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Teal ~ A more sophisticated version of turquoise, teal signifies trustworthiness and reliability. It promotes spiritual advancement and commitment.

Colors.

Chapter 5: Teal.

Yuriko ran as if the hounds of Hades were on her heels. She could sense Naruto's chakra near the edge of the village, close to one of the training grounds. As she jumped through the streets across the rooftops, she saw other ninja doing the same. It only took a few seconds to realize they were looking for her brother as well.

This left her concerned – why were they looking for Naruto? Some of these ninja were ANBU, and they didn't just start running around the village for no reason. Especially not where anyone could notice them.

"Cat!" Yuriko yelled, enhancing her speed with her chakra to catch up to a familiar purple haired ANBU. Said woman looked back, and slowed her pace when she recognized Yuriko.

"Uzumaki-hime," Cat said, "Are you aware of what's going on?"

"No, that's why I stopped you. Why is everyone so riled up?" she asked.

"It's your brother... he's stolen the forbidden scroll."

Yuriko's eyes widened and her jaw fell open for a split second before she composed herself and asked, "You're sure?"

"Positive. The Hokage caught him, but he was able to distract him and get away," Cat replied, a hint of being impressed in her voice. Yuriko didn't call her out on that, knowing part of ANBU training was to hide ones emotions.

"There's something going on here, Cat. Naruto wouldn't just steal the Forbidden Scroll for no reason." Yuriko sighed. "Follow me, I know where he is. But let me handle him, please."

Cat was silent for a few moments, but nodded, and the two took off across the rooftops. Soon they had abandoned the rooftops for the trees, and it was only seconds until they came across Naruto, Iruka, and Mizuki. Iruka was struggling to stand, a large Fūma Shuriken in his back, and Naruto was looking between Mizuki and Iruka in horror. Yuriko went to jump to Naruto's side, when Cat grabbed her arm and shook her head.

"No, not yet."

"What? But it's obvious that Mizuki set Naruto up!" Yuriko muttered harshly.

"You're a jōnin, Yuriko. Think with your head right now, not with your emotions."

Yuriko sighed, realizing Cat had a point. At the same time she didn't care about that right now. What she cared about was Naruto's safety. As it turned out, Yuriko didn't have to wait long to act. Naruto grabbed the scroll next to him and took off into the trees, silent tears spilling over his cheeks while Mizuki laughed and proceeded to taunt Iruka.

With her teeth ground together in frustration, Yuriko grabbed a few kunai from her holster and tied a small sealed bag to the end. The bag was filled with special marbles, which were filled with explosive chemicals that amplified the power behind the explosive seals written on the marbles surface.

"You need to grab Iruka and get out of range. Help him with his injury. I'll deal with Mizuki and then head after Naruto," Yuriko commanded, slipping back into her former role of ANBU second in command.

If Cat had any issues with her orders she didn't say anything, instead she watched Yuriko drop a smoke bomb into the clearing. When it detonated a second after hitting the ground, Cat jumped down and headed to Iruka's side. He had already pulled the shuriken from his back, and when the smoke was cleared the only one in the clearing still was a coughing Mizuki.

"W-what the hell?" Mizuki muttered, looking around for Iruka.

Finding no trace of him, Mizuki simply shrugged and started out of the clearing (which for a Shinobi wasn't a terribly good course of action), only to be stopped by a kunai with a bag attached to it. The bag sparked and Mizuki barely had time to back away when it exploded. He'd avoided the center of the blast, but he'd been knocked back and was bleeding from multiple shrapnel wounds.

Groaning with his hand touching his bleeding head, Mizuki began getting back to his feet.

"What the hell was that?!" he shouted, observing the area for ninja. He assumed the Hokage had sent ninja out by now and he'd been found. He could hope whoever found Naruto hated the little demon as much as he did. "Who's there?!"

Yuriko shunshined into the clearing, with Cat appearing next to her in the next second. Mizuki looked at them and began laughing hysterically.

"You two? You don't expect to defeat me, do you?" Mizuki taunted, dismissing them for their gender.

Yuriko could almost expect it in concern to her. She might be a jōnin, but she didn't take many missions anymore. She hadn't for the last three and half years honestly. Her focus was mainly on Naruto's care. As such she knew most active ninja probably thought she had slacked off and become rusty. While she might not have been as powerful as Yuri, she wasn't a push over and she'd been training despite her lack of missions outside the village. As for him laughing at Cat... well she thought he probably had a death wish. Gender aside, the ANBU weren't chosen lightly.

Exchanging annoyed looks, Yuriko and Cat both attacked without speaking a word. Cat drew her sword from her back, while Yuriko withdrew one of her tessen. It was a fairly large fan for a tessen, dark navy in color with a phoenix and floral design. Yuriko struck first, releasing a powerful gust of wind which pushed Mizuki off his guard and left non-lethal cuts along his body.

His large shuriken fell slack and Cat's blade bit into his wrist. Mizuki yelled out, dropping his weapon. He never saw Yuriko's punch coming until it met his face, practically lifting him off the ground and plowing him halfway through a tree. He'd forgotten Yuriko trained in a similar style to Tsunade of the Sannin, incorporating her inhuman strength into her taijutsu.

His jaw was cracked if not broken, and he was practically embedded into a Mizuki sized impression in the trunk of the tree, his head lolling forward. Blood flowed from his busted nose, and from his wrist and forearm where Cat's sword had cut into him. This didn't account for the numerous small cuts which barely bleed littering his body from Yuriko tessen.

"Yeah, I think we can beat you," Yuriko said, cracking her knuckles.

"It's good to see you haven't gotten too rusty, Yuri-chan."

Yuriko and Cat both turned towards the familiar voice, and found a silver haired ninja with only one visible eye standing there with his hands tucked in his pockets. Iruka was leaning up against a tree next to him.

"Kakashi," Yuriko said, smiling. Then her smile fell, and she looked towards the deeper parts of the forest. Realizing her brother was still out there alone.

"Go," Kakashi said. "Find Naruto and make sure he's alright."

Yuriko nodded, and went to leave when Iruka's voice stopped her. "Yuri, wait! You should know, Mizuki broke the thirds law and told him about the Kyūbi."

Three pairs of eyes widened, and Yuriko began to fear the worse. Narrowing her eyes she glared back at the unconscious Mizuki, wishing she'd punched him a little harder. They hadn't planned to keep the secret from him forever, just until he was a genin.

"I'll see you at the Hokage's office with Naruto," she said, using the Shunshin to cover more ground quicker.

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Finding him wasn't hard. She'd memorized her brother's chakra signature thoroughly over the years. She found him about half a mile into the forest, clutching the scroll, breathing heavily, and crying silently.

Yuriko's eyes softened and threatened to fill with tears. This could have been avoided, and it only added to her (and Yuri's) guilt. She should have been there the night of the Kyūbi attack – she should have been the next vessel of the Kyūbi. Her parents might not have realized she knew but Yuriko did.

The council was placing pressure on her parents to transfer the Kyūbi from her mother into her, given she was a prodigy who'd inherited her mother's special chakra. Unlike her brother who had taken so much after their father in appearance, she took after her mother and it was obvious the Uzumaki blood was strong in her.

Unlike Mito-sama, who was on her death bed when the transfer happened, if done right and with medics on the scene, preferably Tsunade of the Sannin, the chances of her mother's death were significantly lower. Uzumaki's were known to live through certain death situations in the past. Her parents rebutted the councils attempts, not wanting to take the chance and soon after her mother found out she was pregnant.

Her parents had heard the elders and Thirds concerns that the seal might weaken too much with the second pregnancy, seeing as Kyūbi had almost escaped when she was born. They speculated the reason it appeared more stable during her birth, as opposed to after she'd been born, was because of Yuri's special chakra aiding Kushina's in taming the Kyūbi the night of her birth.

Naruto might not have that same effect, the elders feared, and they'd been right. The seal had been broken, her mother's struggle to hold the seal with her father's help was more perceptible. The elders had convinced them that should the worst happen, the Kyūbi would be sealed within Yuriko instead of back inside Kushina – which would have killed Kushina, even if she survived the extraction itself.

Her parents never knew she had over heard these conversations. Even back then her stealth was unlike most chūnin, and her chakra control only became more impressive (for an Uzumaki) as she grew. By now she could completely erase her chakra signature by pulling her chakra tightly inside herself. Yuriko hadn't been at ground zero that night, she was with the Uchiha clan after outwitting her ANBU babysitters again. She'd sat on the porch with Itachi and baby Sasuke, and watched in horror as the Kyūbi attacked the village.

Itachi had convinced her not to leave to find her parents. He'd been right to, at five she'd never have survived the attack if she'd been in the thick of it. Instead she got the news hours later that her parents were dead, and her baby brother was the new jinchūriki.

She'd never forgiven herself for not following her gut and finding her parents. If she had Naruto might have been treated better by their village. Instead she could only do what she could – and look how that turned out, a nasty voice in her head sneered, You were left here while the real Yuri, his real big sister, is off gallivanting across the nations being a wanted criminal.

Yuriko's eyes widened, regretting her own subconscious words. She might not be a real person, having not been born like others. She might have been created by Yuri to protect and raise her brother, their brother, but she still had some free will. She could feel emotions, and she understood better than anyone why Yuri had done what she had. She had every memory prior to the Uchiha Massacre that Yuri possessed.

She knew how much Yuri loved her brother, but she knew how much she loved Itachi as well – even if her creator didn't realize it at the time. It didn't excuse her actions, she'd acted selfishly and like a fool (she'd acted like a thirteen year old instead of the old soul they truly were). But she was created to protect Naruto, not to point out the flaws in Yuri's plan.

And even if she did, by the time she was created the Sandaime had turned her foolish plans into an actual infiltration mission (at that point Yuri couldn't have changed her mind if she'd wanted to). In the end Yuriko got the better end of the bargain. She got to stay in Konoha, doing only minimal missions while training and raising Naruto. She was the one who got to make new memories with their little brother, while Yuri had none after the Uchiha Massacre.

The only time she'd receive those memories would be after Yuriko ceased to exist. Even then it would be the most memorable, the most recent memories that would return to her. It was a built in fail-safe, since years of memories, no matter how minor, returning all at once could place Yuri in a coma. She'd never get the time she'd lost back, not completely.

"Naruto," she said, jumping down from a tree branch. Naruto looked up in surprise, but instead of happiness to see her he narrowed his eyes and tried to move back into the tree even more – as if he was afraid she was going to hurt him. "Otouto, what's wrong?"

"Don't call me that! You lied to me, Mizuki told me the truth. I'm the Kyūbi. That's why everyone hates me, and why you took me in; so you could better control me!"

Yuriko stopped her slow approach, frozen stiff at her brother's words. Unadulterated rage flooded her being, but she pushed it back so Naruto didn't think it was directed at him. Her heart strings were tugged tight, threatening to break. She realized then that things had gone further than she'd thought, Mizuki had said more than Iruka had told.

"That's not true!" she cried firmly. "Mizuki is full of shit! Naruto, you're not the Kyūbi and I am your sister."

Naruto looked unsure, staring into the verdant tearful eyes of his sister. His bottom lips quivered, unsure if he should believe Mizuki's words anymore – he had lied about the make-up test. He'd used him to get to the scroll… His eyes narrowed and his grip tightened around the scroll.

"If that's true… how do I even know you're Yuri? You could be a clone disguised as Yuri. Mizuki even," he said, and Yuriko's eyes widened. Her heart stopped for a few beats. He couldn't know that, no one but the Hokage did! Yet it hurt to know how close to the truth he was.

"It's me, Naru-chan," she said, using the nickname she knew always annoyed the little blond. "I remember when mama was pregnant with you, she'd smile every time someone brought you up in conversation. Always running around the house to prepare for your arrival. Papa would get just as proud, bragging that he was going to be a father again to anyone he trusted enough to listen. I helped decorate you nursery, and I helped pick out your name. I was there after you were born, I would sing you to sleep when you'd wake up crying those first months in the orphanage. I refused to be separated from you, and I fought to raise you myself despite my age. You're my baby brother, not a fox. I think I would have notice raising a nine-tailed fox the size of the Hokage Monument."

Naruto sniffled, wiping his face and eyes on his sleeve. His grip loosened around the scroll, and he stood up. "Big sister… I'm sorry! I got mom and dad killed..."

Before he could say another word he found himself engulfed in a warm hug. Yuriko had fallen to her knees in front of him, her hair the only feature he could make out before he was pulled into her arms. She was rubbing his back soothingly and he had to fight not to break down again.

"Listen to me, Naruto. No matter what anyone tells you, you are not the Kyūbi and you did not kill anyone. Mom and dad, and the other ninja who fought and died that night, did so to protect their families and this village. They knew what they were running into, because that is the life of a ninja. We endure, because no one else can do it for us." Yuriko pulled back, looking into the tearful blue eyes of her brother. "I'm the one who should be sorry. If I had been home that night with the ANBU Papa had watch me, instead of running off to see my friends… you wouldn't have had to live with this burden. I was supposed to be the next jailer of the Kyūbi, not you."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

Yuriko sighed. "Exactly what I said. You're what is known as a jinchūriki, but you're not the first in Konoha. The first jinchūriki was Great-Aunt Mito, and after her it was our mother, Kushina. The Kyūbi can only be held by an Uzumaki. Before you were born there were precautions set to keep the Kyūbi from breaking free during your birth, like it had almost done when I was born. In the case that it did break free, I was supposed to take the burden because like mom I have the same special chakra, even more potent than her own. So you see, it's my fault..."

Naruto straightened up suddenly, and with a determined look she recognized seeing on their father, he said, "No, it not your fault, Yuri-neechan. Besides I don't want you to have to carry the Kyūbi, I'd rather it be me. Like you said, being a ninja means to endure, and if it protected you from the villages scorn and being a jinchūriki, then I'm happy to be the Kyūbi's jailer, Dattebayo!"

Yuriko's eyes widened for a split second, but soon she felt pride swell in her chest. She was so proud of her brother at that moment, and she knew more than ever, that he was ready to be a ninja.

"Well said, Naruto," a familiar lazy voice said.

They both looked over and saw Kakashi and Iruka walking out from the trees. Iruka was walking lightly, mindful of his half-healed wound. Standing up straight she ruffled Naruto's hair, before walking over to Iruka and finishing the healing Cat had started. For someone who didn't know a lot of medical ninjutsu, Cat had done a fine job healing what she could.

"Inu-nii, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, his seriousness melting away to be replaced by his usual vulpine grin. Looking at Iruka though his smile fell a bit, guilt eating at him. "Iruka, are you going to be alright? You took a pretty bad hit for me."

"I'm gonna be fine, Naruto. Yuriko-hime is a great healer, I feel better than ever," Iruka said, though he knew he'd have to take it easy for a few days less he rip the scar tissue back open. "I'm proud of you Naruto. You protected the scroll admirably, and you were even able to steal – I'm sorry, barrow – one of the most well guarded artifacts in the village."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "Well guarded? It didn't seem that way, I even took out the Hokage with my Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique)."

"Eh, well… good work. You're on your way to being Hokage one day after all," Iruka said, a little unsure how to take the fact the Hokage had fallen for such a perverted move. Kakashi was even startled, giving a deadpanned expression, but also wondering how exactly this 'sexy technique' worked that it had taken out the Hokage.

Yuriko was caught between disapproval of the technique, and pride at such a successful use of stealth and a well placed prank. She chose to just sigh and smile.

"You're too much like your sister, Naruto. She was able to sneak into places she shouldn't when she was an annoying brat too. She's taught you well," Kakashi said.

Yuriko huffed, hitting Kakashi on the shoulder before crossing her arms over her chest; she was not an annoying brat. If anything Kakashi was the annoying brat. Which was why Obito was her favorite member of Team Minato, and maybe because she could manipulate Obito into helping her, Itachi, and Shisui with a prank. Kakashi was practically allergic to fun back then.

Naruto smiled but something occurred to him, and he frowned deeply. "But… I didn't pass. The only reason I did this was because Mizuki told me if I stole the scroll and learned a jutsu from it, I could pass and make my parents and Yuriko proud." He laughed, rubbing the back of his head, but it came off more bitter than he'd intended. "I guess I messed up, huh?"

The three ninja looked at each other and Iruka took off his headband, handing it to Yuriko who walked over to her brother.

"I think even the Hokage would agree that you've earned this, genin," Yuriko said, stressing the word 'genin' with pride and tying the headband around his head. He looked at his sister with wide eyes, disbelieving but joyful that he'd passed. Laughing, Naruto jumped and wrapped his limbs around his sister in a bear hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he repeated, before releasing her and running off to hug both Iruka and Kakashi.

"I'm finally a ninja, believe it!"

The three older ninja watched as Naruto jumped around for joy, and laughed fondly at his antics. They didn't stop him, his future would be full of hard choices, for now they'd let him have this moment. There wouldn't be many such carefree moments where his path would lead.

Yuriko was more than happy to see her brother still had that childish spark about him. She was a prodigy herself, like Kakashi and Itachi she'd graduated early. Been rushed to chūnin and into ANBU. She'd killed for the first time when she was only four (when the Third War was still happening), and she'd put aside her own childhood after their parents died to raise Naruto. Yuriko would never regret it, but the entire reason she'd been against him graduating early was so he could have the childhood she'd never fully enjoyed even in this lifetime.

She was beginning to realize though, that maybe it was time the real Yuriko came home. It had almost been five years since she'd left, and she feared how Naruto would take their deception should he find out from anyone but Yuri herself. Their brother was the most forgiving person in the world, but she knew if this went on much longer when he did find out it would break this heart.

It had already broken Yuri's.