So, here we are again, it's been fun to hear from a couple of old acquaintances about the last update, and I hope that this idea didn't miss the train. I believe it's time for a pick up in pace, and I'm excited for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own the Naruto, it probably wouldn't be complete yet if I did.

"Come now Kakashi, how could young Ikotsu be a spy? Can't you see him getting along with his teammates?" Old man Sarutobi had known that the Kyubi's seal was bound to become an issue sooner or later, he'd been planning on it happening a lot sooner actually, considering the village's poor treatment of the Jinchuuriki; but Naruto was such kind boy, and had shouldered the burden for so long. But to hear the Renga boy being suspected of treason was not something the Hokage had planned on. He took a pull on his pipe as Kakashi answered.

"Hokage-sama,

"No need to stand on ceremony here, Kakashi-kun. It's just the two of us."

" . . . Then Sarutobi-sama, It was hard to believe myself, but it's a likely possibility considering the things as they stand. You see, Ikotsu knows things that, considering his background, he really shouldn't." Sarutobi's eyes narrowed in a complicated expression.

"Elaborate."

"Consider this, Hoka...Sarutobi-sama. I barely noticed it when I first investigated my little genin team, but from the academy records Ikotsu showed up to class all of two times at the beginning of the season and then presumably quit, not able to make the cut. Then all of the sudden he shows up on exam day and aces the tests."

"That's surprising, but not impossible, a few youth in the past have ignored the academy and gone to train on their own, only to return for their hitai-ate. You need more evidence than that."

"That's what I thought too at first, but the boy's an orphan, he has no family. The Renga name has no ties to the ninja world, and no one really seems to know him among the ranks; yet he somehow seems to know advanced genjutsu, is trained in a unique taijutsu, and can conceal his chakra to the point of being nearly undetectable. Who could have possibly trained him than an outsider?"

Now Sarutobi was stumped. He had followed Kakashi's train of thought and found that he had no answer for him. Sarutobi knew everyone in the village to some extent, and he payed particular attention to the youth, like a gardener nourishing tender leaflings, yet his old mind could not seem to recollect anything major about the Renga boy; orphaned as a toddler, reported as emotionally unstable by the orphanage, moved out into the civilian district when he was twelve and no one really talked about him since. It did seem strange . . . could it be that, in his weakened state of youth, he was scouted out by outsiders? What sort of agenda could they have? And yet . . . he fit so well with his team . . . smiling and keeping up with their pace.

These thoughts put a dull ache in the back of the old hokage's mind. It'd be best to keep an eye on the boy regardless, something did seem off about his origins . . .

"Tell me more."

*Akchoo*

"Ne, Ikotsu," Naruto garbled between a bite of ramen.

"Hmm?" Ikotsu acknowledged slowly slurping his own noodles from his chop sticks. He sniffled in as he tried not to sneeze again.

"I've been meaning to ask you! Who taught you all the cool stuff that you know? I mean, I never really knew you before the team?" Naruto, in his knuckleheaded boldness asked. The question had surfaced from time to time, but he never remembered to ask it before now.

" . . . " Ikotsu paused, thinking carefully about what he would say; it was about to become his alibi, and yet he didn't want to lie to his future father.
"I learned it from my dad," He gave a small smile, looking down at the counter "and a bit from my mom as well. They taught me a lot . . . "

"Oh? Cool! They sound awesome! I sure want to meet them sometime!"

"You can't. They're not with me anymore," Ikotsu tightened his lips, and narrowed his eyes as he gazed into his bowl of miso ramen. They haven't even gotten together yet . . .

"NARUTO! That's so rude to talk about his parent's! He obviously didn't want to talk about it!"

"Wha- Sakura-chaaaaan!"

"Hnnn . . ."

Ikotsu sat to rest on a tree stump, panting in the heat of early summer.

"I thought that warm up would be, y'know more warmupish, not taking a lap around Konoha!" He groaned out loud, wiping the sweat from his forehead with an equally sweaty hand. He'd trained his body to keep ahead of the other Academy kids, but running laps on a hot day were never anyone's favorite pass-time.

"Remember Ikotsu, the body is just as important as the mind; if they are out of balance with each other, your chakra weakens." Kurenai chided. To be fair the rest of team 8 was in a similar state of fatigue, but Kurenai found it oddly satisfying to lecture the Renga boy.

"I know, I know, but come on, even Shino looks tired and he's, like, the least expressionate genin in the world!" Ikotsu outburst, then turned to the straight faced ninja, "No offense."

" . . . None taken. I am aware that my mannerisms have created a certain reputation which affects how others see me."

Everyone paused at shino's remark, eyes zooming in on the Aburame youth; even Hinata, who glanced back and forth nervously from Shino to the ground.

The first one to break the silence was Kiba. He took a step towards Shino, and clapped his hands on his shoulder.

"There's hope for you yet, Shino! At this rate you'll be able to hold conversations with girls soon! Ne, Ikotsu, where will that leave us if Shino becomes a lady killer?" Kiba remarked, positively grinning from ear to ear at the start of his new joke.

"Kiba! Don't say things like that!" Ikotsu clasped his heart in what appeared to be shock, "We'll be alone forever! You'll never get married, and no one will even know about us in the next generation!" Except you will get married to auntie Tamaki, and then I'll come and play with your kids during the weekends.

Ikotsu jumped to take Hinata's hands, "Hinata, don't give in to Shino! You have to live on! You have to remember us!" And whatever you do, don't forget to have me!

"Kya!" Hinata jumped at his sudden movement, face flushed in surprise.

Shino, for the most part, didn't react. However, if you were to compare his stoick expression between the start and the end of the conversation; you would feel more uncomfortable at the end.

"Aburame hosts don't court, they compare each other's genetic strengths and weaknesses and then plan accordingly."

"Aaaand he's back to normal," Kiba sighed at the Aburame's cold remark. What a shame.

When Ikotsu had returned to Team 8, to stay this time, Kurenai would not tolerate the antics that were unfolding before her. Ikotsu, unlike his first "visit" to their training seemed noticeably less upbeat, and in many cases almost toxic with his sarcasm. And his teamwork was crap. She remembered reprimanding him multiple times after trainings about jokes he'd made at a teammate's expense, or pranks he'd pulled, but every time that she asked why he was acting out he'd simply reply "it's complicated."

Until one day she'd finally had it.

(FlashBack no Jutsu)

After a long hike through the woods around Konoha, team 8 finally reached a clearing in the foliage. Before them the grassy meadow gave way to a small lake, the water flowing lazily and undisturbed.

"Yosh, today team, we are going to begin learning to water walk. Who here knows how this works?" Kurenai started her planned instruction. No one spoke up.

"A-ano, it's a technique where you use chakra to keep afloat on top of the water." Hinata shyly answered.

"Very good, Hinata-"

"Yes, very good, Gold star!" Ikotsu mockingly clapped from the back of the group. He was silenced by a stern glare from Kurenai. Hinata looked as if she wished she could shrink into her coat. Ikotsu must not be having a very good day, She'd tell herself. Some days he'd be very kind to her, offering encouragement and support, but other days his tongue was as sharp as her fathers. "You'll become a strong woman someday, Hinata!" "I'm sure you'll get it right SOME day, Hinata."

"Ikotsu, you baka! Don't mock her!" Kiba cuffed Ikotsu up the back of the head. Hinata seemed to shrivel more at the defense Kiba gave her. Kiba was used to dog puns and pranks from Ikotsu from day one, but Hinata didn't deserve to be looked down on.

"What? I'm just offering a compliment, dog breath, if you looke-"

"A-ano-"

"That's enough you two!" Kurenai silenced them both. This was the third training this week that Ikotsu had taken to acting this way. They seemed to be becoming more frequent. She grit her teeth, Ikotsu and Kiba were not going to fight today if was the last thing she saw too.

"Now Ikotsu, since you seem to know so much about water walking, why don't you tell us how it's done?" Ikotsu tightened his lips at her remark, but stepped forward and began to explain.

"Unlike tree climbing, where you focus your chakra inside the soles of your feet and keep it steady to help you stick to the tree, with water walking, you're working on actually pushing out a steady pattern of chakra, enough to keep your weight afloat and in the right shape to keep you balanced. Like so," He took a tentative step into the shallows of the lake, but instead of his foot sinking, it stayed afloat; he even leaned on it to show that it was holding his weight.

"Impressive, now I want each of you to take a seat at the edge of the water and experiment molding your chakra to do this." Kurenai instructed. Ikotsu stepped off of the water, and did not take a seat.

"Hey, Sensei, since I already know this, is it okay if I take a rest and write in my journal?" That was something that the team had begun to notice Ikotsu doing, writing in his journal, it seemed that every ounce of free time he wasn't using to train or eat, he was writing in some book or another; they'd seen him with at least five different bindings of paper in the last week.

"Ikotsu, I'd appreciate it if you'd stay with your team and practice water walking." Kurenai said in a low tone. At first Ikotsu's behavior seemed harmless, but it had been grating on her for the last week.

"But I already know water walking. Learning is for what you don't know." Ikotsu replied, disinterested. What he really wanted to do was write in his journal; he'd been racking his brain for all the tiny details that he knew about the years before his birth, names, places, every twist and turn of his parent's stories.

" . . . Alright, fine, you can write in your journal, but only if you can complete a challenge of mine."

"Yosh! What's that?"

"You have to water walk and keep afloat for ten minutes."

"Easy enough."

"We'll see."

(7 minutes later)

*SPLASH*

"Guh!" Ikotsu sputtered as his head resurfaced from the pool. What a dirty trick! He thought to himself. Not only had Kurenai used water jutsu to stir up the pond, but she'd also laid a genjutsu to distract him. He'd barely broken out of it in time to be knocked over by another wave of water techniques.

"What'd you do that for!" He wailed as he pulled up on the shore.

"The secret to success is being humble enough to learn. Now go practice with the others." Kurenai was not as cold a woman as many thought, she actually really didn't like using force as a teacher, but it was becoming more clear to her that sharper methods were necessary to keep her charge in line.

Sighing, Ikotsu left to stand on the water near his teammates.

To be fair Ikotsu wasn't having the time of his life either. Ever since the mission in the Land of Waves Ikotsu had become noticeably less upbeat from his usual self. He was constantly reminded of the mistakes that he'd made and how those mistakes could quite literally shape the future of the entire world. And then there were the nightmares; ones where Naruto did kill Haku, never even knowing that the boy had shaped his destiny in another life. Nightmares where Naruto looked at Ikotsu not with the bright eyes and adoring smile of his father or friend, but with the hungry leer of a beast seeking prey. Ikotsu felt trapped; too scared to tread for fear that he'd step on a butterfly that would change his future.

Many sleepless nights were spent writing in his journals, puzzling out the details of how he should proceed without causing any damage. He wrote out the details like a story, of course changing names and places and somewhat of the concepts, but the details that he needed to remember stayed the same regardless whether the name was Uchiha Sasuke or Ruko Kurogane. With his journals he felt safe, with what he knew as the past laid out clearly ahead of him.

Lost in thought, Ikotsu barely caught himself sinking in to the pond again; he quickly began to circulate chakra from his feet. Remarkably, Ikotsu learned that to some extent a ninja could mold chakra while it was outside of the body rather than inside; some advanced ninjas could even redirect their jutsu mid flight to hit a specific enemy. But to Ikotsu it meant that he could pull unspent chakra back into his system after expelling it if it was still close by; nothing extravagant, but it sure made water walking a lot less taxing.

The rest of team 8's genin was able to put partial weight on their feet by the end of the training session. Hinata had glanced hopefully at Ikotsu a few times during the practice, but he must not have been in a teaching mood. She chided herself for hoping he would help as he had during other training sessions.

"Well, I feel we've made some great progress today, especially you, Shino, pretty soon you'll be able to hold your full weight on the water," Kurenai complimented her team on the trek back towards Konoha. To be honest, that was Ikotsu's favorite part about training with Kurenai; she always had honest praise and constructive feedback, even when he had his mind on other things.

It was evening by the time they reached the gates of Konoha, the usual goodbyes were said, and everone split up to head home for dinner with their families. Except for Kurenai.

" . . . Ikotsu."

"Hmm? Yes?" He turned back from his route home to address his sensei.

"Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?"

"Eh? EEEEEH? ME?" Ikotsu jerked back, shimmying backwards from her, blushing like a schoolgirl. "But you're my SENSEI!?"

"And since when did being your teacher mean I can't take you out to eat after training?"

"But . . . but eating out with someone alone is and adult thing!"

Kurenai raised her eyebrows at that statement. Ikotsu showed incredible maturity for his age, but that visual was begining to crumble under the strange pressure he found himself under. Psychologically she was intrigued.

"I know that you live alone, and I thought you might enjoy a little company. Come on, I'll even take you to that ramen stand you and Naruto love so much."

"Hmm . . . I do like a good bowl of ramen . . . " Reluctantly Ikotsu agreed. He wasn't used to being singled out like this, it made him a little uncomfortable. She seemed to have some sort of objective, and that objective required dinner somehow.

Dinner at Ichiraku's went by without a hitch, the miso bowl hadn't lost it's lustrous flavor, and Ikotsu actually got to see Naruto at the stand and talk about things. Apparently Team 7's teamwork was doing better than ever, Sasuke and Naruto were almost even getting along; or at least they had some sort of working truce. Kurenai kept quiet and watched their interaction. Ikotsu's guarded behavior seemed a bit looser around Naruto, but she could notice little bits of it; there were times where Ikotsu bit his lip, as though stopping himself from saying something.

It was after the dinner where things started to become strange for Ikotsu. Kurenai insisted on following him home, she said she wanted to see how his living space was. He was pretty sure that by law he probably could tell her not to come inside his apartment, but at the same time he wasn't sure what this would do to the future if he pushed her away. It seemed farfetched, but there was probably a chance that Hinata could die if her jounin instructor became distracted trying to investigate something about him and didn't continue her training properly. He wasn't thinking too paranoid . . . right?

So he let her in. His apartment wasn't much, it was cleaner than Naruto's and in a better part of the civilian district, but for the most part it seemed pretty spartan. There was a bed, a couple of chairs, a table, and the cupboards had been filled with baking supplies over the past month or so that Ikotsu Uzumaki had lived there. And the journals, dozens of them were stacked out of the way on every clean surface. She gave the apartment a once over, nodded, and then turned her gaze to Ikotsu. Then she took a seat at the table.

"Sensei, I don't mean to be rude, but what are you really doing here?" Ikotsu been stewing over this very same question ever since dinner.

"I'm making sure that everything is going alright with my student; you may be only a temporary member of team 8, but I have an equal responsibility to you as to each of the others." Kurenai kept a level tone, observing his response. His expression went to confused, and for a brief moment she caught it shift to desperation.

"As you can see, my living quarters are fine, I make sure to eat healthy-"

"Ikotsu. When I first met you, you had a spring in your step and a light in your eyes. Now I see you dragging your feet and your brightness is gone. Now, believe it or not I am certified as a counselor in this city . . . I want to help you, Ikotsu; but I need to know what's happened to you."

" . . . It's complicated."

"That answer is not going to work anymore,"

"So, this is why you waited until we were away from my teammates! You wanted to grill me in private!" Ikotsu accused. The dots were lining up for him now, and he didn't know where to turn. What can I say? The wrong words could wreck the future!

"Ikotsu!" Kurenai barked in a sharp tone, effectively silencing the Renga boy. After a short silence she sighed.
"Ikotsu . . . what's bothering you? Just tell me and I can leave you alone."

"That's just it! There's nothing you can do about it!" Ikotsu wasn't sure what he was ranting about anymore, his nightmares or his whole situation. Kurenai just waited patiently.

There was a silence as he decided what to say.

"When I was on team seven, I got hurt; I almost died. That's not what's important though . . . Because of that, Naruto almost did something that he would regret forever. He wants to be hokage, he wants to help people and be acknowledged. Because of me he almost murdered in cold blood, something that could twist him out of shape forever. I'm not like the rest of the Genin from the academy, I know what he has sealed in him; and I know how easily something like that could set him down a terrible path." The anger was gone, now the young man just felt shame.

"It's all my fault, you see. I wanted to be his best friend. I wanted to be the one that helped him through, and because of that things have gone completely wrong. It's MY fault. And now I can't get it out of my head! I dream and I see him murdering. I should never have done what I di-"

He was interrupted as Kurenai stood and pulled him into a soft hug. She leaned down and pulled his chin on her shoulder. Then, unbecoming of the blue haired thirteen year old, he started to sob.

"Why does everything have to be this way? *Sniff* I miss my parents! *Sniffle* I didn't deserve to have this happen to me! And I can't go back, no matter what I try . . ."

"Ikotsu . . . It's alright, things don't always go the way they're planned . . . " Kurenai patted his back as he continued to gasp for breath.

"What if . . . What if this is all an illusion? What if all the mistakes I made are just make believe. If only I could wake up."

"Ikotsu!" Kurenai didn't like where his train of thought was going. "I can assure you that we ALL make mistakes. And no matter how big they are, all we can do is pick up the pieces and keep trying. Naruto almost became a different person because of your actions, but your actions have also shaped him into the genin he is today. I remember Kakashi talking about how he's learned so many things because of you in the last meeting." She cupped his face in her hands. Ikotsu wished that it was his mother telling him this. "Don't give in Ikotsu, and don't give up. Never stop trying, and don't worry if you make a mistake; if it happens, do your best to fix it and move on."

She gave him one last hug for reassurance, and by the time it ended he had fallen asleep. She carefully put him into his bed, and turned off the lights on her way out.

(End Flashback)

A lot had happened since that experience. When he had shown up for the next day's training Ikotsu seemed back to his bright eyed self again; pleasantly surprising the team with a refreshed attitude. The pointed jokes became much more enjoyable and relaxed; he and Kiba were natural comedians when Ikotsu's barriers dropped.

"Alright, team, it's time for taijutsu practice!" Kurenai interrupted Kiba and Ikotsu's skit. In their opinion it should have lasted longer, Hinata had gone red and her sides shook as she resisted the urge to giggle; that would have been unladylike like.

"Everyone pair up, Hinata with Ikotsu, Kiba with Shino. First to fall to the ground loses. We'll do three rounds," their Jounin instructor instructed. Each pair headed off to a separate clearing.

"P-please take care of me, Ikotsu-san!" Hinata stuttered, taking a shaky Jyuuken stance. They'd done practices like this before, but this was her first time against Ikotsu. Kiba would go easy on her, Shino treated her as an equal, but she wasn't sure what her fellow bluenette would do. Ikotsu eyed her stance.

"Don't worry Oka . . . er, Hinata, just relax, take some deep breaths," Ikotsu addressed her, taking no stance himself. Hinata stared at him funny, as if expecting him to attack.

"C-come at me," She nervously beckoned.

"Erm . . . I'm actually serious, please just try to relax the unnecessary muscles. I promise I won't do anything, I'm just here to help you practice," Ikotsu stood there, making no effort to get into a ready stance. Hinata remained tense.

He might be trying to catch me off guard, She reasoned; it had been a few weeks since Ikotsu had returned to his blunt but upbeat self, but every now and again she'd catch him slipping up on trying to be nice. She wasn't sure if today was a good day for him. She jerked and then advanced forward in an unsteady lunge. Ikotsu leaned to the side of the jab and took a step right into her guard, but just as she was about to stumble to the ground he grabbed her shoulders and kept her steady.

" . . . but, seriously though. Your form kind of sucks-" Hinata looked down, ashamed, today he sounded like a casual version of her father, "-but that's just because you need to relax."

She looked up at him, confusion displayed across her face. Ikotsu took notice of this and explained, "When you move, you jerk around because you're trying to put your strength into the movements. I'll say it again, you really just need to relax, breath, meditate, think gentle, do whatever you need to do to get yourself in the right mindset. Move with the flow and then strike when you're ready. Come on, go ahead and try it!" Ikotsu stepped back away from her and then took a waiting stance. Still mildly unsettled, but encouraged by his advice, she closed her eyes and took a breath. And then she took another.

Ikotsu took up a soothing tone and began to direct her meditation, just like his mother had done for him when he was learning from her. The Irony, he thought to himself as he spoke. "Your style is centered on flowing, the flow of strikes and the flow of chakra, it does not rely on strength; strength interrupts the flow. It relies on grace, not speed, you don't have to be quick, you just have to know how to ride the flow. Picture yourself striking gracefully . . . "

A fiendish smile spread across Ikotsu's lips as an idea formed. He lightly took a few steps forward and whispered into her ear, "Imagine fighting gracefully at Naruto's side-"

"KYA!"

Hinata's eyes shot open, her face turning tomato red in an instant. But more surprisingly was the speed in which she knocked Ikotsu to the ground, disabling more than a dozen tenketsu in a whirlwind of activity. If his internal chakra wasn't already capped, Ikotsu would have been in a lot more pain than he already was when he hit the ground. As Hinata came back to earth and her mind cleared she looked down in horror at her incapacitated teammate.

"GOMENASAI!" Her head whiplashed up and down as she continually bowed.

"So, what you're saying is Hinata kicked your trash." This is too rich! Kiba couldn't stop chortling the whole trip back from training ground 19.

"NO! Clearly no! That's not what I'm saying at ALL, Dog brain! I was helping her train and then things got out of hand!"

"You mean she was too good for your training mode! Baahahahaha!" Akamuru panted and let his tongue lul out as his partner continued to guffaw. Hinata had bashfully kept silent at the back of the formation, Kurenai was a little further back keeping an eye on her.

"Shut up, Kiba! I'll sick Yoshi on your ass!"

"Oh my heck, Ikotsu! Who is this Yoshi that you keep bringing up!"

"You have mentioned that name approximately thirteen times since your arrival on team eight," Shino supported Kiba's inquiry.

"He was a dog I played with when I was young! Would've fought anyone for me!" Probably still would if I lived in my REAL home with my REAL family!

"Goodnight, each of you. I've got to get going to a mission briefing, the Hokage says that he might have a mid C-rank for us to complete."

"Aw! Wish you could've had dinner with us! If it doesn't take too long, try to catch us at Ichirakus," Ikotsu called after her before turning to team 8.

"Ichiraku's, Ikotsu? I thought it was my turn to pick where we eat!" Kiba faux complained. Just as Ikotsu was about to rebuttal, a man with short brown hair and dressed in white robes traditional the Hyuuga branch family arrived and addressed Hinata.

"Hinata-Sama, your father has requested your presence this evening."

Nodding, Hinata gave a shy goodbye, and a quick sorry to Ikotsu, before silently following after the attendant.

"So . . . I guess it's just us this fine evening," Ikotsu struck up the conversation again, still looking after his future mother as she left with the man from the branch family. He'd remembered the stories his mother would tell him about how her childhood went, and also how her clan had slowly thawed out of it's bitter state, but at this point in her life things must not have started in that direction yet. He didn't catch the affirmative nod between Shino and Kiba.

"Indeed, it will be just us dining together tonight," Shino stated, clasping Ikotsu's right arm in a locked hold.

"Indeed, Shino! Now where should we spend our time enjoying a fine meal this evening!" Kiba faked a sophisticated accent as he linked arms with Ikotsu's free arm. The two started dragging the poor bluenette backwards towards the business district.

"The key to healthy recovery after intense activity is complete proteins and vegetable enzymes to help rebuild muscle, couple with complex carbohydrates to supplement energy. My sources indicate that the Akamichi restaurant has a special on such sustenance." Shino supplied.

"Very good, we shall depart hence!" Kiba continued, his accent cracking comically as he tried to keep a straight face.

"But, guys! What about ramen? GUYS?"

"Leave us," the Hokage gestured to the Anbu in the room, and waited until their masked presence had filtered away. "What is your report, Kurenai?"

"He's behaving normal, helpful even. Today Hinata got her first victory in taijutsu practice because of him." And it was hilarious, Kurenai had to keep a chuckle down as she remembered catching a flurry of motion in the corner of her eye and seeing Ikotsu thoroughly struck to the ground.

"What about your progress with his journals?"

"The decoding is going dismally at best. Whatever message he'd be trying to send if he were a spy is written in story format, and it's rather hard to make heads or tails of what he would be trying to convey. The text itself is quite riveting, and the characters seem to come to life, but other than being a good story that's about all I can make of it." Kurenai continued her report on the Renga boy.

When she'd first been called into the Hokage's office, he'd just barely been REALLY reassigned to her genin team. The old man had the Anbu leave, just as he did today, and then he outlined the suspicions that had been placed on the boy: the possibility that he was a spy, an infiltrator, or a saboteur of the Leaf. Yet the old man, wise in his judgement, told her to treat him normally, but to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior. His obsessive writing in his journals was one of the first things she had to report. The Sandaime requested that she replace a copy of one the boy's older entries, and bring it to him for inspection. Upon inspection, it became evident to the old hokage that the journal's entry was the introduction of what appeared to be a novel; and could possibly be written in code. However, because of it's length and the sheer number of texts that Ikotsu wrote, the Hokage gave the task of puzzling them out to her. He was sure she appreciated that, but his paperwork was mounting as it stood, and he was starting to hear rumors and reports of possible Orochimaru activity. Sometimes he wished Minato had survived just so that he wouldn't have to deal with all of the reports flowing in and out.

"The story by itself is indeed intriguing, and perhaps that's all it is, but I want to be absolutely sure that Ikotsu is not some sort of informant before the Chunin exams arrive. They're just around the corner and I know that you feel your team is ready to apply."

"Hai, Hokage, I believe I'm almost caught up to where Ikotsu is at in his writing; I don't think there should be any problem with entering him with us into the Chuunin exams."

"Good to hear, Kurenai, I trust your judgement," the wrinkled kage smiled beneath his hat, "Now, about that C-rank . . ."

Ikotsu woke up to another day in paradise, started his morning with a balanced breakfast of hard wheat cereal and an apple, and then took the liberty of writing in his journal: he was just about to the part where Jiraiya offered to take Naruto with him on a three year training journey. Even though he didn't feel as compelled to write as he first had, back when his nightmares were plaguing him, he still found it a great way to straighten his thoughts . . . and it was a bit entertaining to write out history from his parent's eyes, even if he changed the setting and names to hide the truth.

Noticing the time, he finished suiting up and headed out to training with Team 8. Kurenai upheld their hopes of an interesting mission, by explaining their assignment from the Hokage. They had been hired out to head up to the capital of the Land of Fire, and escort some merchant neo-noble down to the hidden village with his family to make some trade deals and also to watch the Chuunin exams. They'd be leaving later that afternoon, so they all left to pack, but not before Ikotsu checked the date. June 24th.

Konohamaru was in a pickle, a REALLY big pickle, he was just about to get socked out by some face-painted shinobi; Boss was tripped up and couldn't save him! He waited for impact, closing his eyes tightly, but the face shattering punch that he was expecting never came. UGH, Naruto-boss' arch-nemesis had saved him by tossing a rock at the wanabe Kabuki. Lame! Konohamaru didn't dare say anything like that out loud. Just suck it up for now, Kono!

"What gives duck hair, you wanna fight too!?" the foreign shinobi, soon to be identified as Kankuro, bellowed at Sasuke in the tree. Sasuke, obviously the bigger man, just crushed a pebble with his bare hand in response.

"Enough, Kankuro." Kankuro felt a chill down his spine as his possessed brother told him to stand down. His skin practically itched in anticipation of the sand particles that could spell his doom.

"H-hai, Gaara!" He took a large step back from the academy student, glowering at the punk-kid the whole time.

"I apologize for my teammate's behavior," Gaara addressed Sasuke in his low, dead tone. Sleepless eyes surveying the young uchiha. "It won't happen again."

"Who are you guys anyway!" Naruto asked, getting up from looking totally uncool in front of his subordinates. Lame!

"We are a genin team from Sunagakure. We're here for the Chunin exams." The third member of the Sand trio, a sun-kissed blond, replied coolly. "Now, if you'll excuse us we'll be on our-" She paused as confusion took control of her features. The rest of the shinobi present soon followed suit.

The Hokage was walking down the street towards them, his face caught in a book. Upon closer inspection the book was of an orange coloration, and the old man's face was twisted in a perverse grin as he hummed his way down the street. Surprisingly, Naruto was the first one to react.

"JII-CHAN! YOU PERVERT!"

"Oh-hohoho, young Naruto, one day, when you are my age, you will come to appreciate the simple joys of erotic literature!" The old man happily blew him off as he breezed towards the Sand siblings.

"On behalf of Konoha, I welcome you to the village of the Leaf," Sarutobi offered a slight bow to the trio.

"It . . . is an honor to be greeted publicly by you, Hokage-sama," Temari, the first to react from their team replied with a courteous bow of her own. Kankuro offered a mute nod.

"And here's the one that I've heard so many good things about," the Hokage walked up to Gaara, offering a hand. The other two siblings almost balked in terror, how would their brother react!? Gaara eyed the hand with the same regard he would have for a dead fish. "I hope that you find great fortune during your stay here, Gaara of the sand. I'm happy to have you here."

" . . . " Gaara didn't reply to the old man's courtesy, but he didn't attack out of malice either, so Kankuro and Temari took that as a good sign. " . . . We're leaving, Kankuro, Temari." He turned to leave, his gourd shaking with sand as he stepped.

Once he'd gotten a safe distance from Gaara, the "Hokage" decided the facade was up, and in a poof of smoke reverted to a grinning Ikotsu, leaving everyone present dumbfounded.

"I knew something was up." Sasuke stated from his perch in the cherry tree. "The Hokage doesn't go outside without his guards."

"Good observation, shirly!" Ikotsu gave him a thumbs up as he widened his smile at the sand trio who had now turned back to face them fully. The saner two of the siblings, now realizing that they'd been had, were blushing in embarassment and rage; well, at least you could see that Temari was blushing, Kankuro's facepaint got in the way . . .

"I was serious though, Gaara," Ikotsu addressed him in a pleasant tone. "We're really glad that you're here."

From the strange glare that the red haired genin gave him, Ikotsu was glad that he was going to be out of town for the better part of the week.

Aaaaaaand that's the chapter, I know that I've said this before, but this time I mean it: This is the longest chapter I think I've ever written, which is sad because I see people with 10-20 thousand word chapters in their stories, and I'm like "screw. that." I'm sure that one day I'll make a longer chapter than 6500 words, but for now I'm glad I got this many.

So, once again, if you have any comments on the flow of the chapter, know of anything I can do to improve my writing style, notice typos, or just have thoughts on the story so far, I'd love to hear from you via a PM or a review.

I also want to make a shout out to all the great guys and gals that have fav'd the story, I'd like your thoughts as well as far as what I did right so that I can get you more of that. If it's in a review, that's even better.