Empty

by zzzgnas

There is nothing worse in the world than the feeling of complete and utter helplessness. That empty feeling you get when you've lost everything and you know there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Uzumaki Naruto was four when he experienced this feeling for the first time. And from then on... nothing had gone right... Strong! Naruto. Third Ninja War Timeline.

9. Chapter 9 - Kakashi Hatake

Chapter-9

Kakashi Hatake

"If you attempt the summoning technique without agreeing to a contract, you will be transported to the lair of your familiar animal. There, you will face trials beyond any and all of your limits. They will tear you down and remake you from scratch the way they want you to be… Never try it."

Konohagakure, 3 Days Later

The streets were filled with people, even when it was so close to midnight. Naruto suspected that this was probably the only time in the year it happened. After all, people were suckers for tradition. And it was a very long tradition to stay up to see the start of the new year. What a joke.

Naruto had just put Yugao to sleep. She was not happy with him when he reached back. His last mission had taken more than a week's time. It was the longest he had ever been away from home. Even the silent dispatch was over in just under a week. Yugao cried a little when he came back. Mikoto had also left a couple days before, leaving her alone in the apartment. Sure, their neighbor Hayate and his mom were there with her, but Yugao told him that it wasn't the same. Naruto completely understood. He stayed and played with her till she fell asleep. Then, he carried her to the bed and tucked her in. Then and only then, he left for the 'party'. But he had one stop to make before that.

Naruto reached Konohagakure General Hospital. In the beginning, it was a place he loved. After all, this was the place from where he saw Konoha for the first time. The bright lights, the people making noise going about their day-to-day lives… It all felt so foreign to him and it made him feel warm inside. That was the day he realized he wanted to be a ninja. He wanted to be able to rescue others, just like someone else had refused him.

But now… Now, the sight of the hospital made him nauseous. If Zabuza were to be believed, this was where his memory had been sealed. This was where the real him had ceased to exist. This was where he lost everything… Everything he had left after Uzushio that is.

Naruto didn't bother to stop at the reception to check in. He already knew where he was headed. The people who couldn't afford to pay for health care were almost always in the same place. The top floor. That was where he had woken up. And he knew for a fact that Irene Kurama could not afford to pay her hospital bills. He ran up the stairs quickly, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. He wasn't sure why he wanted to see her after she kicked them out, but he felt strangely drawn to her. It didn't take him long to find her room. The door was slightly open and he could see that it was dark inside.

Naruto slowly opened the door. The loud creak made him flinch involuntarily. He hated doors that creaked. It was just plain annoying. It was not a happy Naruto that tried to open the door. How could he be? The people were all pretending that there wasn't a war going on outside. It was stupidly extravagant, and he wanted no part of it. But sadly, that wasn't an option for him, if he wanted to find out more about his sister.

So, it was a very unhappy Naruto that entered the dark room of his former caretaker. He fumbled about trying to find the light switch.

"Don't."

Naruto froze. "Excuse me?"

"Don't turn on the lights." Her voice was very different from what he remembered. It came out as a dry croak, no longer the warm voice that sings children to sleep. "I don't want to look at myself."

Naruto hesitantly nodded. It wasn't what he was expecting. He was expecting an 'I told you so' or just a smug smile. Not this. "Can't you just get rid of the mirrors?"

She laughed dryly. "Everything's a mirror, Naruto, when you have as many regrets as I have."

Naruto's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he could now see her face… or what was left of it at least. "What happened that day?"

Irene snorted loudly. "What do you think?"

"Drunk shinobi?"

"Yeah. Drunk shinobi…"

Naruto nodded. He had thought as much. "Why are you still here? You should be taking care of them… Now more than ever."

Irene scoffed. "Look at me, Naruto. I am never going to go near a child again without scaring them or even traumatizing them."

Naruto was becoming angry at the indifferent tone she was using. "Then, why the fuck is the orphanage rebuilt?"

"Ah… The orphanage. Kirua's home for orphans. Tell me Naruto… Do you know who Kirua is?"

Naruto's brow furrowed in thought. "She's that lady who used to come by once a week, isn't she?"

Irene nodded. "Yeah. She was one of the first children I took under my care. And one of my first failures as well."

"What happened?"

"A girl. In the red-light district. What do you think happened?"

Naruto sighed. "Why didn't you protect her? Like you protected us?"

Irene glared at him. "Like I tried to protect you, Naruto. Don't think I don't notice the scars you now carry with you. I can guess what happened to Shinzo and Shizuka."

Naruto hesitated but there was really no point beating around the bush. "They died…" Irene stayed silent. "You told me they would… And they did. Seems like you were right."

"Do you think that's what I want, Naruto? For you to admit that I was right?"

Naruto shook his head no. "No. I don't think that is what you want. I have no idea what you actually want."

Irene remained silent for a long time. "Naruto, did I ever tell you the story of how I built the orphanage?"

"Yeah, you did it with your savings, after the first great ninja war."

"No, Naruto. Did I tell you how I built it? The building?" Naruto shook his head. "I don't have an earth affinity. So, I went asking for help from my former friends. None of them would dare to help the disgraced member of the Kurama clan. Eventually, I stopped asking. I started doing it by myself. You see, I had a mission. And that mission kept me going for a long time. I stacked rock up on rock. I had no experience building things and it fell apart so many times. The first time that it came tumbling down, I was so close to giving up. That's when I saw her. Kirua. Her unruly black hair was so dirty. She was huddled up in the corner of a nearby alley."

"I bought her food. I bathed her and nourished her back to full health. Then, I told her what I was trying to create and how it would help them. She joined me. She started helping. Whatever she could do, she did. Over the next three years, other people started joining us. Ren came first. Then, Sara, Kazane, Setsuna and finally Jiraiya."

Naruto's visible eye went wide.

"Yes. The very same. That Jiraiya. Me and five young children… It took us almost an entire year. We were the ones who finished building it. And we started living in it. I took up work in a nearby brothel as a bartender. With the money I got, I bought things. Beds, clothes… Groceries… The shinobi knew I was capable of defending myself and the others in the establishment, so they were well-mannered. For some time, at least. Within a week, things had taken a very horrible turn."

Irene's voice broke. Naruto was immediately on his feet. He fetched her a cup of water and she drank some immediately.

"You see, I was limiting their fun. The shinobi weren't satisfied with the comparatively tame treatment they were receiving from the brothel. They went into the orphanage… They were in pain, crying for help when I reached home. I realized my mistake. I quit working as a bartender and took up work as a librarian. But they didn't stop. They came again and again. Jiraiya ran away and I guess Hiruzen found him. The children I took under my wing were suffering. The second shinobi war would start soon and more children would be put under my care. It went on like that for some more time. I tried to fight them off, but there were too many. There was nothing I could do. You can't imagine the feeling of utter helplessness you'll feel when watching the ones placed in your care go through things that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. Everything came to a halt when Kazane died. A drunk ninja suffocated her until she turned purple. Then, he snapped her neck. She was 12 at the time… I realized at that moment that my dream was dead. They would never be safe. I couldn't ensure that on my own."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "On your own?"

Irene looked down in regret. "That brings me to my greatest regret. I made a deal… A horrifying deal. I would get monthly payments for the upbringing and maintenance of the facilities in the orphanage and protection from the drunk civilians and shinobi…"

"In exchange for…"

Irene met his eyes. This was the second time that week she was revealing all this. "In exchange for children."

"What?"

"In exchange for 75% of the orphans put under my care. I had no choice Naruto. He told me that the children would be safe. That they would be brought up as warriors. As shinobi of the hidden leaf. They would just undergo different… training methods. I had my doubts but then he showed me one of his warriors. Such strength in someone so young… But whatever he'd gone through, he was nothing more than a mindless drone when I saw him. Danzo was right. Konoha's next generation of shinobi appeared, even then, to be a bit lackluster… You can guess what I ended up doing…"

Naruto continued to stare wide-eyed at the person who he thought was quite possibly the best human in the entire world. After all, who else would abandon the position of clan head of a very prestigious clan to build an orphanage. But this… This bargaining with children… It was horrifying.

"With no other options left in front of me, I accepted. He would come once in 6 months and take away three quarters of the children… But he kept his word. No one bothered us again. That is how I kept my dead dream alive, Naruto. By making a deal with the devil."

Naruto's mind went numb as he tried to map this new person with the kind old lady he thought he knew. "Why are you telling me this?"

Irene steeled herself. "Because I want you to know why I kicked you out. All shinobi are disgusting creatures. Monsters that have no morals, no regard for human life and no conscience. What if one day, later in the future, you got drunk. You come into the orphanage and assault… kill and torture the people you grew up with. That is why I kicked you out. If that day ever came, I didn't want the kids to recognize who it is that is doing it to them."

Naruto's mouth dropped open. "You really think I will become like that?"

"You already are like that, Naruto. You've already killed, haven't you? That person is someone's son or daughter, someone's wife or husband… Someone's mother or father. Shinobi are the reason for orphans… They aren't the ones who rescue. They're the ones who destroy. Look at what I did when I had only the best intentions in mind. We are no longer human, Naruto. We should never try to convince ourselves of anything else. We are monsters. The worst people on earth."

Naruto fumed. "You. I'm nothing like you. You put on this innocent facade to fool everyone. You're right. You are a monster. But I will never become like you." He turned around to exit the room.

"You will kill Naruto. That makes you exactly like me."

Naruto stopped at the door. He slowly turned around. "Why are you telling me this? Why now?"

Irene smiled. "Because you thought I was a good person, Naruto. Minato did as well. I told him a few weeks ago when he came to visit me a second time; and I'm telling you now. I am a horrible human being. I don't want anyone to think anything else."

Naruto remained silent.

"Aren't you going to say something? Minato went on and on about how he would change things when he became the Hokage. How no one inside the village would have to fight for their survival ever again. He would take care of everyone in the village. That's what he told me."

Naruto still stayed silent.

"Say something, Naruto."

Naruto turned around slowly. "Naïve. Minato-sensei is too naïve. People will always fight. If not for survival, it will be for their reputation or status in the village. If not for that, then for pleasure. It's never going to stop." He met Irene's eyes. "That's not because we are monsters. It's because we're human. That is human nature. A never-ending cycle of hate. The five villages? Kumo… Iwa… Suna… Kiri… Konoha… They're meaningless. It's all just a race to the top. Because only the ones on the top get to crush those caught underneath… And that's what every human wants. And only naive idiots like you and Minato would think that this cycle can ever be stopped."

Irene's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Why am I naive?"

Naruto smirked hatefully. "Do you honestly think anyone in the red light district would give a fuck about you or your orphanage after you stopped limiting their "activities"? Has it never occurred to you that maybe the fact that the attacks stopped when you accepted the deal is not just a coincidence? Or are you too afraid to think about how many more lives you've actually ruined?"

Irene flinched back, looking stricken. The silence stretched between them until Naruto turned to leave when Irene spoke up. "What will you do about it? This cycle you talk about… Will you stop this cycle of hate?"

Naruto turned to meet her eyes. "No… It'll go on as it always has. That much is pretty fucking clear to me. This world will keep on burning… The best I can hope for is to make sure my friends don't get caught up in it. The cycle will never stop. Never."

Irene stared at the boy in front of her.

"And I don't give a fuck about it."

Outside the Hospital, With Naruto.

'Stupid Naruto. You knew it was a bad idea to come here. What the fuck were you thinking?'

Naruto hurried past the doors on his way outside the hospital. Fuck. He was supposed to go to the New Year's party at the ninja academy. He wanted to talk to Akira and he was most likely at the party. But fuck. He was in no mood to tolerate that farce. He quickened his pace, letting his feet take over. He would figure out what to do while he walked.

"Naruto?" The voice came from behind him and he stopped and turned around. "I thought that was you. Sorry I didn't recognize you sooner. Your hair is red again."

"Rin? What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the party?"

Rin pouted. "What? No greeting? No thank you for saving your life a week ago?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Um, sorry about that."

Blink. Blink.

"Ohayo, Rin."

As if a switch had just been turned on, Rin smiled at him. "Ohayo, Naruto-kun. It's nice to see you again."

"Um… It's nice to see you too, I guess."

Rin nodded excitedly. "To answer your question, I had a late shift at the hospital. I'm on my way to the party now. You want to be my date?"

Naruto took a nervous step back. "Eh, I don't really feel like going, if it's all the same with you."

"Oh." Rin pouted again. "So, you're going to let me go all alone, this late at night. With all these murderers and rapists around. Where's your chivalry, Naruto? And here I was, offering you a date."

Naruto's eyebrows twitched. "You're a ninja, Rin. You don't need my help."

"But I'm only a medic-nin. I can't make it there, all on my own."

Naruto grit his teeth. "The ninja academy is right there. You can see it."

Rin looked in the direction he was pointing in and pretended to be unable to see it. "I don't see it."

"Right next to the hospital? Where you work?"

"Oh. I see it now. But what if a black cat crosses my path? Obito says it's bad luck. I'll have to take the long way around. Maybe, even go through the red-light district. You know how dangerous that is." Rin spoke happily, twirling around in front of him.

"It doesn't matter what I say, does it?"

"Nope."

"There's no way I can get out of this?"

"Nope."

"Fuck."

Rin sent him a disapproving glare. "Not on the first date, Naruto-kun."

Rin started walking away leaving a heavily blushing Naruto trying to make sense of what just happened. His mind snapped back into place as he ran forward to catch up with her.

"You're not as innocent as you make it seem, are you?"

"Nope."

Konoha General Hospital, Third Floor Balcony.

Tsunade watched silently as the young red haired boy watched the young medic girl walk away before suddenly snapping out of it and running to catch up with her. Despite who it was, Tsunade couldn't help but smile. Rin had probably teased him into following him. Tsunade used to do the same to Jiraiya, getting similar reactions. She was glad she stopped it before it got too out of hand. She had never meant for him to get hooked on her, but that was indeed what happened. It was her own fault… As most things seem to be nowadays…

Seeing the young redhead reminded her of what he said on the day of Nawaki's funeral. 'I got you your revenge. Isn't that enough?'

It was supposed to be. But it wasn't. Tsunade now realized how unreasonable she had been on that day. She had unintentionally got the Uchiha clan heir kicked out of her clan. She didn't deserve that. What happened was her own damn fault. She had told him about the true genin exam all those months before, not knowing about the silent dispatch and the imminent war. Teamwork is the key. She had told him that and he made sure to demonstrate it during the test. This was her own fault. No one else'.

She would occasionally see things that reminded her of Nawaki and every single time, she would end up right here. Thinking about how it was her fault. How she had killed her own brother. About how-.

"Tsunade-hime?"

She turned around quickly. Her alarm at the sudden voice disappeared when she saw who it was. "Dan? What are you doing here?"

"I didn't see you at the party and I figured I'll bring the party to you." Dan said effortlessly.

Tsunade scoffed. "Real original, Dan."

Dan frowned. "I was going for charming, but original works. I can definitely work with original."

Tsunade laughed. "How are you able to make me laugh so easily?"

"That… is… … a secret."

Tsunade sweatdropped. "Anyways, what are you really doing here?"

"I talked to some of the clan heads." Oh, this was serious. Shame… She was looking forward to this.

Dan didn't miss the sudden change in the air. They had met a couple of times after the last council meeting to discuss things. "You know what? We'll talk about that later. Let's talk about something else."

Tsunade smiled. It seemed that her face had betrayed the fact that she wanted something else from him today. "What will we talk about?"

Dan held his chin in thought. "Hmmm. Tell me something about you that no one else knows."

Tsunade smiled. "No way I'm doing that first. You start."

Dan sighed with a playful smirk on his face. "Sooo demanding. Alright. This is serious though; I hope it doesn't ruin the mood." Tsunade signaled him to go ahead. "Sometimes, I feel angry at my sister for leaving Shizune to me. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love her more than anything, but she needs someone else. Someone who's not so busy all the time. Yesterday, she called me tou-san. I didn't know what to tell her. I still don't. It makes me feel so weird about myself."

Tsunade sighed. "And that's completely fine, Dan. You have a right to feel that way. What matters is that you're still there for her."

Dan nodded. "Yeah. You're right. I know that." They stood in silence for some more time. "What about you? Tell me a secret."

Tsunade sighed. "Mine is pretty sad too."

"I don't mind. Go ahead."

"Ever since my parents died, I had only two things in my mind. Nawaki and my career as a medic-nin. Nawaki died two months ago and since then, I've tried to keep only the medic reforms in my mind. I worked so hard on them. It was essentially foolproof. I blew that as well. And now…" Tsunade turned to face him. "Now, I have no idea what to live for. I have… I have nothing."

Dan shook his head as she reached the end of her statement. "No no no. You can't think that way. You're a role model, Tsunade. Role models don't get to give up so quickly. Since my sister died, Shizune never once smiled. She talked to me as if everything was normal, but she never smiled. That changed the day she met you, Tsunade. She was smiling so widely, telling me how strong, confident and beautiful you looked. That was the impression you left on her, Tsunade. She wants to become just like you. Strong, confident and beautiful."

Tsunade stared at him with wide eyes. She had no idea that she could still come off so strong. "What about you? What do you want to become?"

Dan hesitated slightly. "Honestly, I only became a ninja to protect my sister. But now, I'm a ninja so that I can protect Shizune. I'm a ninja so I can protect people. I want to be the best at it. The very best. That's why I came to find you after that meeting. You were absolutely right. On-field medics would completely change the game. The Hokage was too blind to see it. That's why… That's why I want to become Hokage. So that I can protect. Protect everyone I care about. Because that's my dream."

Tsunade was shocked. For a moment, it wasn't Dan standing in front of her. It was Nawaki. Slowly the illusion faded away and Dan replaced him. But she was still in shock. Her hands moved on its own as it gently cupped his cheek. Tsunade never did things like this, but she couldn't stop herself. Slowly, she leaned in and captured his lips. He returned the kiss with vigor. Her mind exploded. Passion filled her entire being as he grabbed her leg and grinded himself into her.

Finally, they separated. Both of them panting heavily. "This…" Dan spoke breathlessly. "This is what you should live for." Tears came into Tsunade's eyes. "You must live to love."

Tsunade's hands moved to her neck and she touched the green crystal of the necklace. Slowly, she took it off her neck and placed it on his hand. "You will become the Hokage, Dan. I will help you in any way I can, because… I think I love you."

Dan was stunned at her declaration but not for long. He grasped her hand tighter and drew her in for a kiss. "And I love you."

Passion grasped their minds again and they melted into each other. Tsunade took his hand and led him inside to the bed in her office. She had missed this. The feeling of utterly and completely belonging to someone else. This was the start of a new beginning for her. She had to move on from the recent tragedy that plagued her life and Dan was the way to do so. It didn't matter to her that she met him less than a week ago. This night would become the start of her second chance.

Iwagakure, With Onoki.

"I don't approve of this. I don't approve of him." Onoki spoke bluntly. "I told you to stay away from him from the moment he came into this village."

"Grandpa, it doesn't matter whether you approve or not. I love him and he loves me. It's as simple as that." Kaguya retorted adamantly.

"What do you make of this, Kitsuchi, Biwa?" Onoki asked his son and his wife.

Biwa looked at her niece. "I think you should wait for Midori or his wife."

Kitsuchi looked uncomfortable when Onoki's eyes turned to him, but nevertheless spoke her mind. "I think this is a golden opportunity, Tsuchikage-sama. We could test him and if he is worthy, he could act as an excellent double agent. The barriers in Konoha won't detect his presence."

Both Biwa and Kaguya looked at him, irritated. Onoki turned to the last person in the room. "And what do you say, boy? What do you think about what you just heard, Yagura or Shinji or whatever your name is?"

Shinji called Kaguya close to her. He knelt on the ground and started tapping on the ground. Kaguya was able to interpret it easily. "He says… He says that he will accept whatever punishment you deem necessary. He says that he is done running."

Onoki stomped his foot impatiently. "That's not what I asked you, boy. Tell me if you are willing to act as a spy for us?"

"Grandpa, you can't make him do that. He can't go back there." Kaguya pleaded with him.

"Be silent, girl. If he is here when your father learns of this, he will die. He will be tortured and killed. He needs to leave before Midori comes back." Onoki snapped at her which promptly shut her up. She knew that it was true. Her father was one of the more hotheaded people in her village who acted before thinking of the consequences. "Tell me, boy. What will it be?"

Shinji looked at Kaguya. He would have to leave her alone to deal with her father. It wasn't ideal, but…

"Would. You. Be. Okay. Dealing. With. Your. Father. On. Your. Own?"

Kaguya smiled at him. Still worrying about her when he was quite possibly facing his death. "I'll be fine."

Shinji nodded and smiled at her. He then stood up and faced the Tsuchikage and nodded.

Onoki smiled. This was good. Very good. He would look back on this moment as the turning point in the war. This time, they would definitely come out on top. Konoha would stand no chance.

With Kushina

"Kushina, how long are you going to stay mad at him? It isn't his fault, you know?" Mikoto was the one who spoke.

"I know. I know he's only done what he thinks is best for me. But I can't understand why he wouldn't trust me enough to tell me." Kushina didn't want to distance herself from him. But she had no choice. He was her boyfriend and all, but how is it fair for him to dictate who she should and shouldn't have in her life.

"Kushina…" Mikoto tried to speak out again, but one look from Kushina silenced her. They were at the Taki border. There were 8 lookout positions and they were taking the night shifts. They could hear the distant sounds of battle and far away, they could see the smoke from the numerous fires that were undoubtedly burning the countryside.

The fight had yet to reach Taki territory. In fact, it seemed like the fight was drawing further and further away from them. Meaning that their presence here was a waste. She was being kept from Naruto for nothing. In all seriousness, she knew this was a bullshit mission from the start. They were here because Taki was scared. Not to fight a war.

It would end up as Hiruzen predicted. An all-out fight in Amegakure. That's where they all needed to be. Not here in the middle of nowhere. Kumo involving themselves in the war was unexpected, but definitely welcome. Iwa no longer had time to fight Konoha, they were busy with Kumo. This was their time to recover.

"Kushina. You're making a mistake. He didn't mean to-"

"Why did you break up with Fugaku?" Kushina interrupted suddenly.

Mikoto flinched in surprise. "That… That's different."

Kushina also winced at how she'd suddenly snapped at her best friend. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up. It's just… I need time, Mikoto. I need time away from him. At the very least I want to meet Naruto before I even think about him again."

Mikoto promptly shut up. Kushina was still too angry and irritated. She would cool down with time. She has to. Minato was not acting like himself either. The way he talked to the Hokage and the way he handled himself… It almost seemed like he was gearing up for battle and not against their enemies. She saw the cold fury in his eyes when he talked to the Hokage. She had no idea that all that was in him.

Whatever happened, she just hoped that they would both be okay. Minato and Fugaku. Both of them. What she could do now was what Kushina did for her when her brother died. Just be there for her. That's all she needs to do.

With Naruto.

The ninja academy looked a little strange with all the decorations in place. It didn't look like the academy at all. Once inside, he saw shinobi and civilians alike, dressed in very fancy clothes. There was dancing and music and… food.

'Tch. Some of the ninja don't even have their kunai pouch with them. What a joke.'

Speaking of jokes, that was what he thought it was when Rin asked him to be her date. Her arm intertwined with his seemed to indicate otherwise. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, because he had other things to worry about. They were both severely underdressed for the event and their entrance drew the eyes of every person at the party.

Naruto turned to Rin who was close to hyperventilating. "Calm down, Rin. Nobody cares what they think. Let's just go meet our friends, freeload the fuck out of this place and get out."

Rin stifled a laugh and nodded at his proposal. "Ok. That sounds good. I just don't understand why Yuna would invite us to a party that's so… formal."

Naruto didn't have to reply because Yuna, dressed in an elegant black gown, chose that moment to show up. "You guys made it. You look… good."

Rin laughed nervously. "Sorry, we didn't think we had to dress up for it."

Yuna frowned. "We? Did you come together?"

"Yup. He's my date." Rin said confidently.

Yuna was stunned at that. She didn't know Rin had any interest in Naruto. Granted, it was none of her business, but she couldn't help but feel a bit sad. It was high time that she confronted her own budding feelings about him, but she never felt like there was any rush. Apparently, she was wrong.

"Not by choice, Yuna." Naruto spoke, making Rin playfully hit him on his shoulder. Yuna couldn't help but feel a little relieved. "So, where are the others?"

"They didn't come…" Yuna spoke, slightly embarrassed.

"Huh… Where's the food?" Naruto whispered loudly, drawing the eyes of the people dancing nearby.

Yuna laughed before grabbing his hand to lead them away from the entrance, but she was a moment too late.

Asuma blocked their way with Kurenai right next to him. He was dressed in an elegant black suit that made Naruto want to scream 'Rich prick' at him. "Well, well, well. It seems some of the street trash made their way into the event. You do know that it's invite-only, right?"

Yuna frowned. "Asuma. Fuck off. Can't you just mind your own business?"

"You're my dear sister, Yuna. Your business is my business. Now, tell me Yuna, why are these… people here?"

Yuna grit her teeth. "These people are my friends. They're here on my invite."

Asuma smiled. "Did you clear it with father?"

Yuna hesitated. "No, I cleared it with mother."

"Come on. You know better. You have to tell father when you add anyone to the list. Rookie mistake, sis. First time having friends at an event and you messed it up pretty bad." Asuma turned to Naruto and Rin. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Naruto looked at his teammate. He could see that Yuna was feeling a bit helpless between her irritation directed at her brother and the hesitation she had toward causing a public scene. "It's ok, Yuna. I don't particularly like parties, anyway."

Rin took his lead. "Yeah, cheer up. We'll meet tomorrow for training. Since Minato-sensei is not here, Orochimaru-sama will be training us as well."

"I don't recall giving you permission to speak, trash." Asuma snapped at Rin, making Naruto's eyes snap to him in a flash of anger.

Yuna was starting to get worried. There was going to be a confrontation and people were starting to notice. Her eyes fell on her two friends at the other end of Asuma's verbal assault. Like her, Rin was looking worried. But Naruto looked… amused?

"Trash and street trash. That's all you could come up with? An unborn fetus would know more insults than you, you dumb fuck." The people nearby looked at Naruto in surprise. Kurenai giggled at hearing someone speak to her teammate that way.

"How dare you? Get out of here this instant."

"Hey, what's the rush? Your mom was so much more welcoming last night." Gasps of shock escaped the surrounding genin. Naruto was just loud enough for only them to hear. The other guests had moved on from this event. Rin was trying hard to hold her laugh while Yuna covered her mouth in shock.

Asuma clenched his fists tightly. "What did you just say to me?"

"What? You're deaf as well as dumb? That explains why all the moaning yesterday didn't wake you up."

Asuma was trembling slightly. "I'm warning you."

"And why did you call me trash anyway? Is it because of the way I dress? If so, then I'd like to know what you call your teammate who dresses like a fucking stripper." Asuma started forward to attack him and in a moment, Naruto was on him.

"Careful now… There are people around. They don't know me, but they do know you. If you attack right now, I won't do a thing against it and everyone here will think you beat up a helpless rookie genin. Imagine what rumors that would start." Asuma stopped himself. "Think very carefully about what you do next."

Asuma took a hesitant step backward and Naruto immediately leaned forward so only Asuma could hear what he had to say. "Treat your sister better and this will be the last time you embarrass yourself."

Naruto turned around. "Sorry, Yuna. Something has come up and I have to leave. We'll talk tomorrow?"

Yuna dumbly nodded. Did he just tell off the honorable son of the Third Hokage?

"Rin, you coming?" Naruto asked, already on his way out.

The question broke her out of her thoughts and after a quick apologetic look toward Yuna, she hurried to catch up with Naruto.

"That was stupid."

Naruto turned around to see that it was Rin who spoke. He grinned at her. "Stupid, but effective."

Rin was a bit taken aback. "Why are you so happy about what just happened? We are now on the bad side of one of the most influential people in the village. If he tells his dad about what you said, he could have you thrown in jail for it."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah. He won't do that. He's too proud to tattle. The only way the Hokage is ever going to know about this, is if myself, Yuna or Kurenai tells him and frankly, I don't see it happening anytime soon."

Rin huffed. "And why won't I be the one to tell him?"

Naruto looked at her in mock hurt. "I'm hurt, Rin. I didn't think you'd betray your date so easily."

Rin laughed. "It sucks that we didn't get to eat the food. Why did you decide to leave after that? If you were sure Asuma wouldn't start anything, why didn't you stay?"

Naruto hesitated a little. "I suppose you deserve to know. I wasn't there for the party. I was there to talk to someone about something and he is... pretty noticeable. He wasn't at the party."

Rin raised an eyebrow. As far as she was concerned, she was the one who dragged him to the party. "I recall you not wanting to come."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. That's because I was pissed at the time. But you managed to calm me down and then going to the party with you seemed ok."

Rin blushed at that. "We could've stayed longer, you know? We'll probably hear it from Yuna tomorrow. She'll be angry."

Naruto scoffed. "No way she'll be angry at us. The others didn't even show up."

Rin giggled. "You know, Naruto? I'm glad you're opening up to us like this. You kind of closed up after the silent dispatch."

Naruto froze. "Yeah. Sorry about that.", he said uncertainly.

Rin immediately realized what was wrong. "Oops. Me and my big mouth. Sorry for bringing it up."

Naruto waved it off. "It doesn't matter, Rin. According to my therapist, I need to talk about it more if I want to move on."

Rin was stunned. "You have a therapist?"

Naruto chuckled. "Yep. You've met her. Purple hair, a little above knee-height and adorable?"

It took Rin a moment to realize he meant Yugao and then she laughed. It was honestly refreshing to see Naruto like this. He seemed more like the Naruto that she met at the academy a few months ago… before the 'stuff' happened.

They were in the residential district and they were nearing Rin's apartment. It was actually very close to Naruto's own apartment building. She had only noticed it a week before, when she accompanied Team 12 to Naruto's apartment. They walked in silence for a few more minutes. It was only when Naruto took an opposite turn into an alley when Rin realized that they were not headed to his home.

"Where are we going, Naruto?"

Naruto turned to look at her. She was still with him. He had forgotten that she was with him. "I told you. I want to talk to someone about something."

Rin frowned. "Why not talk to me?"

Naruto chuckled. "I need to talk to someone who was around when the second great ninja war ended. You aren't that old, are you?"

Rin blushed again. "You have no manners at all, do you? You should never make a comment on a lady's age." Naruto only smiled at her in reply. "So, who is this person?"

Naruto came to a stop in front of her. "You'll see. We're here."

Rin watched as Naruto walked up to the door of the house. As he neared the door, she could feel some chakra building up. What could that possibly be for? Rin continued to ask herself this question until suddenly, she realized what it was. Barriers. And somehow, Naruto was keyed into it. Whoever lived here was dangerous. Almost no one in the village was paranoid enough to spend that much money on seals.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. "AKIRA-OJIISAN! OPEN UP."

Rin jumped in surprise at the loud knock. She could hear movement inside the house and some faint cuss words being thrown around. Within a few more seconds, the door opened and an elderly man appeared.

Rin was puzzled at the man's reaction to them. Any other person would be angry at being woken up by two random genin. But him… His face changed from annoyance, to recognition, and finally to… worry?

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Akira asked.

"I want to know why you wanted my locket." Naruto said plainly.

Akira frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Why did you want it?"

Akira didn't reply immediately. He didn't like the tone he was taking with him. "It was in exchange for helping you get on your feet, Naruto. Did you already forget about that?"

Naruto didn't back down even when it became evident that the old man wasn't too happy about the disturbance. "It means nothing to you, old man. Why would you even agree to help me for that worthless piece of metal? Why would Akira Senju, Konoha's Golden Flame, give me and my friends close to 30000 ryo for something so… so material?"

Akira rolled his eyes. "I don't have the mind or the time to deal with you right now. Either say what you mean to say, or go the fuck away."

Rin watched in surprise as the elder man raised his voice at Naruto. The older shinobi stepped back into his house and moved to slam the door shut. It happened so fast that Rin almost missed it. Naruto was suddenly at the door, with his right hand on it, preventing it from closing.

Akira's eyes widened when he saw the two red eyes with a distinctive pentagonal shape staring back at him. His instincts from numerous battles over the years told him to look away. To just break eye contact. But he found that to be impossible. He had seen the Mangekyou Sharingan before. His old teammate, Kagami, was one of the most proficient users of it. That was not what trapped him. It was what he saw in those red eyes. Death and destruction… Just as Jiraiya had said.

"What I mean to ask you, Akira, is how long have you known about my sister?" Both Rin and Akira's mouths dropped open in surprise. "How long have you known? Because I suspect that you've known about it from the very beginning, almost 3 months now. When you asked me for my locket, you knew, didn't you?"

The intensity and the tone caught him off guard. For perhaps the second time in the last 10 days, Akira was forced to acknowledge that Naruto was, in fact, dangerous. Those eyes had a strange effect on him. Naruto was asking him for answers. He was using a threatening tone for it, but he was still only asking. His eyes, on the other hand, weren't asking. They were demanding. Akira couldn't help but nod. "I… I suspected."

Naruto didn't miss a beat. "And how long were you going to keep it from me?"

Akira gulped. The Uzumaki's fury. He was brought back to a conversation he'd had with his father a long time ago. When young Akira told his father, the Nidaime Hokage, that one day he would become the strongest in the village just like his father, he told him that he was nowhere near the strongest in the village. He'd claimed Mito Uzumaki was the strongest. No. Comparison.

It wasn't a show of power, it wasn't killing intent. It was something else. An aura… And it made him feel insignificant, even when he knew that he was perfectly capable of crushing the boy in front of him in an instant.

CRASH. The door broke from its hinges and fell inward as Akira staggered back. "You won't even answer me!? Is that how it is?"

Akira didn't move even when Naruto grabbed him by his collar. "Does she know?"

"W- what?" The question surprised him.

"Does she know about me? Does she not care? Or did you keep it from her as well?"

Akira didn't reply immediately and it only served to anger him more. A strong fist hit the right side of his face and his head hit the ground.

"TELL ME."

"She knows." Akira watched all the anger slip away from the boy's face, only to be replaced with sadness. "She found out 2 days ago. She was almost as angry as you are now. I kept it from her as well. And if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that she cares."

Naruto let go of his collar and stepped back.

"Don't you ever think otherwise."

Naruto stood to his full height. With the moon behind him being the only light entering the house, Akira couldn't make out anything on his face. Only the slowly spinning red eyes were visible.

"Where is she?"

"She's on a mission."

"Where?"

"Takigakure."

Naruto turned away and walked toward the door. "Why did you keep it from us?"

Akira looked down at the ground in shame. "Your sister. She lost everything on the day Uzushio fell. Her mental health is not ideal. I didn't want to tell her about you until I could be sure that you were her brother."

Akira noticed Naruto clenching his fists. This was making him angry. "I tried to retrace your steps in Konoha based on what you told me. I went to the Inuzuka compound to find Inuzuka Sanae." Naruto turned around, shocked at hearing the name. "She doesn't exist."

"What?"

"She's a made-up person, Naruto. I was going to continue the investigation with Sarutobi Biwako, the one who took care of you when you arrived in the village. That was when you came back from the Silent Dispatch… and revealed your sharingan." Naruto's eyes widened. He turned around completely to see the powerful shinobi on the floor, with a defeated expression on his face. "And that convinced me that you had nothing to do with Kushina and I was glad I didn't tell her. But then, a few days ago, Kushina was repairing my barrier seals when she accidentally talked about her brother having the Sharingan. That's when I finally knew. You have to understand, Naruto. Please try to understand. I only wanted the best for you. For both of you. I'm sorry."

Rin was now inside the house as well. The discussion was making her dizzy. There was too much information. Naruto has a sister? This is Akira, Konoha's Golden Flame? Rin wasn't sure what to make of any of it. She could only imagine what Naruto was feeling. But looking at the defeated old man on the floor, Rin knew that he was telling the truth. And that his feelings of regret were sincere.

So, when Naruto started toward the older ninja in anger, Rin did the first thing that came to her mind. She ran forward and hugged him from behind. Naruto froze at her touch. His anger was rapidly being replaced with confusion. Why was she still here? Why was she hugging him?

"Rin?"

Her arms around him grew tighter. "You have a sister, Naruto." Her voice broke a little. "I'm so happy for you."

Naruto blinked. "I…" What just happened? Where was his anger? Why wasn't he mad anymore? "I… I have to go."

Naruto broke away from her and walked out into the streets of Konoha, without even a single look at Akira. Rin looked down at her hands, where Naruto had just been. Her heart went out to him. It was obvious to her that Naruto trusted Akira to some extent. For him to be the one keeping him from reuniting with his sister? Naruto was devastated and Rin saw that. Ever since she met him on the day of team selection at the ninja academy, nothing seemed to go right for him. He got kicked out of his home, his best friends died in front of him, his old memories were coming back to him in a way that hurt his mind extensively… Nothing ever went right for him.

But now, he realized that he has a sister. Her body moved on its own when she ran forward to hug him. She had never felt happier for another person than at that moment when she hugged him. Something good had finally come to him and that made her unbelievably happy for him.

"Do you live nearby?" Rin turned around to see the older man slowly get back on his feet. He looked somehow older than the man who answered the door a few minutes before.

"Not far." Rin replied softly. "Will he be okay?"

Akira smiled at her. "He's a fighter. He'll be fine." Rin couldn't help but smile at the fondness she saw on Akira's face. "Come… I'll escort you home. It's not safe at night."

Rin grinned. "Wow. You're really old, aren't you? Chivalry is dead, old man. Get ahead of the times."

A tic-mark formed on Akira's face. Kids these days. No respect for anyone, really.

With Naruto

These new eyes were eating up his chakra faster than normal. He wasn't used to it yet. And he was having trouble understanding why he was so angry. All that rage against Akira had come from nowhere. He was a good person. Naruto knew that better than most. It was because of him that Naruto was able to take care of Yugao. It was because of him that Shinzo and Shizuka had a home during their final days. Just a few minutes ago, his mind clouded with rage, he felt like Akira owed it to him. Like somehow, he had done something wrong by keeping things from him. It wasn't true. Akira owed him nothing. There was no reason to get so angry. This had never happened to him before. His rage filled his entire being and no matter what he tried to do, he couldn't stop feeling angry.

Then there was Rin. He didn't know why he let her accompany him to Akira's house. It was completely random. And then when he thought he could never stop feeling this angry, she hugged him. And somehow, his anger just disappeared.

Poof. Just gone.

And he was left standing there, looking at the defeated old man on the ground. And then he left. He hoped Rin reached back safely. All jokes aside, the streets of Konoha were indeed very dangerous after a certain time in the day.

His mind then came to what Rin told him. She told him she was happy for him because he had finally found his family. Naruto was no fool. The news from Zabuza about his sister didn't comfort him in the slightest. There were far too many variables. After all, he wasn't a stranger in Konoha. He had been there for over 4 years. If his sister was in Konoha, the fact that they hadn't met yet was probably because she wanted nothing to do with him. His hopes weren't that high when he thought of asking Akira. The locket was definitely a clue. Akira told him that he would ask him a favor in the future. He probably meant his sister.

With such low expectations, his anger definitely came as a surprise. Maybe it was his earlier interaction with Irene or maybe Asuma had irritated him more than he thought… or maybe, it was just him. The rage felt familiar. When he saw Akira on the ground, close to cowering in fear, Naruto felt elated. Excited. Something he hadn't felt in a long time. It was slightly frightening how he enjoyed the fear.

But all that went out the window when Rin hugged him. Suddenly, it became clear to him that the fear isn't the important part. What's important is that he has a sister who was also kept in the dark about him. And she definitely cared. That's the important part.

"Naruto?" He turned around to see Yuna looking back at him in mild surprise. "What are you doing here?"

That was a good question. What was he doing atop the Hokage mountain 3 hours past midnight? He had never been up here before. His legs just carried him here. But once he was here, he couldn't help but admire the view. The village was beautiful from up here. Small lights flickering here and there, a cool breeze on his face… It made him feel at home. So, he sat down and laid back to look at the stars while thinking about what just happened to him.

"I don't know, Yuna. I just walked up here." Naruto said softly.

"For no reason?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. I'm weird sometimes." Yuna giggled at that. "What about you? What are you doing here?"

Yuna's smile faltered a bit. She sat down beside him. "I don't know either. This place usually helps clear my mind."

"Party didn't go well?"

Yuna sighed. "No. Not really."

"What happened?" Naruto could see her hesitation. "You can tell me."

"It's just… I was the one who got blamed for it. Asuma was the one who started the altercation, but apparently, it's my fault for inviting you." Yuna said plainly. "I just don't get why I'm always second best. Why is Asuma forgiven when he does something stupid and I'm scolded and punished for far less? Sometimes, I just want to leave that place. My home hasn't been a home to me ever since Sasuke-niisan became an ANBU captain."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at that. "Yuna. If there's one thing I'm sure of now, it's that family is important. When you're with family, you will never feel like an outsider. That's what I've read at least. That being said… I've seen you interact with your family 3 times now. And all 3 times, you were just as much of an outsider as I was."

Yuna shifted slightly to look at Naruto. "What are you saying?"

Naruto hesitated slightly. "I'm asking you to not care, Yuna. If they do something you don't like, you make it known to them. If they don't try to address your displeasure or at least try to make it better for you, they don't deserve you."

Yuna frowned. "Are you asking me to leave them? I can't do that."

Naruto shook his head. "No. I'm not asking you to do anything. Don't do what others ask you to do. You aren't supposed to wait for them to give you things. What you want, you have to take."

"Even if it means hurting my family?"

Naruto saw Yuna look down. "Hey. Look at me. If you're in a position where what you want will hurt your family, it's their fault for putting you there to begin with."

"But I can't just leave them."

"You can. You can do anything you want. Look at Mikoto. I've never seen someone so happy to walk away from her family. Her family was toxic. So she left. It's as simple as that."

Tears formed in Yuna's eyes. "You don't understand Naruto. My entire family isn't… 'toxic' as you say. If I give up on my father and Asuma, I'd be giving up on my mother and Sasuke-nii as well."

"It's true. I don't understand. I probably never will. That's what I meant to tell you, Yuna. My advice doesn't mean shit. You have to decide what you want to do. Only you have the right to do that."

Yuna sniffed. "What if I can never decide?"

"Then this is how it will be until you do." Naruto sat up slightly. "What I can tell you is this. Asuma is a bully, Yuna. If there ever comes a time when he's standing across from me and it's okay for me to attack him, I won't hesitate. Somebody should knock him down from that pedestal he's put himself on. I just hope for his sake that someone merciful will do it. He's headed for a cliff, Yuna. When he reaches there, even the Hokage won't be able to stop him from falling in."

Yuna didn't reply. Naruto stood up.

"I should get back. Get some sleep, Yuna. Things will work out by themselves."

Yuna stood up from her spot on the ground as well. "Naruto, wait."

Naruto stopped walking and turned around.

"Um… Are you and Rin actually dating? Was it serious? What she said…" Yuna blushed.

Naruto smiled at her. "Yuna. I'm 11 years old. I'm still trying to figure out my own feelings about cup noodles. I mean, why is it cheaper when it tastes the same. Something must be wrong with it." He turned around again. "Believe me when I say that I'm not dating anyone. See you tomorrow, Yuna. Orochimaru said that he has something special for us."

Yuna could only watch as Naruto walked further and further away. She stood there, thinking about her conversation and what Naruto told her. 'Only she could choose the way she lived her life?' It sounded good. She admired the fact that Naruto thought so highly of her.

But she wasn't the one in charge of her decisions, even from the start. After all, she had always wanted to be a medic because she hated killing. She would have been content working in the Konoha General Hospital as a chunin-level medic or maybe even something more. Now, she was a support fighter already having done her fair share of killing. This was also part of the reason why Rin being with Naruto bothered her so much. Rin was everything she wanted to be. Except… she had already given up on her dream.

She remembered the first person she killed. It was two months ago. It was the second mission they took after the silent dispatch. They were supposed to clear out a bandit camp. Yuna wasn't sure what clearing out involved. Her teammates knew. And they were efficient about it. Killing even kids their age who were associated with the bandits. Yuna was ashamed to admit that she froze. But then she saw one of them sneaking up behind Anko, sword in hand. Yuna didn't think. She just acted. Water Style: Water Gunshot Technique. The speeding bullet made enough noise to alert both Anko and the bandit. The bandit turned around, sword in hand and tried to cut the technique. Stupid idiot. The sword was quickly redirected by the water bullet and it impaled its wielder easily.

It was an accident, but she had done it. She had killed. There was no coming back from that. Since then she had killed two more times. Both times, she felt empty inside. Her dream was dying.

So, when Naruto said that she should be the one who chose how to live her life… She was happy that Naruto thought she was capable. But she knew different. She had no choice.

Konoha Torture & Interrogation Department.

Ibiki tapped his foot impatiently. This was taking forever. It was well past midnight and he didn't know when his evaluator was coming back. Yamanaka Inoichi told him that he'd be back within an hour. Ibiki didn't know how much time had passed, but he was damn sure that it was more than an hour. He shook his head vigorously, trying to keep himself awake. He needed to be back home by 7 in the morning. Tomorrow… no, today was his brother's first day of his last year at the academy. Ever since their mother passed away last year, Idate was feeling a bit neglected. He just knew that he had to be there tomorrow.

Suddenly, the door opened and Yamanaka Inoichi walked in. The man was only 7 or 8 years older than him, but he was already head of the department. Granted, the Yamanaka had an unfair advantage in this department, ability to read minds and all, but it was still a remarkable achievement for someone so young. Ibiki couldn't help but feel a little jealous. A man at 23, already head of a major shinobi division. Him… barely a chunin.

"Congratulations, Ibiki-san. You were very impressive in your first evaluation. You were never meant to get any answers from him, but the fact that you did only improves your chances." Inoichi stated calmly. To Ibiki, it sounded like a routine speech given to all new recruits. It seemed very insincere. "Yes, Ibiki-san. We do give speeches like this to everyone, but in your case, I only spoke the truth. You weren't meant to break him."

Ibiki's eyes widened at the compliment. He didn't think he had done all that well. Sure, Inoichi didn't give him any information about the subject or about what information was required. 'Oftentimes, when enemy shinobi are captured, you'll have no idea why they were in your land or what they are planning. In that case, you'll have no information at your disposal other than the subject's headband. Still, you will be expected to get information out of him.' Ibiki saw the sense in that. But it was still very daunting. It took him more than three hours, but in the end, he felt like he had gotten everything he could by a combination of emotional manipulation and the hell-viewing technique. The whole thing was a mental battle and it left him exhausted. He had no idea that he had actually performed well, because as soon as he stopped the interrogation, Inoichi had left him there, saying that he'd be back in an hour. Rude as that was, he was still grateful for the compliment. "Thank you, Yamanaka-san."

"Please. Call me Inoichi. Ino in short. We are going to be spending an awful lot of time together. My clan's name, with an honorific added, will only waste valuable time."

Ibiki smiled and nodded.

Inoichi turned the page in his hand. "That said, you only passed the first evaluation. You're good at reading people and getting what you need out of them. Seeing as Orochimaru-sama is the one who recommended you, that wasn't a surprise. But there is another key element to working here and I'm sorry, but I'll have to test you again today."

Ibiki hesitated. "Is it completely necessary to do it today? It is awfully late and-"

"Ibiki-san, it is correct that normally these evaluations have a week in between them, but you are a special case. You managed to get the information out of him. That info cannot be allowed to leave the room, unless it's carried by a member of this department. I am sorry for the inconvenient time, but there is nothing I can do about it."

Ibiki hesitated a little before nodding. "How long will this evaluation take?"

Inoichi looked away from the paper and met his eyes. "As long as I deem necessary, Ibiki-san. Like I said, you only passed the first evaluation. You can get info out. Now, the department needs to know if you're good at keeping secrets in. T&I members are often targeted for kidnapping because of the valuable intelligence that we are made privy to. We need to know that you will withstand the torture that you might one day be subjected to."

Ibiki gasped in surprise. "I'm going to be tortured?"

"Yes. That is, if you want the job. If you would prefer to leave, I can use my clan's techniques to seal off your memory about the interrogation, but I feel I must tell you that this opportunity may not come again."

Ibiki remained silent. This was not what he imagined would happen when he accepted this job interview. But… "Can it wait for only a few hours? I just need to drop my brother off for his first day at the academy. I'll be back here at 7 in-"

Ibiki went silent when Inoichi held up his hand. "Ibiki-san. I'm afraid that's not possible. The offer is on the table. Take it or leave it. Those are your two choices." Ibiki looked down at the table. "A word of advice… People in this department have very little free time. New recruits have even less. Coupled with this being a time of war, your brother will have to make do without you for the foreseeable future. If you think your brother can't handle it, I suggest you pass on the job."

Ibiki's hand shook slightly as he looked at his fingers. What was he supposed to do?

"Frankly, I think you're the perfect man for the job. Your face and body language betrays way too much now, but that can be fixed easier than you'd think. You were brilliant in the first evaluation, not resorting to even a single weapon. I have no doubt in my mind that you will pass the second evaluation as well. All that being said, I will understand if you wish to leave now. There is a reason why the department is often called a black hole. It's not just because the criminals brought in never see daylight again. It's also applicable to the employees here. It's your choice."

Ibiki continued staring at his shaking fingers and slowly clenched it into a solid steady grip. "Start the evaluation, Inoichi-san. I have to get this over by 7."

Inoichi grinned at the younger man in front of him. "Good." He moved the paper away from the desk, now looking straight into Ibiki's eyes. "Let's begin."

The Next Day, 6:30 A.M, Training Ground 7

"Why are we here?" Naruto yelled at his friends for the second time that day.

"Come on, Naruto. This place is way better than the forest of death." Anko laughed at him.

Naruto scowled. "This place… This place is too peaceful." At that, both Rin and Obito started laughing. "I'm serious. It makes me uncomfortable."

"Stop whining Naruto. You are such a child." Obito said while cleaning his goggles.

"Hmph." Naruto didn't bother to retaliate for the teasing until something occurred to him. "Hey. Why is Obito here so early?"

At his question, everyone else also turned to look at him. Naruto was right. Why was he so early?

Obito blushed at the sudden attention. "Um…"

Kakashi chose to help him out. "Because he knows that Orochimaru-sama is much less likely to tolerate his tardiness."

"Tch. Who asked you?" Obito growled.

"Doesn't matter. I wasn't answering a question. I was merely stating facts." Kakashi said coolly.

"Well, do it silently from now on." Obito retorted.

"Can't do that. The rules state that I have to correct my comrades when they're wrong."

"You can stick your rules up your-"

"Cut it out. Both of you. You're embarrassing our team by doing this in front of them." Rin shouted which made Kakashi look away and Obito look down at the ground.

"No, that's not true at all, Rin." Naruto smirked.

Anko joined in. "That's right. Don't listen to her, Obito. He can stick his rules- where?"

Obito laughed at the question. "You guys are fun. Naruto, do you wanna trade teams?"

"Not in a million years, Obito."

"Yeah. You're too weak to be on team 12. Kakashi, on the other hand, is welcome. Naruto can fuck off if we get Kakashi."

Two sets of 'Hey!' went up in the clearing. "Well, it looks like everyone's already here."

"Crap, it's Yuna." Obito whispered. "I forgot about the party."

Anko and Kakashi also started in surprise. 'Crap. Me too.'

Yuna walked forward menacingly. "Oh, don't think I forgot about you three. I'll get you for it later. Sensei is here."

"Us three? Wait. Who went?"

Yuna glared at Obito for the insensitive question and it made it clear to Obito that it was probably smarter to shut up.

"Good. You're all here." They looked up to see Orochimaru appear in the clearing.

"Gah! I'm so excited. A sannin is going to teach me." Obito squealed.

"Hold on… whatever your name is. When I agreed to this, I wasn't exactly sure what I was agreeing to and 6 genin fighting simultaneously is a bit too much for me to keep track of." Orochimaru spoke.

"What are you saying?" Yuna asked suspiciously.

"I'm saying that today we'll have a spar instead of training, and I'll point out your deficiencies and help you all improve. I can't continue your training without knowing what you all can do."

"Does that mean I can join the spars today?" Kakashi asked, holding his hand up.

Orochimaru smirked. "Sure. I want to see how my genin matches up against a chunin."

"Is it going to be one-on-one matches?" Anko asked out of curiosity. It had been a long time since they sparred one on one against someone. Their team training was always the three of them pitted against their sensei. Not to sound too confident, but if it was going to be a team battle, then team 7 stood no chance.

Orochimaru held his chin in thought. "I don't know. What do you think?"

Obito was the one who answered. "Well, we have been focusing a lot on fighting as a team, so I guess it could be good if we fight one-on-one."

Orochimaru frowned. "Let's do one-on-one but only the one who loses steps out. The one who wins has to fight the next person as well. And to make things sweeter, I think it's high time I found someone to succeed me as a snake summoner. Whoever impresses me most will get the chance to sign the snake summoning contract."

Orochimaru couldn't help but smirk at the change in the expressions of the genin present. The value of having a summoning contract was known even to students at the academy. He knew everyone would give it their all, but it didn't really matter. He just wanted to rile them up a bit. He already knew who was going to sign the contract when the spars were over. "So… who's first?"

Kakashi stepped forward. He was itching for a fight and he wasn't afraid to show it. However, Obito stepped in front of him. "You're not going first. We won't get a chance then."

"I don't care. I want to go first."

Rin stepped in between the two genin and pulled them apart. "Both of you. Calm down. We'll draw a lot or something."

"Hmph. Then I want to go first at that." Kakashi spoke, making everyone in team 12 deadpan at the only chunin present there.

5 Minutes Later

"This sucks."

"I'm inclined to agree, Kakashi." Naruto said, sheepishly. "It seems we're going to be the ones who fight… if you manage to defeat my teammates, that is." Naruto was excited. He had seen Rin and Obito in action, but never Kakashi. The jonin instructors were almost afraid to involve him in their spars. Was he that powerful?

Kakashi eye-smiled at him. "That sounds good. I have a feeling we're going to have a good fight if you manage to beat my teammates."

"Hn." Naruto shifted his eyes to the two genin standing across from each other. Anko and Rin. With Rin being a medic-nin, Anko was surely going to win, but you never know. Rin was proving to be… full of surprises.

"The match will end when I intervene or one of you is knocked out. Killing blows are obviously not allowed. Just a friendly spar." Orochimaru looked at both genin to make sure they understood. Once he was satisfied, he leapt back and yelled, "Begin!"

Anko immediately leapt into action, launching three kunai simultaneously at Rin, while moving forward at a quick pace. For her part, Rin took out two senbon and deflected the kunai before jumping back to get some space. Unfortunately for her, Anko seemed dead set on closing the distance between them, so she had no choice but to stay and engage with taijutsu.

Anko lunged at her with a right hook that she evaded easily. Her next strike coming from Rin's side was blocked effectively, but Rin had to use both hands to do so. The pace of the battle was faster than she expected. So, she barely got her arms up in front of her before Anko's vicious kick connected. She staggered back under the force of the hit, but managed to keep her balance. With a substitution technique, Rin got farther away from her. From that interaction alone, Rin became aware that she was very outmatched, at least in taijutsu. She would have to switch to ninjutsu.

Anko smirked, for her part. She had this in the bag. As long as she managed to keep the fight close up, she would be fine. She charged forward, not wanting to lose her advantage. As she got close, she saw that Rin had one hand behind her back. This made her wary and she slowed down. 'One-handed seals.' Anko's eyes widened as Rin activated her technique. "Poison Mist Technique."

Anko leapt to the side immediately, barely avoiding the poison mist cloud that threatened to consume her. As she did so, her leg got caught in some wire and she fell to the ground. She recovered quickly. She had to. The wire most definitely triggered a trap. As soon as she looked up, she realized that she was right. A huge log of wood was swinging straight towards her at a high speed. Swiftly running through hand seals, Anko slammed her hands on the ground, timing the technique just right. "Earth Release: Stone Wall Technique."

Just as the log was about to reach her, a structure made of stone rose up quickly from the ground, hitting the log of wood from below and launching it upwards. Anko watched as it soared past her. She sighed in relief. That was way too close. But she celebrated a bit too soon because out of the poison mist another similar log came at her, and this time it was too close for her to react. It slammed into her, launching her into the air.

…

…

The good news was that nothing was broken. But that was where the good news ended. She was still sailing through the air, with no way to soften her landing or slow herself down. She didn't know where Rin was and there was absolutely no chance that she would be allowed to get in close to her now. Desperately, she tried to think of a way to slow herself down and she found herself asking, 'What would Naruto do?'

A few moments of flying through the air later, she grinned. Running through hand seals, she started building earth chakra in her body. "Earth Release: Earth Bullet Technique."

She spat several swiftly travelling globs of earth from her mouth, in the direction she was going in, effectively slowing herself down. Then, once she was in effective freefall, she spat it straight down, enabling her to land safely. Her chakra reserves had taken a good hit in that particular maneuver.

Anko looked around for Rin. She hadn't expected her to become so resourceful in such a short time.

There was so much adrenaline flowing through her that she almost failed to notice Rin coming up behind her. Almost. As soon as her arm touched her right shoulder, Anko turned around and landed a vicious kick to her face, sending her sprawling to the floor. Anko felt victorious as the kick landed and she let the smirk form on her face. But the smirk faltered very soon when she saw Rin get back up with a smile of her own.

"I got you good." Rin said mischievously as she stood on her feet.

Alarmed, Anko checked herself over to see that nothing was wrong, until she tried to move her right arm. A sharp pain tore through her, making her fall to her knees. "What did you do to my hand?" she asked, frightened.

Rin grinned. "Chakra scalpel. I tore some of the tendons in your shoulder muscles. You're done."

Anko grimaced. She was right. She couldn't even think straight because of the pain, let alone fight. But she wasn't about to give up. She still had an arm, and two legs. That would have to be enough. She got back on her feet and started to walk toward Rin slowly making her smile slowly fall away.

"Anko. Enough." It was Orochimaru who stepped in her way. The fight was over.

"I can keep going." Anko growled out.

"Oh. I know that. But this spar isn't about winning. It's about me seeing Minato's brats' skills."

"But-"

"Stand down, Anko. I know enough about the human body to know that your arm will only get worse with exertion. Never face someone who knows how to use the chakra scalpel in taijutsu."

Anko stared down at the ground. Rin was one of the weaker ones at the academy. She had no trouble defeating her in the past. This was an entirely new experience. One that wasn't necessarily welcome.

Orochimaru turned to Rin. "I'm impressed. I didn't think you were at such a level so as to use the chakra scalpel in battle. But I can see that it takes a lot out of you?" Rin nodded. She was slightly breathless. "Alright, I've seen enough. You can heal her, right?"

Rin nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Alright. Yuna. Obito. It's your turn." He called out. After a moment's hesitation, Yuna and Obito came forward, leaving Naruto and Kakashi behind.

With Naruto

"What did you think of the fight?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto didn't reply immediately. In all honesty, he was a bit disappointed. He didn't expect Anko to lose, especially after seeing the obvious advantage she displayed against Rin in taijutsu. "I'm… I'm impressed." He said finally. "I didn't think Rin could do all that. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised."

Kakashi nodded. "The rest of us in our team are all stronger than her. She has been facing only stronger opponents for the past few months. It has in turn made her strong."

Naruto accepted the statement. It made sense. Rin and Anko had just reached their position. "Hey Naruto. Kakashi." Rin called out.

"Hey." Naruto returned the greeting.

Anko came and sat next to him grumpily. After a few moments, she mumbled something in his ear that he didn't quite catch.

"What was that, Anko?"

Anko glared at him before speaking a bit louder. "I'm sorry."

Naruto blinked a few times before a laugh escaped him. "Don't be silly, Anko. This was a spar. Now, I know that you'll never underestimate your opponent ever again."

Anko smiled and nodded. It was true. She had underestimated Rin and paid the price for it. It wouldn't happen again. She would make sure of it.

With Yuna.

Yuna never really expected Anko to lose. She never went down so easily during their own spars. Now, the reason for it became clear to her. They had gotten used to each other. Only Naruto managed to win against them easily, and that was only because he was so unpredictable. Still, to effectively defeat Anko like that… Rin and Obito had improved a lot since the academy. Obito wouldn't be as easy as she assumed. She would not underestimate him.

"The rules are the same as before. The fight ends when I say so." Orochimaru spoke for the second time that day. "Begin!"

Yuna jumped back immediately to gain distance. She knew Obito wouldn't try to engage her in taijutsu and she was right. Obito ran through hand seals and she realized what jutsu he would do. To her surprise, he didn't use the usual fireball technique that she had come to be so familiar with in the past few months. Anko utilized the technique so often that she stopped paying attention to it. If she had been paying attention to the seals made by Obito, she would have realized that they were different.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu."

Obito released close to a dozen small fireballs that expanded outward and started to converge on Yuna. She jumped away quickly and was surprised to see them follow her movements, homing in on her gradually. Not familiar with the technique, she quickly ran through hand seals and performed her own technique.

"Water Release: Water Gunshot Technique."

Her water techniques collided with the flaming orbs and successfully dissipated them. But a familiar sound reached her. A shuriken hissing through the air. Out of the smoke, several shuriken emerged, connected by ninja wire. Yuna cursed. All these ninja wire moves and traps were new. They never used to fight so… smartly.

Nevertheless, Yuna wasn't done, not by a long shot. Obito's own visibility was very hampered and she decided to make good use of it. Running through hand seals again, she erected a tall stone wall at her position and jumped away. Then, she ran through some more hand seals and melted into the ground.

Naruto was paying close attention to the fight. The fire jutsu Obito had utilized was very nice. He had activated his sharingan and already copied the hand seals. It would make a nice addition to his arsenal. His mind was already working on somehow adapting it for his water affinity. "Obito's good." Naruto commented, making Anko's eyes widen. Naruto never openly complimented anyone. "He is calm and collected, observant and… unpredictable. Nothing like he was at the time of the first team training."

Kakashi smirked. "Worried Naruto?"

Naruto scowled. "You wish."

When the smoke cleared, Obito was alone in the field. All his shuriken were stuck to a wall made of stone, which made all that ninja wire useless. Sensing his disadvantage, Obito abandoned the wire, jumped back and kept on moving. It was a good thing he did, because not a moment later, the ground under him exploded and Emir, Yuna's summoned animal, came out. Obito certainly didn't expect the feral creature to jump out at him, so he quickened his retreat.

Emir didn't let up and pursued him, sending some projectiles in Obito's direction, slowing down his retreat. Obito clearly saw that he was at a clear disadvantage. Yuna had yet to show herself and her summons was doing a remarkable job of keeping him busy. He ran through some one-handed hand seals while his other hand fetched some kunai. He turned around and in one fluid, practiced motion, he activated the fireball technique while throwing kunai at predicted escape routes and some through the fire as well.

Again, when the smoke cleared, Obito was alone in the field, a hole in the place where Emir had been. Grunting in displeasure, he took to moving about again, not wanting Yuna to come up from underground. He did that for some more time, waiting for Yuna to show herself. Suddenly, he grinned. Now having a goal in mind, he ran towards the hole Emir appeared out of while running through more hand seals.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Naruto watched what was happening in slow motion. He saw, from the corner of his eyes, that Yuna was already above ground and running through hand seals. Obito had no idea. Still, he had demonstrated some pretty good stuff. One-handed seals, the homing fire technique. He had improved a lot. But he wasn't the only one. Yuna had improved as well. Her coordination with Emir was reaching epic proportions. His taijutsu, coupled with her water techniques made Yuna a force to be reckoned with.

"This battle is over." Kakashi said beside him, making Anko and Rin look at him. Orochimaru nodded at the assessment. It was true. Obito thought he had outsmarted his opponent by shooting fire into the ground. He didn't stop to think of anything else. Yuna had done well.

"Earth Release: Traveling Earth Wall Technique!"

Several imposing stone walls rose up from the ground and sped in Obito's direction back to back. Obito had just run out of breath from the fire jutsu when he noticed the walls speeding towards him. He deserved credit for outstanding reaction time because he managed to jump over the first wall. Unfortunately for him, Yuna had sent three. As soon as Obito saw it, he tried to land on the first wall so that he could then jump clear of the rest. It just wasn't meant to be as he slipped and collided with the second earth wall, launching him into the first one. Yuna stopped the technique immediately, when she heard the crash.

Orochimaru was already at Obito's side performing a diagnostic technique when the other genin reached him. "A dislocated shoulder and a cracked rib. Yuna, that was too rough." Orochimaru scolded the young girl, making her look away in shame. "Rin, can you heal him?"

Rin nodded. She didn't want to say anything because she wanted Yuna to feel a bit bad, but this was sort of a common occurrence. With a medic on the team, sometimes the boys forgot to hold back. She had healed worse injuries for her two teammates in the past.

Obito briefly passed out, but quickly came to. He immediately got up on his feet despite protests from his fellow genin. He grinned and held up his left hand in front of him, as his right shoulder was dislocated. "Good match, Yuna. I'll beat you next time."

Yuna was surprised at the good-natured Uchiha. She would have been pissed after losing. Kakashi broke the silence. "Don't be so surprised. He gets beaten up on a daily basis. This is how he always reacts."

Yuna nodded. "Are we continuing the sparring?" With injuries so severe, she wasn't sure if Orochimaru wanted to continue.

"Hell yeah. I haven't gone yet." Naruto yelled in a very uncharacteristic fashion.

Orochimaru nodded his acceptance after a few moments. "Alright. Yuna and Kakashi, stay here. The rest of you, get back."

Kakashi seemed hesitant. Pointing at Naruto, he started speaking, "If it's all the same with you, I'd like to fight him at full strength."

Orochimaru raised his eyebrow. "You think you can beat Yuna?"

Kakashi frowned. Was he trying to insult him? "If what she demonstrated against Obito is the extent of her skills, then yeah."

The surrounding genin frowned at the rude comment. "Your call, Yuna." Orochimaru said as he helped Rin carry Obito back.

Yuna was not certain she could beat him, especially with her chakra reserves less than half. But that didn't excuse his comment on her skill. "I guess I'm fine with it, since I'd want to be at full strength when I get him back for that comment."

Naruto grinned at her reply. It seemed that she was done backing away from challenges. "Alright. Let's roll."

Yuna walked back to the other genin. "Is he always that rude?" She asked the other genin from team 7.

"Mostly, yeah." Rin said, embarrassed.

"He's a prick alright." Obito added, making Rin hit him on his shoulder.

"Stop being so mean to him. He's had a hard life, Obito." Rin scolded.

"Hard life?" Anko asked.

Rin hesitated, but Obito immediately replied. "It's not our place to say, Anko. But it still doesn't excuse him being a jerk to everyone all the time. Some clients have even cut our pay because of how rude he was to them." Yuna raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Personally, I hope Naruto gives him a good beating. He needs to lose once in a while."

Anko grinned at him. "Well, someone needs to beat Naruto as well, so that he'll stop being so goddamn reckless."

Obito laughed. "Hey, look at us. It seems we're switching teams already. I'll be cheering for Naruto and you'll be cheering for Kakashi."

Orochimaru looked at the two genin standing across from each other. They were both brilliant shinobi with promising futures ahead. Naruto was one of the most unpredictable shinobi he had ever met and Kakashi was certainly talented if what Minato said about him having an original jutsu was true. This would be the best fight of the day. One that could possibly even interest him. "The rules are the same. You'll stop when I say so. You both clear on that?" They both nodded together, not taking their eyes off of each other. "Begin!"

Unlike the two matches before this, neither of them moved immediately. Orochimaru was very surprised at that. This was how true shinobi battles started. A silent gauging of your opponent's skill while trying to intimidate the other into moving first. As he felt the killing intent emanating off the both of them, he couldn't help but be impressed. It was a lot… for a couple of teens anyway.

"They do know that they're not supposed to kill each other, right?" Obito asked nervously.

The others didn't reply. Rin had never seen Kakashi so nervous to start the fight. Not even with their sensei. Team 12 on the other hand had never seen this side of Naruto where he actually emanated killing intent. KI was Anko's forte. But it seemed that Naruto had picked up a thing or two along the way.

Suddenly, their hands moved. Kakashi's right hand moved to draw his tanto while Naruto's right hand moved to his left wrist and unsealed two swords. One standard length katana and one longsword. The members of team 12 looked at each other surprised. Since when had Naruto started kenjutsu?

Kakashi moved first, running lightning chakra through his sword and speeding toward Naruto. Since Naruto had never used a sword before, they didn't expect him to be particularly talented with it. But they were wrong.

Naruto brought up his longsword quickly, at an angle to the incoming lunge and batted the charged white blade away. However, his blade was also made of chakra metal and he could feel the lightning chakra enter his own body. Naruto was surprised when it didn't hurt. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, he brought his katana down on Kakashi's head. Kakashi wouldn't so easily be caught because he leapt back in time to prevent getting hit. Even so, Naruto managed to nick his hair just a little bit as he jumped away.

They stared at each other through the few silver strands of hair falling down in front of Naruto. "Is your affinity lightning?" Kakashi asked seriously. "Why didn't it affect you?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. Water is my affinity." Then he grinned as he suddenly realized why the lightning hadn't hurt him. "And wind." Somehow, he'd unconsciously channeled enough wind chakra to negate the effects of the lightning. "Why do you ask? Are you sad that I got first blood?"

Kakashi eye-smiled again. "I must admit, I underestimated your skill with the sword. Never seen you use them before."

Naruto replied with a small grin before he rushed forward, with him instigating the attack this time.

Orochimaru watched with wide eyes as he saw Naruto work. This kid had never used a sword before in any of their prior battles. He had even tried to get him into kenjutsu after the silent dispatch. Naruto told him that the blade didn't feel right in his hands. Orochimaru accepted that. If a blade doesn't feel right to you, you're not meant to be a swordsman. But this… This was unexpected. Without turning around, he addressed his two remaining genin. "Did you two know about this?"

Yuna and Anko were similarly stunned. They watched as Naruto performed the most complicated moves so efficiently, he was even starting to push Kakashi back. Why had he never shown his ability before. They were moving so fast and their swords were only a blur. With Naruto having more reach and being able to handle two swords proficiently, Kakashi was understandably having a hard time.

Yuna shook her head seeing him go. "No, sensei. We didn't know about this."

Obito stared at the members of team 12, confused. "What are you guys talking about? Know about what?"

They were silent for a few moments, each of them expecting another one to answer Obito's question. Finally, Anko relented. "We've never seen him use even one sword before, let alone one in each hand."

Rin and Obito stared at Anko in shock. What they were seeing before them was something extraordinary. Kakashi's kenjutsu skills were no joke. He was efficient and deadly with it. Even Minato respected his skills. That was why he was the close-range fighter in the squad. The fact that Naruto was able to match him blow for blow was in itself a shocking development. That he was pushing him back was even more so. The fact that he never practiced his skills in front of his teammates was just impossible.

Kakashi was sweating. He cursed himself. Always expect the unexpected. Always look underneath the underneath. Kakashi never saw a sword at his back. No tanto, no katana, not a thing. What he knew about Naruto was very little. That he used water jutsu, yes. Talented in seals, yes. That he was strong enough to throw around that huge monstrosity he called a sword? Hell no. A ninja's greatest weapon is deception. Naruto had purposely hidden this from everyone. Kakashi was getting angry.

Naruto was having the time of his life. He felt so amazing with the wind at his back and the swords in his arms. It seemed that Zabuza wasn't lying at all. These swords were his. No one else's. A gamble came to his mind. If he executed it properly, it would deal a good blow to Kakashi and possibly knock the white blade out of his hands. Deciding that it was worth a shot, Naruto prepared for a downward slash of his longsword while he used his katana to parry Kakashi's blade.

Seeing Naruto's longsword swiftly descending on him, Kakashi leapt out of his katana's range before bringing his tanto up in a two-handed grip to stop the mighty blow from ending him. He expected the sword to push down on him afterward and braced himself. What he didn't expect was the sword bouncing off him easily, almost as if no strength had been behind it. His eyes went wide when the smaller sword, the one with the blue handle, slashed upward on his tanto. His grip was set to block a downward slash and as such didn't stop his tanto from being knocked off his hands.

Kakashi watched in surprise as his trusted tanto was sent flying away. Naruto wasn't done though, and his longsword came in a wide arc at Kakashi's head. In no position to dodge and with no time for the substitution jutsu, he had no choice but to take the hit. He brought up both his hands, hoping that his metal arm-guards would stop the sword. The blow was faster than he thought it was and his hands didn't make it in time. In the last possible moment, he noticed that the blade was not horizontal. In fact, Naruto was using it as a club and trying to hit him with the face of the sword. The blow connected with the side of his forehead and sent him flying.

"KAKASHI!" Rin was on her feet as she prepared to run to help her teammate.

Orochimaru stopped her with his hand. "Calm down. He was hit with the face of the sword. He isn't hurt… that badly."

Rin was not fully convinced, but she stopped herself and her eyes went back to the battle.

Kakashi was bleeding heavily, blood flowing down the side of his face. He grinned as he got back up. "It seems you win at kenjutsu." Kakashi walked around and grabbed his tanto which he then proceeded to return to its sheath. "What do you want to try next?"

Seeing Kakashi put away his tanto, Naruto reciprocated by sealing his swords away. "Want to try ninjutsu?"

Kakashi smirked. "I'll definitely win ninjutsu if the water gunshot technique is all you know."

Surprisingly, this time all the members of team 12 smirked. Kakashi didn't know what he was saying. Naruto was a ninjutsu monster. Especially after he got used to his sharingan and started using clones for training.

"Why don't we find out?" Naruto said with a smirk. He dropped into his stance quickly.

They both started going through hand-seals at the same time.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Beam."

"Water Style: Water Gunshot Technique!"

The two techniques collided closer to Naruto because Kakashi's jutsu traveled faster. They let both techniques drop as they jumped away. Naruto created two shadow clones as he prepared to utilize the newest jutsu in his arsenal.

"Water Style: Homing Gunshot Technique!"

The three clones shouted simultaneously launching almost 30 of the homing projectiles, which looked remarkably like the technique Obito performed a bit earlier, at Kakashi. Kakashi had jumped a fair distance away, already preparing his next technique when he saw the little water bullets come out of the smoke. Cursing in irritation, he dropped his technique knowing that he wouldn't be able to finish it. He started running along the tree line knowing that the technique would follow him. This was a matter of speed. If he made it past the technique, the orbs following him would collide with each other trying to turn. It didn't matter how many there were.

Naruto had his Sharingan active and saw what was happening through the smoke. Kakashi was amazing. No question about it. At first, when Naruto saw Obito's technique, he thought it was amazing. After all, a homing technique would never let up. But there were disadvantages. There's a disadvantage in every technique, as Orochimaru often told him. It had a constant drain on his chakra and it could collide with each other. Definitely not as awesome a technique as he'd initially thought.

But all that didn't change the fact that Kakashi was running towards him. His clones were still keeping the water technique active so he could afford to stop. Running through another set of hand seals, he aimed at Kakashi.

"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!"

A continuous stream of water was expelled from Naruto's mouth. It expanded outward as it flew directly at Kakashi. Kakashi noticed the shadow forming on the smoke and realized that something was coming for him from the front as well. He looked behind him and saw close to 10 water blobs that survived the turn. Looking around desperately for a way out, a smile formed on his face as he noticed it. He ran towards the hole in the earth left behind by Yuna. He made it just in time to see a huge water technique sail over him and collide with the smaller water technique from before. A huge wave of water came into the hole as well, drenching him in the process.

The genin were on their feet. This was getting out of hand. "Is Naruto really that strong?" Obito asked in wonder.

Anko dumbly nodded. "I've never seen him lose a fight, other than to Orochimaru-sensei."

The collision of the two techniques had resulted in a lot of smoke. Orochimaru stared in wonder at the two genin. This was not a fight between genin. He had worked with some chunin in the past that couldn't perform such techniques. Naruto had just used three D, C and B ranked techniques back to back and was still ready for more. Kakashi's lightning technique was also a high C-rank. He was going to recommend a promotion for Naruto after this. Seeing this every day, made it seem like nothing out of the ordinary. But after seeing him in action against one of the most promising young shinobi in Konoha, he couldn't ignore it. Naruto was strong. … For a genin.

"Are they okay?" Rin asked, standing beside him.

Orochimaru nodded. "They're both fine. I can see Naruto and I sense Kakashi building chakra."

They were silent after that. What they saw in front of them was so far beyond them that it wasn't even funny. To Yuna, it was like some of the exhibition matches that used to take place when she was much younger and war wasn't on the horizon.

Naruto waited patiently as the smoke cleared up. He could sense Kakashi building chakra. Huge amounts of it. Whatever it was, he had to be prepared. Without knowing where the attack was coming from, he couldn't set up a defense against it. He went through his options again. He could hide himself… But then, if Kakashi was watching, it would just be a false sense of security… and no security was better than that. If this were a real fight, he knew what he'd do. He'd position himself between the last known position of Kakashi and the bystanders which would make him hesitant to attack him. And that's what he ended up doing.

Suddenly, Kakashi appeared out of the ground holding his hands in the bird seal. Naruto cursed himself when he saw him. He should have known that's where he'd go. He knew the hole was around there. He should have been more aware.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened. Minato had informed him that lightning was his primary affinity. He could perform an A-rank technique of a secondary affinity? With no water sources near him? He knew some jonin who couldn't do that. This was becoming a bit too dangerous.

Naruto jumped back as fast as he could when he saw a huge dragon made of water, with yellow feral-looking eyes, formed in between him and Kakashi. The dragon roared, actually roared… as it flew towards him at high speeds. He moved into action and signaled his clones. His clones nodded back at him and ran through hand seals of their own while Naruto fled as fast as he could. If the dragon didn't kill him, the steam from the clones' interference surely would.

"Ninja Art Seal Release: Great Flamethrower Technique!" the two clones yelled out as they slammed two scrolls on the ground, emitting a continuous stream of fire at the water dragon until it crashed into them. Huge amounts of steam formed as a result limiting his vision. Memories of both his clones reached him as he realized that his efforts to stop the technique had failed and the dragon had powered through. He sped up, channeling chakra to his legs. The water dragon emerged from the smoke and Naruto realized two things. The good news was that it was significantly smaller. The bad news was that it followed him like Obito's much tamer technique.

The water dragon roared again. But as the sound died down, a new noise reached his ears. The sound of birds chirping. Naruto's mouth dropped when he saw Kakashi emerge from the steam with his left hand holding his right and lightning dancing all over his hand. One look at the technique and Naruto realized that getting hit by that would mean death. Which was against the rules. Where was Orochimaru-sensei?

Orochimaru was marveling at the water jutsu when he too heard the shrill sound of many birds chirping. "What is that?" he asked as he turned around to see that Obito and Rin were white with fear.

"That's… What is Kakashi thinking? That's too dangerous. It'll kill Naruto." Obito yelled.

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he too sped toward the two out-of-control genin. He realized that he wouldn't get there in time and hoped beyond hope that Kakashi would come to his senses. What he could do was stop the water dragon which was not as close to Naruto as Kakashi was. Gathering chakra, he bit his thumb and slammed his hand on the ground.

Naruto's sharingan span in its socket as time slowed down. He saw the brief surprise register in Kakashi's eyes as he realized that he had finally started using the sharingan. He saw the water dragon coming at him as it let loose another roar. He saw that Kakashi would reach him first. Lastly, he noticed that Kakashi's technique was flawed. Very flawed.

"Lightning Release: One Thousand Birds. (Chidori)"

"Summoning Technique: Rashomon Gate!"

CRAASSSHHHHHH

The watching genin ran forward as smoke erupted from where the fight was occurring. As they tried to run past Orochimaru, he stopped them with an extended hand and asked them to wait till the smoke cleared.

Yuna bit her lips in anticipation. Idly, she wondered if anyone knew of a wind technique that could blow the smoke away. This brought Asuma into her mind and that definitely didn't improve her mood. The fact that the sound of chirping birds hadn't died down yet was not lost on her.

Rin felt the same way. She knew that something bad had just happened and there was nothing they could do about it. Orochimaru was right to wait till the smoke cleared. With Kakashi in the potentially homicidal mood he was in, who was to say what would happen if someone reached in through the smoke.

Anko and Obito were worried, sure. But more than that, they were angry. They had both lost their matches and they'd both accepted it in good nature. If they had kept going, maybe they could have won. But they knew where to draw the line. This was a friendly spar. If Kakashi didn't know when to stop, well… Now, they understood why he was never allowed to fight during their team training sessions.

Finally, the smoke cleared and revealed a rather surprising turn of events. Naruto was standing, one hand around Kakashi's throat, the other on his still chirping wrist, holding him up like a rag doll in between himself and where the water dragon would have hit them.

Kakashi stared at the redhead in shock. Those eyes. He should have aborted the attack as soon as he saw the sharingan. It was stupid to continue. Hell, it was stupid to use the unfinished technique in the first place. And it was definitely against the rules. Idly, he wondered what had made him do it. He didn't have to think for long. He knew exactly why.

It was because he couldn't stand losing. He hadn't anticipated losing and he just didn't want to deal with it. He had never seen himself as petty. Certainly not petty enough to break the rules just so that he could win a simple spar. Kakashi dropped the technique and his hand went limp. Naruto's eyes still stared angrily at him.

Naruto glared at the silver haired boy he held by the throat. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. Kakashi knew exactly what had happened. He knew that he was at Naruto's mercy. When he saw his lightning technique die down, he grew even angrier. As the smoke cleared, he saw the reason why he and Kakashi were currently dry. The Rashomon gate. It could withstand anything. He had seen it withstand the largest explosion he had ever witnessed. This certainly didn't warrant it.

But this situation gave rise to a new problem. He could sense the 5 other people in the training ground waiting for him to do or say something. In normal circumstances, he would never take out his anger in public… But ever since his venture into his own past, he had been feeling anything but normal. This… This rage? It was getting way out of his own control.

SLLAAPP!

Kakashi's face turned red as he was forced to look off to the side by the heavy slap. Was that it? Was that all he would do to someone who tried to kill him?

"YOU STUPID SHIT!"

Naruto grabbed him by his waist and slammed him onto the Rashomon gate that was oh so conveniently placed. Kakashi spat up some blood.

"WHAT WERE YOU EVEN TRYING TO ACHIEVE?" Naruto roared as he deposited a strong kick to Kakashi's stomach, crashing him on the Rashomon gate again.

"DO YOU THINK THAT CHARGING AT ME WITH NO PLAN AT ALL, EXCEPT FOR SOUNDING LIKE A THOUSAND FUCKING BIRDS, WOULD MAKE ME SO SCARED THAT I WOULD JUST ROLL OVER AND GIVE UP?"

Kick.

"DO YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE SO FAR ABOVE US THAT A SPARKLY TECHNIQUE WOULD MAKE US TERRIFIED OF YOU?"

Kick.

"DO YOU EVEN REALIZE THAT IF SENSEI HADN'T INTERVENED YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN HIT BY YOUR OWN TECHNIQUE AND WOULD HAVE QUITE POSSIBLY ELECTROCUTED US BOTH?"

Kick.

"BUT MORE THAN ALL THAT, HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME BY CHARGING HEADFIRST INTO ME LIKE A GODDAMN 5-YEAR OLD?"

This kick never connected as Orochimaru tackled him onto the ground. Naruto tried to get back on his feet but found it impossible with Orochimaru straddling him. A fierce punch struck his right cheek and blood pooled in his mouth.

"ENOUGH."

Naruto stopped struggling and Orochimaru slowly stepped away from his student. Naruto hurriedly got up, getting to a safe distance away from his sensei.

"Go cool off. Come back after you're calm enough."

"Tch." Naruto grunted in annoyance. He was about to declare that he was fine when he saw the look on his friends' faces. Obito was indifferent, as if he both wanted this to happen and at the same time, didn't want it. Anko was more or less the same, but somehow angrier at Kakashi. What stopped him were the faces of both Yuna and Rin. They were almost… afraid of him. Yuna held a hand to her mouth looking at him in surprise. Rin held her gaze for a few moments before dropping down to heal Kakashi however she could. Naruto stepped back. He had done this. Kakashi certainly deserved it, but still, he had beaten up a defeated ally. His anger had just exploded at the first outlet he saw. Kakashi may have deserved his anger, but he definitely should've been able to control it.

"Fine." He said as he walked away to the other side of the training field. Orochimaru looked around at the gathered genin, coming to his own conclusions about how they all felt about what just happened. Sighing, he dropped down to his knees, looking to help Rin.

"Do we need to take him to the hospital?" Orochimaru asked.

Rin shook her head no. "Despite the severe beating he just received, his injuries are very superficial. The blow to the head with the sword did not result in any head trauma. This is just blood from a wound made by the sharp end of the sword, which must have nicked him a little. Just help me turn him over."

Orochimaru acquiesced and turned him over quickly.

"Be gen-", Kakashi started puking his innards out. "-tle." Rin finished lamely. "I've already healed the internal bleeding. He'll be fine if he gets some proper shut eye."

Hokage's Office, 7 A.M

Hiruzen had been looking forward to another calm day at work. Well… as calm as his job could get. He walked in at dawn, smiling at his secretary on the way. He was always an early bird. With strict habits, enforced by even stricter people, he had no other choice. Every day, he would wake up at 5:30 A.M and go for a walk to the top of the Hokage mountain. By the time he got there, the sun would be up and he would see the beauty of the village reflecting the light of the morning sun, and he would once again be reminded of what he was trying to protect. Then he would train. He was the Hokage, but that didn't mean he could laze around, doing paperwork all day. He had to keep his skills sharp, even more than the others.

After a shower and some breakfast with his wife, he would reach his office to face his biggest enemy of all, paperwork. However, today, paperwork would prove to not be one of his main concerns. Not 5 minutes after he walked in, Jiraiya had busted into the room with a panicked look on his face.

"Kumo." Jiraiya said, breathlessly. "Kumo is invading."

Shit. Hiruzen stood up to his full height. "Are you absolutely sure?"

Jiraiya nodded. He seemed hesitant at first. "That's not all." Hiruzen stared at him as if he was joking. "Iwa." He said grimly.

Hiruzen paled. Shit. "At the Kusa border?"

Jiraiya nodded. "And possibly Suna with them."

Hiruzen banged his fist on the table, cracking the surface. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Call the council. Alert every shinobi in the village."

Training Ground 7, With Naruto.

Naruto was seated off to one side. The rest of the genin were seated in between him and Kakashi. As if he would try something when they were all there. Funnily enough, that particular bit of logic did nothing to ease the worry on their faces. He had already apologized and everything. What more could he possibly do?

"Ahem." Orochimaru coughed to get their attention. "I know that this session has deviated a lot." *Understatement* Obito coughed into his sleeve. "Nevertheless, it's time we got to the point of it."

The genin all straightened up, with the exception of Naruto, who was too stubborn to, and Kakashi, who would rather not risk the pain.

"The first match was excellent. Anko, you underestimated your opponent and I know you know it." Anko nodded immediately. "Make sure that it never happens again. Rin… You, on the other hand, impressed me. I am ashamed to say that with you being a medic, I did not expect much in the way of offensive capabilities but I'm glad to see that Tsunade's efforts have not been in vain. One-handed seals, poison mist, brilliant traps. You were amazing. Of the 6 of you, you are the only one I'd say is fit to become chunin." Rin's eyes widened. "Seeing as an actual chunin is here, you can imagine how huge a compliment that is."

Anko and Yuna looked at Rin in jealousy. Orochimaru wasn't offering praises to just about anyone. The fact that Rin received it on her first ever display in front of him, was noteworthy. Obito gave her a genuine smile at her achievement which she promptly returned.

"The second match revealed that you had so much more in you than I thought, Obito. You showed lots of improvement from the time I last saw you. You were calm, observant, in control of yourself," he looked at the other two male shinobi pointedly at that. "and overall nice skills. You need to pay more attention to your surroundings when in battle. You thought you outsmarted your opponent, but that is the last thing you should think when in battle. Always believe that your opponent is smarter, stronger and faster than you are. It will save you a lot of pain if you do this one thing. Yuna. You performed admirably. Distracting tactics, ninjutsu, everything was spot on. Your earth technique at the end. I see you perfected your little experiment?"

Yuna blushed and nodded. "Well, it worked well for you. Let's get to the final match, shall we? We'll start with Kakashi."

Kakashi looked up from his spot on the ground. He was mostly healed up, just a few sore places. "I'll accept any punishment you deem necessary."

"Grow a pair, bitch." The comment from Naruto caught a few glares and a couple of laughs, but Kakashi and Orochimaru remained unfazed.

"Based on your skills, you could very easily be a jonin. An A-rank jutsu of a secondary affinity? And that too with no water source nearby? Amazing. Minato told me that he was going to recommend you to Hokage-sama. I was happy when I heard it. We've held the record for youngest jonin for the past two decades. I thought someone had come along to break that record. But I'm going to tell him that you're not there yet." Orochimaru concluded. "You realize that you broke the rules." Kakashi nodded. "Why?"

Kakashi frowned. "I don't know. Does it matter though?"

"No. I suppose not. But I heard from Minato that you were all about the rulebook. What changed?"

Kakashi looked around desperately for a distraction. Naruto met his eyes coldly. "I didn't want to lose."

Orochimaru frowned. "Well then, I have no choice. By my power as a jounin of Konoha, I hereby demote you to the status of genin."

All the genin stared at him with wide eyes except Kakashi. He was familiar with the punishment. 'Those shinobi deemed as a threat to their colleagues will be demoted to an appropriate rank, as deemed necessary by a superior officer. In severe cases, said shinobi may be stripped of rank and title and permanently disbarred from the shinobi forces.'

Surprisingly enough, Naruto was the one who reacted first. "What the fuck are you doing? You can't do that."

Orochimaru ignored the disrespect. "This is what the 'rulebook' says. Those shinobi deemed as a threat to their colleagues will be demoted to an appropriate rank, as deemed necessary by a superior officer. In severe cases, said shinobi may be stripped of rank and title and permanently disbarred from the shinobi forces. I'm actually giving him a lesser punishment. It's well within my power to give him the latter one." Rin and Obito gasped at that. This training session had gone horribly wrong. Granted, it was Kakashi's own fault, but it was still unbelievable.

Naruto was on his feet. "Fuck the rules. Who's a threat here? Kakashi and I sparred. It may have gotten a little out of hand towards the end, it was still only a spar."

Orochimaru looked around at the other genin. None of them would meet his eyes except Kakashi, who nodded his acceptance of the punishment. "Naruto, you don't understand. A mistake that goes unpunished is a mistake that repeats itself."

Naruto grit his teeth. "I'm the one he tried to hurt. I should have a say in his fate."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a better way to punish him?"

Naruto's eye twitched. "I already punished him enough when I beat the living shit out of him. He won't do this again."

"It doesn't work that way, Naruto." Orochimaru tried to reason.

"The hell it doesn't. One mistake is all Konoha tolerates? This is outrageous. Your teammate did things much worse than this. She actually succeeded in killing someone. I don't see her name getting dragged through the dirt." Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, that's enough. I'm fine with it." Kakashi tried to say.

Naruto whirled around in anger. "Shut up. I'm not talking to you."

Orochimaru's eyebrows twitched. "Let me put this in a way you'll understand. If you continue protesting this, I'll get the both of you barred from the ninja forces." Naruto went silent. "Don't fight this, Naruto. This'll do him good. He'll learn from his mistakes."

Naruto turned to look at Kakashi who nodded at him. "And you're doing this because of the rulebook?", he asked his sensei. Orochimaru nodded which made Naruto narrow his eyes at him. "Now, why don't I believe you?"

Orochimaru remained silent. He was, in fact, not doing this because of the rulebook. He was doing it because the boy had dared to attempt to kill one of the brats under his watch. That deserved punishment. Whether Naruto liked it or not. He wasn't about to say that out loud, though. "Believe what you want."

"Tch." Naruto didn't get why his sensei was being so unreasonable. This was so out of character. Shaking his head, Naruto went back to his seat.

Orochimaru sighed. He hated pulling the jonin superior card, but it was necessary. "Right. On with the assessment. I believe it's your turn now, Naruto."

Naruto looked up at his sensei, temporarily putting aside their differences. He always listened to what his sensei told him after any spar. "Where to even begin?"

"The swords." Anko helpfully supplied.

Naruto sent a dirty look towards Anko. "Oi, I'm here for constructive criticism, not a fucking Q&A."

But the ball was already in the court. "Ah, yes. The swords." Orochimaru nodded. "Let's begin with that. Tell me, Naruto, where'd you get them?" Naruto mumbled something incoherently, making Orochimaru smile wider. "I'm sorry?"

"I said Zabuza gave them to me." Naruto muttered.

"Figures." Orochimaru muttered under his breath.

"Naruto, you can't accept gifts from enemy ninja. What if there is some spying equipment in it?"

Naruto scoffed. "Like someone would actually hide spy equipment on a sword." He blinked when he saw the others staring at him expectantly. "Oi. You serious? That's an actual possibility?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "No. But you still shouldn't accept gifts from enemy shinobi." Naruto remained silent.

Sensing his unwillingness to answer, Orochimaru decided it could wait till later. He walked forward unsealing a huge scroll from a seal placed… somewhere unseen on his body.

"The summoning contract?" Yuna asked incredulously. She had quite simply forgotten about Orochimaru's little surprise that he announced at the start of the spars. The other shinobi now stared in wonder at the scroll in Orochimaru's hand. These were one of the few known summoning contracts in Konoha. They were incredibly rare and very hard to come by. But here it was… The snake summoning contract.

Naruto stared at him suspiciously. "Are you saying you'll let me sign the snake summoning contract if I tell you the truth?"

Orochimaru nodded cheerfully. "Nope. I'm giving it to Anko."

Anko's eyes went wide. "You're letting me sign?"

"Yep. Snakes fit well with your fighting style."

Anko looked around in search of some sign that she was dreaming. This was something she never imagined even in her wildest dreams. A summoning contract? For some clanless person from the market district? Unheard of. Seeing Yuna with an encouraging look and the members of team 7 looking at her with barely concealed jealousy, Anko smiled widely.

But it proved that her excitement was a bit too much when Anko bit harder than she meant to and drew more blood than was necessary. Nevertheless, her handprint was pressed into the scroll a few seconds later.

"The hand seals are Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram." Orochimaru told her. "Go on. Give it a shot."

Anko nodded eagerly, the pain in her hand temporarily forgotten. "Summoning Technique!" She slammed her hand on the ground.

Everyone watched in anticipation, their troubles temporarily forgotten, as the smoke started to clear to reveal a small white snake that immediately slithered up Anko's hand and wrapped itself around her neck. Anko smiled hesitantly as she felt the snake rub his head against his cheek. "Hi there. What's your name?" She cooed at the snake.

"Shiro! What's yours?"

"That's a great name, Shiro. I'm Anko."

The rest of them watched on with smiles on their faces at the surprisingly soft interactions between Anko and the snake.

Naruto scratched his head and groaned. "Gah. You're punishing me for not answering your questions aren't you?"

Orochimaru didn't reply. He just turned around and smiled at him.

Naruto pouted but an idea was forming in his mind. "Hell, summoning might not even need some stupid scroll. I know the hand seals. I could just-"

"NOO!" Naruto was stunned into silence at Orochimaru's shout. "Naruto, you must promise me that you'll never attempt the summoning technique without signing a contract first."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Orochimaru gulped. "Because if you attempt the summoning technique without agreeing to a contract, you will be transported to the lair of your familiar animal. There, you will face trials beyond any and all of your limits. They will tear you down and remake you from scratch the way they want you to be… Never try it." The genin watched his serious face with horror in their eyes. "I'm serious Naruto. Never try it."

"How do you know all that?" Naruto asked.

For the first time in the past three months, team 12 saw something in Orochimaru's face that they'd never seen before. Pain. "Because I did it. Jiraiya and I both did."

Naruto slowly nodded. "So, I shouldn't try to summon without signing the contract?", Orochimaru nodded.

Naruto stayed silent for a long time before he finally relented. "Fine. I won't try to summon without first signing a scroll. And since you all can't seem to stay out of my personal life anyway, I might as well tell you why I've decided to trust the Kiri-nin", he spoke heatedly. He touched the storage seal on his wrist and brought out a book and threw it on the ground in front of him.

The 6 other shinobi stared at the book in anticipation. But nothing happened. "What does that mean?"

Naruto shrugged. "Read the last entry out loud. One of you."

Anko was closest to the book, so she shrugged and reached down to grab it.

"Name: Kushina Uzumaki.
Clan: Uzumaki Clan of Uzushiogakure.
Village: Konoha.
Caliber: S-Rank.
Skills: High wind affinity, highly skilled in fuinjutsu, skilled with a sword: rumored to be on par with one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist, deadly chain techniques in collaboration with her sword and high wind affinity.
Achievements: Genin at 13, chunin at 13, jonin at 15; Matched the now deceased wielder of the Kiba blades, Ameyuri Ringo; The last known survivor of the Uzumaki clan. One of the most dangerous Konoha shinobi. Flee on sight."

Naruto watched everyone's reaction closely. Orochimaru registered some surprise when the name was read, but quickly composed himself. He knew.

Rin, Obito and Kakashi also recognized the name, but were puzzled about why it had come up now, until it suddenly became clear to Rin.

"Your sister." Rin exclaimed. "She's your sister. Sensei's girlfriend is Naruto's sister."

That… That was news to Naruto as well. That Minato Namikaze and his sister were… dating.

Orochimaru's mouth dropped open. So, that's why Akira Senju had taken such an interest in his student. He had tried to find the reason why Akira Senju, one of Konoha's strongest and oldest shinobi would agree to take care of/fund a clan-less orphan from the slums. This was it. This was the reason. It all made sense to him now. He knew he was an Uzumaki but it never even crossed his mind that they could be related. The Sharingan had eradicated all possibility of that being the case.

…

He had underestimated his teammate and his sensei. He now realized why the possibility never occurred to him. There was no universe where they were related and the two senior Konoha shinobi kept it a secret. So, either they were much crueler than he gave them credit for… Or, they also didn't know, which didn't seem likely at the moment.

The remaining four genin, other than Naruto and Rin, were shocked. Naruto had a sister? He was an orphan. Obito, being the person with the least filters, was the one who spoke up. "But you're an orphan. How is this possible?" Obito asked, making Yuna hiss at him for the blunt question.

Naruto shrugged, not minding the question in the least. "I don't know. You tell me. Zabuza, the Kiri-nin, told me that my memory had been sealed. And from some… experimentation, I have found that I can't regain my memories, not without some ungodly amounts of pain. So, I believe that it's likely to be true."

Yuna was the one who asked the next question. "But why would you trust him? He's an enemy, Naruto."

Naruto was getting annoyed with the discussion. "Is he though? In 10 minutes, he told me more about myself than I've figured out living here for the past three years. How my real name is Naruto Uzumaki, how I'm actually 11 years old, how my birthday is October the 10th, how I was actually from a place called Uzushiogakure and how I had two swords, one named Hayami and the other, not yet named, And how I had a sister… in Konoha."

Everyone stared at the redhead, speechless. "What are you saying?" Orochimaru asked.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know but Anko… Pass that around. All of you, get a good look at her face." Naruto waited patiently until everyone did as he asked. "You see it right? Similar bone structure, red hair, purple eyes. They are both dominant traits by the way. Now consider this scenario. In what world does one notice two people, with very distinguishing characteristics, characteristics that are not shared with anyone else in the village, and not come to the conclusion that they're, I don't know, related?"

Silence met his question. They could tell that he wasn't happy about revealing all this.

"So, that leaves us in a somewhat difficult place. There are only a few people who have interacted with us both. The Hokage, of course, Shimura Danzo, and I suspect, the other village elders as well, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu; then there's Senju Akira, Uchiha Mikoto, Namikaze Minato and of course, you three in team 7." Naruto gestured at the three genin, meeting their eyes which made them feel strangely uncomfortable. "That's all the people that I know who have interacted with both of us. Then there's people I suspect."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the young redhead. Where was this headed?

"There's Sarutobi Biwako, the medic-nin I woke up to at the hospital three years ago, there's Senju Tsunade, because I just don't like her and for some reason, she doesn't seem to like me, there's Jiraiya, who gives me this uneasy feeling whenever he's around, there's Kosuke Maruboshi, because he's one of the old team 7 and I suspect everyone else in it and then finally… there's you, sensei." Naruto said pointing at Orochimaru to everyone's surprise.

Orochimaru hesitated slightly but relented. He nodded in confirmation. "I suspected that you might be an Uzumaki, but I never thought that you were her long-lost brother."

Naruto narrowed his eyes on Orochimaru. "We'll see, sensei. We'll see."

Yuna stood up slightly. "Naruto… Why do you trust Zabuza? You still haven't told us."

Naruto chuckled. "Because, Yuna, there are so many people here that could have made the connection. Hell, Akira-ojiisan made the connection as soon as he met me. But he didn't tell me. Sensei could've made the connection. Mikoto-sensei, Minato-sensei, even you three in Team 7. There are so many people that could have told me. Could have told her as well. She also didn't know about me by the way. Even if you didn't think we were related, why wouldn't you tell me about another redhead with purple eyes you know about."

"The point is that so many of the Konoha-nin got the chance to tell me the truth, yet they never did. Not unless I confronted them and forced it out of them like I did to sensei just now and to Akira-ojiisan last night. Zabuza received nothing. He wasn't even given a chance to talk, and yet, he told me the truth."

The rest of them stared at him with wide eyes. "That's why, Yuna. I have no choice but to trust him."

Orochimaru had now recovered fully from his shock. Now, he was curious. "So, you believe him then? Konoha placed a memory seal on you. Where does that leave you? With the village or against it?"

Naruto pondered on the question. "The way I see it, there are two possibilities, the first one being less likely. Zabuza made the whole thing up to introduce some sort of conspiracy in my mind to turn me against Konoha. In this scenario, they performed the seal on me and left me at the gates of Konoha. But I find this unlikely because the rest of what he told me was completely true. He knew things about my body that I don't normally show anyone. Either way, he seemed genuine when he approached me, so I'm sure that if Kiri is to blame, it's because of some higher authority in Kiri, not Zabuza."

They all nodded. It was theoretically possible but it sounded unlikely even to them.

"Or… Konoha is responsible for the seal, in which case, I already have a list of suspects and I know where to find them. To seal memory, you have to be great at fuinjutsu or you'd have to be a Yamanaka. This removes only a few people from my list. Obito, Rin and Kakashi are out. So is Mikoto. I know that she has no clue about anything related to fuinjutsu. That leaves the entirety of the old team 7, minus the dead guy of course, the sannin, Sarutobi Biwako and Namikaze Minato."

As Naruto finished, the remaining shinobi looked at him in shock at his cold assessment and blunt declaration. But he wasn't done… No, he was not.

"I am telling you all this because I'm angry… Ever since I first visited that nightmare using the Hell Viewing Technique… I'm so fucking angry and I have no one to point it all at. And since I very nearly beat a defeated ally to death today and threatened Akira Senju with death yesterday, you had better give me something to vent on."

The genin looked back and forth between Naruto and Orochimaru. Rin realized exactly what was happening when his sharingan came alive. It was the same thing that had happened the previous day. He was threatening his sensei and all the other people on his list along with him.

"I don't believe you were ever going to give me the snake summoning contract. Even I know it isn't right for me. Don't think I talked because of that. I have no interest in being indebted to anyone. In Konoha or in Kiri. I talked because I want you all to know. I want you all to know that I'm trying very hard to control myself. To hold in this thirst for violence that I've been feeling for the past week."

"If I find out that one of the people in this list is responsible for this… I'll stop. " Naruto's sharingan started spinning, making him look even more menacing. "Now, to answer your question, sensei, I am currently with Konoha because that's what my friends want. That's what I suspect my sister wants and that's what I know Yugao wants. If the day ever comes when there's no one in Konoha that I can call a friend, I'll leave."

Silence reigned over the training field as the 6 other shinobi tried to process what had just been discussed. Naruto jumped down from his spot and walked toward Obito who was presently holding the bingo book. He held out his hand and Obito wordlessly placed it on his hand. After looking at her picture briefly, Naruto sealed the book back into his wrist.

"And I want all of you to stay away from any topic regarding my memories. I don't care what you think you know about me, but some things are private. I don't go around asking Anko how her mother died or Yuna about how things are at home. I understand that some things are personal and if you need my advice, you'll come to me. I suggest you do the same."

The five genin were still confused about the whole thing, but no one more so than Kakashi. He had always thought that he had life figured out but what would he do if he were in Naruto's position. Would he lie down and take it? All that abuse? A memory seal? A forced family estrangement? Would he just give up and accept it? Or would he fight like Naruto was currently doing? Would he be able to stand across from a sannin and threaten him with violence if his terms were not met? The answer, he already knew. He wouldn't be able to do half the things Naruto did.

'Grow a pair!' he had told him. What made Naruto so strong? How was he able to keep going, knowing that the village he was protecting might have done some terrible things to him? Why was he still on their side? Kakashi wouldn't be, rules be damned. He would get as far away as possible. But not Naruto. That was when Naruto's words echoed in his mind. "Fuck the rules." "I'm the one he tried to hurt. I should have a say in what happens to him." Kakashi found himself wondering about what he would do if their positions were reversed. If Naruto had just tried to kill him, would he stand up to a sannin to stop his punishment?

The answer was of course no. No one else in his position would act the way Naruto had acted. He was unique. That was the reason he was strong. That was the reason his father had been strong. His father's last words came into his mind. "I don't regret what I did, Kakashi. If faced with the same circumstances, I would do the same thing a hundredtimes over. Because that's what it means to be a shinobi. That's what it means to endure."

Orochimaru finally broke out of his stupor and smirked at him. "You just threatened a lot of important people, Naruto." Naruto stared back at him defiantly. "I'll make sure everyone gets the message, although I don't think they'll take the threat from a 10-year-old seriously. But I want you to know that I take you seriously. I'll tell you everything I know about the seal on your memory and your past. I don't care about the consequences because I also want to know what really happened. What was done to you was monstrous. What I th-"

Kakashi fell backwards on the grass. He opened his eyes to see the sun shining brightly down at him, and a hawk circling over them. It was a messenger hawk. Kakashi sat up immediately to warn Orochimaru, but there was no need.

Orochimaru was already signaling the bird down. He petted the bird softly and unwrapped the message. As he read through the letter, Kakashi saw his face turn pale. A short burst of chakra later, the paper was burning and Orochimaru had thrown it away.

"What I can tell you… It will have to wait. Stay here. All of you. I have an important meeting. I'll be back."

Without waiting for a reply, Orochimaru had departed in a shunshin leaving behind the 6 genin looking at each other, confused. Kakashi quickly crawled forward and picked up the burning piece of paper that once carried the message and the parts which were still visible made his blood freeze.

'Kumo in the Land of Fire'

With Ibiki, Konoha Ninja Academy, 7:30 A.M.

Ibiki staggered forward, his legs threatening to give way. When Inoichi told him that he would be tortured, he wasn't kidding. He was hurting all over and he had to hold onto the side of the road just to walk. Nevertheless, he powered through. The people on the street gave him a wide berth as they went about their daily chores. He would have to make it. He just had to.

A few painful moments later, he made it. Konoha ninja academy. It was a place he used to see all the time, but not any time in the recent past. He remembered dropping Idate off for his first day for the last 5 years. It had become a sort of ritual for them. A way to tell each other that they'd always be there for each other.

He spotted Idate alone on the swing. He undoubtedly thought that his brother had forgotten about him. It made Ibiki chuckle. What a pointless thought. He would never forget about him. About Idate… He was the reason he lived. His mind brought forth a fairly recent event which had occurred. Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique. That was the last evaluation. How long he could survive in that genjutsu before breaking. The answer? 13 seconds. Inoichi told him that it was a completely normal figure. It was just that it was normal while the results of his other evaluations were extraordinary.

There was a good reason for that. After all, the other evaluations didn't show him an Idate with both legs amputated, in a hospital bed, begging Ibiki to kill him. Ibiki shut his eyes as pain flashed through his mind again. He could cry later. Now, he had to be strong for his brother. For Idate.

He tried to quicken his pace, seeing that Idate had gotten up. He crashed to the ground loudly making Idate run forward. "Mister, are you ok?" He asked as he ran to his side.

"Ibiki?" He asked as he turned onto his back. "You're bleeding."

"No. Idate. I'm here… to drop you off for your first day at the academy." Ibiki replied as he sat up.

Idate blinked away his tears when he realized his brother was smiling. It would turn out okay. Otherwise he wouldn't be smiling. "What happened?"

Ibiki chuckled. "It's a great story, Idate. I'll tell you when you get home."

Idate scowled. "I hate it when you keep things from me."

"Alright. I wanted to wait so that I'd be able to celebrate with you instead of being on the ground. But…" He paused to build the suspense. "I got the job."

Idate was stunned. "You got the job?"

"I got the job."

"That's great news. But what happened to you?"

Ibiki smiled. "That's a story for later. For now, go enjoy your first day at the academy. I'll tell you all about it when you get back."

Idate hesitated before a smile formed on his face. "Thank you for coming, Ibiki-nii. Love you."

Ibiki smiled back at him. "Love you too." He watched as Idate ran forward and entered the academy, jumping the gate when the security guard asked him why he was late. Ibiki grinned. He got up off the ground and started on his way home. He would be there when he got back. He promised himself.

Ibiki didn't know what he was saying. One can never know what the future holds. That's why it's said it's easy to live in the present. When Ibiki told his brother that he would definitely be there when he got home, he was lying. He wouldn't be at home. In fact, he wouldn't even be in the village. He'd be fighting a war.

---

Well... This one took a while, didn't it :)

Really though, I didn't expect it to take so long. The thing is, I completed my version of it like a week ago, but then I went over to my friend's house and smoked weed for the first time.

...

...

Woah! Why the fuck do people disapprove of this magnificent discovery? I am telling you, the shit that's about to come up next, I would never have come up with it if not for that night at my friend's house. Anyways...

AN0: I don't want it to seem like I'm copying stuff from other shows. But you know Two-face in The Dark Knight? Irene looks like that except she's female and much much older than Harvey is...

AN1: I have this sinking feeling in my head that my non-weed-addled-work won't even compare to my weed-addled-work... Hopefully, that's just in my head and the fight scenes (non-weed-addled-work) is good enough.

AN2: I like writing Rin so much that I think it might even be the eventual pairing. But then... I have to find a way around the whole murdered by Kakashi thing. And when I think about how far away that is, I'm just reminded of the fact there's no need to be thinking about pairings just yet... But yeah, writing Rin is fun.

AN3: I've decided that I'll be keeping 2 or 3 chapters as a buffer, just in case I want to make some major changes. I've written about 60% of the 10th chapter but I don't think I'll publish it until I have the 11th chapter also written out. So, again, might be 2-3 weeks for the next chapter.

Anyways, hope you liked this chapter. I don't really know what to write as the preview for next chapter without giving anything away so I think I'll just skip it. See you next time :P