I am horrible. I am deplorable. Most of you hate me, some of you like me. I can only apologize. Here is to you – another chapter.

Review Responses:

Thanks to:

DarkRavie, DJ Rodriguez, Azuli, gBoi, god of all, mellopop, kihakukage, reader, greyjedi37, dayfox96,

Kael Hyun - I will consider it, as not just you and NarutoTayuya Fan have mentioned it to me. It's pushing it with more than one girl, and I like who I have for the fifth wife. Thanks for the laugh regarding real manga Sasuke

WolfDragonGod - Your welcome! ^_^

Kyuubi no Goddess - I like Anko a lot too! She is so underplayed in the manga and show. At first, long before the manga and show got passed the chuunin exams, I thought she was either Naruto's unknown mother or distant relative, haha!

Anionbde - It is a lot. A painful a lot. I set myself up for hurt.

dbtiger63 - As always, I thank you deeply for your comments. Your words always lift my spirits and push me through with new ideas. I can only hope this was a good chapter worthy of your kindness and wait.

drakean - I'm glad you enjoyed my work. I had such fun with Kushina's chapter. Not a lot of fanfics at the time had paid her any mind (understandable, as no one even knew what she looked like for the most part, or anything about her), so I wanted to bring her into the light. She was after all, the mother of a future Hokage.

HikariNoTenshi-San - No one can become normal after something traumatic, they can only go one of two ways. Naruto has become better. ^_^

Wrathchylde - I hope I fixed my grammar for this chapter. I have much to learn, I know. For as much as I love writing, I despise grammar.

shadow-red0 - Yeah…I just don't like the NaruHina. Even though it looks like Kishimoto might make it that way with the manga, I can still dream about my own pairings. Thus, the wonder of fanfiction. ^_^

daniel 29 - SHH! Don't tell people!

- Why thank you. Nope, no Sasuke rabid fandom for one Sakura.

Hells Mercenary - I'm sorry, it's too late in the story to change it. And my Sakura is not a temperamental child…later on.

Exwindzz - I'm trying to keep Hotaru as a support character, with sometimes a fore front. She has her faults too, it's just going to be awhile to anyone sees it. She was raised to be perfect, you must understand, and she tries to exemplify it.

Narucritsss - Thanks, though sadly I think I lost some awesome along the way. I can only try to pick up after that one chapter.

DestroyerDRT - I loved the code talk. And I'm trying to decide if I should decipher it for some people, I had some emails from some confused people. But I think it's more fun to decipher it yourself.

blasterdog - I lack in the ability to hurry, sadly. My boss hates that about me.

sabL - Hehe, well, you'll have to see for yourself later on how Hotaru feels. She isn't featured in this chapter, but later on, you will discover all that is my most favorite creation. As for Sasuke, I grew tired of the bashing myself. I don't care for him in the show or manga, but sometimes if something had changed in history, a person could have changed completely.

cruel vamp -Aw, not Kage? ^_^ Thanks!

Ppsh - I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you found another cup of tea though (please, do note that is not sarcasm or meant to be rude in any shape or form)

BullSheet - I gotta say it, I just like your name. Reminds me of how my friend says it in her southern accent. And thank you, I liked changing things up.

BladePhoenix41 - It took me awhile…a long while, but I did update! See! ^_^

tridemonnaruto - I'm back! I promise nothing of regular updates, as I feel like I'm lying to everyone when I can't come through in time. But consider this a quick Swiffer dust over that cyber dust that got stacked. I can only hope that all of you will be satiated with this chapter while I work on the next one.

A special thanks to HanseDavion and Phanotak, for reminding me that I had a job to do.

Words of the Wolf:

"The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn."- Gloria Steinem

Book Hangover: The inability to start a new book because your still living in the last books world. (So, damn, true!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its original characters. I do, however, take claim to this plot and my characters. No touchy!

Senpuu

Smoke was like a suppressant, a silent device that blinds ones sight, choking you, drying the throat. Sometimes, the smoke could be poisonous, or hide flying objects, or concealed the dagger that strays across the unsuspecting neck.

At one time, Naruto had loved smoke bombs. Adored them with an odd fascination like exploding tags and kunai, and he had for many years. They were an integral part of his best pranks, a diversion and a tool for escape, sometimes something flashy to distract his targets.

But as he was currently surrounded by a dark grey shroud, and coughing heavily at the small amount of potent toxin he had breathed in that caused his nose and eyes to water as it stung all his other senses, he now hated his most beloved tool.

A cackle was off somewhere to his left, probably beyond the cloud, and yet the familiar voice spoke up as if right next to him,

"You are losing your touch, Naruto. I'm a little disappointed."

After a while the smoke cleared, and he could breathe easier, though tears still fell from his now blood shot eyes that glared at the purple haired woman who was sitting on a downed log in the middle of his family's private training grounds. She was wearing a long beige trench coat, her sharp face and brown eyes focused on the dango she was eating. This stranger…he knew her, but couldn't think of how, or where.

He stood, quiet and firm as he waited for whatever she wanted. Even though she wore a Konoha headband, that didn't mean she was a shinobi that liked him. She could hurt him, more than the others. She wasn't the blazed and yelling type. She was silent, and to him, that was always the most dangerous type.

But for some reason he didn't feel threatened. The Kamigan didn't flare up, no paths to avoid attack, no counter attacks to plan. It hadn't even told him of the danger of the smoke assault. But that feeling of being on edge had the hairs on his neck stand up. A hidden kunai in hand, he finally gathered his wits to ask,

"What do you want?"

She ripped off the last dango from the pointed stick with her teeth, and that familiarity plagued him. Chewing the dough thoughtfully, she took her time, the air tensing between them as he kept himself still. It was a sad sight, when a child was so used to facing an adult that he controlled himself well despite the atmosphere. The woman shifted her head smoothly, her eyes never leaving his. Her eyebrow twitched just slightly, and a scary smile stretched across her face.

Before he could ask again, he heard a crash further in the forest, twigs and branches snapping violently at some sudden force, and he looked over to his side as the noise came closer, something muffled as it was dragged through the underbrush. It broke through the tree line and bushes to show Sasuke being dragged into the small training area tied with wires and a cloth covering his mouth. This would normally be entertaining to Naruto, seeing his best friend flustered, but not when what was pulling the wires like a sleigh were a group of snakes, large and small, not even bothered as Sasuke tried to fight and move.

And with this sight, as Sasuke was brought to the blond's side, Naruto knew who this was. The image of a smiling teen came to mind, and the warmth of her hug, putting a kunai in his hand and pointing at a target. Held him on nights with nightmares when Kakashi-nii-chan wasn't around. And he knew she had left food and notes like others had when he lived at his apartment in what seemed forever ago.

"Why, Anko-nee-chan?" Was all Naruto could utter, puzzled. Her brown eyes had never looked away, as she threw a kunai next to Sasuke. She answered,

"Because, you two belong to me now, and I didn't want to waste my time fetching you."

Sasuke shifted on his side to grab the blade, and made quick work to cut himself lose, throwing off the wires as he scrambled up, angry and confused.

"What do you mean by that!?"

Anko snorted at seeing his attempt to contort his face into a blank stare after his outburst, "You can cut the act kid, I know about the whole thing. As for why, it has been arranged that you will be my apprentices."

Both boys reeled back in shock, unsure how this was even possible. No one had made mention of it. Sasuke responded,

"How could that be? What about-" Before he could finish, she raised her dango stick at him,

"You will still go to academy. You will still join a genin team if you pass the exam, and you will have other senseis, and maybe other masters. But I will be your first master, and yours for life, as you are my only apprentices. When I am not here, I expect you two to still go to your other teachers, or train on your own. "

"But Anko-nee-" Naruto tried to interject, but she had none of it,

"No, from now on, I am Anko. Not sensei, or shishou. I can't deal with those names. And everything I say goes, got it?"

Her tone said everything. Resistance would only make things harder. And Naruto knew that there was no getting out of this. Both boys nodded their heads dumbly, not knowing what was going to happen next. Anko already had that planned,

"Drop all your weapons and tools."

The two just looked at her as if she had become a bully and was taking away their favorite toys.

"You heard me. Drop them."

They looked at each other for a moment, and did as told without verbal protest, but they moved slowly. Anko didn't care, she had all day. One by one, they pulled out every bit and piece they had. In front of them were two piles of their mini armory. Anko stepped forward, eyeing the piles critically. Impressive for two 8 year olds, but the weapons were all dulled by jutsu. Holding out her hands, in each palm was a sharp edged kunai. Both of her apprentices looked at them, awed. All of their equipment was blunt edged and small, training material for young ninja. The adults, guardians and families alike, would never have let them touch these new kunai, let alone practice with them. Naruto felt the now regular shiver run down his spine as he eyed this weapon before him.

"From now on, this will be the only tool you two will have. No extras like wires, bombs, or tags, or anything. Take your weapon."

Again glancing at each other, Naruto extended his hand first, grabbing for the adult kunai before him. The handle was much larger, and the whole thing was heavier. Sasuke followed suit, feeling the weight in his hand as he balanced it. Anko brought out another kunai for herself, twirling it around her hand smoothly.

"Feel it, understand it, because this is your only physical weapon until you can master it."

Naruto attempted to flip the kunai as he tried out different positions of the blade in hand, but he misjudged the weight and force to throw it in the air, because the blade fell down first and not the handle ring, and it sliced the palm of his right hand, crossing another scar that was already there from years ago.

He hissed, the cut rather deep, and stung more than usual when he had lost control of blades. A wave of pain ran through him, an image of the kunai piercing him in the red world. But he was quickly brought out of it, as the sting came again. Naruto looked up, and asked, knowing this feel,

"Why did you poison the blade, Anko?"

Anko quirked a brow as if this was below her care.

"To wake you up. You have no right to hinder yourself, or Sasuke, or anyone else for that matter."

Sasuke prepared to exclaim, "But Anko-" She calmly silenced the Uchiha with a piercing stare, her voice laced with a layer of emotion neither expected to hear coming from her.

"No. By allowing himself to fall into this dream state at every little pain, at every attack, it will not only get him killed, but you as well. When the both of you become genin, this weakness will get your sensei killed, and even worse, your third teammate. She will have to deal with your crutch, and she will end up paying the price because you didn't have the will to overcome this obstacle. You will have her on your conscience, if you let her die, Naruto. You, and you alone, would be to blame."

Naruto was cowed, head lowered as he looked at the kunai in his hand, blood trailing down to the grass from his gripped hand. Anko pointed at the tree log behind her,

"I want you two to do target practice on this log. After a hundred, then you move onto that tree behind it. After a hundred, you will then target the ones on your left, and then right. Then behind. Switch the hands at every hundred, and without moving your bodies."

Sasuke spoke up, skeptic, "How can you hit a target without moving your body?"

Anko snorted, "Watch me, then, and you'll see."

With that, she stood still, and they heard 6 thunks on wood. Both of them looked at the targets, only seeing 4, then Naruto saw behind them two kunai in another tree, over twenty feet away. He shook Sasuke's sleeves and pointed at the two, and the boys stared at their sensei wide eyed. Anko didn't even need to see them to know she had won them over by showing them a trick.

She turned to face them, a bored expression on her face again. "This is the first move of the Hebi style. You will master it, before you can move onto the next step. No chakra either. I will not play favorites, and I won't give the next lesson to the one who masters it first. You do this together. Understand?"

Both boys nodded as images of how to do this already flowing through their heads, of how cool this lesson was.

"Good. I'll be back later to see your progress. Now, get to work."

With that, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, along with their piles of weapons and tools, and the boys started practicing with their one sharp edged kunai, trying to throw without moving their hand away, and constantly having to pick it up off the ground. Anko watched from the tree line at their horrible attempts, and she cackled as she walked off, hoping Hotaru had the dango at the house like the kid had promised.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto had never known his arms, back, and legs could be this sore. After the target practice, in which him and Sasuke hadn't even thrown their kunai more than an inch away from them, Anko told them they were doing it wrong, and that they had to do the practice all over again. 8 hours of practice, and they still hadn't gotten anything. His muscles were stiff, and his hands felt ready to fall off, and were heavily bandaged from the cuts of the blade. Kyuubi had decided not to heal the deep cut in his right palm that crossed his promise scar. The poison in the sharp kunai was not deadly, but it stung smartly, so that every time he got scratched, it woke him up from the red world.

He could barely lift his arms to feed himself at dinner, or to open a door, but he also had lessons with Shiba in writing after Anko left. Somehow he was able to write for his lesson, and when he got home he fell onto his bed. No dreams or nightmares came, and he was too exhausted to care.

Anko was just…a terrorizing lady. Not at all like he remembered her, so kind and warm.

For a week, this was his and Sasuke's lesson, and every time, the result was the same, with the kunai not even thrown 2 inches away. Every day Anko did the same thing, providing the six targets, and they embedded a few pitiful holes in the ground around themselves. Sasuke was exhausted with going to Academy and then hours of this mundane but exhausting drill. Naruto groaned when his supplementary teachers inquired about his new master.

As he woke the eighth morning since reuniting with Anko, a Saturday and the end of the first year of Academy, he felt a presence above him, and there was Anko, that crazy smile on her face, and Sasuke already captured in her grasp as he was swaying from under her arm. Anko wasted no time in picking up Naruto around the middle and the two were stuck tightly as she hoisted them away, running out the open door, and through the Namikaze home, striding passed Naruto's family with a smile on her face and a good morning greeting to everyone. No one even tried to come to their rescue.

Anko shouted behind her as she was leaving the main house, "Tell Saki-san and Mikoto-san that I'll bring these two back in a couple months. If they live that long, khahaha."

Anko cackled as she just sauntered off. Both of her students looked at each other, nervous. What did she mean by a couple of months? But they had no chance to ask, as she shunshined away from the Namikaze compound, and after several more, they found themselves in a place neither had been before. Anko dropped them, and both fell on their faces, but as Naruto looked up, he was amazed.

The trees were HUGE! Not like any he had seen before in Konoha. There were so many things that he didn't know the name of as he stared at the small area they were in. A dragonfly went passed, and it was bigger than normal ones too, by a foot!

The blond looked away from this wild, daunting sight to stare up at Anko, whose face was unimpressed with the view. She wasted no time, as she turned to her students. "First things first, take off those chakra weights you have. They're of no use to you now."

Knowing her word was law, they did so, taking the weights off, and feeling lighter because of it. This was when Naruto noticed that the both of them had on training clothes, and he knew he had changed into his sleep clothes last night. He chalked it up to Anko, who could care less about the boys' modesty. The bands disappeared into her coat when they handed it over, and she began her lesson,

"From now on, we will live here. We eat what we catch, we train, and we move every day. We have all summer, but we don't have all day. Now, start where we left off yesterday. Hit these targets, without moving yourself. Switch between both hands."

They did as told, aiming for trees marked out with her kunai that were only 10 feet away in four directions, two targets in front and back, but like all week, they could only get it a few inches away from their body. Anko sat back in a tree, getting comfortable. This was going to take a while. Closing her eyes, she decided to take a nap. They wouldn't be going anywhere for a few hours.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She had them do the exercise for nine hours, no breakfast and lunch and now nearing dinner, the boys were hungry, irritated, and exhausted from sore muscles. As Naruto's stomach protested loudly again, Anko got up from her napping tree.

"Alright, pick up your weapon, we are moving." Both boys gratefully did so only to regret it as their arms screamed now that they weren't practicing. Anko jumped up to a low branch that they could get to easily, and she pumped chakra into her legs as she leaped to another tree. The boys grumbled, but tailed her, doing as she did, following her steps as she made a trail through the leaves. She was still far ahead when she came to a stop, turning to wait for them. As they caught up, she lifted a tree branch laden with thick green leaves to show their campsite of the day.

It was a pebbled river bed, a small lake taking some of the river into it to provide water to its body. The clearing was a hundred feet in diameter approximately, and now the boys could see the sun and sky again. Anko jumped down, walking over to the edge of the lake, and the two were a step behind her. She pointed,

"Naruto, your duty today is to catch dinner. Sasuke, you will go in the brush along the tree line to find any herbs and berries. I'll go find some firewood."

She disappeared, and both shrugged and went to start their assigned task. Naruto took off his Whirlpool-designed black and orange fur lined jacket, and his blue shirt underneath. He laid out his shoes and set his necklace on his jacket, fearful of losing it in this place. Diving under the water was colder than he would have thought on a summer day, but he got to work, swimming after fish, and tossing them onto the shoreline far enough that they couldn't flop back into the water. Even the fish, simple trout, were larger than normal in this strange forest.

As he collected meat, Sasuke found berries that he knew weren't poisonous, and found a few sprigs of thyme to go with fish. Gathering everything in his blue jacket, he brought it over to the spot the two designated as central point, and Anko joined Sasuke a few minutes later, arms laden with wood. Anko turned to the raven haired boy, brushing off dirt,

"The fire is yours tonight. I'll clean off the berries."

The Uchiha set to making a good fire, and Naruto got out of the water, shaking the water out. He had caught 8 good sized fish, enough to last the day. Anko merely directed,

"Well, you have the tool, gut the fish." The blond was about to, then remembered something,

"Anko, my kunai is poisoned though." Anko nodded with her back turned, glad he thought of that before getting all of them sick. She tossed an extra at him, and she heard it shuk into the pebble and sand ground. He had been too afraid to catch it. She held back an irritated sigh as she spoke,

"Give it back when you are done."

Finishing his job of fish gutting and filleting, he took sterile sticks Sasuke had provided to him to put the meat on. Placing the sticks around the fire after sprinkling herb on them, the boys sat by the fire, tired from the days exertions.

Anko sat across from them, noting how well the two did. She asked,

"So, who taught you survival training?"

Naruto perked up, "Tsume-oba-chan and Miyako-oba-chan. They taught Sasuke, me, and the others. We went camping sometimes on Tsume's lands, to practice."

Anko nodded, "They did good. But, you two and your friends have much to learn. Today is probably the last good meal you two will have until the end of this trip, so enjoy it. Tomorrow morning will be the real start of your training."

Sasuke ventured, "Anko, are we really going to be here all summer?"

The purple haired woman turned the fish on her side of the fire over to cook both sides, then responded,

"Yes. It was the only time I could get off and that was free for both of you. Now, I know you might have had plans, but as of now, you have none. There will be no interference from anyone. It will just be us three out here. This entire summer is dedicated to you two learning the first step of the Hebi style. And yes, it will take you a long time to learn how to hit the targets without chakra. You will be using chakra as little as possible on this trip."

She added the last part at the questionable look on Naruto's face. The blond questioned,

"Why are we out here instead of in Konoha?"

Their sensei looked between the two and replied, "Too many distractions for you both. The Hebi style is not gentle, and is meant to be learned in a particular attitude. Naruto, you have already touched on this attitude, but it has been a while for you. Sasuke, you have never been near it. So, both of you will experience it together."

The young Uchiha asked, curious, "What attitude?"

Anko's brown eyes were dark as the sky had begun to turn to twilight. She didn't do her eerie smile, or her creepy laugh. It terrified the 8 year olds how serious she was as she answered,

"Being haunted. Being hunted and chased. Being on the line of life and death."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning they woke from their pebbled beds and followed behind their teacher quietly, and they returned to the woods and their target practice. Today was different. They had kunai throwing for only five hours that day, interrupted by searching for lunch that they could catch, something hard in this forest of large prey, and larger predators.

It took the boys two hours to track and capture a rabbit near half the size of Tsume's wolf. According to Anko it was just in the middle of its growth. They ate fairly well, and Anko had them learn to strip the fur properly and how to store the meat. When asked why not use a seal, she said they had only one tool, their kunai, no chakra. They would learn what to keep, what to toss, how to store, and preserve. There was no guarantee of a meal, as she pointed out that this was for them to learn to hunt.

After lunch was cooked and eaten, she made them move again, and had them spar in the higher branches. Both the boys thought that it was bizarre, being so high, but said nothing as they began a normal spar between two of them. It was strange not to use any weapons or ninjutsu, and they had to be careful not to fall as they struck and dodged blows.

Anko watched, a blank face as she saw the two look more like dancing partners as they tiptoed around the edge of the branches. Doing a few seals, she summoned forth snakes of several sizes. She pointed with her head at the unnoticing boys.

"Make them realize what real danger is."

The snakes slinked away, placing themselves on several branches, and went to work. As Naruto landed from another strike at Sasuke, he felt the danger before he heard the hiss, and barely moved his leg in time out of the fanged jaw of a dark green snake that had not been there before. He had to jump again as a second hiss from behind him warned him of another attacker. Going to Sasuke's branch, the Uchiha wasn't faring any better. Anko called out,

"Get back to sparing! I didn't say stop!"

Naruto called out, angry, "How do we do that with these guys snapping at us!?"

Anko cackled, "You learn."

With that, the snakes intensified their attacks, and Naruto and Sasuke continued their spar, quickly moving from branch to branch to attack each other and get away from the persistent reptiles. This continued for a half hour, tripping and slipping but always regaining their footing in time. She was satisfied with the short progress and yelled,

"Alright boys, it's hunting time!"

Both stopped, looking sideways at each other, unsure what she meant. Sasuke glared, "What is being hunted?"

Anko had a smile that spread across her face slowly, her eyes wild.

"You."

The snakes took this as the cue, and advanced on the her apprentices. Neither stayed long, running off into this forest of certain death with their teacher's demented laugh following on the tails of her venomous hunters.

Staring out at the garden, Hinata sighed softly to herself. It was boring in her family compound. Her father was off on another trip of his that he refused to take her on. Her mother was gone on her monthly trip to the temple and took Hinata's only hope for entertainment, Hanabi, with her. Neji-nii-san, well, he flat out refused to speak to her as always, let alone practice with her, disappearing into the family training grounds. Everyone had something to do but her.

Shino had told her last week that both Naruto and Sasuke were gone for the summer, when the Aburame went to the Namikaze compound the day after Academy let out. She had wanted to play and train with her brother. Ever since the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke had to pretend to be angry with everyone and everything in public, and Naruto had been out of sight for so long that a lot of their fellow students thought Naruto had quit school. Iruka-sensei merely told the class that Naruto would rejoin them second year, having come down with a sickness that kept him out. Haruno and Yamanka were ecstatic about this, not having to deal with the blond's pranks and annoying them all the time.

Hinata was just lonely.

Sure, all of the guys hung out with her, and studied with her, and sparred. But it hadn't been the same. Nothing had been the same. Even Hanabi noticed something was different with their older brother.

A knock was at her door, and she called out, "Enter, please."

The fusuma slid open, and a branch member spoke, "Hinata-sama, you have a guest."

Hinata stood quickly and exited the door, the branch member closing it and walking beside the Hyuuga heiress down the hall. Entering the greeting room, Hinata lightened up.

Every one of the group –minus the two noted absentees – were sitting around the table, eating the offered snacks. Hinata took her place at the head of the table, thanking the branch member in her usual quiet voice as he left to leave the children alone. The guys all greeted her in some way, a head nod, or spitting food while saying a boisterous hello. Akamaru was eating happily from a bowl in the corner. She smiled softly, glad to see them.

"What brings all of you here?"

Shikamaru replied, his usual bored expression a little more interested today then was normal for him.

"We came up with a plan. Since the idiots are gone for the summer trip, it doesn't mean we can't do our own training right here."

The Hyuuga girl blinked, pleased at the idea. "Who will teach us? Most of the adults are out on missions."

Kiba interjected, "We don't need adults! Naruto left me some scrolls that I haven't had a chance to read, and we can learn the techniques out of those. Most of them are really simple ones, but it's a start! We'll all show them up at the end of the summer, they'll realize they missed out!"

Shino added, "All we need is to train every day, and figure it out for ourselves."

Choji swallowed his treat, having received an extra helping from the branch member that had served them, "So, do you want to join us?"

Hinata smiled brightly at them, delighted that they thought of asking her to join them in training. Nodding her head, they smiled back, even Shino behind his glasses. After changing into her training clothes, she said good bye to the branch members as she left the compound. Many did not like the idea of her leaving without escort, but she shook her head,

"I'm going to be with my friends. Nothing bad will happen!"

The five shinobi cadets and Akamaru ran through Konoha to a public training ground. Kiba pulled out a scroll, written in Sasuke's hand, Naruto's notes on the side. Picking a simple ninjutsu, Hinata paired off with Choji while Kiba and Shikamaru were partners, and Shino read through the technique again.

"It says it's a temporary paralysis, but Naruto wrote something else. He wrote this before taking lessons with my father long enough…His handwriting was horrible. I can't really read what it says…"

The four just went through the seals, practicing while Shino tried to decipher the scratchy writing of Naruto's once atrocious writing before the Aburame elder got a hold of him. When they went through the seals, each decided by janken who would try it first. Hinata and Shikamaru went first, and their targets stood a few feet away, waiting. Guessing the amount of chakra, they both called it out after finishing the seals,

"Kanashibari no Jutsu!"

Kiba and Choji both shook a little as their knees crumpled under them, and Akimichi fell on his back while the Inuzuka face planted into the dirt. They waited a few minutes, like Sasuke wrote, but neither moved. Akamaru sniffed his human and Choji, sitting beside Kiba. Hinata was worried,

"Why aren't they moving?"

The other two boys and her scoured the scroll, frantic to find an answer. Just what was happening? Ten minutes, and still neither boy moved! This wasn't temporary!

"Hey!"

The three turned and to their surprise Yamanka Ino and Haruno Sakura were walking near them on their way to another practice field. But the desperate look on the boy's faces and Hinata near tears made them stop. The two girls hurried over, concerned. Sakura asked,

"What's wrong?"

Ino pointed to the two boys on the ground, "And why are they…are they knocked out?"

Shikamaru shook his head, explaining, a bit panicky, "We are trying a new technique, but for some reason they aren't getting up. Nothing in the scroll explains why."

Sakura took the paper and both of the girls scanned it over. She pointed to one of the many side notes,

"It says right here to be careful of the amount of chakra used. Too much can make the jutsu last longer than intended. The only thing to do is either cancel it out, or wait."

The three stared at Sakura, and Shikamaru asked, incredulous, "You could read that?"

Both girls nodded, Ino replying with a shrug, "It's not that hard. Whose scroll is this? These notes are good."

Shino answered honestly, "It belongs to Naruto." Sakura dropped it like a burning coal, Hinata catching it in time before falling on the ground. She asked casually, wary, "So, where is he?"

The young Nara rolled his eyes, "He and Sasuke are gone for the summer, so you can put away your shuriken, Ino. He's not hiding somewhere to attack you."

The blonde girl put away her weapons, believing Shikamaru. She questioned, "Why do you guys hang out with those two, anyway? They are trouble makers, the both of them."

"They are fun, and Naruto's our brother." Kiba voiced as he started getting up from the ground, shaking off his bodies convulsions. He gave a hand to Choji, helping up the larger boy. Haruno's head cocked to the side, curious,

"Brother? How is that possible."

She noticed all of them squeeze their right hands, but Hinata smiled kindly, "Because he can be. Anyways, would you like to join us in training?"

Sakura glanced at Ino who nodded, then shrugged herself, "Sure, sounds fun."

"Damn it!"

Sasuke exclaimed, his temper flaring that once again, he couldn't get the kunai to move as far as he wanted. It had been four weeks since Anko had become his and Naruto's master, three weeks in this hell, and he could only get the kunai two feet now. Naruto had it at three feet, but the blond quickly stressed it was because of the demon healing his muscles. The Uchiha knew it was Naruto's way to excuse why he was better.

Today, since Anko had gone off somewhere after they woke up to give her apprentices a rare day of independent practice in a protected area, Naruto had wandered off to go find food for them. They hadn't eaten since…three days ago. At least, that's what it seemed to Sasuke. Anko had kept to her word, they would only eat when the boys caught their own food. Naruto was really good at hunting, Sasuke was mediocre.

Naruto was the one that carried the two of them. Naruto was used to going hungry, to this hardship. That sharp pain in the empty stomach, the lack of energy, and concentration that always wanted to break. His best friend could deal with all this, but he was unsure how to handle all these new experiences at once.

He didn't hear the footsteps, but saw the feet enter his vision as he observed the pitted kunai holes around him. Glancing up, he saw their master. He thought there would be another deranged grin on her face, but it looked more like quiet concern. She didn't even say anything as she lifted a hand to his forehead, and her brow furrowed a little.

"Got quite a fever there, gaki. Come on, you need some sleep."

She turned, but he didn't follow. His eye was on the target, and then the blasted kunai. She glanced back at him.

"Staring at it won't move it, in case you're wondering. I tried telekinesis myself a long time ago. All it gets you is a head ache."

This was her way of cheering someone up. It was weird, and not really cheerful. She exhaled, something he could barely hear among the crickets around them. She came back over, and unceremoniously grabbed him by the middle and tucked him under her arm, and bent down to pick up his kunai. Jumping into the trees to their camp of the day of a little hole in the trunk, she put him down on the floor, and put the kunai back in his hand.

Sitting with her back against the wall, she spoke up again, her voice dangerously low,

"Why are you so determined to catch up to Naruto?"

Sasuke glimpsed at her, sitting across from her, twirling the blade in his hand. He said nothing, so she continued,

"Is it to be better than him? To be better than everyone else?"

He shook his head. How could he explain to her everything? Her voice was softer, almost kind,

"Then you need to tell me Sasuke."

He tossed the kunai by his foot, anger rising again. How to form the words…? They sat in silence, as she waited for the answer. He spoke up, raspy from lack of water,

"I…I can't let him do it again."

One of her eyebrow rose, an idea forming of what was really going on with the young Uchiha. He continued,

"I can't let Naruto do something stupid again, to protect me. The Tsukuyomi was meant for me, not him. I'm not ungrateful. I just…don't want to lose my best friend because he took the hit first. I am supposed to protect him. So I have to better. I can't be so…useless."

Anko waited for him to finish, as he glared again at the kunai. She responded,

"In what world are you useless? You've done more for Naruto than you will ever know. Just because he took a hit for you doesn't mean a thing other than Naruto took a hit for you. He doesn't see it other than he took care of his family."

Sasuke stared at her, his anger being tempered, but not extinguished. "But I have to be faster! If I don't, I-"

"You will simply be a child." Anko interrupted, "You are almost 9, Sasuke. You are already so strong for one so young. If either of you even get the kunai to five feet by the end of the summer, I will be surprised."

Sasuke asked, "How long did it take you to learn?"

Anko shook her head, "My circumstance was different. I already lived in the attitude, I already had my muscles trained for the Hebi style. My teacher was…not as kind or forgiving of mistakes. You both cannot be compared to me, and I would never put those expectations on either of you…Now, go to sleep, gaki. You need to fight off that fever."

Sasuke shook his head, pulling the kunai out of the wood. "It's my turn to take watch tonight."

Anko stood, and shoved his head down onto his makeshift pack he made from furs. "Bed, or I'll set snakes on you again."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and then quickly shut them for fear of her promise. Anko stifled a chuckle, going to the entrance of their hole, and found Naruto sitting outside where he couldn't be seen by his fellow apprentice. Dinner was in front of him, some fish caught in the net Naruto had fashioned. Sasuke's fever must be higher than she thought, if the Uchiha didn't sense his best friend near. The blond gazed up, the look reminiscent to her of him as a child, hurt. She fought the urge to hug the boy like when he was a toddler, opting to stand above him as she looked out to the sun dying through the tree canopy.

He asked, waiting a few minutes for Sasuke to fall asleep, "Am I a bad friend?"

She blinked. Of all things… "No, Naruto. Never."

The blue eyes implored, "But I didn't know he was so unhappy!"

Anko shook her head. Naruto was asking the wrong person about friendship. She ventured, "Do you tell him that you still have nightmares?"

The blond froze. His voice hesitant, as if caught, "No."

Anko rolled her eyes, "Then do you think he'll tell you his own problem, if you can't face your own? Everyone has a secret to hide, Naruto. Some of us, hell, most of us, want to hide it far from everyone, including ourselves. I have mine, you have yours, and Sasuke has his. In time, probably many years, Sasuke will realize that this secret will be irrelevant. It will be the same for you, with your fear of pain and the nightmares."

"What about you, Anko. Are you still waiting?"

His teacher smirked just slightly, softening her features for a few seconds as she answered honestly, "The worst of my problems is over. Now, go cook dinner, gaki."

Releasing the Byakugan a third time, Hiashi was getting nervous. His usual companion, Shikaku, was sitting across from him in the tavern, and made no barbs at the impatient Hyuuga. Neither had touched their drinks, the third bottle of sake waiting to be consumed.

This time they were on the borders of Rain and River, a dangerous place like all the others. It was damp outside, and they had found this hole in the wall place by Zabuza's description. Moldy smelling, the wood walls and ceiling near rot, horrible service, and off the path. Few customers roamed here. No wonder, with the glare on the owner's face that had greeted the two strangers dressed as merchants.

Zabuza was usually on time, but today he was an hour late.

Waiting another half hour, sipping sporadically from their discs of the foul-tasting sake, Hiashi was ready to go searching when he felt the poorly suppressed chakra of a young child heading towards them. Entering, the men saw Haku a little more ragged than normal, his hair not in its typical ponytail, but soaking through, drooping down like his clothes.

Shikaku waved the boy over, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around the shivering child when he reached the two men in the dark corner. He was tucked away into a corner as Hiashi went up to the bar and got food ordered for the child. Shikaku asked,

"Are you injured?"

Haku showed a scarred arm, a new deep cut on his arm, blood seeping to the surface now that the rain wasn't washing it away. Shikaku took a bandana from around his own arm and wrapped the wound tightly. Hiashi came back over, inquiring,

"What happened?"

The young boy looked up at the familiar men, "Otou-san is having problems with the oxen. They don't like the rain."

Both men became on edge, Shikaku asked, still putting pressure on the boy's arm, "Does he need help?"

Haku shook his head, hair in his face. "Otou-san can handle it. He sent me ahead. Got lost along the way."

Hiashi accepted this with a bob of the head. Good, the boy didn't lead any enemy their way. He was learning well under his unorthodox master. Three bowls of ramen were delivered to their table, and Haku ate quietly, enjoying the warmth. Both men had a matching half-grin on their faces at seeing the child enjoy the simple pleasure, much like their missing blond.

The door opened again, and in walked Haku's master. Soaked, but there was nothing wrong with him as he came over to the table. Hiashi slid the bowl of ramen over to Zabuza as the large man sat down, and the once mist ninja gratefully ate. Taking a sip of offered sake, he began,

"Sorry about that. The oxen were getting ornery. One of the stupid beasts managed to get hurt, and the others spooked. But they'll behave now. What's new?"

Hiashi poured more sake into Zabuza's disc, "Business has been hard as usual, but when we were traveling through Wind, it seems the place is close to desolate. Their Daimyo has been taking all his business to Earth these days. With raised taxes, tariffs, and no good exports this year, they are barely scraping the bottom of the barrel. It seems all the business is in Earth these days, with Lightning starting to strike up talks. And if Earth gets a hold of Lightning's rich ores and good crops, they'll be set for a time."

Zabuza shook his head, "The road here was treacherous. There seems to be a migration of some sort. Homeless birds all over turning into song birds. Getting noisy in the rice fields lately."

Shikaku got up and ordered more food and drink, returning with another bottle of sake and a pitcher of water for Haku, who gulped down the first glass happily. The Nara supplied,

"Some more disturbing news. The Daimyo of Demon country was assassinated."

That perked up Zabuza attention, "The great Priestess Miroku? Who would kill her?"

"No one knows, but her child of 8 has taken the mantle as Daimyo and Priestess." Shikaku shrugged, downing his disc of liquid. Hiashi added soberly,

"Regretfully, no news from across the water. The tea shortage of rare blends is creating quite a pinch."

Zabuza kept himself in check, giving a sharp nod of his head as he swallowed the bottom of the ramen bowl, accepting the new bowl from the cook and quickly disposing of the noodles. Haku was taking a quiet nap next to Shikaku, and none of the men wanted to disturb the boy's sleep. Hiashi asked,

"Did that weasel you were selling find a home?"

Their dinner partner nodded absently, "Made sure he was secure and set up nicely. He'll do fine."

The Konoha nin didn't know if to relax or still be on edge. They settled for a murky content, sitting in the tavern with the rain still pouring above in the rundown building, drops from the ceiling going to the stone floor.

They were on the run again. The trees were wet and slippery from the hard rain pouring through the canopy, the bark giving them nothing to hold onto as they scrambled away from Anko's snakes. Jumping up, Naruto managed to get a good hold of a branch, and Sasuke was right behind him, taking Naruto's offered hand as the blond boosted him up in the tree, then swung himself onto another branch. The blond began slipping a little, and Sasuke quickly grabbed a hold of Naruto's jacket, righting him up.

"Come on." Sasuke panted, running dangerously low of breath and energy. Usually after an hour or so of running from her hunters, Anko sent her snakes away. But the boys had been running since the day before last, with only a few hours of jittery sleep as they managed to find a spot to hide while their stalkers searched for the two. No food, no water, barely sleep, and even Naruto was sluggish. They had been covered in a concocted camouflage, but the rain was washing it away too quickly.

Leaping to another tree, Naruto racked his muddled brain for anything that would give them a respite for even an hour. He was running low on ideas, and he didn't think either of them had much time before being dragged into another fight with the serpents. Wiping his face, he gazed to his right as the boys passed a tree with entwining branches. Vines!

Giving a soft whistle as he stopped, Sasuke turned to face him from another branch, and hopped over, careful of his landing. The blond gave a sharp nod at the green tentacles. Uchiha stared at them for a few seconds before reaching out a hand and grabbed one, tugging hard. It did not give. Facing his partner, he nodded before climbing up the vine.

Running around several trees, Naruto cut up some moss. In the time the two had spent here, they discovered that the moss, just like everything else, was hardy and thick. Gathering two long strips two times larger than himself, he rolled them up like heavy rugs, and tossed them over his shoulder. Looking up, he saw that Sasuke had reached the top of the vine and was now checking others. Scaling awkwardly up one that Sasuke had checked, he found the top, which was twined around a thick branch.

The raven haired boy asked quietly, "What's the plan?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulder with the moss. "We can make a shelter for a little while. Cut a vine to use as a binder, and I'll go find a few branches."

The boys split apart to do their objective, and came back to create the blond's envisioned shelter. Hiding on the bottom of the thick tree branch with their chakra, they made quick work. Sasuke heated the moss side of the makeshift tarp, Naruto put sturdy branches on sides and tide some vines to make the branches stay. They proceeded to latch several vines around the underside of the moss. Fixing it here and there, Sasuke was surprised at the end product. It was hidden from sight by the hideout being under the tree, and if you looked up at the branch, all you would see was the brown of dirt and bark. The shelter laid as hammocks with only one exit, to which they faced out to see.

Naruto snuggled into his shelter, Sasuke tailing behind as he wiggled into his own. It was warm from his steam fire, and dry, so wonderfully dry. Naruto whispered,

"I've got watch."

Sasuke only needed to hear that to close his eyes. Naruto turned on his Kamigan, eyes searching anything in sight in the twilight of the forest. The rain had not let up, but it was normal for Konoha's monsoon season. In the past…what was it, almost 48 hours? Neither of them had kept much count, to busy running, or searching for resources to hide and keep the snakes off. She had never had the chase go on this long, and Naruto guessed why she was doing it now. Neither of them was progressing to the level she wanted. Neither was stooping low enough, becoming the attitude that she needed for them to be in. Naruto had kept them fed for the most part, his traps getting better at catching game to the point they had food every night. He knew without her say, that that was not what Anko wanted.

He let Sasuke sleep for three hours, knowing the Uchiha desperately needed rest. As they switched watch, Sasuke snuck out to get them leaf sluices with water tucked into the pocket. He found a few edible plants, pried out some bark, and then reinvented their camouflage for snake deflection, leaving smears of it in a small perimeter around their grouping of trees. When the blond woke up, he gratefully drank from the leaf, and chewed the mashed up bark, berries, and herbs with fervor, glad to fill his stomach.

Sasuke smeared some of the vile smelling mixture onto Naruto, who kept a stone face. He knew Sasuke secretly enjoyed covering him in panther dung, and refused to show any emotion about it.

With a meal, water, some sleep, and camouflage, they huddled into their shelters and began the next plan. They couldn't stay here long; the rain would only give them a window of maybe an hour or two before it would let up for maybe an hour. An hour was long enough to find their scent again. They slept in shifts this time, thirty minutes each. They each only got two shifts in when the rain stopped. Naruto woke Sasuke, and they both squirmed out of their shelter and destroyed them, and then shimmied down vines, dropping down to the lowest section of the forest. The snakes would be searching the upper tiers now, if Sasuke predicted it right.

Onto day three…

With a heavy sigh, a wrinkled old hand put down the disturbing news he had received from the border. It seemed that conflict would be inevitable. When, was the only question he could wonder.

He searched his hands on the desk in front of him. Aged, calloused, scars of so many varieties, and spots. He wasn't supposed to live out his old age at this desk.

Looking up to the portrait picture of his once predecessor, he only ever felt guilt. What could he do, but to stare at that picture, and the mountain? Minato would never return, and Naruto could not possibly age fast enough to take the hat from the Sandaime. His thoughts led to the boy, a sad smile on his face.

Naruto. He couldn't say the name without a smile and a flood of memories. The boy had this way about him, drawing someone in. It was too quiet in this village, for him not be running around, or bursting into his office just to visit without an appointment. An always welcome ray of sun light, that child.

The elder Sarutobi chuckled to himself. His secretary was constantly on edge, waiting for the prank that is almost inevitable if the Hokage didn't know better. Without the blond around to stir up trouble and be sought out by ANBU, this village was almost…normal. Sandaime for some reason just never thought of this place as normal, and wished dearly for the little whirlwind's return to inspire and raise hell with his friends once again.

He would never do right by that boy, no matter what he tried. And now the child was placed under one Mitarashi Anko. He had nothing against the young woman. She had a hard life, had dealt with pain his once student inflicted on her. She came out sane to what she could have been. He admired her complete disregard of her past. She moved on, and became a jounin, and an ANBU.

A little tickle in his spine reminded him of her threat. Once she had been registered as a master of two young heirs, Naruto and Sasuke of all people, she had requested the summer off. To 'improve their attitude' as she claimed. She warned him not to go searching for them, to send scouts of any form, or to use his crystal ball. If she so much as felt it – and he often thought she was partly psychic- she promised the destruction of a certain hidden stash of unmentionable objects, and break his favorite pipe.

Shaking his head with a wry smirk at the impertinent youth he surrounded himself with, he rotated in his chair to face the windows behind his desk. The sky was bright despite the setting sun. Bringing out his pipe and stacking tobacco inside, he lit it with fire from his chakra. Breathing out, he let the smoke haze his vision.

'I wonder how the boys are doing…'

"Fucking…bitch…" Naruto gasped, his ribs in pain. For three weeks they had been hunted, and Anko had gotten tired of them slipping away after a few days, and started making traps to make her pursuit more fun. He had gotten hit by a barrage of logs, exploding seals, and a flying snake. It reminded him of a prank, a snake in a can. This one wasn't funny, however, being six feet long, jaw open, fangs at the ready as it hissed through the air. He barely got out of the way from that one, only to be hit in the side.

His Kamigan only could predict so far, and that had not been one of the pathways available. His instincts haywire, dodging everything he could. He was beyond exhaustion, as was Sasuke, who didn't scold him for cursing their sensei. Sasuke didn't come out unscathed either. He had got whacked by the flying snake, into an exploding tag, and the blast threw the Uchiha into a swinging log.

This was getting ridiculous.

They hadn't slept more than four hours in the past two days, an average amount since their last good sleep in the hammocks under the tree. Naruto had wanted to remake them, but they never had the time. As predicted, once the rain stopped, their trail had been found, and the boys were lucky to even eat bark. Even his Kage Bunshin didn't serve as good enough decoys. Her traps kept trying to keep them in a circle, they tried to get around it, but there was a second layer of traps. Today was the last.

Limping with Naruto's help, Sasuke was keeping watch when he spotted trouble. Feeling Uchiha halt at his side, blue eyes sought the problem.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

A horde of snakes were coming from the south, their intended direction. Trees were dripping with serpents, hisses making shivers dance down the boys' necks. They pivoted and went at a dead run, Sasuke piggy back riding on Naruto's back, despite both their bodies protestation and aches. They got about a mile when Naruto saw the snare. It was too late to stop, the bark slippery, and his ankle went through the loop and the blond was projected up, Sasuke falling into a secondary trap, body wrapped up as he was forced to watch Naruto dangle above him twenty feet.

Sasuke observed as Naruto attempted to get out of the rope, kunai in hand, but froze when he heard the hiss. Nearing Sasuke was a black serpent, its long body gliding, yellow eyes on her target of a squirming Uchiha. Naruto didn't hesitate to throw his kunai at the snake, who hissed back, her head nearly taken off with the blade. Sasuke struggled to get his hand out of the binds, and threw his kunai up at the blond. Naruto caught it, sheared the rope and fell to the branch in a flip, grabbing his kunai and head swiveling around to watch the incoming predators while he cut Sasuke out of the trap.

They stood at the ready, panting, Sasuke barely able to stand on his left leg, Naruto clutching his own bleeding side.

Their hunters did not wait, striking quickly and no mercy. The boys were separated, Naruto drawing most of the snakes to him, and Sasuke slashing out any near him. While the blond ran around with a group of the venomous creatures trailing, Sasuke tried to get enough chakra together for a jutsu. He had been low for so long, that he didn't know if he had enough to spare.

A cry of pain startled him from his concentration. Naruto had been struck. The snakes had never bit them before. His best friend paled, the whisker marks on his cheeks standing out, and in seconds fell from the branch. Sasuke tried to shift to catch the blond, but the blasted snakes were in the way! Would Naruto catch himself in time? They were not going to die because of some crazy lady with a serious need to go to a mental ward!

The anger rose in him again, and he felt it. The fire. The technique!

"Housenka no Jutsu!" The fire burst from his mouth, and he directed them to be thrown at the snakes using bits of wood around him as projectiles for the fiery barrage. It got the snakes out of his path to Naruto below, who was holding onto a twig of a branch while his kunai was between his teeth. He was still pale, and Sasuke extended a hand to help him. Pulling up the blond, Naruto could feel someone nearby, and Sasuke's head turned with the blond, and they saw her.

Their tormentor.

Purple hair flying, she projected herself directly at them, and Sasuke felt the tug on his sleeve. Bracing himself, he added force to Naruto's leap by propelling him. Blades flashed and the clang of the kunai was heard. Anko easily slipped passed Naruto's defenses and cut his bitten arm. The blond responded immediately by taking a slice at her arm, and they separated.

Sasuke prepared another jutsu, flanking her, when Anko threw a stream of kunai at him without looking and he flipped away, while Naruto made another run for her. She deflected, and he got scratched again, but he was relentless, going back and forth. Sasuke joined in the taijutsu attack, and she merely dodged them. Snakes got behind them as she cut Sasuke on his good leg, and he fell into her trap, also bitten now.

The venom acted quickly, and he started blacking out, and she taunted,

"Why don't you go to sleep."

He shook off the fading sight, gritting his teeth. Naruto entered his vision, who had been bitten again, but he kept at it, either an idiot or stubborn. Or both. Sasuke stood up, uniting in this horrible attempt of an onslaught at this obviously better opponent. Anko swiped Naruto away, and Sasuke was next. The Uchiha hit the tree trunk with a solid thud, and he slumped down, spent. He could feel it, the poison, spreading through.

His heart wouldn't stop pounding, he couldn't feel his left leg anymore, and he was pretty sure he got a head injury. The venom stung, but made everything numb somehow. Anko was striding over, and scrambled to get up. With a thrust of her hand to his chest, he was against the trunk, bark digging into his back. Naruto had been captured by a snake, in the coils of the beast.

Anko's eyes bore into his,

"Give up?"

Sasuke physically wanted to. He knew his body was shutting down. He was tired. Starved. He just wanted to sleep forever. Never see a snake again.

But he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

He growled low, "Never!"

With that, he swiped his blade across the cut Naruto had made on her arm earlier. The last vision he had was the x-mark on Anko's skin before he fell into darkness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He woke with a start, knowing he shouldn't be asleep, what if-

The sight before him wasn't expected. Anko was sitting by a fire, and several fish were being cooked on hot rocks and leaves. Sasuke was beside him, out cold, bandaged and the smell of poultices coming from the both of them. Studying himself, he too was in the same shape.

Anko spoke, poking a stick at the fish, "Good, you're up."

Shuffling, he stood and walked over to her, everything sore and just that exertion of energy almost too much. Plopping down across from her, he noticed that she was pristine whereas he and Sasuke were covered in all matter of filth. She bore a bandage on her right arm, however, the only evidence of being marked.

She passed a fish to him, "Eat. You have drill once sleeping beauty gets up and has a meal too."

Naruto dug in, not even bothering to be suspicious. He had three large fish before she handed over some very sweet berries. His stomach was so grateful, and he drank water from her offered canteen. His body just wanted to return to sleep, but his mind refused, and he continued to sit across from Anko.

Sasuke woke an hour later, groggy and grumbling. He saw that nothing was attacking, and took his place by Naruto, and Anko repeated her instructions and passing over food and drink. After the raven haired boy had eaten his fill and waited some time to adjust while their teacher dismantled camp, Anko stood, and the boys tailed her wordlessly. She marked the targets and went to a napping tree as they both took their spots and started.

Both boys were shocked at the change. They weren't hitting the targets. But thunks of metal sinking into wood were heard on all six targets, twice. Glancing at each other, smiles spread across their faces at this new development at each thunk.

"Congratulations, you both have mastered the first step of Hebi style."

Anko's voice was behind them, and they turned to look at her. She was smiling. Not creepily, not in the devouring-your-soul way, but really smiling. With both her hands she extended out and ruffled their disheveled and dirty heads. Both wanted to curse her, but couldn't help smiling up at her as well. Sasuke mentioned,

"But we didn't hit the targets."

Anko shook her head, "I never said anything about getting near mine. Accuracy is in the next step. This step was all about getting the attitude, and working your muscles. You've both been trained to harden your muscles, but not all of them. There are some muscles that don't get trained until you do certain exercises. This one hand exercise worked every muscle in your upper bodies and some of your legs."

She paced back, and collected each of their kunai for them, and strode back to them, her face serious, looking between both of her apprentices,

"These are tools; to eat, to hunt, to kill. One day, you wish to be shinobi. You are a weapon in constant molding. This is your tool. The one thing that keeps you from death. You both have used your tool well. You respected it, you never lost it, and you kept it near. For this, both of you have earned the right to keep your kunai."

She held out the weapons in each hand, and the boys took their respective one, knowing which was theirs, by scratches and dents on the blades. She continued,

"You can only use it when I am with you, but I am permitting you to keep it beside you at all times…I am proud of you both, for coming so far so shortly."

Two beaming smiles reached up to her, and she touched their shoulders, and they shunshined out of the forest. After a series of jumps, the last was on the forested outskirts of the Namikaze compound. Deciding to walk the rest of the way, the boys quizzed her as the went slowly,

"When is the next lesson?" Naruto wanted to know. Anko shrugged, "It'll be a while. I have a mission coming up. But I expect you both to continue practicing. I find out your slacking, you'll pay."

Sasuke asked, "Are we going to start the next step?"

Anko shook her head, "You'll prepare for the next step. It'll start next summer. In between learning your own family styles and whatever else you get up to."

Sasuke mulled it over, and quickly hugged Anko before running forward, excited about being home. Anko and Naruto stood still as the purple haired woman stared off at the Uchiha, bemused. Seeing his chance, Naruto questioned,

"Anko, what did you do the chase?"

She replied immediately, "The attitude."

Naruto persisted, "The other reason."

She smirked. He didn't change at all. Ever honest, she began walking again, he went in step with her. "Both of you had an obstacle. Sasuke had his doubts, and you had your fear. It stopped both of you from progressing. My method was…a push. Why? Was it that horrible?"

Naruto glared up at her, his voice even, "Yes."

Anko's laughter echoed in the wood around them. She continued what she was saying, "Anyways, your fear was stopping you from reaching yourself. You, Naruto, needed a reminder."

"Of what?"

"Of what you are. Who you are. You are a Namikaze, but you are also Uzumaki. An Uzumaki is like an animal, driven solely on base instinct. Like that fight with the Haruno girl. It was more than a blood demand. It was the instinct, natural pre-thought. You forgot with studying your father's style, and this was your re-initiation, and Sasuke's introduction."

Naruto paused, "You were there?"

She allowed the question, as she answered, "Many of us, your first guardians, were there. Surprised you didn't notice us, but then you were busy. We would not miss your first day of school. We won't miss it when you become a genin, or your first chuunin exams. Anything we can see, we will watch."

"Why?"

She stared him the eye, her sight unwavering, "To see the child we raised, begin on his path to be the Hokage he swore to us he would become."

Naruto didn't know what to say. Old warmth flooded into him, a reminder that he had been cared for by masked strangers and that he cared for them. They still watched over him…He hugged her tightly around the middle, murmuring, "Thank you, Anko-nee-chan."

With that, he took Sasuke's lead, and ran off ahead to the compound. Anko rolled her eyes, deciding to let them to have their home reunion without her. Why deal Saki and Mikoto wanting answers as to why the boys were dirty and half-starved? She shunshined out of there, leaving behind a wave of leaves.

Naruto stared at himself in the mirror, wiping away the steam after his shower. He rarely even looked at himself, but he felt compelled to actually see himself. In the time under Anko, he had lost baby fat from his face. Not all, but the roundness was gone. In the pictures of his parents that Miyako-oba-chan gave him so long ago, he finally saw the similarities between himself and his father. He had never noticed before that they had the same eye shape and color, even almost the same face.

It was strange.

Would he live up to his parents? The stray thought drifted up from the back of his mind. He looked at the whiskers, prominent on his tan face. And he felt tightness in his chest that he always had when he thought about them.

Letting the steam cover the mirror again and fade his image out to become a blur, he left the bathroom to go change into his school clothes. Today was the first day of the second year of the Academy, and he was allowed to attend now.

It had only been 2 days since he and Sasuke got back, but neither had time to go see their friends, being tested by their family in their progression. Naruto didn't flinch at an attack, and his reactions and reflex were much better. Not the best, but his Kamigan had expanded more to his knowledge than he had thought, now that he wasn't running from snakes. He still had problems, making his body keep up with the Kamigan and the instincts, and then how far the Kamigan went in sight, but he could honestly live with it as it was. He had several months before returning to his master's regimen of hell.

When Sasuke had also showed his Housenka no Jutsu to his mother, Mikoto was ecstatic. He whispered something to her that made her smile strangely at her son, but Sasuke refused to tell the blond what had been said.

Naruto's relatives had been deeply concerned for both of the boys' appearance when they returned to the compound, and his cousin Kichiro scrubbed the filth out of the two of them in the bath house while Mikoto burned their training clothes. When finally dubbed clean, they were then put in front of some simple food, but they passed out from exhaustion after the bowl of soup and some bread each.

When they had woke again yesterday, they lazed around, enjoying their one day of break, answering some questions, but refusing to explain all that happened in their training. It was like an unspoken promise, to keep Anko's training their secret. It was horrifying, and the conditions sucked, but…they were bonded to the eccentric woman.

Pulling on the orange jacket he had worn last year, he noticed he had grown, at least three inches, and now he had fully grown into the jacket. Anymore and he'd have to get a new one. Going to the entrance of his room, he pulled on his shoes, also at the brink of being replaced.

Leaving his room, he saw that Sasuke once again was ready to go before he was, sitting on the veranda outside the Uchiha's room. The raven haired boy stood as Naruto neared, and quietly both went to the dining room where a few of the Namikaze were. Mikoto had left for a mission today, returning to a life of a kunoichi as well as being Saki's assistant. The boys ate food quietly, saying good bye to Naruto's younger family members who had been thrilled at the return of the two. They managed to get out of the barrage of hugs in time to head to school.

Running to the Academy, both shook off the reminiscent feeling of snakes at their backs, and reached the school yard in time. Waiting for them were their friends, and oddly enough Haruno and Yamanka. Hugging his friends, Naruto burst into laughter at Kiba, who had eyed his brother and Sasuke, and said simply,

"Well, you look like shit."

Haruno announced herself, "And just when life was getting good, with no disturbance from you."

Naruto looked her in the eye and smiled brilliantly, a laugh in his voice, "You'll never be rid of me, I'm afraid. You're stuck with me."

Sakura aimed to punch him while Ino had to hold back the pink haired berserker, and Naruto stepped out of the way, strolling into the school with a broad grin, Sasuke with a blank look on his face, the group entering the building with all the friends each other's side, while two girls traded barbs with an enthusiastic blond boy.

Across the way, crouching in the higher branches of a tree with a swing, Anko had been watching, amused at the boys return. Sasuke had to go back to pretending to be hateful of the world, while Naruto became himself once again, irritatingly cheerful. She knew they had felt her, but neither faced her, opting to keep her place hidden.

A frown marred her expression as she remembered that she had work to do. Standing, she slid the snake mask onto her face, and disappeared once again with her students now somewhere safe.

She only hoped this peace would last long enough for them to grow.

Author Commentary:

Well…hello. I am ashamed that I had lost sight. I can only say I will try my best, even though that never seems good enough. I've rewritten this many times over the past year and half, and it's changed from the original so much that nothing was kept.

Anyways, I don't know where to start.

With Anko's push, she got the boys set on the path again. Both acknowledge that she did so, and are grateful, despite wanting to wring her neck. A normal student-teacher relationship, I think. Not too much coddling with exceptions.

Yes, Anko was not a crazy psycho. She was a meanie, but she isn't as insane like everyone depicts her. She actually does care about the boys, because these are the only students she will likely ever have. She doesn't want to be her master.

Yay! Hintata point of view. I don't think I did her justice however, but I enjoyed the kids learning a new jutsu together.

Well, nothing else for now, this chapter is crap, honestly, but I felt that all of you have stuck by me deserved something finally. I can only try to be better for next one – and yes, I mean another chapter, I will finish this story damnit!

I hope you enjoyed it a little bit. Anyways, read and review guys! See you next chapter!

Love to laugh, that's the only way to live - Tiffany Carr

Wolf