Naruto: Deep Forest Chronicles

AN/ Hey yo, RinneTaicho back again, here with the second chapter of the revised Naruto: Mokuton Chronicles, now titled Naruto: Deep Forest Chronicles.

So this chapter we get into cannon proper. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the new story.

Now, for announcements. So after this chapter, I'm going to be moving on to the next chapter of Naruto: Uchiha Chronicles, while working on the concept for my fic with Naruto being paired with Fem-Shikamaru.

Until then, I'll be taking a poll regarding this story's pairing, whether it should be a single pairing or a small harem as originally planned(This will be very small, three maximum). I'll probably keep taking these suggestions for a few chapters.

There will be a slight difference in this version to what I had planned in the original. In this, Sasuke will be Naruto's friend, and he won't be 'bashed'.

I'd like to give recognition to Hamp24, who allowed me to use the concept at the beginning of his fic to base this off of, however, I plan to have this branch off from that starting pretty quickly.

Anyways, not much else to say, so on with the chapter.

Normal speech: "what"

Extremely loud group/single person shouting: "WHAT!"

Thoughts/Speech taken out of context: 'what'

Letter/Book/Written text: 'What'

Demon/Summon speech: "what"

Demon/Summon thoughts: 'what'

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 2: Stirring Tree Leaves, the Trapped Traitor!:

— ₪ NDFC ₪ —

The early morning trilling of birds filled the air as dawn broke over Konoha. Sunlight peaked out from behind the Hokage monument, allowing the warm tendrils of its rays to sweep across the village, and the few inhabitants that were already up and about at this early hour.

In a small apartment building on the north side of the village, one of those rays spilled through the window of Naruto's apartment. The ray hit him in the face. His face twitched, and he slowly began to crack open a single electric blue eye, clouded with sleep.

"Huh—wassat?" Naruto grumbled in sleepy confusion. Though he couldn't see much through his clouded vision, it was enough to realize that it was morning.

The shaggy-haired blond groaned in annoyance as he sat up and began to rub the sleep from his eyes. He felt niggling feeling of excitement, but in his sleepy haze he couldn't quite remember why. He was certain it had to do with something happening that day. It took a moment for his mind to sharpen, and his eyes to snap to the calendar on the wall.

"That's right, today's the day of the graduation exam!"

With an ear-to-ear grin Naruto threw the covers off himself and excitedly jumped out of bed. Finally, the day had come for him to become a full-fledged ninja! The tall blond boy began to get ready. As he moved, the hard corded muscles of his shirtless upper body rippled under his skin. Years of intense training from his 'sensei' had stripped his body of any baby fat, despite his young age.

Thirty minutes later, Naruto, now showered and fed, stood in front of his bedroom mirror, checking his appearance one last time. He was dressed in his usual attire, sturdy ninja clothes consisting of a dark red kimono-style top with black flame motifs on the bottom, and black shinobi pants with tape around his ankles. He checked to make sure all his equipment pouches were in place, taking extra care to make sure that his chokuto was secured tightly in his grey obi.

'Would you stop preening already! You'll be late at this rate; you're worse than a female!' Said a menacing voice from within his mind. It was unbelievably deep, and sounded ancient.

Naruto huffed in annoyance. 'Put a sock in it fuzz ball, I've got plenty of time!'

'FUZZ BALL? You dare call the great Kyūbi a fuzz ball? I ought to eviscerate you!' Thundered the deep voice. Naruto grinned. It was easy too get his tenant to flip out.

'Oh please, stop posturing Kyūbi, you know you can't get to me. Besides, aren't we friends?' Naruto asked Kyūbi cheekily. His response was a growl.

'Whatever human. I curse the day your decrepit leader told you about me. You've not stopped pestering me since.' Grumbled the ancient fox. Naruto could tell that the tailed beast wasn't actually angry, he just liked to pretend like he was.

'Anyways, I suppose you're right. I better get going, otherwise Mr. Uke is going to get antsy.' Naruto said, ignoring the snickering of the fox at the nickname for his best friend. After one final check to make sure his red kimono shirt was fastened tightly by his grey obi, Naruto left his apartment.

Out on the streets there were only a few people out and about. Most people awake at this hour were either ninja, or shop owners. Naruto ignored the cold stares he got from many on as he walked through the streets. He gave the occasional nod or greeting to the few people who would wave at him. Ever since he had stopped his pranking and taken the Senju name, some had begun to reconsider how they treated him, and it had gotten significantly better for him.

It wasn't a long walk to his first destination; an apartment building about five blocks from his own. He arrived just as someone walked out of the entryway, and Naruto grinned at who it was.

He was a fair-skinned boy with black hair that was spiky in the back, with his bangs framing his face. His eyes were a piercing onyx black, and he was dressed in the style of the Uchiha Clan; a dark blue shirt with the Uchiha crest emblazoned on the back, and black shinobi pants taped in a similar manner to Naruto's, with black sandals.

"I see you're awake, Sasuke." The black-haired boy glanced at Naruto and grunted dismissively.

"Oh, it's you." He said. Naruto eyebrow twitched at his friends apathetic attitude.

"Tch, as broody as ever I see." He replied.

"Whatever, you coming or what?" Asked Sasuke as he began to walk in the direction of the academy. The blond begrudgingly began to walk alongside the stoic Uchiha, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Jeez, you need to work on your people skills." Said Naruto. There was no real reproach in his voice, he was used to Sasuke being grumpy in the morning. For a few minutes they walked in companionable silence.

Naruto looked at the Uchiha scion out of the corner of his eyes. "So you ready for the exam today?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto and his eyes sparkled in a mischievous manner. "Of course I am. I'm worried about you though, after all, you are the dead-last." Sasuke said with a smirk. Naruto's eyes bugged comically in outrage.

"Oi, not cool, you know that's just so we can be on the same team! I can wipe the floor with you!" Sasuke gave him a superior smirk, but otherwise ignored as Naruto began a rant about his 'awesome skills'. Around them people sweat dropped at the sight of the odd duo. Eventually Naruto calmed down and looked at Sasuke with a small smile.

"We're finally going to be ninja. It's the first step towards our dreams, you can't tell me you aren't the least bit excited." Said Naruto. Sasuke remained silent for a moment. Finally he caved.

"I guess you're right, I'm sort of looking forward to it." He admitted grudgingly. Naruto grinned and threw an arm around Sasuke's shoulder. He ignored the narrowed eyes and twitching eyebrow of his friend. "See, now was that so hard to admit?"

"Don't push it Naruto." Sasuke said with a growl. Naruto simply grinned teasingly at the Uchiha, paying his request no heed.

"Oh yeah, what're you gonna do, try and beat me up?" He asked with a cheeky smile. To his surprise, instead of Sasuke growing even more angry, he actually chuckled. Not only that, but his facial expression was now eerily calm.

"No, I won't try and beat you up." Sasuke said with a smirk. Naruto couldn't help but feel that it was sort of ominous. "No, I'll leave that to your sensei, after I tell her about that Sexy Jutsu you made."

Naruto immediately paled as the blood drained from his face at Sasuke's threat. He shuddered at the thought of his Sensei learning about his anti-pervert jutsu. Something told him she wouldn't be very understanding if he were to tell her about his invention. The young Senju looked at his friend fearfully. Surely his friend couldn't be that sadistic? One look into his eyes told him all he needed to know.

"Hehehe, I was just joking." He said hastily as he removed his arm from Sasuke's shoulder and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Eager to get away from the subject, he began to speed up as he said, "Well, we better hurry, wouldn't wanna be late now."

— ₪ NDFC ₪ —

Naruto and Sasuke were greeted by a familiar sight when they entered their classroom at the academy. The tiered classroom was crowded with other young shinobi, each either leaning on a wall or sitting on the benches behind the plain wooden desks. It was a rather simple room, built to be a small lecture room made almost entirely of a blonde wood, with a large blackboard for the instructors to write on taking up the wall at the front of the classroom. The students were all talking amongst themselves, all the voices blending together into a loud din.

Of course, that all stopped once people began to notice who had entered the class. The chatter died down and all eyes were turned on the two clan heirs, both of whom showed no indication of the attention they were drawing. They began to walk down the steps to a couple of seats near the window in about halfway up the steps.

The silence didn't last for long. Slowly muttering began to break out amongst the male students, who were wondering why the heirs of the Senju and Uchiha clan—who usually 'hated each other's guts'—arriving together without glaring at each other.

Naruto smirked inwardly at the dumbfounded faces of many of their classmates. 'Man, look at all their faces! They can't believe that we're getting along. It's like the biggest prank ever!'

After the two took their seats—Sasuke sitting by the window and Naruto in the middle seat—the other genin hopefuls began to slowly go back to their conversations.

"Man, you guys just had to make a commotion and wake me up. You're so troublesome." Said a lazy voice. Naruto looked over to the to the table next to theirs to see Shikamaru Nara, one of their friends, staring at them with an annoyed expression. He had a spiky ponytail, and wore rather muted clothing; a short cut grey top with the Nara symbol on the sleeve, over a mesh shirt, with brown pants.

"Come on, it's not our fault all these other guys decided to make a big deal of it." Replied Naruto. Shikamaru sighed. He rested his chin on his arms.

"I guess you have a point." He conceded. "Besides, I guess the exams are going to start soon, so it doesn't really matter."

True to the lazy boys prediction, it was only five more minutes before the door at the front of the class slid open and their instructors walked in. The first was Iruka; a man with a deep tan, warm brown eyes and his hair up in a ponytail similar to Shikamaru. Naruto always liked Iruka; he was one of the few who treated him like he was any other student. Behind him was someone Naruto wasn't so fond of, a grey haired man named Mizuki. Mizuki's hair was cut to chin length, and he had a kind expression on his face. But Naruto knew better. He could always feel the negative emotions rolling off the man; especially towards himself. If Mizuki liked being a teacher, he would swear off ramen for a whole year.

The two instructors walked to the front of the classroom, where Iruka began to call attention to himself and quiet down the chatter.

"Alright everybody, take your seats and settle down, we'll be starting soon." Said Iruka, gaining the attention of the entire class. The students immediately sat down and began to quiet themselves. Iruka smiled at the assembled students.

"Very good." He said. "Now, as you know, today is the graduation exam. The exam itself is rather simple. You'll have a written exam of 200 questions, that will be worth forty percent of your grade. The questions will range from the shinobi code, to what you would do in certain tactical situations. Your grade will be based on the completeness of your knowledge, and the effectiveness of your proposed battle plans. Suffice it to say, it will cover the whole range of what you've learned here at the academy." Iruka explained. There was a bit of muttering from the class at that information. It seemed most hadn't been expecting something like this.

"What about the other sixty percent of our grade? What's that based on Iruka-sensei?" Asked Sakura Haruno, a girl with a somewhat large forehead, but rather pretty nonetheless. Her hair was long, and framed her pale face with its pink locks.

"I was just about to get to that Sakura." Iruka said with a teasing smile. Sakura flushed lightly. "The other sixty percent will be based on your ability to perform a randomly selected E-rank jutsu. That portion is judged on your technique and results. For this time, the jutsu we've selected is—"

Iruka paused and his eyes flickered to Naruto with a worried look. From that alone, Naruto could tell that the jutsu was one Iruka wasn't sure he could perform. 'Hmph, no need to guess which that might be.'

"—the Clone Jutsu. You'll need to create two clones to pass."

Iruka let the class mutter amongst themselves for a bit after announcing the jutsu they'd need to perform. During this time, Naruto's face was a blank mask, his face not betraying any of his thoughts. While most would assume it was because he was worried; it was actually the opposite. 'Hehe, too easy. Good thing they don't expect us to use genjutsu, that could get tricky.'

After a few minutes, Iruka called the class to order once more, and began to pass out the written exams. Once all of them were distributed, he stood once more at the front of class.

"You'll have four hours to complete the exam. Good luck." Said Iruka. With that, there was a great rustle of papers as all the students began to turn over their tests. When Naruto saw the first question, he couldn't help but smirk.

Who was the First Hokage? Be sure to include his clan and unique Kekkei Genkai, and how it helped in the creation of the village of Konoha.

He had only one thought. 'Hehehe, too easy.'

— ₪ NDFC ₪ —

Seven hours later a grinning Naruto exited the the academy alongside three of his friends, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Chōji Akimichi. All of them were smiling with forehead protectors perched on their brows. Even the lazy Nara and serious Uchiha had the corners of their lips upturned slightly. It had been a long seven hours for the boys. Although the first test was only four hours, it had taken another two for them to get through the ninjutsu portion. Afer that had been a rather boring ceremony, one of those events that nobody really paid attention in, but was required nonetheless.

But it was worth it; they were finally ninja. Naruto couldn't be happier, and he knew all his friends felt the same way.

"Man, what a drag. Now my mom's gonna be expecting me to be going all kinds of missions. It'll definitely cut into my nap time. How troublesome."

Ok, so maybe one of them was a little less than enthusiastic.

"Ah give it a rest Shika, and just be happy for once!" Said Naruto as he clapped the boy on the shoulder. On Shikamaru's other side, Chōji hummed in agreement around his mouthful of chips. Chōji was a husky boy, typical for his clan, with swirls on his cheeks. The young Akimichi's cloths were baggy, an open green over shirt on top of a yellow top with his clan symbol, and baggy shorts. His wrists were taped up to prevent his fists from getting scraped.

Shikamaru sighed.

"I guess I can forget about my troublesome mother for one night." He said. Naruto snorted at his friends apathetic response. It would be funny to see what would happen if Shikamaru's mother heard him speaking so lazily.

"So who's up for barbeque at my families restaurant?" Asked Chōji.

"I'm up for that. Hope you're ready for an eating contest!" Said Naruto. He was a little put off by the fire that appeared in Chōji's eyes at the words 'eating contest'.

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Sure. It's always funny seeing you try and out eat Chōji. You'd think you'd learn your lesson."

Naruto felt irritated at the barb. The lazy tone it was delivered in didn't help; or the fact that Sasuke was smirking at him knowingly.

"I'm in too, can't let this idiot cause too much of a scene like the last time." He said.

Naruto's face heated up at the mention of his last contest with Chōji. He had eaten so much that he had to try and go throw up in the bathroom. Suffice it to say he didn't make it, and Chōza Akimichi had made him clean it up himself. Naruto saw that all of his friends were now smirking at him.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that funny." He protested.

The blond Senju pouted at his friends as they began to howl with laughter. 'It wasn't that funny . . .'

'Oh yes it was.' Countered Kyūbi. That made Naruto pout even harder. Was everybody against him?

Eventually he got over his annoyance at his friends teasing, and began to join in on their conversations while they walked to the restaurant. Once there they were seated rather speedily, what with the son of the owners being in their party.

The air was soon filled with the delicious aroma of cooking beef; the meat sizzling merrily while the friends sat around and chatted. It started out about random things, Chōji's mother suggesting they go on a diet, Shikamaru complaining about his 'troublesome mother' making him clean his room. Soon enough they got to the subject of their graduation, and predicting what teams, how they would build them.

Chōji was certain that there was no way that Sasuke and Naruto would be on the same team. He tried to explain his point while staring at the cooking meat with a bit of drool. "There's just no way they'll put you together. Even if you've got the lowest scores Naruto; everyone knows that you're as good, or even better, than Sasuke!" Chōji argued. "Supposedly they build the teams to be balanced, so even with the grades, putting you on the same team wouldn't even begin resemble a balanced squad."

Although he grinned when Chōji mentioned him being better than Sasuke—who's eyebrow twitched at the same time—he shook his head in exasperation at his friends point. He had argued this for years.

"I get where you're coming from, but you're wrong. First of all, they can't just ignore our grades and place us on different squads; it would set a dangerous precedent for the future. What if a they thought the same thing and put the one with the lowest score on a different team, and it turns out they're wrong? The team he's on might get killed. There's a reason they have that rule." Countered Naruto in a logical voice. Though he could be goofy, he was one of the most intelligent their age.

Chōji looked thoughtful. "Huh, I guess you have a point. I didn't think about that." He still didn't look completely convinced, so Naruto decided to drive the argument home.

"Besides—" He said. "—Gramps is the one that puts the teams together, and with the exams coming here this year, he's bound to want a really strong team on the roster." Naruto glanced significantly at them. Sasuke and Shikamaru seemed to get it.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about that. Troublesome. Looks like Naruto's right" Said Shikamaru.

"He'll definitely be wanting us on the same team then." Sasuke agreed. Chōji looked at his three friends in confusion.

"Exams? What're you guys talking about, Shika?" He asked.

Shikamaru sighed, muttering about troublesome blonds before he explained.

"He's talking about the Chūnin Exams. They're held biannually, and it happens in a different village amongst the Five Great Villages each year." Shikamaru explained. Chōji's eyes widened. "That's why Naruto's so certain he and Sasuke will be together; the Hokage will want to put on as strong a showing of talent as possible, so he needs at least one really strong team."

"But we've had strong teams before, right?" Chōji asked.

"True, but not since the Kyūbi Attack, and especially not since the Uchiha Massacre. This is actually the first time we'll be hosting it since that." Said Naruto, ignoring Sasuke clenching his fist to his right. "He'll have to make a statement to prove that we're still strong. The best way is to have the heirs of Konoha's founding clans—two prodigies—on the same squad."

Chōji shook his head in stupefied amazement at his friends. "Man, I forget how smart you and Shika are. I can't believe you figured this out before we even graduated."

Naruto grinned at the praised. Though he wasn't vane, it was good to have his friends admire his skills. After that, their conversations turned to far lighter subjects, and Naruto began to get ready for their eating competition, Sasuke and Shikamaru making bets on who the winner would be.

The two new genin were just about to bite into the first slice of meat, however, almost all of the joy was sucked from the atmosphere when an Anbu member appeared before their table in a swirl of leaves. Like all Anbu, he wore black clothing and grey armor. Only Naruto wasn't unnerved by the blank stare of the inky black eye-holes in the man's bird mask.

'Oh boy, this can't be good.'

Naruto was proved right a moment later.

"Naruto Senju, the Hokage has requested a meeting with you. It's a rather urgent matter." He said.

Naruto sighed and flashed an apologetic smile smile at his friends. The three gave him understanding nods. He set some coins on the table to pay for his portion of the meal, and stuffed his the beef in his chopsticks into his mouth.

"Alright, let's get this over with." He said in annoyance as he stood next to the Anbu member. The Anbu nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder, performing a silent shunshin, and leaving only a swirl of leaves in their wake.

— ₪ NDFC ₪ —

Naruto appeared in front of the Hokage's desk with a look of annoyance. His mission complete, the Anbu left as soon as they arrived.

In his typical brash manner, he didn't give the man a chance to greet him, barely sparring him a glance, saying, "Alright old man, what's so important and that you've got to interrupt my celebration di—" The brash Senju broke off when he finally noticed Sarutobi's serious expression.

"What's up? Did something happen?" He asked in confusion. His eyes narrowed when Sarutobi flinched with a guilty look flickering across his face. 'What's that about'

The old shinobi sighed. "I'm afraid something did happen." Said Hiruzen gravely.

"And you just happened to call me first? I'm flattered." Naruto replied sarcastically. Obviously something had the elderly leader shaken, and he didn't particularly care for beating around the bush.

"Yes, I did. Because it involves your clan." Sarutobi answered. Naruto froze, his muscles locking up. His clan? Anything that involved his clan and caused the Hokage to call him had to be really serious. "I see you realize how serious this is. Good, then I'll get straight to the point."

Sarutobi looked him in the eyes, and Naruto's heart rate unconsciously quickened. "Two hours ago the Forbidden Scroll of Seals created by the First Hokage was stolen. From the description, I believe it was your former instructor, Mizuki. He hasn't left the village—our barrier would've detected it— so we think he's hiding out somewhere within the walls." The elderly kage pinned Naruto down with his fierce gaze.

" I want you to use your sensing skills to track him down and reclaim the scroll. This will be your first mission as a ninja of Konoha, and it will be ranked S due to the importance of the scroll."

Naruto was struck speechless. The Forbidden Scroll was stolen? He felt numb from shock. That shock slowly morphed to rage. Luckily, he didn't have to try to sum up his thoughts. Kyūbi did that nicely for both of them. 'Well fuck. The little grey haired bastard was worse than we thought.'

Naruto nodded grimly, both to the Hokage's orders, and to Kyūbi's words.

— ₪ NDFC ₪ —

He dashed through the treetops with his anger slowly building. He was getting close; his prey was near. It had taken a while, but he had finally located the grey-haired traitor somewhere near an abandoned shack. Now he could finally rip him limb from limb and watch with glee as the stumps bled out. Surprisingly, he wasn't upset at the uncharacteristically bloodthirsty thoughts. They seemed appropriate, given the circumstances.

Naruto had never liked Mizuki, and now he knew why. From day one he had smelled like a traitor, and now he had committed one of the most serious acts of treachery, and knowing Mizuki, it was for power. Naruto hated people who would betray their comrades for something so fickle. 'Don't you go anywhere Mizuki. Not until I can get my hands on you.'

'You need to calm down Naruto, you're beginning to draw on my chakra, that is why you feel such rage. You're not thinking straight. Think, doesn't something seem off? Do you really believe that that pathetic sack of meat could do this on his own?' Asked Kyūbi.

Naruto's brow furrowed and he stopped on a branch. The bangs of his shaggy hair shadowed his face as he growled in frustration and slammed a fist into the side of the tree trunk, the surface shattering under his bijū enhanced strength. He realized that his tenant was right. The vile hate-filled chakra was flooding his system, increasing his rage tenfold. With some effort, he reigned it in, the chakra receding back into the seal and allowing the adrenaline in his system to clear slightly.

'Thanks Kyūbi. I did let my anger get to me.' He said gratefully. 'But you're wrong about one thing . .'

'Oh, and what's that?' Snarked Kyūbi.

'I'm well aware of the fact that he can't have done this on his own. That's why I'm so pissed.' Naruto explained. He clenched his fist tightly once more. 'There are a few people that could help him orchestrate this. But a few things that never quite made sense are falling into place. I'm pretty sure I know who he's doing this for.'

It didn't take long for the bijū to follow its jinchūriki's train of thought, saying, 'Impossible . . . do you really think that it could be—'

'That's exactly what I think.' Naruto said, interrupting the great beast. It growled, but not at Naruto. 'With the way his chakra is slightly twisted, and the extremely faint scent of snakes . . . I've little doubt he's working for that man.' He growled.

Kyūbi growled alongside him.

'Then we had best hurry.'

Naruto nodded in agreement, taking off in a burst of speed that left the surface of the branch he had been standing on splintered. His journey to the location of Mizuki didn't take long—it was only a minute away at top speed. He stopped on a branch overlooking the clearing. Just as his senses had predicted, Mizuki was there. He was sitting with his back up against a tree. There were two giant shuriken on his back, clearly meant for his main offense. However, it was the giant scroll in his hands that really got Naruto's attention, the one he was looking upon with a twisted smirk and a gleeful greed in his eyes. 'Enjoy it while you can Mizuki.'

Naruto took careful stock of the clearing, grinning when he saw that there weren't any cliffs or large piles of rocks around. Perfect. He began to prepare his jutsu, his hands flashing into different seals at a blistering pace. It would take some time.

— ₪ NDFC ₪ —

All was silent in the clearing, save for the occasional rustle as Mizuki looked at the jutsu in the scroll. It had been several minutes since his preparation began, and Naruto was almost finished.

As the last hand seal was performed, a slight tremor began to shake the clearing; the rumbling of earth being moved deep underground filling the air.

"Wood Style: Tree Bind Flourishing Cage!" He whispered his technique, the name seeming to resonate with an innate power that carried it across the clearing to his target.

Mizuki looked up fearfully when the ground began to shake. All around the clearing, wooden roots began to shoot out of the ground and wind themselves between the trees, forming an impenetrable cage.

The roots grew tall, and thick. They stretched themselves ever upwards, reaching for the very sky. Their twisting tendrils didn't stop at the treetops, instead continuing to grow and curl over the forest. Once it was over, the cage formed a nearly seamless net-like dome of roots above the clearing. The only gap was at the very tippy top of the cage, where a small opening allowed silver moonlight to pour through and illuminate the clearing.

The rogue chūnin stared around him in unbridled terror.

"Th-the Wood Style? What is this? Who's out there, show yourself!" He demanded.

Naruto grinned down at the startled chūnin from his hidden perch. The poor fool had no idea of just how trapped he was. He slowly stood, focusing his killing intent down on Mizuki as he answered him, "I'm right here, Mizuki. You're being placed under arrest for the theft of the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, and will be interrogated by the Torture and Interrogation Unit."

He could see Mizuki straining to see him in the darkness created by the cage. When the traitorous ninja finally made out who was standing above him, he began to shake in rage, which seemed to combat the killing intent Naruto was directing onto him.

'Hmm . . . impressive . . he managed to shake off my killing intent. It's not full blast, but still, perhaps he's not as hopeless as I thought.

"YOU!" Mizuki cried.

"Me!?" Naruto exclaimed mockingly, feigning shock. That only seemed to enrage Mizuki further.

"What the hell are you doing here, stupid demon fox? And how did you use the Wood Style?" Mizuki asked.

Naruto looked at Mizuki calculatingly. Clearly he was either very arrogant, or very stupid. Possibly both. 'Let's see how much I can push his buttons.'

"Hmm, you seem to have me confused with my tenant. Do I look like a giant orange fuzz ball with nine tails?" He asked Mizuki, as if he were stupid. Naruto ignored Kyūbi growling within him.

To his credit, the chūnin's only reaction was to narrow his eyes in anger. "As for the Wood Style, that should be obvious. You see—" Naruto began. Mizuki looked at him in keen interest. "—I' m a Senju, duh. Kekkei Genkai, bloodline limit. You're not very bright, are you?"

The brash blond smirked as he saw Mizuki begin to almost foam at the mouth. 'Hehe, that weird one-eyed friend of Sensei's was right; this is fun.'

"Of course I learned the actual jutsu from a very attractive Anbu member." He continued cheekily. Naruto became serious real fast when he saw Mizuki reach for one of the giant shuriken on his back.

"Huh, guess play time is over. Oh well." He said. Naruto clasped his hands into the snake seal, forming it around the hilt of his sword.

Roots sprung up from underground, ensnaring Mizuki's arm and preventing him from throwing the gigantic black ninja star. When the chūnin made the mistake of turning his shocked eyes onto his arm, Naruto took advantage of it, disappearing in a burst of speed. He reappeared behind Mizuki a second later. The delusional man only had time for his eyes to widen to the size of saucers, before the hilt of Naruto's sword slammed into the base of his skull and sent him into blissful unawareness.

Naruto sighed as he looked at the crumpled form of the traitor. How did he ever think he would escape? 'Clearly such a weakling couldn't have been high up in that man's command structure . . so why give him such a mission?'

"You can come out now." He called out.

There was movement on the edge of the clearing. A masked woman began to separate herself from the wood structure of the cage he had created. It was as if she had actually been part of the wood. Naruto unconsciously blushed at the woman. Her Anbu armor contoured tightly to her curvaceous and slender frame, the grey armor bulging outwards at her chest. The skin of her exposed shoulder was a pale creamy color, and her lustrous light walnut hair was bound into two small buns atop her head, with a small fringe of bangs left to fall and cover much of the forehead of her cat mask, and frame the right side of her face.

Although he could only see the round inky black eyeholes, Naruto knew that behind them a pair of slightly slanted almond-shaped brown eyes were looking at him with amusement.

"Uh-uh, hey, Sensei. Um, how long have you been here?" He asked in an uncharacteristically nervous manner.

The cat masked woman seemed amused by his reaction.

"Oh, just since the part about the attractive Anbu member." Replied the mysterious Anbu. Her voice was soft, passing over his ears like the gentle whisper of leaves in the wind.

It didn't help his burning face any. "Oh uh, yeah. I was just messing with him, to get him off balance." He said awkwardly

'How preciously clichéd, you've the hots for that teacher of yours.' Kyūbi said with a mocking snicker.

'Shut up!' Naruto hissed as he felt his face heat up in embarrassment.

'Don't tell me to shut up, whelp!' And thus two began to bicker inside Naruto's mind.

If she noticed his distraction from the bickering with his with his tenant, the woman didn't say anything. She simply walked around him and took out a roll of ninja wire, using it to swiftly and efficiently bind the man so that there was no way of escaping. When she was done, the cat masked Anbu hefted the man over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"I'll take this traitor to Ibiki. I'm sure he'll be happy to have a new 'guest'" She said, using the word guest sarcastically. By this time Naruto had ended his arguing with Kyūbi, and looked at the woman with his blush under control.

"Sure thing, I'll take the scroll back to Gramps, I need to talk to him anyway." Naruto replied, picking up the large scroll and slinging it on his back as the Anbu prepared to leave. Before she left, the woman placed her gloved hand softly on Naruto's shoulder.

"Congratulations on graduating, I know how long you've been waiting for it. I know you'll make me and your clan proud." She said warmly.

Naruto smiled at her. "Thanks . . . Sensei."

The woman was gone the next second, nothing marking her departure save for a soft murmur of displaced air, and the rustle of a swirl of leaves.

Once she was gone, Naruto clasped his hands together into the snake seal, causing the root cage to begin to retract into the ground again. After a few minutes, the only evidence of their existence was a series of holes that lined the ground around the perimeter of the clearing.

Naruto stayed there for a few moments, as he thought about the events of that day. He thought especially hard about his suspicions about Mizuki.

'You didn't tell her about who you thought he was working for.' Kyūbi noted.

Naruto release a soft sigh. 'It won't do any good to tell her. She's made so much progress . . . I don't want to jeopardize that on a hunch.' Naruto answered.

Kyūbi gave him a mental nod of understanding.

Naruto took a last glance at the moon in the sky above before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves just as his sensei had done.

— ₪ NDFC ₪ —

Chapter End

AN/ Pheww, that's that chapter done. So, we're beginning to see the beginning of the plot, and I've dropped a few hints at Fem-Yamato's back story.

Anyways, next time it will be team assignments and possibly a meeting with Konohamaru, and Naruto and Sasuke will meet Kakashi.

So, as I said before, next I'll be going to my next chapter in Uchiha Chronicles. I'm thinking maybe two weeks, possibly less.

Be sure to favorite/follow, and review and comment on what you thought about the chapter. What worked, what do you think I could improve on, that sort of stuff. As mentioned, I'll start taking a poll on the harem thing. It's just a tiny bit less off the edge of the table.

Well, that's all for now, it's late, so,

RinneTaicho, Signing Off!