I was re-reading the chapter and noticed that I'd forgotten to add something I'd written to the chapter, it's in the paragraph where Hiruzen is debriefing Team 7.

Chapter 8

Revelations

Naruto looked to the horizon and saw the familiar gates of Konoha waiting for him but for once he wasn't feeling like he was coming home, there was a pit of dread in his stomach. He knew as soon as he got through those gates it would be straight to Hokage Tower, into what would one day be his office, and come face to face with the Third Hokage. He wouldn't be able to talk his way out of this now, Anko had no doubt told the Old Man and even if she hadn't the report Kakashi sent ahead definitely would.

It wasn't like he could try running either, Kakashi had been watching him like a hawk since they left the bridge and even if he did make a run Kakashi would catch him easily. His body wasn't strong enough to handle too much of Kurama's chakra right now, granted he could turn control over the Kurama but that would cause more problems than it would solve and his body would still be a wreck afterwards. The only thing he could do was face the music and hope he didn't get locked up in the psych ward of the hospital.

As they crossed the threshold of the village Kakashi's hand landed on Naruto's shoulder and although it looked like the hand was just resting there it was actually an iron tight grip.

"Since this is the first time you've been out of the village on a mission follow me to the desk and I'll show you how to sign back in." Kakashi said, while his voice sounded no different than usual Naruto could feel the undertone telling him there was no choice in the matter, for him at least.

Kakashi quickly went through the sign in procedures before leading Team 7 to Hokage Tower so they could report a completed mission and be debriefed. Along the way Naruto's brain was working overtime to try and think of a way of explaining whatever had happened to him without it resulting in him being given to Ibiki for interrogation or thrown into a psych ward. The worst option he could come up with was being given to Danzo, if that was going to happen then Kurama was getting let out of his cage but only to escape, he'd promised to only fight Root agents.

Naruto came out of his thoughts when he felt Kakashi's hand tighten slightly on his shoulder to stop him from moving and froze when he saw the doors to the Hokage's office. His throat dried out when he heard the Old Man's voice from the other side.

"Enter." He said, his voice a combination of warm and caring while still being commanding.

Kakashi pushed the door open and subtly pull Naruto in as he followed Sakura and Sasuke. They stopped in front of the desk as Hiruzen Sarutobi looked over them, smiling kindly though as his eyes drifted to Naruto they sharpened slightly. Naruto felt like his very soul was being investigated under the Third Hokage's gaze, he felt like he needed to take a step away but was frozen in place.

"From what Anko told me and your reports Kakashi, Team 7's first C-Rank mission turned out to be anything but." Hiruzen said, sounding a little amused as he took his eyes from Naruto and turned his attention to Kakashi. "I've heard what happened in bits and pieces, please tell me the full story from the beginning."

With that said Kakashi reported everything from the mission apart from what Naruto had revealed about his 'future knowledge'. Sakura added a few details occasionally while Sasuke stayed silent and slowly looked around the office. While Kakashi spoke, Hiruzen listened closely asking a question or for clarification at certain points but otherwise kept his peace. Once Kakashi had finished his report the Third Hokage picked up his pipe and filled it with tobacco, taking his time to light it and inhale a lungful of smoke before breathing out.

"I must say, for a team of Genin fresh out of the Academy the three of you did a remarkable job of completing a mission that you should not have undertaken until you were at least a Chunin with a number of years' experience, even then you have had more then a single Jonin on that mission. For a team of Genin with only a couple of months experience to survive such a mission, let along complete it without any casualties is nearly unprecedented. You should all be proud of what you've accomplished." Hiruzen paused to take another puff of his pipe, he smiled inwardly as he saw the pride on Sakura and Sasuke's faces but as his eyes rested on Naruto he saw pride but something else too, relief or maybe thankfulness, he couldn't be sure. "Having heard your mission report I will be reclassifying what was your first C Rank mission as an A Rank mission, you have the mandatory week free of missions and anything other than light training as per the guidance of mission downtime." The Hokage took another puff of his pipe. "The fact that you allied yourselves with Zabuza Momochi is classified as an A Rank secret, so you are not to talk of it to anyone who neither myself or a member of the mission itself." A brief flare of KI was enough to make his seriousness known. "Genin Haruno, your pay for this mission will be waiting for you at the front desk. Genin Uchiha, your pay will also be waiting for you at the front desk however for your insubordination you will only be receiving half the pay of the original C Rank mission. Normally you wouldn't receive any pay and be put to a court martial, however given the circumstances of the mission and your past you have been shown some leniency. That will not happen again. Genin Haruno, Genin Uchiha you are dismissed, go and take your downtime at some point over the next week you'll be contacted by Inoichi Yamanaka for counselling. It's part of the procedure for Genin on high level missions. Genin Uzumaki, you will stay here as we need to discuss your conduct in forming an alliance with a rogue-nin without informing your team leader of your intent."

Sakura bowed to the Third Hokage as she was dismissed and threw a worried look at Naruto, she seemed to be on the verge of staying but left the office after giving him a small reassuring smile. Sasuke gave a slightly curious look between Naruto, Kakashi and the Third Hokage but bowed and left without a second look closing the door behind him.

The atmosphere in the room immediately changed as soon as the door closed, it became charged with tension and suspicion. The Third Hokage's face hardened and his eyes grew colder as he focussed his full attention on Naruto. He placed his hand onto his desk and flared his chakra, the windows of his office darkened and fuinjutsu covered the entirety of the room, the full security features of the Hokage's office had been activated. Although Naruto couldn't see them he knew that the ANBU hiding in the room were moving to have a clear line of sight on him so they could take him down as soon as he did something the Hokage didn't like. There would be a team of ANBU at the windows and surrounding the door too, not to mention the signal that had been sent to Shikaku letting him know something serious was happening, one of the perks of being the Jonin Commander. Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair slowly in case one of the ANBU had an itchy throwing arm.

"Can we dispense with the theatrics and get to the real reason I'm being kept here?" He asked, dropping his childish cover. Hiruzen's eyebrow twitched as he watched Naruto's posture change, he stood straighter, holding himself with a different type of confidence. The Third Hokage had known Naruto the entirety of the boy's life and the blonde had, after deciding not to let the villagers get to him, held himself with an abundance of over-confidence. Now however, he was stood there with a confidence that would've been more in place with a shinobi with years of experience, not a Genin fresh out of the academy.

"So, you aren't even going to attempt to prove you're not an impos.."

"Purple camellias." Naruto said simply, cutting Hiruzen off mid-word. The old man sat there staring at Naruto in shock.

"I beg your pardon?" Hiruzen asked carefully, wanting to make sure he'd heard correctly.

"The secret code phrase you gave me when I was 4." Naruto started to explain. "You closed your office just like this and told your ANBU to leave, then you told me the story of how you wooed your wife. How you went to the Yamanaka clan head at the time, Inoichi's grandfather I think, and begged him to grow you a special type of camellia, one with deep purple petals ringed in pure white." Naruto watched Hiruzen take his pipe from his mouth and place it carefully on his desk. "You still have the Yamanaka grow them, but only enough for you to place them on your wife's grave. You told me that if I ever doubted that you were you or if you wanted me to prove I was me to tell you about the purple camellias," Naruto paused and grinned. "and how Biwako broke your nose for being an idiot who thought flowers were the way to a kunoichi's heart, didn't stop her from taking them though. You never told anyone that part of the story except me." Naruto shrugged, "You know me well enough to know that even if I was tortured, I'm too hardheaded to give up any information, especially something you hold so dear."

Hiruzen spent a couple of seconds just staring at Naruto before letting out a sigh.

"Very well, it seems as though you are the real Naruto." The old man pinched the bridge of his nose, "Leave us." The ANBU followed the order without hesitation.

"Aren't you leaving?" Naruto said, glancing over his shoulder to the far corner of the room. The air shimmered for a second as a figure appeared seemingly out of thin air, seeing the figure slowly take shape Naruto felt his resolve to stay calm and keep control of the conversation shatter as he broke out from under Kakashi's grasp and charged towards the figure. Tackling them and wrapping his arms around their chest, the feelings he'd held back seeing the people he'd lost alive again all came surging out from behind the barrier he'd held them back with. Tears stung his eyes as he wept into the figure's chest, Kakashi and Hiruzen looked on in confusion at Naruto's reaction.

"What the hell are you doing kid?" The figure asked, tentatively taking Naruto into an awkward hug.

"P-Pervy Sage." Naruto sniffled as he tried to recompose himself but wasn't able too, seeing the Third Hokage again had been hard but being greeted with the unexpected appearance of Jiraiya was more than Naruto's emotions could take. Jiraiya had filled a role that Naruto hadn't had before, the Third Hokage was a grandfather figure, Kakashi and Iruka were like elder brothers but Naruto had admitted to Hinata once that when he thought of his parents after Minato and Kushina, Jiraiya and Tsunade would always come to mind.

"It seems that Naruto already knows you Jiraiya." Hiruzen said with an amused smirk at the nickname. "From his reaction he knows you well, and not just from what he called you. From the reports I received from Anko and Kakashi, it seems as though Naruto has somehow come into possession of future knowledge."

"Come on kid, let go." Jiraiya said, carefully releasing himself from Naruto's grasp before gasping as all the air left his lungs thanks to a powerful jab to the groin. Naruto jumped back, wiping the remaining tears from his eyes and glaring at Jiraiya. Groaning the Toad Sage fell to his knees, cradling his groin in his hands as he wheezed, Kakashi's one visible eye widened and Hiruzen flinched as they saw the attack.

"That's for making Granny Tsunade cry." Naruto fumed, "You promised her you'd be back."

"L-little brat." Jiraiya hissed through clenched teeth, "I don't even know what's happening here." He continued as he slowly got back to his feet, not dropping his guard in case Naruto tried again. "Sarutobi-Sensei just told me to be here for this meeting. Wait…Granny Tsunade? You get away with calling her that? When was she even in the village to see you, I've kept track of her and she's not been back to the village since she left."

"It's a long story Jiraiya." Hiruzen said, "One I'm not sure we should hear if what Naruto just said is anything to go by." Taking up his pipe again and relighting it Hiruzen looked at Naruto. "Tell us the bare minimum, essentially just how you seem to know things you shouldn't." Naruto turned to face the Third Hokage and nodded.

"I…experienced, I suppose, about thirty years of my life from now. I put my little girl to bed, checked on my son, kissed my wife goodnight and next thing I know I open my eyes and I'm back in the bell test Kakashi-Sensei put Team Seven through when we were first formed. I am Naruto Uzumaki, son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, Jinchūriki to Kurama the Kyubi no Yoko and Seventh Hokage of Konohagakure. I knew that we would go on a mission to protect Tazuna and that it would become more complicated that's why I started to train harder and formed an alliance with Zabuza Momochi in an attempt to keep both him and his partner alive."

"I'm still not convinced." Jiraiya said crossing his arms and staring at Naruto in suspicion.

"Not convinced? Okay, you're my godfather, I'm named after a character from your first book, you trained three war orphans called Yahiko, Konan and Nagato, you can't use Senjutsu without help from the Toad Elders and Granny Tsunade nearly killed you the first time she caught you peeking on her in the hot springs. Still not convinced? How about I tell the story of your first time with a woman? You told me about it in graphic detail, couldn't forget it even if I tried. And I don't mean the fake story you tell everyone about the twins in Tetsu no Kuni and needing to keep each other warm during a snowstorm, oh no, I'm talking about the real one in Cha no Kuni with…" Naruto never got to finish his sentence as Jiraiya's hand clamped over his mouth.

"If you say anything about that too anyone, you won't live to see whatever future you think you know." Jiraiya hissed, before spinning around to look at Kakashi and the Hokage. "That's just a pass phrase I came up with for people I really trust." He laughed nervously at the disbelieving looks on the faces in front of him. Jiraiya cleared his throat, "Why the hell would you want to keep a guy like Zabuza Momochi alive? He's a monster."

"According to Iwa, so's my dad. It's a pre-emptive strike against a future opponent."

"That would explain what one of my ANBU found when they searched your home." Hiruzen said holding up a rolled up poster, "Not the safest of places to hide something that seems so important."

"You've read it?"

"Yes, I can see where you've left some details out or coded them in someway in case this was discovered but I can hazard a guess at the events you're hinting towards." Hiruzen unrolled the poster slowly. "According to this you've been through quite a lot. I have to admit my curiosity is peaked by certain names being mentioned quite dominantly in the upcoming months."

"Has anyone else read it?"

"Just the ANBU I tasked to search your home, once I received Kakashi's report about your strange behaviour. I must say she seemed to be very interested in speaking with you over the mention of a certain 'coughing guy' on this timeline you've constructed."

"Any mention of me in that?" Jiraiya asked as he started to read over Hiruzen's shoulder, only for the poster to be rolled up again.

"There are some things a person should not know, Jiraiya."

"That bad huh?"

"It's best that this is kept somewhere safe or better yet destroyed. Knowledge about a possible future is something that needs to be kept out of the hands of untrustworthy people."

"What else did you find at my place?" Naruto asked.

"A scroll with Futon jutsu, a letter saying to be prepared and the remains of a green jumpsuit."

"Remains?" Naruto sighed, he wanted to keep that suit. Hiruzen cleared his throat and looked away.

"The ANBU that found all of these items has had…an issue with that type of clothing. The less said about that incident the better."

"What did Guy-Sensei ever do to Cat?"

"How do you know Cat was who I sent?" Hiruzen asked curiously.

"She's the one you trust most now that Kakashi-Sensei has retired from ANBU."

"I find it quite unnerving how well you know things you shouldn't."

"It's weird for me too."

"Do you know where the jutsu scroll came from?"

"Not a clue, I was out training and when I got back to my place it was sat on the mat outside." Naruto shrugged, "I'm not going to turn down jutsu for my element."

Hiruzen simply looked at Naruto for a few seconds before speaking again.

"Kakashi, Jiraiya, leave us for a few moments. There is something I need to discuss with Naruto that needs to stay between the two of us." Naruto could sense that both Kakashi and Jiraiya wanted to protest and stay but the tone of voice that Hiruzen used didn't leave any room for argument. Hiruzen deactivated the security features long enough for Kakashi and Jiraiya to leave his office before reactivating them.

"This is about the invasion, right?" Naruto asked softly. "You don't want them to know what happens to you." Hiruzen stood from his chair and slowly walked to view the village from his window.

"Yes, that's correct. I've lived a long and happy life, longer and happier then I probably deserve. I've had to bury my friends and my family, not just my wife but three of my children too. I've accepted that my day is coming soon and it will be at the hands of my greatest failing, it almost seems fitting." Hiruzen sighed, taking a pull from his pipe and smiling. "I won't let Orochimaru have an easy time of it though, the last thing I do will be to stop him to the best of my abilities."

"What are you going to do about the invasion though? Now you know it's happening."

"Oh, I already knew about it before your little timeline was discovered." Hiruzen turned to face Naruto. "Orochimaru maybe a genius but it is impossible to hide the fact you're preparing for war. There are tell-tale signs that Jiraiya's network picked up on and acted to undermine, limiting the resources Orochimaru can call upon, sabotaging weapons shipments and the like. Is there anything you can tell me that you haven't written on your timeline?"

"Oto and Suna have allied to attack the village together. Raza, the Kazekage, he might be dead and Orochimaru may be posing as him. That's what I can remember but somethings are different here so I could be wrong." Hiruzen looked thoughtful as he pulled from his pipe again, slowly breathing the smoke out.

"Raza's messages recently have sounded different and Jiraiya's connections have said Raza has started to wear his Kage raiment's along with a veil more often then he would usually and I've never known him to wear a veil before. It could simply be a change in behaviour or…." Hiruzen reached into his desk and pulled out a scroll, opening it and scanning the writing on it he frowned. "I believe you may be right about Orochimaru taking Raza's place. Orochimaru's ability to perform jutsu is impeccable but he always did struggle to hide his own syntax when he posed as another person, mostly from ego. He's gotten better since leaving the village but looking close enough to the last missive that we received from Suna, I can see it's his work and not Raza's." Hiruzen put the scroll down and sighed. "Such a shame Raza has three children."

"Two sons and a daughter. Temari's the eldest and an accomplished Futon user, especially with her battle fan, Kankuro the middle child, he's a member of the Puppet Corp and Gaara, the youngest, he can manipulate sand without conscious thought and is the Jinchūriki of the Ichibi. The Ichibi keeps him awake constantly so Gaara's insane, he thinks he needs to kill to justify his existence due to the assassination attempts against him to turn him into a weapon." Naruto rattled off the details of the former Kazekage's children. "Gaara's their secret weapon, they plan on unleashing the Ichibi during the third stage of the Chunin Exams. From whatever I've experienced, I'm sure I can get through to Gaara but I'm probably still going to have to fight him before I can talk him down. I'll try and do it without fighting him so I can get more help to you and…"

"Naruto." Hiruzen said softly, interrupting the blonde. "I'm old, while I won't deny I want to see Konohamaru grow into the man I know he'll be, if my time is coming I won't try to hide from it. I will face it with my eyes open and no regrets."

"But…" Hiruzen turned from the window and walked to Naruto, taking him into a comforting hug.

"I know I am leaving his village in safe hands and that the Will of Fire will continue to burn brightly."

Unable to hold back his tears Naruto, clung to his surrogate grandfather and cried into his robes while Hiruzen simply smiled sadly and stroked Naruto's hair.

Giving Naruto time to recover his emotions and wipe away his tears, Hiruzen returned to his desk and looked over Naruto's timeline again.

"It seems like your generation will be having a difficult number of years ahead of them. How best would you suggest to prepare them for what is too come?" Hiruzen asked.

"More training." Naruto replied, wiping his sleeve over his eyes, drying the remaining tears away. "Less specialisation, joint team training and missions, we need to be more flexible when it comes to working together instead of learning as we go, learning how to detect and dispel genjutsu, wouldn't hurt to have a few of us learn how to cast a few. I can't and neither can Lee but the others shouldn't have much trouble. I've been helping Sakura train and told her the basics of Granny Tsunade's strength technique but it needs to be more than just Team 7 getting an upgrade. Teams 8, 10 and Guy are going to be on the front lines with everything that's coming and having a few surprises always useful when your opponent is only expecting you to use certain jutsu. They all rarely if ever use anything other than their clan techniques apart from Tenten and Lee. They stick purely to weapons and taijutsu, Lee's going to be the hardest to move out of specialisation with his inability to use ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"Elemental chakra seals, perhaps?" Hiruzen suggested. "If I remember properly, Rock Lee is unable to expel chakra from his body in the way most shinobi would to use jutsu. He can however use chakra to perform the tree walking and water walking exercises, he should be able to use his chakra to activate seals. Providing him with a weapon or armour of some sort with elemental charka seals affixed to them would give him the element of surprise during a confrontation, while sticking to his strengths."

"Could work, he'd have an extra layer of protection plus with the extra weight it'll make him train harder. Getting Hinata and Neji to use something other than Juken is going to be a challenge, Neji more so." Naruto scratched his head. "He's a traditionalist who wants to show that the Branch family can be better than the Main family, he's got a chip on his shoulder bigger than Hokage monument too. Hiashi needs to tell Neji the truth about what happened to his dad but someone needs to take Neji down a peg first."

"I take it this someone would be you?"

"I did it last time, might as well do it again." Naruto smirked, "That was my first underdog victory. There's a few more things that need to be done too, Ino and Sakura need to be fully broken out of being fangirls and Hinata needs more confidence, Anko should be able to sort that out. I've got a feeling she's already started on Sakura. Kiba has impulse and anger issues, Shino needs to communicate more, Shikamaru's lazy, Choji's lacking in confidence and is gentle-hearted, I don't want him to lose that but it can make him hesitate. Lee sees everything as a challenge and doesn't think before he acts, Tenten's the only one who's mentally stable, apart from a serious love of weaponry and I've already said what Neji's problem is. I'm not saying to get rid of those traits, well apart from the fangirl one, it's what makes them who they are, my friends. They need to temper then though, sooner rather than later."

"And Sasuke?"

"Yeah, he's the biggest problem. There's a reason Anko's started calling him Mental Break. She's started on trying to get him out of his mindset but I think he's too entrenched in there. The second someone offers him power he's going to take it, to hell with the consequences. He's blocked himself off from everyone and is solely focussed on getting stronger to take on Itachi." Naruto paused, wondering if he should reveal what he knew about Itachi but decided against it. One problem at a time, Orochimaru's invasion first. Everything else can wait till later. "I'll work on it from my side but…"

"That power-hungry mindset is hard to break and will lead him down a dark path."

"Yeah. I don't know if I should let him travel that path or not though."

"Explain."

"The power he gets from going down that path causes trouble for everyone but it's needed to stop what's coming in a few years time. I don't want him to go through that again but he might have too."

"I see the problem, unfortunately this is something you'll need to decide for yourself." Hiruzen studied Naruto's face as conflicting emotions flashed across it. Deciding to give the boy something else to think about he asked a question. "Is there anything you would suggest as a way to counter this invasion?"

"Get Granny Tsunade and Shizune back in the village quietly and keep them hidden until they're needed."

"Your reasoning?"

"Element of surprise, Orochimaru will set up something to counter them if he knows and having the best medics in all of the nations won't hurt either." Naruto's face darkened. "That's something else to deal with, Orochimaru has a spy in the village."

"Kabuto Yakushi, he's under surveillance and has been since Orochimaru turned him." Hiruzen smirked. "I take it he's the one you've coded as 'viper in the leaves'? Did you really think there could be a spy in the village without Jiraiya or myself knowing about it?" Hiruzen chuckled lightly. "We've fed him bits of information over the years and Jiraiya has managed to locate a number of Orochimaru's bases through following those pieces of information, keeping them under watch with his summons."

"There's other things that need dealing with but that can come later. If you can get Granny Tsunade back in the village you'll need to cure her of her blood phobia in some way otherwise we'll have a useless medic, that's a priority."

"As you command, Lord Hokage." Hiruzen said sarcastically, causing Naruto to smile sheepishly.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, it shows that you'll grow into a good leader." Hiruzen sat at his desk once more. "I believe we've left Kakashi and Jiraiya outside long enough, I will tell them what they need to know and have Jiraiya track down Tsunade as well as start working on some seals for young Lee." Hiruzen deactivated the security seals, calling Kakashi and Jiraiya back into his office before activating them again.

"What's the verdict Sarutobi-Sensei?" Jiraiya asked.

"Until proven otherwise, I'm willing to take Naruto at his word. We have some fresh information for you to verify through your network and a few tasks for you to undertake, I'm afraid your 'research' will have to be put on hold for the time being. Check on the condition of the Kazekage, he may have been replaced."

"By who?"

"I fear it may be Orochimaru." Hiruzen said sadly, causing Jiraiya to pale. "You are to track down Tsunade and Shizune, bring them back to the village clandestinely and if possible cure Tsunade of her hemophobia, you are also to create a number of elemental chakra seals that could be used to enhance taijutsu techniques." Hiruzen turned his attention to Kakashi. "You are to inform Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi and Might Guy that there will be a meeting tomorrow for them and yourself at 6 o'clock in the morning where I will give them further orders, attendance is mandatory. This is to be done without delay, I will know if you decide to take your time and you will not like the consequences." Kakashi stiffened as a wave of KI washed over him, nodding quickly in agreement. "Naruto, you are dismissed. Your mission pay is waiting for you at the front desk, it will be halved for you making the deal with Zabuza without notifying Kakashi first. You should actually forfeit your payment but given the circumstances I'm willing to lessen the punishment. As with your teammates you have a week free of missions and only light training."

"I'll try but I know how to train with Kage Bushin and I've got a lot of things to work on." Naruto tapped the side of his head. "I still need to work on my chakra control, my Rasengan won't stabilize yet and I'm sick of it blowing up in my face."

"Try using your chakra to balance shuriken above your palm." Jiraiya said, "Though you'll probably want to be somewhere away from people until you start getting the hang of it. The shuriken can have a nasty habit of being launched during the early stages of training."

Naruto nodded and left the office as soon as Hiruzen turned the security seals off, as soon as the door closed the seals were activated once more.

"What are you thinking Sensei?" Jiraiya asked.

"I have a theory about how Naruto seems to know what he does, I'll have ANBU investigate quietly before I…." Hiruzen stopped mid-sentence as his eyes widened slowly.

"What's wrong?"

"ANBU, Cat's going to be looking for Naruto. Kakashi…"

"Understood." The Jonin said as for a split-second the seals were lowered and Kakashi was gone in a blur out of the window.

"It's going to hit the fan isn't it?" Jiraiya sighed.

"I fear it will break the fan."

After collecting his pay Naruto went straight to Maelstrom Weapon-smith to settle his tab and pick up some more supplies, quickly making his way through the village he walked into the shop to find Arashi leant against the wall alongside a changing room. Naruto opened his mouth to greet Arashi and ask about paying off what he owed but Arashi put a finger to his lips and held up a hand to stop Naruto from walking into the shop. Arashi grinned before starting to speak.

"Come on, you lost the bet." He said.

"You cheated." A girl's voice answered from the changing room.

"I did not cheat, the bet was to see if I could put a kunai into the bullseye and I did."

"You walked up to the target and stabbed it, you were meant to throw it."

"Where was that in the terms of the bet? The terms were if I could put the kunai in the bullseye you had to wear a dress, if I couldn't then I'd wear the dress. Where in those terms does it say I had to throw it?"

"It was implied."

"But not in the terms, I won fair and square. So let's see you wearing the dress."

An impressive chorus of muttered curses came from the changing room before the door opened and a girl walked out, she was around the same age as Arashi had long brown hair that reached just past her shoulder and brown eyes. She was wearing a pale yellow summer dress what stopped just below her knees and a pair of white shoes.

"Happy now?" She asked angrily, Arashi just stared at her for a few second before answering.

"Yeah, you…you look good." He said quietly.

"I'm going to get changed, I hate dresses." The girl said, a pale blush dusting her cheeks, as she turned to walk back into the changing room, catching sight of Naruto for the first time. Something flew close to Naruto's face as he saw the girl's arm move in a blur, turning to look over his shoulder Naruto saw a kunai sticking out of the doorframe and felt his cheek start to sting, touching it he felt blood coming from a small scratch. "You saw nothing." The girl hissed before walking into the changing room and slamming the door behind her. It was at that time Naruto realised he'd just met Tenten, he hadn't recognised her looking like…well, a girly girl. She'd always had her hair in buns and worn pants whenever he'd seen her, she'd always been a bit of a tomboy in his eyes. "Arashi, I'm going to kill you when I get out of here."

"I'll get you a twenty five percent discount on that sword you've got on order." Arashi replied.

"…You can live for a while longer."

"I've got a customer to see too, I'll be back in a few minutes." Arashi turned his focus to Naruto. "So how can I help?"

"Just came to get some supplies and pay off what I owe from my tab."

"Oh yeah, you're the one who bought the tonfa. How'd they do?" Arashi walked behind the counter and pulled out a book, opening it to see how much Naruto owed.

"Great, I met someone who at least knows of your dad too." Naruto answered as he walked around the shop picking up some kunai, shuriken and other things he needed to replace after his mission.

"Who would that be?" A deep voice asked from the backroom, looking in that direction Naruto saw Hyoujin walking out from the forge cleaning his hands off.

"A guy with pointy teeth and a really big sword."

"You'll need to narrow that down, I'm from Kiri that explains most of the male population. Given that you're still alive I'd guess it was one of the more agreeable ones, that narrows it down a lot."

"His sword had a couple of holes in it."

"So that tough bastard's still out there." Hyoujin laughed.

"He said the same about you." Naruto grinned.

"Zabuza must be going soft if he let you and your team live."

"His employer tried to betray him and I made him a better offer."

"Yeah, that would do it. He's a stickler for contracts, does them to the letter and doesn't forgive an employer trying anything on him."

Before anything else could be said the changing room door burst open with Tenten jumping out, still winding her hair back into her signature buns.

"You saw Kubikiribōchō?!" She said, getting into Naruto's face. "How long was it? What did the hilt look like? How did Zabuza use it in battle?" Tenten let fly with a slew of other questions, so many that Naruto couldn't follow them.

"Tenten, I can answer your questions for you later." Hyoujin said, taking pity on Naruto. "Let me serve the kid before you crush him with your questions. Now Naruto, what can I do for you?"

"Er…I want to settle my tab and get a few supplies to replace what I used on my mission." Naruto replied as he tried to stop his mind from spinning after Tenten's onslaught of questions.

"Not a problem, have you thought about getting a blade put on the tonfa?"

"Maybe, I want to get a better grip on how you use them first. Don't want to start cutting myself up if I make a mistake with them."

"Fair enough, you know where to find me if you want them adjusting in any way."

With that said Naruto payed off his tab and bought his supplies, he bid Hyoujin and Arashi goodbye as he left the shop. As he exited he heard Tenten's question filled rampage begin again, ignoring it Naruto went straight to Ichiraku Ramen to get something to eat and after 15 bowls of ramen he went home to relax. At least that was the plan, as he approached his apartment building he was grabbed and pulled into an alleyway. He was forced face first into a wall, a hand covered his mouth and a sword was placed at his throat.

"When I move my hand you're going to tell me what I want to know." A voice whispered in his ear.