15 Chapter 15: Setting the Foundation.

Hiruzen was overseeing a meeting with the four Jonin instructors, concerning the route that would be taken in their genin's training.

"Kakashi," He said, "You will be taking Uzumaki Rin, Hyuga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke as your team. You are familiar with the first two, and you are the only one who would be able to train Sasuke in using his eyes when he awakens them."

Kakashi nodded at this, already predicting who his team would be.

"I thought Hinata would be assigned to me, Hokage-sama." Kurenai stated, a look of confusion on her face.

Hiruzen looked at the three other Jonin aside from Kakashi.

"Do you think they should be told?" he asked Kakashi.

Kakashi shrugged. "It would probably be helpful."

Hiruzen agreed. He'd give some information, but leave some of the more sensitive out.

"Tell us what?" Gai asked, his voice echoing Asuma and Kurenai's thoughts.

Hiruzen sighed. "This does not leave this room." he said firmly. "Only the clan heads are aware of this."

The three nodded at their Kage's demand.

"We received credible Intel that Orochimaru plans to attack the village within a year. Likely during the Chunin exams held here."

Three deep intakes of breath were heard.

"That's," Asuma started, his face showing complete shock, "That's bad. Very bad."

Taking a deep breathe, he continued. "Do we know who the source is? Are they trustworthy?"

"He hasn't been wrong with the information he has given us." Hiruzen said simply.

He was leaving out that this was the same person that infiltrated the Hyuga compound and threatened to kill them to make a point. This information had to be truthful.

"So," Kurenai began, "What does that have to do with Kakashi training Hinata?"

"You are a Genjutsu specialist." Hiruzen said, " Hyuga aren't exactly the most adept with that Shinobi art."

A byproduct of the Byakugan is that even if their eyes aren't active, their vision is still better than almost everybody elses. Visual Genjutsu are useless when you don't know how 99% of people see things. This is also why Hyuga are notoriously hard to trap in Genjutsu, even with their eyes deactivated.

"Hyuga are taijutsu specialists," he continued, "Gai would have been the best, but he already has a genin team."

Gai nodded at this, remaining surprisingly quiet. It was very out of character for him to be this silent.

"What will our teams be?" Asuma asked his father, gesturing towards himself and Kurenai.

"Kurenai will have Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Aburame Shino." He replied, looking towards her. "And you, Asuma, will have Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akamichi Choji."

They nodded at this, but something was still being left out.

"There's more." Kakashi said.

The other three Jonin looked at Kakashi, wanting him to elaborate.

"There will be bi-weekly team training between teams, to build up camaraderie between the teams. The four of us will also be training each other's teams in our own specialities. Kurenai will be training the ones with good control how to use Genjutsu, Asuma with taijutsu and weapons, Gai with overall fitness and taijutsu, I'll be using watered down ANBU training and Ninjutsu."

The three were astounded at the second thing mentioned at the end.

ANBU training?

"Has it really come to this point, Hokage-sama?" Gai asked, a subdued tone making its presence known.

None of them wanted to see conflict unfold. Gai saw what the war did to Kakashi. He didn't want to see the fire in his own students be extinguished like what almost happened to his best friend and rival. He knew how Kakashi was a few years back. He sought death. The thought of Neji, Tenten, or Lee being brought so low filled him with fear for their sake.

"Better to have them over prepared, than to have been unprepared." Hiruzen said softly, "We do not have the luxury of the newest generation learning at their own pace like I previously hoped. We must do everything we can to ensure that this generation is ready for the coming storm."

The three nodded sadly, before Gai realized something.

"What of Uzumaki Naruto?" he asked, "His name was not mentioned."

Hiruzen hid the grimace he wanted to make.

"Naruto is a special case." Hiruzen replied, "He could very likely become a chunin already on skill alone."

Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai were suprised to varying degrees. Asuma had heard about Uzumaki's skill from Kakashi in a passing comment. Kurenai was suprised that his skills aside from avoiding Kakashi were that good. Gai was the closest to understanding the depth of skill that Naruto had. He was very well aware how a Shinobi confident in their skill acted. Naruto walked in a way not dissimilar to him and Kakashi when he saw the two returning from taijutsu training.

"His tracking and stealth skills would put him near ANBU nomination levels." Kakashi stepped in, "His overall skills set him at a mid B-Rank, maybe higher, and this is without him having field experience. He's extremely skilled in taijutsu and Ninjutsu, his tracking is very competent, he can fill in most slots where any of our squads are lacking. He can be a tracker or act as a close and medium range battering ram with his Ninjutsu. He'll be free roaming between our squads." He finished.

To be at such a level with no field experience was very uncommon. You could be a hand to hand specialist that could make even Gai sweat, but end up getting destroyed if you're unprepared for "ungentlemanly" tactics that are part and parcel for Shinobi combat.

Him being a free roaming squadmate was also atypical. The most common decision made was to have a prodigious student training under a specific Jonin. Jiraiya had a genin team, but he eventually exclusively trained Minato when the blond's potential was truly realized.

The only way that could work now without delaying any kind of training for the other genin was if Anko took Naruto on as an apprentice, but that had complications in and of itself.

Naruto and Anko's skill set didn't match up, but it did more so with Kakashi. The middle ground route was to have Naruto bouncing amongst the teams for missions until the chunin exams where he'd undoubtedly earn a promotion, followed by Jiraiya taking him as his apprentice.

I don't like it, but it's the best solution as of now.

"His skills and potential will motivate our students to reach even greater heights." Gai said, some degree of happiness finally making itself known in his voice.

Kakashi nodded and smiled at his friend, thankful that he found something to get out of his funk.

"So," Asuma said, before pausing, " We'll need a schedule set up."

"Yes." Hiruzen said, focusing on that instead of the bits of doubt he had on his decision, "You will need to work it out between yourselves. Now, Kakashi," he turned towards the silver haired Jonin. "I need to speak with you alone."

Turning to the other three Jonin, Hiruzen dismissed them. Once they had left, Hiruzen looked to Kakashi.

"How is he?" Hiruzen asked sadly.

"Bad, but better than I thought." Kakashi answered, his own tone slightly depressed. " He didn't fall apart or vomit, but it was close."

Hiruzen shook his head. "Of all things to happen." he sighed, "Here I thought it would be a good thing, give him some infiltration experience with high stakes. How that seemed to backfire."

Hiruzen had no idea that Mizuki would get killed by Naruto. Kakashi was there for that very reason. Kakashi wouldn't likely need to use lethal force to kill Mizuki. Naruto was only used to fighting against Jonin, of course he wouldn't think anything of flinging a kunai at a lethal area. Kakashi and Anko could catch it no problem at all.

"Did he die quickly?" Hiruzen asked.

"It was instant." Kakashi said simply. "Severed his spine from being coated by lightning."

"Good." Hiruzen sighed. "The first time shouldn't be any more terrible than it should."

Based upon his maturity, Hiruzen knew Naruto would bounce back from it. But maturity didn't exempt one from being effected by their first kill.

"That was not all." Kakashi said sadly.

"What else?" Hiruzen was curious. If it was left out of the official report, it meant something terrible.

"Mizuki told him about the Kyuubi." Kakashi said quietly. "He played the part convincingly, acting like he was shocked by it. But Mizuki said something else that effected Naruto."

Hiruzen beckoned him to continue.

"He offered Naruto a chance to be trained by Orochimaru." he said, eye looking straight at Hiruzen.

Hiruzen's own eyes widened and he took in a sharp intake of air. "You don't think he actually considered it?"

"He wasn't." Kakashi replied. "But Mizuki mentioned how he could tell how fearful of Rin's safety Naruto is. He said you wouldn't be able to protect them forever, that Orochimaru could make him one of the strongest Shinobi in history."

Hiruzen was quiet for a few minutes, thinking to himself.

"How did he take it?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

"He froze." Kakashi stated simply. "Mizuki charged and Naruto instinctively reacted. Mizuki was killed, and Naruto just stared at his body. He didn't cry or vomit. But he got The Look."

The Look. The vacant stare veteran Shinobi tend to get after remembering very bad events in their careers. The Uchiha had that look very often. Going from stalwart cynics, to a fidgeting mess behind closed doors. Their eyes burned terrible things into their heads.

"What did he say?" Hiruzen asked sadly.

Kakashi was silent for a moment.

"He said he understood how Rin and Hinata felt." he started. "He thanked me for helping him not fall apart... and he said I was like an older brother." Kakashi finished, a small smile on his face.

Hiruzen was happy that Naruto trusted in somebody to confide to.

"You are a decent man, Kakashi, never forget that. I took you out of the ANBU because there was so much good you could do for the two of them. It would have been a terrible shame if that man died a violent death in the field."

They saved him from himself.

Kakashi just smiled.

"Yes, it would have."

Hiruzen got up from his seat to stretch his back.

"You are dismissed, Kakashi." he said. "You have a busy schedule. Setting up a training regimen for your students is no easy task."

Kakashi chuckled at the reminder.

"Yes, I do." The silver haired Jonin then left the room.

Now that he was alone, aside from the couple of ANBU dutifully guarding the room, Hiruzen let out a shuddering breathe, his thoughts of a fearful kind.

He would never accept. I'm sure of it.

Jiraiya had informed him years ago of who had hired the man who nearly killed Naruto. Orochimaru was the one who hired him, and now another one of his servants tried to steal the scroll, as well as offered Naruto nearly peerless training from one of the best Shinobi in the world.

Hiruzen knew Naruto hated traitors. He'd always have a look of irritation on his face when he heard the name Itachi or Orochimaru when they were brought up.

He'd hear Naruto mutter something in his and Rin's language. "Cain" and "Necrom-"something were the most common things he heard. He normally only spoke like that in front of people when he was angry about something and was trying to talk himself through it.

Another point against Hiruzen's concern was that Naruto already had a strong sense of right and wrong. Months prior, his ANBU had spotted the boy terrorizing some teens attacking a stray cat for amusement. He blasted them with Killing Intent and threatened to do to them what they planned on doing to the cat.

They'd planned on lighting the cat on fire.

Naruto had pulled out a kunai he called his "people opener" and spooked them, likely getting inspiration from Anko of all people.

Threats of that nature would normally worry Hiruzen, but his ANBU commented on how Naruto would slump his posture after he was done. He'd almost looked disgusted with what he did, and it wasn't because he loved cats. Cats would either run from him, or they'd hiss at him, likely from him "Smelling like a fox" as the Inuzuka had mentioned.

Naruto's weakness seemed to be that he took too much to heart. Wanting to solve all the problems because no one his age was as brilliant as he was. It was something common in prodigious youths.

But Naruto happened to have the power to back it up.

He saw how competent Naruto was at taking the lead. He was a good teacher to Rin and the Hyuga heiress. He looked to be in touch with the mindset of his classmates. He even managed to draw Sasuke out of his shell, albeit with incessant taunting and pranks.

Rin seemed to be the only other one able to draw people towards her as easily as her brother. Hiruzen smiled thinking of that.

They keep each other grounded. Either one would be an amazing leader, with the other backing them up.

Hiruzen saw Kakashi's transformation into what he could have been had Minato not died. Kakashi was well on his way to being S-rank within a year. And it was all thanks to two children.

You'd be proud. He thought, thinking of a quiet, intelligent blond, and the excitable woman who was his soulmate.You'd be proud.

//////////////

Rin was still ticked by what her brother did earlier in the week. He didn't tell her or Hinata what Mizuki wanted him to do. They could have helped him, but he waved them off, telling them nothing was going on, that he just needed to see the Hokage about something.

And now she had found out that Naruto had killed Mizuki unintentionally. It wasn't Kakashi or the Hokage that had to live with Naruto and make sure he wouldn't brood all day. She had to do it. She was the one that slapped him, called him an idiot for trying to do everything on his own, then hugged him and said she loved him.

So me and Hinata will be on the same team with Sasuke then.

She was aggravated that she, Hinata, and Naruto weren't on the same team. Sasuke was too much of a jerk for her to like. She understood that what happened to him was terrible. She didn't even want to imagine Naruto doing something like that to her. But Sasuke took it out on other people, being rude, condescending, and arrogant. She'd tried to be friendly to him, only to be rebuffed. It would be difficult to get him to work well with her and Hinata.

She only knew about her team composition because Naruto had been informed on what his role would be with the rookie genin. An odd number meant he could have been slotted into a team as a replacement for one who was down a man. But that's not what the Hokage decided.

Something was going to happen. Something bad. Rin hadn't heard of Jonin instructors pooling their time together to train each other's genin to the degree that Naruto said they would. Hopefully everything would work itself out.

////////////////////

Pulling himself to his feet unsteadily, Sasuke inspected his handiwork. His fireball had improved to almost half again larger than it was just a year prior. He smirked to himself as he visualized the progress he had made. His training was paying off. He got rookie of year in his class. Things were looking better. He was closing the gap.

But certain things still bothered him. The most common formation of Genin teams, especially the one with the Rookie of the year, had the deadlast and top kunoichi. Sasuke could tolerate Shikamaru or Kiba, one of the two having the lowest grades in their class because of either booksmarts issues for Kiba or a lack of care from Shikamaru.

But for kunoichi, of all his graduating classmates, the only two kunoichi he could tolerate at all were Rin and Hinata.

He'd rather have a competent, but shy teammate over the shrieking fangirls that would fall over themselves to get his attention. Sasuke remembered hearing from some of the teachers speaking to each other that every prodigy seemed to be plagued by fangirls, even He was not exempt when He spent one year in the Academy before graduating.

Sasuke didn't know how to feel that Itachi and he had something more than blood as a common trait.

He pondered what would happen if Naruto, or worse yet Rin were placed on his team. Naruto seemed to thrive on people thinking he was a lunatic, but he was no idiot. Idiots don't know how to sneak into the staff rooms undetected to cause chaos and destruction.

The eldest Uzumaki seemed hell-bent on trying to drive Sasuke insane for whatever reason it justification that ran through the redhead's mind. He still remembered when Naruto was quiet, kind, and polite to him early on, back before that night. Sasuke turned him away, being reminded of the first day of the Academy and wondering why He was interested in the redhead.

For all of Naruto's incessant taunting of him, he did provide a reprieve from the fangirls. They'd seldom look in his direction after Naruto did a full dressing down of their incompetence. Naruto's disdain was much more than simple irritation at them being loud.

If Sasuke had to guess, Naruto and Rin might have had an Inuzuka for a mother or father, or perhaps a lesser Kekkei Genkai that gave them better hearing and smell. He began to think that after he noticed that Naruto would avoid him when he ate curry or other spicy food, he'd seem to sniffle a couple times. Rin was the same way, being extremely antsy when he would occasionally talk with her right after he ate. But Kiba didn't relentlessly insult the fangirls to get them to shut up, although Kiba also didn't exactly want to be near him when he had spicy food.

So it likely isn't only their screeching. He thought, grimacing from how most of the civilian born girls were like. The ones from clans, especially Ino, at least were somewhat competent, even if he didn't like the attention.

But any shortcomings they had in competence didn't bother him as much as it seemed to bother Naruto.

This was something he'd thought about over the last year or two. Naruto seemed to take their weakness as a personal insult. He'd sometimes hear Naruto mutter something unintelligible under his breath, making no sense at all. They were words he'd sometimes hear him and Rin speak to each other.

Speaking of Rin, he was nearly terrified of her being on his team, even if he'd never admit it. She was pretty much the female version of Naruto in all the worst ways. Hell-bent on messing with his head, intentionally loud when he'd tell her to shut up when he had headaches from lack of sleep from nightmares or training. She was the one that broke his nose the first time during a taijutsu fight in class.

One of the fangirls had muttered the word bitch about Rin, and Sasuke had chuckled quietly. Rin had shot him a death glare and proceeded to put him on the groundhardduring their taijutsu spar. He couldn't even complain because he did deserve it, even if he originally tried to excuse it because if his lack of sleep But the insufferable doting of the fangirls was more awful than Rin setting his nose back in place.

Bitch. He had thought, eventually regretting the thoughts about the blonde.

She did almost the same things that her brother did to him to rile him up. But there was one thing she did that her brother didn't... She'd flirt with him.

And she was good at it to.

He could barely tell when she was joking because of how she'd have a vicious little grin on her face that showed nothing but teeth, the fact that her canines were a little longer added to how unnerving it was. Only when she'd shoot a malicious grin at the other girls did he know she didn't really like him that way, at least he hoped. It disturbed him that she could go from being a seemingly nice and bubbly person around him, to being an absolute nightmare, wishing nothing more for him than to run in terror.

She worried him because he thought she was genuinely a nice person. So is her brother. The two obviously loved each other very deeply, as twins should. He'd sometimes look at them, imagining what his own life would have been like had what happened four years ago not occurred.

Naruto would glare at Sasuke when he'd catch him looking at Rin, probably mistaking it for infatuation.

Was this how Itach- NO. Don't think of him. Sasuke didn't need this right now.

He'd still wake up in a cold sweat, the scent of blood clinging to his mind. The person he cared for most standing over the bodies of their mother and father, blade to the side, dripping blood. Just the day before, his brother's eyes held nothing but unconditional love when he looked at him. That night, there was nothing but emptiness. The only shift in his eyes that he saw was when the pattern changed, only for him to be dragged into his own personal hellscape, unable to look away as he heard the gasps and reak of blood as his clan and family died. How he heard his mother beg her eldest to stop. He didn't need to do this. Come back.

His brother was supposed to protect him. Brother's protect their siblings. He envied Rin and Naruto because they had each other, the thing he secretly desired. The villagers hated them for some stupid reason that he couldn't understand and Naruto responded in kind. Sasuke wasn't sure if Naruto suspected or not, but he had been discreetly monitoring Naruto's reactions to the villagers looks when they'd leave the academy. He learned the different expressions of irritation and anger that Naruto showed. Sasuke had never been the recipient of the hate filled looks sent to the villagers or parents that picked up their children from the Academy.

The closest he'd received from Naruto was when he'd playfully snarked back how he liked strong girls, before looking towards Rin to irritate the eldest Uzumaki.

He'd seen a flash of something on Naruto's face, something unfamiliar. It was hatred, but also something else.

It almost looked like fear.

Naruto had stared at his eyes. Not at Sasuke ,but almost as if he were looking at his eyes specifically. Sasuke had thought about it later that night as he tossed and turned in his bed.

Did he know about the Mang-, he couldn't. That was an Uchiha secret.

Naruto had always seemed antsy about Rin taunting him with over the top flirting that was designed to mock how Ino, Sakura, and the rest of the fangirls acted. She wasn't even trying to have him, yet she still was more liked by the object of their affections.

'Thank Kami they didn't try even harder. I don't think I could have dealt with it.'

But Rin scared him once or twice. She almost seemed to be genuinely trying to reach out to him as a friend. But he couldn't tell if it was a ploy.

He'd been burned by the person he trusted most in the world already. He didn't think he could mentally survive a second time in the form of a friend, no matter how much he wanted to have a peer.

Deciding to deal with something now instead of tomorrow, Sasuke gingerly walked from the training grounds of his clan compound, emerging from the abandoned complex to head to the market.

Wiping sweat from his face, Sasuke ignored the looks he received from the villagers, particularly the girls and mothers.

He could tell which women were mothers or not based on the pitying looks or lack of.

The girls were annoying.

Constant simpering or squealing, followed by them saying his name like they even knew him.

At least the vegetable place he got ingredients from wasn't like that. He kept out of Sasuke's business.

Sasuke reached said part of the market and spotted an irate Naruto at the same stand.

"You sold me old stock when I payed for fresh." His voice sounded vicious, his hands clenching the counter.

Sasuke twitched at the anger radiating from Naruto, his skin itching a bit.

"It was an oversight," The merchant sighed, "I accidentally gave older produce to multiple people. Take a few as an apology. Not everyone is out to get you."

Sasuke heard Naruto mutter something exceptionally foul under his breath, sticking 5 different tomatoes to his fingers with chakra.

"Pleasure doing business, boy." The merchant said in farewell.

Naruto turned over his shoulder and said something Sasuke didn't understand, but it sounded bad.

The red haired classmate of his nodded in his direction, but didn't say anything else.

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes at Naruto's back, wondering what pissed him off so much.

Glancing at the man, Sasuke cleared his throat.

"My usual." He said simply, not bothering to say anything else as he pulled out some Ryo from his pocket.

The merchant accepted the money, grabbing a cloth bag to set an assortment of fresh vegetables in.

"Your business is appreciated, Uchiha-san." The middle-aged man remarked, handing him the bag, "If only the bra-, uh, boy behaved like you did."

Sasuke tilted his head, wondering what he meant by that.

"Naruto?"

"Aye," The man snorted derisively, "Kid jumps at shadows and thinks everyone is out to get him. He actually accused me once of putting razor blades in some fruit. Me! Try and kill someone? Maybe my hired help, but that brat needs to stop scaring people when he acts like what everyone thinks."

The man's eyes then widened for a moment.

"I'd appreciate it if you don't say anything."

The intense worry in his eyes had Sasuke deciding.

"You've stayed out of my business, so I didn't hear anything." Sasuke turned and left, hearing a thanks from the man.

About halfway back to his home, Sasuke's legs felt like they were cramping, courtesy of his intense training.

Groaning under his breath, he pushed through it and got home, tossing the bag near his fridge.

Naruto needs to chill out. I don't fancy putting him on the ground if he hurts the one vegetable stall I tolerate.

Sasuke ignored the hypocrisy of his own anger problems and went to lie down.

Walking carefully to his bed, he tried to not overthink things.

Thinking made him remember.

//////////////////

Hinata stretched her arms over her head, trying to work out the soreness in her tenketsu. She had just finished a regular juken spar with her father that had been customary for the last few weeks.

Ever since the incident involving the intruder, Hinata being one of the few that had been told by her father what actually happened, the elders had completely stepped away from trying to oversee her training. Her father had taken it up himself, helping her to adapt to the slightly modified version that she'd already progressed in with the help of Naruto and Rin.

Her body frame was not well adapted to the traditional juken stance, unlike Neji and her sister. Her modified version took advantage of her more lithe and flexible build to be more fluid in her movements, contrary to the fixed stance of the traditional juken. Her father was testing how effective her personal style was going up against standard Hyuga fighting tactics. He also used non- juken fighting forms that he knew as a test as well.

So far, there seemed to be no detrimental effects to using a slightly more mobile stance in the juken, thankfully. She had noticed her father had been giving her a compliment here and there on how she'd been able to adapt the juken to her own needs. He'd been contemplative when she'd told him Naruto and Rin had helped her to do it.

At first, she'd been worried that he'd be disappointed that outsiders to the clan could possibly know intimate details of the juken, but he simply shrugged and said she had good and loyal friends.

What about the intruder frightened you so much, father?

Any time she was on her own, the elders would give her a look of fear when she walked past them. The intruder had obviously said something to set her father specifically on edge.

Now, he was what she'd thought a father should be. He encouraged her to spend time with Hanabi when she had free time, would listen to her on things she found interesting but didn't offer him any enjoyment aside from seeing her happy, and would take time out of his day to tell her about her mother, something he hadn't done since her death.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard her father speak.

"I'm sorry, Tousan." she said apologetically, "I didn't hear what you said."

Hiashi just looked at her with a slight smile, before repeating himself. "You've gotten much better over the last few months, Hinata. I'm proud of you."

Hinata's face heated up slightly, pleased at the feeling.

"Are you aware of who your squad members will be?" he continued.

"No, I don't." she replied, curious on why he was asking.

"Your friend, Rin and the Uchiha will be your teammates." he explained, "Hatake will be your primary Jonin instructor."

Hinata nodded, happy that Rin was on her team, even though she knew she'd likely be the one playing mediator between Rin and Sasuke.

Wait. He said "primary".

"Primary?" She asked confusedly.

"You'll understand shortly." he said simply. "Now, why don't you see Kaoru. He'll help with your bruising." he added kindly, noticing her favoring her left side.

Hinata smiled at her father before turning to leave the sparring room, a slight spring in her step.

Hiashi watched as his daughter left the room, a genuine smiling gracing his face.

You'd be proud of our daughter, Hitomi. She gets her strength from you.

Hiashi's thoughts drifted to the council meeting that had occurred just the other day.

(Flashback)

The Hokage had called in the clan heads to discuss team placements, given that most of the graduates were the clan heirs of the main clans in Konoha.

Hiashi had been pleased with Hinata being kunoichi of the year. She showed that she was both a kind and capable person.

She only needed it took me too long to realize that.

It still bothered Hiashi how it took being threatened with having his daughters taken from him to see how he was being a lacking father. So many things could have been better if he'd stopped to pay attention how his daughter differed from him and Hizashi.

Better late than never though.

He looked around the room to the other clan heads. All of them awaited the Hokage to enter the meeting room. They'd been told that training regimens would differ in comparison to previous years. They all were fairly certain that it was a response to the news they had received from the Hokage about information from one of Konohas' agents.

Orochimaru was planning to attack the village.

Their children would need to be prepared for this threat to Konoha. Orochimaru was known for many things, pity not being one. After a few minutes of waiting, the Hokage arrived.

"My apologies," he said, "I was delayed by a mission complication."

The clan heads nodded, understanding how hectic things could get with mission issues.

Sarutobi settled himself into his seat, before addressing the room. "Now," he started, "Let us begin. Are there any questions?"

"Nothing aside from what was mentioned in the last meeting." Shikaku responded.

The last meeting was where it was revealed that information on Orochimaru was brought up. It was one that Hiashi preferred to not think of right now.

"Very well," Sarutobi said simply, "We will start with how the team placements will be." he took a deep breath before continuing. "Team 7 will consist of Uzumaki Rin, Hyuga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke. Their main instructor will be Hatake Kakashi."

No surprise there. Kakashi was the only one left in Konoha who could train the last loyal Uchiha in how to use his eyes when they activated.

"Team 8," Sarutobi continued further, "will be consisting will be Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Haruno Sakura. Yuuhi Kurenai will be their main Jonin instructor."

An Aburame and Inuzuka on one team probably meant a tracking oriented squad.

"Team 10 will be Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino. My son, Sarutobi Asuma will be their Jonin instructor." The Hokage finished.

The clan heads were quiet for a moment, thinking through the team placements.

7 will probably be a heavy hitters assault an Uchiha and a Jinchuriki, things can't exactly be more Ninjutsu heavy than that. Hinata was probably put on there because she would be able to get Uzumaki and the Uchiha to cooperate.

"And what of the subject of the last meeting?" Hiashi asked, wishing to know the details.

"With the very real threat of invasion," Sarutobi started, his tone tightening, "Each genin cannot be afforded the time to learn things outside of their instructors expertise at their own pace."

This was most of the clan heads assumed. It was something done normally in preparation of full scale warfare.

"There will be bi-weekly training sessions between the teams to ensure that they can operate side by side without impeding one another in combat." Sarutobi said, before taking a breath to continue," The different Jonin instructors will also help to train each others students. Kurenai will be training those with good control how to cast Genjutsu, Gai will be training them in specialized taijutsu, etc."

"You didn't mention where the Uzumaki boy would be placed, sir." Shikaku stated.

The Hokage was quiet for a moment, Hiashi's well trained eyes noticing the slight twitch of his face. It was likely something the old man didn't like.

I think I know where this is going. Hiashi thought.

"Naruto will be operating as a fourth teammate between the four different genin teams. His skills outclassed all of his classmates."

"But wasn't he in the middle of his class?" Inuzuka Tsume asked.

Hiashi was aware of Naruto and Rin concealing their true skill based on Ko standing vigil over Hinata while the definitely not average Uzumaki trained alongside her. By the unsurprised looks on Shikaku and Inoichi's faces, he could tell they knew as well.

"Naruto was aware of the dangerous attention prodigies get," Sarutobi said, "He decided to keep his degree of abilities less conspicuous. Anyone who would learn of him from a cursory look would assume that Uchiha Sasuke would be a more dangerous opponent."

That made sense. Optics meant everything when you start your Shinobi career. The Hyuga stood out do to their eyes. Anyone with a half functioning brain would avoid them in hand to hand combat. Shinobi were to never establish eye contact with an Uchiha. Genjutsu was a death sentence in combat when cast through a Sharingan. Each clan and their jutsus needed to be strategized against. Nara and Yamanaka had to be blitzed with taijutsu, Hyuga fired at by medium and long range jutsu, and Aburame were vulnerable to fire and lightning jutsu.

Prodigies were to be killed promptly. Orochimaru, Hatake Kakashi, Namikaze Minato, and Uchiha Itachi were some of the most dangerous Shinobi Konoha produced.

Every. Single. One was hailed as a prodigy.

It's far easier to kill a wet behind the ears genin, with Chunin level skill, than it is to kill them 5 or 10 years down the road.

It's impressive that Naruto found that out. I can count on one hand and still have fingers to spare how many "prodigies" understand the value of being covert in their skill before they got deployed in the field.

The clan heads that were not aware were surprised to say the least. An intelligent graduate, who also was a Jinchuriki? That would mean good things for Konoha in the future.

"That is all for the Jonin training side of things." Sarutobi said, wanting to move to the next order of business. "How difficult would it be for you to accelerate your children's training in your clan jutsus?" he asked.

Hiashi expected this. Thankfully, he had the forethought to help train Hinata in her personalized form of the juken. He couldn't say anything about whether the other clans were doing a similar thing with their children.

"I can personally help Shikamaru if I'm given some time to." Shikaku spoke up first.

"Very well." Sarutobi said, "Inoichi? Choza?"

"Choji won't be a problem," Choza said simply, "He'll be motivated to protect his friends."

Inoichi was the last of the three, a look of disappointment on his face. "Ino hasn't been applying herself to training until recently." he said, not wanting to dig into it, "She'll need to be brought up to standard first."

Hiashi had a solid theory on why. Most of the girls in his daughter's year had varying degrees of infatuation with the Uchiha heir. The Yamanaka girl was likely one, and it caused a disruption to her overall training.

Sarutobi nodded, before turning to Hiashi. "Hiashi, what about your daughter?" he asked.

"I've been helping Hinata personally," he replied smoothly, "She is showing much promise. She does her clan proud." he finished with a smile.

One of the great suprises was that the initially shy, stuttering, and nervous Hyuga girl emerged as kunoichi of the year. Whatever Hiashi had done evidently paid off, at least that's what most people thought.

Sarutobi gave him a knowing smirk, before turning to Shibi and Tsume.

"Shibi?" Sarutobi asked.

"Shino will be capable of a greater workload." Shibi said, his voice a steady pitch.

Tsume, realizing she was the only remaining one who hadn't spoke, answered the Hokage.

"Kiba acts too much on his anger," she said irritatedly, "He needs to have some sense knocked into him before I can teach him the more complex jutsu. I'd prefer he not hurt himself or his ninken from being an impulsive idiot." she added, a slight growl in her voice.

With that, the part concerning training was over. The next part of the meeting was far less entertaining.

Taxes.

(End Flashback)

Hiashi chuckled wistfully at the memory, before he walked from the training room, looking forward to what seemed to be a brighter tomorrow.

////////////////

"Hello, Hinata." The Hyuga heiress heard Ino say, the blonde looking rather subdued behind the counter of the flower shop.

Hinata looked at the girl, pondering whether to ask.

She needed to hurry and get the needed ingredients for her salve. Naruto was going to head by her home and she needed to get back.

"Can I help you with anything, Hinata?" The blonde asked again, her turquoise eyes fixed on hers.

"I need a type of plant that acts like a painkiller for a specific spot," Hinata cleared her throat, coughing a bit at the different scents, "One that doesn't react with other ingredients."

Ino seemed to perk up at that.

"I might have an idea, but I need to know what ingredients you're talking about and what it's for. Come on." The girl gestured towards the back, turning and walking from the counter.

Hinata hurried towards Ino, the usually quiet girl hiding her excitement at improving her medical salve.

She wanted a way to ease the pain of an injury, not just speed up healing.

"Hurry up!" Ino called from around the corner, putting on some rubber gloves. Her waist length hair was already pulled back into a high ponytail to keep it out of the way.

Hinata blinked repeatedly at the massive variety of flowers and plants, many of them unfamiliar.

"So," Ino tapped her shoulder to get her attention, "What do you need them for?"

Hinata tore her gaze from all the beautiful flowers and looked at Ino, furrowing her brow.

"I need a medical salve that numbs the area applied."

"Oh," Ino grimaced, shifting her balance from one leg to the next, "You can't use the kind I was thinking of. Here," She tossed a pair of gloves to Hinata, the pale eyed girl frantically grabbing to not drop them, "You don't want to handle the wrong thing."

Hinata didn't like the sound of that. She put the gloves on and focused on Ino.

"What were the ingredients you were trying out before?" Ino asked, having turned her back and looking down a row of different types of flowers.

Hinata recited the blend of herbs and certain flowers to make her salve, hoping there wasn't anything wrong.

Ino listened intently, sighing as Hinata finished.

"You need to add this flower to it," Ino grabbed a notecard next to a collection of purple flowers, "This," She handed it to Hinata, "Is the only one that will mix properly without causing cardiac arrest."

Hinata's eyes widened in horror at that. "That's possible?"

"Yep," Ino nodded, rubbing her arm against her nose to scratch an itch, "A certain chemical in the petals of other flowers and the crushed herb you use mixes into a toxin when together. This one's the only mild paralytic that isn't lethal or toxic when mixed with anything. It's pretty stable, actually."

Hinata was hanging on to every word, intrigued by it.

"I didn't know that you knew so much about this, Ino." She admitted, only knowing that the Yamanaka was well-versed in the flowers the Hyuga girl would purchase to press.

Ino laughed lightly, flicking her hair some by tilting her head.

"I'm not like Sakura. I've got brains and looks."

Hinata shook her head, sighing at Ino's comment.

Ino didn't like Sakura, fair enough, but Hinata didn't like that the two had been friends and destroyed it over a boy. Hinata would never break her friendship with Rin over a boy.

Not like that would happen anyway. Hinata only had a liking for the one boy that Rin obviously wouldn't be interested in.

"How many flowers are you wanting?" Ino switched back to the previous subject, pointing at the price tag, "They're not cheap."

Looking at the tag closely, Hinata fought the urge to cringe.

"Why are they expensive?" She asked incredulously.

"These are really rare," Ino explained, smiling softly at the rather striking flowers, "You generally find them along mountain streams in the north of Hi no Kuni, but nowhere else."

But still, 100 Ryo per petal. Hinata started fidgeting a bit, tapping her fingers together as she debated on making the purchase.

"Tell you what," Ino sighed, grabbing three flowers and picking them, "You buy flowers here all the time and my Tousan told me I can make deals sometimes. The salve you make needs about one and a half of these per container, so I'll cut a portion off on the price. 25 percent?" The blonde cocked her hip and set her hand on her waist.

Hinata couldn't believe it. Ino was willing to discount that much?

"Thank you, Ino," She said gratefully, "But can we do it now? I need to get going."

"Yeah yeah, sure," Ino went towards one of the tables to her right and tossed the flowers in a bowl, grabbing a grinder and crushing the flowers.

After a minute or two, Ino poured the crushed flowers into a see through bag, sealing it shut and exiting the backroom, prompting Hinata to follow.

"So, that'll be 225." Ino rang Hinata up at the counter, glancing at the dark haired girl.

Hinata reached into one of her pockets to grab the needed Ryo, her fingers peeling the bills apart to count them.

"Here," Hinata handed Ino the money, smiling at the purchase, "Good luck with your team tests."

Before Hinata could turn to leave, Ino spoke up.

"I'm curious about something." The blonde Yamanaka commented, tapping her nails against the counter.

Hinata tilted her head in question, appraising the other girl.

"How did you get kunoichi of the year?"

Hinata couldn't help but frown. Did Ino doubt her ability?

"What do you mean?" The normally shy Hyuga's voice was laced with a bit of annoyance, not liking the wording.

"You're the best in taijutsu, that's a given," Ino's eyes focused on her pale ones, "But I don't get how you were able to match Sakura and me on book stuff. You suddenly got better in the last year."

The last year was when Naruto started helping her out on the book related subjects. She could tell he was bored by it, but he still made sure to study it himself. The fact that he helped her and Rin spoke volumes of how much he cared about the two of them and their progress.

Deciding to be honest, Hinata answered. "Naruto helped me."

"Naruto?" Ino asked incredulously, not believing it, "He's a jerk and is rude."

Hinata's eyes narrowed dangerously, her hand darting out and grabbing the bag of crushed flowers.

"Do not," Hinata channeled the cold fury her father displayed when angered by something, "Presume to know anything about Naruto."

How dare she say that? She knows nothing about Naruto. She doesn't know what he's been through.

Ino recoiled away from her, looking worried.

"Jeez, Hinata, I didn't know you liked him. Sorry."

Hinata felt her face colour at the sensitive subject, but clenched her hand and tried to keep her voice steady.

"Naruto doesn't like how you bother Sasuke. He doesn't hate you, he just wants you to stop acting the way you have. He's really sweet and k-kind to me." Hinata cursed herself for stuttering at the end.

Hinata didn't know why, but Ino paled, blinking at the description of Naruto.

"I..." The blonde swallowed, wringing her hands, "I'm sorry for saying anything. He's your friend, right?"

"Yes." Hinata replied clearly, beginning to get a little impatient.

"Then I guess he acts differently around friends compared to others," She mumbled, looking uncomfortable, "I've had a rough couple days and I just took it out on Naruto."

Even if she was still a little miffed about it, Hinata simply couldn't remain irritated. It went against her nature.

"Naruto can be really rude at times when he doesn't realize it, so I can understand. But he's nice and good at heart."

Hinata still didn't know why, but Ino kept looking uncomfortable.

"Okay," Ino glanced at the clock of the wall, then to Hinata, "And don't you have somewhere to be?"

Hinata's eyes widened and she nodded her head once, taking off running.

She needed to get ready.

//////////////////

Two weeks. No training until teams were announced.

Mt thoughts were a little, and that was an understatement, vindictive as I walked towards the Hyuga compound, not wanting to think of what transpired the last time I was there.

'For your own good. You'd killed someone accidentally, take a week or two off. It'll help,' they said.

I understood where Kakashi and Hiruzen were coming from. To them, I'd just killed someone for the first time. They didn't realize I'd done it before. That much of my shock came from how Mizuki died, not that he did die.

What kept me up at night was what he said.

Orochimaru will make you great.

Unless he'd been told to say that, it's unlikely that he would have said it. That opened up a great deal of shit that I wasn't prepared for. My chosen shatterpoint event was going to be Orochimaru getting killed at the exams. No Orochimaru to slink off to means Sasuke won't defect. If he did, all bets were off. It'd be hard and I would hate myself for it, but I would kill Sasuke before I let him defect.

His defection is what almost doomed the world. He tried to destroy Konoha after finding out the truth about Itachi. He tried to kill his Sensei and teammate. But more importantly, he tried to kill "Naruto", out of his desire to be strong enough to kill his brother. Without the Kyuubi, "Naruto" would have died from a Chidori to the chest. But there was a small detail that messed with me when I thought of how I could beat Sasuke without issue.

I didn't have blond hair. It was more red than blond. Rin had blonde hair. The orange jacket was for a girl. My heart may have gone out to Sasuke from the nightmare he had to live, but I would not let my empathy get my sister killed.

"Orochimaru could make you great".

Bite me, you bastard. Traitors and child killers will be given no mercy from me.

I cursed myself as I kept on walking, eventually reaching the gate. I don't know why, but remembering the night I infiltrated the compound filled me with dread. It was a miracle I wasn't caught. Judging by how my clones moved around and the memories I got from them, I should've been caught.

The idea that it was down to some next level luck that I wasn't getting my brain melted by a Yamanaka for information was enough for me to refuse to ever do something like that again.

The letter was a good idea, but I wasn't like Itachi in storming a clan compound and escaping.

But I was curious why the guards had been more lax than I would normally expect. There seemed to be a few openings where guards should've been, but that was probably because they were Hyuga and could cover blind spots no problem.

They might need to check for a rat infestation if the clones I Henged as rats were seen as normal. I actually managed to make myself laugh a bit at the thought, wondering why the Hyuga would tolerate rats.

I got to the gate and saw the two guards for the late afternoon shift.

"Uzumaki." The most common one stated.

"Hyuga-san." I said politely, not wanting to be an irritant this time.

"Here to speak with Hinata-sama?"

"Pretty much." I nodded.

Without any fanfare, the two focused their eyes on my seal to make sure it actually was me.

"Out of curiosity," I started, grabbing their attention, "What does my seal look like with your eyes?"

The one guard seemed a little uncomfortable at talking about it, given that it could technically run afoul of the law, but the other didn't seem to care about walking on eggshells.

"Think of a sink tap," The one guard said simply, "That slowly drips into the sink. Now imagine the water is the most disgusting thing you could ever see."

"You won't hear me arguing how foul it is," I scoffed, "I'm a sensor and I'm rather in tune with my tenketsu."

I could tell a distinct difference between my chakra and Kurama's, the latter's feeling thick and heavy when small amounts of it were fed into my tenketsu from the seal. The chakra helped to act as a growth stimulant for my chakra reserves since the day I was born, putting them on a different level of ungodly amounts, but it didn't make the toxic feel to it any better.

I walked forward and heard the gate close behind me, my eyes set on Hinata's house.

A brief flash in my peripheral vision had me looking up at the sky, a raven flying across the setting sun.

"Odin is with us." I snickered to myself, finding it very unlikely for that to be the case. But I still enjoyed making jokes about the prospect of the shaggy cloak wearer and Host blinder looking out for the only Anglo-Saxon in this manga universe with his one remaining eye.

There aren't any one eyed good guys, only dicks.

I got to the door and I spotted Hinata waiting patiently for me, a wholesome smile on her face.

"Is Hinata-sama ready for her lesson?" I asked cheekily, mindful of the storage scrolls I had in my back pockets.

"Naruto," She tried to sound like she was trying to scold me, but it obviously wasn't working, "You know I don't like it when you call me that."

"Which is precisely why I do." I smiled, tilting my head for a moment, "Shall you escort me to the kitchen?" I asked kindly, holding out my arm.

Hinata's arm reached out towards mine and she grabbed my hand, pulling me along. A few turns and we arrived in the kitchen, two branch members currently cleaning up some.

Hinata cleared her throat and got the attention of the two women.

"Hinata-sama," The older of the two, looking around 30, seemed to be surprised that the heiress was in the kitchen with me in tow,"Why are you in the kitchens?"

"I want to fix cinnamon rolls with Naruto-kun." Hinata replied brightly, her eyes shining in excitement.

"Oh, you don't need to do that," The branch member shook her head, smiling and addressing Hinata like she was a small child, "If you want some, Hikari and I can make some for you and your friend."

I doubt Hinata could tell, but I could notice the slight tightening of the lady's voice when she addressed me, likely from me being the ginger prison of Mr Fox.

"No," Hinata shook her head, "I want to learn how to fix them myself, and Naruto knows how to."

I wasn't as well versed in fixing cinnamon rolls, but my first mom, it felt wrong to call her my actual mom because of how insulting it felt to Kushina, had taught me how to and I could do it fairly well. But cookies were what I was good at.

The cook hummed lightly and eventually nodded, wiping her hands on the apron she had on and took it off, preparing to leave.

"Hikari," The lady said, "Time to go."

The younger woman nodded and the two left, leaving me and Hinata alone in the kitchen.

"Right," I clapped my hands together, rubbing them in excitement, "Let's get all the stuff ready."

I pulled out the multiple storage scrolls I had and pulsed some chakra in them one at a time.

A carton of milk, butter, eggs, brown sugar, flour, and an assortment of other ingredients were systematically taken out and were ordered properly.

"Could you repeat how much experience you have cooking?" I asked Hinata kindly, wanting to know whether I'd need to start from scratch.

"My, uh," Hinata seemed to have been distracted for a moment and blinked as she looked up at me, being a couple inches shorter, "My kaasan taught me how to cook some and a few of the branch members continued after..." Hinata's eyes looked downward at the reminder.

I decided to switch to a better topic, specifically the set up for the cinnamon rolls.

"Hinata," I reached for a few of the crockery hanging from the overhead hooks and pulled them down, turning on the stove, "The list of what to do is to my right. Could you hand it to me?"

"Yes." Hinata tucked her hair back and had a serious look that wouldn't be out of place for when we were training, "Here." She grabbed the paper and handed it to me as I cracked some eggs.

I took it and set it between us and out of the way, but still readable.

"I'll help set everything thing up," I selected the proper pots and other thing to prepare it all, pouring milk into another part to be heated up, "But you actually do the different parts. I'll be right next to you if you have any questions."

With a furrowing of her brow, Hinata gave a soft 'Okay' and got to work, taking off her jacket and making sure her hair remained out of her face.

For someone who hadn't exactly done this on a constant basis like me, Hinata was actually really good at preparing food. But I guess it wasn't fair to compare our situations. The Hyuga were the wealthiest clan in Konoha and Hinata was the heiress of said clan. Contrast that with me having to cook food for two extremely calorie reliant Uzumaki because Rin made the stellar accomplishment of burning water when I tried to teach her to cook anything that wasn't instant ramen.

Slowly but surely, the concoction that would create cinnamon rolls began to take shape, the way Hinata was singularly focused on the task was endearing.

"Can you sing?" Hinata requested, some flour smudged on her face as most of the ingredients were prepared, only needing to touched up on and put in the oven.

I sat back and smiled, remembering how Rin would pester me to sing. The difference was, Hinata couldn't understand the words.

"You realize that you won't be able to understand? It's mine and Rin's language."

"I don't care," Hinata said, adding cinnamon into the mix, her forearms having some batter on them along with her shirt, "Sing."

I snorted at her attempt to sound assertive and the way her chakra seemed to shift hinted at her amusement.

"Yes, Hinata-sama." I smiled as I cleared my throat.

"Land of bear and land of eagle. Land that gave us birth and blessing."

Again, a song that reached out to my wistfulness of the world and home I'd never see again. But I had a new home now, a new family.

I slowly approached Hinata and looked over her shoulder, still singing softly as she kept on doing her task.

The mix finally was completed by Hinata and she put on some mitts when I pointed out that the oven may be hot, before she put the container in the oven and closed it.

"You've made such a mess," I gestured towards all the flour on the counter top, along with a bit of batter and some milk.

Hinata didn't exactly find it all that amusing, even more so from my grin.

"This would have been easier if you actually mixed some ingredients instead of the icing and sitting back and telling me what to do." Hinata stared at me, her pale eyes gazing straight into my soul.

"Think of it like a training exercise," I leaned forward and started to move the things around to have more room, "I tell you what to do, and I sit back and be a slave driver."

Out of all things I would have thought Hinata would do in response, I did not expect her to grab a handful of flour and slap the top of my head with it when my back was turned.

A startled gasp escaped me as I coughed a bit, my eyes squinted from the flour.

Hinata covered her mouth and was giggling at what she did, not looking regretful at all.

I sniffled and ended up sneezing, the flour getting kicked up some more.

You shouldn't have done that. I thought to myself.

I ended up shaking my head side to side to get rid of the flour and I stared at the unrepentant Hyuga.

"That made you look like a fox." She kept giggling, miming what I did by shaking her head, "With your hair and whiskers."

"Oh really?" I asked, my mouth widening in a smile, "Foxes are cunning and sneaky too." I lunged forward towards Hinata, the girl turning to try and get out of reach.

She squeaked like a mouse when I grabbed ahold of her shirt sleeve, pulling her towards me.

"No!" She called out, trying to wriggle free as I pulled her tight, "Let me go."

I was laughing openly as I managed to lock both her arms in place with my right arm as I reached for the container of unused flour, lifting it up above her head.

"It's only fair, 'Nata." I laughed dropping the flour on her.

Hinata let out a cry as she was engulfed in a cloud of white and I let her go of her to avoid it.

"Naruto!" She glared at me, her Byakugan flaring for a moment.

I didn't care that I was laughing so hard I was almost cackling. The pout and angry look she had was one of the most adorable things I'd ever seen.

The Hyuga girl that was my closest friend grabbed at her hair to get ahold of some of the flour and threw it at me, the effort futile.

I still kept laughing and Hinata finally joined in, the two of us just standing in the kitchen acting like the children we should've been if not for the Shinobi in training we were.

Deciding to rectify the issue, I reached out and brushed the flour out of Hinata's hair, running my fingers along her scalp.

"Careful," Hinata winced when my hand brushed against a certain spot, "I sparred with my Tousan today and my head is sore."

I grimaced and muttered an apology, not realizing that.

"My bad," I pulled my hand away, having got most of it anyway, "I can do mine myself." I made a hand seal and spawned a clone, the construct patting me down to remove the flour.

After it finished, Hinata sat down in a chair and gazed at the oven, then to the clock.

"How long will it take?" She asked, her hair fanned out as she adjusted it to remove the few bits.

"About 30 minutes on the temperature set," I replied, sitting down in my own seat, "Anything you want to talk about?"

Hinata seemed to debate for a moment, settling on a relatively mild subject.

"My team assignment."

"I guess your dad told you?" I raised a brow, expecting the clan heads to know.

Hinata hummed a yes, glancing towards the oven again.

"Do you know who is on my team?" Hinata asked.

It didn't require any thought from me.

"You're kunoichi of the year, so you'll likely be on the same team with Sasuke," I paused for a moment, "Kakashi will definitely be your Jonin Sensei because he's the only one that can train Sasuke's Sharingan. And Rin will be the third one because she's a ninjutsu user similar to me and Kakashi is the best Konoha has for that."

I didn't include the part on how Kakashi could force a Genjutsu on a problematic jinchuriki.

Hinata moved her legs back and forth lightly like she was peddling and sighed.

"I hope Sasuke can open up. I don't want to be forced between him and Rin." Hinata was quiet, but she wasn't blind. She looked at things and quietly listened and took things in. It wasn't a stretch to think she'd be playing peacekeeper between Sasuke and my sister.

"I hope so too." I eventually said, feeling a little cold at the reminder.

We sat there quietly until the oven dinged, finishing with the rolls.

Before Hinata could get up and open the door, I cleared my throat audibly.

"Mitts." I reminded her, her face colouring slightly.

"Sorry." She said, pink faced, grabbing the oven mitts. She then opened up the oven and heat wafted out, her hands going out to grab the bowl.

Oh my God, the smell is divine. I thought to myself, jumping up from my seat.

Hinata set it down gingerly and I reached for the small bowl where I had made the icing, shooting Hinata a grin.

"Almost done." I then tipped the bowl over and lathered the steaming rolls with icing, my mouth already watering.

Hinata reached to grab one but I lightly slapped her hand, causing her to look up at me in annoyance.

"Ask Hanabi if she would like one first." I said, smirking when I felt the little spy's chakra flare in shock from behind the door.

"Go ahead and come on in, Hanabi." I called louder, snickering at the muffled curse from the female mini-me of Hiashi.

Hinata's little sister opened the door and came in, shooting me a glare.

"Dog's brother." She muttered, trying to get one up on me. "You threw flour at oneesan.

"Firecracker." I smiled, not bothered by her childish insult for Rin.

Her cheeks puffed out a bit, but she kept quiet.

"Hanabi-chan," Hinata addressed her younger sister, "Would you like a cinnamon roll?"

Hanabi stared at the fresh dessert made by me and her sister, her eyes a little wide and resembling pearls.

"Yes." She said quickly, her hand out, "Gimme."

And there's the little kid that doesn't feel pressured to be a mini adult. I laughed internally, glancing towards Hinata as she removed two of the rolls.

"Here," Hinata gave both to her sister, "Give one to Tousan, please."

Hanabi nodded happily and stretched her arms out, hugging Hinata as she had her hands out of the way as she hugged the taller of the two.

"Thank you, Oneesan," Hanabi then looked at me, "Naruto-san."

"I'm around you enough and I'm friends with your sister." I rolled my eyes, "Act your age and call me Naruto."

Hanabi levelled a look at me just like her father would, but the smile ruined it.

"Naruto."

She then turned and rushed out of the room, already taking a bite of her roll.

"She sometimes reminds me of myself when I try to be contradictory." I mused, hearing Hinata groan slightly.

"I hope she doesn't try to emulate you." Hinata took out a cinnamon roll, biting into it.

The girl swayed as she savoured the taste, closing her eyes as her entire body relaxed.

"Just like kaasan's." She practically shuddered at the memories.

She set the roll down slowly and turned towards me, her eyes watery.

The next thing I knew, I was engulfed in a hug that had my ribs creaking as Hinata hugged me with all her might.

"Thank you for helping me, Naruto-kun." She sniffled, holding me tight.

I didn't bother trying to pry her arms away from me, I just returned the hug.

She let me go and grabbed another cinnamon roll, setting it in my hand.

At the unspoken request, I took a bite. It practically melted in my mouth as I chewed lightly, a moan of contentment exiting my mouth.

It was delicious, Hinata's reaction realistic.

She wasn't going to know what I did. I had spoken with Hiashi about Hinata wanting me to teach her a bit about baking. The man had given me the ingredients list and another sheet of paper that I memorized on what Hinata's mother did when making cinnamon rolls for her daughter.

Thank you, Hiashi. I thought as I basked in the warmth of Hinata's chakra from how happy she was that her cinnamon rolls were just like her mom's.

//////////////////////

"Tousan," Hiashi heard his youngest approach his study, "Oneesan finished her cinnamon rolls."

Hiashi turned around and stared at his youngest, his eyes on her face.

Judging by the icing marks on her cheeks and the absence of the cinnamon roll, Hanabi tore into it without much propriety.

"Were they satisfactory?" He asked, letting a smirk appear on his face to clue his daughter in on his good mood.

Hanabi walked closer and handed the one remaining roll to him, her eyes staring hungrily at it.

I best take it now before she eats it. He almost snatched it from the little girl's hand and took a dignified bite from it.

Hiashi thanked Uzumaki Naruto a thousand times over in his head as the familiar texture and taste of the dessert Hitomi would make filled his senses.

Had the boy not approached him about it, he would never have thought to teach Hinata how to make them. The memories of Hitomi demanding cinnamon rolls at all times of the night when she was pregnant with Hinata were too painful for him. Hitomi should've lived to teach Hinata, but the least he could do was give Uzumaki the ingredients and steps Hitomi took.

"-san. Tousan." He heard Hanabi's voice break through his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Hanabi," Hiashi blinked and looked down at his daughter, "I was thinking of something. Why don't you clean your face? I will not have my daughter resembling an ill disciplined toddler."

His daughter predictably huffed lightly, but followed his request and left the room to clean the icing off.

Activating his Byakugan for a moment to make sure she really was gone, Hiashi closed the door and made a hand seal, activating the different seals built into the walls of his office.

The Byakugan could see through practically anything, being able to see the different colours of chakra as well. The only "Weakness", if it could even be called that, outside of the slight blindspot from where the optic nerve was attached to their eyes was the way chakra created a slight shimmer in the air akin to what extreme heat does to the air.

The seals had tracks connecting them that bounced chakra around to replicate it so his lips could not be read or a clear picture shown.

Now that he had the closest thing to privacy he could get, Hiashi slumped down in his chair and reached into a drawer, pulling out a picture.

It was a photo taken a few weeks before the Kyuubi attack and he gazed at his younger counterpart, the lack of stress lines making him envious of that timeframe. Hitomi was visibly pregnant and had a near blinding smile on her face.

I will always love you. Hiashi took another small bite of the roll, closing his eyes as he tried to visualize her right next to him.

Our daughter is far better than I've ever deserved, my love. I wish you could see how she has grown.

Hyuga Hiashi let himself fall into deep thought, the soft crackle of the fireplace a relaxing background noise.

////////////////////

I was now leaving Hinata's house after saying goodbye and getting another heartfelt hug, with a couple of cinnamon rolls sealed in a storage scroll, an additional bit in the seal to keep it insulated so they were still hot.

It was around evening time at this point and Rin had probably eaten supper, and I had dessert for her.

Getting within visual range of our apartment, I felt her chakra like a blazing beacon roughly where our specific apartment was.

Without much thought, I scaled the wall pushed the window open, hopping in the living room. A mop of blonde hair could be seen first as my sister was on the couch, a book in her hand about seals.

"Rin." I called her name, causing her to turn towards me.

"Use the door, please." She said simply, straightening up. "And why did you take so long? It's been a few hours."

"Hinata and I talked for awhile." I explained, pulling out the scroll and wiggling it in front of me.

"Ooh." Rin's eyes widened and I could see her pupils dilate like a cat's, "Gimme."

I popped open the scroll and grabbed one cinnamon roll, grinning as Rin's eyes tracked it.

"Sit," I gestured at the ground, my shoulders shaking from trying not to laugh, "And roll over."

"I'm not a dog," Rin huffed, turning up her nose, "I'm more dignified than that."

The roll in my hand was tossed to her and she let out a small yelp as she almost dropped it.

"Good girl." I cooed, hopping on the couch.

Rin ignored my comment and tore into the roll ravenously, licking her fingers clean as she finished.

The gleaming violet eyes of my sister bored into mine, a soft whisper demanding one thing.

"More."

I kicked my legs up and cradled the scroll, shaking my head.

"You'll get fat if you eat them all."

My self preservation skills were abandoned for the sole purpose of irritating my sister.

"Naruto!" She jumped on top of me, clawing at the scroll, "Give it to me! Mine!"

The two if us ended up tumbling to the ground and I wrestled Rin onto her stomach, her back arched to try and get unpinned.

To rub it in that I am the superior sibling and that the cinnamon rolls were mine, I channeled lightning chakra through my fingers and dragged the ends up her neck and into her hair, causing her to shriek.

"Narutoooo!" Her hair stood on end and she shivered from the electric shock.

I kept holding her and leaned next to her, whispering in her ear.

"My cinnamon rolls." I then pressed my lips on her neck and blew a zerber, causing her to scream and laugh.

"Let me go. Stop." She kept laughing and trying to push me off. I eventually stopped tormenting her and stood up, grabbing ahold of her and hoisting her up.

I ruffled her hair even more and handed her the scroll, sticking my tongue out as she slapped my arm.

"I hate you." She mumbled, sitting down on the couch and removing another cinnamon roll to eat.

"But you're such a fun sister to torment," I defended my actions, fishing out a roll for myself, "Your reactions are so cute. Like a puppy."

Rin growled something unintelligible under her breath, taking another bite.

The two of sat on the couch for a little bit, not caring about the silence. After the cinnamon rolls I took home were eaten, I reached for the remote to our cheap TV that I got from a cheap junk sale and flipped it on.

The funny thing about Fuinjutsu was that you could tailor seals to seal specific types of objects or energy and draw it towards the seal. I could seal fire, lightning, wind, etc. I could even seal certain types of particles into a permeable fabric that let regular air through in case a poison mist was released.

But the reason that was important was that I had managed to create a seal, with a lot of help from Rin, to attract electrical signals such as the signals of television or radio stations.

In short, I used Fuinjutsu to steal TV channels.

Rin and I sat on the couch, her head leaning against my shoulder, as we watched an old rerun of a show older than us.

I don't know exactly when, but Rin dozed off and was snoring lightly as the upteenth rerun finished. I looked down at my sleeping sister, running my hand lightly through her hair.

With a an outstretched hand and a shaping of my fingers, I made a bunshin as quietly as I could. I then concentrated and used a Substitution, blinking at the slight change of vision.

Rin was still sleeping undisturbed and I nodded at my clone, picking up my sister as gently as I could.

It was still a little strange how easy it was I could lift her up, even after having this body for twelve years. She wasn't exactly light, only being an inch or two shorter than me, but I chalked it up to chakra fortifying muscles to an extreme.

I carried her to her room and set her down, covering her up. I then looked at how soft her features were as she slept, her eyes moving under her lids. I gently kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear.

"I love you, Rin." I then straightened up and tiptoed out of the room, wanting to continue what I'd been working on for some time.

//////////////////

"How the hell did Tobirama even make this?"I said to myself, out loud in English, still astounded by the complexity of the Hiraishin

The Hiraishin was a work of genius. If I was correct in my theory, most of Tobirama's jutsu he made were to combat Uchiha. The Hiraishin couldn't be tracked, Kage bunshin were indistinguishable from the original, and Edo Tensei meant that you'd have to fight your own kin. Even with my knowledge of this world, it would take me years to make my own sealing formula.

Maybe there's similarities via blood.

It may be useful for me to get ahold of a copy of my father's formula. It could go a long way to cutting down on how long it would take. But there was no harm in studying the original. I still remember the look of relief on Hiruzen's face when I explained my reasoning for choosing the Hiraishin.

(Flashback)

I was at Hiruzen's home, his study more specifically, the Scroll in his hand. It had been a week since the incident with Mizuki. Hiruzen had requested that I came over to discuss some things. After telling Rin where I was going, I made my way to the Hokage's house. Which put me right where I am now.

Hiruzen looked at me, a slight amount of sympathy in his posture.

"Everything alright, Naruto?" he asked kindly.

"I'll get through it." I said sincerely.

I had my suspicions that Hiruzen was wanting to distract me with the jutsu he promised. I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth though.

"Why the scroll?" I asked, fairly certain why he had it.

"You can pick a jutsu to learn." he said quietly, "I'll help you with picking one that would suit your combat style."

Nodding to him, I prepared to look at the scroll. Hiruzen opened it up, set it on his desk, and beckoned me to look at it. I saw the jutsus. Tajuu Kage bunshin, Hiraishin, Rasengan, a few high caliber water jutsu, and a Genjutsu that looked to be able to overwhelm most Sharingan users. Looking through them, I frowned when I noticed that two had their instructions blocked out.

Edo Tensei and the Eight Trigrams seal.

I gave Hiruzen a look, questioning why some were blocked out.

"They involve controlling the dead and sealing Bijuu." Hiruzen said softly, his tone a melancholic one.

I shivered at the thought. I don't know how I ended up here, but one of the things I feared was not being myself. Tobirama and Hashirama were forced from their deaths to fight their student, unable to break free from the control. I'd already felt what it was like to be incomplete. It was a terrible feeling to not be Eight Trigrams reminded me of the sensation of the Shinigami's presence.

Emptiness was what it was. Even the background environment had a faint buzz of chakra. But the Shinigami was nothing. No buzz to it. Like the void I had been in for I don't know how long. I couldn't fathom ever being driven to sealing myself into this world's version of Purgatory.

Hiruzen probably noticed me shiver when he mentioned the word "dead" or "Bijuu".

"Are you alright, my boy?" he asked softly.

Taking a small gulp of air, I nodded shakily, "I remember how it felt," I said softly, "The Shinigami felt like a void. The Kyuubi felt like hell itself. It brought back memories." I finished weakly.

Hiruzen put a hand on my shoulder, grimacing slightly. "I didn't realize," he started, "I could have simply copied some to show you."

I waved off his apology. "It doesn't matter," I said, "You meant nothing by it."

Hiruzen smiled softly to me. "Have you decided on one?" he asked.

I nodded, pointing towards one that could tip the scales if I could master it within a few years.

"The Hiraishin." I heard Hiruzen whisper.

"What better way to honour the man who gave up his life to save me and Rin." I said quietly. "What better way to honour your Sensei too. They gave so much so I could have a home, so I could live."

I saw Hiruzen's eyes glisten. "You really mean that, don't you?" he said.

I nodded. "Even if many of the villagers hate Rin and me, they're not any less worthy of saving. I know I'll be stronger than most, one day. This village is your home, it's Rin's, it's Kakashi's, it's mine." I said firmly, "And I'll protect it just like my parents did, and you have."

I stepped towards Hiruzen and gave him a hug. "Keep that hat warm for me, Jiji," I whispered, "I'll need it when you're done."

I felt Hiruzen's body seem to sag as if I'd just taken the greatest weight in the world off his shoulders. Maybe I did. I'd never said I'd want to become Hokage to him. Until now.

"I will, Naruto," he said, a lone tear coming from his eye, "I will."

(End Flashback)

Closing up the scroll with my Fuinjutsu notes on it, I sat there for a moment, index and thumb pressing on the bridge of my nose, trying to stave off the ache in my eyes. I'd been reading and writing notes for the better part of a few hours, I was bound to strain my eyes, even with accelerated healing.

I wonder how the Hyuga feel when they irritate their eyes. Might need to ask Hinata.

Putting up the notes by sealing them into my sealed scroll, I headed to bed.

Will Fuinjutsu work in English? was my last thought before going to sleep.