Thousand Hands (Naruto)

Short one, this time.

-----

Following his ears, Naruto managed to reach the others' location. Much to his relief, everyone seemed more or less fine. On the other hand, their target wasn't there anymore. "What happened?" Naruto asked, and he could tell he wouldn't like the answer, already.

Biwako had an expression vicious enough to curdle milk on her face, causing Naruto to worry even more. Before Yamato could speak, she said, "What do you think? We've lost the target!"

Naruto looked from Biwako's furious face to Mito's perplexed expression to Yamato's more controlled reaction, though for the first time, the man looked honestly worried. Yamato said, "This- I was not expecting this type of opponent, I will freely admit."

"Who- who was it?" Naruto asked, not getting why Yamato looked so unnerved and Mito so confused. Even Biwako's fury was more than he would have expected, even at such a major failure.

-----

"They- they looked like ANBU, but they can't have been Konoha ANBU!" Mito said, gesturing wildly. "Their masks were like ANBU, but blank."

Naruto went very still. Now, Biwako's anger makes sense. Shimura Danzo….

Yamato sighed loud enough for Naruto to catch it, which was a first. "We're returning to the Fire Temple to report our failure, then it's back to Konoha," he said, his tone showing he wouldn't budge.

Not feeling like arguing, Naruto walked after Yamato. Even Mito didn't argue, though Naruto noticed her open and close her mouth more than once.

As for Biwako, Naruto could tell she was quietly seething. Then again, Naruto wasn't exactly happy with how things had gone. He hated having to disappoint the monks. Besides, he didn't want a failed mission on his record, even for Konoha – especially due to Danzo's meddling. 'And now I've gotten angry again,' Naruto thought to himself, gritting his teeth and trying to tune out Shukaku's whispers.

When the team reached the Fire Temple proper again, it was to a mournful atmosphere. With a sinking feeling in his gut, Naruto fished the alarm seal out of his jacket's pockets. Unfortunately, its paper had been shredded, along with much of the jacket itself, with less than half the seal intact. The good news was that the scroll housing the notebook with Kakuan Nitten Suishu's hand-seals was intact.

We have even more bad news to deliver. Damn it.

Even Biwako's hand on Naruto's shoulder didn't help much. He tensed for a moment, but he didn't shrug it off.

-----

After much effort and guilt-tripping, Naruto had managed to persuade Yamato to delay the journey back to Konoha. He didn't have any funeral clothes with him, but according to Chiriku, the gesture meant a lot.

Chiriku had proceeded to find funeral wear in Naruto's size for Head Monk Chuukaku's funeral service. Naruto was trying his hardest to not think who they might have belonged to before.

After Chuukaku's body had been cremated and his ashes put into an ornate wooden jar, in Fire Temple tradition, Chiriku -who had been made the new Head Monk despite his age- asked for a word with Naruto. Dreading what the man might say, Naruto agreed, after looking at his sensei.

Apparently Yamato trusted Chiriku enough to let him speak to Naruto in private, though Naruto could tell that Yamato was still near.

Naruto was certainly not expecting Chiriku to bow low and say, "Thank you so much, Naruto-sensei! I wish I had a way to repay you adequately!"

"But- I failed!" Naruto said, very loudly, "if I had been faster and better-"

Without letting Naruto continue, Chiriku said, "As much as I would like to blame someone for Chuukaku-dono's death, he was old and rather frail. He was over a hundred years old! As it is, I am truly grateful to you for saving Goji and keeping Chuukaku-dono alive long enough for him to wake up and say his goodbyes."

Naruto was tearing up, despite himself. He hid his tears from Chiriku, as was his habit. 'I wouldn't mind living here, in the Fire Temple,' Naruto thought to himself. That thought turned sour soon, though.

Even though the Fire Temple was considered the closest thing to an independent entity and answered to none but the Fire Daimyo, Naruto wouldn't be able to trust them not to take him to Konoha. After all, wouldn't they want the son of the great hero, Namikaze Minato, to be 'home'? 'On the other hand, I should keep my options open,' Naruto's subconscious insisted.

-----

The journey back to Konoha had been without incident. Currently, Team Seven were in a sealed briefing room somewhere in the Administrative building.

"I see, I see," Kakashi said, his body language making him look relaxed, but Naruto wasn't fooled. Then, Kakashi said, "Unfortunately, there is not much we can do – I will try, but I doubt there is any proof. I am declaring the presence of those fake ANBU in your mission a B-ranked secret."

A loud voice pierced the silence. "What! Kakashi…. You're just going to sweep this under the carpet!?"

With a sinking feeling, Naruto realized it was Biwako who had just spoken. Kakashi was only staring at her and Yamato had frozen, so it fell to Naruto to calm her down. He put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing tighter when he saw her mouth open.

"…I will let this disrespect -nearly insubordination- pass, but there's a limit to my patience," Kakashi said, looking at Biwako without his usual laxity.

Naruto felt Biwako tense, but before they got a chance to say anything, Yamato snapped out of- whatever had affected him. He said, "Biwako! I had not expected this of you! I know that you are often a bit disrespectful. You have crossed a line today, though. Hokage-sama; may I be in charge of her punishment?" His dark eyes cold to the point of emotionlessness, making Naruto shiver.

Kakashi only nodded, making Naruto grimace in sympathy and really glad he wasn't in her place, at the same time.

-----

Naruto had finally been dismissed by Yamato, who had decided to punish all three of them as a team with the most crappy and disgusting D-ranks, though Biwako was taking the brunt of it willingly. Apart from some dirty looks Mito had thrown Biwako, there was no infighting, but Naruto knew that Biwako didn't have a high opinion of Mito, either.

Despite being tired, Naruto felt restless and agitated. Part of it was likely the full moon, but Naruto had another reason for feeling like that. Preferring to conserve his Chakra, Naruto waited a few moments, having asked Katsuyu to summon him instead of Reverse Summoning himself to them.

Before Naruto could finish his inner monologue, he was back in Shikkotsu Forest, his aunt watching him with a sharp gaze. Naruto quickly took a certain notebook out of its storage scroll, checking the seals and doing his best to remember the feel of Yamato's Chakra.

"…Kakuan Nitten Suishu!" Naruto said out loud, mainly because it was a bit more likely for a new jutsu to be successful like that. A very small wooden pillar came out of the ground. It lacked the wooden spikes of Yamato's version and felt a bit- off.

…After over two hours of attempts, Naruto was getting more agitated, to the point he knew he'd be unable to rest all night. Fortunately, if his estimations were right, he had reached Biwako's level of Chakra Reserves; maybe even pulled ahead. Unfortunately, she was still better at drawing out a lot of Chakra fast, but Naruto was ahead in all other aspects of Chakra Control.

Combined with Naruto's rate of Chakra regeneration having skyrocketed from around a thousand times faster than the average for a ninja to so insanely fast, it was comparable to the Fountain of Youth and Ho-oh from some of his Manga, and Naruto could practice until the sunrise, or even longer.

…Naruto had managed to make just as many pillars as Yamato, at around the same size in the past few hours. He still felt that something was off with his usage of the jutsu, though. 'What am I doing wrong?' Naruto thought to himself, 'I'm doing exactly the same-'

Suddenly, it hit Naruto: Yamato's Mokuton was far inferior, to the point Yamato felt strange to Naruto's senses; Yamato's Chakra Reserves, while not below par for a relatively strong Jounin, were much lower than Naruto's; the man's Chakra Control was at most on par with Naruto's…. In short, Naruto should have been trying to make his own version, not copying Yamato wholesale.

'Kakuan Nitten Suishu,' Naruto said in his mind, going through the hand-seals.

The much sturdier-looking pillars felt more- alive to Naruto's senses, but that wasn't enough – he knew he could do better. With help from Tsunade, Naruto started trying other hand-seal combinations. The most promising one seemed to be Snake, Bird, Dog, Tiger, Snake.

Before long, Naruto remembered the time he had modified the Dog hand-seal to purify water more easily – or, rather distill it, removing most extra parts. He told his aunt of his idea to modify the Snake Seal, too, along with the jutsu.

That led to his aunt smacking Naruto upside the head for his past carelessness, but she did give him leave to try the plan.

In the end, after hundreds of Wood Clones and Shadow Clones trying the jutsu with different hand-seals, Naruto thought up something else, then went through with it. He modified the Rat Seal, not just the Snake Seal. The latest sequence was Bird, modified Rat, Tiger, modified Snake. After a few more trials, a Naruto who was ready to collapse from the fatigue and lack of sleep ended up with the final product, at least for the time being. A semi-new jutsu.

Tiger, modified Snake, Bird and modified Rat. Or, rather, Tiger, Wood, Bird and Yin-Yang, as he had decided to name them. Tsunade was looking at Naruto with her mouth open, on the other hand.

She said, "Naruto…. I think that you've inherited our uncle Tobirama's brilliance as a jutsu inventor. You haven't just made new jutsu. Distilling water on the fly and inventing new hand-seals is less about making jutsu and more inventing new branches of jutsu. That you were able to do so so quickly boggles the mind! Even with clones.

"Then again, you have so much Chakra and have gotten so good at functioning without rest, that you sped up the process, while Tobirama wasn't anywhere near as impressive as Grandpa, Chakra-wise," Tsunade said, making Naruto deflate a bit.

His failures at reverse engineering Hiraishin came to Naruto's mind – he shouldn't be getting cocky, as he wasn't anywhere near the level he needed to be.

…Feeling as prepared as he would get, Naruto stepped in front of Shukaku's cage, his fatigue and lack of sleep not disappearing, but being muted while in his mind, or whatever this realm was. 'A crossroads one's body, one's mind, one's Chakra and anything sealed in that person are able to meet, mostly as representations', according to Tsunade.

"Well, well. If it isn't the brat," Shukaku said, calmly enough to unnerve Naruto.

"Shukaku," Naruto said, facing up the Bijuu without the slightest tremble, even though he was nervous – not that he would admit that to Shukaku. Then, with barely any hesitation, Naruto went through four hand-seals, making four huge pillars in front of Shukaku's cage. 'Modern Sacred Jutsu: Living Sealing Gate!'

Those pillars sprouted vines, which connected with one another, covering Shukaku's cage almost completely. Not without said Bijuu getting in a few words, though.

"I’ve heard of what your ancestor did to the other Bijuu, Senju, and you are not that different from him. He sold my brethren like so much cattle; you captured me to use my power, no matter how you might try to lie, to say it was necessary," Shukaku said, a serious note in his voice, again, "you will seek me out again, someday, when your power and skill fails you. I'll be waiting…."

As Naruto's jutsu worked, Shukaku's voice was getting fainter until Naruto could barely even sense his presence. He slapped a sealing tag on one of the wood pillars, making sure that the living gate would stay there as long as he had Chakra.

Naruto scratched his scalp and chin. He had managed to purge Shukaku's influence from his mind. Why, then, didn't he feel like celebrating?

-----

Getting up from what felt like a week-long sleep, Naruto moved sluggishly to sit up, letting out a huge yawn. Before long, some clarity set in, though. He couldn't feel Shukaku at all, his new Jutsu apparently doing its job. According to Tsunade, Naruto had slept for nearly twenty hours.

Naruto did some stretches, under his aunt's watchful eye, feeling like a burden had left his shoulders. After a few Chakra Control exercises, Naruto concluded that his Chakra reserves had dropped significantly, as had his Chakra Control. Even his rate of recovery had dropped a bit. He told his aunt about it immediately.

"What do you think is at fault, Auntie Tsunade?" Naruto said, worried that his combat capabilities had dropped.

Tsunade let out a grunt, then said, "As I'm sure you've concluded already, the most likely reasons for your reserves dropping are you losing most of your access to the Ichibi's Chakra and tying down a good portion of your Chakra to maintain that jutsu. Oh, well – considering your rate of Chakra regeneration, that shouldn't bother you much.

"Speaking of which, the Bijuu Chakra's potency must have increased your Chakra regeneration rate, and now it's mostly back to normal. As for your Chakra Control, I think the reason is you having gotten used to the Ichibi's Chakra, so the almost complete absence of it is throwing you off. Well, your Chakra Control worsening is a bit more alarming, but I'm fairly confident you will fix it soon."

Naruto was sure he would be able to absorb Shukaku's Chakra at some point in the future, but at this point, any attempts were more likely to metaphorically explode in his face. Still, going from having more Chakra than Biwako to significantly less, again, isn't pleasant. Is the jutsu taking my Chakra constantly because Shukaku is resisting or something?

Naruto would also need to retrain himself in Chakra Control-

A gentle voice Naruto recognized as Katsuyu's said, "Tsunade-sama! Naruto-san! A Hawk has left a message for Naruto-san!"

Making sure to stay respectful and polite, as he had learned his lesson, Naruto took the message as quickly as he could.

Leaving for mission at 1400 hours. Hurry.

It wasn't signed, but Naruto would recognize Biwako's calligraphy anywhere. Realizing he had twenty-five minutes until that time, Naruto threw the scroll at his aunt and went through the hand-seals of the Reverse Summoning jutsu.

Apparently, Naruto wouldn't get the time to build up his Chakra Control again.

-----

Omake: I can see Uranus

"The starting place being a sewer probably has to do with your seal being around your intestines. You start at an analogue of your large intestine, then end up where the seal is, in the control room of what amounts to a water purification facility, maybe because purifying Shukaku's Chakra is what the seal does and because the small intestine draws nutrients out of foods. Your Chakra is the green water beneath you and in the pipes.

"The pipes representing your Chakra Circulatory System meet the seal at a certain tenketsu, one of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Limit. The somewhat gloomy and dark ambience of the sewers is likely because of your lonely past and the complete clarity of the green water signifies your clarity of purpose nowadays," Tsunade said, barely pausing to breathe.

"Um, two- no; three questions. One: What happens if I open the Gate of Limit using the Eight Gates Formation? Two, how did you manage to get all that from just what I told you?"

"I have no idea about the first. As for your second question, you'll get there someday if you sharpen your mind and study the medical field, including psychology, enough. You said you had a third question, though," his aunt said.

"Well, it's a silly question," Naruto told her.

"No question is silly, if asked with the proper mindset," Tsunade said, smiling a little bit.

Naruto said, "If I'm starting somewhere around the large intestine, does that mean the entry point is my-"

Tsunade sighed, then rubbed her forehead and temples, saying, "Yeah, there's metaphor and then, there's taking it too far."

 

…I ended up writing psychological horror, then cut it short. The cult of Kaguya I invented was something even BZetsu can't stand, BTW. It's inspired by some of the ancient natives of Latin America, with human sacrifices and all. As for the Rabbits, I think you can guess why rabbits.

…I hope that I managed to portray teamwork in combat well.

-----

Kakashi, a scroll in hand, said, "The mission for Team Seven is to find a certain unit of Uzumaki survivors and persuade them to come live in Konoha. Because of the sensitive nature of this mission and its position, it's classified as a B-rank, but it's unlikely for combat to break out," then threw the mission scroll at Yamato. He also threw another scroll at the younger man, maybe one containing a message like the one for Baki last time.

What he didn't say was that Mito was being used as a lure because she was obviously an Uzumaki descendant – Naruto wasn't sure if Mito had realized that, but he wouldn't be surprised either way. It was also a mission he could use to recruit people for his future village, if he could get away with sabotaging a B-ranked mission. A look from Biwako showed her to be on the same page.

-----

Apparently, the band of Uzumaki survivors had been last seen somewhere in the south of the recently renamed Land of Sound. The team set out at great speed through the trees.

Either it's really urgent, or Yamato has realized we don't need to be coddled so much.

Either way, Yamato's teaching style was growing on Naruto. If Kakashi had been teaching them at a frantic pace -maybe he had expected he wouldn't stay their teacher for long, for whatever reason- and Tsunade was the sadistic trickster type of mentor, Yamato just- got it.

He had started out slow, but the man had a way with words – some parts of Chakra theory Naruto had missed, mostly basics, Yamato had noticed very quickly and been able to cover in a way that Naruto could easily get. Far better than Tsunade and Kakashi; Yamato was a natural tutor. He knew how to explain things in depth, to leave his student to figure things out on their own sometimes and which student needed which approach at a given time.

Naruto was using their movement through trees to sharpen his Chakra Control again. As a result, he would fumble the jumps a lot. At first, his falls would make Mito laugh, but she stopped laughing after the third time, and was likely worried enough to speak up.

The sixth time or so Naruto fumbled his jump, Yamato said, "Naruto. Has your Chakra Control slipped, or are you trying something new?" Without stopping moving, beating Mito to the punch.

Naruto said, grimacing, "I'm getting the hang of it again, Yamato-sensei. There might be something off with my Chakra's flow, or maybe it's the fatigue," telling a partial truth.

Yamato said, "Do you think you are well enough to continue?" With his usual calm.

Pretending to think it over, Naruto said, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's temporary. I got examined by a medic-nin- I mean, a medic-nin even better than me. I just got to improve the normal way again," after a small pause.

As Naruto had expected, he got less and less clumsy as they went on until, to even most ninjas, there would be little to no difference from how he had been at the end of the last mission. Unfortunately, he needed more practice to get back to normal.

Naruto needed a lot more Chakra manipulation training, if his Control could be shaken so easily; he was sure that was what Tsunade would tell him after the mission. He winced, imagining what kind of training she would have Naruto do to make him able to control his Chakra, no matter what.

"Sensei," Mito said, sounding impatient, "how far is the Land of Sound?"

"We should be there before nightfall, even with a rest stop," Yamato said, replying to Mito's question.

If Yamato was right, the Land of Sound was actually very close. It had taken an entire day, plus several hours, for them to get to the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, starting from Konoha, in an older mission. Gaara….

Biwako had gotten incredibly good at not wasting her physical stamina – something about practicing her singing, even if Naruto didn't get what that had to do with anything. As a Jounin, Yamato was already very good at that. So, for the first time, it was Mito who had gotten tired first, despite Naruto having had his abilities set back. His Chakra regeneration and physical stamina were still way better than they had been before the Land of Wind – the lack of Shukaku's Chakra wasn't as big a setback as he had thought.

The three of them were seated on some boulders, with Yamato having gone a bit farther away to do- something. Naruto started looking around, but his eyes stopped on Mito for a bit, who was on the closest boulder. Her breathing looked steady already. In fact, she looked more rested than Biwako. Naruto hadn't noticed immediately, but the atmosphere had gotten more humid. The Land of Sound and places near it had damp weather, apparently.

Naruto's eyes went back to Mito and met her gaze. She examined Naruto for a moment, then said, "Naruto. Are you all better now? You having Chakra Control so bad is- strange."

"Yeah," Naruto said, smiling, "Auntie will make sure I'm worse before I'm better, but I'm gonna be better than ever!"

Mito grimaced. She then said, "Don't try to fake smiles like that – it makes you look creepy."

"All my smiles are like that," Naruto said, grinning lightly.

"Much better," Mito said, a small smile on her face, "you were overacting before." Making Naruto wonder just why she knew so well how to fake a smile. "Anyway, who's this 'Auntie' person?"

Naruto froze in place. He said, "Oops! I've forgotten to introduce the two of you! She's Dad's biological aunt!"

Mito squinted while looking at Naruto. She said, "That's the first I hear of an aunt. How sure are you?"

Naruto thought it over for a bit. How should I phrase it? Then, he said, "I had reason to believe I was related to her, but neither of us knew we were also related to Dad. She discovered it with some help from blood tests and family resemblance."

Mito sighed. She said, "I mean no offense to this person, but are you sure she's not tricking you? I mean, lots of people try to use my fame."

"She's famous, too," Naruto said, breathing slowly, trying not to snap at Mito. "Auntie Tsunade is very well-known!"

After a few moments of stillness, Mito's eyes bugged out. She said, "Pervy Sage's teammate? The most beautiful woman in the world, best medic, best knockers, the strongest kunoichi and all that?"

Naruto grimaced. He said, "Ugh, yes. She's the one. Do you have to say it like that, though?"

Rolling her eyes, Mito said, "Oh, come on! You try being Pervy Sage's apprentice and not getting stuck with some of his habits! Not peeping, though, of course."

Letting out a laugh despite himself, Naruto said, "Does that mean Jiraiya-sama spies on naked women?" Mito's words sounding like a hilarious joke. Seeing Mito's flat stare, Naruto stayed quiet for a moment, then said, "Wait, really?" His eyes bugging out. He hadn't expected that. "So, all the times Auntie Tsunade called him a pervert, that's what she meant? I figured he just kept flirting with her in a pervy way!"

When Tsunade had been teaching Naruto Touton (Transparent Escape), an invisibility jutsu, she had made a comment about Jiraiya having made it for 'another sort of spy work', but it had flown over Naruto's head. In hindsight, it was kind of obvious.

Mito sighed out loud. She said, "You get used to his antics. Don't worry, he hasn't ever touched anyone without their say so, and he avoids spying on anyone who isn't in her late teens and older."

That did relieve Naruto. He then said, "Say, Mito, do you have a seal I can use to train my Chakra Control at difficult times? Something that makes it harder to manipulate it?"

Mito put her hand under her chin, then said, "Well, there's the Five Elements Seal, but that's not gonna be enough if your Chakra Control can return to almost normal so fast. Besides, it can have side-effects if you keep it for longer than a month or so.

"Maybe the Dual Gates Seal or the Three Seasons Seal…? After the mission, of course," Mito said, stretching a bit.

"Yeah, putting seals like that on me during a mission wouldn't be a good idea," Naruto admitted. "Just so I know, will the Three Seasons Seal interfere with an even-numbered seal I have on me?"

Mito's eyebrows climbed up. She said, "As long as both are stacked correctly, there should be no problems."

Naruto thought it over. He said, "Stacking is how seals in three dimensions are folded into two, right?"

Mito nodded, saying, "Yeah, but it's not just three dimensions. Dad's version of Hiraishin is supposed to have needed a lot of math that- well, there's a reason Pervy Sage sometimes calls him a mad genius. He did something with multiple dimensions and folding space and time, something that Pervy Sage compared to something called String Theory he had seen in Orochimaru's notes.

"While his Hiraishin left most of the calculations and Chakra cost to the Jutsu Formula, the user still needs to do some complex calculations in their mind, on the fly. There might be some Complex Numbers mixed in there, too; something about false space being best represented by Imaginary Numbers."

Naruto was slowly realizing that Mito was a lot smarter than she usually let on. Most of the information, he had already known from Tobirama's and the other Mito's books, but his sister's grades in Math during the Academy had been- not exactly mediocre, but barely in the top five.

"Ah, I rambled on!" Mito said, blushing in embarrassment. "When I'm talking about Sealing theory, I sometimes get carried away."

"Mito," Naruto said, furrowing his brows, "how come you got low grades in Math during the Academy?"

"Ugh," Mito said, grimacing, "that was kiddy stuff! I had known everything we learned about Math in the Academy from when I was four. I got bored in the Academy, every time!"

"I can relate. I didn't start learning so early, but I can really relate!" Naruto said and let out a chuckle, which gradually turned into an open-mouthed, loud laugh. Mito laughed along, goading Naruto on, which meant they kept laughing until Naruto was in tears.

When Naruto looked around again, he noticed Biwako had left the boulder she had been on. I should go and find her-

Before Naruto could put his thought into action, he realized that Biwako was approaching, as was Yamato. Yamato said, "All rested?" Waiting for their nods before setting off again, at a slow pace.

Naruto was about to ask why Yamato wasn't letting them go fast, but was distracted by what sounded like a waterfall. Not long after that, the four of them landed on the ground at the edge of the forest, to a view that was- breathtaking. Beneath them, to the side, was a cliff leading to a lake. Up front was the waterfall he had heard earlier, leading to the same lake.

With a more careful look, Naruto noticed that the valley the lake was a part of had only large trees. The largest ones were kind of fami- they were Hashirama trees! There was something strange about the valley, beyond the statues on both sides of the waterfall.

A muttered 'Madara!' from Biwako, though it sounded more like a growl, made Naruto realize where they were: the Valley of the End. Walking on water at a point the current wasn't so strong, along with his teammates, Naruto thought over the clues. It was said that Madara and Hashirama had rearranged the landscape, and considering what he was seeing and generally sensing, that wasn't an exaggeration.

-----

…Having left behind the Valley of the End -which was just before the border- hours earlier, Biwako had been looking for traces of the Uzumaki clan survivors, her already foul mood getting worse and worse. 'I swear,' she thought to herself, 'if they weren't related to Naruto, I'd take my anger out on the bastards.'

There was nothing of note around the cave on her left, so that left her with- wait. There's nothing of note in the cave. Suspicious- there's nothing of note there. Sharingan!

The effect of the genjutsu, or whatever it was, had been weakened greatly. Biwako ignored the strange looks from the others, though Naruto looked like he had come to a realization. About time!

Before Biwako, Naruto or the others could react further, the rocks at the cave entrance rearranged themselves. To Biwako's eyes, the whole thing seemed almost incomprehensible, Sharingan or not. Almost. Fortunately, she was familiar with the Uzumaki Sealing Style, even if that particular trick wasn't something she had known. Her stomach felt like it was about to come out of her mouth, despite her not being prone to nausea.

Yamato was the first one, after Biwako, to shake himself out of the stupor they were in. 'Wait. The Sharingan!' Biwako thought to herself, switching off her bloodline and hoping Yamato hadn't gotten a glimpse.

"Stay behind me and be alert," Yamato said in an urgent-sounding tone, walking towards the -much bigger than before- opening of the cave. His scent was- weaker and more forest-like than before somehow, though. That sounds familiar- oh!

After several seconds of nothing, Biwako managed to literally sniff out an adult female heading towards them, so she told Yamato. True to what Biwako had expected, a redheaded woman walked out of the cave. She appeared to be in her mid-to-late twenties and was of average height for an adult woman. Most importantly, her scent made Biwako realize that the woman was powerful, and definitely not one to be trifled with.

The woman's reddish brown eyes assessed them in a way that made Biwako's heart rate pick up, reminding her of the way Itachi would usually look at most Uchiha Clan members, the year before his slaughter of the clan, only even colder. She finally spoke voice low-pitched for a woman, saying, "Welcome to our humble abode. What is it that brings you here, Konoha shinobi?" Her expression not betraying anything other than the fact she was used to being obeyed. Something was off about her, though, and Biwako would stay on guard.

Yamato stepped forward, saying, "I am a Jounin of Konoha, called Yamato, and these are my students."

"I'm Mito. I'll be in your care," Mito said, stepping forward, making the woman's eyes widen, then narrow.

"Naruto," Naruto said, pointing to his chest with his palm. The redheaded woman's gaze sharpened further when she heard his name, putting Biwako on alert.

Stepping forth in a way that brought her closer to Naruto, Biwako said, "My name is Biwako. What is yours?" Biwako said, with calculated politeness, bowing enough to be comfortably in the polite zone but not nearly deeply enough to show subservience.

The unknown woman said, "My name is Kōrin," smirking at Biwako for a moment. "Do you see, Yamato-san? This one is polite. Unlike some, who might have sent a clone for their introduction," making a single-handed hand-seal-

Biwako did the same and let air fill her lungs at the same time-

Stalagmites similar to the ones Naruto tended to use in his Doryuuso jutsu rose out of the ground, impaling Yamato's legs and feet and hiding Kōrin from view. Biwako jumped up high, holding her breath, then fired off her Katon ninjutsu towards the place Kōrin's scent was coming from in multiple spheres, saying 'Housenka no jutsu!'in her mind.

A wave of water swept Biwako aside, also snuffing out Biwako's jutsu. For a few moments, she was unable to tell up from down, but fortunately, with a combination of Water Walking and Tree Climbing, she managed to hold on and go up a tree to save herself.

That Suiton ninjutsu reminded her of Naruto's attacks, except executed with Shizune's grace and Tsunade's level of effectiveness, efficiency and skill. Whether by luck or design, Biwako and the surroundings were too drenched to use her Lightning ninjutsu without risking hurting Naruto -and the others-, though she made sure to at least somewhat dry up herself using Fire Style.

'Wait,' Biwako thought to herself, 'where is Naruto?' gritting her teeth. 'No. No, no, no! Not again!' Biwako said in her mind; his ever-present scent was nowhere to be found, more obvious than ever in its absence. Yamato's scent was also nowhere- no. It was coming from- a tree? As for Mito, Biwako couldn't find a scent either, but she had more pressing things to do.

Biwako turned her back on where she thought Yamato was and activated her Sharingan, immediately focusing on Naruto's last position. Rapidly disappearing traces of Chakra were going toward the West. Biwako wracked her mind for what was there. Unfortunately, she hadn't bothered to fully memorize a world map. Waterfall country, with the Waterfall Hidden Village is that way, right? There's a country between Rice and Waterfall, but what is its name?

After switching off her Sharingan, Biwako went to report her findings to Yamato, though she made sure to attribute them to her nose only. Speaking of which, Mito was still around; her scent had just been temporarily drowned out.

Once he had deigned to show himself and hear Biwako out, Yamato looked truly troubled. He said, "This is above our paygrade; we need reinforcements!" Biwako's whole body twitched, but Yamato's next words and actions were, at least, not idiocy. He made another Wood Clone and sent it for reinforcements, then said, "Let's go after them," his expression grave.

As for Mito, she wasn't talking, but the rare snarl-like expression on her face was saying enough.

While they were moving, Yamato briefed them on their next destination. "We're heading west towards the Land of Wastes, a place that is, well- dead. It's a wasteland that puts the furthest reaches of the Land of Wind desert to shame, even though it's not hot. I can't put it in words, but for as long as history remembers, the place has been like that," Yamato said tremulously, the tone of his voice showing more apprehension than ever.

The farther they ran, the more Biwako got just what Yamato had meant. The flora was getting less frequent – what little there was, looked just like cacti; there was no difference to Biwako's naked eye from those in the desert of the Land of Wind. Even her nose was hard-pressed to detect differences, past the fact there was some kind of difference. And yet, the plants' mere presence unsettled Biwako deeply. She pointed the way for Yamato and Mito to follow. There were water sources, but they were murky with- something. It wasn't anything she recognized.

After no more than an hour navigating a place without life -even decay, the smell of microbes' waste products was obvious in its absence- according to their timepieces, they arrived at another cave entrance. Biwako considered commenting on that mockingly, but she wasn't in the mood for that after what felt like an eternity stepping on soil-that-wasn't and passing by dead water and intact buildings, even though they were supposedly ancient. The cave's entrance wasn't even protected by seals – Biwako made sure to check using her Sharingan, as discreetly as possible. Yamato signed for them not to speak; then, they entered, with Biwako providing everyone with lit torches.

Some cave drawings depicting what looked like rabbits and people living in harmony should have calmed Biwako down. Instead, she only felt more unsettled than ever. Mito, who should have been gushing about how adorable those 'bunnies' were, was silent and looked ready to throw projectiles with exploding tags at anything that moved. The next set of drawings showed the rabbits feasting alongside the people, but something about those images nagged at Biwako's mind.

"Aren't rabbits herbivores, normally?" Mito said in a whisper, apparently forgetting Yamato's orders.

Biwako had been about to chide Mito, when she did a double-take. She didn't see any animals other than rabbits in the drawings, but the number of humans had significantly decreased from the previous drawings to the latest. Biwako barely managed to keep her gags from turning into puking – while her nose was less likely than most to get her to gag, the overall ambience of the place along with those drawings had affected her more than she'd ever admit.

Finally, the three of them reached a large chamber, which stank horribly, making Biwako almost retch again. She hadn't even detected the smell until she had stepped foot inside! It smelled like- like something had died, only somehow worse.

The redheaded woman's scent was present, as was Naruto's, but they were nowhere to be seen, and the scent trail stopped there. 'Maybe- maybe using the Sharingan is necessary here,' Biwako thought to herself, then activated her Bloodline Limit, not hesitating further.

Looking around, Biwako noted that everything looked so much more dull than usual, and it wasn't just the darkness – Biwako had had less trouble seeing in darkness in the past. It was more like everything was covered by mist or a film of sticky material, except not.

!!

Wind had come out of nowhere and blown out the torches. Biwako nearly started channeling Fire Style Chakra into her hand, but she realized it would ruin her night vision, at the last moment. Her Sharingan and nose would have to be enough. She turned around- only to find herself alone in the cave's chamber, no trace of Yamato or Mito left to her senses. Her breathing sped up despite herself; she looked all around for anything that might have attacked them-

"You are searching in vain, kid," a voice said, just before Biwako peppered the place it was coming from with multiple senbon made of Lightning Style Chakra, leaving traces of white liquid Biwako didn't want to know the origin of.

Fortunately though, Biwako's eyes had managed to catch a glimpse at a part of the chamber which led somewhere other than back to where they had come. Shaking off her unexpectedly strong fear, she paused just long enough to make a Shadow Clone and sent it ahead of her, following along, down a literal hatch made of bronze. Biwako shivered, and not just in fear.

The Land of Wastes apparently had unchanging, tolerable weather all year long; for a given value of 'tolerable'. Unfortunately, that had gone out of the window in this place. It was getting colder and colder and- and even the smell was worsening, though it had been gradual enough that Biwako hadn't noticed immediately.

Creaking sounds, then-

!!!

Biwako jumped a bit in place, after hearing that deafening sound.That sounded like something metallic dropping, like that time I dropped a metal pan on the floor, only much, much louder. Oh. The hatch!

No matter how much Biwako wanted to check, she refrained from sending another clone, as she would likely need all of her Chakra.

The air was getting heavier and, combined with the overpowering, sickening smell, it was making Biwako's breathing harder. If it hadn't been for all the exercises she regularly went through to improve her singing, she might have had to waste Chakra to clear the air or help along her lungs.

Just like that, Biwako realized: most of the setup was a means of intimidating, weakening, delaying and splitting up anyone trying to enter. She stopped her clone with a mental command, then gave said clone new instructions in the form of sign language.

A cloaking Genjutsu and careful movement took care of the rest of the next step in her plan. Biwako's Shadow Clone reached a dead-end, with the only apparent solution of jumping down a chasm or using the Tree-Climbing exercise. Probably a trap.

Giving the clone some rope, she had it start climbing down, Biwako herself guarding the rope to make sure nothing and nobody would attack it. Her clone was soon harassed by a huge number of bats, but Biwako herself struck them down with projectiles, in such a way that it could be mistaken for a trap activated by the clone, with help from her bracelet, imbued with the seals of Raikō Kenka.

So far, apart from the, minimal nowadays, drain of her Sharingan and Genjutsu and the even more minimal drain of unsealing all those weapons, Biwako had only spent Chakra on the single Shadow Clone and her earlier Hell Senbon. As soon as the Shadow Clone hit the ground, it sent a pulse of Chakra that would seem like a poor attempt at sensing Chakra to most, but it was actually a signal.

This particular signal was supposed to signify there were enemies. As such, Biwako would wait until the clone had been attacked.

-----

Biwako landed on the ground, Chakra practically as full as when she had been created. She faked fatigue and being low on Chakra, her moves being as sluggish as she could make them without overacting.

When she noticed the redhead in her way, her eyes narrowed. She didn't resist much, when the woman tied her up with ninja wire.

Soon, the two of them arrived at a better-ventilated chamber. The stench was still going strong, though.

"I see you've brought the girl," a voice that sounded like something out of nightmares said.

"I have," the woman said, the tone of her voice somehow different than earlier, "it's enough, isn't it? I've done your dirty work; now, it's time to keep your end of the bargain."

"Why so hasty? I'm gonna cry; Kōrin-san doesn't like us!" The- person said, in two different voices. Biwako was facing downwards, so she couldn't see whoever it was, but she was confident both voices had come from the same place.

"I have one more task for you, and then I'll leave your pack of refugees alone and alive," the first voice said, not fazed at all.

So, the woman -Kōrin- had been coerced against her will? 'We can use this,' Biwako thought to herself. Before she could do anything, she noticed some vines wrap around her calves and shins, then- aaahhhh!

-----

Biwako had known she had been discovered even before the clone's brutal demise via severed legs, but she didn't bother to do anything but prepare herself for a fight.

The creature that appeared in front of her, coming out of the ground, looked just- peculiar. Half black, half white and all ugly.

"Hey, man, can we get this over with? This place gives me the creeps!" The creature said, but only one half of its mouth moved. "Patience, Zetsu," the other voice said, "this place is truly terrible, yes, but we have a job to-."

'Gōenka!'Biwako said in her mind, joining her hands together slowly, then going through two more hand-seals as fast as she could without fumbling them.

Spitting out several balls of fire, Biwako jumped to the chamber's ceiling, not even bothering to check if that thing had been killed before moving on to Kōrin. The whooshing sound that signified the fireballs' expansion into a huge conflagration hadn't bothered Biwako and neither did the serious lack of breathable air, though that was mostly due to her only Fuuton ninjutsu, the D-ranked Air Filter.

The stench had become stronger than ever, but that was irrelevant. Kōrin was standing before a bound and gagged Naruto. Just like that, Biwako didn't care anymore, just casting Genjutsu after Genjutsu on the woman.

Without saying a word, Kōrin drew a kunai, then slashed at-

"Naruto!!" Biwako screamed out, but brought herself under control when she noticed the woman had only cut through the wire and ropes keeping Naruto bound.

Still, she was itching to attack the bitch that had dared- No. I need to remain rational.

Naruto, bless his quick thinking, had already stolen Kōrin's kunai with a strike at her wrist and jumped to Kōrin's flank, forcing the woman to keep her eyes on two opponents.

-----

'Finally,' Naruto thought to himself, coughing and rubbing the sore parts of his body, 'I hate being tied up!'

Unfortunately, Naruto's dysphoria hadn't left with the wire and ropes. He didn't know what jutsu to use, either. The conditions were terrible for Water and Wind ninjutsu, with the dryness and lack of wind. Fortunately, there wasn't so much smoke around anymore. Punching the disgusting crap that passed for soil, Naruto thought, 'When in doubt, stick to the basics.'

The very moment Kōrin's balance was disrupted by the quake that followed, a line of Lightning that looked like a spear made of electricity shot from Biwako's hand through the side of Kōrin's ribs and out the opposite side of her back. Naruto knew that jutsu as Jigokueisō (Hell Sharp Spear).

Noticing that Kōrin's Chakra had shifted to another position, Naruto formed his 'Density' hand-seal -a modified one based on the Bird Seal, one he had invented in the process of improving his Living Sealing Gate- murmuring, "Dai Chō Doryūsō (Mega Earth Flow Spears)," forming a field of spiky death at Kōrin's new position and around it.

While this A-ranked variation of Earth Flow Spears was something Naruto had made to skewer dozens of enemies, he didn't use it that way against Kōrin, for obvious reasons. Other than its widespread area of effect, the major advantage it had over its C-ranked parent jutsu was the fact that it was formed faster and, most importantly, it moved faster. Much, much faster.

At just the right time, Biwako rained down balls of fire from above- but Kōrin's Chakra was still in position after the attacks, surrounded by water. The Water Prison jutsu?!

Naruto knew, right then and there, that Kōrin's main element was Water, so he unsealed his gourd, made of brass on the outside, platinum on the inside and wood in between, to fight fire with fire. When the rubble settled, there was a bottle on Kōrin's hip that hadn't been there before.

Biwako's Fire Style wouldn't be any good in this fight anymore anyway, so Naruto might as well. He took control over Kōrin's leftover water at the same time Biwako used her Hell Senbon.

Kōrin- well, she pushed aside the Senbon made of electricity, probably with Wind Style, but she didn't get out of the attack unscathed, her hair sticking up in one side and still straight in the other, and her steps clumsier.

Something strange was going on with Naruto, though – he was already tiring out. Had the enemies done something to him? He had also felt like his emotions were muted and he had no motivation to do anything for most of his captivity and still did; he recognized that as depression from his medical studies and from his time in orphanages. Maybe something targeting my lungs, then, as the lungs having issues can cause that feeling. Apart from a lack of clean air around, though, everything was fine with his lungs.

With Naruto's continued dysphoria and his Chakra reserves not filling up anywhere near as fast as usual, it probably was something about their surroundings. 'It's not claustrophobia,' Naruto mused to himself, 'this feels like the air is too- thin, and not just because we're in a cavern. That I was used to something being there and now it's not, I miss it, without realizing what "it" is.'

Almost as if they had their own mind, Naruto's hands and mouth had done the sequence for the Summoning jutsu. He slammed his right onto the ground, making a small part of Katsuyu appear in smoke.

Thankful to Biwako for covering while Naruto was Summoning but deciding to focus on other things, Naruto was surprised when Katsuyu let out a long whine.

Keeping his eyes on Kōrin and disrupting her control over water, Naruto said, "Katsuyu-sama, do you know why this place feels so- strange?"

Katsuyu let out another whine, then said, "Is this the Land of Wastes, Naruto-kun? There is a truly minuscule amount of Natural Energy here, and even that feels- corrupted."

Naruto's thoughts went back to mentions of Natural Energy and Sage Mode in the Senju clan's library and Katsuyu's lectures, though those parts had been side-notes more than anything. I should look into those things more thoroughly later.

Evading hundreds of water needles by jumping, Naruto altered his trajectory by slapping Biwako's hand at just the right time, to keep each other from being run through by sharpened stones.

'This isn't working,' Naruto thought to himself, 'apparently, lack of Natural Energy weakens me and my regeneration. I even feel uncomfortable in my own skin, like I usually do in crowds of Konoha citizens!'

Naruto landed- shit! Kōrin was there already and Naruto had to avoid deceptively strong punches, which shattered more than one stalactite and dispelled Katsuyu. Considering how close Kōrin was, Biwako wouldn't be able to provide ranged support.

By stomping on the ground, Naruto forced Kōrin to jump, but he knew that wasn't enough to provide a good opening. What it was, was an opportunity for him to draw his weapon. For the first time in the fight, Kōrin was at a disadvantage, having to avoid Shuriken charged with Fire Style Chakra in what Naruto recognized as Housenka Tsumabeni, while being kept at bay due to Naruto's staff.

Naruto had gotten in a lot of glancing blows on the enemy with the staff so far, but zero full-contact ones. Sideways towards her left temple, push off stalagmite and uppercut toward- shit.

Kōrin had predicted his move and stopped the staff's momentum with a stamp kick. She pushed off the staff- is that an exploding tag? Is she crazy!?

Naruto signed with his left hand and threw his staff at Kōrin with great force with his right, pushing it with a Wind Ninjutsu in the process, trusting Biwako to get away in time.

Boom!

The explosive part was weaker than it should have been thanks to the way Naruto had used his Wind jutsu, but the combustion part was way stronger, making Kōrin-

Oh, crap. An Earth Clone! She made one and substituted with it…. I didn't even notice!

Naruto grimaced, holding his ears. He knew that Biwako wouldn't last long in a one-on-one against Kōrin, especially if she the Lightning jutsu from before had run its course, but he was pretty much tuckered out – his Chakra had dropped to near Chakra exhaustion levels and it wasn't refilling anywhere near fast enough to save them.

Of course, he started throwing Shuriken and kunai at the woman, ignoring the pain in his ears, but he wasn't as good at that as Biwako, and he couldn't use Shuriken Kage Bunshin, for obvious reasons. 'Maybe I shouldn't have refused Biwako's offer to make me a bracelet like hers, but I have my pride, damn it! I thought that when Auntie Tsunade would teach me the jutsu, I wouldn't need Raikō Kenka, but even now that I know it, I'm all but useless here…,' Naruto thought to himself.

Kōrin tied up both Naruto and Biwako using ninja wire, and for some reason, Mito and Yamato were still nowhere to be found. She then said, "So, have you gotten what you wanted yet?" To seeming thin air.

To Naruto's surprise, a creature that was half completely black, half completely white emerged from a small boulder. 'That wasn't Earth Style. If anything, it feels more like a Wood Style jutsu adapted for stone,' Naruto mused to himself.

"Even the Mayfly jutsu feels wrong in this place! Shut up. We've gotten what we came here for, so you may let them go, Kōrin; alive and unharmed, preferably. I will call for you when I have another assignment," the creature said, in voices Naruto had heard next to his ear earlier, when Kōrin had held again, earlier.

The monstrous levels of hatred-charged Chakra made Naruto twitch- Ouch! My shoulder!

His shoulder was bleeding from a rather deep cut caused by the wire, the pain becoming more obvious with every second that passed. His breath wasn't constricted significantly, the way he was bound, but having been out of breath to begin with, he was feeling even more tired. No. Need to stay awake!

"This was meant to be the last assignment!" Kōrin said, with the bloodlust and power coming from her showing Naruto she hadn't been fighting at her fullest earlier.

For a few seconds, the creature said nothing, but the rumbling sound that was coming from it was very creepy. Are they- laughing? "That was a nice one, Kōrin. You are forgetting your place, though. You know fully well that I can turn your band of survivors into so many non-survivors. Goodbye for now. See ya!"

The squelching sound of something solid being turned into a paste came next, with Naruto being showered with white liquid.

Gah! It's gotten in my mouth! Blech! Naruto started gagging, then he puked, dropping on all fours. The only sounds were retching from him and sobs that were coming from- Kōrin?

Curious as to what had caused that and realizing that she had freed him and Biwako from their bonds, he said, "Hey, lady. What's wrong?"

"Wha- what's wrong? What's wrong! I failed to kill the black half, that's what is wrong! I might as well have killed my entire branch of the clan myself! Some leader I am…," Kōrin said, in-between sobs.

With the clarity brought on by more oxygen, passable recovery in his Chakra levels as well as the D-ranked Air Filter, Naruto realized just how similar to a plant that creature had been, including its Chakra and that white paste. He bandaged his shoulder with one hand, absently noting that it had reached the muscle but there was no nerve damage.

"Your sensei and other teammate are fine, by the way," Kōrin said, making Naruto's tense muscles relax a bit. He let out a sigh, then turned to Biwako, surprised that she hadn't spoken.

Only to notice that her right arm had been cut to the bone- and beyond. Naruto moved and examined her, realizing it wasn't a fatal wound. Unfortunately, there was a chance Biwako would lose some motor function or even her arm for good, with how little Chakra Naruto had left.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto worked on Biwako, including mundane work like a transfusion and the Mystical Palm both, until he noticed someone else's arm in front of him. Knowing about the Uzumaki clan's abilities, he barely hesitated before biting down, ignoring the metallic taste of blood; Chakra significantly restored, he used the Mystical Palm more extensively, to fix Biwako's arm fully.

Finally, Naruto made Biwako swallow a blood pill, to encourage blood replenishment and give her some nutrients and liquids. Kōrin was nowhere to be found, but there was a scroll in Naruto's jacket pocket that hadn't been there before. He checked it for traps and gave it a quick read.

That creature has plans unknown, but whatever they might be, they can't be good. It wanted to do to or check something about you two in particular, so be vigilant!

If you two ever need my help, call upon me with this seal; I owe you. Just don't make me join Konoha!

~K

Naruto scoffed, but he used the Reverse Summoning jutsu -carefully, to not cause to send the hastily written letter to Katsuyu, with a small note of his own attached, then examined Biwako again. There was a chance Naruto would be able to recruit Kōrin, so he wouldn't risk Yamato getting wind of the letter.

As if Naruto's thoughts had alerted him, Yamato walked into the chamber. "Naruto; is Biwako all right?"

"Yeah, though she'll probably have a very sore arm and maybe a nasty headache too, when she wakes up. What about Mito?" Naruto told the man, checking Biwako's vitals and injury again, a bit too anxious about her health to stop repeatedly doing so.

Yamato talked into a headset made of- wood? No; it was a part of him. Wood Clone? 'I have my own ways to communicate between clones, but Yamato's seems to be more refined,' Naruto mused to himself.

That last thought made Naruto grimace – he had thought Yamato's Mokuton was completely inferior, but the man was better than Naruto had given him credit for… or maybe Naruto himself was falling behind.

Carrying a stirring Biwako, Naruto met up with Mito and the real Yamato, with the latter holding back the former to keep her from tackle-hugging Naruto.

As soon as Biwako got back some awareness, she told Naruto to let her walk rather- strongly. Naruto wouldn't hear of it and made sure she had drunk some water and eaten some dark chocolate before he let go of her.

Biwako murmured something about Naruto becoming a bossy medic too. "What was that?!" Naruto said firmly, then had her check her shoulder's range of motion, relieved by the fact it seemed like her dexterity in that arm was steadily coming back.

-----

Naruto was still sulking because Yamato had shot down his suggestion to torch that cavern with all the explosives, though the man had been, rather transparently, tempted to agree.

'What's that creature's agenda, though? I doubt we've seen the last of it,' Biwako thought to herself and rolled her shoulder again, cursing her inability to control her body and that damn high-grade ninja wire.

-----

"B-ranked mission, track down a certain band of Uzumaki clan survivors and persuade them to become permanent residents of Konoha: failed," Kakashi said, but if anything, he sounded proud.

Unfortunately, Naruto felt like a failure. There had been no trace of the Uzumaki survivors in and around the cavern in the Land of Sound on their return trip, even though there had been a Hyuuga among their reinforcements. While that could mean they had escaped, Naruto suspected that most of the Uzumaki were dead or would be soon.

"Rest, Team Seven; you have a week off duty to relax and two more until it's time for your next mission. Don't forget to rest plenty, though," Kakashi said, dismissing them.

-----

"Auntie Tsunade," Naruto said, "is there any way to be ready for all terrains? In the Land of Wind against Gaara, with his field advantage, we survived out of luck, in large part. Now, in the Land of Wastes, I wasn't able to use most of my skills, which would have gotten all of us killed if the opponents had wanted us dead!"

"Welcome to live combat, kid. Element specialists end up in unfavorable terrains, too… and that often means their death," Tsunade said. "What helps you in all places is better taijutsu, more refined Chakra Control and more Chakra to be able to make all your jutsu strong even in bad conditions, greater dodging capabilities…. The basics in general."

Naruto had hoped for some other answer, like a way to cause rain when he wanted to, but reality didn't work that way- or did it? Unbidden, a text of Tobirama's came to mind. Naruto looked for it in his collection, finding the scroll almost immediately. Unfortunately, it took him minutes before he found the passage, but he managed it.

[…]Changing the weather in a major way is possible, but it takes too much Chakra to be of use in the vast majority of situations. Even Niisama considers it a waste.

On the other hand, it takes me far less Chakra for the same effect than it does him; more than our minor difference in Chakra Control accounts for. As such, I hypothesized that the difference is in the exact way somebody achieves the effect and their understanding of the processes involved.

As such, perhaps somebody who has a far superior understanding of Physics and the nature of Chakra than me, will be able to change the weather using less Chakra than the average fresh Genin has available. This hypothesis has seemed to pan out thus far, after many tests related to efficiency, even though I have a long way to go before I even get close to the theoretical maximum I envisioned.[…]

"That's interesting. I've always wondered why most of my Jutsu were that much more efficient than other people's, even though there should have been a limit to how much of the Chakra leakage can be shaved off," his aunt said over Naruto's shoulder, with him trying to shrug her off, "it's probably because I've studied texts from the Ancient times."

When Naruto turned around, the cunning smile Tsunade had on her face made him shiver.

"You have a week that you've been ordered to rest your body, right?" Tsunade said, increasing Naruto's dread.

"It- it wasn't exactly an order, Auntie…," Naruto said, but Tsunade wouldn't hear of it.

"Time to hit the books and try some experiments!" His aunt said, stamping on the ground… and blushing, embarrassed, when she made a few trees topple from the quake.

 

Orochimaru's whole body twitched, all of a sudden, causing his next incision to miss. That kind of twitch only appeared when Danzo was up to something; Orochimaru was well-attuned to the man. Whether whatever Danzo was up to was something smart or total idiocy, and also whether the fallout would be in Orochimaru's favor, was another story.

Unfortunately, Kabuto was in Konoha, gathering information and working on recruitment, which left Orochimaru with the most urgent and sensitive medical work.

Maybe Orochimaru would get Tsunade on his side, too. She would likely have no trouble learning Kabuto's jutsu, unlike Orochimaru himself, who was still a bit- shoddy using it. Case in point, the boy lying near-dead on an operating table in front of him, too late to be saved.

'Ah, a pity,' Orochimaru thought to himself, 'Jirōbō showed some promise,' smiling. 'Of course, I'll likely get some valuable data I otherwise wouldn't have, had he survived.'

…As Orochimaru had expected, what he had found out during Jirōbō's dissection was useful. Contrary to his more- modest expectations, the data seemed like it would turn into a proverbial gold mine of epic proportions.

The Golden Ratio…. It actually is useful for Ninjutsu!? What little of the period before the Sage -before even the constant wars, possibly- has survived shows amazing understanding of the world around them, ignorance of Chakra notwithstanding. Still, this is the first time I've managed to link the Ancients' knowledge with Chakra and its behavior so directly.

I mean, there is stuff modern man built upon Ancient knowledge, but for the most part, only some Sealing Arts users and civilians bother with that kind of thing. Even so, the Golden Ratio is something for architects, not Ninjutsu researchers or even Sealing experts.

The spiral Orochimaru had sketched in imitation of Jirōbō's Chakra's behavior in his death throes had a particular size increase ratio: every quarter turn, it grew bigger by approximately sixty one percent. While Orochimaru was not a Sensor-type, his machines were state of the art. At the time Jirōbō's Chakra had moved that way, the boy had been absorbing Chakra.

That was a monumental discovery. Even Sarutobi-sensei dismissed most of the Ancients' writings as useless for the ninja arts. Oh, he still studied them, but it was more a distant curiosity, unlike what sensei's sensei, the Nidaime Hokage, supposedly preferred. Of those I called comrades once, only Tsunade put real effort into that stuff… probably at the urging of Katsuyu, at least at first.

Orochimaru wondered if anyone else had discovered that Chakra absorption not of the Yin or Yang type was best used in a spiraling motion before him. It was doubtful that anyone else was actively looking into such stuff, but there were others who did research -such as Tsunade, once again- and knew about the Ancients. Accidental discoveries were made every year, as a byproduct of mostly unrelated scientific research or even by random people who would stumble upon something new or notice something everyone else had dismissed.

-----

Naruto had seemingly stumbled upon another proverbial platinum mine by accident when he had absorbed Bijuu Chakra from the victims of that Sora kid, and Tsunade was doing her best to build upon the discovery.

"Auntie Tsunade," Naruto said, "is that symbol and the spirals I use to absorb Chakra special somehow?"

Tsunade had written something on a whiteboard: a strange symbol.

φ

"Well, Naruto, say you have two numbers and you want to make their sum be greater than the higher of the numbers by a certain ratio; at the same time, the higher number should be greater than the smaller one by that same ratio. How would you go about finding that ratio?" Tsunade said, looking at Naruto's scrunched up face with a small smile.

Naruto seemed to consider it until his eyes lit up. Then, he frowned.

"Did you think of something, Naruto?" Tsunade said softly, "don't be embarrassed. Just say it!"

"Maybe test out different numbers and see which is closest…? Nope, that can't be it," Naruto said, scrunching up his face in an adorable way.

Tsunade smiled and laughed a little, despite herself.

"Oi, don't mock me! I don't know much about this stuff yet!" Naruto said, his cheeks slightly redder than usual.

Tsunade shook her head. She said, "The idea is a good one. I was laughing at the adorable face you were making," still smiling a little bit.

"Oi!" Naruto said, pouring adorably once again, "I'm not 'adorable'!"

"Yes, you are," Tsunade said, smirking at him smugly.

"No, I- never mind. I'm not getting into this crap with you," Naruto said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Tsunade pinched Naruto's cheeks, saying, "Repeat after me, Naruto: 'I am adorable'."

"Yew're adoable forr yo age!" Naruto said through a stretched out mouth, prompting Tsunade to pinch harder.

("Nee-chan, don't call me adorable! I'm a Genin now!" Nawaki said; ironically, making an even more adorable face.

"Hahaha! Don't be so adorable then, stoooopid!" Tsunade said, provoking Nawaki with her words and her extended tongue.

"Hey, you're fat! Well, your boobs are fat," Nawaki said, crossing his arms.

Tsunade didn't say anything, mostly because she was too surprised by what Nawaki had said to react. She soon gathered herself, though, and pinched Nawaki's cheeks hard, saying, "That's not the way to talk to a lady."

"I dun' see a lady anywhea," Nawaki said, sounding strange with his mouth slightly warped.

Tsunade only pinched harder after hearing that.)

"Auntie Tsunade? What's wrong?" A voice said.

Tsunade shook herself out of her stupor, seeing Nawaki- seeing Naruto, a frown on his face. "Nothing, Naruto – just some memories. Now, with the week of rest past, there's two more weeks without missions, with only training with your Jounin sensei to interrupt us, right?

"Yeah," Naruto said, nodding, though the worry hadn't left his face. "We started training with Yamato-sensei again yesterday morning. Something's off about him, though: before, he trained us in the basics because we needed to refine them. Now, I think he really is holding us back on purpose," Naruto said.

Tsunade's first thought was to dismiss what Naruto was telling her, but that was the wrong move for her relationship with her nephew, she realized immediately. "Hmm…. You'll just have to wait and see; I haven't met this Yamato more than once, so it's hard for me to predict the guy." Then, Tsunade said, "Anyway, make sure to focus on things like Taijutsu when you're training – you've been a bit too reliant on Ninjutsu so far."

-----

"Kakashi-sama," Tenzo said, his expression as stoic as usual, "I have some concerns about my team."

"What is it, Yamato?" Kakashi said, realizing that Tenzo was truly concerned and letting his use of the dreaded 'sama' honorific slide.

It was the first time in a long time Tenzo -Yamato, whatever- had sought out Kakashi at Kakashi's own residence.

Yamato said, "You see, senpai, the thing is…. Our students may well be a flight risk."

"…Which of them?" Kakashi asked Yamato, thinking of Biwako's distance from other people.

Unfortunately, what Yamato said next wasn't easy to hear. "All of them," the man said, "especially Naruto."

That- couldn't be right. Naruto was a previous Kage's child. Much more, he's Minato-sensei's son. "Yamato. That doesn't make much sense."

For once, Yamato wasn't being bashful in front of his 'senpai'. The younger man said, "Perhaps I'm seeing things, but let's go over the signs. Firstly, he lashes out at Konoha's villagers. Secondly, he doesn't seem to care about any of Konoha's citizens other than his teammates, even going so far as to threaten some of them with death. Thirdly, he has never volunteered at the hospital, even though he can heal really well and didn't hesitate much to help the monks.

"Fourthly, he hides his skills a lot more than a Genin normally would; from teachers, and possibly teammates, alike. Fifthly, he is a lot more tense while in Konoha than outside it. Sixthly-"

"I got the picture, Yamato, thanks. Still, for the child of a Kage to be such a flight risk; it's practically unheard of! The only missing-nin like that that I know of is Utakata, formerly of Kiri; the grandson of the Third Mizukage, and it took some extreme circumstances to drive him to that," Kakashi said, tapping his table repeatedly.

"Child- of a Kage?" Yamato asked, his mouth a bit open, which was an extreme show of surprise for the usually controlled Yamato.

"Oh! You don't know?" Kakashi said, scratching his head, "I could swear I had told you…."

The flat stare from his old junior in ANBU, one not often directed at Kakashi, told him that Yamato was swiftly running out of patience. On any other day, Kakashi would have distracted the younger man and left him to pay a restaurant bill or something like that.

Because of the seriousness of the situation, Kakashi decided to focus. He said, "Naruto was Mito's twin all along, and they both know that now. Jounin Yamato; you have a new mission. Please, monitor all your Genin discreetly for any more signs of disloyalty to Konoha. As of now, Naruto is labeled as a flight risk, secretly. Don't tell anyone without my permission, especially Naruto himself."

Yamato's expression showed that he wanted more explanation than that, but what more could Kakashi say? That the Third had started slowly going insane or under someone's control about eleven years earlier? That Orochimaru before his defection and Danzo had helped fuel the man's paranoia?

That the Third had killed himself, possibly ordered to by whoever was holding his strings? That Kakashi, even with all the clues staring him in the face, hadn't truly considered Naruto or Mito as potential traitors? Was that how the Third had felt, the years before Orochimaru's defection?

'No,' Kakashi decided, shaking his head, as if to dry his hair. 'They aren't at that point just yet. What should I do to keep them loyal, though?'

-----

Danzo had to admit it: he hadn't expected Sarutobi to commit suicide. At first, he had concluded that the few times he had tried KotoAkatsukami on his former friend had been a failure.

Over the years, as Sarutobi had been descending into paranoia, with some help from Danzo himself, Danzo had only thought it was the effects of old age. Only Jiraiya's altercation with Sarutobi and of course, Kakashi's, had opened Danzo's eyes to the truth: KotoAkatsukami had damaged Sarutobi's psyche, and it hadn't gone unnoticed.

Fortunately, the information Jiraiya had brought to the surface had been just enough warning for Danzo to be somewhat ready and turn Sarutobi's desperate gambit from a serious loss to a victory.

The damage Kakashi's reputation had sustained thanks to a bout of -admittedly- luck of the draw in Danzo's favor, that Danzo had taken advantage of, had made Sarutobi's sacrifice null and void. Fortunately, the only possible obstacle, Hiashi, had been too troubled by the situation in his clan to intervene, and later, Danzo's influence in the Hyuuga clan had made sure that most of the rest of the clan was against Kakashi.

In short, Sarutobi's paranoia had come about because he had known he had been the target of a powerful Sharingan Genjutsu and from mental damage caused by the same. Sarutobi had been unable to tell who had been the culprit, nor how much he had been affected. His final gambit had been to make sure that whoever it had been, couldn't control him anymore.

Danzo laughed, long and hard. Barring Kakashi pulling off something really unexpected, Danzo had effectively checkmated every single other player at the Konoha shōgi board. He only needed one last piece to checkmate the rest of the world.