Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto

Dedication: Sara, Dess, Stitch, cause their insanity keeps me sane.

Do you hear the clarion call, it’s calling out to one and all. Who will live and who will fall, who will walk the golden hall? Do you hear the clarion call, it’s calling out to one and all. Who is right and who is wrong, whose side is god really on? — Falconer

“Chiharu, don’t go running off to far!” Matsuri called, watching the blond hair girl run off ahead of her.

“I won’t Mama!” Chiharu shouted, smiling. Matsuri nodded.

“She’ll be find Matsuri,” Gaara said.

“I know,” Matsuri nodded, watching Chiharu with black eyes. Though she may not be the girl’s blood-mother, Chiharu was still her daughter.

Chiharu skillfully lost Matsuri’s watchful gaze, but she soon realized her folly. “M-Mama?” she called, her green eyes growing wide when she didn’t see her mother and all the ninja she saw had Leaf headbands. She was completely separated from the party from Suna.

“Are you lost kid?” a voice asked. Chiharu turned to see a man with blond hair and blue eyes.

“P-Papa?” Chiharu whispered. Naruto blinked, before laughing.

“I don’t think I’m your father kid, c’mon,” Naruto scooped her up.

“You look like my papa. He has blue eyes and blond hair too! Unlike Daddy, who has red hair,” Chiharu said. Naruto nodded as he went to the Kage box. The crowd parted easily at the sight of Naruto and he was almost to the platform when Deidara came running towards him.

“Hey, Kyuu—” Deidara stopped when he saw the little girl Naruto was holding.

“Papa?” Chiharu asked.

Deidara felt his heart skip a beat, his body became hot and then cold and then hot again. “Chiharu…CHIHARU!” Deidara cried as Naruto set the girl down. Chiharu ran to Deidara and he scooped her up hugging her, and spun around, chanting his daughter’s name.

“Naruto?” Hinata asked, coming to her husband’s side.

“Look at them, isn’t it a beautiful sight?” he asked.

“Hai,” Hinata agreed as Hazuki came to see what Deidara was shouting about. Hazuki shed tears of joy as she hugged her lover and their daughter. Naruto grinned at the sight, happy that he was able to reunite a family.

“Naruto,” Gaara growled, his eyes fixed on Chiharu.

“Hey, easy Gaara,” Naruto inched between Deidara and Gaara. “Chiharu is their daughter,” Naruto said.

“Its okay Naruto, hm,” Deidara walked up to the Kazekage, with Chiharu in his arms. “We sorta…asked them to watch Chiharu,” Deidara grimaced.

“You did?” Matsuri cocked her head.

“We left her, because we couldn’t have a child tagging along on the missions Naruto was sending us out to do,” Deidara looked at Chiharu and nuzzled her. “I’m sorry Chiharu-chan, I never wanted to leave you, but I had to, yeah?” he looked at his daughter.

“I missed you Papa,” Chiharu whispered.

“Can…Can Chiharu stay with us?” Matsuri asked. Deidara blinked and looked at Hazuki.

“They want to know if Chiharu can stay with them?” Deidara said.

“I want to visit my baby,” Hazuki said.

“Can we visit?” Deidara asked.

“As often as you can,” Gaara nodded.

“Papa look!” Chiharu pulled her glove off to show Deidara the little mouth on her palm. “I want to know if I’m a real ninja, cause the kids back home say I’m not,” Chiharu pouted. Deidara smirked.

“Of course you are a real ninja, un,’ he grinned. “I’m going to have to teach you about art soon,” Deidara said.

“Art…like what kind of art?” Chiharu asked. “Cause Fuyumi says puppets are a work of art,” Chiharu said.

“No. Puppets aren’t art,” Deidara shook his head. “Art is fleeting, not everlasting,” Deidara said.

“Like explosions?” Chiharu asked.

“Exactly like explosions, I’ll show you some real art when I come to visit, but for now, you have to go with the Kazekage,” he kissed her forehead and set her down. “I promise, after this I’m going to visit you,” he grinned.

“And teach me real art so I can show Fuyumi?” Chiharu asked.

“Yes, so you can show Fuyumi,” Deidara grinned. He hugged her one last time, before she ran up to Gaara. Naruto watched Gaara, Matsuri and Chiharu enter the platform, before turning to Deidara.

“I want you and Hazuki to patrol the perimeter,” he said.

“Okay,” he nodded and left with Hazuki to fulfill his orders.

Neji snorted as he listened to Naruto’s speech of brotherly bonds and stuff. “Your Hokage is wise,” a baritone voice said besides Neji. The Hyuga prodigy looked at the hooded, cloaked and masked ninja.

“Who are you?” Neji asked. The ninja turned, his mask boasting a swirl design, but wit wasn’t Konoha style and held no village symbol, so either he was deep in ANBU or he was another village’s ANBU member.

“Yami,” the man replied.

Darkness? Neji frowned. “What are you doing here?” Neji asked, the matched began and Neji’s attention was directed to his son.

“Is that your son?” Yami asked.

“Yes, his mother was a Suna kunoichi. He was born in Suna and didn’t come here until he was six,” Neji said. Yami nodded.

“He’s a skilled fighter but he will be unable to stand up to Uchiha Chiyo’s Sharingan,” Yami said.

“Are you implying that my son is weak?” Neji snapped.

“Not at all, he is quite to be doing this well against the Sharingan, regardless of the fact that he is fighting his teammate,” Yami said, his gaze shifted to Sasuke then back to the two would-be chuunins.

The crowd gasped when Chiyo pulled off a chidori nagashi. “She’s mastered her father’s raiton jutsu at such a young age, she’s quite skilled,” Yami commented. “Taro is also very skilled, but he lacks the quick thinking and the ability to analyze a situations. Chiyo may be rash and hotheaded at times, but she has mastered the ability to look underneath the underneath,” Yami said.

“What are you saying?” Neji asked.

“Taro is a warrior, but in order to be a chuunin, not only does he need to be a warrior but also a strategist. Chiyo can do both, though maybe not to the extent of Nara Shikaro and Hozuki Kasumi, but she has them. She also has leadership abilities, another thing that Taro lacks,” Yami explained.

“And that little Uchiha bitch does?” Neji snarled.

“Tsk,” Yami clicked his tongue, “Uchiha Chiyo may appear to be a klutz and overly emotional at times, but she has mastered the key skills of being a ninja, despite the fact that she has no raw aggression like Taro does when he fights,” Yami said.

“So that means Taro will be promoted to chuunin?” Neji asked.

“No, Chiyo will lose the match but she will be promoted to chuunin,” Yami said.

“So you are saying Taro won’t have a chance?” Neji growled.

“No, he may prove to have chuunin qualities in another match or after some more training, not everyone gets promoted on their first Chuunin Selection Exams, you failed to be promoted on your first exam,” Yami said.

“Hn,” Neji looked away. The match ended soon after and part of Yami’s prophecy turned out to be true, Chiyo did lose the match.

Sasuke looked at the tourney tree. “Hozuki Kasumi and Nara Shikaro, please come down,” Sasuke called. Kasumi smirked, hopping down and glaring daggers at the Nara boy.

Shikaro calmly looked back at Kasumi and if she had to describe his fail expression, it would be tired. “Kinda girly to have a fan,” she teased. Shikaro snorted drawing his fan.

“I’ll show you how girly it really is,” he jumped back, flicking his wrist, snapping his fan open. “Kamaitachi!” he shouted, batting the air. Kasumi jumped away, hiding behind some trees.

“Damn it! He’s a wind specialist! He’s good with range, throwing weapons are out of the question,” Kasumi frowned and pushed her glasses up her nose, only to curl into herself as another blast of wind and chakra rocked the little grove of trees. “I can always liquefy, but the timing will have to be impeccable and I’m not that skilled to do it, but if I can get close enough to touch him…” Kasumi smirked only to duck again as another blast of razor sharp wind came her way. She tore from the bushes and ran towards him, drawing a kunai.

Shikaro blinked, not even surprised. “So?” he blocked her strike with his fan. “You are actually going to try a frontal head-on assault, huh?” Shikaro asked, only to push her away. Kasumi skidded back, her glasses slipping down her nose. Shikaro snapped his fan open again, twirling it gracefully around his body. He tossed it up into the air. “Kage Nui no jutsu!” he shouted.

Kasumi blinked in surprise as threads of shadows wrapped around her, binding her and that another Shikaro caught the fan. “Clever, really clever,” Kasumi smirked.

“Heh, you are smart, I’ll give you that, but you failed to see my trap,” Shikaro said. Kasumi rolled her eyes.

“Go bore some old fart with your lectures,” Kasumi shouted. Shikaro ignored her.

“When I tossed my fan into the air, your eyes focused on it, failing to see my clone that I had created, and since your gaze was elsewhere you also failed to see that I caught you in my Kage Nui jutsu,” Shikaro said.

“Cut with the chitchat and get to the fighting!” Kasumi struggled against her bonds.

“Unlike Shadow Possession, you can’t escape this jutsu,” Shikaro said.

“Oh, I think I can,” Kasumi smirked. Shikaro blinked. “Not in your calculations huh?” Kasumi sneered.

“Kamaitachi!” Shikaro shouted, his clone executing the jutsu. Kasumi smirked and waited until the wind hit her. She liquefied herself. The crowd gasped. Shikaro’s clone vanished and he grabbed his fan, keeping a wary eye out for the girl.

“And you thought I was done for, didn’t you,” Kasumi whispered sensually while she held a kunai to Shikaro’s throat. The Nara boy felt his cheeks burn slightly.

“Of course not,” he said. “But I’ll doubt you’ll be able to pull off another escape like that,” he spun around, shoving her with his fan. He jumped into the air. “Kamaitachi!” he shouted, sending out a burst of chakra infused wind.

Kasumi grunted as the wind sliced her. She snarled, and charged at him Shikaro watched with a calm almost bored gaze as she jumped up and aimed an axe kick oat his head. He sighed as he dodged it only to leap into the air and slam his fan down, creating two funnels of wind. Kasumi fell forwards; she turned to see the boy against his open fan. She growled and ran to him again. He blocked her and tossed another wind gust before snapping his fan close and sheathing it. “This is boring,” he said.

“What are you getting at?” Kasumi asked.

“You are clearly desperate, you have drawn kunai and shuriken, which are clearly ineffective against me, since I use wind and I’m able to knock them out of the air,” Shikaro said. Kasumi felt her cheeks burn. “Second of all, I have two hundred and fifty moves planned out for various actions and reactions depending on how I attack and you counter and vise versa, with that being said, most of them are pretty much identical, because you can only do so much, and I’m also assuming most of your suiton requires large nearby bodies of water to actually perform,” Shikaro said.

“Enough with the blabbering! Just fight me already damn it!” Kasumi shouted.

“Troublesome woman,” Shikaro grumbled.

“What the fuck did you call me?” Kasumi screeched.

“I called you a troublesome woman, which you are,” Shikaro sighed. “I’m trying to say, that this match is boring, and I’ve lost interest in it,” he looked at Sasuke. “Protector I surrender,” he said.

Temari shrieked, causing her daughter to glance at her mother. “He is just like you!” Temari turned to Shikamaru. “Why did my children turn out to be like you!?” Temari snarled.

“Troublesome woman,” Shikamaru grumbled.

“What did you call me?” Temari asked, her pine green eyes narrowing and glinting dangerously.

“Hn,” Shikamaru sighed.

“You called me a troublesome woman again! Didn’t you!” Temari grabbed Shikamaru by his ponytail. “You lazy ass! Your son gave up!” Temari shrieked.

“So?” Shikamaru shrugged.

“Does this mean I’m gonna have her as a sister-in-law?” Shika asked.

“What makes you think that?” Temari asked.

“Well, Dad surrendered to you and he ended up marrying you, so I can logically conclude that my brother will marry Hozuki Kasumi,” Shika said.

“Shikamaru, you ass! Stop putting crazy ideas in my daughter’s head!” Temari shouted. Shikamaru sighed.

“You’re parents are scary, well…at least your mom is,” Inomaru said.

“Nah, Dad says a woman shows true tenderness to the man she loves,” Shika shrugged. Inomaru looked at Temari and Shikamaru.

“Right,” he snorted, before looking at Shika.

“You know I bet you’ll show me true tenderness,” Inomaru said. Shika blinked.

“You even think about thinking of touching me and I’ll cut your balls of Yamanaka!” Shika snarled.

“Akatsuki-sama is it time?” an Otonin asked. The woman narrowed her slate blue-grey eyes, the wind whipping around her flaxen hair as she crouched in the shadows of the main tower of the arena. She held out a hand, covered in a thick leather glove. A sharp piercing cry echoed and a beautiful silver gyrfalcon landed on her outstretched hand. The raptor glanced at the awaiting Otonin; the bird’s golden eyes were sharp and predatory as he stared down the ninja. The Akatsuki woman stood up, the sun glinting off of her Kumo headband, the Traitor’s Slash through the symbol of the Village Hidden in the Clouds. She narrowed her eyes as she studied the black haired man on the field and the one of the two combating genin, the one with the sword and red hair.

“It seams I’ve found something interesting that my former Raikage would find delightful,” the woman whispered, tucking her arm in to stroke the soft feathers of her falcon.

“Should I give the single?” the Otonin asked. The woman turned her hawk like gaze upon him, secretly drawing a kunai. “Akatsuki-sama?” he asked only to sputter in surprise as blood bubbled out of his mouth, the kunai jammed into his heart. The Akatsuki woman stood up and ruthlessly kicked him off the roof. The spectators gasped as the body of the ninja tumbled to the arena floor. The Akatsuki woman smirked before appearing besides Naruto.

“You’re reign is at an end Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime of Konohagakure,” she whispered holding a kunai to Naruto’s throat. Naruto gave a vulpine smirk, his eyes narrowing.

“Washizuka Sora, former kunoichi of Kumogakure, former rank jounin, now head of the Akatsuki,” Naruto chuckled, as he grabbed her wrist and vanished, only to reappear on the roof with her. He gracefully took his hat off, the wind ruffling his spiky yellow hair, the Hokage jacket open, revealing his orange jumpsuit and chuunin vest. “Why are you here?” Naruto asked.

Sora blinked at him. “You are the final jinchuuriki I need to bring about my utopia,” Sora stated calmly. Naruto gave a mirthless laugh.

“Don’t you know I’m the Hokage? I’m not going to be that easy to defeat!” Naruto said.

“I know that, hence the reason why I’ve enlisted ninja from Otogakure, to keep your villagers occupied as I bring about the downfall of their beloved Rokudaime!” Sora smirked.

“We’ll see about that,” Naruto snarled, forming one single hand sign.

Hoshi blinked as feathers began to fall before her face. “Byakugan!” she blinked as she saw that the feathers were made out of chakra. “Genjutsu?” she whispered as sleepiness began to tug at her. “Kai!” Hoshi muttered, breaking the genjutsu. She saw the elite ninja and the clever genin like Kazuki and Shika break the genjutsu as well.

“Hoshi,” Shikamaru said. Hoshi peered at him, her Byakugan still activated.

“Shikamaru-sensei behind you!” Hoshi shouted. Shikamaru spun around and easily captured his would be attacker in his shadow.

“Find Chiyo! Help out in any way you can!” Shikamaru said.

“B-but?” Hoshi muttered.

“The village is under attack! Our duty is to protect it!” Shikamaru shouted.

“Right,” Hoshi ran through the crowd; determine to protect her village.

Sasuke swore as he ran a hand through his hair, his Sharingan spinning lazily. “You two, the Chuunin Exams are now concluded!” Sasuke said. Yusuke and Kiko blinked. “Help out in defending this village!” Sasuke said, electricity cackling around him as the wall broke. “Chidori Nagashi!” the electric current zapped the on coming ninja. He glanced up at the audience and noticed a ninja sneaking behind Sakura. Sasuke snarled, focusing his chidori into a spear and impaling the attacking ninja.

Neji glanced over to see the man he was sitting next to was gone. He narrowed his eyes, his Byakugan activating. He spun around and tossed an opponent over his shoulder before jumping down to the ground where his juken would be more effective. Hinata was already there along with Kiba and Shino. He was impressed with Hinata’s fluid grace as she struck her opponent with an icy accuracy he would never had thought possible in her when she was a genin. Kiba attacked with vicious power and passion, while Shino supported them with a cool, collected and calculating aloofness.

Sasuke panted as he summoned another chidori. He was almost at his limit of four a day. Two more and he’ll be at a sever disadvantage. “ARGH!” someone slammed a deadly axe kick down onto his would be victim. When the dust cleared, he smirked when he saw his wife’s pink hair. “I thought you needed help Sasuke-kun,” she chimed cheerfully only to scream as someone grabbed her hair.

Hana looked up when a man, hooded and cloaked, a mask on his face came to her. “Hana!” he sounded oddly familiar and breathless. “The village is under attack!” he said.

“Attack?!” Hana’s eyes grew wide, as the door burst open. The man spun around and shielded Hana with his body. Hana the kunai fly, the porcelain of the mask shatter as the kunai struck it, and she could smell the blood. “I-Itachi?” she shook as the blood’s all too familiar scent triggered memories of her dead lover.

“Katon! Hosenka no jutsu!” the man fired several balls of flame at the on coming ninja. “Protect your children!” he ordered her not bothering to glance at her terrified face, before running through the newly created opening. Hana snapped out of her stupor and rushed towards were Sanosuke and Yuzuki where. She herded her two youngest children into the safety of the closet when her blood froze.

“Shiba!”

And so ends chapter eleven.

Don’t worry there is two chapters that covers the attack on Konoha, and more of my Next Gen. Akatsuki will be revealed.

Sadly, Hachibi was captured. So, only Naruto remains. The Akatsuki has no interesting in Hoshi because her demon isn’t apart of the Original Nine, but like a servant to the Kyuubi. I explained this in chapter nine. So, if you are confused go read the AN of chapter nine again.

Who the fuck is Yami!? Is he Kojiki?

Why, yes, yes, he is. Yami and Kojiki are one and the same. But the question is this!? Is Yami/Kojiki Itachi?

We shall see, we shall see. Seven more chapters until Chapter 18: Gunslinger, when some questions will be answers and more questions will be in need of answers! Stay tune!

Though I’m sure half of you have guessed that identity of Yami/Kojiki by now anyways.

Poor Sakura, whenever she tries to grow her hair out, someone seems to grab it. Let’s just hope Sasuke saves her.

Naruto vs. Sora! I’m expecting a lot of “NARUTO! KICK SORA’S ASS!” in the reviews for this chapter. Don’t worry, he does…sorta…you’ll see. Let’s just say he dies in the next chapter.

ShikaKasu (Shikaro/Kasumi)! Finally! Finally! ShikaKasu is in the story! I love this pairing! Again! OC shipping is welcomed and encouraged. Ship names for the various OC ships.

TaroChi (Taro/Chiyo)

TaroMichi (Taro/Michiyo)

KazuHoshi (Kazuki/Hoshi)

YusuHoshi (Yusuke/Hoshi)

ShikaChi (Shikaro/Chiyo)

ShikaKasu (Shikaro/Kasumi)

KazuShika (Kazuki/Shika)

InomaruShika (Inomaru/Shika)

ShibaZenji (ShibaZenji is actually cannon…cause they DO end up together)

MamoNami (Mamoru/Nami)

Have fun!

R’n’R otherwise I’m going to die well…maybe not die, but certainly not write anymore.

DJ