unnoticed."
"I see."
"So, if you would…"
"We aren't your shinobi, Lord Hokage." Red states and Arctic nods "You may request it of us but ultimately, we are not required to follow it. Right now, the only one who could order…" he stiffens upon receiving the memories of one of his clones "A forest? Large trees? Keep out signs." Looking to the old man "Any ideas?"
"The forest of death, Training Ground forty-four." the hokage states without a moment of thought "That's where my clone sensed him. The squad with him are awaiting your orders." Red responds as the man flares his chakra in a pattern that causes the Anbu captains, not already engaged in the chase, to arrive "Gather the forces. We're going snake hunting!"
"Yes, lord hokage." The pale cloaked men all vanish before the old ninja turns to the two foreigners "Can I ask for your assistance?" causing them to look to one another, nodding before looking back at him "Very well. We will assist you."

Land of Fire; Kohonoha; Forest of Death

Red and Arctic drop in beside the Hokage, a full platoon of Anbu appears before them, all knowing their objective. The old man threw off his robes, his battle armour coming into view as his staff appeared in his arm "MOVE!" and the clearing the group was now empty.

Orochimaru was in a bit of a pinch. After escaping, whom he assumed were black ops, he slipped into the forest of death believing his shadow clones would lead off any pursuit. This all he had to do was wait for his prey to start the second exam and he'll slip in and out right beneath; he ducks beneath a horizontal slash, vaulting over another masked shinobi before being slammed into the ground by a very familiar staff, the earth shattering around the impact from the fall. Several coughs "So, you've come sensei…?" the snake man peering up at the Third hokage, standing within the trees, ANBU black ops surrounding him on all sides and those two new masks were flanking Saratobe "You have fallen so far, Orochimaru…" the steel in his voice was not lost on anyone, especially the one addressed who for the first time in a long time felt genuine fear.

Land of Fire; Kohonoha; Academy

"Sit down and shut up." Ibiki growls unloading corpus amounts of killing intent that shut most the genin up, sending them back to their seats "Now, then…" he begins to pace "…due to security concerns, you all shall remain here until further notice. Your Jonin sensei have been apprised so until we hear back, get comfy." It didn't take long for groups to form, most the leaf teams began to congregate around the Uchiha but what caught Kartel's attention was the white haired Konoha genin who's chakra signal was clearly at Jonin level. As an Uzumaki, he's reserves were always higher than his peers, more over his father's a jinchuriki which only further increases his reserves, but this man still matched him. "Oi old man." Kartel speaks up drawing the rooms attention, his eyes however were firmly locked on the white-haired teens "Hey now, I'm not that…"
"Let's drop the niceties and get down to business." Kartel almost growled out causing everyone else in the room to fall silent "Your chakra reserves are that of an high Jonin level shinobi with control to match. Do tell us how the fuck you managed to fail seven times, old man?" all eyes flicked to the white-haired shinobi who was growing very agitated at the constant belittling by this condescending welp before him "…or what, perhaps your hearing is as bad as your eyes…? Your teacher must be ashamed…" Kartel side steps a Jonin level speed punch that craters the wall, slipping behind the teen with the fluidity of an ocean wave "…that stench. Is that… rotten flesh?" the redhead continues to belittle, knowing one more step should draw in the rest "…no; snakes." Upon his words being spoken, the next five seconds passed in a blur. The otogakure ninja leaped at the disrespectful Red headed genin, but was put down by a sharigan illusion curtsy of one Fenra, the white haired Genin was tackled, sealed and pinned by Ibiki and Kartel, his teammates encased in ice and finally another wall of ice shielded the other leaf genin from assisting the traitor.

The stillness of the class was broken when Fenra caught Sasuke's fist, without even looking, then deflected his follow up kick then ducked his wide swing before grappling him and forcing him to the ground, pinned in place. She had done this all without so much as a strain not even using her bloodline as opposed to the leaf boy who was glaring at her, two tomoe spinning furiously. A whistle brought the second silence to an end "Got handled like a bitch." An Inizuka chuckles at his comrade's expense "Get off my Sasuke-kun!" screached a pink haired Genin who suddenly went stiff when the cold steel of a katana was pressed against her neck "Screech like that again…" Kartel growled deeply "…I dare you."
"Let's all just calm down." A very timid Hyuga speaking up from the group, but the Uchiha avenger wouldn't let this disrespect go growling out "You're no Uchiha! You stole those…" before he could finish, his face was slammed into the floor "Listen here you mongrel…" Fenra growls right back, killing intent flowing off her like a thick toffee sauce freaking out the other leaf genin "…you are nothing but breeding stock for this pathetic excuse for a hidden village. You think your name entitles you to the world? Pathetic weakling. This world is dark, cold, twisted and unforgiving. We lucky few who have bloodlines should feel honoured, true, however as my ancestors have done before me, I shall train my ass through the dirt, blood, tears, and pain to protect what I hold dear." Many in the room found nothing but truth in those words "however the spoilt brats like you who seek nothing…"
"I am an elite…" Sasuke's rant was ended prematurely with another love tap with the floor "You're a joke pretending to be a shinobi." Looking up at the others in his generation "That goes for all of you. Jokes the lot of you. I'm sure that every non-leaf shinobi here will agree with me that you, the newest crop of 'elemental nation's finest' are nothing but jokes and fakes."
"Big words from someone who stole our emblem." A second Hyuga stepping forward, pointing to the spiral emblem on her upper arm "Seems like you are trying to pose as…" his rant was very rudely interrupted by several snorts and deep laughter coming from the non-leaf shinobi in the room, the older leaf ninjas were fully embarrassed by that statement. "You should re-read history there Hyuga." Fenra speaks with a very hard edge "How dare…" a blade appears across his vision as the redhead appears in his line of sight "Scarface. I didn't miss hear that this kid actually thought the spiral emblem donning our uniforms are an imitation of yours?"
"Judging by your hair, I guess you are one right." The gruff man asks, brushing off the poke at his face but the kid nods and the guy's sighs "If anything, we took it from them." This caused the leaf genin to gape at the man "Allow me to introduce myself. The name is Kartel Uzumaki, of the Uzumaki head branch." The red head bows his head "Fenra Uzumaki, first branch." The raven-haired girl bows her head whilst still sitting on dark haired boy, "What the fuck they teach you in your academy as to not know one of the found clans of your village?" asks a kumo shinobi which draws blanks from the leaf group again. Full blown laughter at them breaks out, aimed squarely at the rookie genin. The leaf chunin and lone Jonin are clearly uncomfortable with this but anything they may say could only pour more fuel on this fire.

Land of Fire; Kohonoha; Forest of Death battleground

"Delta cover Beta's retreat, Gamma moves to assist white." Hiruzen orders as he slams his staff down at his former student who barely bends clear before nicking his cheek on the edge of Reds katana, twirling around it before being forced to leap back instead of counter attacking by Delta unloading a rainstorm of Kunai at the man. As the pale man lands "Rikari!" a silver haired Jonin rams a lightning fist, that chirps like a thousand birds, right toward the man's heart but it was caught and redirected causing the hand and the arm connected to it to explode. Yet again however the slipperiness of snakes was not to be underestimated as the rogue sanin shed his skin and darts into the shrubbery. There was no delay in the pursuit, with all hands diving though the shrubbery, explosives and jutsu aplenty, leaving a scarred land in their wake. Boom. The snake man smacks into a tree, back first, dropping down into the dirt The snake man smacks into a tree, back first, dropping down into the dirt a pair of swords run through his legs, one each, causing him to his as a slap on the back followed shortly thereafter and all chakra usage ceased "Got… him…" Red huff's and puffs, winded just like the others in the battalion. The hokage dropped back on his ass, his staff proofing back into its animal form and monkey king Enma followed his summoner sighing hard "We did it. Finally." A brief break on protocol followed as the Anbu members all cheer and celebrate at finally catching Orochimaru. There were losses but no fatalities, the wounded moved to the rear whilst the abled moved forward. The two Uzu-shinobi led the charge on the heels of the Hokage.

Both Red and Arctic pull their blades up and take defensive positions over their captive, a move that caused all the Anbu members on high alert. Artic through up a two-metre-thick block of ice in front of him and Red only for it to partially shatter by a strange arrow a moment later. Red goes through rapid fire handsigns and the second, and third shot go wide, explosions at the rear. A flute is heard playing and a dizzy spell takes over both Red and Arctic for the briefest of moments which allowed them to slice through the massive bulk of a man that charged at them. The whiff of the foul chakra that rolled off their blades as they cut him through "Curse sealed." growled Red in disgust. His sword slashed up, another boom at the rear from a redirected arrow "That sniper is pissing me off."
"Wanna switch targets?" Arctic questions causing Red to glance back briefly, only now taking notice of the phantoms "Good idea." and after another three redirects before the two swap positions and Red is confronted with three phantom illusions and smirks beneath his mask "piece of cake." As chains of chakra erupt from his back with death on the menu, and moments later the aberrations were sliced to pieces, the residual chakra signal allowed him to track the caster and he immediately shunshined to her position and wrapped her up in the same chains, the end of one punching into the cursed seal, shattering it as a pulse of Red's dense Uzumaki chakra purges the girls system of the taint.

A scream from a man rings out, snapping Red's attention to where they left the captured Sanin to find him gone. "Damn!" he growls punching the tree he stood on, the trunk exploding on contact. He spreads his senses to the max but only briefly picked up four signatures. What caught his eye though was the signature right beside him. He snaps his head over to the girl still wrapped up in his chains, breathing heavily. Willing his chains, they left her up before him, the girl tiredly glaring at him "…shit… head…" her response "You're Uzumaki." his sharp response. She just stares at him "…the last…" her almost inaudible whisper. Sensing they were still alone, Red slowly removes his mask and as his face comes to view, he feels her stiffen on his chains "Not quite." He smiles disarmingly "…but… he said…!" Naruto nods "We've been on hiding for a long time. Staying incognito while searching for our lost clansmen." His smile drops a bit before he bows "I am sorry we didn't find you sooner." He lifts his head upon hearing sniffling and sees his clansmen trying and failing to stifle her tears.

After allowing her to regain her composure, the adrenaline rush wearing off, she began to fall asleep still bound in the chains. Cradling her gently as he walked back to the gathering group, he senses a flare up of chakra belonging to his 'Genin team' and sighs knowing that the oncoming headache was going to be centred on a certain redhead "Troublesome." Growled the masked redhead as all over konoha spiky, pineapple styled haired men of all ages sneezed in unison.

Land of Fire; Kohonoha; Academy

A shudder up Kartel's spine caused the Uzu trio to freeze "Uh-oh." Said Uzumaki barely above a whisper, his comrades going pale "You mean…" Fenra muttered and upon his nod she quickly pulled the Uchiha to his feet, dusting him down before ensuring that she herself looked presentable which caused many raised eyebrows while the two boys were stiff as a board. A knock on the door caused the two Uzu-shinobi to shudder, sliding aside reveals the Hokage flanked by Red and Dragon who all step in "Sorry for the delay…" the old man states still in his battle uniform "…the next round will now proceed as planned." As he speaks Red steps toward the Uzu-genin, Fenra bowing profoundly "Captain."
"Report." Red orders and she raises up, Kartel begins sweating bullets "Genin Kartel released class three restricted information."
"For what purpose."
"To dispute the claim that we had stolen our emblem from the hidden leaf. The other foreign genin will corroborate my story." She dutifully states and as Red glances at the numerous guest shinobi who nod along. Red then turns to the Hokage "With all due respect, Lord Hokage, but I ask why we had been forgotten by your village?" but the old man did not even so much as twitch, but all eyes were drawn to the last Uchiha who shouted out "No one cares about some stupid clan, why does she have the sharigan?!" with a hard growl causing the Kage to raise an eyebrow but Red simply turns to said Uchiha and with all his killing intent aimed at him "You. Silence. Shinobi are talking." Said boy fell on his ass, breathing laboured as he struggled to stay awake. "We can discuss this later." Saratobe states drawing the attention of the room "There is a test underway, and they are going to be late." Red nodded at this before grabbing Kartel "The rest will get moving towards the forty-fourth training ground. I will be taking my charge for a quick chat before delivering him there." before shunshining himself and said boy away.

Authors Note:

The final part of the chunin exams are about to begin, Uzu comes to the rescue but someone has to pay the price for a betrayal long since buried. To each their own perhaps however family is family no matter what.
A few have questions about Kartel and how he could be Naruto's son. Long story short, one of my favourite what ifs (Blondes Have More Fun) uses a time chamber plot device. Thought I'd borrow it and explain that the leaf has one only due to their alliance with the Uzumaki who pioneered it using grandmaster level seals. The clan had six working at one point however they are down to three and utilising them to fast track their clans revival. I do go into slightly more detail on the hows in the chapter after next, though the finer details are 'Clan secrets' thus deal with it. The relationship between the pair is a wired one with most treating them more like brothers but as the more experienced war time shinobi, Naruto often finds himself scolding his younger counterpart very much like a father would. Kartel is as brash as prime Naruto however has a temper to match and will develop as he spends more time with his father who learns to live outside the mask. Whether that be with Koyuki, Karin, Shion, or Fenra (Yes she throws her hat in this ring) I haven't decided yet. No, Mikoto isn't off the table but isn't pursuing it much either.