The room had been silent ever since he had entered. The only noise that pervaded the silence of all those in the room was the steady breathing of the child in Naruto's arms. He gave everyone a steady look as he reached the middle of the room, in full view of everyone. Most of the women in the room looked to the child in Naruto's arms with an almost jealous envy, wondering just who the mother was.

"What is the meaning of this Uzumaki-san?" Mifune asked from his seat where behind him both of his guards were slightly worried that Naruto had been so easily able to elude them and appear right behind them so suddenly. Naruto turned around to look at the legendary samurai to find his calm gaze being reflected right back at him, he half wondered if his news would surprise the man.

"There is a matter that came up that I had to bring to the attention of everyone present" Naruto responded in a very calm and serious manner. Tsunade could already hear the alarm bells ringing loudly in her head due to the way that Naruto was acting. There was something very important that he had to tell them and although she didn't doubt him, his serious manner drove the point home best.

The silence that followed what Naruto had said made all in the room uncomfortable, they really did hate the change in the blonde haired man. His maturity had killed off his more childlike ways.

"Well spit it out boy! We have villages to run" Onoki snapped at Naruto none too kindly. The tone did not seem to affect Naruto at all and Tsunade was about to say something before she was cut off by Naruto talking again.

"Very well I shall give my mission report" Naruto responded to them all. He looked down to Shina to make sure that she was still asleep despite the Tsuchikage's raised voice a moment ago, finding her still silently snoozing with a small smile he smiled also before looking up.

"I was requested for a suppression mission in the Land of Demons a week ago which upon completion I was to then report in to the Priestess" Naruto began looking to Tsunade who nodded her head in confirmation, what he had spoken thus far she had known to be true.

"Once I reached the palace, which was where the problems began" Naruto continued on causing Tsunade to sit up in her seat, she was interested now and upon looking at the other Kage she could also see their interest rising too. "When I reached the palace, it was under attack" Naruto finished which took all of the Kage by surprise, they had not believed anyone to truly hold a grudge against those of Demon country, they simply kept themselves to themselves.

"I entered the palace and went straight to the Priestess' room to find her very weak and ill, there she told me that her daughter had been stolen from her" Naruto continued on, while Tsunade and Mei wondered just how Naruto knew where the Priestess' room was there were more important things to be thinking about. "After that I extracted her from the building and got her to a safe place, I then left her with a clone to go and find her daughter" Naruto continued on, this was the bit he was least proud of and knew it was the bit they had to hear though.

"After finding the camp she was hidden in I released the full power of the nine-tails on all in the camp" Naruto spoke as he could see the widened eyes of all the Kage, he had a feeling they would look like that, especially after their concerns about his wellbeing not too long before he had come here.

"This piece of information is the reason that I have brought you all here once again, to where you agreed about the Allied Shinobi Forces prior to the Fourth Shinobi War" Naruto said as he took in one final breath before he spoke the words that he knew would change everything.

"With the full power of the nine-tails released there was a Shinobi that was able to keep up with me in that form and also in my human form, upon landing a hit on him I regained Shina and he left with a final remark" Naruto summed up as he looked down at his young daughter, so young and already one of the centre pieces of what had happened. "He declared war" Naruto finished which caused every single Kage to get to their feet at the same time.

"You must be kidding!" A roared from where he stood with his eyes wide in complete shock. At the sudden high volume of noise Shina awoke from her sleep and began to cry at the sudden interruption of the wonderful slumber. "We barely made it out of one war and you are already plunging us into another!" A roared at Naruto, not even caring about the fact his loud voice was scaring Shina. Naruto was trying his hardest to soothe Shina and calm her down. "ANSWER ME UZUMAKI!" A thundered onwards.

A thunderclap later found Naruto with his right hand clamped around A's throat, a murderous growl leaving his mouth and his purple eyes with concentric circles and tomoe shining dangerously. So surprised were everyone in the room – including A – they could not move or react fast enough, even Killer Bee and the other cloud nin were too slow to react.

"Stop with your fucking shouting, you're scaring Shina" Naruto spoke lowly to A in a way that only he and Onoki could understand. It was the way that someone protects their own blood. Such anger, such need to protect was brought on by that basic principle.

"Naruto!" Tsunade called to the blonde haired man who had yet to release the Raikage; upon hearing his name called he turned his head and released the Raikage from his grip, leaving a hand mark imprinted into his skin. A rubbed the area that was slightly painful still and turned towards the door.

"I will not be treated in such a manner by a brat! You can forget about any assistance from Cloud!" A shouted over his shoulder as he made his way out of the room, his cloud nin close behind him, the only one of the three that had remained was Killer Bee. Most in the room expected him to do something or to bid them goodbye. "Sorry Naruto-Bro" was all he said soberly before he too followed in the footsteps of his brother and walked out of the room.

Naruto watched them all go through sorrow filled eyes, he had overreacted he knew that and he had damaged something very important over a personal matter. He looked down at Shina who was still whimpering softly, he placed his index finger along the side of her cheek and stroked it gently, causing her eyes to close slowly, her hands also encasing around his finger at the same time.

"That could have been a lot messier!" Onoki commented almost cheerfully from his seat to Naruto's right causing Naruto to look up at him only to see Onoki smiling at him in that knowing manner.

"I would personally like to know exactly why you acted in such a manner towards a Kage" Naruto heard a voice call out which he knew was Gaara's, upon bringing his eyes over to the red-haired man he did not see anger or disappointment in his eyes only wonderment.

"I doubt that any of you would understand it" Onoki spoke up once again as he sat back into his chair crossing his arms as he done so, aware that all eyes would be directed upon him now. He smiled again before he continued. "We act in mysterious ways for those we love, especially family" Onoki explained as Mei's eyes widened in surprise alongside Chojuro and Ao, Temari and Kankuro were the same with Gaara only staring on emotionlessly as usual.

Tsunade turned around to look at Shikamaru who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and a knowing smile on his face. "You knew this didn't you?" Tsunade asked him quietly as he simply opened his eyes and looked at her with his smile still in place.

"Of course, he gave it away when he said he released the full power of the nine-tails in a camp, I highly doubt he would need to do that in a camp at all, he could have located her and took her back without anyone knowing" Shikamaru answered as he then looked at Naruto who was looking at Shina at the same time. "Someone knew how to get to him, how to get him riled up so that he would be angry and wild, so that they would know when he attacked, this was planned" Shikamaru finished as Tsunade looked at him with a troubled expression before she looked at Naruto again, just in time to hear him being quizzed.

"Is that baby really yours?" Mei asked half hoping it wasn't and half wishing to meet the woman that was able to bed the man. Naruto looked at her before looking down at Shina and smiling. It was such a warm and loving smile that made Tsunade's heart miss a beat, she hadn't seen a look like that on his face in years.

"Yes she is my little Hime, Shina Uzumaki" Naruto responded warmly as he looked at his daughter. Shikamaru took in the information and sadly stored it away, he didn't know how Ino would take this piece of information, he only hoped that she was able to take it well, otherwise she might get hurt. While he was loathe letting anyone hurt Ino he could not find fault with Naruto, the time period of conception and his return added up and it was all before Ino had started having feelings for him.

Tsunade and Yamato on the other hand were completely flabbergasted, for Naruto to have a child had been a possibility in their minds of course but for it to be a reality was really something that was quite hard to swallow. They had not thought much of it but now would be the time to see how he would measure up as a father, despite having no knowledge to take anything from, having no parents of his own.

"I think we are getting away from the main focus of this meeting" Onoki spoke loudly to everyone in the room causing all eyes to be centred on him. "Despite the absence of the Raikage I believe we should debate on our actions after war has been declared once again" Onoki finished making everyone in the room nod their heads, they would catch up about Naruto and his daughter soon enough.

"Thank you Tsuchikage-dono. Now what was it that you were told exactly?" Mifune asked Naruto who turned to the legendary samurai before giving his answer.

Ino walked into the Hokage's office with her team and came face to face with one of the few teachers that she had grown up with from her days as a Genin. Kakashi smiled at her with his patented eye-smile as she and her team entered the room.

"Ah, Ino-San I take it you are here for a mission for you and your team?" Kakashi asked pleasantly. Ino could not help but notice how well Kakashi had fit into the role, ever since the pressing matters had taken Tsunade, Shikamaru and Yamato away Kakashi had been acting-Hokage and he had taken to it like a fish to water. It was almost like he was born for the role of Hokage.

"Yes Sensei, I think we should get out once again since we have been training for a while and not been out on a mission in that time, so I wish to make sure my students are all kept in tip top condition" Ino answered dutifully, it still felt strange to see Kakashi as more than a teacher but the stand-in protector for the entire village, but she tried her best.

"That's why we should go on a higher ranked mission!" Noma suddenly shouted out from her position to Ino's side. Ino's eyes widened in horror at that moment, she had not anticipated Noma shouting out like that and towards a person of the highest level of power in the village too. She was about to turn around and scold Noma for speaking like that to the Hokage until she heard a soft laughter from Kakashi and opted to look at him instead.

"I wouldn't worry about that Ino-San, I stood in your very shoes almost nine years ago with one of my very own students" Kakashi spoke happily. "So I will say to you what I was asked back then, do you think your team are capable of completing a C-rank mission?" Kakashi asked Ino both seriously and also ironically, he remembered the outcome of the mission he had said his team could complete easily.

Ino looked over all of her students- noting the interested gazes she was receiving from them all- while there was a part of her that knew they were more than ready for the transition there was also that other nagging part of her mind that didn't want to put them into too much danger. They were like her little family, she didn't want to see any of them hurt but try however she might she knew that they were indeed ready for the step up to the next level.

"Yes, I know that they are capable of handling a C-ranked mission" Ino answered him confidently making the faces of all the girls brighten up at her words and beam at her with a mixture of happiness and pride at their teachers trust in their ability. Kakashi also smiled at her decision, seeing his own reflected in her thinking over those few moments.

He had gone through the same thing when deciding whether or not to allow his team to progress forward. He knew that his team was weak and the teamwork he had tried to dig into their brain may have been wearing off and hoped a C-rank might show them the true value of teamwork and camaraderie. He didn't quite expect that they would have to face off against one of the Seven Deadly Swordsmen and Demon of the Hidden Mist Zabuza Momochi but other than that his plan seemed to go well.

Kakashi then looked through the files that had been submitted at the C-rank level and found one he believed would be easy enough for Ino and the girls to complete on their first attempt at a C-rank. The nostalgia started when he read that it was an escort mission, when his eyes trailed down to the name of the applicant his mind went blank except one question. You're kidding me right?

Just as he had that thought the door opened and the object of his thoughts entered the room alongside a much younger version of him. "It has been a while Kakashi! To think that the last time I saw you there were three brats around you and you were their teacher. Now look at you the Hokage of the village and everything!" Tazuna exclaimed happily to which the seventeen year old boy to his left also smiled in happiness for the old acquaintance.

"It has indeed been a while, I do not mean to be rude but you have applied for the correct level of mission this time? I won't be sending out Shinobi that are ill-equipped for the task at hand?" Kakashi asked, remembering the last time the same man had applied for a C-ranked mission only it had eventually ended up as basically an A-ranked mission by the end of it. Tazuna smiled at Kakashi reassuringly at the question.

"No, while there are still some of Gatou's thugs after my head the small splinter cells that they are made up of don't have enough money to get any real high calibre people after me, your Shinobi will be fine" Tazuna replied honestly and with the lack of any alcoholic aroma coming from the man Kakashi decided that he might actually be telling the truth this time.

"Don't worry Kakashi-sensei my grandfather learned his lesson from last time and from what my sources have told me, the only way the separate groups would become any threat would be if they put aside their differences and work together, which from what I've been told is impossible" Inari spoke for the first time since entering the room. It was only when Inari had spoken that Noma caught herself staring at him very intensely and blushed madly at the very thought of it, she turned away from looking at him but not before Ino saw it and smiled to herself at the predicament of her cute little student.

"Wait, you have sources?" Kakashi asked the young boy rather incredulously which received him an embarrassed look from Inari and when he turned to look at his grandfather the man simply shrugged his shoulder at Kakashi's question.

"What can I say? The boy is well connected and on all the different jobs we've done all over the world he has met many people and created quite the intricate information web, quite ingenious if you ask me" Tazuna answered proudly at the intelligence his grandson exhibited and Inari himself rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment again, he was new to the receiving of praise. It wasn't exactly hard, all he did was talk to everyone and anyone and soon enough he could learn almost anything from the different friends he had made.

"Indeed it is, if you ever think about moving and feel like this is the place for you, let me know, I can't tell you how invaluable your information gathering could be" Kakashi said to the teen honestly, said teen looked to his grandfather before looking at Kakashi again.

"I'll hold you to that Kakashi-Sensei" Inari spoke after considering the proposal for a moment, Noma couldn't help but fantasize about the possibilities if he did actually end up staying in Konoha, the smile on her face indicated she would like the outcome at least.

"Very well" Kakashi finished. He then looked over Ino and her team and could see them all paying attention to him, well at least besides one who was stealing furtive glances at the seventeen year old boy. "This shall be the team that will escort you Tazuna, and before you can begin to complain they are all very well trained Shinobi, Ino-San here doesn't slack off and Naruto has also taught them a thing or two" Kakashi spoke with a smile. Both Tazuna and Inari looked at Kakashi inquisitively.

"You mean Naruto-Nii?" Inari asked while Tazuna simply stood and waited for the answer to come from Kakashi. They had both heard that after the Great Shinobi War had finished Naruto basically went rogue and was only seen around the world every once in a while. At Kakashi's nod Inari probed even further. "Where is he? Is he home yet? Is he still out on his own?" Inari asked quickly.

"Do not worry Naruto has been home and is currently on a mission, if my guess is correct then he should be on his way home just now" Kakashi answered him casually and noticed the worried expression that Inari had waned at the information. He was obviously worried about the boy who had saved him and his village all those years ago.

Ino was also happy with that piece of positive information, if he was on his way home then perhaps he would be home when she returned from her own mission, then she could spend more time with him.

"Now if that is all, I have other missions that I must give out and paperwork that has to be done" Kakashi pointed out politely to which everyone in the room nodded their heads in understanding.

"Okay girls, we meet at the front gates in 20 minutes" Ino commanded her team at which Hiku and Kyoki responded with quick 'yeses' and sped out of the room towards their own homes while Ino and Noma casually walked out of the door. "If you would please meet us there in that time Tazuna-san, Inari-san" Ino asked politely with a smile before leaving the room with Noma whose smile lingered on Inari just a second longer than necessary.

Tazuna turned to Kakashi once Ino had left the room with a smile on his face. "Wow Kakashi, if I had known that Konoha had such beautiful women I would have come here long ago" Tazuna joked to Kakashi causing the scarecrow to visibly chuckle too. Inari simply rolled his eyes at the innuendo his grandfather had made.

"I'm afraid you would find no luck with that beauty Tazuna-san" Kakashi answered casually causing Tazuna's eyes to rise slightly alongside his grandson's.

"Is that so Kakashi? I never took you for one who enjoyed his partners to be younger than you" Tazuna stated to the stand-in Hokage who frantically began waving his arms in front of his face.

"No no no, you have me all wrong, I am afraid that young Ino-san is actually rather smitten with someone" Kakashi answered finally to a laughing Tazuna.

"I was only joking Kakashi, I'm actually more surprised that one quite as beautiful as her is still single, surely she has had many suitors?" Tazuna asked to which he only received some shrugged shoulders from Kakashi.

"It is not an area that I have been deeply involved in and even with my small time in this position, it isn't something that passes through the Hokage, it is more of a family and personal business" Kakashi admitted to the veteran bridge builder. Seemingly satisfied with his answer Tazuna nodded his head.

"Very well, until the next time we meet Kakashi" Tazuna said as he made a short bow to Kakashi which Inari mirrored.

"I hope to see you both again soon, remember that my offer to stay here is open anytime, I shall be Hokage officially soon enough and I can give you and your daughter a place to stay here, with Inari of course" Kakashi said with an eye smile directed at the young boy.

"We will think on it Kakashi, goodbye for now" Tazuna spoke officially as he made his way out of the Hokage office and towards the front gates where his guards would be waiting for him by now.

Kakashi watched him go with a smile. It had been so nostalgic to see Tazuna again, it reminded Kakashi of a time when he was the teacher of 'three' students who were at the time still green as grass but had potential. Look at what they had all turned into.

One of them had gone down the path of darkness of course but he had taken Kakashi's own technique and made it his own, he had advanced through the Sharingan at an explosive rate and had in the end aided in the destruction of Tobi.

Sakura had gone from being the weakest in the team to one of the most important members of any team she was in. Where in the past she wasn't capable of fighting to help her teammates, now she was the most important member in charge of making sure everyone were healed. She was second only to Tsunade and Shizune in her proficiency in healing jutsu and second only to Tsunade in her superhuman strength.

And Naruto, well he had come from the dead last in the academy to the saviour of the entire world. He had been through a life from Hell and was still able to see the light side in everything, not once giving into the endless hate he could have unleashed onto the world. Kakashi was proud of his team, despite what Sasuke had done in the end he had tried to redeem himself and had paid the greatest price for it. Kakashi felt a solitary happy tear slide out of his normal eye.

The door to his office opened and revealed Shizune with a pile of paperwork; Kakashi wiped away his lone tear before Shizune could worry and adorned his usual happy eye-smile for her as she entered the room. "Hello Shizune-san, how are you today?" Kakashi asked pleasantly.

Shizune placed the paper all onto Kakashi's desk before she gave any reply, smiling at him as she gave it. "I am very good today thank you" She answered him happily before looking at the pile she had just dropped off. "This is all of the paperwork for today sir, please do it before the end of the night" Shizune asked sincerely as she kept on smiling.

"Okay, no problem Shizune-san" Kakashi answered her quickly, causing Shizune to take a double take on him; she had never had a conversation on paperwork that had been resolved so quickly. Looking at Kakashi she could see the sincerity in his eye and could not help but feel that he was being honest with her.

"Do you promise? I won't come in and find it burnt up or just discarded somewhere else?" Shizune asked sceptically as Kakashi sweat dropped at her questions, he had a clue as to why she was asking him these questions.

"Yep I promise, after all I know the trick to do paperwork anyway" Kakashi spoke as he leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind the back of his head. Upon looking at Shizune's face and recognising the questioning look he brought his right hand forward and clicked his fingers. Four other Kakashi's instantly appeared in a cloud of smoke. "Kage Bunshin's" Kakashi finished feeling satisfied when he saw the smile that graced Shizune's face at his answer.

"Very well sir, please drop these off on my desk once you are done" Shizune said to him with a smile before she turned and walked out of the Hokage's office. Kakashi found he was slightly caught in that smile of hers. Ever since taking the office of Hokage for Tsunade a few days ago he had seen a side of Shizune he had never seen before. The main cause being that she was his assistant and he saw her every day, but he wouldn't deny that he enjoyed her company, he much more enjoyed seeing her smile, it made him happy too. And as she made her way out of the office Kakashi wondered why he had never seen her backside move like that before.

His Shinobi training must have been out slightly because when Shizune turned to close the door she could see where Kakashi's lone eye was trained, with a smirk of realisation Shizune slapped her backside with her right hand which caused Kakashi's eyes to shoot up to meet hers to which she only winked to him in return before closing the door behind her.

The one thing that was running through Kakashi's mind at that time was: Busted. Although he could not help but think that it was all bad, after all she had winked at him.

It had been a couple of hours since they had left Konoha; their travel had been peaceful and quiet so far with little amounts of conversation on the way. Most of it had come from her team asking her questions about the place they were going to and the land outside of their village, having never been out of their home before.

Tazuna chuckled as the string of questions continued on. "You know I remember the last time I made this travel with a team from Konoha, those brats were green as grass as far as I knew, but they sure could hold their own despite their inexperience" Tazuna spoke to Ino who was walking beside him by now, she smiled at the amused look on the older man's face. After seeing her smile Tazuna was still wondering who the hell it was that she was after, with her looks and what little he knew of her personality she was a lovely girl.

"What was dad like when he was younger?" the inquisitive voice of Noma cut across behind Ino and Tazuna. Ino looked behind her to see the interested face of her student and after looking at the other two she could see their interest on the subject was at the same level. Inwardly Ino smiled, Naruto had such a profound part in her team already.

Ino turned to ask Tazuna which one of them should answer only to find his mouth hanging open and at looking at Inari could see his mouth hanging too. "That brat has a kid!" Tazuna exclaimed as he looked at the girl who had spoken, he looked to Ino again to find her looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"It may not be by birth but she is legally Uzumaki Noma" Ino answered him casually and as Tazuna looked to the girl in question she smiled brightly and nodded her head at him. it took a few moments for the information to register in Tazuna's brain, the little blonde haired kid that had been such a brat back in those days was already a father, given that he was an adoptive father, but still a father at such a young age?

"To answer your question though, when Naruto-Kun was young he was…" Ino began but started to struggle finding the words, Naruto was lots of things when he was younger and obviously so much more as he had grown up. Thus finding the right words to describe him was tricky.

"A hyperactive, crazy and brave knucklehead" Tazuna supplied to which Ino smiled at, he did hit the nail on the head with that description of when Naruto was young. "He was a hero" Inari then went on to add in himself at which again Ino agreed, Naruto had become a hero many times over for those that he cared about, his biggest achievement being the end of the war.

"I got to say though, that kid although young had much more on his shoulders than anyone else that age" Tazuna spoke as he smiled thinking about the young boy. "The way he got through everything and just put a smile on his face despite everything against him was amazing, I don't know many people that have mental strength anything like that" Tazuna continued on making Ino remember a time where she could never see through his façade, he had done well in creating it after all. Tazuna stopped in the middle of the road and turned to the girls coming up behind him.

"If you truly want to know what your father was like when he was young then I would say that he was the bravest, kindest and most considerate Shinobi I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, his will was the strongest I have ever seen" Tazuna spoke seriously to the girls as the stopped before him, making Ino stop and turn around as well as Inari beside her now.

As Tazuna went on to explain the confrontation of Team 7 and the Demon of the Hidden Mist Ino and Inari were left off to the side to watch the conversation, already knowing the story. As Tazuna continued his story Inari began to lean in closer to Ino. "So tell me, did Naruto-Nii ever manage to make it with Sakura?" Inari asked quietly so that only Ino could hear. She felt a chill rise up her spine at the insinuation of Naruto and Sakura ever being together, although she had a feeling that if he were so inclined still then it could still happen.

"No, at least not to my knowledge" Ino answered back evenly, hoping she managed to cover her tracks well, she hated allowing her emotion to run rampant. Inari seemed to nod in understanding. "I didn't think so, she never seemed all that interested in him, mostly Sasuke, although I had a feeling that Naruto might have been able to do it if he persevered" Inari concluded to himself. He missed the way in which Ino's jaws tightened slightly before she relaxed again and nodded her head.

"What about you?" Inari asked bluntly as he stared at her. Ino was taken aback by the sudden question. She knew she was caught now, or perhaps she wasn't, after all Shinobi were well known for their deception.

"No, Naruto-Kun and I have never been together" Ino answered him back calmly. "Actually, I have never heard of him being with any woman at all, at least not any from Konoha and I don't think he knows many other women that well" Ino answered him still evenly to which Inari nodded his head at.

"Well I suppose he hasn't been home long enough to get settled in, or maybe he isn't interested just now" Inari surmised to himself, unaware that the words he had spoken were what Ino had known. Of course Naruto would not be looking for anyone to enter a relationship with, after what he had been through and what he had seen, he would surely need some time to fully readjust to village life. Then he could possibly start considering a relationship with someone, and Ino was going to do all in her power to make sure it was her.

After Tazuna had finished his explanation to the three girls and left three awestruck girls in his wake he made his way to the front again.

"My dad is awesome!" Noma exclaimed at the top of her voice after standing silently for a few seconds, causing her squad mates to come out of their stupor. Her shout had also caught the attention of Inari who looked at her, it was only too late that she noticed this and at that her face began to heat up and the blush on her face.

"That he is" Ino smiled happily to herself, causing Tazuna to glance at her sideways, while he had seen her smiling before and it was radiant, there was something about her smile just then that betrayed more about her.

Just at that moment Hiku's eyes widened. "Drop to the ground!" she screamed at the top of her voice, tackling Noma to the ground while Ino grabbed Tazuna and Kyoki done the same with Inari. Barely a second after they had all hit the deck a large sword skimmed over their heads and became embedded into a tree that was only a short distance down the road from them. Tazuna's eyes widened in surprise, it was happening all over again.

Only this time there was no Shinobi that landed on the sword still embedded in the tree, instead this time there was a puddle of water moving up the side of the tree, which was until it reached the sword and then an arm extended out of the water and grabbed onto the handle. Following the arm came the rest of the body which then sat on the sword that was embedded in the tree. It was a man that sat on the weapon, he had white mid-length hair a white t-shirt and black pants. He sat on the large sword that looked oddly familiar to Ino and only too familiar to Tazuna.

The man on the sword grinned down at the ensemble of Shinobi before him. "So… you got any idea where I can find this father of yours, he sounds like fun" the man spoke with his grin never once leaving his face.

Ino was on her feet in an instant and ready, she was confused as to whom this person was but by their actions it was clear that they were hostile. "Alright, everyone form up! Protect Tazuna and Inari-san" Ino called out to her team who done exactly as they had been told. Hiku had already activated her Byakugan and Noma and Kyoki were running through hand signs.

"Oh, so I gotta go through you guys before I get to him?" the man asked them plainly before jumping and dislodging the sword from the tree, landing on the ground right in front of them. "Let's go then" the man spoke lowly.

Well here you guys go, I apologise if the chapter is both short and crappy, in short I have had a couple of problems that have prevented me from updating this and Hollow Kingdom, for that I apologise for the delay and shall try to get my update for Hollow Kingdom up soon too. So if you guys could bear with me until I get back into the stride again that'd be helpful=] as usual if you could review that would be nice =] - Varrukh