Izumi Uchiha And The Nine-Tailed Fox

by Nikhey99

What if Izumi survived the night of the Uchiha Massacre? And what if she became a Jonin-Sensei for Naruto Uzumaki and Team 7 (with a Sakura Haruno replacement because I hate Sakura) and what challenges might come of these changes and how will they affect the Ninja World? Especially since Izumi doesn't want to kill if she doesn't have to? Read to find out.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Power Of The Jinchuriki

After telling her new students that she's their Jonin-Sensei, Izumi leads them out of the Academy, and to the Uchiha Training Ground. "Wait...this is the Uchiha Training Ground." Sasuke said. "Yeah, and...?" Izumi asks. "Outsiders like these two...knuckleheads aren't usually allowed in here." Sasuke answered, referring to Naruto and that mysterious girl. "Yeah, well, I'm an Uchiha and I'm your sensei. And I don't care about old, outdated traditions. Especially since-" "You don't have to remind me." Sasuke replied, interrupting Izumi. Izumi sighed. "Regardless, I'm your Sensei. And you are my students. That takes precedence over whatever rules I'm breaking." She also replied. "And she's breaking quite a big one." Sasuke muttered.

Izumi sighed again.

They eventually stopped at a big clearing in the forests of the Uchiha Training Grounds. Izumi turned to face her three Genin, and told them to sit down. The three of them didn't hesitate to do so. Izumi sat down afterwards.

"Now that we're all here, let's start with the introductions." Izumi told them. "But what about you? We barely know you." The mysterious girl said. "She has a point." Sasuke agreed. "Don't you remember me, Sasuke?" Izumi asked. "I tend not to think about the past." Sasuke answered. "Hm. Understandable, given your own history, but my Sensei taught me that it's always better to learn from the past so that we can prevent certain mistakes that often lead to one's own doom. For example: a ninja sees an elderly man fall for a trap set up by bandits beforehand. The bandits then come out and attack, kill the old man and take whatever money he had on him before the ninja could intervene. The ninja may not have been able to defeat the bandits and save the old man, but at least he saw the trap and observed how it worked as the old man was stumbling into it. Therefore, the next time the ninja came across a trap exactly like the one the old man fell for, he can expertly evade the trap because he learned about the trap way back when." Izumi explained.

"In any case, I might as well introduce myself...I am Izumi Uchiha. I like helping as many people as I can and reading books in my spare time but what I dislike are bugs, criminals, people who tend to hurt others for no other reason than their own enjoyment and pretentious...jerks who think they know everything when, really, they don't. And my goal in life...is to make sure what happened to my clan never happens to anyone else ever again." Izumi said. "Now, it's your turn. You, on the left. The girl with the purple eyes. You're first."

"Me?" The girl asked. "Well...I guess I can tell you about myself. My name is Yuki Nohara. My likes are...complicated, you see. Because I like the strange, the obscure...the interesting." "So you hope to study alot?" Izumi asked. "Yes." Yuki answered. "Then why did you become a ninja instead?" Izumi then asked. "Oh, it wasn't out of personal interest, rather...my Father was a veteran in the Third Great Ninja War and his Father was a vet and so what his Father's Father and so on and so on so my Dad wanted me to keep the family tradition alive. When I was little, he'd say things like, 'You're going to be a Kunoichi and you're gonna like it!'." Yuki explained.

When Yuki brought up the Third Great Ninja War, Izumi remembered back to when she was at the scene of Kakashi's death.

FLASHBACK

Izumi Uchiha was taking a walk in the park when she saw a body lying on the ground. 'What's that person doing, sleeping there?' She thought. She walked closer to the body, and found that it was Kakashi Hatake lying there, on the ground. Izumi was confused. What was Kakashi Hatake, the only man who trusted her with knowledge of his identity as a member of the Anbu Black Ops and the man who befriended her at least a few days after the Uchiha Massacre happened, doing here, lying around in the park?

She crouched down, assuming that Kakashi was just asleep.

She tried shaking him awake, but nothing was happening. She then saw the stab wounds. There were too many of them to count. And it seems like he's lost a lot of blood. Izumi checked his pulse. He wasn't breathing. And judging from how cold the body is, he hasn't been breathing for quite some time.

Izumi then quickly stood up, and ran into another part of the village to report Kakashi's death. She'd only found Asami Kujo, her old Jonin-Sensei who had long and straight dark blue hair, blue eyes (which had glasses in front of them) and was dressed in the usual Hidden Leaf Jonin uniform. Asami also wore her black Hidden Leaf headband around her neck.

Asami, at the time, was walking and talking with two other ninjas Izumi didn't know.

Izumi stopped her old Sensei, and shouted, "Asami-Sensei! Thank Kami-Sama..." Izumi says, breathing a sigh of relief. "What's the matter, Izumi?" Asami asked. "I saw Kakashi in the park. He's lying on the ground and...I think he's dead." Izumi answered, on the verge of tears. Asami looked shocked. "Did you really see it?" Asami asked. Izumi didn't say anything. She just nodded.

Asami turned towards one of the ninjas she was talking to, and said, "You, report this to Lord Third." "Yes!" The ninja shouted. The ninja turned around, and ran off.

"Izumi, can you take us to where you saw the body?" Asami asked. Izumi answered. She wanted to show them in spite of her not wanting to see Kakashi's corpse for a second time. Asami turned to the other ninja she was talking to, and shouted, "C'mon!"

The other ninja simply nodded.

Izumi turned around, and led them back to the park, and led them back to the place where she found the body. "There!" Izumi shouted.

The body, miraculously, was still there.

Asami and the other ninja went to check on the corpse.

Both of them crouched down, and inspected the body.

"There's no denying it-he's dead." The ninja reported.

Both Izumi and Asami were shocked.

Izumi walked over to the nearest tree she could find, walked up close to it, turned around, and slumped down to the ground.

Later, Lord Third Hokage and a squad of Anbu came rushing into the crime scene. Asami and the other ninja stood up, and went to give the Hokage their report.

"Were there any witnesses?" Lord Third asked. "No, Lord Third. But it was Izumi who found the body." The ninja reported. "Where is she?" Lord Third then asked. "Over there." Asami answered, pointing to the tree Izumi was slumped against.

Lord Third walked up to Izumi as the Anbu squad went to inspect the body further and, of course, erase any traces of Kakashi's corpse.

Lord Third crouched down to her level to look her in the eyes.

"What happened?" Lord Third asked her. "I was taking a walk in this park by myself when...when I saw him. Down there. Like-Like that." Izumi answered. "I-I thought he was asleep so I walked over to him to shake him awake only to find out that he's...I then ran to find someone, anyone that I could report the body to. As luck would have it, Asami-Sensei was there." "I see." Lord Third replied.

Then, an Anbu member turned away from the body, and walked up to Lord Third.

"My Lord, we investigated the body further." The masked ninja reported. "And...?" Lord Third asks. "It seems like he was killed by a Hidden Stone ninja." The masked ninja answered.

Lord Third stood up, and swiftly turned around. Izumi just stood up, and walked up to the two of them. "What?" Izumi asked. "The Hidden Stone?!" Lord Third asked.

"Yes, Lord Third. We found a knife stuck in the body...a knife that looks like it's made from the earth-it was probably made by someone using an Earth-Style Jutsu." The masked ninja explained. The Hidden Leaf doesn't have very many Earth-Style users besides Lord Third, one of the ninjas who guard the gates to the Hidden Leaf Village and Kakashi, himself. The masked ninja showed them the knife, too. "How come I didn't notice that?" Izumi asked. "The knife was lodged in his chest. That seems to have been the blow that killed Kakashi." The masked ninja answered. 'The great Kakashi Hatake...killed by a simple knife.' Izumi thought. "There's more-Kakashi is missing his Sharingan Eye." The masked ninja said. "Which means that the killer got to his body before the Anbu could..." Lord Third says. 'I thought the Anbu would be dissolved since Danzo destroyed their HeadQuarters with that stunt he pulled.' Izumi thought. "Right." The masked ninja then said. "Good work." Lord Third told the masked ninja.

Lord Third then turned to Izumi, and said, "And good job reporting this."

Izumi said, "Thank you, Lord Hokage."

When all was said and all was done, Kakashi's body was completely erased by the Anbu, everyone left the crime scene, and Izumi walked to another part of town.

---

Later, Izumi sat on a bench in some quiet, random part of the Hidden Leaf Village. She started crying. She thought the last person she would ever lose would be her Father. But then, the Uchiha Massacre happened. And now this.

'Kakashi...' Izumi thought. Kakashi was a great friend to her. Sure, he was a great friend to everyone else, too, but to no one more than her. Or, at least that's what she believed. More to the point, he was her moral compass. Just when she thought of getting revenge on both Itachi and Danzo for what they'd done, Kakashi led her away from that kind of thinking. And then, ever since, they've had many missions together-even when she didn't know it was him. Then, about six months after they'd met, he told her his identity as a member of the Anbu. And when he showed her his mask, she immediately recognized him. And she told him that she recognized him because a member of the Anbu with that same mask thanked her for saving Naruto right after she met and talked to Naruto for a while. Izumi asked why he'd committed himself to protecting Naruto despite the fact that the entire village hates that kid. He told Izumi that Naruto was his Sensei's Son and that his Sensei was none other than the Fourth Hokage. Izumi pretended like that was new information to her just to conceal the fact that she eavesdropped on the Head of the Uchiha Clan and the Hokage and several of the Hokage's advisors. In any case, Kakashi went on to tell her that protecting Naruto was the last promise he made to the Fourth Hokage before he died. And he never stopped even after the Fourth Hokage died. Izumi then asked him why he so blatantly revealed his identity as a member of the Anbu to her. Kakashi told her that he had left the Anbu, and returned to regular duty on the Hokage's orders. And he figured that it's just as well that he left considering that all you do as an Anbu member is kill, kill and kill. And he'd finally decided that he'd had enough of it. He also told her that he's revealing it to her because he trusts her. Which is something he doesn't do often because everyone who's gotten close to him wound up dead.

'But this time...it's...it's Kakashi who died. Instead of...me.' Izumi thought.

Then, suddenly, Lord Third came, and sat next to her.

"Having a nice swim?" He asked. That question pulled Izumi out of her thoughts. "Lord Hokage..." She says. "What-What do you mean?" "Well, I was walking alone, and saw that you were swimming in your own thoughts and emotions. So I was asking if you were having a nice swim." Lord Third clarified. "N-No." Izumi answered. "I thought not. Negative thoughts and feelings aren't a good place to swim in. So I thought I'd stop by to cheer you up." Lord Third replied. 'He says the funniest things sometimes.' Izumi thought.

"B-But...how can I be happy? My...my friend is dead, and-" "I know, I know. Even my own heart weeps at the loss of Kakashi The Copy Ninja. But I always find that it's nice to look back on the good times. That is to say, don't be sad that he's gone. Be happy that he was here." Lord Third answered, interrupting Izumi.

Izumi did, in fact, have good memories of Kakashi. Like when they read books together or when the two of them would talk about the most random things while eating dango with his friends. That was how she met Anko Mitarashi, after all. She also remembered all the times she went to him for advice when she was training by herself or when the two of them would just be hanging out, and then, out of nowhere, Might Guy would come, and challenge him to some kind of competition. Hell, he'd practically force The Copy Ninja to participate, even when he didn't want to.

"I guess you're right." Izumi said. "See how nice that is? And look, it's nighttime already." Lord Third replied. "It is?" Izumi asked. Izumi looked up at the sky, and saw that it was, indeed, nighttime.

"Oh. It is. I guess I didn't notice." Izumi said. "I suggest that you go home, and take a rest-ah, before you do, there's one other matter I'd like to talk with you about." Lord Third told her. "Huh?" Izumi asked. "There was a squad of Genin that I was going to assign to Kakashi, but since he is no longer with us, I instead went with his most trusted ally-you." Lord Third then said. "Me? Really?" Izumi asked. He then handed her pictures of the Genin and their files. Izumi recognized at least two of the Genin. "They're-" "Yes. Naruto and Sasuke are on that squad." Lord Third said, interrupting Izumi. Izumi chuckled. "I thought Naruto would fail-like he always does." She replied. "He did. But after he helped us capture the traitor, Mizuki, I elected to elevate him to the status of Genin." Lord Third told her. "He was a part of that?" Izumi then asked. "I think you'll be quite surprised to see what he is capable of-especially given the fact that he's the Jinchuriki." Lord Third told her.

Izumi heard about what had happened with Mizuki and how he tried to steal the Scroll of Sealing like, a week ago.

"Sasuke, obviously, was at the top of his class this year, just like yourself when you were in the Academy." Lord Third said. "Him succeeding and actually passing Iruka's class was only a foregone conclusion." "And what about the girl? Who is she?" Izumi asked. "A complete mystery. Her name is Yuki Nohara." Lord Third answered. "Nohara? Like Rin Nohara?" Izumi asked. "I thought you might recognize her last name." Lord Third said. Kakashi told Izumi all about his old team and told her that that team was the reason he personally knew the Fourth Hokage. "So, what, is she Rin's Sister or something?" Izumi then asked. "No. Yuki, like Rin, is simply a member of the Nohara Clan, which is a civilian clan, like the others living among us. Yuki's Father was also another Nohara who became a ninja. He was a veteran of the Third Great Ninja War. Actually, now that I think about it, Yuki's branch of the Nohara Clan is full of ninjas and war vets." Lord Third explained. "What makes Yuki so mysterious, then?" Izumi then asked. "As you can probably see from her files, her grades are sealed by someone we don't know." Lord Third answered. "Could it be the Foundation?" Izumi questioned. "It's likely, but I doubt it. Danzo wouldn't be one to make his behind-the-scenes activities too obvious. Not after the Uchiha Massacre, at least. Regardless, the seal came from someone who is higher in authority than me." Lord Third answered. Immediately after the Uchiha Massacre, The Hokage officially dissolved the Foundation, and placed Danzo under house arrest for his part in the Massacre. But anyone who knows Danzo knows that Danzo is clever enough to keep the Foundation active in secret.

"Like who?" Izumi asked. "Look at the seal-it bears the sign of the Council of the Feudal Lord. We've asked council members about it and if they can undo it since I don't have the authority to undo it, but they just told us that no one on the council placed that seal on Yuki's grades-meaning that whoever did it made the seal without the council-or the Feudal Lord's approval and they did it without being an actual council member." Lord Third answered. "So it's a forgery." Izumi stated. "That's what we think. And unfortunately, the council told us that until we know more, they can't undo the seal." Lord Third said. "That's outrageous!" Izumi shouted. "I agree. Personally, I think they're just scared. Especially since someone was clever enough to sneak into the Academy, find Yuki's records and forge the council's seal so that no one in the village can look at them. The fact is, we don't know how they managed to breach the Academy or how they know what the Official Seal of the Feudal Lord's Council looks like well enough to make a perfect forgery." Lord Third explained. "I see..." Izumi says.

After a little while of thinking, Izumi said, "Lord Third, I don't think I'm capable of teaching anyone, let alone a mystery girl, one of the last Uchihas, and the Jinchuriki. Like...where do I even start?" "I'm sure you'll figure something out. By the way, this is an order, not a request. So you can't refuse it no matter what you say." Lord Third told her. "Yes, Lord Hokage." Izumi acknowledged. "I think I'll be going, now..." Lord Third says. Lord Third stood up, and turned to his left, and was about to start walking when Izumi said, "Lord Third, one last thing...you mentioned the Third Great Ninja War, and I'm beginning to wonder...do you think Kakashi's killer was a Hidden Stone Ninja who had a grudge with Kakashi simply because of the war?"

Lord Third turned around to face her, and said, "Anything is possible, Izumi. And the fact that there is evidence that the Hidden Stone was the killer, at least, makes that possibility more likely than not. But considering that you'll be meeting your new Genin students tomorrow, I suggest that you stop ruminating on Kakashi's death." "Tomorrow?! I'm going to meet them tomorrow?" Izumi asked.

Lord Third turned back around, and started walking away. Izumi stood up, turned to face The Hokage, and shouted, "You never said anything about that!"

Lord Third simply chuckled as he walked away.

'Fuck.' Izumi thought.

END OF FLASHBACK

'I will never forgive The Hokage for springing that surprise on me.' Izumi thought. "Alright, then, continue on, Yuki." Izumi told her. "Alright, then. I...uh...dislike, to put it lightly, those who expect too much of me and my goal...is to be the greatest Kunoichi to grace the Ninja World." Yuki finished. "Right." Izumi said. "...and what about you?" Izumi asked Sasuke. "I know that I already know you, but the two others sitting on either side of you don't."

Sasuke said something under his breath, and then he said, "...alright, fine. My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't particularly like or dislike anything. And my goal is to kill a certain someone and restore the Uchiha Clan." "I see." Izumi replied.

'I heard that he's changed a lot since I found him after the Massacre, but I never thought he'd turn out like-like this.' Izumi thought.

Izumi looked at Naruto, who was looking at Sasuke with a scared look in his eyes. 'Oh Kami, maybe Naruto's thinking that Sasuke was talking about him.' Izumi thought. 'I think I might need to change his train of thought.'

"And what about you, Naruto?" Izumi asked. "Like with Sasuke, I already know who you are, but Sasuke and Yuki don't. So...why don't you tell them about yourself."

Naruto turned his attention towards Izumi, and said, "Oh, right!"

Naruto smiled as he talked endlessly about his love for ramen noodles, and then his smile went away and he frowned after he said he disliked bullies and then...

"...this may not be a goal. It's probably more like a dream that everyone tells me is unreachable. But I swear that I'll work hard, and become the greatest Hokage! Better than all the others!" Naruto declared. Izumi chuckled.

'That does sound like a dream. But one that I think he can make a reality, I'm sure.' Izumi thought.

"What, do you think that my dream is somethin' to laugh at!?" Naruto shouted. "No, no, Naruto. I was just thinking about something else." She lied.

'Let's hope that he's stupid enough to buy that, at least.' Izumi thought.

"Well, now that we all know each other, I think it's time that I see what you can do." Izumi then said.

The four of them stood up, and Izumi said, "But, there's something I have to attend to. So we'll have to do a rain check. Tomorrow, how about? Seven in the morning. Meet me here." "Aww..." Naruto whines. "I know, I know, but this is something I can't afford to miss. I'm sorry, Naruto." Izumi said before she disappeared using the Teleportation Jutsu.

Izumi is going to attend Kakashi's funeral.

---

Izumi used the Teleportation Jutsu to appear in the Training Ground 3, which was near the famous memorial stone, which was where Kakashi's funeral is taking place and where the names of great heroes of the Hidden Leaf are engraved after said great heroes died and Kakashi's name was soon to be among them. Kakashi's team was the one that brought about the end of the Third Great Ninja War, after all. That doesn't explain why Rin's name isn't on there and instead on a boring old normal gravestone, though. Because there was no body to bury or cremate (thanks to the Ninja World's policy regarding its village secrets), the preparations didn't take all that long. Izumi never felt right about removing every trace of a dead ninja's existence just to protect the village's secrets. Those dead ninjas were Humans, too. And for anyone else, what the Anbu does with these bodies is desecration. And if anyone else did what the Anbu did with these bodies, others would consider it a sin and the perpetrator who did that a sinner. But sins are a part of a ninja's everyday life. Even moreso when a ninja joins the Anbu. So that leaves Izumi feeling as though there is nothing that can be done about that because there isn't.

As Izumi started walking towards the memorial stone, she saw that at least a dozen ninjas were standing around the memorial stone, most of whom were wearing a black kimono. And when she finally arrived at the stone, she saw that only two people weren't wearing black kimonos: Izumi, herself, and Might Guy. Izumi was wearing her usual ninja outfit and usual ninja gear while Might Guy was wearing his usual Jonin uniform. Guy was probably thinking that that was how his "rival" would want to see him in death or whatever. Guy was eccentric like that. Izumi, however, simply didn't have the time to go home and change.

Speaking of, Izumi saw many of Kakashi's other friends at this funeral. Although, "many" would be a bit of a stretch. She saw Anko, Asuma, and Kurenai. She also saw a few other faces she didn't recognize. Like the Kunoichi with purple hair and black eyes who was dressed in a black kimono. They just stood. Silently. Mourning their lost comrade-in-arms. After Guy delivered a eulogy later on, everyone turned around, and went home.

Izumi, in particular, went home and crashed down on the couch, thinking about life. 'My friend died just yesterday, and now, after his funeral-which just happened today-I'm supposed to take his place, and look after three pre-teens.' Izumi thought.

The next morning, Izumi was at the Uchiha Training Grounds, waiting for her new students. It didn't take long for them to come. Naruto was wearing his regular old blue and orange jacket and a pair of orange pants and finally a pair of navy blue ninja sandals. He's also got his navy blue Hidden Leaf headband, which was on his forehead. Sasuke was dressed in a navy blue t-shirt with a high collar and the Uchiha Clan Symbol on the back of it, white arm warmers, white shorts and a pair of navy blue ninja sandals. He, like Naruto, wore his navy blue Hidden Leaf headband on his forehead. Yuki was dressed in the same thing she wore yesterday and so was Izumi.

"Good morning." Izumi said. "Good morning." Naruto replied, being the only one to respond. Sasuke was just staring at her as though he were saying, "What are your orders?" And Yuki was staring at her in the same way as Sasuke was.

"Are you ready for some training?" Izumi asked. All three of them looked at her as though they weren't sure how to respond. "Good. Alright, first, you're going to fight me one-on-one just so that I can assess your strengths and weaknesses, and we can go from there. Now, this is a no-holds-barred fight. Come at me like you're aiming to kill me."

All three of them got worried looks on their faces. Naruto looked especially worried.

"Don't worry, I can take what most of you are dishing. Alright. Yuki, you're up first. Naruto, Sasuke, you can just go and...stand over there or something, I don't know." Izumi told them.

Izumi and Yuki walked more and more into the clearing while Naruto and Sasuke walked off to the side to watch.

---

Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who is also the Third Hokage, was sitting at his desk in the Hokage's office in the Hokage's Tower with his two advisors, Koharu and Homura, who were both the village's elders and Hiruzen's former teammates.

"So...what did you want to talk about?" Hiruzen asked. "It's about your appointment of Izumi Uchiha as leader of Team 7." Koharu answered. "And...?" Hiruzen asks. "You realize how dangerous letting an Uchiha around the Nine-Tailed Fox is, right? Half the reason we moved the Uchiha Compound to the outskirts of the city is the possibility that it was an Uchiha who was controlling the Nine-Tailed Fox during the attack." Homura said. "The same can be said of Sasuke's placement on the team." Hiruzen argued. "The difference between Sasuke and Izumi is that Sasuke has not yet mastered his Sharingan and if there's one thing that can control a Tailed Beast-especially one as powerful as the Nine-Tails-it's the Sharingan." Koharu countered. "And that is exactly why I appointed her as leader of Team 7. Izumi is not a threat to us, no matter how much you want to convince me otherwise. Let's say that a hint of the power of The Fox does somehow manage to leak out of Naruto. Izumi has the power to contain it before it goes out of control. If I just assigned any old Jonin to Naruto's team-given that Kakashi's no longer with us-they would have no way to adequately contain The Fox's power and will only have to pray that it does not spiral out of control or that the seal does not break." Hiruzen told them. It then started to make sense to the two elders. "Also, I confess that it was simply a last-minute decision I made because I know that Kakashi probably would've wanted his most trusted ally to take his place. And barring Might Guy, Izumi was the best choice." "Then-Then why not choose Might Guy?" Homura asked, clearly seeking a desperate last chance to not be wrong. "He is already looking after another squad. And besides, I doubt Guy knows any Sealing Jutsus and it would be a pain to teach him any while he's teaching Naruto, Sasuke and Yuki. Also, Might Guy isn't capable of using any Ninjutsus or Taijutsus. So teaching him Sealing Jutsus or to strengthen the seal that Naruto already has in place would be a wasted effort." Hiruzen answered.

Homura and Koharu exchanged looks, knowing that they'd lost this debate. "Alright, then, Lord Third. The issue is resolved." Homura said. "I thought so." Hiruzen replied.

Homura and Koharu turned around, and walked out of The Hokage's Office. Hiruzen stood up, and turned to face the window behind him.

Meanwhile...

Shockingly, Izumi's fight with Yuki is a bit more difficult than she had anticipated. Yuki's skills with kunai knives are on par with her own and she knows at least one Lightning-Style Jutsu (the Lightning Ball Jutsu) and three Water-Style Jutsus (the Water Shuriken Jutsu, the Water Whip Jutsu and the Raging Waves Jutsu). 'Amazing.' Izumi thought after dodging one of Yuki's kunai knives which she threw. 'For a Genin to know that many Jutsus, I...it's highly unheard of. Only an Uchiha could achieve such a feat...' "Impressed?" Yuki asked. Izumi didn't say anything. Instead, she threw three shuriken at Yuki. Yuki dodged two of them, but the second one hit her. Izumi then ran right up to Yuki, and expertly restrained her. "You're good, Yuki, but not good enough. You kept using the same Jutsus over and over again, and your skills with the kunai knife are adequate, at best." Izumi told her. Yuki angrily grunted because, clearly, she lost.

'Or maybe she intended to lose...?' Izumi thought. She then let go of Yuki, and Yuki went over to where the two boys were standing.

'Something tells me that she knows far more than she's letting on and that she was still holding back against me.' Izumi then thought, looking at Yuki with an appropriate degree of suspicion.

"Sasuke, you're next." Izumi said. Sasuke scoffed, then he walked up to the great big opening, twelve feet away from Izumi. "You told me not to hold back, right?" He asked. "Right." Izumi answered. Sasuke then activated his two-tomoe Sharingan. "Then I hope you won't hold it against me when you lose." He replied.

'Two tomoe...' Izumi thought. Despite this new development (although, not totally unexpected on Izumi's part, given the fact that the Uchiha Massacre happened), Izumi is going to have to hold back, and not show her own Sharingan. Especially since the two of them are the last of their clan (aside from Itachi).

Sasuke started the battle by firing off a single Fireball Jutsu. 'A Fireball Jutsu...' Izumi thought. She dodged the Jutsu, and then ran towards Sasuke, expecting him not to be that much of a challenge. 'Normally, a Genin wouldn't be able to use a Jutsu like that but the Uchiha are, quite naturally, different because we're taught this Jutsu far before they even become a Genin.' Izumi then thought.

She prepared to punch Sasuke, but Sasuke instead turned into a wooden log. 'A Substitution!' Izumi thought. Sasuke then kicked her from behind. Izumi turned around, and began a melee fight with Sasuke. Izumi ended the melee brawl by blocking one of his punches but then, Sasuke starts it back up again by pulling out a single kunai knife, and raising it, preparing to strike Izumi with it. Izumi dodged the attack, and pulled out her own kunai knife and then, she used that kunai knife to block many of Sasuke's other attacks before she disappeared using the Teleportation Jutsu. Sasuke looked around, trying to find her, but he didn't have to look for very long because he found her just standing behind him. Sasuke ran up to her, and swung at her multiple times and she dodged each strike before he attempted to attack again, but as soon as he landed a hit, Izumi disappeared with a POOF!

He was clearly confused, looking everywhere for his Sensei again. And then, Izumi snuck up behind him, and pointed a kunai knife at his throat. "Behind you." Izumi said. Sasuke was startled. Izumi put away her kunai knife, and Sasuke turned around. "You're also quite skilled, but you're too easy to read. I could tell what your next move would be, even without my Sharingan." Izumi then told him. What she didn't tell him was that she could tell what his moves were going to be because they were the exact same moves Itachi used whenever both Itachi and herself sparred. She just didn't want to remind him of Itachi since that would make him think about revenge again. Sasuke deactivates his Sharingan, and goes back to the sideline to join his fellow Genin.

"Naruto, it's your turn." Izumi said. Naruto looked nervous and just kind of froze. But Sasuke pushed him forward, and Naruto went ahead anyway.

'Thank you, Sasuke.' Izumi thought. Naruto walked to a spot twelve feet away from Izumi, and waited for the spar to begin.

"Are you ready?" Izumi asked. Naruto gulped, and then said, "Y-Yes."

"Go!" Izumi shouted. Izumi ran up to him, and Naruto simply did one hand sign, and shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" And then, dozens of other Narutos appeared around him. 'So it's true...he really can use the Shadow Clone Jutsu.' Izumi thought. The Naruto clones ran up to her while the real Naruto just stood back.

The clones then started fighting Izumi with only their fists. They gave her a good fight due to their sheer numbers but she could see that Naruto's Taijutsu style is unrefined and undisciplined, almost like he's boxing instead of fighting an actual ninja. 'This is the Son of the Fourth Hokage?!' Izumi jokingly thought.

Once she defeated all of Naruto's clones with a single hit (because that's how simple and easy it was), Naruto simply fired off more Shadow Clones, and they all rushed her again. And they were all so easily defeated again. And then, after firing off more Shadow Clones for a third time, he tried casting it a fourth time (when it didn't defeat Izumi yet again) but he immediately realized that he was almost out of chakra so now, there was nothing he could do to stop her from running up to him, and restraining him. "That was too easy, Naruto. Your Taijutsu could use some work and you didn't even bother trying any other strategies to fight me. And your Shadow Clones are good, but they're not enough-especially when facing a strong opponent. If you can learn to improve upon your fighting style and maybe learn more Jutsus than just the Shadow Clone Jutsu and vary your attacks, you just might be a force to be reckoned with." Izumi told him as she let him go.

'Though, with how dumb he is, I doubt he listened to any of that. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's too scared to actually fight me. I think I may have to take some extra time with him...' Izumi thought.

"Alright. I think I know you well enough to teach you how to be better. You all have a lot to learn-especially you, Naruto. I suggest more training in between the next time we all meet for more training. Speaking of, tomorrow, I have something a little different in mind for the three of you. Now, with that being said, I think you've had enough for one day. We'll meet tomorrow at nine in the morning. Don't be late." Izumi told them. Sasuke and Yuki then started to walk away from the Uchiha Training Ground and Naruto was about to leave, as well, but Izumi stopped him. "Naruto, I want to talk with you some more."

Naruto turned back around, and said, "Uh...okay."

Naruto walked up to her. "I could tell that you weren't even trying when we fought. Why?" Izumi asked him. "Well...I-I don't know." Naruto answered. "Oh, I think you do." Izumi told him. "I...well, it's kinda complicated." Naruto said. "Go on. I'm listening." Izumi then said. Naruto sighed.

"I remember you even though it's been five years. All the beatings and other bad stuff the villagers did to me...they're all a blur because they happen too often to remember. But I remember you. You were awesome, the way you saved me back then. So I just kinda felt like...if I fought you and-even worse-actually hurt you, that wouldn't be very...appreciative of me. You helped me when I was at my worst. And I didn't know what I'd do if I hurt you. Also...you're very pretty." He explained. 'That is very complicated, indeed.' Izumi thought.

"Well, like I said, I could take it. Do you remember that, at least?" She joked. Naruto chuckled.

"More to the point, I'm a Jonin so I'd be a pretty poor Jonin if I could be seriously hurt by kids like you. And above all, I'm your Sensei so staying alive-if at all possible-is important, too. And it's for those reasons that I don't want you to hold back against me." Izumi continued. She sighed.

"The sad truth is, I've seen many Genin die because they held back or they weren't willing to kill. Not that I agree with killing others, but even I understand when killing is necessary and when it's not. So next time, please don't go easy on me. In fact, being your best in battle is all the thanks I could ask for. Death is no stranger to the average ninja, but my goal is to make sure you live long enough to see your long-term goals be achieved. I want to see you up on top of the Hokage's Tower, looking down at the villagers below, willing to do your best to protect it, not six feet deep in a casket. Do you understand?" Izumi asked. Naruto simply nodded in response.

"Good. Now, it's my understanding that...well, you don't know any other Jutsus, do you?" Izumi asked. "No." Naruto answered. Izumi chuckled. "I thought not." She replied. "Which is why I'm going to give you extra training to improve upon that. You've seen what Yuki and Sasuke can do. Yet, all you can do is make Shadow Clones of yourself. I'm going to hone your Ninjutsu skills with this extra training, so that you're at least on par with your teammates. This training will start tomorrow, after the regular training session."

Naruto confidently smiled. "Right!" He shouted. "That's the spirit!" Izumi said. "Now, go home. I imagine that you'll need to give yourself a huge break before tomorrow. And get a good sleep tonight." "Yes, Mom." He sarcastically said. Izumi chuckled, and told him to leave once more. Naruto turned around, and left the Uchiha Training Ground.

That was when she remembered something. 'I forgot to hand in the papers for Team 7.' She thought. After Kakashi's funeral, she worked nearly all night last night to fill out the paperwork for Team 7. She groaned, unimpressed with herself because she's usually not this lazy.

---

Later, Izumi was in the Hokage's Tower, walking up the stairs to the door to the Hokage's office with the paperwork for Team 7 in hand. Once at said door, she knocked. "Come in." Lord Third called from the other side of the door. Izumi opened the door, and saw Lord Third sitting at his desk. Izumi walked in, and closed the door behind her before walking up to the front of Lord Third's desk. "Oh. Izumi. It's just you. I thought you were..." Lord Third says. "Who, my Lord?" Izumi asked. "Uh...nevermind." Lord Third told her. Izumi didn't question it any further. Instead, she just handed him the paperwork. "Here, Sir. The paperwork making Team 7 official." Izumi said. "You're unusually late coming to me with this." Lord Third stated. "I know. It's a level of incompetence I haven't shown, like, ever." Izumi agreed. "There is no excuse for it." "Do not be too hard on yourself, Izumi. Even I had difficulty with papers like these back when I was a Sensei." Lord Third replied. "You were a Sensei?" Izumi then asked. "Hasn't anyone ever told you?" Lord Third asked in reply. Izumi shook her head. "Hm. Surprising. In any case, I was once the Sensei of the Three Sannin. Back when the three of them were just Genin. This was back when I had recently become Hokage, you must understand. I had to deal with this same paperwork back then which was more frustrating and difficult back then because I had so much other paperwork to do back then. On top of being Hokage in the aftermath of the First Great Ninja War. And let me tell you, being the Sensei of those three was harder because I had to balance my duties as Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village with my duty to my students." Lord Third explained. "I see." Izumi replied.

"Anyway, now that you've met your new students, what are your first impressions of them?" Lord Third asked. "Hmph. To be honest, I hadn't expected to meet Naruto again..." Izumi says. "And...?" Lord Third asks. "He's a good kid with a good heart, really which is surprising, considering his circumstances. But he's a bit too nervous and that may be because of me and my outward act of kindness." Izumi answered. "Act of kindness?" Lord Third then asked. "Five years ago, right before the Uchiha Massacre, I was having a little drink at this stand in the marketplace when I heard some loud voices. I took a look outside, and saw Naruto being beaten by these two villagers. I finished my drink, and went to confront those two villagers. They thought they could beat me up too, but as soon as I had shown them that I'm a Kunoichi, they backed down, and ran away. After that, I helped Naruto up, and we talked for a bit before I walked him home. That was the first and last time I saw him before I became his Jonin-Sensei." Izumi explained. "That was very nice of you." Lord Third remarked. "Naruto thought so, too. Which was why he held back against me when we fought." Izumi replied. "Is that so?" Lord Third questioned. "He told me so himself. I explained to him why he shouldn't hold back the next time we spar and assured him I wouldn't be seriously hurt because...well, if I was hurt by whatever a snot-nosed kid did to me, I wouldn't be a good Jonin, now, would I?" Izumi answered. Lord Third laughed. "I guess not." He agreed.

"As for his skills as a fighter...he has a lot to learn-moreso than his teammates, I might add. And as far as Ninjutsu goes, he only has the Shadow Clone Jutsu. I saw that when he used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to temporarily stop me from handing his ass to him-which I, of course, did. His Taijutsu had no refinement nor any true technique. He fights like a boxer, not a ninja is what I'm saying. And not even Shadow Clones could account for that fact. He needs more training than what I can give Yuki and Sasuke. Which is why I've decided to give him extra lessons. He simply needs more attention and more work and I am willing and prepared to give him that as his Sensei." Izumi told The Hokage. "Some would argue that would be showing favoritism and would be unfair to your other students." Lord Third said. "But he isn't in his teammates' league. I bet that if I pitted Naruto and Sasuke in a spar, Sasuke would win-most definitely." Izumi countered. "Indeed. That has been determined already in their Taijutsu classes. I guess it would be only fair to get him caught up." Lord Third replied. "Does that mean you aren't against the idea?" Izumi asked. "Yes. Few people recognize Naruto's potential and raw power-both of which have been untapped as of yet. You and I are among those people. So who am I to disagree with such an idea?" Lord Third told her.

"Speaking of disagreements, you should tread carefully when it comes to Naruto. During your most recent training session, my advisors had come to me with concerns about your placement as Team 7's leader." Lord Third said in a rather warning tone-of-voice. "Did they say why?" Izumi asked. "Yes. It's because you're an Uchiha and because of that, you naturally possess the Sharingan. Part of the reason for the disputes with the Uchiha Clan stem from the Nine-Tails Incident. Both councils suspected that an Uchiha was behind the attack. It was very unusual for the Nine-Tails to attack the village of its own accord, especially since it's previous Jinchuriki was none other than the Fourth Hokage's wife. We doubted that Kushina, herself, would've wanted to attack the village, after all." Lord Third answered. 'Kushina Uzumaki...the Wife of the Fourth Hokage and the Mother of Naruto.' Izumi thought. "What would the Sharingan have to do with that attack?" Izumi then asked. "The Sharingan is one of the few things that can control or tame the Tailed Beasts. To anyone possessing the Sharingan, the strength of the Tailed Beasts could be a powerful weapon. Especially so for the Nine-Tails since it's the strongest of all nine Tailed Beasts." Lord Third also answered. "But that is why I put you on Team 7 in the first place-aside from the fact that it's what Kakashi would've wanted. With the power of the Sharingan, you have the greatest chance of stopping Naruto should the power of the Nine-Tails leak out in any way, shape or form. And, to be frank, there are not very many Leaf Ninjas who know any Sealing Jutsus and those that do wouldn't be as effective at the job of maintaining the seal, and keeping the Nine-Tails from coming out. It is for this reason that you must keep a leash on Naruto. I would hate to see him treated as a weapon by the likes of Danzo." "I understand, Sir. But...couldn't he, at some point, control the Nine-Tails' power and use it for himself?" Izumi asked.

"He could. And that's probably why the Fourth Hokage sealed The Fox inside him." Lord Third answered. "But, as it now stands, he is not ready yet." "So does that mean it's true, Sir? What everyone has been whispering about him?" Izumi asked, acting like she doesn't already know that Naruto's the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki and that Naruto is the Fourth Hokage's Son. "I'm afraid so. It's the reason why most people in the village seem to hate and fear him so much. Not that a ninja village's population hating and fearing a Jinchuriki is particularly new, but I digress. See what you can do about honing Naruto's own skills as a ninja." Lord Third told her. "Right. Before we get onto Yuki and Sasuke, I have just one more question." Izumi said. "What is it?" Lord Third asked. "Why is it that the Shadow Clone Jutsu is the only Jutsu he knows?" Izumi asked in reply. "He knows so few Ninjutsus because he barely has any chakra control. Any time he tries building up his chakra, too much comes out all at once, and whatever Jutsu he tries to cast inevitably fails." Lord Third answered. "Is there any reason for that?" Izumi then asked. "No one has bothered to answer that, I'm afraid. So we can only make educated guesses. For example, I think that there are two reasons for it: it's either because of the Nine-Tails' chakra overtaking and overpowering Naruto's own chakra or it's because of the seal that the Fourth Hokage placed on him, which is suppressing Naruto's chakra." Lord Third answered. "But no one's ever cared enough about Naruto to test those theories, so it remains a complete mystery." 'Well, overcoming that or compensating for it sounds like it'll be a difficult task-assuming that Lord Hokage's theories are correct.' Izumi thought.

"In that case, for all we know, those could just be assumptions." Izumi said. "Right." Lord Third replied. "Now, onto Yuki..." "As for Yuki Nohara...she seems to be holding back, but not for the same reason Naruto held back. I honestly think that she knows more than she's letting on. Even more than a regular Genin should know. But I don't know why she would be doing that." Izumi reported. "Interesting. The more we know about her, the more questions there are." Lord Third commented. "She also seems to have some sort of interest in Naruto. Whether she wants to marry or kill him, I can't say." Izumi added. "And what about Sasuke?" Lord Third asked. "He's...different. Different than he was before the Massacre. Before Itachi killed almost everyone in the clan, he was happier, eager to please and meet the expectations every other Uchiha gave him. He was a bundle of joy, you could say. Now, he's...distant. He acts like he doesn't care about anyone or anything and...whenever I see him, I see this...darkness. This hatred that he clearly doesn't make obvious, but I could almost...sense it, if that makes any sense." Izumi answered.

"Indeed. The Uchiha Massacre has had its effects on many people, yourself included." Lord Third said. "Believe me, I know that better than anyone, Lord Hokage. I think the only one who was more saddened, instead of angered-like Sasuke-by the Massacre than the two of us would be Kakashi. I remembered the sad look he gave the Bingo Book, probably looking at Itachi's entry. And myself...I still miss my Mother and everyone else who was important to me-especially Satsuki. But I've gotten over my grief long ago. Although, clearly, it seems that Sasuke hasn't." Izumi agreed. "As for Sasuke's fighting skills and Ninjutsu skills...it seems that all he can do is repeat the same moves over and over again. And because of that, I could read his moves without the use of my Sharingan. And like Naruto, it seems that the only Ninjutsu he can use is the Fireball Jutsu. An advanced Jutsu for any Genin to know, to be completely certain, but he's an Uchiha, just like me. He also seems to act like just an arrogant little punk, too. But I doubt he thinks of it that way. I guess the only positive thing I can say about Sasuke at the moment is that he's got a two-tomoe Sharingan. I thought I was going to have to teach him about it later on." "Then it sounds like Naruto is not the only one who will be a challenge for you. I daresay they may be more difficult than my own students." Lord Third assessed. "In any case, good work bringing these papers to me. But don't be so late with things like this in the future." "I won't, Lord Hokage." Izumi acknowledged. "Good. You're dismissed." Lord Third told her.

Izumi turned around, and walked out of the room.

Afterwards, Danzo came out of the shadows to Lord Third's right. "Are you sure the Nohara Girl is the only one who can't be trusted?" He asked. "I knew Koharu and Homura would bring you into this. It was only a matter of time. And of course, you don't trust her. She came out of the Uchiha Massacre-which you caused

-alive and without the other half of the Nine-Tails's chakra inside her." Lord Third replied. "She told you about that, did she?" Danzo asked. "She did. If that tells us anything, it's not that she can't keep a secret-which she can-it tells us that she trusts me more than she trusts the likes of you." Lord Third told him. "Let's just cut right to the chase, shall we?" Danzo then asked. Lord Third slightly smirked, knowing that Danzo gets straight-to-the-point whenever he can't argue with whatever point Lord Third made. "The Uchiha Girl can't be trusted around the Jinchuriki." "Koharu and Homura made a similar point. Perhaps you heard me mention that when you were eavesdropping on the conversation Izumi and I were having just now. In any case, I already stated my reasons for putting her with Naruto. While the Sharingan may be used to tame the Nine-Tails, and use it as a powerful weapon, it is also a way to suppress the Nine-Tails' chakra should that chakra boil to the surface within Naruto. Also, I think Kakashi would've liked it if I placed her with Naruto." Lord Third argued. "There you go again, Sarutobi. Always making decisions with your heart..." Danzo says. "I don't need advice from a warmonger like you, who caused the genocide of the Uchiha Clan. You're honestly lucky that I didn't punish you more harshly. And I just might if you don't get out of my office, and go back home." Lord Third angrily told him, annoyed by Danzo's paranoia. Danzo scoffed.

He walked over to the door, and, before he left, he said, "Oh, and just so you know, the Foundation has nothing to do with the Nohara Girl being placed on Team 7." "I figured that would be the case." Lord Third replied. After that, Danzo left the room.

---

Later that night, Danzo was sitting on a tatami mat inside his house, waiting for one of his agents to arrive. And of course, the agent did. It was a masked ninja with a beige-colored hooded cloak who used the Teleportation Jutsu to appear to Danzo's left. "Do you have any further intel you can give me on that Nohara Girl?" Danzo asked. "Only that she seems to have a vested interest in the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki." The masked ninja answered. Danzo already knew that bit, of course, from Lord Hokage's conversation with the Uchiha Girl, which he overheard, but he's not going to tell his agent about that because he doesn't have to. "Anything else...?" Danzo asks. "We've had agents follow the members of the Anbu who were investigating her background, and her family says that they haven't seen her in years. Apparently, she was kidnapped six years ago, according to her parents' recollection." The masked ninja answered. "Was the kidnapping ever investigated?" Danzo asked. "Her parents said that they tried going to the Hidden Leaf Police about it at the time, but all they said was that they didn't have the authority to investigate such a matter." The masked ninja answered.

"Hm. Maybe if the Uchiha hadn't tried to attempt a coup, they would've had the authority." Danzo commented.

"Keep an eye on the Jinchuriki. As much as we like to disagree, both Sarutobi and I have an interest in keeping it safe. And if this Nohara Girl becomes a threat to it, kill her." Danzo ordered. "Yes, Lord Danzo." The masked ninja said before disappearing using the Teleportation Jutsu.

The next day, Izumi had all three of her students gathered in that same opening in the Uchiha Training Grounds at nine in the morning. "So. What's this surprise, Izumi-Sensei?" Naruto asked. Izumi got three chakra papers out from her pocket, and said, "We're going to discover what your chakra affinity is." "What's a chakra affinity?" Naruto asked. "I'm glad you asked that, Naruto." Izumi said.

She then went on to concisely explain what chakra affinities are in a way that Naruto could understand it.

"Oh. That's what it is." Naruto said. "Hmph. You're such a loser." Sasuke muttered under his breath. Yuki simply chuckled.

"Now that that's all over and done with, let me explain the exercise. These are chakra papers. When I give you the chakra papers, you will hold them, and infuse them with just enough of your chakra to achieve the desired effect. Which is...well, it's based on your affinity. If you have a lightning affinity, for example, the paper will wrinkle up. And if you have a wind affinity, the paper will split into two halves. If you have a fire affinity, the paper will ignite, and turn into ash. If you have an earth affinity, the paper will turn to dirt, and crumble away. And lastly, if you have a water affinity, the paper will become wet or damp." Izumi told them.

Izumi walked up to her three students, and handed each of them a single chakra paper. She then walked back over to her original position, and got another chakra paper from her pocket. "Let me demonstrate." She told them.

Izumi infused the chakra paper with her own chakra, and the paper became wet. "See?" She asked.

The Genin all looked at her like they understood.

"Alright, then. The exercise will begin now." Izumi told them.

Sasuke infused his paper with his chakra, and the paper wrinkled. Izumi walked up to him, and said, "Interesting." "What's so interesting about it?" Sasuke asked her. "The Uchiha usually have fire affinities." Izumi answered. "But yours is different too." Sasuke argued. "Thing is, I'm not wholly an Uchiha. My Mother was an Uchiha, but my Father wasn't. My Father was a Shinobi from a civilian clan who had a water affinity. You're a pure-blood Uchiha, however. Your case should remain the same." Izumi explained. "So maybe I am different. What of it?" Sasuke then asked. Izumi scoffed, rolled her eyes, and then turned towards Yuki, whose paper had wrinkled just like Sasuke's. 'Interesting...' Izumi thought.

"Why isn't anything happening?!" Naruto shouted. Izumi turned towards Naruto, and saw that nothing indeed happened to his chakra paper. 'Good grief...' Izumi thought. She is beginning to sense a pattern with Naruto. She walked up to him, and said, "Maybe you're just not infusing it with enough chakra." "Then maybe, I'll give it some more!" Naruto shouted. "No, Naruto! That will make the paper explode. You must instead find a balance." Izumi told him. Naruto took a deep breath, and said, "Okay..."

He infused it with his chakra, and the paper ignited, and turned to ash. Naruto was startled by the paper's ignition because he thought it was going to burn his hand. But nothing happened. Izumi chuckled. "W-What, did I put too much chakra in it or something?" Naruto asked. "No, Naruto." Izumi said while chuckling. "You did it just fine. In fact, because your paper ignited, we now know that you have a fire affinity. Although, I will admit I'm a little surprised by fire being your affinity." Izumi then said. "Why?" Naruto asked.

'Kushina's affinity was water and the Fourth Hokage's affinity was wind.' Izumi thought. 'Though, I can't tell him about that.'

"Uh...nevermind, Naruto. You did well, despite your frustration. I'm impressed." Izumi said.

Izumi then walked back over to her original spot where she was just standing, and thought, 'Okay. Now I know what I'll need to do to train these three going forwards.'

"Good job. Now that we are well-acquainted with our affinities, let's try honing the skills we already have before learning anything else. Yuki, I need you to practice your Lightning Ball Jutsu. Sasuke, as I said yesterday, you need to work on your skills with the kunai knife. You're already pretty good, but you could be better. Naruto, let's focus on your Shadow Clone Jutsu." Izumi instructed.

"Alright, Sensei." Yuki said blithely before walking over to a practice range with a lot of practice dummies. Sasuke walked over to a tree to practice hitting it with his kunai knife.

"Right!" Naruto shouted. Naruto walked over to another part of the clearing, turned towards Izumi, and asked, "Alright, then, so what do I do?"

Izumi turned to Naruto, and said, "Try making clones, and having them fight each other. Shadow Clones are mostly used for intel gathering because they all share a telepathic link with each other and the original so as soon as one is defeated or goes away for a completely different reason, the information that the clone gained could be immediately transferred into the original's mind. So using them in this way could be a way to learn a thing or two." "Oh, I get it!" Naruto shouted.

Naruto made the hand sign, and shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" And dozens of clones appeared around him. He explained their assignment, and they all started fighting as the original just stood off to the side of their brawl, and watched.

Izumi chuckled because it was kinda funny seeing multiple copies of Naruto fighting each other while the real Naruto just stands and watches.

Izumi then just walked over to a tree near a forest in the Uchiha Training Grounds before leaning against it, folding her arms and watching her three students train.

---

After Team 7's training session, Sasuke and Yuki went home while Izumi had Naruto stay behind. "So...what's our first lesson?" Naruto asked. "I'm going to teach you a new Jutsu." Izumi answered. Naruto got visibly excited. "Now, don't get your hopes up too high. This is an advanced Jutsu that not very many Genin are taught because, well, it's usually not within the skill level of a rookie Genin." "Then why-" "Because I think you're capable of it all the same. In fact, I'd say that you, more than anyone, may have a chance at actually successfully learning this Jutsu." Izumi answered, interrupting Naruto.

"Come with me." Izumi told him.

She took him to a small lake with a little dock. Naruto looked like he recognized the place. "What is it, Naruto?" Izumi asked. "It's just...I remember this place." Naruto answered. "You do?" Izumi then asked. "Yeah." Naruto answered. "Why?" Izumi questioned. Naruto turned towards a path at the top of a hill overlooking the small lake, pointed at it, and said, "I would walk down that path sometimes. And one day, I saw Sasuke sitting at the end of that dock, looking all moody and depressed." 'Must have been after the Massacre...' Izumi thought.

"Well, now's not the time for reminiscing. There's a Jutsu you need to learn." Izumi told him. She walked him over to the end of the dock, and they just stood there, side-by-side as Izumi weaved together six hand signs, and thought, 'Fire-Style: Fireball Jutsu!' And then, a large round-shaped stream of fire expelled from Izumi's mouth, and made the water below boil as though the lake were a pot of water on a stove instead of a lake. It looked to Naruto as though she were actually breathing the fire like a dragon or a monster from those ancient fairytales.

She then stopped the flames immediately.

"What was that?" Naruto asked. "That was called the Fireball Jutsu." Izumi answered. "Fireball Jutsu? But you were breathing fire, not shooting it from your mouth." Naruto said. "Yeah, well, I guess that was what it looked like to my ancestors and the name just...stuck." Izumi replied, agreeing with Naruto. "In any case, every child in the Uchiha Clan-those that want to be ninjas, at least, are taught this Jutsu before they even become Genin. Sasuke was no exception to this." "So what's it used for?" Naruto then asked. "It's supposed to hit enemies from a short range-like, let's say...five meters." Izumi answered. "Five meters at most, to be specific." "Cool." Naruto commented.

She then taught him how to cast the Jutsu.

"Now, you try it." Izumi told him. Naruto tried using the Jutsu, only for a single ember to come out of his mouth. "Wha...why can't I do it like you did?" Naruto asked. "Because you didn't put enough chakra into it. You'd need more." Izumi told him.

And so, he tried again. And again. And again. And on the fourth try, his mouth got burned. "Are you okay?" Izumi asked. "I-I can manage." Naruto answered. "Alright. Keep in mind: your mouth can get burned when practicing this Jutsu so don't practice it without me around, do you understand?" Izumi asked. Naruto simply nodded in response.

"Good." Izumi said. She then treated his burn before he tried the Jutsu once more. Once the exercise was done, he only got to the point where he could breathe a stream of fire instead of an ember. It wasn't as big as Izumi's version of the Jutsu just yet, but he's still learning the Jutsu. That's what's important. "Good job." Izumi then told him. "You did well. Now, go home. It's getting late." "Yes, Sensei. Oh, and, thank you for teaching me this Jutsu." Naruto replied. "You're welcome." Izumi simply said.

Naruto then turned around, walked back across the dock, and then, he turned right, and walked away. 'You still have much to learn, Naruto Uzumaki...' Izumi thought.

Izumi later spent the rest of the night thinking of the next lesson she'll teach them.

---

The next day, Izumi just had them do physical training. No Ninjutsus or Genjutsus, just pure melee fighting. Izumi would've preferred to do this in a one-on-one setting with Naruto, but she realizes that her own skills far outweighs Naruto's as a fighter and in the use of the kunai knife or other ninja tools. It wouldn't be particularly fair if Naruto lost fights all the time.

"Alright...Naruto, Yuki, you're first." Izumi told them. Sasuke scoffed as the two walked into the opening on the Uchiha Training Grounds while Izumi just stood off to the side to referee for the spar.

"I hope you're not afraid of losing." Yuki quipped. "Oh, please, I won't lose." Naruto replied. "And...begin!" Izumi shouted.

Yuki ran towards him, and started punching and kicking him. Naruto did his best to dodge and block her strikes, but she got a few good licks in. Naruto then blocked her next attack, and kicked her away from him. Yuki backflipped several times afterwards to keep herself from hitting the ground.

"You clearly have no idea how to fight like a Shinobi." Yuki commented. 'And that's exactly why this exercise is happening.' Izumi thought.

Yuki dashed towards him again, and karate chopped his chest forty-four times before kicking him for good measure. "Won't lose, eh?" Yuki asked. She then backflipped several times again. 'What's she going to do...?' Izumi thought.

Out of nowhere, Yuki shouted, "Water Shuriken Jutsu!" "Wait, no!" Izumi shouted. But it was too late. She threw three water shurikens at him. Naruto looked scared as though he didn't know what to do. 'Knowing him, he probably doesn't know what to do in this situation.' Izumi then thought.

Naruto dodged the first two water shurikens, but he still wasn't prepared for the third one. Izumi quickly jumped in front of Naruto, and weaved together seven hand signs before slamming her right hand on the ground, and shouting, "Earth-Style: Mud Wall!" And then, a huge wall made of earth rose up from the ground in between Izumi and Yuki, and blocked the last water shuriken. After that, the wall went back down into the ground. "Whew! Thank you for that, Izumi-Sensei." Naruto said. He then dropped to the ground, looking tired.

Izumi walked up to Yuki, and asked, "What the Hell was that!? You could've killed him!" "Sorry. I guess I got carried away." Yuki replied. "When you're just sparring against an ally, you're not supposed to get carried away." Izumi told her. "Sorry." Yuki lazily said. "If you pull a stunt like that again, we won't be sparring for the next week." Izumi threatened. "Yes, Sensei." Yuki acknowledged. "Good. Now, we're done with sparring for today. Try practicing the Taijutsus I already taught you over there." Izumi instructed, gesturing towards the training dummies off to the side. "Can't we take a break, Izumi-Sensei?" Naruto asked. "You can, for sure. But make it quick! The enemy won't give you longer than a few minutes, at most." Izumi told him. And just like that, Naruto got up, and then he and Yuki walked over to the small field of training dummies, and started practicing their melee fighting with the dummies while Izumi turned towards the field, and just watched with folded arms.

Sasuke walked up to her, and asked, "Why didn't you pick me first?" "Why do you ask?" Izumi asked in reply. "Everyone else pits me against Naruto despite the fact that they know that he's just going to lose." Sasuke answered. "It's for that very reason that I picked Yuki as his opponent instead. I feel like it wouldn't be particularly fair to Naruto if he just lost all the time-especially since he's lost so much already." Izumi answered. "Of course, he must take some losses, to be sure, that's how a young rookie Genin like you grows into a more capable and stronger ninja. But what's the point or the fun in losing all the time?" "Hmph. I see." Sasuke replied. "Also, I didn't expect her to try to kill Naruto, either." Izumi added. "Neither did I." Sasuke also replied. "Is that all you wanted to know?" Izumi asked. Sasuke didn't respond and instead walked into that little field to join the rest of his teammates.

"Thought so." Izumi muttered.

Then, after Team 7's training session, Izumi led Naruto back to that dock and that lake to practice the Fireball Jutsu some more. And just like last night, he had some difficulty, but he was also slowly progressing. And then, by the fifth night, he finally succeeded in casting the Fireball Jutsu. His success made the two of them smile. "Well done!" Izumi shouted. She then held up a hand, and said, "High-Five!"

He jumped up, and gave her a high-five.

Next, she taught him new Taijutsu moves that were more the style that every Uchiha is taught from a young age. And they practiced this for the next six nights just so that it's all ingrained in his memory since he doesn't have the Sharingan to copy her moves with.

And on the seventh night..."I think you might just be ready for something more simple than the Fireball Jutsu." Izumi told him. "What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "Watch this..." Izumi answers. She walked up to a tree, and infused her right fist with fire chakra, and shouted, "Fire-Style: Fire Punch!" And then, her right fist burst into flames, and hit the tree and then, the tree lit on fire. And then, Izumi weaved together three hand signs, and thought, 'Water-Style: Raging Waves!' And then a stream of water shot from her mouth, and doused the tree's flames before it could erupt into a forest fire. "My version of it may have been a lot more intense than how I want you to cast the Jutsu, but you get the idea." Izumi then told him. "What were those Jutsus?" Naruto then asked. "I mean, I saw Yuki cast that second one before, but I don't know it's name." "The first one is the Fire Punch Jutsu, a Fire-Style Ninjutsu and Taijutsu meant for enemies coming at you from a close range. The second one is a Water-Style Ninjutsu called the Raging Waves Jutsu. The Raging Waves Jutsu is almost like the Fireball Jutsu, except it's supposed to come out as a straight stream of water instead of one big ball-shaped stream, like with the Fireball Jutsu." Izumi explained. "Which one was I supposed to learn?" Naruto questioned. "The Fire Punch Jutsu. It's a simple one because it's a D-Rank Jutsu. I assume they taught you about Jutsu rankings at the Academy...?" Izumi asks. "Uh...I think so." Naruto answered. 'So that means he hasn't.' Izumi thought.

Izumi sighed. Izumi then concisely explained it all to him because she didn't want to confuse him when she says what she's going to say next,

"...which is why Jutsus like the Fire Punch Jutsu are given the D-Rank. They're simple and any rookie Genin can learn them." Izumi stated. "So what rank is the Fireball Jutsu?" Naruto asked. "C-Rank. C-Rank Jutsus are usually reserved for more experienced Genin and newly-promoted Chunin." Izumi answered. "Then why was I taught the Fireball Jutsu?" Naruto then asked. "Simply because I correctly guessed that you could do it. Now, before we try anything else like the Fireball Jutsu, I just want to go over something simplistic like the Fireball Jutsu just so that I can assess how you've grown in these nightly lessons." Izumi answered. "What do you mean by that?" Naruto questioned. "Your teachers have said that your Ninjutsu skills are non-existent because any time they tried teaching you a D-Ranked or E-Ranked Jutsu, you'd fail every time. It's why you've failed the final exams three years in a row. I figured that you may be capable of more advanced Jutsus instead. And I was right. Sure, your skill with the Fireball Jutsu took some work, but we kept trying, and you nailed it better than you did when they had you casting Substitutions and simple Clone Jutsus back at the Academy. In a shorter span of time, too. And now that you've learned the Fireball Jutsu, it may be time to go back to something simpler before trying anything else." Izumi clarified. "I...I get it." Naruto said, looking like he only understood half of what she said. "Now, let's see if you can try the Jutsu. Infuse your right hand-or whichever hand you think is best to punch with-with chakra, and then try punching the tree." Izumi instructed.

Naruto nodded, walked up to the tree next to the one Izumi punched, infused his right hand with chakra, and tried punching it once. But it didn't have the intended effect. His fist didn't burst into flames, and he only ended up hurting himself by punching the tree so hard. "Why didn't it work?" Naruto asked. "Well...that can happen to those who try the Jutsu for the first time. Perhaps trying again will help...?" Izumi asks. Naruto confidently nodded, and tried punching the tree with a chakra-infused right fist. He only succeeded on the sixth try. "Amazing..." Izumi remarks. "What is?" Naruto then asked. "I expected this to take more than one day but you...you've done it." Izumi answered. "But there's only a burn mark on that tree that's shaped like my fist." Naruto said. "And that's the intended outcome. Like I said, your attempt at the Jutsu shouldn't be as intense as when I did it...not yet, at least because that Jutsu can cause a massive fire that could grow out of control in no time and we don't want that. Especially if you don't intend on using the Jutsu to kill your enemy." Izumi explained. "Oh..." Naruto says, looking like he understood the assignment. "Now, you can practice this Jutsu with me, during one of Team 7's training sessions or on your own, but you must control how much chakra you infuse into that fist because the increase in chakra increases the intensity of the flames, just like the Fireball Jutsu. Again, we don't want to cause an accidental fire." Izumi told him. Naruto nodded in response. "Alright, then. We're done for tonight. Go home." Izumi then told him. And he then did just that. Izumi smiled because he's steadily progressing.

---

The next time Team 7 assembled in the Uchiha Training Grounds, Izumi had her students try sparring against each other.

"Naruto, Yuki, you're up first just like last time. And this time, Yuki, I want you to go at him without trying to kill him." Izumi told them. "Aww, now, that's too bad." Yuki joked. "Just do what she says." Sasuke told Yuki in a rather annoyed tone of voice.

Izumi stood off to the side as both Yuki and Naruto stood six feet away from each other, preparing to fight and Sasuke was just watching from a nearby tree he was leaning against which was behind Izumi.

"Alright. Are you ready?" Izumi asked. Both Yuki and Naruto nodded while still staring at one another, probably trying to figure out what the other's going to do first.

"Then BEGIN!" Izumi yelled. The two of them ran towards each other, and started melee fighting. Izumi is proud that she spent all those nights teaching him Taijutsu that were ripped straight from Izumi's own training. 'Look at him...' Izumi proudly thought as she watched Naruto land a solid karate chop on Yuki. '...he's grown so much.' She then looked up, and thought, 'I'm sure you would've liked to see this, Kakashi.' She then looked back down again to continue watching the fight. "I see you've gotten better." Yuki said while blocking some of Naruto's attacks. "But 'better' is not the same as 'good enough'." Yuki then punched him several times. She was about to punch him once again, but he blocked it, and said, "Are you sure about that?" He then counter attacked, and threw her across the opening.

After that, Yuki got back up. "Okay. I'll give you that, at least." Yuki then said. 'Naruto just might finally be a challenge for someone like her. And for Sasuke, too.' Izumi thought. Yuki ran up to Naruto, and Naruto braced himself for another fight. She fought back with numerous kicks, and Naruto blocked all those kicks before kicking her himself. Naruto then swiftly knocked her down with a punch, a kick and a karate chop. "The fight is over! Naruto wins!" Izumi announced. Naruto helped her back up, and then they bowed, and did the unison sign.

After that, Naruto happily did a victory lap around the opening. "Alright. Yuki, you go back over there, wait for your next turn. Sasuke, you're up next." Izumi instructed. Yuki walked over to where Sasuke's standing, and Sasuke walked up to the field. Naruto froze upon seeing Sasuke walk onto the field. "Huh? Sasuke?!" Naruto asked. Sasuke sighed. "Don't worry. I'll go easy on you." Sasuke lied. The two stood six feet apart, and faced each other. "Alright. This is going to be a one-on-one fight. You know the rules-no kunai knives, no shurikens and no Jutsus aside from Taijutsus. We don't want or need anyone to die today. Anyone who disobeys these rules will get no spars for the next week. The key to victory is to knock your opponent down. When the spar is done, both opponents will walk up to each other, and make the unison sign as. Is. Tradition. Now, without further ado...is everyone ready?" Izumi asked. Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded while staring at each other, just like Naruto had done before with Yuki.

"Then...BEGIN!" Izumi yelled. Naruto ran up to Sasuke, and started karate chopping him, but Sasuke blocked each of his attacks. Sasuke then unleashed his own flurry of attacks once he thought he had an opening, but Naruto blocked his attacks. Each punch, kick or karate chop was easily blocked by both of the young Shinobi. 'They're equals, now.' Izumi thought. Then, both of them launched their own flurry of karate chops that were blocked by one another. 'Perhaps too equal.' Izumi then thought.

In the end, after a long eleven minutes, the two of them punched each other so hard that they were both knocked down to the ground by each other's strike. "The fight is over!" Izumi announced. "It's a tie!"

Both Sasuke and Naruto stood back up, and walked up to each other to bow, and make the unison sign. "Good work, Naruto. Naruto, Sasuke, you go take a break. Yuki, you're up next after their break's over." Izumi said.

After a ten-minute break, Yuki and Sasuke went onto the field. Naruto just sat back and watched while Izumi stood off to the side, acting as a referee just like before. Yuki and Sasuke then went to stand ten feet away from each other then faced each other.

"Are you ready?" Izumi asked. Both Yuki and Sasuke nodded while still staring at each other.

"Then...BEGIN!" Izumi yelled.

The two of them ran up to each other, and started melee fighting. Yuki effortlessly blocked each of Sasuke's strikes while, surprisingly, Sasuke was getting hit more often than not. He was still putting up a good fight against her, though. He got some good hits in but it wasn't enough. Ultimately, five minutes in, Yuki knocked him down. "Alright! Fight's over! Yuki is the winner!" Izumi announced. Yuki walked up to Sasuke, and helped him get back up. "Almost had you there, didn't I?" Sasuke asked. "Stuff it, loverboy. You're not the one I'm after." Yuki told him. "Is that right? Thank Kami, then. You seem to be the only girl who's resistant to my 'charms'." Sasuke remarked. "Oh, tell me about it. It's like they're all hypnotized by you." Yuki replied. Izumi cleared her throat, and said, "Aren't you going to make the unison sign at any point in time?" "Oh yes. Forgot about that." Yuki said. Both Yuki and Sasuke bowed, and made the unison sign before going back to sitting in the shade of the trees with Naruto.

Izumi turned around, and walked up to the three of them. "Excellent work. You went out there, and gave it your all. I'm impressed." Izumi told them. "Now, we're done for today. You can all go home now but before you do, I must tell you that we're meeting at Training Ground Three tomorrow. At five in the morning. And skip breakfast." "Why?" Naruto asked. "Because I have a training exercise planned for you that might be so horrifying that you might puke up whatever you ate." Izumi answered. Naruto gulped in fear.

While Yuki and Sasuke were walking out of the Uchiha Training Grounds, Naruto stayed behind with Izumi. "Do you have any new Jutsus to teach me? Do you? Do you? What about that Raging Waves Jutsu?" Naruto asked. "Calm down, Naruto! One question at a time!" Izumi shouted. Naruto took a deep breath. "There we go. As for the Raging Waves question, I'm sorry. I can't teach it to you. Not yet, anyway." Izumi answered. "Why?" Naruto asked. "Because it's a C-Ranked Jutsu." Izumi then answered. "But you taught me the Fireball Jutsu." Naruto said. "You'll-You'll understand at some other point in time. For now, just go home. I have nothing for you tonight." Izumi told him. "Okay..." Naruto says, looking defeated.

'I wish I could teach him about changes in chakra forms and chakra natures right now but the sad truth is, he's not yet ready for that advanced bit of knowledge just yet.' Izumi thought, watching Naruto walk out of the Uchiha Training Grounds looking sad.

---

Later that night, Izumi was finally able to go to bed. She was at home, in bed, dressed in nothing but a black pair of shorts and a comfortable crop top that would make any man want her. But it is for that reason that she doesn't often dress like that in public.

That and the constant nightmares about Itachi fucking her or Itachi coming back to fuck her again although this time in a non-consensual way. It was the kind of nightmare she's having right now.

"No, Itachi! Stop!" Izumi screamed in her dream, in which she was naked, laying on her bed with Itachi fucking her with that cold stare he always gave everyone else. Also, in that dream, it was a cold, stormy, and windy night.

"YOU MURDERER!" Izumi screamed. The nightmare ended when he came in her pussy, and pulled out. Itachi then got off of her, stood up, turned towards the door, somehow got in his Anbu uniform, and ran out of the room. And he left Izumi shivering and with blood coming out of her vagina instead of semen. As soon as Izumi died in the nightmare, Izumi woke up.

"Itachi!" She shouted as she jolted upwards. She calmed down, looked down, and saw that she wasn't actually naked. Izumi breathed a sigh of relief, and laid back down.

'It was just a dream...or nightmare...like always.' Izumi thought. Nightmares like these often fuck up her chances at ever falling in love with anyone ever. The closest she's been to falling in love with someone was when Kakashi was alive. She had always wanted to ask him out, but she knew that it wouldn't be right because he's much older than her. And now that he's dead, she has no chance to ask him out in the future.

'So much for a good night's sleep.' Izumi thought.

Izumi decided not to go back to sleep because anytime she does go back, the nightmare starts back up again. And so, Izumi got up even though it's still dark out, walked over to her closet, and took off the clothes she'd been sleeping in, and put her normal ninja outfit on before equipping herself with her ninja gear.

After that, she went downstairs to her living room, and then walked to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, and then walked over to the dining table to sit down, and drink her tea. She looked out the nearby window, seeing the moon and a bit of the Uchiha Compound, which she was still living in after all this time.

The Uchiha Compound still looked as lifeless and empty as it ever did after the Massacre. The sight of it constantly depresses her because of that fact. The only reason she's been able to get past that depression and stay instead of moving out is because this was her childhood home and because Sasuke's still alive and staying at the compound, too.

Izumi sighed because whenever she looked at the compound, all she saw was the lives that were lost. 'I know The Hokage essentially told me to not be sad that they're gone and instead be happy that they were here, but how can you do that when it wasn't just one person that was killed?' Izumi thought. Izumi sighed. 'Sometimes, I believe that the old man just doesn't get it.' Izumi then thought. She wonders if the day when she can shove a kunai knife right through the hearts of Danzo (without suffering any legal consequences) and Itachi will come anytime soon.

The next day, Izumi gave the members of Team 7 the Bell Test on Training Ground Three, which was an idea Izumi got from Lord Third the last time they spoke. They met once again just randomly in the marketplace. The both of them just so happened to be running errands and buying groceries at the same time. To summarize the conversation they had [AN: And I'm not very good at summaries.] Lord Third asked her how Team 7's training was going. She told him it was fine, but she told him about the one time Yuki almost killed Naruto in a spar before Izumi, herself, intervened and saved Naruto. Lord Third suggested teaching Yuki about restraint and told her to keep up the good work with Naruto, and also told her not to neglect Sasuke, either. Izumi asked him how she could do all that, and he suggested the Bell Test. He explained the Bell Test to her, and then, after feeling a bit satisfied with his answer, they had a small conversation about nothing, really, and then the two of them went separate ways.

In any case, Izumi explained to her students the rules of the test, and they asked the usual questions before the test started. Sasuke came at Izumi first (which was surprising to her because she thought Naruto would be the one to do that) and then, Yuki grabbed Sasuke, and the three of them jumped into the forest.

Izumi sighed. 'Better go ahead and watch them. Something tells me that something crazy might happen if I don't intervene.' Izumi also thought.

She activated her Sharingan, and used the Teleportation Jutsu to teleport to a hiding place near Sasuke, who seems to be all alone. 'That's strange.' Izumi thought. 'Where are Naruto and Yuki?'

Izumi made a single Shadow Clone, told that Shadow Clone to take her spot, and then she looked around for Naruto and Yuki. The original Izumi used the Teleportation Jutsu to disappear, and reappear in another part of the forest. She didn't have much in the way of tracking skills, but she correctly thought that it wouldn't be that hard to track Naruto down since Naruto is terrible at covering his tracks. 'The person that would be harder to track down on this team is Yuki.' Izumi thought. She looked around, and found a set of two rushed sandal prints on the ground. 'Now, why would that be...?'

She followed the trail of prints to see one person laying over another...for some reason. 'Are there teenagers or something in here trying to fuck while we're in the middle of a training exercise?' Izumi thought. She used the Teleportation Jutsu to disappear, and reappear in a hiding spot behind a tree. She peeked out from her hiding spot, and saw Yuki on top of Naruto.

"Uh...Yuki, I don't think this is the right time for this." Naruto told her. "Why not, Naruto? Don't you want to have fun?" Yuki asked. 'What the Hell is going on, here?' Izumi thought. Naruto pushed her off of him, and asked, "Where's Sasuke? I thought we were supposed to be together, like Izumi-Sensei said."

Yuki got back up, and said, "Who cares? I just want to have a little fun before we go take down our Sensei." "I disagree. We need to find Sasuke." Naruto politely said. 'Wow. I'm shocked.' Izumi thought. She never would've guessed that someone as loud as Naruto would be polite like that. "Why do you care so much about him? From what I've heard back at the Academy, the two of you never particularly got along." Yuki argued. 'Time to save him-again.' Izumi thought.

Izumi came out of her hiding place, turned towards the two of them, and shouted, "You need to focus!" Before throwing three shurikens at them. Yuki and Naruto dodged the shurikens, and then, Yuki threw two kunai knives at her. Izumi blocked the kunai knives with her own kunai knife, which she pulled out. Naruto pulled out his kunai knife, ran up to Izumi, and tried attacking her with it. Izumi blocked his attack, and disappeared using the Teleportation Jutsu. She then reappeared in another hiding spot.

"Are you happy now?" Naruto asked. "You almost got us killed!" "Ugh, nevermind. Let's go find Sasuke!" Yuki told him. Naruto put away his kunai knife, and they both ran back the way they came. 'Well, ain't that great?' Izumi thought, satisfied with herself. Izumi used the Teleportation Jutsu to teleport herself back to the open field, where she walked over to a lone skinny tree, leaned against it, and folded her arms. The rest of the test went surprisingly well (for the both of them, at least). They ambushed, then tag-teamed her with concise attacks, and then, Naruto finished Izumi off with a Fire Punch. Izumi was knocked out momentarily, and when she woke up, the bells that she had on her person were gone, and Yuki was holding them. "You're beaten, Sensei." Yuki told her.

Izumi stood up, and brushed herself off. "So I am. But only one of you got the bells. So that means-" "Fuck all that, Sensei. We're here because we wanna become ninjas and we didn't come this far to be held back now." Naruto said, interrupting Izumi. Sasuke sighed, looking as though he's going to cringe about this later on. "We're in this." Sasuke said. "Together. Whether you like it or not." Naruto added. Izumi smiled, and said, "Well done, you three. You all pass."

The three of them looked perplexed.

"W-What?" Yuki asked. "You. Pass." Izumi answered.

Izumi then explained why they passed. "...because, you see, a wise man once told me that those who break the ninja code are scum, that's true. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." Izumi said, finishing the explanation.

Yuki scoffed.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Izumi told Yuki. "Now, I think that's enough training for one day." "You can say that again." Sasuke muttered. "Go home. Get some rest. We'll have to train some more before we start talking about going on missions." Izumi told them.

---

Three weeks later, Izumi went out to grab some groceries again in the Hidden Leaf's marketplace and again, that was where she met Lord Third. "Wow. Second time this month." He commented. Izumi chuckled. "Tell me about it." She replied. "So, how is your team coming along?" Lord Third asked. "Just fine, weirdly enough. Naruto has caught up to his teammates-well, actually, he is a bit too evenly matched when I pit him against Sasuke in a match and Yuki would actually lose against Naruto unless she actually comes at him like she's going to kill him. Even worse, when I tried that paper test to see what their chakra affinities are, I saw that Naruto's chakra affinity is fire while Yuki knows three water style Jutsus. I would hate it if Naruto was severely injured because Yuki beat Naruto because he used a fire style Jutsu and she countered it with a water style Jutsu." Izumi answered. "Naruto now knows a fire style Jutsu?" Lord Third then asked. "Two fire style Jutsus, in fact. You'd be surprised how far positive encouragement can and will take someone." Izumi corrected. "I taught him the Fireball Jutsu and the Fire Punch Jutsu during our extra-curricular one-on-one training sessions. Along with the Taijutsu style that every Uchiha is taught. Now, he doesn't have to fight like a boxer." "How did you manage to teach him those Jutsus when the other teachers at the Academy couldn't?" Lord Third questioned. "They hadn't tried teaching him more advanced Jutsus like the Fireball Jutsu. After learning and seeing for myself that he learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu, I correctly guessed that the thing holding him back from learning Ninjutsus were the Nine-Tails' chakra and Naruto's own chakra fighting over which one could be used to cast the Jutsu, therefore creating a sort of imbalance and an overflow of chakra." Izumi answered. "Hence why his chakra control um...needs work, to put it lightly." "We had always assumed that that was the case, but, as I said before, no one's bothered to test that theory because no one cares enough about Naruto to do such a thing." Lord Third stated. "To put it lightly."

"Nevertheless, it seems that you're adjusting well to your new role as a Jonin-Sensei. You said you weren't up to the challenge when I first talked to you about it. What changed that?" Lord Third asked. "Two things, Lord Hokage-three, actually, now that I think about it. The first of which being that I was the first one to spot that Naruto was horribly underdeveloped to be considered a Genin when I first met him. It's more than likely that, as you said, the Academy teachers didn't care enough about Naruto to teach him properly. And that's because of his status as the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, isn't it?" Izumi asked in reply. "True. There are still people who remember the devastation the Nine-Tails caused on the day it attacked the village. Their fear is understandable, but it does not give them the right to mistreat him like they do-at least I don't think so, anyway." Lord Third agreed. "I don't think so, either. And I want to carry on Kakashi's promise to Naruto's parents-to protect him just as Kakashi did-although this time, it won't be from the shadows. The best I can do to protect him right now is teach him how to protect himself." Izumi replied without thinking. "Kakashi told you about that, did he?" Lord Third then asked. "And am I also to assume he told you the identity of Naruto's parents or did you overhear when Fugaku came to me about Satsuki?" Izumi was startled by Lord Third's questions.

"I-" "Calm yourself, Izumi. I knew you were there and I let it slide at the time because the Uchiha had been through enough and unlike a certain somebody, you actually kept the secret so I didn't even try to attempt to arrest you for that, either. Your methods may have been a tad unethical, but I understand why you might've been curious about the circumstances surrounding the Fourth Hokage's death. You have a curious mind-in fact, you just might have the most curious mind in the whole village. And the fact that you've never told anyone about what the answers were tells me that you know when to keep your mouth shut. In any case, I am grateful that you're carrying on Kakashi's promise." Lord Hokage said, interrupting Izumi. "Thank you for your appreciation, Lord Third." Izumi replied. "And I am grateful for your leniency on this matter." "You're welcome. By the way, no one has thanked me for my leniency in a long time. There are times when my patience for some people's objections to my policies wears thin." Lord Third commented. "I can imagine." Izumi agreed.

"And what about my suggestion about the Bell Test? I heard that you had your students take it." Lord Third stated. "And they succeeded, Lord Third. But they almost didn't and that was..." Izumi says before sighing. "...that was because of Yuki. For some damnable reason, she took Naruto, and left Sasuke behind. Apparently, she wanted to make out with him or something. Naruto didn't want to do that, however. Whether or not he reciprocated her feelings, I don't know. In any case, I saved him by stepping in just to get them to focus on their task. We had a little fight, and they both agreed to get Sasuke back, and then the Bell Test surprisingly went swimmingly and they passed." "Surprising, indeed. Very few manage to ace that test and that's because those few were actually smart enough to understand the true purpose behind it. What's even stranger is that the last time we talked, you told me that Yuki almost killed Naruto with three Water Shurikens in a spar and now, you're telling me that she tried to make out with him without his consent during a team-building exercise. Is that correct?" Lord Third asked. "Yes, Lord Hokage." Izumi answered without hesitation. "Then, in that case, the question is: does she want to kill him or kiss him?" Lord Third then asked. "Usually, I can answer questions like that in a heartbeat but not this time. I just simply don't know." Izumi answered. "Every time we ask questions about that girl, we only come up empty and with more questions." Lord Third said. "Agreed." Izumi replied. "I told you to tread carefully with Naruto before, but I suggest you do the same with Yuki although not for the same reasons. She is a big mystery and I'd hate to let Naruto be killed by her, should she turn out to be an enemy. And my spies have confirmed that the Foundation isn't behind Yuki's assignment to Team 7. I say once more: Be. Careful." Lord Third warned. "Yes, Lord Hokage." Izumi said.

"So what about Sasuke? How's he coming along?" Lord Third asked. "As I said, he and Naruto are evenly matched now. And I don't see any improvement just yet so now that I'm done with honing Naruto's skills-for the time being, I think it's time that I work on the development of all three of them without the extra curricular training sessions. They are all up to speed with each other, but they'll need to learn so much more. Which is why I've changed my mind about being their Sensei." Izumi answered. "Then I see no reason to convince you any further. Oh, and you might want to think about missions sooner than you plan to." Lord Third suggested. "Why?" Izumi asked. "The Chunin Exams are coming up." Lord Hokage answered. "Uh...I don't think they're ready for that, M'Lord." Izumi honestly replied. "And that may be your opinion on the situation but, should you think otherwise, I have a surprise waiting at the end of the Exams." Lord Third also replied. "What sort of surprise?" Izumi then asked. Lord Third went up close to her, and whispered, "It's for Naruto. I planned to tell him who his parents are and should he distinguish himself well beyond that of a regular Chunin, I just might just promote him to Special Jonin. Whether he's promoted to Chunin or Special Jonin, I will still tell him who his parents are." "Are you kidding?! He might be mad as Hell at you!" Izumi shouted. "Sssh!" Lord Third hissed. "That's why I, myself, won't tell him. Instead, I'll have someone else tell him." "Who?" Izumi whispered. "You'll find out because you'll be present when it happens." Lord Third whispered in reply.

He then backed away, and said, "If that's all, then I think it's time I leave you. Goodnight, Izumi." "Goodnight." Izumi replied unenthusiastically. Lord Third then walked around Izumi, and walked away.

Izumi watched him as he walked away. 'I don't care who tells Naruto who his parents are. He'll be mad at him just the same. Well, at least he motivated me enough to send Naruto off to the Exams, where he'll most likely die trying to become a Chunin, nevermind a Special Jonin.' Izumi thought. Izumi groaned. 'Being a Jonin-Sensei is hard.'

The next day, Izumi assembled Team 7 again, and she had them train like never before. Most of today's training session went well, but she had to separate Yuki and Naruto when it was clear that she was getting too close to him and freaking him out with her outward expression of "love".

After the session was over, Naruto looked like he was debating on whether or not to do it, but he walked up to Izumi, and told her about his problem with Yuki.

"Izumi-Sensei, Yuki's starting to creep me out and...and look, I didn't know if I should come to you about this because it makes me feel weak and ninjas shouldn't be weak, but after what she tried to do with me in the forest during that last big training exercise, I just...I just felt that I had to do this." Naruto said. "I know and coming forward like this shouldn't be seen as wrong, but you should tell her how you feel about it first before coming to me about this again. And if it gets any more extreme than that, uh...we'll get to that bridge when we cross it." Izumi told him. "Uh...okay." Naruto replied. He then turned around, and walked out of the training grounds.

---

The next day, after a long, long day of training with the rest of the members of Team 7, Naruto was simply walking around in the village, grateful that no one in the village is willing to fuck with him now that he's a ninja. 'Becoming a ninja just might be the biggest middle finger I could ever give to anyone who doubted me and treated me like shit.' Naruto thought.

Once he reached the marketplace, Naruto saw Yuki, surprisingly enough. 'Didn't people say that she never goes out?' Naruto thought.

Naruto walked up to her, and said, "Hey, Yuki."

Yuki turned to face him, and replied with, "Hey." "What's up?" Naruto asked. "I'm buying some groceries. You?" Yuki asked in reply. "Nothin' much. I just happen to be passin' by. But now that you mention it...there is something I wanted to talk to you about." Naruto answered. "Is that so?" Yuki then asked. "Yeah. But I don't think we should talk about it here." Naruto answered. "C'mon." "You're the boss..." She says while shrugging. She paid for the groceries she got, and then, she followed Naruto. "We have to make a stop before we get to...wherever we're going." Yuki then said. "Why?" Naruto then asked. "I need to go deliver the newly-bought groceries to my parents, silly." Yuki answered. "Oh. Right." Naruto said.

They walked to the Nohara Clan's Compound, which was a small compound on the west side of the village, and then they went to Yuki's House. They stopped at her front yard, and then, Yuki turned to Naruto, and said, "Stay here. My Dad gets all antsy when he sees a boy in my house with me." "Uh...right." Naruto replied.

Yuki walked right into her house, and then, fifteen minutes later, she came back out without the groceries. "What took so long?" Naruto asked. "My Father and I were having a stupid little argument. It-It-It's...he's fine, now." Yuki answered. "Are you ready to come with me, then?" Naruto then asked. Yuki nodded.

Naruto then led her out of the Nohara Compound, and to a park with a small-ish river running through it. There, there was a bridge that bent over the river. Naruto took her to the bridge, and they started talking.

"So...what do you want to talk about?" Yuki asked. "About the...weird way you've been treating me these past few days." Naruto answered. "Oh? I had hoped that we wouldn't have to talk about this so soon." Yuki replied. "First you're trying to kill me during our spar, then you tried to fuck me during the Bell Test thing, and now...what do you want from me? Do you want to date me or kill me?" Naruto asked. "I'm sorry if I was coming off too strong for you, but I just wanted to check you out...see if you're a good fighter...and a competent lover." Yuki answered. "You see, I like a man who is a lover and a fighter, not just one or the other. I also have to say I feel sorry for you." "Why?" Naruto asked. "Because you have The Fox inside you, and everyone in the village treats you like shit, but you still remain here despite that. What, do you have some kind of degradation kink?" Yuki asked in reply. "What's a degradation kink?" Naruto then asked. Yuki sighed and face

-palmed. "I mean do you get off on someone bullying you just because they think they can and because you're sexually attracted to it?" She clarified. "What?! No! Like I said before, I hate bullies!" Naruto shouted. "Then why do you defend this village as a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf? You know that the other ninjas here hate your guts, too, right?" Yuki then asked. "Even that stuck-up good-for-nothing emo, Sasuke Uchiha, thinks you're worthless." "I do it because during the Nine-Tails Incident, the Nine-Tails tried to destroy everything that made the Hidden Leaf what it is today. The Fox tried to destroy our happiness, our dreams, the lives of our friends-some of which were, of course, lost-and our hopes. But the Fourth Hokage put a stop to all that. If I give in to the hatred, and become as bad as everyone else, everyone who ever sacrificed their lives to stop the Nine-Tails that day will have made their sacrifices for no reason. So I have to be everything the Nine-Tails tried to destroy that day to prove to everyone that I am not such a bad person, unlike what they believe to be true." Naruto answered. "Hmph. I see." Yuki replied.

"Wait, why am I telling you everything about my reasons for staying here and being as kind as I am? And how do you know that the Nine-Tails was sealed inside me?" Naruto asked. "I...have my sources. But I promise not to tell anyone." Yuki answered. "Uh...alright. I'm putting my trust in you." Naruto told her. "My lips are sealed." Yuki replied. "Okay...and anyway, even if I did leave, where would I go? I don't know of any other place that would be better for me to live. And I'm at least smart enough to know that other places would treat me no better than the people here do." Naruto said. "Not in the Hidden Sand Village." Yuki replied.

"The Hidden Sand Village?" Naruto asked. "The Hidden Leaf isn't the only ninja village in the world. There's the Hidden Sand, the Hidden Mist-or Bloody Mist, as it's alternatively known-the Hidden Stone, and the Hidden Cloud. I...I've been there once. To the Hidden Sand Village, I mean. It's...kinda nice, once you get past the heat, the clear evidence of poverty, and how...uh...dead the land is because it's surrounded by a large desert." Yuki answered. "And the Kazekage isn't a kind man, but you will realize why once you get to know him. And hey, maybe you'll be able to change that." "Why?" Naruto then asked. "Because something tells me that someone as kind as you can cut through the steel barriers that any ninja tends to put around their heart. I know you're doing the same for Izumi-Sensei." Yuki answered. "Izumi-Sensei...you know that if I leave, I'd be leaving behind everyone who ever cared about me. Including Old Man Hokage." Naruto said. "No. I can't." "I understand. And it's all just a hypothetical thing, anyway. You don't have to worry too much." Yuki replied. "Okay, then. But that still leaves one question. Do you really want to date me or somethin' or was all that just an act?" Naruto questioned. "Wouldn't you like to know~." Yuki seductively said. Naruto got creeped out again. "Yeah, well, whatever. If you would not act like that and just get to know me first, then maybe I'll think about dating you later on. But for now, you're just a friend, a comrade, an ally and nothing more." He told her. Yuki sighed. "Yeah, whatever." She unenthusiastically replied. "Great. I'm gonna go home now." Naruto said before turning around, and running back the way he came.

---

Meanwhile, Izumi walked to a bar in the Hidden Leaf Village, thinking about what she would do about Yuki if she ever did turn out to be an enemy or if Naruto's issues with her ever did escalate. She sighs as she sits down at a table with a booth instead of a chair. A waiter walked up to her, and asked what she'd like. Izumi ordered a shot of sake, and the waiter said, "Of course, Ma'am."

He then turned around, and walked away. The waiter later came back with a shot glass filled with sake. "Thank you." Izumi said to the waiter. The waiter bowed to her, turned around, and walked away. Izumi had only drank sake once before, which was at her eighteenth birthday party. Her friends arranged a party because some ninjas don't survive past the age of fifteen (or even thirteen) and those that do are ninjas who are exceptionally good at their jobs-or are just relegated to guard duty at either the village's gates, atop the village's walls or even guarding the borders surrounding the Land of Fire. And the ninjas who are relegated to guard duty hardly ever see any kind of action unless they're Anbu patrolling the village for small-time criminal activity.

Speaking of the village, Izumi doesn't understand why people still call it a "village" when it's now the size of a small city and will soon grow to the size of a big city should they ever expand it. Then again, she supposes calling the village the "Hidden Leaf City" wouldn't sound as cool or as humble as the "Hidden Leaf Village".

And anyway, the fact that she's drinking sake now, of all times, says a Hell of a lot about her. Her state of mind, anyway. And at least she ordered a shot glass. Drinking whole bottles would reflect poorly on her ability to train three Genin. And from what Lord Third has told her, she really doesn't need that kind of shadow cast upon her reputation. If she became irresponsible over her indecisiveness, she doubts anyone would ever let her near Naruto (or any other Genin) again. And that's specifically because of her already-tainted status as an Uchiha. Every time she thinks about this, her next thought is always, 'Damn you, Itachi.'

Just then, she saw Anko walking up to her. 'Oh great. Another person comes to bitch at me personally because of my "bad thoughts" or whatever.' Izumi thought.

Anko then stopped when she was close enough to Izumi's table, and said, "Hey, you mind if I sit here?"

Izumi just nodded in reply. She then went to sit at the booth across the table from Izumi's. "So, what brings you to this place?" Anko asked. Izumi sighed. "Naruto came to me about his feelings about Yuki." She answered. Anko looked visibly surprised. "You don't mean he actually likes her, do you?" Anko then asked. "No, no, no. Just the opposite." Izumi answered. Anko breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yuki has been flirting with him ever since they became ninjas. But he's made it pretty clear that he doesn't reciprocate her feelings. Whether or not she's actually interested in him is...unclear." Izumi said. "What do you mean?" Anko asked.

"You didn't hear it from me, but The Hokage and I have been talking...apparently, her Academy records have been sealed. And apparently, the seal bears the signature of the Feudal Lord's Council, which means that it's beyond The Hokage's authority to undo the seal. And during their first spar, Yuki tried to kill Naruto with the Water Shuriken Jutsu even though I had previously stated that the rules of the spar were that no one was allowed to use Jutsus or kill their opponent or use ninja tools. Obviously, I didn't want my students to die on their second day of training. Anyway, I saved Naruto by putting up a Mud Wall between him and the last Water Shuriken after he dodged the first two. I then ended the spar, and scolded Yuki for breaking my rules. She just acknowledged my stern lecture with indifference, and the day went on without my students trying to kill each other. And then, she tried unsuccessfully seducing him numerous times throughout our training sessions. The most horrid example of this was when I saw her trying to fuck him in the forest during the Bell Test. His mind was still focused on the test, but if I hadn't intervened and faked like I didn't know what Yuki was up to, the three of them would've surely failed the test. And that would be all because of Yuki. It got to the point where, during our last training session, Naruto came to me about it, like I told you before." Izumi explained. "What the fuck!? Does she want to kill him or kiss him?" Anko asked. "That's the million-Ryo question. And even then, because of the shady circumstances surrounding her time at the Academy-if she ever was a student there-there may not even be a clear answer there. Maybe she is a spy, for all we know." Izumi answered. "A spy? Who would use someone her age as a spy? And why would they do it?" Anko then asked. "Another thing we don't know-if that's the case." Izumi also answered. "Too bad I'm going to be busy with the Chunin Exams...I could've helped you look into this." Anko commented. "No need-The Hokage already has agents doing that very thing." Izumi stated.

"If that's the case, I think we should move on to how you responded to the issue Naruto brought up." Anko said. "Agreed. I told him that it's fine that he came to me about it-even though some ninjas would consider that weak and I certainly don't-but I also told him that should this ever happen again, he would need to confront the issue directly before going to me about it and I told him that if the issue escalated any further, we'll...well, I told him we'll get to that bridge when we cross it." Izumi told her. "So what are you gonna do if that happened?" Anko asked her. "Perhaps I'd confront her myself, but what if The Hokage's fears were realized and she turns out to be an enemy? What, do I kill her? Sure, I've killed enemy ninjas in the past. I felt like a pile of shit was dumped on me every time I did it, but I still did it. Even so, I've never had to kill a child before. Whatever Yuki is, she's still barely older than Naruto. And if I killed a child...I don't think I would ever live with myself. I'd probably quit being a Kunoichi and then jump off the highest building in the village." Izumi honestly answered. "Listen, I think you're letting fear get to you. Plus, there's always the chance she could be reasoned with. Alternatively, you could just knock her out, and then send her off to jail, but I digress." Anko replied. "Children may be little shits, but they usually turn out to be pretty reasonable little shits."

Anko then started looking around, and then looked back at Izumi, and said, "Speaking of children, when are you going to think about dating again?" "Anko, you know I'm not ready for that." Izumi replied. "Why not?" Anko asked. "You know why!" Izumi shouted. "Alright, alright. I get it. Your first and last boyfriend exterminated nearly his entire clan. But you, yourself, told me that you've gotten past that by now. Besides, it's been five years. I'd be surprised if you hadn't gotten over it." Anko replied. Izumi then finally drank her shot of sake. It tasted like shit, but she was getting annoyed by this conversation. "It's more complicated than you understand." Izumi argued. 'Bitch, my Jonin-Sensei was Orochimaru. I understand more than you realize." Anko countered. "My boyfriend was-emphasis on was-Itachi Uchiha! He murdered nearly his entire clan! My entire clan! Sasuke's entire clan! Did Orochimaru kill anyone you loved?" Izumi yelled. "No, but I'll tell you something not a lot of people know about Orochimaru. Orochimaru did all the horrible, horrible things he's done over the years because his parents were killed when he was a child. He did not understand that we, as Humans, die or maybe he didn't want to suffer the same fate as his parents. Of course, that doesn't excuse his evil actions, but that doesn't mean that he's some rabid dog that has no motive behind his actions. His actions were...understand

-able. Even if he did use me as an experiment, and left me with a curse mark. All this really goes to show you is that death is a nasty, but necessary part of the Ninja World and the problems that go along with this Ninja World. Orochimaru, Itachi and the Uchiha Massacre are only symptoms of these larger problems that probably wouldn't even be here if a few things here and there were changed or, perhaps, if the Ninja World didn't exist at all. But there is nothing we, as individual Kunoichi, can do about it so I think it's best that we learn to live with them, and move on with our lives." Anko explained. "You don't know what you're talking about." Izumi replied. "Perhaps not. Perhaps...all I've said is complete gibberish. But the main point here is, move on. It's the only way to keep yourself happy." Anko told her. "Even if you are right, there is no one in the village who could compare to Itachi-or, at least how Itachi was before the Massacre-or Kakashi before he died. I doubt I will ever meet a man like them." Izumi argued. "You fell in love with Kakashi?" Anko then asked. "How couldn't I? He hated killing as much as Itachi and I did-although, I still hate killing but that doesn't mean I won't kill or at least fight to protect those I care about most-he was handsome as fuck, and he was more chill than Itachi was. The only bad things about Kakashi were his perversion and his tendency to read porn novels written by Jiraiya out in public." Izumi answered. "And those were bad things I think I could've gotten past because those things don't involve murder or theft."

Anko chuckled. "Of course. In fact, I kinda...fell in love with him too. The only reason I never acted on that was because both he and I were of the opinion that there were more important things in life that needed taking care of." She agreed. "Same." Izumi replied. "Although, ever since I found him dead in that park, I've felt as though I should've asked him out at one point or another. Even if his answer would've been 'no'. At least there'd be no regrets on my end and at least...back then, I still might've had a chance." "Then it's not just about Itachi and the Massacre, is it?" Anko asked. Izumi shook her head.

"Then maybe you're right. Maybe you aren't ready. Not yet, anyways." Anko said. 'Finally. She sees my point-of-view.' Izumi thought. "Now, if there is nothing more to be said, I think we should leave." Anko then said. "We?" Izumi asked. "You're a lightweight, remember?" Anko asked in reply. Izumi felt as though she was about to puke.

"Yeah, I thought so." Anko said.

Anko took Izumi out of the bar and to a nearby alleyway, where she vomited into a garbage can.

Once Izumi was done vomiting, she stood up after leaning over the garbage can, and Anko asked, "Do you think you'll be okay enough to train your rookies tomorrow?" "I have to be. If there was any sign I was being irresponsible, the higher-ups might use that against me, strip me of my status as a Jonin-Sensei, and make sure I was never allowed near Naruto again. I'm an Uchiha with a Mangekyo Sharingan and he's the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, after all. Hell, if I did anything worse, I'd probably be executed and...Kami knows what will happen to Naruto after that. Aside from you, Guy, Asuma and Kurenai, Lord Third is the only one who's ever trusted me and he can't do much if the Council finds any reason, at all, to persecute me." Izumi answered. "Then I don't think you should've come to the bar, Izumi." Anko said. "I know, but I needed a place to think and all the good places like the dango restaurant are closed right now." Izumi replied. "And what were you doing before you came into the bar?" Anko then asked. "Preparing the next training exercise for my students." Izumi answered. "That reminds me...I've been meaning to ask you...you've been training Naruto and the others hard. Why is that?" Anko questioned. "That's because I'm seriously considering recommending them for the Chunin Exams." Izumi whispered. "Are you serious? It's too early!" Anko shouted. "The Hokage doesn't think so. And I don't think so, either...not after The Hokage talked to me about it." Izumi replied. "What in Kami's name did he say?" Anko inquired. "He said he's got a little surprise in store for Naruto should he complete the Exams-not something that could be talked about in public." Izumi answered. "Sounds interesting. Why don't we go to my place to talk about it?" Anko asked. "Your place?! Since when did you invite people over?" Izumi asked in reply. "Since someone had something interesting to talk about that can't be discussed in public. C'mon!" Anko shouted.

---

Izumi and Anko walked into Anko's House, which was in the shadier parts of the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Why do you live in a crime-filled dump like this?" Izumi asked as they entered Anko's House. "It makes it easier to patrol the community when I have nothing better to do...also, this is the only place they'd allow me to stay. A Naruto-like situation, to be honest." Anko answered. They walked to Anko's living room, and sat down next to each other on the couch. "So, what kind of surprise Lord Third had in mind for Naruto?" "Well, you know how Naruto already knows that he's a Jinchuriki, right?" Izumi asked. "He does?" Anko asked. "You...You didn't know?" Izumi asked in reply. "I admit, I'm also surprised to say this, but no, no I didn't. How did he come to learn that?" Anko then asked. "Well, according to the report on his file, he was involved with the whole Mizuki thing. In fact, Mizuki tricked Naruto into thinking that if he stole the Scroll of Sealing, he could finally become a Genin. He thought it was a make-up test and since Naruto failed the actual test, he didn't hesitate to fall for Mizuki's lie. He wanted to become a ninja at any cost." Izumi told her. "Well, that kinda makes sense. If I remember right, Mizuki was Iruka's Teacher's Assistant. Aside from Iruka or anyone else, Mizuki should reasonably know everything about how the Academy's Genin Exam works. Of course, there is no such thing as a 'make-up test', but the kid's heart was in the right place. It was just a shame that he was too inexperienced to know when he's being deceived." Anko commented. "I know, right? Anyway, to summarize everything, Mizuki told Naruto that he is the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki in a less concise way because Naruto is...well, to be honest, dumb as shit. More of a dumbass than any of his other peers, in fact. After that, Iruka starts fighting Mizuki because he planned to take the scroll for himself and kill Naruto, yada yada, Naruto beats Mizuki's ass once it was clear that Iruka was losing and was gonna die, yada yada, and then Lord Third upheld Iruka's decision promote Naruto to Genin." Izumi explained. "So that was how that little goofball became a Genin..." Anko says. "Why, though?" "Because Naruto helped to expose Mizuki's betrayal and also because he used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to beat Mizuki's ass, too." Izumi answered. "Which is ironic." "How so?" Anko questioned. "Naruto learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu using the Scroll of Sealing." Izumi also answered. "So if Naruto had never stolen the scroll, he never would've become a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. That is ironic." Anko agreed. "So how does this relate back to Lord Third's surprise for Naruto?" "Well, Mizuki told Naruto that he was the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, but he never told Naruto who his parents were. Lord Third had always intended to wait until Naruto was promoted to Chunin to tell him that he was the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki...or rather, he intended to have someone else tell him about his Jinchuriki status and who his parents are but since Mizuki ruined the Jinchuriki part of his plan, he now just has to contend with telling Naruto who his parents are." Izumi answered. "Who were Naruto's parents, anyway?" Anko inquired. "Are you serious? I thought the fact that Naruto's last name was 'Uzumaki' would have given some of us a clue as to who his parents were-if they, themselves, didn't already know." Izumi said. "Uzumaki...you mean like...

Kushina Uzumaki, the wife of the Fourth Hokage?" Anko asked. "Exactly. Naruto's parents are the Fourth Hokage and his wife." Izumi answered. "Damn. But to use your own Son to seal the Nine-Tails away...must've been really hard-not that I'm a parent-or a Hokage." Anko commented. "Yes. It's why those of us who understand this realize that Naruto made a sacrifice the day of the Nine-Tails Incident. Naruto may not have known it for the other twelve years of his life, but he made a great sacrifice that should make him a hero, not some monster to be feared." Izumi agreed.

'It doesn't explain why he chose to put the other half of the Nine-Tails' chakra into Satsuki, though.' Izumi thought.

"Does Lord Third realize that Naruto will be furious when he learns this information, though? Especially since he hasn't known for a long, long time?" Anko asked. "Yes. That's why he's having someone else tell Naruto about his parents." Izumi answered. "I don't think it'd make any difference. Naruto's still going to be an angry little shit. I mean, I would've been if I were him or if I were still his age." Anko commented. "And I told Lord Third the same thing. What changed my perspective on this is that Lord Hokage told me that if Naruto goes above and beyond what's expected of him in the Chunin Exams, The Hokage just might go one step further, and promote him to Special Jonin." Izumi told her. "Special Jonin?! Does Lord Third realize the amount of work that goes into being a Special Jonin? I should know because I am a Special Jonin." Anko commented. "I don't think Naruto would last a day as a Special Jonin." "With all respect to you and the work that you do, I think you're wrong. And besides, if he does get promoted to Special Jonin, I have a feeling that he'd be given special assignments that aren't usually given to the regular troops." Izumi argued. "I doubt it." Anko replied. "Kakashi was promoted to Jonin when he was the same age as Naruto is now." Izumi then argued. "Not everyone is Kakashi." Anko countered. "You're right, I'll give you that, but that doesn't mean that he can't surpass Kakashi. Expand your expectations of what people are capable of, that's all I'm saying." Izumi replied. "If Naruto manages to get promoted to Special Jonin, I'll give you 20 Ryo." Anko told her. "You're on." Izumi also replied. They then shook hands after making the deal.

---

Over the next few weeks, Izumi has been training her students harder than they've ever been trained before. Izumi was a little concerned for Naruto, though, because she heard that he's been training extra hard after these training sessions with the other members of Team 7. Whenever she watches him train with Sasuke and Yuki in the daytime, he's clearly tiring himself out while training and it's negatively affecting his performance during training. Izumi wishes that Lord Fourth or Kushina or both were still here to worry about him and possibly confront him about this so that Izumi, herself, doesn't have to. She isn't even obligated to do such a thing, anyways and yet, she does. 'It's just a shame that I can't really confront him about it since I need him to be as prepared as possible for the Chunin Exams...perhaps I'll tell him to tone down his makeshift training regimen after we start accepting missions.' Izumi thought.

And, of course, after those few weeks of training, Izumi felt as though they were ready for missions and so, the day after their last day of training, Izumi took Team 7 to the Mission Assignment Desk in the Academy. As they walked down the halls to get to the Mission Assignment Desk, Izumi quickly looked at her students, who were looking around at their surroundings, obviously reminiscing on their Academy days. Indeed, Izumi has also caught herself getting a taste of nostalgia when taking only brief looks at her surroundings. But she realizes that her memories were memories of happiness (well, largely memories of happiness) while her students obviously didn't have a great time at the Academy. Actually, now that she thinks about it, since she can't access Yuki's Academy records, Izumi wonders what memories Yuki thinks back to when looking at these surroundings. Once they reached the Mission Assignment Desk, the three of them noticed The Hokage sitting in the middle of the desk while Iruka sat to The Hokage's left and to The Hokage's right was one of the village's elders. In fact, they saw a large amount of other people sitting at the Mission Assignment Desk which was probably because there were a lot of other ninjas standing around and either getting their missions assigned, handing in mission reports for completed or failed missions or just standing around, waiting for their chance to receive their mission(s). There were also some Jonin or Chunin or squads of Jonin or Chunin in here, not just Genin squads. Izumi was even old enough to remember back to when she, herself, was just a Genin, receiving missions alongside her two other teammates and Asami-Sensei. Of course, her career as a Kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf steadily escalated from that point and to the point where she is where she is now, teaching three little Genin.

"Hey Old Man Hokage." Naruto said. "Naruto! You're supposed to call him 'Lord Hokage'!" Izumi shouted. "Sorry about that, Lord Third." "It's fine, Izumi. I'll let it slide...but only this once." Lord Third said. "Do you hear that, Naruto?" Izumi asked. "Yes, Sensei." Naruto said. Naruto then bowed, and said, "Thank you, Lord Hokage for your mercy." "You're welcome. Now, am I to assume that you're ready to receive missions?" Lord Third asked. "Yes, Lord Hokage." Izumi answered. "Great. Let me give you your first one, then." Lord Third replied.

All the members of Team 7 walked up to the Mission Assignment Desk, and Lord Third gave Izumi a briefing file containing the details of the mission. Izumi read it, and then tucked the file away somewhere on her person. "It will be done, Lord Hokage." Izumi told him. Lord Third simply nodded in acknowledgement.

They then went back the way they came, and...painted a random villager's fence for said villager.

After completing several more missions like that first one, Naruto asked why they aren't getting any cooler missions and Izumi started to explain the mission rankings to him.

"The missions we've been getting are called D-Rank missions. There are five mission rankings in total: D-Rank, C-Rank, B-Rank, A-Rank and S-Rank. The D-Rank missions are mainly meant for rookie Genin like you. They also provide us ninjas a way to interact with the community-get them to think of us in a positive light, so-to-speak. C-Rank missions are more for experienced Genin or rookie Chunin. C-Rank missions often involve some of the 'cooler stuff' you mentioned like guarding people against bandits or highwaymen, background investigations, capturing bandits or thieves, and capturing or suppressing wild animals-should said animals go and attack people. B-Rank missions are for more experienced Chunin and they most often involve espionage or fighting other enemy ninjas-and trust me when I say that you aren't ready to fight enemy ninjas. A-Rank missions are often meant for Jonin like me and they involve, among other things, village or state-level matters such as guarding very important people-like, say, The Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire or The Hokage-or suppressing whole armies of ninjas. S-Rank missions are meant for...Jonin who are probably far more experienced than I am or even The Hokage-whenever he has the time-and they involve...uh...fighting very important people who are enemies of the Hidden Leaf-like, say, a rogue ninja-and transporting highly-classified documents." Izumi explained.

"So why can't we do some of the higher-ranked missions?" Naruto asked. Sasuke scoffed, just as he usually does. "Normally, I wouldn't mind all this busywork, but even I agree that we shouldn't be doing chores for people too lazy to do it themselves." Sasuke chimed in. "I must get stronger if I'm to one day take my revenge." "As I already told Naruto, none of you are ready for such challenges yet." Izumi told them after chuckling. Naruto pouted. "Don't be like that!" Izumi told Naruto.

Izumi then went up close to Naruto, and whispered, "Might I remind you that you're lucky to even be a Shinobi?"

Izumi's question startled Naruto. "You know about that?" Naruto whispered in reply. "I'm your Jonin-Sensei, of course I know about that." Izumi also whispered.

Izumi then stood back, and said, "Now, stop complaining, and get back to work!"

Naruto and Sasuke sighed, and then got back to their mission while Izumi smugly smiles while watching them, thinking about the fact that they're feeling the same pain she felt back when she was a rookie Genin.

After a week of completing D-Rank mission after D-Rank mission, Izumi decided to give her students a break, which finally gave her the chance to confront Naruto about his training regimen.

"What's wrong, Izumi-Sensei?" Naruto asked after Sasuke and Yuki left the Academy. Izumi and Naruto were still standing outside the Academy. "Am I in trouble?" "Not really." Izumi answered. "I've heard that you've been training at night non-stop ever since I started training you and your teammates harder in preparation for missions. Is this true?" "Uh...Uh...Yes." Naruto replied, probably knowing that he can't lie to her. "Why?" Izumi asked. "Because you said it your

-self-you were training us harder than we've ever trained before. You told us that we were going to be getting missions soon. I needed to be ready for that. Although, if I knew that we were going to be getting the kind of missions we've been getting, I probably wouldn't have put in so much effort." Naruto answered.

Izumi sighed.

"Naruto, you can't be doing things like that." Izumi said. "Why not?" Naruto asked. "Because it's not having the effect you think it's having-if anything, it's badly affecting your performance as a ninja. I need you to be at the top of your game if we're going to be effective as a team. And that means getting the rest you need when it's nighttime." Izumi answered. "But you-" "I know what I said, but just because we're ninjas doesn't mean we're not Humans, also. You must promise me that you're going to go to sleep when it gets dark, alright?" Izumi then said, interrupting Naruto. Naruto nodded in response. "There we go. Now, go home, and make sure to take a proper break." Izumi also said. "I will, Sensei!" Naruto shouted before walking around Izumi, and running off. Izumi smiled while watching Naruto as he left the Academy grounds. Sometimes, she feels as though Naruto is her own child. 'If Iruka was his Father figure-or so I've heard-then maybe I can be his Mother figure. Especially since his real parents aren't around.' Izumi happily thought.

She then stopped smiling, and looked up at the sky as soon as her thoughts turned to Naruto's parents. 'Lord Fourth, I hope you're in Hell.' Izumi thought. Thinking about Naruto's parents made Izumi angry because not only did they leave him to be an orphan, but they also left him to be feared and condemned by every adult in the village and the Fourth Hokage also took Satsuki, and also made her a Jinchuriki of The Nine-Tailed Fox. Izumi then started walking back home, wondering how to think more positive thoughts.

---

The next morning, Lord Third handed Team 7 their toughest D-Rank mission yet-apparently, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire's wife (a woman named Madam Shijimi) was in the village and while she was here, her cat, a cat named Tora, went missing and Shijimi has given a mission request to Lord Hokage for the ninjas of the Hidden Leaf to find Tora. Every ninja and their Mother hates this mission because Tora has gotten lost in the village before, Shijimi has put in that same request before and every time that mission has had to be done, the ninjas of the Hidden Leaf have found that Tora is quite fast and elusive which is why every ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village has given Tora a nickname: The Demon Cat From Hell.

And, surely enough, Team 7 have personally found out why Tora's called The Demon Cat From Hell. There were times when it seemed like the members of Team 7 weren't going to be able to find Tora until Izumi used her Sharingan to find the cat. Izumi's three Genin students were in awe when they saw Izumi's Sharingan. 'Knowing him, Sasuke's probably thinking, "my Sharingan is nowhere near as good as hers" and I guess he'd be right-for now, at least.' Izumi thought.

Team 7 ran down to an alley with a dead end somewhere in the village's market

-place. Izumi was surprised to find Tora hiding here due to the fact that this was the place where Izumi first met Naruto.

"Whoa..." Naruto says. "What is it, Naruto?" Yuki asked. "This...This is the place where I first met Izumi-Sensei." Naruto answered. 'So he remembers...' Izumi thought. "You've met her before?" Yuki then asked. "Yeah. It was like, ooooh, I don't know, five years ago? It was definitely way before I became a ninja, I remember that much." Naruto answered. "What happened?" Yuki questioned. "You won't tell me anything about your past, why should I tell you?" Naruto asked in reply, sounding offended. 'He has a right to be offended, though. And he is right. Not much is known about Yuki...I'm not even sure we can trust her.' Izumi thought. "Aww, c'mon! Won't you tell me a little bit?" Yuki inquired. "That's enough, Yuki! You don't have to answer her, Naruto." Izumi told them. Naruto simply pouted.

Tora, meanwhile, was angrily growling and hissing at the four ninjas.

The four of them turned their attention back to Tora, and Yuki said, "I'm going to grab her!"

She was running up to Tora, but Izumi stopped her. "No. I'll do it." Izumi told her. "Why?" Yuki asked. Izumi deactivated her Sharingan, and slowly walked up to Tora.

"Because we must embrace a slow, considerate and compassionate method when it comes to matters like these." Izumi answered.

After slowly walking up to Tora, she slowly crouched down, and slowly reached out a hand of compassion before Tora let her pet her. After she pet Tora, Izumi slowly picked up Tora, and then she stood back up, and turned towards her three students.

"Otherwise, the cat will be far less willing to come with us." Izumi added. She then walked forwards with the cat in her arms. "Sometimes, the simplest approach is the most preferable one. Now, let's go deliver this cat back to her owner."

They then walked back to the Mission Assignment Desk, where Madam Shijimi was waiting. Izumi gave Tora back to Shijimi and then she immediately started being overly affectionate to her cat to the point where she could've killed Tora multiple times. She paid the people at the desk, and then left the room. 'Now I know why Tora keeps escaping from that woman.' Izumi thought. 'And I'm sure my students are thinking the same thing.'

She then noticed that The Hokage wasn't sitting at the Mission Assignment Desk.

The four ninjas of Team 7 walked up to Iruka, and Izumi asked, "Iruka, where's Lord Hokage?" "He's up in his office. That's all I can say." Iruka answered. "Thank you." Izumi said as she received her payment for the mission's success. Her students received their share of the payment, too. "So, what about that mission report?" Iruka asked. "I'd rather give it to The Hokage." Izumi answered. Iruka sighed. "Fine by me." Iruka replied.

Izumi turned to her students, and said, "That's it for today. Go take a break. I'll send for you when I send for you."

The three Genin nodded in acknowledgement, and then, they all walked out of the room.

Then, Izumi walked out of the Academy, to the Hokage's Tower, then she went inside the Hokage's Tower, and walked up to the door to The Hokage's office. "Come in." Lord Third called from the other side of the door. Izumi opened the door, saw that Lord Third was sitting at his desk, and said, "I have the mission report from Team 7's last mission, Sir." "Bring it in." Lord Third ordered.

Izumi walked into The Hokage's office, closed the door behind her, and walked up to The Hokage's desk before giving the mission report to Lord Third. Lord Third then read the mission report. "I see your squad has another successful mission to add to it's repertoire." Lord Third commented. "Yes, my Lord." Izumi replied. "I gather you got your payment from Iruka?" Lord Third asked after he set the report down on his desk. "Yes, Lord Hokage." Izumi answered. "Then why give this report to me instead of Iruka?" Lord Third then asked. "I needed an excuse to talk to you." Izumi also answered. "Is that so?" Lord Third inquired. "Yes." Izumi simply answered. "What's on your mind, then?" Lord Third questioned. "It's...It's about Naruto. And the rest of the team. I know that D-Ranks are meant to keep them safe from the more heavier duties a ninja has to do, but I feel as though these missions are hampering their development into capable ninjas and I think that will negatively affect their effectiveness going forward." Izumi told him. "I want to give them a taste of field work, just to give them an idea of what they'll be doing out there in the future." "I knew you would come to me with a matter such as this." Lord Third replied. "You did?" Izumi asked. "It's always better to be prepared for emergency situations or even other, smaller matters." Lord Third told her. "It is why I have been keeping a mission request safe for you in the event this ever happened."

He then opened a drawer in his left hand side, and dug into it before pulling out a piece of paper that was inside a large, rectangular envelope. After that, he closed the drawer, and handed the envelope to Izumi. Izumi opened the envelope, and read the mission request. It was a C-Rank mission. Apparently, there's a criminal on the loose. He came all the way from the Land of Lightning, and is hiding out somewhere in the Land of Fire. Team 7's job is to find him, and bring him back to the Hidden Leaf Village so that a squad of Anbu could take him back to the Hidden Cloud Village. "The Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning, himself, put in this request." Lord Third said. "And The Raikage felt that this would be a great way to reopen peace talks between our two villages and he also views this as a way of saying 'thanks for not declaring war against us after a guy from the Hyuga Clan killed our guy'. And I, for one, agree. Well, he could've used more diplomatic language when talking about it, but I digress."

Izumi remembers that whole situation quite well. The Hidden Leaf Village held a parade because the people here were celebrating the end of the military conflict between the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Cloud. There were even a few Shinobi from the Hidden Cloud Village in attendance that day. But then, the night after the parade, one Hidden Cloud Shinobi snuck into the Hyuga Compound, and tried to kidnap Hinata Hyuga probably because she has the Byakugan (which is a Dojutsu that's coveted by many outside of the Hidden Leaf Village and even the Land of Fire and that's because, like the Sharingan, the Byakugan is rare and only those of the Hyuga Clan can possess it-unless someone steals it and implants it into their own eye socket, which, incidentally, is why so many covet it for themselves-others who are not of the Hyuga Clan can steal the Byakugan) and because she's the eldest child of the Hyuga Clan's main branch, which makes her a princess, in a sense. Hinata's Mother was killed in the incident but her Father, Hiashi Hyuga (who is the current Head of the Hyuga Clan) stepped in, and killed the Hidden Cloud Shinobi before he could even get to Hinata.

This sparked an outrage amongst the Hidden Cloud Village's higher-ups and people from both villages were worried that hostilities might start back up again and they would've if there wasn't a sacrifice on the Hidden Leaf's part. The Hidden Cloud Village demanded the death of Hiashi and that the Hidden Leaf send his body to the Hidden Cloud Village if the peace is to be preserved. No one knew what to do until the Hyuga Clan remembered that Hiashi has a twin Brother named Hizashi, who was the Head of another branch of the clan. After some talking between the Hyuga Clan leaders, Hizashi, and Lord Third, it was agreed that Hizashi would die in Hiashi's place so that the Hidden Cloud would be fooled into thinking that Hizashi was Hiashi. Hizashi took his own life, and then, his body was sent to the Hidden Cloud Village.

It's unknown if the Hidden Cloud were actually deceived or if they found out the truth but if they did find out, it's mutually agreed among the people of the Hidden Leaf Village that the Hidden Cloud probably didn't care that it's Hizashi's body instead of Hiashi's body because they never contacted the Hidden Leaf about the trick ever since Hizashi's body was sent to the Hidden Cloud Village. All they presumably cared about was that it was the body of a dead Hyuga nonetheless.

Of course, this left little Neji Hyuga, Hizashi's Son, an orphan. No one knew how Hizashi's death affected Neji, but they assumed that it probably didn't matter because like some Uchihas, many members of the Hyuga Clan hid their emotions deep down and even if anyone tried asking Neji how he felt, it is most likely that he wouldn't answer at all.

'Jeez.' Izumi thought even though it's been years since it had happened. 'And I thought my clan's politics were bad...'

"Any other ninja would've called you crazy for giving a team of rookies a mission like this." Izumi remarked. "Like you said, your team's effectiveness as ninjas when it comes to combat might've been slipping due to the non-combative nature of D-Ranked missions. It would be a true shame if we allowed our Genin to rest on their laurels and become unfit for combat. Plus, I promise that if your team completes this mission, I will have more where this came from coming your team's way." Lord Third told her. "Yes, Lord Hokage. Thank you." Izumi acknowledged. "Now, if that is all, you may leave." Lord Third ordered. "Yes!" Izumi shouted. Izumi turned around, and left the room with the mission request in hand.

---

The next morning, Izumi summoned her students to meet her in the alleyway where she first met Naruto. After waiting for about thirty minutes, she saw Sasuke and Yuki calmly walking towards her while Naruto ran into the alleyway. "Why are you running, Naruto?" Izumi asked him as he was panting in front of her and his other teammates. "Sorry, Sensei. I...overslept." Naruto answered. 'Jeez. Has he been training in the middle of the night again?' Izumi thought. After catching his breath, Naruto asked, "So, why did you tell us to come here?" "Because, Naruto, Sasuke, it's your lucky day. After a bit of discussion with The Hokage, I've finally gotten us a C-Ranked mission." Izumi answered. "Really? Awesome! So what is it?" Naruto asked her. "We're guarding a drunk old man so that he can safely go back to his homeland, and build a bridge." Izumi joked. "Aww..." Naruto whined. Sasuke sighed. "Is that it?" Sasuke then asked. "I'm kidding. We've actually been ordered to track down a criminal from the Land of Lightning who's hiding somewhere in the Land of Fire." Izumi finally answered. "The Land of...what?" Naruto asked.

Izumi and Naruto's two other teammates sighed, clearly disappointed in Naruto.

"I'll tell you later. For now, pack your essentials and buy yourselves some camping gear. We're heading out of the village for this one. Meet me at the gates at noon. On the dot." Izumi ordered. "Right!" The three of them shouted at the same time.

Izumi sighed, not wanting to tell them what she's going to tell them in a second, but she needs them to understand this.

"Be. Cautious. This mission will likely be very dangerous. I will do my best to protect you, but I am just one Kunoichi. So you have to be prepared when we find this border-hopping criminal." Izumi told them. "Hmph. He's just some wimpy criminal, not a ninja. I think we can deal with him pretty easily." Sasuke replied. Izumi chuckled. "You just might be right about that. That being said, anything can happen. So watch each other's backs and remember everything I taught you." She told them. "Yes, Sensei!" The three of them said. They then turned around, and ran out of the alley.

Izumi smiled as they ran off. 'There's no doubt in my mind that Naruto-and possibly Yuki-can pull this off, but I wonder if Sasuke can...or if he's being headstrong.' Izumi thought.

Later, at 12:00 PM, Izumi waited at the village gates until she saw her three students running towards her. "Are you ready?" Izumi asked. The three of them nodded. "Good. Let's check how many ninja tools we have before we depart." Izumi then said. "Why?" Naruto asked. "Because anything could happen on this mission. I would hate to see you die because you didn't bring enough ninja tools." Izumi answered. "Why can't we use our Jutsus instead?" Sasuke asked. "Not every enemy can be fought with a Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Besides, a ninja's best weapon is stealth. You can't exactly sneak up on someone for a stealthy attack if you cast a fire Jutsu or two at them." Izumi answered. "Good point." Sasuke replied in a defeated tone of voice. "Now, let's see 'em." Izumi told them. The three Genin let her check their stock of kunai knives, shurikens and other such ninja tools. "Good. It seems like you have a full stock except...Naruto, why do half of your kunai knives and shurikens seem so...low in quality?" Izumi asked him. "Oh, uh...the weapons shopkeeper wouldn't let me have any of the better ones because he'd raise the price above what it said on the tag." Naruto answered. "He's lucky I was there. Had to get half of the better ones for him because the shop owner wouldn't let me give him a full stock." Sasuke added. "I tried to thank him, but he said he didn't need my thanks." Naruto also said. "Yeah. 'Cause you're such a loser who can't be bothered to be more assertive about it." Sasuke told him. "Why you-!" "That's enough, Sasuke!" Izumi shouted, interrupting Naruto. Sasuke scoffed.

"If you're done acting like brats, can we please get a move-on? I'd like to find this criminal before the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning starts getting impatient." Izumi told them. Naruto and Sasuke didn't respond. Izumi sighed. "Whatever. Let's just go." Izumi then said.

Izumi turned around, and led her students out of the village.

Thirty minutes later, Izumi told them to stay close to her. "You can never know what could happen on a mission like this." Izumi added. The three Genin did as Izumi told them.

"So, what did you mean by the 'Land of Fire'?" Naruto asked Izumi as they were walking down the path outside of the village.

Izumi sighed. She felt like facepalming right now but she can't afford to do that.

"I guess now is as good a time as any to teach these things to you...the Land of Fire is the nation-or country-where the Hidden Leaf Village is. And far to the northeast of the Land of Fire is the Land of Lightning, which is simply another nation. And both nations are ruled by a person called a Feudal Lord but unlike the Hokage, who are appointed by the village elders, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire and his council, the Feudal Lord is a position that is passed down from Father to Son and so on and so on. The person who requested the mission that we're on right now is the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning. Which is why I called the guy we're after right now a 'border-hopping criminal' because that is what he is, essentially." Izumi explained. "Oh. So this is a really big mission that we're on." Naruto commented. "Yes. Which is why we must complete this mission. Also, The Hokage told me that if we complete this mission, he'll have many more C-Ranks where this one came from waiting for us at some point in the future." Izumi told them.

"By the way, how are we supposed to find this guy?" Sasuke asked. "Excellent question." Izumi said. "Reports say that he was last seen in a village twenty kliks ahead of us." "That's a Hell of a long walk. And he could've left that place by now." Yuki assessed. "It might not be as long as you think, Yuki. And you're right, he might've left the village but that's how it is when you're a criminal and on the run-you can't stay in one place for too long. Besides, nobody said this would be easy." Izumi replied.

Some minutes later (it's really hard to tell what time, exactly, it is when you're travelling) they reach the village Izumi was talking about. The village was smaller than the Hidden Leaf Village. 'Finally, a village that's worthy of being called a "village".' Izumi thought. It was surrounded by houses and in the center of the village was a small marketplace with five market stalls. One stall was for a butcher that sold meat (obviously), another one sold jewelry, the third one sold vegetables, the fourth one sold items that were considered "antiques" by today's standards and the fifth one was selling clothes. "If we were coming here under any other circumstances, there'd be a few stalls I'd like to hit up." Yuki comment

-ed. "We're not here on a shopping trip. We're here solely on business." Izumi told her. "Of course." Yuki acknowledged. Naruto seemed to have noticed something off to their left. "What is it, Naruto?" Izumi asked. Naruto looked to the left. He then looked towards his Sensei, and said, "Nothing, Izumi-Sensei. I must've been seeing things."

Izumi looked in the area where Naruto was looking, and also found nothing but a couple of trees in a forest of them that stood on either side of Team 7 and surrounded the village they're about to enter. "Alright, then. Let's start looking. Ask around the village. If he isn't here, someone must've seen where he went." Izumi told them.

Yuki was about to walk into the village first, but Izumi stopped her. "We must play nice with the villagers. We're simply interviewing them, not interrogating them. The last thing we need is the villagers being scared of Hidden Leaf ninjas." Izumi told her students. "But you didn't tell us anything about the criminal. How do we know where to start?" Sasuke asked. "You're right." Izumi replied.

'Shit, I forgot!' Izumi thought.

"The criminal is a thief from a town in the Land of Lightning. The ninjas who were guarding that town caught him, brought him before the Feudal Lord, and he was sentenced to fifteen years in a civilian prison. But he had recently escaped and, obviously, is not trying to get sent back to that prison again. The criminal's name is Kenji Tsukasa. He has short dark brown hair, green eyes and his height is five-foot eleven. He's no killer, but he can injure you badly if you're off your guard and his life depended on it." Izumi told them. "Right." Sasuke replied. "Be. Careful. I cannot stress that enough." Izumi then told them. "Yes, Izumi-Sensei." Naruto acknowledged.

They then headed into the village, and began asking around. And they were lucky enough to be able to do so because so many villagers were in the marketplace, buying things because these are lunch hours.

Izumi walked up to one male villager, and asked him, "Have you seen a man named Kenji Tsukasa?" "Who's asking?" The man asked. "I think my headband would've made it obvious. Especially since we're the reason the Land of Fire is so peaceful nowadays." Izumi replied. The man looked up at her headband, and then looked back down at her, and said, "Ohhh. You're a Leaf ninja. I should've realized." "I just told you so." Izumi also replied, steadily becoming annoyed. "Now, I ask again, have you seen that man?" "No, ma'am. I heard about a strange man with green eyes, though. He was staying at the inn until some masked ninjas in white came around askin' about 'im. Apparently, the first and last person they asked was Osaka, the old lady who runs the jewelry stall." The man answered. 'Finally.' Izumi thought. She momentarily looked at the jewelry stall, where Naruto was, presumably asking Osaka about Kenji, before turning her attention back over to the man.

"Why was she the 'first and last' person they asked?" Izumi asked the man. "The masked ninjas freaked her out. Especially since Osaka, like everyone else in the village, knew where they came from so they just left the village." The man answered. 'That seems reasonable. No one besides a Jonin like me knows of the Lion Guard.' Izumi thought.

"Thank you, kind Sir." Izumi respectfully said to the man. "You're welcome." The man replied.

After asking a few more people (who also knew nothing or next to nothing) all the members of Team 7 met near the village's first entrance, which leads to the pathway back to the Hidden Leaf Village. "So, what do you have for me?" Izumi asked. "The shoppers at the butcher's stall knew nothing." Yuki answered. "And so did the lady at the antique stall." Sasuke also answered. "None of the others I questioned saw anything, either." Yuki added. "Same here." Sasuke also told her. "And what about you, Naruto?" Izumi then asked. "I talked to about five other people, who knew or saw nothing, before I talked to the old lady at the jewelry stand. Said some 'ninjas from the Hidden Cloud Village' came by, and asked her about the guy we're looking for. Apparently, she was scared of them because they were wearing masks." Naruto answered. 'People from this village didn't know where the masked ninjas came from, eh?' Izumi thought.

"Did she say how she knew they were from the Hidden Cloud Village?" Izumi asked. "No." Naruto answered. 'That's strange.' Izumi thought. "So the Hidden Cloud Village is a real thing?" Naruto asked. 'Why am I not surprised?' Izumi thought. And judging from the looks on their faces, Sasuke and Yuki were thinking the same thing Izumi just thought. After explaining the Five Kage and the existence of other lands and ninja villages to Naruto to save some time, she decided that all four of them should go speak to that old lady once again.

They walked up to the jewelry stall, and Osaka, an old woman who had gray hair that was done up in a bun, blue eyes and was dressed like a housewife, saw them. "Are you kids here to ask me more questions or are you here to buy something?" The old woman asked. "The former, I'm afraid-and, by the way, unlike my subordinates, I'm 19 years old so you can't exactly call me a 'kid'-anyway, I was wondering how you knew that the masked ninjas who came here asking about Kenji before us were ninjas from the Hidden Cloud Village." Izumi answered.

Osaka looked a bit shocked. She looked around, saw that there was no one around, and said, "Not here-follow me." "Follow you where?" Izumi asked. "To my house." Osaka answered.

And so, the four members of Team 7 followed the old woman to her house, which was behind her jewelry stall. Once inside, Izumi and her students saw various

...interesting things all across Osaka's living room. They began looking at these things while Osaka turned left, and started walking away from the door. To their right was a large loveseat and right next to that love seat was a big treasure chest with the Hidden Leaf Village symbol where it's lock should be. Directly in front of the four visitors was a couch and to their left was a kitchen and to the right of the kitchen was a staircase. On the walls around them were windows, a framed and painted picture of the Hidden Leaf Village, a poster with the Hidden Leaf Village symbol on it, and a bookshelf filled with books you could only find in the Hidden Leaf Village's library. "Might I get you anything?" Osaka offered. "No thank you, Madam." Izumi answered. "Who is this woman?" Sasuke whispered. "Look there, she has a picture of the Hidden Leaf Village." Yuki whispered to Naruto. "Don't you think I can see that?" Naruto hissed. "Ssssh!" Sasuke also hissed. "There's more to that picture than what the first look can tell you." Izumi whispered. "What do you mean?" Naruto whispered. "Look at the stone faces in the picture-there's only two on there." Izumi whispered in reply. "Holy shit..." Yuki whispers.

"Take a seat on my couch, then." Osaka told them. Naruto, Yuki and Sasuke went to sit on Osaka's couch while Izumi walked up to that couch, and just stood off to the side. Osaka walked to the love seat, and sat down on the love seat. "Thank Kami...I remember back when love seats like this one didn't exist." Osaka said.

"Who are you?" Izumi asked. Osaka sighed. "I knew a day like this would come... 'Osaka' is not my real name. I am actually Itsuki Sunomiya, a Kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf. I was a Chunin back during the reign of Lord Second Hokage." "What happened?" Izumi asked. "I was abandoned by my comrades and captured by the enemy in the middle of the First Great Ninja War. I thought I would be rescued from the military prison the Hidden Cloud had put me in by some other ninjas of the Hidden Leaf or at least be one of many prisoners of war who were taken back to the Hidden Leaf Village at the end of the war as a part of the peace negotiations-sadly, I was not. So, at the beginning of the Second Great Ninja War, I orchestrated a prison riot, and escaped the prison, taking what few belongings I had back when they imprisoned me. It was only then that I found out I was somewhere in the Land of Lightning. I took a long journey back to the Land of Fire, and eventually found this village. Afterwards, I started living here and then I changed my name to ward off any pursuers from the Hidden Cloud Village and then I started up a little jewelry stall here in the village because, at the time, I had so much jewelry that I didn't need." Itsuki answered. "Why not return to the Hidden Leaf, and come forward instead?" Izumi then asked. "Because I'm still not over the fact that my comrades abandoned me when I needed them most, so with respect to the four of you, the Hidden Leaf Village can go to Hell, for all I care. Besides, I knew that if I did return, I'd just meet the same fate again." Itsuki answered. "What is protecting a military headquarters disguising itself as a little village even worth if they don't care about you?"

"Is that why you were scared by masked ninjas who were from the Hidden Cloud Village?" Sasuke interjected. "Well, yes, little whippersnapper, but also because they were asking about an escaped prisoner. I thought they were talking about me until they mentioned a man with dark brown hair and green eyes. And finally, they were wearing masks and talking as though they had no emotions. And finally, I'm an old woman. If they exposed me and tried to attack me, I don't think I'd last very long in a fight. I was a Chunin, after all, and they were wearing masks and talking as though they were trying to intimidate me. It became clear to me that they are Anbu Black Ops which means they were serious and they could kill me if they wanted to. And the cherry on top of all of this was that I didn't even know that the Hidden Cloud Village had an Anbu regiment." Itsuki answered. 'So that explains her not knowing anything about the Lion Guard, at least.' Izumi thought.

"The other villages have Anbu?" Naruto asked. "Yes. Normally, Genin like you three and a Chunin like Itsuki wouldn't be allowed to know this until you become a Jonin like me, but considering the circumstances, I'm afraid there is no choice. The other four villages have Anbu regiments just like the Hidden Leaf and generally, they serve the same purposes as the Anbu of the Hidden Leaf." Izumi explained. "As far as I know, the Anbu protect The Hokage and police the streets of the village." Naruto stated. "Among...other...things, yes." Izumi replied, becoming frustrated. "But there are also special teams within the ranks of the Anbu from the other villages that serve different purposes. I know of at least two: the Tracker Ninjas, a special team from the Hidden Mist's Anbu. Tracker Ninjas are supposed to hunt down rogue ninjas mainly because a majority of rogue ninjas come from the Hidden Mist Village. And the other special team is the one that Itsuki may have encountered: the Lion Guard. Obviously, they are entirely made up of Anbu from the Hidden Cloud Village. The Lion Guard's main duties are protecting the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning and hunting down any threats to the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning. They also quell dissent against the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning even if their Feudal Lord's policies are rather harsh because their Feudal Lord wants to act like a malevolent tyrant instead of the benevolent monarch they should be. And you are right, Itsuki. They are dangerous to those who cross them."

"You sound frustrated." Itsuki said to Izumi. "I am." Izumi honestly replied. "Why?" Itsuki asked. "Because this was supposed to be a C-Rank mission but the fact that there are Anbu involved tells me that there are things that the mission request didn't mention or conveniently left out and that this is beyond the scope of a C-Rank mission! Among the things that aren't mentioned is the fact that this criminal may not be who we think he is. The Lion Guard don't just go after any random criminal-especially not a thief who has never killed in his criminal career. If you can even call that a career..." Izumi says. "Hmmm...I figured some amount of deception was involved with your mission." Itsuki replied. "The Ninja Code dictates that if the client who put in the mission request lies about the mission, the ninja or ninjas carrying out said mission are to return to their hidden village, and cancel the mission." "Normally, yes." Izumi replied.

"But any move my subordinates and I make, here, could cause an international incident which could spark a war." Izumi then said. "So...what do we do?" Naruto asked. Naruto was looking very scared. 'Honestly, I'm feeling the same way too, Naruto.' Izumi thought. "I say we press on. If there's more of a fight ahead of us, so be it. It will just mean that I'll be stronger by the end of this mission." Sasuke said. "I...I don't know. It sounds like it'll be more dangerous than we bargained for. Maybe returning to the village is a good idea." Yuki argued. Izumi raised an eyebrow at Yuki, unsure if she was putting on an act or not.

"Well, girl...?" Itsuki asks Izumi. "The decision falls to you, and you, alone."

Izumi frustratedly sighs. She wants to protect her students from whatever this escalates into, but she's afraid of the international backlash that might erupt if they give up now. The Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning and the higher-ups of the Hidden Cloud might call the ninjas of the Hidden Leaf cowards because they didn't even try to catch Kenji. And she knows some ninjas in the Hidden Leaf who wouldn't stand for that kind of talk. Especially Danzo. In fact, if he were still an elder, he'd try to convince The Hokage to provoke them back. On the other hand, the Lion Guard could just show up, and attack the four Leaf ninjas for whatever reason. The Hidden Cloud have been known to betray their allies in the back if they believed that it served their own interests.

And so, despite the ramifications of the decision, Izumi says...

"I agree with Sasuke." "What?!" Yuki shouted. Sasuke smirked.

"Why?" Yuki asked. "Because it's a lose-lose situation, Yuki. If we give up, and go back right now, the Hidden Cloud might provoke us into war. On the other hand, if the Lion Guard comes out and attacks us for whatever reason, that could also lead us to war. There's also the fact that if we mess this up because there's context we're missing, that could also lead to war but the fact is that it's too easy to mess this up at the moment although, if we play our cards right, we could discover the truth behind the deception, and then go from there. Whether that means returning to the Hidden Leaf Village or not is still up in the air." Izumi explained. "We need to tread carefully, here. Under these circumstances, there may be times when I can't possibly protect you all but, if you are clever enough, the three of you just might come out of this alive." "Understood, Sensei." Naruto acknowledged. "Whatever you say, Sensei. As long as I get to fight someone." Sasuke acknowledged. "I hope you know what you're doing, Sensei." Yuki acknowledged. 'I hope I do, too.' Izumi thought.

"Alright, then. But before we move on, there's one last thing I need from you, Itsuki. Why did the Lion Guard come to you, of all the people in this village, about the man we're looking for?" Izumi asked. "Someone must've known that I was once a ninja because I have never let anyone into my house and the first person they asked pointed to me. I heard that the person told them that I was hiding him somewhere in my house. Can't say why they left me alone after I unintentionally made it clear I was scared of them." Itsuki answered. "I see..." Izumi says.

'That means that she's been exposed and they're acting like they don't know or, the more likely option is that they're covertly watching her to see signs that she was lying to them.' Izumi thought.

Izumi then recalled that Naruto had spotted something in the forest earlier.

"We need to ask one more person and then get out of here-now. And Itsuki, for your own safety, get your ass back to the Hidden Leaf Village, and tell them where you've been all this time." Izumi said. "Why?" Itsuki asked. "Because we're being watched by the Lion Guard and they've been watching us without us even knowing it. Naruto, you sensed it when we finally arrived but only for a moment. The Lion Guard must've been quicker than you because they were gone the second you looked in their direction. It's admittedly only natural. They are Anbu and you are still a rookie Genin, after all." Izumi answered. Naruto looked visibly offended by Izumi's last comment. "They're sending rookies out on C-Ranked missions, now? What is the current Hokage thinking?" Itsuki asked. "Nevermind that now!" Izumi shouted.

After taking a deep breath, Izumi said, "I'm sorry, Itsuki, but we put you in danger by coming to your house. Our presence might've made them suspicious of you especially because they've been watching you since they questioned you without you knowing, either." "Then, go. There's nothing keeping you here." Itsuki told them. "Alright, then. Just one really last thing: Again, do you know where Kenji is or might be?" Izumi asked. "No." Itsuki simply answered. "Okay. Naruto, Yuki, Sasuke, let's go." Izumi told them. Her three subordinates stood up, and then, Izumi led them out of Itsuki's House.

After a while of walking, a man with dark skin, a shaved head and brown eyes and dressed in a gray sweater, a dark blue pair of sweatpants and a pair of white shoes walked up to them, and said, "I heard that, uh, a group of four Hidden Leaf ninjas were snoopin' 'round here, lookin' for someone. Was that you?" "Yes." Izumi answered after exchanging looks with her subordinates. "Come with me, then. I might know a thing or two." The man told them. Izumi wondered if they could trust this man, but, at this point, they have no other leads. They followed him to the backyard of a house that was near the village's second entrance.

"Alright, then. Who are you?" Izumi asked. "My name's Kaito Yagami. But my boys call me Kai." The man answered. It became clear to the four ninjas that this guy was just some ordinary criminal, probably affiliated with some mafia or even some other type of crime organization. That doesn't explain why he's unarmed, though. "Alright, 'Kai', tell us what you know." Izumi told him. "This guy you're lookin' for? Kenji? Yeah, well, I saw him a night or two ago at the inn, taking shots of sake and talkin' shit to the bartender. I knew who him, so I got the fuck outta there, and went back home." Kai said. "How do you know him?" Izumi then asked. "Now, before I say anythin' else, I want y'all to know that I've never said a word to the guy and had only seen him a couple of other times before. Anyway, the only reason I know him is because he's the friend of a friend of mine. I ain't ever hung out with him, but my friend certainly did." Kai explained. "And what's your friend's name?" Izumi questioned. "She's called Haku. Don't know her real name, though. She dresses like one of them masked ninjas even though she's...uh...in my line of business, if you know what I mean." Kai answered. "Any reason why she'd do that?" Izumi inquired, now confused and intrigued. "Dress herself like that, I mean?" "If you want my opinion, she's just crazy. Not the type of crazy to torture and kill you for shits and giggles, but the kind of crazy that devotes herself to one guy, even if he is an asshole." Kai answered. 'And also the kind of crazy to go out dressing like a member of the Anbu, apparently.' Izumi thought. 'Also, he seems to know more about Haku than he's letting on. But this isn't about her.'

"Where does she live?" Izumi asked. "In the next town past that entrance." Kai answered, gesturing towards the village's second entrance. "Just keep followin' the path 'til ya'll are there. The place is called Satoshi Town. It's a bit of a big town so y'all might have trouble findin' her." "I think we'll be able to manage." Izumi said. "Whatever you say. Maybe I'll see y'all around-and that's a big maybe." Kai replied before he turned around, and walked away. Izumi turned towards her three students, and said, "Okay so we now have a lead. It's off to the next town over, you three."

The three Genin nodded in response, and then, they followed her past the second entrance to the village.

---

And so, the four members of Team 7 continued onwards past the village, and to Satoshi Town. "So...does anyone know anything about Satoshi Town?" Naruto asked as they were walking down the path past the second entrance into the village they were in before. "Like Kai said, it's big-very big. It has about six skyscrapers and a large tower that could be seen from anywhere in the town. The tower's used as a tourist trap." Izumi told him, simply expecting him to not know something that would otherwise be common knowledge at this point. "The town also serves as a midway checkpoint for anyone going to the Hidden Stone Village from either the Hidden Leaf Village or the Hidden Cloud Village." Yuki added. "That's right." Izumi replied. "Must be a popular vacation spot for Hidden Cloud ninjas, Hidden Stone ninjas and Hidden Leaf ninjas." Sasuke commented. "You'd be right about that, Sasuke. Near the town's north side is a large lake and the town had made a beach of that lake's shoreline. The town can also serve as a pit stop for ninjas who are on business like the four of us are." Izumi told him. "But unless it takes longer to find Kenji than I imagined, we won't be there to relax, we'll instead be exploring the town's criminal underworld." "Criminal underworld?" Naruto then asked. "Kai said that the other person we're looking for is someone who is in 'his line of business'. That means that Haku, like Kai and Kenji, are criminals and not just criminals, but career criminals, people who've been committing crimes their entire lives." Izumi answered. "Why?" Naruto questioned.

"Well...I thought you might understand a bit of why they'd do what they do, Naruto, considering your history...in any case, most career criminals commit crimes or, as they say, 'live a life of crime' because they are poor and desperate, stealing just to eat or even joining a gang because that often pays more than getting a normal job-especially people like them, who society condemns from the moment they are born simply because they are poor, homeless or destitute. These kinds of people are not born with many opportunities in life so they turn to crime just to get by. Of course, there are also some career criminals who's circumstances aren't like the circumstances I mentioned before and just commit crimes either for the thrill of it, or-and this applies to very few of them which are also a few of the most dangerous of them all-they just want to see the world burn for whatever messed up reason." Izumi explained. Naruto looked as though he was having a moment of retrospection, like he's now understanding that he should've understood most of the career criminals' motives. "I...I get it." Naruto said, looking sort of glum. "But does that mean this Haku person is the kind of career criminal who wants to watch the world burn?" "From what Kai told us, she isn't that crazy. But, then again...anything is possible in this world of ours and she might've been concealing her true nature from him, possibly because she knew it would freak him out if it was revealed to him." Izumi answered. "If you ask me, that guy we spoke to isn't exactly trustworthy. We should take what he told us with a grain of salt." Sasuke said. "I feel the same way, Sasuke." Izumi agreed.

Naruto looked like he was sensing something again, and so he stopped. The other three then stopped as soon as they noticed that he stopped. They turned to face Naruto, and saw that he was facing the forest to the path's left. "Naruto, what's wrong?" Izumi asked. "I think I'm seeing something in those woods again." Naruto answered. "Hmph. I didn't know that you'd be prone to hallucinations every now and again." Sasuke taunted. Suddenly, a kunai knife was speeding towards him. "Whoa!" Naruto shouted. Naruto dodged, and pulled out his own kunai knife. "Who's there?!" Naruto then yelled. After getting no answer, Naruto was about to rush into the forest, but Izumi quickly dashed towards him, stood in front of him, and stopped him in his tracks. "No, Naruto!" Izumi shouted. "Why? Someone just tried to kill me!" Naruto shouted in reply. "Because that thing you sensed was the same thing you sensed when we entered that village-the Lion Guard." Izumi answered. "Isn't that right?"

And then, a ninja wearing a porcelain mask that had two eye slits, resembled a lion and had a strange cloud-like symbol near the top of it came out of the forest, and stood before Izumi. The masked ninja was dressed in a white flak jacket and had other ninja gear equipped. At the same time, Sasuke and Yuki walked up to Izumi and Naruto, and turned to face the masked ninja.

"I am sorry for the deception." The masked ninja said in a rather masculine voice. "But we had to be sure." "Of what?" Izumi asked. "Of the sharpness of your skills. That boy, out of all four of you, seemed the strongest since he was the first to sense our presence." The masked ninja clarified. 'He's right. I should've been able to sense them first since I'm more experienced than them...so how was Naruto able to do it? I wonder...' Izumi thought.

"So you'd risk an international incident all over a skill assessment? How nice of you." Yuki sarcastically taunted. "I hardly think that boy is important enough to warrant that kind of a response from your superiors." The masked ninja replied. "We are ninjas of the Hidden Leaf. We'd never let you harm one of our own, and get away with it." Izumi interjected. "Is that why Itachi Uchiha killed nearly his entire clan...is that what Itsuki Sunomiya would tell you if you asked her her opinion of how the Leaf treats it's comrades?" The masked ninja countered. "Why you-!" "Calm yourself, Sasuke. We must not lose our heads in this situation. Remember, he is a part of the Hidden Cloud's Anbu Black Ops." Izumi said, interrupting Sasuke. Sasuke reluctantly calmed down.

'I know how you feel, Sasuke. Every mention of Itachi makes my blood boil, too.' Izumi thought.

"Why are you here?" Izumi asked. "I came to ask you the same question. We're in the middle of an investigation." The masked ninja answered. "We're ninjas of the Hidden Leaf, on an investigation of our own...but you already know that, don't you? Despite your sneaking around, I've figured out that you've been watching us from the moment we stepped into that village." Izumi told him. The masked ninja didn't respond.

"So what's the real reason for revealing yourself to us? I know that the Anbu don't usually reveal themselves so casually. Or are the rules of the Anbu different in the Hidden Cloud Village?" Izumi asked. "You seem to know a lot about the Anbu." The masked ninja commented. "Let's just say that I...knew someone who was in the Hidden Leaf's Anbu. And before you ask, he's already dead." Izumi replied. "Another sign that the Hidden Leaf cares so much about it's ninjas?" The masked ninja taunted. "Can we please stay on topic?" Izumi then asked. "Right. My squadmates and I wanted to know if you were willing to work with us to secure the capture of Kenji Tsukasa." The masked ninja finally answered. "How can we do that when we don't even know your name?" Naruto asked. "Are you serious, Naruto?" Yuki asked in reply, annoyed. Izumi was annoyed, as well. "I would think you, of all people, would know that the Anbu aren't allowed to reveal their true identities." Izumi said as though she was scolding Naruto just as a Mother scolds her Son. "Oh. You're right. Heh-Heh..." Naruto says. "While it is true that I am not to reveal my true name, you can instead simply call me Shiro." The masked ninja told the four of them. "So now that I have revealed my codename, I must ask what your names are-that is, if you, yourselves aren't a part of your village's Anbu." "No, we are not. My name is Izumi Uchiha. I am a Kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf. I am also the Jonin-Sensei of these three: Yuki Nohara, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, all three of which are Genin." Izumi answered. "Amazing...I've just met two of the last of the Uchiha. I am being honest when I say I am glad it was not Itachi I had met instead. I now see why the raven-haired boy reacted poorly when I mentioned Itachi." Shiro remarked. "Yeah, if you can just...not do that again in our presence, that would be...preferable." Izumi replied. "I understand." Shiro said.

"So, I ask again: are you willing to work with my squad and I?" Shiro requested. "I think we'd be fools not to." Izumi answered. "Good. My squad has camped out in this forest. I can take you there, myself." Shiro said. "Well...lead on, then." Izumi replied. Shiro turned around, and jumped back into the forest. Izumi and the others followed after him.

---

As the five of them were jumping from tree branch to tree branch, Shiro began asking the members of Team 7 questions. "What are your leads so far?" He asked. "We heard that Kenji was in that village we were in just now, so we went there, and asked people around town. All signs pointed to the old woman named Osaka, who ran the jewelry stall. The same old woman you scared." Izumi answered. "Why? Because she's a former Kunoichi who was a prisoner of ours a Hell of a long time ago? Bitch, please. That's all water under the bridge, as far as we are concerned. Besides, that hag is too old to be a significant threat to us now." Shiro replied. "All we care about is bringing Kenji to justice." 'Of course someone from the Hidden Cloud would say something as heartless as that.' Izumi thought.

"Anyway, after a long, long conversation, the old woman told us that she didn't know anything about Kenji's whereabouts. We left her house thinking that we had to start from scratch until this man called Kai walked up to us, and said he had a clue or two for us." Izumi continued. "He led us to somewhere private, and told us of an...eccentric woman he knew named Haku in the next town over, a town called Satoshi Town. He told us that if we wanted to find Kenji, we'll have to go to her." "Well, I don't know about this 'Kai', but we have heard of Haku. And to tell you the truth, she wouldn't know anything about Kenji." Shiro said. "How do you know?" Izumi asked. "She's crazy. Or, eccentric, like you said. Everyone in Satoshi Town knows her for how crazy she is. She certainly isn't the type of person a lowly thief like Kenji would want to get mixed up with." Shiro answered. "And why would that be?" Izumi then asked. "There are...rumors about her. Scary rumors that would make the oldest man cry in terror." Shiro answered. "We aren't old men or civilians so tell us: what kind of rumors?" Izumi questioned.

"It started with the townsfolk saying that she could do magic. She's pranked the townspeople in rather...odd ways before, so reaching that conclusion could be reasonable. Anyway, after that rumor started floating around, other rumors spiraled from there on the basis that she could do magic. Rumors that get more and more terrifying the more they're told. One such rumor is that Haku might kill someone she encounters, bring their corpse back to her house, and turn it into a puppet for her collection." Shiro explained. "Whoa! What the fuck?" Naruto said. "That would be most people's reactions." Shiro replied. "I see." Izumi said. "So she can't be totally relied on." "Correct." Shiro confirmed. "What intel on Kenji do you guys have, then?" Izumi asked. "We'll...We'll get to that when we get to my squad's camp. Although...whether or not we reveal our intel to you four is not up to me. It's up to my captain." Shiro answered. "Understood." Izumi acknowledged.

After thirty minutes, they reached the camp, where four other masked ninjas were. One of them seemed to have long blonde hair with orange streaks, looking like a true lion. That one also looked to be the shortest of the four of them or the youngest of them.

Shiro and the members of Team 7 jumped down from the tree branch they were standing on after they stopped, and then walked up to Shiro's squadmates' camp. One of the masked ninjas (who looked large and muscular) walked up to Shiro, and asked (in a rather deep masculine voice), "Well, Shiro...?" "The Hidden Leaf ninjas have agreed to work with us." Shiro said. "Oh, how wonderful!" Shouted the masked ninja with the blonde and orange hair who sounded like they had a feminine voice. "I had hoped that this would be the outcome. I would hate to have to kill the pretty blonde boy." "You think I'm pretty...?" Naruto asks. "Quiet!" Shouted the masked ninja standing directly in front of Shiro. "Same goes for you, Naruto." Izumi told him. "Anyway, Izumi, meet my squad. This is my captain, Kirito. And the three others behind Kirito are: Genki, Kuzuha and the fiery-haired one is called Cinder." Shiro said. "Captain, these are the Hidden Leaf ninjas from before. The tall black-haired one dressed in purple is the Jonin-Sensei of their group, Izumi Uchiha. The others are her students: Yuki Nohara, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki."

"So..." Kirito says as he lightly pushes Shiro aside, and walks up to Izumi. "You're one of the last of the Uchiha, eh?" Kirito asked. "Like what you see?" Izumi quipped. Kirito then looked over at Sasuke, and asked, "And what of you, boy? Have anything to say?"

Sasuke indifferently scoffed.

"I'm sorry, Captain. He doesn't like talking to people he doesn't know very well." Izumi said. "I understand. I remember back when a certain someone couldn't stand talking...like, at all." Captain Kirito said, turning to face Genki. Genki simply didn't respond.

Captain Kirito turned towards Shiro, and asked, "Do you have their intel?" "Yes, Sir. Though, I'm sad to say that their intel is mistaken. And they do not know what we know." Shiro reported.

Captain Kirito looked at Izumi, and then looked back at Shiro. "We better talk about this somewhere more...private before we give out any more information." Kirito told him. Shiro nodded, and then, they walked back over to their squad. They had a little talk amongst themselves, and then, Kirito told Team 7 to stay where they are while they have their little talk. Then, all five of them disappeared using the Teleportation Jutsu. Izumi didn't trust them at all. "You three, stay here." Izumi ordered. "Why?" Yuki asked. "Because I'm going to follow them...something is not right, here." Izumi answered. Normally, she wouldn't trust them on principle because she's a Kunoichi and she's been taught that there are times when you shouldn't trust anyone or anything they say. This, Izumi feels, is one of those times. "But-" "Just do as I say!" Izumi shouted.

Izumi jumped up into the tree branches, and began looking for the Lion Guard squad. It only took her a minute to find them and when she did, she saw that they were in an open grassy clearing in the forest, crouched down next to each other in the formation of a circle. Izumi decided to listen in on what they're saying whilst hiding behind a tree.

"Do we have to betray them?" Cinder asked. "It's the only way to regain our strength, or so Lord Tsuchikage says..." Kuzuha says. 'Lord Tsuchikage?!' Izumi thought. "But...why?" Cinder then asked. "You're young, Cinder. You weren't there for the Third Great Ninja War. You didn't see the horrors that the Hidden Leaf inflicted upon us back then." Kirito told her. 'Just as I thought...she is the youngest of the five of them.' Izumi thought. "I think that's just stupid. Do you guys want to see the Leaf wipe the floor with us again?" Cinder questioned. "Why, you-!" "Calm yourself, Kanato!" Shiro shouted, interrupting his angry squadmate. 'Did Shiro just call Kuzuha "Kanato"?' Izumi thought. "We don't have time to argue about our mission. We must make a decision. Captain?" "Alright. We'll continue as planned. And hopefully, this will work and we'll succeed and then actually win the war this time." Kirito told them. "Why is that?" Cinder asked. "Because the Leaf doesn't have their two aces anymore-the Uchiha Clan and the Yellow Flash of the Leaf. Last time, they won out because they had many, many Uchihas out there, on the field of battle and they had the Yellow Flash of the Leaf-Minato Namikaze, also known as the Fourth Hokage. We also have intel that Kakashi the Copy Ninja has been killed by one of our other operatives. The more power we take from them, the less powerful they become." Genki answered. "But they still have Izumi and Sasuke." Cinder said. "Which presents us with another opportunity to take their power." Shiro replied. "Exactly. We had always planned to betray the Leaf ninjas who might come across the mission request that was 'sent by the Feudal Lord' and actually take it. It wouldn't have mattered who they were as long as we killed them, and dumped their bodies at the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village. But the Hokage has handed us two Uchihas. So now, the plan is to swoop in, finish Itachi's job for him, and take their eyes for good measure." Kirito said.

Cinder sighed, clearly not wanting to go through with this.

"Okay, then..." Cinder says.

All that this tells Izumi is that there is clearly more to this than meets the eye. She saw the Lion Guard ninjas hop back into the forest, and Izumi made sure she wasn't seen. 'What do we do? If I stay here too long thinking about what I just heard, they'll get suspicious and ask where I am. And I doubt that my students are masters of deception like ninjas like me are. So what to do...' Izumi thought.

After a lot of quick thinking, Izumi decided that she'll just continue on, pretending like she knows nothing and hasn't heard anything until the time is right.

Izumi used the Teleportation Jutsu to get back to her three Genin students. "So? What happened?" Naruto asked. "False alarm. I didn't even find them. Just don't mention to them that I was gone when they get back, okay?" Izumi asked them. Naruto nodded, and so did the other two. "Good. Now...we wait." Izumi then said.

About an hour later, the Lion Guard squad returned.

Shiro walked up to them, and said, "Captain Kirito has agreed to share our intel on Kenji Tsukasa with you." "And...?" Izumi asks. Kirito then walked up to Shiro and Izumi, and lightly pushed Shiro aside. "We got intel that he holed up somewhere near the mountains to the south of here. A villager came and told us about it after Itsuki turned out to be...uncooperative." Kirito told her. "We were searching around that area until we got word that ninjas from the Hidden Leaf were on the same mission." "Logic dictates that nine heads are better than five so that was why I revealed myself, and asked you to join us since we were after the same thing." Shiro interjected. "And now, we're here..." Izumi says.

'I can't believe we bought their lies.' Izumi thought. Izumi looked around, and saw Cinder looking pretty defeated. 'Well, at least one person isn't okay with this.'

"Alright. Can you take us to the area where you were searching? Maybe we can help since nine heads are better than five, as you said." Izumi requested.

Shiro and Kirito seemed to be exchanging looks, and then, both of them looked at Izumi, and Kirito said, "Of course."

And so, they started following the Lion Guard to the area they were talking about.

Once there, Team 7 and the Lion Guard began searching for Kenji, only to find him thirty minutes later sitting on a little stone altar that looks like a stool which was surrounded by a large circle made of more stones. Kenji looked to be wearing some kind of red uniform. 'Is that a Hidden Stone Jonin uniform?' Izumi thought as she and her squad were watching him from some bushes they were hiding in. The Lion Guard were hiding in the bushes too.

Everyone quietly pulled out their kunai knives and then, Kirito gave off a hand signal. "What does that mean?" Naruto whispered. "It means 'go'!" Izumi hissed.

The nine ninjas jumped out of the bushes, and surrounded Kenji with their kunai knives out. "Hands up, Kenji Tsukasa! Or else!" Izumi shouted. Kenji grumbled. His voice sounds deep. "I don't believe you know what is really going on." He said. 'His voice is deep.' Izumi thought. "You should turn back if y'know what's good for ya." Kenji told them. "What are you talking about?! Why should we listen to a guy like you!?" Naruto shouted.

Kenji stood up, and then, he turned around, and revealed his true form. He really had short black hair, tanned skin, an eyepatch on his left eye and a brown right eye. He also had a brown Hidden Stone flak jacket on and was equipped with a large sword that was sheathed and strapped to his back. "Because you've been deceived." Kenji answered. Suddenly, the Lion Guard threw their kunai knives at the members of Team 7! Yuki and Sasuke dodged the knives that were flying towards them while Naruto blocked the one coming for him with his own kunai knife. "Hey! What was that for!?" Naruto shouted. And then, the members of the Lion Guard squad all went over to Kenji's side, and revealed their true forms, as well. Their porcelain masks disappeared as though they were never there, and their uniforms changed from Lion Guard uniforms to regular Hidden Stone ninja uniforms. "Isn't it obvious, Naruto?" The girl called Cinder asked. They now saw their faces. The one called Shiro looked almost exactly like Kai, the one called Genki had short dark brown hair, green eyes and wore circle-shaped glasses, the one called Kuzuha had mid-length green hair and brown eyes and he looked like he was ready to fight, the one called Kirito had brown hair, a big bushy brown mustache and blue eyes, the one called Cinder had bright, fiery orange eyes and was apparently very pretty because Naruto was taken in by her appearance for just a moment. Fortunately for Team 7, Naruto did something that no one would've ever expected-he shook his head, and got his head in the game.

All of those who were a part of that false Lion Guard squad, by the way, were wearing Hidden Stone headbands. And Kenji was wearing one, as well.

"You've been betrayed." The man called Kirito told the members of Team 7. "I knew that this was the case." Izumi said. Kenji, the other Hidden Stone ninjas and Izumi's three students all looked visibly surprised. "B-But, how? Are you a prophet or something?" The one called Kuzuha asked. 'Jeez. This guy's more of an idiot than Naruto...' Izumi thought.

"No, Kuzuha...or should I call you 'Kanato'? While my cute little Genin students, here, were waiting for Captain Duplicitous to grant you guys 'permission' to give us your 'intel' on the guy with the stupidly large sword, I stealthily followed you guys, and heard your little talk of betraying us and the Hidden Leaf because you wanted payback for your loss during the Third Great Ninja War." Izumi explained. "Right...I remember...from the history books I read...the Hidden Leaf almost lost that war, but the tide was turned when the Fourth Hokage-who was then known only as the Yellow Flash of the Leaf-turned the tide of the war in our favor at the Battle of Kannabi Bridge." Yuki said. "It was also all your precious Uchiha, too!" Kanato shouted. "Those eyes...they're literally murder." "That's why we're going to take your eyes and the eyes of that raven-haired boy when we're done with you." The Shinobi called Kirito said. 'I think Itachi would pummel them all to the ground if we died and they did that to Sasuke.' Izumi thought. "It is also why I have the eye I already have-along with all of his Jutsus." Kenji added. Izumi was shocked. 'No...please tell me he didn't...' Izumi thought, fearing what might be the truth.

Kenji took off his eyepatch, and revealed his scarred left eye socket which, undoubtedly, had Kakashi's Sharingan Eye in it.

"Your days of having power over all the Ninja World are over, Leaf ninjas!" Kenji shouted as he unsheathed his sword.

Izumi activated her Sharingan. Sasuke activates his Sharingan, too. The Hidden Stone ninjas (except for the girl) laughed in their faces. "You think that's supposed to scare us?" The one called Kirito asked. "Alright, everyone! Let's kill 'em!" Kenji shouted. And then, the Stone ninjas ran towards the members of Team 7 with kunai knives in their hands. Kenji was running towards them, too. "Get ready. Even if they aren't a part of the Lion Guard, they are still a threat." Izumi warned her students. "Isn't that obvious?" Sasuke asked. "Only to those who are smart. I'm guessing she's just saying that for Naruto's sake." Yuki joked. "Hey!" Naruto shouted. "Pay attention!" Izumi shouted.

The one called Shiro ran up to Naruto, and started fighting him with just a kunai knife and Naruto did the same, each blocking each other's strikes.

Kanato ran up to Sasuke, and tried attacking him with his kunai knife. Sasuke dodged his attack, and disarmed Kanato. "You're good." Kanato commented.

Kenji ran up to Izumi, and tried to attack her with his sword. Izumi blocked his attack. Then, the captain and the one called Genki rushed in, and tried attacking Izumi, as well.

The one called Cinder went to join the one called Shiro.

Izumi successfully knocked out both the one called Kirito and the one called Genki with two strikes from her kunai knife and three kicks so that it was just herself and Kenji. "Now it's just you and me, eh?" Kenji asked. "Just the way I like it..." "I couldn't agree more." Izumi quipped.

Izumi blocked his sword with her kunai knife three times, and then, she kicked Kenji back. Kenji remained sturdy, but now he was six feet away from her.

"You're strong. Not many ninjas have a kick like yours." Kenji remarked. "I'm flattered." Izumi quipped. "In that case, let's try somethin' else..." Kenji says.

Kenji weaved together seven hand signs. 'Oh no! I know that Jutsu!' Izumi thought.

Izumi weaved together three hand signs, and shouted, "Water-Style: Raging Waves!"

A massive stream of intense flames shot from Kenji's mouth, and what seemed like a waterfall spewed from Izumi's mouth, and met Kenji's flames to completely douse them and the Water-Style Jutsu did just that...but just barely. The effect was that, instead of completely burning away Izumi and her allies (which would've burnt his own allies, as well) Kenji's Fire-Style Jutsu and Izumi's Water-Style Jutsu met, collided, and sent steam into the air.

Izumi, now having finished the Jutsu, is staring intently at Kenji, who was staring intently right back at her.

The others fighting the other members of Team 7 stopped because they were shocked. "Are you crazy?!" Kanato shouted. "Do not worry, Kanato. I knew that she wouldn't have let that Jutsu hit you guys." Kenji told him. Sasuke took that as a chance to knock him out with one punch. "You fight like Naruto did when we first met." Sasuke commented.

Yuki shockingly decided to join the fight, and ran up to the Stone Kunoichi called Cinder to kick her away from Naruto. "Hey! No fair!" Cinder whined. "Sorry, but I laid eyes on this one first." Yuki quipped, referring to Naruto. "Shiro..." Cinder says. Shiro ran up to Yuki, and struck her three times with his kunai knife. Yuki kicked him away, and then put away her kunai knife before shouting, "Water-Style: Water Shuriken Jutsu!" She then threw three Water Shurikens at Shiro.

Shiro made one hand sign, and shouted, "Earth-Style: Stone Edge!" A bunch of stones appeared around Shiro, and started floating quickly around him before shooting towards the Water Shurikens. The stones surprisingly blew past all three Water Shurikens. Yuki pulled out a kunai knife, and blocked the stones that came for her. "Impressive." Shiro commented.

Shiro pulled out his own kunai knife, and ran towards Yuki. While running, he threw five shurikens at her. Yuki blocked and dodged those shurikens, and then, she blocked the incoming attack from Shiro once he got close enough. Their one-on-one fight was fierce, but it seems like Yuki was about to lose. "Yuki, no!" Naruto shouted. Naruto ran in between Yuki and Shiro, and kicked Shiro away as Yuki was about to fall down from being struck twice by the blade of Shiro's kunai knife. Naruto then caught Yuki as she fell down. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked. "Y-Yeah, I'll be fine." Yuki answered. "Rest up, Yuki. I'll take care of it from here..." Naruto says. "Aye-Aye...Captain!" Yuki jokingly acknowledged. Naruto turned to face Shiro, who was still in a fighting stance, wielding his kunai knife. "Now, it's your turn." Naruto said. Shiro charged towards Naruto, and then, once he got close enough, he fought Naruto using melee attacks and strikes from his kunai knife. Naruto used the Taijutsu Izumi taught him to the best of his ability, but Shiro was simply faster. He cut up and bruised Naruto a Hell of a lot and then he punched Naruto for good measure. Naruto fell down, and was knocked out. Shiro walked up to Naruto's unconscious body with the intent to kill. "Finally, some justice for the Hidden Stone...and everyone else the Hidden Leaf has wronged." Shiro said.

"Naruto!" Izumi shouted. She then saw Yuki's condition, too. "Yuki!" "Your attention should be here, Uchiha!" Kenji shouted.

And then, something happened. Something no one would've ever considered. Cinder ran up to Shiro, and stopped him from killing Naruto. "No! Stop!" She shouted. "What are you doing, Cinder?!" Shiro shouted. "This, all this is wrong!" Cinder shouted. "This isn't justice, it's revenge!"

Shiro kicked her off to the side, and turned to face her.

"Why would you protect the enemy? He is the representation of everything Lord Tsuchikage wants to defend the Hidden Stone against! It is only fitting that he would want revenge." Shiro said. "Maybe because he is not 'the enemy' to me..." Cinder says. "What? What do you mean?" Shiro asked. "Perhaps I should explain..." Cinder then says.

Cinder takes off her Hidden Stone headband, and throws it away. Then, she rips off her Hidden Stone ninja uniform to reveal that underneath the uniform she was wearing a white tank top with red suspenders, dark gray pants, red ninja sandals and a pair of black and yellow fingerless gloves. "I am not who you think I am." Cinder said. She then pulls out a white Hidden Cloud headband, and wraps it around her neck just tightly enough for it to be worn a bit like a necklace.

"Then who-" Kenji cut himself off as everyone else's attention turned to Shiro and the Kunoichi formerly known as "Cinder". The reason he cut himself off was that, from the look on his face, he seems to realize who this Kunoichi is. That still doesn't make Izumi understand who she is, though. "I'm glad you asked that, border-hopper. I am Emiko, the Light of the Hidden Cloud! And I'm the most powerful Genin in the Land of Lightning!" The young Kunoichi shouted. "I'm also the sneakiest little international spy the Ninja World has ever seen!" 'Of course!' Izumi thought. 'Why didn't I recognize her before?! That's Emiko the Huntress, the little field spy that The Raikage loves to use. From what I've heard, a bit of what she says about herself is somewhat braggadocio but one thing nobody can deny is her skill, her talent, her potential and her strong spirit. I've also heard that, while she may be as much of an idiot as Naruto, she knows a Hell of a lot of Lightning-Style Jutsus. Hell, some would go as far as to call her a "Lightning-Style Master" which is why everyone also calls her either the "Thunder Child" or "Thunder Girl" or the "Electric Goddess". Anyone would be a fool to underestimate her.'

"The most powerful Genin? Ha! You must've gone crazy. Saying that is like if I said that I have the most empty wallet. Not that much of a brag, now, is it, girly?" Shiro taunted. Emiko dashed right up to Shiro, and punched him in the gut. "That was for hurting cute little Naruto!" Emiko shouted. Shiro fell down, and went unconscious. "Ha! How do you like that?" Emiko then asked.

She then noticed that Naruto was starting to get up. "Naruto!" Sasuke shouted. He ran over to Naruto to check on him. "Wha...What happened? Who's she?" Naruto. "Good. Now I don't have to waste time explaining the last few minutes of this fight to you. I'm gonna go ahead and help your Sensei. Is that alright with you?" Emiko asked. "I don't think she'll need it, but you do you." Sasuke answered. "Cool." Emiko replied.

Emiko turned around, and sped over to Izumi's side. "So...you're here. That's...unexpected." Izumi remarked. "We can talk about it later. For now...we've got that big guy to deal with." Emiko told her. "Right." Izumi replied, now paying attention to Kenji (if that even is his real name).

'It's telling that the Genin has to tell a Jonin-Sensei to focus on the mission at hand even though I'm higher in rank than she is.' Izumi thought.

"If you have any shred of decency in you, 'Kenji', or whatever your actual name is, surrender. I really don't like violence, but I will protect the people if I have to-even if they are capable of protecting themselves." Emiko demanded.

"Why should I care about your demands? With this Sharingan Eye, no one can stand against me. No one is even powerful enough to stand against me...not even Kakashi the Copy Ninja." Kenji said. "So does that mean what you said is true? That you were the one who killed Kakashi Hatake?" Emiko asked. "It does. And I am. I, Akira, am above you! I'm practically a Kage!" The man formerly known as "Kenji" shouted. "So I was right. Your name isn't Kenji Tsukasa." Emiko deduced. "Obviously, little girl. But with this eye of mine, I can take you both down. I can even dethrone the Tsuchikage, and make myself Tsuchikage!" Akira then shouted. "Alright, then, I guess we have no choice!" Emiko shouted.

Izumi weaved together three hand signs, and shouted, "Earth-Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!" And then, the head of a dragon made out of rock rose up from the ground to Izumi's left, opened it's mouth, and started shooting mud balls at Akira from its mouth.

Akira ran towards Izumi while dodging the mud balls. And then, once he was close enough to Izumi, he tried to punch her. But then, Emiko got in between Izumi and Akira and shouted, "Lightning-Style: Thunder Punch!" Her right fist then started glowing yellow and got surrounded by yellow lightning. She then used that literal lightning fist to punch Akira away. Akira used his sword to stop himself from getting too far away from them. After that, the yellow glow and the yellow light

-ning disappeared from Emiko's right fist. "Thanks." Izumi said. Emiko turned around to face Izumi, and said, "Don't mention it" as she smiled at her. She then put a serious face back on and turned back around to face Akira. "Some punch. Haven't felt that since I got hit by Kakashi's Chidori back when I fought him." He commented. "Thanks." Emiko taunted. "I based it on the Chidori after witnessing it for myself. Although, unlike the Chidori, the Thunder Punch Jutsu isn't meant to kill." "So it's a Fool's Jutsu." Akira replied. "That doesn't mean that your chakra hasn't been halved because of the Jutsu Emiko just casted." Izumi interjected as she walked over to Emiko's left. "I see..." Akira says. "Well, in that case..."

Akira prepared to swing his sword, and then he shouted, "Wind-Style: Air Slash!" And then he swung his sword twice, and two blades of wind came rushing towards Izumi and Emiko.

Emiko weaved together four hand signs, and shouted, "Lightning-Style: Thunder Wave!" And then, a burst of yellow lightning appeared in front of Emiko and Izumi, and then shot towards the wind blades and then, both the wind blades and the thunder wave collided, and made a great big explosion. After that, Izumi weaved together three hand signs, and thought, 'Fire-Style: Fireball Jutsu!' And then a ball-shaped stream of fire expelled from Izumi's mouth, and shot towards Akira.

Akira quickly weaved together seven hand signs, and slammed his right hand on the ground. "Earth-Style: Mud Wall!" And a wall made of earth rose up from the ground in between Akira and the Fireball Jutsu, and effectively blocked the fireball. In retaliation, Emiko weaved together three hand signs, and shouted, "Lightning-Style: Thunderclap Arrow!" And then, yellow volts of lightning formed around her hands, and then, she threw the lightning at the earth wall. The lightning volts hit the earth wall, and destroyed it. Akira had to jump to avoid the debris that was surely coming his way. After that, he made his way back down to the ground.

"I'm impressed that a weak attack like that one destroyed my strong earth wall." Akira remarked. "Although, you won't remain impressive for too long..."

"Well, then, why don't you come and see how impressive I can be." Emiko smugly replied. "You're on." Akira also replied.

Akira charged towards her while still wielding his sword, and Emiko pulled out a kunai knife with her right hand, and then charged towards him. Once they got close enough to each other, they crossed blades fifty times until Akira disarmed her because he had the bigger sword. "Well, well, well...would you look at that?" Emiko remarked, amused. But then, Akira caught her off-guard by hitting her twice, creating two fresh scars on her body.

And as he was about to hit her again with his sword, Emiko wrapped herself in three layers of lightning chakra and blocked Akira's sword with the back of her hand. 'That's Lightning Style Armor!' Izumi thought, shocked to see it for the first time. "Okay...I see that you want me to get serious...that's fine by me..." Emiko says, speaking in a quieter tone of voice as though she were in a library. She then lightly pushed his sword away. "Oh...so you're that powerful. I get the feeling that this will be legendary!" Akira hissed. He then tried swinging his sword at her again, but she blocked it, and disarmed him with only her hand. His sword then flew away into the forest. Akira was visibly astounded. "Lightning-Style: Thunder Punch." Emiko said. And then, both of her fists started to give off a visible yellow glow, and, at the same time, her yellow glowing fists were surrounded by yellow lightning again. Emiko then punched him numerous times. Akira tried to get a punch or two in, but every time he tried, his fist would get zapped by the blue lightning surrounding her. The same thing would happen to him if he tried blocking her punches. Via her Sharingan, Izumi saw that Akira's chakra was getting depleted every time Emiko hit him with the Thunder Punch Jutsu.

'Holy shit...this...this is Kage-level power.' Izumi thought.

Izumi thought that Emiko's got this and that Izumi, herself, could go and tend to her students, but Emiko's chakra is nearly exhausted, too. 'She needs help.'

Akira backed six feet away from Emiko, and then weaved together six hand signs before shouting, "Earth-Style: Flash Cannon!" And then, a beam of white light shot from his hands, and hurtled towards Emiko. But that did nothing.

'Akira, you fool...don't you know that earth style is weak to lightning style?' Izumi thought.

Akira then casted the Gale Palm Jutsu at Emiko. Izumi's eyes widened. The Jutsu hit Emiko's Lightning Armor, and made it disappear. The yellow glow and lightning around her fists disappeared, too. 'Oh no! She's experiencing chakra exhaustion!' Izumi thought. Then, Akira pulled out a kunai knife, charged towards Emiko, and stabbed her. Izumi ran up to them. "No!" Izumi yelled.

"You put too much chakra into that Lightning Armor of yours, didn't you?" Akira asked. Emiko chuckled even though it looked like she was going to die. "I guess I did. I never did get the hang of that" She said while smiling. Akira pulled his kunai knife out of her body, and kicked her away. Emiko was flung twelve feet away from where she just was, and was now on the ground. "Emiko!" Izumi shouted.

Izumi turned towards Akira, and yelled, "You bastard!"

Akira laughed as he turned to face Izumi. "Look how pathetic you all are. Not even your precious Electric Goddess could help you." He said. Izumi sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this, but you gave me no choice." She told him. Izumi closed her eyes, and thought, 'Mangekyo Sharingan!' And then, she opened her eyes back up again. Her Sharingan Eyes were now shaped like the type of wheel that water mills use.

Izumi then made one hand sign.

Akira's eyes widened as though he knew what was about to happen.

"Mizudeppo." Izumi said.

And then, a very large stream of hot water expelled from her mouth, and zoomed towards Akira. Akira tried to cast a counter Jutsu, but Izumi's Mangekyo ability was too fast for him, and so it hit him. The water was so scalding hot that it seemed to nearly burn his chest when she was done using the ability. Izumi closed her eyes again, and made her Sharingan Eyes return to their normal form before opening them again because she didn't want to use her Mangekyo Sharingan too much because she heard that that could cause blindness (which is the reason why some Uchihas steal Sharingan Eyes from their brethren).

Izumi has never liked using her Mangekyo or using it for this specific purpose, but she always knew that there are times when it would be necessary.

"Have you had enough or do you want to kill yourself with chakra exhaustion?" Izumi asked. Akira laughed. "I'm not that spent, girl." He said.

Akira weaved together three hand signs, and shouted, "Earth-Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!" And then, a dragon head made of earth popped out of the ground next to Akira, and began shooting three mud balls at Izumi. Akira also heated the mud balls up with a Fire-Style Jutsu to spice things up. Izumi dodged all the fired-up mud balls but then, smoke filled the area around Izumi, and Akira suddenly appeared behind Izumi, and he pulled out a kunai knife, and stabbed her.

"You lose." Akira whispered into Izumi's ear. Akira pulled his kunai knife out of Izumi's body, and Izumi flopped down onto the floor.

It was then that Sasuke noticed what was happening. "Sensei!" Sasuke shouted. Sasuke stood up, and charged towards Akira after seeing that Naruto would be okay for now. Sasuke pulled out a kunai knife, and threw it at Akira's hand, knocking Akira's own kunai knife out of his hand. Akira then turned to face Sasuke.

"Sasuke...no!" Izumi shouted.

"So, you want to battle me, boy?" Akira asked. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. And you're damn well going to remember it!" Sasuke shouted. "Remember what? My comrades and I just took out everyone of your other comrades. You have no hope against this Eye, I am basically a God!" Akira shouted. "Then call me a Godkiller." Sasuke said. "You'll be going to Hell if you do that." Akira replied. "We're Shinobi, aren't we? That means we're already condemned!" Sasuke shouted.

Sasuke dashed towards him, and Akira pulled out another kunai knife before the two of them crossed blades once more.

"Sasuke!" Izumi shouted. She wanted to intervene, but she felt as though she couldn't move. Izumi deactivated her Sharingan before Sasuke confronted Akira because she had to conserve energy if she wanted to stay alive. But now, she wishes she hadn't.

As she expected, Akira toyed with him, and then he threw him across the opening before dashing towards Sasuke, and cutting him up with his kunai knife for good measure.

"How pathetic...my strength is as low as it's ever been, and yet neither Uchiha can defeat me." Akira arrogantly said. "If not an Uchiha...then how about an Uzumaki?" A familiar voice asked. 'Oh no...' Izumi thought. She hadn't even considered that Naruto might wake up so soon. There's more-she sensed something...'OH NO!'

Izumi looked over at Naruto, and saw that he was standing up...and looking angry. There were also a few...other things that were...different about him. For instance, his eyes were red and his eyes' pupils were slitted like a fox's, the whisker-like birthmarks on his cheeks were more pronounced and his teeth were sharp and his fingernails were sharp as well. The only good thing about his current condition is the fact that his wounds have completely healed themselves.

Akira took notice of Naruto and turned to face him. "Back for more, eh?" Akira asked. "What happened to my friends?" Naruto asked. "Look around you. I think what happened to them is pretty evident." Akira answered. Naruto looked around, and he saw Emiko on the ground. He saw Yuki on the ground. He saw Izumi

...and Sasuke...

Suddenly, Naruto became angrier, and swirls of wind surrounded him. "Naruto, please! Stop! Calm down!" Izumi shouted. But Naruto was ignoring her. Probably because he's so angry. "Aw...what's the matter? Can't handle the sight of your Sensei and your friends dying?" Akira said, taunting Naruto. "No, don't taunt him like that, Akira! You don't know what you're doing!" Izumi shouted.

Naruto only got angrier and those swirls of wind turned into swirls of fire.

Akira smirked. "I sense something...evil in you. I'm feeling...energized." He said. "Shut up!" Naruto yelled. "Or what? You're going to bark at me to death?" Akira tauntingly replied. Akira laughed. Naruto got angrier, and the swirls of fire turned into an orange aura that gave him orange visible liquid-like forms of fox-like ears and also gave him an orange visible liquid-like form of a single fox-like tail.

He then dashed towards Akira, and they began melee fighting.

Surprisingly, Naruto isn't losing the fight at all. If anything, he's steadily winning but the only reason he hasn't won the fight just yet is because The Fox is giving him strength that is equal to that of Akira's strength. Punches were thrown, kicks were blocked but the fight wasn't seeming to tip in anybody's favor until Naruto started using the Fire Punch Jutsu against Akira. Now, it seemed like Akira's on the verge of losing.

"Amazing...such strength." Akira sadistically said. "I told you to shut up!" Naruto yelled. "Naruto! You can stop, now!" Izumi shouted. Again, Naruto's ignoring her.

'His rage is probably interfering with his ability to hear me, and think properly.' Izumi thought. She then slammed her fist on the ground. 'Dammit! My words are getting us nowhere!'

Just then, she saw Yuki healing Sasuke with the Healing Jutsu. Emiko also looks to be already healed up, as well. 'It was probably Yuki's work.' Izumi thought. Emiko also looks stunned by what she's seeing...Naruto enveloped by the chakra of The Nine-Tailed Fox fighting Akira on even ground. He was also seemingly using the Fire Punch Jutsu (seemingly to add to the strength of his attacks). Emiko, meanwhile, probably feels as though she doesn't know what to do. She presumably wants to let Naruto keep pummeling Akira, but, at the same time, Naruto is surrounded by an evil aura and that if she doesn't do something, Naruto will be lost forever. 'I feel the same way, Emiko.' Izumi thought. If Izumi was at full strength right now, she could easily suppress The Fox's chakra with her Mangekyo Sharingan, but, at present, she isn't at full strength.

Fortunately for her, Sasuke's all healed up, and now, Yuki and Sasuke are running towards Izumi. "Are you alright?" Yuki asked. "What does it look like?" Izumi rhetorically asked. "Besides, it's not me who we should be worrying about. It's Naruto." "I was wondering about that..." Yuki says. Emiko walked over to Yuki and Sasuke.

"Roll over. Let me take a look at your wound." Yuki told Izumi. Normally, Izumi wouldn't trust this girl with her health, but, if she knows the Healing Jutsu, then that makes her the team's medic. And as the medic, she is practically Izumi's boss in situations like these. Izumi rolled over because she now has no choice. "Didn't know that you knew the Healing Jutsu." Izumi remarked. "I took a Healing Class back when I was at the Academy." Yuki told Izumi.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at what Yuki just said. 'Maybe he's starting to realize that Yuki isn't exactly trustworthy too.' Izumi thought. "That's funny. I don't remember you and I ever being in the Academy." Sasuke said. "I was...in a different class. Different from Iruka...Sensei's." Yuki replied as she began heal

-ing Izumi's wound with the Healing Jutsu. Izumi noted that the way she said "Iruka-Sensei" told her that she's either lying or that she didn't like Iruka, in part

-icular. 'What isn't there to like about Iruka, though?' Izumi thought. But she then noticed that they were getting off-track.

"That isn't important right now. What is important is what do we do about Naruto?" Izumi told them. "Well, obviously, shouting at him isn't working." Sasuke replied. Izumi grunted. "What, exactly, is happening to my cute little Naruto?" A familiar voice asked. Izumi, Sasuke and Yuki then noticed that Emiko was here. "Just so you know, I laid eyes on him first." Yuki told Emiko. "Enough, Yuki! We need to get back on track!" Izumi shouted. "Izumi-Sensei's right. Besides, I was going to ask what's happening to Naruto but, apparently, Emiko stole my thunder." Sasuke said. "Do jokes like that run in the family?" Emiko then asked. "Can we please stay on the point!" Izumi shouted. "Right. I ask yet again: what's happening to Naruto?" Emiko questioned.

Izumi grunted, frustrated because she has to reveal something to them.

"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be revealing this information to you three, but now, it can't be helped...Naruto is The Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki." Izumi told them. "Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki? What does that mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Jinchuriki...I've heard of that before." Emiko said. "You have?" Sasuke asked. "Yes. Have you heard of the Tailed Beasts?" Emiko asked in reply. "Uh...yeah. The Hidden Leaf Village was attacked by the ninth one twelve years ago." Sasuke answered. "The teachers at our Ninja Academy made sure that we never forgot about them...not after what the adults called 'the Nine-Tails Incident'." "Yeah, well, Jinchuriki are Human vessels with Tailed Beasts sealed inside of them. The beasts are sealed inside of them when they are babies. This is because that was the only way to become a Jinchuriki, because making someone into a Jinchuriki is practically almost like offering a Human sacrifice to the Tailed Beast." Emiko explained. "Why do they have to be sealed inside babies?" Sasuke then asked. "Because a...'fresh sacrifice', so-to-speak, is necessary for the seal to work properly." Emiko answered. "Who the Hell would do such a thing to a baby?!" Sasuke shouted. "The same hidden villages we live in and defend with our lives. This is because we, as Humans, fear the Tailed Beasts and their power. But our superiors also realize that they can control such power, and in doing so, get a strong weapon out of it. Theoretically, the Jinchuriki are so powerful they could end wars or a war as big in scale as the Third Great Ninja War. To sum it up, the Tailed Beast's power becomes the village's own power." Emiko also explained. "Great war deterrents, Jinchuriki are." Yuki snidely said. "Shut up, Yuki!" Sasuke shouted. "Anyway, the question, now, is: does this mean...that The Nine-Tailed Fox, the strongest of all the Tailed Beasts, is in control of Naruto's body?" Emiko asked. "Not completely...not yet, anyway. As it is, The Nine-Tails has only added to Naruto's own strength. Sadly, I believe that if it were only Naruto fighting Akira, Akira would demolish Naruto." Izumi answered. "Then let's let them fight it out, and have Naruto do the work for us." Sasuke said. "We can't." Izumi told him. "Why?" Sasuke questioned. "Well, for one thing, Naruto might kill Akira, and the mission request said we needed him alive so that our Anbu could transfer him to the Hidden Cloud's custody, and they can deal with Akira from that point on. For another, we don't know if The Nine-Tails will stop Naruto from using any more of The Nine-Tails' own chakra after the fight has ended. He might decide to force Naruto to undo the seal. The Nine-Tails, at this point, is like a wild, untamed beast and Naruto doesn't know how to tame him just yet-or rather, I don't think he does." Izumi answered. "Does Naruto already know that he's a Jinchuriki?" Emiko then asked. "Yes, but he only found out right before he became a Genin and that was like a month ago, or something like that." Izumi answered. "Some weeks ago, actually." Sasuke corrected her. "And anyway, that doesn't explain how, exactly, he became a Jinchuriki." "Didn't I just explain that to you?" Emiko questioned. "Not every Jinchuriki's circumstances are the same and we don't have time to answer that question." Izumi interjected. "Right!" Yuki shouted. "What do we do to stop Naruto?" "If I had all my strength, I could use my Mangekyo Sharingan to get inside Naruto's mind, and suppress The Nine-Tails' chakra and also strengthen the seal." Izumi answered. "You have the Mangekyo Sharingan?" Sasuke inquired, surprised to know this. "Now is not the time, Sasuke!" Izumi shouted.

"Yuki...?" Izumi asks. "I'm sorry, Sensei, but I haven't gotten to your chakra pathways just yet." Yuki reported. "I think I can help." Emiko said. "How?" Sasuke asked. "There's a Jutsu I know called Helping Hand. I can use it to transfer chakra from one person's body to another person's body. It's also mainly used for that purpose but I can also use it to take an opponent's chakra, and give my opponent's chakra to myself. I'm willing to use Helping Hand to give Izumi all the chakra she'll need for her to use her Sharingan to stop Naruto, but I'll need someone else to take that chakra from." Emiko explained. "I can do it." Sasuke said. "I warn you: it'll hurt. Yuki will need to patch you up again." Emiko replied. "I don't care! Naruto needs our help!" Sasuke shouted. "Alright. But don't say I didn't warn ya." Emiko told him.

Emiko went to stand behind Izumi, and then, she said, "Sasuke, I want to lay down beside Izumi."

Sasuke did as Emiko said, and then, Emiko sat down, and put her hands on the backs of Sasuke and Izumi. Emiko then closed her eyes, and said, "Helping Hand."

Izumi felt a sudden surge of power while Sasuke was grunting in pain. 'I'm sorry, Sasuke.' Izumi thought.

Izumi closed her eyes, and thought, 'Mangekyo Sharingan!'

And then, she opened her eyes, and her Mangekyo Eyes came back.

She then used those eyes to look at Naruto, and enter Naruto's psyche without even moving an inch from where she is in the physical world.

---

Izumi woke up inside what looked to be a dingy underground sewer. There was only a green light that lit up the place. 'Alright, Naruto...Nine-Tails...where are you?' Izumi thought. She walked forwards until she saw a doorway to her right. That doorway led to a room that looked like it was lit by a warm light. A light that was orange-colored. 'Is this it?'

Izumi turned right, and walked into that room. What she saw was a sad sight, indeed. As well as an alarming sight, as well. Naruto was sitting off to the side, looking defeated and presumably feeling defeated, too.

Straight ahead of her is a giant jail cell that had a paper with the kanji for "seal" written on it. Except it's half peeled off and the cell's door is slightly opened.

Izumi tried to maintain her composure because she's here to talk to Naruto, first and foremost. The Nine-Tails can be dealt with a little later.

Izumi walked up to Naruto. "Naruto! What the Hell are you doing?!" Izumi shouted. Naruto looked up at Izumi, surprised. "Izumi-Sensei...how are you here?" He asked. "That doesn't matter. What does matter is that your seal is weakened and you're using the Nine-Tails' power to pummel the guy we're after." Izumi told him. Naruto looked back down, looking sad again. "What other choice do I have?" He then asked. "If I tried to face him as just...me, I'd be killed. Besides, I think I...got too angry. And lost control." "And that's the problem. You should've calmed down just like I told you to." Izumi then told him. Naruto looked up at her, now with anger on her face. "And, what, let all of you be killed by this man?" Naruto asked. He then stood up in anger. "I saw what he did to you, to Yuki, to Emiko and to Sasuke! Our orders were to knock that fucker out, and bring him back to the Hidden Leaf Village just so that our Anbu could take him back to the Land of Lightning, but the circumstances have changed so much that I don't think that's even possible anymore! What he's done to all of you is unforgivable!" "I...I agree. But orders are still orders. Besides, something makes me think that Akira is actually an escapee from that prison in the Land of Lightning. I just also believe that those Hidden Stone ninjas were his rescue party." Izumi told him.

"Then...how? How do I make it so that we can take him back?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, Izumi Uchiha...how can he make that possible?" A sinister voice suddenly and startlingly asked.

Both Izumi and Naruto were startled.

"Let me guess: that was-" "The Nine-Tailed Fox." Naruto said, interrupting his Sensei.

Izumi and Naruto turned towards the giant jail cell, and saw that The Fox was still inside of it. The only surprising and scary thing about The Fox is that his fur and tails were orange, the insides of his ears were black, he had red slitted eyes, his claws were white and he was giant, practically a behemoth. Izumi looked scared of him, but Naruto surprisingly didn't look scared at all. In fact, Naruto looked as though he was used to seeing The Nine-Tails.

Izumi calmed herself down, and then decided to be a bit humorous. "Well, at least you've stayed in your cell." Izumi quipped. "After you Humans put me here." The Nine-Tails replied. "What else were we supposed to do? You were indiscriminately killing everyone and destroying the Hidden Leaf Village." Izumi also replied. "Naruto could also ask the same of you. And, might I say, for a Jinchuriki who's using my power for the first time, Naruto's doing quite well." The Nine-Tails remarked. "I'm flattered that you're so proud of my student." Izumi sarcastically said. The Nine-Tails chuckled. "So they've actually charged you with teaching Naruto the lessons he needs to become a Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf? I thought Naruto was lying to me when he told me that an Uchiha was teaching him how to be a Shinobi. What is The...uh...current Hokage thinking?" He commented. 'So I was right-this was not Naruto's first time coming here.' Izumi thought.

Izumi chuckled. "Clever mentioning that you killed The Fourth Hokage. And you know what? I'm glad that you did." She replied. "Why?" The Nine-Tails asked, giving her a curious look. "Why would I tell you? You're just as much of a powerful enemy as the man whom Naruto is fighting. But considering that no Human in the world is powerful enough to kill you and that killing Naruto is out of the question, I'm going to have to suppress your chakra, and redo the seal." Izumi said. "As his teacher, of course." "What? But Akira...he'll kill me!" Naruto shouted. "And whose fault do you think that will be?" Izumi harshly asked.

'I'm sorry, Naruto, but I can't be Ms. Nice Sensei in situations like this.' Izumi thought.

Izumi made one hand sign, and then said, "Mizudeppo." And then, a large whirlpool of extremely hot water expelled from Izumi's mouth, and hit The Nine-Tails. "NO! NARUTO NEEDS ME!" The Nine-Tails yelled before he disappeared as though he was being flushed down a toilet.

After that, Izumi made six hand signs, and the cell's door closed all the way and then, the paper was put back onto the cell's door.

Izumi then looked down at Naruto, and said, "What happens next is all on you."

---

After that, she pulled herself out of Naruto's psyche.

Izumi woke up back in the real world, still laying down on the ground. Amazingly, she feels that her wound is gone and that her full strength is back.

Izumi stood up, and she saw that Yuki was now crouched next to Sasuke and working on healing him while he was still laying on the ground. She also saw Emiko standing next to her. "Well...I'm feeling better." Izumi remarked. Emiko, Yuki and Sasuke all look at Izumi. "Izumi-Sensei!" Sasuke shouted, almost sounding glad to see that she's well. "You should thank Yuki." Emiko said, replying to Izumi's comment.

Izumi looked at Yuki, and asked, "How is he?" "I'm very close to finishing repairing his chakra pathways." Yuki reported. Seconds later, Yuki said, "And...done. You should be fine, now."

Yuki stood up, and then Sasuke stood up, as well. "Thanks." He said to Yuki. "How did it go?" Emiko asked Izumi. "Look at Naruto, and see for yourselves." Izumi told them.

All four of them looked at Naruto, and watched as he was still fighting Akira.

Suddenly, Naruto returned to normal completely. Naruto stopped, and curiously asked, "Huh?" 'It's almost like he's wondering where all of his power went while simultaneously looking like he's woken up from a long nap.' Izumi thought.

Akira laughed. "It looks like all your power has vanished." He commented.

Akira then punched Naruto so hard that he was flung backwards.

"I'm going to catch him!" Emiko shouted. "Don't, Emiko!" Izumi shouted. "Don't even try to stop her, Sensei." Yuki told Izumi as Emiko sped to Naruto's aid. "Emiko is a Kunoichi of a different village. If she wants to save Naruto, that's her prerogative. And apparently, The Raikage trusts her enough to make her own decisions without the need of a four-man squad on site or the need of a Jonin

-Sensei. If you try to interfere with anything she does, that could cause an international incident. And, last time I checked, that was what these guys were aiming to achieve." Yuki advised, referring to the unconscious Hidden Stone ninjas strewn across the ground. "Fine. I just wanted to teach Naruto a lesson for relying on the Nine-Tails' power like he did. The fact is, he could've put us all in danger and if left to his own devices...I don't even want to think about what might happen." Izumi replied. "That seems kinda harsh, don't ya think?" Sasuke asked. "Since when did you start caring about how I teach Naruto?" Izumi asked in reply. Sasuke indifferently scoffed once he realized what he'd said.

"Besides, in life-or-death situations like this, you can't exactly sugar coat things." Izumi added.

Meanwhile, Emiko successfully gets behind Naruto, and catches him before he hits his head on a tree far behind the both of them like he would've if she hadn't caught him. "Emiko!" Naruto said. He then smiled. "Man, am I glad to see you." "You and I are going to have a little talk later, Mister. You almost unleashed a Demon upon this Earth and made us fail the mission." Emiko said. Naruto looked surprised, and then ashamed.

After that, Sasuke asked, "Can I have the honor of knocking that guy out?" "No. That's reserved for me, and me, alone." Izumi answered.

Akira laughed again. "Look at you...without that power of yours, you're nothing! You can't even save yourself, you pussy!" He shouted. But then, Izumi ran up to him, and then, after getting up close to him, she caught him off-guard by shouting, "Fire-Style: Fire Punch!" And then, her right fist burst into flames, and then she used her right fist to punch him so hard that she gave him a fist-shaped burn mark on his face. Akira fell down, and went unconscious. Izumi closed her eyes, and then, she deactivated her Sharingan before opening her eyes again. She also dispelled the Fire Punch Jutsu, too. Izumi also took a deep breath while deactivating her Sharingan.

"It's...It's over." Izumi said calmly.

Izumi then walked over to Emiko, who let go of Naruto as soon as he could stand on his own, and then she said, "I'd like it if you'd save us some time, and bring Akira back to the Land of Lightning on your own, but until we get The Hokage's permission to do that, we're just going to have to wait here." "I understand." Emiko replied.

Izumi then quickly got out a piece of paper and a pen from her pocket, and quickly wrote a letter. Izumi then used the Summoning Jutsu to summon a red-eyed Ninja Crow, and then, she attached the letter to the crow's right leg. "Get this to The Hokage. Pronto." Izumi ordered. The crow nodded at her, and then it flew away.

"What Jutsu was that?" Naruto asked. Izumi turned towards Naruto, and said, "A Jutsu you are not ready to learn just yet." "Oh." Naruto replied, not even insisting on learning the Summoning Jutsu. He looked ashamed.

Izumi starts thinking of ways to drive the point that he shouldn't ever use The Nine-Tails' power again unless it was absolutely necessary, and then, she got an idea.

"Emiko, you can choose not to take part in this because you're not a Kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf, but my students and I are going to have a little...intervention with Naruto while we wait for The Hokage's response." Izumi said. "Oh no, I want to have a few words with him, myself." Emiko replied. "Then by all means, join in." Izumi then said. "Naruto, find some place to sit."

Naruto gulped, probably thinking that all of his fears have been realized. 'Well, if his fear is getting a serious scolding from myself, his teammates, and this pretty Kunoichi from the Hidden Cloud Village who seems to like him, then, yeah, your fears have been realized, buddy.' Izumi thought while Naruto just simply sat down on the grassy ground.

The four of them then gathered in a circle formation around Naruto.

"So...the village idiot decides to fuck up one more time." Sasuke commented. "I don't want my pretty boy to be killed by some vicious fox just to bring down one psychopathic criminal." Emiko said. "Same." Yuki replied. "Hey!" Emiko shouted. "Finders keepers, Cloud Girl. I laid eyes on him first." Yuki argued. "Enough, you two! This is about Naruto, not some petty love triangle." Izumi said.

"Anyways, Naruto, might I remind you that The Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself the night of The Nine-Tails Incident? What you did would be a pretty poor way to honor that." Izumi told him. "Wait, what?" Emiko asked. "Right. I haven't told you three yet, have I? The tale of how Naruto became The Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki." Izumi said. "Jinchuriki?" Naruto asked. "It's what we call those who have monsters like The Nine-Tails sealed inside them." Izumi answered. "Anyway, the official story goes that, on the night of the Nine-Tails Incident, The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox ravaged the Hidden Leaf Village out of the blue. Every ninja in the Hidden Leaf tried to fight it-to kill it-but those efforts were futile. All hope seemed lost until The Fourth Hokage stepped in, and fought the beast, himself. But that's only half the story." "No, Izumi-Sensei, don't-" "I'm sorry, Naruto, but, as you can probably tell, they already know that you're a Jinchuriki. I had no choice but to tell them when you were still fighting Akira with The Nine-Tails' power. You can't control who does or doesn't know the secret when you use The Nine-Tails' power so recklessly like this." Izumi said, interrupting Naruto.

"Anyway, as I was saying, the official story behind the end of the Nine-Tails Incident was only half the truth. Yes, The Fourth Hokage did fight The Nine-Tails, but unlike what the official story says, he couldn't defeat the beast, much less kill it. He was one Hell of a good Shinobi, but not that good. So, instead, he had a different plan. There was a baby boy who was born that night and unfortunately, his parents were killed by The Nine-Tails, too. Leaving him a one-and-only orphan. The Fourth Hokage took that orphan, and sealed The Nine-Tails inside him, making him The Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki. The Fourth Hokage died while sealing the monster inside Naruto, too." Izumi explained. "The Fourth Hokage died so that the village-and you, as well, Naruto-might live. So, as I mentioned before, using The Nine-Tails' power as recklessly as you did would be a pretty poor way to honor The Fourth Hokage's sacrifice." "Well, in that case, I agree, Sensei." Sasuke said. "So do I." Yuki added. "And I." Emiko also said.

"Now, what do you have to say for yourself?" Izumi asked. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt anyone, it's just...I didn't see any other way for all of us to make it out of this mission alive. I also...I also wanted to avenge you guys." Naruto apologetically said. "I thought that you were either dead or so close to death that The Grim Reaper was going to take you away at any moment. Sasuke, you tried to save Izumi-Sensei from that psycho when it seemed like she was inches away from being killed by him and you were nearly killed by him, instead. Yuki, you came to save me when it looked like I was gonna lose, too and you got knocked out. You lost to save my life." 'He's right. It is weird how Yuki lost that fight when she could've taken on that Hidden Stone ninja, and won with ease-well, based on what I've seen of her.' Izumi thought. "And Emiko...you helped us when we needed it most, but you still lost to that guy. And Izumi-Sensei, you also fought him to save Emiko from being killed by him. If I hadn't come in and beat him with The Nine-Tails' power, he would've killed Sasuke, and then he would've moved on to Yuki, Emiko and you, Izumi-Sensei. That guy...he said that he was powerful because he had a Sharingan Eye. I thought that he was just bragging because you and Sasuke both have the Sharingan in both eyes and yet, you weren't as powerful as he was. And you never said you were. After I recovered from being beaten by that Shiro guy, I saw how badly he beat you all, and it was at that point that I realized...he wasn't bragging about his power. He could actually kill us. After what he did to all of you, I could...could almost tell that letting him live by knocking him out with a simple karate chop wasn't going to be possible. I bet that the karate chop wouldn't have even hurt him and that I'd be thrown around and choked to death if I didn't use The Nine-Tails' strength against him. Although, I admit that I let him get to me with his taunts." Naruto finished.

Yuki chuckled. "Are you kidding? You thought that ninjas like us would be taken out so easily by a guy like him?" She asked. "You might need saving, loser, but we sure as Hell don't." Sasuke said. "While you were pummeling Akira like the little bitch he was, Yuki was getting to work, healing herself and healing Sasuke and I, too." Emiko briefly explained. "After that, I got to Izumi-Sensei." Yuki said. "She told us about the whole Jinchuriki thing and that she needed more power to use her Sharingan to enter your psyche, and strengthen the seal and suppress The Nine-Tails' chakra, yada yada, you know what happens from that point on." "And, for what it's worth, I don't think Akira will be alive for very long..." Emiko says. "What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "The Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning has this policy which states that if a prisoner breaks out of a prison, whether or not it was a military prison, that prisoner would then be executed once they were recaptured by our ninjas, and taken back to the Land of Lightning." Emiko clarified. "I thought he was an escaped prisoner..." Izumi says to Emiko. "Yeah. We just didn't know if it was actually Kenji Tsukasa or Akira because when Akira escaped-from the military prison he was in, by the way-he detonated some explosives to make a big-ass hole in the wall. Some of the prisoners then escaped from that prison before the Cloud ninjas guarding the place sealed up that hole so that no one else got out. The prisoners who were still in that prison said that it was Kenji Tsukasa who made that hole in the wall but another prisoner told us that the others were lying and that it was actually Akira who set off those explosives. And so, we acted on that prisoner's information, and quickly found the actual Kenji, who was disguised as Akira. Reports said that he was about to surrender quietly-surprisingly enough, but one of the ninjas who were going to capture him mistakenly thought he was going to fight back instead so he killed the Akira body double. When 'Akira' died, the truth was revealed because 'Akira' turned back into Kenji. The prisoners thought it was strange because at least three of them said they saw two Akiras running out of that hole. So it was determined that Akira was the real person behind the deception. But then, the Hidden Cloud got reports that Kenji was still alive and hiding out somewhere in the Land of Fire. We also got reports that Akira was found dead elsewhere in the Land of Fire. We investigated Akira's so-called 'corpse' and actually bought that it was Akira so the guy who entered that village your team investigated must've been the real Kenji...but that didn't make sense because the Hidden Cloud had Kenji's real body." Emiko explained.

"My higher-ups also heard rumors of supposed members of the Lion Guard wandering about, looking for Kenji. According to the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning, he never sent out the Lion Guard to deal with this matter because Kenji was in that prison for pickpocketing a Hidden Cloud Shinobi. So it didn't make sense that the Lion Guard-who are usually called in to deal with threats to the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning's life-would be looking for a simple pickpocket. There was also a mission request sent to The Hokage that bore the seal of the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning...but the Feudal Lord never sent one. The Raikage, however, jumped at the opportunity to have you guys help us with this. And so he convinced the Feudal Lord to lie, and say that he did. In addition, I was busy finishing up another assignment elsewhere in the Land of Lightning and when I was done, I had received a messenger hawk from my superior while I was on my way back to the Hidden Cloud Village. The Raikage wanted you to uncover the truth of all this, but he sent me, as well, just in case you guys needed help. I found the Hidden Stone guys who were masquerading as Lion Guard members, and met up with them, convincing them I was a Hidden Stone Kunoichi that the Tsuchikage had sent as an 'extra pair of hands', so to speak. They bought my lie, and I became an undercover agent within their ranks. When I had learned of all this, and read the reports, and then met them and learned of their plans, I wanted to take these guys down for myself because to anyone else, they may just be ninjas on just another mission, but, in my eyes, they are nothing but petty, murderous, back-stabbing thugs who wanted to wage war against the Hidden Leaf just to get revenge, not justice." Emiko explained further. "I gotta say...you have a bigger heart than anyone I know." Yuki remarked. "Thanks." Emiko replied. "Thing is, Emiko, in our line of work, it can be very, very, very hard to distinguish 'justice' from 'revenge'." Izumi said, thinking back to what Itachi did to her and Sasuke and the countless times she wished death upon Itachi just a week after the Uchiha Massacre. "I know. It's why I remind myself every day that while I am a Kunoichi, I'm also a Human being with a strong moral code. The moment I forget that is the moment I become like these Hidden Stone ninjas or as heartless as I know some ninjas to be." Emiko replied. "My parents taught me right from wrong back when I was a little girl so why should I have to forsake myself, and go back on their teachings? What, because I'm a ninja? To me, being a ninja means defending your hidden village and your homeland to the best of your ability, it doesn't mean being an indiscriminate killer who makes a total joyride out of making victims-whether they be ninja or civilian." "I envy you and your outlook, Emiko. You are the kind of ninja other ninjas should strive to be." Izumi said to her.

"And that kind of ninja doesn't forgo the sake of the mission, and nearly kill a man by using a beast's power to be on equal terms with him, as far as fighting goes." Izumi told Naruto. "When we return to the village, I will be benching you for a month. No training, no ninja...ing. Understand?" "Yes, Sensei." Naruto acknowledged. It was interesting to Izumi that Naruto took his consequence without objecting to it first. 'Someone with a reputation as an immature brat like Naruto would've had a damn near temper tantrum about the consequence I issued to him.' Izumi thought.

"Alright, then. Intervention over." Izumi said. She told Naruto to stand up, and he did. Then, she ordered the members of Team 7 to tie the Hidden Stone ninjas to the nearby trees. Meanwhile, Emiko tied Akira's hands behind his back with a simple rope. She then pulled the Sharingan Eye out of Akira's left eye socket.

Then, Emiko walked up to Izumi, who had finished tying another one of the Hidden Stone ninjas to a tree with the Sharingan Eye in her hand. She then showed it to Izumi. "What the-" "Just thought you might want this since it used to belong to some guy called 'Kakashi', as Akira, himself, said." Emiko said, interrupting Izumi. "Uh...okay." She replied as she took the Eye from Emiko's hand, and placed it in her pocket. "Who was Kakashi?" Emiko asked. "Just as a matter of interest." "Quite polite, you are. In any case, I'm not surprised that you don't know about Kakashi, given that you most likely weren't born when the Third Great Ninja War was going on. Neither was I. The difference is I had only met Kakashi because of Naruto...and the Uchiha Massacre. Meanwhile, you were off in a whole 'nother hidden village, probably blissfully ignorant of the past until you were fed whatever propagandized version of history that The Raikage had prepped for you. How old are you by the way?" Izumi asked. "Fifteen. And, no, I was probably 'fed' a more accurate version of historic events than you were. If not as accurate as your knowledge of history. Of course, like probably anyone else, I only remember a few things I was taught in History Class. One such bit of history was the stuff about the Third Great Ninja War. Of course, like all the Great Ninja Wars, every hidden village in the Ninja World was either fighting amongst themselves, or ganging up on the Hidden Leaf. And in the Third War's case, I only remember two things: One, the Fourth Raikage-who wasn't The Raikage back then-and his Brother, Killer B fought The Fourth Hokage back when he wasn't The Hokage, either. Both had fought, and lived to tell the tale. Though, The Fourth Hokage probably almost did kill our Lord Fourth and his Brother, which was probably why Lord Fourth Raikage let The Fourth Hokage escape without either of them dying that day. I guess you could say that my recollection of that fight is half-remembered. My memory of the other event from the Third Great Ninja War is way better, though." Emiko answered. "What 'other event'?" Izumi then asked. "The Battle of Kannabi Bridge, alternatively known as the battle that ended the Third Great Ninja War. Simple premise-the forces of the Hidden Leaf were outnumbered and surrounded by ninjas from the Hidden Stone. The Hidden Leaf guys-your guys-thought they were goners. But then, The Fourth Hokage-who still wasn't The Hokage back then-came in, and used his unique Ninjutsu that he, himself, was well-known for to turn the tide of the battle, and take out all the Hidden Stone guys." Emiko answered. "I guess that's why these guys are so pissed. It's understandable, but it doesn't justify them being repugnant thugs about their problems with the Hidden Leaf."

"How much did you learn from them, by the way?" Izumi asked. "Getting revenge and starting a new war with the Hidden Leaf wasn't just their plan-it was what the Tsuchikage ordered them to do." Emiko answered. "So all this was state

-sanctioned." Izumi deduced. "Except for the part where Akira gets a God complex and becomes insanely power-hungry. As if that little eye didn't give him enough power." Emiko assessed. "Right...did they reveal whether that guy was Kenji or Akira or not, by the way?" Izumi then asked. "No. They never trusted me that much. All they could say was that there was this prisoner of war from the Hidden Stone Village who's been held in a military prison somewhere in the Land of Lightning since the last days of the Third Great Ninja War and that their other mission was to bring him back to the Hidden Stone Village, where he'd be hailed as a hero for enduring 'whatever tortures' that the Hidden Cloud had inflicted upon him. In hindsight, I probably should've guessed that it was truly Akira because that describes Akira to a tee." Emiko answered. "How?" Izumi questioned. "Back during the Third Great Ninja War, my village had our own version of the Battle of Kannabi Bridge. It wasn't all that well-known, but it was called the Battle of Earth And Sky. A regiment of a thousand or so Hidden Cloud ninjas were headed to the border in between the Land of Frost and the Land of Hot Water because we had intel that the Hidden Stone had sent another army of their own ninjas to invade the Land of Lightning. We figured we'd stop 'em at the Land of Hot Water and, surely enough, the Hidden Stone ninjas came and our ninjas drove them back there were a few stragglers left, though-one of those being Akira. We captured those stragglers, and imprisoned them." Emiko answered.

"The Hidden Stone lost the war on two fronts. We were prepared for more to arrive until word had reached us that the Hidden Leaf sent the Tsuchikage a peace treaty. So the Raikage sent one to the Tsuchikage as well although, unlike your Hokage, the Raikage had allegedly written some rather...undiplomatic words in his treaty. People had assumed that if they had the manpower, the Hidden Stone would've attacked our village again all based on how Lord Third Raikage wrote the treaty." Emiko explained further. Izumi chuckled. "Sounds like The Third Raikage wasn't much of a pacifist." She commented. "Lord Fourth Raikage isn't much better, from what I hear." Emiko replied. "But back to Kakashi." "Ah. Shit. Right. Okay...everyone knows about the legendary story of how The Fourth Hokage fought during the Battle of Kannabi bridge, but his students, Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara and Kakashi Hatake were a part of that battle, too. Kakashi had become a Jonin by the time he was Naruto's age and by the time he was Naruto's age, the Third Great Ninja War was still going on. Anyway, because he was a Jonin, The Fourth Hokage reasonably assumed that Kakashi would be capable of leading the other two in his absence. But...suffice it to say, he was not...not exactly, I mean. Rin, the team's field medic, was injured and so, Kakashi and Obito stayed behind with Rin while The Fourth Hokage went to blow up that bridge on his own, as history will tell. Suddenly, while they were staying put, Rin got captured by the enemy, and...to put it simply, Kakashi and Obito went to get her back. They saved her, but Obito died in the process." Izumi explained.

"That Eye you just gave me...it belonged to Obito. Obito gave Kakashi his right Sharingan Eye as a belated gift for Kakashi before he died." Izumi added. "I...I don't know what to say." Emiko replied. "Neither did I when Kakashi first told me about it. To hear him tell it, the Head of the Uchiha Clan let Kakashi keep Obito's Eye despite the fact that Kakashi wasn't an Uchiha. This was because he wanted to honor Obito's sacrifice in the line of duty." Izumi also replied. "And what about Rin?" Emiko asked. "Kakashi, himself, didn't tell me about it, but what happened to Rin...is a sadder tale than the Death of Obito. Sadder, in my opinion. Shortly after the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, Kakashi and Rin were on their way back to the Hidden Leaf Village when some Hidden Mist ninjas came out, and kidnapped Rin. Kakashi went to save her because, of course, he had to. And while she was in captivity, the Hidden Mist ninjas sealed The Three-Tails inside of her. They also placed some kind of Forbidden Jutsu on her heart. A Forbidden Jutsu that forced the Three-Tails to come out, and destroy the Hidden Leaf Village. Kakashi, of course, rescued her, and wanted to take her back to the village, but she told him they can't go back. And after she revealed why, they...well, they had some sorta argument, I guess. Meanwhile, the Hidden Mist ninjas-who were either Jonin or Anbu in rank-caught up to the two of them. They tried fighting those ninjas by themselves, but it was no use. And so...Rin made the ultimate sacrifice. Kakashi was about to use a Jutsu he invented by himself to kill a Hidden Mist ninja, but Rin purposely put herself in the way of his Jutsu so that it would end up killing her, instead. This was because the only way they could possibly stop the Hidden Mist ninjas' plan from succeeding is if Rin died. Rin killed herself to protect the Hidden Leaf Village. And from that point on...it sounded like Kakashi fell into a coma after Rin died and then, somehow, all the other Hidden Mist ninjas died, as well. I'm not sure how The Hokage resolved that whole...mess with the Hidden Mist after the war, but the peace is still kept between the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Mist. Anyway, Kakashi fell into a deep depression after Rin and Obito died. The Fourth Hokage decided to change that by having him join our Anbu Black Ops. Not an ideal place for a depressed thirteen-year-old to be, but I digress. And after the Nine-Tails Incident, Kakashi began taking more of the Anbu's...darker missions. It was for this reason that he was considered to be deadly and, using his Sharingan, he copied, many, many, Ninjutsus which is why anyone who's ever heard about him will call him 'Kakashi The Copy Ninja' or 'Kakashi of the Sharingan'. Hell, I gather you'd find him in your Bingo Book simply because of his reputation as a deadly ninja." Izumi explained.

"And who was he to you? What was he like, I mean?" Emiko asked. "He was...kind, compassionate and was there for me when I was...in a pretty fucked up place, myself. He and I met just a few days after the Uchiha Massacre. He helped me when I was down and out, and he never judged me when I didn't need judging. He was a true friend, through and through. Although, to tell you the truth, I did...have feelings for him. I never acted on those feelings, though." Izumi answered. "Why not?" Emiko then asked. "Because we both agreed that romance...just wasn't for us-especially not in our line of work. We both knew that we could die any day, now. But now that he is dead...I now wish I'd asked him out at least once. Even if he said no, I'd...I'd at least have no regrets." Izumi answered. "It's okay. We don't have to talk any more about it." Emiko told her. Izumi felt herself starting to cry. "Th-Thanks." Izumi replied.

They then heard the call of a messenger hawk.

Izumi took a deep breath, and calmed herself down. "That must be from The Hokage." Izumi said. Izumi called the hawk down by whistling at it, and the hawk came down to her. Izumi got the letter from the hawk, and she unrolled it, and read it.

Naruto, Yuki and Sasuke walked up to Izumi and Emiko. "What does it say?" Naruto asked. "That he approves of my plan but only if Emiko comes back to the Hidden Leaf Village with us and the unconscious Akira. From that point on, they could confirm if Akira's truly captured. After that, Emiko can take Akira back to the Land of Lightning while being escorted by our own Anbu Black Ops." Izumi answered. "What? I don't need bodyguards! Bodyguards would just slow me down!" Emiko shouted. "Sorry. Hokage's orders." Izumi told her.

And so, Emiko took Akira's unconscious and tied up body, and walked away with Team 7.

---

On the day that Team 7 finally made it back to the Hidden Leaf Village with Emiko and Akira. They confirmed that Akira has been actually captured, and currently, Emiko is on her way back to the Hidden Cloud Village with Akira in tow alongside a small group of Hidden Leaf Anbu.

Meanwhile, Naruto's gone home, Sasuke went to the Uchiha Training Grounds to train, and Yuki just...disappeared. No one knows where she's gone off to, but it's confirmed that she is, at least, still in the village. So, they didn't question it any further than that because, after all, everyone deserves their privacy.

Izumi, meanwhile, was standing in front of The Hokage's desk in The Hokage's office in The Hokage's Tower, handing The Third Hokage the mission report from the last mission. "So...this was how it all went down?" Lord Third asked. "Yes, Sir." Izumi answered. "In fact, the circumstances of the mission changed so much and so rapidly that I didn't believe we'd be able to complete the mission at all. Anything we did during the mission could've been international game-changers that could escalate into full-scale war. I didn't want to make any more headaches for you, Sir, but I didn't want to come back, either because I didn't want the Hidden Leaf to be seen as cowards who couldn't complete one single task that was given to them by the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning, of all people." "We had always suspected there was deception behind the mission request...why would the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning come to us about such a situation when he could've asked the Hidden Cloud to do it? But to tell you the truth, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity for your team to investigate this, either. It was Naruto's first true test of strength. Honestly, I couldn't care less whether or not Naruto killed that man before you brought him here, as per the mission's parameters. My true intentions behind this mission were to gauge Naruto's strength as a Jinchuriki. How powerful could he be when he is in Nine-Tails mode? And, upon inspection of Akira's body, Naruto is pretty strong." Lord Third told her. "And I think he'll be even stronger as time passes. Especially after he gains control of The Nine-Tails. Speaking of Akira, your mission report mentioned that Akira had Kakashi's Sharingan Eye?" "Yes, Sir. Emiko plucked the Eye out of Akira, gave it to me, and then, upon our arrival, I gave it to the Anbu." Izumi reported. "So you did. I had them give it to me before they destroyed it." Lord Third replied. "Why, Sir?" Izumi asked. "Because I wanted you to have it...just as a memento. Or even-" "Don't say it." Izumi angrily said without thinking about it, interrupting The Hokage. "Alright, then." Lord Third replied. Izumi took the Eye back, and pocketed it.

"In any case, I don't think there will be that many headaches for me as a result of your actions, here. I think The Tsuchikage will have more headaches than me." Lord Third assessed. "And about Emiko..." Izumi says. "Yes, she is a special case. She's The Raikage's little spy as well as a normal little Kunoichi taking big, big missions on her own. Intel on her says that she's been a Kunoichi since she was thirteen, like almost every other ninja. She's not particularly bright, but she has a good heart." Lord Third told her. Izumi chuckled. "Do you think Naruto will become anything like her?" Izumi asked. "That depends on whether or not he does well in the Chunin Exams." Lord Third answered. 'Right. I forgot about the Chunin Exams when I gave him that punishment.' Izumi thought.

"Speaking of Naruto, I heard you gave him a serious scolding and have benched him for a month." Lord Third said. "Yes, Sir. As my report says, we almost failed the mission because of him. He pummeled Akira so hard and so much that none of us knew whether or not Akira was going to be alive after the fight. His use of The Nine-Tails' power was incredible, but entirely unnecessary and reckless. He doesn't have control over that thing and because of that, there was no telling whether or not The Nine-Tails would stop after Naruto killed Akira. On top of that, his teammates were worried about him and so was Emiko. I'm sorry, Sir, but I had no choice other than to tell them of Naruto's Jinchuriki status and of how he came to be a Jinchuriki. I didn't give them all of the truth, though. For instance, I didn't tell them that Naruto's Father was none other than The Fourth Hokage, himself." Izumi explained. "I understand. Sometimes, things like that couldn't be helped. Besides, the secret of Naruto's Jinchuriki status is no longer under my control. Hasn't been under my control since the day Naruto, himself, learned about it." Lord Third replied. "But, I don't think benching Naruto is going to do us any good." "Why?" Izumi asked. "Because of the Chunin Exams, remember?" Lord Third asked in reply. "I-I know, Sir, but he must learn that he can't put the mission in jeopardy like he did." Izumi said. "Did you hear a word I said? I said I wanted that power to come out of him at some point in time-sure, it wasn't under more ideal circumstances, but I got the result we needed all the same." Lord Third told her. "I understand, Sir, but you didn't see what I saw when I used my Mangekyo Sharingan to suppress The Nine-Tails. The reason some of the power was leaking out in the first place was because Naruto peeled the seal half off. All I could do was use my Mangekyo Ability to suppress The Nine-Tails and then redo the seal as best as I could." Izumi replied. "Thank Kami, I was there...The Nine-Tails could've used the opportunity to undo that seal completely, and break free after Naruto was done with Akira." "And that's why I put you on Team 7, remember?" Lord Third asked. "Wait...yeah..." Izumi says. She almost forgot about that too...until The Hokage reminded her.

Izumi then got an idea. "Do you think I can teach Naruto to properly use The Nine-Tails' power? I know he isn't ready just yet, but, considering the fact that he told me that he did it because he felt that there was no choice, I now realize that there will be circumstances where he won't have a choice but to use his power as a Jinchuriki. So maybe if I can teach him how to use his power along with all the responsibilities that came with it, there won't be any true danger." She requested. "I...agree with your proposal and it has my full support even though I know it won't be easy. But, there will be some amongst the Council who will be totally against it and the elders will have...iffy opinions about it. As I said, you must be careful when it comes to Naruto." Lord Third warned. "I understand, Sir. Is that all, Lord Hokage?" Izumi asked. "Yes, Izumi. You can let Naruto know that you're letting him off tomorrow-on the condition that he undergoes 'special training' and that Team 7 is now only allowed to take D-Rank missions until further notice." Lord Third answered. "Yes, Lord Hokage." Izumi acknowledged.

Izumi turned around, and walked out of the room, having given Lord Third her mission report and Naruto's alternative punishment...no more C-Ranks until further notice.

Meanwhile, Yuki was listening in on the entire conversation between Lord Third Hokage and Izumi-Sensei from the other side of the door to The Hokage's office. Once they were done, Yuki heard Izumi-Sensei walking towards the door. Yuki then ran out of the Hokage's Tower, and was about to get back to her home in the Nohara Clan's Compound, but she was stopped by a masked ninja who was covered by a beige-colored cloak. "What are you doing here?" Yuki asked. "You need to come with me." The masked ninja said. "I'm sorry, but I'm not stupid enough to follow a masked guy just because he says so." Yuki replied. The masked ninja then threw a kunai knife at her. Yuki dodged. She noticed that it barely missed her head. "Hey! You could've ruined my hair!" Yuki jokingly shouted. The masked ninja threw another kunai knife at her. Yuki quickly pulled out her own kunai knife, and blocked it.

"So...you're going for the kill. I know that the Anbu who answer directly to The Hokage wouldn't do that unless their opponent was a really dangerous criminal hiding out in these streets or an assassination target. Which means that you're from the Foundation." Yuki said, thinking out loud. "Very clever." The masked ninja commented. "Like I told Izumi-Sensei, I wanted to be a scholar. Why waste time taking lives with physical force when you can fight using your mind?" Yuki replied. "Excellent idea." The masked ninja also replied. He tried casting a Genjutsu on her, but she quickly broke out.

"Do you think I would've made it as a Kunoichi if I didn't learn how to break out of a Genjutsu?" Yuki asked.

'I guess there is no way out of a fight...' Yuki thought.

Yuki charged towards the masked ninja, the masked ninja quickly pulled out another kunai knife, and they fought each other using their kunai knives.

Thirty minutes later, the two of them stopped fighting. "Why are you stopping?" Yuki asked. "Because I'm surprised...you're not truly a rookie Genin, are you? I would've easily slain a rookie Genin by now." The masked ninja answered. "Maybe I'm just better than you." Yuki said.

They then continued fighting until Yuki managed to disarm the masked ninja, and then slash his throat. The masked ninja fell down, and died.

Yuki then put away her kunai knife, and made four hand signs before crouching down next to the masked ninja's corpse, and whispering, "Water-Style: Acid Disintegration." And then a small stream of acid expelled from Yuki's mouth, and covered the masked ninja's body until every trace of the corpse was destroyed. Afterwards, Yuki stood back up. 'You should thank me, Danzo.' Yuki thought.

Yuki then continued running back to the Nohara Compound, and then, she got back into her house. "Father! I'm home!" Yuki called as she took off her ninja sandals at her house's door. Then, directly in front of her, Yuki's "Father" came out of the shadows wearing a Hidden Sand Jonin uniform along with a Hidden Sand flak jacket (but he wasn't wearing his ninja sandals). The man had tanned skin, wore a turban-like piece of headwear along with his Hidden Sand headband, and he had hazel-colored eyes. The right side of the man's face was covered by a sheet. This man is named Terumi and he is Yuki's handler. See, Yuki is actually a spy from the Hidden Sand Village. She's on assignment gathering intel for The Kazekage and the Hidden Sand's Jonin Council. The Hidden Sand's overall goal in the Hidden Leaf Village is to cause a war between itself and the Hidden Leaf. But they needed intel before that happened. One of their spies heard about the last Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki's death and Yuki's specific assignment (although they have three other spies in the Hidden Leaf Village doing the same thing) was to find the Tailed Beast's current Jinchuriki so that she could take possession of them from the Hidden Leaf. Having The One-Tail's Jinchuriki (who is the Daughter of the Kazekage) is fine, and all, but having the power of The One-Tail and The Nine-Tails would be better for the Hidden Sand Village.

Also, the masked ninja is right: Yuki isn't a traditional rookie Genin. She is actually a Chunin and originally a prisoner who the Hidden Sand captured when she was eight years old. The Hidden Sand had convinced her to join them as a Kunoichi of the Hidden Sand about a year after she was captured. They honed her fighting skills, her Ninjutsu skills and her Taijutsu and skills with Genjutsu. When she turned eleven, Yuki then became a part of the Hidden Sand's Anbu Black Ops.

Which is why she was the ideal choice for an undercover spy. Yuki and Terumi came to the Hidden Leaf Village last year, snuck into the Nohara Compound, killed Yuki's birth parents, used the Reanimation Jutsu to make them pretend like they were still alive, took over their house, and (with the help of another Hidden Sand spy in the village) had Yuki set up in the Hidden Leaf Ninja Academy. The Hidden Sand reasonably assumed that the current Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki would still be in the Academy. The first time Yuki laid eyes on Naruto, she assumed that he'd be the Jinchuriki. Yuki voiced her suspicions to Terumi, and then, the Hidden Sand had her put on Team 7.

"Report." Terumi ordered. "It took me some time, but I finally have confirmation: Naruto Uzumaki is The Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki." Yuki reported. "Explain." Terumi then ordered. Yuki then gave him all the details of Team 7's first C-Ranked mission and everything The Hokage and Izumi-Sensei said in their conversation after they came back from said mission. "...it was...interesting to me how The Hokage had always intended to have Naruto use his power under certain circumstances." Yuki remarked. "I see. Anything else you want to tell me about it?" Terumi asked. "No." Yuki answered. "Alright. Have you convinced Naruto to defect from the Hidden Leaf yet?" Terumi then asked. "No, Sir. In fact, I don't think he ever will. Not of his own accord. He says that he has too many people who believe in him here. People like The Third Hokage and Izumi-Sensei and Iruka

-Sensei." Yuki answered. "Then I'm afraid we'll have to go to Plan B. Here's what you're gonna do..." Terumi says.

---

Later that night, at Naruto's apartment, Naruto was just sitting on his bed, sulking about the events of his last mission. 'I was on a big mission and I almost fucked it up.' Naruto thought. He then heard someone knocking on his door. "Naruto? Are you there? Izumi-Sensei said that you live here." A familiar voice said from the other side of the door. 'That's Yuki!' Naruto thought.

Naruto stood up, walked to the door, and opened it. Surely enough, there Yuki was. But Yuki looked...different. Her black hair was styled into a couple of twin tails and she was dressed in a black crop top and a pair of black shorts. She didn't seem to have her ninja pouch (which was a container full of kunai knives and ninja tools) or her shuriken holster equipped. [AN: I think you could all correctly guess what a shuriken holster is]. In fact, the only piece of ninja gear she had on was her Hidden Leaf headband and her black ninja sandals. "Hey, Naruto~." She seductively said. Naruto looked at her from top to bottom. Her most noticeable feature (to Naruto) was her cleavage, which her crop top revealed pretty well. "Uh...hi." Naruto replied. He started to blush. "What...What's up." "Oh, I think you can tell from the way I'm dressed~." Yuki also replied. "You see, I've been feeling so lonely and I was wondering if I could visit your place for a bit." "Uh...yeah." Naruto said. He knows that this was all unusual, but no one else (aside from The Hokage) has ever come over to his house so, despite his mind telling him not to, Naruto jumped at the chance to have a friend-any friend come over to his house. "Alright, then." Yuki replied. Naruto stepped back, and let Yuki walk in. After that, he went around Yuki, and closed his door behind her. While taking off her ninja sandals at the door, Yuki got a good look at Naruto's Apartment. "This place of yours...it's, uh...nice." Yuki commented. "It's shitty, I know." Naruto said.

"So I didn't have to come out and say it." Yuki said. "To be fair, I've always thought that was what anyone with a brain would've said if they came over. So I decided to say it instead to save some time." Naruto told her. "Aside from when The Hokage comes around to give me money so that I don't starve and I'm not kicked out by this place's owner, no one else's come over. You're the very first one to ever do it." "Hmm...so you claim that these people care about you, that they believe in you, but you live in a dump like this. Why? Why not live with one of the other clans or live with someone who could afford to give you a better life than...this?" Yuki asked. "Because no one was willing to adopt me-not after they learned that I have The Nine-Tails inside me." Naruto answered. They then walked over to Naruto's living room, and they sat down on the couch together. "Wait, you mean they know? They know that you're a Jinchuriki?" Yuki then asked. "The Hokage tried to keep it a secret, but...yeah. Some bad person let slip to every adult in the village that I'm The Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki. And now, all the adults know. When it was discovered that the secret was out, The Hokage issued this decree saying that the villagers can't say anything about me being The Jinchuriki out in public and that anyone who did would be executed. And so, they kept it a secret from the kids...and even...from me. To this day, I can understand them keeping it a secret from the other kids, I don't know why they had to keep it a secret from me, of all people. And anyway, as to your question about why I couldn't go and live with one of the clans...well, I have thought about it once, but when I considered their feelings about it, I figured they wouldn't want me basically because everyone else didn't want me. I would also be imposing on them which is cringy to think about. Also, if the clans wanted me to live with 'em, they would've adopted me when I was born. So, I stuck to my guts, and started living here, instead because this was the only place that the landlord would allow me to rent. Everywhere else's landlords and landladies looked at me like they wanted to kill me rather than give me a place to live and the landlord that did rent this place out to me would constantly belittle and taunt me and would often say that he's doing me a kindness by letting me stay here even though he is so mean to me. I am in a village that hates me and yet, I still want to protect it as a Shinobi." Naruto explained. "Why?" Yuki questioned. "Like I told you before, I need to be better than The Fox. Then again, I suppose I have my own selfish ambition for being a Shinobi." Naruto answered. "Right." Yuki chuckled. "Your dream to become The Hokage so that everyone would stop being mean to you."

"You know what, that's what made me fall in love with you, Naruto." Yuki admitted. "Say what?" Naruto asked. "Your kind heart. You're a nice and friendly guy who can change even the coldest of hearts. Before now, I only had pain inside my heart because my Dad would force all these ridiculous rules on me and force me to be a ninja. But then I met you...and...I suppose...if I didn't become a ninja, I never would've met you." Yuki said, ignoring Naruto's question.

Now, Naruto is confused. Why would she so openly confess her feelings this way? Especially in a boy's house? "C'mon, let's finish what we started back in that forest on Training Ground 3." Yuki said. At first, he didn't know what she meant until he remembered that she tried to fuck him when the Bell Test was still going on. 'I thought I had that memory repressed.' Naruto thought.

"What? No!" He shouted. "Perhaps you're not totally convinced, then..." Yuki says. He now wishes that Izumi-Sensei would come in, and save him again, talkin' about, "You need to stay focused."

Yuki stood up, and took off her crop top and shorts, revealing that she was just wearing a purple bra and a purple pair of panties.

Naruto, meanwhile, was just wearing a dark gray t-shirt and an orange pair of pants with a pair of green boxers underneath. But right now, he wishes he was wearing more than that. She then had him stand up, take off his shirt and pants, and then she grabbed his hand, walked over to his bed, and she pushed him onto the bed. He was laying on his back when Yuki got on top of him. Naruto blushed when it looked like she was starting to take off her bra. "No, no, w-wait!" He shouted. "Oh, come, now. It's not like we're in the middle of a training exercise right now." Yuki replied. "We have all the time in the world."

And so, she took off her bra anyways, and then she took off her panties. After that, she pulled down his pants. She was surprised to see how big his dick was. "My, my~..." Yuki says. She then starts fucking him in a cowgirl position. Naruto tried to stop her, but she stopped him from stopping her, and made a single hand sign. "Hidden Art: Attract." She then kissed him, and the effects of what is called her Love Genjutsu started hitting him. He then didn't care about anything in the world other than fucking Yuki.

Fifteen minutes in, he started to fall asleep.

When he woke up, Yuki was gone, his clothes were back on, and it was now daytime. The only thing that's different, now, is that he feels a sharp ache in his chest, as though he's just had heart surgery. He then heard a knock on his window. Naruto sat up, looked to his left, and saw Izumi-Sensei crouching on his balcony. Naruto hesitantly opened his window, and then, Izumi-Sensei smiled at him, and said, "Yo." "Wha...What's up, Sensei?" Naruto asked. "Well, last night, The Hokage and I had a conversation and because of that, I've...changed my mind on a few things. Mind if I come in?" Izumi-Sensei asked in reply.

Naruto didn't trust girls with entering his house...not after what Yuki did. But Izumi's his Sensei so who is he to refuse her?

"Not particularly." Naruto answered. Izumi-Sensei then jumped through his window, landed on the floor next to his bed. After that, she walked over to his couch, and sat on it.

"Must've been one Hell of a dream you had." Izumi-Sensei commented. "What are you talking about?" Naruto asked. "You've slept in again. It's twelve in the afternoon! Most people would be having lunch by now." Izumi-Sensei told him. Naruto looked at his clock. It said 12:00 PM. 'Oh shit. She's right.' Naruto thought. "That's why I said 'Must've been one Hell of a dream you had'." Izumi-Sensei also said. "Oh." Naruto replied. He then started to think about something. Was the part where he was fucking Yuki actually a dream? Or not? If not, why the Hell is his chest aching? Is he sick? "Something wrong, Naruto?" Izumi-Sensei asked. Normally, Naruto wouldn't lie to her because he knows how bad he is at lying, but something is compelling him to lie. Plus, any time he tried to answer with anything but a lie, his chest started hurting. "No, Sensei." Naruto answered. "I...I see." Izumi-Sensei replied. "So what did you wanna talk about?" Naruto then asked. "About the punishment I handed down to you yesterday." Izumi-Sensei answered.

END OF CHAPTER