naruto ch 17

Chapter 17

 

 

 

Standing n the room filled with the Jounin that would be testing the Chuunin hopefuls Naruto nodded as Kakashi and Kurenai walked in, “Now the first part of the exam will be starting in two hours and I want to introduce Yuuhi Kurenai, the Jounin sensei of team eight from Konoha. She will be shadowing proctor team two as her students plus Sasuke take the exam, and since we have the two observers from Konoha with us this morning I’ll let them know the purpose of the first test is to test the candidates informational gathering skills and teamwork, both with familiar teammates and with strangers.”

 

Naruto let his eyes roam around the gathered candidates; he could see their excitement and determination. Smiling he stepped up to the front of the table and it suddenly got quiet, there were ninety six candidates this time around, the biggest group since he his ninth birthday, four years he mused as he looked at the hopeful expressions. Grinning he decided it was time to start phase one, “Welcome to this year’s Chuunin exam, I’m not going to give you some boring speech, just the outline of the first part of the test. You and your team will come up to the mission desk and accept your mission scroll and you have ten minutes to discuss it between yourselves before you must act. You have exactly one hour to complete the first part of the test, this year the first part of the test is in two parts, so if you fail one part you have a second chance, unless one of the proctors tags you as dead. Now line up and get your missions as you now have ten minutes before the clock starts.”

Kakashi noticed the proctors had spread out, handing each team a scroll and stepping back but watching the planning stage carefully, ‘intriguing’ he thought. Moving over to Naruto he stood next to him and glanced down, “So what is the goal of the first test, the last exam Konoha held Ibiki was the head proctor and his tests are designed around cheating, or as he calls it unobserved informational gathering, he then usually adds some mental twist to cut down the numbers.”

Raising an eyebrow Naruto glanced up over his shoulder, “Sounds like a sadistic crock if you ask me. Watching the groups rush out of the room he sat on the edge of the table so he could easily look at Kakashi, “the first part of the test is a simple information gathering mission. They were given a scroll with a target location and a scenario. They will have to plan a reconnaissance mission around the scenario and gather live intelligence from the volunteers who will be playing their parts; if they are unlucky they will be spotted and will have to retreat with what information they gathered without getting tagged as disabled or dead. Once they return they will be given a half hour break and then the scenarios will change, we will still be testing them on their information gathering skills, but this time under a war time condition scenario.”

“How many do you expect to pass?” Kakashi had to admit that was a much better way to test for gathering skills than a written test.

Standing up and grinning Naruto moved over to help Haku set up the room for a war time scenario, “I would be surprised if any of mine failed this part.”

Staring at Naruto's back in thought Kakashi thought back to the Dragon exam he witnessed and then some of the training that the Genin teams were put through, and then the Chuunin’s he had seen were doing intensive training too. Narrowing his eyes he did not like his conclusions, then again after reading the scroll Naruto handed him from the council he was so relieved to find out his village was still standing, “Naruto are you planning to declare war, is that why everyone here is training so hard?”

“NO…You know Kakashi there is a reason why this village will be the last one standing if the world outside goes crazy and kills each other off,” Naruto glanced up at the clock, “That does not even begin to consider that Iwa started testing us by attacking our Shinobi teams while in the field, crossing into other countries to do so. No, we train so hard and become the strongest not to dominate, but to protect our people from the madness that is building up outside our borders.”

Naruto almost sounded as if he knew things, maybe things the Hokage did not know and should, “You might be well hidden but I’m sure a well supplied army can cross the mountains to get to you.” Shaking his head as Naruto broke into laughter he had to be missing something.

Clutching his side as he coughed several times from laughing so hard Naruto knew this information needed to get out, “to enter the top third of the mountains surrounding the caldera valley means instant death. My father along with several summons created death seals they placed on top and through the middle of the mountains, anything with chakra once they enter the area will have it instantly drained away. And without chakra nothing can live, and the chakra taken reinforces the seals, the more attackers that hit the seals the stronger they get.”

“But the only things powerful enough to create those type of seals are…” Kakashi trailed off as he saw Naruto smile.

“Dragon summons, my families summons,” Naruto smiled as Kakashi shivered.

 

Nodding as he took the scroll Sasuke looked at team eight as he read it out loud, “This is a B-ranked surveillance mission. Travel to the pub at the end of dog lane in the land of apples,” looking up from the scroll he glanced at Naruto who was smiling, “leave it to my smart ass Senpai to come up with ridiculous names.”

“If we were in the field those could and would be used as codes to tell us where to go, my father has shared some of the ridiculous phrases used in coded messages with me as I grew up,” Shino placed his hands in his pockets and calmly watched Sasuke get his point and nod.

“There is a bandit that frequents the lucky three legged dog bar,” Sasuke stared at the paper in horror, in made no sense, “What does a three legged dog…How…”

Hinata cleared her throat, “Um…” looking down shyly she mumbled, “A three legged dog is missing one leg, so maybe it means the person we are supposed to find is missing a leg.”

Nodding as he thought about it Sasuke looked at the paper in a new light, “This thing is a test, to find out where and what we are supposed to do we need to decipher the clues. And if our bandit only has one leg that means if he is lucky he likes to gamble.”

‘Rawr…woof…bark’.

Kiba looked down at Akamaru in confusion, “What do you mean that…Oh, Akamaru says a dog lane is a road that turns, so this pub is located on a corner.”

Sasuke smiled as he nodded, “Well done, now let’s see what the last bit means.” Looking back at the paper he continued to read, “There is a trader that likes to stop by for a glass or three and gossip. Your mission is to pick out the juicy bits of gossip before meeting for the next festival.” Looking up he frowned as he looked at the clock, “the rest just has a map of this city and a spot marked out, so that must be our target pub.”

“I think I shall enjoy watching my father squirm as he tries to figure out this riddle. I may win the family betting pool for the most intriguing coded message,” Shino smirked at the thought; the illogic of the logic puzzle would drive his father nuts.

Kiba frowned as he scratched behind Akamura’s ears, “So something is supposed to happen at some type of festival and we are supposed to go to where the bad guys hang out and see if we can find out their plans. Unless we plan to write down everything they say,” looking at his team, ‘Do any of you have any idea of what type of information we are supposed to be discovering?”

Sasuke thought about it as he read through the mission real fast, “Wait,” excited he tapped the paper, “The first clue is on the first line, bandits, now if you add that to the word Traders and festival…well I think our target is part of a bandit ring and they plan to attack the next group of traders that will be coming to the festival.”

“It makes sense,” Shino pushed his glasses up, “the easiest time for a group of bandits to attack traders is before they get to the city where security will be in place.”

Glancing up at the clock Sasuke grinned, “If we leave now we will have sixty three minutes to complete this mission, an extra three minutes could mean everything.” Leading the group out the door they missed the smiles on the proctor’s faces.

Watching her team depart to start the next stage of the test Kurenai muttered, “Damn I hope Ibiki never hears of this test, the sadistic bastard would probable gleefully adopt it so he could fail more students.” Following the chief proctor of the test out of the room she grinned as she read passed next to the first line, pride in her students started to give her hope they just might pass this all the way with flying colors.

 

Naruto grinned as Sasuke and his team came bouncing in the room, all of them were highly excited, looking closely he could not see any sign of red paint anywhere on their body, he would ask the proctor what happened after the second part of the test started. “All right everyone, the second part of the first test will commence in half an hour. As you came into the room your proctor gave each of you a number, use that time to find and introduce yourselves to your new teammates for the last part of the test. You will be given a scroll in thirty minutes time and taken via summon circle to the outpost in the Wilds. Once there you are to secret yourselves from view and open and follow the mission on the scroll, but in general you will be infiltrating an enemy camp to retrieve the information on the golden scroll. Then you have to return to base, the outpost. You’ll have two hours to accomplish this phase of the test.”

Catching team two’s proctors eyes Naruto made a sign telling her he wanted a report, moving back towards the wall as the Chuunin hopefuls moved around finding their partners he looked up as she approached, “How did they do?”

“From what I was able to get out of Kurenai, this team of four has only been working together for two days, other than being classmates,” Kai smiled as she looked at her clipboard, “Old man Kiamichi was the volunteer for their test and he was completely fooled. At first he stumbled trying to start the scenario without any participants, but then he shrugged it off and acted true to character of the remainder of the time of the test. He came out of the building at the end all confused, but as soon as he spotted one of my team observing he laughed at being had.”

“So how did they get the information then?” Naruto was intrigued.

“It was by them leaving three minutes early, they got there before team came in to start the test, they were able to infiltrate the bar before the testers arrived and throw a Genjutsu over part of the hallway making it look like a wall, then the Aburame boy used his bugs to create small holes in the wall so they could listen in to the conversation. The restaurant kept the corner cleared for the testing proctors to use so it was easy to figure out where the group would sit.” Kai pointed to the group now that it was broken up, “It will be interesting to see how well they work with other teams, the Kiba boy is headstrong and tries to be the alpha male at times, though he controls it well.”

“Thank you Kai,” Naruto smiled and let her go back to work. Glancing at his shadow he quirked an eyebrow at Kakashi, “Well…”

“I’m surprised frankly, I never would have believed Sasuke could act as part of a team, even when I noticed the changes in him after Wave, I never would have thought he would act like a part of a team. To my mind and from what I saw it was such a foreign concept to him…how did you change him?”

“Can I trust you with what amounts to an S-Class secret, to keep this even from your Hokage, if I give you my word that by knowing it, it will not endanger your village?” Naruto finally looked over at Kakashi.

“I can, unless lives are on the line that information will help save, and then they will not know how I got the information,” Kakashi turned to face Naruto so he could see the earnestness in his face.

Nodding after a moment Naruto lowered his voice, “Sometime in the past the Uchiha clan crossed a demon and he…for the lack of technical terms he touched all of them with darkness. I used my mother’s family’s resources and cleansed the demon taint from him; his Kekkei Genkai is now back to where it is supposed to be.”

Reaching up and touching his Hitate that covered his Sharingan eye Kakashi relaxed as Naruto whispered over to him, “Relax Kakashi, the demon’s taint while affecting the eyes of the Uchiha was based in there DNA so your safe.”

Letting out his breath Kakashi tried to smile, “Well without your father here, you are the only expert on demons we have. And it helps being the jailer of the most powerful.”

“Ex-jailer,” Naruto grinned as he pushed off the wall, it was time to get the next phase underway, “The Kyuubi was finally killed two days before all of you arrived when I applied the third seal set and it was totally destroyed.”

Kakashi’s heart skipped a couple of beats as he processed the news Naruto shared with him, he was ecstatic and the Third would celebrate when he heard. Realizing he was being left behind he rushed to catch up.

 

Sasuke found the two people who were supposed to be his teammates on one side of the room, nodding as he approached, “team eleven?”

Nodding the taller of the two teens held out his hand, “Moshito Takai, weapons specialist, wind elemental affinity, my senpai is Tonaka-san.”

Nodding Sasuke smiled, “Uchiha Sasuke, hmm I’m not sure I have a specialty yet and I have a fire affinity and my Senpai is Naruto-sama. He will become my full time Senpai once my first child is born.” More information that was needed he thought, but he got a funny feeling in his chest as he repeated his first child being born.

Eyes showing his surprise and respect their last teammate introduced themselves, “Tannaka Hadori, I also have not specialized yet, other than my clans Kekkei Genkai of metal crafting, and like the rest of my clan I have an earth affinity, my Senpai is Yoshiro.”

“I probably should tell you I have a Kekkei Genkai too, I have the Sharingan,” Sasuke admitted as he followed his new team to one of the tables to get to know each other.

 

Spotting the tent in the distance Sasuke signaled the others to stop and pointed towards tent, scanning the trees around the clearing he was looking for those huge ass plains cats. Not seeing any he signaled the coast was clear before moving closer, where the hell those things Takai called cats come from and why were they the size of a cow. Wiping the sweat off his forehead Sasuke inched closer, as he glanced up above him scanning for those monstrous felines, there was some pretty fucked up wild life around here.

About to move forward he still as he felt the presence of the roving patrol coming closer, doing his best to mask his chakra like Kakashi taught him Sasuke tried to become one with the branch as he hardly dared to breathe. Eyes not moving he saw the fabric move on and he breathed as sigh of relief before sliding under the branch and dropping to the ground silently. Quickly making his way to his teammates he grabbed on to Hadori’s arm as he took the three of them into the ground. Appearing moment later rising out of the ground inside the tent Sasuke smiled as he looked around, moving towards the table he activated his Sharingan and held his arm up whispering, “Trapped.”

His team moved around the table inspecting it from every angle, yet they could not see a way to remove the scroll without setting off the traps. Hadori looked at the scroll in disgust, “If we could get close to the table we could unroll it and at least copy it.”

“I could try a small breeze,” Takai whispered as he bit his bottom lip in concentration, “I’m not sure I have that type of control of my wind yet though.”

Foot sinking into the sand Sasuke stared at the table itself it seemed it was made of metal, moving to eth side he winced as a small pebble lodged itself in the side of his shoe…wait a minute small pebble? Sasuke’s head snapped up as he looked around before dropping to his knees as he picked up some of the pebbly soli and let it slip through his fingers. It just might be possible he thought.

Takai checking the outside for guards whispered back, “What are you thinking Sasuke?”

“If I can unroll it, can one of you copy it from this far away?” Sasuke whispered as he let some of his chakra seep into the soil to see if his idea was possible.

“Yes,” Hadori pulled a blank scroll out of his pouch along with a pen, moving over to the edge of the line they set as being safe from the traps he climbed on top of a chair and nodded, “I can see clearly.”

Sending more chakra out into the soil Sasuke concentrated on sending it up the table leg, this was going to be very hard, “Once I do this I might need help getting out of here, I’m using a lot of chakra.”

Takai moved closer and looked at the sweat beading on Sasuke’s face, he did not know what he was doing but…”You open that scroll without setting off the traps I’ll carry your skinny ass out of here.”

Nodding Sasuke closed his eyes as he sent more chakra out, feeling the weight of the table in the back of his mind he ignored it as he concentrated on feeling for the scroll, finally feeling a connection to the scroll he pushed more chakra out, instead of causing the object he was linking his chakra to rise and circle him he was causing it to unroll.

Hadori saw the scroll start to unroll and quickly started copying as fast as he could, sparing glance at his teammate he saw the back of his shirt was getting sweat soaked, he must have been using an incredible amount of chakra.

Hand sliding deeper into the sand Sasuke felt a hand steady him, “Quickly I can’t hold on …for…long.” Even with his eyes closed he was seeing spots and feeling the rush of heat in his hand from releasing that much chakra.

Jumping off the chair Hadori rolled the scroll up and secured it, “I’m done…Sasuke you can release whatever you’re doing now…” not getting a response Hadori moved over and whispered “Takai…”

Sending his senses out Takai found no one around yet, but the guard would be here in a few minutes and they needed to leave. Leaning down he blew gently in Sasuke's ear causing him to lose his concentration. The two froze as the sound of the scroll rolling itself back up sounded loud in their ears, their comrade collapsed between them as soon as the scroll returned to normal.

Moving quickly Hadori grabbed on to his teammates again and slowly sank into the ground, paying attention to erasing the evidence that they had been there as he used his skill to swim them out of the clearing. About to rise back to the surface he felt the roots of the tree they were hiding in tremble, waiting until they stilled he quickly brought them to the surface.

Air…plentiful wonderful air. Taking very shallow breaths so as not to be discovered they spent a few minutes getting their breath back and making sure Sasuke was breathing before moving on.

Takai picked Sasuke up, placing him over one shoulder before nodding at Hadori, jumping into the trees they moved away as quickly as possible, only stopping when they were halfway back to the base camp.

“He’s not as light as his skinny ass looks,” Takai gently lowered Sasuke to the ground.

Chuckling Hadori dig through his pouch, “Ah I knew I packed one of these in here just in case.” Taking out a small white pill he pried Sasuke’s mouth open and placed the pill between his teeth before gently closing the mouth and crushing the pill releasing the contents.

“Soldier pill,” Takai nodded, “It will get us through this section of the exam, just make sure he eats as soon as possible when we get back to the base.” Hearing some groaning Takai looked down as Sasuke stirred.

Blinking his eyes Sasuke grabbed his head, “OH, note to self need more chakra practice before trying that again.” Sitting up he wearily looked around and saw they were on the edge of the plains, cringing at the thought of those cats again he looked at his teammates questioningly, “I take it we got what we needed?”

“Thanks to you,” Hadori smiled, “just what did you do back there anyway?”

Still light headed Sasuke felt his energy returning to him quicker than it should be, “How…” lifting his arm he looked at it and saw the shaking slowly stop.

“A soldier pill,” Hadori looked around; they needed to move out, “We need to get moving were halfway back and only have a short amount of time left.”

Standing up Sasuke felt strength returning to his body, clenching his fists he nodded, he would not let his teammates down.

Jumping a small boulder Takai glanced at Sasuke running next to him, the base camp in sight in the distance, “When we get to the base you need to make sure you eat. Otherwise the soldier pill will start using your body to fuel the restoration of your reserves, and if that happens you’ll lose muscle that you will have to rebuild through time and effort.”

Wincing at that explanation Sasuke nodded before sprinting towards the safety of the base camp. Spotting some of the tall grass moving he raised his hand and hissed, “DOWN.” Activating his Sharingan he looked around for chakra signatures, Naruto had given him a scroll on some of the useful aspects of his Sharingan his clan had overlooked or forgotten. Spotting chakra outlines in the distance he whispered to Hadori and Takai who had made their way over to him, “Two of those damn cats, young ones most likely to be that stupid to come this close to the outpost.”

Picking his head up Hadori gauged the distance to the door and nodded, it was just doable, “If we can’t go over the ground, why not underground.” Grinning at he smiles he got back Hadori flipped through several hand seals and they melted into the ground.

Launching themselves up from under the earth team eleven rushed the last few feet to the door and entered safely with smiled of relief. Handing their scroll over to the proctor who had sent them on their mission they laughed in relief as the adrenalin left their system.

Sasuke spotting a table set up against the back wall nudged his teammates and headed for the food.

Naruto watched as the teams slowly trickled in, half an hour before the end of the first test Sasuke trailed in, laughing and joking around with his temporary team. So unlike how he used to be in Konoha he thought wistfully, friends his age were so few and far between that he missed socializing with his age mates at times. Eyes roaming around the room he spotted Shino examining something in a clear cage, must be some new bug he found, looking over to the window he saw Hinata leaning heavily against the frame with her eyes closed. She needed to work on her stamina and chakra it looked like. Looking around he did not spot Kiba anywhere, glancing up at the clock he saw there was still time. A few minutes later he heard a yelp from outside and chuckled as the last team entered the room slamming the door behind them with Kiba mumbling about damn cats.

Chuckling as Kiba handed a gold scroll to the proctor by the door, still bitching about damn cats and freaking hard tests as he headed for the table with food, Naruto looked at the score card he had been given. It looked like everyone passed the first exam, “Alright if I can have your attention for a moment,” he called out. When he saw everyone looking at him including Hinata through tired eyes he grinned, “Congratulations on passing the easy part.” Grinning evilly as he received a scowl back from Kiba, “For the next two hours you can rest and eat lunch…eat as much as you want to help replace your chakra reserves. Because in two hours Hell will be brought to Earth and all of you will be going through it.” Laughing evilly Naruto motioned for the proctors to follow him out of the room.

 

naruto chapter 16

Chapter 16

 

 

Thinking heavily as he walked down the path towards the guest house, Shino was more than surprised to find himself waking in the guest bedroom this morning, he would have thought his Kikaichu bugs would have swarmed to protect him. Instead he found himself covered with a light blanket with his coat folded up on top of his shoes on the chair next to the bed, his companions should have swarmed to protect him and that bothered him more than the thought of the destruction of the Hyuuga. Finding the house in question he walked in through the open door, glancing around slowly he took in the layout as he walked into the kitchen and the rest of his team.

Hearing a noise Kurenai looked up and smiled at Shino, taking in his body language she slowly lost her smile, he was unusually troubled this morning. “Just in time Shino, we were about to sit down to breakfast.” Looking past him towards the hall she asked, “Is Sasuke not coming over for breakfast?”

Sliding into the seat Shino stared at his team for a moment before answering, “No, he will eat with his Senpai after he finishes training this morning. I believe we will not see much of him for the next couple of days as he attempts to master the Ninjutsu that he is being shown.”

‘Bark’

Glancing down at his partner Kiba frowned, “I agree Akamaru,” glancing at Shino with a slightly feral look, “Why is he being taught Jutsu’s?”

“In two days time Whirlpool will having their Chuunin exams, if Sasuke masters two non Katon Jutsu’s before tomorrow night he will be allowed to participate,” Shino placed some items on his plate as he looked up from the sudden quiet. Raising an eyebrow to saw ‘what’ he stared at them until Kakashi finally broke the silence.

“Naruto is allowing Sasuke to enter the Chuunin exams?” Kakashi looked up eyes narrowing in thought. “Why would he do something like that?”

“Naruto-senpai tested Sasuke’s skills last night, he has determined that Sasuke is at Chuunin level in Chakra control, his reserve strength, his hand to hand skills, but the problem he discovered is, while Sasuke may have Chuunin level Jutsu’s he classified him as high Genin level because he only has Fire Jutsu’s.” pouring his drink he stared at his cup, “I know after the test was over with my residents told me Sasuke was almost empty of chakra, the testing was that intense.”

Kurenai frowned at hearing Shino’s report, most Genin teams entering the Chuunin exams had to enter as a team of three, so why was Naruto allowing a single person to enter, and that would make it almost impossible…right?

Swallowing the food in his moth Shino looked at his teammates, “Naruto-senpai also told me that if Sasuke is successful he will allow two members from team eight to fill in the two empty slots in Sasuke’s team. All Genin in Whirlpool must enter the exam as a three man team, so he will offer the other two spots to us if we wish.”

“Those exams are dangerous, I thought if you had another two months of missions under your belt and training I might enter you into Konoha’s Chuunin exam in two months time,” Kurenai frowned, should she allow her team to enter the test without knowing how dangerous it was?

Nodding slowly Shino put his glass down, “I was informed the test was harder than any other villages test, but it had an almost perfect record when it came to not having any deaths. I was told that the lives of Shinobi were too important to throw away with a skill test for promotion. Not that the test will be easy, from what I was told the test will stretch us to our very limits as we show our skills and intelligence. I was also told that it would be a good practice run for when we took the test back in Konoha.”

“If you all will excuse me I’m going to run up to Naruto's estate and see if I can help Sasuke with mastering some of those Jutsu’s,” Kakashi stood and put his little orange book in his pouch before walking out of the kitchen.

Kurenai sighed as she finished her breakfast, “I’ll talk to Naruto later on this morning, if he can convince me the test is not deadly I’ll allow you to volunteer if you want. I’ll leave it up to you to chose which two of you will compete, unless Naruto will allow a four man team.”

 

Smiling as Naruto walked into the dojo, “Morning Naruto, can I ask you something?” Sasuke moved over to the wall when Naruto nodded. “I feel so much lighter this morning after what you did last night, is that a side effect of what you did last night?”

Waking up Naruto focused on Sasuke and his question, “Well, for the lack of a better word, last night you were cleansed of the demons taint.” Pointing to the ground Naruto sat down, “When…Aki is the name of the eight year old Uchiha one of my teams rescued. The night they brought him to Whirlpool I went ahead and examined him, to compare his Kekkei Genkai profile to the one my family recorded. I found he was like you, that his profile did not match the one my family recorded. So that night after he fell asleep I went ahead and changed his Kekkei Genkai to what we discussed, actually the finished profile is not far from what my family originally gave yours.”

Shrugging Naruto leaned back against the wall, “From what I was able to determine from my research and seeing the changes take place, the demon altered your clan’s bloodline limit so it would have a third stage. Modifying the second stage cruelly so to access it you had to kill your closest friend, the betrayal of that act would short cut what my family originally programmed.” Looking into the intense stare directed his way by his future student, “I brought your Kekkei Genkai back to the original version and just had to add the part that would make it impossible for someone to steal your eyes.”

Crossing his legs in front of him Naruto laid his head on the wall, “The original design of the Kekkei Genkai had your clan achieving the Mangekyou when the persons chakra reserves had reached a certain potential through hard work and training, what the demon did was to bypass this so anyone willing to betray a friend would gain the Mangekyou. Achieving the Mangekyou that way is another way of entering into a demonic contract, and I have to wonder if achieving the third level has some special meaning or plans for demons.”

“Okay,” Sasuke was having a moment of information overload. Deciding to think about it he nodded before looking out the dojo doors to the young boy practicing with Kako, “That’s him isn’t it?” getting a nod in return he turned back to watch him practice. “How did he achieve the Sharingan so early, like Itachi…” he mumbled as he watched.

Naruto brought Sasuke back to the here and now before he had a chance to go comparing himself to others again, “He was in a fight, a fight of life and death. One if he lost he would die, and I think the reason why your Sharingan activated a short time ago was for that very reason, until Wave you were not in a fight for your life, a fight that if you lost you would die. Life and death stress can cause a huge jump in a person chakra reserves, though if you had been taught the chakra control exercises I showed you when you were young you would have achieved your Sharingan much earlier. The original design stated you would need a certain level of chakra in your reserves to activate it, it is a safety measure as in the beginning as you use your Sharingan to copy techniques by burning them into your brain, and that takes a lot of chakra to do safely.”

Nodding Sasuke thought that made a lot of sense, and to tell the truth Naruto was probably right. Growing up his family seemed to take short cuts a lot, and as much as it pained him to admit it his father never did teach him any Chakra control exercises beyond leaf floating. Feeling an intense stare he turned back to Naruto, “as much as it pains me to admit it, I think Aki would be safer here with you, that way Itachi can’t get to him.” Coming to a decision he did not want to make he stood, “I think I need to buy a small estate here in Whirlpool, Aki and Yumi can live here full time. She will be pregnant by then and I can get the Hokage to release her because of the baby, that way he won’t grow up like I did…alone.” Looking at Naruto who was staring at him with a funny expression on his face he pleaded, “Please allow me to do this…”

Nodding as he came to a decision Naruto waved Sasuke towards the training ground, “I think that is very selfless of you Sasuke. It makes me proud to call you friend…and apprentice.” Watching Sasuke’s face light up with a smile filled with pride he chuckled, “let’s go meet your long lost cousin, I think Aki would like to talk with you.”

 

Kakashi stopped at the gate to the Uzumaki estate and rang the bell, waiting he wondered if he would have to go to the citadel to find out where his one time student was, hearing footsteps he smiled under his mask when Naruto came into view, it would be good to clear the air with his Sensei’s son at last. “Hello Naruto-sama,” chuckling he cocked his visible eye, or should I call you Senpai like Shino and Sasuke?”

Chuckling Naruto opened the gate, “Either is fine with me Kakashi, or even plain old Naruto works.”

“Thank you Naruto,” Kakashi smiled big enough the mask he wore showed it off, “Did you know your father was my Jounin Sensei,” Kakashi sighed as he followed Naruto up the path, “That was the best time of my life, my team was so close, and even after we were promoted and moved on I stayed in touch with your father…my mentor. I just wished my first team could have discovered what I had.”

“I’m truly sorry Kakashi; it was never your fault that the team never truly became a team,” Naruto shrugged, “If anyone is to blame it would be me. Though the Root Anbu who set that all in motion should shoulder most of the blame, Shoji did try to convince me to just up and leave, but my pride got in the way. That and I did not want my only friend to become an enemy when it got out where I came home to and the fact we were one of the best hidden villages.”

“I don’t think Hokage-sama would have let it go that far, but your right Naruto, it might have come to war,” Kakashi gazed at part of the village visible from the wraparound porch. I don’t think Konoha and fire country would have survived what you have created here Naruto, “If I truly understood what you were going through I would have helped you resign. I knew you were hiding your skills, and I had been warned you might be responsible for the restrained Anbu at the Academy, but I was to pig headed to see the underneath, and the real you.”

“Which is a good thing,” Naruto looked at Kakashi seriously, “In the state of mind I was in back then if you had discovered my secrets or even part of them I would have seen you as a threat.”

“And threats don’t survive around you,” Kakashi shivered as he remembered how deadly Naruto was back then. “Well I have a chance to help Sasuke, maybe it will be enough to make up for what could have been. Sakura finally got a wakeup call, or she seems to have as she is taking her training seriously now, she is shadowing team ten for now.”

“You changed Sasuke back in Wave; you were able to reach him when I couldn’t. Instead of offering to give him power you actually changed him, he went from being an avenger to becoming someone I would be proud to call my student,” Kakashi turned to face Naruto who had stopped when his words got serious. “You proved to me…” changing his words, “You reminded me of something your father drilled into our heads, power is not something you can be given. Power is something you have to work hard for, blood, sweat and tears. And you were able to drill that into Sasuke’s head, and I thank you, Hokage-sama thanks you.”

Nodding Naruto was not sure who to feel about what was said and what was left unsaid so he just nodded and waved for Kakashi to follow him, “You want to help Sasuke out with his training? How do you prose to do that? Not that I am saying no you understand, after all I will only have him here a little over a month and he does not start his serious apprenticeship until his first child is born.”

“Right now I can help him learn some other Jutsu’s that have nothing to do with his elemental affinity, I have several that he will be able to pick up that will be useful for the exam he wants to take.” Kakashi froze as his mind caught up with what Naruto said, “CHILD…his first child being born.” Rushing to pass Naruto so he could look at his face to see if he was joking or not his eyes widened in shock as he saw it was no joke.

“The two Chuunin Sasuke brought with him…Well chances are they both will be pregnant before it is time for all of you to leave,” Naruto looked at him solemnly.

Stumbling over nothing Kakashi watched Naruto walk past him, hand unconsciously going to his book safe in his pouch. Catching up he smiled, eye glinting, “Yes well I will tutor him in the things you wish me to start with while we are gone, that way he won’t be so far behind when he comes back to start his apprenticeship.” Grinning eagerly at the nod he received he noticed they were at the training grounds, spotting Sasuke talking to a small boy and laughing. A true laugh he smiled, ‘Sensei you would be proud of your son’s accomplishments’.

“I’ll leave you and Sasuke to train, I need to get to the office,” Naruto smiled as he saw how loving Sasuke was being to his cousin.

“I suppose you have tons of paperwork to go through like Hokage-sama, I don’t think I would ever want the Hokage position because of the paperwork, ‘Kakashi grinned and started down the steps, stopping when he heard Naruto snort.

“Hah…I pranked them out of that long ago, they know better now,” Naruto snorted as he walked around the porch.

 

Naruto looked up after stamping the last of the paper work, expecting to see Jiga back from taking the mission scrolls down to the office he narrowed his eyes to see his council standing in the doorway, “I’m not going to like this am I.” waving the nervous trio in, “close the door behind you so you can tell me what the Konoha council wants.”

Wincing Kyoto closed the door softly before finding a seat.

Katsuro sat the scrolls down on the desk and moved back as if they had been poisoned, “Uzumaki-sama I am afraid you are right, you will not like what is in those scrolls.”

“The only non demanding one is the official scroll from the third Hokage,” Kyoto sighed, “On the merchant end of things they remind us of trading alliances long dead couched in flowering words.”

“The Konoha clans were glaringly absent in sending even the smallest word, “Katsuro looked at Naruto closely.

Nodding Naruto smiled, “Shino brought those to me personally, and most of the larger clans and a few who plan to escape their hidebound clans will be making their way to us. I think most of the clans from Konoha are taking my father’s plan to heart. They will be sending small offshoots of their clan to use for safety in case something would happen to Konoha they won’t die out.”

“That is fantastic news Uzumaki-sama,” Katsuro crowed in delight, “We will be the premiere village with the biggest number of clans in the elemental countries.

Nodding Naruto looked around at the unsmiling faces on his other two advisors, “What else did the council of Konoha have to say?”

Ayako shivered as she closed her eyes, “The Konoha council is demanding that we merge under their leadership. There argument is that you are the Namikaze heir and as such you are part of Konoha’s Shinobi forces and under their command.” Wincing as she felt the killing intent crash through the room she quickly added, “I should mention no signatures of the clan representatives or the Hokage were on the document.”

Feeling like exploding Naruto started to take several deep breaths as he tried to calm down, not in a good mood he snapped out, “Draft a letter to the Fire Lord and include the scrolls in it. I’ll draft a personal letter to Shoji telling him about what is being demanded so he is forewarned. Ask bluntly if the Fore Lord is planning an invasion of Whirlpool and if he is going back on his word. I want blunt and to the point, tell him from what we have received so far that Kohona is demanding our surrender and I would like to know when war had been declared on my country. No flowery words, no innuendos, but pure blunt words.”

Ayako stared at Naruto-sama in horror, “You’re…you’re not really going to send that out first are you?”

Sighing Naruto looked out over the city, “I’ll give the Sandaime Hokage a chance, maybe this is what he can use to wrest control of the council back to what it was intended to be, an advisory council not a ruling council. If not I will send the draft you will hand over to me by the end of the day.”

Turning back to his desk Naruto pulled a blank scroll out of his desk as he got an evil glean in his eye he would have this delivered to the Third by one of his new Dragon’s, if that does not scare the shot out of the council nothing will. Humming evilly as he wrote he glanced at the blanching faces out of the corner of his eye, breaking out into giggles as he finished he did some rapid hand seals to copy the scrolls on his desk he wrapped them up together and pushed the intercom button on his desk, “Jiga get word to Tidori, tell him to get into dragon gear and get to my office…I have a mission for him.”

“Um…Uzumaki-sama,” Ayako whispered submissively, “We’re not going to war are we?”

Shaking his head no Naruto tapped the scroll on his open hand while he waited, “I’m going for scare the shit out of them so I don’t have to kill them.” Stopping the tapping of the scroll long enough to look at them he smiled, “Hey…it might work.”

Ten minutes later after furious whispering between his advisors a letter was passed to him, glancing at it he rolled it up with the original scrolls from Konoha’s village council and set them in his top drawer. Hearing a knock at his door he yelled out, “Enter.”

Tidori was nervous but tried his hardest not to show it, dressed in deep navy blue in full battle gear, his blue dragon helmet under one arm he knocked on the door. Hearing the command to enter he threw open the door and strode in, stopping in front of the desk and standing at attention he looked at his leader calmly, “You have need for me Uzumaki-sama?”

Holding out the scroll in his hand Naruto nodded, “Last night I received several letters from the council, they could be considered a demand for surrender.” Seeing Tidori stiffen in anger he smiled, “Now the Hokage and most of the clan leaders of the council did not sign that inflammatory scroll, so I am sending you with a letter to be hand delivered to the Third Hokage of Konoha asking for clarification.”

“By your will Uzumaki-sama,” Tidori took the scroll firmly and waited to be released.

“I’m sure a lot of the elemental nations have rumors and myths about the Dragon Guardians, so on the one hand you are being sent as a scare tactic, to remind that council of its boundaries. On the other hand if the Hokage is no longer in charge you are authorized to consider us at war and do what it whatever it takes to leave that village without injury. Use one of the summoning circles so you can be at Konoha in several hours.” Naruto frowned as he thought through things, “I expect that the Third can use this to gain control of his council, but I have to plan for the worst. And by giving you the war footing order I am expecting things to be worse yet.”

“And pray for the best,” Ayako muttered.

“Yes I suppose so. The Third always tried to be upfront and honest with me most of the time, but I don’t trust his council, they have caused him to do foolish things to keep control,” Naruto sighed before looking back at Tidori, “Go…Return with honor Dragon Warrior.”

Tidori pulled his helmet apart and snapped it around his head before bowing and disappearing in a swirl of dust.

 

Jumping across the rooftops Tidori quickly made his way to the cliff summoning circles, choosing the one that would lead to the outside village he swiped some blood across it while touching it with chakra in his hand. The Jounin patrol snapped to attention as he appeared and stared at him with respect as he formed hand seals in front of another summoning seal before kneeling down and slamming his hand down in the middle and disappearing.

Arriving in a forested clearing with the tallest trees he had seen in a long time he took to the branches and started to travel the branch highway towards the hidden village of Leaf. Pushing chakra into his legs he became a blur as he traveled in an hour what should have taken three. Appearing outside the village he jumped down to the path and walked regally up to the gate, taking into account the very nervous figures guarding it.

“Halt…” the Chuunin at the gate pressed the backup button before nervously looking at his partner, “Identify yourself and your mission.”

Stopping out of reach of the guards Tidori noticed the white masked Shinobi racing towards the gate, must be Anbu he thought as several forms materialized behind the Chuunin guards, “I am the Ice Dragon. I have a message from the Uzumaki for your Hokage, and I have been ordered to hand deliver the message.”

Feeling weak in the knees the Chuunin fell back to the line of Anbu and looked over his shoulder for direction.

The Anbu wearing the hawk markings moved forward, “Dragon-san, I must ask if you plan to kill the Hokage or destroy our village.” Ignoring the whimpering from the Chuunin guards he waited for an answer.

Cocking his head to the side Tidori saw and felt the fear his presence caused, even the Anbu who looked calm on the outside were sending out waves of fear, “My orders were to give this scroll to your Hokage, and if your village council has replaced or otherwise incapacitated your Sandaime Hokage I am to consider myself in a war situation after your village Council demanded our surrender and threatened the Uzumaki.”

“I see…” Hawk motioned his partner forward, “I can tell you as of three minutes ago Hokage-sama was still alive and our leader. But your words trouble me. If you would wait until I get clearance form Hokage-sama to let you in I would appreciate it Dragon-san. It should not take more than ten minutes at most.”

Nodding slightly Tidori performed six one handed seals in full view of everyone, stopping with the seventh not quite formed, “Ten minutes Hawk-san.”

Throwing his arm out, telling his partner to take off, Hawk prayed his partner made it back in time.

Jumping across the rooftops she pulled out all stops and pushed chakra into her legs as she chanted faster, faster. Arriving at the Hokage’s office through the window she took a deep breath as she interrupted the meeting, ‘Excuse me Hokage-sama but there is an emergency at the western gate. A myth…” taking a deep breath she stood up straight, “Ice Dragon-sama is at eh western gate with a message for you Hokage-sama. When asked about his intentions he told us that if you were no longer in control…if the council had removed you he was to consider himself on a war footing.”

“WHAT…” the Third screamed as he rose from his chair, anger powering his voice as he gazed at several clan heads in his office, “ANBU…”

Tossing his beloved pipe to the side as his Anbu guards rushed into the room he rapidly fired off orders, “I want every person on the council escorted to the council chambers immediately, consider them under arrest and if they refuse bring their dead bodies to the chamber instead…I want Ibiki and his team sin the chamber before I return.” Finished the Third rushed to the window and launched himself out of hit, hitting the roofline and running as fast as possible towards the western gate.

Seeing the gate in the distance the Third used a speed technique to appear behind the crowd of Anbu with a poof, spotting the lone man in the Dragon head he shivered as they turned their head and the crystal eyes flashed in the light. This was not a fake, this person was truly one of the fable Dragon warriors, a person capable of destroying a village single handedly. Bowing slightly he pushed his hat back, “Dragon-dono I understand you have a message for me.”

Nodding Tidori pulled the scroll out of his pouch, stepping forward three steps he set it down on the round before retreating to the position he had waited in, dispelling the buildup of chakra while doing so.

Hawk saw the chakra that had been gathered disperse and let out the breath he has holding, stepping forward he scanned the scroll for traps before picking it up and bringing it back for the Hokage to look at.

Not sensing anything, though he did not think Naruto was still upset at him, well not enough to order his death and the death of his village, the Third opened the scroll and scowled.

 

Old man

I received this letter from your council and it infuriated me, if you do not plan to hold to your promise than be a man to tell me personally. If this is not your work, which I hope as your signature is not on it then you have a problem, a treasonous one at your back.

My father gave his life for the people of that village and I would hope it was justified and honored, but we both know how that went don’t we, old man.

While you might have lost my trust for now, I truly do not think you are behind this, so use my Dragon to take back control with my blessing.

Uzumaki Naruto

Uzumaki of Whirlpool

 

Opening the scroll he was furious, clenching it tight in his hands he looked off into the forest, never did he think his own people would be so treasonous, “Dragon-dono I accept the Uzumaki’s offer of helping me teach those treasonous bastards a lesson. I will have control of my own council before you leave today.”

Tidori smiled, not that anyone could see it, though he found it interesting that everyone backed up several steps, maybe they could see something, nodding he moved forward, “It will be within the orders the Uzumaki gave me to help you with this enjoyable chore.”

The Third shuddered slightly before nodding, Naruto had some very scary resources at his disposal, and “Anbu form up around the two of us as we return to question the soon to be executed council.”

Tidori fell in step next to the Third as they walked back towards the Hokage tower; he had never been here before so he took the time to take a good look around. And he was slightly surprised to see the villagers take one look at him and flee for their lives. To think the Dragon Guardians were so feared even with being gone for thirty years.

Fuming silently as they walked into the Hokage tower the Third did not take any enjoyment out of the fast response of his Shinobi forces, though if he had noticed it he would have been disappointed that the fast response was to get as far away from the dragon warrior as possible. Stopping outside the council chambers the Third looked at the Anbu with the Dog mask, “Is everyone accounted for?”

“Hai, Hokage-sama,” the Anbu bowed, “Though there are three bodies of civilian councilors that refused to come as called inside.

Nodding as he frowned in anger the Third looked over his shoulder, “If you would wait one moment Dragon-dono, I wish to set the stage for your arrival.” Catching the sight of the dragon nodding the Third threw open the door and called out for the Torture and interrogation specialist he saw standing to one side, “Ibiki my friend I have received some troubling news.”

Glancing around at the furious expression on most of the councilors faces he handed over the scroll Naruto had sent him as he moved into the center of the room to check the identities of the councilors on the floor. “It seems that treason is the least of the accusations laid against part of this council, in fact part of this council deems itself above even me. They must think they are in control if that scroll is any indication, after all it would be treason to start a war and demand the surrender of another country and hidden village in my name. But to go so far as to do it in their name…I have to wonder if they planned my death, I mean it does not look like they even think I am the Hokage here.”

Growling in anger Ibiki took note of the names on the scroll, moving closer to the Hokage he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that left him cold, “Hokage-sama are you sure of the authenticity of this document?”

Nodding slowly as he looked at the clan heads and noticed mostly confused looks, except for Hiashi who was furious, “The messenger that brought that to my attention is beyond reproach.” Moving so he could be seen from the hallway he motioned for Naruto's man…person to come in.

“Ibiki the Ice Dragon brought this to me personally,” the Third told him as his eyes never left the faces of the civilian side of the council. “I tried to give more input to the villagers and civilians and while it made us one of the most prosperous villages I see it was also my greatest mistake. From this moment the Konoha council will be formed as Shodai Hokage, Senju Hashirama, first formed it when he founded our village all those years ago.” Turning to Ibiki he motioned for him to take the prisoners into custody, facing the Dragon Warrior he slumped in almost despair, “Please convey my deepest apologies to the Uzumaki. That letter was not the doing of the rightful ruling body of Konoha and please relay our response to him.”

Nodding very little Tidori took in the curious looks from some of the clan heads and several frown, including one outright hostile stare from the Hyuuga. Tilting his head to the side as he stared back at the Hyuuga he shrugged it off, he would report it all later to Uzumaki-sama when he returned. “Uzumaki-sama was quite pleased with the letters from the clan heads and I shall reinforce your letter, if you wish to write one, and your assurance that you have not in fact declared war.”

“in the interests of good relations that sounds like a fine idea, If you don’t mind waiting an hour while I finish up here, I should be able to hand a return letter over to you.” The Third looked at the clan heads and wondered what they had sent that had made Naruto happy. Taking some paper out of the box he sat down as he tried to think on what to do now and what to say, “I would offer you refreshment but I know the Dragons refuse such offers, I can offer to have you escorted around the village to show off our training grounds, but I fear out Shinobi would be shocked, so I do apologize for being inhospitable but my office has some very comfortable furniture where you may rest.”

Nodding Tidori turned and walked out of the room, following the Anbu who motioned for him to follow.

 

Naruto was still reading the Hokage’s letter when Haku came into the bedroom for the night, putting it aside to finish off later as Haku dropped his robe to the floor he smiled and held up the covers so he could slip in. hearing a small knock at the door Naruto looked at Haku with a raised eyebrow before quietly calling out, “Enter.”

Sasuke closed the door behind him, nervous as he played with the belt on his robe, “Do you guys mind if I join you tonight?” Dropping the robe to the ground he looked up with hope in his eyes.

 Naruto looked at Haku and saw the small smile, “Sure, I think there is plenty of room.”