To Those Who Would Achieve Greatness

An: Hey, guys! I'm back! And in advance I must apologize for the long wait. I kinda lost my outlines for my stories. ALL my stories, as a matter of fact. So, I'm having to try and remember what I had in store for each story while I tear my house apart trying to find my outlines.

I fear I may have to rewrite them. I don't keep them on my computer because writing down the outlines on paper is my way of winding down and helps me think more clearly.

Nonetheless! I was able to remember enough about this story to write you this chapter. I hope y'all enjoy it! And Please don't forget to Read and Review!

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, do you think I'd be on FanFiction?

Chapter 6-Iwa/Konoha border town, Tekii

Tekii. There wasn't a more appropriate name for an Iwa/Konoha border town than that, Kakashi mused to himself. The name literally meant, "Hostility," for crying out loud!

Thankfully, Tekii was closer to Konoha than the other border towns, so getting there wasn't the hard part. Kakashi and his team were currently about three minutes from the village. Team 7 was currently silent as they made their way to Tekii, gearing themselves up for their second C-rank-turned-B or A-ranked mission.

Kakashi looked over his team. Sakura was taking deep breaths, pacing herself whilst keeping up with the others and also casting some minor Genjutsus to deter any would-be attackers. Sasuke was staring straight ahead, activating his Sharingan every once and a while to make sure there was no one waiting to ambush them. Naruto's head was darting left and right, his now red hair flying everywhere as he scanned the area while four of his Shadow Clones were serving as guards from three feet out. Yes. He said red hair. Naruto created a seal that would change his hair color and slightly alter his facial features to look more like an Uzumaki instead of Minato. The only down side was that the seal was visible on the back of his neck, and they'd have to be very delicate to explain Naruto's sudden change in hair color to Kurenai and her team.

But still, it wasn't all that bad. Worst case scenario was some Iwa shinobi in town and noticed Naruto is, indeed, an Uzumaki, which could be good or bad depending on the shinobi. If luck was on their side, then this mission should go by pretty smoothly.

Sadly, luck was never on the side of Kakashi Hatake.

"Hey, Kakashi sensei! How much further 'till Tekii?" Naruto asked.

"Less than two minutes," Kakashi replied.

"This will be cake," Sasuke said.

"Let's not jump to conclusions, Sasuke," Sakura said.

"Sakura's right, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "While we're at an Iwa/Konoha border town, you have to obey not only the laws of Konoha, but Iwa's as well."

"Relax, Kakashi sensei!" Naruto said dismissively. "After fighting Zabuza and Haku, this will be a cinch!"

Kakashi had to admire Naruto's enthusiasm, if nothing else. He gave Naruto an eye smile and said, "Let's hope your right, Naruto." He looked up and sighed. "We're here."

Tekii

Naruto looked around the town. It was a modest town, not as big as Konoha but not as small as Nami. It seemed to be somewhere in the middle. He noticed that despite it being peaceful, there was a sense of uneasiness hanging around. Like everyone was waiting for the other kunai to drop.

Naruto also noticed the kids were not unaffected by the uneasy feeling. You could tell which group of kids were born in Konoha and which were born in Iwa. Suddenly, an argument caught his attention. He turned and immediately saw red.

A group of kids were ganging up on a smaller one. Judging from the kid's clothes, Naruto assumed he was an orphan from Iwa. Naruto scowled and walked towards the group. What he heard only served to make him angrier.

"Ha! What loser!" one boy shouted.

"Aw! He's crying!" a girl teased.

"Going to cry to Mommy and Daddy?! Oops! You CAN'T! They're dead!" another boy laughed.

Naruto almost lost it there, but settled for grabbing the boy by the collar and lifting him up meet his furious gaze. The boy flinched. "Just," he hissed. "What. Do you think…you gakis are doing?"

The kids stared up Naruto, terrified. The girl looked up and saw his headband. She frowned at him. "What's the big idea?! You're a Konoha shinobi! This kid's Iwa street rat! We're teaching him a lesson!"

"Lesson?!" he hissed again, making her flinch back. "All I see are bullies who need to be bent over a leg and spanked!"

"You're defending him?!" the first boy shouted in outrage. "He's from Iwa! You'd defend him over one of your own?!"

"You're damn right, I would!" Naruto said, making the kid's eyes widen. "Not only do I hate your attitudes, I just so happen to be an orphan myself!" The three bullies' eyes widened. "Now get out of here!"

The dropped the kid he was holding and the three took off. Naruto huffed and turned his attention to the Iwa kid, who was staring at him in shock. Naruto dug into his backpack and handed him an apple. "Here."

The boy scowled at him. "I don't need your charity!" he growled. "Or your pity."

"Do I look like I pity you?"

The boy looked at Naruto with the upmost scrutiny. He didn't see any pity there. "And," Naruto added, "don't think of it as charity. Think of it as a favor. One you can repay me later."

"And if I never see you again?"

"Then that's your problem."

The boy looked at Naruto for a moment and said, "T-thanks." He took the apple away from him and cautiously took a bite of it. "I'm Ryu. You're alright…for a Konoha dog."

Naruto smirked at him. "Name's Naruto Uzumaki. Remember it. And you're not too shabby yourself…for an Iwa mutt."

Ryu smirked back and ran down the alleyway. Naruto watched the kid with a smile, patting himself on the back for his good deed.

"Impressive," a voice called out, making Naruto tense up and turn around. The speaker was girl with short black hair and pupil-less pink eyes. She wore a red Iwa uniform with the right sleeve missing and fishnet tights and a red skirt. An Iwa headband was on her forehead.

She seemed to be a year or two years older than him. She was staring at him suspiciously. "Never thought I'd see a Konoha shinobi help out an orphan from Iwa," she commented.

Naruto shrugged. "Well, orphans have to look out for each other," he said simply. "It's not like many other people will."

"You speak from experience," she observed.

"When you've basically taken care of yourself since you're five, you tend to be something of an expert," he said in a tone that signaled the end of the topic. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, by the way. May I ask who you are?"

The girl smirked. "I suppose it's only fair. I'm Kurotsuchi," she introduced. Her smirked turned to a frown and stared keenly at Naruto. "So, you're an Uzumaki, huh? I've heard my ojiisan speak of your clan's sealing abilities. He said that they had no equal, not even Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto did his best not to react to her mention of his father in such a negative tone. He was happy to report he was successful in not reacting. "That's what I'm told," he said. "Kinda hard to learn when you're all by yourself."

That intrigued Kurotsuchi. "Oh? No one? I'd assume one of the other clans would jump at the chance to adopt an Uzumaki into their families," Kurotsuchi asked.

Naruto cursed himself. He shouldn't have said anything. Now, he had an Iwa kunoichi asking questions he really didn't want to answer! Thankfully, luck was on his side as an explosion close to the town square caught their attention. Naruto turned back to Kurotsuchi and noticed she was frowning at the explosion.

"Well, this has been fun," Naruto said, thankful for the distraction, "but duty calls!" He quickly used the Shunshin and vanished. Kurotsuchi frowned deeper.

"Tch. Typical Konoha dog," she muttered and vanished herself.

Five minutes earlier, with Sasuke and Sakura

Sasuke noticed Naruto break from the group and confront a group of kids picking on another, but didn't say anything. He saw enough to know the kid was an orphan, and knew well that Naruto wouldn't take kindly to the bullying.

Sakura also noticed Naruto's detour, but like Sasuke, didn't worry about it. Besides, he could serve as their rear guard. She didn't trust some of these people, if not all. The hostility was suffocating. Kakashi noticed Naruto confront the kids, but didn't bother to stop him. Mainly because he knew Naruto could take care of himself.

His thoughts were turned from Naruto as he heard a commotion in front of him. He saw Kurenai and her team standing near the square with a group of two kids and a man about his own age. Kakashi noticed with a shock that the man was Shishi, an Iwa Jonin that was his, sorta-kinda, rival during the Third Shinobi War. And the kids must be his team.

"You wanna say that again, bitch?!" he heard Kiba snarl. Kakashi sighed. He had heard of the boy's lack of tact, but geez! Why hasn't Kurenai taught him to keep his mouth shut?

Luckily, the girl he was insulting, a girl about two years his senior with short black hair and pink colored eyes, didn't seem offended. "I said you are a small little dog with a big bark," she said slowly. "Seriously, are you hard of hearing as well?"

Another snarl. "Kiba," Shino said calmly. "You shouldn't antagonize her. She is, after all, our ally at the moment. Also, I believe her to be a member of the Kamizuru clan. A clan that was once, and might still be, on par with my clan. Antagonizing her is not advisable."

"Listen, to the cool engine of logic over there, puppy," the girl mocked sweetly. "Gotta say, though, never thought I'd hear an Aburame complement my clan," she continued with a purr.

"It's foolish not to complement your clan," Shino responded. "To not recognize your enemies as equals is foolhardy and can lead to problems later."

"You are wise beyond your years, young Aburame," Shishi said neutrally. "Your teammate could learn a lot from you. Wouldn't you agree, Hatake?"

Kakashi didn't bother asking how the Iwa Jonin knew he was there. The man was good like that. "I would say so," he agreed. "It is good to see you again, Shishi."

"I wish I could say the same, Hatake, but the circumstances leave a lot to be desired," Shishi said.

"Kakashi? What are you doing here?" Kurenai asked.

"My team and I are your backup," Kakashi said simply.

"You?" Kurenai asked incredulously. "I was hoping for Asuma's team…"

"Why? So you and Asuma could dump your teams and spend the night together alone?" Kakashi teased, amused and confused as to why she wanted Asuma's team over his. His team wasn't any more trained than Kakashi's was before the Nami incident.

It was a startling realization to Kakashi when he found out. After Nami, he had noticed the other genin teams, except for Guy's team, seemed to be slacking off in their training. He knew Kurenai babied her team, but he never knew the extent. He knew why, though. She was too attached to Hinata. She saw the girl as the daughter she never had, and didn't try to help the girl push her limits.

Asuma was the one that pissed Kakashi off slightly. He assumed that just because he had the new InoShikaCho formation that he didn't need to train them too much. To put it simply, he saw it as an easy team that he didn't need to put too much effort into.

Kakashi knew he wasn't much better before the Nami mission, but he was correcting that mistake. And, if he was prone to bragging, his team was closing in on Guy's team in terms of skill. He smirked mentally and made a mental reminder to make a bet with Guy on whose team would make it to the finals of the Chūnin Exams.

Kurenai blushed darkly. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" she spluttered.

"Your stuttering and red face tells another story," Shishi commented blandly.

Meanwhile, the genin were conversing. Hinata had taken noticed of team seven first and smiled at them. "S-Sakura. S-Sasuke," she greeted. She looked around and frowned slightly. "W-where's Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, he's around," Sakura said dismissively with a wave of her hand. "He should be here in a moment."

"Naruto? That loser's here too?" Kiba asked grumpily, momentarily breaking his glare at the Iwa genin.

"You know it's very hypocritical of you to call him a loser when you yourself barely scored higher than he did on the genin exam," Sasuke said, glaring mildly at the Inuzuka heir. "A few points lower, then you'd have been the dead last."

Kiba turned fully to glare at his fellow clan heir. "Since when do you care about the dobe?" he asked hotly.

"Since our first C-ranked mission showed us we needed a real kick in the pants," Sasuke replied back, glaring harder.

The Iwa genin giggled loudly. "Wow. Just barely above the dead last? Ha! I knew you were all bark!"

Kiba growled and turned back to the girl, but her teammate seemed to have finally have enough. He moved in front of her and Kiba and said, "Tsubaki, enough. We don't need this Konoha dog hating us any more than he already does."

Kiba growled at the guy while Sakura assessed the tall genin. He had dark black hair and startling gold eyes and wore a dark long sleeve shirt and dark pants. He also wore spiked gantlets. His Iwa forehead protector was tied around his right bicep.

"Awww! I wanted to play with him more, Kamina!" Tsubaki whined.

"No, Tsubaki," Kamina said a bit more forcefully. "What would Kurotsuchi be saying if she saw you besmirching Iwa?"

"Probably something about not to, although she'd be thinking the same thing," Tsubaki replied with a shrug.

Sakura was about to ask where their teammate was when she felt a chakra spike. "Hit the deck!" she shouted as she tackled the Iwa genin, who were so socked that they didn't put up any resistance and fell on their butts. Sasuke grabbed Hinata and forced her to the ground as he, Kiba, and Shino dived as well.

Several large stone spears soared over their heads and headed for their jounin teachers. The spears struck, but only for Kakashi to turn into a log, Kurenai to fade from existence, and Shishi burst into flames. The spears hit the ground with a loud crash. They all appeared next to the genin, glaring at the where the spears were shot from.

"Aw! I didn't hit any of them!" a young feminine sounding voice whined.

"Don't fret over your failure, my dear," an older, deeper male voice rumbled. "Luck, it would seem, was on their side in this instance."

The group turned to see a girl about the age of the genin with straight pale white hair and ice blue eyes and a man just a little older than the girl with brown hair and grey eyes. The girl wore very little in terms of clothing, choosing only a very small, very short shirt and short shorts. The guy wore samurai armor of a dark blue color without the helmet.

Shishi narrowed his eyes. "Who are you two?" he demanded.

"And why are you attacking us?" Kakashi added.

"Ahhhh!" the girl screamed, covering her face with her hands. "Hojo-kun, the cyclops is gonna eat me!"

"Be calm, my dear Kira," Hojo said placating the girl. "Hatake shall not harm you. You are more skilled than he shall ever be."

Kira perked up immediately. "Thank you, Hojo-kun!" she chirped.

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Hojo. The Azure Samurai. Wanted for murdering twenty samurai in Tetsu no Kuni," he said monotonously. "I heard you were dead."

"I have told that before, Hatake," Hojo told the one eyed shinobi. "But everyone seems to think it's astonishing that I still breathe."

"Not for much longer, if I have anything to say about it," Shishi retorted, falling into a fighting stance.

The girl, Kira, giggled madly. "Stupid Iwa guy who looks like a lion thinks he can kill Hojo-kun!" she cackled, making Shishi's eyebrow twitch in irritation.

"We'll ask again: why are you attacking us?" Kurenai hissed.

"We want you dead!" Kira chirped happily.

"Isn't she a bit too happy about that?" Kiba mumbled.

"Geez. Not another one," Tsubaki grumbled under her breath.

"Enough chatter," Hojo called out, drawing his sword. "It's time we end this nonse…"

He was interrupted when several kunai flew towards him. He deflected them with ease, but suddenly noticed they had paper tags attached to them. He cursed and jumped backwards to avoid the resulting explosion of blue fire.

Kira had jumped out of the way of the flames, but was shocked to see Hojo didn't escape. She started running to help him when she was suddenly covered in lava. She screamed loudly, but it stopped immediately when she appeared five feet away from where the lava was. Hojo swung his sword and dispersed the flames.

"You know?" Naruto's voice called out, making everyone look for him. "As a rule, I don't like megalomaniacs trying to kill my friends."

"And as much as I'm loathed to admit it, Konoha is as strong as Iwa, so attacking here and now with teams from both villages was a foolish mistake," Kurotsuchi said, causing everyone to look up and see Naruto with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face as he stared down at Hojo and Kira. Kurotsuchi was casually sitting on the ledge beside him.

Kiba made a face. "Show off," he grumbled.

"My, my," Tsubaki stated, looking over Naruto's form eagerly.

"Always have to make a scene don't you, Naruto?" Kakashi mused quietly.

'An Uzumaki clansmen?' Shishi thought. 'And what's Kurotsuchi doing with him?'

Hojo narrowed his eyes. "More annoyances," he mumbled.

"HEY!" Kira screamed. "WHICH ONE OF YOU ASSHOLES DRENCHED ME WITH LAVA?!"

"Hm?" Kurotsuchi looked down at the mad girl. "Oh. That'd be me," she said uninterestingly.

Kira's nostrils flared. "YOU, HUH?! YOU DAMN TERUMI BITCH KNOCK-OFF! I'M GONNA PEEL YOUR SKIN OFF AND WEAR IT LIKE A DAMN KIMONO, YOU LAVA PUCKING BITCH!"

"No thanks. I like my skin where it's at," Kurotsuchi said lightly. "Besides, I think it'd be much too big for someone as short as you."

Kira screeched and tried to rush towards her, but Hojo stopped her. "We can't afford to charge in recklessly, my dear," he told the mad girl.

"But we can take 'em!" Kira protested.

"No we cannot," Hojo said, motioning around them. "Look."

Kira frowned, but she did as Hojo asked. Her eyes widened as she saw several paper tags strung up around them. Frantically, she looked behind her and saw no tags, much to her relief. Still, she didn't appreciate being outdone like this. She glared at the two newcomers hatefully as she disappeared. Hojo looked at the group and scowled as he swung his sword, and, with a rush of air, he vanished as well.

Kurotsuchi frowned. "Why didn't you cover behind them?!" she growled at Naruto.

"Not my fault! My Shadow Clones were about to do that when the samurai guy pointed the other tags out!" Naruto defended himself, his hands raised in a placating manner.

"Then your clones should've been faster!" Kurotsuchi snapped.

"I can't help that my clones like to argue with each other!" Naruto yelled back. "I'm lucky enough to get them to listen to me half the time!"

'Extraordinary!' Shishi thought as his eyes widened. The only way for Shadow Clones to obtain separate personalities than the original was if a large amount of chakra was placed into the jutsu. 'Then again, he is an Uzumaki.'

Sasuke was staring at Kurotsuchi in apprehension. "Who's that? And when did Naruto meet her?"

"Oh. That's Kurotsuchi. She's the Tsuchikage's granddaughter," Kamina explained casually.

Sasuke stared incredulously as Kamina continued on like he was talking about the weather. "Not sure how she met the redhead, though. Gotta say, a man who carries as many exploding tags as he is, he is definitely qualified to be my new best friend."

"Actually," Sakura corrected, "they're not all exploding tags. Most are just strips of paper. I can tell because I saw Naruto makes these very tags the other day."

Kamina looked impressed. "Really?"

"It is an excellent distraction," Shino said, joining the conversation. "Indeed, this will need to be added to the book."

"What book?" Kamina asked.

"A book that I am creating regarding Naruto's habits, quirks, tactics, pranks, etc.," Shino explained. "I have one for everyone in my class, but Naruto continues to prove himself worthy of his unofficial title, so I constantly have to edit the book."

"Wait…You actually tried to psycho-analyze and profile all of us?!" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Oh, I didn't try. I succeeded," Shino said stoically, though Sasuke thought that he sounded slightly smug. "But Naruto continues to surprise me, and I am forced to rewrite everything."

"What's his title?" Tsubaki asked curiously.

"Konoha's Number 1 Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja," Sasuke said smirking.

"My, my," Tsubaki said laughingly, fanning herself dramatically. "He must be quite the ninja then!"

"Hell no, he ain't!" Kiba growled. He glared up at Naruto and shouted, "And what's with-"

"Naruto!" Kakashi barked. "Come down! No use arguing with the girl now. They're gone."

"And you too, Kurotsuchi," Shishi ordered.

The two glared at each other and Shunshined down to stand in front of their senseis. Naruto grinned sheepishly while Kurotsuchi stared at her sensei blankly. Shishi looked to Naruto and nodded. "You did well, genin," he said. Shishi never was one to not give credit where it was due, even if that someone was from Konoha.

Naruto just grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, it was nothing!" he said sheepishly.

"Seriously, it was nothing," Kurotsuchi said scathingly as she glared at Naruto.

"Oh come on! Get over yourself, girly!" Naruto shouted angrily.

"How dare you!"

"Enough," Shishi said stonily, making the two stop arguing. "Kurotsuchi, arguing with the Uzumaki would be pointless. Shadow Clones, when created with a surplus amount of chakra, become difficult to command. You are an Iwa shinobi. Act like one. Besides, Uzumakis are known to be stubborn as mules."

Naruto was about to snap at the man, but Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Naruto pouted a bit, but stayed silent. Kurotsuchi, on the other hand, frowned at her sensei. She debated on whether to keep arguing with her sensei or not, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. She sighed.

"My apologizes," she mumbled to Naruto and bowed. "I was not thinking coherently and didn't look at the situation objectively."

Naruto blinked owlishly at her, a little shocked that she apologized to him. But he quickly smiled and said, "No worries, Kuro-chan!" This made her raise an eyebrow.

She smirked at him. "Still, despite being a Konoha nin and all…you're not that bad," she said with a dark grin.

Naruto started to feel uncomfortable with her grinning at him. "You've…peaked my interest, Naruto-kun," she said sweetly. "I don't know why, but you have. Although, I do know you're hiding something from me. And make no mistake, I will find out what it is."

Naruto sweated nervously. 'Oh man! Why me?!'

Kakashi sweat dropped. 'Good going, Naruto. Just how did you get the Tsuchikage's granddaughter interested in you?' he thought irritably and, secretly, amazement.

Kurotsuchi sighed and said, "Well, I'm tired, I've been dealing with bandits all day and all this excitement has drained what little energy I had getting here." She smiled and continued on with a sweet tone, "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun!"

"That son of a kunai," Kamina said in awe. "I've never seen Kurotsuchi take an interest in someone like that, let alone a Konoha nin!"

"Naruto does like to do the impossible," Sakura said chuckling.

Hinata, however, frowned a little at the Iwa nin.

"Hey, Kurotsuchi!" Tsubaki shouted. "Wait up!" She ran after Kurotsuchi, but stopped to wink at Naruto. "Later, cutie pie!" she exclaimed, making Naruto splutter and Hinata's frown deepen. Kamina chuckled.

"Well, looks like I'll be heading off too," he announced. He turned to the Konoha genin and said, "We'll see you tomorrow, Konoha nin. Since we'll be guarding the same merchant during the duration of this mission and all. Later!" He took off.

"I should be heading off too," Shishi mumbled. "It's getting late. No use being tired for the mission tomorrow. We shall converse more tomorrow, Uzumaki. Hatake." He didn't give them a chance to reply as he simply Shunshined to his team.

Naruto was still in shock over the turn of events. Kakashi chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Very nice work, Naruto. I didn't know you had it in you! Two girls in one day? Both from Iwa? And one is the Tsuchikage's granddaughter?" Kakashi wiped a fake tear from his eye and sniffled. "I'm so proud!"

"W-what are you talking about, Kakashi sensei?!" Naruto asked alarmed. "I was just trying to be polite and what was with that other girl?! Why was she calling me cutie pie?!" he continued ranting frantically, waving his arms around wildly.

Sasuke chuckled. "Still a dobe."

Sakura sighed. "He's come so far, yet he's still a clueless baka," she bemoaned.

Hinata began to feel the smallest inklings of what felt like jealousy, and more than a little irritation towards the pink-eyed kunoichi. Though, she really couldn't understand why. It wasn't like Naruto was hers or anything.

With Kurotsuchi

Kurotsuchi was humming thoughtfully to herself as her team caught up with her. Shishi appeared right next to them. Tsubaki grinned teasingly at Kurotsuchi.

"Sooo, what's up between you and the sexy redhead, Kuro-chan?" she asked suggestively.

Kurotsuchi smirked. "Not really sure," she admitted. "I met him when he was helping out an Iwa orphan. That interested me so I went and talked to him. Turns out, he's an Uzumaki but none of the clans inside Konoha had ever adopted him, and honestly that confused me. Why wouldn't they want an Uzumaki in their clans? That would bring them a lot of prestige."

'Well, if he's the son of who I'm thinking of, I really wouldn't be surprised,' Shishi thought as he remembered his encounters with Konoha's resident Uzumaki, the late Kushina Uzumaki. He fought back a shudder. That woman scared the living shit out of him, even more so than the Yellow Flash did.

"I was able to get him flustered when I confronted him, but an explosion in the square caught our attention, and he bolted," she finished. "Like I said before, he's hiding something, and I want to know what it is." She grinned darkly. "And I will find out what it is!"

An: Man, this chapter felt like it was taking FOREVER! Hope y'all liked it, anyways. And I've almost decided on who Sasuke and Sakura will be paired with in the sequel. If you have an idea, you're running out of time. Also, if you have a unique Summoning idea for Team Kakashi, please let me know. You have 'till I start the Chūnin exam arc. 'Till next time!