Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own Negima.

Frozen Souls of Eternity

Chapter41: Buried Secrets and a New Team

Elemental Countries: Hokage Monument

After visiting the infirmary and checking on the Genin the three Kage and two Magister Magis later found themselves in the inner sanctum of the Hokage Monument itself. The children in the infirmary had apparently sustained very little damage though Sakura said that they would be bedridden for a week at the latest. Chao had refused to comment on why the group was there and kept on telling them that it would be explained when they arrived.

"Where exactly are we going Chao?" Naruto asked fed up with not any answers.

Chao stopped next to a wall in the chamber "alright then tell me Naruto-kun; what is the Hokage Monument? As the Hokage himself I'm sure Tsunade-Obachan has told you its true purpose…at least I hope so".

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her "what purpose? What are you talking about?"

"Clearly you don't know so I'll enlighten you; when a Hokage's face is carved into the mountainside the heads are also hollowed out" she explained causing everyone to look at her in surprise, even Gaara. "The Monument itself is protected by barrier seals both inside and out to protect it from attack but…" she continued and touched the wall behind her causing it to shimmer "…the heads are also covered in blood seals preventing access to the inside from anyone other than a blood relative".

Yugito stepped forward and saw the wall suddenly shimmer again revealing a large metal door with the Roman numeral for '4' on it "if that's true then why the security?"

Biting her though Chao splashed some of her blood on the door and it glowed before opening with a loud rumbling "because inside each head…" She stepped through the door into the large chamber beyond followed quickly by the other "...is the entire wealth of knowledge of that particular Hokage".

The room was huge with shelves of scrolls littering the surrounding walls "wow; this is dad's private stash?" was all Naruto could say as he looked around the room.

In the center was a large metal cylinder surrounded by several panels and blue consoles "yes; this is the Yondaime's personal study". Chaos explained with a smile "everything he knew or planned as Hokage is in this room other than his family techniques: Rasengan and Hiraishin no Jutsu".

"Everything?" Naruto asked catching his breath and she nodded in reply.

"What about this thing?" Negi asked as he stepped closer to the cylinder in the center "what is this exactly?"

Chao's expression suddenly saddened and approached one of the many blue consoles "yes that…it's better if I show you Negi-Bozu since it directly involves you". She placed her hand over the console and pressed down on it causing the panels in the room to light up "I remember you were so happy when you fought Ku Nel-san during the tournament all those years ago".

Chao smiled sadly at him as the metal on the cylinder seemed to retract downwards revealing a glass cylinder filled with water and something else floating in it "i-is that…" Negi's eyes widened as he looked through the glass "d-dad?" Indeed floating in the tub of water was the Thousand Master: Nagi Springfield with his face covered by a breathing mask "h-how?"

Chao sighed sadly and started to explain "many years ago both Minato-kun and Nagi-kun we're friends and worked together in hopes of uniting the Three Worlds but they failed…though not completely. Earth and the Magic Realm became united under one banner finally attaining peace but before the Elemental Countries could join Fate Averruncus and Uchiha Madara struck with everything they had. You have to understand that this was after the wars and nobody wanted to fight so it was the perfect time for them to attack. Nagi pursued Fate back to Magic Realm but Fate sealed the Temple of the Nine preventing any access to Earth from here. He was ultimately defeated by Nagi and his friends but Fate escaped and at the same time Madara attacked Konoha with his mightiest weapon".

"Kyuubi no Kitsune" Naruto commented looking down and clenching his fists.

"Yes" Chao nodded sadly "though it was defeated by Minato-kun, Madara escaped and came up with a plan to use the Biju in there purest form…energy".

"That's why he created Akatsuki?" Yugito asked confused.

"The Biju are essentially walking power sources albeit unstable; if they were ever merged and destabilized…" Chao trailed off.

"It would destroy a world" Gaara finished leaning on the nearby wall.

"Yes" Chao nodded "but Madara gave up on that idea after Akatsuki's defeat; anyway after he attacked Konoha with Kyuubi, Nagi used the second Temple Gate to-".

Naruto waved his hands "wow, wow, wow back up a second…what do you mean second Temple Gate? As in another one besides the Temple of the Nine?"

Chao nodded annoyed "do you not know anything? It's called the Temple of the Elements and is located beneath Rain Country…hell it's practically under the Crater of Rain!"

"I think we would have noticed if it was there" Negi stated.

The Thousand Mistress sighed at that "how do you think the Blood Howlers are able to travel between worlds if you have the main gates under constant guard?" The group remained silent and she continued "the gate itself is a secondary gate and so can only be used when the main one is offline; that's why they had to smuggle the nukes through the Temple of the Nine back during the Akatsuki war".

"What about now though?" Yugito asked.

Chao leaned against one of the consoles and continued "well how often is the Temple of the Nine's gate used these days? Almost continuously because of travel purposes of both Mages and Ninja and so has to be shutdown between travel times for the power requirements".

The Raikage made an 'O' with her mouth and laughed nervously "I forgot about that".

"It's also protected by an impenetrable barrier preventing access so you can't secure it" Chao stated before Naruto speak.

"Dammit" the blond Hokage growled in frustration.

"As for how Nagi-kun ended up here…after his battle with Fate he was gravely injured and used the second gate to travel here where he climbed into the stasis pod since no' doctors could help at the time…sadly he was too late" Chao's tone darkened "h-he passed away just before he entered the pod; I had traveled back in time then and placed him in the pod before his body died". She looked over at the Thousand Master floating in the water "his body is still alive so his Pactio Contracts are still active but his mind…it's simply gone". She smiled sadly with a single tear running down the side of her face "he never stopped fighting…even at the end".

"I-I see" Negi said in tears staring at the floating body with a smile "so I won't get to meet my dad after all".

The room fell into silence for a few minutes before it was broken by Chao's words "there's more". She sighed and looked over at Naruto and Yugito "you're both confused on how Daisuke was born right?" The two looked up sharply and she continued "it's the Shinigami's doing; he made a deal with Kami to keep the balance since when you both and Kotaro-kun die there will only be six Biju left. Since that is the case Kami and the Shinigami created a plan that would rework the DNA of a Biju itself giving it the ability to reproduce and sent three of them to the three different worlds. However they are only able to produce one child each to maintain the balance of their being nine Biju".

The two simply stared "you're saying there are two more?" Yugito asked.

Chao nodded and replied "one on Earth found near Kyoto and one near the main gate in the Magic Realm".

"I'll have a few of my people looking for them" Negi spoke up staring at his descendant carefully.

"So what are they exactly?" Yugito asked the question "are they clones of us?"

"Daisuke is a hybrid clone between of you two" she pointed at the two blonds "he is your son but…the other Biju are completely original".

"Why is the boy different?" the Kazekage asked in monotone.

"The Shinigami owed him a favor" Chao nodded towards the new Hokage "for his exploits at the Valley of the End". She sighed and looked the over "enough about that; moving on". She took a deep breath before continuing "now that I've finished talking about the past its time I tell you about your future". That got everyone's attention "thankfully I won't be hunted by the Time Police for this little stunt because you all actually need to know; in approximately twenty-five years Madara and Fate will launch an attack on a scale never seen before".

The temperature in the room suddenly lowered drastically.

"W-what?" Negi stuttered.

"Madara and Fate are cloning an army of Blood Howlers in labs and bases all over the three worlds; when the time comes they will bring the full force of there power down upon the Alliance with a vengeance" Chao said in a chilling tone.

"Y-you're kidding right?" Naruto asked wide-eyed.

"I wish I was" replied the Thousand Mistress in a saddened tone.

Even Gaara was shaking at that statement "I-if this army is as large as you say then how are we supposed to defeat it?"

She simply looked over at him and spoke once again "cut off the head and the body dies with it".

"Wait what about Madara" said Yugito looking over at her descendant "he came after me in Lightning Country before the finals…he asked for me to summon the Shinigami and told me he'd destroy Kumo if I didn't cooperate".

Chao gulped and nodded slowly "y-yes I am aware of that but I'm afraid I cannot speak of it; Time Police and all that about preserving the timeline".

Naruto's anger grew when he heard her speak but calmed himself "alright then now what?"

The Thousand Mistress's 'watch' suddenly started beeping and she brought it up to see it "looks like my time is up; I've still got much to do". She smiled happily at them before starting back towards the door; she stopped at its entrance and called around a single tear running down her face but the smile still there "goodbye Negi-Bozu, Naruto-kun, Yugito-Chan…we won't meet again". A second later she had left them proceeding down the corridor before vanishing in a flash red 'and so the path of the worlds have changed once more…Negi-Bozu, Naruto-kun I am sorry I've set you down this road for at its end…is a very horrible destiny'.

"She's gone" Yugito whispered staring at the door the young woman had left through.

"Yeah" Negi said as he placed his hand over the nearby console and caused the metal plates to move and cover the cylinder once again.

"Do you think we'll ever see her again?" Yugito asked in a weak voice.

Negi took a few moments before responding "no, no we won't".

"Damn there's a lot of stuff in here" Naruto commented examining the many scrolls littering the shelves "this will take awhile too go through even with shadow clones".

"Mind if I stick around too? There might be some stuff here belonging to my dad too" Negi asked looking over at the blond man.

"Yeah sure" Naruto waved him off and started looking over the many shelves.

Yugito suddenly grabbed his hand however when he made to grab one of them and started pulling "you can both do that later but we still have a Chunin Exam to mark".

When she let go of him he nodded but not before picking out the scroll he was reaching for before "alright then; let's go" resealing the room as they left the two made there way out of the mountain.

Elemental Countries: Hokage Tower

The following week while the kids recovered passed rather quickly and soon the candidates that had made it to the preliminary rounds had gathered in the tower's assembly room awaiting news on the exam results along with their senseis. They were mostly chatting amongst themselves but soon quieted as the three Kages and the Head Magister Magi entered the room and sat down in their seats.

The Genin and Junior Mages straightened at the scrutiny the four S-Class leaders were giving them…even Riku "alright; you all know why you've gathered here so I'll cut to the chase" Naruto began. He leaned back and continued "you have all been judged on your ability to make split-second decisions in combat situations and I congratulate you all for entertaining the crowd out there".

Yugito spoke up next "sadly while it was very entertaining not all of you used your heads in your matches".

Gaara nodded his head slowly "that is the reality of these things".

Negi sighed before calling out to the group "would Kumo no Riku, Kumo no Kai, Hyuga Ryo, Namikaze Daisuke, Nara Ichiro, Springfield Natalie and Lingshen Mark step forward". There was a shuffle as the requested people stepped out of the group "each of you has shown the ability to think of a plan even in the most stressful of situations and have fulfilled every requirement for a promotion".

"So without further delay…" Yugito continued as Gaara's sand moved and gourd and handed the Genin their new Chunin vests and the young mages their new robes signifying that they were now Senior Mages.

"Congratulations" Negi smiled and nodded at the group "to all of you".

"Dismissed" Naruto said as an order and the teenagers all exited the room slowly. The Thousand Army sighed leaning back into his chair "I'm glad that's over".

"I'll be returning to Earth now; I have much to do" Negi stated and bid the three farewell.

"I should be going too" Gaara nodded his head slightly.

"See you around Kazekage-dono" Naruto said with a grin "and tell Matsuri-Chan and the kids I said hi". Gaara didn't answer and simply disappeared in a whirl of sand "are you leaving too?" the Hokage asked his wife.

Yugito nodded her head and sighed "I should probably be getting back; the council is going to be breathing down my neck otherwise".

"I guess this is goodbye again" he said sadly before she kissed him.

She pulled away and winked "we're both Kages now; we have to put others before ourselves". She stood and started towards the door only stopping to say "until next time Namikaze Naruto" and with that she was gone.

Several minutes passed and the new Hokage started looking around his office until his eyes settled on the pictures of the former Hokages hanging on the wall. Minutes turned to hours and the blonde's mind drifted to Madara, Fate and the Blood Howlers. They'd gotten a warning but in the end it might have done no' good; his eyes scanned over the face of the Shodaime Hokage and he unconsciously clutched the necklace he wore.

'If you were in my situation, what would you do?' he asked silently looking at the Shodaime's picture. His eyes then looked over at the picture of the Yondaime 'what about you dad?'

As if to answer the unasked question the scroll he had picked out from his father's study dropped out of his pocket and rolled across the floor. When it came to a stop he bent down to pick it up; taking one look at it his eyes hardened and he looked up at the pictures once again. Coming to a decision he opened the scroll up across his desk and started reading its contents knowing full well he'd only get one last shot at taking Madara down.

This scroll held the schematics for possibly the most powerful technique ever created and he knew he'd need it if the Three Worlds Alliance was going to survive. Though he didn't know it at the time; this particular technique would play a vital role in the fate of the three worlds and ultimately decide the outcome of a battle that would shake the Alliance to its very foundations.

Elemental Countries: Hokage' Office

Days passed…months actually; the Genin teams stayed the same even though a few of them were now Chunin. Sadly Tsunade passed away a few months after the finals; she knew she had reached her end and had fallen into an eternal slumber one night; never to awaken. This sent ripples of sadness across the village and the entirety of the Elemental Nations for they had lost possibly the best medic-nin of all time.

Her son took it the hardest since not too long ago he had lost his father as well and but when his mother's funeral finally came a few days later he didn't cry. Not once did a tear escape his eyes even when he had placed a flower with her in the coffin; Naruto and Daisuke had taken the boy home after the funeral was over and lay the boy down in his bed after he had fallen asleep.

Just before they left the room however one of the plants the young Senju had been growing suddenly sprouted before their eyes until it created a miniature tree/plant. Sufficed to say Hashirama had the ability to control the wood element and Naruto would soon start the boy on controlling his apparent 'bloodline limit'. The teams were assigned missions like usual…well all except one team.

The former Team 7 had been put on the inactive list and assigned to the Konoha's Defence Forces under the command of Jonin: Akimichi Chouji. To put it simply, they were put on guard duty and to put it mildly…they hated it. Ryo constantly found it irritating that he had to stand at post for hours on end; Hikari was much the same though she was fairly happy since she was still recovering. And as for Daisuke…he was constantly complaining about it to Naruto but every time the older blond kept telling him since Team 7 no' longer had an instructor they were effectively off the active list.

Well it turns out that was about to change…

Knock Knock

"Come in" Naruto called out from the couch.

His former Genin team walked in and closed the door behind them "Naruto-sensei, can we talk to you for a moment?" Hikari asked looking over at the desk only to find mountains of paperwork and several shadow clones filling them out.

"Sure" he got their attention and gestured towards one of the other sofa's "have a seat".

The three soon sat down on the opposite side of the table "Sensei, we would like you to put us on the active list again" Ryo surprising was the one who had spoken.

"Yeah dad guard duty is boring" Daisuke whined.

Naruto just grinned at the three and raised an eyebrow "and what makes you think I'll do that?"

"Come on sensei; I'm fully healed and ready to go…just give the word" Hikari pleaded.

"Actually just this morning I assigned a new Jonin Instructor for the team as my replacement" the Hokage said with a foxy grin.

"Really? Who?" Daisuke asked excited.

"Me" a voice called out from the door "can I come in Naruto?"

"Come on in Konohamaru" the former academy teacher entered the room and sat down on one of the other sofas "guys; I think you already know Konohamaru".

"He's gonna be our new sensei?" Hikari asked.

Naruto nodded "he just recently passed the Jonin Exams and requested I assign him as a Jonin Instructor…fortunately I had a spot open".

"So we get to do missions again?" Daisuke asked with barely contained glee.

The Hokage nodded and leaned back "yes and I actually have a mission for you". The one Genin, two Chunin and one Jonin straightened at that as one of Naruto's clones handed him a piece of paper describing a new mission "the Head Magister Magi of the Western Mage Academy has recently sent a message detailing the location of a Blood Howler Camp and weapons refinery in the Magic Realm". He handed the paper to Konohamaru "your mission is to destroy it and rescue any hostages they may have captured. Head to Mahora first though and link up with a man named Inugami Kotaro; he will guide you". The four nodded and stood "I expect you all back in two weeks; don't be late". As the four left Naruto called out "Daisuke".

Said boy turned "yeah dad?"

"Be careful" the Hokage said with a smile "and kick ass".

Daisuke smiled back "I will" he left a moment later.

Pulling out a bottle of sake Naruto chuckled "the future is predetermined by those that shape it". He poured himself a glass and held it up towards the picture on the wall of the Godaime Hokage "wouldn't you agree Obachan?" he downed the drink a moment later and sighed.

Author's Notes:

Chao is gone again…I hope you got some answers off of this and (sniff) (sniff) Tsunade Senju has passed away in her sleep. It was expected but…she's a good character and I hate to see her go but that's the way it goes. On a brighter note it looks like her son is able to use the wood element and Team 7 has been taken by a new instructor and has been renamed Team Konohamaru. Let the madness begin! Read and Review…

…See Ya Later…