Naruto 1. Chapter 1: Simple Review

**Chapter 1: Simple Review**

He looked out the window, noting the gloomy atmosphere of the village where he lived. He watched as the figures outside went about their way, going around and doing their usual routines. He sighed and looked at the room he was currently in, annoyed with all the noise and scuffles that was going on. He really didn't get how they were all able to bear with the noise, but then again, maybe his sense of hearing was just a lot more sensitive than theirs. The room's door swung open and in trudged a man with a scar that cut across the bridge of his nose, ending from cheekbone to cheekbone, his hair tied in a high tail.

"_Good thing he didn't tie it any higher than that, otherwise, he'd look more like a Nara."_He chuckled as the thought crossed his mind. As if reading his thoughts, the man turned his eyes towards him to give him a warning look. He shrugged his shoulders and feigned ignorance.

_"Damn, am I getting that predictable to him?"_ he thought before he dug his face into his palm when he saw the man suddenly smile as he raised an eyebrow.

_"It's like he's reading my mind!"_he groaned. The man leaned back as he sucked in a large breath of air. Knowing what was coming, the boy did his best to cover his ears. The man slammed his hands on the desk in front of him, as he let out all the breath he took in with a shout, his head suddenly growing to more than five times the normal.

"WILL YOU BRATS SHUT THE HELL UP AND SIT THE FUCK DOWN, NOW!" Yep, he was swearing in the presence of 12year olds, but that's not something new anymore. After all, none of them were normal kids anyways. The noisy ones immediately shut their mouths and went rigid in their seats, hands on their laps and heads slightly bowed. The rowdy ones stumbled and tripped as they tried to get to their seats as quickly as possible. The quiet ones, well, they continued on with what they were doing.

"Now then, in a matter of days, your final examinations will be coming and you'll soon be graduating from this academy. Soon as you graduate, you're all going to be one step closer into becoming full-fledged ninjas, but don't think all your hard work has ended; on the contrary, the hard part of being a ninja will have only just begun. Now, quick recaps. What is the purpose of ninjas? Sakura?" he asked, looking straight at a pink-haired girl.

"It is to protect the human populace from those that abuses their powers and abilities and would threaten to endanger them, thus disrupting the balance that has already been shifty for eons. It is also to help in maintaining and improving the economy of the country a certain hidden village is sworn to watch over, also stabilizing the village in the process." She finished with an all-too sweet smile. The scar-faced man nodded, and he scanned the room once again.

"Correct. What are the various parts of the body where a precise hit would result in a certain death, Shikamaru?" he looked at the boy with the same hairstyle as him, although the boy's was tied higher and almost atop his head. The boy sighed and gave the man a bored and tired look like he was suffering from old age and wanting nothing more than to retire.

"Troublesome. There are no specific areas for certain kills, because it differs for every ninja depending on their race or species. However, targets which would cause certain death for any one are the heart and the brain. For a select few, the heel is also a weakness. Some of these specific weaknesses are the face, the hair, throats, stomach, and the eyes." He finished, his bored and tired look never leaving his face. The teacher only nodded before moving on.

"Okay, next question. What is the Hokage?" At that, the boy at the back made as much noise as he can as he jumped on his table, waving his arms high up in the air as if fearing the teacher might not see him. This question was something that really has his interest, and he knows the answer by heart. The man raised an eyebrow before raising his hand. He held up his index finger and opened his mouth, looking directly at the noisy boy. The boy's lips broke into a large smile as he now moved more energetically, only to stare in horror and slump in his seat with sadness and disappointment when the man pointed to the seat in front of him, calling out a name.

"Sasuke, answer the question." The said boy huffed as if the question was too easy and didn't even counted to be part of the review, which caused the boy sitting behind him to bury his nails into his table and started scratching as his jaw clenched and he started grinding his teeth. He really hated that boy, and now he had insulted something that he really cared about.

"_Looks like I found my new target. You'd better be as good as they say you are teme! I don't like it when my targets are too easy."_The boy thought as he took out a blank piece of paper and started plotting his revenge. Meanwhile, the boy delivered his textbook answer after the teacher shot him a glare.

"The Hokage is the most powerful ninja in the village, not just in physical strength and ability, but in political power and mentality as well. The position is the highest rank in the hierarchy of ninjas, as well as the most-respected. There is no one in the village who doesn't know who the Hokage is, be it civilians or nins, normal people or otherwise." The scar-faced man nodded to confirm the answer, but his glare never lessened as he stared down the boy. The boy lost some of his arrogant look as he broke eye contact, opting to looking out the window instead.

"Final question for today's review, what are we called?" he asked, and this time he looked up at the boy who sat behind the Uchiha.

"Naruto." He called out the boy's name, only to be ignored as the boy kept scribbling on his piece of paper, tongue stuck out as his brows furrowed in concentration. His fingers twitched as he tried to keep his irritation in control.

"NARUTO!" he roared up, making the boy sigh and put down his pen and paper. He looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and he immediately knew he wasn't going to like what the boy was going to say.

"You mean other than ninjas?" Yep, he didn't like it. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he growled low, his class joining in on his expression of emotion. Most of them groaned out loudly, some actually snickered while others banged their head against their desks. The more quiet and reserved ones merely shook their heads in disappointment.

"Naruto, you can't even be called a ninja yet. And I know you know what I was talking about." He said as he opened his eyes to look at the blonde child. He liked the boy, but sometimes, he was just too much to handle.

"Fine! Geeze Iruka-sensei, you can't take a joke anymore." The blonde pouted as he crossed his arms on his chest, sinking lower in his seat like a spoiled brat.

"We were once humans, normal at least by the standards of Nature and its laws. In order for us to combat those that had paranormal abilities and powers, our ancestors too had to resort to gaining supernatural abilities as well. Dealing with youkai and other forms of spirits and entities, we became youkais ourselves, hannyous by their standards. But as the line of the tainted blood continued to pass on, we became something else entirely. We are youkais, yet still of human descent, thus we were given a different title. We are the taboo of nature, the monsters of human imagination, and the things that go bump in the night and so much more. We are called, Enigmas; mysteries to humans, Nature, and to all beings of the Physical as well as of the Spiritual World." He finished, lifting his chin in an attempt of showing dignity. The man nodded grimly, his own arms crossed on his chest and his eyes moved to look all the children in the eye.

"Naruto is correct. We are neither humans nor youkai, but we aren't monsters. The monsters are those who give in to their inner desires and evils, giving in to the taint of their soul and blood. They are the reason why we ninjas exist. Our youkai blood gives us power and immense knowledge of the world around us, but our human blood gives us the sense of right and wrong as well as concepts of virtues. We are a mystery to the world, a mystery even to ourselves, but that doesn't mean that we are above everything else that resides within the very land we tread." All of the kids nodded their heads, knowing the story already as it was the very first thing that was taught to them. "The distinction between us and all the evils of this world is…" he looked towards a little girl in the back row. He gave her a small nod and waited for her to continue his hanging sentence.

"Uhm, c-c-control...Iruka-sensei." She said in a gentle voice, her face glowing a bright red before she buried it in her palms. The teacher smiled and looked at the class one last time before dismissing them. He leaned on his desk and watched the children as they packed their things and moved to leave. He saw two figures waiting for the rest to leave, the blonde boy with whisker marks on his face who wore an unbuttoned orange jacket over a black shirt with the red spiral of the Uzumaki printed on the chest. He watched the kids file out one after another after giving the teacher a bow, absentmindedly adjusting the glove on his left hand that he wore over bandages that wrapped around his arm up to his elbows. He was too busy engaged in his hobby to notice the little girl staring at him from across the room to his right.

"_That blonde chick's a Yamanaka. It's too obvious, the pale blonde hair and pale blue eyes, tell-tale signs of their clan. A scary mix of Ghost-Invokers as well as the Homonculus of Lust, they use the powerful sexual desire their targets feel when they see them, then striking fatally or using their Ghost-Invoke techniques to gain access to the other person's mind."_

He snorted as his azure eyes moved on.

"_Quiet and walks silently yet precisely, almost like a drone, wearing a high-collared and long sleeved jacket that covers the lower part of his face as well as his hands, dark glasses to cover the eyes. An Aburame, the embodiment of the Plague of Locusts, said to house the insects they use as familiars within their very body. Shino, I think was his name. I wonder what his colony looks like, since the colonies evolve and grow alongside their host's development, each colony is unique."_

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk as he thought in concentration, shifting focus as he heard the loud munching of a rather round boy.

"_Ha! Too easy! An Akimichi! Let's see, Chouza? No, that's one from an earlier generation, maybe the father of this one. Think Naruto, think! Ah, Choji! Yeah, that's it. Definitely from the Akimichi clan, the Homonculus of Gluttony, and one of the two only pure Homonculus of the Deadly Sins so far; their ability grants them the ability to suck out any and all chakra around them and use it to increase their body's mass and size. And his friend is of course the Homonculus of Sloth, the strongest of them all, if not for their laziness. Sharp and ingenious tactical mind as well as prodigious physical ability and monstrous latent talent, they would have been the strongest of all if they would actually exert more effort than what they decide is needed. So lazy they are that their ability is to control their shadows to perform various tasks for them. Such a waste, Nara Shikamaru, truly a waste."_

He bit his lip as he thought up of the possibilities that the Nara clan could easily accomplish. His eyes moved to spot the boy with the hooded jacket, a small puppy running around his legs.

"_The Houndmaster Invokers the Inuzuka clan, alongside their Shuck familiars, are also the Homonculus of Pride. They use their Shuck to channel the spirits of different Hellhounds for battle, while their Homonculus ability allows their own bodies to take on a more animalistic feature, invoking the embodiment of their clan's Pride, their ninken. Kiba and Akamaru, the name of the puppy must be referring to when he takes on his Shuck form. Must still be a true pup if it doesn't have the traits of a Shuck yet. Then there are their clan friends, the Bone Thugs and Homonculus of Wrath; the Kaguya clan. A comical association of dogs and bones as well as a deadly combination, they're as efficient as the Nara-Hattori collaboration. I wonder how strong Shiro could make his bones now, last time he said they were as hard as iron bars."_

He smiled as the Kaguya pulled out a rib from his side and tossed it to the dog. A movement caught his eye as he looked back at the Nara. His shadow shifted and he thought that the Nara was going to use it to open the door, until a boy slowly rose from the shadow.

"_The Hattori kid, Makkura, is tagging along the Nara and Akimichi again. It's weird how a lazy boy could make friends with four different clan members, but considering the versatility of their abilities, it does make sense. The Naras have been in teams with the Akimichis and Yamanakas, and they have proved to be quite a legendary combination; and they have been known to take on beyond S Class missions, pairing with the Hattoris with a 100% success rate, so him making friends with them at the same time is pretty logical."_

He shrugged as he focused on the black-clad boy.

_"The Shadow Walkers with the unique eyes, one of the three famed Doujutsus of Konoha. They are able to melt into shadows, and even walk through a dimension inside them. Their Kagegan is what allows them to see through the darkness of that world, a world where the Naras control everything. They are also the Homonculus of Envy, personified by the pure black eyes that look at everything with a darkness that threatens to swallow everything up that it sees in others it cannot find within its owners."_

He snarled as his mind came upon a realization, the Kagegan was the least of the coveted doujutsu that Konoha is home to; the first and most wanted was the accursed Sharingan. His head immediately turned to look at the back of the boy he couldn't stand as he was just about to walk out the door.

"_The Uchiha and their accursed Sharingan! Because of their vampire descent, they think that they're better than everybody else! Mix in being the Homonculus of Greed, embodied by those eyes of theirs! They want everything, from powerful and unsurpassed Taijutsu moves, to unrivaled and devastating Ninjutsu, even claiming various impenetrable Genjutsus to be theirs and theirs alone!"_

A rumbling within him and he fought to keep his anger in check.

_"They wanted everything too much, that that idiot even went and took all the blame for himself!"_

His clear azure eyes lost its usual shine as it now started to glow a bloody crimson, its pupils narrowing to form a slit as he started to remember that day where he lost one of his most precious persons.

= Flashback =

He had just gotten out of the Academy and he immediately rushed to his favorite ramen stand, the Ichiraku. He was supposed to meet someone who had become his teacher there, and they were going to talk more about the various techniques he knew and what he could and what he would teach him, with a big emphasis on the difference between the two. He had arrived and flipped over one of the flaps of the stall, and was immediately greeted by the people he truly loved.

The old man Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, they were normal humans but unlike all the others, they weren't afraid of him nor did they hate him. They welcomed him wholeheartedly, even treating him sometimes to their delicious food. Sometimes, the old man would add a few extra slices of toppings, or add more flavor to his already tasty dish, just for him. He loved the both of them so much that he just hopped over the counter and hugged them both. It had become a routine of his ever since he found the wonders of the warmth one would get with a simple hug. They hugged him back and he jumped over the counter again, this time seating himself on the stool. He looked to his left to see his teacher and big brother figure.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." He said as he looked at the blonde with a small and warm smile on his face. He gave the smile back, only his wasn't as reserved as the older man's.

"Hello, Itachi-niisan. Did you wait long?"

"Nope, I was just here long enough to order our food. And here they come now." At that, Ayame served them with large bowls of steaming ramen and Naruto couldn't help his excitement as his body shook with every whiff of the smoke, his arm wiping the already flowing drool from his chin. The man broke his chopsticks and Naruto took that as a signal to attack.

"Ittadakimas." Itachi politely said while Naruto's was a slurred version of it.

The next few minutes had been nothing more but the sound of Teuchi cooking, Naruto slurping and chugging, his bowl hitting the counter before a loud "Next!", and then another new order will be placed in front of him; and the cycle went on even after Itachi finished his bowl. He just watched the child with a smile, his hand moved to ruffle the blonde's hair, but stopped mid-air as a presence came around. He knew that something serious was going to be happening from then on as the Hokage came in and sat next to Naruto. He gave him a small nod and sat up straight, all attention to the powerful and superior elder. Naruto noticed the new person's arrival but he didn't look up until he finished his latest bowl and yelled out for another.

Soon as he saw it was his "Old Man Hokage", he leapt at the man and held his neck in a choke. The old man chuckled and Itachi couldn't help but give a small smile. The Hokage ordered his own bowl, and soon as he finished, Naruto thought it would be best to stop at his current bowl count. The Hokage then invited them to his office and they accepted. Soon as they were in the office, the powerful nin lost all of his gentleness and started to become serious, albeit a little sad that the boy would be there to witness him in such a manner.

"Itachi, I have read your report and it is most disturbing…" the man stiffened while Naruto just went about the room, looking at items that he would think interesting before moving on to the next but still keeping an ear open to listen in on their conversation. He was very interested when the people he cared for were talking to each other.

"Though I question their ideals, I have no doubt that your clan is powerful. I don't know what to do of this Itachi, our laws strictly forbid acting against a clan without any provocation. All we could do is prepare for what they are planning and then act on that, and even then, I don't think that the village will survive."

Naruto didn't like what they were talking about, it sounded so grim and just wrong.

"What do you mean, Hokage-sama? Surely we could prevent the village from being destroyed." Itachi countered, knowing all too well that the blonde could hear, but it no longer mattered as the issue would be something that he would be informed of later on.

"Indeed, we could spare the village, but the resulting civil war would destroy key infrastructures of Konoha, and I'm not just speaking of buildings and foundations…" he said as he rubbed his temple.

"The fighting would cause mistrust within our village, and because of the various Homonculus here, it could spark up even more complications. Not to mention all of the other Hidden Villages would capitalize on Konoha's weakened state." Itachi continued, knowing already that his line of thinking was right. The old man nodded before burying his face in his palms. Naruto went up to him and started rubbing at the part of his back that he could reach, and the Hokage gave him a thankful smile.

"I have a suggestion, Hokage-sama."

"Please, go ahead." Was all he said as he took up the blonde and placed him on his lap, letting him play with the papers on the desk.

"Perhaps I could yet stop what they are planning…by more violent means." He paused halfway but quickly finished what he was saying as he saw the Hokage about to say something. The old man's eyebrows rose and he just gave a nod. He showed worry in his eyes and was about to ask something, but again, the young man beat him to it.

"Do not worry, Hokage-sama. I am able to do it. My loyalty," he started, then he got down on one knee before continuing, "is to the Village first. And rest assured, my ability is more than enough to be able to perform this task alone."

At the last part, he locked his eyes with the old man's and made the tomoes on his activated Sharingan swirl to add emphasis on his words of self-confidence. The old man studied his face before he nodded, but before the man could stand to leave, he stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"I do not doubt your abilities, or your loyalties, Itachi, however, I believe in having a precaution to every move, especially for those that would endanger my ninjas. I reckon you're familiar with Hatake Kakashi?" the young man nodded and the old man opened a drawer and touched the crystal ball that was hidden inside. He pushed some chakra on it, making it glow faintly. Soon as he let go, the ANBU appeared instantly beside Itachi, already down on one knee.

"Today, you are going to be doing an S Class Mission, secrecy demanded. You shall follow and assist Itachi with his mission, and you shall do it without fail or question." The ANBU nodded and stood up, head turning towards the man beside him as if waiting for a sign to move out.

"Hokage-sama, I have only one request. I will let my brother live, as he is still innocent and ignorant of the true corruption within our clan. All knowledge of what we have talked about shall be kept from him. Unfortunately, I don't know much about all the other kids to vouch for how they are, and I'm pretty certain it would be unwise to…" he took in a quick breath, hesitating with his words, "…to let even the youngest child alive. They could be easily taken and used as a weapon against us."

"Yes, that would be quite a problem." Letting out a big tired sigh, the old man slumped in his chair as the burden he is carrying, along with his old age, leaves him feeling drained.

"And what about your brother? How are you planning to deal with him?" The old man looks tiredly at Itachi, raising an eyebrow and probing him to try and find out the answer.

"I wish for him to hate me, to hate the power of which I shall be showing him. I wish for him to despise the power that our clan possesses, and the corruption that the power of these eyes gives. I shall cleanse our world of the darkness which envelops our clan, but I do not wish for my family to die. That is all I want, and I wish you would consider this." The old man smiled as he knew the young man's pure intentions to be true and he nodded his agreement.

"Aren't you supposed to be greedy, Itachi-san?" the old man chided in an attempt of humor, to which he was rewarded with a sly grin from the man.

"That is why I'm taking all of the blame."

"To me, it would seem like you'll be taking the credit." At that, the two let out a hearty chuckle, before their smiles slowly faded. A nod to each other and to the ANBU was all that they needed to settle the agreement. The two nins then promptly gave him a salute before blurring away from the office.

"But what about my training?" complained the blonde. A small push of chakra on the crystal ball again and a new ANBU entered his office. He hefted the boy off of his lap and onto the floor, motioning for him to go towards the nin.

"But Old Man! Itachi-niisan is way stronger than him! I could already sense it!" the boy whined. A look from the Hokage and the ANBU let his chakra and youki pulse and Naruto was surprised to see such power.

"Just because I'm not strong like Itachi-san doesn't mean I can't whip you into shape, Naruto." A familiar voice from behind the mask came. Naruto's eyes widened as the ANBU removed his mask, revealing the trademark scar of one of his most trusted people.

"Iruka-sensei?"

The man simply laughed at the boy's look before picking up his frozen-from-shock form, bowed to his leader and carried away the blonde away to train him. The Hokage smiled as he saw Naruto didn't understand what they were talking about and was glad that he would be in the dark for now, but his smile quickly faded as the time of Naruto knowing the truth would be soon, since the plan was already underway and that the results of the mission would be something that will shock the entire ninja world, for that night would be the birth of a new Legend.

= End Flashback =

"_That idiot! And now, all his efforts are being wasted by his arrogant brother! That asshole, that jerk, that…that…that teme!"_

He was so caught up in fury that he did not notice the blood trickling from his palm as he clenched his fist as tightly as he could. The sound of clambering wood from the side caused him to immediately point his glare at the frightened face of the girl he usually didn't notice. He eyed her critically, his mind already trying to put together the small clues he could find about her identity.

"_Pale white skin, and large pupil less eyes. A Hyuuga? But, that's weird…the way she carries herself, it's not the way a Homonculus of Vanity would act. Neither would a Vampire. Self-consciousness could be considered a small degree of vain, which she clearly is. Let's see…"_

His eyes crept all over the girl's form, not noticing the discomfort and embarrassment that showed in her face. He kept looking and looking until he realized he couldn't quite pinpoint what was strange with her. He stood up and moved to walk up to her, but after only one step, the girl eeped and then dashed away and out of the room. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. He had not yet encountered such a weird reaction from anyone. They would usually call him a monster before running away, or do their best to not even make eye contact. The other kids would either tolerate his presence or just plain ignore it. He heard a stifled laughter and he turned to see who it was, his expression unchanged. The moment he faced his teacher, the man just broke out laughing. Naruto could only stand there and wear the stupefied look on his face, his mind working to try to figure out the weird Hyuuga girl.

"_Ah! I think her name is Hinata!hmmm…"_


	2. Chapter 2: The Stalker Becomes Stalked

**Chapter 2: The Stalker Becomes The Stalked**

It has already been two days and he still couldn't figure her out. It has been two days and in a matter of hours, they'll be taking the final tests for graduation. He snarled in frustration as his deadline was almost due. He cursed at himself for the things he had found out in the last two days of his investigation.

"Why didn't you tell me about her sooner, damned demon?"

A red aura of chakra surrounded his form, forming a snout in front of his mouth. He turned his head to the side, but the ghostly chakra snout didn't follow his movement, instead starting to move on its own.

"**You didn't ask anything, BRAT! How weak and ignorant are you to not even notice her stalking you in the first place?! I'll bet the entire village knew about that, even the pathetic humans!"**

He shook his head in frustration, sending a palm through the chakra snout to disrupt it, only for it to reform once his hand has gone through.

"**Well, considering you weren't even aware that she was using her clan's abilities only shows how far your skills go."**

He groaned and dug his face into his hands; he did not want to remember that.

= Flashback – One Day Ago =

He was getting frustrated. He was walking silently as he could, even using hidden routes he was sure only he knew about, but she still managed to get away from him. She didn't even need to look around to know that he was there, and it was like she could see through his every move.

"_**Let me ask you something, you idiotic host of mine!"**_ A grumbling voice whispered in his mind.

"_What is it? Can't you see I'm a little too busy here for your trivial questions?"_ He growled back irritably. He knew the Kitsune was only messing with him, but he can't fight back the irritation that was already over his control.

"_**Have you ever thought about what the girl could do?"**_ He rolled his eyes.

"_If I knew that, I wouldn't be doing something like this, now would I?"_

"_**That's not what I meant, seriously, how stupid can you get? Think about what clan she's from!"**_He growled again, thinking about what the demon might be talking about. His eyes widened and he sent a palm to his forehead as he now knew what it was talking about.

"Hyuuga. Byakugan."

His head hurt the rest of the day as the Kyuubi spent all of his hours laughing at his idiocy.

= End Flashback =

"**So, are you giving up on her? Why are you such a pitiful weakling anyways?"**

"I'm not giving up, we've still got a few hours left."

He whispered, still determined to figure out what was different about her. At that time, he got pulled within his own mindscape, staggering at the sudden action.

"**What do you mean 'we'?"**

He looked towards the Kyuubi's cage and he saw that the demon was low on the ground, trying to level his gaze with his host's, curiosity clear on his eye.

"Well, you need to blow off some steam right? How does a little chase sound to you?"

He smiled smugly as the shadow from behind the bars started to show his teeth in a grin.

"**Well, well, well. Now you've got me interested! I would prefer a hunt, but a chase would be a good enough exercise, I guess."**

"Remember, we're chasing to capture, not to hurt her! And who knows, she might even give you a run for your money?"

At that, the Kyuubi cocked his head back in laughter, his chakra already seeping from the seal and into the child's body. Outside in the physical world, he stood calmly with his head bowed and eyes closed as the red chakra swirled around him. He took a deep breath as he flexed his fingers, his nails already elongated into sharp claws. He exhaled through his mouth and cracked his neck. He opened his eyes and set them towards the direction of the scent he had caught earlier. His right eye now glowed red while his left remained its usual blue, both with slits as pupils. He tapped his right foot's toes on the tiles of the roof he was currently standing on as his smile grew wider and wider.

"**Here**we **GO****!**" He said, the Kyuubi's voice overlapping with his own. Soon as he raised his right foot off the roof, he leapt with his left while he leaned forward and instantly disappeared, appearing next to the figure that was hiding behind a street pole.

* * *

She eeped, and ran as fast as she could as panic blurred her thoughts.

"_What happened? He was just there on the rooftop, and then the next second, he was right beside me?"_

She ran as fast as she could, keeping track of her pursuer with her Byakugan. She saw him appear on the rooftop to her left, before he disappeared again. She judged his position and moved not a second late as he appeared just where she had been before. She turned the corner and then another. She saw him blur in and out of her vision, back up to the rooftop, then on another roof, and then on another.

She skidded to a halt and ran towards the alleyway as she saw he was trying to cut her off. He appeared where she would have ran into him had she not change direction, only to see her slip into a corner. In a second, he was already on the roof, and in another, he was on the opposite end of the alley. She kicked off the wall, and off of the opposite wall until she reached the roof, and then ran and jumped down again into another alley, all the while seeing the blond appear and disappear in bursts of speed.

"_If he's so fast that I couldn't even follow his movements, why does he suddenly appear and disappear?"_ She wondered as she turned another corner, still keeping an eye out for the blonde. He appeared just behind him and she immediately cut to her left. He disappeared again only to re-appear a few steps in front of her, only now he was facing her direction.

"_I get it! He can't move that fast and change directions! He needs to stop first!"_

Now finding a weakness, she ran towards the forest, hoping she would be with an advantage there.

* * *

The boy smiled as he could tell what she was thinking. The Kyuubi's chakra face gave him a more demonic look as it too was smiling.

"**Hah! Now this is more like it!"**

The demon shouted as he pushed the boy to move forward. Not wanting to lose her, he complied and they were rushing to cut her off. They arrived just when she was entering the forest, and he pushed off the rooftop and lunged at her. He smiled in victory as his hand landed on her shoulder, only for his expression to change when the girl used the push from his hand to enter a spin. She stretched her hand out towards a tree and then swung it towards him.

Acting on reflex, he shielded his face. His eyes grew wide as he saw a stream of water erupt from the tree and follow her hand's movements, slamming against his arms and pinning him to the tree behind him. Soon as the girl stopped her movement, she began running into the forest, the stream of water losing power as its quantity dwindled. He stood there for a whole minute with a shocked expression, trying to figure out what she just did.

"What the Hell was that? I knew clan children had an advantage over others but to think they already knew more than basic Academy ninjutsu?"

He shouted as he grabbed a fistful of his hair and started to tug lightly. The Kyuubi's chakra face went side to side as it shook its head.

"**This was no ninjutsu."**

"What the Hell are you talking about?"

"**Your senses are beyond normal because you are my container. Not to mention you are currently using my chakra, even if it is a miniscule portion, then your senses should be even more heightened. And since you didn't detect a hint of chakra or even youki from that move..."**

"Then it's not ninjutsu."

He nodded his understanding, his eyes looking at the tree that the water had burst from. He clucked his tongue, and snapped his fingers.

"**You got an idea, kid?"**

"Maybe, but we're going to have to confirm it with her. Let's end this chase, I'm getting sick of this guessing."

"**I've got an idea then."**

The blonde nodded as Kyuubi showed him what it had in mind, looking up and searching for something. Reeling his hand back, he thrust an open palm in the air, sending the shroud of chakra around his arm up towards the highest branch it could grab onto. Stopping when it hit a thick branch of the towering trees, he clenched his fist and pulled back his arm. The chakra hand grabbed tight on the branch and started to shrink, pulling the boy up towards it. Letting his grip lose, he was propelled high in the air, using the arm like a slingshot.

The boy then sent all the chakra around his body into his eyes, engulfing them in a flame of red. His sight sharpened, and a small breeze brought to his nose a familiar scent. Directing his gaze from where the wind blew from, he could faintly see a small form not too far from him. Smiling, he let the chakra wrap around his form once more, his arms already behind him ready to fire another chakra arm. He threw both hands in front of him and the shroud followed his movements, hurling two claws of chakra that extended from each arm towards the area of the girl. She evaded the first, only to step back near it when the second one came. He had the arms pull him towards them, his arms still stretched forward, ready to grab her once he's tackled her. His smile turned into his toothy grin as he hurtled fast toward his target.

"_I've got you now."_

* * *

If she was panicking before, it wasn't anything near what she was feeling now. Her heart pounded so hard, she swore it could be heard by everything in the forest.

"_I had just used my ability! If Father finds out, he'll kill me!"_

She wanted to break down and cry, but a movement within her Byakugan's vision stopped her. She gasped as she saw the arm of chakra moving towards her. She stepped to the side, already getting ready to move away from the area only to move back when she spotted the other arm. She bumped on the first arm and she felt the intense heat from it, dropping on her knees due to shock and pain. She got on her feet as quickly as she could as the owner of the arms came into her sights, hurtling directly for her. She turned around and jumped while leaning backward. She saw his hands stretched for her and panicking, she struck him with the Jyuuken on the shoulders. His smile faded and worry took over as his hands now fell limp and useless. At the same time, her eyes widened as she realized something.

"_Oh no! I just hit him! Now he might think that I hate him or something! Wait..."_

She looked down towards her chest and saw that his outstretched hands were now resting on them. She felt her face grow hot and she knew she was blushing all shades of red, and she tried to fight back what she knew would be happening next. Her vision blurred for a moment before she regained control, but it proved to be useless as she lost it when the boy's face got buried into her chest, sending them down to the ground.

"_His hands...his face! He's on top of me!"_ With that last thought, she gave in to her embarrassment and fainted.

* * *

He was having difficulty breathing and he couldn't see anything. His mind was still trying to catch up to what happened.

"_Ugh! Where am I? What happened?"_

And as the memories came back, he pushed his legs under him to get on his knees. He didn't notice the slight weight that his legs carried as he pulled his head back and took a deep breath.

"Damn you Kyuubi. You didn't say anything about that happening when you mentioned your plan."

He looked down and his face went from its normal color to a burning bright red as he saw what predicament he has landed himself into. He was on top of the Hyuuga girl, his hands still being limp was still resting on her chest, and his legs had pushed hers apart and her thighs were now over his. His aura of chakra shifted and formed Kyuubi's head on top of his, looking down on the girl. The demon broke out into loud laughter soon as he saw their position. Naruto leaned back and pushed his legs off the ground, falling on his butt because his coordination was still a bit screwed up with him being flustered. He then used his feet to position the girl's legs in a more appropriate manner before kicking and dragging his butt away from her. Having regained some control of his arm, he turned to put his weight on it to stand up, only for it to give way, sending him face first in the dirt. The Kyuubi's laughter grew louder as he spit out chunks of dirt, the chakra cloak shifting with every movement.

"Shut up already, you jerk! And a little help here?"

The Kyuubi merely kept on laughing as he took control of his chakra. He sent it towards the boy's shoulders and had it burst out from there, forcefully opening the shut tenketsu. He winced at the painful procedure, but he was now able to move his arms a lot more freely. The movements were still sluggish and his shoulders ached with every movement, but he could bare it. He stood up and walked towards the girl, looking over her with great concentration.

"**Aahh, studying yout prize before you take everything from her, eh Naruto-kun?"**

The Kyuubi teased before breaking out in more laughter. The boy growled and picked up the girl and carried her towards a tree bridal style before sitting her down with her back resting on the trunk. He then walked to a tree opposite of where she was and sat there, closely observing her until she regains consciousness.

"**Well, what now? Are you just going to sit there and watch her? This is getting boring."**He ignored the comment and the chakra slowly disappeared back into his body.

"Finally, some peace and quiet. Now let's see..."

He continued to eye every detail of the girl, but all he could come up with was the same things he found out before.

"_A Hyuuga, which basically means that she's a Vampire, and a Homonculus of Vanity. But something's off, something's different. Plus, that thing with the tree and the water, if my guess is correct, then she must be..."_

Her movement brought him out of his thoughts and he focused his gaze on her face. She blinked the blurriness out of her eyes and she started to look around, freezing when her eyes met his.

"Hello, Hinata-chan." He gave her a wide grin, trying his best to show he meant no harm.

"N-N-Naruto-kun..."

Her face went red and she immediately bowed her head, her eyes darting from the ground to his face and then back again. She started pushing her index fingers against each other and he swore he could hear her teeth grinding.

"Hey, Hinata. Are you okay?"

"Y-y-yeah..."

"So, I have a question. Why did you run away from me that time?"

Her hands now clasped onto each other and she held them close to her lips, her thumbs started to trace lines and she started to bite her lower lip.

"Are you afraid of me or something? Maybe mad at me? If you were in one of my pranks from before, I didn't mean to get you. There weren't anyone in particular I was trying to get, except for those shop owners and, some other people..." Finishing his sentence, he looked to the side and started to chew on his lower lip as his index finger started scratching his cheek.

"N-No Naruto-kun! I-I'm not mad at you...a-and I'm not afraid of you either. W-why should I be a-afraid?"

"**BECAUSE HE HOLDS SOMETHING TRULY TERRIFYING, LITTLE GIRL!"**

A figure of a fox formed by chakra suddenly burst from his shoulder, eyes glowing with a red flame and forelegs bent, ready to lunge.

"Back the Hell off, Kyuubi!"

The boy roared and he was engulfed with the blue flame of his own chakra. He forced the red chakra down into his body, his head tilted to the side and eyes shut in pain and concentration as the demonic chakra started lashing out at him. As the last trace of chakra was sent back inside him, he was dragged into his mindscape once again.

* * *

"You ass! What the Hell are you trying to do?"

"**Merely introducing myself, you impolite and uncultured savage!"**

"You call scaring her a proper introduction? And you call me an uncultured savage!"

"**SHUT YOUR MOUTH, INSECT! YOU DARE TO TALK TO A SUPERIOR BEING IN SUCH A MANNER?"**

"I've got more class than you, you asshole! And maybe someday I'll educate you in proper manners, so you won't go acting like a wild beast again!"

The cage rattled and a clawed arm stretched from within the bars, trying to grab the boy. The demon roared and rammed his head against the cage's lock, his outstretched arm clawing and smashing the area he could reach, his chakra and youki rolling outwards like a mist. Naruto closed his eyes and flared his chakra, walking up towards the cage's door and placing a hand on the paper with the word "seal" on it. He pushed his chakra into it and the Kyuubi roared with pain and anger. A flash of light later and the Kyuubi forced himself to calm down, only glaring at his "host".

"You'd better behave, Kyuubi. You may be the superior being of the two of us, but you'd better not forget who among us was given control over the other."

"**HA! YOU CAN'T CONTROL ME OR MY POWER!"**

"That's right; I have no control over you or your power. But remember, your existence is under my control."

"**EXISTENCE! HA! WHAT FUNNY WORDS YOU AND YOUR KIND USE."**

With that last remark, the demon turned his back on his jailor, pushing the boy away and back into the physical world. He fell on his arms, panting. Acting tough against anyone stronger than you is hard, but acting tough and trying to show someone who was generations beyond your level who's boss was something short of impossible.

* * *

"N-Naruto-kun, are you alright?"

He looked towards the voice and was surprised to see her beside him. He nodded weakly and pushed himself into a sitting position, his head and back resting on the trunk.

"Sorry about that. You know, the demon trying to scare you."

"I-I wasn't afraid Naruto...o-only surprised. I-If the Kyuubi's the o-only r-reason why I should be a-afraid of you, then I sh-should be afraid of everyone in our class, r-right?" He gave a small nod as his eyes stared off in the distance.

"Hinata, what are you?" He looked at her and took note of her shocked expression. Getting a grip on himself, he mentally cursed as he fought to recover from the situation.

"I didn't mean to say it in an offending way. I mean, there's just something about you that seems, different."

"W-well..."

"Hinata..."

He moved closer to her, staring straight into her eyes. Being so close, he saw that her eyes weren't the same white like the other Hyuuga, they were of a pale lavender. His suspicions grew even more and the certainty in his voice showed how sure he was of his guess.

"You're not of full Hyuuga, are you?" Her face started to twist into a mixture of panic, worry and fear. He grabbed her by the shoulders and gave his gaze as much warmth as he could.

"Hinata, there's nothing to worry about. I won't tell anyone your secret; I just want to know more about you." Her face went red and she looked to the ground, her bangs covering her eyes.

"O-okay...Naruto-kun." She then looked up to him and gave him a warm smile, one he only received from a select few. "I t-trust you."

It was his turn to look to the ground, attempting to hide the emotions he couldn't cover; Surprise, Happiness, Worry and then, Disappointment and Fear. He cleared his throat and he put on his usual happy mask.

"So, Hinata-chan...are you somehow part Nymph?" Finally asking his question, his eyes shone with genuine interest and curiosity. The Hyuuga couldn't help but be captivated by the shine of his eyes and she hadn't noticed that it has been drawing her in since the start of their conversation, her face moving in closer and closer to his. The brightness of his smile was contagious, and she couldn't help but chuckle in a truly happy moment. She absent-mindedly reached for the whisker marks on his face, finally getting a grip on reality when his eyes widened in surprise at the sudden contact. She pulled apart from him, and gave him a small apologetic smile before she finally answered her question.

"Y-yes Naruto-kun...my mother is a Nymph Enigma." She looked at his face and didn't know that his smile could grow even wider.

"I knew it." He stood up and dusted himself off, reaching for her hand to help her stand.

"Thanks Hinata-chan. Uhm, you should probably start heading for the Academy. It's almost time for class."

"W-what about y-you, Naruto-kun?"

"I sort of still have something to deal with."

He had turned his head to look away from her when he said that, trying to hide the serious look he had on his face. The next time he looked towards her, he had put on his happy mask yet again.

"Well, Hinata-chan. See you later in class. Good Luck on the exam, alright? Do your best! You're sure to pass it!"

Finishing, he turned and jumped as high as he could, kicking off nearby tree trunks until he got up to a branch. He flipped on top of it and landed in a crouch, already set to leap off when a shout stopped him.

"Naruto-kun!" He looked towards the ground and saw the worried look of Hinata.

"P-please don't tell anyone of my s-secret! E-especially the th-thing earlier...with the water..." Her voice had started to grow softer with every word, but it was still loud enough for his sensitive ears to pick up.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan! You're my Enigma! I won't let anyone else know about you!" He flashed a grin and saw her face change emotions so quick, he wasn't sure which was which anymore. With a wave, he leapt off while trying to figure out the emotions her face had shown.

"_Grateful was the first one, along with a Trusting look. Then, Shock? And then, Embarrassment? I don't get it."_

"_**So, she's your Enigma eh?"**_

"_Oh, so now you're talking to me again?"_

"_**I'll forgive your insolence for today, after all, you have proven this little chase to be quite entertaining!"**_

He flashed the memories Naruto had been trying to keep hidden in his mind, laughing loudly to himself within his cage as the boy nearly missed the next branch because of him getting flustered.

"Damn you Kyuubi..." was all he could whisper in complaints as he remembered the way her chest seemed to fill his hand, after all, even though he lost control of his limbs, he still had a sense of feel from them.

Hinata, meanwhile, was walking in a daze, her head buzzing with different thoughts of her rather eventful day.

"_He called me his Enigma. I know he meant that I was a mystery to him, and that he wanted to be the one to figure it out but...he called me HIS Enigma! And he wanted to know more about me!"_

Her thoughts all revolved around the same thing, over and over until she saw his shadowed form off in the distance. He was on a roof and headed towards the Hokage tower.

"_So that's where he has something to deal with?"_

She remembered the way he looked away when he told her that. She could practically feel the shift of the mood, the level of seriousness and urgency of what he had said. She saw him tracing a line on the palm of his gloved left hand with his right hand, noting how it wasn't intentional, but more like a force of habit. She knew he would be doing that every time he had something to think deeply about.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she had activated her Byakugan numerous times to try to see what was beneath the glove. She had known for a while that the glove was something of a limiter of some sort, as there was a large collection of youki within it. She hid her surprise from him when she took a peek yet again.

The amount of youki held in it was large, larger than when she had seen it before. Not only that, it now showed a distinct difference to the youki of the Kyuubi that was sealed within him, and that it had two different youki signatures. She was now certain that it wasn't a limiter, but more like a seal.

"_A curse then...but there are only a few curses that strong...Naruto-kun, is that why they all consider you a demon, even in a village full of monsters?"_

* * *

A/N: Took the last part from PhantomReview's review. Thanks for that, couldn't help but use it, it seemed so cool after all! XD


	3. Chapter 3: Trial of the Test

PhantomReview, I actually already have an idea of what Naruto's mix will be, and you'll be finding a clue of it in this chapter. :D

Hope you like what I've made our young hero into, given you figure out what his mix is. XD

* * *

**Chapter 3: Trial of the Test**

His heart pounded hard, threatening to jump out of his chest. He clenched his jaw tightly as his nervousness grew.

"_Why does it always have to be at this time?"_

He looked out towards the sky, looking for something that wasn't visible yet. His eyes darted from cloud to cloud, his mind focused solely on looking for the object whose existence tugged at his.

"Naruto." He heard the voice but his mind didn't register it to be important. He was breathing with slight difficulty, his feet shuffling restlessly under the table.

"NARUTO!" His head snapped towards the voice. He looked from one end of the room to the other, taking a few seconds before his mind caught up. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he stood from his seat and started to move towards the front. The walk seemed to take forever as he took one slow step after another. He wanted to jump, to cross the area between his seat and his destination in a single bound like he would usually do, but he knew better than to try and use his unstable body. He finally reached his destination, spinning in place to look at the rest of the class while fighting to keep himself steady.

He observed the weird looks his classmates were giving him and he knew what it was about. It was the first time they saw him in such a state; fingers fidgeting and twitching, sweat pouring down his face and the uneasy aura he gave off. Most of his past classmates took it to be nervousness due to the final test, but his classmates knew better than to think that he was getting nervous over something so…Academy level.

"Naruto, are you alright?" He looked to the owner of the voice and saw the worry on the man's scarred face. He knew about his circumstances and he knew that should he show any more of his discomfort, the man would prevent him from taking the test. He forced his grinning mask, his current uneasiness making it a lot more difficult than usual. The man wore a skeptical look and he knew he wasn't buying it.

"Are you sure you're alright, Naruto? Iruka, I think we should let the boy rest for now. He can always retake the test…"

"No!" Both heads snapped to him, eyes widened and eyebrows raised, showing their surprise at his outburst. He took deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Sorry, Mizuki-sensei. I didn't mean to shout. I meant to say, uhm, I'm good to go for the test." He wore his mask yet again, now feeling more at ease once he took his calming breaths earlier.

"Okay then, you know what to do I presume?" The boy crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow at the question.

"And what are you implying, _sensei_?" The man looked at the clipboard he was holding and went to his seat, already prepared to start the evaluation.

"I wasn't implying anything, Naruto. Basics. Transformation, Substitution, and Clone. Can you do it?"

The boy lifted his chin in indignation, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Once the smoke was cleared, all that was left in his place was a clipboard. Iruka looked at the one he was holding and the one on the floor. He motioned to stand only to stop when the clipboard he was holding poofed into the blonde child.

"Is that good enough, sensei?" He asked with a fox-like grin on his face. The man then grabbed him by the leg and held him upside down high in the air by his ankles.

"Hey! Cut it out! Stop manhandling students, damn it!" He cried as he tried to reach for the man's arm, silently cursing his short extremities.

"That's what you get for showing off." The man replied before he dropped him on his head on the floor, him bending down to pick up his clipboard. He went back to his seat and started scribbling, his co-teacher giving him an amused look.

"Looks like you're trying to show off too, huh Iruka-sensei?" The light blue-haired nin said.

"Wha-? Mizuki! You know I was just teaching him a lesson!" The scar-faced chuunin defended.

"Sure you were, Iruka-sensei." The man said before laughing, forcing a reddened face on Iruka.

"Whatever. Alright Naruto, last one. Try to make at least one clone, but it would be preferable if you were able to make three." The man dropped the item he was holding and folded his hands on the desk in front of him, waiting for him to proceed.

His heart had started pounding hard once again. Of all the basics, he was having the most difficulty with the Clone Technique. He could normally manage one clone, but it would take him at least a minute to create, and at his current condition, he already knew from experience that it would be disastrous.

He put his fingers together in his cross seal, shutting his eyes tight and gritting his teeth in concentration. He started to pour chakra into the technique, separating the youki from the pure chakra as he molded it – he didn't need the strength that the youki needed, and in his current state, it would only help in bringing about a disaster. Stopping once the technique had enough for three, he continually molded it until it was just right for the technique to work well enough.

He smiled as the jutsu was now ready, so he called out the name to signal the two teachers that he's about to start it.

"Clone Technique!"

Soon as he uttered the first word, the thing he dreaded kicked in. The youki sealed in by his glove leaked a bit and pushed at him, fighting control with the Kyuubi's youki and his own youki-tainted chakra. He pushed it back into the seal and was successful in keeping it subdued; however, with the focus he had kept on his technique lost, the control he had on his pure chakra slipped until he lost it entirely.

His chakra overflowed into the yet to be activated technique, pouring more and more until he released it. He panicked as he tried to re-mold the chakra to still be able to make the jutsu work until finally, he performed the technique.

A cloud of smoke erupted beside him and he kept his eye set on it. When the smoke cleared, what he saw was a personification of what he felt. The clone looked like him, in every detail, only it was deflated to the point that it was sprawled on the ground over his sandals.

He looked expectantly at Iruka, a 'you know what happened' look on his face. The man responded with an 'I know but I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do' look on his face while Mizuki had an 'I'm sorry Naruto, you were so close!' look.

He leaned his head back as he covered his eyes with his palms. He heard Mizuki try to talk Iruka into passing him but he knew that it wouldn't be right even if he passed while failing the last basic jutsu in a situation he needed it most, he knew too well how a failure like that would cost him his survival. He balled his hands into fists and his jaws clenched as the man dismissed the class, a few hands landing firmly on his shoulder with a little shake to show their sadness and pity at his misfortune. He couldn't see who they were but he already knew who his friends are. He took a deep breath before he too walked out of the room, heading for his swing beneath the large tree near gate of the Academy.

* * *

He was alone yet again, all of his fellow classmates already having been fetched by their parents or guardians. He heard a rustling up above him and he looked up only to find a certain light-blue haired Chuunin smiling down on him.

"Hey Mizuki-sensei. What're you doing there?" He asked, not really caring about the man's reasons but knew well enough that he should be asking out of some kind of courtesy. The man dropped down to his side and gave him his usual smile, a smile Naruto knew too well to be nothing more than a mask. He gave the man his own, silently showing off at how more natural-looking he could make it.

"I'm sorry about you not passing, again." He scowled and the man merely chuckled. At least him laughing at his reaction was genuine. The man then sighed heavily, too deep and exaggerated to look real, he noted.

"You know Iruka-sensei is only trying to look out for your own good when he failed you, Naruto. It might not be obvious, but I think you're his favorite among all the classes he's taught."

"_It's only not obvious to those who are oblivious."_He thought in his mind, already trying to figure out where the man was going with this. He liked how the man was trying his best to keep his negative emotions from being known to him, but something inside him was telling him that he shouldn't trust the man and he was sure it wasn't the Kyuubi.

_"Well, okay, the Kyuubi is telling me the same thing too, but there's definitely something in me that's agreeing with the demon."_

"Listen Naruto, I know what you really are."

The man had taken his arm while he was thinking to himself and was thumbing the deep recesses of the engraved seal in the leather. The man laced his finger with his own chakra and youki and the youki sealed underneath started to stir. He pulled his hand away from him and started to calm the already restless energy while he looked at the man with eyes wide.

"What are you, how do you-?" He couldn't finish his sentences as panic jumbled his thoughts. If the man knew about what was sealed in his left hand, then the village would hate him even more.

"Oh come on Naruto, it's not really difficult to see who your father is. And knowing how great and powerful the man is, it's easy to put two and two together and figure out something as simple as what is sealed under that glove of yours." The man's grin was now more genuine, excitement shining in his eyes. Naruto let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding, relief plain and visible on his face.

"Why do you hide it? Why do you keep it sealed? You know that what you got from your father is what one could call true power, right? I'm sure that's why it's trying to undo the seal you had made on it –it's too strong to be held in by something weak like that."

At that, his mind started to race yet again as he checked over his glove. He knew that someday, he would have to face what's hidden by it, but was what Mizuka saying true? If it was then, how long until the seal could hold 'it' in? Again, his musings made him oblivious to Mizuki's advancements as he placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.

"Listen, I know a scroll that has something more powerful than that seal of yours. It could block it out forever, or it can even introduce it to your body slowly and gradually. If you manage to get it, then I'll do whatever I can to ask them to give you a special test, and then, you would easily pass it because you won't be worrying about the sudden push of your other youki."

His hope-filled eyes looked at the man's eyes shining with eagerness and excitement. He looked and looked but he couldn't find any indication of a lie, only something that he was trying to hide. Getting suspicious, he asked the man the question that was in his mind.

"Why are you helping me? The rest of the village hates me because of my, circumstance…"

"The village people are fools to hate you! But they are correct in fearing you Naruto. Once your potential has been unlocked, and your true strength realized, then there is no one who could keep you from what you want! They should be worshipping you instead of pushing you away!" The man had jumped onto his feet, his arms stretched to the side as he told him of his reason. With that simple speech, Naruto knew what the man wanted.

"_He wants the power that could potentially destroy this world…"_

A grumbling at the back of his mind and he knew that he wouldn't like what his 'tenant' would be saying.

"_**I would be lying if I said that I wouldn't want MY power, and admit it brat, you like the strength I give you…"**_

After saying his piece, he felt the demon recede back into his cage, opting to observe for now. What the Kyuubi said did have its truths, but one thing didn't make sense to him.

"_Why is the Kyuubi keeping silent about the seal? I thought he didn't like sharing a body with another youki?"_ Shaking his head, he focused on the man in front of him, finally having decided to go with the man's plan for now. He smiled as he too has his own hidden agenda as he wouldn't let himself become a puppet to a man like him.

"So, where's this scroll you mentioned, Mizuki-sensei?"

* * *

The man smiled as he turned to move towards the place he and Naruto had set. The little gathering the Hokage had ordered told him all he needed to know; all was going according to his plan. He focused on his senses until he was satisfied that he was the only one heading for the area before pushing his feet to move faster.

"_Soon, I'll have power that everyone will respect!"_

* * *

The Hokage moved towards the Tower, escorted by two of his most-trusted ANBU. He could tell from afar that Mizuki has some hidden agenda. His very presence at the meeting he had called was suspicious as only High Level Chuunin and above was called for, and the man was most definitely only close to Mid-Level at best. He went to his office as the two waited outside the door. He took the Hokage's crystal ball and poured chakra into it. His concentration broke when he heard his ANBU guards whisper outside.

"I wonder how an Academy failure managed to overpower the most powerful shinobi of the village?"

"Shush! What do you think you're asking about? The boy has the Kyuubi's power at his disposal!"

"Ha! Like he'll pull that beast out to sick onto the Sandaime! I know the boy respects the man, loves him even."

"Hey, you're right! Maybe he managed an ambush?"

"Pft! Not even the Sannin could ambush The God of Shinobi!"

"Hmmm, now that I think about it, you do have a point. How did the kid manage it?"

He coughed and the two outside clicked their heels together loudly, making it known to him that they stood in attention. Since they were outside, they couldn't see the old man's head slightly bowed, the front tip of his hat shadowing over the upper half of his face as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

"_I hope the boy wouldn't brag about how he beat me…"_ He thought as the smoke inside the crystal ball swirled, causing him to remember one of the most embarrassing defeats of his Life.

=Flashback=

He stood in Naruto's way. Even without knowing that the blonde child had entered his Home, he could still hear the child's footsteps; not that he didn't know about Naruto's trespassing. The boy was standing with his body tensed, senses fully alert as he watched the older man's form. He chuckled when the boy leapt back as he took the pipe in his robe's inner pocket. He took a few puffs before finally addressing his little intruder.

"Now Naruto, to what do I owe a visit from you at such an hour? Last time you came in here this late was when you had a nightma-"

"Shut up Old Man! I wasn't scared! I just thought you needed some company at the time…"

He chuckled again at the young man's outburst.

_"Looks like the boy just needs someone to talk to after his fai-"_

His line of thought stopped as the boy's aura was filled with hostility. He could already feel that the boy was starting to call on the demon's power. His smile turned into a frown while he puffed on his pipe some more.

"Sorry Old Man, but you're going to have to give me the Scroll you keep hidden in your study." The man's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. If it weren't for the hand holding his pipe while he was puffing on it, it would've fallen and clattered noisily on the floor.

"How did you-"

"It doesn't matter how I knew about it Old Man! Why'd you hide it from me? Never mind...just get out of the way, or else." The man popped back the end of the pipe into his mouth, waiting to see what the boy had planned.

"Or else what, Naruto?" The boy's arms went and met in front of his chest, fingers crossed into a seal unique to the Jinchuurikis. He tensed as the malevolent chakra now formed a cloak around his form.

"Or else, you're going to see the true form of the nine tails bijuu." He slyly smiled, the chakra cloak making his whisker marks darken and grow thicker, making his grin more fox-like than usual.

"Naruto...don't be careless now." He said as his arm moved towards the lock of his special bracelet. If the boy was going to unleash the Kyuubi, then he would need all the power that he held back. The red chakra now swirled around the boy as the cloak surrounding the boy's head moved up and formed the Kyuubi's head, roaring with anger. His body was now tense as his senses grew sharper, growing alert as he felt a battle about to break out. Just as he was about to undo the lock, the blonde was engulfed in a burst of smoke which was quickly swept aside by a fluffy tail. He unclasped the first lock and was about to undo the second and final one when he froze, totally shocked and caught by surprise by the figure in front of him.

The boy had used a transformation technique alright, but to think that he would be referring to 'that' form. Fox ears covered with fluffy red fur pointed upwards, while eight bushy tails swayed behind the form of a woman – a very beautiful and rather well-endowed woman whose curves were just too perfect to be of a real human. His already racing heart went into overdrive but not because of the sense of danger. The boy, er, woman, whatever, walked up to him slowly, her hips deliberately swaying from left to right, her tails flowing with her every movement, and her clothes that hugged her form tightly and showed off so much cleavage that he was sure it stopped exactly where what's supposed to be hidden, was seemingly moving as she wanted them to; almost revealing everything only to stop to show nothing. Her movements were confident and full of certainty, her mouth curved into a seductive smile as she bit her lower lip, and her red eyes shined with lust and malice.

He was now sure that this wasn't Naruto, this was truly the Kyuubi in its, er, her, human form. Everything about her just screamed teasing and playfulness only a demonic fox could pull off. Her slender hands gripped his and guided them to her hips, his skin tingling with delight as her smooth and silky skin brushed against his. His mind now raced as the battle he had thought was coming turned out to be something else as he fought for every breath. Her fingers walked up his arm until they reached his shoulders, sliding up and around his neck until her arms crossed behind his neck. Her tongue licked her upper lip slowly as she moved closer to him, her eyes slowly closing. He swallowed hard as his heart was now rampaging in his chest; he didn't know how much his poor heart could take! He applied force on his hands to push her away from him, but it was too late as her soft 'gifts' pressed against his body.

_"They're so soft...they feel so real!"_

And with that, his body finally gave in. His head was pushed back as his blood burst from his nose. His knees had weakened and he collapsed in on himself. His world turned to black as his heart pumped blood too fast, causing his nosebleed to become a real bother. Last thing he saw was the woman bending over to look at him with her mischievous smile, her arms hugging herself and squeezing her 'gifts' together. He blacked out with a stupid smile on his face,

=End Flashback=

He coughed yet again as the memory had caused his blood to race once more, causing a small trickle to run down his nose. He quickly wiped it as the crystal ball finally cleared to show him the image he had wanted. He sat and watched as the events that would wake Naruto's hidden power unfolded.

* * *

"AAAAAHH! THAT LYING SON OF A BITCH!"

A shout rang from somewhere ahead. He recognized the voice so he pushed his feet faster towards the direction of the shout. He stumbled into a clearing where the boy he was looking for was tidying up, locking the rolled up scroll before flinging it onto his back.

"Naruto! What in Kami's name are you doing with that scroll?" He shouted as he walked towards the blonde only to step back as the boy turned his head towards him, his blue eyes glowing like sapphires with hate and anger, his lips pulled back in a snarl showing his elongated canines, youki rolling off of his gloved hand in waves.

_"Something's not right...don't tell me."_ He looked up in the sky, only to curse as the tall trees blocked the view. The boy growled low and his attention snapped back to the blonde.

"Naruto. Easy, calm down. I'm only here to help." He held up his hands to show the boy he meant no harm. He relaxed his shoulders and took another step back. Seeing the man back off, the boy lost his snarl but still retained the eyes and youki.

"Come on Naruto. You know I won't do anything to hurt you." The sound of feet landing on wood alerted both him and the boy of another presence.

"Hurt him? Ha! Not likely. Forget about him Naruto! He can't hurt you. He's only afraid you'll hurt him!" They both looked towards the figure atop a thick branch.

"Mizuki! What are you scheming?" He was angry at the fact that the man had taken his obsession for power out on a student; on_his_ student, on _Naruto_! Even more, the man was enjoying it. He had a crazed look in his eye, his wide grin mirroring the madness that plagued the man's mind.

"Me? Scheming? Ha! Wasn't it you who were scheming when Naruto first came to the Academy?" His eyes widened as memories of his bitter self, surfaced.

"Stop it, Mizuki!" He took a step towards the man only to stop when the boy shot him a glare. _"Damn it Mizuki! Don't do this!"_

"What, you don't want your favorite student how much like the village you once were? How you hated and feared him because of his hidden power? How you followed every plot the elders had for him to the letter?"

The man cackled out loud, his own youki already leaking around his body. He looked at the boy and his heart broke as the boy's eyes were filled with shock and pain before turning into understanding and then back into the mixture of hate and anger.

"Shut up Mizuki! Naruto, listen-"

Whatever he was going to say was silenced as the ground in front of him exploded, sending huge rocks to pelt his body and push him back towards a tree. From the cover of the smoke, he could faintly see Naruto's face turn into one of shock once again. He leaned on the trunk of the tree he was pushed against, coughing as the force of the collision of his body with the rocks and the tree caused more damage due to his unready state. He looked up at Mizuki and could already see his face contort into his youkai form, hands glowing with a greenish flame.

"Don't listen to him **Naruto**. He's just someone who wants to prevent you from realizing your **full potential!** I'm the only one who wants to help you! Even the senile old man of a Hokage is trying to **hold you back!**" The boy's youki suddenly shot up as his form shook, anger and killing intent making the atmosphere around them thick and tense.

"You hurt Iruka-sensei and badmouth my Old Man. I knew you weren't someone to be trusted." Each word was uttered with a lace of venom, his lips once again pulled back into a snarl.

"What are you talking about? I'm the only one who respects your power!" Mizuki yelled back as he readied his arms, the green flame around his hand glowing an even more sickly hue. Naruto's left arm meanwhile was slowly being engulfed by the youki that came from the gloved hand.

"You **respect** my**power,** but they **respect me!****"** The boy yelled back, his anger pushing his chakra and youki outwards in a burst of force, lifting rocks into the air and causing wild winds to blow around them.

Iruka focused his youki into his hand and transformed it into its youkai form, fingers elongating with sharpened nails at the tips, the flesh hidden under a greenish fur. He forcefully thrust it into the ground and used it as an anchor to keep himself from getting blown away. He looked up and saw that the large trees were being bent even with their thick trunks, showing just how strong the winds Naruto were causing.

In his wonder and awe, he failed to notice the object he was searching for before. A rumbling caused him to shift his gaze towards his student. A different youki accompanied by red chakra pushed itself from within the blonde forming a cloak around him. It pushed far above his head, forming a shape of a torso followed by arms and finally, a fox's head. Even with the howling winds, the demon's voice could still be heard from his position.

**"BRAT! CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"**

"Shut **up****!"** The blonde dropped on one knee as his gloved hand went up to cover his face. Iruka could faintly make out the nails of the hand elongating, threatening to rip through the glove. A chakra hand grabbed the boy's head while the other tried to push the hand away from his face. Another different youki pushed from the glove as Naruto's irritation grew worse, and the two different youki from the seal combined to push Kyuubi's away, breaking the chakra cloak. All the Kyuubi could do was roar out before he was forced back into his own cage.

_"This is getting dangerous...I have to do something!"_ He transformed his other hand and thrust it ahead of his right hand, slowly clawing his way towards Naruto while the boy's body remained still in the eye of the blowing winds, three distinct youki fighting for dominance.

* * *

The entire village awoke as the clashing of the youki reverberated across it. All the adults felt dread as they recognized two of the youki, and could only hope that whatever the third youki was that it wasn't as terrifying as the other two. Children cried as they felt the terror of the strong youki, not yet used to experiencing such a strong and dark sensation. The ninjas scrambled to look for the specific location of the scene as the set of youki was too spread out to be used as a beacon. Academy students as well as genins merely grit their teeth and tried to keep back their tears as they fought the uneasiness the enormous amount of demonic energy brought to them. Only two other people had at least a small idea of what was happening.

* * *

"So, the Trial can no longer be delayed. Minato, if your child's suffering isn't enough to be your anchor, then may his cries of pain and troubled mind draw you back." Hiruzen propped his elbows on the desk as he hid the frown on his lips with his hands locked together. All he could do was watch and hope that Naruto could pull through such a big change for one so young. He cursed his position being too high profile to move to help him as that would only draw all the others towards the boy in this time where he is most vulnerable and unstable. His hands shook as he tightened his grip, his heart aching as the boy's painful cries and anguish-filled eyes showed inside his crystal ball, tears already forming in the corners of his eyes as he endured the pain of watching the boy suffer.

* * *

The girl woke up in a cold sweat. She has been having a very ominous feeling ever since youki leaked off of Naruto's seal during his final test. He wanted to talk to the blonde soon as class was dismissed but her father had come for her, on time as usual. She could only look at him with sad eyes as she walked away from his sad and lonely form on the swing.

She clutched her chest as her heart raced. Her head snapped towards the window as she felt the familiar sets of youki. One was the one he had always used when he tried to catch her.

_"Kyuubi."_

And the other one was the demonic energy that leaked from the sealed hand. She quickly grabbed a robe and wrapped it around her as she stepped out of her room when she felt a different youki, one that she didn't recognize. She looked around the Clan Compound and saw that they too were in panic. All capable nins were moving out to help for the search of the source of the disturbance, but as far as she could tell from all the yelling and confusion, the shroud of youki that enveloped the entire village was making the Byakugan useless. She tried to activate her eyes only to turn it off when she was blinded by the strong light of the chakra-laced youki around them.

"Kill the source of this disturbance! Whoever or whatever that, that _demon of a monstrosity_ is, it is a danger to this village!"

A lump formed in her throat as she now realized why they called him a demon, a monstrosity. The mix of this youki was truly something that was dangerous and terrifying and she started to tremble. She shook as she cried; but whether she was shaking because she was crying or she was scared, she didn't know. She did what all she knew was right for now. She ran. She ran towards him. She knew she was headed in the right direction as she felt a tug at her. It was as if the center of her existence was there, and that's how she knew how to find him. Her mind was bombarded with visions of the blonde. His cheerful smiles; his gentle and shining bright eyes; the way he carried himself with dignity amidst scrutiny and discrimination; his sadness; the lonely look in his eyes while he watches families on their days out; the longing in his heart that she could feel; his grim look every time he traced the lining of his glove's seal.

Her heart was crushed with the numerous emotions she felt. Fear from the blonde's secret; disgust towards herself for thinking Naruto was a demon, even for a second; sadness as she thought about what would happen to him now that the curse has been released; and finally, fear for the blonde as she imagined her clanmates striking the blonde with fatal blows, over and over. She knew that they would keep lashing at him until he breaks or dies, after all, she knew her clan all too well. She closed her eyes as she wiped away her tears. When she opened them, determination was as clear in her eyes as the love she felt for the enigmatic blonde.

_"Naruto-kun is in danger. I need to help him; I won't let anyone hurt him. I may not be certain of what I am to him, but I know for sure what he is to me. He is my Enigma."_

She pointed towards the pond in the garden that her mother had cared for, and the water started to spin into a whirlpool. She calmed her senses as she allowed her vampire blood to run freely through her body, the youki mix of Vampire kin and of the Homonculus of Vanity wrapped around her form. She stepped on top of the water and the water pushed her to stay above it, not allowing her to sink. She opened her eyes to reveal lilac orbs, her hair growing longer, floating in the air and moving as if flowing along with water. She opened her mouth as her fangs elongated. She arched her back as her body underwent the transformation of invoking Vanity, feeling the strength her Vampire blood brought. Her figure became more slender, her pale skin turning a smooth and silky marble-white. She grew taller as certain parts of her body gained mass to the point where her sleeveless night gown that once reached way below her knees now looked like a very short skirt, her robe looking more like a small jacket. She moved her now long and slender fingers with elongated nails as claws, motioning the water to come towards her.

She whispered a cry for help and the water spun around her body. She raised her hands above her head and closed her eyes as her mouth opened in a small moan, enjoying the pleasure of feeling the cool and refreshing water run over her skin. She opened her eyes that glowed blue with her chakra, whispering to the wind in her melodic voice before having the water form a spinning dome around her, breaking into tiny droplets with the Hyuuga heiress gone.

**"Wait for me, my dear Naruto."**

* * *

A/N: Reviews on what you think of our couple so far, yeah? Please and thank you. :3


	4. Chapter 4: Phase One

Something I just thought about. This is something I had to think about carefully, and thus, changed it to better suit the story.

**Bold** = Demon/Youkai talking

**Bold** = Character in Youkai form talking

_Italic_ = thoughts

Aaaand Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, some of my ideas are taken from other animes/mangas, but some of the ideas here are mine. Let's see if any of you could separate which is which. :D

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Phase One**

Drip.

The blond slowly forces his heavy lids to open, only to find he's no longer at the clearing in the forest.

"What the heck…where am I?" His voice echoes out all around him, varying from low whispers to loud shouts in random intervals.

He turns his head left and right – noting that even his movements felt heavy, trying to figure out exactly where he was. What he saw should've surprised him, but if it did or didn't, nothing showed on his face except the tired and sleepy look he had ever since waking up.

Stretching out all around him was a darkness that seemed to be endless. The only thing ruling out blindness was the fact that he could still see his body thanks to the lining of light that seems to have wrapped around his form. He rolled himself onto an elbow, trying to stand up, only to stare at the darkness below him. When he was aware of this place, he thought that he had been lying down on the floor or on a surface of sorts at least. But while looking around, he found out that he was actually floating, on nothing but the darkness.

Looking all around him, he carefully stood up figuring out that his movements weren't just heavy, but also a bit sluggish, all of this despite the fact that he felt as if his body was as light as a feather. He also realized that even though his movements had been slow, it was as if what he was seeing was a bit delayed. His hands would already complete the movements but the images were at a crawl, as if his brain was having difficulty processing the images his eyes would send up to it, making it look as if he was viewing the world frame by frame.

Resisting the urge to lie back down, he started walking around in the darkness. Despite the lack of a floor, he seems to be walking along just fine.

"This is weird…" Ignoring the echoes, he continues to look around him, trying to find any kind of clues as to where he was.

A pair of large eyes behind him opens to watch as he walked on. Feeling the shiver from the sensation of having someone watching him, he stops as his eyes dart around the darkness, trying to find his watcher. Not finding anything, he takes a deep breath before he slowly turns his head to the side, trying to look over his shoulder. Before his eyes could see the large eyes though, they close completely, disappearing in the darkness. Blinking slowly but not taking his eyes off the area behind him, he takes a few steps forward before he turns his gaze forward once more.

He shakes his head to try and clear off whatever is slowing his mind to try to think more on his situation, but nothing changes. It still feels as if though he was deep underwater, and not just his body, but also his thoughts. Add the disorienting slowness of his sense of sight, even if you disregard the haze the darkness brings, the sluggish moves despite the lightness he feels in his body and the varying intensity of the echoes along with that non-stop dripping sound is driving him insane.

He looks off at the distance and he sees a red light. He starts to walk up to it and much to his wonder and surprise, the area with the red light is instantly in front of him, even though he has barely taken a step.

In front of him was a corridor with walls, ceiling and floor lined with pipes, all headed straight towards a doorway to what looks like a large room. He takes a close look at the source of the strange light snaking along the walls, floor and ceiling. He couldn't figure out what the source of light was because it was wrapped in the red glow but they looked a lot like tentacles.

"_Or tails…"_

Staring at the tails, he starts blinking out the weariness from his eyes. The more he stared, the more he got lost in those red lights.

"_They feel…warm. I think….I think I know…"_

He had started to reach for the glowing wires that felt familiar to him, but a low growl from behind him stopped him. Turning around, he scanned the darkness to see if there was anything there, but the longer he looks on towards the darkness, the heavier his eyes and his body feels. He stares long and hard, until another growl escapes from the dark, just before two large yellow orbs appear in front of him. With his addled state, it takes him a while to recognize what he was staring at.

"_Eyes…"_

The two orbs start shimmering until they become clear for him. Large eyes as tall as he was, with yellow irises and black slits for pupils, probing him as it looks him up and down, before imitating his bored and sleepy expression. Closing his own eyes for a second, he opens them to find the eyes before him had disappeared. He tilts his head to the side in wonder, taking a step forward when the large eyes open to show images from a different place; as if it was a window for him to see the place where he had been before he blacked out. He watched with a bored and unconcerned expression, blinking slowly as if what was playing out in front of him was unimportant and completely unrelated to him.

* * *

Another explosion close to him from his left shakes him up and he grips tighter the clump of earth he uses as his anchor. He glares up at his crazed 'friend' as another glowing youki-filled explosive flame is lobbed. He curses as he transforms his other hand and thrusts it deep into the ground, working to manoeuvre himself from his current spot.

"_That Mizuki! He's not even trying to aim at anything, just throwing out his explosives and letting the wind pick them up and scatter them all over the place!"_

He grits his teeth as once more he resists using his special ability to try to fight back. After all, one small mistake could hurt his student. His eyes widen as another flame is carried by the winds towards him. He lets go in panic and tries to leap away, hoping the winds would carry him in a different direction away from the explosive hurtling for him. He feels himself being lifted from the ground and carried off to safety, but the flame reaches the spot where he was just a second ago, detonating upon impact, with the resulting blast pushing him back and free from the wind's clutches. He disappears behind one of the bushes along the far edges of the clearing, quickly latching onto the ground and the trunk of the tree next to him with his clawed hands. He manages to push himself up and looks towards the center of the clearing, immediately tensing up and freezing in place as he watches his favourite student shift and change, the red chakra of the kyuubi receding into his body and the winds start dying down.

"Naruto…"

* * *

He didn't see Iruka jump away before the explosive detonated. He didn't see that he was quick to recover when he was sent flying behind those bushes. He didn't see that Iruka was okay. All that he saw was that Iruka was hurled away from his line of sight. All he saw was how he saw it; Iruka being blasted away. And that's all it took to shake him from his addled state

Shaking off the weariness and the sleepiness, he reaches over his shoulder, his fingers pointing behind him as he tries to call on the red lights behind him. He was angry, and he knew that those red glowing tails would be able to help him with getting even with the person who hurt one of his precious persons. Taking a step back to turn around as the tails weren't moving towards him fast enough, he stops when he hears the growling from before. He looks towards the orbs to find that they've returned to those yellow eyes. He turns back towards the eyes, noting how it now had a sharper look, as if it was glaring at him. Leaning towards it, he could faintly make out what looked like teeth and fangs, bared in a snarl. Without warning, the eyes bolt towards him. His eyes widen as the red glow illuminates the rest of the features of the owner of those eyes. A large wolf head was headed for him, with mouth open wide to swallow him whole. He closes his eyes and pushes his arms forward, bracing for death, but a shiver runs throughout his body instead.

Opening his eyes, he finds that he's back in the clearing, and he was hunched over on all fours. He tries to stand but his body wouldn't listen. He looks over himself to find that he had changed. Instead of his normal hands and feet, he now had paws, and all over his skin was black fur. He licked the inside of his mouth, noting how his teeth felt sharp and pointed when his tongue moves over them. A sound causes his ears to twitch and he looks towards the source of the sound. He grins to himself as the image of a completely shocked and visibly scared Mizuki greets him, the greenish flames around his hands dying out.

"**Wha-what are you?"**

"_I'm the thing that's going to kill you!" _He shouted in his mind, but much to his surprise, all that escapes from his mouth was some snarls and growling. Apparently, Mizuki got the message though as he re-ignites his flames and lobs one of his explosive flames at Naruto. He tries to dodge, but his body wouldn't listen, instead bracing itself for impact and meeting the explosion head on. Shaking the damage off, he gets to a running start before jumping, trying to grab onto the tree with his claws, leaving long lines on the tree's bark as he slides back down. He leaps off just in time as another explosion breaks apart wood from the spot where he was just a second before.

He then starts to circle the tree, glaring up and stalking Mizuki as he watches the man circle on the spot, trying to keep the large wolf within his line of sight. Another flame explodes and is dodged, and the wolf runs towards the forest at full speed, quickly leaving the clearing behind.

All throughout this small exchange, he discovered that he had no control over his body. He could feel every movement his body makes, but he had no influence on what it will do whatsoever. It's as if something has completely taken over his body and he's locked up inside of his mind as he could only watch. So watch he did, taking small comfort in the feeling that the one taking over his body was just as angry as he was, and was directing that feeling towards the bastard that betrayed him and hurt one of his precious people.

* * *

A/N: Alright, before any of you screams at me, I would like to apologize for not updating earlier. There are a lot of problems I've encountered, but those weren't the reason why I haven't updated in such a ridiculously long time. The main reason is? This chapter right here.

I know what to make for this chapter, but the problem is, I can't seem to write it down the way I want it to. But no matter, I'll just have to upload this one and then edit it once I find a way to make it better. After the Trial, all of the other parts of the story have been written up so the only delay will be this chapter up until the Trial is complete, so I would like to apologize in advance.

Hope you could forgive me and thanks for your understanding. :)


	5. Chapter 5: Phase Two

**Chapter 5 - Phase Two**

He watches as Mizuki kept on throwing flames after flames towards the darkness of the forest. Healing as best as he could without completely exhausting his youki, he stands up to watch as a wolf soars over the branch. The wolf clears the branch over the spot that Mizuki was seconds ago before he leapt to the side, dropping one of his flames in the process. The flame hits wood and detonates, causing an explosion that sends both of them flying. Mizuki hit the tree's trunk hard enough to create a crater while the wolf is sent skidding through the dirt. The wolf – Naruto, he reminds himself – stands up before Mizuki, but judging from the way its body was shaking, it was still reeling from the impact. Mizuki watches on in a mix of horror and admiration as Naruto seemingly shakes off the damage he received. In his panic, Mizuki made yet another of his stupid mistakes that day, he turned tail and ran, breaking his transformation in the process. Not a second after he's disappeared, Naruto sniffs the air and then disappears in a blur of speed, headed for Mizuki's direction.

Stretching the stiffness from his damaged body, he takes to the trees and goes after the two, keeping a safe distance from both, his arms already transformed into their clawed form. Along the way, he grabs a few leaves and branches, sometimes clawing off some wood from trunks or dropping to the ground to scoop up some rock and soil. Melding all of them together with his youki, he produces one of his signature throwing knives. Channeling some of his chakra through them, he closes the distance between him and the two, sending one knife towards each. Performing the hand seals, he begins one of his complex techniques, causing the knives to shatter in a blinding light just in front of his intended targets' eyes.

"_Imp Demonic Art: Mischief Misdirection Technique."_

He grins in satisfaction, noticing the signs that his illusion has worked when both his targets stops for a second, shivering in place, before they get moving again with Mizuki continuing on his way while Naruto darting to the left.

"_Good. I better make this quick, I don't know how long it'll hold Naruto while he's like that."_

Moving full speed towards Mizuki, he catches up to him in no time. When the other man senses his approach, he turns around with his hands engulfed in his flames again, hurling one after another towards him. Ducking down to avoid the first, he grabs a chunk of wood from the branch he was standing on, molding it with his youki before leaping forward to keep up with Mizuki, throwing the small knife towards the incoming flame projectile. When the two projectiles meet, the small knife triggers the flame's detonation a second before he passes through.

Meanwhile Mizuki, who has been watching his pursuer, slips on the next branch a little as his fear overwhelms him when the second of his flames burst into an explosion but somehow, his pursuer burst from the smoke completely unharmed. That small slip was enough for his pursuer to completely catch up to him. He turns around to and holds his arms out in front of him to cover up his face, shutting his eyes out of total fear. In his desperation to preserve himself, he didn't notice the illusion around him break and before the wolf tackled him, it shimmered into Iruka.

* * *

At that same time, as the explosion occur, the Mizuki that he was chasing shimmered out of existence in front of him. Snapping his jaws and barking at the air, his front paws claw at the ground while his tail lashes out around him in frustration.

"_He ran away, damn it!"_

In his mind, Naruto himself was growling in his own frustration. His hands were curled up into tight fists and his jaws clamped down hard and tight. Yelling out in frustration, he didn't notice that he was down on all fours. Catching a scent in the wind, his head as well as the wolf's bolt up at the same time, their frustrations replaced by anticipation. Taking a whiff at the air once more, his snarl turns into a predatory smile.

"_We have his scent, let's get him!"_

Without needing anymore encouragement, the wolf heads towards the direction of the scent, its mouth salivating at the excitement of completing its hunt. His ears twitches as it picks up a sound and it knew that it was getting closer. Slowing down to a jog, it pauses soon as two figures enter its line of sight. Deciding to let the two fight it out, it stalks them in the shadows of the tall and large trees, moving around them in a circle; watching, waiting…listening.

* * *

Pinning Mizuki up against a tree with his arms and body, he tries his best to talk sense into his friend.

"Mizuki! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Isn't it obvious?!"

With a strong knee to the gut, he pushes off the scar-faced nin from him as he holds his throat, coughing.

"I'm trying to have the village acknowledge me!"

Unknown to the both of them, the wolf that was stalking them stopped in its tracks as the conversation continues.

"Acknowledge you? Acknowledge you?! How the hell are you going to achieve that with whatever this scheme of yours is?! And why involve Naruto?!"

Getting his breathing back under control, Iruka lunges for Mizuki, but misses when the other nin rolls out of the way. With a snort, he pulls out a kunai and holds it underhand in front of him.

"You don't get it, do you? The village hates the boy, but like all the rest of the world, they fear his power! If I could get him to release it on the village, if I can get him on my side, then no one will dare look at him with those hate-filled eyes and at the same time, no one will ever dare look down on me again!"

Pulling out his own kunai, he copies Mizuki's pose as they move to circle each other.

"That doesn't make any sense! You don't even know how much burden that boy is carrying, and you want him to release it?! It'll wipe out the entire village!"

"See?! Even someone as strong as you fears him!"

With his other hand, he pulls out shurikens and kunais and hurls them at Iruka, before charging him and bringing his kunai up from below in a diagonal slash. Iruka blocked all of the shurikens and kunais save for the one he caught with his other hand before bringing both kunais down to block the incoming blow, crossing them to form an x to completely stop Mizuki's kunai. With his balance off because of the blocked full-force strike, he was completely open which Iruka took advantage of with a sideways kick to the ribs, sending him rolling to on the ground.

"It's true that I'm scared of what will happen if Naruto lets out all the power he's keeping in check…"

Naruto steps back out of hurt when he hears those words, and moves to run away from them but stops when he hears the rest of what Iruka has to say.

"…but I don't fear him, I respect him. He may have been burdened with so much power, but he's never once thought of letting it all out in anger, for fear of hurting everyone around him. He knows how dangerous his powers are, and he's such a kind person that he would never dream of using it to hurt other people. Like everyone, I fear his power. But unlike most of the village's stupidity, I don't hate him. I respect him!"

"I respect him!"

Those words kept echoing around him as his mind fights to comprehend what was happening. He just laid there, frozen in shock with his eyes wide and mouth open, floating around in the darkness. He's lost all of his anger because of those words, and he was starting to feel ashamed of himself when the realization that he had almost completely betrayed his teacher's trust in him by letting his new power rip that Mizuki bastard apart. He shook his head as he sat up, a small smile on his face and tears already forming in the corners of his eyes. He looks up in surprise though when he hears a growl, and then he felt it.

The wolf tensed and coiled itself into a crouch, and like a spring, it launches itself into a pounce, catching both Iruka and Mizuki in surprise. It opened its jaws wide as it moved to completely rip the head of the scar-faced nin off, but stops just as it was clamping down, with its teeth just an inch away from drawing blood.

With another sudden movement, the wolf whips around and starts shaking its head, as if trying to clear its thoughts.

As stunned as he was, the scar-faced nin still managed to speak, surprising himself with the calmness of his voice.

"Naruto?"

The wolf tensed before turning around to level its gaze with the man's. Upon seeing his eyes, those black slits amidst those familiar clear blue eyes, Iruka lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding in. He tries to smile at his student but it falters when those eyes start flashing the kind blue and the feral yellow alternately.

"_Looks like he isn't in control yet, and we're not yet out of danger."_

"Come on Naruto, I know you can do it."

He slowly moves his hand up and starts reaching for the wolf's nose, stopping when the eyes flash yellow and fangs bared into a snarl, ears pulled flat against its head and a small growl coming from the wolf's throat. He lets out a shaky breath and he steels himself before continuing to reach for his student. The wolf doesn't move but the snarl remains, and the growl keeps coming. Finally resting his hand on the wolf's nose, he holds his breath in anticipation. When nothing happened, he looked back towards the wolf's eyes. Seeing the eyes starting to settle on the blue with only a few flashes of yellow, he inches his arm up along the snout. Finally, when the eyes settle into blue and the wolf moves forward, he wrapped his arms around its neck, reaching up and starts scratching just behind its ears. As both of them relax, they completely forget the presence of Mizuki up until he made his presence known with a sudden burst of his youki and chakra.

"**So that's what you've been planning, huh?!****"**

They both look towards the already transformed Mizuki in his HobGoblin youkai state. Ears, nose, and chin elongated and became pointed, with his skin color turning into a sickly yellow hue with lines of dark green tattoos all over. His eyes turning into little black beads surrounded by yellow sclera, glowing with the same green flames that wrapped around his clawed hands, his lips pulls back in a snarl to show his sharp, pointed teeth.

"**All this time…all this time you were planning on making him obey you. All this time, you were acting to get at his power!"**

In his frustration, he leapt towards the two – all fear and caution gone, yelling as he goes. He sends a flame in between Naruto and Iruka, forcing them to separate. Without hesitation, he quickly zones in on Iruka and continues his assault with Iruka only barely dodging the explosives. He grabs onto his old friend's vest and sends a fist deep into the other's side. The slight grimace on Iruka's face says that it wasn't really that strong, but Mizuki didn't care. His manic grin was yet again on his face, and the evil glint in his eyes flashed before Iruka was blown away by the explosion from Mizuki's fist. He throws away the ripped part of Iruka's vest he was holding and slowly makes his way for Iruka who was slumped against the tree he was thrown up against. He starts to channel his chakra as his hands – still wrapped in the youki-filled flames – start to form seals. Settling on Tiger, the flames around his hands grow and burn larger. Separating his hands, he slowly inches them from each other as the flames dancing around his hands move towards the center – swirling as if they were being sucked in by a vortex – and slowly forming a large fireball of green flame.

Soon as it was complete, he grips it tightly with a clawed hand, making it resemble a balloon being squeezed. Watching the swirling flames around the ball, he calls out its name.

"**HobGoblin Demonic Art: HobBomb Technique – Deluxe Version.****"**

With a burst of youki, the flames start to dance around wilder than before. He looks up to the still slumped form of his former friend. He pulls back his hand holding the fireball.

"**Time for you to die, old friend.****"**

With his piece said, he throws his technique. He watches in grim satisfaction as the fireball hurtles towards the other chuunin. Before it can connect though, the flaming ball suddenly disappears in wisps of smoke, having been blown out by the youki and the large winds generated by the sudden explosion of youki behind him. His eyes widen in shock and fear as the dark youki he experienced earlier suddenly came back. His breath catches when he hears a large foot taking a step towards him, and then another. He starts hyperventilating in fear when a shadow suddenly looms over him. Swallowing hard, he slowly turns around to face the towering figure behind him, his whole form shaking and his teeth chattering. He fought of the urge to faint and to keep himself upright as his knees start to weaken due to the sight before him.

The large wolf was gone, or at least, it changed shape. It was no longer down on all fours like a normal wolf, but was standing on its hind legs. From the waist down, it kept the wolf parts of dark fur, hind legs and tail. From the waist up, it was more of a man-wolf. The only bare skin – which was a dark grey coloring – that can be seen was from his waist up to the front of its neck. Fur covered its clawed human-like hand, all around its muscled arms and shoulders and snaking around the collarbone and climbing up the side of its neck, reaching the area under its armpits and to the side of its chest which then retreats to its back where it covers the upper part of its back and then slowly thinning down until it formed a funnel-like shape falls up to the spot parallel to its bellybutton. Its back was hunched, showing the huge muscles around its neck. And on its neck was the head of the wolf, fangs showing and lips pulled back in a threatening snarl, ears pressed at the top of its head and brows creased and yellow eyes with black slits narrowed in hate and anger. With its fingers curling and uncurling, tail lashing out behind it and muscles tensing, it lets out a loud roar which jolted the HobGoblin into action.

Mizuki tries to turn around and run, but he wasn't fast enough. In a blur of movement, the large werewolf swung its muscled arm, backhanding Mizuki's side causing him to soar in the air and crash into a tree, immediately knocking him out. Having lost consciousness, his youkai form breaks. Having seen the transformation lost, the werewolf looks up to the sky and lets out a triumphant roar, ending in a large howl when it sees the bright light from the shining full moon.

* * *

His chair tips over and falls clattering on the floor because of his sudden movement. Standing up and hunching over as one hand clutches at his chest while the other grips the edge of the table, he fights to steady his breathing, ignoring his sweat-drenched clothes. Clenching his jaw as his heart is gripped by more pain and despair, he turns his head to the side to look at the image of the howling werewolf under the full moon shown in his crystal ball. The hand clutching his chest disappears in a blur of movement as he swings it in a sweeping motion and knocking all of the objects on top of the table down and onto the ground, his hand gripping the table's edge snapping the wood and taking out a chunk from the table. He was so lost in his anger that the bracelet that was suppressing his power was vibrating wildly.

"_This was not supposed to happen yet! It's too early…it's too dangerous!"_

Tears start trickling down his cheeks and his whole body starts to shake, whether it was from anger or the sadness and pain he didn't know. He slowly reaches for his crystal ball, gripping it tightly, he holds it in both hands and pulls it close to his chest.

"_Naruto…"_

He falls on his knees as teardrops hit the top of the crystal ball. He keeps close watch of the child he has considered part of his family.

"_I know you can do it. I'm so proud of you. You completed the first phase of the Trial."_

A knock at the door causes his gaze to move from the crystal ball, turning into a glare.

"I'm busy!"

A small shuffling of feet and papers can be heard for a few seconds followed by silence. He keeps his glare at the door up for a few more seconds before turning his gaze back to the crystal ball. He hadn't meant to shout, but he was so consumed with emotions right now that he couldn't keep them all in check.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this, Naruto. There was supposed to be time before this…but it cannot be undone. So soon after you've overcome the first phase of the Trial…you were forced to face the second. But, I know that you're strong enough to beat it. I believe in you, Naruto."

His grip tightens around the crystal ball as he continues to watch. Knowing that Naruto can overcome his hardships did not help with his emotions. He still felt pain and sadness as the child is made to suffer so many hardships for one so young, and one so burdened. He still felt anger at the man who unwittingly forced the second phase to begin prematurely. He knew that Naruto could overcome this Trial, he felt the sadness and the pain and the anger, and there was nothing he could do about it but watch.

* * *

A/N: As part of my apology, I have uploaded this chapter and will be working on the next one. Hopefully, I could upload it on the same day this is up. :D

I beg for your reviews, if it pleases you, my lords and my ladies. :)


	6. Chapter 6 - Paths Cross

**Chapter 6 - Paths Cross**

There was something wrong. It was like when he was a wolf, but still different. He looks at his hands and flexes his fingers. He had control. He had complete control of his body, but it was still difficult to move the way he wanted to, like for some reason, his instincts were making him move out of reflex. Like before with Mizuki, he didn't really want to slap the scared man. At least, not completely send him crashing against a tree. He knew he was stronger than before, so he was content with just a simple shove, but his arm moved out of some kind of reflex. And like right now. He only wanted to come up to Iruka to check on him, but here he was, holding the man by the neck and pushing him up the tree.

"Naru…to…"

He tried to smile, but from the image he could see reflected in Iruka's eyes, he was being very intimidating that it was scary. He was afraid of himself, and that was a disturbing thought.

"_Iruka-sensei."_

He tried forming the words on his lips, but he could feel his mouth opening wide.

"_Oh no…oh no, oh no, oh no…"_

He tried to move his fingers off from the man's throat, and for a moment, he thought it worked. His fingers relaxed and his thumb moved, but his moment of relief turned into fear yet again when his thumb rested on Iruka's cheek, pushing on the side of his face to turn his head to the side. His index and middle finger moving from the back of his neck to the back of his head, pushing on it and angling it to completely show the man's neck.

He tried to move his other hand to pull the other away from Iruka, but it moved to grab the man's shoulder, both hands pulling slightly apart to reveal more of Iruka's neck.

"_No…stop! NO!"_

He kept fighting himself, but his open mouth was still slowly inching towards Iruka's neck. He fought back, and his body paused for a second, and then resumed its advance. He tried shutting his mouth, but it only trembled slightly.

"_NOOOOO!"_

And his body jolted forward, his teeth snapping shut…on the tree behind the man, a few inches just above his exposed neck. And then he heard it clearly. The small suggestions from his mind which he thought were his instincts, spoke in a voice that was familiar yet a stranger to him.

"_**He is your brother, isn't he?"**_

"_He's my favorite sensei!"_

"_**FOOL! YOU SEE HIM AS YOUR BROTHER, DO YOU NOT?!"**_

He heard snarling and growling and realized that it came from both his own mouth and his mind. He blinked to find himself back in his mind, and this time, memories of his time together with Iruka flashed before him.

For so long, he had thought that

the only brother he's ever had was Itachi right before he did what he had to do to protect the village, but now that he was seeing all these memories of moments he cherished so much, he knew he was wrong. Or rather, he had known it all along, but it was just he never realized that he never admit it out loud.

"_Yeah…I guess I really do see him as my older brother. And that's why you shouldn't hurt him!"_

The growling came and his whole world shook, the images from his memories disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"_**YOU FOOL! YOU ARE MERELY BONDED AS BROTHERS!"**_

And then the image of a large wolf head appeared before him, outlined by a thin line of white light.

"_**But with my help, you can truly be brothers. With my help, you can turn him into true brethren…"**_

Naruto snapped. His anger overflowed when he realized what the curse was trying to do.

"_You're making me spread your curse. You want me to bring pain to others…to Iruka-sensei and to the village!"_

Along with his anger, new strength coursed through his veins, and this time, it was the familiar strength that for some reason, he has forgotten. He took control of his body, releasing Iruka and leaping back, spitting chunks and splinters of wood from his mouth.

The wolf head in his mind roared, and so too did his own wolf head, and just like that, his familiar strength was gone and he was fighting to keep control of his body again.

"_**TURN HIM INTO ONE OF US! YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! YOU TWO WILL TRULY BE BRETHREN THEN!"**_

"_I WON'T LET YOU HURT ANYONE! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME HURT ANYONE!"_

In his mind, they were shouting at one another, but out in the physical world, his body was clearly fighting itself, twitching as it fought with unwelcomed impulses. A breeze ruffled his fur and his body physical body froze, mirroring the sudden halt of both his mental body and the image of the wolf head.

"_This scent…" __**"This scent…"**_

The two said together, but they weren't paying attention to one another.

"_It's familiar…"_

He was so lost in trying to catch the scent again that he didn't notice the wolf head become still and quiet, nor did he notice that he once again had complete control of his body. As he tried to reach the scent again, he stood up to his full height, nose raised in the air as he continued to sniff at it. Catching the scent again, he took a big whiff, a deep breath which he exhaled through his mouth.

"_Lavender…"_

And he could practically taste the flavor of Vanilla on his tongue. His body suddenly started moving, but it wasn't in the direction of the scent. His body was running away from it. He tried to regain control, but it was a slow process as he fought to get back to equal footing to the one that took over, having been completely surprised and taken off guard earlier. His body was slowing down, but the scent was also slowly thinning. In just a few more strides, he would lose it completely and he won't be able to take control of his body. He was starting to panic as he desperately fought for control, when another breeze brought along with it a voice so melodic. It was music to his ears.

_"__**Wait for me, my dear Naruto.**__"_

It was just a whisper in the wind, but the effect it had on him was great. The wolf head in his mind shrank and his body was now completely his to command. Without a second thought, he followed the wind that carried the voice, not really caring how he was able to track it. All he knew was that he can't lose it, he needed to cling to it, as if it was his last line to sense. Soon as he was able to find the scent though, he doubled his efforts, covering the distance between him and the source of the scent in a single step with so much speed that he looked as if he teleported.

Standing at the edge of the clearing, he took a deep breath, savoring the scent and flavor of the air. He stepped out of the shadow of the forest and looked around the clearing, not really able to believe what he was seeing. The clearing was fairly wide with a small lake in the middle reflecting the moon. Small thin trees were growing here and there, with a few bushes of berries around the edges of each and along the edges of the clearing, as if they were barricades preventing the large trees from getting in. The clearing was alive with the sounds of trickling water from the small waterfall formed from the rock formations above the lake, hoots of owls and chirping of birds, and the squeaks and ruffling of leaves as small animals scurried about. Compared to the dark and seemingly dead woods around them, the clearing was so full of life that it was relaxing. Somehow, he felt at home here. Even the wolf within him was calm. He breathed in a lungful of the air, smelling so fresh and clean, tinged with small hints of lavender which also gave the air the flavor of vanilla, giving him a refreshing feeling with every breath and every taste.

Sounds of bubbling brought his attention to the water, which was now producing mist-like steam that was rolling across the ground and fogging up the air, breaking the light into streaks of moonbeams. He walked up to the edge of the lake, kneeling as he tried to look into the water to find out what was causing the bubbling, only to find nothing. He looked around before touching the water. Looking back into the water, he blinked and there was suddenly a person under the water, looking up at him. Her skin was so pale and white that she looked like she was glowing from within the darkness of the water. He stood up and took a step back, and the person under the water slowly surfaced and moved towards him, as if she was walking up a flight of stairs. It wasn't long until she was standing there in full view, hip cocked to the side with one slender hand on it, the other holding up long wet hair from her eyes. She was wearing what looks like a night gown that was a little too tight and looks like it stops just underneath her butt cheeks, showing off her curvy figure. On top of it looked like it was a robe, but it was short enough to make it look like a simple jacket, falling just above her shoulders and definitely too small so it was left open. She was smiling confidently – so sure and certain of herself, and showing her long and sharp canines. Her lilac orbs looking him up and down. Her skin was so pale and looked so smooth that she might have been carved of marble, but her face and slender body made her look like a mannequin that was made of something a lot more delicate than marble, more like porcelain.

The hand holding up her hair shook a few drops off before combing through her long hair. It looked so smooth and soft, and swayed perfectly to her every move. He noticed that she wasn't as drenched as she should be, coming from underwater. He looked at her feet, his gaze moving up her slender legs and up her shapely hips, noting her small waist with her toned stomach, going up her ample chest and then…his eyes locked in on her face. It was an amazing sight. She was definitely cute, and she was also very pretty. But that wasn't the end of it. She was also endearingly beautiful and just drop-dead gorgeous. He couldn't decide on what world to call her, but he settled on ridiculously attractive, and even that didn't seem to do her justice.

She spoke, and her melodious voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"**Your bath is ready, my dear.****"  
**

* * *

A/N: I'm not proud about this chapter. I might just go back and work on this again, but like with the past two chapters, it'll surely take me too long to make it satisfying for me. O.o

Let me know what you think of it though. :D

Oh! And I have a fan...thanks BROOD WARRIOR. awwwwwwwwwwwww yeahhhhhhhhhhhh! :D

Gagster: It's a completely different world, right? But sad thing is, I can't seem to make it work without making it a Naruto fanfic. :D and thanks for the compliment :)

JOHNXgambit: thanks for taking the time to make a review on previous to see your reviews again in future updates :p


	7. Chapter 7 - The Trial's Conclusion

**Chapter 7 - The Trial's Conclusion**

She was glad to see that her plan was working. The large man-wolf was now relaxing in the warm bath she'd prepared for him, but she could still feel that he was tense. She didn't know how she knew that whatever was happening had something to do with the agitation that she could practically feel from both the man AND the wolf that took a single form. All she knew was that once she had invoked her transformation, she could somehow feel and understand what he was feeling. And she knew what could help calm him down, both the man and the beast. Which is why she had made all the preparations.

= Flashback =

The small lake's surface broke with bubbles before a whirlpool suddenly formed, lasting only for a few seconds before turning into a geyser that sprayed water a couple of feet high. None of the water that was shot upwards dropped down though, as most of the water formed into a dome while the rest turned into a fine mist around it. Rotating a couple of times, the ball of water broke outwards, revealing the Hyuuga Heiress inside.

She surveyed the surroundings as she stepped towards the ground. Soon as her feet touched, a shiver racked her body.

"_**He's starting to run wild.**__**"**_

Suppressing the shivers, her eyes zoom in on the small breeze that was going round and round the small clearing. Reaching her hand out, the wind formed swirled together in a ball on top of her open palm.

"**Hello there. What could I do for you?****"**

The wind howled and swirled as it spoke to her while she listened closely. The wind let out a sighing sound and the message they carried came out in a hushed whisper, as if they were letting out as little as they can of the voice they carry.

"_**Wait for me…**__**"**_

She smiled with gentle amusement before addressing her messenger.

"**I see. That's mighty kind of you, but I wonder if you could hold onto that for me for just a little bit longer? I'll tell you when the time is right for you to send it out.****"**

The wind swirled into a small tornado before racing around her hand until finally blowing through her fingers and continued to patrol the outskirts of the clearing. She blew a kiss in the wind and turned around. Her gaze fell on the dimly-lighted area around her, noting how the stillness of the night seemed as if Nature herself was holding her breath. Another shiver up her spine and she shot a glance over her shoulder, staring at the dark of the trees behind her. She knew that Naruto was there, but it was not yet time for her to go to him. She wouldn't be able to do anything to help him in his current state.

Tracing the side of her eyes, she debates on whether to use her Byakugan to keep watch over him as she works, ultimately deciding against it to keep herself from being distracted. Her eyes scan the clearing yet again.

"_**It needs a lot more life in it.**__**"**_

Kneeling down and dipping her hand into the water, she pulls it up and a small bead of moisture rests on her fingers. Holding it up to her lips, she whispers to the element.

"**I need a little favor…****"**

She gently gave the bead a kiss and flicked it away, breaking into smaller sparkles of water. She watched the water in the lake overflow and move across the ground, blanketing the entire clearing. Soon as it reached the edges, the water seeped into the dirt, giving off the fresh smell that came after a cool rain.

She gave a huge grin, with her fangs completely showing. She had always loved how water was her natural affinity – it could heal and it could bring life. She breathed in deep, savoring the scent of damp earth. There was life under it, just waiting to burst, and she could feel it. All it needed was a little light. She gave a small giggle when the moon seemingly obliged with her thoughts as it climbed higher in the night sky, its light spilling over the top of the tall trees to bathe the clearing with shining moonbeams.

And just like that, life came to the gloomy clearing. Small, thin trees burst from the ground, with small shrubs growing underneath them, all of them bearing fruits and berries. Forming a barrier around the clearing, bushes sprouted, flowers blooming in and around them. Soon, butterflies were fluttering about, owls were hooting and oddly enough, birds were chirping, followed by the shuffling noises from small animals scuttering and scurrying about, having been attracted by the livened place.

She burst in a melodious laughter as she twirled in place, her hands outstretched and her eyes closed. She loved this feeling. The feel of being in the middle of Nature, feel of being surrounded by so much Life. Her laughter died on her throat though as a roar broke her out of her joy. She stopped twirling to face the deep the forest, a howl coming from within its darkness. Her brow creases in worry and she stretches out her hand once more, beckoning for the wind that would be calling for him.

"**I'm sorry but, it's time.****"**

The wind swirled around her hand, brushing her fingers as it raced away and disappeared into the forest. She lets out a shaky breath and she turns to face the water once more. Kneeling down, she cups her hands and dips it into the water, bringing it up and splashing her face with it. She instantly felt better.

She dipped her hand in the water once more, moving it around as she her brain worked. She knew that the water should be freezing cold, but it always felt the right temperature against her skin. Knowing that it won't be the same for him, she dove right in and set to work.

"_**Time to get his bath ready.**__**"**_

= End Flashback =

A small growl brings her out of her musings and she's shocked to find that she had somehow gotten close to him and was stroking his head and scratching behind his ears. A second later, she finally noticed that he was cuddling his face and snout against her neck, and because of his size, against her chest as well. She blinked a few times and a blush crept up her neck and all over her face, which was a surprise for her, mainly because whenever she invokes her 'True Hyuuga Blood', her confidence and self-esteem grows to the point that she was the complete opposite of her regular shy and timid self.

She shook her head and moved away, retreating from the advancing werewolf. When she got a good look at him, she giggled at the pleading eyes of the pouting wolf head, a small whine escaping from his throat. She reached up and scratched at his ears, and his eyes once more closed in pleasure. Her smile lingered for a while, but it soon turned into a frown when she sensed the agitation was still there. She could feel that the wild animal was still fighting, even though the boy was clearly already in control. Fighting back the tears, she wraps her other arm around his neck and pulls him close so that she can bury her face in the fur atop his head. And then she starts to whisper as she tries to soothe him.

"**Sshhh, it'll be alright. Nothing to worry about, you're safe here with me…****"**

She could feel him relax more and she continues to whisper, positioning herself so that she can snuggle up to his neck while her arm continues to hug him and her other hand continues to scratch behind his ears. She starts to smile when she feels that the wild animal was finally calming down, turning it into a large grin when his arms wrap around her waist in a hug. And then she knew, they had won over the wild animal.

"**Sshhh, it's over. It's almost over. You're alright…you're okay.****"**

Or so she thought.

* * *

His eyes snap open when he feels a painful heat explode from his chest. He could feel it slowly moving all to spread all over his body, burning as if liquid fire was coursing through his veins. He feels his muscles tense and tighten, and then suddenly bulging. He feels his skin stretching, stretching, until it felt just about ready to rip and tear. His bare skin itches as fur starts to grow. He pushes her away, as gently as he could, quickly clawing the dirt to pull him away from the water. He crawls away, even as his body convulses and his arms and legs twitch violently.

"**Naruto-kun?****"**

He pushes himself to a lying position, extending one hand to signal her to stop, but she misunderstands it and reaches for it instead. His legs push him further away, dragging his butt along the dirt. He fights to talk, but all that comes out are hacks and cough.

"_Stay away…get back! Something's wrong…something-"_

He shakes his head as he continues to back away from her, but she wouldn't let him. She continues to reach for him with that worried expression on her face. Again, he tries to tell her to back away, but it was getting harder to focus. Something was telling him to look up, as if something was tugging at him from above. He was so tempted to obey, but he knew that should he give in, it would mean danger for him…and for her as well.

"**Ge…ack…****"**

A growl escapes and his eyes widen. His lower jaw starts to tremble and his body starts tensing up. He was still looking at her when the wolf snarls in his head.

"_**Mate!"**_

"_NO!"_

He pries his eyes away from her, forcing himself to look up. Soon as his head snaps up though, he knows that he just made a mistake. With the pale light of the full moon high above them reflected in his eyes, he starts to feel light-headed. His vision blurs, and he loses his balance and his hand slips. Lying there and just staring at the moon in the middle of the sky, he could feel that he was losing himself.

"_It was just like before…only-"_

His thoughts were interrupted by the snarls and growls of the wolf, and the snapping noises it makes as it bites at the air. He looks towards it and he could see that it was a lot more agitated than before.

"_What's his problem? He's already winning, isn't he?"_

As if to answer his question, the heat comes back, exploding hotter from his chest and spreading faster all over his body. He tries to sit up, but his arms collapses due to the twitching. Soon, he was clawing at his chest, clawing at the ground and just thrashing about. Unable to bear it, he pushes himself on his feet and rams his body against a tree. The tree breaks like a twig, and he pounds his fists to the ground. The fire erupts again, and he scratches at his chest, this time scratching at his arms as well. He jerks his head violently left to right and then back, legs kicking dirt everywhere and teeth snapping at the air.

He hears a shuffling behind him and he suddenly turns, mouth opened in an angry roar, but he was cut short when he felt something land on his neck. He could feel it tremble and he could hear some mumbling, but he couldn't hear it that well over his ragged breathing. Trying to listen on whatever was on his neck was saying, his breaths start to slow and calm until he could finally make out the words.

"**It's alright…it's okay. I'm here for you. I'm just right here.****"**

She repeats the same words over and over, and he could feel himself being soothed. He lifts his hand to rest on her, his thumb gently rubbing against her back. Her grip relaxes and he positions his hand at the same time that she steps back. He places his hand in front of him, holding her up to his eyes. She reaches forward and he brings her up to his cheek. She smiles up at him as she runs her hands through the fur of his cheek, and she spoke a few more words and he knew they were okay.

"**It's okay, no one will hurt you. And I know you don't want to hurt me…or anyone.****"**

He lets her down and he closes his eyes in concentration.

"_It's over. I won't be beaten by the likes of you…I'm going to be Hokage. I'm going to live to protect, not to just hurt anybody."_

He opened his eyes to find that he was now back to his normal werewolf height. He still towered over the woman in front of her as she reached only up to his chest. He looks down upon her, and she smiles up at him. He shuts his mind as he feels a familiar tug, and he's suddenly pulled into his mindscape. Opening his eyes, he's staring up at a familiar set of red eyes behind a familiar set of steel bars. He smiles up at his tenant.

"Hey."

"**About time."**

The Kyuubi looks up as a foot steps on the cold floor behind him. Looking back at him, the Kyuubi lays down on the floor and levels his gaze with his jailor as best as he could before speaking up again.

"**Looks like we'll be having company from now on."**

He turns around to see what the fox was talking about, to be greeted by yellow eyes glowing in the darkness as large as the Kyuubi's, towering high up as the Kyuubi usually does. Footsteps signals the owner of those eyes' approach and as it gets closer, the eyes get smaller and smaller and are set lower and lower until they're finally level with his gaze. The figure then breaks out of the darkness to reveal a large wolf that was as tall as he was. He stares intently into its eyes and notes how they still held back animalistic fury. Not feeling any kind of fear, he reaches up and places a hand on its head, and proceeds to ruffle its fur.

"Hey. We're all friends in here, okay?"

He gives the wolf a big grin as yellow eyes watch him closely. Looking behind the blond and into the eyes of the Kyuubi, the wolf gives something like a snort, turns around and walks back into the darkness. But not before his tail moves up to brush against the boy's still outstretched hand.

"**That's going to take a lot more time, kit. After all, you're covered in fox stench. Just pray that by the time you get covered in his scent as well, I would already be used to it."**

Having said his piece, the Kyuubi turned around and started to push the boy out. He could only think of one thing as he was being pushed out of his own mind.

"_This is going to take some time…"_

* * *

When he blinked his eyes, he was back out in his physical body. First thing he noticed was that he was no longer looking down on a beautiful face, but rather staring up at an ample chest. He blinked a few more times before his eyes widened in realization. He didn't get a chance to look away though as the woman in front of him suddenly dropped on her knees and then pulled him in a hug.

"**Oh Naruto…****"**

Her eyes were closed but she could still see it. She could still see how he pushed her back and clawed his way out of the water, fur growing his bare skin. She could still see how his body trembled as youki rolled off his body in waves, red chakra pulsing around him every now and then. She could still see some of the fur turning red in lines and patterns. Most of all, she could still see how he backed away as he started to grow larger and larger until he was as tall as the large trees that surrounded them when he stood up.

She had been frightened, but not because of him. She was frightened because he was hurting himself. She broke the hug and pulled away from the boy in front of him, studying him carefully. He had shrunk to his normal size, but he was still in his werewolf form and covered in black fur, but she really didn't care much for any of that. She looked into his eyes and saw that it was blue – those bright blue eyes that she loved so much. She smiled as his youki started to recede, his form returning to that the normal Naruto.

"**See? I told you we're okay…and I'm still here.****"**

Naruto, now back in his human form, gave her a big grin.

"Yeah. Thanks a lot lady."

Knowing her Naruto was safe, she released her transformation and returned to her normal form. Soon as she did, her vision started to blur as she swayed back and forth. She didn't have that many opportunities to train with her invoked form, and it was something that needed time to getting used to. Last thing she saw before blacking out was Naruto's face, and the image of the giant werewolf flashed along with one thought before she lost consciousness.

"_It's going to take some time before I get used to that image…"_

* * *

A/N: Already working on the next Chapter. :p

Thanks for adding the story on your Fav and Follow list guys, and most of all, thanks for the reviews. You guys are awesome! :D


	8. Chapter 8 - Secrets To Be Revealed

**Chapter 8 - Secrets To Be Revealed**

Her eyes closed and she fell forward, right into him. Luckily, she had swayed a little bit before fainting, giving Naruto enough time to prepare himself and catch her. When he looked at her sleeping face, he couldn't stop the gasp of surprise from escaping from his lips. There in front of him, replacing the most beautiful person he had ever seen was the cutest person he had ever known.

"No. Way. Hinata?!"

He blinked a few times to get over his shock, his mind working in overdrive soon as he recovered.

"_No way! What the heck was that?!"_

He wracked his mind to put together all the little things she knew about her.

"_Okay. Hyuuga. Vanity Homonculus. Vampire. Nymph. Homonculus are said to have a Transformation of some sorts, but the Hyuugas never showed any signs of something like that."_

He tried to filter through some of his memories and tried to recall more bits and information that he's gathered before.

"_Hyuuga. Byakugan, yeah. The activation of the Byakugan could be considered their transformation, same as with the Sharingan of the Uchihas. Wait! Did she use her Byakugan? No, I don't think she used it. Can she even use it while in that form?!"_

He stared at the Hyuuga in his arms as he thought.

"_The Hyuugas and the Uchihas don't really need to invoke their Vampire youki because it's mainly responsible for healing. Also, that youki automatically activates when they get in battle, augmenting their overall abilities. They both invoke their Homonculus youki when they activate their eyes, which also fully releases all of their Vampire youki, and basically that's all the Transformations they undergo…so what makes Hinata so special?"_

A memory flashed in his mind and it's as if everything clicked.

"_...my mother is a Nymph Enigma."_

"_She's part Nymph! Of course! She isn't a full Vampire-Homonculus like the others! And because her Nymph blood shows strongly, her Hyuuga hybrid blood is hidden deep inside her! So when she calls on it, it invokes differently from the others!"_

He stares at the sleeping girl in her arms in awe.

"Wow Hinata-chan…you're amazing."

He smiles when she squirms in his arms, likely trying to find a more comfortable position.

"_And really cute too."_

He scoops up her legs and carries her bridal style as he heads over the nearest tree. He shifts her weight and adjusts her position so as to not drop her while she removes his jacket. Sitting down on the ground and leaning back on the tree, he adjusts her so that she could sleep peacefully and comfortably on his lap. After all the trouble she'd gone through and the great risk she took by getting herself involved, he decided that this was the least he could do for her. He laid his jacket on top of her stretched legs, leaning his head back to get some rest himself.

"_Good thing Old Man had these clothes custom made in preparation for this werewolf thing."_

* * *

He opened his eyes when he felt her stirring. By the time she woke up, he had already blinked the sleepiness from his eyes. He smiled down at her as he greeted her.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan."

She looked up in shock and her face went red in an instant, her blush covering her entire face before she even stammered out her reply.

"G-good morning, N-Naruto-kun."

He looked up to the sky, noting the position of the moon.

"You've only slept for like an hour."

He looked back at her with a bit of worry on his face.

"You weren't comfortable? Or did I move and wake you?"

She quickly shook her head and waved her hands in front of her as she replied.

"N-No! I mean, I-I guess I just suddenly w-woke up."

He started to smile but it quickly disappeared when it was replaced with a look of horror.

"Don't tell me I snore?! Oh man! How loud was it?!"

She blinked a few times before she giggled. Seeing the smile on his face, she smiled right back.

"I-It's not that. It's actually quite c-comfortable, s-sleeping like th-this."

Shrugging, he adjusted his jacket so that it covers her toes.

"Are you cold? You should sleep some more, you slept for only an hour at most."

As he said this, he looked up to the moon once more, nodding, and then looked back at her.

"Actually, make that an hour and twelve minutes."

"U-uhm…how'd you know that, N-Naruto-kun?"

"The position of the moon. I don't exactly know how I know, but I just kind of feel it. Must be a werewolf thing."

He pointed at the moon with his nose and gave her a smile along with a wink. She can't help but giggle. It was so like Naruto to make light of a dark event in his life. She sighed as she snuggled up to his chest. Her eyes snapped open as she realized exactly what she was doing, causing her heart to race and her face to redden. Her heart was beating so hard, she was certain that he could feel it.

Letting out a sigh, this one more of disappointment, she pushed herself away from him. Besides, as much as she wanted to sleep though, she wasn't really feeling tired anymore, so she excused herself and stood up, stretching as she went.

She breathed in deep and she realized that she's never felt so good in her life. Unfortunately, her good mood was broken by a sudden terrifying thought. She turned around to face Naruto.

"I-I need to get H-Home. F-Father will be s-so a-angry at m-me for being g-gone so l-long."

He noted how her stutter had worsened at the mention of going home. Shrugging it off, he picked up his jacket and stood up, dusting his jacket and himself off.

"Alright then. Let's go and get you home safe, okay Hinata-chan?"

Her answer died in her throat when Naruto's body seemingly shimmered. She looked at him with a bit of worry that worsened when she saw his face show that he didn't expect that to happen as well. He suddenly got serious and he started looking around. When his gaze settled on one spot, she slowly turned her head to look at what he saw. Whatever it was though, she couldn't see it. All she saw was the fallen tree that Naruto's large werewolf form mowed down. She felt something brush her hand and she looked down to find Naruto holding her hand in his, their fingers intertwined. He took a step towards the direction he was looking at and squeezed her hand.

"Before that though, I need you to come with me."

Her head snapped up to look at his face, and he just gave her a small smile that hid an emotion she could not quite place.

"Don't worry, I just want to introduce you to someone."

Before she even nodded, he was already leading her towards the fallen tree. She gave him a questioning look when they went past the it and watched the darkness of the forest, waiting. A flash of yellow light that was blocked by most of the trees later and the sound of footsteps could be heard. Naruto's grip had tightened and she could feel herself holding her breath. Pretty soon, she could see a figure approaching them. As it got close, Naruto let go of her hand and stepped forward to meet the figure. He stopped and turned around and quickly introduced the figure soon as it stepped out of the darkness and into a bit of light to reveal his identity.

"Hinata-chan, I'd like you to meet my Dad."

* * *

Her head was swimming as her mind tried to accept the reality of what she was seeing. There, in front of her, was what looked to be an older version of Naruto, only with longer hair and without the whisker marks on his face. Even more than that, she recognized him, and she was feeling a bit star struck at the moment. For in front of her was Naruto's father, none other than the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

Mentally slapping herself back to reality, she straightened out her clothes and bowed in the proper way of the Hyuuga.

"I-It is an Ho-Honor meeting you, H-Hokage-sama."

"Please, call me Minato."

She quickly stood up and started shaking her head, hands waving in front of her, a distressed look on her face.

"N-No, I c-couldn't possibly-"

"Please, I insist."

Seeing the warm smile on the Hokage's face as well as the large grin on Naruto's, she decided that she would not win against them.

"O-okay then…M-Minato-sama."

Her cheeks burned red when he suddenly burst out in laughter, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, that's a start."

"Dad! You're embarrassing her!"

Naruto had grabbed onto her elbow and slightly pushed her to steer her away from Minato, but his grip on her shoulder was firm. Hinata looked from Naruto's hand on her elbow to the Hokage's hand on her shoulder, to the man's slightly mischievous smile to the boy's apologetic and irritated smirk, noting her close proximity with the two and the family atmosphere she was feeling around them that she has never dreamed of experiencing with Naruto's side since she thought him to be an orphan, and it was all too much happiness for the poor girl to take. Needless to say, she fainted.

* * *

A/N: I know it's short...but I'm already very sleepy and I'm thinking that you guys might need a bit of time to decide whether you like what happened in this chapter or not before I continue, heh. Actually, I'm just looking forward to see your reactions before I post a new , :p

That, and I am already very sleepy. Really. I need to sleep. Like. Right Now. So, reviews? :D


	9. Chapter 9 - Secret's Out: Part One

**Chapter 9 - Secret's Out: Part One**

She woke up to the sounds of Naruto shouting. She opened her eyes to find that she was resting against a tree right next to the small lake, and the two blondes were at the edge of the clearing, sitting atop the fallen tree. Naruto looked like he was telling his father of all the events in his life that the Hokage had missed, if his excited shouting and wild gestures were anything to go by. She smiled when she saw how happy the boy was. It wasn't an everyday occurrence so she contentedly leaned on the tree and watched them as they relive Naruto's everyday life.

"And, and, Gramps had these clothes custom-made for me! Look, even when they get ripped apart when I turned into the large wolf or the werewolf thing, it reacted to my chakra and reformed as soon as I was normal!"

The older blond chuckled and ruffled the boy's head, making the boy pout. It was such a refreshing scene, and one that Hinata had never expected to see which made her giggle. The sound caught the two blondes' attention and both turned to look at her, making her 'eep' and slowly pull her head down to hide her face in the jacket wrapped around her.

"Hey Hinata-chan, are you feeling better now?"

She looked up and nodded her head but she made no move to approach them, even when Minato was beckoning her over. Said blond shoved his son playfully.

"Maybe this is a good time to test out your powers?"

Naruto merely looked down at his hands as he curls and stretches them. With determination set in his eyes, he looked up to his father and nodded. His hands moved to form a handseal, but he faltered.

"You remember the seals, don't you?"

Naruto nodded, but Minato still showed him the handseals. After watching his father carefully and refreshing his memory, he performed the technique himself. When Hinata blinked, Naruto was no longer next to his father. She looked around the clearing but he was nowhere to be found. Even when she looked to the Hokage for answers, he seemed as dumbfounded as she was. When she stood up though, there was suddenly a small sound from above her. When she looked up, her eyes widened in shock and she jumped away from the tree, where Naruto fell shouting.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

She jumped in surprise when a firm hand gently landed on her shoulder. She looked up to find Minato already next to her, and in her wonder, she didn't see Naruto untangle himself from the branches and fall to the ground.

"Naruto, are you okay?"

"Yeah…"

He mumbled his reply, rather grumpily Hinata thought. She wanted to giggle at how cute he was, but her curiosity won out.

"What happened?"

"Well, since the Wolf's Curse has been released and the seal along with it, Naruto can now use his true power."

She looked up at Minato and saw that he was beaming with pride, but his smile faltered when he saw that his son wasn't as enthusiastic about it as he was. She looked over to Naruto in concern, but the Hokage beat her to the question.

"Son? What's wrong?"

He merely looked at Hinata with a tired smile and lied down spread-eagled. She watched him closely as he just stared up at the night sky, but a sudden pull at her made her shift sideways. Lucky for her, Minato was there to catch her, but when she looked up to thank him, she found that his entire form was shimmering as if it was going in and out of existence. She wanted to ask him about it, but he looked at her with a pleading look which kept her quiet. He looked back at the boy on the ground, and she did the same.

"_What's wrong with using his true power that would make him so bothered?"_

Thinking about all that she knew about the blond in her mind, she slowly worked in figuring out the source of his dismay. She recalled how the villagers would act towards him, how they would glare at him and whisper behind his back. She also remembered that time when he was hit in the head by a rock, and everyone watching froze in fear when they realized what happened. She had thought that the fear was because the ninjas would arrest them, but now that she thought more about it, she realized that they had all relaxed when Naruto brushed himself of and that he was alright, smiling that fake smile of his.

She moved towards the boy on the ground and sat right next to him, thinking more and more about all that she knew about him. The way people seemed to hate and fear him at the same time, even though there wasn't really anything that he did to make them feel that way. The way he would always tug at his glove, nervously looking around as if it was a big dark secret that would cast him in a terrible light.

"Uhm, N-Naruto-kun? I-Is that the r-reason the v-village people t-treat you th-that w-way? Your t-true power, I m-mean?"

The boy gave out a tired sigh, but his father let out an aggravated groan, his hands covering his face.

"They're STILL on about that?"

"Don't worry about it dad, it's really not that bad."

Naruto sat up and tried to act and sound as cheerful as he could, but it only barely worked. The Hokage sat down in front of him with a huff, arms crossed over his chest and pouting.

"I already explained to them as best as I could that the kyuubi is…"

"The kyuubi? I th-thought th-they hated h-him b-because of the c-curse and f-feared him b-because of th-the kyuubi?"

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Naruto bury his face into his hands while Minato stared at her with eyes wide.

"Did you say…hate?"

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and blinked incomprehensively at him. He was no longer the relaxed man who radiated power and authority earlier. His anger was clear on his face and in his body's actions, not to mention the thick chakra with traces of youki around him, distorting the very air.

"Dad. Dad! It's okay, it's not that bad…really!"

He looked towards his son and over to her, still visibly seething before he closed his eyes and started to take deep calming breaths. Once he was sure he was in control, he opened his eyes that were no longer the peaceful blue of the sky, but were now icy blue.

"Come on dad, it's okay. Really. They just…don't understand, I guess."

"And because they don't understand, they fear you. And because you don't do anything to solidify that fear, they turn it into hate. Is that their way of understanding?!"

"Dad! Calm down, okay?"

He closed his eyes and took more calming breaths, pinching the bridge of his nose. Through their small exchange, Hinata had felt more and more scared with every harshness in tone and rise in voice of the legendary Kage. He opened his eyes once more and they were now more or less back to normal, but he was still visibly trying to keep himself in control. He gave Hinata a glance and then stared at his son. When he spoke though, it was clear that he was talking to her.

"They don't know about the Curse yet, but once they do, it'll only get worse for him. It's true that they fear him because of the kyuubi, but that's just part of it. What do you know about him?"

"W-well…h-he's a j-jinchuuriki, which m-means h-he has a b-bijuu sealed i-in him. I-In his c-case, th-the kyuubi w-was s-sealed by…by y-you, right?"

This time, he burst out laughing and Naruto only gave her an apologetic smile. He gave a nervous laugh and shrugged. When the older blond finally calmed himself down, he asked his boy a question.

"Is that really what they think nowadays?"

He merely gave another shrug and lied down again, arms crossed behind his head.

"I don't think you should be complaining though. You're a legend now because of it dad."

"Still, I would prefer it more if they got the facts straight. No wonder they have difficulty understanding."

Minato sighed and leaned back, arms stretched behind him to keep himself sitting up. He gave Hinata one more smile before when he saw her confused look and explained.

"There is no way for a mere mortal to seal a bijuu, not even the strongest Enigma. Even the Uzumakis of the Whirlpool, the most renowned seal users wouldn't be able to forcefully seal a bijuu. The only reason they can be sealed is because they want to."

That came as a shock to her as it seemed like such an impossible idea for beings as powerful and strong as a bijuu would willingly allow themselves to be sealed, much more when they themselves are the ones to want to be sealed.

"The bijuus are the most powerful beings that currently exist in our world, no one and nothing could best them. But because of the lack of opposition, they stagnated. While all the other beings around them fought to survive and grew stronger and evolved, their power remained in the level that they had. When they finally noticed, they thought up of ways to stop it and break their stagnant selves."

He looked at her and she nodded to show that she was listening. When he looked at Naruto, she followed his gaze and they both stared at him for a while.

"The first idea that came to them was to challenge each other. Unfortunately, that only brought disasters. Could you imagine the bijuus fighting against one another, tearing up their surroundings as a result?"

He paused to let the idea sink in, and she visibly shivered. It was one thing to behold the full power of a bijuu, which was already a disaster in itself as described by the older generations. It was a completely different matter when you imagine that much power clashing with beings that was almost on par with it. And it was a crazy thing to imagine all nine of them clashing.

"Disastrous, right? Well, after they figured out that that method would only bring about the end of the world, they took a different approach. The kyuubi was the one who found the best method, after he devoured a sealing expert, an older ancestor of the Uzumaki. The kyuubi learned of the sealing arts, and all the beasts thought that it would be their best way of getting stronger to allow themselves to be sealed into another being that could use their powers enough to allow them to get stronger.

It was a good theory, and with all their knowledge and wisdom combined, they should have created the perfect seal, right?"

Hinata thought about it and found herself wondering the same thing. If beings as powerful and supposedly as all-knowing as the bijuus combined their efforts, then surely they would create the perfect seal. But then again, perfect for who? Minato smiled as if he could read her thoughts.

"That's right. They could make the perfect seal, but they had different views of how the perfect seal is supposed to be. Not to mention these are proud beings, as if allowing themselves to be sealed isn't degrading enough, to allow themselves to be trapped in a seal created by the other bijuus? They didn't like that, so they each created their own seals which was they would then teach someone they would deem worthy of their power."

"B-but, w-weren't they u-under the Shodaime's c-control?"

Minato studied her closely and gave out a chuckle. He then turned towards Naruto with a look that wasn't familiar to Hinata, but the boy just snorted. Shaking his head, he answered her question.

"You're right. They were all under the Shodaime's thumb, so to speak. Guess they all acknowledged his power and thought that he was deserving of their power. But the Shodaime knew that he couldn't control all of them at once, and choosing only one bijuu to have sealed in him would be an insult to the others, and that would be a catastrophe."

He stopped and looked to her, as if urging her to continue the story. She didn't know what he was expecting, but she guessed that this was where the truth of the history told to them really began.

"Th-the Shodaime s-sealed th-them in o-objects with the h-his abilities, which h-he then g-gave o-out to the other c-countries a-as a s-sign of peace."

"That's right. In the end, it was the best thing to do to divide them up. The bijuus didn't complain much, as long as they got a powerful host in return, but it was the kyuubi who was the pickiest of them all. It didn't want just any powerful host, it also wanted a host who was knowledgeable in seals too. Which basically means, it wanted an Uzumaki as a host."

"W-why is that?"

"Because the bijuus teach the seals they created for themselves to their host. And while they all thought that their seals was the best, the kyuubi was sort of a perfectionist and wanted its seal to be more than what the best. And since the Uzumakis were renowned as seal masters, it collaborated with them to further improve its seal. It was also a pretty smart fox, since it also meant that with the improvement of seal mastery over generations, its host would be able to work on its seal so long as he/she lived."

Hinata suddenly felt her amazement at the bijuus grow, especially for the kyuubi. She had known that they were smart beings, but to think that the kyuubi planned out while thinking of the possibilities the future generations might hold…well, it made her feel very insignificant.

"S-so…how d-does b-being sealed h-help them g-get stronger?"

"The more that their power is drawn upon by their hosts, the stronger they become. The bijuus are beings of chakra and youki, and they produce chakra like any other normal creature. When their chakra is used, it's replenished and at the same time, their limit grows. They could do the same on their own, but the problem is, even if they fight with other beings, they almost always use up only a small portion, which is then replenished and doubled. But because it was such an insignificant amount, they barely notice it."

"S-so, th-the bijuus are o-only using th-their h-hosts to g-grow stronger f-faster than what th-they could n-normally achieve?"

She stole a quick glance at Naruto, a little bit worried at what that would mean. Suddenly, she was even more fearful of the kyuubi, but in a different way than before. Now, she was afraid that the kyuubi would one day decide to move on and change hosts, and then what would happen to Naruto? Or if the kyuubi was using Naruto, then how much control did the kyuubi have over him? Her heart started to hurt as thoughts of Naruto being nothing more than a puppet personality that the kyuubi made in order to assert more control, or to allow him to more freely use his own chakra to get stronger.

"Don't worry. Out of all the bijuus' seals, the kyuubi's is the best for us, not to mention it has been tweaked lots of times by previous hosts and seal masters since it was first created, so Naruto's completely safe."

That didn't exactly remove her worries, but knowing that the previous hosts had a hand in improving the seal and that it was the best for them at least removed the fear that Naruto wasn't really Naruto. After all, if the previous host wasn't who she really was, she wouldn't have been able to work on the seal to suit humans, right?

"But it's not just the kyuubi they're afraid of."

She was surprised when Naruto spoke up. He sat up and looked her in the eye, like he was trying to search for something. When he couldn't see it, he smiled.

"At least, it's not just the kyuubi that they're afraid of."

"Even though they understand that the kyuubi will not do anything to jeopardize its host, they can't help but feel afraid that it might still break out and take control of Naruto's power."

They both stopped talking and just stared at her. She looked at both blonds, and she felt her heart pounding wildly again. She was close to his secret, so close to the reason why people had an irrational fear of him, why they had an even more irrational hatred of him. She licked her lips and swallowed, noting that her lips and throat had suddenly gone dry.

"W-what is his p-power that th-they're s-so w-wary of?"

"The power he inherited from me…"

"The power of an Anomaly."

* * *

A/N: How do you like my take on jinchuuriki's origins? Would you guys like to guess what an Anomaly is? Let me know in a review. :)

Helekiller2: Thanks for the suggestion. I went back and tried to work on some of the chapters, unfortunately, I haven't gotten to a few yet. I'll be going back to correct my mistakes as best as I could. Hope this one fares better. :D

BROOD WARRIOR, JOHNXgambit and Gagster: Hope you guys stay with me on this story, no matter what turn it takes. :D

To the new readers adding this to the favorite/follow list, thanks. I write because I want to make something that I know I would like, but it makes me feel a whole lot better when it actually turns out that others are liking my works as well. :D


	10. Chapter 10 - Secret's Out: Part Two

A/N: Brace yourselves! More of my origins insanity is coming!

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Secret's Out: Part Two**

She was thankful that they didn't need her to prompt them to continue, because she was having difficulty speaking at this point because of her excitement.

"Anomalies…well, we don't really know what we are. Rather, we don't know our history. Our existence is a mess of complications, and it's never easy especially with what we are able to do."

He looked at her and noted by her expression that he was only making her more and more confused. He sighed in understanding.

"_I probably shouldn't have been so vague,"_ he thought, _"but then again, everything about us has always been like that."_

He shook his head and looked at his son, who was still staring at the sky. He glanced at her for a second and then continued to watching his son.

"Hinata, do you believe in Hell?"

He didn't take his eyes off Naruto, so he wasn't able to see the shock and confusion on her face. Her brows furrowed as she thought of how to answer him.

"_Hell? What does that have to do with anything?"_

She stared at the Fourth, who was still staring at his son, for a few seconds before she let her gaze drop to the ground. She decided that it has to be important for him to bring it up.

"_Do I believe in Hell?"_

She didn't know how she felt about the topic. It was one thing to believe in youkais, in demons and spirits, as there are already records about dealings with them. In fact, the mere existence of the Hidden Villages, the foundations of which are closely tied to the birth of the generation of Enigmas, is the only proof anyone would need to prove the existence of such entities. But the existence of Hell is an entirely different matter.

They say that the youkais all came from Hell, while some says that they are the manifestations of man's fears and evil. Unfortunately, because there are no records of their origin that has provided any concrete evidence, both theories are considered mere speculations. She wondered if that was the Hell they were talking about, since they were talking about origins and history earlier. But the way he asked her made her second guess herself, thinking that it may be the spiritual Hell he was referring to that religions always indicate as the destination of souls of the evil after they die.

"_They're the same Hell though, I think?"_

Either way, she wasn't sure what she believed. She shook her head and decided on her answer, simplifying her thoughts as best she could.

"I-I'm not s-sure I b-believe in H-Hell, b-but I c-can't disprove th-that there isn't a H-Hell either, s-so I d-don't know…"

Her voice trailed off in a whisper as it neared the end, and she hung her head, embarrassed at how unsure her voice sounded. She started questioning herself the way she usually did, but he quickly caught her attention when he spoke.

"Well, I'm not really sure about all the talks about Hell, but it exists."

He looked at her and waited for a reaction, but all he got was a blank stare so he continued.

"There are a lot of things wrong about what is written and what's 'known' about Hell, but one thing is for sure, it's a place for demons, devils, and evil spirits. Simply put, it's a place for youkai. But it's not where most people think it is."

She was staring at him closely, which is why she was able to see the darkness in his face before he caught himself and relaxed into his easy calm. She wanted to ask him if he's been there, but she thought that it would be too rude to do so. Still, when he looked at her, he gave a tired smile that made him look years older, generations even.

"Yes, I've been there. It's thanks to our powers, us Anomalies, that I had the unfortunate chance to visit it. It's a dark place where the air is thick with a miasma so foul, just a whiff is enough to kill a man. The miasma also causes the atmosphere to be thick with youki, empowering the dwellers of that realm. The youkai there are far beyond the level of the youkai we have, the strongest that I felt in my short visit there is about ten times stronger than the kyuubi."

She shivered as she imagined such a place, and such strong beings in it. She wanted what it had to do with them, but she was so captivated by the story that she waited for him to tell more.

"I bet you're thinking what that has to do with Anomalies, right? Well, simple. Remember how we said that the kyuubi was merely a part of why Naruto is 'treated' by the villagers? Well, the main part of it is because of Hell. I'm not sure how much the villagers really know about it, but they know that we can access it."

She noticed how his voice suddenly got a cold edge when he said the word treated, but she felt like it was only proper. She wanted to get angry as well, but she thought to wait until she heard the full story before she would decide on what she would feel.

"B-because y-you are A-Anomalies? H-How can y-you get to th-that place though? And why w-would people th-think that N-Naruto w-would want to go there?"

"Since we're already on that topic, let's answer your question of why they thought that Naruto would want to go there. The answer is actually simple, and with a bit of logic. You see, before this entire mess, people knew and believed the true origins of the jinchuuriki. They knew that the hosts were only being used by the bijuu to get stronger. They also knew that an Anomaly can access Hell, a place where youki is abundant and can make any youkai stronger by just being in that place."

Things clicked into place as she started to see things the way a scared person, Enigma or otherwise, would see it. The bijuu wanted to get stronger so they used humans in the form of a jinchuuriki. So if the jinchuuriki would have access to a place where just breathing would make them stronger beyond anything that they have seen, what's to stop the bijuu from taking over and forcing the host to get them there? Even with the fact that the seal has been made and fixed to work in the best possible way for the host to use, the fear broke the sense of safety that they would get from the seal.

"B-but, if th-the b-bijuu went into th-that pl-place to get s-stronger, sh-shouldn't the p-people want th-that to happen s-since it'll mean that…"

"It'll mean that the bijuu will be stuck there?"

He shook his head and gave an exasperated sigh. He reached over the boy and ruffled his hair before he continued to speak.

"Fear is a funny thing. It makes people smart, but at the same time, it makes them brash and stupid. It would've been simple if their line of thought stopped there, but it didn't. They thought, 'what if the host was taken along to Hell?' That would mean that the bijuu would have a means to get back. Still no problem though, right? But they went over even that. 'What if the bijuu returned and became a king of demons or something, and came with an army to enslave humanity?', 'What if the bijuu suddenly decided that it wanted to eat human flesh and came back, stronger than ever before?', 'What if the bijuu decided to test its new powers by destroying our world?'. There were so many what ifs that were formed, and their fear grew."

She nodded slowly, understanding their fears completely. She didn't believe that Naruto would allow such a thing to happen, but the fact remains that the existence of the powerful bijuu and the dark place Hell stirs up unwanted fear. She looked at her loved one, and decided that thinking that way was brought on by knowing too much information on the things that made the boy what he was, but they never bothered with knowing the things that made the boy who he was.

"_If only they could see how kind you are, how strong your determination is and how you would always protect those weaker than you…"_

She reached for the boy and gently placed her hand over his. He looked at her for a second, gave her a small smile and nod, and then returned to looking up at the sky. At least now she knew why the village people acted the way they did, and she could do her best to help him overcome the negative emotions. But there was one more thing she needed to do. She needed to understand him more.

"S-so, h-how can A-Anomalies g-get to…uhm, th-that place?"

She felt uneasy mentioning Hell now that she understood more of it, giving it more meaning in her world. If either blond noticed, they didn't seem to mind. And even if they did mind, they didn't show it.

"Well, we're back at the beginning. What are Anomalies? At least now, it's a lot simpler to answer. First though, I have a question for you. Where do you think Hell is?"

Yet again, the Hokage managed to shock and confuse her. Where is Hell? She didn't have an answer. She heard that it was supposed to be underground, but he had said earlier that it wasn't where people think it was. So where was it? She shook her head at him, she really didn't know.

"Hell is in an entirely different dimension. It's a world separate from us. The reason why we Anomalies have access to it is because we're beings whose existence is tied with time and space. Either that or we're constructs of time and space itself. But no matter what, we were given the power to bend space and time, so getting into the Hell dimension is possible."

She thought over what he said. And she thought about it some more. Their world, their generation were now expected to be the strongest in history. They learned of the legends of old like the Ten Tails and of the Sage of the Six Paths, both powerful beings that brought about the creation of the bijuu and of all the other beings that would later bring humanity to a whole new level of strength and power. But even then, with the already unbelievable things that they as ninjas or Enigmas know, somehow what the Fourth is telling her seemed too much.

She knew of the origins of man, the theories of researchers as well as preaching of leaders of different religion. She had seen Naruto take an interest in such history that she also immersed herself in the topic, to create a common ground between them. Even though she has yet to approach the boy to engage in the topic, the reading she has done has given her great knowledge and mastery over the topics which should have given her the necessary level of an open mind to accept what the Hokage told her, but she just can't seem to accept it.

She knew that man was either molded from dirt and clay and breathed into life by a god of an older religion, or evolved from the same ancestors of the monkey according to researchers. There was even a small sect that makes a combined theory of evoloution and of a god, where a god from some mountain gave fire to a troop of primates, teaching them of the ways of surviving that no other animal could ever do, giving the primates the ability to evolve into the man of today. There are even more crazy theories of gods and evolution, but they all had a common event: man learned of evil and temptation and brought ruin to the world.

In order to cleanse the world of evil, the Ten Tails was created. It was to absorb all the evil and turn it into an energy that would help with the recovery of nature and the world from man's destruction, but the evil was too great. The Ten Tails was corrupted by the evil, causing it to go mad and enter a destructive fury that almost wiped out all of creation.

In the midst of chaos, a savior rose from the rubble and challenged the beast. The savior was in a form of a man who had extraordinary power. That power was enough to defeat the Ten Tails, but not to destroy it. Instead, the first ever jinchuuriki was made when the savior forcefully sealed the beast's energy and life force into himself. With the new strength to his power, he used the beast's body and turned it into the moon. The savior then worked in rebuilding the world, giving back life to nature and to the earth. The miracles he created were so incredible that people started seeing him as a being that was close to a god, and they named him the Sage of the Six Paths.

As time went on, the world was rebuilt and life has returned. Though the Sage was revered as someone who was close to a god, people finally saw him as a mortal that was merely blessed by a god when his body broke down. The power of the beast proved to be too strong for his body to take, and the years of abuse it had endured in rebuilding the world was too much. Fearing that the beast might be released with his passing, he divided it into what came to be known as the Tailed Beasts, the bijuu.

Even with the release of the energy and the life force of the Ten Tails, the strain had already done its worst. His body then broke apart into millions of pieces. Those pieces contained fragments of the Sage's powers, and somehow manifested themselves into separate beings. That was the history of the first ever youkai and hannyou, which then passed on their abilities over the years until the birth of Enigmas.

Her head was now swimming as more and more information surfaced, trying to fit themselves into the missing puzzle piece that would allow her to see into the world that the Fourth was talking about.

"_Was the Sage capable of bending space and time?"_

Legends spoke of his ability to warp reality and bring into life his thoughts from nothing, and even though it was beyond anything that the world has ever known, it was still part of their world. It wasn't something so separate from their world that it dealt with other dimensions and of different times. And if the Sage really had powers over time and space, did his body also bring about the Anomalies? Or had the Anomalies been around even before the time of Sage? If so, what was their purpose, and why didn't they intervene with any of the events of the world?

"_Or…did they have a hand in the events that history did not know about?"_

The more she thought about them, the more questions she had. She would have to accept what the Fourth is saying as the truth about them. She looked at his eyes and saw an understanding in them, and that's when she realized it.

= Flashback =

"_Anomalies…well, we don't really know what we are. Rather, we don't know our history. Our existence is a mess of complications, and it's never easy especially with what we are able to do."_

= Flashback End =

He had mentioned how even they didn't know their history, which meant that they probably had as many questions about themselves as she had. Even worse for them, was that they would have started to question themselves at an earlier time, and it would haunt them for the rest of their lives until they found an answer. She wanted to know, but she never meant to ask the question she was thinking.

"Y-you don't kn-know anything a-about your h-history? No f-family records?"

He gave a shake of his head before he answered.

"We have family records, but like I said, nothing is ever simple with Anomalies, and everything is complicated."

He let another tired sigh and gave her a small smile. He held out his hands in front of him, watching them as his fingers curled and flexed.

"Our family records, they aren't passed down from one generation to the next in the form of writing or stories. They're passed on in death."

He buried his face into his hands, elbows resting on his knees. He gave another sigh and she knew that they were nearing a difficult topic.

"When an Anomaly dies, the memories, knowledge, experiences, power and strength that were gained are turned into an essence that is then received by the next oldest living Anomaly. Unfortunately, over the years, less and less of us would die."

"A-are you i-immortal?!"

He looked at her with eyes wide in shock at her outburst. He didn't blame her though; after all, even the Sage was proven to be mortal. He chuckled when he got over his shock.

"In a way, yes, we are immortal of sorts. But that immortality comes at a price. It comes with a terrible price."

This time, the pain in his eyes and sadness on his face told her that they had come to the difficult topic. He was looking sadly at Naruto, and it was heart breaking for her.

"Those who don't die and become immortal turned out that way not because they wanted to. They become like me, or, I've become like them."

He tore his gaze from his son and onto her, but she saw that he wasn't really looking at her. His eyes had a distant look, and he spoke as if he was recalling a sad memory.

"We don't die because we lose our place here, and our powers take over. We become timeless, and we become Drifters."

* * *

A/N: Soooo, just a heads up. The next chapter will be having a few flashbacks and more conversations of their history. I want to get these out of the way so that it would become easier for the story to flow on later, hopefully no longer needing any explanation for Naruto and allowing more time to focus on other characters. :D

Also, I hope you like my take on their history. I know it kind of is maybe a little weird having reconstructed their legends in such a way, and how it was all forced into this chapter (which makes it a bit messy, I know. I'm sorry -.-), but I had to write it down else my mind will be consumed by those thoughts.

One more thing: I'm not usually stupid, but when it happens… *sigh* I only just recently discovered how to reply to reviews. Good news though is I'll be able to reply to reviews now. I'll still be answering them via author notes, just so that anyone else who is curious would be able to see them, but I'll be making a more detailed reply to the reviewer. :)

And so with that, hope you guys liked the mess I made, and you stay tune until next time. :D

JOHNXgambit: Glad to see you're still with me. :p

charmedprincess101: Hey there! Glad you like this work of mine, hope you stick around too. :)

To answer your question, I don't really have much time on working on this but the thing is…writing the story is sort of my stress reliever after work and school.

The time for me to come up with this? Unfortunately, my imagination works even when I don't need or want it. Imagine, the plot of this story plus all the other stories that hasn't been written up yet or that hasn't even been started on yet, running around your head as you try to work or try to finish your thesis? The only way for me to get rid of those thoughts is to write the story down, so see how much of a stress reliever writing for me is? :D


	11. Chapter 11: Secret's Out: Part Three

**Chapter 11 – Secret's Out: Part Three**

He looked down at his hands, balling them into fists. He could feel his body shimmering in and out, but he ignored it. He knew his anchor is still connected, and until he completes the condition, his powers will remain under his control. Trying to calm himself down, he fought the tears that were coming as his heart clenched with every word he said.

"Can you imagine the power that we hold, princess?"

He wasn't looking at her as he spoke, so he didn't see her flinch at the way he addressed her. When the silence continued, he took a deep breath.

"That's right. It's hard to believe that our powers allow us to bend time and space, but it's all true. The thing is, the next amazing thing that comes to mind is how strong our kind are to be able to control such a power."

He raised his head and tried his best to focus on her, but no matter how hard he tried, his vision would always blur and he would find himself staring at the darkness off in the distance.

"The thing is, there is a limit to our control. At birth, we're given only one aspect of our powers, either power over time or space. There has been only person that has had both aspects from birth."

He gave a sideways look at Naruto, staring at him for a few seconds before looking off into the distance again.

"For the rest of us, we gain more of our powers as we grow. The more experiences in the world we collect, the more our powers strengthen. For a while, we have complete control of these powers. But once we reach a certain age, that power starts to take control. It starts off as small tugs every now and then, until it becomes a strong pull on our existence.

From something we can deal with, it turns into something that we can no longer resist. Our powers take over, turning us timeless and forces us to 'Drift'."

"Th-then…N-Naruto-kun as w-well?"

He gave a tired smile before answering.

"If he lives long enough, then it'll eventually happen. But with the way he's now with three different youki, it may either be sooner or much later than usual."

"O-oh n-n-no…"

He heard her sniffing, but he couldn't call on the energy to try and comfort her. Instead, he continued on with his story.

"The world works in strange ways, really…or God or the gods, or whatever. Our kind was made and born, blessed with powers that could potentially shape and mold the future any way we want. But we were also made so that our powers would take over once it grows enough. And then, we were given a way to stabilize that power, through our own 'Anchor'."

"Dad…"

"It's okay, Naruto. It seems like this talk can help extend my anchor here."

He looked at his son and gave him a small smile and a nod. He looked at Hinata who yet again had a confused look on her face, making his smile grow wider.

"_She's really cute. Too bad my boy's too dense to notice."_

He gave her a small nod and handed her a piece of clean cloth he had in his supply pack to wipe her tears with. Naruto, who had looked at his father with worry, nodded back and resumed his watching the skies.

"An Anchor is someone who helps stabilize our powers, effectively binding us to this time and dimension as long as they live. We don't know if Anchors are made for each Anomaly, or if it's something like destiny or fate."

He paused in his story, and let out a long sigh. During this time that he was quiet, Naruto voiced out a question he's had since he learned about an Anomaly's Anchor.

"Hey, dad? Mom's your Anchor, right? How did you find her? I mean, how did you know she was your Anchor?"

He smiled at his boy before looking at the darkness of the forest. He slowly smiled, and though it was a natural smile with some hint of happiness, to Hinata it looked a bit sad. Naruto knew though that it wasn't just sadness in that smile of his, but a longing.

"Have I ever told you that she's the reason why I was forced to become a ninja?"

Hinata looked at Naruto and was surprised that he had a shocked expression.

"What do you mean forced to become a ninja?"

He let out a small chuckle before answering.

"Well, let's put it this way. Have you ever heard of an Anomaly ninja?"

Both Naruto and Hinata tried to think of any ninja listed in history that possessed the same powers that the Fourth described, but they couldn't think of anyone. They tried thinking about just a person that was written to have done things like bending time and space or as close to it as they could, and even then they couldn't think of anyone.

"Exactly. Anomalies have been doing their best to keep a low profile, passing themselves off as normal people or simply isolating themselves from society. Even when the world was torn apart by wars and disasters, there were never any sightings of Anomalies recorded ever."

"Until you."

"That's right. There were never any sightings of Anomalies recorded in history, until I came along."

"And you're telling me that that was mom's fault?"

His smile grew as he looked at his son's incredulous face.

"How about I tell you how I met your mother, okay?"

"Please tell me this isn't a sappy love story or an over glorified version of your 'conquest for mom's heart' or something like that."

He couldn't help his laughter as his son voiced his discomfort with a blank stare.

"No, none of that. It was just a normal day for a normal orphan roaming the village."

"O-orphan?"

"Yes. Like I said, Anomalies try to keep a low profile. And the only way for me to pass as a normal kid in society was to pretend that I was orphaned."

Flashback

A small child was roaming the busy village streets, moving through the loud crowd of the market district. Ducking into a street that he knew would be less busy. He saw a familiar person standing next to an apple cart and called out to him.

"Hey uncle Fuu!"

The man looked at him, gave him a big smile and waved for him to come over.

"Why hello, young Minato-kun. Fancy an apple?"

The blond boy nodded and was handed a shiny red apple. Giving the man a small thanks, the child bit into the fruit with a crunch. They talked for a while as Minato ate his apple when they were interrupted by a cart falling over followed by a sudden shout.

"My cabbages!"

"I'm sorry!"

At the sound of the voice, Minato's world suddenly shifted. He didn't know what it meant so he tried to look towards the voice. By the time he turned towards the direction of the disturbance, someone had bumped into him, causing him to lose his balance and drop his apple. He didn't see who bumped into him though as his vision was drowned in a sea of long and flowing red hair. When the red disappeared, he could feel himself still off-balance and trying to catch himself. He looked around him with his eyes and found that people were staring at him in confused looks.

He moved his foot to prevent himself from falling on his back, and he realized why people were staring at him. His time has been warped to a slow crawl.

He looked at his apple, still in the air but clearly falling at a very slow pace. He closed his eyes and took a breath, and when he felt his time was starting to return to normal, he moved to catch his apple. In a sudden burst of speed, he caught his apple faster than the spectators' eyes could see that surprised even him. He stared at his apple and at his hands in wonder, trying to figure out what happened.

"I'm sorry, but I'm late!"

Upon hearing the voice, he looked up and tried to find the owner of the voice. Looking around, he managed to catch a glimpse of red hair disappearing around the corner. Running as fast as he could while still passing off as a normal boy, he reached the corner only to catch yet again a glimpse of red hair disappearing into a different alley. He ran and tried to follow the person, but no matter how fast he ran without drawing attention to himself, he could only always catch glimpses.

Panting lightly, he continued to run. When he heard another ruckus in the street just around the corner, he looked around him and upon seeing no one, used a bit of his power to boost his speed. In a blink of an eye, he reached the corner and turned right.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, but I'm really late! I'm really sorry!"

He ran towards the voice, leaping over fallen boxes and ducking under stalls. When he reached the gates of the Academy, he saw yet again a glimpse of the red hair disappearing into the building. He tried to run after her, but a chuunin stopped him by blocking his way.

"What do you want kid? You don't look like a student here."

He looked up at the chuunin and then back at the Academy. He was panting and he tried to catch his breath for a reply, but it was taking too much time so he just shook his head and waved goodbye. Walking away, he bit into his apple and sucked on the juice. Turning back for one last look, he decided to figure out the strange events that happened to him today, starting with one question. Who was that red-haired kid?

End Flashback

"I went to the Hokage after that, asking if I could get into the Academy. The good news was, it was easy convincing him to allow me in. The bad news was that I had to let him know about some of my abilities and where I got them."

"S-so you r-revealed that y-you were an Anomaly?"

"Not exactly. See, I was still trying to keep a low profile, so I just told him that I received a Blessing that just recently manifested. I told him about the incident of my time slowing down, and thanks to all the witnesses, they bought it. Once I was in, well, let's just say that the rest is history."

"You mean you fell in love while trying to figure out what happened and then won her heart and blah blah?"

While Naruto was questioning the story, Hinata had a dreamy expression and let out a sigh.

"How romantic…"

Scratching the back of his neck, Minato tried to choose words to better explain the situation.

"Well, not exactly. You see, there were no Anomalies before me that passed on their essence to me, so the only idea I had about Anchors was from the few small talks with my mom, just like how we are right now. She told me that my father wasn't her Anchor, but her best guy friend was. Going with that explanation, I concluded that your Anchor doesn't necessarily need to be your lover, just someone important in your life."

He looked at the both of them and they had a blank expression, clearly showing how they didn't see where he was going with his explanation.

"Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat things and say that your mother was the most perfect woman in all dimensions. In fact, she was the exact type of person that I wouldn't be good with. She was talented in seals and ninjutsu, I can give her that. But she was also very reckless, uncontrollable, stubborn and rebellious. With her attitude, I decided to just keep her at a comfortable distance. It started out as sparring partners, and then as a mentor-pupil thing in sealwork. Later on, she became the one I would discuss some of my ninjutsu and seal theories with. After that, I did my best to keep our relationship to just that, but something happened that put us together."

He finished his story, and only then did he notice that he was out of breath. He was so focused on letting them know of his intentions and situation that he didn't realize until he finished that his emotions had spilled into his words. His voice had risen when he described Naruto's mother's behavior and started softening when he explained how their relationship progressed. He looked at the two once more and noted that they had different reactions to his outburst.

Naruto was trying hard not to smile, and Hinata had yet again a dreamy look. Sighing in defeat, he threw his hands up in surrender. He decided to just let them think of whatever it was that happened that put them together, but he underestimated Hinata's maiden heart.

"Th-the kidnapping…th-that's what b-brought you t-together?"

He looked at her for a while, a smile slowly creeping across his face. He let out a hearty laugh, before allowing himself to have a dreamy expression of his own.

"Yeah. That's what put us together. Despite her tomboyish tendencies, deep inside she was still a woman, especially in her heart. She believed in destiny and fate, only in terms of love. Once she got that in her head, there was no way to convince her otherwise. She started acting more feminine around me, even going so far as seducing me."

He let out another sigh, and this time his smile had turned into a goofy one, which when paired with his dreamy expression, made him look like a lovesick loon in Naruto's opinion.

"Your mother's crazy, but she was quite a woman. I ended up falling for her, and falling real hard."

He shook his head to clear his mind from the happy memories as he focused on a sobering thought. He looked at his son with a sad and apologetic expression on his face.

"And that's why you weren't able to transfer the anchor to me, right?"

"But that doesn't mean I don't love you son, because I do. I really do…"

Naruto shook his head and Minato felt his heart starting to break again, but the pain quickly disappeared when the boy smiled.

"It's okay dad. I used to think that you didn't care about me, that you chose not to anchor to me. But seeing you with that idiotic lovesick look on your face, I can at least sort of understand why you weren't able to let go of mom's anchor, so we're cool. Just one thing though…"

"What is it?"

"Don't you ever make that lovesick face again. It's weird enough that I've seen it, and embarrassing that Hinata-chan had to see it. Come on old man, you're not young anymore!"

He stared blankly at Naruto and couldn't believe how he forgot whose child he was. He grabbed his neck and pulled him into a headlock, ruffling his hair as roughly as he could.

"I'll have you know, since I'm now timeless, I'm still technically young. Not to mention I wasn't that old when it happened."

"Okay, okay! Just don't do it when I'm around people, it's embarrassing."

He let his son go and they both smiled at each other before laughing. Watching their father-son interaction, Hinata was amazed at the strength of the two blonds. She couldn't believe how they make light of such dark and depressing topics in their life, but at the same time, she was thankful for Naruto's sake. At that moment, as she stared at him laughing along with his father, she realized just how bright a sun Naruto was in her life, and she couldn't help her smile.

Seeing Hinata's gentle smile, Naruto couldn't help but smile back at her. Neither of them noticed that in that short time where their eyes locked and they smiled at each other, time around them bending in a way that Minato recognized.

* * *

**A/N: **Sooooo, did you like this one or no? Let me know, okay? :D


	12. Chapter 12: Secret's Out: Part Four

**Chapter 12 – Secret's Out: Part Four**

"So, overcoming the Trial huh? And both phases too! Now that's my boy!"

He looked at his father, swelling with pride. He knew that he would always be proud of him, but still longed for him to show it in such a manner – in a way that the parents of all his classmates showed them. As much as he wanted to enjoy the moment though, he knew he couldn't take all of the credit. After all, he did have a lot of help from someone.

"Yeah, well…I had a lot of help."

He pointed to Hinata with his eyes and when his dad looked at her, he suddenly got a confused look.

"How exactly did she help?"

This time, the memories came flashing back and he couldn't help but be amazed yet again. He remembered how her voice would calm him down and even keep the growling wolf relaxed. He remembered how she fearlessly grabbed onto his neck even when he had grown so unbelievably large when the Curse's youki was powered up by the kyuubi's.

"Oh man! You should've seen it dad! She was incredible and brave! She tamed the wolf like it was a puppy, soothing it with her words and voice. And then, and then! She didn't back down when the kyuubi's youki suddenly flowed all over my body and mixed with the wolf's! You should've seen it! Even I thought it was unbelievable, how the two youkis worked together in making me stronger! It made me huge, but it didn't scare Hinata one bit!"

He was so lost in reliving his experiences and trying to express it in words to his father that he didn't notice the bright shades of red that Hinata's face was turning to. He also failed to notice that his dad was getting a serious and contemplating look on his face while staring at Hinata.

"I got through the second phase thanks to Hinata and through the first phase thanks to…"

Naruto trailed off and both of his companions noticed. When they turned to look at him, he leapt to his feet yelling.

"Aaaahhh! Iruka-sensei! I forgot to see if he was alright!"

He turned his nose up, sniffing the air. The kyuubi was still asleep, as far as he could tell, but with all the years he had its chakra coursing through his veins and running around his body, his senses has already been permanently enhanced. Not to mention he could feel the changes from the Curse already taking its permanent effect, enhancing his senses even more. It was something that was going to take a while to get used to, but for now, he could focus them into one task.

He caught a small scent and turned towards it, taking more deep whiffs. When he was sure that there was a slight trail, he quickly ran towards it. Before he could leave the clearing and enter the thick of the woods though, there was a flash of yellow that momentarily blinded him. Something grabbed onto the collar of his jacket and he felt himself getting pulled through what felt like a tunnel. When they got out of that tunnel, he was dropped onto the ground on his back.

"Relax. He's okay. I'm guessing he's the one who's been watching us for a little while now, so at least he seems well enough to walk around and keep stealthy."

He opened his eyes and looked at his father, catching him as he nodded towards a specific direction. He turned towards the direction that his father nodded at and saw that it was where the fallen tree was. He tried to see through the darkness, but even with his enhanced vision and improved night vision, he wasn't able to see anything beyond the clearing. The rustling of leaves was the only indication he could get that someone was indeed there, letting him know about his presence.

He was about to shout out to the person, but the Fourth placed a hand on his shoulder.

"There's a reason why he stayed away and tried not to bother us. I think I know what it is, and if what I'm thinking is correct, then I am grateful to him as we don't have much time left."

As if to add emphasis to his words, his whole form shimmered and his hand phased through Naruto. He drew it back and focused his powers, keeping himself stable. Seeing the difficulty his father was having, Naruto grabbed his father's arm and tried to focus, doing his best to use his own Anomaly powers to keep his dad anchored, if only for a little while longer. After the Fourth's form was stable and he was now physically solid, they both fell to their knees, tired out and panting from the effort.

"We…don't…have…much…time…"

"Yeah…"

Both blonds wheezed out their words in between breaths. Meanwhile, Hinata was at a loss at what she could do to help them. She still felt enough strength for a quick short transformation to help relax them, but she didn't know if that would make it better or worse for them. She tried to speak, but apparently Minato saw her as he cut him off.

"We're okay…we're just a bit…winded…"

"Yeah…just give us… a minute or two…"

With nothing else left to say or do, she started pushing her fingers together. And then, suddenly aware of what she was doing, she tried to busy her hands by playing with Naruto's jacket. She was just admiring the workmanship on the clothing and was wondering what kind of fabric was used in making it when the Fourth finally caught his breath and spoke up.

"Well, at least we know you're still an Anomaly like your old man."

Hinata found the statement strange, but she didn't want to ask right away. She found out that the Hokage would tell her the details if he wanted to. What she didn't know though was that the Fourth were merely taking hints from her expressions, including this time around.

"What I meant is, his Anomaly powers are still separated from the Curse. Well, at least some of it."

This time, she felt like the Fourth was trying to start up the conversation, so she thought it polite to respond.

"W-what do you mean? N-now that the s-seal is broken, sh-shouldn't his A-anomaly powers be b-back as well?"

"Well, that's true…but the problem is how the seal worked."

The older blond looked over to his son and was about to have him explain, but when he saw his serious expression, he stopped and asked a question instead.

"Naruto? What's wrong?"

The mention of his name seemed to snap him out of it, and he gave a brief glance to his father before looking back out into the dark forest.

"It's just, now that I'm paying attention…I can't sense anything from beyond this clearing. It's like I'm surrounded by sounds of life in here, right? But when I try to stretch out…it's all silent. Like the forest is completely dead. No rustling leaves, no wind…there isn't even a scent."

"Yeah, well…"

Naruto was surprised that his father had an explanation for it, so he turned his gaze towards him. He saw him look at Hinata, as if knowing something. Hinata on the other hand was watching her hands as they explored his jacket. He didn't know if she was hiding something or if she really didn't have anything to add to their conversation.

"This clearing is sort of separate from the forest. At least, while we're here, I guess? Or for the night? I'm not sure…all I know is, it's like a different place here and now. It's a safe place. It's a sacred place."

Naruto felt like there was more to it than that, and that his father knew it but it wasn't his place to explain further. He looked at Hinata and it seemed like there was more to her he needed to discover. Usually, unsolved puzzles bothered him and he hated the feeling, but this time he felt like it was okay for him to work on this Enigma. In fact, he felt a little bit happy about it, and that confused him.

"So, Naruto. Want to explain how the seal works?"

"It's a special kind of seal, one that my mom and dad made."

"Actually, it was still just a working progress when I used it on you. You're the first living case of the seal working properly."

Hinata noticed the sudden pause in conversation and she looked up from Naruto's jacket, thinking that they had steered clear of talking about the clearing. She saw that Naruto was going through a cycle of different expressions. For a second he looked confused, then as if he was thinking over, and then he looked angry, then a bit annoyed and then back to being confused. When Hinata thought that there wasn't any other expression he was going to show anytime soon, she looked at the older blond and was again awed by the striking resemblance between the two.

The Hokage had a sheepish grin on his face, and he was scratching at the back of his head the way Naruto would whenever he was being nervous or caught in the act of doing something mischievous.

"You're telling me that the seal wasn't tested when you used it on me?"

His voice had a bit of a growl that Hinata has never heard before, but when she looked at him, he was pinching the bridge of his nose. He wanted to laugh at the role reversal the two were doing, but she knew it was too much a serious matter for that so she decided to instead keep quiet and listen.

"What are you talking about?! I would never do something as reckless and stupid like that!"

Naruto just shrugged before answering, either not noticing the defensive tone his father had or he just didn't mind it.

"Something stupid and reckless, I do those lots of times. Something dangerous to other people though…"

"Yeah, you get that from your mother. And it wasn't dangerous, okay? The concept of it was already in use for my Flying Thunder God, as well as the seal techniques of the Uzumakis, but the theory of it being applied to seal in a different being was brand new."

"I'll bet mom has rubbed off on you more than you want to admit…"

Naruto mumbled out his words, and the older blond just dismissed that remark. He did think that Kushina's influence has rubbed off on him a lot, but he would not admit that out loud to anyone.

"The seal was tested and reworked lots of times, but because those were just tried on inanimate objects to seal in other inanimate objects, we couldn't tell whether the seal was working or not. The seal I used on you is the farthest we got while testing out on objects."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and settled himself in to glare at his father, while the older blond let out a resigned sigh and just stared defiantly at his son.

"So now that that's out of the way, how about explaining the seal?"

For a few seconds, Naruto didn't move. Just as Hinata thought that he wasn't going to say anything, he started talking.

"The seal that they 'theorized'," Naruto started to say, putting a mocking tone on the word 'theorized'. This made Minato cut him off.

"Hey! I made it work! It's something that even The Professor found interesting!"

Naruto just snorted at his dad, making the older blond pull at his hair in frustration. When the silence was growing to the point where Hinata was starting to feel out of place, Minato decided to just explain the seal himself.

"Do you know how ordinary seals work, Princess?"

"Th-the use of f-formulas t-to create s-set functions a-and t-to use writing t-to set limitations, all m-made into a s-system to k-keep the s-seal s-stable. F-finally, o-once th-the s-seal is r-ready, th-the application u-uses ch-chakra to c-carry out th-the f-functions and t-to f-fortify a-and close off th-the entire s-system."

"That's right. Sealing used to be a clan-specific technique that only the Uzumakis were capable of. Most likely they also came to be from the Sage's body that broke apart, only in their case, they got the strong life force of the Sage with the ability of Sealing as a bonus."

She nodded, not really understanding as her head felt like it was now overflowing with information. She only recited what she remembered from an Academy textbook and didn't really understand how seals worked, but she tried her hardest to study the field because of the importance it held for her, especially for her family. She can say from experience that simply reading on seals won't help you gain a mastery over it, so she wants to take advantage of having someone knowledgeable about the subject giving her some information about it, even if they were just little bits of facts and trivia.

Shaking her head and calming her thoughts, she cleared her mind to allow herself to absorb the Fourth's next words.

"So ordinary seals usually work like that, utilizing the user's chakra to function and work. But Naruto's seal, the one I used to hold off the Curse, works in a different way. One thing though, why do you think I didn't use the same seal that the kyuubi uses?"

"_There is no way for a mere mortal to seal a bijuu, not even the strongest Enigma. Even the Uzumakis of the Whirlpool, the most renowned seal users wouldn't be able to forcefully seal a bijuu. The only reason they can be sealed is because they want to."_

"B-because u-unlike th-the k-kyuubi who l-let itself b-be sealed, th-the C-Curse doesn't w-want to b-be sealed?"

"Correct. Wow Naruto, cute AND smart. You better take good care of the Princess, okay?"

The older blond looked at the two, taking great fun from the extreme blushing they were doing. After having himself a good laugh, he calmed himself down and continued with the explanation.

"So no matter how strong the kyuubi's seal is, it won't be ideal for a forced sealing attempt. So I used the seal that me and his mom worked on. The theory behind it was, if we were going to seal something into someone else, why not utilize the chakra of that person that we're sealing into? That was the basic theory, but Kushina took it up a notch. She thought about a method of containing powerful and destructive beings inside someone as dangerous as they are, using their chakra and/or youki to completely seal the being and at the same time, sealing the host's own abilities. This way, two dangerous factors are removed and you're left with an ordinary human cage."

Hinata nodded her agreement. It was a seal that would remove two dangerous factors and leave only one potentially less dangerous person. In theory, it was indeed an ideal solution in removing threats, especially if the two threats' abilities would counteract each other and keep one another in check.

"S-so Naruto's…"

"Yes. I used Naruto's Anomaly youki to seal the Curse. It was supposed to have been a permanent fix, but apparently, the Curse was too strong for Naruto's already unbelievable Anomaly powers. I guess as powerful as they were, his powers were still undeveloped."

"But, I didn't feel all that strong before?"

The Fourth let out a sigh and thought over how best to explain it.

"Okay, first, Anomaly powers have two aspects, which are Time and Space. When we are born, in order for our powers not to lose control, we are limited to one aspect, acquiring the second as our powers grow. I was born a Space Anomaly, and even now, I haven't quite gotten the Time aspect fully under control. You however, were born with both."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest that he wasn't even able to do a Blink back then, but Minato cut him off.

"Now, talking in ranks, an Anomaly is usually born with an Academy-level power in one of the two aspects. I was born Academy-level Space, my mom was born Academy-level Time, but you were born with a Civilian-level in both Time and Space. By the time you got the Curse was normally when our powers grows to Genin-level, and with that rank, Space Anomalies are able to use Blink. The problem with you at the time was, since you were born with Civilian-level Time and Space, your level at the time was only Academy-level."

Naruto thought it over a bit before giving in. He wanted to argue that he really didn't feel at all strong back then, but decided that it might really be a big difference having both aspects of their power at such a young age. He didn't think himself as someone strong yet though.

"_Not when I'm still in his shadow."_

While Naruto was thinking things over and Minato was waiting for any more questions from his son, Hinata decided to get the conversation back on Naruto's seal.

"U-uhm, s-so y-you used N-Naruto-kun's A-Anomaly youki f-for th-the seal?"

Her small voice cut through the silence between the two blonds, snapping the Hokage back on topic.

"Yeah, that's right. The seal worked perfectly. The problem was with the Curse. It was too strong to be sealed off completely. By using the seal, we were only able to keep it 'asleep' for a while, but in that respect, the seal worked in a way that surpassed what we know."

Hinata knew that when a seal performed in a way that was unexpected, whether it was good or bad was potentially dangerous. She looked at Naruto with concern.

"I-isn't that d-dangerous?"

Minato looked at her with a bit of shock, and once he thought it over, had to agree.

"Yeah, you're right. It was a good thing that I decided against using the kyuubi's youki, not that the kyuubi will let me seal it up."

"W-what do y-you mean?"

"The seal worked in a way we never even knew was possible. It used the youki not just as a power source, but to also add a new function to the seal based on the youki's properties. In this case, the seal used the Space aspect of Naruto's Anomaly youki to lock the Curse in a distorted dimension, making it as though the Curse has been removed but is still actually there. Also, it used the Time aspect to sort of confuse the cycle of the Curse but still allow the two youki to grow along with Naruto. Thanks to that, the seal was able to delay the inevitable release of the Curse while still allowing both powers to grow to their potential."

"And that's where the problem now started, right?"

"That's right, Naruto. That's where your current situation started to form."

The Fourth let out a sigh and started massaging his temples, clearly letting them know how much of a headache it was to him.

"The seal was not intended to temporarily seal something, but to be a permanent lock. But because of the strength of the Curse, that's what happened. And with the seal acting in a way that was far beyond what it was designed for, it caused a strange reaction within it. Instead of using the youki to work as power source and strength for the block, it used it to interact with the other element. This interaction caused the two separate entities to be bonded in a way. This wouldn't be a problem if the entire matrix worked in completely shutting down whatever was sealed inside, but since both entities were to be released at one point or another…"

Minato started scratching at his head, clearly frustrated about the topic. Hinata still couldn't see what the real problem was, though from what the Fourth has just explained, she was able to tell that it was something that wasn't really dangerous but more of a frustration for both blonds.

"S-so, w-what is th-the problem?"

"Well, now that the Curse is out and both phases of the Trial have been completed, Naruto can use both his Werewolf and Anomaly powers. The problem is, they were bonded because of the seal for such a long time that now that when they were released, it was like they were one thing to start with."

With the final piece of the puzzle clicking into place, all Hinata had to do was remember the things that Minato had said earlier to solve the puzzle.

-= Flashback =-

"_Well, at least we know you're still an Anomaly like your old man."_

"_What I meant is, his Anomaly powers are still separated from the Curse. Well, at least some of it."_

-= Flashback End =-

"S-so that's w-what y-you meant. H-his A-Anomaly p-powers a-are n-now connected t-to h-his W-werewolf powers."

The Fourth nodded his confirmation and continued with the explanation.

"That's right. What that means is that in order for him to use his Anomaly powers fully, he needs to be in his Werewolf form. But because of some unknown factor, most likely something to do about the Trial, a little bit of his Anomaly powers are still separate from the Curse, so there's still hope for him to have complete control of his Anomaly powers."

Just then, Naruto had a sudden realization which horrified him, making him shout.

"Wait a minute! If I can only use my full Anomaly powers if I'm in Werewolf form, and I can't show my Werewolf form until I've proven I'm not going to bring the end of the world, then that means…"

Minato stared at his son with wide eyes, surprised at his sudden anxiety. The boy was looking at his hands, his entire form shaking and he had a look of despair on his face. He knew that the entire scene was out of place for his and her son, but despite that small nagging voice at the back of his mind, he still reached out for his boy to try to comfort him.

"What is it, N-"

"That means I can't show off my true power to those that think I'm dead last?!"

Having been caught by surprise by the absurdity of his son's thoughts regarding the serious matter, he lost his balance and fell forward, face-first to the ground. Standing up, he tried to keep his irritation in check, something that he didn't think he'd ever have to do again.

"You…"

With all of his irritation, he had his fist crashing on top of his son's thick skull.

"You idiot! What kind of nonsense are you even thinking?! This is a serious matter and that's all you're talking about?!"

Nursing the newly formed bump on his head and fighting back the tears, Naruto wasn't one to lose in a shouting match.

"What're you talking about?! You don't get it old man! Everyone thinks I'm the dead last because of the seal acting up everytime I'm in a serious and important activity! Now that the seal won't be doing that anymore, I wanted to show them I'm not a dead last and that I can really become a Hokage!"

Minato wanted to be mad, but he can't really blame his son for thinking that way. Shaking his head and letting out a loud sigh, he instead decided to try and cheer his boy up.

"Well, like I said, there are still some of your Anomaly powers separate from your Werewolf powers. What that means is that you have a small portion to work with. You're going to have to practice and train yourself really hard in focusing and using that small bit. That way, with growth and mastery, you'll be able to separately use your full Anomaly powers."

He watched his son closely, trying to gauge out his reaction. For a long time, he only looked as if he was thinking things through. Despite being a patient man, he was still feeling a little anxious about his son's silence. Closing his eyes and letting out a sigh, he finally spoke.

"Well, I guess all I have to do is keep training, right? But hey, I love training so it's no problem!"

Seeing his toothy grin, Minato couldn't help but feel relieved. He knew that Naruto has been having a hard time dealing with the stress of hiding the Curse and the depression from having a part of him being sealed away, not to mention the boy was really looking forward to being able to use his full abilities and powers. But he still couldn't help but be awed by the strength his son had. Here he was, accepting the fact that he was to continue to keep his sealed image just because people will never understand and that he has to work hard to train not only his Jinchuuriki powers from now on but his Anomaly powers as well, and all with a smile on his face. He couldn't help the small smile of happiness and content that pulled on his lips.

"_Kushina, can you see this? Our boy's just as strong as you are."_

He was brought out of his thoughts by a sudden pull in his gut, and he knew then that thinking about her at this moment was a bad idea. He quickly reached into his coat and produced a scroll. He tossed it over to Naruto and when the boy caught it, he pulled him in for a hug.

"Looks like the anchor's up son, I'll be seeing you next time, okay?"

He took Hinata's hand and kissed it, while his other hand pulled his boy closer to him, squeezing him in a one-armed hug.

"Please take care of him for me, okay?"

The Hyuuga heiress nodded with a determined look in her eyes. Looking down at his son, he kissed him in the head and whispered one last message to his son.

"You watch yourself, alright? And you'd better take care of the princess."

Feeling his son nod, he let go of both kids and stepped away. He waved at them, and they both waved back. The content smile returned as he watched the two side by side, waving and smiling at him. He turned around to walk back into the forest but a cold feeling ran up his spine. He looked at a specific direction before turning back to his boy. His face must've shown something was wrong because Naruto's smile wavered. He wanted to call out to him and warn him, but it was too late. His powers took over and pulled him away, his cries echoing through the void of time and space as he is thrown into a different dimension of a different world of a different time.

* * *

**A/N: **The Secret's Out set is finally over...FINALLY!hahaha, o.o There were a lot of information that I had to take out for now, because if I didn't, well...either the Secret's Out set is going to span for a few more chapters, or I'm going to have to write it into one very long chapter, which has the negative effect of boring you guys...if you're not already bored. o.o I certainly hope not. :D


	13. Chapter 13: One Step Closer

**A/N: **A little change for this chapter only. There will be a point in this chapter where:

"_Talking"_

'_Thinking'_

After that, it will go back to our usual:

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

Don't worry, you'll be able to notice it when it comes. :D

* * *

**Chapter 13 – One Step Closer**

He drifted through the cold and loud silence. The hushed words and whispered shouts fell on deaf ears as his mind was absorbed by a strange sensation. He remembered that cold feeling, that tingle that told him that something was wrong. He looked around him, looking but not seeing. His gaze was distant and his eyes were as if they were glazed over. He was floating through the void, drifting through oblivion as he tumbled and turned. And then suddenly, he was brought upright and standing, and his world was bathed in light. He blinked and was finally able to see, and he was surprised at the sight before him.

"Mom?"

It came from his mouth, but the voice was not his…at least not his at this time. He looked around some more and noted how many they suddenly were in that emptiness. Trying to count them, his emotions were tied in knots as he reached the hundreds. He was still counting when he finally noticed that they were all just standing there, staring off into infinity. For some reason, his heart started to beat wildly and he was finding it hard to breathe. He took a step back, and all the others moved. His breathing was getting more ragged until he was fighting for even the smallest breath. He took another step back, and the others moved again. He wanted to stop, but something was pulling him from behind. He stepped back once more, and his foot hit something on the smooth floor, making him stumble backwards.

Regaining his footing, he looked around the ground to see what it was that tripped him, but as he suspected there was nothing. And then he felt it. He felt the stares of the others. He looked up and around. None of them were staring at him, at least not yet. But he wasn't stupid. He saw them. He saw how with every step back he took, they would start turning towards him. And he saw that all it needed was for him to take one more step back, and they'll all be staring at him.

He didn't want to move. He wanted to stay on that spot. Something about the situation was wrong , and he could feel it. He knew that it was dangerous, and he felt scared. Yet despite his emotions, despite his rational thinking, his foot left the ground and started inching behind him. Slowly and slowly, the others started making that final turn. He grabbed his hair and started tugging on it, daring himself to pull. But his body wasn't listening. He shut his eyes and clenched his jaw…and took that last step. He gritted his teeth and kept his eyes close. He waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity. When he couldn't take the tension anymore, he cracked one eye open. He took a peek around and noticed nothing was happening. Letting out a sigh of relief, he opened both his eyes, and that's when the headache came, blinding him with a white light…followed by a horrifying wave of screams.

-= Flash =-

_He woke up with a startle. He waited for a few seconds before he relaxed, letting out a relieved sigh. He looked around the room with his borrowed eyes, making sure that there was nobody in there besides him. When he couldn't find anyone, he looked up at the night sky through an opening in the ceiling. Smiling as his body started to shimmer, he revelled in the euphoria that this small encounter gave him. Unfortunately, his celebration had to be cut short as he felt someone walk up to his doorway. Without even knocking, two men walked in. Both were calm individuals, but he knew that both hid a power that even he would have difficulty fighting against. He looked at the man with dark long hair tied in a braid, staring at the three tomoes of his matured Sharingan. He couldn't believe that such a frail-looking person was born as his direct descendant, and possibly the most brilliant Uchiha in all of their family's history. As he stared at the younger Uchiha who only showed a disinterest in the attention, the other man spoke in a calm manner._

"_It would seem as though he has revealed himself."_

_He wanted to roll his eyes, but that kind of behavior would not do in front of his subordinates. Instead focusing on the eyes that had rings in a pattern of a ripple, he forced himself to assume his role as the superior._

'_They are not my equals.'_

_Despite the difficulty of fighting off the growing growl in the back of his throat, he was able to tear his gaze from those eyes. He opened his mouth to speak when he felt another presence about to arrive. Both he and the man with his Rinnegan eyes looked towards the doorway and waited, while the younger Uchiha continued staring at him with apparent boredom. It was not long before a swirling disturbance in the air appeared out of nowhere and seemingly coughed out a man who, judging from his form, was attempting to run on air. Falling to the ground face first, he quickly raised his hand and pointed with a finger at the sky._

"_Did you feel that? Because I don't think it's going to happen again."_

_Once more, he kept himself in check as he fought the urge to groan and roll his eyes. The young man was a good subordinate. Unfortunately, his personality leaves more to be desired._

"_Indeed I did. Now that he has revealed himself, it is time to begin setting our plans into motion. Were you able to pinpoint his location?"_

_He waited for an answer, his cold stare turning into a heated glare as the silence continued. He sat back in his chair and propped his right elbow up on the armrest, his index and middle finger massaging his temple. He placed his left hand on top of the opposite armrest, his fingers impatiently tapping on the wood._

"_Well? Explain yourselves."_

_When none of them responded, his left hand curled into a fist and slammed against the armrest and broke the wood into pieces._

"_NOW!"_

_The man who last came in the room started to chuckle nervously, his hand scratching at the back of his neck. Despite his orange swirl mask, he could almost see the stupid smile he had. Instead focusing on the man with the orange spiky hair that had all kinds of piercings all over his person, he chose to disregard the least mature one of his lackeys._

"_My apologies, Madara-sama, but because of the immense youki it had, it blanketed a wide area which made it impossible to determine where he is."_

_He let out a deep sigh. Despite his eagerness to meet with that person, he understood how such a large amount of youki dispersed in a wide area would make it impossible for a precise fix on him._

"_However, we were able to determine his nature via his youki signatures."_

"_Then what are you waiting for? Find him."_

_When all three didn't move or respond, he cocked an eyebrow in question. This time, it was the man with the mask who spoke._

"_Madara-sama? Old man? The problem is that he's a jinchuuriki. I know it would be easy to find all nine of them, but the villages won't be too happy about us barging in and roughing them up. Not to mention the serious damage we're going to do on their properties, heh."_

"_There are only nine jinchuurikis, don't tell me you weren't able to determine which one he is."_

_This time, the bored Uchiha replied in a monotone._

"_We couldn't figure it out. There was another youki that was mixed in, and it was clashing violently with the bijuu's. Unfortunately, we don't know what kind of youki it was."_

_He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, not showing the slight worry he was feeling. A youki so strong to be able to clash with a bijuu's is not a common thing. Depending on the situation, this could either be a problem or a huge prize. Thinking up of a plan, he looked at them and calmly gave them orders._

"_Nagato, I want you to mobilize Akatsuki. We'll be setting our plan in motion soon, but that unknown youki might present a bit of an obstacle. Have them gather information on all the jinchuuriki's. I want to know where they are exactly and how strong they are."_

_Nagato opened his mouth to talk but Madara cut him off with a wave of his hand._

"_Have them do errands or whatever they want, as long as they are able to collect the information that I need. Obito, I want you to go back to Kiri and see if you can reconnect with your old ties there. That Yagura…"_

_He was cut off by Obito's nervous chuckling._

"_Yeah, see the thing is…I may or may not have caused an incident in Kiri to happen."_

_Madara blinked at him for a few times before trying to speak. Before he could get a word in though, Obito cut him off._

"_And Yagura may or may not be dead. I'm not a hundred percent on that but I'm pretty sure I left him with his stomach cut wide open and his bijuu running amock somewhere."_

_Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to keep his irritation in check. There are just some things about Obito that he would never be able to understand._

"_Then at least try to see if we can have control of Kiri again. If not, try and find a different village. We're going to need lots of connections and all the information we can get. I don't want anything to blow up in my face once we begin to move."_

_Both nodded their understanding and he dismissed them with a wave of his hand. He watched them leave through the doorway until they disappeared. He kept staring at the open door as he kept his thoughts under control. For years, he has waited for him to appear. He took in disciples of sorts and had them gather subordinates of their own. He didn't care if their loyalties were bought with promises of money, slaughter or even destruction. This world was but a small part of his grand scheme._

_He was so lost in thought that he completely forgot about the young Uchiha, as he remained unmoving as a statue the whole time. He was even as silent as one, until he spoke._

"_What about me?"_

_He looked at the man and tried to think of a use for him aside from his regular Akatsuki duties. Coming up with one, he gave out the order and dismissed him with a wave of his hand._

"_Try to keep Obito from getting too much in contact with the other Akatsuki members. Have Kisame help out as he is also acquainted with him. Only Hell is safe when that man decides to have some fun and mess around."_

_With a small nod, the young Uchiha easily slipped from the room without making a single sound._

'_Uchiha Itachi…you truly are a very useful tool.'_

_Looking down at his hand, he raised it up and pointed at the door. Channelling his chakra, he called on the youki trapped in his body. With a snap of his fingers, the space around the door warped and bent until the door slammed shut. With jaws clenching, he watched his hand as it trembled and started to age right before his eyes. In a matter of seconds, his hand had shrivelled up and turned into the hand of an ancient being. As his chakra recovered though, his hand slowly returned to its strong state. Shaking the weariness from it, he stood up and turned around. He watched as small lights raced across the large tree's trunk and moved towards the tendrils that connected to his back._

_He placed his palm on the wood and smiled as he felt the chakra from the giant tree move about, eventually going through the tendrils and into his body, slowly regenerating his own supplies._

'_Almost. Soon, my strength will return and I'll be strong enough to take his power. So close, one step closer to everything.'_

-= End Flash =-

He woke up gasping and sweating, somehow still on his feet. His mind was still a mess from the images of that disturbing dream, so he looked around him to try and calm himself but what he saw disturbed him even more.

All the others were now looking at him with eyes that were awake. They were no longer in a trance, and their eyes now held emotions that made him nervous. Some of them looked eager, some looked determined, others were fearful while the rest were dead, as if resigned to their fate. He didn't know how or why, but he felt like they were waiting for him, expecting something from him. And then a dizzy spell hit him, blurring his thoughts while at the same time clearing his mind. In that moment of muddled clarity, a thought came to him, and the words were out of his mouth before he knew it.

"Reality is in danger."

And the vast emptiness disappeared as he was hurled into another dimension, resuming his life as a Drifter.

* * *

He waited until their time is over. Soon as the Fourth disappeared in a flash, he moved from his place behind the tree. He watched in wonder as the life from the small clearing slowly disappeared, as if going to sleep. Either the spell had worn off or it was broken with the sudden loss of concentration because of that flash. He shrugged and continued to walk towards his two students. He already has a speech planned for the blond, but as per his personality, the blonde's unpredictability cared not for plans as he was tackled to the ground.

"Iruka-sensei! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Are you okay?! I saw that teme blow you up and I just lost it! And then…and then…and then I…I-"

He was shocked and worried at the same time. This is the first time that he saw the blond have so much difficulty with talking about what he had done that he was practically choking on his words.

"_He's that consumed by guilt and horror for his actions, huh?"_

He placed a hand on top of the blonde's head and ruffled his hair.

"It's okay Naruto. As you can see, I'm all healed up. I'm a little bit close to a dangerous level of low in chakra and youki, and my body's going to be aching a whole lot tomorrow, but aside from that, I'm feeling good."

Getting up, the blond started to smile as he dusted himself off. When Iruka got back on his feet, Naruto immediately went into story-telling mode. Unfortunately, Iruka wasn't feeling too good and wanted to rest as soon as possible so he started to think of ways to shut the boy up. Sighing to himself, he decided that the speech didn't matter anymore. He waited until Naruto turned around and started talking about Hinata's help before he reached up and untied his hitai-ate. He gave one thankful smile towards the Hyuuga heiress before moving towards Naruto. Just as he was about to wrap the plated cloth around the blonde's forehead, his Impish nature kicked in. With a mischievous grin, he placed a foot onto the small of the blonde's back and pushed him down to the ground.

"Hey! What the-?! What are you doing, Iruka-sensei?!"

The child squirmed and screamed as Iruka sat on top of him, all the while struggling to tie the forehead protector around the child's forehead. Once he succeeded, he grabbed the boy in a headlock and ruffled his hair before dropping him on his feet. The murderous glare that he was given by the short kid made him laugh so hard, he felt like his wounds would have re-opened despite them already being healed. After getting himself under control, he smiled at the blond and tapped the metal plate of the hitae-ate on his forehead.

"Congratulations Naruto! For beating down a Chuunin AND completing the Trials, you have earned the right and privilege to pass the Academy."

Naruto couldn't believe it, and he was completely at a loss at what to say. All the excitement made him forget about the fact that he failed to graduate, and now that he was reminded of that fact, he had just been passed. He was so overwhelmed that it took him some time to process that he should be happy. With a face-splitting grin, he grabbed Hinata and leapt at Iruka, crushing them both in a hug and showering them with words of gratitude. Being conscious of the reddening Hyuuga heiress and the fact that she looked like she was about to faint, Iruka quickly and forcefully pulled Naruto off.

"Hey, no need to thank us. This happened because of you, Naruto. Congratulations."

He smiled one more time before remembering something.

"I gotta tell Gramps!"

Without a second glance, Naruto raced for the woods. Before he could leave the clearing though, he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, laughing sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck.

"What's wrong Naruto?"

"Heh. Maybe I should get Hinata-chan back to her house first."

Iruka shook his head before motioning the Hyuuga heiress to start walking.

"Come on, let's both get her back home. Then you can go ahead and try to bother the Hokage."

While walking, Iruka started rotating his shoulders, all the while thinking how with Naruto finally graduating, he was one step closer to getting a good night's rest.

Naruto on the other hand was thinking something else. When Iruka had addressed his Gramps as Hokage, he can't help but think of his life goal and that he was now a step closer to achieving it. Sure he was still far off, but he felt like after this hellish first step, he'll be able to take on anything that comes next.

* * *

Earlier that morning, the young Hyuuga heiress woke up feeling oddly enthusiastic about not just her day, but her whole life. For once, she did not mind the cold stares or the hatred-filled glares of her family. She walked around with a bright smile on her face as she went about her business inside the Hyuuga compound, all thoughts revolving around the fact that she had been allowed what she thinks is a privileged invitation into Naruto's secret life. She still felt angry and sad about the harsh things the boy was made to endure, but all of that melts away when she remembers how his father, the Fourth Hokage, would look at the two of them with a gentle smile and a knowing look in his eyes. But even that memory gets shadowed by that small happy moment when she and Naruto locked gazes and it was as if the whole world around them stopped.

She kept reliving that moment over and over in her head, keeping her in a happy daze all throughout her morning routines and her walk to the Academy.

"_I've been introduced into Naruto's life, and now I'm a part of it. Not to mention his father, THE Fourth Hokage – Konoha's Yellow Flash! – asked me to take care of him!"_

She sighed contentedly as she reached their classroom. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to control her emotions and walk in a dignified manner fit for a true Hyuuga, ultimately failing when there was a smile on her face and a skip in her step.

"_So much for being a true Hyuuga."_

She reached her seat at the back of the class and sat herself down. She started recalling all of last night, smiling all the while when Naruto came walking in as if he owned the place. She watched him as he started bragging about being a true ninja now. She wanted to butt in when Kiba called him out on it, saying he failed the final exams, but like usual, Naruto had it all under control. He scanned the room with serious effort, if his knotted brows were anything to go by, and when he saw Hinata, he gave her a big grin before running up to the seat next to her.

"Hey Hinata-chan, good morning!"

"N-Naruto-kun…"

She gave him a small nod before looking down at her fidgeting fingers. She felt like blushing and she started to curse herself for still acting this way after what they had gone through last night. She was still giving herself a lecture when their teacher, Iruka came in and started announcing their new teams.

"_Maybe Naruto and I'll be in the same team…"_

She started to smile but was stopped when she heard Iruka call out Naruto's name.

"Team Seven is Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke."

She looked at Naruto and he gave her a shrug and sigh.

"_Oh well, I guess Life just isn't that easy."_

While waiting for their senseis to arrive, Naruto kept her from being bored by getting into details of a few of his prank ideas. When their new sensei, Yuhi Kurenai, came to pick them up, she gave the blond a smile and wave before leaving. She turned around just before they left the room to find Naruto pouting, making her giggle.

"_It might not be that easy, but at least I could say that I took a step in the right direction."_

* * *

**A/N: **Yey. All the annoying stuff is out of the way now. Time now to move on with the story. :D


	14. Chapter 14: Meet the Team

**A/N: **Finally! We're moving along! Isn't this exciting? :D

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Meet the Team**

He fidgeted in his chair, trying to calm himself down. He was just about to shout when he was beaten to it by the only girl left in the room.

"WHERE THE HECK IS HE?!"

He winced when her shouting left a ringing in his ears. He started to wonder how she can do something like leave a ringing in his ears when she was shouting with a sound level that all other people use, when the door opened and someone poked his head inside the room.

"Yo."

Once more, Naruto got himself ready to shout, but when he saw Sakura doing the same, he covered his ears instead.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! IT'S BEEN THREE HOURS!"

When she was done, Naruto removed his hands from over his ears, surprised to find that she was still able to give them a slight ringing. His surprise turned to satisfaction though when he saw their new sensei's eye smile twitching.

The man shook his head before looking at them with a bored expression.

"First impression…I don't like you."

He said it with a deadpan before becoming cheerful and telling them to meet him at the roof in a few minutes, disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Naruto could only scratch his head in confusion as he made his way towards the roof, wondering to himself if their sensei was mentally unstable and if the other Jounin were the same.

* * *

Hinata was breathing hard as she sat down, leaning on a tree. She opened an eye to look at her teammates to see if it was alright for her to rest. She saw Kiba lying down spread-eagled on the ground with Akamaru lying face down on top of him, both panting hard. She looked around and saw Shino standing with their back to them, one hand on a tree. She started to wonder how he could still be standing like he wasn't even panting slightly when she saw how his knees were shaking, threatening to buckle and how his shoulders were moving up and down in a short and quick rhythm. She allowed herself a small smile to find that even Shino was tired and fighting for breath and that he was actually leaning on the tree to keep himself standing up.

She felt a bit of a shift in the atmosphere and she looked at the tree across her, where their Jounin-sensei shimmered into view.

"Well? Do you think you can make do with a female teacher now?"

Her voice was stern and had a serious tone, but she had a smile on her face. She gave Hinata a wink, which made her smile. Kiba didn't even bother to look up or open his eyes when he raised his arm, hand closed except for the thumb pointing up. He only held it up for a second before letting it fall back to the ground. Shino was apparently so out of breath that he had his bugs form out the word 'affirmative' in the air.

She looked back at Kurenai and couldn't resist her grin when she saw that she had a smug smile on her face. It was rare for her to act like that, at least as far as she knew. Apparently, she had a bit of pleasure from proving sexist remarks wrong.

"Alright. Now that that's out of the way, I want you to meet me here tomorrow morning for your final test to see if I should take you on as my full-time Genin team."

"What? But…we already…finished…the Genin test." Kiba wheezed out in between breaths.

Kurenai's smile was the widest that Hinata's ever seen.

"That's just the test to see if you have the potential to be Genin. After that, your new Jounin sensei will be giving you another test to see if you can survive being Genin."

"But…what about…the test…we just…had? Doesn't…that…count?!"

"What are you talking about? That was your test for me to see if I'm a good enough kunoichi to be your teacher, right? So I still have my test to see if I'll be keeping you as my team, or sending you back to the Academy."

When no one answered, she nodded once before disappearing in a shimmer, leaving her last words floating around them.

"Now that that's clear, I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

After a few minutes of panting, silence slowly crept up as they all got their breathing under control. Letting out a calming breath, Shino finally turned towards them.

"I shall be seeing you tomorrow. Until then."

He gave them a small bow of the head before turning around and leaving. Kiba gave a small huff and sat up. He let out a long sigh and stood up, dusting himself off. He looked at Hinata and gave her his usual feral smile.

"See you tomorrow then."

He gave her a wink and started walking away, Akamaru skipping right next to him. Before he could be out of earshot though, he made one small comment which almost made Hinata laugh.

"Akamaru, I blame you for all of this."

"_Funny, that's not how I remember it."_ Hinata thought to herself with a small smile. She dusted herself off before and took one last breath of the forest air before leaving the training ground, all the while wondering what Naruto could be doing at that very instance and where he could be. None of them ever saw the smiling genjutsu mistress in the middle of the training ground who was thinking about the previous exercise.

-= Flashback =-

Soon as Kurenai picked them up, she led them towards one of the training grounds. Turning around to face them, she introduced herself in a kind and calm manner.

"Hello Team Eight. My name is Yuhi Kurenai, and I'll be your Jounin-sensei."

It was at that time that Kiba groaned out loud, making her raise an eyebrow in question.

"Is there something wrong?"

"I don't like being bossed around by my mom or my sister, so why should I take being bossed around by you?"

She felt her eye twitch at his attitude, but she tried to keep calm. It wouldn't be good for her record to put one of her students in her first ever team in the hospital due to mental trauma.

"I don't like bragging about my credentials but I'll have you know that I am a qualified kunoichi with Jounin rank, and a highly accomplished Genjutsu specialist."

Instead of being impressed, the boy merely snorted.

"So? My mom's a Jounin and Combat specialist, as well as Clan Head. She was also the best Tracker that Konoha's ANBU has ever had. My sister may be a Chuunin, but she's a recognized vet both in the ninja and civilian circle. Am I supposed to be impressed with you just because you're one of the few girls that got to Jounin?"

Somehow, his comment came off as a sexist remark for her, and she just hated that kind of talk.

"I think someone needs to be taught who the Alpha is around here, so how about we have a little test? You three have unique talents that allow you to become an excellent tracker team, so why don't we play around with your strengths? You have three hours to try and track me down. We'll restrict this exercise to this entire training ground, so hunting down the little girly me wouldn't be that hard for you, isn't that right, boy?"

The boy remark made him bristle and the challenge got him growling. Hinata looked at Shino who only gave a little shrug of his shoulders, nodding towards Kurenai to say that he'll be going along with the exercise. She saw the girl sigh in defeat and started going through the handseals to activate her Byakugan as Shino released his swarm.

"_We're going to have to work on that later."_

She was brought out of her planning by Kiba.

"Well? You better start running then!"

She gave him a smirk, before her entire form started to shimmer.

"Boy, are you blind? I'm already gone."

After she was sure that the illusion has been set, she shunshinned away from her spot to complete her trick. She knew that the illusion wouldn't last long especially with Shino's bugs being able to disrupt his chakra to cancel it and Hinata's Byakugan being able to see through it, but that small window provided by Shino releasing his entire swarm and Hinata going through handseals to activate her Byakugan was more than enough time to make a quick escape.

She smiled to herself when she heard Hinata's small gasp, the buzzing from an annoyed Shino's swarm and the frustrated yelling of Kiba.

-= Flashback End =-

"_Aside from some weakness when their senses are being manipulated, they're a good unit for tracking and recon missions. A little more training in combat then I could mold them into a top-notch Hunter team."_

She stood up and duster herself off, her mind thinking of the possible drills and activities she could use to give her new team the best training for their unique abilities.

* * *

He looked up from his book, and then quickly went back to reading, closing his visible eye in a giggle to cover the movement. To anyone who wasn't trained enough, it would have looked like he never even noticed the three would-be genin arrive. He read and giggled a little bit more just to be annoying and waited until one of the kiddies blew their top. He kept up the act for a few more minutes, stopping only when he heard the blond kid growling. He closed the book with a snap before addressing them.

"Oh, you're here. Go on, sit anywhere you like. Make yourselves comfortable."

When they all sat down, he went straight to the point.

"So, why don't we introduce ourselves first? Likes, dislikes, dreams, and of course your names. Let's see…how about we start with pink-hair?"

Pink-hair just blinked at him a few times, eliciting a sigh from him.

"_This was supposed to be top kunoichi?"_

The blond kid next to her raised his hand and spoke before being acknowledged.

"Why don't you start?"

He shrugged his shoulders and delivered his usual casual reply.

"Name is Hatake Kakashi. Likes, well…I dislike telling people about me. And dreams? It's a secret."

He smiled from underneath his mask, making sure his visible eye would convey his expression in the event the three missed it. This time, it was pink-hair who raised her hand.

"Uhm, sensei? All we got was your name."

His smile and expression never wavered as he replied.

"So?"

"So..."

"So you're next pink-hair."

Again, she just blinked at him which got her another sigh. Forgetting about pink-hair for now, he decided to try with someone else. He nodded to the blond.

"How about you blondie? Wanna go up first?"

This got the blond to jump on his feet and raise his volume high, making his ears twitch.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto –dattebayo!"

"_A verbal tic? Huh…"_

"My likes are figuring out Enigmas, pranking, and training. Ramen doesn't count because I don't like it, I love the stuff! I don't like stuck up people who think they're better than everyone else, especially those that harms innocent people! And my dream…well, everyone already knows it, but I like repeating it anyway, so yeah. My dream is to be one day be Hokage, and then become the greatest Kage in the entire world, believe it!"

After a few seconds of silence, the silver-haired jounin decided to complete his annoying image by clapping slowly. In his head though, he was thinking that Naruto had an impressive dream and that he should probably channel his pranking energy into a more serious activity…if he ever decided to keep them, that is.

"Well, that was fun. Pink-hair, you're up."

Said girl coughed into her fist, clearly clearing her throat, before starting on one of the most irritating and ear-splitting introductions he has ever had the displeasure of hearing.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are…kyaaaah! My dream is…*sigh*. And my dislike is…Naruto!"

Kakashi fought to keep his eye smile in place, all the while trying his best to control his twitching eye.

"_The girl is a serious fangirl! And what is with that deafening screeching?!"_

He looked towards the other two guys in the group and noticed their discomfort, most especially for Naruto, and that made it easier for him to keep his composure.

"Okay then Mr. dark and gloomy, it's your turn."

This made the boy scowl and avert his gaze, which only added to the man's fun. His smile grew wider though he wasn't sure if the kids were able to see it. He decided it didn't matter.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like training and learning new techniques. Dislikes? I have a lot, but on the top of the list are weaklings and fangirls."

Not one to miss an opportunity, the jounin decided to jump on the one provided by the Uchiha to get rid of Sakura's fangirl thing.

"What about a weak fangirl?"

This made the boy look into his eyes with a determined stare.

"Doubly so, as they are useless in helping me to achieve my goal."

He stared into those dark eyes and he could see that there was coldness there waiting to develop.

"_I don't think he's even awakened his Sharingan yet, and he's already displaying such a dangerous mental state."_

He didn't let his worry show on his face and tone though as he kept the boy speaking.

"And your dream?"

"I don't have a dream, but a few objectives. To get stronger and to rebuild my clan, while my ultimate goal is to kill a certain man."

He regarded the Uchiha for a moment, memorizing the murderous look on his face and filing it away in his memory. He decided that they do have the potential to become real genin, but from what he's seen of them, he's not sure if they'll be able to pass his test. Nodding once to show that he's reached a decision, he opened his mouth to talk when he was stopped by a low growling. He looked at the blond and saw that he seemed like he was keeping his anger in check.

"_Well, looks like these guys won't be passing my test anytime soon."_

"Okay! Now that we know each other a bit, I want you all to meet me at Training Ground Seven in the morning. Don't eat breakfast, as you might throw up."

He said all of this with a cheerful tone. He was about to leave when he remembered one other reminder for the newly-graduates. Wanting to further mess with the three, he changed his expression from his usual easy-going smile to a more serious and murderous glare.

"Oh! And don't any of you dare to be late."

When the three cringed, swallowed and nodded, he went back to smiling and waved goodbye before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"_I love messing with the newbies."_

* * *

**A/N: **Like I said, I'm not too good with keeping the characters, well, in character. If there are OOC tendencies, I'm sorry. :I


End file.
