Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series or any other series that I might use for inspiration.

Chapter 15

Chuunin Exam Arc

Secret Revealed, Like Mother Like Son

Kumogakure no Sato...

"Raikage-sama, a messenger lizard summon just arrived...it carries a scroll sent by Yugito." informed Mabui, a beautiful, dark skinned woman spotting long earings and light-grey hair held in a bun with two bangs framing her face, wearing a formal attire consisting of a long sleeveless dress shirt and skirt.

"From Yugito...?" asked the Yondaime Raikage, Ei, a large, dark skinned man with a hulking physique, spotting pushed back, blonde hair, a goatie, and the muscles of a body builder. He is wearing dark blue ninja pants with white bangages around the ankles, black ninja sandals, gold arm bracers, and a belt with a large, gold buckle around the waist with the face of a warthog engraved on it,the only item of cloathing on his uppper body being the Raikage's cloak that he was wearing.

"Yes, from her." confirmed the raikage's assistant with a bit of a worried undertone, showing concern for her fellow kunoichi.

Yugito was not one to initiate communication with the authorities during the course of a mission, in fact, she has never done it before, even in situations where her actions could have drastic consequences to Kumogakure's viable future, Yugito was always confident in her own reasoning skills and took decisions on her own, often, or rather, always to the benefit of Kumo and always willingly ratifiable by the raikage. For her to initiate communication during the process of her mission was very uncharacteristic behaviour and therefore Mabui felt that her concern was not misplaced, and logically, assumed that something must have gone horribly wrong with her mission.

'But, if she was able to send a messenger lizard, we can assume that at least she is physically unharmed, the question now is whether Killer Bee and his genin team are unharmed as well, and the answer is in this scroll.' thought Mabui, looking at the un-opened scroll that she was holding with scrutiny, almost as if trying to see through the sealed scroll and read the message that was inside.

"Where is the scroll now?" asked the raikage, still not turning around to face his assistant, gazing at the beautiful sight that was Kumogakure no Sato from the perch of his balcony.

Kumogakure was built on and around the largest and tallest mountain in the world, with the raikage tower located at the very tip of the mountain. The reason for this was simple enough, with the raikage tower at the very tip of the mountain, this meant that he, his body guards and his strategic team could view the whole ninja village at all times, as the village was below their position. Their altitude also allowed them to see the enemy long before they got within range of the village, henceforth, organising and orchestrating counter attack and civillian evacuation measures well in advance. This also made it easy for them to access the electricity generated by the storm clouds for not only the village's electrical usage, but as a power boost for their whole shinobi force, especially their storm release users. These were just a few of the reasons why Kumo had never even come close to being successfully invaded, it was a nearly impossible feat.

"Right here, would you like me to read it to you?" asked Mabui.

"It is adressed to me is it not? What if it contains a secret that I cannot share with anyone, wouldn't allowing you to read it be counter productive then?" asked Ei retorically.

"What if Yugito was captured and this is a trap by the enemy, what if the scroll contains a poisonous gas, or an explosive tag, wouldn't it constitute gross negligence on my part if I allowed Kumo to lose it's raikage because of something as silly as a scroll?" retorted Mabui.

"We both know that an explosive tag would do no harm to me, and as for the poisonous gas, I could have a lightning clone open the scroll..."

"Oh whatever! Look I just want to know what's in the scroll okay, so cut the crap out and let me read it already! I'm your damn confidant for Kami-sama's sake, reading things like this to you and helping you make decisions is what I'm so supposed to do!" exclaimed Mabui angrily.

"Hn, what a convenient excuse, you just want to get your hands on some gossip material..."

"I'm reading the scroll now, better listen up or you'll miss it all!" said Mabui loudly, completely ignoring the rest of the raikage's rant, like hell she was going to miss out on reading that stupid scroll, like hell she was!

"Fine, I'm listening!" replied Ei in exasperation, if he didn't trust her so much, and she wasn't such a good friend and assistant, her head would have been flying across the Kumo skies right now for such blatant insurbodination.

"Okay, here goes..." said Mabui, making sure Ei-sama was ready before reading out the letter to him.

Ei-sama

Consider this a sort of progress report, what you're about to read contains some...interesting information, to say the least.

Okay, where do I begin, we arrived in Konoha two weeks ago, and I made contact with the Kyubi Jinchuuriki three days after our arrival. I told him about his mother and father, and even gave him one of your older bingo books so that he can see how they looked and what they could do.

Naturally, the first question he would ask himself is why he was never made aware of this, and that's where I took advantage of the situation. I was able to turn him against one of his most precious people in Konoha, namely, the Sandaime Hokage. I wove a conspiracy theory against him that involved practically the whole village, and thus, effectively turned him into one of Konoha's greatest detractors.

Naturally, he was heart broken, miserable, confused, alone, and most importantly, emotionally vulnerable. I used that opening to gain his trust and affections. I managed to establish a deep emotional bond with the boy and even managed to temporalilly move in with him.

You might be wondering why I have gone through so much trouble and where this is going? Well, my reasoning is simple enough, instead of abducting and enslaving Naruto-kun, I wanted him to come to us of his own accord, with his own free will. The boy only trusts me, and only loves me, and I have told him all the great things about Kumo and how much the village would celebrate his arrival and service to the village. I have told him how jinchuuriki are seen as saviors and protecters here and how much they are respected. He is looking forward to joining the greatness that is our village, I assure you.

The chuunin exams officially begin tommorrow. That is why, tonight, I was planning that we make love to each other. This would have completely sealed the deal, he would have been trapped in my spell for the rest of his entire existence...I would have rocked his world.

But...something completely unexpected happened this afternoon...something so mind boggling, that I felt I had to consult with you before taking any further action. But, before I tell you about that, let me reveal a few issues of concern that I encountered before I decided to make contact with the target, perhaps this will make it much easier for you to take in what I am about to tell you.

I made direct and physical contact with the target, something you explicitly told me not to do until I was ready to abduct him, but the thing is, the bijuu communication link did not work with my target. This, as you already know, clearly is not something that is supposed to happen. Both I and Nibi, however, could still sense the Kyubi's chakra inside the boy, but not it's actual presence. So I came up with a theory, that the Yondaime Hokage really did kill the Kyubi like Konoha had reported, but had somehow managed to seperate it from it's chakra, and sealed that chakra into his son. It was the only logical explanation. I also concluded that the Yondaime Hokage must have had something special planned for the boy, and that you would still want him regardless of whether the Kyubi was dead or not, but without a bijuu communication link, I would have to take a risk and make direct contact.

Now, getting back to what happened today, another boy, looking exactly like Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, bar from a few slight physical differences, arrived in the village today, calling himself Uzumaki Namikaze Arashi and claiming to be Naruto-kun's twin brother. This boy has the largest chakra reserves that I have ever sensed or heard of, and he is a jonin of the new village that has sprung up recently, Otogakure no sato. The boy apparently has his own genin team participating in these exams as well.

I tried to spot if there was any deception involved, but there was no henge or any other type of illusion at all. Also, his chakra is similar to Naruto's, similar enough to be considered sibling material. What is most mind boggling however, is that the boy is also a jinchuuriki...a kyubi jinchuuriki!

Yes, it sounds sounds like something pulled right out of a fairytail, but it is true, the boy definitely has the kyubi inside of him. I almost didn't sense it, his own bijuu level chakra reserves and the tightness of his seal served as good concealing cloaks for the bijuu inside of him, but I have a neck for these kind of things. More importantly, Nibi verified that the this boy, unlike Naruto, does have a bijuu communication link.

With that knowledge, I then used that link to privately confront him about a few issues of concern. He explained that the Yellow Flash seperated the Kyubi into two halves using a secret Uzumaki clan sealing ritual, the dead demon consuming seal. Apparently, the yang chakra was sealed into Naruto-kun and the yin was sealed inside of Arashi-san. According to Arashi, I was unable to establish a bijuu communication link with his twin brother because yang is only constituted by physical and natural energy whereas the yin is constituted by mental and spiritual energy. Basically, the Kyubi's mind and soul are attached to the yin chakra that is sealed within Arashi.

This is the situation, you have fought Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina alongside your father and later, alongside Killer Bee. You have the most experience in Kumo when it comes to dealing with the Kyubi and the Yellow Flash. I want your opinion about this whole situation and I want to know what you think is really going on here. Also, I think I am going to need further instruction from you. What should I do, should I just continue with my mission to return to Kumo with Naruto-kun and ignore Arashi, should I abduct Arashi instead and ignore Naruto-kun, or should I take them both?

I eagerly await your response

Nii Yugito

"What do you think, Ei-sama? This, do you think Konoha is behind this, is this some sort of elaborate deception by enemy?" asked Mabui.

Ei's eyes were as hard as stone, the story that was just read to him causing painful memories to re-surface in the raikage's mind, memories that he would have rather not been reminded of ever again. With a shake of the head and a deep breathe, the raikage cleared his head and recomposed himself before replying to his competent assistant and loyal friend/secret lover.

"No, I doubt that Konoha has anything to do with this, or any knowledge of what exactly is going on." replied the raikage.

"What do you mean, you sound like you know a little more than I or Yugito does about this situation?" asked Mabui, eyes narrowed curiously.

"Long ago, twenty years ago to be exact, I, my father, and a batalion of seven thousand Kumo shinobi embarked on a secret mission, a mission to capture the Kyubi jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Kushina..."

"I already know about that. Kushina allowed her demon to take over her and went on a rampage that destroyed everyone, the only survivors were you and your father. I do not see how this is connected to Uzumaki Naruto's twin brother, especially considering how that happened eight years before the twins were born." said Mabui, interupting the raikage mid-sentence.

"That mission, the seven thousand shinobi lost on that day were the reason that my father had to sacrifice himself later in the war, the reason our forces were outnumbered ten to one by Iwagakure forces..."

"I don't mean to be disrespectful Ei-sama, but once again, that is something I already know and I don't see the connection it could possibly have to Yugito's current situation." Mabui said, wondering if Ei-sama was feeling okay, and why he was getting so emotional all of sudden.

"I was getting there, if you would be a little more patient..." the raikage trailed off with a threatening undertone.

"Um...gomen, Ei-sama, I'm just worried about Yugito, I want to help her as soon as possible, I don't want anything bad to happen to her." replied Mabui apologetically.

"Hn, anyway, as I was saying, that incident with Kushina was the reason that my father died a few years later in the war. When we returned to Kumogakure, my father told me that we had to lie about what really happened on that day, and since it was just the two of us, keeping that secret was not very hard at all." explained Ei, causing Mabui's eyes to widen in surprise.

"W-what do you mean? Which part of the story is a lie exactly?" asked Mabui.

"The part were Kushina allowed the Kyubi to take over her and destroy half of our overall shinobi forces." said Ei bluntly.

"B-but I don't understand, if that isn't what happened, then what really happened to all those men and women?" asked Mabui, a look of utter confusion plastered on her facial features.

"The mission to capture Uzumaki Kushina was succesful, or at least, so we thought at the time..." the raikage trailed off thoughtfully, clenching his fists with emotions of anger and humiliation re-surfacing.

"We fought Uzumaki Kushina for seven hours straight, and eventually defeated and captured her. After the battle, she was unconscious and we travelled half the distance back to Kumo before setting up camp for the night. The next morning, Uzumaki Kushina woke up and requested to speak to me and my father." explained Ei, taking a deep breathe before continuing with his tale.

"What happened, what did she say?" asked Mabui.

"She didn't say anything, as soon as we got close to her, she started glowing brightly, a blinding bright red before everyone and everything was no more, Uzumaki Kushina had self-destructed and the explosion was so strong and corrosive, that even I and my father sustained severe injuries despite activating our respective lightning armors just before the explosion." explained the raikage, shocking his assistant to a more than significant degree, and confusing her even more so than she was shocked.

"I don't get it. If Uzumaki Kushina killed a whole batallion by supposedly self-destructing, shouldn't she have also died? I mean, how on earth did she give birth to the Uzumaki twins eight years down the line? And how did she produce an explosion powerful enough to destroy that many people and bypass yours and your father's armor? Your story doesn't make sense at all." asked Mabui with a disaproving and disbelieving tone to her voice.

"That is the thing, the person we captured wasn't Kushina at all, at least, not the real her. It was a blood clone in which she had sealed a large quantity of the Kyubi's chakra. Actually, it was an exploding blood clone, using the unstable and corrosive youki sealed inside of it to power up the explosion. You see, Kumo had tried to capture her even before that incident, when she was only nine and half years old, she never got over that first incident and anticipated that we would try again in the future. When she got deeply involved in the third shinobi war, she realised that the conditions had become ripe for us to use the choas, confusion, and destruction caused by the war to launch another abduction attempt. She also wanted revenge for the first incident, and so, conceived the idea for the blood clone explosion technique. She created the clone and the real her went into hiding, but she didn't just go into hiding. She was actually sending us anonymous tips about her clone's wherabouts and activities during the war, she posed as a mercenary shinobi and got us to pay her for the pin point accurate information that she was able to deliver. After confirming and cross-referemcing the accuracy of her info on many occasions, we had no choice but to believe the anonymous mercenary and we delivered the money to the various check points that she had instructed that the money be delivered to. Her info helped us to find a perfect opening to capture Kushina and we went all out to get her...we were fools!" said Ei angrily, a nasty snarl forming on his hardened features. .

To say Mabui was surprised would almost equate to saying that the raikage was fast, a complete understatement. It was very hard to believe that Kushina would go to such great lengths just to get revenge for almost being abducted, it wasn't like Kumo shinobi raped or tortured her or something like that, all they wanted was for her to help Kumo get stronger, nothing more that that. Sure, she could be bitter about it, but to go this far as to kill so many of their forces just because of that?

'But then again, Kumogakure was involved with the annihilation of the Uzumaki clan, maybe that played its part in her actions.' thought Mabui.

"So...um, how did you know that her jutsu was a blood clone, I've never even heard of such a jutsu before? And how did you know it was her that sent the anonymous tips to Kumogakure?" asked Mabui curiously, trying to make sense of the otherwise bizzare situation.

"She couldn't stop gloating about it when I and Killer Bee tried to capture her again four years later...that bitch!" cursed Ei.

"I see, and that mission was also a failure?" asked Mabui, although it was more of a statement more than a question really.

"Capturing someone is much harder than killing them, but you get the advantage when you are the one initiating the attack, because you get the planning and preparation time that your target doesn't get. Still, Kushina was no ordinary shinobi, she wasn't even an ordinary jinchuuriki, capturing her was harder than we thought it would be, despite the fact that we thought we didn't underestimate her. Her barriers and chakra chains provided her with a great advantage over us, she was also able to nearly keep up with my speed when she was using her eight tailed bijuu chakra cloak, while I was still faster than her, the gap in our speed was not big enough to give me a clear advantage, after all, the Kyubi's chakra cloak gives her an added advantage in terms of the number of limbs that she can use in battle. Still, we kept chipping away at her and never gave up, but, her relationship with the yellow flash had grown stronger over the years, strong enough that she trusted him enough to allow him to mark her with his jutsu formula. The battle went south when the yellow flash appeared and we were forced to abort the mission. I still think it was a blessing that the yellow flash arrived when he did though, the raikage's son and his brother being forced to retreat by a single kunoichi, Kyubi jinchuuriki or not, would have been a disgrace." explained Ei.

"I don't get it, why was it so hard to capture her, why didn't you use the sealing teapot?" asked Mabui.

"The sealing pot is easier to use against large targets, but Kushina never went full bijuu mode when we did battle with her, it can work on a smaller target of course, provided that the target does not have intel about the pot or the mechanics behind it, and, provided that the target doesn't have counter sealing techniques against it..."

"Ei-sama! Surely you don't mean...!"

"Yes, Uzumaki Kushina knew exactly what the teapot was, what it did, how it did it, and how to counter it. It shoudn't be a surprise really, the sealing pot was an Uzumaki clan heirloom in the first place, it was a spoil of war that we got our hands on when we teamed up with Kiri and Iwa to destroy Uzushiogakure." explained Ei.

"I see, so there was no way to capture her after all." said Mabui matter of factly.

"No, one of us would have probably had to die in order to capture her, and we would have failed whether one of us sacrifced themselves or not when the Yellow Flash arrived, fighting both of them at the same time was suicide." said the raikage.

"So, if we can't get the queen, then we go after her offspring, except, if yours and Yugito's story is anything to go by, then, the Uzumaki Naruto that Yugito has been manipulating so far is a mere blood clone, and the real Naruto is posing as his own twin brother. Also, the real Naruto is far more intelligent and advanced than his clone. But, what does this mean exactly? Wait a minute! There was a particular reason for you to take Killer Bee with you wasn't there! The real reason you took Killer Bee with you for the mission, was to use the bijuu communication link to verify if the Kushina you fought and captured was the real one unlike the previous encounter, makes sense I guess, the only question is, why did Naruto leave a blood clone in Konoha, and why did he join Otogakure no sato?"asked Mabui.

"I don't know, but probably, Konoha doesn't know about what Naruto did, I doubt they have any knowledge of what is really going on. Kushina didn't even tell Minato about what she did during the third shinobi war, her blood clone pretty much fooled everyone. And we didn't publicize the info either, we couldn't afford for our enemies to know that we had not only lost half of our shinobi forces, but that we had lost them to one kunoichi only. Basically, this means that Kushina must have secretly passed down the Uzumaki clan secrets to her son somehow, and probably a whole lot of other secrets as well. If he's a jonin right now, he must have escaped Konoha at least five years ago, or possibly even earlier, leaving behind his blood clone to act as a decoy. Quite clever I must admit, it must have been so much easier to hide and focus on getting stronger without worrying about hunter nin tracking him down." said the raikage.

"We should inform Yugito and Killer Bee immediately, she may have his clone eating out of the palm of her hand, but that means nothing if the real Naruto doesn't feel anything for her, he could detonate the clone and kill her, we can't let her die!" replied Mabui hysterically.

"Do you really think Naruto is going to kill Yugito, another jinchuuriki just like that? I doubt it, even a heartless witch like Kushina wasn't able to fight another jinchuuriki with true killing intent, and neither was Killer Bee able to fight at his best against her, there's a bond between jinchuuriki that goes beyond the bijuu communication link, also, add to that Yugito's proficiency in the art of emotional manipulation, I think she should be able to stop him from detonating the clone. Besides, I doubt he would want to use the clone explosion on Yugito alone, if Naruto and his clone's life in Konoha is anything to go by." said Ei cryptically.

"You mean...you think he plans to use the blood clone explosion to destroy Konoha?" asked Mabui.

"Precisely!" exclaimed the raikage elatedly, a satisfied smirk adopted on his facial features.

"I see, that wouldn't be so bad would it, the Yondaime Hokage's own son annihilating Konoha." replied Mabui with an evil smirk of her own.

"Yes, it wouldn't bad at all. You know what, I think I'm going to go to Konoha for the final round of the chuunin exams." said Ei, very much to Mabui's surprise.

"W-what! To do what exactly?" asked Mabui hysterically.

"I didn't tell you about this, but, the cifer division received a messenger bird from Konoha earlier about two hours ago. It was from the professor, or so called god of shinobi." said Ei dramatically.

"What did he want?" asked Mabui neutrally, simply refusing to be surprised by anything this man said anymore.

"He was informing us that he's going to send a Konoha contingent to negotiate a possible peace and alliance treaty. I think I'm going to accept his offer, it will give me less suspicious reason to be in Konoha I think." replied Ei.

"But why would you want to be in Konoha? And why would you need that excuse to be there, your brother's team will be participating in the exams, doesn't that more than justify your presence?" asked Mabui with a quirked eyebrow.

"Maybe, but I want some inside info. This alliance treaty is an obvious farce, if anything, Hiruzen is probably trying to use us for his and Konoha's own benefit. If I simply refuse the treaty, I won't be able to get close enough to Hiruzen to do what I really want to do."

"What you really want to do?" asked

"Yes, I'm going to refuse to negotiate with his lackeys, rather, I'm going to inform them to tell Hiruzen that I will only be negotiating in person. I will inform them that I will be in Konoha for the chuunin exam finals and that we will negotiate just before, during, or even after the final round of the exams."

"That does not say anything about what you really want to do." Mabui pointed out incredulously.

"Well, I want to kill him of course, and then I'll deal with the situation involving the Kyubi jinchuuriki depending on Yugito's progress at that point in time." explained Ei nonchalantly, almost as if talking about nothing but the mere weather forecast.

"I see, so you plan to use the chaos and confusion that Uzumaki Naruto's blood clone explosion is bound to create. It would be a brilliant idea, except, we don't really know for sure if there even will be a blood clone explosion or not."

"It doesn't matter if there is a blood clone explosion or not, something big is going to happen in Konoha anyway. Think about, why would a small and relatively unknown ninja village flaunt the Yondaime Hokage's son right in the middle of enemy grounds during an international event like the chuunin exams, in other words, before the eyes of the whole shinobi world?" asked the raikage retorically, causing Mabui's eyes to widen in realisation.

"Y-you're right, that almost sounds, or rather, looks like a declaration war, it's a shot at Konoha's pride!" Mabui exclaimed with realisation.

"It's also a declaration of intent, not only have this Otogakure publicly anounced themselves by participating in this year's chuunin exams, but anouncing the Uzumaki heir, who happens to be fathered by the yellow flash in the process? Clearly, these people have very high ambitions, if I had to make a guess, my guess would be that they are aiming to break into the big five, and they are planning to take down Konoha to do it. Personally, I don't care about their ambitions, but I do want to contribute to Konoha's destruction, and I also want the Kyubi."

"I don't like it, there are too many loopholes in this plan of yours, but I've known you long enough to know that there is close to nothing that I can do to stop you when you make your mind up about something like this." said Mabui with resignation.

"Hn, I will be taking Darui and C to serve as my bodyguards as usual, please inform them and make the neccessary preparations." ordered the raikage.

"The maximum number of bodyguards for the chuunin exams is four, you should take Dodai and I as well, you'll need all the manpower that you can get to pull off something like this..."

"Not a chance! We can't leave Kumo completely defenceless in our absence, You and Dodai are two of my most powerful shinobi in Kumogakure no sato, Kumo will need you to protect her in my absence. I'm leaving you in charge while I am gone, Dodai will be second in command. Do not worry about our numbers, have you forgotten that Yugito and B are also in Konoha?" asked the raikage.

"I-I see, I will do my best to protect Kumogakure in your steed, Ei-sama!"

"I expect nothing less, now, let us get the ball rolling, get a clean scroll and start drafting a letter of reply to Yugito, tell her everything that I just told you. When you're done, call in Dodai, C, and Darui, I want to adress them personally." said the Ei authoratively.

"Hai, raikage-sama!"

The following day: Konoha...

"Naruto nii-san, I heard about what happened yesterday, I...um...I just want you to know that uhhhh...i-if you need anything, anything at all, I'll always be there for you, and I um...I also speak for Moegi and Udon, I spoke to them yesterday and they wanted to wish you good luck for the exams." said Konohamaru awkwardly, trying and failing not to look concerned for his rival/friend/surrogate brother.

He is a ten year old boy with dark brown eyes raven, gravity defying and spiky hair, wearing a sleeveless blue top, dark blue shinobi sandals, and black shinobi pants with white tape around the ankles. Also, a wooden staff that can expand into a glider is placed on his back in a semi-horizontal position.

On his right hand side stood Hyuga Hanabi, a beautiful ten year old girl with shoulder length dark hair, cold, pupiless, and lavender eyes, and a lithe body, wearing only a dark blue, sleeveless top, sleeveless pants and sandals with no weapons pouch or weapon in site.

Standing on Konohamaru's left hand side was a 12 year old boy only known as Sai, with black hair, black eyes, and pale skin and a lithe body, wearing a short black top that leaves the lower half of his belly exposed, black pants, and black shinobi sandals.

The three of them had, together, missed everything that transpired the previous day, only hearing through the other rookies about Naruto's so called twin brother from Oto. What bothered them the most was how it happened almost right after they left Ichiraku's to go and practice a team sequence that they had been working on for the chuunin exams, this was something that was too big for them to hear from someone elses point of view when they could have had a first hand account of what happened.

Naruto knew that he couldn't blame Konohamaru for everything that happened to him, but he just wouldn't ever see the Sarutobi's the same way again after what Hiruzen did to him, in fact, he didn't think he could ever trust another Konoha shinobi ever again whether they were a Sarutobi or not. He and Konohamaru had been close friends, he would even go as far as saying they were brothers in everything but blood, after all, Konohamaru called him 'nii-san' and they did used to have the same 'jiji' up until recently.

However, unlike Konohamaru, Naruto didn't get any private lessons from 'jiji' or 'uncle Asuma', and he certainly didn't get any private tutors. Also, Konohamaru was never denied knowledge of his roots, and no ill intent towards him was even remotely tolerated, whereas Naruto was allowed to suffer a lot of psychological attacks and even physical ones on some rare occassions. Unlike Naruto, he was not deceived all his life and betrayed by the people he loved and trusted most, he was never alone and didn't have to raise himself, nor had he any idea what it was like to be hated by everyone as a growing child,basically, Konohamaru had no idea what true pain and suffering was. As far as Naruto was concerned, Konohamaru would never understant how he felt, he wouldn't understand why Naruto was planning to defect to Kumo, he wouldn't understand his bond with Yugito-chan and he certainly wouldn't understand why he hated Konoha as much as he did now. As far as he was concerned, Konohamaru was now no longer his rival, Konohamaru was now his enemy. Still, Naruto couldn't afford to publicly display his true-self just yet, if it were up to him, he would have told all of those bastards off every chance that he got, but he just couldn't get Yugito's words out of his head for some reason, probably because she made too much sense to be ignored whenever she spoke.

Listen carefully Naruto-kun, believe it or not, you have made me by far the happiest woman in the world right now, I am very pleased with your decision to come back to Kumo with me, but...now that you have made that decision, you're going to have to be extra-careful. Normally, the natural response when people make a decision like the one you just made, is to start acting careless and reckless, this is because, they no longer feel obliged to, for lack of a better word, 'suck up' to anyone anymore because they think that it does not matter what people think of them anymore, since they are leaving anyway. This is the most common mistake that has been repeatedly made by various people throughout the ages, a mistake that you must actively force yourself not to make.

The Konoha higher-ups were already watching your every movement like a hawk stalking its prey, they tightened that security even further when I befriended you, if you start cutting all ties with some of your so called friends and loved ones, they might do more than just tighten the security. Konoha would rather see you die than you at the hands of an enemy, to them, you're their ultimate weapon, one they can't afford to lose.

Now I don't want you to worry too much about this, you're not just a weapon to me, you're the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I won't let them hurt you, I will do everything in my power to make sure that does not happen, but I'm going to need you to play your part as well...don't act attactched to your Konoha aquintainces, but don't act detached or severe your ties with them either...just keep within character, they expect you to be quietly thoughtful, confused, hurt, and angry, make sure that is exactly what people see. Don't overdo anything, if you're too happy, they'll know something's wrong, if you're too spiteful and start shattering your bonds, they'll know you're about to leave and make thier move.

They won't make a definite move until they are absolutely sure they have lost you, that is why you have to keep them guessing until the end. All we have to do is to make sure they don't reach that conclusion until it is too late. Remember, you are the man I love, the man that I want to spend the rest of my life with, our love will conquer everything Naruto-kun, everything!

'Yugito-chan...I won't fail you, because I want to spend the rest of eternity with you too, you are the woman I love, the woman I will build a new life with, the woman who saved me from a life of ignorance, humiliation, pain, and suffering, you are my centre.' thought Naruto with determination.

"Thank you, but...I don't need anything right now, besides, I have to be a man and handle this myself, I can't become Hokage and help everyone else if I can't even help myself, right?" replied Naruto.

"Um...right, I guess you have point there...ehehe ehehehe...!" said Konohamaru awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck with embarrassment, not quite sure really what to make of the situation. The words were not that much of a surprise, in fact, they were quite a characteristic response from Naruto, linking everything that happened to his life to his goal of becoming Hokage and all, but there was just something...off about how he said it. He wasn't sure if it was so, or if he was just being paranoid, but it almost felt like Naruto had just said that for the sake of saying it, like he didn't really give a damn about what he was saying, there wasn't the conviction and power behind his words that was usually almost tangible when Naruto expressed himself.

'Maybe I'm just overeacting, Naruto nii-san has been thrown a few curveballs in quick succession, maybe I should back-off and give him time to find himself again.' thought the sandaime hokage's grandson.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"O-okay, we'll meet you inside, wana hand in these exam forms quickly, so, we'll meet you again inside right?" asked Konohamaru.

"I would go with you, but I think I'll stay out here a little while, I want to go in with my teammates, they're not here yet." said Naruto simply. Off course, that was not the entire truth, yes, he was waiting for his teammates, Yugito told him that chuunin exams were about teamwork and that no two man or one man teams were ever allowed to participate in the history of the competition, so he knew that there would be no exams for him if one of his teammates didn't turn up. He was kinda pissed that once again, that bastard Kakashi almost made a fool out him, sick prick probably enjoyed messing with people's minds he supposed. Still, the person he was really waiting for wasn't Sakura or Sasuke, but none other than his own beloved Yugito.

She'd wanted for them to take their relationship to the next level last night, but after the revelations about his twin brother yesterday, making love, even to a beautiful and wonderful person like Yugito-chan, had been the last thing on his mind. He was just so angry, depressed, and confused that he didn't feel up to it, not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't want to disapoint his most precious person. He just didn't feel like it would be fare to her if he didn't give her his best efforts and undivided attention for their first time together.

Fortunately, he never had to explain that to her, it was almost like she read his mind, or maybe she was just a very kind, sensitive, and selfess person, because she was quick to realise that he would need time alone to sort everything out. So, they didn't make love last night, she didn't even sleep in his apartment, she told him that she would spend the night with Killer Bee and his genin team to give him some time to sort out his feelings, but not before showing him all the traps and alarm systems that she had set-up in and around his apartment in case Konoha authorities tried anything in her absence. She'd told him that she would be by his side in a heartbeat if someone triggered the alarm systems that she had set-up for his protection, forcing a strong sensation of warmth and happiness to spread throughout the very centre of Naruto's being despite the emotional turmoil that he'd been going through.

So she'd departed on good terms, but Naruto couldn't help but worry about her, she was patient and underdtanding with him, and she was taking so many risks for his sake alone, and he hadn't even tried to convince her to stay with him last night, in fact, just thinking about it, he was afraid that he might have given her the impression that he couldn't wait for her to leave. Needless to say, he felt horrible about himself, how could he treat her of all people like that, like she was a burden at a time when all she wanted was to be there for him. Wasn't this what he had always wanted, someone to not only acknowledge him as a human, but to understand and even love him?

And what was up with that stupid foreboding feeling at the pit of his stomach ever since he laid eyes on his twin brother. He couldn't deny that he was jealous of course, come on, the guy was the same age as he was but he was already an elite jonin in his village and he even had his own genin students already. He didn't think he'd ever felt so weak and useless before, he couldn't stop the poisonous venom that was jealousy from spreading all over his heart. He'd lashed out at his twin yesterday, blaming him for all his suffering and loneliness, demanding to know why he hadn't come to rescue him from his bullshit existence in Konoha, basically, blaming him for every horrible thing that happened in his life. While some of his rant was composed from genuine anger and feelings of betrayal, most of it was just a way to mask his jealousy and to vent his frustrations at his own weakness, using his brother as a convenient scapegoat, somewhat hypocritcally, concidering how much he resented the majority of the Konoha pupulation for doing just that.

Surprisingly, his brother didn't even refute his accussations, but rather, sincerely apologised for everything that he was accused off and even promised that everything would become clearer and better in the near future. Naruto didn't know what that meant exactly, but he knew that it wouldn't be too long before he found out, his brother said that he didn't want to be the reason for him losing concentration and dying in the chuunin exams, and therefore promised that he would clear everything up for him only at the end of chuunin exams, he said that they would be able to be together again like they were always meant to be when everything was cleared up.

Naruto didn't know why, but he was scared of that prospect for some reason he couldn't explain, to the point that he almost wished that nothing was cleared up at all, almost. There was just something weired about this whole situation, why did he feel like this, as if his whole world was about to come crashing down on him? He just wished Yugito-chan would arrive soon, if anyone could make everything better, it was her, she just had a way with him that no one else had, no one else would ever have, or so he thought.

'Yugito-chan, where are you...?' Naruto thoughts halted instantly when he felt the sharp edge of a kunai pricking slightly against his throat, slicing a small wound across his adam's apple, the blood leaking down his neck proof of the small wound that he couldn't see.

"You should be more mindful of your surroundings little brother. While frowned upon, killing is allowed in the chuunin exams. I'd hate to lose you so soon after waiting so long to see you again, premature deaths are never a good thing, especially for one with so much potential." whispered a voice similar to his own, albeit, a lot more even and somewhat softer than Naruto's own voice.

"A-arashi nii-san?" querried Naruto.

"Yes, little brother...?" asked Arashi innocently.

"W-what are you doing?" asked Naruto nervously, not sure what to make of this guy's creepy behaviour. He would have thought, since they were twins, that their personalities would be as closely identical as their physical traits, but this guy demeanor and attitude was vastly different from his own.

'But then again, most jonin that I have met, except for Yugito-chan are all weidos.' thought Naruto.

"Let go of him now or face the consequences!" ordered a feminine voice coming from the nearby forest.

Both twins turned their heads to right hand side just as Yugito walked out from behind large oak tree, walking towards the two identical blonde's with enticing class and elegance. She was a quite a site to behold, her feline aura, her curvaceous body, her elegant cat work, and the enticing swerve on her hips every time she took a step, really, Arashi did not really have to ask himself how his blood clone could be so taken by this woman's charms, she was something else.

"Of course, I would hate to anger the woman that has taken possession of my brother's heart, you know what they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." said Naruto with a toothy grin, placing his kunai back into his weapon's pouch and backing away from his blood clone hastily. He didn't want to anger the nibi jinchuuriki, she was quite powerful, close to completely conquering the nibi's powers, one of the potential raikage candidates to succeed the Yondaime Raikage from what he'd heard. It's not that he was scared of her, he just didn't want to have to fight her because he knew he wouldn't be able to defeat her without revealing a lot of his secrets, besides, they were both in a forein country, and they were both jinchuuriki, a fight between them would destroy Konoha and possibly commence the fourth shinobi world war, it wasn't worth the risk...yet.

"Order your genin to enter the building and head to the jonin lounging room, I want to have a word with Naruto...alone." said Yugito evenly, now standing only a few metres away from the twin duo.

Naruto's head snapped almost 180 degrees around and his eyes widened only a split second later, because there, standing behind Arashi was what looked to be close to sixteen Oto shinobi, three of them were jonin kunoichi, of which one was that Yakumo girl that was with his brother yesterday, his girlfriend, if he wasn't mistaken. The rest looked like they were also genin, but he was shocked that so many people were able to sneak up on him like that. He'd almost immediately forgiven himself when his brother sneaked up on him, he was an elite jonin after all, but to find out that even the people he was supposed to be competing against were able to do it so effortessly was just damn unsettling.

"Alright, we'll talk later, little brother..."

"Kyaaah!" Arashi never got to finish what he wanted to say, being on the receiving end of a kick right between his legs on his baby makers from behind, causing him to double over in pain with a girlish scream.

"Aaaaargh! You bitch, what the hell!" roared Arashi furiously. If he was trying to be intimidating, than he surely failed with an F or even G grade, because a boy screaming like a girl while rolling around on the dirt with his hands between his legs looked anything but intimidating.

"Arashi no baka-sensei! How dare you allow yourself to get bossed around by that Kumo bitch you selfish bastard! What do you think that says about the rest of us you idiot!" screamed Amaru right at his face.

"That's not reason to annihilate my propective sons and daughters!" Arashi snapped.

"Oh my goodness just look at em, hehe, I can't even seperate sensei from student at this point." said Guren, mocking her boyfriend's childish behavior light heartedly.

"That's why women are better at raising children, I mean, have you ever heard of a single father raising kids successfully? No, of course not, I mean how could they when they still need a good woman to take care of their needs too." said Suzumebachi, eyes glittering with amusement as she watched the comic scene unfolding in front of her.

"I feel sorry for him, Amaru is not the most level headed of people, she also has a lot of deep rooted issues from her upbringing that she still has yet to overcome." Yakumo responded with her usual stoic demeanor.

"Your stupid balls don't mean shit to me at the moment..."

"Amaru! Those testicles may not mean anything to you, but they mean the world to Arashi-kun and I. If I ever see you doing something like that again..." warned Yakumo with a deadly tone, staring the Reibi's vessel with malicious intent.

"That goes for me too!" said Guren.

"And me three, you'll have a lot to answer for if we can't conceive Arashi-kun's babies because of you!" added Suzumebachi.

'Conceive his babies, all three of them? What's going on here?' thought Yugito with a confused expression.

"I...I understand! Please forgive me!" stuttered a horror stricken Amaru, shaking with fear as if she had just seen a ghost.

"Good, now, I want you and your teammates to head into the exam building or whatever they call it, you only have twenty minutes before the exams proceed. You should arrive early so that you can scout out your opposition." ordered Suzumebachi.

"H-hai, Suzumebachi-sensei!" exclaimed Amaru a little too eagerly, hoping to get away from three of the most dangerous kunoichi in the elemental nations, two of which she thought to be batshit crazy.

"That goes for my students and the rest of you too. We won't wish you good fortune or anything like that, that would only mean that we were worried about your wellbeing. Trust me when I say this, we're not in anyway concerned, you're all talented and we have trained you well, the only thing we will do is to congratulate you when you have won this competition. Now go!" ordered the Kamizuru heiress militantly.

"Hai sensei!" exclaimed the Oto genin contingent as they hurriedly scrambled themselves away from the volatile group of teachers, strangely, or maybe not so strangely with heads held high with pride and confidence, each and every one of them able to read between the lines of Suzumebachi's rant, moved by the fact that she was able to acknowledge their hard work and shinobi prowess even when she was in such a foul mood.

"Come Arashi-kun, we should go to the jounin lounge and relax, I can't wait to hear what the Hokage will say when the two of you meet." said Guren as she helped the blonde Uzumaki to his feet.

'Can't wait to hear what the Hokage has to say? At the jonin lounge? I see...' thought Yugito with realisation, finally understanding a little more as to why the Arashi had declined the Hokage's invitation for a private conversation at his office yesterday, when the Hokage's personal A.N.B.U guard had aproached the blonde haired enigma at Ichiraku's.

'He wanted to force the Hokage to meet him in a public place where he wouldn't be able to say or do anything without anyone from Oto and other ninja villages seeing or overhearing the conversation. But the only reason he would antagonize and even disrespect the Hokage like he did only validates what Raikage-sama theorized, that he has no loyalties to Konoha and doesn't give a damn what they think of him because he intends to destroy them anyway...and that...that Naruto-kun really is an explosive blood clone and Arashi is the real Naruto...!" thought Yugito with mixed emotions of anger, frustration, embarrassment, and even heartache and dispair, not entirely willing to accept the prospects of all her efforts so far turning out to be completely pointless.

"Little brother, we didn't get a chance to talk properly yesterday, and it seems we won't be able to talk properly until the end of the exams. Don't go dying too soon though, I haven't waited all these years just for you to die in some stupid exam." said Arashi with a taunting smile.

"Tche...! As if I'd die and leave Yugito-chan all alone!"exclaimed Naruto confidently.

'Heh...he seems happier than I thot he would be, but than again, he does seem to have found a precious person who has given him a sense of purpose. Pity that I'll have to break her heart when the truth comes out...but than again, I might be able to use this thing my clone has with this woman to my advantage. I just have to figure out how...' thought Naruto with a sinister smirk.

'We're going to be sharing a lounge with the some of Konoha, Kumo, and Suna's elite jonin, with the prospect of the Hokage also joining us. Rather focus on that for now instead of whatever it is that you seem to have planned out for Nii Yugito. That jonin lounge will be a very dangerous place.' Yakumo suggested, using the communication link between her and Naruto that she created with her mind tranfer techniques since they were still Otogakure genin.

'You're right. Thanks Yakumo-chan.' replied Naruto, the two walking hand in hand on their way to the jounin lounge.

End Of Chapter

Next chapter will be titled: Amaru vs Rock Lee.

Thanks for reading.