Sakura frowned as she sat, gazing into the fire. It was her watch, but the woman could hardly pay any attention to her duty to protect her sleeping companions. Instead, her thoughts were completely filled with thoughts of what Danzo had requested of her. The form he had given her. The woman frowned, going over all of it in her head. Genetic splicing? How to save unique orders of nucleotides? If there were any way deoxyribose patterns could be replicated? Just what the hell was Danzo researching that he had to have so many theories about genetic coding? But that wasn't the scary part.

Sakura didn't know exactly what he wanted to replicate, the thing that was scary was just how revolutionary some of the theories in the paper were. She had found herself pondering the ideas contained within, wondering if they were possible. Could one truly take genetic samples and replicate them? Splice them into other individuals? That opened up a world of possibility. Whoever the scientist doing the research for Danzo was, one thing was certain, they were incredibly smart. If the documents ever got leaked it would revolutionize medical ninjutsu and medical research. It would revolutionize war research. It terrified her to imagine it. Danzo was a shrewd man. He wouldn't use something like this for artificial children or anything like that. But ways to replicate jutsu? Cloning? She was aware of the horror stories of Orochimaru thanks to her tuteluge under Tsunade. He was the person who truly had perfected genetic research in their age, although his was due to a unique jutsu he had. Was Danzo trying to replicate Orocchimaru's form of pseudo-immortality? That...was a dark thought.

"You know anyone could have snuck up on us while you were so deep in thought, right?"

Sakura snapped out of her trance, looking up to see Sasuke smirking at her. She looked at the ground bashfully.

"Ah, sorry about that. I was lost in thought."

"And we'd all be dead."

Sakura remained silent, looking at the ground in shame. Sasuke shook his head. He had expected from the usually dilligent kunoichi.

"What's on your mind?"

Sakura frowned, wondering if she could actually reveal the information to the Jonin. Considering the fact that most of the information was redacted even to her she figured it wasn't acceptable, and this wasn't a secret she had the authority to tell whoever. Sasuke seemed to recognize the look on her face, because he leaned back, not pressuring her any further.

"Iryonin stuff huh?"

Sakura gave him a grunt as a response. The two maintained a peaceful silence at that. Enjoying the night sky above, and the stars that up above. Sakura smiled.

"Hey, you remember doing sky watching when we were Genin?"

Sasuke groaned, leaning back on his back, staring up at the sky. "You mean that pointless exercise Kakashi had us do?"

"Hey, it wasn't pointless, and you know it. Remember that time we got lost on the border of Kusagakure! If we didn't know the stars we'd have been completely turned around."

"Yeah, well maybe Naruto shouldn't have fallen for such an obvious genjutsu from the enemy."

"I don't remember you doing so hot either Mr. 'My Sharingan will see us through this.' It hadn't even activated yet!"

"It would of!"

"Yeah, totally," the girl stated snorting. "That's why I had to save both of you."

Sasuke rolled his eye. Sakura chuckled, leaning back on her back again and looking up at the night sky and the stars that decorated it. She pointed upwards.

"Look it's-"

"The Ryuzen Three," Sasuke muttered. "I remember. Annoying ass constellation."

Both sat there, looking up at the constellation, thinking about the past.

(-Flashback-)

"What's the Ryuzen Three," Naruto asked. The blonde was much shorter than normal, his full body length less than that of either of his companions. Sasuke and Sakura lay down next to him, both turning their heads to look at him with shocked expressions.

"You don't know what the Ryuzen Three is," Sakura questioned. "It was like, all over the Academy textbooks!"

"Bah, you guys read those smelly old books?"

"You lived with the Sandaime Hokage," Sasuke interjected. "You didn't read those books?"

"Nah, it's pretty easy to trick the old man if you know what you're doing," the blonde stated before following up with a chuckle. "Never could resist the good ol' Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu)!"

Sakura stared at the blonde as if he had grown a second head. "You're telling me the Hokage gets tricked by a jutsu like that? Impossible!"

"You know, I think that the more powerful the shinobi is the more likely it will work on them. I mean think about it, it works on the old man, Kakashi-sensei, and the pervy sage!"

Sasuke groaned, rubbing his forehead. "I really don't understand how no one has killed you for your disrespect."

Naruto stuck out his tongue at his rival, a small grin coming to his face. "Maybe they just like me."

"How anyone could do that is a mystery only the Sage knows the answer to."

"Oi!"

"Anyways," Sakura interjected, before the two boys could get into a fight. "The Ryuzen Three are a legendary shinobi trio from the Warring Clan Period. They were all completely clanless, born to regular civilian families but they ended up becoming some of the most powerful warriors of their age."

"There's no way," Naruto stated, frowning. "The clans would have killed them! What about Sasuke's oh-so-powerful Uchiha Clan he loves to brag about."

"They tried," Sasuke muttered. "But that's where the first brother came in. He was an expert in ninjutsu. He was so great at it he apparently managed to create a ninjutsu that blinded even the Sharingan, at least temporarily. Hunting squads from the Uchiha could rarely find them due to their nomadic lifestyle. When they did, he blinded any who approached and made them almost impossible to chase."

"Woah. Someone able to blind the Sharingan? That's super cool! What jutsu was it? I gotta know."

"No one knows," Sasuke muttered. "It's one of the dark stains on my clan's history. The fact that someone, a commoner no less, was able to negate our bloodline. He became famed for it."

"He's not the only famous one either," Sakura stated. "The second sibling was a girl. She was a legendary kunoichi. She was a genjutsu master. Legend has it that she could cast genjutsu on you just by making eye contact with you, just like an Uchiha. But the thing is, she didn't have a Kekkei Genkai. The simple act of someone registering eye contact with her was enough for her to apply a subtle layer of her chakra. It was her chakra control that inspired shinobi of the Warring Clans periods to dediate entire training camps to breaking genjutsu. Because it was practically impossible to fight the real her, she was typically avoided. I think she was the most powerful of the three."

"No way Sakura! Genjutsu-users are strong sure, but they're never better than ninjutsu-specialists."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You're only saying that because you couldn't cast a genjutsu if your life depended on it!"

"I could too!"

"Please. You're about as talented in genjutsu as Lee is at literally anything that isn't taijutsu."

"Why are both of you being so mean to me," the blonde cried.

"Speaking of taijutsu," came the call from their raven-haired companion. "That was what the last sibling specialized in. He was a taijutsu master. The inventor of the Gōken (Strong Fist) actually."

"The fighting style bushy brow and bushy brow sensei use?"

"The very same, although probably not as refined. It was old after all. He was the foremost master of taijutsu in his age. Put the Hyuga to shame, or so we're told."

"Wow," Naruto whispered. "I wanna be like that. So powerful that no one could dare challenge me! The best shinobi of my era!"

"You're pretty far along honestly," Sakura stated. "You're way stronger than anyone else in our generation."

"I have to agree, even if it bothers me to admit it," came the call from the Uchiha. Naruto gave a soft smile at their compliments, continuing to stare at the sky.

"Even then, he would struggle against some fighting styles. A genjutsu expert would completely shatter his sense of fighting. A ninjutsu expert could keep him at range and defeat him. What's that Kakashi-sensei says? Styles make fights. That's why I need you two! You cover my weaknesses, and I'll cover yours!"

His two teammates couldn't help but smile at that.

"It's a promise," they stated in unison.

(-Flashback-)

"Those were better times," Sakura whispered.

Sasuke stared into the flames, thoughts rumbling in his head.

"Yeah," he whispered. "They were."

The two sat there in silence, the weight of their lives weighing on them. The sadness that filled the air was palpable. Neither felt any joy in participating in this mission, rivalry with Naruto or no.

"Do you think we can take him in? You've seen him more recently than I have."

Sasuke was silent for a moment. He glanced around at their squad. Then he thought of the ANBU that were camped around in individual groups not too far from them. He sighed.

"We have a puncher's chance. He's strong Sakura. That promise he made...to be the strongest shinobi of our generation...he achieved it. When was the last time he actually lost since he became a Jonin?"

Sakura was silent. Sasuke frowned.

"His armor should be penetrable. If there's anyone who would know how to break it, it's us."

"Couldn't you just heal the damage you took as you blew a hole in his chest with your punches?"

"Yeah, if you want me to shorten my lifespan by a couple decades."

Sasuke frowned. A sigh escaping his lips. "I don't get it Sakura. How is he so far above us? Impenetrable armor, insanely strong and fast, and a ninjutsu expert."

"Naruto put in work," Sakura stated plainly. "You and I worked hard, don't get me wrong. But...Naruto was just a different thing altogether. Not cause of his clones either. Every training session he was there before us, and every training session he left after. And then when he got home he was trained by Jiraiya and Hiruzen."

"So, he just worked harder huh...heh. Didn't realize you respected him that much?"

"You don't?"

"Of course, I do," Sasuke muttered. He clenched one of his fists, the other hand reaching out to get closer to the flame in front of him. "But...you're saying the gap between him, and I is just that he works so much harder than me. It's...demoralizing."

"Don't tell me you're turning into Neji."

Sasuke chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I'm not a fatalist. It's just...if he was fated to be great or something maybe I'd feel better about myself."

Sakura frowned, dipping her hand into the fire with reckless abandon. Sasuke's eyes snapped upwards, looking at the girl with worry on his face. She slowly pulled her hand back, not even a quick flash of pain being shown in her face. Instead, a mere curiosity. Her hand was covered in horrendous burns, one's that would likely never heal unless she had a team of iryonin to work on her.

Her chakra hummed and in an instant her hand was completely normal. She flexed her fingers before she looked up at her former Genin squad member.

"Sure, that's one way to phrase it. But at the same time that means you can catch him. We both can. We put in a lot of work to get to where we are. You, the ill-favored son. Me, the clanless kunoichi."

Sakura smiled, and for a brief moment Sasuke felt adrenaline rush in his system. Her killing intent wasn't directed at him, but still, he could sense it. The monster that lurked behind those gentle emerald eyes. He had forgotten just how powerful the kunoichi before him was. It had been years since she had last seen an active battlefield as anything other than a medic. But there was no doubt in his mind that she had kept up her training. No, the Mad Titan was still inside her.

"Our story doesn't end any lower than his."

Sasuke wanted to smirk. To agree. To feel the confidence that she felt flowing through him. But their last engagement flowed through his mind. How quickly Naruto had defeated him. How Itachi had been brought low by Iwagakure. How his father had.

And Sasuke doubted.

"This literally makes no sense," Naruto muttered, an annoyed look on his face.

Nagato's eyes were twitching, looking up at Kamino with frustration on his face. "You didn't use your equipment...did you?"

Fuka glared at the man, her hair raising up as if possessed.

"I hate you."

Kamino smiled, gathering the deck of cards once more. He began to shuffle, throwing the cards between his hands at speeds even the most practiced dealers couldn't replicate. He gently gazed over all of his opponents, slapping his hands together with the cards in between.

"Anyone care for another round?"

"Absolutely not!" Fuka roared. "How the fuck are you winning? We're cheating."

"Apparently not very well."

Fuka's eye twitched, and she prepared to leap across the table only for Nagato grab her and hold her back. The man struggled to restrain the woman, her screams of violence causing Kamino to laugh. He only stopped when he saw Nagato's eyes narrow. He was clearly tempted to let her assault continue. Maybe he should have let them win a round?

The man grinned when he saw Naruto's frustrated face, the man was glaring at him. Ashino was sitting next to him, pouting as well. Both of them looked up at him like children.

"No fair!"

Yeah...it was worth it to win every round. He stood, placing the cards back on the table.

"Well, if anyone wants to play another round of palace let me know."

Naruto glared at him.

"How are you doing it? I'm literally messing with you as you shuffle with my wind."

"And my genjutsu should have you paralyzed!"

"My eyes see nothing is happening to your chakra."

"I just wanna win!"

Kamino smiled at his family's complaints, walking over to his wife Karin as she sat down on a chair and watched from afar with a bemused look on her face. He gave her a light kiss before he looked back at the group of losers.

"I'm very good at this game."

"Half of it is based on luck!"

"Maybe I'm also very lucky. I did get Karin after all."

"Corny," the woman in question whispered.

"Ew," Ashino stated.

Karin rolled her eyes.

"Kamino used to run small card game scams on the street while we were refugees from Kusa."

"We're shinobi Karin."

Karin shrugged. "I was never able to beat him."

Kamino smirked, looking at the other members of the Uzumaki Clan who were all much more powerful than he was himself. "Maybe one of these days you'll be able to beat me."

Naruto growled, forming a group of shadow clones behind him. He glared at them.

"Practice," he hissed.

The clones rushed off, eager to go practice. As clones of the original they were just as motivated to beat him. Kamino snorted.

"Try as you want, but your clones will never be able to replicate the skill I've gained just by practice."

Nagato sat on the floor, glaring daggers at his cousin-in-law.

"As the clan patriarch-"

"Who died and made you king," Naruto snorted.

"You are not in charge of me, Amekage or not," Karin stated.

"I'm the only one directly descended from the Uzumaki Clan head and our Shodai," Fuka interjected.

Nagato's eye twitched.

"Fine. As a council, we shall decide if that game is forbidden."

"Aye," came the resounding call from the men of the family. Unfortunately for them, Fuka and Karin were silent. Nagato eyed them with suspicion, but Fuka looked back at him with her own.

"I will win."

The couple kept their eyes locked together before they turned to Kamino, the man taken aback by their sudden gaze.

"You. You're the deciding vote."

Kamino blinked.

"But...I'm not an Uzumaki."

"You're married to Karin aren't you," Fuka questioned, getting him to nod dumbly.

"Good enough for me," came the call from Naruto, Fuka, and Nagato simultaneously. Karin chuckled, lightly punching her husband in the shoulder.

"Well, Kamino Uzumaki, what say you?"

Kamino smiled, a brief flash of thankfulness that he couldn't express crossing over his face. Then, it turned into one of a sick sadism that only the evilest of shinobi could even hope to replicate.

"No."

Naruto and Nagato groaned. Kamino slammed his hands on the table, looking at each of the shinobi with a savage grin.

"Now...another round?"

Konohamaru followed the lead of Tsume as she led the squad towards Hacho Village. She mentioned that her ninken had picked up Naruto's scent a couple miles back. It wasn't long until she herself confirmed it. For now, it was all they could do to follow the scent and see where it led. But that was all it took. The entire squad, including the ANBU, had been notified. That was when the tension had first started setting in. The reality of the situation they were heading into. Hunting down the third greatest rogue shinobi in Konoha's history. That pressure was especially getting to him. Konohamaru felt it. The weight in his body. The sweat on his hands. It wasn't fear. It wasn't excitement either. Just...tension. Anticipation. Naruto was powerful. He was fast. Strong. Crafty. Konohamaru knew everything the blonde could do like it was the back of his hand. How couldn't he?

Naruto had taught him too much not to.

(-Flashback-)

Konohamaru swung his staff at Naruto, only for the Uzumaki to block the strike with his own staff, his eyes watching Konohamaru gently. Konohamaru grunted, spinning on his heel and swinging again, only for Naruto to instantly step inside his guard, stifling the attack as he tripped Konohamaru. The small child crumpled to the ground, quickly getting up to his feet and pouting.

"Slow. Sloppy footwork."

Konohamaru grunted, picking up his staff and charging his opponent once more. Naruto stepped forwards to meet Konohamaru's series of swings. His staff flowed with far more skill than his opponents, deftly blocking every attack that closed in. No matter what the young Sarutobi did nothing made it through the wall of defense that was Naruto's own staff. Konohamaru grit his teeth, leaping up into the air and flipping over his opponent. He dropped to his feet instantly, swinging his feet to take out Naruto's. The blonde leapt over the strike, only for Konohamaru to swing his staff at Naruto in the air, forcing him to block. However, the force on the blow by itself forced Naruto the side, skidding backwards as he landed.

"Better," he commented.

Konohamaru grinned, charging forwards once more with an outpouring of swings. Naruto discarded his own staff, much to Konohamaru's surprise and leapt into the fray. The blonde swayed between the blows, none even managing to glance him. Konohamaru grew frustrated and his attacks displayed it. The force he was putting in was clear, but it was wild. His swings were wide. Easy to read. To dodge. The dodges became even easier for the blonde. Wasted movement dictated all of it. With a grunt Naruto lashed out with his hand, grabbing Konohamaru's wrist and smashing a kick into his chest. The child flew back, without his staff in his hands. He rolled on the ground until he came to a stop, looking up to see Naruto. He winced in pain as he stood.

Naruto glanced downwards before kicking up Konohamaru's staff and spinning it in his hands.

"Maybe I should keep this."

Konohamaru roared his challenge, charging forwards despite the blazing pain he felt in his chest. Naruto frowned, watching as Konohamaru haphazardly launched a series of punches and kicks that he simply dodged. He was disappointed. He had expected more. He lashed out with a kick, only for his eyes to widen as his leg went through Konohamaru's body like it wasn't there.

Suddenly a blur collided into his right side, throwing the staff from his hands. Naruto rolled to his feet only to see Konohamaru charging forwards, staff in hand. Naruto grinned.

A clone. He must have gotten it off when he looked away from him.

There was no time to react to Konohamaru's follow up. He was too close to dodge. Konohamaru thrust his attack forwards, putting all his anger into the attack. Naruto's eyes narrowed before he raised his hands, catching the attack in both palms with a heavy grunt. Konohamaru's eyes widened only for Naruto to spring forwards on offense, smashing his fist into Konohamaru's stomach and keeling him over. Konohamaru barfed on the ground, causing Naruto to wince.

"Sorry."

The boy coughed, trying to clear his mouth and throat out from the heat that resonated in them.

"If it makes you feel better you caught me off guard with that clone you used. You almost had me."

"I should of," Konohamaru said. "But you somehow managed to stop my thrust."

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"That was because it wasn't a good thrust. If you had perfected the thrust like we practiced, you would have landed that strike."

Naruto offered a hand, helping the young Sarutobi up before he pointed to the training dummies. They both walked over, Naruto retrieving his weapon in the process.

"Do it again."

"Like this," Konohamaru questioned, thrusting his staff forwards at the dummy target in front of them with a soft thud. Naruto frowned, shaking his head. He walked up to the boy, using the staff in his own hands to lightly tap Konohamaru's shoulder.

"Your shoulder is too tight. You'll never be able to generate force like that."

Another tap, this time on his hips.

"Your hips are also too far back. Don't lean away from the strike. You have to be willing to damage it."

A tap at his feet this time.

"This time, take a step forward and rotate your foot. Push forwards off your heels."

Naruto stood in front of his own dummy, before he thrusted forwards with picture perfect form, smashing it into, no, through the dummy before him. He grunted, pulling his staff out of target, the perfect hole left in it a permanent reminder of his skill and power. Konohamaru's eyes widened, shocked at the level of strength his surrogate brother had displayed.

"Wow, that was just like grandpas!"

Naruto wiped his nose, a small smirk forming on his face. "Well, I was drilled it by him for hours on hours every day last year at the Academy. I'd hope it's pretty good."

Konohamaru frowned. "When do you think he'll start training me?"

Naruto smirked, rubbing Konohamaru's head slightly. "You haven't even started the Academy yet. That's when I started. You've got time."

Konohamaru smiled, only for Naruto to smirk.

"Now, let's use that time wisely alright? If you can get this form down, I'll play ninja with you."

"Only if I get to be grandpa this time!"

"No way is that happening."

It wasn't long until Konohamaru had perfected the technique. The sun was setting now, but if the perfect hole that rested on the training dummy's head was any indication, the attack was perfect now. Naruto grinned as he and Konohamaru walked home.

"Hey Naruto-nii, what's your dream?"

"Huh," Naruto questioned.

"You're so strong. I can see you wanna be a powerful shinobi, but there's something more, right? Jiji says that a shinobi can only become strong when they're striving for a goal."

Naruto frowned, walking forwards with his surrogate younger brother. "My goal huh," he whispered. He grinned at Konohamaru, pausing to point up at the Hokage Monument. Konohamaru looked to stare. The moon's light illuminated the entire monument, as if blessing the four leaders of the village. The four men that had crafted Konoha to be what it was. Naruto specifically looked at the fourth statue.

"To be the greatest Hokage," Naruto whispered. He said it softly, but it was filled with conviction. As if he could take his conviction and force it upon reality itself. For a moment Konohamaru stared at Naruto as if he were looking at God themself. Naruto didn't pay attention to the boy, his eyes still fixated on the monument. On the Yondaime Hokage.

Suddenly the moment was over, Naruto looking down to look at Konohamaru.

"And your old man is gonna give it to me."

"Heh, there's no way that'll happen!"

"Oh? And why's that?"

Konohamaru grinned.

"Because he's gonna be giving it to me, duh! I'm gonna become Hokage, so that makes me your rival!"

Naruto laughed, his head rolling backwards. Konohamaru pouted.

"I'm serious!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, before a grin grew on his face.

"Oh yeah? Fine then, I'll take you on. Don't expect me to take it easy on you just cause you're a runt you hear me!"

"I wouldn't want it any other way! You're gonna eat those words Naruto!"

"Alright then! When we're both Jonin we'll battle for the right to become Hokage!"

"Alright!"

The two shinobi-in-training locked eyes. Their battle was locked in stone. They both could tell that in just a matter of years the battle for the Hokage hat would occur. And it would be one for the ages.

(-Flashback-)

Naruto finished his stretches, staring across the room at his opponent.

"It's just a test drive, right?"

"Yeah," Kisame stated, rolling his shoulder. "Need to see how the body is holding up after recovering from Sasori's poison. Besides...I've wanted to fight you for years now."

Naruto felt his blood boil like it did before. The familiar feeling lanced through his body, filling him with excitement. Slowly a small smile filled his face. He would never admit it to the blue skinned man's face, but he was looking forward to this as well even if it was just a light spar. He had a feeling they'd both go beyond those limits. He would just have to hope that both Kisame and the training room in the central tower could withstand their clash.

Kisame drew Samehada, the blade gurgling underneath newly placed bandages. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he saw the weapon. That weapon would be a serious problem. He couldn't afford to get slashed by it. He unsealed his staff, locking eyes with Kisame. Kisame grinned, his muscles bulging for a split moment before he rushed forwards. Naruto smirked.

Predictable.

But just because it was predictable didn't mean Naruto could do much about it. The man blurred forwards at speeds that shouldn't be possible at that size. But unlike the first time they had briefly clashed, Naruto was ready this time. He rose his staff, deflecting the swing of Samehada. The force behind the attack was still enough to make his arms scream in pain. He hissed, leaping away from the engagement as Kisame grinned at him.

"Why are you running Uzumaki? That's not the fight I want!"

Kisame leapt after him, his body a blur once more. Naruto grit his teeth, substituting himself with a piece of rubble on the ground that Kisame smashed through. Kisame collided with the wall with a thud, his feet glued to it thanks to his chakra. He glared down at Naruto who stared back up at him. Their eyes were locked together. Kisame raised his blade, irritation on his face.

"I was unaware that you ran away so much."

"You're a physical specimen you realize this right? Zabuza was stronger than me outright, and you're stronger than him."

Kisame grinned. "Don't tell me you haven't fought opponents that were physically superior to you."

"Frighteningly few."

Kisame grinned. "Well, what's another to add to the list huh?"

With that Kisame shot forwards once more, forcing Naruto to leap away lest he be dragged into an engagement. The swordsman had anticipated this however, instead using chakra to kick off his next charge. Naruto's eyes widened at the instant increase in speed, barely raising his staff to block the slash that was aimed at his neck. The force sent him flying, the blonde skipping across the ground before he rolled to a stop, his body bloodied. His head snapped upwards only to see Kisame leering down at him, Samehada descending like a guillotine. Naruto's eyes narrowed, chakra bursting through his arms as he raised his staff to block. The weapons collided, an explosion of force shattering the ground beneath Naruto's feet. It was all he could do to hold back the attack, and Kisame was only using one hand. Naruto grit his teeth, his veins almost bursting with the effort only for Kisame's foot to snap upwards, nailing him in the chin. His head snapped back, blood flying from his mouth. His concentration was broken, and it was only thanks to a clever kick off that he avoided being slashed by Samehada. Naruto skipped backwards as he gained his balance, his eyes analyzing his opponent's form. Kisame was a monster of physical capacities he hadn't anticipated. Frankly speaking he was in a completely different stratosphere than the blonde physically. And to make matters worse his blades ability to absorb chakra made his armor useless against the man. It wasn't even worth coating his staff in wind outside of select instances to damage the man. He was right.

Kisame was a horrible matchup for him. He did what Naruto did, but he did it better. A nin-taijutsu specialist that specialized in defeating other nin-taijutsu specialists. The number of effective counters he had for the Hoshigaki would be few. Practically nonexistent.

But they existed.

It was unlikely he could out skill the man. Kisame was a trained swordsman of the mist, or at least he was before he defected. Their standards were absurdly high, and, outside of Mangetsu, Kisame was considered the most powerful of the bunch. His technical skill would at worst be slightly worse than his own. That, combined with his physical superiority, made taijutsu a complete no go. Ninjutsu wouldn't work either. The blade would just absorb it. His two best methods of fighting were off the table. But when faced with a larger and stronger opponent he did have one example he could use as a guideline.

Naruto formed two clones, both of them holding staffs. Genjutsu wasn't an option. His knowledge at genjutsu was effectively limited to being able to break out of them. He would fight Kisame how he fought Jiraiya for the most part. It would suck. It would hurt. He would have plenty of bruises.

But he could win.

The clones and Naruto charged forwards, causing Kisame to grin.

"Finally!"

The blue skinned man rushed forwards to meet his opponent. The two clones caught Kisame's blade in their bo staff, both of them gritting their teeth to hold off the man's superior strength. Naruto flipped over the locked weapons, lashing out with his staff at Kisame's eye. The man grit his teeth, catching the weapon in his free hand, only for Naruto to yank himself forwards, smashing his foot into the man's chest. Kisame stumbled backwards from the force of the attack. He didn't look as much hurt as he was excited. The grin on his face widened even more, before he shot forwards once more. Naruto's clones were desperate to intercept, barely able to stop Kisame's attack as the blonde landed. Kisame's eyes narrowed, and he placed his other arm on the hilt of Samehada. He swung once more, blowing through the clones and their guard in entirety, causing a plume of smoke to fill the air.

Kisame reached out to grab Naruto, only for him to recoil instantly as his hand was slashed by the wind armor that had instantly activated against the swordsman. Kisame recoiled but swung Samehada, eager to rip the defense off of the blonde. Naruto deactivated the jutsu instantly, leaping just as Samehada struck and allowing himself to fly backwards. The blonde created two more clones in the air, all three of them landing before they shot forwards with bursts of speed. Kisame snarled, ducking under the assaults from the clones. They kept the pressure with a series of attacks that flowed between one and another with no lapses. A never-ending assault. Kisame was entirely focused on the defensive side of the battle to ensure he took no wounds.

That left the original openings. Openings that he capitalized on.

The original appeared behind Kisame, swinging his staff at the man's legs. Kisame felt the appearance of the blonde instantly, turning to deflect his attack only for the clones to capitalize, each thrusting at his exposed back. Kisame blocked the original's strike, but two thuds hit his back sharply, making him stumble forwards. Naruto's eyes narowed and he kicked his leg out, smashing them into Kisame's. The man began to fall, eyes wide only for the blonde to surge upwards, overloading chakra in his feet to blast upwards. He smashed into Kisame's torso, but the momentum didn't stop there. They flew upwards, smashing into the ceiling with a heavy THUD that could sent a ripple of spiderweb cracks throughout the ceiling from the central crater. Kisame groaned, seemingly stunned by the unorthodox attack. Naruto clearly wasn't done, letting himself fall before he channeled Futon (Wind Release) chakra through his staff and upwards at Kisame. The man hissed as the wind burrowed into his shoulder. He quickly slashed out with Samehada, destabilizing the chakra flow by devouring part of it and stopping the attack. Still, the damage had been done. Naruto landed on the ground, a grin on his face.

Kisame slowly stood, staring down at Naruto from the ceiling. He briefly glanced at the wound on his shoulder, eyes narrowed.

"For someone who doesn't fight opponents bigger than them often and was just running from my physical superiority you sure turned those tides quickly."

"I said I haven't fought many opponents faster and stronger than me. But I was trained by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya of the Sannin. I have experience."

Kisame grinned, his eyes glowing with power.

"Good. In that case I think it's time I got serious!"

A light hue surrounded the man, the blue light emananting like a flickering light. Naruto's eyes widened at the sight. The only people that should be able to create such visible clouds of pure chakra should be Jinchuriki. And Kisame was no Jinchuriki. He had heard rumors of the man's overwhelming amount of chakra, but even he couldn't do that without drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra. His eyes narrowed, prepared for the increase in intensity only to hear clapping coming from another source. Both combatants turned to see Yahiko clapping, walking in the room with Nagato.

"Impressive," Yahiko exclaimed. "You're the first person I've seen adapt so quickly to fighting Kisame."

"That's enough," Nagato stated. "We don't want to have to rebuild the training arena from the damage a fight between the two of you would cause."

Kisame grunted, allowing himself to fall to the ground. He sheathed Samehada, the blade gurgling in what sounded like...disappointment? Kisame grinned.

"He likes your chakra."

"Thank you," Naruto responded, slightly unnerved by the sentient swords...proclivity to him.

"Of course, you were only able to do what you did to Kisame because he's still not quite at top shape, are ya blue-face?"

"Heh, I'm close enough. Those wounds are real."

"Ah, the flatterer."

"You should be proud Naruto," Nagato called. "Yahiko was unable to defeat Kisame in a serious match."

"He cheated."

"You're still going on about that?"

"Well," Naruto interjected. "I suppose I have that leg up over him then."

Yahiko's eyes narrowed at the Uzumaki, but he said nothing. Naruto paid him no attention. Instead, the blonde looked at Nagato.

"How about you? I've heard you've defeated him."

"Yes," Nagato stated.

"Wasn't much of a fight to be honest," Kisame muttered. Naruto eyed his fellow redhead as he turned to leave, followed by Yahiko and Kisame. He couldn't help but wonder how strong his cousin was as he followed after him.

It took them two days before they found it. Two days of searching the area around Hacho Village. They had searched The Hole first, but other than some scar markings from what was clearly elemental ninjutsu they found nothing. Sure, the patterns indicated it was likely some form of Fūton ability which could indicate he had been there, but there were old battle scars there from the battle over The Hole earlier in the war. While helpful, it was mostly an optimistic assumption that those battle markings had been left by him. They checked the town not long after, interviewing everyone they could manage to talk to. The best they had gotten was the rumblings of an old man about a man who walked up to The Hole recently and was never seen again. Another thing that optimistically could point to Naruto, but they needed something much more concrete.

That was when they had found it.

The massive battle scars. The small lake that shouldn't be in this location of the forest. It was slowly evaporating, but it didn't make much sense to be there without large scale Suiton (Water Release) skill. Water release skill that the blonde certainly possessed. But there were other markings too. Slashes on the trees, consistent with that of blades and of Fūton techniques. Metal rods and kunai everywhere and weird piles of black thread that littered the ground. It was a mess, but it was clear a battle had taken place here recently. A high class battle. Tsume had claimed the scent was stronger here than it had been. They had a trail. But there was more to it than just that. There were four other scents mixed into the battlefield. Ones that Tsume did not recognize. Whatever had gone on here, five shinobi had battled. And considering the lack of bodies, all of them had likely lived.

That had brought a frown to Konohamaru's face. What exactly should he expect to face when they found Naruto? Was he captured by non-Konoha shinobi? If so...did they rescue him? Had he defeated his opponents but not killed them? What exactly was going on? At this point he had more questions than answers. But that was fine. Tsume had started leading them in the direction of the scent as soon as she and Kuromaru had detected it. The entire squad followed their lead, careful to keep their eyes open. This was where the battle truly began. The mental battle at least. They had to steel themselves. They had a firm track on the Uzumaki. On the most powerful shinobi of their generation. On someone he used to call his brother.

(-Flashback-)

Konohamaru sat the bucket of paint on the ground, panting slightly as he looked up at his blonde companion. Naruto grinned at him, drawing a brush from his shinobi pack. Konohamaru raised his eyebrow. That was suspiciously non-shinobi like.

"Why did you have me bring these Naruto-nii?"

The grin on Naruto's face turned absolutely savage, turning to gesture at the large village of Konohagakure beneath their feet. The vast village glowed underneath the summer sun, the sounds of shinobi and merchants reaching all the way to the top of the monument. It was a beautiful view. It truly did feel like they were the Hokage, looking over the wellbeing of the village. Which brought them to their current situation.

"We're gonna show the entire village who's in charge you got that Konohamaru!"

"What does that mean?"

Naruto grinned, stomping towards Konohamaru and dipping his brush into the paint. Konohamaru's eyes glowed with realization before he too grinned.

"I call dibs on the old man."

"No argument from me."

And such the two got to work, lathering paint all over the massive stone faces of the historical leaders of their village. The two were laughing all the while in their creations. They each took two Hokage. Konohamaru took the Nidaime and Sandaime, while Naruto took the Shodai and Yondaime. Konohamaru grinned all the while as he painted his creation. A massive pufferfish on each side of the Nidaime's cheeks, spewing out pretty pink liquid all over his eyes. He had tears trailing down as though the man was crying. Meanwhile, on the Sandaime he drew multiple wrinkles, along with the kanji for old on his forehead as though it was billowing out of a pipe blown by a monkey. Naruto's designs were somewhat different. On the Shodai he depicted a massive forest on his forehead, with the leaves of said forest coming out where his hair should be. He drew the kanji for first on both eyeballs and dyed his lips a light purple. On the Yondaime he drew several kunai in every direction, with a bright blue orb in either eye. He drew a basic sealing formula over his lips, with stitches on it as though the man was entirely silent.

The two laughed at their handiwork, raising their paint covered brushes and allowing more stray paint to fall on their clothes.

"Awesome!"

"It looks so cool."

"Oh, does it boys?"

The two turned, their eyes widening as they saw Asuma standing behind them, smoke billowing from his cigarette. He rubbed his beard, eyeing the designs.

"Eh. Could use some work. The handwriting is sloppy, and the design for them is unimaginative. I expected more from you particularly Naruto."

"Oi! What does that mean Asuma-sensei!"

"There's no references. At least Konohamaru gave water-related elements to the Nidaime. Monkeys for the Sandaime. I see your references, but they're too plain."

"I worked hard on those!"

"Yeah, you hear that Naruto-nii! Mine are better than yours!"

"Yeah, I'm sure Hokage-sama will be so happy to hear that when he dishes out your punishment."

Both boys paled, slowly backing away from Asuma despite the man's entirely casual body language. In fact, his eyes weren't even on them, instead entirely admiring their handiwork as if he was still judging it. Making his own tweaks, things that he would have done in their stead. The boys took that opportunity to sprint away, desperate to get away now that they realized they had been caught doing the crime. Of course, by the time they got their wind Asuma was directly in front of them. He caught them both with one hand, his eyes still entirely focused on the monument.

"No really they could be so much better."

"Hey Asuma-sensei you wouldn't really take us to jiji right? You were just judging us a second ago! You can't think it was that bad."

"Yeah uncle! There's no way you'd take us to the old man."

Asuma briefly glanced at the duo, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, I don't need to take you personally if you don't want."

"Huh?"

A clone of Asuma appeared directly next to them. The clone snatched both of them up, the original still staring at their artwork.

"He'll take you; I have to grade this performance for posterity sake."

"No fair!"

"You just gonna get yelled at later!"

"Yelled at?"

Konohamaru grinned.

"You sure grandpa won't yell at you for judging our work and letting us do it instead of stopping us midway through!"

Asuma frowned, looking at his nephew.

"What are you suggesting?"

"You help us wash it off, and nobody gets hurt."

"Are you blackmailing a Jonin you little runt?"

"Let's say I'm...making a mutually beneficial proposition."

Naruto's eyes gleamed at his surrogate younger brother.

"I am so proud of you right now."

Asuma groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"Fine."

"Yay!" The two boys cheered.

(-Flashback-)

Konohamaru grit his teeth as his group continued to leap through the trees. Soon he'd see him again. The man who he had grown with. Learned with. His older brother. The man who had abandoned him. The man who had abandoned their grandfather. The young Jonin clenched his fists.

Soon.

Naruto sat down, looking over the detailed map of Amegakure and the Land of Rain. He walked around it, a frown on his face. There were many tracks to different villages within the country, all leading back to a central point in Amegakure. Villages were spread apart intermittently across the village, but there was none that was as large as the central village. Ame was located directly in the center of the country, a sprawling urban city.

"You're still confused."

Naruto frowned.

"It's just, I see all the railroad tracks leading from Amegakure to all the other cities. And judging by how much Nagato cares for the people the size of the towns outside of Ame seems rather...small."

"That's perfectly understandable," Konan stated. She walked next to the man, pointing at the towns closest to the border of Amegakure. "Ame lacks the military strength of any of the other Great Powers. The number of shinobi we have is roughly half of that of any Great Power, and we have no economic or military support from a Daimyo. It's crippling to our development. Border towns like these we simply don't have the resources to develop as quickly. Our forts," she pointed to the castle like images across the map. "are mostly bare bones."

"How would you all hold off an invasion then?"

"Fear," Konan stated plainly. "Our position in the world is weak at best. It's propped up solely by Nagato's sheer power. It's why Yahiko so desperately wants you to help bolster Ame's military might, and I don't mean that as a Jinchuriki. I mean that as one of the strongest shinobi on the planet. You as a teacher and shinobi of Ame would create two superpowers right here in Ame. With Kisame here as a secret weapon that's three."

"What about you two?"

"Yahiko and I are strong, S-class sure. But we don't compare to Nagato. Kisame is stronger than both of us as well. But even if we're including Yahiko and I, the strength drop off from us to our regular shinobi is rather large. That's what we're desperate to try and improve."

"Is that why the tech industry here in Ame is creating weapons useable by civilians? Kamino showed me."

"It is part of the reasoning," Konan admitted. "If our average shinobi strength is weaker having a populace capable of fighting is certainly helpful. Still, your average civilian will lack training. They're more akin to an Academy Student throwing around superpowers. It's my plan to try and create a proper training ground for a non-shinobi based military force but we're receiving pushback."

"What do you mean?"

"The costs to create the tech we make is still rather high. The raw material required to produce it is hard to come by directly. Chakra metal. We've managed to secure a trading relationship with the Land of Iron, but we have no natural reserves of chakra metal here, so development is going slow. In addition to that the railroad magnates are rather...unresponsive to our pleas with them to help the average person if it doesn't support their bottom line. It makes transporting goods difficult. It's a contributing factor to why it's so hard to develop the outer regions. Ideally, we'd like to have it so we can develop from the inside out. But as you can see from an economic and military perspective there are problems that need to be addressed first."

"Hm...railroad magnates, high cost of import, and lack of sheer manpower. I see why you all aren't actively participating in the war. Your position is held up almost entirely by one man's strength."

"Precisely. The major blocker is the railroad magnates. Yahiko and Nagato have been trying to persuade them, but it seems like there's nothing we can truly do to address those issues."

"What do they want?"

"Effectively a monopoly. Their argument of course is that the railroads are the major reason why Ame is more technologically developed village than other countries. We simply have the ability to move more resources faster than they do. That combined with the Kusa refugees sped up our growth more than even Hanzo could have imagined. It was due to him after all we got such good trading agreements with other countries. Nagato has only maintained that. But it's trade through fear. That's not the type of country we want to lead. Having the railroad magnates create more equitable trade deals would help with that."

"Even if you do that your trade route between the Land of Iron and Ame will be put in danger by other villages."

"It could," Konan stated. "All the more reason to solve the issues we're facing."

Naruto frowned, rubbing his chin.

"What about transportation seals?"

"Fuka is the only person who could be considered anything close to a seal master in Ame. But the chakra requirement for transportation seals across such large areas of land is enormous. It's not practical."

Naruto sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Well...do you have any leverage on the railroad magnates?"

"Outside of being able to intimidate them with strength and the people's love of Nagato? Not really."

Naruto frowned.

"That's certainly a problem."

Konan sighed, rubbing her forehead looking down at the map.

"Indeed."

The two continued to look over the map, allowing Naruto to familiarize himself with the inner workings of the country.

Hey hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Soon the pace will begin to pick back up again. In the meantime review, review, review. Let me know your thoughts. What you liked, didn't like, and what you think will happen next!