Author's Note: Welcome back, everyone! There's a fairly drastic deviation from canon in this chapter, hopefully you all like it.

Disclaimer: Naruto and Inuyasha belong to their respective owners.

Dialogue Legend:

"Unforgivable" – Normal dialogue

'Unforgivable' – character's thoughts/speaking to Inner Demon/Inner Spirit

"Unforgivable" – Jutsu name; Inner Demon/Inner Spirit/Supernatural Being speaking to someone on the physical plane.

'Unforgivable' – Inner Demon/Inner Spirit/Supernatural Being speaking to someone on or from within the mental or spiritual plane.

Review Corner:

book lover reader: *zips lips*

jerrelhamil: Wish granted! Not the Forest of Death part since I have a different idea of how they'll meet but I have no qualms with Karin being Sasuke's third wife and the character I have in mind for Mei's husband would never go for Karin. So that character gets paired with Mei and Karin is now the final member of Sasuke's harem.

Chapter 25 – Aftershock Part 2

Namikaze Mansion – Courtyard

"Gatsuuga!" Kiba and Akamaru hurled themselves at Naruto, who was shrouded in the same Chakra aura he had used to defeat them in the Preliminaries. Since the pair hadn't eaten food pills before launching their attack, Naruto dialed down the intensity of his aura to keep the playing field even. The Namikaze lord was once again clad in his grey-black Shinobi variant of Sesshomaru's armor. He had requested an extra-large version of the standard-issue flak jacket granted to Chuunin and now wore it over his armor's cuirass. The shockwave created when the three combatants clashed was barely contained in the Namikaze mansion courtyard. Naruto and his opponents were flung in opposite directions as their attacks canceled each other out.

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun? That attack was way stronger last time!" Kiba smirked. She had started pestering Naruto for a rematch just two days after the invasion ended. Naruto refused citing that he needed to help rebuild Konoha, but after four days that excuse stopped holding water. The repairs that could be achieved with elbow grease and minimal construction expertise had almost all been attended to, and he had gained so much practice with the Tajuu Kage Bushin no Jutsu that his clones now could drop a steel girder on their foot and not vanish. Some parts of the village needed a lot of grunt work that he didn't feel safe leaving to his clones, but those could wait for a few days while Naruto dealt with other things. Like Kiba's increasingly obvious lust for him.

'Hinata's not going to like this.' Naruto cursed for the eighth time. He knew that the Inuzuka tended to "imprint" on those they thought would make ideal husbands or wives. The reason for this trait was that countless generations of synchronizing with their dog partners' Chakra had resulted in permanent alterations to the Inuzuka Clan's Chakra, which affected certain aspects of their biochemistry. The attachment wasn't as instinctive as the bond that animals form with their parents and close relatives, but it was still very difficult to reverse once it occurred. If Naruto had no intention of ever reciprocating Kiba's feelings, it would be one thing. The Inuzuka Clan had ways of forcibly reversing the imprinting process and Hokage had the authority to order them to do it if he believed the affected Shinobi would be better off without the bond.

However, Naruto was open to the idea of courting Kiba. It was so long ago now that he doubted that she remembered, but Kiba had once openly called a teacher out on his bullshit when he rigged a practical exam just before Naruto's turn to take it came up. It was the first time one of his classmates had stood up for him, and Naruto had promised himself that he would return the favor if he ever got the chance. Between only going to his official classes one day a week until Iruka was his primary teacher and Ceto's near-endless training regimen, thanking Kiba had slipped his mind by the time he attended classes consistently. It wasn't anywhere close to how he imagined it, but given how much interest was attached to repaying the debt in question, not shutting Kiba down seemed like the least he could do.

"Back then, we were competing for the honor of representing Konoha in the finals." Naruto shook his head to get his thoughts back on the sparring match. "Now, we're just friends having a spar. My current goal is to teach, not to win – Genin Kiba Inuzuka."

"Throwing your rank around already, are ya? Then check this out!" Kiba flashed through a series of hand seals. "Douton: Iwahifu!" (Earth Release: Stone Skin) An aura of brown-colored Chakra pulsed all over Kiba's body for a few seconds. Once it dissipated, the Inuzuka heiress' skin was slightly darkened, as if someone had smeared a thin layer of dirt all over her. "GATSUUGA!" Kiba and Akamaru put much more Chakra into their joint Jutsu than before and streaked toward Naruto like a heat-seeking missile.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto quickly spawned a single clone and had it throw him into the air. In the next instant, the human-dog duo made a 20-foot crater in his courtyard.

'Yikes! Good thing the mansion can repair that on its own!' Naruto cringed.

"How'd you like that, Naruto-kun?" Kiba taunted after leaping out of the crater.

"Kun, is it? Classmates or not, I don't believe that's an appropriate way to address your superior, Kiba-chan!" Naruto knew he was letting Kiba get under his skin, but he could let her have the satisfaction of riling him up. After all, he was about to send her to the hospital! "Fuuton: Tatsumakiyoroi!" Naruto's tornado armor materialized with enough force to nearly suck Akamaru in. As this was still a sparring match, Naruto hadn't used the Jutsu's final set of hand seals that would apply wind blades to the miniature twister, but impacting the eye of the tornado would still be like crashing into a brick wall and the wind pressure would likely injure the dog before then. Luckily, Akamaru had used Chakra to stick to the ground as soon as the tornado manifested.

"GATSUUGA!" Kiba poured all her remaining Chakra into her Jutsu as Naruto launched himself at her and Akamaru. The collision devastated the courtyard and cracked several bones in Naruto's right hand. Kiba was coughing up blood and Akamaru bore several lacerations.

"Are you two okay?!" Tenten had planned on asking Naruto for help with some of the more complicated maneuvers in one of the Namikaze combat manuals today and was on her way to the young lord's home when she heard a titanic explosion. Running to the epicenter of the blast, she arrived just in time to see Naruto pick himself off the ground.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto created six clones to bring Kiba and Akamaru to the nearest hospital. The black-eyed girl had a very satisfied smile on her face. For some reason, seeing that grin infuriated Tenten.

"Naruto-kun," the weapon master said in a sing-song voice, "I do hope you'll be available to help me with some of these exercises as soon as your arm recovers?"

"Y-yes. Tenten-chan!" Naruto squeaked. With his natural accelerated healing as a Daiyoukai, he'd be able to appease Tenten by tomorrow afternoon, at the latest. The two had become fast friends after Naruto agreed to train her, and he had no desire to compromise their friendship.

'Friendship, really Naruto-kun?' Kurama rebuked as Tenten marched away.

'Yeah, friendship. After all, there's no way Tenten-chan loves – OH, KAMI!' Naruto swore.

'There's the intellect Ceto-dono cultivated!' Kurama grinned. 'I doubt she realizes it herself yet, but Tenten-chan has a crush on you. Your training sessions before the finals helped, but what truly cemented it was the brutality of Neji's execution. During the match, I felt intense feelings of vindication from Tenten-chan. Neji must have wronged her deeply for her to feel as she did.'

'Great, just great!' Naruto moaned. 'And like Kiba-chan, I don't think I have it in me to turn her down if – when – she confesses. She's just way too fun to be around!'

'And the dancer's grace she demonstrates when performing your clan's techniques to perfection has nothing do to with it, I'm sure.' The strongest Tailed Beast twisted the proverbial kunai.

'This conversation is over!' Naruto severed the mental link, but the damage had been done. Naruto would have to be in a very good mood to admit it out loud, but he found Hinata's movements as she used the Juuken extremely enticing. Tenten's use of the Namikaze combat forms evoked a similar response. He'd done his best to lock his attraction to the weapon master in a chest and throw the key away, but Kurama had just smashed the lock and ripped the top of the chest off its hinges. There was no going back now. Knowing that if he put it off one second later he'd never hear the end of it, Naruto made his way to the Hyuuga compound to inform his fiancé of the two new candidates for his harem.

'As a noble, I have the right to drag this out over any number of dates over two years. That'll give me – and, especially, Hinata – enough time to get to know Kiba-chan and Tenten-chan.' Naruto felt like he was representing himself at a murder trial as a Hyuuga guard informed Hiashi of his visit.

Streets of Konoha

While Naruto was presenting his case to Hinata, Sasuke was doing his best not to stumble as he made his way – blindfolded – to the Uchiha Clan compound. The blindfold was Ino's idea; she had no intention of allowing Sasuke's childhood trauma to get in the way of what she had planned. Sasuke agreed with the sentiment but detested the idea of being led through Konoha's streets like an invalid.

'Not even the Sharingan is a match for Ino-chan's puppy-dog eyes!' Sasuke mused. He and Ino had made this trek enough times for him to memorize the route leading to the site of his burned-down house. Ino's gambit had worked! The last Uchiha felt none of the dread or grief he usually suffered from when visiting his first home. As he neared the site where his house once stood, the scent of flowers dominated his nose. Ino had left his side, and the wolf Hanyou tore the blindfold off his face.

What greeted him was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. All traces of his old house were gone; in their place stood a circular garden divided into several rings of flowers. The largest, outermost ring consisted of blue irises representing renewal. Between this ring and the next, a ring half as thick as the outer ring holding violet-blue bluebells symbolizing hope stood between the irises and a ring with two types of flowers that was as thick as the outer ring. Near the bluebells, violet chrysanthemums that embodied compassion were planted; the second half of the middle ring was composed of pale violet lilacs – again symbolizing hope.

After this, another half-as-thick ring consisted of white daffodils with pale yellow centers – another flower that represents renewal. The final ring – again as thick as the outer ring – was made of violet-red orchids, flowers that personify love. Within the last ring, centered exactly where Sasuke's bedroom once stood was a circle with two flowers; the vast majority were red tulips, another flower indicative of love, but three sets of white snapdragons – which embody the will to overcome all obstacles – had been planted around the very center of the circle in patterns identical to the Sharingan's tomoe.

Sasuke's tears flooded his face in great rivers. He barely retained consciousness as a paradigm shift occurred in his brain. Never again would he be haunted by nightmares of what occurred on that horrible night. The pain was still there and would remain until Itachi was dealt with, but the despair that had accompanied it for so many years was gone, never to return.

"I can't take all the credit." Ino's words caused her lover to turn his gaze away from the beautiful flowers. "If Sakura hadn't pitched in, this garden would have taken weeks to plant. Channeling Chakra into the seeds of all these flowers to accelerate their growth without shortening their lifespan takes way more Chakra control than I have at the moment."

"Don't sell yourself short, Ino!" Sakura chimed in from behind Sasuke. "I've never done anything like this before and would have screwed up hundreds of times if you weren't there to monitor the whole thing!"

"Like I said, I can't take all the MMPPHHHH!" Ino's words were cut short when Sasuke slammed his lips against hers. In the next heartbeat, she returned the kiss with fiery passion seconds before embracing her boyfriend. The two were locked like that for what seemed to them as hours. A thick trail of saliva joined their faces as they pulled away from each other.

Before Sakura could even voice her demand to be next, Sasuke tackled her to the ground and launched kisses all over her face before giving her mouth the same treatment as Ino's. The Yamanaka heiress didn't have the heart to reprimand them for ruining the garden; she was too happy for her best friend at the moment to care.

The Next Day – Konoha Academy Auditorium

"I am Ceto. Some of you know me as a savior, others as the new head librarian, but my main duty here is to serve as Iruka-sensei's assistant." Aside from a very subtle pulse of divine will that allowed her voice to reach all in the room and informed the students she had rescued during the invasion of her new form, the Goddess of Sea Monsters was the currently perfect picture of a human woman. "My three associates will also be helping Iruka-sensei." With a hand gesture, the Gorgons walked onto the stage from the waiting room to the left of the auditorium. At Iruka's request, the Gorgons were currently using their magic to disguise their snake hair as human locks. Medusa's hair appeared black, Euryale's was blonde, and Stheno's was red. They were now wearing personalized variants of the white robes they worn had during the invasion.

The Gorgons' previous robes were sleeveless, hung from their shoulders, and came down to their ankles. Their current attire, while still sleeveless, stopped just below their knees.

Medusa wore a black robe with gold bands at the hem and neck, secured with a gold-colored sash. Euryale wore an all-blue robe with a black sash, and Stheno wore an all-red robe with a silver sash. The Gorgons also now wore dark brown sandals similar in style to Konoha's Shinobi sandals.

"Given that the Academy is currently very understaffed, classes with hundreds of students will have to take place in this auditorium three times a day until the staffing crisis is resolved." Iruka spoke into his podium's microphone. "With Konoha at a near-wartime alert level, there's no telling how long this will take. Please bear with us as we figure out how best to adapt to these difficult circumstances. If you have any ideas on how to improve the current teaching regimen, don't hesitate to speak up! All suggestions will be given fair consideration."

As none of the students – old or new – had any recommendations at the moment, Iruka and Ceto continued their summary of what had occurred to bring about this change. Today, their goal was to ensure that all the students were aware of the Academy's new normal. Tomorrow, they would sort the students according to skill level and begin teaching in earnest. Iruka was not looking forward to unlocking the new students' Chakra networks. Even with Gorgon's blood ensuring that they would survive the process with no permanent side effects, Ceto had told him that there was no avoiding the extreme pain that always occurred when an adult or adolescent's Chakra Network was forcibly unlocked. Putting away such thoughts for now, the Chuunin focused on the task at hand.

The auditorium, though massive, could not house all of the Academy's students – even with their number substantially reduced. Several meetings intended to bring the students up to speed on the Academy's new policies had to be scheduled, and the last such meeting would include the amnesiac Oto ninja. Though Shikaku and Inoichi were confident that they could destroy Orochimaru's seals while leaving the affected Shinobi's memories intact, they needed more time than the two-week deadline allotted to them by Jiraiya and felt that destroying the Caged Bird Seal was a far more productive use of their time.

Namikaze Mansion – Armory

"This is amazing, Naruto-kun! The craftsmanship of some of these weapons predates the Warring States Era! Please, please please let me borrow one!" Tenten had started salivating just seconds after entering the Namikaze armory.

"I don't mind lending one to you, but before I agree I must ask why you want this." Naruto replied. Since his mansion's self-repair Jutsu was still fixing the courtyard, the Namikaze Lord decided to hold his sparring session with Tenten indoors. As soon as he told her that his family's armory adjoined the sparring room, the weapon master all but pounced at the door separating the two rooms.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tenten snapped. The means to craft some of these weapons – she pointed to a particularly exquisite katana – has been lost to time. With the help of my grandfather, I can use one of these as a template to take my family's craftsmanship to the next level!"

Naruto didn't miss the peculiar emphasis Tenten used when referring to her progenitor. "Oh yeah, your family is descended from Hephaestus-sama the Smith God aren't they?"

"WHAT?" Tenten was shocked that Naruto knew; she'd only told Guy about Hephaestus and even with him she was vague when describing her encounters with the god.

"Let's just say I have a friend who can sense when a god comes to Konoha." Naruto elaborated. He knew that Ceto's true nature was now an open secret, but that didn't mean he had to announce her presence from the rooftops. Tenten was quickly proving to be a very reliable friend (and potential lover) but Naruto wasn't ready to trust her with what happened in his childhood.

"A-anyways, may I please borrow this sword?" Tenten collected herself. "I vow on my honor as a blacksmith that it will not be damaged while in my care."

"Very well, you can borrow it if you manage to draw my blood in our sparring session!" Naruto decreed before leaving the armory. Tenten had to stop herself from running to the sparring room. When she entered the room, Naruto was already waiting for her with Tenseiga drawn.

"Are you mocking me?!" The young woman yelled. "I know that sword can't injure anyone without a huge amount of strength behind the swing from your deathmatch with Neji!"

"That's what makes it a perfect sparring weapon." Naruto countered. "Unlike a practice sword, Tenseiga is designed for use on the battlefield. Though, as you've pointed out, she's not meant to cut mortal flesh."

'Tenseiga? Such a beautiful name for a sword!' Tenten gushed as she drew Kumanekosou.

"BEGIN!" Naruto roared and rushed at Tenten, who leaped onto one of the room's walls and launched Kumanekosou at Naruto. The five kunai were attached to ninja wire, and by channeling Chakra through them, the weapon master could manipulate their trajectory in the same way a puppeteer controls a marionette. Two of the knives were aimed at Tenseiga while the other three sought Naruto's face, torso, and left shoulder respectively.

'If I block then Tenseiga will be tangled in the ninja wire, and if I dodge she'll keep using Chakra to animate the wire until either she runs out or I get too tired to move.' Naruto strategized. 'Time to show her just how deadly Tenseiga can be!' The young Daiyoukai spun Tenseiga in his left hand like a fan, creating a gale-force wind that deflected Kumanekosou.

"Uh-oh!" Tenten channeled Chakra through Kumanekosou to disperse the impromptu windstorm but Naruto had done the same with arm while spinning Tenseiga, and he had far more Chakra than her. Tenten had to leap to the wall on opposite side of the room, nearly two hundred feet away, to avoid the gale. 'He's certainly not holding back with his strength, that move was incredible!' A blush slowly spread across the young woman's face as she recalled Kumanekosou to her right hand.

By unspoken consent, neither combatant intended to use any Jutsu not directly related to their weapons in this match. This was the first chance Naruto had to practice his Kenjutsu since finishing his training under Zabuza and Haku, and Tenten wanted to prove she could injure Naruto with as little Ninjutsu as possible.

"That was a wonderful dodge, Tenten-chan!" Naruto drew and threw four shuriken. "Now let's see how you handle this!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth!" Tenten sheathed Kumanekosou into a specialized scabbard she now wore next to her Shinobi pouch and then drew and threw six shuriken. Immediately after throwing them, Tenten flashed through a series of hand seals. On the other side of the room, Naruto weaved a one-handed variant of the same sequence.

"Shuriken Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique) The pair shouted simultaneously. The number of airborne projectiles exploded by two orders of magnitude. The thousand shuriken collided in the vast space between Naruto and Tenten, but instead of falling to the ground they were held in place by ninja wire!

"Thanks for the all the extra weapons, Naruto-kun!" A storage scroll fell to the floor from Tenten's spot on the wall. One hundred fishing line-like wires adorned each of Tenten's fingertips. She raised her hands above her head as high as they could go, and the shuriken swarmed above her like an army of hornets.

"Don't mention it; after all, you'll need them!" Naruto raised Tenseiga above his head and then slammed it down, creating a crescent-shaped wind blade that would have made any Fuuton specialist observing it envious. Tenten launched her barrage of shuriken in response and sent enough Chakra through her wires to detonate all the Shuriken. The thousand explosions were sufficient to disperse the wind blade, but Naruto was right behind it!

'Time to bring this fight home!' Tenten redrew Kumanekosou and threw three of its blades at Naruto before rushing at him with the remaining two. Naruto dodged the trio of blades; he knew they were still attached to wires but had every intention of ending this match before Tenten could do anything more with them! The Namikaze Lord lashed out with Tenseiga, a broken arm would be enough to finish this!

"HAAAAAAAAAAA!" Both combatants screamed with determination. Tenten dodged Naruto's first swing by twisting her torso just out of Tenseiga's reach. Before Naruto could launch a follow-up strike, she counterattacked with a blistering series of strikes. Forced onto the defensive, Naruto leaped back to gain the distance needed to initiate one of the combos taught to him by Zabuza.

"Checkmate, Naruto-kun!" Tenten had predicted where Naruto would dodge, and with a flick of her right wrist, the previously dodged blades of Kumanekosou soared toward the back of Naruto's head! He managed to dodge two of them completely, but the third grazed his right cheek as it sailed back to its owner.

"Great job," Naruto bowed to his opponent, "I wasn't underestimating you, but I wasn't expecting you to read my moves like that."

"I had an excellent teacher." Tenten returned the bow before stretching her hand out and grinning like a fiend. "Now, the sword, if you please?" Naruto smiled back before leaving to get Tenten's prize.

Konoha Forest – Orochimaru's Hideout

"So your hive queen told you that Poseidon's my granddad, that's so cool! With her ancestral memories, you know so much about this world that's been forgotten!" Yuusen squealed while she and Shino traveled toward the last of Orochimaru's lairs found by the Anbu.

"It's not that simple, unfortunately." Shino replied. "The Kikaichu queens rarely share the knowledge of ages past with us. I'm not sure if this is due to personal preference or if there's some sort of law in place that forbids them from doing so unless absolutely necessary."

"The second one, most likely." Yuusen guessed. "You said the queens are descended from Khepri; if the Egyptian gods are anything like the Grecian gods then they love keeping secrets just for the sake of it!"

"Enough chit-chat you two! We're nearly at the hideout." Yama barked. So far, the mission had gone extremely well. Shino and Yuusen had exceeded their quota at every other hideout, but Yama felt that this lair would be different. The four ninja neared a large cave that seemed at first glance to be a bear's hibernation den. The Anbu who found this hideout had discovered – and dispelled – a Genjutsu in the back of the cave that had concealed a door leading to a much larger underground structure.

As he had for each of the other hideouts they encountered on this mission, Shino ordered a swarm of Kikaichu to enter the lair. Since Chakra is their primary food source the parasitic insects evolved to detect it, and were therefore perfect for finding and neutralizing anti-intrusion seals. Though Jiraiya had said disarming the traps they found wouldn't count toward their success rate, Shino and Yuusen saw no reason to leave the traps intact when they had the means to safely destroy them.

"Bubble Pulse!" A bubble nearly as large as Yuusen's head emerged from her hands, flew to the area the Kikaichu were searching and popped. A pulse of Suiton Chakra radiated outward revealing three particularly subtle seals that the Kikaichu had missed and also exposing more mundane traps. Yuusen threw a shuriken at an innocuous floor tile and a volley of poisoned spikes shot out from the nearby wall. She threw three more shuriken at other tiles farther down the path.

"Good work, both of you!" Kurenai praised. The quartet continued in silence while Shino and Yuusen repeated their trap-detecting methods. Though several doors and halls were leading away from the main path, the four Shinobi did not investigate them. Their mission was to provide initial reconnaissance only; Anbu and Jonin from several clans would be jointly exploring the lairs once Konoha's reconstruction was complete.

"Looks like this is as far as we go." Yama mused. "The main hallway had stretched for nearly two miles from the lair's entrance before emptying into a vast chamber. In the distance, several smaller corridors could be seen leading to other parts of the lair. Closer to the quartet's position, dozens of warp seals were carved into the floor.

"This must have been the primary staging area for the invasion." Kurenai surmised. "If this room was filled to capacity, then at least a thousand Shinobi could have warped into one of the hideouts we found inside Konoha from this location alone!"

"We may not be going any further, but we should at least clear this room of traps. Bubble Pulse!" Yuusen shot out dozens of bubbles, which popped all over the room. At first nothing happened, but then a huge seal matrix appeared on the floor.

"This is a summoning matrix! Orochimaru must have programmed it to activate in response to sensory Jutsu!" Kurenai cursed. Just as the quartet turned to leave, barriers of purple flame covered every hallway leading away from the staging area.

"We're in for it now, be ready for anything!" Yama ordered. A tree emerged from the center of the summoning matrix. Though it wasn't very tall its circumference was massive. A hollow cavity in the center of its trunk fired a dark purple beam at Yuusen. The projectile struck her before she or her teammates could react, and she rose off the ground and was pulled toward the cavity.

"Yuusen-chan!" Shino grabbed her arm and used Chakra to stick to the floor. While fighting the gravitational pull of the tree's attack, he sent a legion of Kikaichu at the tree. A purple aura manifested around the tree, and the force drawing Yuusen into it tripled in potency. Shino was ripped off the floor and flew through the air.

"Bubble Shield!" Yuusen formed a twenty-lair barrier around herself and Shino just before they hit the cavity in the tree's trunk. Immediately after its prey had landed, the tree's structure warped around them, resembling a gigantic, wooden cocoon. Seconds later, the tree exploded in size to form a massive construct of wood that vaguely resembled a human. The cavity containing Shino and Yuusen formed its "heart", and hundreds of roots were trying to breach the Bubble Shield. The shield was holding, but the outermost barrier was now visibly thinning. The "heart" was soon covered by several layers of wood, blocking the two Genin from view.

"Drain the Chakra of whoever sensed it, and then use it to help power a golem that wipes out their teammates; what a nasty trap!" Yama swore.

"I can sense that Shino's Kikaichu are doing their best to intercept the roots." Kurenai responded. "If we can distract this thing enough, they may be able to destroy it from the inside!" The golem slammed a gargantuan "arm" at the two Jonin.

"Suijinheki – Uzumaki!" (Water Formation Wall – Maelstrom) A torrent of water swirled around Yama and Kurenai with tremendous force; not only was the golem's attack deflected, but the abrupt shift in momentum was enough to knock it off its feet. As the golem began to stand, the maelstrom condensed around Yama's right arm. The giant among men made a punching motion, aiming for the golem's left shoulder joint. A titanic roar filled the chamber as the maelstrom was fired at its target. The golem's left arm was blasted off its body. Immediately, countless roots appeared on what was left of the construct's left shoulder, but before they could start growing into a replacement limb, cracks formed in the wood surrounding the golem's heart and thousands of Kikaichu swarmed to the shoulder to devour the Chakra pouring out of the roots. As the golem struggled to stand, the roots ceased growing and the Kikaichu returned to their host.

"Excellent work, Shino-kun! Fusa!" (Sealing Chains) Kurenai fired twelve forest-green chains from her hands. Three wrapped around the golem's left leg, another three around its right leg, another four ensnared its right arm, and the final two strangled its neck. The golem screamed in rage as it lost the ability to channel Chakra through its head and remaining limbs. It tried to leverage its brute strength to break the chains, but the Genjutsu Mistress channeled more Chakra into them to increase their durability. Now that its Chakra was confined to its torso, Shino's Kikaichu feasted on it. The construct's "eyes", once a baleful purple, now faded to a much lighter tint of violet.

"Suijinheki – Uzumaki!" Yama formed two condensed maelstroms on his arms and took aim at the golem's head and right arm. With another deafening roar, the arm was severed and the head was obliterated. Kurenai redirected the chains used to restrain the destroyed areas at the golem's heart. They pierced the wood surrounding it and began prying it off.

"Bubble Shockwave!" Yuusen shifted most of her Bubble Shield to face what was left of the wood trapping them in the cavity and willed it to rapidly expand; it was more than enough to destroy the weakened wood and she leaped out of the cavity, followed closely by Shino. Between losing its "heart" and having most of its Chakra devoured by Shino's Kikaichu, the golem had nothing left. Its "eyes" vanished, and what was left of its body shriveled into dead wood.

"Thanks a million, Shino-kun! Without your Kikaichu stopping all those roots, my Bubble Shield wouldn't have lasted long enough for Dad and Kurenai-san to break me out!" Yuusen trapped Shino in a bear hug. The Aburame heir returned the embrace and did his best to ignore the shit-eating grins spreading over Yama and Kurenai's faces.

"I'd say our two charges just earned their promotion to Chuunin, eh Kurenai-san?" Yama chuckled.

"Yes, we can hardly fault Yuusen-chan for triggering a trap we failed to detect, and she and Shino had more than met the quota for this lair beforehand, not to mention all the others. Not only that, but they did a fantastic job of both protecting themselves and helping us destroy that thing." Kurenai agreed before turning two the still-hugging pair. "Shino-kun, Yuusen-chan – we're moving out!"

"Acknowledged!" The soon-to-be Chuunin replied.

The Next Day – Outskirts of Konoha

Naruto was eating lunch in a restaurant, taking a break from the last major reconstruction job in Konoha. He'd stopped using Kage Bushin for the repair jobs the day before he had his spar with Kiba, as he wanted to give the Inuzuka heiress his full attention. Sasuke was eating with him. He'd been helping Naruto with this last job to get some practice in applying his Hanyou strength in ways other than combat. Just as Naruto paid for his and Sasuke's meals, two people entered the restaurant. They wore long, black cloaks with red clouds and conical straw hats with small ornamental torques and tassels hanging down over their faces.

"Welcome, please be seated and someone will be with you as soon as . . ." The restaurant greeter's spiel died as killing intent flooded the room. Luckily, Naruto, Sasuke, and the two Akatsuki members were the only customers in the restaurant.

"There's our target, but who's the brat that looks almost just like you?" The blue-gray skinned one asked.

"Sasuke, my little brother." His partner replied. "When I slaughtered my clan like cattle, he was too weak to be worth killing. Not much seems to have changed."

"You! YOUUU!" Only a firm grip on his right shoulder stopped Sasuke from falling for Itachi's taunt.

"Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, pretty sure I can guess why you're here, and – if I'm right – the last thing either of you want is to cause a huge ruckus that would attract any number of Shinobi. Sasuke and I are going to Shunshin into the forest just outside the village gates; I'm sure you can follow with your Sharingan – Itachi."

The Uchiha criminal nodded, activating his clan's Doujutsu. Naruto and Sasuke vanished, and the Akatsuki members followed them half a second later.

"Naruto, what are the odds of us winning this?" Sasuke asked once all four of them were in a huge forest clearing

"On a scale of one to ten, I'd have to say zero." Naruto grimaced.

"Tsk! I was hoping for some optimism." Sasuke snorted.

"That is the optimistic assessment, Sasuke; a more realistic appraisal of our chances puts us in the negatives." Naruto countered.

"It's so refreshing to fight an opponent who knows when they're out of their depth." Kisame grinned. "And by having us come here, I'm sure you've no intention of coming along quietly!"

"Give the shark man a prize!" Naruto smiled back. "Surrendering without a fight isn't my style, plus Sasuke would never let me hear the end of it." The Jinchuriki knew he couldn't draw on Kurama's Chakra for this fight. He'd gone to his absolute limit when he gave her control during the invasion and had been told when he regained consciousness that his body would need a full month to recover before he could use her Chakra at all. It had only been ten days; if he used even a sliver of Kurama's Chakra now his body would start breaking down immediately.

"Before we begin, how did you recognize Kisame-san?" Itachi asked. "Myself, I understand, but the name and physical description of an S-Rank criminal from a foreign nation is not typically disclosed to Chunnin."

"Simple, I was trained in Kenjutsu by the Devil of the Hidden Mist!" Naruto answered while drawing Tokijin. There was no point in hiding that fact as it would become evident as soon as he and Kisame crossed blades; fighting styles are like fingerprints. Against other opponents, the split-second advantage of having an unknown fighting style may have been enough to earn victory but the gap in power and experience was too vast for it to matter in this case.

"Hah! That kid taught you Kenjutsu? This'll be even more fun than I thought!" Kisame drew Samehada, which immediately enlarged enough to shred the bandages concealing its blade. 'If he's been trained by Zabuza, then Naruto must know that Samehada can cut through and devour Chakra! That means he won't bother using any long-range Jutsu he has and will try his best not to be hit in melee combat!'

"Itachi! Today's the day you pay for what you did that night!" Sasuke's Sharingan blazed into existence. His older brother silently followed him as he moved a few dozen feet away from Naruto and Kisame.

"I'll let you take the first shot, disciple of Zabuza!" Kisame yelled.

"You're too kind!" Naruto raised Tokijin above his head, and the Youkai sword crackled with lightning. After a few seconds of seeing Tokijin charge up, Kisame got bored of waiting and rushed Naruto, who countered by forming twenty Kage Bushin.

"Hmph!" Kisame adjusted his form to intercept the clones now running at him. Samehada wouldn't be able to drain all of their Chakra due to how quickly it dissipated after they "died", but enough could be absorbed to make Naruto regret his strategy. To Kisame's surprise, some of the Kage Bushin leaped above him and then turned to rush him from behind after landing. He soon found himself surrounded by clones. Undaunted, he moved to make a spinning slash to destroy all of them at once but he missed a quick flash of two hand seals from the original!

"Bunshin Daibakuha!" (Clone Great Explosion) The twenty clones detonated simultaneously.

"And here I thought only Itachi knew that trick, not bad Naruto!" Kisame applauded after leaping out of the blast radius.

"If you liked that then you'll love this!" Naruto swung Tokijin at Kisame and a sphere of lightning was launched from the tip of its blade. Kisame thought nothing of the long-range attack and chopped at it with Samehada.

"Hmph, guess little Zabuza hasn't gotten around to telling you about – WHAT THE?!" Kisame's taunt was cut short when Samehada vomited the lightning ball back at Naruto, causing a huge explosion. By itself, this was no cause for alarm; Kisame sometimes had Samehada regurgitate absorbed Chakra when fighting foes highly skilled in long-range combat. The problem was how quickly the regurgitation occurred; it was as if the mystic blade couldn't stomach the energy it had eaten.

'I thought so!' Naruto smirked, still concealed by the dirt kicked up when his attack was hurled back at him. 'Unlike the rest of Kiri's Seven Swords – which were forged by the Terumi Clan – Samehada was a gift from Ceto-sensei! Its abilities are divine in nature, so it can't safely absorb Youki – the opposite of divine power!" Naruto swung Tokijin again, now firing a huge lightning blast at Kisame! The descendant of Ceto instinctively struck the incoming attack with Samehada; his years of blocking attacks in this manner now worked against him since his muscle memory was geared for this reaction.

As before, Samehada consumed the attack and immediately vomited it back. Naruto met the incoming blast head-on, trusting in Tenseiga's barrier to keep him safe. Another updraft of dirt concealed his movements as he streaked to Kisame like a heat-seeking missile! Tokijin, still clad in demonic lightning, clashed with Samehada. The shark sword couldn't absorb energy during a sword lock, so Kisame was electrocuted.

"That's an interesting sword you got there, Naruto-kun!" Kisame shrugged off the pain and flicked his wrist with enough force to break the sword lock, pushing Naruto a few feet back. He then followed up with a powerful downward slash that Naruto barely blocked. The force of this strike blew Naruto back a dozen feet, and Tokijin creaked ominously. The opposing nature of Tokijin and Samehada cut both ways; Samehada couldn't absorb Tokijin's lightning, but the blessing coursing through every scale on Samehada's blade was toxic to Tokijin. If Naruto had been deemed worthy of Tokijin's full power, the blade would have been capable of protecting itself for at least several minutes before succumbing to Samehada's blessing, but as things stood now Naruto sensed that Tokijin could only take a few more hits – at best – before it broke.

"This is rich! Our swords are each other's worst enemy!" Kisame laughed as he created a huge amount of Suiton Chakra below his feet to increase his speed. Samehada smelled blood in the water and was quivering with excitement.

"Hang in there, Tokijin!" Naruto shifted into his Daiyoukai form and leaped back into the fray. Now that he could channel his own Youki through Tokijin, the sword lock momentarily favored him, but Naruto knew that would change the second Kisame realized how much strength was needed to overcome him.

"Dokkasou!" (Poison Luster Claws) With his right hand holding Tokijin, Naruto activated his progenitor's infamous claws in his left hand and slashed at Kisame. The shark man sensed danger and leaped away.

"Hikari no Muchi!" (Whip of Light) With a flourish of his left forefinger and middle finger, Naruto crafted a whip composed of the same venomous Youki that had imbued his claws mere seconds ago. The demonic whip ensnared Kisame's left arm and instantly began corroding it.

"AAHHH!" The poison was potent enough to make even Kisame cry in pain as he severed the whip with Samehada. His arm was still functional, but its strength and dexterity were weakened considerably. 'Looks like I'll need to visit Leader-sama for treatment when we're done here.'

"Katon: Gokyaku no Jutsu!" Sasuke and Itachi's fireballs collided in midair. The elder Uchiha's attack was superior, but it took more effort to overpower Sasuke's attack than he anticipated.

'The traces are well hidden, but Sasuke's Chakra Network is no longer that of a human's. What happened to you, little brother?'

"Katon: Gaki Reken!" (Fire Release: Raging Flame Fang) Itachi's observation was cut short when Sasuke exhaled hundreds of laser-like fire blasts.

"Suijinheki!" Itachi conjured a water wall to protect himself and the steam produced when the two Jutsu collided was comparable to a fog bank.

"Chidori!" Sasuke rushed at Itachi with his most powerful Jutsu. Itachi wordlessly conjured an earth wall behind him, grabbed the arm holding Chidori, then spun around and slammed Sasuke into his Doryuuheki Jutsu.

"Weak." Itachi taunted. "I thought I told you to despise me with every fiber of your being. You still don't have enough hatred to challenge me. Perhaps a reminder of what I took from you that night will fix that."

Sasuke's eyes widened in terror as he saw an enormous amount of Chakra build up in Itachi's left eye! Just before Tsukuyomi could be unleashed, Sasuke snapped his eyes shut and channeled Raiton Chakra through his entire body. The surge of electricity was brief, but it was enough to force Itachi to let go of him.

"Is that why you did it, because you hated them? Hated me?!" Sasuke roared after leaping back several feet. "You're pathetic! I found something far stronger than hatred to fuel my power. A bond someone like you can never understand! I'll show you, brother, that your precious eyes are nothing in the face of my bonds!"

Sasuke fully unleashed his Chakra Youki. His claws and fangs manifested, and his hair doubled in length. "Sankon Ensou!" Sasuke lunged at Itachi, using his superhuman sense of smell to discern his location.

Itachi leaped up and over his earth wall, and was shocked to see Sasuke's demonic claws cleave the wall in two. 'He fights like an Inuzuka! How did this happen?!' Itachi turned quickly to face Naruto while recalling Sasuke's earlier words. 'Naruto-kun, what have you done?!'

A glimmer of crimson light out of the corner of his eye was Itachi's only warning of his brother's latest attack. Rather than continue chasing an opponent faster than him, Sasuke slashed the air and five thin crescents of Youki streaked toward Itachi. The elder Uchiha dodged and then rushed at Sasuke and hit him with a brutal gut punch. Sasuke flew back three dozen feet and crashed into what was left of the earth wall. Blood erupted from his mouth, and the younger Uchiha lost consciousness.

'Not good!' Naruto was trapped in another sword lock with Kisame. He'd tried his best to keep his distance, but the shark man was no fool. He knew that Tokijin was the only thing keeping him from draining Naruto's Chakra. Though he was confused that Naruto never drew his second sword, Kisame guessed that Naruto's other blade was either situational in use or weaker than his primary weapon. The young man's transformation was unexpected, especially when he had the Kyuubi to draw upon, but he was physically no match for Kisame even while powered up.

"I gotta admit, for a shrimp you put up quite a fight and Tokijin is a wonderful sword." Kisame acknowledged. "But Tokijin's time is up, and so is yours!" Kisame sent a surge of Chakra into Samehada. The shark sword swelled in size and its scales ravaged Tokijin's blade, carving several deep cracks into it. Only a quick shift of the blade's angle made by Naruto at the instant of Samehada's expansion prevented Tokijin from being smashed into pieces.

"AAARRRGGHHHH!" Naruto roared in pain. His quick thinking spared Tokijin the worst of Samehada's wrath, but he now took the full brunt of it. The shark sword's tip rammed into his left shoulder and knocked him back five hundred feet. Tokijin flew from his hand, and he focused all his remaining Youki into a barrier to cushion his fall. His Daiyoukai form was too resilient to receive near-fatal injuries from the impact, so Tenseiga's barrier wouldn't have activated and he wanted to keep her power a secret for their next fight.

'If there is a next fight.' Naruto thought morbidly. With his Youki depleted, the Namikaze lord was forced out of his Daiyoukai form just as Itachi finished incapacitating Sasuke.

"Tsukuyomi!" Itachi wasted no time trapping Naruto's mind in a hellish dreamscape.

Tsukuyomi Realm

"What has happened to Sasuke?" Over sixty copies of Itachi wielding katana surrounded Naruto who was chained to a crucifix.

"What's wrong, Kinslayer? My best friend put up more of a fight than you wanted him to?" Naruto barely retained his smirk as twelve swords bit into him repeatedly.

"Talk!" Itachi ordered, momentarily stopping the assault.

"Since you seem to care so much, you should be thanking me!" Naruto screamed. "We ran into Orochimaru and he put a Cursed Seal on Sasuke! The only way I could get rid of it was by turning him into a Hanyou!"

The Itachis' jaws dropped, and their swords nearly followed suit.

"Seriously though, why do you care?" Naruto asked. "You killed everyone else; your parents, your friends, hell – it wouldn't surprise me if you had a girlfriend. Why are you so hung up on Sasuke when – AARRGGHHHH!" The onslaught of sword stabs resumed at ten times the speed.

"My past is none of your concern." Itachi declared.

"I-it wasn't you." Naruto coughed. The Itachis again nearly dropped their swords. Never in a thousand years would the Uchiha criminal have guessed that Naruto could correctly assume the truth.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Naruto did his best to glare at his tormentors. "You were only the instrument, not the mastermind. Who ordered it, Danzo? If he's responsible, then I may have set in motion a series of events that led to the bastard's death!"

Now, the Itachis did drop their swords. "Naruto-kun, thank you." The numerous copies of Itachi vanished, leaving only one. The moon hurled through the blood-red sky and crashed into Naruto. His mind was brought to the very brink of shattering into a million pieces.

Real World

One second after being hit with Tsukuyomi, Naruto started foaming at the mouth and fell into a deep coma. Kisame summoned some fresh bandages out of a storage scroll and began wrapping Samehada up while Itachi moved to grab Naruto, but his efforts were halted by a blade of water streaking toward his head!

"This one is under my queen's protection! No harm shall befall him while I draw breath!" Medusa flew between Itachi and Naruto.

"Sorry, snake lady, but you're hardly enough stop – WHAT?!" Kisame's eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets. Samehada was shriveling up, making itself as small as possible, and was also shivering with tremendous frequency.

'Impossible! Samehada is afraid?!' Kisame gawked.

"Thine blade bears the essence of the noble Megalodon; a great beast ranked most highly in my queen's court." Medusa explained. "Yet my ferocity is greater still!" The Gorgon's eyes turned to Itachi and flashed sea green.

"Amaterasu!" Itachi's right eye exploded with power in the same instant as Medusa's did. Electricity flashed in and out of existence between them and the atmosphere seemed to implode around them as two mystic gazes – one of black flame, the other of pale stone – warred for dominance.

Blood flooded out of Itachi's right eye, soon followed by identical torrents from both of Medusa's eyes. The Gorgon was slowly forced backward, and in what seemed far too quick an end for such a titanic struggle, the stone gaze fell before Amaterasu's might. Medusa's screams tore through the forest as she was consumed by ebon fire.

"We need to leave, now!" Itachi panted. Using Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi on the same day exacted a huge toll on him, and he'd never sustained Amaterasu for that long. Kisame nodded and went to pick up Naruto, but was halted by yet another water blade!

"I am a daughter of the sea. Of all the things that can claim my life, fire is the last thing I will ever need to fear!" Medusa glared at Kisame, but her Mana was depleted. The Gorgon bore dozens of third-degree burns all over her body, and her wings had melted into gold sludge, but she could still fight. Samehada roared with glee as it swelled to gargantuan size. A creature once thought to be untouchable had been brought low, and the shark blade was eager to feast on its blood.

"GET AWAY FROM MY GODSON!" Jiraiya slammed a Rasengan into Kisame. The surprise attack occurred too quickly for him to block with Samehada, and he was thrown back hundreds of feet near Itachi's position. As Kisame stood, he found himself and Itachi surrounded by Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Kakashi, Guy, Asuma, Kurenai, Zabuza, and Haku.

"Guess we've overstayed our welcome, time to go!" Kisame grabbed Itachi and Shunshined away.

"I don't think so!" Kakashi tracked the fleeing pair with his Sharingan and Shunshined to intercept, just like Itachi had done earlier with Naruto and Sasuke. He knew he stood no chance against his opponents, but he could at least knock them out of their Shunshin long enough for the others to catch up.

"T-Tsukuyomi!" Itachi coughed up blood while glaring at Kakashi with his left eye and subjected him to seventy-two hours of pure agony. With the only Konoha ninja capable of tracking them incapacitated, the Akatsuki duo could retreat in safety.

Hours later, the pair was resting in a cave near the outer borders of Hi no Kuni. "Let's go, Kisame." Itachi was in no condition to fight, but he had recovered enough to travel. "Leader-sama must be informed of Naruto-kun's abilities, and of the creature that survived Amaterasu and terrified Samehada."

"Right, just don't push yourself too hard." Kisame agreed.

Konoha General Hospital ICU – Medusa's Room

Medusa's injuries were healing rapidly thanks to several IV bags' worth of Gorgon's blood donated by her sisters. Zabuza entered her room, wanting to thank her for helping Naruto, but turned to leave after realizing she was still asleep.

"The last time I slept in the presence of a powerful warrior not sworn to my Queen-Mother's service, I died." Medusa's words halted Zabuza's retreating steps.

"You must know I mean you no harm." Though he couldn't explain why, Zabuza felt betrayed by Medusa's words.

"Of course, but I strive not to make the same mistake twice." Medusa groaned. "Samehada honors his lineage by baring his teeth against me in my moment of weakness. It is good that he no longer fears me; there is little sport in dispatching adversaries who are paralyzed by despair."

"Can Samehada absorb your Mana?" Zabuza asked.

"I will not know for certain until we cross paths again, but the possibility is high." Medusa sighed. "Mana and Chakra share many traits; enough is different to ensure that Kisame himself cannot be empowered by it, but Samehada will likely prove to be an ultimate shield against my spells."

"Then you'll need help when you go to kill him. I've been dying to fight him again anyway." Zabuza offered.

"When the time comes, your aid will be most appreciated." Medusa turned to face the ex-Kiri Jonin. "In preparation for that day, it would be best if I accompanied you on your missions so that I can ascertain how your tactics and mine can work in harmony."

"I think I'd like that, very much." Zabuza consented.

Konoha General Hospital ICU – Naruto's Room

"Naruto, you're going to beat this! Please, show me that you can win over this!" Anko was seated in the chair closest the Naruto's bed. The large room had several chairs, a few of which were currently also occupied by Hinata, Haku, Kiba, and Tenten.

"Please, Naruto, come back to me." Anko sobbed.

"Come back to you? I knew you were a psycho, didn't have you pegged as a pedophile though." Kiba yelled.

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH, YOU IGNORANT BITCH!" Anko screamed back. "You've no idea what I've been through, no idea what Naruto's done to help me deal with it. Try dealing with night terrors for years on end with no help, and then you can lecture me on the morality of –"

"Enough!" Hinata's shout was softer than Kiba's or Anko's but her killing intent slapped them like an adamantine whip. "The man we all love is fighting for his life; this is no time to argue amongst ourselves!" Tenten and Kiba blushed when their feelings for Naruto were exposed to all else in the room, but they did not deny them.

"It is most unfortunate that Gorgon's blood cannot remedy ailments of the mind." Haku sighed, getting nods of agreement from the other four women. Ceto had slammed that door shut seconds after Stheno and Euryale began filling bags with their blood. The body is predisposed to restore itself when injured or sick, and Gorgon's blood can vastly augment that process. The mind, however, is far less capable of recovering from damage, so there is precious little for Gorgon's blood to amplify. The best it could do for Naruto was stabilize him so his condition didn't deteriorate.

"Anko-san's outburst just now illuminates a key point. I would have preferred to discuss this at a later time, but the current crisis has forced my hand." Hinata's gaze was of pure steel as she looked at the other women in the room. "As Naruto's primary wife, the decision of who to accept into his harem is mine alone." The Hyuuga heiress paused for several seconds to let that sink in. "Haku-chan has already been accepted. "I have yet to formally interview Anko-san regarding her compatibility with Naruto, Haku-chan, and myself, but the outcome is a foregone conclusion; that leaves only the two of you." Hinata turned to face only Kiba and Tenten.

"Tenten-chan, I have yet to form an opinion regarding the possibility of your inclusion into the harem. You have ample time to make your case." Hinata now glared at the only woman whose prospects she had yet to address.

"Kiba-chan," Hinata all but spat the honorific, "in light of current events, I am willing to excuse your behavior toward Anko-san as the result of extreme stress. This is your only warning: do NOT insult one of Naruto's potential mates again!"

"Y-yes, Hinata-hime!" Kiba squeaked.

The Next Day, Konoha General Hospital – Sasuke's Room

"Naruto, RUN!" Sasuke yelled as he woke up. It took him a few seconds to realize he was in a hospital bed.

"Easy there, Sasuke-kun, Naruto's safe for the moment." Jiraiya said from his chair near the last Uchiha's bed. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Naruto was fighting the shark-skin bastard with the huge sword, I went full Hanyou against Itachi and then I got knocked out!" Sasuke recalled.

"Neither you nor Naruto are weak, but that was a fight that you two were nowhere near ready for." Jiraiya said sternly. "I get why you did it; Itachi knows the village like the back of his hand, so you wouldn't have been able to run and Naruto likely didn't want bystanders caught in the crossfire. Since you were caught in a restaurant near the edge of Konoha, any attempt to get help would've been a huge gamble; far better to get the fight started and raise enough noise to attract attention. All in all, it's one of the best plans you could have come up with. Especially since you didn't know what your opponents could do."

Jiraiya sighed. "Thankfully, it worked, and not a moment too soon." The Toad Sage rose to leave the room. "The doctors say your injuries were relatively minor and you'll be discharged within the next few days. Once you're out, come to Hiruzen-sensei's office. The old monkey reopened more than a few of his wounds when he rushed out to save Naruto, so I'm stuck there for now, but as soon as you're ready the two of us are leaving to find the only Medical Ninja who can get Naruto out of his coma. By happy coincidence, she's also Hiruzen's chosen successor, so we're getting Naruto's savior and Konoha's next Hokage at the same time."

Chapter End

Call this a Final Fantasy campaign because the party leader just got swapped out! Like I said in Chapter 4's endnote, Sasuke being true friends with Naruto from the start has massive consequences for the canon storyline and this is the first blatant manifestation of that ripple effect. This means Sasuke has to convince Tsunade to come back to Konoha since Kami knows Jiraiya can't do it on his own. Will he have an easier time of it than canon-Naruto or a much worse time?

This story's version of Itachi will be depicted as a sympathetic villain. Nothing can change what he did, nor should he be forgiven for it, but IMO he deserves at least some exemption from being bashed into the ground since he was trained from a very young age to be a weapon, first by Fugaku and later by Danzo, and was ultimately forced into a no-win situation where he had to choose between saving one clansman and saving zero. If canon-Hiruzen had willed his balls back into existence much earlier and reigned Danzo in, the whole mess could have been avoided but sadly that didn't happen.

Thank you for reading!

Douton: Iwahifu: Earth Release: Stone Skin (C-Rank) – A Jutsu that alters the chemical composition of the user's skin to have the density of stone, vastly augmenting their durability. When combined with Taijutsu or melee-type Ninjutsu, the technique drastically enhances the user's offensive capability as well. Since the density increase is derived from increasing the mass of the user's skin, they become much heavier while the Jutsu is in effect. The Jutsu is consequently impractical against agile opponents unless the user is capable of amplifying their own speed to compensate.

Fusa: Sealing Chains (B-Rank) A weaker version of the Kongou Fusa Jutsu meant to be used by those not of the Uzumaki Clan. Most of the properties of Kongou Fusa are retained, but the chains produced by Fusa are considerably less durable and cannot produce a barrier between one or more chains. They can also only be produced within the user's immediate vicinity, not wherever their Chakra is present.

Katon: Gaki Reken: Fire Release: Raging Flame Fang (B-Rank) – A Jutsu meant to hit fast opponents. The user exhales hundreds of fire blasts thin enough to be mistaken for lasers. The rate of fire is comparable to an assault rifle, and the speed of each fire blast makes them very difficult to avoid.

Suijinheki – Uzumaki: Water Formation Wall – Maelstrom (A-Rank) – An upgraded version of the Suijiinheki Jutsu. The water wall formed spins at an incredible rate, violently slapping aside incoming attacks. The user can also launch the Jutsu as a projectile by condensing it on one of their arms and punching toward their target. The centrifugal force of the maelstrom is powerful enough to obliterate most targets.