Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ After the Dream ❯ Fading Like A Flower II ( Chapter 33 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

~b~ normal story

~B~ flashbacks

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Fading Like A Flower

“Moegi-chan we both know what you're capable of doing. You couldn't beat me at the academy and, especially considering your behavior this past week, you can't beat me now. If you want we can fight some so that you can show off your skill, but if you don't agree to forfeit, I'll stop you before you even get that chance.”

Moegi responded by sliding into a defensive stance. “To accept that would be a disgrace to myself, my team, and those who have spent time teaching me. If you don't fight all out, you're the one who won't have the time to show your worth. And, I might add, Konoha sorely needs to be reminded of the worth of the Hyuuga. After all, the last time a Hyuuga fought in this arena it was your cousin - and he was beaten by Naruto nii-san. We both know that he was considered weak for his behavior and early performance - kind of like me. Now I can't claim to be as great as Naruto nii-san, but I do believe in myself like he did. And I think I can beat you.”

Hanabi glared in response and immediately activated her byakugan as Moegi prepared herself as well. Moegi stumbled back avoiding the majority of Hanabi's strikes and even managing to counter a few like Rin had shown her. Still, she could already feel the difference in the flow of her chakra from the points Hanabi had hit - and that was only in the first strike. She glanced up into the crowd and noticed Sakura was watching her. She knew that according to Sakura she would have to end this quick. The longer she gave Hanabi the more she would be injured and the less she would be able to fight in the next round. However, to catch her off guard, Moegi would need to force her to use the kaiten which would make her actual vision useless and force her to rely on the byakugan.

In the crowds above, Sakura raised her wrist innocently and shook it slightly. Moegi's resolve hardened and she nodded to herself before turning back to Hanabi. “The other day, I was told that shinobi don't know what they're out on by limiting their skills to jutsu. I was kind of offended, but I think I get what he was saying now. The thing about it is that we don't realize that anything outside of ninjutsu is viable in a fight. We assume that we can counter anything that isn't among the ninja arts - you've already proved that we can't.”

Hanabi glared to hide her confusion as Moegi pulled out a handful of shuriken and sloppily threw them at the other girl while performing a few hand seals. While Hanabi was slightly distracted by the cloud of shuriken that was suddenly heading her way, Moegi used the distraction to unwind the chain that she had hidden under her shirt. Before Hanabi could properly react Moegi had already lashed out with the whip and instead of dodging she fell back on the Kaiten to deflect the weapon.

Even with the spinning motion of the Kaiten, Hanabi could see Moegi perform two hand seals before she dropped her wrist to hip level. When she came out of the Kaiten she could finally tell that the other girl had used genjutsu to block out the light above them except for a single bright pinprick of light above her. She had always thought that Moegi was at least smart enough to know that, with the byakugan, Hanabi could see through genjutsu. A moment later she had barely managed to activate the Kaiten in time to ward off whatever the light source was sending down - if it hadn't been for the rumbling sound that preceded it she never would have thought of an attack coming from above. When she came out of the Kaiten glaring at Moegi she couldn't understand why the other girl was still smiling until she felt a sharp pinching burning sensation on the back of her neck, a moment later she was unconscious.

“Winner: Ageru Moegi,” Genma stated trying not to laugh. Even Moegi looked surprised that she had actually managed to pull it off.

“That went…faster than I thought it would,” she finally muttered to herself, as medics entered the field and approached Hanabi carefully.

She wasn't feeling so optimistic when she faced Rishito in the next round. He tauntingly dodged all of her hits, quipping, “Eiki and Kyokki warned me about fighting girls. You always hide your strength and then flay us when we block instead of dodge.”

Moegi had frowned and was considering using another new jutsu - she had really wanted to beat Konohamaru in the final round - when Rishito beat her to it. He grinned apologetically and went through the two required hand signs before brushing his wrist by his belt. “Sanso Torikeshi no Jutsu,” he said aloud.

Moegi's eyes widened and she inhaled sharply only to find that nothing entered her lungs. She glared at him for the trick but he only took several steps back and waited for the jutsu to run its course. When she started to sway on her feet, he canceled the jutsu and moved forward to catch her. “He wins,” she croaked, taking a deep breath as she hit her knees. “But you shouldn't have caught me, I could have used that opening to beat you,” Moegi added, frowning up at Rishito.

Genma chuckled, glancing once at the Genin to make sure she would continue to breathe before announcing Rishito as the winner. He was certain of one thing: whoever came up with the jutsu the two teammates had used was someone he did not ever want to face. And he was fairly certain it hadn't been the obvious suspects too.

The tournament resumed, after the brief mandatory break, with the final match: Sarutobi Konohamaru against Hatake Rishito. The look on Rishito's face as the two squared off was enough to tell Genma that he was not going to enjoy this. The now silver haired boy - who would have looked exactly like his father if it weren't for Rin's eyes and birthmarks - was not nearly as into the fight as Konohamaru was. Not only that, but the disappointed scowl he had leveled at Konohamaru at the beginning of the match had set Konohamaru into a tizzy.

“You didn't hear what she said about them,” Konohamaru stated, reeling back from a flurry of exchanged punches. Genma was beginning to grow bored with Rishito's preference for taijutsu.

“I don't care what she said. The Hokage told us not to act out,” Rishito reasoned earnestly.

“You didn't know them. I idolized them. I was there that day. Do you know what it was like waiting for almost three months, trying to convince myself that they would come back? We weren't dumb. We knew they weren't coming back.”

“I didn't know them. But from what I've heard-” Rishito cut himself off and sighed. Just about anything he used to argue back would either anger Konohamaru further or cause trouble if Genma repeated it. “Let's just finish this. Arguing with you won't do anything but bore the spectators.”

Genma chuckled as Konohamaru growled and immediately launched himself at Rishito again. Rishito was slightly caught off guard by the ferocity of the attacks and spent most of the exchange defending himself and trying to decide if he should risk using a jutsu.

When they finally separated again, looking much worse for wear, Genma sighed and glanced up at the top box wondering if Tsunade was ready to lose her cool yet. It couldn't have been fun being within three meters of Orochimaru for the entire afternoon - especially since Jiraiya had been suspiciously missing all morning.

A familiar sound brought his attention back on to the field and his eyes widened when he saw what Konohamaru was doing. It was no where near as clean or advanced as Naruto's execution - probably not even past the second stage -, but there was still no mistake of what he was seeing. Rishito seemed to recognize the forming jutsu as well. His eyes widened in panic for a moment before he instinctively began gathering chakra and performed three hand seals.

“Alright, so here's the deal,” Sakura stated sitting across from Rishito on the ground. She and Itachi had managed to…distract his teammates and Anko's students for the day so that they could begin to teach him a new jutsu. Luckily for them, Rin and Anko believed all six Genin would be with them and Reiko and Takara had convinced them to head into town for most of the day. “Sasuke, Naruto, and I have been working on creating a new jutsu for you since you can't use the chidori. Naruto would have just taught you the Rasengan, but that would be suspicious since Jiraiya doesn't know that Kakashi-sensei knows it as well.”

“What they came up with is difficult and it will take you some time to learn so you might not be able to use it in the Chuunin Exams. We have a back up planned for that,” Itachi added.

“Wait, the Chuunin Exams? We're already getting nominated?” Rishito interrupted excitedly.

“Don't focus on that right now. You need to concentrate on what I'm telling you so that you'll remember this for later,” Sakura told him calmingly.

Rishito nodded and suppressed his excitement as he turned to Sakura expectantly. “This jutsu uses fewer hand seals than the Chidori, and like the Rasengan will rely on your ability to physically manifest and manipulate you chakra. Don't expect to understand this quickly. I explained it to Itachi last night, so he'll be able to help you as we go along,” she explained.

“For now, don't tell your parents, consider it a surprise,” Itachi smirked.

Rishito looked between the two suspiciously, wondering why they were acting so deviously, but shrugged it off when both schooled their faces back to their normal expressions.

“The first step is actually easy; the hand seals won't come until you've mastered the manipulation aspects. This is sort of like what Naruto had to do when he began learning the Rasengan,” Sakura explained as Itachi picked up a rock and handed it to Rishito. “Start by trying to surround the rock with your chakra.”

Rishito frowned at them oddly for a moment before stating, “First show me what it'll do when I've learned the whole thing.”

Sakura sighed and walked over to the nearest tree. She tried not to giggle when she remembered how much trouble they had gotten in when Naruto had demonstrated it for Takara on a tree that just happened to be outside the guard house…in the middle of the night. She straightened and gathered chakra onto her palm.

Rishito saw her chakra begin to appear before she formed three hand seals. The chakra shifted into a sickle shaped blade but he couldn't see how it was anything like either the Chidori or the Rasengan…until she lightly placed her hand on the tree and it split down the middle a moment later.

“It doesn't just work on stuff as split-able as wood. It almost managed to stop the Rasengan by interrupting the movement of the chakra, although Sasuke almost lost his hand trying to prove it. There was also this cool trick where Sasuke split the water in one of Madame Shijimi's ponds…she thought it was funny too until she realized he had accidentally bisected one of her fish,” Sakura joked.

“Why do I have to start by surrounding a rock with my chakra?”

“It's easier to learn how to focus your chakra if you have something to do with it. Kind of like learning to walk on water or climb trees. In those you know to focus chakra to your feet. Just focusing chakra to your hands isn't enough, you also have to manifest it and using a medium to manifest it around will make it easier to learn in the long run. The hand seals give it extra force and bit more range by helping you to further manipulate your chakra,” Sakura explained.

“It uses the manipulation of the Rasengan and combines it with the stabbing force of the Chidori. Sakura made it look easy because it didn't look like she was putting effort into it. Like both the Rasengan and the Chidori, if you don't put any force into the strike it won't penetrate past the surface-”

“It would look like this,” Sakura interrupted walking to another tree. She repeated the earlier process and placed her hand on the tree. When she removed her hand there was a long slice into the tree but it was barely an inch deep. “And if you didn't use the hand seals it would look like this.” Once again she repeated the process and placed her hand on the tree with more force than she had the previous time. This time the tree had only been damaged in the area directly under her palm.

“How did it almost stop the Rasengan?” Rishito asked.

“It a variation of what I just did. Sasuke adjusted the chakra before he performed the hand seals so that it would interrupt the spinning movement of the Rasengan. You'll have to take the composition of your target into consideration to cut it most effectively,” Sakura explained.

Rishito desperately hoped she had been joking about Sasuke almost losing his hand. But even that was driven from his head when Konohamaru moved towards him. He mimicked Konohamaru's charge hoping that he could put enough force into his own strike to cancel out Konohamaru's. The force of the two jutsu hitting each other ended in an explosion that would have looked familiar to any of the spectators that had seen Naruto and Sasuke's notorious fights. It wasn't quite as large, but it was enough to send Rishito, Konohamaru, and even Genma reeling away from the impact point.

Rishito and Genma stood back up a moment later and were quickly followed by Konohamaru who was clutching his right hand. Genma was debating on whether he should step in and end the match when Konohamaru once again lunged at Rishito and the two resumed their taijutsu match. In the end Rishito won the match almost the same way he had won the previous one; the only difference was that he held out long enough that Konohamaru had to be carried off the field unconscious.

XXXXXXXX

Sakura bit the bottom of her lip nervously as the trio made their way to Rin and Kakashi's side. Kakashi didn't look as angry as Rin, but she had had four years to learn how to determine his mood and emotions from the quarter of his face that he left showing, and if she was right he was as angry as, if not more than, Rin. She wasn't surprised. “You had no right to teach him that Jiraiya,” Rin bit out.

“It's not up for discussion Rin. He's my student and I'm choosing to pass it on to him. Just like I chose to pass it on to Naruto,” Jiraiya retorted.

“Naruto would have learned whether or not you had chosen to teach him. It was his heritage,” she stated angrily.

Sakura considered stepping in, but Itachi stopped her by giving her and Sasuke a small shove in the opposite direction. “Find Takara and Sho. And behave yourselves,” he told them nodding back towards the stadium.

Sasuke nodded distractedly and pulled Sakura along with him before she could argue. “I wanted to hear that,” Sakura whined, frowning up at him as he continued to pull her into the stadium.

“They shouldn't argue about that out in the open,” Sasuke replied. “Sho and Takara are probably still with the Daimyo. I'm gonna walk around for a while. Meet you at Ichiraku's?”

Without even waiting for an answer he split off from her leaving her standing in the middle of the hallway. She stood mutely for a minute or so before a childish shout of “Hana” caught her attention. Sakura turned on impulse and saw Yorimasa running towards her with a small frown on his face. “Where'd Eiki go?” he asked, his voice muted once more to its normal whisper.

“He just went to look around for a bit. We were thinking of going to Ichiraku later. Would you like to come with us?” she asked, her face brightening. Yorimasa nodded and Sakura smiled. “Let's go find Takara and the others then.”

“They're right up there,” Yorimasa told her, pointing back towards the stairwell he had run down. She turned towards it and saw Sho and Takara walking towards them with the Daimyo and the others.

“Is Rin outside?” Sho asked. Sakura's eyes widened slightly at his tone and she nodded cautiously. “We need to speak with her before tomorrow. Why don't you take Takara and Yorimasa with you for the day? We'll see all of you tonight,” he stated lightly pushing his daughter in Sakura's direction and nodding once before heading towards the exit.

“Why is everyone leaving me so that they can deal with their issues?” Sakura muttered, taking Yorimasa's hand and heading for the opposite exit. “Sa-Eiki will probably be back in a half hour or so, but Moegi and the others will be with Tsunade for at least an hour. Itachi said that this year she's deciding on promotions directly after the exam. We should probably wait to eat until they're done so that we can celebrate afterwards. Do you guys want me to show you around a bit?”

“Can you show…I want to see where he lived. And the academy,” Takara told her.

Upon hearing the request to see Naruto's apartment Sakura hesitated. When he had lived there it hadn't been the most presentable of abodes and she was concerned about what might have happened after he had left. “Look I know things weren't great here. But Kyokki keeps telling me that I have to try and see it his way. That Naruto was a shinobi; that this was his village and what happened to him here wasn't great but that as a shinobi he could handle it. But if I don't get an idea of what it was like for Naruto I won't be able to understand that,” Takara reasoned.

“I get what Kyokki was saying but I don't think he meant for you to look at Naruto's apartment. I'll go with you to the Academy but I really don't think we should by the apartment. That isn't going to give you an idea of what his life was like here,” Sakura tried to reason.

“I still need to see it,” Takara stated. Sakura nodded hesitantly and glanced around to get her bearings before setting off towards down correct street. They were barely a block away from Naruto's apartment when Sakura realized that they were being followed. A strategic use of reflective windows later and she knew it was only Kiba and Shino, that didn't necessarily put her at ease. Reaching the correct building Sakura glanced up and fought the urge not cringe; the window was obviously shattered and unlike the nearby apartments it didn't look lived in. The moment they stepped into the stairwell she leaned over and whispered to Takara and Yorimasa, “Two of our classmates followed us so I hope you have a good excuse.”

“I don't need an excuse for this. Now which apartment was his?” Takara stated a bit angrily.

Sakura sighed and stopped in front of the correct door. She experimentally reached out a jiggled the door handle only to find it locked. “Well look at that. I guess we'll have to come back later with someone who has a key,” she suggested.

“This isn't a joke. Open the door,” Takara stated.

Sakura scowled and glanced back at the stairwell hoping for once that Kiba and Shino would arrive and stop them. But with those two not in sight, she was forced to kneel down and pull a lock pick from the belt hidden under her shirt and effortlessly pick the lock; she could tell that any more delays would make Takara angry with her and she didn't want to deal with that if she would also have to deal with their stalkers. Once the lock was open she stood up but blocked Takara's entrance to the room. “I'm not going to say that you can't do this. I agree with Kyokki that you have to try and understand why Naruto believed in this village; however, please let me go in first, and if I say so Yori cannot come in,” Sakura said.

Yorimasa looked up in surprise and frowned when he saw that she was serious. “Fine,” Takara finally relented. Once she was sure that Takara would really keep her word, Sakura opened the door and slipped inside immediately cringing at the state of the apartment. She could hear barking in the hallway, signaling that Shino and Kiba had finally arrived and she paused inside hoping that they would stop Takara from coming inside.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura stepped back outside and shook her head at Takara. “There is no way Yori is stepping inside that room. And I really don't think you should either,” she stated.

“What do you think you're doing?” Kiba asked as Akamaru bounded up to Yorimasa and began to inspect the younger boy. The now large puppy was quickly overwhelming him and Yorimasa reached out and clutched onto the first person he found: Sakura.

“Shut up and leave us alone,” Takara stated before pushing past Sakura and stepping into the apartment. “I'll only be a minute. Keep Yorimasa out here if you want to.”

“You can't go in there,” Kiba yelped in surprise moving towards the door until Shino grabbed his arm and held him back.

“Wait here with them. I'll stay with her so she can see the apartment,” he stated, briefly glancing at Sakura before walking in and closing the door.

Sakura frowned and turned back to Yorimasa, pulling him away from Akamaru and moving back towards the stairs to make sure that he wouldn't be able to see inside. When Akamaru followed them eagerly, she stepped in front of Yorimasa and addressed Akamaru directly. “Yori is afraid of larger animals. Please calm down in front of him.”

Kiba blinked at the tone and stared at Sakura in shock as Akamaru momentarily settled, apparently content to observe the pair silently. He remained this way for several minutes before Akamaru glanced back at Kiba and barked quietly for a few moments. Kiba shook his head at the dog and glanced back at the door to Naruto's apartment. “I haven't been in there since we learned he died. Was it bad?” he finally asked.

Sakura glanced down at Yorimasa and he troubled his lip watching her hopefully out of the corner of his eye. “The window's broken. Paint is chipped. Slurs are written on the walls and scattered on the ground from where they would have landed after being thrown in. Why wasn't it ever cleaned up?”

“I know it was at least once, right after he died. But Kakashi doesn't like coming around here. And I think most of them just want to forget this place. It's easier to serve a village you don't hate. And thinking of what they did to him, knowing that they won't let it go, just makes it harder,” Kiba admitted.

The door to Naruto's old apartment was opened, stopping Sakura from replying as Takara and Shino walked out. “I want to talk with my father. Let's go,” Takara declared, ignoring the two shinobi and snatching Yorimasa's hand to pull him along with her. Sakura took one last glance back at Shino and Kiba, neither seemed willing to meet her eyes, before taking off after the siblings hoping to curtail a bit of Takara's anger.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked catching up to the two and relieving Yorimasa of his sister's grip so that he could slow down to a normal pace.

“They were wrong.” Sakura looked up at Takara in confusion as the girl finally broke the angry silence. “Who was?”

“All of them. Rin, Kakashi, Naruto. Even my dad and grandma. I think Mitsutori saw it, but she never went against them so that didn't help anyone.

“They all thought he was so much like his father. That that was some sort of sign that he should stay here. That it would make him strong enough to put up with it. Even he thought he was strong enough.”

“I know you hate hearing this, but it is different for shinobi. And being ninja gave him something to fight for. It gave him a goal,” Sakura reasoned.

“Hokage. He lived and died for that and it wasn't worth it. It was the position of Hokage that doomed him even before his birth and continued to plague his life.”

“You know that isn't true. After everything we've told you, you have to know that. It may not have been great with the Sandaime. But you cannot blame the Yondaime or Tsunade-sen…Tsunade-sama. She would have gotten him out of Konoha if she had known.”

“You don't have the correct perspective for this. You're like the rest of them. You're like the villagers here. You didn't see him for who he was. Even now you don't know what you're talking about. I saw your face when you came out of that apartment. You knew what you were going to see when you walked in there and you weren't angry, you were just resigned. Everyone was just resigned when it came to helping him. They thought there wasn't anything else they could do. He was resigned too, that's why he died. That's why we won't ever know him the way Rin and Kakashi got to. You're still resigned to his treatment here. That's why you can't get angry about anything you've seen.”

Sakura froze and dropped Yorimasa's hand. The younger boy turned back to look at her in confusion but Takara continued walking. “You should go with your sister. I'll find you two later,” she stuttered, turning away from him and moving towards a side road. She hurried away from the area and sped up when she noticed she was being followed again - she couldn't play their games now.

XXXXXXXX

Sasuke was beginning to regret leaving Sakura behind so hastily. It hadn't been fair to leave her hanging that way, but he really couldn't take everything he had seen and heard that afternoon. It didn't make sense to him and he knew that would mean it wouldn't make sense to Sakura when she finally forced him to explain his behavior. He had spent a week in Konoha the year before and it hadn't done this to him, but less than two days this time and he couldn't handle it anymore. He was going soft, Sasuke decided as he neared his old training ground and the Memorial Stone it held.

He broke out of the woods and was surprised to find that he wasn't alone. Sasuke had almost apologized for interrupting the mourner when the woman turned around and the smirk was obvious on her features.

Sasuke stared at Konohamaru's opponent before turning and meeting Sakura's equally confused face. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Sakura's eyes widened in recognition and then narrowed into a glare. “I saw her die. He killed her,” she hissed.

“This isn't the place for this conversation. And that isn't who you think it is,” Itachi interrupted.

“But…what do you mean? Who is it then?” Sakura asked angrily.

“Quiet,” Itachi hissed at her. “And the name is different from the woman you fought that day. They may be related but it isn't the same woman so calm down,” he whispered quietly.

“And how would you know?” Sakura bit out.

Sasuke grabbed Sakura's arm and leaned around to shoot a warning glare at Itachi when his brother spoke. If it weren't for the match below his tone probably would have caught more attention. As it was, they had isolated themselves from Rin and Kakashi in case Rishito used Geiha no Houou. Itachi had even changed out of his normal uniform and trademark high necked shirt to avoid attention in the crowd.

“I know because we watched it. The woman who survived was sent to the Akatsuki. We brought her here to tell Tsunade-sama what had happened to you. You forget that for nearly three months even Rin, Kakashi, and I believed you three were dead.”

“I said, why are you here? Do you have someone on there to mourn for?” the woman in front of him asked.

Sasuke blinked and wondered where his mind had gone when she moved. “I came here by accident. I doubt you can say the same,” he finally stated.

“Just reminding myself. Did you know that my village is responsible for over thirty names on that stone? It's the largest number of victims Konoha has lost to a village it was not at war with. My sister is responsible for three of them. I was reminding myself of my village's power.”

“An invasion doesn't count as war?” Sasuke asked, hoping she hadn't meant what he thought she meant.

“If you add in those who died during the invasion, the number is pushed to fifty. This stupid village should learn its place,” she smirked.

Sasuke nodded and rolled his eyes as she began to walk past him. He tried to remain quiet. He really did. But he knew the three names she was talking about and it really irked his ego that this girl believed her sister had been strong enough to take down any one of them. “You know, you're wrong.” The words left his mouth before he could stop himself and he just knew Sakura, Itachi, and Naruto would gang up to kill him for them when they learned of the incident.

“Excuse me?”

“Your sister was weak. She never would have been able to stand against any of them. She was the first one that Naruto killed,” he stated.

“Is that what you were told? Were you close to those three to speak of them so familiarly?” Yukira asked smirking in the dark-haired young man's direction.

“Never met `em. But I know she wasn't strong enough to have killed any of them. You were the one who was lied to.”

“So confident. I normally like that in men. You know, you remind me of Sasuke-sama. It's a pity that you aren't strong like he was. My sister killed him too,” she told him changing the subject.

“I don't care about Sasuke, he was a traitor, and by the way, your sister didn't kill him,” he bit back. “You bear false pride in a weakling. She died at the hands of a mere Genin, three years younger than her. Just like how you were defeated.”

Yukira's smirk dragged into a sneer. The moment she raised her arm Sasuke knew what was happening. “Tou Tsurukusa no Jutsu,” she declared bringing her arm down in a slashing a movement - he had always hated the fact that her sister hadn't needed hand seals to perform her jutsu. He rolled his eyes at the approaching sickle shaped vines and easily drew his sword off his back. Without bothering to unsheathe it he deflected the assault.

“And now even a civilian can stand against you.”

Yukira moved to attack again, but Sasuke disappeared from in front of her. A moment later he brought the sheathed sword down on her head leaving her crumpled on the ground as he muttered, “His forces just keep getting weaker.”

“Some do, but some of us get stronger.”

Sasuke spun on his heals only to find Orochimaru's red haired body guard watching him lazily. He had noticed her earlier in the day standing in the top box behind Orochimaru. “Been a while Sasuke-sama.”

“Why do you both compare me to him?”

“Well she did because you remind her of him physically. I, on the other hand, know that only a jackass with the sharingan stands a chance in hell of deflecting her earlier attack. Your sword skills may have improved, but not that much,” the woman commented coarsely. “So is the third prick alive as well, or did he actually bite it saving the girl?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Then let me let you in on a secret that not even Orochimaru-sama knows. I'm from Settei. We keep hearing about these amazing Shingao siblings who escaped, but there were no Shingao siblings to escape. The only Shingao in the village was like sixty when I left,” she stated.

Sasuke eyed her warily but he didn't respond. “Drawing this out is pointless,” the red head finally said moving forward. Instead of attacking, she picked up the unconscious Genin and added nonchalantly, “If he's still alive, I'm sure you've both gotten stronger. Maybe you'll survive if I choose not to tell Orochimaru-sama about you.”

XXXXXXXX

Not long after her pursuers fell back, Sakura found herself nearing the Academy and moved to leave when she remembered that she was supposed to bring Takara there to show her around.

“Haru nee-san?”

Sakura turned and her eyes widened when she recognized Ayame. She quickly glanced around to make sure that no one else was within hearing distance; if what Sasuke had told her was correct, then for all she knew the Hokage had sent Ayame to see who she really was. “The Godaime didn't send me here,” Ayame added when she noticed Sakura's movement. “My aunt didn't tell her that I had met you guys,” she admitted, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

“So you're really becoming a shinobi then?” Sakura asked, the beginnings of a smile stretching her lips.

“Yeah. I've been here almost a year. I live with my aunt and her boyfriend, he teaches at the Academy, but I'm not his class, my teacher's really mean compared with him, but Ino-sensei is nice…” the younger girl trailed off as if she suddenly realized who she was looking at. “You were one of the performers. My aunt was talking about you…I'm sorry I…” she trailed off a second time staring at Sakura in confusion.

“Call me Hana now. Haru was an alias at the time, sorry about lying to you like that,” Sakura finally said.

Ayame's face brightened in relief. “Where are your brothers?”

“Chi's here. Call him Eiki if you see him. But Maki couldn't come,” Sakura explained.

“Oh, I took the flowers to the Memorial for you just like you asked. Oh! That was Chi that day wasn't it! I thought it was odd since he seemed to recognize me after a moment but I couldn't figure out why. Anyways, I thought you might want to know, Ino-sensei took them. They set up a memorial for these three Genin that had died and she was convinced they were somehow for them. I tried to explain but it was really hard to talk to her about it.”

“No, it's alright. They were for them.”

“Really?” Ayame asked in disbelief. Sakura was struck by a similar feeling of déjà vu as the girl squinted up at her curiously. “Well, do you want to see it then? I didn't know them, but I aunt tells me stories sometimes and now I visit because even Iruka-sense and Ino-sensei say they're good role-models for Academy students,” she finally offered Sakura.

“Yeah, but isn't class in session?”

“No, we finished about an hour ago. I'm supposed to be waiting for Iruka-sensei so I was practicing out here. Umm…you and your brothers aren't in trouble or anything are you? I was kind of confused when my aunt mentioned the Hokage had asked about you but…you aren't are you?”

Sakura smiled and laughed lightly. “I don't think we're in trouble. Actually, we think she might have been led a bit astray by over-exaggeration. Still we don't really want to cause trouble so we'd like to well not cause trouble,” she finished shrugging as Ayame grinned and nodded.

“The memorial is this way,” the younger girl replied, still grinning as she grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her away from the Academy and back the way she had come. “It's near a restaurant they used to go to all the time. When he heard they were planning on putting up a memorial, the chef actually requested that it be near his shop so that he could see it everyday.”

Sakura smiled and zoned out slightly as Ayame continued to pull her along and ramble on about various happenings in the village. It wasn't until they neared Ichiraku that another voice penetrated her mind and she stopped short. Ayame glanced back in concern when Sakura stopped walking, forcing the younger girl to stop as well, and followed Sakura's gaze to see an older white haired man listening angrily as a darker haired man spoke with him. “Ayame, I think you should go back to the Academy and meet Iruka-sensei. I can make it to the memorial from here but I don't want you to be here without your aunt or whoever else you should be with.”

“But, it's just right over there and-”

“Please? I really think you should go back to the Academy. I'm sure I'll see you again before I leave, but it really isn't safe here right now. That man over there is Orochimaru, so please? Go back?”

Ayame's eyes widened at the name and she looked back in Orochimaru's direction with a glare that confirmed several of Sakura's suspicions. “Fine. But don't get into trouble. My aunt said she thought you were funny and that means she likes you so she won't like it if you get in trouble,” Ayame stated, turning around and walking back towards the Academy.

Sakura watched her long enough to see her turn away from the street before turning back towards Orochimaru. She could see the memorial just a few meters behind them but all she could think about was how thankful she was that Sasuke wasn't with her at that moment. Jiraiya certainly didn't seem to be enjoying their conversation and she had to admit she felt sorry for him; after all, if nothing had changed, it could have been Naruto standing in his place listening to Sasuke, but that was something she never liked to think about. Making up her mind she continued on her way replacing the grin on her face as she walked straight up to Jiraiya. “Jiraiya-sama?” she questioned loudly in the middle of a particularly gruesome detail from Orochimaru, making sure to turn just enough that it was clear she was ignoring the leader of Otogakure.

Jiraiya glanced away from Orochimaru and Kabuto with relief and studied the young woman who had spoken. “Hana, right?”

“Yes,” Sakura answered with a slight bow. “Rin asked me to come apologize for her behavior earlier. She really would have found you herself but Sho needed to speak with her before he met with the Hokage. She lost her temper after seeing that jutsu used against Rishito. Especially after not seeing that move, even in an incomplete form, for so long.”

Jiraiya listened to the bubbly explanation patiently and finally grinned at the girl, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder. “I doubt Rin would have bothered apologizing to me for something like that, she never would have when she was younger. However, thank you for trying to take the higher road in this. Tell her Konohamaru wasn't even supposed to use that jutsu and he'll be punished for using it anyways,” he told her.

Sakura forced a sheepish grin onto her face and nodded. “Rishito wasn't really supposed to use his either; I think he panicked,” she admitted.

Jiraiya grinned slyly and leaned over her, “You wouldn't by any chance know who came up with that would you?”

Sakura beamed and shook her head, “Even if I did I wouldn't tell you.”

“Figures, you're too much like Rin already.”

“At least I didn't slap you the first time I met you,” Sakura shot back sticking her tongue out at him, she was being more childish than usual but it seemed to be pissing off the shinobi behind Orochimaru so she kept up the act. Jiraiya huffed remembering the incident and wondered if the little red head could do as much damage as the nine year old Genin had; he was betting she could do more.

Orochimaru had been ignoring their banter as he studied the girl. Kabuto couldn't help but perk up at his interest even as the men behind him seethed. “You look familiar,” Orochimaru finally stated.

Sakura and Jiraiya turned to him in confusion before Jiraiya remembered what he had heard of the girl's hometown and pulled her away from Orochimaru slightly. “Why don't you meet up with your brother and the Nami girl?” he suggested. Sakura blinked up at him, surprised that he seemed to be standing up for her and nodded mutely.

“Nami girl? That would make you…Hana wasn't it? One of the two siblings who escaped from Settei,” Kabuto said. “I didn't think our shinobi left any survivors.”

Sakura turned to glare at him harshly. The glare wasn't hard to fake; she hated Kabuto for fooling them during the Chuunin exam and putting them through so much afterwards. She also hated the nonchalance he used when referring to an entire town's populace that Sound had wiped out for no discernable reason.

“Perhaps we should rectify that mistake,” one of the Sound Jounin behind Orochimaru and Kabuto suggested. Sakura's eyes narrowed and she was tempted to dare him to do so when someone else spoke up for her.

“Not a good idea. You wouldn't want to be embarrassed by a civilian kicking your ass. Especially not after the defeat of your sole participant this afternoon,” Anko interrupted brashly moving next to Sakura.

Orochimaru simply smirked at Anko's defiant appearance and stared at her. A moment later he straightened slightly and looked at her curiously. When Anko and Jiraiya realized what had happened they sported twin smirks. “Who managed to seal it?”

“That isn't any of your business,” Jiraiya informed him, preparing to drag Sakura and Anko away.

“Which means you didn't do it Jiraiya-sama. You're always very proud of what you accomplish,” Kabuto said condescendingly. “So Chiyu-san probably did.”

“I'm amazed you would trust her so easily Anko. She came much closer to joining me than you were able to,” Orochimaru said.

“Rin never would have joined you under normal conditions you bastard. You used Naruto against her. You-”

“That she even had to consider your offer is evidence of just how much the Sandaime failed this village during his second reign,” a much calmer voice interrupted. Sakura took a deep breath and turned cautiously to look at Itachi. She thought he was watching her in amusement, but she was never completely certain with him. “Takara and Eiki are looking for you.”

“Oops?” Sakura replied, moving closer to him as Itachi rolled his eyes and held out his hand motioning for her leave with him.

Jiraiya didn't seem to be the only own awestruck at Itachi's behavior, most of the Sound Nin were glaring at him for the way he had dismissed their presence. “Such a pity you had to see that jutsu used against your student. Were you the one who created its counter?” Kabuto asked. “You of course would have been aware of the way it was used against your brother.”

“I didn't create it. And it isn't a counter for the Rasengan. That was accidental,” Itachi replied calmly.

Kabuto smirked in his direction and adjusted his glasses slightly. “Yet such animosity towards your own former Hokage,” he said quietly.

Itachi stared at him for a moment before turning back to Hana expectantly. “Interesting that in the end you assured that your family's will was followed through by manipulating your brother as you did,” Orochimaru cut in.

Itachi froze mid step and Sakura looked up at him warily before glancing back at Orochimaru. She almost sighed in relief when Itachi continued tugging her along with him.

“Is there a problem here Jiraiya-sama?” Inuzuka Hana asked, walking forward. Sakura rather belatedly noticed that the confrontation had gathered a rather large crowd of shinobi that had been holding back not far away.

“No. Anko, why don't you head out with them and celebrate with your Genin? Tsunade should be done deciding on the promotions by now,” Jiraiya stated. Anko nodded and took a step towards Itachi, but the shinobi behind Orochimaru had apparently had enough of their disrespect for Orochimaru and Otogakure.

Sakura felt the attack coming and moved to reach for the kunai she had hidden to block it. Her hand had barely twitched when Itachi pulled her into him, trapping her hand between then. When the man lunged at Sakura with his sword drawn, Itachi turned around and lashed out with his foot. Surprisingly the man was stopped just centimeters from impact when a red haired woman, wearing the garb of Orochimaru's bodyguards, appeared behind him and snagged the back of his shirt, pulling him back and unbalancing him enough to lay him out flat.

Itachi glared at the woman for a moment before turning to Orochimaru. “In the future restrain your men or it won't be them I attack,” he stated threateningly as the sharingan whirled in his eyes.

“Kabuto,” Orochimaru ordered.

The white haired medic was tempted to misinterpret the order and attack Itachi but instead her merely stepped forward and pulled the man back onto his feet, nodding to the woman and poking a pressure point on the man's neck to knock him unconscious. “He'll be dealt with,” Orochimaru said simply before turning and walking off.

Kabuto threw the man over his shoulder and followed. The red haired guard paused for a moment to stare at Sakura and then the crowd of shinobi behind them before she followed as well. The moment she left Itachi deactivated his sharingan and released Sakura enough that she took a step back and looked up at him innocently. “Is there a reason you delight in causing trouble?”

“I don't know what you're talking about. Can we get ramen? Eiki was going to meet me here,” she asked, smiling beatifically.

Itachi rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. “Not after that stunt. If you're lucky I won't tell Eiki or Kyokki what you just did. They'd kill you to stop you from getting into that type of danger in the future. You're not leaving Rin's house until Orochimaru is gone from this village,” he stated.

“That's not fair,” Sakura whined as Itachi pulled her away.

“I'm starting to think that girl is as insane as Rin,” Jiraiya muttered.

“She could have handled herself,” Anko told him.

“That's not the point. Although I do wish Itachi had just killed Orochimaru. That way he'd be gone and it wouldn't be either of us Tsunade was pissed off at,” Jiraiya muttered. “What's wrong with you?” he asked, looking up and noticing the shocked look on Shikamaru's face.

“Did none of you recognize her?”

Anko and Kiba froze momentarily much to Jiraiya's amusement before Hana interrupted and asked suspiciously, “Who?”

“The red head, Orochimaru's guard,” he stated.

“No, wait. Was she? No,” Kiba muttered to himself but Shikamaru wasn't convinced.

“She was one of the four. Is Temari still in town?”

“No, she left about a week ago,” Chouji told him.

“Damn it, she wouldn't have seen her then.”

“Slow down and tell us what you're trying to say,” Hana cut in.

“The red head that interfered in the fight. She was one of the Sound Four. We fought her when we went after Sasuke. Temari and I fought her. She should have died from those injuries, and besides didn't the Hokage send a clean up crew or something?” he asked.

“Might be another case of siblings looking too much a like. That's why Konohamaru freaked out earlier,” Anko suggested.

“What do you mean?” Kiba asked suspiciously.

“The chick he fought. The one with violet hair. We aren't positive about the relationship, but she looks just like…never mind.”

“She looks just like one of the three that made it here and fought Naruto and Sakura,” Jiraiya finished. “And don't any of you get ideas about going after her,” he added when he noticed several of the teens stiffen at his announcement.

“How can we just let these people walk free through our village?” Kiba finally asked. “We know what they've done to us and they come in here without facing any consequences.”

“The Chuunin exam is an international event. Without a declaration of war or the permission of the other four main powers we cannot legally stop them from participating. They were blocked for two years and the other powers chose to remove the block this time,” Jiraiya answered. “Politics are rarely what you want them to be. And they normally end up hurting more individuals than deserve it, but it's either that or war.”

XXXXXXXX

“At the elder's request we've decided to make more or less immediate promotions this year. Normally we'd deliberate for a few weeks, but I'll try and make this short enough that you all can go track down your friends and celebrate,” Tsunade stated, bringing the room's attention to her. The elders were sitting smugly on her right while the council of clan heads sat on her left waiting patiently for the deliberation to end so that they could speak with the Hokage before they were forced to sit through the meeting with the Daimyo and Nami family the next day.

“I'd like to begin by saying that you all performed well. You showcased your talent and did the village proud. That said, only one maybe two of you will gain your promotion here today. Going in to this today I had expected the results to be the opposite of what they are. Hanabi and Konohamaru, even though you fought well you were too easily goaded during your fights. And Konohamaru you came dangerously close to pushing it over the edge against your first opponent. I have no doubt that you two will pass on your next go, but not this time.”

Konohamaru and Hanabi glanced at each other before turning back to the Hokage and nodding grudgingly. If it had been anyone else telling them they probably would have argued, but Tsunade was notoriously stubborn and would probably just get angrier if they argued. Tsunade nodded back, smilingly slightly at their easy acceptance, before turning to Rishito and Moegi. “I'm also sorry to say that I honestly expected the two of you to lose during the first round. I don't normally get proven so wrong, but there have been other very memorable occasions when I am and am willing to admit it.”

“Until I know where those jutsu they performed came from I will not stand for their promotions,” Koharu stated, slapping her hand against the table in front of her.

Tsunade sighed and sent an angry glance at the older woman before turning back to the Genin with a smile. “I'm curious about them as well,” she said.

“We swore we wouldn't give away their origins. We had to promise that before they were taught to us,” Moegi stated.

“They would both qualify as high ranking jutsu. And the two we saw both appeared to be original. Unless Itachi is teaching you how to create new jutsu, which is possible-”

“Hokage-sama,” Rishito interrupted as politely as possible. “Like Moegi said. We swore we wouldn't give away their origins.”

“We also can't even pretend to claim them as our own. We aren't that advanced and it would be foolish to lie to our own Hokage about something like that,” Moegi added.

Tsunade looked between the two for a moment before her eyes settled on Moegi and she beckoned the nervous girl forward. Moegi approached cautiously and left her arms pliant when Tsunade reached forward and picked up both of Moegi's hands studying them for a moment, first the tops of the hands, then the palms - both fisted and open. She glanced briefly at the leather cuff Moegi wore and lightly brushed her hand over it as she dropped Moegi's hands again. “No jutsu tattoos. Well, Itachi's annoying but he isn't an idiot so even if this is illegal I doubt he's working against the village.
Koharu turned to the Hokage in outrage and opened her mouth to shout her objection to Tsunade's nonchalance when Tsunade spoke again. “Ageru Moegi, report to the administration building tomorrow at eight to receive your flack your jacket. Until further notice or need, you will continue missions with your current team. Extra training will be for you and your sensei to decide. If you need anything set up an appointment with Shizune.”

Moegi stared at the Hokage in shock for a moment. “Are you serious?” she finally asked.

“Yes,” Tsunade replied dismissively turning to study Rishito. “Your turn come here.”

Moegi stepped back away from the Hokage as her teammate moved forward, giving her sympathetic shrug as he brushed by her. Tsunade again reached forward and studied both of Rishito's hands just as she had Moegi's. Although this time she noticed several small chakra burns on his right hand which she attributed to the jutsu he had used against the Rasengan. “Have you named the jutsu?” she finally asked.

Rishito swallowed and nodded. “Geiha no Houou,” he told her.

“Poetic. And fitting I suppose, but you can't actually fully control it can you?” she asked.

“Normally I can. But I had to change it a bit to stop the Rasengan and I haven't practiced that so I was sort of winging it,” Rishito admitted.

“The use of that jutsu was irresponsible. Especially if as you say you hadn't practiced its use against a jutsu such as the Rasengan,” Koharu interrupted. Rishito could see the Hokage's jaw clench and waited patiently. His parents had been forced to regretfully inform him that because of their reputation both currently and in the past he was likely to get passed over on his first try. He had been hoping they were lying but it was looking more and more likely as Homura seconded Koharu's claim and the other two men looked as if they agreed as well.

“Konohamaru's use of the imperfect Rasengan was just as irresponsible,” Tsunade argued.

“Yes and against our judgment you are refusing to promote him,” Homura reasoned.

“Yeah, but not for that reason. Rishito used what he had to block a devastating attack. Getting hurt in backlash isn't uncommon even for highly skilled Jounin when they take a risk. I'd also like to point out that Rishito kept his cool afterwards and went on to win the match,” Tsunade argued.

“His behavior on the field was overly defiant,” Koharu stated.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Tsunade asked finally turning to look at them.

“It is increasingly clear that he shares his p-”

“If the next word out of your mouth is parents I'm throwing you out of this office. We've been over this a dozen times. Not only are they both more than loyal to Konoha and Fire Country, genetics does not necessarily determine promotion style,” Tsunade stated.

Rishito froze momentarily before glancing back out of the corner of his eye to look at Moegi. She appeared torn between watching the Hokage nervously and trying not to make the glares she was sending at the elders very noticeable. She wasn't succeeding. He turned back around and noticed Koharu preparing to speak and cut her off before he really realized what he was doing. “Umm…it really isn't that big of a deal. I don't mind staying with my team and waiting til next time. And she's kind of right, it was really dumb to use that jutsu when I did since I didn't have a clue what mine would do and I did know what the Rasengan could do to me.”

Tsunade turned to the boy in surprise. “Are you sure?” she finally asked ignoring the smugness radiating off of the elders.

Rishito nodded and glanced at the elders once before seeming to come to another conclusion. “My parents told me this might happen if I managed to get to the tournament,” he admitted.

The elders' smugness dropped noticeably and Tsunade sighed. “Wonderful,” she muttered. While Tsunade was still distracted by her own musings Rishito assumed he was being dismissed and turned to go. Tsunade looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Moegi move to meet him at the door, “Stop.”

Rishito turned around in surprise and Moegi mirrored his confused glance towards the Hokage. “I didn't say you were dismissed.”

“But I though-”

“They can advise me on who to promote, but ultimately that power lies with me. I don't agree with either their or your assessment of your abilities in the arena today. Like I said, I've underestimated people before and I've been spectacularly proven wrong on several occasions, one of those was today and I'm not just talking about Geiha no Houou.”

“How could you have been surprised I mean you're the one who allowed us to graduate from the Academy early and-” Rishito cut himself off suddenly as if realizing who he was speaking back to. “Sorry Hokage-sama.”

“I approved of the early graduation because I knew all six of you were capable of being Genin. That does not mean that I expected any of you to actually be prepared to become Chuunin in under a year. Going in today, I had heard enough about Hanabi and Konohamaru to believe that they had a chance. You and Moegi surprised me by showing that you were both more prepared than they were.

“You both remained calm against your opponents. Remembered your teachings. And took advantage of what you knew about your opponents. Your dialogue on the field showed that you were both in control of the fights, even when fighting each other. The Elders are not going cause me to lose another talented shinobi; they're already making it hard enough to convince Kakashi and Itachi to work with me,” Tsunade stated bluntly. Rishito's eyes widened in shock and we waited quietly for her to continue. “When we began I stated that one maybe two would be promoted. I wasn't sure about Moegi but she took initiative in here today and stood up for her teachings, hence her promotion. Obviously that means that you were the one I intended to promote no matter what.”

Rishito blinked and swallowed nervously, “Oh.”

“Exactly. Now scram. Be here tomorrow morning with Moegi,” Tsunade dismissed, fighting the urge not laugh at his sheepish behavior, she honestly didn't know who he could have gotten it from.

Once the four had disappeared, Tsunade turned dismissively to the Elders. “We'll talk about this later. Right now, get out.”

XXXXXXXX

“Why can't I go?”

Sho sighed at his daughter's fiftieth request of the morning. “You haven't calmed down since yesterday. I'm not going to start trouble with the Hokage. I'm trying to be diplomatic and give her enough information that she will stop looking into the issue. With your temper you'll give something away,” he finally stated.

“Then why aren't you taking Rin with you?”

“Because my temper is the same as yours and if I go and I don't get angry Tsunade will be even more intrigued,” Rin replied lazily.

“Then take Yorimasa,” Takara suggested, gaining a poorly hidden snort of amusement from Sakura.

“They've already promised to tell you everything that goes on. You don't need to send Yori in as a spy for you,” Sasuke reasoned.

“Yorimasa,” Takara growled on impulse. “And, Itachi is going to tell you everything that goes on. I'll only hear what you all want me to hear.”

“Why is he going again?” Sakura asked taking the chance to change the topic.

“The Hokage wants all the Clan Heads present,” Rin told her.

“Umm…again why is Itachi going? There is no Uchiha clan,” Sasuke stated.

“He tried to explain that to Tsunade this morning when he was summoned. She didn't like it very much,” Rin explained. “Mentioned something about how he should hurry up and change that.”

Sasuke and Takara burst out laughing while Sakura scowled at Rin. “Anyways, Sho should get going. And I don't want Tsunade to know where I am in case she sends for me so I'm going to disappear for the day. You kids have fun,” Rin added walking out the door. She was quickly followed by Sho and Mitsutori.

“She's leaving us? What are we supposed to do then?” Sakura lamented.

“You still have to show me the academy,” Takara stated standing up and scowling at the two.

XXXXXXXX

“The Daimyo is on his way up,” Tsunade stated, walking into the room where the Clan Heads were gathered. She was actually surprised to see that Itachi hadn't managed to weasel his way out of the situation. “I want to get as much information from them as is possible so please keep them talking. I don't want them to give us just enough information that they think we'll stop any investigation because that's obviously what Rin wants us to do.”

She looked around to make sure they all understood and paused when her eyes reached Itachi. Suspiciously he had yet to return to his normal uniform and was still wearing civilian clothing similar to the siblings from Settei. “Are you paying any attention at all Itachi?” she asked.

“No.”

Jiraiya snorted and Tsunade turned to him angrily and swatted him over the head. “I expect you to help as well. I wouldn't doubt it if you know just as much as Rin and Kakashi but they refused to be here,” she told Itachi.

“Actually, they haven't told me anything about this. So if that was the only reason you want me here, can I go?”

“No, you're here as a Clan Head. As Fugaku's son you become the default leader,” Tsunade retorted.

“I'd like to remind you that there is no clan,” Itachi replied expressionlessly.

“And whose fault is that?”

Itachi opened his mouth to retort before quickly shutting it again and glaring at Tsunade. “Just say it,” she prompted. “Or follow my earlier suggestion and change that; it can't be that hard with all the women you have flirting with you.”

Itachi scowled for a moment while Jiraiya snickered before asking, “Would that get me out of this meeting?”

Tsunade froze and turned to him in shock while Jiraiya tried not to laugh harder at the honest curiosity on Itachi's face. “You really spent too much time with Rin and Kakashi,” she settled on replying finally.

“What do they have to do with me procreating? They're horrible examples, she only gets pregnant when they get drunk,” Itachi said. Tsunade was interrupted from responding by laughter at the doorway. She turned to look up and saw Nami Mitsutori almost doubled over in laughter with Sho, the Daimyo and his guard all trying not to follow her lead.

“Please come in,” Tsunade invited, sending a glare at Itachi. Once all but the Daimyo's guard were seated Tsunade looked between Lord Shijimi and Nami Sho wondering who to address first and how to get the meeting started.

“Allow me to begin,” the Daimyo offered gaining a nod from Tsunade. “As I told the Hokage two days ago, we are not bringing this up to cause trouble. I merely hope that through cooperation the rift between the village and the Lords of Fire Country can begin to be repaired.”

“From what Suzu told me of her meeting with you, you are now aware of the problems with Naruto's custody inside the village,” he continued when no one else spoke.

“Aware, but still confused,” Tsunade admitted. “Why was he left in Rin's care in the first place and not sent out of the village?”

“The Elders interfered. Rin was afraid to have Naruto leave the village so shortly after the sealing. Mitsutori was supposed to come back to Anraku to inform us of what had happened and then return for him. When I returned with her, less than two weeks later, he had already been removed from Rin's custody,” Sho stated.

Tsunade paused and turned to stare at him. “You know about the sealing?”

“Of course. Mitsutori was in Konoha when it happened. As she was to be his primary guardian after his mother and godfather's death she had to be told,” Sho told her.

“Rin was overheard saying that she had originally been chosen as Naruto's godmother, is that true?” Hiashi asked.

“Yes. Naruto's mother chose her, but both Rin and Arashi suggested that she choose a civilian instead. They didn't feel it was safe to have only shinobi guardians at the time,” Mitsutori said.

“Why was Rin appointed his guardian within the village if his godmother was chosen specifically to give him a way out of the village?” Tsunade asked.

Sho and the Daimyo both turned to Mitsutori and she frowned. “His mother wanted him to remain in the village. She wanted him to have the option of becoming a shinobi like his father. But when I left none of us, especially not Rin or Kakashi, expected it to be for long. After the sealing we agreed that he needed to be taken out of the village, she was really only supposed to be his guardian until I returned. I'm not if the Elders knew this until after they drafted her into ANBU but if they didn't it would make more sense,” she finally explained.

“Why does that make sense? How had her problems with the Elders already escalated far enough so early on?” Tsunade asked mirroring Jiraiya's look of confusion. The first time she had met the two teammates, she admittedly had felt they were favored by their sensei but if anything that had been mirrored by the Elders and the Sandaime. She had been under the impression that their troubles hadn't started until they stood by the Nami family's claim and went against the Sandaime Hokage.

Tsume spoke up quickly stating, “I believe that they simply didn't want to have Naruto influenced by anyone who might suggest there was something for him outside of the village.”

“What was the Elders' excuse for keeping him here? Protection?” Tsunade asked.

“Yes. Although over the first year Rin, Kakashi, Suzu, and Kara all offered to resign or accept permanent missions outside the village to go with him,” Sho stated. “They claimed that Suzu and Kara didn't have the strength needed to combat those who would come after a jinchuriki.”

“And I suppose they claimed that they couldn't afford to lose anyone who could,” Tsunade added gaining a nod from Sho. “Don't take this the wrong way. Why was it agreed that Naruto had to be removed from the village? If his mother had planned ahead hoping that he would become a shinobi, wouldn't it have been better to not make the council feel threatened and at least actually have him remain in Rin's custody rather than the crap he went through because of it?”

“But like I said, they couldn't have known-”

Tsunade shook her head and interrupted Mitsutori, “You claimed that they couldn't have known. But they had to at least know that there was something outside of Konoha or they wouldn't have feared Rin influencing him in the first place. Knowing that she was his permanent guardian should have set them at ease. So why was it agreed so quickly to send him out of the village?”

“Arashi told us to. He feared for Naruto's safety,” Mitsutori admitted.

“I realize the entire basis of this discussion is the fact that the old man lied. But Sarutobi-sensei's mantra was that Arashi hoped Naruto would be seen as a hero of the village. So how much of that was bullshit and how much are you twisting the truth?” Jiraiya asked.

“I'm not twisting the truth. Arashi did want Naruto to be seen as a hero and it wasn't the villagers he feared. He probably should have, but he didn't,” Mitsutori admitted.

“Was it Rin who informed you of the custody battle?” Tsume asked turning to the Daimyo and cutting Jiraiya off before he could get into an argument with Mitsutori.

“No, Suzu did. After she was expelled from Konoha she went to Anraku and they arranged for her to receive her position in Hifukidake. She told us because she was surprised that no one had already,” he explained.

“That doesn't make sense. I searched Rin's mission records while she was in ANBU, in the first year alone she had a mission that took her through Hifukidake at least once a month,” Tsunade stated. “Why wouldn't she have explained the situation to you? And better yet, why did the Nami family not seek out your help?”

“The Nami family did not seek out my help in part because of Senma's reluctance to turn the custody dispute into an all out battle with Konoha. I believe Rin was merely listening to them. I was aware of the situation in Konoha and because both the Nami family and Rin and Kakashi knew my opinions on the administration they chose not to involve me until they saw no other way,” the Daimyo claimed.

“Your opinions being that you did not support the Sandaime reclamation of his title, correct?” Tsunade asked repeating what she remembered from two days previous.

“In part,” the Daimyo admitted cautiously, “I was also concerned with the amount of power the Elders seemed to be wielding.”

“How would you have seen that if you weren't aware of the custody dispute?” Tsunade asked. “I'll admit they were out of hand, but if you didn't know of the village's internal affairs, how did you know that?”

“Like you said, Rin and Kakashi went through Hifukidake once a month. They didn't talk about Naruto but that doesn't mean they didn't share information,” Sho stated pushing the conversation away from where Tsunade had obviously wanted it to go.

“What kind of information?” Tsunade asked suspiciously.

“Nothing illegal,” Lord Shijimi assured her with a slight smile. “I had met the two while they were still Arashi's students and even after his death we attempted to carry out some of his plans.”

“What plans? And what information?” Tsunade repeated.

“They never told you,” Sho stated in disbelief.

“Told us what?”

“He had everyone looking for you. Lord Shijimi had the majority of his excess forces on it. We had every business contact on the look out for Tsunade. They really never told you?” Sho repeated.

“He?” Jiraiya asked.

“Arashi. It wouldn't have even been three maybe four months after you had left originally. After he died we continued looking. Every time a lead came up Rin or Kakashi would follow it. Rin continued doing so until we made her stop maybe three years before you finally returned to Konoha,” Sho insisted.

“Why were they looking for us?” Tsunade asked.

“Abdicating without successor present would have given the council of elders a reason to take full control. They looked for both of you…even after Kachuu died,” Sho stated.

“What do you mean `even after'?”

Sho leaned back contemplatively as he stared at Jiraiya. “You don't know,” he finally stated.

“Know what?”

“Are you aware of the offer Orochimaru made to Rin?” Tsunade interrupted with a pointed glare in Sho's direction.

“We were.”

“Then you were the ones who suggested that she speak to the Sandaime before going through with it,” Tsume added.

“No. We told her not to. We even offered to care for Rishito if she felt she couldn't involve him,” Sho replied before the Daimyo could step in.

“Say that again,” Tsunade stated.

“It was one of the few times she was ever wrong about the Sandaime. After he knew, there was nothing we could do to allow it to still happen. Not long after that my mother chose to allow Naruto to be raised in the village and become a shinobi.”

“You encouraged my shinobi to commit treason?” Tsunade repeated.

“She wasn't a shinobi at the time. And it wasn't treason,” Sho stated.

“How could you have encouraged her to work with Orochimaru? If you knew anything about Konoha you had to have known what kind of man you were dealing with,” she retorted angrily.

“To be honest Hokage-sama, at that point, if it meant getting Naruto away from your Elders I really didn't care,” Sho stated standing up. “I'm sorry but I don't think we can help you more. And at this point, they aren't telling you enough for you to be able to clear anything up for me,” he added walking towards the door. Mitsutori quickly followed him, as did the Daimyo after an apologetic glance towards Tsunade. Not that the Hokage noticed, she was too busy glaring at the Clan Heads in the room, apparently Rin hadn't been the only one who just wanted to move on.

“Itachi, Jiraiya, scram.”

XXXXXXXX

Itachi had eagerly jumped at the chance to leave the stifling room, not that any of the former occupants had been able to tell by the way he slowly lifted himself from his chair and walked quietly out the door. Jiraiya had followed him after a quick questioning glare in Tsunade's direction. He had followed Itachi down onto the streets and continued following the Uchiha out of boredom. His only dealings with Itachi since the younger man's return had been with Rin or Kakashi present and while they had proven amusing, he had never had the same fascination with Itachi and his past as Tsunade had. He didn't care about the Uchiha massacre and he didn't particularly care for Itachi, or his brother for that matter, except in the case of where they had helped Naruto. It amused him really.

A part of him felt that he should have been angrier at the brothers for the psychological hell they had put his blond student through. If it weren't for recent behavior, he probably would have been. “How long do you plan on following me?”

Itachi's statement interrupted Jiraiya's line of thought and he glared at the young man. “Until you lead me to Rin or Kakashi,” he finally settled on answering.

“I haven't seen either since I was called to see the Hokage this morning. They're probably hiding to avoid being sought out by her,” Itachi answered.

Jiraiya nodded to himself but continued to follow Itachi anyways. When Itachi realized this several blocks later he turned around and stared at Jiraiya. “Why are you still following me?” he finally asked.

“So Rin and Kakashi were drunk when they conceived both their brats?” Jiraiya asked out of the blue. Itachi's left eye twitched in annoyance and he walked away a second time. This time he could hear Jiraiya's laughter fading as he managed to get farther away.

XXXXXXXX

Sakura despondently followed Sasuke and Takara through the grounds and towards their quarters. The two had been overwhelmingly silent the entire return trip to the capital. She knew some of what was wrong. Takara had been in a bad mood since the visit to Naruto's old apartment. Sasuke had been off since the day of the tournament in general and he had refused to speak with her about what was wrong. It had been so depressing that she had decided to go back early with the Daimyo instead of staying with Rin. She hadn't expected both Takara and Sasuke to make the same decision.

When they finally reached their room she entered the common room behind them and was relieved to see Naruto lounging on the couch already. Sakura moved forward hoping for something to cheer her up but Takara beat her to him. “I'm sorry,” she muttered sinking to the floor in front of him.

Naruto sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily before asking, “What?” When Sasuke took a seat on the vacant end of the couch and settled for glaring into space, Naruto looked to Sakura for help. “What the hell? You just got back from the exams, didn't you? Why do you all look so upset? Did something happen in the talks?” he asked.

“That bastard,” Sasuke whispered.

“Talking about yourself or your brother?” Naruto joked.

“Jiraiya. He taught Konohamaru,” Sasuke stated not even bothering to acknowledge Naruto's comment.

“So…why is he a bastard for teaching someone else?” Naruto replied.

“He didn't just teach him. He taught him the Rasengan,” Sasuke told him.

Naruto stared at Sasuke in surprise for a moment before turning to Sakura for confirmation. Sakura nodded and shrugged apologetically, unable to wipe the confusion from her face. She had no idea where this was heading. Naruto grinned weakly as he turned back to Sasuke and rubbed the back of his head in a familiar motion. “That's good. It'll make Konohamaru stronger; to be honest I was kind of worried about him.”

“It isn't good,” Sasuke growled. “He used it in the Chuunin exams. Everyone saw him use it.”

“What's wrong with that?”

“It's your jutsu! Arashi came up with it and you were supposed to learn it. That, that Sarutobi didn't deserve to use it,” Takara shouted, surprising Naruto and drawing his attention back to her momentarily before Sasuke spoke again. “He used it against Rishito.”

“I used it against you,” Naruto reasoned.

“We were pissed off. That was a real fight, not a round in the Chuunin Exam,” Sasuke retorted.

“He was showing off. He used it just to show one more power move and he used it against a friend who wasn't expecting it,” Takara said.

“Look, it's not like he could even have mastered it beyond the second level yet. It wouldn't be particularly lethal and if Itachi let Rishito use his new jutsu then he would have been fine, right? I'm not saying he was right in using it, but you guys shouldn't be this pissed off about it,” Naruto tried to reason.

“How can you not be?” Takara shouted back. “How can you keep ignoring and forgiving everything they've done to you? Everything they keep doing? How could you spiral out of control, far enough that you gave up on living there, and then just live happily like this? What the hell is wrong with you Naruto?”

Naruto's eyes widened as the girl stood up and stormed into her room slamming the door. Sasuke looked at him wide eyed for a moment before slowly rising off the couch and moving off into his own room. Naruto turned almost desperately to Sakura and her lip quivered slightly as she moved to sit next to him on the couch.

Naruto floundered for a moment as if trying to reason with someone who was no longer listening before he settled for just sitting silently next to Sakura.

Agent's Spiel: Jutsu -I only actually used like two jutsu names the entire match but I figured I would be nice and name a few of the others as well.

Kaiten is the Hyuuga's Heavenly spin

Tsuin Hakkou Mori no Jutsu - Twin White Rainbow Lance

This is the jutsu Moegi uses against Hanabi.

Sanso Torikeshi no jutsu - Oxygen Cancellation

Geiha no Houou - Battle Cry of the Phoenix (Technically the Houou is not exactly the same as a Phoenix, but I think it's the easiest comparison for most of you guys. I was actually aiming more for a Thunderbird type thing originally but there isn't a good translation for that except for the most literal one which is also the name of a train in Japan)

This is the name for Rishito's jutsu. This jutsu name is also wrong but I'm not fixing it here.

Tou Tsurukusa no Jutsu - Vine Sickle