Chapter 15: Relics (Become a Chūnin! Part ZERO)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

'Kyuubi/Tailed beast speech'

xxx

It was one of those beautiful dark nights when Naruto slept peacefully and not even the thin rays of moonlight falling on his face were capable of interrupting this comfortable slumber. The hectic times of Chūnin exams and the following invasion of Konoha had long ended. A new leader of Konoha, the Godaime Hokage, had been named. The air of calmness and serenity returned to the village and allowed all of its citizens to rest and relax in peace with no danger creeping on them from behind the horizon.

But, unbeknownst to the rhythmically breathing blond Uzumaki, an almost inaudible sound of footsteps slowly crept closer and closer towards him. Aware of their surroundings, the unknown enemies carefully and stealthily made their way through Naruto's apartment and stopped only once they stood above him, next to his bed. One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched, causing them to stiffen and completely stop moving but it was just a subconscious muscle movement. It wasn't a sign of him waking up.

Leaning forward, one of the strangers delicately placed something small on the back of Naruto's head and waited. The blond's eyebrow twitched again, this time it was followed with a slight growl. The strangers glanced at each other and, seemingly deciding upon a certain plan, nodded.

In one simple and fluid movement, the one closer to Naruto flung his fist forward and hit Naruto's head with great precision. The sudden blunt blow catapulted the blond from his bed onto the ground, waking him in the process but leaving him in a daze. A sharp pain pulsated in Naruto's skull and, in a panic, he tried to stand up but his movements were erratic and uncoordinated. The blow to the head must have damaged his sense of balance because he barely managed to support himself on one knee before he slipped back down. His mind, still partly asleep, didn't help him either.

'...whasagoinon?'

On the outside, he only managed to groan incoherently before somebody slipped a foul-smelling opaque bag over his head, causing him to gag at the smell and blink at the sudden absence of any light. He was still dizzy but his senses were returning at a fast rate and he began to struggle, finally realizing what was happening.

"!" He groaned when a pair of strong hands grabbed him by his shoulders and pinned him down. Unable to move, the blond tried to pry himself out of the grip only to feel immense amounts of dull pain when somebody twisted his shoulders, almost dislocating them in the process. Vaguely, through the pain attacking his nerve center, he heard some muttering. Trying to use the moment, he focused on his chakra to try and build it up but, horrified, he found out he couldn't muster even an ounce of it.

'Damn it. Kyuubi!' He didn't like to use Kyuubi's chakra when there was a chance he could get out of a situation using his own power but this time, it felt like he had no other choice then to use the Tailed Beast. But, to his slowly increasing horror, he couldn't hear the Tailed Beast's response. Only barely, he heard some distinct mumble within his mind but even that soon faded into silence. The only thing he could hear were his own thoughts.

'This is not good.' He thought, feeling rather panicky. Then, something sharp pierced his skin and he felt a pleasant warmth spreading through his veins and across his whole body. The dizziness, the sense of daze, returned and, against his will, he felt his eyes drooping. His consciousness was slowly fading away and Naruto realized that whoever attacked him must have drugged him. Any other time, he would laugh at that as having Kyuubi inside of him meant he was highly resilient to most sedatives or toxins but now, unable to hear the beast, he felt fear creeping into his mind.

'…d-damn it…' He thought and, despite his stubborn attempts to stay awake, he felt his mind finally slipping away.

…

He awoke to the unpleasant feeling of his body sailing through the air and immediately blinked to clear his hazed mind. However, only an instant later his left side slammed against a sturdy wall, causing him to slide down on a cold, slimy floor. In that moment, after shuddering, somebody grabbed him by his limbs, raised him in the air and then slammed his body on a table. It all happened so fast Naruto wasn't even able to resist. His body hitting the wooden table knocked some wind out of him and he struggled to breath. The person who threw him didn't let go of him and forced his arms upwards and to the sides. A second person did the same with his legs and Naruto heard a definite sound of something clicking.

Cut off from his chakra, the blond was powerless to prevent anything from happening. Without it and also with the bag over his head, he was just a nimble and energetic child. After the grip on his limbs vanished, he immediately tried to roll over from the table but found himself unable to do so. Shaking with his hands and hearing the metallic sound, a realization dawned upon him.

He was chained to the table.

Knowing that caused him to slightly shudder again. He was practically blind, powerless and strapped to a table with some unknown enemies present in the room. At least, because of the way all sounds echoed around him, he thought he was in some small room. After he understood all of that, he felt a bit of anxiety rising within his chest. What was going to happen to him?

Although, the question he wanted to have an answer to was how the hell did they get to him and who these people were?

They kidnapped him from his own apartment in the middle of Konoha. Despite the fact he was a bit afraid and in a slight panic, Naruto tried to remain calm and to think. It was the only thing he could do to remain in control of the situation. But then something happened. Something that caused his calm thinking to vanish and be replaced with increased amount of panic.

Somebody tore away the clothes from his body.

If it had been just his vest, he would have understood it. Without the sturdy vest, a shinobi was easier to torture. But when, along with the vest, his pants and his shirt disappeared too, he gulped and began to lose control of his horror. Then, his underwear was torn away too and that marked the breaking point for the blond.

It all reminded Naruto of the similar incident in his past when somebody used a syringe on his lower parts and…

He gulped and tried to suppress the trembling that started in his fingers and then spread out to the rest of his body too. He could take many kinds of pain, he was sure of it. His pain tolerance was quite high. But this? This was too much. It all got even worse when he felt several human hands touching his body.

At first, whoever was standing above him just reached for his shoulders and calves. But then, very slowly, painfully slowly, the soft fingertips and even whole palms moved lower, down to his chest. They travelled across his whole torso until they tickled his abdomen. The other pair moved along his calves to his knees and then towards his inner thighs.

Naruto felt his breathing getting faster, the adrenaline levels in his blood increased. A cold sweat formed on his whole face. He was losing the capability to think rationally as his anxiety and horror rose to unbearable level.

Whoever kidnapped him must have known about his past trauma because what they were doing was working splendidly. And what they were doing certainly wasn't an ordinary torture method. Naruto quickly began to struggle and tried to shake off all those hands touching him. Frantically, he tugged on the chains binding him to the table, he strained his muscles in an attempt to get away but nothing worked. When the hands moved further along his body, to the parts he so desperately didn't want to have touched, he felt the contents of his stomach rising all the way to his throat.

Subconsciously, a short but desperate cry escaped his lips.

"…no, please no…"

It was too much for him and he fainted but before he did, without him realizing it, all hands touching him instantly left his body.

…

A cold water splashing on the bag over his head forcibly woke Naruto from his unconsciousness. The feeling of getting drowned was an effective wake-up call and the blond was awake in a matter of seconds. Almost instantly, he noticed some things.

First, he was no longer being chained to a table. Instead, he was strapped to a wooden incline of a small amount of degrees. Second, he was no longer nude. His underwear, his pants and his shirt was back on his body. However, all these changes meant nothing since he knew nothing new about the people who had kidnapped him.

Large amount of cold water was poured on his head again and he gasped for breath. Having the cloth bag sticking to his face, the feeling of being drowned was extremely unpleasant. But it was one of the torture methods he knew about, which meant that he was definitely being tortured. After the water splashed on his head again, he tugged on his restraints but, even though they were no longer chains, based on the lack of the clicking sound, they were still unbreakable.

The cycle of him being doused with cold water and then left gasping for breath repeated itself many times. It left him with a stinging headache and a desire to kill those who did it to him. However, after another several dozen cycles, the mental stress caused his mind to waver once again and he fainted.

…

When he woke up again, he found himself strapped to a chair. His ankles were tightly secured to the legs of the chair and his arms were tied behind his back. Somebody reached for his head and removed the bag from it, allowing Naruto to see some light for the first time.

Although, there was barely any light in the dimly illuminated room. He couldn't even see the face of the person that was just barely a meter in front of him. Just vaguely seeing his outline, Naruto squinted his eyes at the stranger.

"You are the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Beast, aren't you, Uzumaki Naruto?" A haggard voice, a voice Naruto didn't recognize, called out to him. In response, the blond glanced around himself but he still couldn't see anything. The only thing he noticed was that the room he was in was really small and that there was another person in the corner of the room.

*SLAP*

The one in front of him hit him with enough force for Naruto's head to snap to the side. He asked again.

"You are the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Beast, aren't you, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Spitting a bit of blood from the cut within his mouth, Naruto turned his head to where the stranger's face should have been and defiantly growled.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Ninja Registration 0-1-2-6-0-7."

The person, presumably a man, was quiet for a while. But then he seemingly leaned backwards and laughed, causing the hair on Naruto's neck to stand.

"Ho-ho, you seem quite fine. Maybe I should have left you with them and their soft hands for a bit longer. What do you say? Want to have them tickle your balls again?"

"…" Naruto couldn't help it but gulp at that prospect. It felt like the man grinned.

"Pathetic. One threat and you fall silent. And you call yourself a shinobi? Truly, how the mighty have fallen."

Something in the man's voice raised Naruto's ire and the blond growled. He was afraid, very afraid he could end up nude again but, at the same time, he was angry. Angry at himself that he let himself get caught, angry at those who kidnapped him that they tortured him and angry at the humiliation he was forced to feel.

"Now that's better. See, Uzumaki Naruto. We know you are the jinchūriki of Kyuubi. What we want is for you to unleash it. And you will unleash it, only question is, how much pain it will take." The man said and punched the blond in the abdomen. Spitting saliva, Naruto somehow managed to hold back from vomiting and panted. He coughed.

"M-My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Ninja R-Registration 0-1-2-6-0-7."

The man stared at him and then turned around. He rummaged through various tools on a desk hidden behind him before settling on a desired object. Humming to himself, he turned back to the blond. His hand shot to Naruto and the blond then felt as something thin but long pierced his skin, at the place where his shoulder joint was located. It didn't cause him to feel much pain but he certainly felt extreme discomfort. The same thing was put in the other shoulder and then in his knees and more. Only then Naruto realized the things the man was pushing into him were senbon needles.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Ninja Registration 0-1-2-6-0-7."

"Yeah, yeah. You're getting boring with that. I think it's time to change the tune." The man retorted and for a moment, nothing happened. But then it came.

"Gyaaaah!" A loud scream escaped Naruto's mouth when a powerful electric current entered his body through the senbon needles protruding from his body. Acting as conductors and etched near his joints, the needles further increased the pain a body could feel from an electric shock. In a short moment of clarity Naruto had to admit he never thought such pain could exist. It was like his whole body was on fire, like it was being repeatedly splashed with liquid flames which were burning him from within. The spasms, running through his body, painfully contracted his muscles to the point of them almost tearing themselves into pieces and he felt his joints screaming in protest.

Then, all of a sudden, it stopped. A bit of foam forming around his mouth, Naruto's head dangled uselessly from side to side. Only thanks to the sheer stubbornness of his will, he was able to remain conscious. But he was unable to control his body any longer and a smell of urine filled the room.

"This is better, ha-ha!" The man cruelly laughed but stopped when Naruto muttered something quietly.

"What was that?" I think I didn't catch that."

Barely audible, Naruto stubbornly whispered.

"…maki Naruto… gistration 0… 1-2-6… 0-7."

"Good. Now you're starting to resemble a shinobi at least a bit." The man said and pressed his finger on a small device. Another scream filled the room.

…

Naruto didn't know how much time had passed. He didn't know how many times he had had to endure the electric shock. He had lost count at number ten. Few times, he even lost his consciousness. He didn't know anything. He just knew he was reaching his limit. But even if he wanted to satisfy the man's desires and unleash the Kyuubi, he couldn't hear the beast.

That didn't mean he would do it even if he could. Naruto didn't want to die. But if there was one thing he didn't want to do more was to unleash the demon sealed in his belly. He didn't want to go down as the one who couldn't hold it back. He didn't want to be remembered as Kyuubi. He didn't want his teammates to find out about the Kyuubi like that.

He didn't want his deepest, darkest secret to become the truth. He didn't want to let go of his emotions, of his fears and fury and just decimate his own village. No, he was going to withstand this.

A door to the room opened and somebody walked inside.

"I think I've seen enough. He did well. Dispel it, Ibiki."

Naruto mentally chuckled. He must have been hallucinating because the words he heard weren't making any sense.

"Yeah, I was going to do it myself. He resisted well. I think he's susceptible to psychological torture but he can definitely withstand anything physical. Kid's as durable as they get."

Then the darkness vanished and was replaced with light. The pain in his body disappeared almost instantly and Naruto raised his head in surprise. He barely registered his hands were free. When he got accustomed to the bright light, he saw faces he recognized.

Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Ibiki and the current Hokage, Shikaku Nara all stared at him with imperceptible smiles. The last one nodded to the blond.

"Congratulations, Naruto Uzumaki. You have passed the last test. From now on you are an official Chūnin of Konoha."

…

Hokage's office, later

"I honestly don't understand your disgruntlement. The Third did warn you about this. He told you there was one more thing you needed to undergo and that it was going to happen early in the morning. Moreover, you are forgetting one thing. I am the Hokage now and my primary role is to be a military leader of this village. You are my soldiers and now that you are Chūnin, I need to know whether you are ready for missions that are riskier, tougher and dirtier than anything you've done so far." Shikaku Nara said calmly as he stared at the faces of his five new Chūnin, all of them returning his gaze with different stages of irritation in their eyes.

"Besides, I think you should all consider yourselves lucky none of you is a girl." He continued.

"Why is that?" Lee asked him, his exuberant behavior toned down a bit. Crossing his arms, Shikaku leaned into his chair.

"Hm, I thought the answer was quite obvious. Every kunoichi that advances to a Chūnin rank or higher can be asked to do a mission in which she needs to get close to the target. In such case, she should be well-versed in the art of seduction. For this reason, aside from the test you have underwent a kunoichi needs to have her hymen artificially torn and then is taught things she…"

A loud cough came from Hiruzen and interrupted Shikaku. The current Hokage frowned and seemingly nodded to himself.

"Right, you don't need to know the details. The important thing is, all of you have passed the test and are now clear to officially become and work as Chūnin of Konoha. If any of you still want to complain, well, there's the door." Shikaku said sternly.

"….h-hymen…" Lee muttered to himself, red in face while the other Chūnin just swallowed their prides and nodded to the Hokage. Shikaku, satisfied with it, then relaxed his expression a little.

"I'm not going to lie to you. I will be a different Hokage than the Third was. That doesn't mean, however, that I don't care about you. Same as him, I care about every citizen of Konoha and, same as him, I believe in my shinobi. Now, I said you all passed but there is something you should know." He said and then grabbed a report from the table. He briefly looked over it and then raised his eyes to gaze upon his five new Chūnin.

"Aside from Shikamaru, you all have extremely high pain tolerance and, therefore, you easily cleared the physical torture part. However, aside from Shikamaru, you all are susceptible to mental torture. The four of you, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and Lee, have an obvious breaking point that can be easily triggered with enough information about your past. Each of you should know what I'm talking about." He looked them dead in the eyes until they all averted his gaze, feeling quite uncomfortable.

"Most of the shinobi eventually develop a similar thing. However, most of the shinobi realize that this is their weakness and they know how to fight it in case their enemy uses those deepest, darkest fears against them. What I want you to do is to resolve those issues or learn how to live with them because one day, it may save not only your life but lives of your teammates too. If you can't do it alone, find somebody who you can share your fears with. Understood?" Shikaku asked, his eyes still pointed at the four Chūnin, until they all nodded.

"Good. Now we can discuss work. Sasuke and Shikamaru."

Called out, the two boys took a step forward.

"You two are going on a mission to the Land of Rice Fields with Jiraiya-san." Shikaku said, causing Sasuke and Shikamaru to glance at the said man in surprise.

"Jiraiya as in Jiraiya the Sannin?" Sasuke asked with narrowed eyes, his interest quickly peaking.

"…oh, man. That means it'll be dangerous. What a drag…" Shikamaru muttered. Jiraiya, leaning into the wall with his right shoulder, chuckled.

"The one and only, brats." Then the mirth vanished from his eyes and a serious expression formed on his face. The attention of both Chūnin directed at him, Jiraiya crossed his arms.

"This is going to be a B-rank mission with the potential to go higher. The objective of this mission is to gather information on Orochimaru, the missing Nin from Konoha and the one who orchestrated the recent invasion."

Staring at his godfather, Naruto glanced between him and Sasuke to see the Uchiha boy subconsciously clench his fists.

"Any questions?" Jiraiya asked but both Sasuke and Shikamaru shook their heads.

"Good. I'll meet you at the Konoha gates. We are leaving in four hours." He added and then glanced at Shikaku, who took another piece of paper into his hands.

"Naruto, Neji and Lee."

The three of them took a step forward while Sasuke and Shikamaru took one backwards.

"Lee, you will be going to the Land of Tea. An annual race is taking place there and Wasabi family has asked us for a fast Chūnin to protect one of their competitors during it. There is a high chance of a sabotage so be careful. Incidentally, during your mission you may cross your path with Naruto and Neji." After talking solely to Lee, Shikaku then turned to the last two Chūnin.

"You two will have a different mission but the location will be the same, the Land of Tea. We have received a report that a former shinobi from Konoha, Aoi Rokushō, who should be in the possession of an important stolen tool, may be staying there. Your objective is to find this man and retrieve the stolen tool. Naturally, since Aoi Rokushō is also a missing Nin, your second objective is to dispose of this man. Yes, Naruto?" He asked when Naruto raised his hand.

"What tool are we talking about?"

"It's called Sword of the Thunder God and it belonged to the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It is an important and highly dangerous relic that, in wrong hands, has the potential to deal a lot of damage." Hiruzen answered for Shikaku.

"The Second Hokage?" Naruto couldn't help but to be impressed.

"Do we have any information on this weapon and on the one who stole it?" Neji asked pragmatically.

"Yes. You will be given all the information before you leave for the mission." Shikaku said. For a moment, he was silent but then he spoke again.

"It is highly important you get this sword back to Konoha. With enough knowledge and training, this weapon can turn a simple Genin into a powerful shinobi. Do not underestimate Aoi Rokushō and consider destroying the sword a valid option if it becomes impossible to retrieve it. It's better than having our enemy wielding it."

"Understood, sir."

"Now, I'm sure you have noticed that for these missions, you will be forced to work with somebody you barely know. It is intentional as I want to you to learn to adapt to any kind of teammate you may receive in the future. Find out your respective weaknesses and find a way how to combine your skills to get around them together. I want my Chūnin highly adaptive and tactical. Any questions?"

Nobody had any so Shikaku waved his hand.

"Shikamaru, Neji and Lee, you can leave to prepare for your missions. Sasuke and Naruto, stay behind."

…

Once the door behind the three Chūnin closed, unlike Sasuke who was quite calmly staring at the Hokage, Naruto's nervously looked from the current Hokage to the previous one then to Jiraiya and back to Shikaku. The blond could smell the air of trouble hovering in the room.

"I'm not the one to beat around the bush so I'll get straight to the point. Sasuke, Naruto, while I was reading the report on the invasion, I came across a peculiar thing. It seems that while the invasion was going strong, the two of you decided to have a little sparring match." Shikaku said and looked at the Uchiha boy with contemplative eyes.

"That was no sparring match. Sir." Sasuke objected.

"Yes, I'm aware of the circumstances. I know of Itachi Uchiha's presence in the village."

For a moment, the current Hokage just stared at Sasuke in silence. He was clearly deep in thought, despite his seemingly bored expression.

"I'll be frank with you, Sasuke. It is only because of the results from your interrogation test along with the pleas from Sandaime and Kakashi that you are not facing disciplinary proceedings right now. Ordinarily, you would be locked up and awaiting complete psychological reevaluation by Inoichi if not worse. What you did was extremely irresponsible and completely against every combat rule." He said after leaning forward. Sasuke didn't respond but his jaw visibly tightened. Shikaku sighed.

"Now, don't get me wrong. I know what Itachi did and, as a fellow human being, I understand your actions. However, as the Hokage, I have no need for broken soldiers. Taking things into consideration, it was surprising you did so well in the last test. Your fight with Naruto must have knocked some sense into you." Shikaku stated and briefly glanced at the blond who averted his gaze.

"Still, I want you to realize one thing, Sasuke. While you fought with Naruto, many citizens and even your fellow shinobi paid the highest price. If you hadn't fought, you could have prevented that from happening. You could have saved their lives. So, I want you know that because of your irresponsibility, there is blood on your hands."

Sasuke listened to Shikaku's words with a deep scowl but was unable to meet the Hokage's eyes. Instead, he stared at the palms of his hands, repeatedly opening and closing them as if he wanted to see that blood with his own eyes.

"I really don't want to lock up one of my most promising shinobi when he could be out there doing good for this village and, therefore, you are free, Sasuke. However, I will be watching you. For some time I will be monitoring your performance on your missions and in case you will go through another lapse of judgment, you will be sent to Inoichi or worse. Understood?"

When Sasuke didn't respond for a while, Shikaku sighed.

"Look, Sasuke. I will not give you any special treatment. You screw up, you get punished. You will not follow your orders, you will face trial. It's as simple as that. You already got a lot of lease on my good will. Don't make me regret it. Once you are ready, you will be given a long-term mission to find and take down Itachi Uchiha but until then, you will follow your orders as a soldier of this village should. Understood?"

Sasuke's head snapped up and the boy stared at the Hokage with a surprised expression, his mouth slightly opened.

"…yes, sir!" He responded in a grateful voice, completely missing the subtle exchange of glances between Shikaku and Jiraiya. Now that he was satisfied with Sasuke's response, Shikaku turned to Naruto.

"The only thing I can berate you for, Naruto, is that you should have tried to take Sasuke down as soon as you caught up with him. I did have a talk with Jiraiya about that, though, so there is nothing else I want to say about this. Sasuke, you are dismissed. Naruto you stay behind."

…

After Sasuke left the room, leaving Naruto alone with two Hokage and Jiraiya, Shikaku propped himself deeper into his chair, visibly drained of energy and sighed heavily.

"There is only one thing remaining. Naruto, you are now a Chūnin and I think there is one thing Sandaime wanted to tell you for a long time now. If you'd like…" He glanced at Hiruzen who gingerly nodded and reached into his pocket. Steeling himself, he looked at Naruto. The blond blinked and raised one of his eyebrows.

'What's going on?'

"Naruto-kun…no, now that you are a Chūnin I think I shouldn't use that suffix anymore." Hiruzen muttered to himself before continuing in a firmer tone.

"I am aware you and Jiraiya had a talk about your parents. I… I don't think there is an approach I can take now without looking like an old fool so I'll just say it. Yes, Naruto, you are indeed the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and Kushina Uzumaki, the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero." The former Hokage stared at his favorite blond and nervously waited for his response. Naruto just closed his eyes and breathed out. He had enough time to talk about many things with his Godfather and wasn't going to make things worse for the retired Hokage. He could but he chose not to.

"Yeah."

From the corner of the room, Jiraiya watched the scene unfold with a small smile hovering on his lips.

Blinking at the lack of reaction, Hiruzen hastily continued.

"I did not tell you this because I thought… well, I did a mistake. I apologize for that. Truly, I do. However, I would like if you didn't fault Kakashi for this too. I forbade him from telling you anything and, thus, I am the only one to blame. Don't make him feel guiltier than he already does."

"I won't. It's… well, I came to understand your point of view, jiji. It doesn't mean I don't feel peeved but I'm no longer outright angry at you or at Kakashi-sensei. You had your reasons. I know that. But it'll take some time before I'm no longer even a bit irritated. I hope you understand that too." Naruto replied, his eyes now open and pointed straight at Hiruzen.

"I do, Naruto. Thank you. This…" The former Hokage trailed off and showed him a small envelope he took out of his pocket.

"…is a letter from Minato addressed to you. He wrote it before you were born in case something bad happened to him. He was cautious like that."

Naruto gazed upon the envelope and gulped. He felt quite nervous. The envelope contained a message from his father. A first but definite proof of the truth. He grabbed it and hastily opened it.

'Dear Naruto,

It's your dad (and your Mom!). There are so many things I would like to tell you, son, and so I only hope you never get to read this letter. If we're no longer there for you, I am sure you are doing well, as you are my son.

I love you. We both love you very much. That is the most important thing I want you to know. Even if we're not there, we still love you. We love you more than anything.'

At that point Naruto stopped reading for a while because he had to wipe the few tears that began to flow from his eyes.

'Heh, they loved me…' He though happily. Jiraiya had already told him that, of course, but seeing the confirmation with his own eyes, it felt a lot more real.

'As I am the Fourth Hokage, I am instructing my predecessor, the Third Hokage, to give you this letter only after you reach a certain amount of maturity, strength or will. I'm writing this letter in case both me and your Mom are no longer among the living. In such a case, I hope you've been brought up as a normal and simple child with no knowledge about me. The reason behind it is the danger that my name poses for you. If anybody knew about you without me being there…

You are my son and so I know you will be able to understand these reasons but, at the same time, I can only hope you can also forgive me.

With this letter, I also leave you some of my personal possessions you should find interesting and useful. Some of the scrolls possess my techniques. Some of them are not finished but there is no doubt in my mind if anybody can finish them, it is you, Naruto.

Your Mom wants to tell you something now, so get ready for some emotions! Ouch!

Hey Naruto, this is Kushina, your Mom. Don't listen to this jerk, I have no idea what he's talking about. Anyway, I love you, my baby! I love you, love you, love you so very much, you know?! Heh, I did it again…'

Naruto read the remainder of the letter in complete silence, allowing his tears to flow freely. Nobody tried to interrupt him. Shikaku simply used this time to take a nap while Hiruzen watched the blond with mirth in his eyes. Jiraiya simply reminisced about the past when the Fourth was still alive.

Finally, after he reached the final note, Naruto took a deep breath and glanced at Hiruzen with a smile.

"Thank you, jiji."

After reading the letter, he felt better. Much better. From the way he had written the letter, his Dad seemed like a good and honest guy with a knack to easily rile his Mom. He was also funny, if that was possible to see from a letter. His Mom seemed kind and cheerful but with a quick temper. All in all, they seemed like a perfect couple and Naruto felt he wanted to meet them at least once.

…

"He looked quite happy." Hiruzen noted once it was only him, Jiraiya and Shikaku in the room.

"Wouldn't you be?" Jiraiya asked with a chuckle.

"Yes. Shikaku-san…Shi-, oh dear lord, is he sleeping?" Hiruzen stared at his successor in disbelief, causing Jiraiya to lose it and start laughing heartily.

"…hm, what?" Shikaku muttered when he sleepily opened his eyes, his sleep interrupted with Jiraiya's chuckles. He came face to face with an incredulous looking Hiruzen and so he cursed quietly.

"…and I hoped he wouldn't notice, damn."

Then he cleared his throat and ignored the scandalous expression that formed on Hiruzen's face.

"So, Naruto already left, eh? That means we should be finishing today's business, right?"

"Yeah, there's just that one thing you mentioned." Jiraiya stated after he stopped laughing. Shikaku squinted his eyes and looked at his table.

"Right… where did I put it? Ah, there it is." He said once he grabbed a small piece of paper.

"I know that Shodai said he was confident he could track Lady Tsunade on his own but this should help speed up the process." Shikaku said and handed the paper to Jiraiya. Looking at what was written there, he raised one of his eyebrows.

"How did you get this?"

Shikaku grinned.

"Well, after I received the report on the possible location of Aoi Rokushō, I immediately contacted Jirōchō Wasabi-san. Once I told him we were trying to bring Lady Tsunade back to Konoha, he eagerly put the request on the mission I just gave to Rock Lee. Not only that, he was so excited about the news, he decided to share the last location of Lady Tsunade known to him if only to help us speed up the process. It seems that only recently, he helped her in dealing with the Akagi Family."

"Nice. I'll pass the message on to Shodai."

…

A few days later

"Yosh! Naruto-san, Neji-san, this is the time where we part our ways! May the power of youth be with you!" Lee exclaimed and, with a salute, changed the direction in which he was moving, leaving Naruto alone with the Hyūga prodigy.

For the past few days the three of them had been taking the same route to the Land of Tea and thanks to Lee's outgoing personality, so far, the journey was quite pleasant, if not maybe a bit too tiring. But once they entered the deeper parts of the Land of Tea, because of their different mission objectives, they inadvertently had to part their ways.

Naruto watched the back of the boy in green spandex slowly disappear with a sigh. Now that he was left alone with Neji, he began to feel a bit awkward. He didn't really know the other boy and Neji spent the previous days mostly in silence and didn't try to join any conversation. Therefore, Naruto wasn't sure how to approach the Hyūga.

However, his worries vanished when Neji spoke first.

"Since we don't know the exact location of Aoi Rokushō, I propose we near the town. There is a high probability he is in this Land as a hired saboteur and plans to interrupt the annual race. We should be careful, though. Our last information told us he was previously a Chūnin of Konoha but with the Sword of Thunder God in his possession, he might pose quite the challenge." The boy with pale irises said while not looking directly at Naruto.

The blond shrugged.

"Sure. Makes sense."

He was pleased to see that despite the first impression he got from Neji, the other Chūnin was willing to communicate with him. But that kind of satisfaction didn't last for long, because that was the only conversation the two of them had for the next few hours.

It unnerved Naruto but, at the same time, he didn't object to silence. He wasn't sure what Neji thought of him and so he let the boy as he was. Eventually though, Neji initiated a small talk again by clearing his throat.

"I'm… grateful for what you have done for Hinata-sama during Chūnin exams, Uzumaki-san. Despite my hatred for the main branch of the Hyūga family, I always wished for Hinata-sama not to join the shinobi world as a soldier and so I agree with what you have said to her. She is truly more suited for the role of a medical ninja. I'm glad you have managed to convince her of that. For that, you have my gratitude, Uzumaki-san."

Trailing a bit behind Neji, Naruto rolled his eyes with an almost hysterical expression.

"No problem and please don't call me Uzumaki-san. Just Naruto is alright with me." He said slowly, causing Neji to briefly glance at him.

"I feel a bit… uncomfortable about that but if you truly prefer it that way…"

"I do, please."

Instead of replying, Neji just sharply nodded. Once again they plunged into the sea of silence but this time, it was Naruto who decided to interrupt it.

"I have to say though, you are a lot more polite than I thought you'd be. I mean, no offense, but you were a bit…"

Neji didn't respond for some time and Naruto grimaced, afraid he had gone too far and offended the boy. As the cold wind cooled their faces, the Hyūga sighed.

"I guess you are not completely wrong. I did wallow in a lot of anger back then and probably appeared to be too proud. However, after my teammate, Lee, defeated me in our match and after we shared some words afterwards, I came to a conclusion that a change of my ways was needed in order to continue forward and not backwards. You changing Hinata-sama's path helped in a certain way, too. It appears two people I used to see as losers are the ones who made me see the errors of my way. Quite ironic, don't you think, Naruto?"

While listening to the other boy, Naruto couldn't help but to blink repeatedly.

'What is wrong with this guy? Is he incapable of using simple words? I have to think just to understand what he's trying to say, jeez.'

"Ah well, I guess better late than never?" Naruto replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that."

…

The break of the dawn marked the beginning of the annual race and Naruto, along with Neji, watched it from afar, hidden from sight. In case Neji's insight became true, they would find their target without really having to look for him at all. However, relying on just that wasn't enough and so Neji had already activated his Byakugan and was continuously scanning their surroundings for anything suspicious ever since they had woken up.

With his Byakugan activated, Neji was able to acutely recognize any immediate danger up to fifty meters radius, which allowed Naruto to concentrate more on things other than his surroundings. Moreover, while not capable of seeing small details, Neji could see chakra signatures as large as a human being even further, which made looking for Aoi Rokushō even less complicated.

Discreetly, they moved from one spot to another, meticulously examining the environment around them while also keeping tabs on the race and its contestants. Minutes, even hours passed but nothing happened. The two of them barely spoke at all, not wanting to give away their location to the possible enemy.

Only once they saw Lee and the boy he was escorting closing in on some old-looking docks visible even from that huge distance, the mission changed from being boring to being exciting. When Neji moved closer to him and tapped him on the shoulder, Naruto briefly glanced at him.

"What is it?"

"I see three unknown chakra signatures 35 meters on our right. They are standing still, almost as if they were doing the same thing we are, which is watching the race." Neji whispered. Leaning forward, Naruto carefully looked in that direction but only saw trees and bushes there.

'Damn, these dōjutsu are useful.'

"Can you determine anything further?"

Neji narrowed his eyes and stared at Naruto in confusion.

"Sorry, I just don't know the extent of your Byakugan abilities." The blond replied apologetically.

"I see. Well, since I see their chakra, based on that I think I can safely say that those three are below us in terms of chakra strength." Neji said after a moment of thinking.

"Do you think we should take them down?"

Again, Neji took a few seconds to think about it.

"Our mission objective is to retrieve the sword from Aoi Rokushō. If those three are watching the race and are planning to interrupt it in any way, it is not of our concern but Lee's. He can take care of them if that happens."

Naruto glanced from Neji to the boy's teammate running in the distance and then nodded. It seemed Neji had a lot of faith in Lee.

"Alright, let's move on then."

Their decision to leave the unknown trio alone became irrelevant, though, when they realized the trio was watching and following Lee and his target the same way Naruto and Neji were. Since their presence could potentially jeopardize the Konoha duo's mission in case they encountered Aoi Rokushō, Naruto and Neji decided they had no other choice than to take those three out.

"I hoped they would try something as soon as Lee passed them but if they are really determined to follow them all this way we have to knock them out." Neji whispered.

"I agree." Naruto replied. For a long while, he just stared at the place where the three unknown shinobi were supposed to be in silence. When he heard the other boy moving in their direction, he grabbed his hand.

"Wait. Let me. I think I have a good plan."

Neji slowly turned around and looked at him with raised eyebrow. Before he retorted he threw a short, but intense, glance at the blond's hand on his wrist. Naruto understood and let go of him.

"I just need to know their exact positions."

A minute later, after Neji provided him with the crucial information, Naruto formed a hand-seal and, after a quiet popping sound, two copies of him came into existence. For a moment, the blond froze and silently prompted the Hyūga boy to check on the enemy position.

'I didn't even realize creating Shadow Clones produces that much sound. Doing it in almost complete silence is a bit different. I guess it means there are things I could still improve.' Naruto thought to himself and sighed in relief when Neji gave him a thumbs up.

Nodding to him, Naruto glanced at his clones to make sure they knew what he was planning to do.

'Okay, here goes nothing.' Along with his clones, Naruto sunk into the ground and vanished from the sight. But Neji, thanks to his Byakugan, was able to see and watch him travel underground to the place where the trio of unknown enemies were located.

When he was sure he was in the right place, he and his clones all did the same thing.

'Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation jutsu!'

Three pairs of hands shot out of the ground and grabbed the three unsuspecting shinobi by their ankles and then instantly dragged them down.

"The hell?"

"Oh, crap."

"…it's him. Lucky."

By the time Neji reached him, Naruto got out of the ground and looked at the trio he just caught.

"Good job, Naruto… is something the matter?" Neji asked when he noticed his teammate was staring at the three shinobi who all had a rebreather covering their faces. Naruto just narrowed his eyes and crouched down to the closest shinobi.

"I remember you three… you are those Genin from Amegakure me and the rest of Team 7 met during the Chūnin exams."

Hearing that, Neji too, narrowed his eyes. He deactivated his Byakugan and put away the kunai in his left hand.

"You remember us, that's good." The one with spiky black hair said approvingly, which made no sense to Konoha duo and Naruto immediately voiced that thought.

"What do you mean? Actually, what are you doing here? As far as I know, the relationship between Amegakure and Konoha isn't outright bad so I don't think we should dispose of you. However, it depends on your mission. What is your purpose here?"

The three Ame shinobi glanced at each other. Two of them sent the remaining one, the one who spoke to Naruto a moment before, a meaningful gaze.

"It doesn't really matter what our mission was. Now that we know you, Uzumaki Naruto, is here, we are abandoning it."

Naruto just dumbly blinked.

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?" Neji joined the conversation with a warning glare. The Genin with spiky black hair, Oboro, quickly glanced at Neji before his eyes returned to stare at Naruto.

"You said you remember us, Uzumaki Naruto. Do you remember what I told you the last time we met?"

Naruto stood up and took a few step backwards to look at the Genin from a distance. He didn't understand what was going on but the Ame shinobi were not a threat anymore. Lee and his target were still within his sight and Aoi Rokushō was nowhere near. He had a bit of time to think about the question and so he tried to recall the second test of the Chūnin exams, where he came across those three.

'I remember it was quite an irritating fight but once we got our hands on them they were quite easy to knock out… but then one of them woke up and… yeah, he really did say something. Something about…' Naruto puzzled over the question and tried to remember the scene. Closing his eyes he paced from left to right until he turned to Oboro with one of his fingers pointed at the Genin.

"…I remember. You said your leader is watching me. What the hell does that even mean?"

Listening from a side, Neji narrowed his eyes further but didn't offer any comment and opted to just continue listening in silence.

Oboro looked at Naruto and then, with a nod, motioned him to sit down.

"This will take some time to explain, Uzumak,i but if you listen to me till the very end, you will understand everything. Will you listen?"

Naruto briefly glanced at Neji but the boy just silently stared at Oboro and the rest of Ame Genin, clearly leaving the decision to him. His curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto calmly lowered himself and sat on the ground.

"I'm listening."

Oboro then closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"It all began a few years ago, when the leader of Amegakure was still Hanzō the Salamander. Hanzō-sama was an amazing shinobi, easily on par with any Kage of the five great hidden villages. Me and my team, we thought of him as our role model, an exemplar of what we wanted to be in the future. He was the reason we even decided to become shinobi of our village. That is also the reason we wear these rebreathers. It is a memento of Hanzō-sama, who used to wear a similar thing. But, not long after we were accepted into the Academy, Hanzō-sama was killed and replaced with a new leader. This man, a man we have never seen in person, not only killed Hanzō-sama but went as far as to completely slaughter Hanzō-sama's whole family, each person he was ever in league with or was ever affiliated with. And the people of Amegakure revered this new man, hailed him as a hero who cleansed the land of the relic of the past. Hypocrites and cowards, all of them... Most of Hanzō-sama belongings were also destroyed or inadvertently lost forever. However, by a string of sheer luck, we came across a single scroll. This scroll contained one of the last things Hanzō-sama ever wrote." He explained and went silent for a moment, to collect the rest of his thoughts. Naruto intently listened to him but, instead of getting answers, only more questions popped within his mind.

"We read that scroll and, in memory of Hanzō-sama, decided to follow the instructions we found within it. Carefully and cautiously, we spent years trying to find out things we needed to find."

"…what was in the scroll?" Naruto asked is a serious tone. Oboro stopped talking and looked up, at Neji. It looked like he thought about something but, soon after that, he made a decision. His gaze returned to Naruto.

"Hanzō-sama knew that the current leader of Ame was after him. He knew that even with all the security he had, it was inevitable that there was going to be a clash between them and so he spent most of the time before his death trying to find out the rest of this man's objectives. He wanted to know how to stop him. It was most likely just days before his death he finally discovered it. This man, the current leader of Amegakure, calls himself Pein and his objective is to collect…" Again, Oboro glanced at Neji before continuing.

"…is to collect nine certain individuals, who possess a… very special chakra. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, Uzumaki Naruto, as you are one of them."

Chills ran across his whole body when he heard that and Naruto instantly took out a kunai and pressed it against the defenseless Ame Genin. It happened so fast, Neji barely registered the action.

"Naruto!"

"…how? How do you know?" Naruto ignored Neji and asked Oboro in a low voice. Recently, he came across too many people who knew about the little secret, the Kyuubi. Gulping, Oboro's gaze flickered between the tip of the kunai pressed against his jugular and Naruto's hard glare.

"C-calm down. Let me explain."

With narrowed eyes, Naruto remained still for several seconds but eventually, he withdrew the metallic weapon and sat on the ground again. This time, though, his expression was a lot more serious. Oboro sighed in relief.

"As I said, we spent several years just trying to collect information about these nine individuals and even then, we've been able to discover the identities of only five of them. We know about you only thanks to a scrapped document containing some data from a secret communication canal between Hanzō-sama and Konoha we have found a few years back. But I don't know who Hanzō-sama communicated with, though, I swear."

Naruto continued to stare at the boy until he averted his gaze. Forming a grimace, Naruto spoke to him.

"Okay, let's say I believe you. Continue."

"Yes. Pein's objective is to collect these nine people and take that special chakra from them and use it for something. What it is, even Hanzō-sama didn't know. However, I'm sure you understand it can't be for anything good. It is too much power for one person. Moving on, in the scroll, Hanzō-sama planned to contact each of these people, their respective village leaders, and warn them of Pein. It was an unusual thing to do but it looked like Hanzō-sama was desperate to do something, anything, to prevent Pein from completing his objective. Because he wasn't able to make it, we took the mantle from Hanzō-sama and decided to warn each of these nine people ourselves. You are the only one we managed to contact so far. We tried the other one that was participating in the Chūnin exams but he was too… well, it didn't work out." Oboro continued quickly.

"I see." Naruto replied and immersed himself into his thoughts.

'…I thought it was weird the first time they told me their leader is watching me but this? This is much weirder and much worse than that. Frankly speaking, knowing that somebody who killed Hanzō the Salamander is after me makes my knees weak. Damn…' He thought to himself, trying to keep himself from paling. If what the Ame Genin told him was true, he was screwed really hard.

"You could have told me that during the Chunin exams."

"…we planned to but never got the chance. Even in our fight, you defeated us too quickly and left us unconscious." Oboro said with a bit of dissatisfaction in his voice.

"On another note, we think Pein hasn't started collecting anybody so far for some reason." He spoke again.

"You think? How would you know whether he started to do it or not?" Naruto retorted a bit rudely.

"It's… we feel Pein's presence in Amegakure. Everybody does. You can't see him but you just know he's there. We've felt him ever since he first came and so far, not even once has his presence diminished. We would know if he moved outside the village."

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

'…this is serious. I think I really need to speak to Jiraiya about this.'

"Okay. I get what you're saying. I understand it completely. There is one question though. What to do with you three."

Oboro looked at him and blinked several times, along with his teammates.

"W-well, what are you talking about? We told you we are abandoning our mission and-"

"That's not the point. You know something you shouldn't know. That information is classified and I don't think I'm comfortable with you three knowing it. What should I do to you, hmm?" Naruto stood up and took out a kunai.

"We…we won't tell anybody! We never did! We just want to finish what we started!"

"Really? I'm not so sure. You don't look like somebody who could endure a lot of torture." Naruto muttered in a low voice and walked towards the Ame Genin, his hand with kunai hanging low.

"No!"

…

Some time later, Neji watched his blond teammate with careful eyes but boarded the small boat together with him. Having a bit of a head start on Lee and his target, they decided to use it to cross to the second island of the Land of Tea before them. They had already examined the location of the old docks but Aoi Rokushō was nowhere in sight. When they saw Lee in the distance, they set out. Since Neji had more knowledge about riding a boat, the Hyūga boy took over and steered the small vehicle towards their destination with a firm hand. Still, Naruto felt Neji's constant stare on his back and it quickly made him uncomfortable.

"What is it?" He asked. Not surprised at being caught, Neji continued to steer with a calm expression.

"I just think you played that bluff very well. Telling them you were going to kill them and acting like you truly wanted to do that had a great effect on them. It was a great improvisation on your part and thanks to that, we have this boat and we also know our target is somewhere on the second island."

With one leg propped against the edge of the boat, Naruto slightly turned his head and narrowed his eyes at the other boy.

"Why are you acting so surprised? It almost feels like you are mocking me, Neji."

Neji slowly shook his head.

"Don't misunderstand me, Naruto. It is not my intention to mock you. Before the Chūnin exams started, I tried to find as much data on other competitors as I could but what I found about you stands in stark contrast with what I've witnessed so far. You convinced me you are not a loser as soon as the third part of the exams came but now, I'm seriously thinking either the data I gathered about you were intentionally changed or you've been masquerading as an idiot for quite some time. I'm just pleasantly surprised."

Naruto's hard stare deflated after hearing that and he sighed heavily. He turned his head to stare at the island in the distance and shook his head.

"Both of those are kind of right but also kind of wrong. I've been kind of an idiot but not of my own volition. I think you, of all people, probably knows that feeling. I mean, you have a mark that can boil your brain, if I'm not mistaken."

The boat sharply changed its direction and Naruto almost fell off. Rubbing his sore side, he glanced behind him to see Neji slowly steering the boat to its proper course. It seemed what he said deeply upset the other boy.

"…are you suggesting you have some curse seal on yourself?" Neji asked with a glare, apparently not believing the blond at all. Recalling some of his old memories, Naruto offered him a pained smile.

"Had. It's gone now."

He resumed his position at the front of the boat with one of his legs propped against the edge and so he didn't see Neji's face for some time. And it was fine like that. After a few minutes of silence, during which Naruto listened to the sound of water splashing against the wood surface of their boat, he heard Neji's voice again.

"If that's true, I envy you. My curse seal is not something I can get rid of that easily. It stays with me until the day I die."

"I see. Well, that means I'll have to change how things work in the Hyūga clan once I'm the Hokage, doesn't it? I'll remember that."

Neji looked up to see Naruto giving him an intense stare. The Hyūga boy wanted to laugh at the sheer outrageousness of what the blond just said but those eyes filled with something intense prevented him from doing so. Only a small chuckle escaped his lips.

"Heh, you're a weird shinobi, Naruto."

"I know. And Neji? Thank you for not asking me questions about what those three said about me." Naruto said gratefully.

"It is only natural people have secrets they don't want to share so easily. I respect that. I also believe you would have informed me if this knowledge had been crucial for our mission." Neji replied, causing Naruto to form a small smile. Neji really wasn't such a jerk after all.

…

Veins around his eyes bulged and popped out when Neji pushed an influx of chakra through them.

"Byakugan!"

Naruto and he just arrived to the shore of the second island and both of them were carefully watching their surroundings.

"Do you see anything?" Naruto asked.

"No. He probably saw us coming from afar and retreated back into the inland to… wait a minute… or he didn't. I have a reading on somebody, hiding fifty meters straight in front of us, back behind those thick bushes. Based on the chakra I see, it's probably him." Neji replied after a moment of examining the shore.

"What is he doing?"

Neji raised one eyebrow but kept his gaze straight.

"He's watching us."

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Do you think he's planning to take us head on?"

When Neji moved quickly and assumed a defensive stance, Naruto reached into his pocket and grabbed a kunai.

"Yes, he's doing exactly that." Neji said and both of them watched as a man with shoulder-length green hair, clad in bodysuit and wearing a Hitai-ate with the symbol for Amegakure, jumped out of his hiding place and landed in a small distance from them.

"Two inexperienced and weakly-looking Chūnin from Konoha. Can't say I'm surprised. I've always been underestimated. I advise the two of you to turn around and return to Konoha, unless you want to die, of course."

"Hey, I don't look weak! I don't, right?" Naruto exclaimed and then glanced at Neji with an uncertain gaze. The Hyūga boy ignored him and stared directly at the man in front of him.

"Are you Aoi Rokushō, a former shinobi of Konoha?" He asked calmly.

The man squinted his eyes when he noticed the Byakugan.

"I am."

"Are you in possession of Sword of the Thunder God, a property of the late Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage?"

Aoi's mouth widened into a grin.

"I am."

Naruto watched the exchange while rolling his eyes. Talking this formal just wasn't his cup of coffee.

"Very well. In that case, by the orders of the Fifth Hokage, you are hereby sentenced to death."

His grin widening, Aoi stared at Neji with a smirk.

"Oh? A Chūnin thinks he can just kill a Jōnin? Ridiculous… even outrageous." He said, his face twisting into a sneer at the last word. In a swift movement of his hand, he brought down an umbrella he had been holding in his right hand and then threw it in the air. It spun rapidly and a volley of thin, sharp, metallic needles shot from its edges and straight at the Konoha duo.

'Senbon needles!' Naruto realized and lowered himself so he could jump out of the way but Neji's voice stopped him.

"Get behind me. Eight Trigrams: Palms Revolving Heaven!" Neji exclaimed and rapidly spun around while releasing a large amount of chakra, effectively blocking and knocking away the whole senbon needles shower.

"You didn't have to do that. I could have evaded them." Naruto said once Neji stopped spinning.

"Those needles were poisoned. I didn't want to risk it."

"Oh, that was a nice technique." Aoi quietly congratulated them.

For a moment, all three of them just exchanged glances, none of them moving away from their spots. Nobody spoke, only the sound of waves crashing upon the shore cut through the silence. A refreshing breeze washed over their faces, tickling their skin and messing up with their hair. Seconds passed slowly until the dark clouds above them joined together and tiny raindrops began to fall down from heavens. The roar of the first thunder, echoing through the whole island, marked the beginning of the action.

'Wind Release: Air Bullets!' Naruto hastily molded his chakra within his lungs and spewed a series of moderately large balls of compressed air straight at the enemy and allowed Neji to move forward, towards their opponent.

But the Ame Jōnin reached for something and, with a buzzing sound, a yellow energy protruded from a weirdly shaped hilt he suddenly had in his hand. Naruto watched in disbelief when the man slashed through the balls of air and easily dispelled them. It was as if the man was slicing through a butter.

'Just like Sasuke did… should have known it wouldn't be enough. It seems the only way is to get around that sword.'

When the last Air Bullet vanished, Aoi jumped above Neji and slashed at his back. The yellow energy of the Sword of the Thunder God enlarged itself and shot at the Hyūga boy. But Neji, with his Byakugan, saw it coming and spun again. The slash rebounded and Aoi grimaced. But he had no time to be annoyed because he felt something closing on him fast.

A lone kunai Naruto threw at him was knocked away only to turn into a Shadow Clone which tried to deliver a strong kick into the man's sternum. But Aoi easily evaded the strike and dispelled the copy with a single slash of his sword.

"Such a measly tactic will never work on a Jōnin!" He exclaimed before he landed on the ground and a pair of hands shot out of it and grabbed his ankles. Cursing loudly, he slashed down and dispelled even the second clone. He looked back up to mock Naruto further but the only thing he saw was a blur approaching him at high speed.

Before he was able to raise the Sword of the Thunder God and block the oncoming punch to the abdomen, Naruto's fist connected with his body and sent him flying backwards.

Blood spurted out the man's mouth.

"D-damn you!" He cursed and tried to spin himself in the air, to slow his body down, but he received a blunt hit to his back, which stopped him instantly and caused him slam into the ground, face first.

"You are within my range." Neji, whom Aoi almost forgot about, said quietly and charged at the man with his palms fully open.

Coughing a bit of blood, Aoi pushed himself of the ground and managed to dodge a first short sequence of Neji's Taijutsu attack but then he received a kunai to the back of his knee. He lost his balance and was, therefore, unable to evade Neji's palms anymore.

A sizzling sound of chakra being expelled reverberated through the area when Neji hit Aoi's left shoulder and then continued to hit him many times, until all power left the Jōnin's body.

"…32 palms, 64 palms!" Neji exclaimed loudly and sent a last strike to the man's body, knocking it backwards and on the ground. Aoi's back hit the surface with a thud, no longer able to muster even a straw of strength.

"C-Curse you…" He whispered as more blood poured out of his body.

Neji just stared at him with contempt.

"Too late, I've been cursed from the moment I was born." He said and reached for his kunai. In the next moment, a large amount of blood splashed across the sand where the defeated body of Aoi Rokushō lay as the man took his last breath.

…

Turning away from the burning fire with a disgusted grimace, Naruto crouched at the edge of the rocks and washed his hands and his mouth in the water beneath him. Neji joined him with a sigh.

"Sometimes I wish we lived in a different world where killing wasn't necessary."

"Yeah."

In silence, while the corpse of Aoi Rokushō turned into ash, they just sat there and enjoyed the innocent smell of water.

"But I have to say, this was easier than I thought. He claimed he was a Jōnin yet I think he would get demolished if he faced Kakashi-sensei."

"Well, Kakashi Hatake is not your average Jōnin but yes, I agree. Aoi Rokushō had a skill set of an average Chūnin at best. The only thing he had going for him was the Sword of the Thunder God. Without it, he was nobody and in the end, he relied too much on it."

Naruto leaned to his left and grabbed just that thing. He rolled it over in his hands, examined it closely by lowering his face into it and then tilted his head.

"Well, he at least knew how to turn this thing on. I have no idea how this works. It has an oddly interesting design but that's it."

Neji glanced at it for a second and then shrugged.

"Our mission was to retrieve it, not to learn how to use it. Let's just pack it. Lee and his target should be here in five minutes or so." The Hyūga boy said. With a sigh, Naruto put the hilt into one of his inner pockets and hurried after Neji to clean up the mess that was left after their fight.

He was very grateful for the breeze blowing across the shore as it quickly dispersed the unpleasant stench of burnt blood and human flesh, making the air fresh again. The blond didn't want to vomit again. One time, right after they set the corpse on fire, had been enough.

Just as Neji had predicted, Lee and his target, a young looking boy with dark hair tied into a ponytail, arrived in a matter of minutes. Naruto and Neji briefly informed Lee of success of their mission and wished him luck so he would finish his objective just as favorably.

"Thank you very much, Naruto-san, Neji-san! Hearing your words strengthened my own fire of youth! Let us go, Idate-san!" Lee saluted them and dashed forward, leaving only a cloud of sand in his wake. His target, Idate, just rolled his eyes and followed after him.

Since their mission was over and nothing else was keeping them there, Naruto and Neji set out to return back to Konoha.

…

Until they crossed the border between the Land of Tea and the Land of Fire, the two of them traveled in a comfortable and pleasant silence, having short conversations only when they stopped for breaks or sleep. Both of them used those opportunities to get to know each other better, to know their abilities and skill sets for a future reference, in case they would go for another two-man mission.

When they finally arrived to their homeland, Naruto relaxed a bit and allowed his own thoughts to stray from the path of strict thinking. Increasing his pace, he caught up with the other boy and spoke to him.

"I've been thinking about what you told me about your Byakugan and how it allows you to see even the tenketsu points of your whole body. Thanks to that, you've been able to produce the Eight Trigrams: Palms Revolving Heaven. Do you think it is possible to learn such chakra control even without it? Byakugan, I mean." He asked.

His head slightly turned to Naruto, Neji silently thought about the answer.

"I would say so. Byakugan is only a tool that helped me speed up the process because I could see which tenketsu point I was using in one moment. I still had to master my chakra control. I'm positive I could do that even without my Byakugan but it would have taken me a lot more practice. Why do you ask?" He finally replied. Shyly averting his gaze, Naruto scratched his nose.

"Well, you see, I've been trying to create my own, unique type of Taijutsu for quite some time now. After listening to you, I realized that it shares some similarities with your Gentle Fist."

Neji's eyebrows shot high and he completely turned his head to Naruto, almost crashing in a tree while doing so.

"Your own Taijutsu? That is admirable."

"Yeah, I call it a Hurricane Style. The idea behind it is to coat parts of my body I use for fighting with Wind chakra moments before attacking my enemy. But I've been having a lot of troubles with it. First and foremost, I can add wind element to my chakra quite fast now but I've been able to use it only with my fists. Even then, I can't exactly coat them and instead I only push waves of wind chakra through the tenketsu pints in my palms. Which is quite useless for any other part of my body, since the pressure of wind chakra would rip the clothes covering it every time. You see, I can coat different parts of my body, like feet, knees and elbows, with regular chakra and it's okay. But once I try to add Wind element into it, it spontaneously bursts forward in a form of wave. I guess it's because of the property of Wind element but still, I thought it was doable and that's…" Naruto explained and began to ramble, not even registering that Neji was staring at him with shocked eyes. The more he talked, the wider the Hyūga's boy's eyes got.

"Ridiculous."

"…and… huh? What?"

Neji shook his head and looked at the blond in disbelief.

"What you are talking about is not just chakra taxing, it also requires great mastery over the Wind element, probably even better chakra control than I currently have and… and…" No longer able to form words, Neji broke out of his character and chuckled.

"But it is possible, right? I mean, I saw a shinobi from Iwa doing a similar thing when she coated her arm with Earth element… probably." Naruto said hopefully.

"That I could understand. Earth element is mostly used for defense and so its properties are suited for such manipulation. However, a Wind element is wild and highly destructive. It doesn't flow in a circuit like a Lightning element, isn't naturally peaceful like a Water element nor it is a good servant like a Fire element. A Wind element constantly pushes forward and is one of the hardest basic elements to master completely." Neji explained but seeing the sad expression on Naruto's face, he continued.

"I'm not saying it is impossible. It definitely should be possible but it'll take you a lot of time, years probably, before you master it."

That changed Naruto's expression.

'Years, huh? If it's something with chakra, I have a way to make years into mere months' He thought and tilted his head.

"Let's say I want to continue. You said I would need an expert chakra control but frankly? I think I'm out of ideas how to train it further. How did you do it?"

Neji studied his gaze for a moment before turning away.

"I tried to learn how to differentiate between each of my tenketsu points. For example, look at the palm of your hand. There is a tenketsu point on each of your fingertip. You can start by trying to push chakra through only one tenketsu point at a time. Try it with each tenketsu point you want to use in the future and then add a second one, then a third one. Since you don't have a Byakugan you should get a scroll about chakra pathway system to see where all the tenketsu points are located but until we get to Konoha, I could help you with that if you want."

When he finished talking, Neji noticed that there was a grin glowing on Naruto's face.

"Thanks Neji, I owe you one."

…

Konoha, Hokage's office

Comfortably leaning into his chair, Shikaku folded the report in front of him and put it on the side of his desk. He crossed his arms and adopted a thinking pose while looking at Jiraiya and Hiruzen, who were sitting on both sides of the office.

"So, let me sum this up. The Land of Rice Fields is now called Land of Sound. Orochimaru almost destroyed a branch of the famous Fūma clan and now, this branch that specializes in using chakra threads, unlike the main part of the clan that stands behind the creation of Fūma shuriken, is here in Konoha and wants to join our village." Shikaku said slowly.

"Yes, though originally, they wanted to stay in their homeland to try and rebuild their branch however, since Tsunade is coming back, I offered them a place in Konoha. Their secret techniques, coupled with Tsunade's medical prowess, could result in a medical breakthrough. I'm sure it will interest Tsunade and further convince her to stay here, permanently." Jiraiya replied with a grin, clearly satisfied with himself.

"That sounds good. It is a shame, however, that we know nothing about Orochimaru's current location." Hiruzen remarked with a thoughtful gaze, causing Jiraiya's grin to fade a little.

"True but we managed to destroy one of his hideouts and, thanks to brats, we discovered pieces of information that all point to one fact. So far, it seems Orochimaru has been unable to remain in his hosts bodies for longer than three years and his current body is slowly giving out. Based on other information I have, it looks like he's trying to prolong its use, which is… odd. I'm sure he has plenty of other bodies he could use yet it's like he's waiting for something and I don't like the sound of that." He added in a serious tone. Shikaku stared at him for a moment before sighing loudly.

"No point in worrying about it. We just have to be prepared for anything. I think there will be no trouble with establishing the branch of Fūma clan in Konoha, especially if they are willing to share their techniques. Furthermore, I agree with what you said. It should interest lady Tsunade."

"Not to mention it looks like we have one or two Genin who are dying to meet her and become her apprentices, one of which is a Byakugan user." Hiruzen added with a smirk. Jiraiya chuckled.

"Yeah. I think she'll be thrilled. Also, how very sly of you to create a new Medical Division just for Tsunade, Shikaku. You're already thinking like a Hokage and it took only… a week or so?"

Shikaku rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, ha-ha… do you know just how troublesome it was to do that? I had to do so much paperwork…" His gaze then fell on a report that he put away as soon as he read it.

"…and then there's that." He said while nodding to the report.

Both Jiraiya and Hiruzen cringed.

"Yeaaaah, well, I didn't really expect Tsunade to simply come home without putting up some fight." Jiraiya muttered and Hiruzen only agreed with him. Shikaku looked at him with a sardonic stare.

"Sure, but she took it way too literally! And Shodai-sama too! Did they really have to destroy so much of Tanzaku Town just before the winter festival?!"

End of Chapter 15.

Back again with a new chapter.

How soon did you realize the beginning wasn't a start of anything serious?

Shikaku is a different Hokage, that's for sure. As expected of him. Yet he still remains the same. The torture part was, in my humble opinion, something a shinobi must pass in order to be ready for dangerous missions. I think Shikaku handled Sasuke quite well. Naruto finally has it official and Tsunade is coming to town.

Relics is connected with the Sword of the Thunder God but also with Tsunade coming back. Bringing important people and things back is Shikaku's priority. The mission was less about fighting and more about Neji & Naruto. Oh, we also know what team Oboro wanted from Naruto baaack during the Chunin exams. Hurricane style! Sounds fitting, doesn't it? I can do so much with it...

To reviews:

*Kit - uzumai harem, heh. Karin will show, though. Hashirama will get in contact with Naruto soon but no, no wood element for Naruto. And I'm not really a fan of this 'Ashura' 'Indra' thing from canon. I don't know whether it'll be in this story. I have something a bit different planned.

*Shark42 - well, Neji and Naruto got to know each other. It's something, right?

*an1m3fan - I dislike spoilering but I can tell you I thought about it. In this chapter, after Naruto gets the letter, you see what he yearns for. Learnig seals, he may just stumble upon something and do something really, reaaaally stupid in order to get what he yearns for.

*mundanebeast - in that case, stay tuned for new adventures of Naruto!...lame?...ok..

*thor94 - because they both had personal matters to take care of and Itachi is the man in their relationship. If he says they are going, they are going. Oh boy, do I have something planned for Naruto? Ofc I do! It won't take long before it happens.

*drago123 - that's one the reasons I made him Hokage. To see what I could do with that.

*Guest - tailed suppression tips? Sound good.

*puiwaihin - I'm not familiar with that but I do understand. Like I said to drago123, I want to see what can I do with this twist.

*Gacsam - you're right. I will fix it.

*Cerulean_Knight - Jiraiya has a plan, count on that.

*Truth_Is_What_You_Make_Of_It - we shall see.

*The_DCG - well aren't you rude! It is in Sasuke's character to lose it when Itachi is involved. It would've been odd if he didn't do what he did. I think I had Shikaku explain it quite well in this chapter. Sasuke is only human.

*Shigure_Toshiro - it could.

*BowTechsniper - Naruto has to overcome his issues first, which could come sooner than you think.

Many thanks to the rest of you as well! Every review is a source of my will! Next time, Tsunade arrives to Konoha, Naruto meets a new person who will help him in a certain way... look forward to it!

Till next time! R&R.