Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

Tsunade tried to withhold a sigh as she started the last batch of paperwork cluttering her desk, tearing her longing gaze from the myriads of golds, oranges and reds adorning the sky as the sun sank lower and lower beneath the Hokage mountain.

Naturally her motivation was ruined by a sudden familiar presence making itself known in her perifery.

“Is there a problem Kakashi?” Tsunade inquired curiously, casually placing her brush down to look up at the white-haired Jonin now loitering her office without the courtesy of an appointment.

“Not at all. Can’t a fellow stop by for a friendly chat every once and a while” he stated in his typical lazy, carefree tone.

Tsunade merely rose an unimpressed eyebrow, folding her hands in front of her as she knowingly addressed the man, “You’re not reading one of Jiriaya’s trashy novels, which means you want a serious discussion”.

Kakashi merely hummed at the observation, though he didn't deny it either. Not that Tsunade expected him to.

“So I heard that Shikamaru made Chunin” Kakashi casually remarked, leaning deceptively relaxed against the wall as he faced the Hokage.

“That is correct" Tsunade confirmed, narrowing her eyes at the unsurprising lack of directness in Kakashi's roundabout way of digging for answers (the real challenge was finding out exactly what he was fishing for), "Do you disagree with his appointment?”

“Quite the contrary. He has the brains for it” Kakashi denied, graciously smashing the obvious excuse for his presence here to bits.

“Then why don’t you ask me what you’ve been dying to ask” Tsunade exclaimed, hypothezing that this has something to do with his squad and was in no mood to continue beating around the bush.

“I was merely curious why he was the only one” Kakashi commented, his blase attitude forcing Tsunade to bite back a sigh of annoyance at his continued refusal to voice his concerns outright.

“Neji and Shino both certainly had potential. However, Neji still has his own personal issues to work out, and Shino never got to display his skills at the final stage” Tsunade replied, purposefully omitting any mention of his students.

If Kakashi was going to play at being obtuse then she could bluff ignorance just as well.

“Hmmm...And squad seven?” Kakashi inquired, finally making his way to the real reason he was there.

Tsunade sighed, leaning back in her chair before addressing the man in front of her.

“They’re all definitely strong enough for the position. However, it’s not all about strength and you know that. As Chunin they’ll be responsible for the lives of others. Naruto is still too impulsive and would benefit from reading a few textbooks. Like Neji, Sasuke is only just starting to work through his own personal issues. Not to mention I’m concerned that his arrogance might interfere with any squad he works with. As for Sakura, she’s only just coming into her abilities and isn’t quite confident enough in herself to be a leader yet” Tsunade remarked, breaking down the careful analysis she had gone through when she had reviewed each candidate if the past Exam.

She had wanted to promote all three of them, and truthfully had this not been a time of (mostly) peace the trio likely would have been.

But unlike the last several generations there was no urgency. No war. No desperate need to replenish their rapidly depleting military. And while to some of the older war veterans still alive and kicking it may seem like the current generation was being babied, there was no need to toss their children to the wolves anymore. For the first time since the Village was founded their children had the opportunity to be allowed to grow at their own pace without the threat of extermination hanging over their heads as an incentive to improve their skills lest they wish to die.

Despite the most recent Invasion being a wakeup call for their complacency, the Sand and Sound Villages had retreated to lick their own wounds, and none of the other Villages seemed bold enough at the moment to try their hand at testing the waters just yet. Thereby maintaining the continued status quo. The careful balance between the Villages straining just enough to keep everyone on edge.

While it was no war, it did give the current generation of genin their first true taste of conflict. Hinting at the true horrors they had yet to see. Horrors they would now be able to visualize more crisply as they aided in clearing the rumble and corpses of those who were not so fortunate to escape unscathed.

Team 7 in particular had done significantly more growing up then most of their peers. Though that was hardly a surprise to anyone with what the trio recently had to survive.

But even with all their recent growth, they still needed just a little bit more maturation in certain personal areas first before she felt that they were able to be entrusted with the lives of subordinates under their leadership.

All facts that Tsunade knew Kakashi understood full well.

“I figured" Kakashi stated, as if reading her thoughts, confirming them with a simple shrug.

“Then what is it that you were really asking Kakashi?” Tsunade asked, curious to where this conversation would lead.

“Will they ever be promoted?” Kakashi outright asked, internally amused at the Hokage's surprise to his first direct question.

“It’s unlike you to seem so unconfident in them. I’m fully certain that your squad can pass the next Chunin Exam in a few months if those kinks are worked out” Tsunade confidently assured him, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion.

“That’s not what I meant” Kakashi casually retorted back, folding his arms across his chest.

“Hm? Then what is it that is really bothering you then?” Tsunade near demanded, narrowing her eyes uncertainly at him, silently questioning as to what his true worries really were.

“Danzo and the Elders seem to hold a different opinion on my squad’s advancements” Kakashi finally voiced aloud, a low irritated bite to his otherwise bored tone.

Now things made sense.

“I would never let Naruto be restricted to the Village to be used as a personal weapon Kakashi. Nor would I ever agree to let Danzo take over your squad’s leadership” Tsunade firmly assured him, finally understanding the true reason for his visit.

“Not for a lack of trying. The Elders seem to think that Team Seven would benefit more under Root than the normal Core. Conveniently forgetting that Root isn't even supposed to exist anymore. Not that anyone truly believed Danzo had actually disbanded his little army, but still” Kakashi stated bitterly, his usual well-hidden anger appearing through his sole uncovered eye.

Tsunade understood the implications full well.

The fact that the upper echelon of the Village knew that Danzo was still operating in the shadows, doing who knows what in the name of the betterment of the Village was concerning in and of itself.

She liked the rumors of his other less than savory misdeeds to those of the very Village he was supposed to protect even less.

“Danzo is my concern Kakashi. Let me worry about the old codger and his opinions. As for your Squad, this is for you” Tsunade exclaimed, holding out a scroll for Kakashi to review.

Truth be told Danzo and the Elder Council were starting to get on her nerves. How any of them could have been subordinates of her Great-Uncle with just how diverged their values were from his was beyond her scope of comprehension.

“And this would be?” Kakshi asked, taking the document in his hand and unrolling the contents.

“Your next mission. We need a Team to go under the radar and scout out a town near the Land of Fire’s borders. There have been some reports of suspicious activity and I’d like your team to take a look” Tsunade briefed, her tone leaving no room for refusal (not that Kakashi would anyway).

“Stealth and reconnaissance? From the details here this is a potentially higher ranked mission depending on the potential source of the suspicious disturbances. Why give it to a squad of genin and not a group of chunin or higher?” Kakashi questioned carefully, slightly suspicious of the timing and convenience.

“The Village is still hard pressed from the recent Invasion. Our Jonin and Chunin are still being carefully rotated outside the Village to stave off us seeming weakened by the attack, and the reports are concerning enough that we can't afford to ignore them should they indeed turn out to be another Village testing our borders for weaknesses. Besides, you agreed that your squad has the skills. Now is time to further develop them” Tsunade smirked before her expression quickly smoothed over to one far more serious, “You are to leave within the next few hours”.

“Understood” Kakashi replied affirmatively, disappearing in a flurry of smoke.

Tsunade turned to gaze at the near pitch black sky, her office shrouded in darkness in the absence of the sun brightening her surroundings. An uneasy sense of foreboding washing over her with the lengthening shadows.

Lounging in the shadows of the trees at the rendezvous point, Kakashi and Pakkun were silently waiting for the rest of Team 7 to report back, having previously been given their orders to scout ahead at different points of interest.

He ensured that each of them were accompanied by one of his ninken in order to aid them in covering more ground, identifying details they may miss with their lack of enhanced senses.

Naturally that also meant if things went sideways he was only a howl away.

But so far the mission had been going smoothly (almost too smoothly for them).

No enemy attacks. But also no sign of the strange bright light the town's inhabitants had seen.

Kakashu moved to adjust his scarf, not used to having the extra material there again.

Due to the sensitive nature of the mission they all had to alter their style of dress so that they wouldn’t have to needlessly waste their chakra on a Transformation jutsu.

While it had been quite a few years since he'd done any official undercover work, Kakashi had no issue confidently digging back through his wide array of different attires to find the most suitable clothes for the mission. Naturally he trusted that his students were logical enough to do the same.

He honestly should have known better.

Sublety had never been in Team Seven's vocabulary.

So when his students had shown up at the Gate dressed in their usual ninja attires Kakashi ensured that the term subtle and the meaning of undercover was firmly defined into his adorably naive students' heads.

Ultimately, Sasuke hadn’t really cared, but Naruto had some initial complaints when he realized that wearing anything orange was off the table. Sakura pouted a bit as well, right up until she found out that they all had to wear combat-reminescent style kimonos.

Kakashi himself was currently wearing a long sleeved gray kimono shirt (with green trimmings and obi) with his usual tight masked muscle shirt underneath it, a regular cloth headband to cover his left eye, a green scarf, and black pants.

Despite the casualness of the attire, he still had plated arm guards covering the full length of his arms, and kunai springs, his tanto, and Tracking Fang scroll hidden within secret pockets sewed into his upper sleeves.

Since none of them could wear their pouches or holsters they naturally had to get creative with sequestering away their weapons from view should an enemy indeed be behind the Villagers' reports. Though one only needed to know where to look within the Village, which contacts to poke, in order to find the clothing shops that secretly catered to those in the Anbu and Intelligence Division.

Ironically, their new unassuming appearences befitted the current nature of shinobi more than their usual stand out attire.

“Naruto and Uhei are close” Pakkun notified him, breaking Kakashi out of his own half distracted musings as he began sniffing the air.

True to his word, not a minute later Naruto and Uhei jumped down onto the branch next to him.

“Yo Kaka-sensei” Naruto said cheerfully.

“Find anything?” Kakashi inquired, straightening from his crouched position.

“Other then that the light was coming from the Rocky Hills, nothing” Naruto reported, sounding mildly bummed out by his lack of success as Uhei nodded affirmative next to him.

With a moment to themselves, Kakashi took a moment to once again appreciate the distinct lack of kill-me orange in Naruto’s reconnaissance attire.

Naruto's outfit consisted of a long sleeve blue kimono shirt with light blue trimmings and obi, a tight black turtle neck underneath it, and black pants.

If Kakashi didn’t know any better he would say that Naruto was just a regular middle-class civilian from either the Land of Lightning or Water.

Of course he also knew that despite his appearance Naruto was wearing plated arm guards and had his tanto and a kunai and shuriken spring sewed into holsters within his sleeves and sealing scrolls and brushes hidden in the secret pockets of his shirt.

“Once Sasuke and Sakura report in we’ll decide what to do and go from there” Kakashi informed the blonde.

“Well whatever they’re doing they better hurry up” Naruto grumbled, slightly irritated that the other two were late.

“A ninja must be patient Naruto. Shinobi have to be able to calmly assess a situation and be able to gather information from subtle clues and details without giving away their position and endangering the mission or the squad they are on. All those skills are crucial for those who want to become a Chunin” Kakshi lectured him, though his tone was more exasperated then pointed.

“Right…” Naruto replied sheepishly, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh. Naruto truly did have a shot at becoming a Chunin soon, he just needed to temper that Uzumaki impulsivity of his.

'Though that's like telling a bull not to charge' Kakashi thought wryly.

“Sasuke is close by” Naruto announced, looking over to his right.

Kakashi subtly glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He still hasn’t gotten used to the idea of Naruto being a sensor. Though the early signs were there.

After all, he was the only one to detect Zabuza’s presence before he substituted with the snow hare.

According to Jiriaya though the ability wasn’t Naruto's own. Apparently, Naruto’s powerful sensory abilities came from the Nine-Tailed Fox itself.

Naturally he had been skeptical of that at first (he still was truth be told). After all, Naruto’s father had been a powerful sensor, and Naruto could have just have easily inherited that trait from him (his poor-ass chakra control could've just kept it at bay).

However Jiriaya merely dismissed the idea. Citing that both Mito and Kushina were documented gaining the ability to sense negative emotions after they became jinchuriki (Though only negative emotion sensing. Which is why he still believed that Naruto was naturally a sensor).

Kakashi had almost argued that Naruto hadn’t shown any signs of such a trait, but held his tongue at the recollections of Naruto's initial reactions towards Zabuza and Gaara.

Jiriaya claimed that Naruto’s sensory abilities had likely been mostly dormant up until recently. His recent uses of the Nine-Tail’s chakra most likely bringing it out to full fruition.

Of course that was in addition to the Nine-Tails enhancing Naruto's already naturally enhanced healing factor that he had from being both of Senju and Uzumaki descent.

A fact that was easily hid in current times.

Unlike during the Warring States Era where all sensors were trained to detect a person’s heritage from their chakra, virtually no one had such skills anymore.

A bitter part of Kakashi sometimes wished that those skills hadn't fallen out of use.

Kakashi had spent many of nights lying awake wondering if it was even worth keeping Naruto’s heritage a secret when people from his own Village have attempted to go after him in a misbegotten attempt to take revenge on the "Demon" (Though no one has been so bold since Naruto was four).

Even so, anyone with half a brain should be able to realize who Naruto's parents were just from his appearance and last name alone. But of course people see only what they want to see, and that was the real tragedy.

If Naruto had the same supports his peers did at the Academy then maybe people would have realized just how much potential Naruto truly had from a young age.

Fortunately Naruto was as determined and hardworking as his father, and as stubborn as his mother. His rivalry with Sasuke definitely helped with furthering some of his development as well.

'Speaking of the Uchiha, he should be here any moment now if Naruto's senses are correct' Kakashi thought.

True to his prediction, Sasuke vaulted from the trees and landed on the ground opposite of Naruto.

“Did you or Shiba manage to find any leads?” Kakashi asked, the silent demand for a report clear.

“No, nothing. There was a scent, but it was too faint and it vanished as quickly as it was picked up” Sasuke answered, his tone carefully disinterested, though the slight twinge of disappointment at his failure was just evident in his voice.

“Can you make any kind of guess as to what it smelled like?” Kakashi inquired, turning his attention to his ninken.

“It was too fleeting to say for certain, but for a moment I thought I smelled snakes” Shiba reported, his tone grave.

Kakashi's gaze darkened, silently hopeing that this didn’t mean that Orochimaru was hanging around the town recuperating from his recent battles.

Sasuke just turned away, his hand ghosting across his left shoulder.

Clearly their thoughts coincided.

Sasuke's other hand soon went to fidget with his lack of a loose high collar.

Like Naruto, Sasuke was wearing a long sleeved royal purple kimono shirt with lavender trimmings and obi, and a tight black turtle neck underneath it with black pants. Sasuke had the same hidden gear as Naruto, with the exception that he also had his windmill shuriken sealed away in scrolls and shinobi wires hidden on his person as well.

Kakashi was frankly just relieved to see that Sasuke's personality was…stabilizing again.

When he had stopped him and Naruto’s death match on the roof of the hospital Kakashi knew that something was going to have to give.

With the curse mark further corrupting Sasuke’s mind, Kakashi could almost see the mental degradation taking place.

As a last ditch attempt to reach for whatever sliver of sanity Sasuke was still grasping onto, he did something he never had never done before.

Kakashi talked.

He told Sasuke of all the loved ones that had died around him.

For him.

Because of him.

Of everyone he had failed.

His Clan was gone. He didn't remember his Inuzuka mother. His father committed suicide.

His blood family was gone, and his first chosen family ended up much of the same.

His Team 7 ended in blood. Obito sacrificed his life for him and Rin. Rin sacrificed her life, dying by his own hand for the sake of the Village. And his Sensei and his Sensei's wife died sacrificing their lives for the Village during the Nine-Tails' Attack on the Village.

The final nail in the coffin was when his Anbu unit imploded right under his nose.

One of his first mentees committed suicide. And his youngest massacred an entire Clan.

He had felt cursed. Cursed to live while all those he dared to care for died around him.

Kakashi told Sasuke of all the years he never truly recovered.

And then reminded him how they now both had people in their lives that are making all that darkness fade away.

It had definitely given the young Uchiha something to consider.

Of course, Sasuke's resolve only solidified after...

“Finally!” Naruto shouted in exasperation.

“Hmph, you Dope. Do you want to give away our position?” Sasuke berated with a snide scoff.

“What’d you say Bastard?!” Naruto roared back, curling his fist at the ravenette below him, hopping down from the branch to get into Sasuke's face.

Before Kakashi could even halt the duo, a pair of fists came out and knocked the both of them clear over their heads.

“How about you both can it?!” Sakura seethed.

“Sorry” they both groaned in unison.

Kakashi couldn’t help but marvel at how far Sakura has come since she’s graduated from the Academy.

Even with Naruto’s rapid growth thanks to finally having some proper instruction was nothing compared to just how much Sakura had changed. Going from the Sasuke-Fangirl who fainted at his low-level genjutsu to a maturing young kunoichi who is now specializing as a medic under Tsunade and (in an ironic twist) genjutsu herself was quite a change.

Kakashi vividly remembered the day when their Team dynamics completely changed.

Flashback

“Alright, now that all of Team 7 has recovered I’m going to be giving you a series of missions that need to be completed” Tsunade declared.

“Alright! We’re ready dattebayo!” Naruto loudly proclaimed, just barely keeping himself from seating back and forth in his excitement.

“Good. Your first mission will be –”

“Tsunade” a man declared, cutting the Hokage off in an arrogant commanding tone that demanded attention, walking himself right into the Hokage’s office without a care in the world that he was interrupting a mission briefing.

“Danzo. Is there an urgent matter I can help you with?” Tsunade inquired professionally, though the look of displeasure at the man’s presence was evident in the grit of her teeth.

Sakura’s eyes flashed in recognition of the name.

Similarly, Sasuke’s eyes darkened in anger at the man, who promptly ignored him as if he were a pesky fly.

“Naruto is not to be deployed on any missions from this point forward” Danzo stated firmly, confident that he had any authority to be telling the Hokage herself what to do.

“What!? Says who?!” Naruto demanded angrily, glaring pointedly at the damn Mummy

Sasuke’s own anger quickly turned to confusion at the Elder's words, and Sakura's mouth fell open in dumbfounded shock at the older man's sheer audacity.

“And what makes you think that you have the right to decide that?” Tsunade said challengingly, folding her hands in front of her face.

“Homura and Koharu both agree as well. It's too much of a risk to have Naruto away from the Village at this time” Danzo stated, as if the answer should have been obvious for anyone even with a single braincell.

“You don’t have any right to tell me what to do you damn Mummy!” Naruto roared at the Elder, boldly shaking his fist at the war hawk.

Danzo merely gave the boy a piercing glare, causing Naruto to stumble back slightly at the killing intent directed at him.

“You should have been taught your place long ago child. You are not a person. You are nothing more than a weapon to be used as a tool to protect this Village. Sarutobi may have let you run wild, but those days are over with” Danzo said coldly, remaining unflinching at the frigid glares from Hatake and Princess Tsunade.

Sasuke and Sakura suddenly received an eerie flashback to their mission with Zabuza and Haku. A twisted parallel to Danzo's on words.

“I am not a weapon!” Naruto said with all the hate, sadness, and pain he had felt over the years accumulated into a single frustrated stubborn cry, shocking his teammates with the rawness in his voice and the burning determination in his eyes.

“You are a shinobi. And shinobi are tools to be used in order to achieve the Village’s goals. Nothing more, nothing less” Danzo countered right back, his hand settling suspiciously on his cane.

Naruto just clenched his teeth in anger, his fists shaking in his fury.

“Then it’s a good thing that none of you get to make that choice. Naruto will be going on missions. As you have said he is a shinobi of this Village. Missions are a part of his job and my decision is final” Tsunade stated firmly, her tone unwavering. The ‘please escort yourself out now’ heavily implied along with the warning threat seething in Tsunade's eyes.

“Very well, Princess Tsunade” Danzo said, seeing that he'd lost for now he turned around and exited the room with his cane echoing errily through the halls.

End Flashback

The incident had sparked both Sasuke and Sakura’s interest (though for different reasons).

When Naruto had gone off to talk to Shikamaru (who had already figured out what Naruto was, and who his parents were during the one month respite break before the Final stage of the Chunin Exams), Kakashi decided that it was high-time to finally enlighten the boy's teammates as to all the struggles the blonde had gone through in his life. From the loneliness and isolation, to the assassination attempts, abuse, and ostracization by the Villagers.

Holding nothing back Kakashi even told them of the mistreatment by the Orphanage and the unfairness of the Academy teachers until Iruka was assigned to their class when they were ten.

When the two of them finally learned why Naruto experienced such hardships and loneliness, neither of them said anything for a good few minutes. Both of them stewing in the knowledge of their teammate's undeserved burden.

Sasuke was the one to finally break the silence and demanded confirmation as to whether or not that was why Itachi had been after Naruto, and why Danzo wanted to cage him.

Kakashi been reluctant to say yes, but ultimately he was glad he did. It made Sasuke see that he wasn’t the only one dealing with the unjustness of the Elder Council.

Naturally, Sasuke had been a loss for words when Sakura (his "normal" teammate) revealed that her cousin had been stolen by Danzo, and demanded to know whether or not Danzo was planning on abducting Naruto into ROOT too.

Of course after learning that Danzo abducted orphans Sasuke had immediately gone after Naruto and confronted him about everything. Demanding to know why he was so loyal to a Village that had wronged him so much (Why he should be loyal to a Village that wronged him so much).

Naruto merely said that he was going to prove everyone wrong. That he wasn't a monster. That he was going to forge his own path and protect those precious to him, and the Village too because he was going to be Hokage.

The new revelations definitely made Sasuke start to question everything about himself and his own motivations.

Kakashi didn't think Sasuke was one-hundred percent free of his hatred and obsession with revenge, but Kakashi was no longer afraid that the ravenette was going to sneak away in the middle of the night to find Orochimaru.

As for Sakura, the whole event had her completely re-evaluating her relationship with both her teammates.

She’s no longer as critical to Naruto as she once was, and while she still has a crush on Sasuke, she isn’t afraid to hit him as well when both he and Naruto are putting the mission at risk...or are just being plain stupid.

Needless to say Kakashi wished he had his camera the first time she ever knocked Sasuke over the head. The Jonin didn’t think he'd ever seen Sasuke so shocked before. And at this point the boy now has a healthy respect for his teammate’s temper (and fist).

'Speaking of fists' Kakashi thought, as he glanced over at Sakura as she lectured both the boys about the definition of the word stealth.

Her recon attire was different from theirs. Sakura was wearing a long sleeved red kimono dress with light pink trimmings and obi that went down to her mid-thigh, and had short black shorts hidden underneath it. Like the boys however, she had plated arm-guards hidden under her sleeves, though she only had a few storage scrolls and her tanto contained in her one sleeve, while she had a poisoned senbon launcher hidden in the other (curtesy of Shizune).

To complete the look she had her short hair tied in two small braids. To say she looked entirely non-threatening was an understatement.

“Alright, that’s enough. I think you’ve made your point Sakura” Kakashi halt, getting everyone's attention. Sakura blushed a bit from embarrassment at the slight reprimand.

“Sorry sensei” she muttered, shuffling next to the boys in single file.

“Now, more importantly, did you find anything of interest?” Kakashi asked, bringing them back on topic as he gazed between her and Bisuke.

“Actually, one of the town kids had gone to the Rocky Hills on a dare and said that he saw a weird diagram surrounded by symbols” Sakura reported, with Bisuke nodding in confirmation.

“Then that settles it. We investigate the Rocky Hills and report what we find to Tsunade” Kakashi ordered. And with that, the three of them nodded in deference.

“Thank you for all the hard work” Kakashi exclaimed, dismissing his ninken, grateful for their assistance and releasing them to return back home.

“Alright! So what’re we waiting for? Let’s go find this diagram!” Naruto said enthusiastically.

“Naruto, remember our conversation a few minutes ago?” Kakashi inquired, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

Naruto’s sheepish expression returned with a vengeance.

“I mean, let’s go investigate carefully” Naruto emphasized almost comically.

Kakashi sighed as he shook his head at the blonde's antics.

“Well, none-the-less, it’s time to get moving” Kakashi ordered.

And with a flurry of movement, the four Shinobi were gone without a trace.

Kakashi couldn’t help but glare uneasily at the large fuinjutsu diagram imprinted on the ground beneath them.

The entire seal spanned the whole width of the earth where the four hills intersected. The entire thing had to measure about five hundred feet in each direction.

Not only that…But the intricateness of the symbols were almost...artistic in their detail.

In fact, some of the seal’s design vaguely reminded Kakashi of some of the symbols used in space-time ninjutsu.

Whatever it was, he didn’t want any of his squad getting any closer to it than they already were.

Kakashi had already summoned Pakkun and sent him ahead to inform Lady Tsunade about what they found.

There was something about this diagram though that made him tense...Like a vague memory or something that was nagging at the edges of his mind.

Before Kakashi could even start parsing out what was bothering him, a powerful blast of wind barreled into the four of them, knocking them all off their branches and right into the center of the diagram.

Kakashi immediately crouched low, moving to grab his students and bolt to safety...But before he could even move to do so the diagram began to glow.

Suddenly, Kakashi felt a yanking sensation. like something had hooked itself onto his naval and was pulling him into an unavoidable void.

With the last of his strength, Kakashi quickly grabbed onto Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura and held on for dear life as they were sucked away to who knows where.

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

Pain was the only thing echoing through his mind as Naruto clung onto what he thought was his Sensei's arm.

Every cell in his body felt like it was being torn apart at the seams as he was yanked through what felt like a tiny ass pin hole. The agonizing yanking sensation insistent and demanding that he follow it no matter what, keeping it's hooks dug into him mercilessly no matter how much he begged for it to let go.

Wherever the hell the stupid jutsu was taking them, Naruto was certain the transportation there was going to end up killing them first.

Between his silent pleads Naruto could picture it, some poor random person taking a nice leisurely stroll only to find their mangled bodies strewn apart the woods in more pieces that a one-thousand piece jigsaw puzzle.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, all of the swirling psychedelic colors and tearing sensation seemed to compress together and come to a screeching halt, causing Naruto's mind to white-out from the vertigo of the unexpected crash stop.

Slowly coming to awareness, Naruto felt the light kiss of wind brushing against his skin.

His head pounding a painful stuccato and his stomach nauseous beyond anything he'd ever felt before, Naruto focused on his senses. The gentle breeze on his skin, ruffling his clothes. The smell of recently displaced grass and dirt. The rustle of leaves and occasional chittering of curious animals keeping their distance. And the light tickle of grass on his face, poking at his ears.

No longer in danger of vomiting up his guts, Naruto dared to open his eyes.

“Blue?” Naruto mumbled hazily.

It took Naruto a few more moments to realize that he was staring at the sky.

The sudden realization hit him harder than a brick upside the head.

“I’m alive!” Naruto cheered in gleeful awe, jolting upwards to do a quick body check, and amazingly enough nothing was cut off, missing, or flat.

After assessing himself, Naruto quickly took in his surroundings, his vision immediately zeroing in on where the rest of squad was still strewn about unconscious in the field around him.

“Hey! Kakashi-sensei! Wake up!” Naruto exclaimed, forcing himself to stand and steady himself before going over to try shaking his Sensei awake.

Nothing.

Not even so much as a twitch.

And it was the same for both Sakura and Sasuke.

“Well I always did recover faster than normal people” Naruto muttered to himself grimly, a chill running up his back at the sudden realization that he was the only one awake and by default the one in charge.

Swallowing hard, Naruto took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

“The real question now is, where exactly are we?” Naruto contemplated warily to himself, his eyes now cautiously and far more meticulously scanning over their current surroundings.

The scenery itself looked similar to the Rocky Hills. Even the diagram that had transferred them was still imprinted on the ground beneath them in all its ominous threatening glory.

But...there was just something...different. The clearing was less than a clearing, with more trees whose roots were dangerously close to disrupting the formation of the outer edges of the seal. And the trees looked...smaller? Not as full grown? Otherwise the scents and sounds were similar enough to the Rock Hills and the rock formations behind him spoke true to that as well.

Even so, there was too much that wasn't quite adding up for Naruto's comfort to just leave it alone. A ninja needed to know their surroundings in case of an ambush. The potential safety of his squad counted on him ensuring that they were safe from attack, which meant that somehow he needed to figure out how to scout out wherever the hell they were.

"Even so, I can’t just leave in case an enemy does come along" Naruto thought aloud to himself, crossing his arms over his chest at the dilemma.

'If only it wasn't just me who was awake' Naruto pondered, 'Things would be a lot easier if there was two of us-'

Naruto smacked his forehead is realization, "Duh! Why didn't I think of it before!"

With a triumphant smirk, Naruto made a cross with his fingers, “It’s a good thing that I’m a one man army. Shadow Clone jutsu!”

Almost immediately after focusing his chakra, a single Clone appeared in a poof of white smoke.

“Alright, your job is to find out where we are and if there are any potential enemies nearby” Naruto ordered his copy, his hands on his hips as he tried to maintain a firm authority and make it seem like he knew what the hell he was doing.

“Roger that Boss!” the Naruto Clone exclaimed, saluting the original before immediately taking off into the woods with a silent whoosh.

“Guess now all I can do is keep a look out and wait” Naruto mumbled, exhaling an exhausted breath as he began the task of moving his teammates out of the center of the troublesome diagram.

As far as the Clone could tell, the area seemed to be very reminiscent of the territory around the Kohaku Village along the Land of Fire's borders. Granted there was more vegetation and other subtle environmental differences, but it was still recognizable as the woods surroundings the Leaf Village protectorate for those familiar enough with the area.

As such, he immediately started heading in the direction the Village was supposed to be in if his estimates of his location by the semi-familiar scenery was in fact correct.

As he started getting closer to the main town the Clone sensed two distinct chakra signatures.

Biting his lip, the Clone weighed the pros and cons of investigating the fight versus going right to the supposed town.

On the one hand, the Kohaku Borders were still a bit further up ahead and from what Boss and his Team had gathered the Kohaku Branch of Leaf Shinobi don't patrol out this far. And the Boss and Kakashi-Sensei's ninken hadn't sensed anyone with chakra out this far out either before they had gotten knocked out, which meant that it could be a good potential lead for the perpetrator behind the seal.

At the same time it could just be that two random enemy Shinobi that happened to cross paths. If so, he didn't want to draw attention to himself either and potentially expose the Boss's existence and put the others in danger as well just for the sake of his curiosity.

'Potential dangers or not, a potential lead is a potential lead. Besides I’m just a Clone so it’s not like whoever it is can actually kill me...And the Boss's location is far enough away from here that if I do get poofed away he'll still have time to grab his Squad and hide elsewhere, so I might as well take the chance and see what’s going on' the Clone decided, picking up his pace as he silently darted through the trees in the direction he had sensed the chakra coming from.

As the Clone got closer to the owners of the chakra signatures he began slowing the pace of his tree hopping to quieter leaps so that he wouldn’t tip off his location to the enemy.

The moment the clanging of metal made its way to his ears he immediately slid into some of the lower covered branches for a good vantage point to both hear any conversations that were going on and remain out of sight.

As the Clone peered out of the leaves he reeled back in shock.

A kid that couldn’t have been more than seven years old was fighting some grown ass man in his twenties!

The kid was wearing some kind of old time samurai-esque green armour with a cloth headband wrapped around his head with some kind of dual-pitchfork looking symbol on it that from here vaguely looked like the symbol of the Senju clan. Something the Clone immediately dismissed and figured Sakura or Kakashi-sensei would be able to tell the Boss what country or Village the symbol was actually from once he got a better look at it.

The older man though was far more distinct. While he too had samurai-esque armour, his was more grey-blue and he had a vest that looked vaguely reminscent to the vests he recalled that the ninja from the Land of Lightning wore during the Chunin Exams (though his was grey-blue like the rest of his armour instead of white). What was more out of place though was the lighter shade of blonde atop the man's head not dissimilar to his own, though perhaps closer to the dirty blonde end of the spectrum, and the greyish brown horned wig covering most of it over. However, where the Clone expected to maybe see clouds on the grey cloth of the man's headband he only found yet another symbol he didn't recognize.

Still frozen in disbelief as he took in the situation below him, the Clone watched as the douchebag older man used his far more developed strength to press down with his sword and knock the kid’s own sword out of his hands, slicing the kid's shoulder in the process. As the kid screamed out in pain the older man dismissively kicked him into a tree with a smug huff of a laugh.

“The Senju are getting soft with Hashirama in charge. I remember killing adults when I was your age” the older man mocked, a sadistic smile on his face as he gaze down at his wounded prey before him, shifting his sword to rest on his shoulder.

'Senju? Hashirama?' the Clone thought in surprise, 'What kind of bullshit name-drop is that?'

The Boss's knowledge of history was sparse at best, which meant that his was too, but even he knew for a fact the First Hokage was deader than dead.

“If you’re going to kill me than kill me! I’m not afraid of you!” the kid bravely shouted out, refusing to look away from his likely killer despite the obvious trembles of fear leaking into his voice.

“Have it your way brat. I’m sure this will make a good 'hello' from the Hagoromo clan to your o’ so noble leader” the older man said with a shrug, giving the kid a vicious bloodthirsty smirk all the while.

'Dont't get involved. Don't get involved' the Clone silently chanted to himself as a pleading mantra, 'This is an issue between outside Shinobi Villages and would only place the Boss at risk if I revealed myself'

But even telling himself as much over and over again...Seeing the excitement on the bastard's face...No. Feeling the overwhelming sadistic joy radiating off of the smug son of a bitch as he raised his sword to chop off the kid’s head was far more than the Clone could handle.

"Time for you to walk into the Light, brat" the man proclaimed, his eyes alight with adrenaline as he flashed his teeth in a mockery of a smile as he saluted the kid off to the afterlife.

'AS IF!' the Clone mentally roared, his fury propelling him forward as the man's sword descended upon the child.

Nowaki mentally cursed himself for his own stupidity and rashness.

All he had wanted to do was to prove that he too could do simple missions like all the other older kids. Now he was going to die and Lord Hashirama was going to place the blame on himself like always.

As the Hagoromo Vanguard swiped downward with his sword, Nowaki closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable pain to come.

But instead of feeling metal as it buried and sliced its way through his flesh, Nowaki heard the distinct clanging of metal on metal.

Nowaki immediately opened his eyes in shock to see a that boy, maybe twelve or thirteen with spiky blonde hair lighter than the Hagoromo's own, had parried the Vanguard’s sword with his own tanto.

'Another Hagoromo? But why would he protect me?' Nowaki wondered in disbelief, his breathing still uneven from his anxiety over his potential death, though taking a quick glance at the older Vanguard even he could see the clear shock in the man's gaze as he looked down upon the younger blonde.

“Pick on somebody your own size you pathetic coward!” the boy yelled out at the Hagoromo, startling the Vanguard enough that he was actually able to start making ground on pushing back against the older man with his blade.

With a grunt the Hagoromo decided to jump back away from the unexpected new variable and assess the situation more carefully, though Nowaki could still see the confusion plastered on his face even as he narrowed his eyes at the younger blonde Shinobi acting as his bodyguard.

"You look like you're from one of the Clans up north or even the Mists, and yet you feel like another Senju brat" the Hagoromo said suspiciously, his eyes narrowed as he cautiously analyzed the newest Shinobi in front of him, "You're definitely more skilled than the brat behind you, that's for sure"

Nowaki's eyes widened in shock as he turned his gaze upon the newcomer's back. Another Senju? Nowaki sure as hell has never seen the blonde in front of him around the Base before. And he's certainly never heard of anyone in their Clan having blonde hair...Though to be fair they did have a lot of clansmen...Maybe he was like Lord Hashirama and Lord Tobirama and had a mother or parent that wasn't a Senju?

Cautiously reaching out with his Sensing technique, Nowaki slowly brushed upon the older boy's chakra to analyze it for himself.

Sure enough, just as the Hagoromo had stated, Nowaki immediately recognized the tell-tale feel of the Senju Clan in the other boy's chakra. In fact, the younger blonde's chakra was the brightest and warmest he had ever felt aside from Lord Hashirama’s own chakra.

'He’s definitely a Senju' Nowaki thought, breathing out a sigh of relief as a grimace of a smile made its way onto his lips as he tried to situate himself against the tree better despite the radiating pain in his shoulder, 'He probably saw me leave the Base and went to go look for me'.

"What's it to you how I look or how my chakra feels?" the blonde boy exclaimed with a determined ferosity, "Neither of those things have anything to do with why I'm gonna kick your ass into next week!"

“Humph. Don’t get cocky kid. You may have thrown me off at first but that clever little trick won't distract me again. No matter where you got those blonde spikes you're still a Senju and me a Hagoromo. And another Senju brat isn’t going to make a difference against me” the Hagoromo berated with a haughty scoff, shifting back into a more offensive stance, his sword posied in the older kid's direction.

“Oh yeah? Well I’m going to show you why you shouldn’t pick on kids” the blonde Senju countered back, making some kind of cross hand sign with his fingers.

“Shadow Clone jutsu!” the blonde Senju shouted, his eyes narrowed with fierce protective intent.

'No way! That’s Lord Tobirama’s jutsu! How does he know it?!' Nowaki mentally floundered in excited awe, his eyes practically sparkling in amazement as he watched as several copies of the blonde Senju emerged from poofs of white smoke.

Immediately after appearing the Clones rushed at the noticeably less overconfident Hagoromo, each brandishing their own tanto at the scowling older man.

Nowaki watched in amazement as the blonde Senju and his Clones started pressuring the Hagoromo with their taijutsu. The blonde Senju was clearly faster than the Hagoromo had anticipated, though Nowaki had never seen the style of taijutsu the blonde was using. Was it some new form he was creating? Or did it belong to his non-Senju parent's Clan?

The Hagoromo managed to disperse one of the Clones just as another one parried his sword, the other two Clones jumping away from the two of them, all three giving him a mischievous smirk and immediately made the Vanguard feel uneasy.

“Boom” the blonde now in front of Nowaki victoriously exclaimed before immediately turning around and jumping in front of him, shielding Nowaki's injured form with his own body.

Just before the blond was atop him, Nowaki watched as one of the Clones blew up right in the Hagoromo's face.

Just as the blast from the explosion reached them, Nowaki pushed his face into the blonde’s shirt to keep the incoming dust and debris out of his eyes.

When the explosion and dirt cloud had settled, both he and the blonde Senju turned to see the Hagoromo now lying bloodied and beaten in a small crater in the ground.

'He actually beat the Hagoromo!' Nowaki thought in complete awe, unable to keep his wonder and relief from turning into a giddy smile at the fact they were both still somehow alive.

“You were amazing!” Nowaki proclaimed, using his one good arm to grab onto the blonde Senju and give him the biggest hug he could manage at the moment.

Though when the blonde Senju only stiffened in his embrace, Nowaki looked up to find himself being stared at with confused eyes looking at him in awe as if he'd been the one to kill the Hagoromo.

“I uh, well, it uh, was nothing really. I mean you needed help so I helped you” the blonde Senju muttered, clearly embarrassed if the red spots on his cheeks were any indication, his stiff form loosening as he awkwardly patted Nowaki's back.

Nowaki merely shook his head at him.

“You saved my life! Thank you….Uh, what is your name anyway? I don’t remember seeing you around before” Nowaki asked sheepishly, silently hoping that they could hang around each other more going forward once they got back home.

“Oh, right. Naruto. My name’s Naruto” the blonde Senju exclaimed, giving Nowaki a bright smile.

“Thanks Naruto-niichan!” Nowaki happily proclaimed, giving Naruto a bright smile of his own which only seemed to shock the older boy again.

His scrunched up face almost reminded him of Kobaki.

Nowaki paled at the sudden realization that Kobaki more then likely had noticed his absence by now and was likely beyond worried sick.

“Come on! We’ve got to get back home before we get into more trouble than we already are” Nowaki exclaimed, panic edging its way back into his voice as he frantically started pulling on Naruto’s hand.

“What? What do you mean go home? I can’t leave with you” Naruto said to him, sounding completely and utterly confused.

Nowaki halted immediately.

“Why not?” he asked him, now confused himself.

“It’s uh, it’s complicated kid…uh what’s your name anyway?” Naruto asked him.

“Nowaki” he told him, feeling slightly silly that he'd forgotten to give Naruto his own name.

“Okay, Nowaki, I’m on a mission right now so I can’t go home with you okay?” Naruto replied, his expression firm as he gestures his thumb at himself, his other hand resting on his hip.

'Huh. That makes more sense. If he’s on a job than of course he can’t just return home yet. I guess I should have figured that someone strong like him would already be running missions for the Clan' Nowaki reasoned.

“I understand Naruto-niichan” Nowaki answered, a determined seriousness making its way into his expression, one that made Naruto smile.

“Great! You need to go home now though. Who knows who else is out here” Naruto said seriously, shaking his finger at Nowaki.

Nowaki looked ashamedly down at his feet at the reminder of his mistakes and failure.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble” he mumbled miserably, tears stinging his eyes, upset that he had caused so many inconveniences and nearly gotten himself killed and could have gotten Naruto-niichan hurt just because he wanted to prove himself.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Naruto asked, sounding dumbfounded for all his worth at the sudden change in atmosphere.

“If I had been stronger you wouldn’t have had to save me...I wouldn't have screwed up” Nowaki muttered, still unable to look at anything other then his feet, waiting as taut as a bow string for the lecture and reprimand that was no doubt about to come.

Instead, Nowaki suddenly felt a strong comforting hand rest atop his head.

He looked up through bleary eyes to see Naruto resting his hand on his head.

“Hey. I wish I had been as strong as you when I was your age. Back then my jutsu and combat skills stunk” he said with a chuckle, his eyes soft and assuring.

Nowaki's mouth fell open as he looked at the blonde in disbelief.

“I’m serious! You probably would have laughed at me I was so bad. The point is I got stronger as I got older because I worked hard and I learned from others. You don’t need to rush out onto the battlefield to prove that you’re strong. You just need to be there for the people you care about dattebayo!” Naruto proclaimed, a confident smile gracing his lips as he rubbed lightly at Nowaki's hair.

Nowaki felt the tears stinging his eyes threatening to fall at the blonde's words.

“Hey are you okay?” Naruto asked, worried that he'd somehow said the wrong thing and hurt the kid's feelings.

“Yeah I’m fine” Nowaki exclaimed, immediately wiping the tears away and giving the blonde a look of fiery determination, “Just you wait. When you get back home I’ll be a thousand times stronger than I was today!”

“I’ll hold you to that” Naruto said smiling, “Now get going before someone else shows up”.

“You got it Naruto-niichan!” Nowaki replied, taking off into the trees as quickly as he could with his bad shoulder, wincing as each leap sent a stabbing jolt throughout his body.

Kobaki was definitely going to give him an earful when he got back. But truthfully Nowaki could care less.

He was going to start training as soon as possible so that he could be as strong as Naruto-niichan!

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

“Ugh”

Naruto's head immediately snapped to the right at the sudden sound, looking over to see that Kakashi-sensei's eyes were warily cracked open, indicating that he was finally awake.

“Sensei!” Naruto exclaimed, not even attempting to hide the immense relief in his voice as he quickly shuffled over to him, supporting his back lightly as he sat up.

For just a moment Naruto could see the confusion and haziness in his Sensei's eyes as he tried to make sense of his surroundings, looking more dazed then Naruto had ever seen him, but as quickly as it came it disappeared as his Sensei's sharp mind quickly took everything in and assessed the current situation.

“Where are we?” Kakashi asked, his tone heavy and serious even as he gave Naruto a quick onceover for any injuries. He couldn't afford to waste precious time on gentle assurances. Not until he knew they were all safe.

“I’m not sure. I have a Clone out scouting right now. But from what I can see it looks like a less developed version of the Rocky Hills” Naruto immediately reported.

Kakashi nodded affirmatively as he took stock of the vegetation around them, confirmating Naruto's own observations for himself before his gaze switched over to the diagram inked within the flowing green grass.

“I moved us out of the diagram just in-case it activated again” Naruto replied, answering what he was sure was an unasked question as Kakashi-sensei carefully stood up and proceeded to check his motor function and balance.

"How long ago did you send out your Clone?" Kakashi inquired, checking over both Sasuke and Sakura's vitals to determine how much longer until they potentially awoke as well.

Judging from Sasuke's breathing pattern and muscle twitches he would awaken within a few minutes. Sakura on the other hand didn't have as much chakra as the rest of them, despite continually working on the deficit with both him and Tsunade, and as such, unless she was aided by an outside force she would likely remain unconscious for a bit longer than the rest of them. Though not terribly so.

Unfortunately they were not in a safe enough position to allow for any much needed rest.

"Not too long ago. Half an hour maybe" Naruto replied, watching in fascination as Kakashi-sensei's hand started glowing a light teal.

"I didn't know you knew medical ninjutsu Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed in awe, watching as Sakura slowly began to twitch.

"I know enough to help slow bleeding or restore consciousness in emergencies. Most of my medical knowledge is for ending lives, not saving it" Kakashi explained, his tone almost comically bland as he gave his blonde student a teasing eye-smile in response to Naruto's wary sweat drop at the reminder his Sensei used to be an Anbu.

“Argh, what happened?”

The two immediately shifted their gazes to see that Sasuke was attempting to sit himself up, swaying slightly in mild disorientation.

“Besides being shoved into a jutsu version of a blender we’re not sure yet” Naruto remarked, grabbing the ravenette's attention and giving him something to focus on rather than his swirling stomach.

“Hn. I figured that much out myself Dobe” Sasuke replied back, grunting in annoyance at the nausea forcing him to remain seated.

“Then don’t ask stupid questions Bastard!” Naruto immediately snapped back, shaking a fist at his rival.

“Both of you shut it before I knock you both out again” Sakura threatened, grunting as she sat up, fiercely rubbing her at her temples and willing her pounding headache to disappear.

“Sorry Sakura” Naruto replied guiltily.

Sasuke just grunted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he forced himself to stand, scowling when his traitorous legs had the audacity to wobble.

“Naruto, dispel your Clone. I’ll take over the scouting from here” Kakashi commanded as he aided Sakura in standing up.

“Oh okay, sure” Naruto replied with a blink, focusing on his jutsu.

The moment his Clone dispelled, Naruto felt an instantaneous rush of memories smoothly merge with his own experiences.

Flashes of a battle played out behind his eyes like one of those Princess Gale movies they saw in that theater place a little while ago. The oddness of the entire encounter causing Naruto to frown. He reviewed the details of the memories again, certain they had to be wrong.

“Naruto?”

Snapping out of his daze, Naruto turned to face a very on edge Kakashi-sensei.

“I’m sorry what?” Naruto inquired, blinking in confusion. Had his Sensei asked him a question?

“Is everything okay? Did your Clone find something?” Kakashi asked, his tone once again serious as he zeroed in on the blonde for his report.

“Actually...Something did happen. It was weird though” Naruto informed him, his chin between his fingers as he tried parsing out just what he'd learned.

“Report everything” Kakashi commanded, narrowing his eyes at Naruto, the hairs on his neck bristling as he allowed all his senses to become fully alert.

Naruto nodded, not quite snapping to attention, but close enough, “So my Clone sensed two chakra signatures and decided to go check it out. It turns out that some guy was attacking a little kid. The guy was going to kill the kid so my Clone stepped in and beat him”.

“Okay? But how is any of that weird? It just sounds like that guy was being a big asshole” Sakura inquired, raising her eyebrow in curiosity.

“What was weird was that they were both wearing this kind of old time samurai armor. The older guy said that he was from the Hagoromo clan, and that killing the Senju kid would be a good message to send to Hashirama” Naruto reported, his own nose scrunched in disbelief even as he spoke them.

“Pfft. You’ve got to be kidding me. I know that you had the worst test scores in the class, but even you should know that the Senju clan is almost non-existent anymore and that the First Hokage is dead” Sasuke scoffed, rolling his eyes at his block-headed teammate.

“I’m not stupid! I know that already, but that’s what that guy said!” Naruto shouted back defensively, his teeth turning into comical points.

“Then you heard wrong” Sasuke insisted, meeting Naruto's glare head on.

“Enough!” Kakashi ordered, raising his voice just enough to get his point across.

The trio immediately turned toward him hearing the severity in his tone.

“Take me to the battle site now” Kakashi demanded, his lone eye containing an unreadable expression.

Naruto immediately took the lead as the four of them took to the trees, recalling from memory the path his Clone had taken.

When they finally arrived at the battle site, Kakashi immediately made his way over to examine the body of the man Naruto had fought. A scary-odd looking expression making its way onto his face as he sifted through the samurai-shinobi's belongings and tugged at their clothes, pausing momentarily at the symbol on the headband and pauldren before using his fingers to rub at what was left of the man's wig, as if to test if it was real or not.

A sense of growing unease curled in Naruto's stomach as the minutes ticked by, and looking at Sasuke and Sakura they didn’t seem too comfortable either with the expression Kakashi-sensei was making.

“Well?” Sakura asked anxiously, breaking the thick uncomfortable silence.

Kakashi stood up, his expression no less grave, setting the trio even further on edge.

“Naruto is correct. The symbol on the Shinobi's clothes and armor is the mark of the Hagoromo clan of the Village Hidden in the Clouds” Kakashi confirmed, his expression dark as he glared at the Shinobi as if he had personally wronged him.

“What’s so special about the Hagoromo clan?” Naruto asked, curious why Kakashi-sensei was all but drowning in negative emotions at the moment.

Did Kakashi-sensei know this guy somehow?

“The Hagoromo clan used to be allies of the Uchiha clan during the Warring States Era. When the Uchiha clan founded the Leaf Village with the Senju clan the Hagoromo didn’t want anything to do with it. Instead they joined the Cloud Village. You may know two of their more famous members, the Gold and Silver Brothers” Kakashi lectured, though his voice was as distant as his gaze.

“The Gold and Silver Brothers?! Aren’t they the ones who killed the Second Hokage!?” Sakura exclaimed, paling slightly in shock as she not so subtly scanned her surroundings for any other potentially dangerous high level enemies that could be popping out of the trees.

Did this mean their mission was going to end up like their missions to the Land of Waves and Snow?!

“What?!” Naruto loudly exclaimed in startled disbelief, "No way! The Second Hokage was actually killed by two of these guys?! Are they really that strong?!"

“It took them and eighteen other skilled jonin to bring him down” Kakashi stated, a hint of pride in his voice as he shifted his gaze in the direction of the forest behind them.

"Whoa! That’s so badass! Stuff like that makes me actually want to read one of those boring textbooks!" Naruto shamelessly proclaimed, causing his teammates to sweatdrop in exasperation.

“Naruto...You’re sure that the child was a Senju?” Kakashi asked, his words slow and careful, almost wary.

“Yeah. That’s what the guy said. He even called me a Senju when my Clone showed up to save the kid. Though my hair really threw him for a loop at first” Naruto confirmed, tugging at a few of his locks in thought.

That part still bothered him a bit. He was still only just coming to terms with the fact his father had apparently been a Senju, and his mother an Uzumaki. Hell, Naruto was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that there was an actual Uzumaki clan.

He still wasn’t allowed to know who his parents were, but after Mizuki had tried to assassinate him, Gramps allowed him to at least know of his heritage.

The problem was that he had always been called a Loser. The talentless Dead-Last at the Academy.

How someone like him could be descended from the prestigious and talented Senju clan he didn't understand.

It made him both want to simultaneously work that much harder to be deserving of the fact he was a part of the same Clan as the First, Second, and Fifth Hokage...Just as much as he wanted to ignore that part of his heritage for much of the same.

Hell, this was the first time since Gramps told him of his heritage that anyone has even acknowledged his relation to the Clan! And that made things even weirder.

“Hmm” Kakashi murmured contemplatively, though he didn't seemed to be entirely focused on the words themselves, but rather what they seemed to imply. Implications that Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura couldn't for the life of them get a clear grasp on despite the level of concern it seemed to be bringing their Sensei.

'Damnit I really wish we knew what was going on in his head!' Sakura thought in mild frustration.

It was always so difficult to have to try and figure out half the stuff Kakashi-sensei always kept to himself when he was drawing his conclusions from his observations.

“I’m going to continue on to see if Kohaku Village really is still nearby. I have a hunch about what may be going on...But I need to see the Village first just to be sure” Kakashi announced before shifting gaze to the trio, the tone of his next words making it clear that there was no room for debate, “I want you three to go back to where the diagram is and wait for me there”

“Yes sir!”

Kakashi watched as his precious students blurred out of sight, his fists clenching as he glared in the direction of the destination ahead of him.

For all their sakes, Kakashi really hoped that he was wrong.

Kakashi didn’t like this at all.

The diagram. The surrounding area. Naruto’s encounter with the two ninja.

It all spoke of a possibility that should be impossible, even for the world of Shinobi.

The possibility of the veracity of the thought itself only made Kakashi increase his already swift pace through the branches even more.

The only way to confirm his theory was to see the current state of Kohaku Village. Only then would he be able to get any kind of definitive answers.

And if he was right, no matter how far-fetched that possibility may be, then that meant that they were all in unequivocal danger unlike anything any of them, even him, has ever experienced before.

Finally reaching the end of the forest, Kakashi slid underneath the cover of the branches to gaze down at the slope before him.

Sure enough, as he predicted, Kohaku Village was right where it was supposed to be. The black bands and ying-yang reminiscent tomohoe displayed proudly above the arch welcoming those coming into the Village from the beaten dirt road.

But what caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end was the sudden distinct lack of any modern architecture.

The Village was no longer surrounded by high walls, and the entrance no longer contained an arched gate but rather an ornately carved arch for travelers and citizens alike to pass under. Most telling was the old style structure of the homes and the lacking hustle and bustle of the market and vendors that he should have been able to hear but couldn't.

So far it seemed exactly what he had feared came to pass. However, he needed to fully confirm his suspicions first. It would do no good to cause undue panic because he failed to properly gather the intel they needed.

The only issue now was deciding on how he would approach the 'gate'. If his hunch was right, then getting close to the Village could be tricky, especially if there were any sensors on guard nearby like he suspected there was.

Normally it would be safer to disguise himself and suppress his chakra, but if his suspicions were correct...The quickest way to confirm them would be to take the risk and not alter his appearance and gauge the reactions of the Villagers.

Making his decision, Kakashi casually hopped out of his hiding place within the leaves and slowly trudged his way down the slope to the arch, hands in his pockets and exuding as non-threatening body language as he could muster.

Getting closer to the road, Kakashi spotted a merchant sitting atop a cart adorned with the symbol of the Kohaku clan on its sides being pulled towards the Village entrance by a weathered but strong looking aged horse.

'Seems fortune is with me today' Kakashi thought, immediately shifting course to make his way over to the man.

“Hi there. Would it be alright if I asked you a quick question?” Kakashi asked, keeping his voice light and friendly as he attempted to appear as non-threatening as possible.

Kakashi knew the moment the merchant finally got a good look at him.

The man pulled the reins he held taut, immediately halting the horse's steady trot as he clutched the leather in hands like a lifeline, the man's eyes quickly darting from Kakashi's form to the Village arch, as if mentally calculating the odds his horse would be able to close the gap and gallop them to safety with everything intact.

They were zero.

“A question you say? Regarding what, exactly?” the merchant asked, sounding as suspicious as he was wary.

“Well, you see I’m kind of lost. My map fell into a river you see, and I have no idea what territory I’m in. I’m sure you can understand why that could end up being a problem for someone like myself” Kakashi implied, trying his hand, while putting on a show of being both sheepish and desperate.

The merchant narrowed his eyes sharply in his direction. Silently contemplating the likelihood of the legitimacy of his words.

“And you’re not here to cause any problems?” the merchant inquired, his tone skeptical.

“I can assure you that it is not my intention at all. I’m an...orphaned wanderer if you will. I don’t make a point to associate with any particular group. Right now I’m on my own taking care of three other orphaned children. We try and avoid particular territories since my heritage can cause us issues” Kakashi replied earnestly, figuring I'd be better in the longer run to stretch the truth rather than outright lie.

Kakashi waited quietly for the information to sink in. And for the man to decide whether or not to hear him out.

After a long minute of weighing his words the merchant finally nodded in acquiescence.

“This is Kohaku Village. We are allied with the Senju. Their leaders are actually close by right now. They’ve been checking up on some of their allied Villages and territories, so if you truly do not want trouble I suggest that you leave now and head south from here. From there you will eventually reach the Land of Waves. Though it is a bit risky as it goes right through the heart of the Senju-Uchiha territories. So if you’d prefer, you may also try going north. Not a much up there, but less of a risk of getting involved in something you shouldn’t” the merchant detailed, eyeing him carefully.

Kakashi immediately bowed to him.

“Thank you. Your words have been an invaluable help. I will be taking my leave immediately” Kakashi exclaimed, returning to his upright position.

As he did, Kakashi saw that the merchant now wore an expression of immense disbelief and confusion before not so subtly shaking himself out of his stupor.

“I’ve got to say. I wish all of you Shinobi were like that. Though it is weird to be bowed to by your kind” the man said with a slight awe and respect in his barb, though there was still a healthy bit of skepticism within his eyes as well.

“I couldn’t agree more. Well then, I’ll be off” Kakashi waved before turning to walk sedately back in the direction of the forest he exited from, feeling the heavy gaze of the merchant at his back.

The moment he was covered by the shadows of the trees Kakashi started sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him.

The situation was worse than he could have ever predicted.

They needed to get out of here now before it was too late.

Hopefully it wasn’t already.

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

Kobaki was seriously starting to freak out now.

All the younger kids were accounted for.

All except Nowaki.

Kobaki had very nearly turned the entire Compound upside down and he still couldn’t find that little troublemaker anywhere. And to make matters worse, nobody’s seen Nowaki since breakfast.

Now while that wouldn’t immediately raise any red flags, Nowaki was infamous among the Clan children for his frequent attempts to leave the Compound without permission. While he'd never managed to get very far in the past, Nowaki was proving to be more and more difficult to catch with each new attempt as he learned from his past mistakes. While it gave Kobaki a surge of pride to see the young boy's potential in stealth and escape tactics, it still meant that he and the other caretakers and trainers needed keep a close eye on the stubborn rascal lest the worst happen should he actually manage to slip through their fingers one day.

He'd gotten so good at picking out Nowaki's chakra that he'd been personally assigned as his main trainer and attendent (read: wrangler). Even so, he was still assigned to aid in teaching larger groups during the week, and today happened to be one of those days.

While normally that wouldn't be a concern as Nowaki would have been sent to another trainer, Nowaki was apparently scheduled for a day of rest. Today. The same day Kobaki happened to be assigned to another class. Which meant that nobody had been watching the little menace all day. And now, Kobaki couldn’t sense Nowaki's chakra anywhere in the Compound.

Kobaki really wasn't liking where this was heading. If Nowaki really did take advantage of the lack of eyes on him then they had a massive problem on their hands (And Kobaki was going to beat whoever had that oversight bloody).

'Maybe I should search around the edge of the forest again. He could have just be testing his luck and went further out to train than he should have' Kobaki thought with a small stab of hope.

As he prepared himself to search their borders again, Kobaki felt the familiar flare of Nowaki’s chakra quickly making its way over to him.

Kobaki immediately breathed out a sigh of relief, the tension building in his shoulders loosening at the knowledge Nowaki was alive and hadn't actually tried to escape. However, just as quickly, Kobaki steeled his expression, ready to give the little troublemaker a stern lecture for worrying him and the other trainers with his little disappearing act.

The moment he heard the tell-tale sound of feet thumping against the wood of the halls, Kobaki crossed his arms across his chest and waited for Nowaki to come into his line of vision. And sure enough, the doors slid open to reveal the annoying menace in all his glory.

The annoying menace covered in dirt.

The annoying menace that was clutching an injured and bleeding shoulder.

For a moment Kobaki swore his heart stopped beating as he took in Nowaki's full state and appearance.

Nowaki looked as if he had been in a fight and barely managed to escape with his life.

“What happened?!” Kobaki demanded, immediately rushing over to Nowaki to get a better look at the open wound and assess him for any other serious injuries that may need immediate attention.

Nowaki merely scratched the back of his head ashamed.

“I just wanted to prove that I could do simple tasks like the older kids. So I went to go check out Kohaku Village...I got attacked by a Hagoromo” Nowaki explained, muttering the last part as he refused to look Kobaki in the eyes.

Kobaki's heart lept into his throat and he swiftly pulled out the emergency med kit from within the drawers.

Clenching the gauze more tightly then strictly necessary, Kobaki focused on disinfecting the gash, his eyes hardening as they flicked in Nowaki's direction.

“And you killed him?” he demanded, he teeth near grinding together as he thought of Nowaki trapped and fighting for his life without anyone to rescue him. Dying alone cut to pieces in the forest where he wouldn't have been found for days or maybe even weeks depending on how much of him would be left.

Nowaki shook his head, a sudden starstruck sparkle dancing in his eyes as a smile of all things made its way onto his face despite grimacing at the sutures going into his side.

“No. Naruto-niichan did. The Hagoromo was about to kill me, but Naruto-niichan saved me” Nowaki said, sounding so thoroughly awestruck that Kobaki had to keep an exasperated smile off his face.

“Naruto…niichan? Oi Nowaki, you do know that you don’t have a brother named Naruto right?” Kobaki asked him, finishing off the last stitch before moving to check Nowaki's pupils just in case the boy had a concussion and needed to get his head checked over.

Nowaki just puffed out his cheeks in annoyance and pushed Kobaki's hand away from his eyes.

“I know that! But he was just so cool! I’m going to start training even more right away so that I can be as strong as him, and go on missions like he does when I grow up!” Nowaki proudly declared, fist pumping the air.

“Don't move" Kobaki chided as he wrapped the gauze and bandages around Nowaki's shoulder, "He was really that amazing huh? You're gonna hurt your sister's feelings if you keep talking like that"

"Humph. She's just a stick in the mud with a scary stern face" Nowaki huffed, crossing his arms across his chest in false indifference as Kobaki pulled out a light green kimono style shirt for him to put on.

Kobaki frowned at Nowaki's harsh words.

"You know that you sister loves you. Lord Hashirama formally appointed her as Third-in-command of the entire Clan. That's a big deal Nowaki. And a lot of responsibility. Especially since that means she's effectively in-charge while Lord Hashirama and Lord Tobirama are away checking in with our allies" Kobaki scolded gently, giving Nowaki a firm look though it didn't contain any heat.

He understood where Nowaki was coming from. He really did. Up until a few years ago it was Lady Toka who had been in charge of all of Nowaki's training and they had spent almost every day together. But now that Lord Hashirama had Lady Toka's status as an heir legitimized, she had taken on the arduous task of proving that women were more than just caretakers and barers. She was under constant pressure and scrutiny and couldn't afford to even show the slightest bit of weakness or gentle care lest she be seen as too "motherly" and "soft" for her duties.

And right now Nowaki would understand none of that. At least not entirely.

Nowaki winced, the anger and annoyance collapsing under the loneliness and sadness at what he knew he was missing.

He knew that as Third-in-command his sister was an important warrior of the Clan. And that one must always put the safety and betterment of the Clan before anything else. They were all family and family protected each other no matter what! That's why he wanted to prove that he was strong too! Nowaki figured that if he could prove he was ready to do his duty for the Clan then he and Toka would be able to do their duties together!

But after today...

"I know I really messed up leaving the Base" Nowaki began, the seriousness in his tone surprising Kobaki, "I almost got myself killed and Naruto-niichan could've been hurt too. I got lucky. I know that"

"Does this mean that you’re not going to continue trying to sneak out of the Compound anymore?” Kobaki inquired, not quite sure what to make of the fierce determination set in Nowaki's eyes.

“Nope. I’m not going to risk my life like that anymore. I’m going to get stronger so that I can protect my precious people, just like Naruto-niichan!” Nowaki proclaimed, the resolve in his eyes momentarily taking Kobaki back.

“Well then it seems like I owe this Naruto a thanks for finally being able to knock some common sense into you” Kobaki stated teasingly before shifting his tone to sound reprimanding, “Though don't think that doesn't mean you won't be punished for your actions. The rules are in place for a reason Nowaki. You almost died. No matter what you think of her right now, Lady Toka would have been devastated...And so would I”.

Tears sprung up in the corners of Nowaki's eyes as he flung himself as Kobaki, the two of them squeezing one another tightly in happiness and relief.

“Yeah I know that now. I feel bad too because Naruto-niichan was on a mission and he got sidetracked because of me...But I can’t wait for him to return though! I wanna hang out with him all the time so all three of us can train together!” Nowaki exclaimed, his mood bouncing around more than a rubber ball.

“I doubt Naruto will be able to hang out like you want Nowaki. He’s an adult in the Clan after all. Like your sister, his duties for the Clan come first” Kobaki reminded him, trying to ease what would likely be another heartache for the boy.

Though for the life of him Kobaki still couldn't remember anyone in the Clan with that name though. But to be fair they did have a lot of clansmen, and it was nearly impossible to know everyone, let alone keep track of everyone’s names. Hell he doubted even Lord Hashirama knew the names of all their clansmen. Though Lord Tobirama might. That man was paranoid that way...

“Nuh-uh. Naruto-niichan isn’t an adult yet. He’s like twelve or thirteen years old” Nowaki answered back, placing his hands on his hips and sticking his chest out with pride at his niichan's accomplishment.

Kobaki froze as he was knelt down putting away the emergency med kit, unable to move as he stared blankly at the wall in front of him as his mind processed Nowaki's words.

“What?” Kobaki croaked, knowing that he couldn’t have heard that right.

“Naruto-niichan is twelve or thirteen years old. Not an adult. Why? You don’t know him? He has spiky light blonde hair and ocean blue eyes and his clothes kind of look like the ones Lord Tobirama wears” Nowaki asked, tilting his head in uneasy confusion.

Kobaki's mouth dropped open. Not once did Nowaki's chakra waver when he was talking.

Kobaki paled, all the blood immediately leaving his face. Nowaki wasn’t kidding. He could see it in his eyes.

Kobaki stood up quickly, rushing over to the edge of the room wear his green-plated armour and sword were stored and started strapping them on without hesitation.

"Kobaki-sensei what's wrong? What's going on? Is Naruto-niichan in some kind of trouble?" Nowaki asked, a frantic edge to his voice.

“Nowaki, where did your fight with the Hagoromo take place?” Kobaki demanded, he didn't have time to address Nowaki's worries right now.

“Um near the Kohaku River. Why?” Nowaki replied, his voice trembling in concern.

“Because no children are ever allowed missions” Kobaki brusquely replied, sheathing his sword in the scabbard at his hip.

“But he’s strong!” Nowaki argued back.

“It doesn’t matter how strong he is! Lord Hashirama decreed that no children are ever allowed to go off on their own!” Kobaki replied back just as fiercely.

However apparently if what Nowaki said is indeed true, it may be that someone within the Clan is going behind Lord Hashirama's back and sending their Clan's children off on missions without him knowing.

Sage help the perpetrator if this is indeed the case. While the Clan is flourishing under Lord Hashirama's more gentle hand, that man was by no means a pacifist. If it were to be discovered that a member of the Clan was putting their children at risk there would be no mercy.

But that was a concern for the future. Right now one of their children, one whose name Kobaki didn’t recognize (and he liked the implications of what that meant in context to the afformentioned potential conspiracy even less). A child who was currently outside the Compound, and probably in serious danger if that attack by the Hagoromo was anything to go by.

“Stay here” Kobaki ordered Nowaki, his tone leaving no room for argument, “I’m going to go retrieve him”.

Without waiting for Nowaki to respond, Kobaki immediately rushed out of the room and into the woods, praying that he wasn’t already too late.

After taking a quick stock of his surroundings Naruto knelt down beside the banks of Kohaku River to gather the water into their canteens.

“Stupid Sasuke and his stupid duck-butt hair! Why did I have to be the one to fill our water bottles? He could’ve found the river himself!” Naruto grumbled angrily in annoyance.

While Kakashi-sensei was off gathering the information he needed to confirm whatever theories he'd drawn, the three of them decided to make good use of their time and take stock of their supplies.

Unfortunately since they had packed light to begin with they were low on water and food. Naturally he had mentioned the river his Clone had passed, thinking that the three of them would go and gather what they needed together. Only to have Sasuke delegating him as the damn water boy while he and Sakura went to look for edible plants and small game.

'Just because I'm the sensor of the group doesn't mean I'm automatically safe from ambush. Kakashi-sensei said for us to stick together and stay near the diagram' Naruto thought bitterly, comical tears running down his face, 'Besides, why does that Bastard always have to pair up with Sakura! Its not fair! She's my teammate too! The selfish jerk!'

Suddenly, Naruto heard a distinctive rustling in the trees and cursed himself for his inattention.

Whipping around on his heels, Naruto stood up just as a young man, perhaps about eighteen or so, with light brown hair and dark brown eyes jumped down from the trees in front of him, glaring at him with one of those stern disappointed looks that Iruka-sensei always gave him.

Naruto immediately braced myself, bringing his arms up and ready to attack or defend if he needed to.

"Who gave you permission to be out here?" Kobaki demanded sharply, assessing the young man in front of him.

Following Nowaki's instructions he immediately made his way near Kohaku River, flaring out his Sensory technique all the while to scan the area for any hint of Senju chakra. And sure enough, making it's way to the river was a warm burst of sunshine that was unmistakably Senju with a strong hint of something else extremely familiar that Kobaki just couldn't put his finger on at the moment.

Regardless, Kobaki followed right after the chakra signature. And true to Nowaki's description, the blonde haired, blue eyed Senju named Naruto did in fact exist. Now he just needed to drag the boy back to the Compound by his ear and find out exactly why he was disobeying their Clan Head's rules.

"I don't have to tell you anything!" Naruto exclaimed, the wariness in his eyes increasing exponentially.

Kobaki grit his teeth at that. Praying to the Sage that his theory was wrong and Naruto was just being bull-headed.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in right now Naruto?” Kobaki reprimanded, trying a slightly different approach as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“W-huh?” Naruto answered unintelligibly, actually rearing back slightly in shock at the sudden reprimand with his eyebrows getting lost somewhere in orbit.

'Who the hell is this guy and how does he know my name?' Naruto thought, thoroughly confused.

“Don’t give me that! You know very well that you’re breaking the rules being out here. You may have saved Nowaki, but that doesn’t give you the right to forgo the rules yourself!” Kobaki lectured sternly.

'Nowaki?' Naruto wondered, rummaging through his memory banks to find why that name seemed so familiar, 'Oh, now I remember! Nowaki was that kid I saved. Does this mean that guy knows him? But then what the heck is he talking about? Rules?'

“Fine you can play the silent act all you want. When Lord Hashirama and Lord Tobirama get back I’m going to personally make sure you and Nowaki are reprimanded by them for your stunts today!” Kobaki warned (silently hoping the threat would entice Naruto to reveal his true reasons for being out here), and with that started striding his way over to the blonde.

“Huh!? Whoa wait a second there’s been a big misunderstanding here!” Naruto yelled out in panicked surprise, unsure of just what the hell was going on.

“Too late. You broke the rules and now you have to face the consequences” Kobaki scolded, grabbing a holding of Naruto's upper arm.

Naruto immediately yanked himself out of the other man's grasp.

“No way! I’m not going anywhere with you!” Naruto rejected, making an X with his arms.

A sudden flare of anger made Naruto flinch back, cringing at the steely expression on the guy’s face.

'Damn! This guy might actually be scarier than Iruka-sensei!' Naruto thought, both in fear and awe of the man in front of him.

“We are going back to the Compound now. And when we do I’m going to make sure that you know that this isn’t a game. Whatever you are doing out here is done” Kobaki fiercely proclaimed, his words sounding more like the vow they were.

Whether Naruto was here out of his own free-will or on the orders of someone within the Compound it didn't matter. On his life and pride of his sword he will ensure that so long as he breathed both he and Nowaki would remain safe until they were old enough to perform their duties.

As Kobaki went to reach for Naruto's arm again he paused, a flare of chakra nearby catching his attention.

Likewise, seeing the man's hesitation, Naruto reached out with his own senses, his head immediately snapping to the right as he felt Kakashi-sensei’s distinctive chakra signature headed their way.

'Perfect! Now I can get this guy off my back!' Naruto exhaled in relief.

“Damnit!” Kobaki muttered.

Taking advantage of Naruto's distraction, Kobaki grabbed him around the waist and immediately started Body Flickering away from the unknown Hatake's chakra.

While it was true the previous Senju Clan Head's wife was from the Hatake clan, their marriage had been nothing but a way to cement the Hatake clan's neutrality and ensure that the Senju would not instigate a war with them like they did the Uchiha.

They did not side with the Senju, nor any other Clan, though Kobaki knew they had better relationships with the other Wild Clans such as the Inuzuka.

That being said, the Hatake generally had no reason to seek out any Clans. They were more than strong enough to keep to themselves in their territories near the Land of Frost. And Kobaki had no intention of sticking around long enough to find out if the Hatake currently snapping at his heels was a courier.

“Hey! What’re you doing?” Naruto demanded, squirming in Kobaki's hold enough that the other man had no choice but to cut his jutsu in order to keep his grip on him as he jumped through the trees.

“Stop moving! There’s an enemy behind us and we need to get away!” Kobaki ordered, desperately hoping the boy would see reason.

Suddenly, shuriken came raining down. Kobaki immediately moved out of the way and set Naruto down behind him on another branch.

“When I give you the signal run back to the Compound, got it!?” he commanded, looking straight ahead as he pulled his sword from his scabbard.

Before Naruto could even tell the man off, Kakashi-sensei appeared in front of them on an adjacent tree branch within a blink of an eye.

“I’m going to have to ask you to kindly return him to me” Kakashi said, his tone nonchalant, though Naruto could feel that he was radiating discontent and protective anger.

“Return? Like hell I’m handing him over to you!” Kobaki refused, gripping his sword even tighter at the blatant threat to take one of their Clan's children.

Was this Hatake the reason Naruto was away from the Compound? Did the mission involve a collaboration with a Hatake? Or was this something else?

Kobaki didn't want to even consider that Naruto betrayed their Clan in some way. The sheer idea was almost laughable! None-the-less, he would get the full story from the boy once they were both safely back home.

“I don’t want to have to fight you” Kakashi stated, a clear warning in his tone, a near feral one that screamed 'murder' and put every one of Kobaki's hairs on end.

“Then don’t. Walk away and let us leave Hatake” Kobaki ordered back, biting the side of his cheek to keep himself from trembling.

Dangerous. Whoever this man was he was dangerous.

Naruto's attention snapped to the armoured guy's back in surprise, 'Does he know Kakashi-sensei or something?'

“I’m sorry but that’s a no can do. You see that boy behind you belongs to me. We were about to leave the area when you just happen to come by. So really, the only one starting trouble here is you” Kakashi proclaimed, his words colder than the tundras of the Land of Iron, bloodlust flashing warningly at the man who dared stand between him and one of his students.

“Belongs to you? Don’t be ridiculous! His chakra is of a Senju. If you’re going to lie make it more believable!” Kobaki unflinchingly countered right back, forcing himself to remained rooted in place even as the Hatake's gaze sharpened further, readying himself for the furious predator that was about to begin its hunt.

Naruto let out a frustrated growl, 'Why are all adults so complicated?!'

“I’ve been trying to tell you from the start! This is just a giant misunderstanding!” Naruto loudly proclaimed, hoping to end all this before it started, though he wasn’t totally sure if the guy knew that he was talking to him and not Kakashi-sensei.

“Whatever, you got yourself into we’ll talk about it back home” Kobaki muttered, not taking his eyes away from the wolf in front of him.

Seeing that there was no way around a fight, Kobaki took the opportunity to strike first, Body Flickering over to the Hatake and thus began their wild dance of clashing blades.

Naruto immediately took out his tanto, ready to jump in and help his Sensei at a moments notice.

“Naruto go now while I have him distracted!” Kobaki ordered, while still keeping his attention on the Hatake taking a swipe at his neck.

“As if I’m going anywhere” Naruto muttered to himself with a scoff, doing his best to track the fight as the two clashed through the trees.

Naruto was actually pretty impressed that the Senju guy was actually able to keep up with Kakashi-sensei in taijutsu. Naruto watched as the two of them darted from the trees and began fighting on the ground. The Senju chopped down on Kakashi-sensei’s tanto and then starting pressing down at him with his sword. Then the two of them froze. Neither moving a muscle.

Naruto's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, 'Why aren’t they moving?...Oh wait! Kakashi-sensei is probably using a genjutsu on him!'.

Suddenly, the Senju guy’s body (and sword) were covered in lightning, both electrocuting Kakashi-sensei through their crossed blades and sending a pulsing current of electricity throughout the air, nullifying the genjutsu completely.

“Lightning style: Conduction Wave” Kobaki exclaimed, no longer stuck within the illusion.

“No way” Naruto muttered in awe and fear.

But before Naruto could start to panic and jump between the fighting pair, Kakashi-sensei’s form suddenly turned to rocks, allowing Naruto to breathe out a sigh of relief.

“He used the mirage as a distraction so he could Substitute with an Earth Clone” Kobaki muttered, reluctantly a bit impressed as he braced himself for the next onslaught of attacks, reaching out with his Sensory technique to try and find his opponent.

However, without warning a hand came up from underneath the ground and grabbed onto his ankle, yanking him downwards and beneath the ground.

Naruto couldn’t help but snicker at the Senju's predicament. He looked like one of those people who had been buried up to their neck in sand at the beach.

And the guy’s annoyed expression at Kakashi-sensei’s smiling eye just made it all that funnier. Although Naruto was certain that the annoyance he felt radiating off of the Senju was more directed at himself for having been caught by such a simple trick than anything else.

“Well I’d say that we’re about done here” Kakashi exclaimed, his bored tone in contrast to his icicle sharp gaze as he looked down upon the man trapped beneath him.

“That was quite a jutsu though. The Senju always did have powerful hiden jutsu that could be used to counter even dojutsu” Kakashi-sensei praised, giving credit where credit was due as he assessed the other man's expressions.

'Wait, so this guy really is a Senju then? Then how come I’ve never seen him around the Village? And why is he attacking Kakashi-sensei?' Naruto thought, completely baffled as to what the hell was going on.

Kobaki just smirked, sharp and vicious as he returned the Hatake's glare.

'What?' Naruto stumbled, thrown for a loop again, 'Why is he smiling? He’s trapped'.

“Lightning style: Lightning Pillar” Kobaki roared, putting all he had into this one last attack.

Lightning shot up from the ground, striking everything within its blast radius and flashing high into the sky.

Naruto watched as Kakashi-sensei’s form once again shifted, but this time into electricity.

“Lightning style Clone too?” Kobaki muttered bitterly, as he pulled himself out of the crater he was in, breathing significantly heavier than he had been before.

“Lightning style: Thunder Lance Conduction” Kakashi announced, coming from behind the Senju, his hand coated in electricity.

As the Senju turned to face him, the electricity from his Lightning Clone shot through the Senju and conducted itself right into Kakashi's hand.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” Kobaki cried out in agony as he was speared through, the sharp heat of the lightning frying his insides to a crisp.

Kobaki collapsed onto his stomach with a grunt.

“Like I said. We’re done here” Kakashi dismissed, his expression serious and stern.

Naruto immediately jumped down from his branch and made his way over to his Sensei.

“Put your tanto away Naruto. We’re leaving now” Kakashi ordered, leaving no room for argument.

“N-no”

The two of them looked down in shock to see that the Senju was still conscious and trying to force his battered body to move.

“We’re just going to leave him?” Naruto asked, feeling guilty for the state the other man was in, enemy or not, and was worried what would happen to the him as injured as he was.

Naruto didn't think he was a bad guy. For whatever reason the Senju thought that he was rescuing him, so he didn’t want to just leave him here to die or something. Especially not if they were technically family!

“He’ll be fine. His last technique wasn’t merely just an attack. It also signaled for backup, so we need to leave now” Kakashi informed him, hoping to alleviate enough of Naruto's momentary concerns so that he didn't have to throw the boy over his shoulder and beat a hasty retreat.

Naruto nodded in acquiescence before he looked back at the Senju guy one last time. A hum of sadness and regret leaving his lips when he saw that the guy was still weakly trying to push himself upright.

“Sorry. All this really is just a big misunderstanding” Naruto said apologetically before leaping up into the trees, with Kakashi-sensei following immediately after.

'Do not look back. Do not look back' Naruto mentally chanted to himself.

“We can’t stay here any longer, especially not after this” Kakashi announced.

“What about the mission?” Naruto asked him, a shiver of uncertainty crawling up his spine at the dread he felt emanating from his Sensei.

“There is no mission anymore. The only mission we have now is to survive” Kakashi gravely proclaimed.

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

The trees blurred past as Toka sprinted to Kobaki’s location as fast as her legs could carry her.

She had been checking over Lord Hashirama’s reports of their allied territories when she saw his signal flash through the sky, his familiar chakra signature flaring against her senses.

Immediately fearing the worst she ordered a strengthening of their borders to prepare for a possible ambush as she went out with two of their Clan's Vanguards to assess the danger and provide aid.

From the direction of his signal Kobaki looked to be near Kohaku Village. Though what Kobaki was doing there she was uncertain.

Kobaki was one of the Trainers and Attendents to their Young. He personally tutored her younger brother and as a result she has gotten to know the man fairly well over the past few years. So she knew for certainty that the only time Kobaki was ever out of the Compound was if he was taking lead on one of his students' first missions. And as far as she was aware no one had been assigned any missions during Hashirama and Tobirama's time away.

Kohaku Village in particular was just over an hour’s walk away from their Main Base. Twenty minutes away at their fastest sprint.

Toka could only hope that they were not too late to save him by then.

“Kobaki is just ahead of us my Lady” Gin announced, breaking Toka out of her own thoughts.

“And the enemy?” she asked, scolding herself for not focusing on the here-and-now.

“I sense only Kobaki” Gin assuredly relayed.

Toka frowned.

That usually meant one of two things.

“Be on your guard. Either the enemy left Kobaki to die, or they know how to conceal their chakra well enough and they are waiting to ambush us upon our arrival” Toka warned, her body coiling in tension, her awareness around her sharpening as they continued forward.

“Hai” her men acknowledged simultaneously, readying themselves as she had.

“Gin, how much further?” Toka asked, her muscles ready to strike at a moment's notice.

“One-hundred meters” he declared, placing his hand on his scabbard.

“Get ready” Toka commanded, placing her hand on her sword, her internal chakra surging and ready to pulsate forwards and trap any attempted ambushers in a gruesome illusion.

They knew the moment they reached the battle site. A new clearing having been created with deadened grass, a crater deep into the Earth and fallen trees decorating the rearranged landscape.

Toka spotted Kobaki lying prone on the ground next to the crater.

With Han and Gin at her sides providing cover, Toka immediately jogged over to Kobaki in order to assess the state of his injuries, careful to remain vigilant of an traps set near his body by the enemy.

With Gin and Han guarding her back, Toka knelt down and felt for Kobaki's pulse, very nearly breathing a sigh of relief and the thready thrum beneath her fingertips.

“He is unconscious but alive” Toka informed them, seeing the noticeable release of tension in both men's shoulders at the knowledge as they kept watch.

Turning Kobaki over, she could see that he had similar scorch marks on his front as he did his back. Though they looked to be electrical burns rather than fire burns.

“His wounds aren’t fatal, but he’s not in good shape either” Toka concluded, her hands glowing a steady teal in order to steady his heartbeat and provide basic healing aid before they made the trek back to the Compound, “He will live, but we need to get him emergency treatment as soon as possible. His internal injuries are quite severe”

Gin and Han nodded, keeping their eyes on her blind spots as she pulled Kobaki onto her back.

“Come. We must leave before other enemies arrive to determine what Kobaki’s Lightning Pillar was” Toka commanded, jumping off into the trees with Gin and Han following immediately after, the two of them sandwiching her between them as they prepared themselves to strike down any who dared to attempt to strike at her.

They were lucky this time.

They would not have to bury another comrade today.

Hashirama was currently in high spirits.

The Wasabi Family had been in good health and economics despite competing with the Uchiha allied Wagarashi Family for the fishing port in their land.

In fact, so far all of their territories were prospering and in relative good health, and all their meetings with their Clan's allies had been going smoothly with no mishaps or unexpected ambushes to impede their checks.

Of course Tobirama was his usual paranoid self and was convinced that things were going too smoothly.

Naturally he quickly put down his brother's pessimism and insisted that he be more appreciative of the momentary calm. Times such as this were few and far between and it was best to take advantage of the peace while it lasted.

Though Hashirama still dreamed without fail that he would one day make this fleeting calmness last for much longer than a few days or weeks.

No matter what anyone said he was going to end this meaningless fighting between Clans someday.

Most of the Clans had already taken a big step in the right direction when they followed both his and Madara’s lead on banning children from the battlefield. That alone gave him hope that his best friend was still somewhere in that hardened heart of his, and that despite his words to the contrary, Madara never completely gave up on their dream.

And it wasn't just little snipbits of his old friend that gave him slivers of hope for the future. In recent years many of the previous Clan Heads have begun to be replaced by members of their generation. And as such, subtle changes have begun taking place.

While there was still plenty of conflicts and deaths, walk-aways on the battlefield and uneasy temporary truces were more common when they had been virtually non-existent in the past.

While enemies and competition for jobs remained the same, life was a little more valued now too.

Of course Hashirama's good spirits were pushed aside once he and his brother had entered the Compound only to see their Clan's medics running around and Toka barking orders.

“Toka! What on Earth is going on?” Hashirama demanded, immediately making his way over to her.

“Kobaki was attacked near Kohaku Village. His injuries are severe, but not immediately fatal” she reported, handing off her sword and armour to her retainer.

“Kohaku Village? What was he doing there? Do you know who it was that attacked him?” Tobirama asked, cutting to the important matters.

“We are trying to figure that out now. As far as we know he had no reason to be out that way. As for who attacked him we are not sure of that either. When we arrived his attacker had long since been gone” Toka grimly explained, the disappointment and frustration clear in her tone.

Hashirama hummed at the oddity of the situation. If a fight was lost, one rarely left the battle with their life. The enemy usually ending them then and there. In fact, the whole situation itself rang as odd to him.

“If we can find out why he was near Kohaku Village in the first place, then we can begin to surmise what happened” Hashirama deduced, rubbing at his jaw in worry and contemplation.

Toka nodded in agreement having already deducted as much herself.

“I sent Han to speak with the other Trainers to see if they know of any reason he would have been out that way ” Toka informed him.

Hashirama nodded approvingly, “How is he responding to treatment?”

“He is responding well from what the medics tell me. They say if all goes well he should begin to regain a bit of consciousness soon” Toka answered, not bothering to hide the relief in her voice.

“That is always a good thing” Hashirama replied, resting his hand on her shoulder in assurance, happy that another young life would not be lost.

Just then Han walked into the room.

“Anything?” Toka asked of him.

Han gave her a regretful shake if his head, “The Trainers had no idea what he was doing that far away from the Compound. The last they heard of him he had been looking for Nowaki”.

“And where is Nowaki now?” Tobirama inquired, arms firmly crossed in their usual resting position over his chest.

“The moment Nowaki heard that Kobaki had been injured he immediately ran past me to the recovery ward before I could even have the chance to question him” Han replied in deference.

“So then Kobaki wasn’t out that way looking for Nowaki then” Hashirama concluded with a hum, getting more and more puzzled about how all this could have occurred.

“None of it makes any sense! If not to chase after Nowaki, why would Kobaki leave the Compound in the first place?” Toka inquired out loud to no one in particular, her frustration and worries clear.

Before Tobirama could inquire to the type of injuries Kobaki sustained and the state of the battle site, a loud thumping of feet made its way in their direction.

“Toka is Kobaki okay!? They won’t let me in the recovery room” Nowaki frantically demanded, all but slamming open the shoji separating the room from the halls.

“According to your sister's report, Kobaki will be fine. The medics are busy ensuring his health and it would be best to allow them the space and time that they need” Hashirama assured his younger cousin, moving to ruffle his mousy brown hair.

Nowaki nodded, letting out a sigh of relief and blushing in slight embarrassment at his outburst in front of Lord Hashirama and Lord Tobirama before a sudden realization made all his anxiety come rushing back.

“Wait! What about Naruto-niichan?! Is he okay?! Did he get hurt too?!” Nowaki asked, grabbing Lord Hashirama's sleeve as he gazed upon the man in pleading fear.

Hashirama blinked owlishly at the boy in complete confusion, having absolutely no idea who Nowaki was talking about. And from the look on Toka and Han’s faces as he took a cautionary glance their way, neither did they.

“Naruto?” Hashirama began, just starting to bend down closer to Nowaki's level just as one of the medic burst into the room.

“Lord Hashirama!”

Hashirama immediately shifted his focused to the doorway to see one of their medics, Kohara, make her way into the room.

“What is wrong?” he addressed, returning to full height.

“Kobaki has awoken” she announced, sounding worried and out of breath despite the good news.

“Already?” Tobirama inquired, raising his eyebrow in surprise, "From what we were told his inquires, while not fatal, would require more time for recuperation"

“That was meant to be the case, yes. But the stubborn man awoke through the sheer force of will and has since continually tried to stand and leave despite our orders not to move, and we cannot make any sense of what he is saying” Kohara explained, the concern clear on her face.

“Take us to him immediately” Hashirama commanded, already moving towards the infirmary.

Kohara nodded and immediately led the five of them into the recovery room.

True to her words two other medics were trying (and failing) to push a struggling Kobaki back down onto the mat.

“You don’t understand! I have to go! He took him!” Kobaki grit out, trying for all his worth to remove the arms trying to hold him down.

It was clear to all that despite the incredible pain it would not deter Kobaki from his goal and that he would not rest willing until that goal had been achieved. Though what concerned Hashirama the most were Kobaki's words.

“Wood style: Binding” Hashirama announced, making the snake hand seal, wood bindings sprung up from the floor and wrapped themselves around Kobaki’s chest, pinning his arms in place.

Startled, Kobaki immediately took better stock of his surroundings, spotting Lord Hashirama and the rest of the Heads of the Main House at the Recovery Room entrance for the first time.

“Lord Hashirama” Kobaki addressed, grunting out a pained gasp through his agony and embarrassment.

“If you are in such a hurry to leave then maybe you can shed some light on what exactly happened during our time away” Tobirama all but commanded as he stepped into the room.

“It’s my fault” Nowaki said guiltily, hiding slightly behind the shoji.

All eyes immediately snapped to him.

“What do you mean?” Toka demanded, her eyes narrowing sharply at him.

Nowaki turned his regret-filled eyes to the ground, unable to look at any of them as he swallowed the thick saliva building in his mouth.

“I-I left the Compound and Naruto-niichan rescued me from a Hagoromo. He told me that he still had to complete his mission, so he ordered me to come back to the Base without him. When I got back and told Kobaki what happened he went to go look for Naruto-niichan and that's how he got hurt” Nowaki detailed, his voice low, and still refused to meet anyone’s gaze, not wanting to see the disappointment in their eyes.

Hashirama hummed in disappointment that Nowaki had disobeyed the rules and as a result put his and others’ lives in danger.

“What Nowaki is failing to say is that Naruto is twelve-thirteen years old and currently kidnapped by a Hatake” Kobaki revealed, rage fueling his words as his fists clenched at his sides.

“What!?” Hashirama demanded, his attention immediately zeroing in to the Trainer to assess for any falsehoods.

Kobaki only gave him a grim nod of affirmation.

“I found Naruto collecting water by Kohaku River. Not long after I found him a Hatake I didn't recognize chased us down. He seemed to know Naruto and demanded that I hand him over. Of course I refused. Naruto told me that everything going on was just a giant misunderstanding, but he never got to tell me what happened because I lost the fight. I am almost positive that the only reason the Hatake left me alive was because Naruto went with him without a fight” Kobaki reported, thoroughly angry at himself for his failure.

For a moment Hashirama swore his heart leaped into his throat, “One of our children was kidnapped?!”

“Why?!” Tobirama demanded, no happier at the news than his brother, his fingers gripping his arms with a bruising pressure, "The Hatake are a neutral clan. They would not dare risk their stability to start a fight with the Senju in this way!"

"I do not know" Kobaki exclaimed in frustration, wishing his arms were free so he could yank at his hair, "But that Hatake...He was feral or damn close to it"

Hashirama sucked in a startled breath at Kobaki's words, paling at the implications.

And he wasn't the only one.

"What does feral mean? And why does everyone look so scared?" Nowaki asked, wary of the answer he word receive.

"Feral is a term used to describe an occurrence in those related to certain Wild Clans, specifically those more in-tune with their more animalistic nature such as the Inuzuka, Hatake, and Hoshigaki clans" Tobirama began, using the calm facts and knowledge brought him to distance himself from the anxiety bubbling to the surface, "While the how usually differs per Clan, for the Hatake who maintain a more wolf-like pack structure alongside their strict code of honor passed down from their time as the samurai Guardians of the Three Wolves Mountain in the Land of Iron-"

"Tobi, brother, you know I love you but now is not the time for a history lesson" Hashirama chided, amusement laced in his voice as he gently prodded at his brother to get to the point.

"To put it simply, like wolves, Hatake do not do well on their own or without a 'pack' around them. Whether outcasted or due to death, lone wolves never survive long and Hatake, much like their wolf companions are much of the same. Should a Hatake lose those closest to them without receiving any support they go 'feral'. Becoming more vicious, bloodthirsty, and asocial and fiercely protective of any remaining members of their 'pack'" Tobirama detailed, his mind swirling with possible hypotheses at the information they now had, "It is possible that if the Hatake truly is feral or close to it, that he likely lost his original familial structure and decided that Naruto was a suitable enough replacement. And if he did claim Naruto as a member of his 'pack' then that would explain why he attacked Kobaki"

“Perhaps. But his questionable feral state wasn't all that I noticed” Kobaki said ominously.

“What do mean?” Hashirama demanded, his eyes narrowing sharply.

“When I felt his chakra up close I...noticed something” Kobaki stated, his words vague.

“Noticed what?” Toka commanded, seeing his hesitation she knew it would not be anything good.

“I felt the chakra of an Uchiha” Kobaki reluctantly revealed.

“What did you just say?!” Hashirama demanded sharply, ignoring how Tobirama stiffened next to him, not liking the implications of what this could mean.

“Are you actually implying that you think a disguised Uchiha stole one of our Clan's children?” Han asked skeptically, unable to keep himself from remaining silent.

“No” Kobaki immediately denied, firmly shaking his head.

“Then what do you mean?” Tobirama inquired stiffly, his tone almost demanding as he searched for some kind of clarification.

“The Uchiha chakra wasn’t his own. It felt foreign in his system, and it was only concentrated in his left eye...The eye he had covered with a cloth headband” Kobaki revealed through grit teeth.

The resulting silence was deafening.

“Are you suggesting that this Hatake man took an Uchiha’s Sharingan and actually implanted it into his own eye socket?!” Tobirama demanded uneasily, his mind whirring through the statistically probability of tissue rejection and whether or not an individual of non-Uchiha blood would even be able to use a doujutsu that their body wasn't biologically designed to support.

“I can’t say for sure, but…I know what an Uchiha’s chakra feels like when they have the Sharingan...It was the same feeling with him” Kobaki answered, his words careful but certain, assured in his own determinations.

“If he does indeed have an implanted Sharingan, he likely keeps it covered so that it remains both hidden and inactive” Tobirama hypothesized, though his words were low, as if he were talking to himself as he pondered through this next puzzling piece of information and tried to figure out how everything fit together.

“So there's a feral Hatake who desecrated an Uchiha's body for their eye and stole a Senju child to be a part of his pack...I'm not seeing how any of these facts connect to the other” Han admitted rubbing his temples.

“The origins of the eye is certainly a large variable. However in his feral state, if he stole an eye from an Uchiha...Then could he be collecting body parts or something from other Clans to use in order to make himself stronger so that he doesn't lose any more 'pack' members?” Toka speculated uncertainly.

“If so, a child would be an easier target than an adult” Hashirama concluded, quickly following her line of reasoning, “Though the fact the Hatake seemed to know Naruto by name and that Naruto appeared to be comfortable enough leaving with him, even under duress, is confusing. And as embarrassing as it is to admit, I do not recall a child of our Clan by that name myself”

“Nor do I” Tobirama agreed, “Are we certain this Naruto is a Senju?”

“Unmistakably” Kobaki replied confidently.

“Wait, what do you mean none of you know him? I thought Lord Tobirama was personally training him or something?” Nowaki inquired, thoroughly confused.

Everyone froze, immediately swivelling their heads to address the young one they had all but forgotten was there.

"And pray tell why would you assume such a thing?" Tobirama demanded, his eyes narrowing at the boy.

"Because he knew your jutsu? The Shadow Clones one I mean. And he dressed a lot like you too!" Nowaki defended, slightly nervous with all the stares directed at him.

"That is impossible" Tobirama refuted, "I've only recently in the last few months perfected the technique myself and have yet to share the mechanics behind the utilization to anyone"

"I'm telling you the truth!" Nowaki exclaimed, angrily stomping his feet at their disbelief.

"Nowaki, is it possible that Naruto used a technique you mistook for Lord Tobirama's jutsu?" Toka inquired, gently trying to reason with her brother.

"No! Naruto-niichan made a cross with his fingers and literally said and I quote, "Shadow Clone jutsu" and multiple solid clones poofed out of nowhere from white smoke and attacked the Hagoromo!" Nowaki shouted in frustration, angry that nobody believed him.

Tobirama immediately stiffened, his eyes widening in furious disbelief even as his face paled even further at the implications.

Seeing his brother's reaction Hashirama knew this entire situation just got even more serious than it already was.

“Nowaki, we believe that you are telling the truth, however right now there is a lot we don't know and it is making everyone very uneasy. I know that you just want to help, but you know that unless you have permission you are not to leave the Compound on your own. The situation we find ourselves in now is the very reason why” Hashirama reprimanded sternly, attempting to divert the conversation to less tumultuous waters.

“I’m sorry” Nowaki mumbled, all his anger evaporating.

“Your punishment will be discussed later. Our priority right now is to find that Hatake and this Naruto” Tobirama stated, his words hard and his eyes raging like an ocean storm.

“Yes sir” Nowaki replied, knowing this was coming.

“Why don’t we ask around Kohaku Village? They might know something” Toka suggested

“Excellent idea! Tobirama and I need to visit the Village anyway for their report anyway” Hashirama agreed, relieved they had a plan to start with.

“I’m coming with you” Kobaki stated firmly, attempting to stand up even though he was still bound.

“You will not! You are far too injured to be going anywhere! Especially around an area where two enemies have already been spotted” Toka chastised, glaring her clansman into submission.

“Rest Kobaki. You’ve done more than enough for now” Hashirama commanded him assuringly, though it still took a moment for Kobaki to relent.

Only when Kobaki finally played down did Hashirama remove the wood bindings.

“If we are to gather information we should leave now” Tobirama stated, the impatience clear in his tone.

“Agreed” Hashirama replied back, the two of them once again taking off into the forest after restocking their supplies for the next leg of their trek.

For perhaps fifteen minutes both Hashirama and Tobirama Tobirama lept through the trees in silence. The weight of recent events like a boulder on their chests.

A possible feral Hatake who was likely a kekkei genkai thief...And an unknown Senji child who somehow knew a jutsu that Tobirama had created himself even though no one had ever heard of this child before now.

None of this boded well and Hashirama dreaded the moment this reached Madara's ears. (There was no way his old friend knew of this, or that Hatake would have already been long dead).

Tired of the ramblings of his own thoughts, Hashirama turned to his brother

“Well? What do you think?” Hashirama asked him, no trace of his usual joviality.

“I left one of my Shadow Clones at the Compound. It would seem that other than Kobaki and Nowaki, no one has ever heard of or even seen this Naruto before. And the first time both Kobaki and Nowaki met Naruto was today” Tobirama informed him, he voice steely in it's fury.

“Could it have been a ploy? A trap?” Hashirama inquired, "Perhaps they were in the area because the Hatake wanted to get a hold of your notes on the Shadow Clone jutsu and Naruto was an emergency distraction?"

As sad as it would be, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that the Hatake could have used a child of their own blood in order to get close to our Clan in order to steal their secrets.

“I’m not so sure about that either. Naruto apparently refused Nowaki’s offer to come back to the Compound with him. Similarly, Naruto also refused to leave with Kobaki several times. Kobaki also recalled that the Hatake explicitly stated that Naruto belonged to him. Neither wanted to fight Kobaki initially, but Kobaki refused to hand Naruto over to the Hatake thinking that Naruto was one of ours. When Kobaki lost the Hatake left him alive, and Naruto apologized before leaving with the Hatake” Tobirama recited what he had learned, sounding both baffled and exhausted.

Hashirama agreed that the entire situation was indeed odd.

Never had they ever come across something like this before. Individuals usually stuck to their clans or families. Rarely did anyone ever leave or go off on their own, especially if they came from a Clan that left them with distinguishable traits. It wasn’t completely unheard of for it to happen, but the cases of those that did were few and far-between. And typically those individuals never survived for very long on their own, even if they tried to settle down as a civilian.

Civilians were often brought into shinobi conflicts. Whether due to an unfortunate proximity to a battle, or as a result of a hired contract, civilians took a large brunt of the destruction wrought by warring Shinobi clans. As a result, many civilians were quick to turn on those they suspected of being descended from a clan bloodline of any kind.

So for two individuals from two entirely different high prestige Clans, both trained, to be associated with each other was unheard of.

When he and Madara had been young they had been one of these unheard of circumstances...But even then the two of them had eventually been divided by their Clans and duties.

"Hopefully Kohaku Village will be able answer some of our questions" Hashirama hoped, silently praying that his usual good luck would give them fortune here.

Tobirama hummed in agreement, "We will arrive shortly".

Sure enough, Kohaku Village appeared in their sights not thirty seconds later.

The two of them landed near the front arch and proceeded inside towards the Clan Head’s house.

Walking through the marketplace nothing seemed out of place or tense, which meant that no threats by any enemies had occurred despite the battles that recently took place near their borders.

“My Lords, we were not expecting you until tomorrow” Akira Kohaku addressed as he exited his home.

“A situation has arisen. Senju were attacked in the forest surrounding your Village and we came ask if anyone has noticed anything suspicious recently” Hashirama informed him, his expression serious even as he gave the man a shallow respectful bow.

The teeth-clenching look on Akira’s face was indicative of irritated recognition as he turned to his clansman behind him.

“Call Yobe here at once” Akira ordered none too nicely.

“I take it you know something?” Tobirama inquired, raising an eyebrow at the man's immediacy.

“Yobe informed me of a passing traveler who was asking for directions. He recognized him as a shinobi but he did not bare any Clan symbols. We set up guard around the Village but did not extend it to the forest. For that I apologize” Akira apologized, bowing to the Senju Brothers in deference.

“A traveling shinobi?” Hashirama inquired, the concept completely foreign in his mind.

“That is what Yobe informed me that the man said, though he took it with a grain of salt” Akira confirmed.

Hashirama looked over at his brother to gauge his reaction, and sure enough, Tobirama's gaze was distant as his mind whirled with different speculations and possibilities.

“Lord Akira” Yobe addressed approaching us quickly.

Like the rest of his Clan he bore the tomohoe tattoo on his upper arm.

“Has something happened?” Yobe asked fearfully, his gaze shifting between the Clan Leaders.

“Unfortunately yes. Senju were attacked in the forest surrounding our Village. You are to answer their questions of the shinobi you encountered earlier today” Akira said sternly.

Yobe paled a bit, but nodded none-the-less.

“When I was returning to the Village with my cart a man approached me. He claimed that he was just a passing traveler who lost his map and didn’t know where he was. Though he did subtly indicate that he was an orphaned shinobi formerly of a Clan. He said that he didn’t want any conflict, but rather he wanted to avoid any territories that could be potentially dangerous for him and the children he took in” Yobe reported, standing ramrod straight as he gave all the relevant details he could think of.

“Children?” Hashirama inquired, immediately latching onto the crucial detail.

“Yes. He said that he had taken in three orphaned children” Yobe replied.

“Did you see these children?” Tobirama inquired, curiously.

Yobe shook his head no.

“I never saw any children, so I can’t say for sure whether or not he was telling the truth” Yobe regretfully replied.

But it very well could be. And if it was, than Naruto might be one of these orphaned children.

“Can you tell us what this man looks like?” Tobirama inquired.

“He possessed gravity defying spiky white hair, and wore a kimono style shirt with a cloth headband around his left eye” Yobe immediately detailed.

'Well that pretty much confirms that the Hatake who attacked Kobaki and this traveler are most likely the same person' Hashirama thought.

“You said that he asked for directions. Do you have any indication of where he could be headed?” Hashirama asked him.

Yobe nodded yes, much to Hashirama and Tobirama's surprise.

“I told him that if we're truly telling the truth about avoiding conflict to either head south towards the Land of Waves, or that if he wanted to avoid the Senjus and Uchihas entirely then he could try his luck going north. Though I am not certain which he chose, if he really did want to avoid conflicts like he said, he probably went north” Yobe concluded.

'Considering he attacked one of our Clan and revealed himself it is very unlikely he decided to go south' Hashirama agreed.

“Thank you both, you have been most helpful” Hashirama sincerely thanked them.

“Of course my Lord. And if I may ask, were there any fatalities?” Akira asked.

“There was not. The Hatake who attacked one of our own left him alive and he is to recover. Our concern right now based on the information that you have given us is that we believe one of the orphans he supposedly took in may be of Senju descent” Hashirama informed them, omitting the potential Clan theft when so much information was still uncertain at the moment. It would do no one any good if he were to incite mass panic at a time such as this. (At least for now).

“He stole a child from your Clan?!” Akira exclaimed, aghast in horror.

Hashirama held up his hand to placate the man, shaking his head no.

“Based on the boy’s description we can say no one in our Clan recognizes him, so it is likely that he is an orphan” Hashirama assured him.

“However, the question still remains how a Senju child was unknowingly born outside the Clan, and why he is currently traveling with a Hatake who also is not with his Clan” Tobirama stated.

“We ask that our allies keep an eye out for the boy and this mysterious Hatake, but other than that we cannot do much else. Something tells me that the boy may see this Hatake as his guardian or at least something similar to that. Answers would be nice, but we do not have the luxury to spend time relentlessly pursuing them” Hashirama determined sadly, praying that the boy was not being held against his will by this Hatake or being used as some experiment.

“Rumors will spread quickly of a group such as there’s” Tobirama pointed out.

“Only if they are seen together” Hashirama remind him.

“That is true" Tobirama agreed, suddenly thoughtful, "It would explain why the boy was residing in the forest and the Hatake came down here alone. And up until now there hasn't been so much as a hint of other children being involved”

“None-the-less, we shall keep our senses open as we visit the rest of our allies. Perhaps we’ll find them walking around one of the nearby towns?” Hashirama stated optimistically, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

Tobirama merely humphed at his brother's naive optimism.

“Don’t be foolish. They will not be so reckless again” Tobirama stated matter-of-factly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at his brother's antics.

“We’re shinobi Tobirama. Anything can happen” Hashirama laughed, giving his brother a friendly pat on the shoulder that only made his scowl deepen further.

Tobirama really should have learned by now that his brother's luck was near preternatural.

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

Move.

They needed to move.

Tree trunks blurred past as Sasuke hopped from branch to branch, maintaining just enough awareness in his fear to ensure that he would not disturb too much of the ecology around him so that there would be as few traces to track him by as possible.

The few mockingly cheerful notes of the songbirds around them as they sped past making it to his ears without so much as a panicked scatter of wings as their movements followed along the light breeze rustling the leaves, leaving their slipstream undetectable by ear.

Sasuke breathed through his nose as he fought the knots that had been steadily coiling itself in his stomach, choosing instead to focus on the small output of chakra cushioning his footfalls against the bark as he silently thumped forward.

There was nothing.

No inquisitive questions. No obnoxious yelling.

The only sounds that were allowed to exist were the ones native to the area around them.

It wasn't the first time they'd spent traveling by foot in complete silence. After Waves, Kakashi had made a point to really crack down on their training, treating them almost like a miniature Anbu unit, something the man was far more comfortable and experienced with than a fresh-faced genin Team.

Sure some individuals (cough Iruka-sensei cough) complained about their squad being trained in such a way, though nobody could argue with the results...Or the fact that their eighth mission as ninja had been A-ranked and that if that trend continued they would need all the training they could get if they wanted to survive.

But never before now has the silence ever been so oppressive to him.

Kakashi's lazy facade was smashed to bits, Naruto was almost...dulled. Completely subdued in a way that just itched at Sasuke's skin as unnatural. And Sakura's typically soft edges were sharp and prickly, completely hyperalert and ready should anything or anyone appear in their path.

The anxiety of their circumstances was making his skin crawl in a way the Forest of Death and Zabuza never had.

Sasuke crushed the inconvenient feelings into a ball and shunted them to the side to deal with later. Regardless of how he felt, one thing was for certain.

They needed to put as much distance between them and the Land of Fire as quickly as possible.

Preferably to someplace that maintained very little Shinobi influence (though that might very well be impossible). And until a relatively neutral location was found they needed to keep moving no matter the cost.

How they could even be in this situation was still beyond his scope of comprehension though.

*Flashback*

Sasuke all but glared in the direction Naruto had disappeared in. The Dobe had yet to return from fetching the water. And while something like that wouldn’t normally raise any red flags, like the rest of them, Naruto had about as much good luck as he did bad.

“What is that Dobe doing?” Sasuke growled in frustration and concern.

“Knowing Naruto he forgot where the river was and got lost trying to find it” Sakura said, sounding exasperated.

That...was definitely a possibility. He sure as Hell wouldn’t come back empty handed, and Sasuke knew Naruto sure as Hell wouldn’t either.

Just as he was about to suggest looking for the Idiot a large pillar of electricity shot up into the sky like a beacon.

“Dammit!” Sasuke muttered regretfully, his fists clenching tightly at his sides. He knew he should've gone looking for the Idiot earlier!

“What was that?” Sakura asked worriedly, her hand subtly reaching near her hidden tanto.

“A lightning jutsu. A power one. And from the direction of it, something tells me that Naruto’s involved” Sasuke surmised, his tone riddled with irritation and worry.

That Dobe just couldn’t stay out of trouble for ten minutes could he?

“Let’s go Sakura” Sasuke ordered, immediately sprinting up into the trees to get to their teammate.

The two of them quickly made their way in the direction of where the lightning pillar was sighted. Keeping their footfalls light enough that they wouldn't be immediately detectible to a fight going on around them, though not as carefully hidden in their rush as they normally would be as they kept their senses out for any possible ambush as they ran to their teammate's aid.

As they got closer Sasuke felt two fast incoming presences coming at them in a frontal assault. He immediately snapped out his tanto from his sleeve and heard the tell-tale sign of Sakura doing the same from behind him.

Making an executive decision, Sasuke paused on his next branch, planting his feet and readying the chakra in his soles to push off the bark either to dodge or strike the moment the enemy to came into his line of sight.

The moment the enemy burst through the trees, Sasuke was met with a shock of white and blonde hair.

Sasuke immediately relaxed his stance at seeing the rest of his teammates, their familiar presences ghosting over his senses now that they were close enough, though he still didn’t risk putting away his tanto should an enemy be right on their tail.

However, before Sasuke could even ask for a situation report, Kakashi immediately cut him off, his sprint not slowing the slightest as he barrelled towards the two of them.

“Get moving! We are heading north as fast as our legs can take us” Kakashi commanded, his tone firm and urgent with no room for questions as he made his orders known.

For just a moment Sasuke was so startled he hesitated in his movements, staring blankly at his Sensei as he was suddenly upon them.

Kakashi in turn didn’t bother wasting precious moments for his students' mental faculties to play catch up. Instead he surged forward, grabbing Sasuke's upper right arm and Sakura’s upper left, spinning the both of them around and taking off into the trees in a single fluid motion.

Only a taking a few seconds of ensuring the two of them would be steady on their feet did Kakashi release them to follow after him and Naruto in formation.

“What the hell is going on? What was that jutsu?” Sasuke demanded, quickly deducing the root cause of their sudden retreat.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

Kakashi was the definition of calm and collected.

The man spent a damn near decade in the Anbu Black Ops. Being emotionless and carrying more masks than just physical in the face of unscrupulous deeds and missions was a literal requirement.

So if something caused Kakashi to panic, you should be panicking.

“That diagram wasn’t an ordinary seal. It was some type of space-time portal” Kakashi finally revealed, his grave tone sending chills up Sasuke's spine.

“So we’ve been transported somewhere else?” Sakura asked, her eyes alight with both fascination and tension.

“Not somewhere else. Some-time” Kakashi emphasized cryptically.

“Wait, are you saying we time-traveled?!” Naruto shouted, his voice raising into the upper octaves in his disbelief.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Traveling through time is impossible!” Sasuke yelled back, resisting the urge to whack Naruto upside the head for coming to the same conclusions he had, though he refused to believe Kakashi's horrifying implications.

“We’re Shinobi, Sasuke. In theory time-travel is possible, but as to my knowledge, such a thing has never been achieved before. It would take a master in both seals and space-time ninjutsu, and even then other factors would have to be taken into account. Extremely complicated, but impossible..No” Kakashi stated firmly, his fists clenching as he thought back to the familiar characters and swirls of the diagram. Mentally kicking himself for only realizing just now that they vaguely resembled the characters and designs he'd seen Minato-sensei use in his Space-Time techniques and in the seals based on the fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki clan he'd seen Kushina practice with his former Team every once in a while.

“So...We're actually in the past then?” Sakura inquired, sounding like she was fighting very hard to keep the trembles out of her voice.

“Yes” Kakashi confirmed without an ounce of hesitation.

“Okay...But then how far into the past are we?” Sakura pressed, sounding just shy of desperate for more information.

“Exactly how many years I’m not sure, but what I do know is that we are smack dab inbetween the Senju and Uchiha during the Warring States Era” Kakashi remarked gravely, his words frigid, causing the three of their blood to run cold.

*End Flashback*

Sasuke's teeth ground together almost painfully at the memory.

Of all the time periods they could have been sent back to.

The Warring States Era was one of the darkest, bloodiest times in all of their recorded history.

While Shinobi were generally considered a military force now, back during the Warring States Era all the Clans were essentially established mercenary families in some form, who (when they weren't fighting each other) were hired by outside parties to complete a contractual agreement. Like all things, contracts varied in nature. From anything as simple as trade agreements, escorts, a protection detail to assassination, subterfuge and sabotage. Of course if one business hired a Clan to protect their interests and sabotage their competitors, their competitors typically would respond in kind, hiring another Clan to oppose them and protect them from attack. Naturally, competition for jobs only further sowed discord between the Clans.

In his opinion, from what he understood of its history, Clans during the Warring States Era were more akin to the structure and heirarchy of their Era's Yakuzas. Loyalty to the Clan was prioritized above all else and ingrained deeply into the mindset of the young from practically birth. Clan was the most important thing. Everyone has a role or purpose to fulfill for the betterment of the Clan. You provide for the Clan. You fight for the Clan. And it is your honor to die for the Clan. Traitors are not permissible.

The average lifespan was thirty at best. Children as young as even five or six were forced to fight for the "glory and honor" of their Clan and were just as indiscriminately slaughtered on the battefields.

Those who managed to live to be about fifteen-sixteen years old were immediately married off in hopes that they would start producing children before they were killed. Sometimes even as early as thirteen for the girls (Sasuke tried very hard not to scowl at the back of his pink haired teammate's head. 'Why did she have to be older than him and Naruto damnit!').

Those in the Main Branch especially made sure to have as many "spares" as possible in the hopes that one of them would survive long enough to have children themselves.

In fact, the main reason that so many prominent Clans had dwindled down to near nothing in the present day was because after the Warring States Era had ended many had wanted to do away with the idea of having multiple "spares".

Of course that also meant that not enough children were being born to combat the numbers being slaughtered during the onset of the Clan Purges and the three Shinobi World Wars.

The Senju, Uzumaki, Hatake, Umino, and Shimura were among those that had suffered the greatest, each of them very nearly extinct in all but name with only a few survivors to carry on their Clans' legacy (if only in their blood). The Uchiha had managed to mostly recover their numbers since being specifically made priority targets on the battlefields during the Wars…At least until the Massacre anyhow...

Just the thought that they were back in such a terrifying Era was inconceivable.

There wasn’t anywhere they could go that would be safe.

'Frankly we couldn’t be a more distinguishable group if we tried' Sauke thought disdainfully with a hint of dark humor.

He was very obviously an Uchiha, and anyone with any kind sensing skills would be able to tell that Naruto was part Senju and Uzumaki (his spikey blonde-ass hair and blue eyes didn’t help matters either). Kakashi’s trademark white hair and nearly covered face made him easily distinguishable even without his Hatake heritage.

Out of all of them Sakura was the safest, but that wasn’t saying too much. Even if they couldn’t immediately determine what Clan she was from, any enemy worth their salt would be able to tell that she was a Shinobi and that was more than enough of a reason to kill her. Not to mention her pink hair would be an easy enough descriptor to track her by, and similar enough to the common red coloring of the Uzumaki clan to give anyone a moment's pause of consideration as to her heritage.

The largest issue however was the fact that during the Warring States Era all the Clans kept to themselves unless they were allies or fighting on the battlefield. And a group consisting of four people from four different Clans, two of them mortal enemies…Well, they were effectively screwed.

Sasuke growled in anger, breaking the natural silence surrounding them.

“You just had to butt into a situation that didn’t involve you” Sasuke stated irately, glaring at the back of Naruto’s head as if he could make the Dobe's hair spontaneously combust into flames.

A tick mark immediately formed on Naruto's forehead as he whirled his head around to return his teammate's glare, “How was I supposed to know that we had gotten our asses sent back in time?! It’s not like there was a sign anywhere that said ‘Hello and welcome seventy years into the past. Enjoy your stay’. Besides what was I supposed to do? Just let that kid die?”

“Maybe you should have” Sasuke ground out, his tone icy as he met Naruto's challenging gaze head on.

“What did you just say you Bastard?!” Naruto shouted angrily, barely restraining himself from tackling Sasuke mid-air.

“Shut up both of you!” Sakura growled, balling her fists at the both of them in frustration before turning behind her to face her ravenette teammate as she hopped off another branch.

“Saving a little kid in trouble isn’t wrong. Naruto couldn’t have known what had happened” Sakura berated, her eyes sharp and scolding.

Sasuke just gave an unhappy grunt of acknowledgement and shifted his gaze away from her, a faint embaressed blush on his face at having lost his cool.

“Ha! Suck it Bastard! Sakura agrees with me” Naruto cheered, sounding smug as he first pumped the air.

Sasuke just growled at the Idiot for his flippant behavior.

“That’s not to say Sasuke doesn’t have a point Naruto” Sakura deadpanned, verbally smacking the back of the blonde's head.

“What?!” Naruto explaimed, very nearly loosing the flow of his footing in his confusion.

Sakura merely rolled her eyes before her face morphed into an expression of uneasy wariness, “Think about it. We’re in the past. Anything we do could change things in our time. That kid you saved was probably supposed to die, but instead you saved him. That kid probably never got to grow up, so who knows how him surviving is going to effect things. We have to be seriously careful about what we do or else who knows what damage we could cause!”

“Sakura’s right. If we interfere too much we could end up causing the Village not to be created” Kakashi said seriously.

'Dammit' Sasuke mentally berated himself.

He hadn’t even thought that far ahead. He was just on edge that the Senju now knew of their presence and what that could mean for them, but Sakura was right. What if that kid surviving causes some sort of ripple effect? As horrible as it sounded, maybe they should go back and kill him…

'No' Sasuke vetoed, barely restraining from shaking his head at the idea.

'That would be putting us at serious risk of being caught' he rationalized, 'Whether we like the possible implications or not, the kid is alive. Whatever happens from here on out happens. Besides, chances are the kid won't live long anyway. No point in placing ourselves in undue danger now'

Sasuke pretended that he wasn’t just rationalizing a legitimate reason not to kill some unfortunate kid who truly didn’t deserve to die and kicked those thoughts in the dark abyss where they belonged and instead focused on their current predicament.

Right now they had been running for about half a day.

While it wasn't the longest stretch of time they've traveled continuously, it was the longest distance they've ever traveled at the current rate they were going.

Sasuke could feel the fatigue starting to slowly creep into his muscles, the ever growing more insistent pangs of hunger that could no longer be completely ignored, and the ever growing dryness of his tongue as his body demanded water.

Regardless of how dangerous the situation, Sasuke knew they were due for a rest soon or else they would run the risk of exhaustion and leave themselves even more vulnerable to an enemy attack.

Apparently Kakashi had been thinking much along the same lines.

“Once we identify the nearest town I will scout it alone in order to identify whether it is safe enough to temporarily break there” Kakashi relayed, his commands firm.

Sasuke held back a scoff.

Safe.

The concept of that word no longer exists.

Only the surivival-of-the-fittest.

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

"You think I'm foolish enough to believe that this garbage is genuine Aburame silk?! I may not have a lot of ryo to my name, but know a snake oil peddler when I see one!"

"Oh Kuro, I see you've returned. How was your last trip?"

"Fresh fish! Get your fresh fish here! Straight from the branch off of the River of Tears!"

"Did you hear? They're saying a fight took place near Kohaku Village. Rumor has it that both the Senju and Uchiha have been seen poking around the area"

Sakura did her best to remain impassive as she wove her way through the light hustle and bustle of the market, trying very hard not to react to the information that was quickly circulating around the town.

From what she's managed to gather thus far, the 'rumors' have been devoid of any physical descriptions to go along with the apparent 'perpetrators' of the fight. Leaving most to speculate that it was just another skirmish between the Senju and the Uchiha or their allies.

The absolute relief that settled her near rattling bones was beyond words. The Senju could very easily have sent out bounties with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei's descriptions in order to aid in weeding them all out of hiding that much quicker. Instead, the Senju had done what Kakashi-sensei had predicted would be the more likely scenario and kept their speculation of his and Naruto's heritage a secret in order to avoid starting a fight with the actual Hatake clan of this time period.

For once politics actually worked in their favor.

However, what was worrying her more was the fact that the Uchiha were now apparently sniffing around Kohaku Village too. Or rather if she had to guess, the reminents of Naruto's battle with the Hagoromo.

If the Uchiha and Hagoromo clans were allies then it would make sense that the Uchiha would be examining the corpse of their fallen ally for any indication of who killed them.

With any luck they would just blame the Kohaku or the Senju.

And while Sakura felt the slightest twinge of guilt in her gut for wishing for such a scenario that would no doubt incite more pain and death on both sides, the last thing they needed was to have the Uchiha or the Hagoromo clan hunting them down as well.

However, descriptors or no descriptors, they still had to tread very carefully. They were still a very distinguishable group and if they wanted to avoid any further detection they needed to avoid contact with any possible members of Clans or their allies. Hence why they had holed up in the town they had.

The first town they had come across had actually been the infamous adult tourist hub the Tanzaku Quarters.

To her amazement the town was still a site of sin and pleasure even Sage knows how many years into the past as they were. Though unlike during their time period the town was still run by the Tanzaku family, the current Lords of the land the current 'businesses' had settled on. And as a way to maximize their profits, the Tanzaku family had deemed their land as neutral territory, choosing to forgo any alliances and labeling themselves as a 'haven' for all those seeking respite in these trying times of war and suffering.

And that "all" included members of Shinobi Clans.

So in addition to the possibility of running into the Senju, Uchiha, and Hatake, Kakashi-sensei theorized that the town was also likely swarming with informants that would be more than happy to tip off the Senju about their presence for the right price should one ask around.

And as such, no matter the increasing ache in their muscles and parchness of their throats they had to continue their trek onwards until they finally came across Yama-Hin.

Whereas the Tanzaku Quarters had been a wealthy and popular recuperation site, Yama-Hin by comparison was almost a ramshackle shanty-town. The homes looked barely held together, with the wood looking as aged and worn down as the people themselves. The streets were nowhere near as bustling and in fact had more bounty hunters casually milling about then it did vendors. Likely due to the town itself being settled between the crossroads going north and south of the mountains along the Land of Fire's borders. So where the town lacked in resources, they had any overabundance of intel stemming from those coming and going along the peddler routes. Perfect for bounty hunters looking for their next acquisition.

The artisans and sellers that did line the edges of their shops with their carts either had old and bruised crops or overpriced goods.Though considering Sakura had caught the fishmonger switching out the prices to his fish when he had spotted her making her way towards him it was probably safe to say that the prices she had to haggle down throughout the market were likely only overinflated for travelers passing through. And though it was annoying, Sakura could understand they likely wanted to make a profit where they could. And her appearance did scream "foreigner".

Sakura fought the urge to self-consciously tug at her collar as she made her way over to the legumes vendor she had spotted earlier. While Yama-Hin was a neutral town that didn't welcome Shinobi, bounty hunters would be more than willing to go to the Clans if they felt they had any good intel worth bartering for. As such, Kakashi-sensei made the executive decision to have them all immediately switch out of their current attires into something less…nice.

Kakashi-sensei had changed into a dull brown beaten up long sleeved kimono shirt and dark brown pants, with an old beige scarf (that had been white at one point) that had been torn and poorly re-sewn partially covering the bottom half of his face. He also had a similarly no longer white bandana covering his gravity defying white hair and a circular black eyepatch over his left eye to cover his Sharingan. And to top off the look, Kakashi-sensei had used makeup to give himself the appearance of soft wrinkles, effectively disguising himself as an older man. (She was definitely going to bully her Sensei into teaching her how to do that once they were no longer running for their lives).

Similarly, Sasuke was now wearing a long sleeved dull dark brown kimono style shirt with light brown pants and a faded beige headband over top his bangs in an attempt to mask his more obvious Clan features.

In contrast to both Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke's similar attires, Naruto had changed into a dull cream colored long sleeved shirt with a dull burnt orange vest layered overtop of it (one that Kakashi-sensei had pointedly glared at), and worn out brown pants. Naruto also had a dull white bandana covering his light blonde hair, and his whisker-like birthmarks had been covered over with a quick layer of foundation provided by Kakashi-sensei.

In contrast to her teammates, her appearance was entirely the opposite of theirs. In fact, their whole plan was hinged upon her being recognizable to others, civilians included. Though not for her loud bubblegum hair. No. It was her clothes that were the star of the show.

A plain off-white long sleeved kimono dress with a black sash circling her waist, with a tight long sleeved black turtle neck underneath it, and tight black thigh high sandals. The kimono itself while seemingly plain had a ring of six black magatama on centered around the the circular dotted symbol on her back, the symbol of the Ninshu Monks.

During the Warring States Era, Shinobi as an unspoken rule keep their fighting away from any religious temples. Of course that wasn't to say that the Nishu Monks of this time did nothing. From what she had understood of their history, the Monks would treat any injured they came across, but they laid down firm boundaries with the Clans that they were not some pit-stop hospital to be taken advantage of. And with the Ninshu Monks maintaining a stance of neutrality, other Rules had been established as well. Including the rule that anyone seen outside of their Clan with a Monk was considered off limits until they were released from said Monk's care.

It was the perfect cover.

And the "best" part? The clothes weren't even fake.

The Harunos have been documented as Ninshu Monks for over 500 years, with her ancestors going as far back as to when the Temple was first created nearly 900 years ago (At least according to her Father anyway). Her great-grandfather though had been enamored with the Shinobi life ever since he had been saved by one as a kid. It had taken some convincing, but he was eventually given permission to join the Leaf Village Ninja Academy. From there he ultimately became a Chunin and his descendents (her immediate family) remained in the Village.

Legally, due to her family's long heritage as Ninshu Monks they were considered a Clan. While they didn’t have hiden techniques or kekkei genkai like the more prestigious Clans, it was proven that her family did possess higher than normal memory retention and analytical skills, as well as a natural affintity for fuinjutsu, juinjutsu, and chakra control stemming from their centuries as Monks. However they were still considered a lower prestige Clan. A fact she was bullied for relentlessly at the Academy alongside her hair color and forehead size. Because while her heritage did have it's benefits, like a double-edged sword, her family's Ninshu roots also meant that they naturally had smaller chakra stores, and tended not to be very physically inclined. The Shinobi of her Clan were excellent support ninja, even being granted the honor of Heading the Clerical Division and (through her mother) running the Library and Archives, but they were not so much skilled with straight combat. Though despite that, all her Clansmen have been able reach Chunin so that was something.

When she first graduated the Academy her goal was to improve her Clan’s standings. To show everyone that they weren’t sub-par. That they could stand tall and proud next to their more prestigious counterparts.

That she could stand tall and proud as Ino's equal.

As such, with the ambition to show the Village that the Haruno Clan had more than just intellectual support-types, she had never worn her Clan's traditional Ninshu Monk attires. Feeling that if she did, it would be the same as admitting that she wasn't suited to being a Ninja.

But her feelings and insecurities were irrelevant in regards to their safety.

So when she had swallowed her pride and told her Team of the Monk attires her Father had all but thrown at her when she stated she was going on a reconnaissance mission, she couldn't help but let out a small giggle of relief when they hadn't looked at her as any lesser than they had before. If anything they looked at her as if she had just solved all of their worldly problems.

While she wouldn't go so far as to say they were definitively safe, walking through Yama-Hin, she was entirely grateful that her Father apparently had more foresight then her.

Just as they planned, upon arrival the majority of the citizens of the town recognized what she represented, giving her slight respectful nods as she passed by, paying the boys a step behind her no mind.

It was definitely an odd feeling. Sakura was so used to everyone praising her teammates (even Naruto these days) that it was a foreign feeling to being the one with the highest status in the group (even if that technically wasn’t true).

“Thank you for your patronage” Sakura said gratefully towards the legumes stand owner, giving him a moderate bow as she took the bag from him.

“It’s no problem. I just wish that all Shinobi would be more like your kind. The world would certainly be a much better place” the Seller said, sounding as if he were far to wary to even be bitter anymore. The age-lines and wrinkles becoming more pronounced as a frown formed on his face, and the gray hairs dulling his black locks shining silver in the sun as his hand swept through them. Despite appearing to be in his late forties, Sakura surmised that he couldn’t have been more than twenty-five. The stress of the Warring States Era took its toll on everybody, not just the Shinobi. And was one of the reasons why the formation Shinobi Villages became so popular. It allowed the regular citizens to thrive as much as the Shinobi.

“One day at a time. An endless war benefits no one in the end. Eventually the sides will tire” Sakura gently tried to assure him, wanting nothing more then to tell him better years were coming, and knowing full well why she couldn't.

“We can only hope” he replied back, looking very much like he was trying very hard not to burst her naive little bubble.

Sakura merely gave him a polite nod and continued on her way. With her errands finished she started walking towards water well at the town center. It was almost high noon and she had promised her Team that she would meet back up with them there at quarter past.

Making her way through the crowds, out of the corner of her eye Sakura noticed a rather rough looking man ahead of her, one that she immediately recognized as her stalker from her trips around the food market. Nothing particularly notable about him, the man had long unkept brown hair tied into a ponytail, tanned flaky skin (likely from recent sunburn), brown eyes and a diagonal scar cutting across his left cheek. However it was the way he wore his black cloak and katanna in his sash gave Sakura the distinctive impression that he was some kind of bounty hunter.

Sakura ignored him, keeping her expression in bothered even as he made his leers toward her more obvious as she went by.

“What’s a pretty little Monk like you doing so far away from your Temple?” the Bounty Hunter sleazily exclaimed, pushing himself off of the stall he was leaning against and trailing after her.

'Oh' Sakura realized in relief. He hadn't recognized her. He was just a scumball.

Sakura forced herself to breathe steadily through her nose. Willing herself not to lose her temper and kick the pervert where the sun don’t shine, she calmly turned to face the bastard.

“Nishu is about understanding yourself and others and the connections we all possess. Spending all my time meditating in the Temple won’t help me understand the outside world” Sakura replied evenly, not reacting to his so-called 'flirtations'.

“Well if it’s gaining an understanding of others you want, I can certainly give you a few pointers on how to acheive enlightenment” the Bounty Hunter said with an almost feral smile as he raked his eyes up and down her form, "The name's Kuro by the way. Just thought you'd want to know the name you'll be screaming later"

Sakura surpressed a shutter of disgust at his obvious insinuation (He has to be almost twenty for Sage's sake!).

“I can assure you I already understand the world and my own desires. Goodday” Sakura coldly dismissed, immediately turning her back to him, though she kept up her awareness of her surroundings knowing full well that there was no way the man would take such an insult lying down.

“Why you stuck up little bitch! I’m gonna show you your place real quick” Kuro growled, immediately reaching out his hand to grab the pretentious pinkette's arm and drag her back to his temporary loggings.

As if in slow motion, Sakura could feel the bounty hunter advancing on her. As she braced herself to show the bastard the four steps to SING, Sakura suddeenly felt a very familiar presence appear behind her.

Turning around, Sakura saw that Sasuke had the pervert’s neck wrapped in a strangling grip with his right hand, while holding his tanto threateningly against Kuro's face with his left.

“The only person who will be screaming here is you” Sasuke threatened furiously, his voice as icy as the steel blue of his chakra leaking out around him, his killing intent slowly beginning to build up around him, his entire being screaming 'murder' in a way that was eerily reminiscent to when he had first woken up after Orochimaru had given him the Curse Mark.

The difference now was that there wasn't a Curse Mark degrading Sasuke's mindset to account for the cold, dark fury currently in his chakra. Fury that was entirely directed at the man Sasuke currently had locked within his clutches.

Sakura shifted her gaze to assess Kuro's face, watching as it went from startled and pained to a deep rooted fear she couldn’t entirely identify.

For a moment it almost looked as if he actually recognized Sasuke.

“M-my ap-pologies. I had n-no idea she was claimed” Kuro stammered out pleadingly, growing increasingly pale despite his complexion.

“Like it rough do you?” a lethal droll sounded from behind.

Sakura turned her head a bit to the left to see Kakashi-sensei calmly walking towards them. Well…as calm as a croaching tiger anyhow. Frankly, Kakashi-sensei’s calm fury felt even more dangerous than Sasuke’s blatant killing intent radiating through the air. And considering the flash of fear Sakura saw in Kuro's eyes, she knew the moment the man realized the chances of him walking away from this confrontation alive or fully intact.

“I’ll show him rough. I’ll shove his balls so far up his ass he’ll be vomiting them up for the next week!” Naruto viciously vowed, appearing at Sakura's right right.

Suddenly aware of the prickles at the back of her next, Sakura took a quick survey of their surroundings and realized that the civilians had already cleared the area and were currently spying on the through cracks in their windows and doorframes.

This was bad. She needed to stop the three of them before they blew their cover any more than they already had.

“That’s enough. It is not worth your time. I believe Kuro has more than learned to keep to himself from now on. Come before you all make any more of an unnecessary scene” Sakura commanded, trying to sound as authoritative as possible while jabbing glares at the back of Sasuke's head, silently pleading him to listen.

For a moment no one dared to move.

For a brief moment Sasuke gripped the man’s throat tighter before tossing him hard into the ground, keeping his tanto pointed at the man’s face.

“You ever approach her or any woman like that ever again I will make you wish that I had killed you today” Sasuke threatened…No…promised.

Kuro began his imitation of a bobblehead as his body very overtly shuddered in fear.

“Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you” Kuro sputtered fearfully, immediately scooting away from Sasuke the moment he had lifted his tanto away from his face, taking no time in scurrying away like the little rat he was while he still had his life.

Sakura resisted the urge to facepalm as she sighed at the giant mess. Hopefully their stay here could be salvaged. She had gotten them temporary lodging at the Guild a few buildings down from the well and she would prefer to stay and continue recouping in the town for a little longer, though ultimately it would be up to Kakashi-sensei to make the call.

However, judging by the scornful glares her teammates were sending in the direction Kuro was last seen scampering off, somehow Sakura thought the bigger issue for her at the moment was going to be how she was going to convince the three of them that she did not in fact need an escort everywhere she went.

There was no mistaking it.

Lord Izuna.

That boy was Lord Izuna’s spitting image.

There was no way that kid was not an Uchiha.

The appearance. His aura. That fury.

Though the real question was, what was an Uchiha kid that was no doubt related to the Clan Head doing this far out with a Ninshu Monk and two others who were very likely shinobi themselves?

Lord Madara and Lord Izuna were by no means soft, but they most certainly did not allow their Clan’s children this far out without an adult member with them. And there was no way that old man was an Uchiha (At least he didn't think so anyway). Blondie sure as Hell wasn't.

In general, Kuro hated dealing with Shinobi…But maybe this time the payout would be worth it.

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

A chill swept through the room as whisps of wind kicked up the edges of the reports in an almost teasing attempt to falter his calligraphy.

With barely a conscious thought, Hikaku Uchiha merely paused in his brush strokes as the pads of his left hand swiftly prevented any chance of having to redo his signature.

As the wind died down, Hikaku steadily finished the confirmation of his review of the week's final report. Setting the scroll aside to dry before taking a moment to loosen the stiffness in his back and shoulders.

Amaterasu had long since fled the skies as Tsukuyomi followed after in pursuit. Though an overcast of clouds were casting shadows across the face of the moon and blocking the stars' guiding trail.

Hikaku couldn't smell any hint of a storm brewing on the wind as he gazed out the earthen window into the pitch black, the absence of color no different from the ink he'd been scribing with the last several hours. But a lack of forewarning meant little. The usual melodies of crickets and frogs were errily absent, making the whistling of the wind through the curves of the terraced mountain of the Compound that much more unsettling as the whispers made its way up to the top of the Base.

"Lord Hikaku”

He turned to the shadowed figure outside the sliding doors, the candlight flickering in the breeze, causing the image to briefly spasm as they awaited his acknowledgement.

"Katori" He addressed, turning to face his Clansman. The Vanguard in question openning the doors as he remained prostrated on his knees.

“Our couriers received a message not long ago from one of our informants via messenger pigeon. The Ciphers deemed the message clear of traps, and ordered that it should be made priority for you to address now rather than wait till morning” Katori reported succinctly, pushing the folded letter forwards for him to take.

A frown nearly made its way onto his face as he slid the parchment closer, an invisible sensation ghosting across his skin. Whether it was the wind or his own uneasy wariness he wasn't entirely certain.

A message of importance that could not be put off until the morn...Such things never boded well.

Unfolding the creases of the message, Hikaku quickly scanned the contents before him:

My Lord(s),

I will not waste your time on simple pleasantries. During my recuperation in Yama-Hin I encountered a young Ninshu Monk accompanied by a trio of suspicious origins. One of these individuals being a boy approximately twelve-thirteen years of age that is the spitting visage of Lord Izuna. I am well aware of how this claim may come across. However my record preceeding me, I assure you that my account is true. Bounty Hunters know to identify those from Clans well, and the boy is without a doubt an Uchiha. I would not dare risk my reputation nor your ire if I was not otherwise certain.

I will remain in Yama-Hin for another five days if the matter is of interest to pursue. You may ask for me at the Yamamoto Guild.

Kuro

Hikaku stared blankly at the message, blinking owlishly as he silently read and reread the message.

“My Lord?” Katori inquired, refusing to allow the wariness settling in his bones waver his tone.

“A bounty hunter claims a child of our Clan is in Yama-Hin” Hikaku announced dryly, the disbelief of the sheer arrogance of the claim bleeding through into his voice, "One that he states, looks like Lord Izuna".

Katori blinked in surprise, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion as he mentally worked through the possibilities.

“A trap then my Lord?” Katori deduced curiously.

“Most likely. However, Lord Madara would never just dismiss the matter outright as false without gathering more information. While this is most likely a ruse we have a duty to those of our blood if the child is indeed one of ours” Hikaku decided.

While this was very likely a ploy, there was still the slight possibility that one of the Monks had rescued a bastard of their Clan and subsequently taken them in, in order to ensure their survival. While the Nishu Monks held a neutral stance with the warring Clans and would aid those injured they came across, they firmly reiterated time and time again that they were a religious group, not shinobi, servants, informants, or couriers and would in no manner partake in the Clans' War as such. If a bastard child of their Clan was discovered, unless the child explicitly expressed interest in contacting the Clan for retrieval, the Ninshu Monks were under no obligation to contact them regarding their existence so long as the child followed the Monks' rules and partook in aiding their community.

So while the chances of the bounty hunter's claims being true were small, they weren’t zero.

“Call for Asami. The three of us will determine the nature of this matter immediately come dawn” Hikaku ordered, turning to face the moon just as it disappeared once more under the cover of the clouds.

Perhaps there was a storm brewing over the horizon after all.

“We can’t just keep running. The only way we’re going to be able to get back to the Leaf Village is studying the diagram. We can’t do that in Wave” Sasuke pointed out, folding his arms across his chest. The shadows cast from the single candlelight on the table settled between all of them causing his eyes to look almost as if they were engulfed in flames.

“While that may be true, as of right now we have the Senju clan breathing down our necks and find ourselves in an Era we only know of from history books. An Era whose unspoken rules and territories we know nothing about" Kakashi firmly reminded them all once more, "Right now what we need is information and a place to lay low until it’s…a safer bet to return to the Rocky Hills”.

“Okay, but even if we do manage to study the seal, what then? None of us are specialists in Space-Time ninjutsu and the only person who would have enough skill in that area in this time period to help us is Tobirama Senju” Sakura unhappily pointed out.

Even if she, Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei put their heads together, Fuinjutsu was not the same as Space-Time ninjutsu no matter the overlaps. And while she did have some extensive knowledge on Ninjutsu Theory, even without taking a look at the seal Sakura knew its makeup was well outside her current scope of comprehension. Whoever created the seal was likely an expert in the field and undoubtedly had spent years researching and testing before unveiling the final product for use. And unlike the creator, being back in the past meant that they had no way to access a library or research on Space-time ninjutsu of any kind. Not unless they were brave enough to infiltrate a Clan Compound. And the only ones that would be of any use to them would be next to impossible to get in or out of, let alone de-code whatever scrolls they manage to grab should they actually manage to suceed.

It would be years before they could feasibly (and safely) create anything remotely close to what they would need. If only because they wouldn't be able to dedicate a consistent amount of time to recreating the seal (Or better yet, figuring out how to operate the one that transported them here in the first place). At least in the beginning until they find their footing in this Era and weren't actively fleeing for their lives.

Sasuke scoffed.

“The only way we’d have a chance of contacting Tobirama Senju is either on the battlefield or if we send Naruto back to Kohaku Village to try and somehow convince them to message the Senju with our request for assistance. And considering Naruto is likely implicated with aiding and abetting an assault on one of their clansman, the chances of them just killing him outright is just too high for us to risk” Sasuke dismissed, a scowl forming at the curves of his mouth.

A heavy silence permeated the room.

Kakashi let the reality of their situation sink further into the depth of his Squad's brains.

They had no allies. No backup. No resources. The Clan skills they once took pride in were now a hindrance. And their Clansmen themselves, an outright enemy.

“I’m not going to lie to any of you. This mission is nothing short of S-ranked. It’s going to take everything we have just to survive. Stealth and reconnaissance are the priority. We can’t concern ourselves with others no matter how unjust the situation. The mere fact that we’re here is detrimental to the timeline. Killing or saving, even just interacting with anyone can cause a ripple affect that could change things in the future. Am I clear?” Kakashi demanded, his tone unyielding.

“Yes sir!”

“Good. Naruto and I will use the cover of night to do some recon around the area in order to make as accurate a geological map as possible. Ideally we should return by the late afternoon. Sasuke, you and Sakura stay here and continue bartering for supplies, preferably things we can preserve” Kakashi ordered, getting to his feet as Naruto scurried to put on his sandals and check the functionality of the barrier seals once more.

“Got it” Sasuke nodded, running through a mental list of some other things that it would be good to get before they left.

“Remember, keep a low profile”

Sasuke slammed his hand down against the ground, activating the seals and storing the last of their supplies into his storage scroll.

Not for the first time, Sasuke was grateful that Master Jiraiya had taught Naruto how to create Chakra Concealing Seals. It allowed for a sense of ease and safety that was almost foolish for the predicament that they were in, but just knowing that at the very least no Shinobi could currently sense their presence was a weight off his shoulders. Even if he and Sakura did still tense up each time they heard footsteps in the hall.

Finished with his task, Sasuke looked over at Sakura.

She'd been near hyper-focused on her own preparations since she'd gotten some kind of an idea when they were out in the market this morning.

“What are you making?” Sasuke inquired curiously, watching as Sakura meticulously crushed the various herbs she'd cut up together until they were a uniform paste.

When they had been out bartering for goods they had the fortune of running into a local medicinewoman. In exchange for Sakura healing some of the injured in Town, the woman told them where they could find some of the herbs that grew in the surrounding woods and mountainside.

Sakura had all but lept at the opportunity, spending the rest of the morning tending to the ill with a combination of basic medical ninjutsu and non-chakra related procedures. Both to conserve her chakra, and as a way prevent herself from accidentally showcasing anything that would be considered too advanced or just flat out wasn't invented yet.

Though what Sakura needed the herbs for he wasn't certain, as some of them didn't seem to be ones that were typically used for herbal remedies.

“I’m combining herbs that contain paralytic effects with my smoke bombs” Sakura replied, completely missing the look of surprise that crossed Sasuke's face as she finished crushing the herbs, pouring the contents into each of the custom smoke pelts she'd created earlier, “The effects are only temporary, but it’ll give us a better chance of escaping should we need it”.

Sasuke nodded in approval. They needed every advantage they could come up with if they wanted to be able to escape their enemies and survive.

Even still, Sasuke couldn't help but feel that they were getting too comfortable being in Yama-Hin.

They had stayed far longer in Town than he would have liked, but logically he understood thst they couldn’t continue running around the territories blind without knowing who owned what. That would be suicidal.

“I’m going to get us some more water. I’m sure Naruto and Kakashi will want some when they come back” Sasuke exclaimed.

“I’ll meet you out front” Sakura acknowledged, starting to reseal her supplies in her own scroll, “I want to speak with that medicinewoman some more”.

Sasuke nodded as he exited their room and made his way to the front of the guild where the bar was located.

Leaning against the side wall, Sasuke took stock of the room as he waited for his teammate.

Though a few bounty hunters amongst the drunken merchants and travelers eyed him warily, they just as quickly averted their eyes. Unsurprising considering he outright threatened one of their own yesterday. (The disgusting coward in question was currently trying and failing to hide himself from his gaze in the furthest reaches of the bar). But, since threatening him, no one has made a move to engage with any of them. Sakura included. That was fine by Sasuke.

For the most part there was no one of any particular note in the room.

This morning when they had exited their room the bar contained a rare unaffiliated chakra-using bounty hunter. Fortunately the man was untrained enough that he hadn't sensed them like Sasuke had sensed him. But the fact that the bounty hunter could use chakra immediately had his hackles rising and his paranoia dialed up to eleven.

Thankfully the bounty hunter had already left Town by the time he and Sakura had returned from the markets, but since then he's made sure to keep a vague sense of his surroundings at all times whenever they weren't within the barrier Naruto set up.

Grudgingly, his sensory skills weren’t the sharpest, but he was still able to get a vague sense of who in the room near him had tapped into their chakra network so long as they weren't trying to actively conceal it, which most Shinobi during this time period didn't do anyway.

Confident that no one in the room could use chakra, some of the tension eased it's way off of his shoulders.

It was then the doors to the Guild opened, three people strolling in with purpose. Their eyes zeroing in on him the same moment a trio of powerful fiery sensations danced across his senses.

“Shit”

“We should start the final bit of the journey back. We need to leave Yama-Hin within the next hour” Kakashi stated, standing from his seat on the tree roots he was resting on.

Naruto merely gave him a subdued nod as he handed the map back over to his Sensei without a word. Sure he could go on a rant about how they could do anything so long as they were together. But the reality of the risks of their current precarious predicament made it hard for even his boundless optimism to spin things in a way that didn't sound like he was spouting pure naivety.

They were strong. They were skilled.

But the real question was whether the skills and strength they had were enough.

Kakashi allowed his student to have his moment of silent self-reflection. Silently proud of just how much Naruto has risen to match the unfortunate circumstances they had landed themselves in.

Kakashi had no doubt that if they all survived this ordeal and somehow managed to get back to their time without destroying the future, that Naruto would undoubtedly pass the next Chunin Exams.

Staring down at the rough map Naruto and he had created so far, Kakashi went over the layout once more.

Sora-Ku was directly east from Yama-Hin, and the territory a bit south from them was claimed by the Hagoromo clan. Both of the Towns were Uchiha allied territories. In order to continue their way towards the Land of Waves they’d have to cut between them.

Even if they retraced their steps south from Yama-Hin and went due east they’d still have to be cautious as they would then be going between the Aburame and the Hagoromo clans. And going south-west would mean running into the Sarutobi, and going due west meant heading into Kamizuru clan territory.

No matter which way they chose they would still have to potentially deal with the fallout of encountering a prominent Clan.

Their best bet would be to cut between the Nekoka clan of Sora-Ku and the Hagoromo Clan's territory he decided, trying very hard for Naruto’s sake to keep the uneasiness he was feeling from affecting his chakra.

Despite his efforts though Naruto still frowned. Though his expression seemed to be one more of consentration then unease.

Suddenly, Naruto’s head snapped in the direction of Yama-Hin, immediately making Kakashi's hairs stand on end as every muscle in his body coiled tightly ready to strike.

“What is it?” Kakashi demanded, hoping he was inferring wrong.

“Three shinobi are in Yama-Hin!”

As they neared Yama-Hin, Hikaku silently hoped that the investigation wouldn’t be a waste of his Clan’s time.

While it was likely that this was some dishonorable trap laid by one of their enemies, Hikaku grudgingly had to admit that he didn’t believe that it was one the Senju were behind.

Hashirama would rather die before baiting anyone of their Clan with rumors of a child that resembled Lord Izuna. And since Lord Madara and Lord Izuna were away checking on their allied Clans (much like the Senju were rumored to be doing) it was up to himself as the third-in-line to the Uchiha Clan to ensure that every matter and situation was handled with the appropriate efficiency and diligence as one would expect of a proxy Clan Leader.

It also meant that it was his duty to assess whether the basis of their informant’s claims were true. And if it was…Depending on the circumstances, someone’s head was going to roll.

With Lord Madara's exclusion of children on the battlefield there was no reason that a child of their Clan should be outside the Compound unaccompanied unless they were born out of wedlock. While uncommon due to their Clan's pride in blood-purity, they did have some lower status members that were retrieved from such circumstances.

However it wasn't the claim of a mere bastard that was concerning. It was the bold-faced claim of the child’s likeness to their Clan’s heir.

Physical traits often times have a tendency to be shared within a Clan, the Uchiha being no exception. So Kuro being able to identify common Uchiha traits in the child's appearence was possible. But to claim that a child looked like Lord Izuna? That would imply a very close blood relation that shouldn't be possible.

Lords Madara and Izuna had no other living siblings. And he himself was currently their only living first cousin as all his siblings were now deceased and their other Uncles never lived to have children of their own. In addition, Lord Madara wasn't married, nor did he have a lover or even a courtesan attending to him. And, consequently (much to the ire of the Elders), no children, bastard or otherwise. As a result, Lord Izuna was named the Clan's heir and was successfully pressured into getting married and currently has a very pregnant wife. Hikaku himself was also very much so married with a young son of his own. Not to mention the age of the bastard child in question was highly suspect. All in all it meant that the informant's claims were either over-exaggerated, incorrect, or this was in fact a trap.

“I do not sense any potential Shinobi within the Town” Asami relayed, the Vanguard's report breaking him out of his thoughts as they neared the edge of Yama-Hin.

“Perhaps the group moved on?” Katori suggested, keeping his expression alert as they silently sped through the foliage.

“Perhaps. Regardless we shall approach the informant, cautiously” Hikaku declared, the three of them exiting the forest and easing their pace into a more casual stroll as they made their way through the Town.

Almost immediately the citizens deserted the streets, frightened women grabbing their children and closing their feebly held together doors and windows. While such a sight fed into his pride as an Uchiha, it was also a sharp reminder to Hikaku just how much weight his orders and actions as the current acting Leader could have on the future of his Clan and those they impacted.

Towns and settlements were often caught in the crossfire of the warring Clans, so it was unsurprising that the locals were scattering like insects. Shinobi were most often considered no better than raiders and thieves with the amount of damage their battles can cause and how often they were hired for jobs such as sabotage.

Amongst the new rules of engagement Lord Madara and Hashirama implemented when they came to power, they've been attempting to keep their battles away from any non-shinobi villages as much as possible. Through their example several of the other Clans were following suit. But centuries worth of habits and fear don’t end overnight, and many a towns have been lit by the Uchiha flame.

“We are here to gather information. Nothing more” Hikaku reminded the two Vanguards as they approached the Guild, receiving a respectful nod of acknowledgement from them both.

Perhaps a hundred feet from the door Asami froze, her eyes widening in disbelief as she stared blankly at the building.

Immediately on guard, Hikaku was about to demand a sitrep when Asami spoke.

"I sense one of our own inside the Guild..." Asami relayed, floored even though she could sense the familiar burning flares herself.

Mentally shaking himself out of the sudden shock, Hikaku's eyes darkened in anger and determination. Turning away from his Clansman and walking straight into the Guild, his posture firm and ready as he flared out his own senses to find his apparent kin.

From years born of experience on the battlefield it took less than a second to fully process the young male standing off to the side of the bar.

“Holy hell it’s a mini-Izuna”

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

It hadn't even taken Sasuke a second to register the familiar fiery sensations surging across his senses, the wisps of flame dancing like candlelight that had been agitated by a gust of wind.

"Shit" he not-so-silently growled, the tension returning to his body tenfold as the doors to the guild were flung open with purpose.

Lifting himself off the wall, he knew it was already too late. Running would do him no good now.

But the moment he locked eyes with the Uchiha heading the group every instinct he had screamed at him to flee.

The man looked like him.

Caught up in his own memories of blood and pain, Sasuke only barely registered the words of the brown-haired Uchiha standing guard next to the man in the front, his mouth slightly agape, stretching the flames painted on his cheeks, his eyes widening as he stared Sasuke down like he were a trick of the lantern-light.

“Holy hell it's a mini-Izuna”

Sasuke scowled despite himself at the proclamation, clenching his teeth together harshly. The pressure grounding him.

If memory served, the Izuna that they most likely were referring to was Madara’s younger brother...and his own great-grandfather.

While he had been mostly passed over by the clan elders for Ita-his more prodigal older brother, they had always noted his apparent likeness to his infamous ancestor, and had hoped that it would mean that he would eventually grow to be as talented as him when he got older.

Though it was a completely different experience having someone who actually knew his great-grandfather comment on their apparent likeness.

It was jarring. And Sasuke didn't like it. Silently berating himself for being so easily thrown off his game.

“That’s him!” an irritatingly familiar voiced shouted across the guild.

Sasuke turned his head to give the nastiest possible glare he could to that wretched bounty hunter. Not even bothering to restrain himself as he projected a small amount of killing intent towards the coward, resisting the sadistic urge to smirk as said coward immediately scampered off, tripping over his own feet in order to escape.

'I knew I should’ve just killed him when I had the chance' Sasuke thought angrily.

At this point the guild had gone deathly silent.

Not a single patron dared to move. Like mice frozen beneath the outstretched claws of the cat. The tension in the room stifling, as if the world were holding its very breath, afraid that any reminder of life would make the predator pounce.

Staring up into the coal-black gaze of the Uchiha, Sasuke recognized the roaring embers flaring in their eyes. He saw them each time he looked in a mirror after all.

Sasuke knew instantly that there was no way he was going to be able to pass his appearance off as a coincidence. And cursed himself once more for not thinking to sew those damn chakra-concealing seals into his clothes sooner.

Just as the group of Uchiha began making their way over to him, a familiar sensation of sunlight and the tickle of grass and flower petals caught his awareness.

“Sasuke? What's wrong?” Sakura asked, sounding genuinely concerned as she walked up behind him from the corridor leading to their room.

'Ah' Sasuke realized quickly catching on to her plan, immediately recognizing the inflection in his teammate's voice as the one she used for her 'Nishu Monk’ persona.

The three Uchiha's attention immediately zeroed in on her.

Sasuke had bite back a snarl at their sharp assessing gaze.

“A Monk? Here?” Katori questioned.

“Indeed. Well met. My name is Sakura Haruno. Is there a problem here?” Sakura questioned in her best diplomatic tone, intentionally adding the slightest note of confusion to her inflection.

Hikaku slid his gaze just the slightest to his left, hoping that Asami would get the unspoken message.

Having already anticipated her Lord's wishes she nodded, “The girl's chakra matches Tsubaki’s. And the boy's chakra is very similar to Lord Madara's”.

Sasuke knew he shouldn't outwardly project his displeasure. Rewarding their words with his reactions. True ninja controlled there emotions. Not the other way around.

But the moment the woman revealed herself as a sensor he knew they weren't getting out of this one without a fight.

Taking in their young lost clansman's increasing defensiveness, Hikaku knew he needed to state their intentions clearly. If not for the boy's sake, but all those in the guild currently waiting on a hair's trigger to know whether or not they needed to flee.

“My name is Hikaku Uchiha. Third-in-line of the Uchiha and Commander of the Northern Tower. My clansmen and I are here investigating a claim brought to our attention regarding a child of our Clan seen outside of our Compounds" Hikaku addressed, his tone firm and formal as he gaze both children an assessing glance, lingering only slightly on the boy before returning his attention to the young Monk, "It would seem the claim is true”

Sakura nodded, stepping forward from her position behind Sasuke to stand level with him, placing a gentle hand on his arm in an attempt to ease some of his tension before addressing the Uchiha noble.

“Sasuke is an orphan. We were first introduced at six summers. He frequents the Temple often in order escort me further out along with two other orphans that grew up under our care” Sakura explained.

Hikaku nodded. Though the young woman had kept her tone casual and respectful, the warning was more than clear.

The three individuals with her were under the protection of the Nishu Monks. Any harm brought to them meant not only breaking the Stance, but risking their Clan's standing with the Temple.

“It is not our intention to cause conflict with the Monks" Hikaku immediately assured her, "You have my word that no harm will come to your charges as a result of my clansmen or I...That being said..."

Sakura forced her muscles to remain relaxed as the Lord Hikaku paused, choosing his next words carefully as his gaze shifted factionally from her, to Sasuke.

"Family is our utmost concern. Particularly children unknown to our clan. I'm certain that I do not need to extrapolate for you the unique challenges that...illegitimate children of clans must face in order to successfully survive on their own” Hikaku proclaimed, his tone steady, flickering his chakra toward their young clansman like the flame of a hearth gently caressing across one's skin. A common gesture amongst clan members when interacting with their youngest in attempt to soothe them when agitated. While the boy was far from a toddler, Hikaku silently hoped it would ease some of the boy's tension as well as relay his own intentions.

They were here now.

He was safe now.

Apparently he needed to work on being 'soothing'.

Rather than relax, the young Uchiha puffed up like a feral kitten. Baring his claws and fangs at him as if Hikaku had just committed some unspeakable atrocity.

“I've fended for myself without a clan until now" Sasuke all but snarled, not even bothering to hold his tongue anymore, "I'm not interested in joining a meaningless war that benefits no-one in the end”

(Hikaku’s POV)

I tightened my jaw shut before I retorted in a fashion that would make the boy even more resistant to coming with us willingly. Likewise, Katori’s face tightened at the boy’s imputance while Asami’s expression went blank.

“I have a future where I am now. I do not see that future if I choose to affiliate with a clan” Sasuke said cryptically.

“Future?” I wondered to myself.

I gave a subtle glance at Sakura, and how Sasuke was making sure to keeping her a slight step behind himself. “Forcing him to come with us wouldn't be an issue. But it would also hurt our stance with the Monks. Something we can't afford to have happen...Perhaps Akaru can convince him” I considered thoughtfully. While my Uchiha pride was deeply offended by the child’s remarks I could see where his viewpoint was coming from. He grew up without a clan, allowing him to to see what life was like outside of being a shinobi and being forced, by affiliation, to fight against other clans in what truly does feel like an endless loop of war. Though he is still most likely limited in what he can do and where he can go, he has lived, is living, what he considers to be a better, freer life than what he would’ve had if he had joined up with those of his same heritage.

Even so, the only two reasons he has survived this long is by sheer luck, and his affiliation with the Monks. But there is going to come a time where he will cross paths with a clan (such as the Kaguya) who couldn’t care less about the Shinobi Neutrality Stance with those from the different Temples. For that reason alone we need to convince him. As I was about to try and coerce the duo to either accompany us to our compound, or allow us to escort them back to the Nishu Temple a voice cut me off.

“Is there a problem here?”

We turned to see a white haired man, older than myself, and a blue-eyed boy around Sasuke and Sakura’s age. Interestingly I could see golden blonde ends coming out of the scarf on his head. An unusual hair color for someone outside of the Yamanaka clan, though their shade of blonde had a darker orangish tint. For such a distinctive trait he was wise to keep it covered, but it also alluded to training. Same went for the older male’s hair and facial coverings. I had no doubt the older male was most likely a veteran from a clan, though which one right now I wasn’t entirely sure on (though I did have a few ideas).

The man’ tone was casual, but the underlying threat was unerringly clear. “Not at all. We were merely discussing a few matters of interest” I replied, trying my best to sound as if I wasn’t taut as a bowstring. Children, no matter how talented, were not immediately a high standing threat…However this man changed everything.

His facial covering were his most dominant trait.

Facial covering meant identifiable scars.

Which only meant one thing:

How many shinobi have tried to kill this man?

Hundreds?

That same number died in the attempt.

Whoever this man was, he was a threat.

And he knew it.

“And these matters would be?” the man asked (demanded). “Sasuke is descended from our clan. I was to ask if my clansmen and I could accompany your group back to the Nishu Temple in order to continue discussing matters there” I stated, turning my gaze back to Sakura while making sure to keep my reflexes ready in case the man decided to strike out. Sakura’s eyes widened in surprise, but before she was able to relay her answer Asami shouted out a warning, “Below us!”

My clansmen and I jumped backwards as two cloaked figures burst out of the ground via an earth jutsu, slashing at us with their tantos. Casting a quick glance over to the other group Sasuke had pushed Sakura back with the man having got the blonde to safety. As I was about to call out to the group to retreat and meet up again at the Temple the taller masked figure cast the Seal of Confrontation hand sign, making a mist appear out of nowhere. I immediately activated my sharingan only to see a cloud of chakra blocking my ocular powers. Who are these men? Any identifiable markings were covered, and their clothes held no symbols. Not to mention access to a technique I’ve never seen before that shrouds the caster from the sharingan’s sight.

“Asami, use your sensory technique to track their location” I ordered. “Yes sir” she replied, immediately searching for the enemy. “In front of us!” she called out, just as my sharingan picked up on movement heading towards me in a frontal assault. I parried the tanto’s strike easily with my own sword. I immediately pushed back using my strength to shove my attacker off balance. As our blades disconnected I swiftly swung out and slashed through his midsection. As my attacker had collapsed to the ground I heard Katori call out to me, “This one’s a lightning clone. I’m sure of it!” I pointed my sword as the collapsed figure in case he tried to get up again, only for the figure to disappear in a puff of smoke.

“What?” I demanded, “A clone?” Before I could analyze the technique further Asami shouted out another warning, “Lord Hikaku your left!”

As the taller figure and I clashed blades in a fury of parries I had a chance to analyze him with my own sharingan. Indeed the figure was made of lightning chakra. “Not many could pull off a clone of this caliber. The clone itself is no mere decoy. Whereas most elemental clones are weak and lacking in durability and the skills of the original, this lightning clone is as solid as a person and skilled fighting independently of its purpose of a body double” I observed, “Whoever created it is strong”. As the two of us pushed back away from each other once more the figure disappeared into the mist. “Katori, Asami, Formation G” I commanded. Asami immediately came up behind my back, guarding it, her own sharingan activated.

“To me” Asami declared, parrying the tanto strike with her sword and blocking the clone’s kick at her shoulder. She immediately wrapped her arm around the leg, preventing the clone from pulling back. I swung my blade around to chop off its leg. As the clone moved its leg out of the way Katori’s voice broke through the mist, “Fire style: Pillar entrapment”. Pillars of fire surrounded the clone, preventing escape. “Fire style: Prison Incineration” I called out, after weaving the tora, ushi, inu hand signs. The flames of the pillars crashed together, joining as one and burning the victim to the bone. Or rather the chakra core. “Get back!” I ordered, knowing the clone was now going to probably explode in a burst of lightning.

Indeed, the power from the lightning discharge actually managed to push back some of the flames and would’ve definitely done some damage to Asami and I had we not jumped out of the way.

The mist cleared at the clone’s demise. Looking around I could see that there had been no damage done to anything other than the street, though no-one would dare to walk out any time soon. I also took note of something else. “Asami. Can you sense the direction the four went?” I asked. Asami took a moment to stretch out her sensory range. When she finally opened her eyes she had a grim expression on her face. “No. They either somehow got out of my range within that short period or…” she said trailed off. “Or this was a diversion so they could escape” I finished for her. “Despite the man’s appearance, him and the boy with blonde hair did not have chakra that I could sense” Asami relayed. “None that we could sense” Katori corrected, “Remember, we couldn't feel the Uchiha boy nor the girl until they stepped out of the Inn”.

“Then that will be the first place we investigate” I decided.

“Seals. In each of the four corners of the room” Katori declared. “Asami. Step outside the doorway and see if you can sense us” I ordered. As she stepped outside the doorway she immediately tried to feel for our chakra.

“I cannot. It's as if no-one is there” she said in surprise.

“I've never seen a seal like this before...outside those spiral bastards” Katori stated, bending down to get a better look at it, “Do you truly think that she was a Monk?”

“Evidence suggests otherwise....however, you said her chakra was similar to Tsubaki's?” I asked, looking to Asami. “Yes. One cannot fake those traits. She is related to Tsubaki” she stated confidently. “This is indeed a puzzling issue then” I thought with a frown.

“What if she and the younger boys were taken by the man with them?” Asami suggested. “It is strange. Three unrelated children and one adult traveling together” Katori agreed. “What if they were all orphans he found or stole? The Monks aren't shinobi. One could easily sneak in and steal a child to suit their needs, not to mention a young Uchiha child surviving outside the clan is easy picking. The man, or shinobi most likely, teaches them how to defend themselves and they in turn assist him with whatever he needs” Asami deduced. “A likely possibility. If he is indeed a Collector then the blonde is most likely descended from a clan as well” Katori concluded.

“And I have an idea of which one” I stated, eyeing the seal in the far corner of the room.

“We need to inform Lord Madara and Lord Izuna of this development immediately” I declared.

(Third POV)

With the Uchiha group gone, there was no-one left to notice the ink-black mouse that had been observing them from the bushes, immediately scampering after Team 7.

Chapter Text

(Kakashi’s POV)

“Talk about another close call” I thought.

*Flashback*

“Hold it Naruto!” I ordered.

“But Sensei!” Naruto started to complain.

“Use your head Naruto! We don't know who these shinobi are. If we charge in blindly we could be starting a needless fight and put Sasuke and Sakura in danger” I chastised.

Naruto growled in anger.

“Can you sense either Sasuke or Sakura’s chakra?” I asked.

Naruto reached out his senses once more.

“No” he answered.

“Good. That means there's a possibility that the shinobi haven't either. It's very likely the bounty hunter called a clan to investigate us. It's why I wanted to leave as soon as possible in case of that possibility. But what's done is done. Right now we need a plan to get back into the Village without being detected” I stated.

“I can put the Chakra Concealing Seal on us. They won't sense a thing, even if they do have a sensor with them” Naruto said confidently.

I nodded, grateful that Master Jiriaya had started teaching Naruto fuinjutsu, and expanding on his stealth and reconnaissance skills. In time Naruto had the potential to surpass even Master Jiriaya as the Village's top spymaster (which was the point seeing as Master Jiriaya wanted to pass down his spy-network to him).

Ironically enough, despite his Uzumaki personality Naruto really was more suited to the Intelligence Division. He just needed someone like Jiriaya to capitalize on his knack for pranks, evasion, and creation of the sexy jutsu into something more shinobi applicable (which wasn't hard seeing as Master Jiriaya had those traits himself when he was Naruto's age).

That was the reason why I took Naruto with me to create the map in the first place.

“Once we get into the town we are to act like civilians and feel out the situation from there. If we're lucky Sasuke and Sakura will remain in the room. If not we will assess the situation from there. Unless they are under attack you are not to make yourself appear threatening. As a precaution you and I will each create a transformed clone. I want you to place your Seal on them as well so that they cannot be detected. They will be our backup in case we need a quick getaway so that we do not blow our cover. If it comes to that, the moment my clone creates a cover you are to place Seals on Sasuke and Sakura, understand?” I demanded.

“Got it!” Naruto declared, determination burning in his eyes.

*End Flashback*

We managed to get away, but our problems have now effectively doubled.

I really hoped that this didn't mean we would be stuck here for years waiting for both the Senju and Uchiha to forget that they had come across us. I’m not entirely sure we could survive that long in this Era.

If push really came to shove we could try asking the Nishu Monks for asylum and hope that they would understand our situation and not just think that we were bat-shit crazy.

Luckily having Sakura would help to corroborate our story (that and the fact the Monks wouldn't try to kill us for invading their territory). But that was as a last resort.

The less people we come into contact with the better. Who knows what we did to the timeline by coming to both the Senju and Uchiha clans’ attention like we did.

I had managed to get the year off a peddler when Naruto and I had been gathering information. Within a year from now the Senju and Uchiha would form a truce and start forming what will become the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

I pray that our interference here hasn't somehow thrown history off course. I'd prefer a home to actually return to if we do manage to survive.

“Sensei where are we going?” Sakura asked.

“We’re cutting through the territory between Sora-Ku and the Hagoromo clan” I replied.

“You really think that's a good idea” Sasuke questioned.

“See for yourself” I told him, passing him the map.

Sasuke made a grumble of displeasure as he took in the territories we managed to mark off.

“Great so we're screwed” Sasuke said frustrated, all but tossing the map over to Sakura. She quickly memorized the map’s contents and borders.

“I thought the merchant said that there wasn't much up here?” She questioned.

“There isn't. It's mostly clan territories. The few unaffiliated town's up here are little better than shantytowns” Naruto stated.

“And the thriving ones are all clan protected like Sora-Ku” Sasuke concluded.

“And rivers will most likely be a high trap area” Sakura added in thoughtfully.

“Fish at your own risk” Naruto muttered.

“We're about clear of the mountains now, which means we'll be cutting through the territories soon” Sakura relayed, handing Naruto the map.

“We need to be very careful. The Hagoromo clan is known for being particularly vicious. Even if they can't sense us be ready to hide and evade” I warned them.

“Kid murdering cowards is more like it” Naruto muttered angrily.

“Unfortunately that is the norm for this day and age. Even in our time a shinobi is a shinobi. Killing no matter the age is also part of the job. Zabuza would have killed you without batting an eye merely because you were in the way of his mission to kill the Bridgebuilder. Competition for clientele is part of the reason it took so long for a place like the Leaf to come together. A trade merchant would hire a clan to either protect his investment or sabotage his competition, and his competitors would do the same. In some ways this Era is not so different from ours, you all just need to adapt your thinking. Change the rules you know and maybe we have a chance of eventually making it back home” I lectured.

“Bartering and trading can only get us so far. Depending on how long we'll be stuck here we might need to hire ourselves out for mercenary work” Sasuke pointed out.

“And how exactly do we do that? We can't use our clan names to get clients, and nobody is going to hire an unknown when they can hire someone from a clan. And we can't use the Monks either as they don't hire themselves out for money, they trade and barter” Sakura countered.

“What if we just called ourselves a bounty hunter group?” Naruto suggested.

“Now now. You're all missing the obvious course of action” I said with an eye smile.

My adorable little genin just looked at me in dread, not liking the expression in my eye.

“Yeah? And that would be?” Naruto asked warily.

“Construction work, farm hands, babysitting, weeding” I listed teasingly.

“No way! D-ranked missions! We’re seventy years into the past surrounded by enemies and we still have to deal with D-ranked missions!?” Naruto shouted in disbelief.

“Welcome to the Warring States Era” I said teasingly.

“I'm sensing shinobi all over the place!” Naruto declared.

“Border patrol most likely” I said.

“No it's more than that! There's twenty of them out here going through our path alone” Naruto relayed.

“Why are there so many?” Sakura asked worriedly.

“There must've been an attack of some kind or the threat of one. If that's the case we might have no choice but to cut through Sora-Ku instead” I declared.

“The Nekoka clan are based in Sora-Ku. They raise ninneko and will most likely have them all over the place acting as scouts” Sasuke stated.

“Which is why it's time for a little wardrobe change”

We had managed to avoid the patrols while still locating the berries needed to temporarily dye Naruto and Sakura's hair and eyebrows. It was actually kind of fun (in a nerve wracking kind of way). Almost like playing hide and seek...with deadly consequences.

Both Sakura and Naruto now had brown hair, though Naruto’s was darker than hers. Ironically making him look like he could be Hashirama and Tobirama’s younger brother (hopefully that wouldn’t be an issue later on). I also gave the both of them my spare brown colored contacts.

Sakura had changed her outfit to a dull white short-sleeved shirt with a slight v-collar, and a green knee-length skirt. And Sasuke had hidden as much hair as he could in a gray bandana he wrapped around his head (making especially sure to hide his bangs).

As for me….well. I was going to enjoy this moment. It was just a shame that I didn't have my camera to record this for future posterity.

“Well. Are we all ready to go?” I asked in a much higher tone than my normal voice.

The trio snapped their attention to me, their eyes so wide it was almost comical….ah who am I kidding it was beautiful.

Their mouths had long since hit the floor, but none of them had yet to say a word.

“Something wrong?” I asked with a smile.

“K-Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura stammered in disbelief.

“YOU'RE SUKEA!” Naruto shouted in disbelieving annoyance.

That snapped Sasuke out of his trance. His eye twitching in comical anger.

“Quiet it down! The enemy will hear you” I reprimanded, quickly losing my teasing smile.

“I heard something over here!”

The seriousness immediately returned to my expression. I can troll my adorable little genin later (when we weren't playing Hide-and-Go- Die).

“Hide” I ordered immediately. Luckily they all followed without any hesitation.

The beautiful thing about taking cover was the silence. Watching the three of them (suffer) twitch and glare at my smiling (uncovered) face without being able to say anything for twenty minutes was pure golden.

Of course I also just incited revenge in the Prank King of the Leaf...oh well. Trolling my little genin is my second favorite past-time after all.

(Madara's POV)

“You found one of yours dead near Kohaku Village?” Izuna recited.

“Yes” Lord Itsuki Hagoromo answered.

“And just what was he doing so far out?” I asked. Kohaku Village wasn’t exactly a hop, skip, and a jump away. For a Hagoromo to intentionally be out that far it wasn't to ask for a cup of sugar.

“It was a routine reconnaissance mission. He was asked to do some recon on the some of the other clans, particularly the Senju affiliated ones” Itsuki replied.

“That's not asking for trouble at all” I thought sarcastically.

“Do you know who killed him?” Izuna asked.

“Either the Kohaku or Senju” Itsuki replied.

“But you don't know for sure” I stated.

“His body was found ten minutes from Kohaku Village” Itsuki replied in a hard tone.

“And yet there is no-one alive who can say they saw who the killer was” I state plainly.

While his theory is most likely correct there were still a few holes. If a Kohaku had killed him they would've moved his body to the shrine they had made for the bodies of their enemies left to be collected (something to do with their clan's beliefs with souls and war). Not to mention the Kohaku favor bows and arrows, not explosives (which are rarely used outside the Mosubaku clan’s explosion release kekkei genkai).

“Judging from where you found your clansman it's not likely the Kohaku were the killers. While it is possible it was the Senju the same reasoning applies, they wouldn't have just left him there. They would've respected their ally’s customs” I reasoned.

“Are you implying that there was a third variable at play?” the Hagoromo Head questioned skeptically.

“Not impossible. Especially if someone wanted to start a fight between the Senju and Hagoromo. However they were sloppy with their Intel if they didn't know where the Kohaku place the dead of their enemies” Izuna backed.

Itsuki just ground his teeth. I could tell he was hoping to get an okay from us to go get their revenge on the Senju. But even Izuna who will usually jump at the chance to kill his blood-enemies isn't quite biased enough not to see when something is amiss.

“If I may” the Hagoromo retainer interrupted behind Itsuki.

“Yes?” I acknowledged, giving him the permission he needed to join in the conversation.

“I was among those who searched for Hinkaku. When I was searching the area I found another battle-site not too far from where we had found his body. The terrain had been torn up with evidence that both earth and lightning style techniques had been used. Hinkaku possessed neither of these nature's and judging from the terrain of the battle it occurred approximately an hour after Hinkaku was killed” the retainer replied.

“So two unknowns then” Izuna concluded.

“While it is a shame your clansman was killed, I wouldn't go starting a fight with either the Senju or Kohaku. Something else seems to be going on” I concluded firmly, leaving no wiggle-room in my 'advice’.

Itsuki gave a reluctant nod.

Suddenly a ninneko landed next to us.

“Apologies my Lords but Lord Hikaku was spotted at the front gates asking for Lord Madara and Lord Izuna” the cat relayed.

“Hikaku?!” I said in surprised concern.

“Why would he have come here?” Izuna wondered aloud.

“He said there was a matter he needed to discuss with you immediately. I sent his group ahead to meet you at the Nekoka’s base” the cat said.

I nodded in thanks.

“Let's go”

(Niko’s POV)

Humans were such petty creatures, getting themselves worked up over territory, pride, and what they considered to be there's. They were no better than dogs really. But they were fun to watch and tease.

I stretched out my back along the gate. Truly I had the best job. All I have to do is sit atop the iron gate and signal if any suspicious figures (or disguised shinobi) come through. My job was literally to sit in the sun and do nothing all day. It was purrfect! Though I admit I am mildly curious why the third-in-line to the Uchiha is here, but we cats gossip just as must as any other species so I'll know soon enough.

As a small group of four walked up the path I watched lazily as they passed through the gate. None of them had any chakra on them that I could smell, though two of their hair smelled strangely like berries.

Chapter Text

(Madara’s POV)

“This way my Lords” the Nekoka guards called, motioning forward as they gave our group a bow. I wasted no time in moving the curtain aside, stepping into the room at a pace that betrayed my urgency.

“What happened?” I demanded to my cousin, wasting no time on pleasantries. Lord Nekoka was merely here out of courtesy since it was his territory, so I didn't bother to acknowledge his presence when my Clan could be in danger.

“The Clan is safe my Lord. We are here because an incident came up in your absence. One that I believe you should be immediately informed of” Hikaku stated. The tension in my shoulders eased slightly at his words.

“And this important matter would be?” I inquired, trying not to sound impatient.

“Our Clan was sent a carrier message from a bounty hunter in Yama-Hin. He claimed to have seen a child from our Clan that was the spitting image of Lord Izuna, so I went to investigate” Hikaku answered.

I bristled at the audacity of the urchin. “And?” Izuna inquired, sounding curious about where this was going.

“It was completely true” Hikaku declared.

I froze at his words. My brain not immediately able to comprehend his answer. Before anyone could break out of their shock Hikaku continued. “The boy was very nearly identical in appearance to yourself Lord Izuna and his chakra was unmistakably Uchiha. Very similar to your own Lord Madara” Hikaku stated with confidence.

“How is this possible?” Itsuki questioned skeptically.

“The exact how I do not know. But I can assure you that I speak the truth” Hikaku stated firmly.

“Where is he?” I demanded with a cold edge.

“That is where the problem lies. When we went to investigate the boy was with who appeared to be a young female from the Nishu Temple, another boy around his age, and a veteran shinobi older than myself. From the circumstances we inferred that the veteran likely found or stole each of the three children and in exchange for teaching them how to protect themselves they would in turn aid him in his endeavors” Hikaku theorized.

“Stole?” I said the cold-fury in my voice demanding clarification.

“From what we could feel from two of their chakra, the boy, Sasuke, is unmistakably Uchiha, and the girl, Sakura, is at least related to Tsubaki. As for the other boy their age and the veteran their chakra was concealed from our senses. Most likely with a variant of the Chakra Concealing Seal used in their room at the Inn they were staying at, so we do not know for certain what clans they were descended from. Though I do have my own theories” Hikaku detailed.

“Seal? That's usual” Izuna stated, his eyebrow raised. Hikaku nodded.

“Though I have no proof I believe the other boy, despite being blonde, is descended from the Uzumaki clan” Hikaku said hesitantly, knowing full well the implication of his words.

“An Uzumaki, Uchiha, and a Monk...together?” I demanded skeptically. It sounded like the start of a bad joke.

“From his appearance the veteran is possibly from either the Kaguya or Hatake clan. It's likely he was exiled and in his exile he happened to come across three illegitimate children and took advantage of the situation” Hikaku explained tightly.

“But you don't know for certain that the other boy is an Uzumaki” I stated, wanting exact confirmation on such a serious matter.

Hikaku shook his head. “I can only speculate” Hikaku admitted, “Though following the pattern of the other children it is safe to assume that the other boy has some kind of clan heritage as well”.

I shifted my gaze to wall to think. Three children were being used as tools by an older shinobi. Just the thought of that heated my blood to its boiling point! It was things such as this that made me think back to my time with Hashirama and our dream that could never be. A world where children did not have to needlessly die or be used as tools to fight in this endless blood-war. The Cycle of Hatred would never end. And Hashirama was a fool to think that it could be changed.

But that was the past. And right now there are three children that maybe can be helped.

Maybe.

“Maybe if I chopped off said veteran's head” I thought.

The Uchiha child would obviously remain with us. I would have the girl returned to the Temple, and drop off the boy to Hashirama the next time the two of us fought (if it turned out Hikaku’s speculation was indeed correct).

“And where is this group now?” I questioned.

“They escaped. They created a diversion and fled” Hikaku answered, sounding like he was trying very hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“So you don't know where they are?” Izuma questioned. Hikaku shook his head disdainfully.

“Great” Izuna said sarcastically, “So we have a potential slaver or Collector who goes after children from clans and we have no idea what direction they went”.

“Is there any chance they could go between our territories?” Lord Nekoka inquired to Itsuki.

“If they did my clansmen would know. I have them all about the territory right now” Itsuki said.

“Unless they are indeed using a chakra concealer” Lord Nekoka pointed out casually.

“My clansmen are no fools” Itsuki glared, clearly insulted.

“No. But these four seem to know how to travel between territories without being noticed. It's likely they know how to disguise themselves as well. And considering they now have the Uchiha’s attention they will be sure to change their appearance” Lord Nekoka stated plainly. We nodded at his reasoning.

“I will have the ninneko keep an eye out for anything even remotely questionable” Lord Nekoka stated, immediately puckering his lips and using his chakra to amplify his whistle to a range only cats could hear, giving them a silent order.

“Unfortunately nothing can be done at this time. Return to the Compound Hikaku. Izuna and I will make sure to send word to our allies and scouts” I ordered. Hikaku nodded.

“Before you leave you may retrieve your weapons order from the supply shop and have a meal on our clan’s expense” Lord Nekoka stated. With a bow Hikaku, Asami, and Katori body flickered away.

As they left I couldn’t help but think back to the three children.

That veteran better pray he is not unfortunate to cross paths with me.

Death will be but a mercy when I am through with him.

(Sasuke’s POV)

I didn’t like being here. It was far too risky. The Nekoka clan had been long-time allies of the Uchiha. Even after the Warring States Era the clan remained the Uchiha clan’s weapons supplier, much like the Takumi Family had crafted weapons for the Senju.

The difference was the Takumi Family weren’t shinobi, and whereas they had settled in the Leaf Village, the Nekoka clan remained in Soru-Ku. In fact, none of the Uchiha’s allies had migrated to the Leaf when it had been created, though to be fair the same (mostly) went for the Senju clan.

The only reason I knew the Takumi Family had been affiliated with the Senju at some point in the past was because I had heard some of the older Uchiha clan members make a few sniding comments about some girl (who turned out to be Tenten ironically enough) being the first in the Takumi Family to join the Academy.

In general my Clan had been pretty removed from the other Clans. Our pride and superiority as one of the Village’s most prestigious noble clans, especially since the Senju were almost all eradicated (with the exception of a few descendants), left us arrogant and isolated, and unwilling to reach out to the other clans we had deemed as lesser.

Now I see how wrong we had been.

Being forced to spend time in the past made me appreciate the togetherness and camaraderie the Leaf Village had. How I had taken Team 10 for granted when they had helped Sakura protect Naruto and I during the Chunin Exams. Now we were stuck in a time-period where no-one would be coming to our rescue if we got into a bind.

I fought the urge to glance at yet another ninneko perched atop a building as we walked by. I’d gone with my Father and Brother to Sora-Ku before. I used to make a game out of capturing the ninneko for their pawprints while my Father was busy with Nekobaa. Never once had I ever felt unsafe, not even as I chased down the ninneko through the rundown black-markets.

While the town was no longer rundown, and was clear of shady dealers, it was crawling with more members of the Nekoka clan then I had ever seen before. We couldn’t just walk in and out of the town. That would just draw more attention to ourselves. For anyone to come into a clan-affiliated town it had to be for a reason. Even if said reason was rest and food.

Which is exactly what we needed.

Although food would be the only thing we’d get (there was no way we were going to let our guards down enough to rest for a long long while).

Sakura had been integral for us in Yama-Hin. Now I was the one with the most valuable intel, knowing the general layout of the town as well as having the best understanding of the Nekoka clan and how to avoid their suspicion.

“So where are we gonna stop to eat?” Menma (Naruto) asked, looking more at ease then the rest of us. It was still weird to see him without his trademark blonde head.

“A place called The Fishing Cat” I answered.

“That sounds like it’s run by the Nekoka clan” Hana (Sakura) pointed out.

“All the stores are at least monitored by the Nekoka clan, even the ones not created by them” I explained simply.

“Best not to seem like we’re hiding anyway” Sukea (Kakashi) drolled.

“So eat and leave. Got it” ‘Menma’ stated.

“This is it” I announced, halting my stride. The front of the building was painted white (one of the few that were painted at all), with a rectangular pink painted sign adorned with black calligraphy, and a maneki-neko outside the door. As soon as the three of us walked through the curtain a brown haired girl that looked to be a few years older than myself greeted us.

“Welcome to The Fishing Cat. How many are to be seated?” the girl asked.

“Four if you’d be so kind” ‘Sukea’ answered. The girl nodded.

“Right this way please” she said. As she turned to show us to our seats I noticed the small Nekoka symbol on the top back of her simple kimono. "Most likely a non-shinobi member" I deduced silently. That wasn't unusual. In this time period most women weren't trained to fight, though that also depended on the clan. For the most part women were taught basic methods of self-defense in case the home compounds were raided. Those who showed a particular talent for the shinobi arts were sometimes taught more advanced skills, particularly during the time Madara became the Clan Head.

We followed her to a table in the middle of the restaurant towards the right side of the room.

Taking what I hoped was a discreet glance around the restaurant I saw that we had been positioned between two male members of the Nekoka clan that looked to be in their early twenties (which meant they were decently strong at best to have lived that long), and four ninneko perched on ledges in each of the four corners of the restaurant.

Not the ideal location in-case we needed to run, but if we played things right we wouldn’t have much to worry about. Fortunately Naruto’s seal made it so the male Nekoka members didn’t give us too much of a second glance. Other than us there was maybe fifteen other patrons in the restaurant.

“What drinks can I get you” a different young girl asked coming up to us, obviously our waitress.

“A pot a jasmine tea would be great thank you” ‘Sukea’ answered.

“Right away” the girl replied.

It was definitely lucky for us Kakashi had managed to scrounge up a decent amount of coins from pickpocketing the scum and bounty hunters of Yama-Hin.

I didn’t want to jinx us...But hopefully we’ll be able to eat in peace and leave without an issue this time.

(Unknown POV)

I intentionally made sure to keep my gaze away from the quartet on the other side of the restaurant.

“So he was right after all. They are here...This is definitely an interesting development” I thought to myself, fighting the urge to smirk. I brushed my gray bangs out of my face as I lifted my tea for another sip.

The plan would either have to change….or

I looked back over at the group again as they ate their sushi, unaware of just exactly what they had unknowingly interfered with by accidentally coming into this Era.

The plan would either have to change.

Or Team 7 needed to die.

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

“Man that food was pretty good” Menma declared, “Definitely better than the food back in Yama-Hin”

“Those are the benefits of clan-run places I guess” Hana stated unhappily. The disparity and class differences truly was jarring.

“So where are we heading next?” Hayato (Sasuke) asked.

“Next we're going shopping” Sukea said.

“Shopping? I don't think we have money to spare for that” Hana inquired, curious why they weren't high-tailing it for the hills while they still had the chance.

“No. But some of the best places to gather information are markets” Sukea declared.

(Akami’s POV)

“What’s wrong brother?” Michi asked, padding over the ledge to her older sibling.

“Those four travelers that left...two of them smelled of berries” I said, choosing my words carefully.

My sister nodded.

“Particularly their hair” she agreed, having come to the same suspicions he had.

“It could be nothing” I argued, playing devil's advocate, “A wash perhaps?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not” she stated, swishing her tail thoughtfully.

The real question was whether or not to inform the clan.

Lord Nekoka had declared a high alert for anything remotely questionable.

Actually...The real question was whether this was questionable enough?

(Kakashi's POV)

The market was surprisingly more crowded then I had anticipated. From what I could tell Sora-Ku was a busy trade market for civilians and travelers. It made sense considering the town had turned into a giant black-market in our time.

Though I was risking a lot by coming here, there was a specific bit of intel that was crucial to our survival that Naruto and I hadn't gotten before we fled Yama-Hin.

“Finally” I thought, spotting the stand I was looking for.

“Keep in view and to yourselves. If anyone asks you're waiting for your uncle” I ordered briskly. They nodded immediately, automatically snapping to mission mode.

In order for my story to work they’ll need to be within view...It'll also give me some peace of mind.

I began moving toward my target.

Time to put on a show.

(Goro’s POV)

Today was a good day. Sales were good, no troublemaking customers, and he hadn't lost any of his workers recently as shinobi collateral.

“Ah the benefits of allying with the shinobi-pigs” I thought.

Sure I was beyond grateful for the alliance I had with the Nekoka and Hagoromo. I wouldn't have my fishing business without it, but the world truly would be better off without shinobi.

“Hello there” a voice sounded, breaking me out of my train of thought.

“Good day sir. How may I help you?” I asked, taking in the man's appearance. Floppy brown hair, and gray-brown eyes. Not someone I recognized which meant he was new to the market.

“I was actually hoping you could give me some advice” the man asked.

I raised an eyebrow in surprise, suddenly very suspicious of his motives.

“I'm a fisherman from the Land of Rice Patties. My family’s farm was...collateral to passing members of the Onishizen clan. I'm looking for the best possible land to settle with my niece and nephews” the man explained, looking back over his shoulder to three kids resting beside an alley wall.

“His story sounds legit enough” I considered thoughtfully.

For civilians it was near impossible to have a successful business or make money in general. Crops and land were constantly destroyed in the war between clans, and merchants put their lives on the line traveling the roads only to either be robbed or killed as either collateral or intentionally by rival merchant guilds. And for fisherman like us rivers were always crawling with shinobi.

The man’s story was a typical one.

Unfortunate, but typical.

The only true way to make a living was to place yourself under the protection of a clan. You give them a portion of your profits and in return they ensure your protection. A mutually beneficial relationship.

The same went for clan alliances. The Hagoromo let the Nekoka use the rivers, and the Nekoka supplied the Hagoromo with weapons.

Everything is give and take. If you aren't useful then your life is forfeit. That's just how life worked.

“I recommend you ally yourself with a clan” I said, “Otherwise it's just going to happen again”

The man nodded understandingly, but he still did not offer his services to me like I thought he would.

“Any advice then for what rivers to avoid and decent places to settle?” he inquired.

Ah. So he didn't want to affiliate himself with a clan.

That wasn't usual either. Many were wary.

And if he didn't want to then it wasn't my job, or problem to convince him otherwise.

“Depends. If you're daring the best place for fishermen would be Waves. But that's all the way south of here. The next best thing would be the Land of the Sea. If you're not going to ally yourself with a clan those are your best bets. Otherwise just consider any and all bodies of water off limits” I informed him.

He nodded. He looked slightly disappointed but like he had expected the answer I gave.

“Thank you for your time” the man said, making his way back to the kids.

He really should've asked for a job.

(Hikaku's POV)

“Welcome Lord Hikaku” Mimi addressed with a bow, “Allow me to escort you to your table”

I gave a small acknowledging nod as she led us through a curtained off doorway in the back of the restaurant, leading us into the private areas meant for the Nekoka clan's allies.

It also doubled as an informal meeting room.

The three of us sat on the one side of the rounded table as we waited for Mimi to come back with our usual orders.

“Lord Hikaku” Kamitsuku addressed as he sat down across from us.

“It's been a few years” I acknowledged.

He nodded.

“Got a few more grays too” he jested lightly.

I smirked a bit at his attempt at levity despite the situation.

Being thirty-two did wonders for his ability to relax in tense times. Though I guess that's what happens when you survive so long.

“Any luck?” I inquired.

He gave a consideratory hum.

“Perhaps. I caught an interesting conversation by the ninneko. Lord Nekoka has already been informed” he supplied.

“Interesting how?” I questioned, narrowing my eyes at him.

(Third POV)

After the marketplace Team 7 decided that it'd just be best to cut their losses and leave while they still had the chance.

Sasuke had showed them the quickest way to the east exit with Kakashi subtly pick-pocketing those he could along the way.

Though as they got closer to the exit you would think that tensions would ease slightly.

It was the opposite.

Sora-Ku was pretty damn safe compared to the outside.

As they approached the gate the ninneko resting above the guards made a low pitched yowl, which immediately got the attention of the guards.

Of course they'd all have to be blind not to notice the changes in the Nekoka shinobi's demeanor.

“This isn't good” Sasuke thought, “If I'm remembering things correctly that yowl was the signal to apprehend”

“We're gonna have to blow our cover” Kakashi deduced silently.

“Halt!” Ashi demanded, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Team 7 immediately paused.

“Hopefully if we're compliant they'll let us pass” Sakura thought hopefully, though she doubted it.

“We have been given word that suspicious characters have entered in Soru-Ku. We are to detain any and all that fall under these suspicions” Ashi declared.

“The four of you are to come with us” Sasu ordered.

“I'm sorry...But there must me some kind of mistake” Sukea inquired meekly, sounding very confused, “I'm just a civilian fisherman”

Ashi hesitated for a moment.

It was true that he couldn't sense any chakra on any of them...But his orders from Lord Nekoka were absolute.

“I'm sorry, but I have my orders. If what you say is true then you will be on your way in no time. Until then, turn around and make your way forward” Ashi demanded.

Sukea nodded, looking fearful.

As the four of them were turning around, “Now” Kakashi commanded firmly.

Sakura unhesitatingly threw one of her new paralysis smoke bombs at the ground, the white smoke enveloping them.

Team 7 knew to hold their breath, the two Nekoka guards and the ninneko however were not so lucky.

Ashi and Sasu coughed as they tried to locate the four enemy within the smoke.

“Wha-?” Ashi muttered, his body starting to shake as he slowly lost the feeling in his appendages, collapsing to the ground in a heap along with Sasu.

Shabu leaped off of the gate to try and defend his shinobi allies, only to slip into the dirt when he landed, not able to move his legs either.

The smoke cleared not long after, the four enemies nowhere in sight.

“Come on, come on” Sasu muttered angrily, trying to will his limbs to move, but to no avail.

Seeing their desperate situation Shabu focused his chakra in his vocal chords, yowling out the emergency alert that would echo through the town and alert the Clan to the enemy's escape.

(Hikaku's POV)

“Akami and Rozu noticed a berry smell on two of our patrons’ hair. They were traveling in a small group. One adult, three kids, two boys and one girl” Kamitsuku detailed calmly.

It sounded like a good lead.

There was just only one thing.

“I'm assuming their appearances didn't match up to our descriptions?” I speculated.

Kamitsuku nodded.

“But the berry smell could be their attempt at dying their hair, so we informed Lord Nekoka of the development. If they try to leave they will be halted by the Guards” Kamitsuku explained, not sounding concerned in the slightest.

“If it is them, then your typical Guards won't be enough” I pointed out bluntly, though I hoped my tone didn't sound degrading or insulting.

From his expression Kamitsuku didn't seem to take offense to my statement.

“We'll see then won't we” he stated casually.

Suddenly a screeching yowl echoed through the walls, causing all of us present to immediately shoot to our feet.

“The four have escaped past our borders!” Akami declared furiously.

“No” I thought furiously, “They weren't getting away this time!”

(Third POV)

“You're not getting away!” Hageshi growled.

As a lieutenant of the troop he would not allow it!

The five ninneko surrounded Team 7 as they made an attempt to sprint across the Tengoku River.

The four of them poised themselves in battle ready positions, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

“Sorry” Kakashi drolled, “But as you can see we're in a bit of a hurry, so we don't have any time to play”

“Capture them!” Hageshi ordered, he and Roku leaping at the eldest male.

Kakashi lept back as the two ninneko took furious swipes at him. Taking out his tanto he quickly sliced through both their stomachs the second they approached him again.

However both the ninneko turned into (what smelled like) cat food right before his eyes.

“It won't be as easy as you think” Hageshi snarled.

“Water style: Sticky Hairball” Hageshi and Roku yelled, large projectile hairballs covered in (gross) suspicious fluids streaking towards him.

“And this is why I'm a dog person” Kakashi deadpanned.

Meanwhile, Yoru was engaging Sakura in a claw-to-hand fight.

Yoru made quick swipes at Sakura, first at her head from above and then again from the left side of her face. Sakura managed to avoid getting sliced (though she did feel the breeze on that last one) and retaliated with a kick of her own forcing him to flex backwards.

Sakura immediately took advantage of his position and moved forward with another kick. Yoru however quickly leaped up onto her leg, using it like a springboard. As he came down at her from the air, aiming his right claws at her, she immediately took out a kunai to parry his blow.

“I won't let a threat to the clan like you leave” Yoru promised threateningly, as they pushed back on each other.

Sakura pushed as hard as she could with her kunai, forcing him to fall back.

“He's fast, but I should have an opening to strike when he lands” Sakura thought as she charged at him.

Just as Yoru landed on his feet Sakura threw her kunai at him as a distraction.

As Yoru focused chakra into his claws to knock away the blade into the rocks behind them, Sakura appearing suddenly in from of him.

“Shannaro!” Sakura cried out, kicking Your in the side.

However Yoru used his superior flexibility to maneuver his body with the force of the impact, reducing the effectiveness of the blow, and landing back on his feet without a problem.

“His speed and flexibility are crazy” Sakura thought stunned, “My blow hardly did anything at all!”

The two of them circled each other, waiting for the other to strike.

As Yoru rushed towards her she readied herself.

“I'll wait for his attack and go for the counter, use his strength against him” she decided.

But as she went to punch him he veered at the last second.

“It's obvious that you would go for the counter” he mocked, swiping down at her with his claws.

Sakura managed to dodge the blow but she wasn't quick enough to dodge his kick, which sent her right into the wall of rocks her kunai had gotten pinned on, right next to the small waterfall in the river.

“For the pride of the Nekoka I won't let you escape...Prepare to die!” Yoru screeched.

Realizing her chance Sakura used her kunai as a lever to shift away the rocks, causing a spray of water from the river to come down on Yoru.

“A feline's fur can't repel water. So when soaked their body temperature declined rapidly” Sakura detailed.

“So-so c-cold” Yoru muttered, collapsing onto his knees shivering.

Sasuke was having a mildly easier time, though all his physical blows we're rendered useless by Tsuyoi's Fur Expansion jutsu.

In Sasuke's oh-so humble opinion he looked just like a full-body chia-pet...But as ridiculous as it looked it was effective.

“Even more so since he can expand and contract the fur at will. He can be a puff-ball one second and then his buff self the next” Sasuke analyzed as Tsuyoi's Fur retracted yet again and he swung forward with his fist (paw), the blow cracking the ground after it missed him.

The damn cat had even managed to knock off his bandana (the cat's expression to his appearance had almost been comical).

“Of course his technique will also be his downfall” Sasuke thought, moving forward for a feint kick.

Just as he predicted Tsuyoi's fur expanded yet again.

“Fire style: Fireball jutsu” Sasuke declared, shooting the flames at Tsuyoi.

The Tsuyoi screamed in pain as he was engulfed in flames, the heat burning off his fur and scorching his skin.

“Flea shuriken” Kami screeched, shaking his fur rapidly.

Suddenly countless tiny projectiles propelled by chakra made their way at Naruto.

“Oh hell no!” Naruto shouted, flailing a bit dramatically.

“Wind style: Breakthrough!” Naruto shouted, exhaling an enormous about of wind from his stomach.

Of course since the amount of wind was proportional to the amount of chakra sent to the stomach it was more like a Great Breakthrough jutsu.

The tornado of wind repelled the fleas without an issue, slamming into Kami and sending him smashing through several trees.

“Uh...whoops...Overdid it again. Heh heh” Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

(Izuna's POV)

I knew that it was our duty to check up on our other allies, but I didn't want to leave the area just yet.

If the Collector and the children were still boxed in, then I wanted to be here when they were forced out of hiding.

Whomever this young Uchiha was he was most likely a bastard child closely related to my brother and I (if his physical appearance and chakra signature were anything to speculate off of).

Bastard children were not all that unusual, though shinobi from higher prestige clans usually took care to be sure no child was left behind with the civilian bearer.

That is not to say some children didn't slip by undetected. Though for children born of more influential clans such as theirs the baby would possess a very distinctive chakra signature. As such they don't typically survive past toddler age.

This Sasuke was a rarity. Though I suspected that his survival had more to do with the unknown older male Collector than luck or skill.

“Do you think there are others?” I asked aloud.

“Other what?” my brother questioned.

“Other Uchihas like the boy? Children we've missed that have been enslaved?” I inquired, my tone calm even though my anger was burning.

My brother's eyes darkened dangerously.

“That...is something I cannot answer” he replied, his voice low, “However it is a possibility”

I nodded grimly.

Suddenly a quick patter of sound reached our ears.

Sensing the familiar chakra of the ninneko we immediately turned around, knowing full well that the only reason a ninneko would be sent after us was for an urgent matter.

“What is the matter?” my brother commanded the moment the ninneko landed in front of us.

“My Lords, the four Lord Hikaku warned us to lookout for, they were in Sora-Ku but they escaped past the Guards. Lord Hikaku is in pursuit!”

My eyes widened.

They were here!

“We're going back” my brother commanded, sounding non-negotiable.

As if I would disagree.

(Kakashi's POV)

The second the four of us regrouped I flipped open the tiny bottle I had unsealed from one of my scrolls and spritzed all four of us in its contents.

“Hey!” Naruto demanded, “What the heck was that?!”

“A Hatake clan scent neutralizer” I drolled.

“To keep the ninneko off our trail” Sakura realized with a smile.

“Awesome! Now we can get the heck out of here! I hate cats!” Naruto declared happily.

“Correction. You three are leaving” I commanded.

“What?” Naruto asked, sounding dumbfounded.

“You can't be serious” Sasuke demanded, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Under no circumstances can the three of you be caught. Your chances of survival, let alone the chance of getting home will drop to zero if you're caught” I stated firmly.

“Sensei our chances of surviving on our own here are zero!” Sakura reasoned, looking very alarmed.

“Sakura's right. We're not leaving you behind” Sasuke stated, sounding unmoving.

“You're not leaving me behind, we're temporarily splitting up” I corrected, “I'm going to distract them and lead them away from your route. After I do I'll meet back up with three of you”

“But Sensei we don't even know the route we're supposed to take!” Sakura countered.

“Naruto does. Remember, he helped make the map after all” I reminded them, my stance unmoving.

“It doesn't matter if I know it or not! We're not leaving you behind to deal with all of them by yourself!” Naruto declared.

“Maybe I didn't make myself clear” I declared sternly, icily, “As your superior officer I am ordering you to follow your directives”

The three of them froze immediately.

Rarely did I ever assert my absolute authority over them.

It was an intentional move on my part.

Because when I did assert my authority, they knew all their arguments were done.

“Go” I commanded, leaving no room for any further discussion.

Naruto was absolutely furious, but even he knew the debate was over.

Sakura looked scared and devastated, probably thinking that this would be the last time we'd ever see each other alive.

Sasuke looked pissed off, but he just grit his teeth hard and grabbed onto the other two.

“Come on, let's go” he ground out.

Naruto and Sakura looked reluctant, but I could see it in their body language that they were going to follow.

“You better catch up to us” Naruto demanded, holding his fist out in front of him, a habit of his I hadn't seen for a while.

I gave a subtle nodded, and like the mark of a starting gun they spend off through the trees.

Not long after they had taken off I felt four strong chakra signatures speeding towards my direction, probably having been tipped off by the ninneko.

“My chakra and scent have been sealed, so a surprise ambush to get their attention would probably be the best option” I decided, leaping up into the trees, heading away from the waterfall and towards the two ninneko I had defeated earlier.

I chose to conceal myself on a lower branch that was fairly well covered by leaves.

Sure enough four battle ready shinobi leaped into the clearing. Three of them very familiar.

The older salt-and-pepper haired man moved forward to approach the stirring ninneko lieutenant, the three Uchiha covering his back.

But the moment the older Nekoka shinobi touched the ninneko's fur I heard a grunt of strain as he attempted to move, but couldn't.

I watched on in shock as the three Uchiha found themselves frozen in place as well, a three-prong seal appeared on the ground.

“They're completely trapped” I deduced.

After taking a moment to assess the situation I made my decision.

“Well...in that case” I muttered, making the Tora hand sign, “Hidden Mist jutsu!”

A dense fog covered the area as I made my escape.

Even as I sped through the trees my mind continuously went back to the seal trap.

I know for a fact it wasn't one of Naruto's…

And those characters on the ground...they read 'bind'.

Some kind of word script jutsu?

But the bigger question was who had laid the trap? And why did they help us?

(Madara’s POV)

They escaped.

We had all four of them...and they got away.

Furious didn't even begin to describe how I was feeling right now.

“We're tracking them down” I declared, daring anyone to contest otherwise.

I knew they wouldn't.

(Third POV)

Shin released his Camouflage jutsu as he silently landed on the balcony.

“You’re late” Hyo noted as Shin made his way into their temporary room at the Kennel.

“With the recent intruders there were ninneko everywhere, so I had to watch my step” Shin replied.

“By intruders I assume you mean Squad 7, correct?” Hyo inquired.

“Yes sir. According to the information I had gathered on the way here they managed to evade capture once again” Shin informed him.

“They are jeopardizing the mission and the future of the Village. They need to be dealt with effective immediately” Hyo decided.

“Hai” Shin agreed obediently.

“Tell Sai to pack. We leave in two days as to not arise suspicions” Hyo declared.

Shin bowed to his superior at the dismissal and walked over to his and Sai's quarters, silently sliding the door shut.

“You helped them escape didn't you?” Sai accused silently, using ANBU sign language to speak to his older brother without being detected.

“Hyo-senpai wants us to pack. We will be leaving in two days” Shin stated, though his hands said something else.

“And if I did?”

“Then I will pack effective immediately” Sai replied.

“Why?”

“Make sure you stock up on ink” Shin reminded him.

“Because this mission is wrong”

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

"So what're our options?" Sakura asked, trying to not sound exhausted.

Though to be fair they all were.

It's only been four days since they split away from Kakashi, but they felt every moment of it.

Though they had followed the route down, avoiding the territory that would one day become the Land of Sound, and cutting through the location that would one day be called the Valley of the End, the entire trek had been fraught with uneasy tension. None of them feeling safe enough to rest, and too wary to even try going near any rivers without the aid of their sensei.

After cutting through the Valley of the End the three of them had stuck to the 'designated' peddler roads.

At one desperate point (that will never be spoken of again) Sasuke and Naruto had transformed themselves into girls and with Sakura pretended to be a trio of starving homeless orphans searching for work in order to get a sympathy meal and a free ride on the back of a hay wagon.

Naruto and Sakura had no issues with the minor deception, but it took everything Sasuke had to bite his tongue and accept another person's help (and act defenseless and weak).

"We can't go much further east” Naruto stated, pulling out the map he had recreated to the best of his memory.

“Why not?” Sasuke asked.

“The land of Whirlpools is in that direction” Naruto replied simply, as if that should have been enough of a deterrent.

“But isn't the Land of Whirlpools an island? We shouldn't be at too high a risk of running into anyone from the Uzumaki clan” Sakura inquired curiously.

“Yeeaahh but their allies the Umino clan hold the territory near the port. And I'm not taking the chance of accidentally killing Iruka-sensei’s ancestor and preventing him from existing when we get back!” Naruto retorted loudly.

“Tch fair enough” Sasuke reluctantly allowed.

“Kakashi-sensei and I mapped out a very specific route in order to try and get to the Land of Waves. If we deviate from it at all we’ll chance running into a clan” Naruto stated for what he felt was the fifth time.

“The Nara are west of the Umino with the Yamanaka and Akimichi flanking them. And the Inuzuka are south-west of them. Not to mention other clans in-between” Sakura muttered, taking another look at the map and contemplating the best plan of action for them now.

They hadn't eaten anything other than plants and berries in just over twenty-four hours now. They needed protein and carbs if they wanted to keep up their health and energy.

Unfortunately they also didn't want to risk lighting a fire and drawing any unwanted persons to them.

They'd learned their lesson from the Forest of Death.

But...

"We don't have a choice but to pick one of the surrounding towns to spend the night in" Sasuke stated, "We're stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. We got lucky that merchant took pity on us"

"The closest town to us is Takumi Village. A wealthier civilian settlement allied with the Senju clan" Naruto noted grimly.

"So there aren't any shinobi?" Sakura questioned.

No shinobi meant no sensors.

Sure it was still a town allied with the Senju, but it was still better than going into another clan's territory.

"I don't know if we can risk it. The Senju clan already know my face…" Naruto contemplated warily.

"That's what a transformation jutsu is for Dobe" Sasuke scoffed.

"I know that already Duck-Butt!" Naruto shouted.

"Guys" Sakura stated warningly.

"Sorry" Naruto grumbled.

"Look. If you're so worried than maybe you should be the one to scope out the town first? That way if on the off chance they do have a sensor your heritage will hopefully keep them from trying to kill you right off the the bat" Sakura suggested.

Naruto gave her a reluctant nod.

"Alright then, it's settled. Let's move out" Sasuke exclaimed, all three of them blissfully unaware of the little ink-black mouse still following their every move.

(Third POV)

"And you're positive they came through here?" Madara asked the artist skeptically.

Thinking tactically he and Izuna had hypothesized that the group would choose to follow the merchant roads after stirring up so much trouble with three different clans.

As such they'd been questioning every merchant, traveler, and peddler they came across. So far they hadn't had any luck...Until now.

The artist nodded affirmative, pulling out a piece of parchment and his clay sticks.

Madara and Izuna watched silently as the black-haired man made quick strokes across the page, alternating between the colors he owned in his box.

When he was finished he flipped the parchment around for them to see, "These the children you're looking for?".

The artist had drawn out an impressively well detailed picture of a pink-haired girl with green eyes, a spiky bright blonde-haired boy with blue eyes, and a black-haired Izuna double.

"Exactly who we're looking for" Izuna confirmed, eyeing the picture with incredible intensity.

The artist nodded relieved, "They went along the right fork in the road. The path that goes down near Takumi Village".

"Damn" Madara thought, "Well, so long as we don't get too close to either the Takumi or Umino borders we should be fine to snoop around if we're careful"

"Much appreciated" Izuna stated, turning to his brother with a look that demanded 'let's go'.

"Your talents are notable. Should we find the children the Uchiha will owe you a favor within reason" Madara declared.

The artist bowed to the Uchiha brothers.

"I'm honored for the praise. Just happy to help really my Lords" the artist stated with a small smile, though Madara noted that it was not a genuine one, though it hardly mattered.

"Let's go" Madara commanded to Izuna, the both of them taking off in a burst of speed.

After a few moments Sai let his false smile drop, canceling his transformation jutsu.

"Mission successful" he muttered, taking off in the opposite direction of the Uchiha legends.

Now he needed to regroup with Hyo-senpai.

(Naruto's POV)

I let out a deep sigh as I trekked through Takumi Village, ignoring all the mistrustful glares pointed in my direction (I had enough experience in doing so back home).

I'd transformed myself into a sixteen year old mousy brown-haired male and strapped my tanto to my side with a waistband.

The story was that I was a poorer Bounty Hunter who's main income came from doing menial work where he could.

Unfortunately, even if nobody in the Village could sense chakra they were still extremely wary of anyone coming into the Village for any reason.

I'd gone to every shopkeeper in town offering my temporary labor and I was turned down every single time.

And civilians or not I doubted that the swords and other assorted weapons the people here carried around with them were just for show.

If Tenten was any indication then the Takumi Family was more than just a civilian clan of weapons crafters.

And unfortunately for us that meant we'd have to come up with a plan B.

Lost in thought I didn't notice the bucket until it squared me right in the back of my head.

Grabbing the offending object before it hit the dirt I turned around to glare at my assailant, "Hey! What was that for Grandma! I'm already leaving!"

The older graying woman raised an eyebrow at my words, but didn't look apologetic in the least.

“I need my roof fixed” she stated, ignoring my outburst.

“Huh?” I said dumbly, my anger dissipating as it was replaced with confusion.

“What’re ya dense?” the woman exclaimed bluntly.

“What the hell?! That’s uncalled for lady!” I shouted, my anger returning.

“Humph. Then I guess ya don’t want food” she commented brusquely.

I blinked once. Twice. Three times.

“Huh. Wait. You’re bartering…with me?” I asked in disbelief.

“I’m not askin that bucket you have in your hands now am I? Fixin my roof’ll get ya three birds, a bowl of berries, a tomato, pepper, and a bucket of fresh water” she stated matter-of-factly.

“Really?! Thank you!” I exclaimed happily, just barely remembering to give her a grateful bow.

“Just get to work” she scoffed, "You'll find all the tools you'll need round back"

(Kakashi's POV)

Sensing a presence behind me I pushed off of the tree branch below me and jumped back and away from the glint of a tanto as it whizzed by my covered nose.

When the masked shinobi moved to arc his arm back I pulled out my own tanto to counter each of his flurry of strikes, metal sparking against metal.

Putting extra muscle behind my swing I knocked his arm back, opening his body up mid-air and took the opportunity to roundhouse kick him right in the stomach.

The masked man landed with a hard thud against the ground as I used my momentum to land on another tree branch instead.

But just before my sole made contact with the bark I caught sight of a small script written on the branch that read: explosion.

Fortunately I had noticed the script in time to substitute safely away, the concussive blast of fire echoing throughout the forest, no doubt drawing other shinobi to our location should any be nearby.

I made sure to keep my chakra suppressed as much as I possibly could as I hid within the leaves of the trees.

Three assailants. One around Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura’s age, and two that seemed closer to Iruka’s age.

One of the assailants was the one who had assisted us in getting away from the Uchiha...Though whether that was to benefit more them than us leads to be seen. In addition, the third assailant was still keeping himself scarce as well. A fact that made me wary.

The masks the three of them wore though...Masks weren’t something that was used during the Warring States Era. At least not for the purpose that these shinobi were using them, which was to conceal their identity.

But their masks specifically were ones like the Leaf Village ANBU would wear.

Which means we either majorly screwed up the timeline...Or more likely one of the flashes that had occurred in the rocky hills before we ended up in the past ourselves was someone else using the diagram to go back in time...Or rather, people.

The question was...Why? And who?

(Naruto's POV)

With a huff of exhaustion (more from the heat outside than anything else) I wiped the sweat from my brow.

It had taken a few hours, but the roof was finally complete.

Never thought I'd ever be grateful for all those D-rank missions, but I guess anything's possible.

I stole another glance over at Grandma Tori.

The entire time I'd been working on her roof she'd been tending to her garden...extremely slowly.

It took me a while to figure out that she was only using her garden as an excuse to keep an eye on me.

“You’ve got a pretty big garden there” I complemented, hoping to strike up a bit of a conversation.

“You’re not gettin any more than we bargained” Grandma Tori stated brusquely.

“I’m not asking lady!” I shouted from my position on the roof.

I couldn't help but cringe as she tore off the peppers by the stems.

“You know the peppers would grow better if you cut them off the stems rather than pull at them” I stated.

“Oh? And what makes you the expert?” she challenged.

“Because I had a garden of my own before. Geez I’m just trying to help here lady!” I said irately.

"Oh?" she hummed curiously, "Any more fantastic pieces of wisdom you wish to impart on me?"

“As a matter of fact, you have too much nitrogen in your soil” I stated pointedly, replying to her challenge.

“Nitro-what?” the woman asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Whoops. Future word.

“Oh uh it’s a kind of chemical. It’s from all the compost. Letting the food rot away on the soil is making the soil less suitable for the peppers to grow” I explained, hopping down from the roof and gathering some new soil from another grassy patch and placing it into the bucket she'd thrown at me earlier.

I scraped away some of the old soil without compromising the integrity of the plants and dumped the new soil on top.

"There. That should help a bit. Maybe add a few worms for a nutrient boost" I suggested, clapping the dirt and mud off my hands.

Grandma Tori just gave me a consideratory hum.

"What?" I asked her confused.

"Nothin" she decided, "The birds, berries, and water are over in the shade by the well"

"Gee thanks Grandma!" I exclaimed happily, damn near skipping over to the precious treasures.

“I don’t see any symbols on you and yet I definitely feel that you have chakra” the woman said skeptically, causing me to halt in my tracks.

What?!

“I’m uh. I'm actually a bounty hunter. I figured learning chakra would allow me to pick up jobs easier, but uh as you can guess it also causes me a world of trouble too. I usually try and avoid areas that are overrun with clans, but I kind of uh got…lost hehe” I said, trying to cover my slip up.

"What the hell?! I thought there wasn't supposed to be any sensors here!" I thought, trying not to let my panic show, "I knew I should've used the chakra concealing seal just in case!"

“Humph. You’re not the brightest lamp are you?” Grandma Tori said matter-of-factly.

I couldn't help but comically fault over to the side at her exclamation.

“I’ve been around enough shinobi to tell when one is lying...Just be careful out there kid or else you’ll get hurt” Grandma Tori advised, handing me a pepper and tomato.

“Thank you” I said, giving her a genuine smile.

“If you come back tomorrow and help me some more with my garden I’ll be willing to barter with you some more” she offered.

“Really?! That'd be awesome!" I immediately agreed.

"Thanks Grandma Tori! See you tomorrow!" I said, taking off with a wave.

"Maybe we could stick around here for a little bit after all?" I thought hopefully.

(Third POV)

"This completes almost all the territories on our agenda" Tobirama states, "Which means we only have one more town to check on before we head to the Land of Whirlpools"

Hashirama nodded affirmative, "Takumi Village".

He was looking forward to seeing his wife and children again after being away from them for so long.

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

The colors of dawn were just breaking over the horizon when the Senju Brothers made their way into Takumi Village.

"My Lords" Lord Hayahiko greeted with a low bow as they reached the Village entrance.

"Good to see that you are well my friend!" Hashirama greeted happily in kind, "I pray that you have good word for us"

The trio walked together to the Village Center where many of the Clan were seated along the edges of the amphitheater.

The seating was uniquely arranged to resemble that of a bullseye. The closer to the center you sat the more prestigious the position in the Clan you held, with Lord Hayahiko and any guests seated within the center rung.

"That I do. The Village has been prosperous, and outside attacks minimum" Hayahiko detailed with a small relieved smile as the three of them made their way down the stairs to the center seats.

However, his small smile vanished, and his expression turned serious, "Though we did have an...interesting passerby yesterday".

"Interesting how?" Hashirama inquired as they took their seats, his eyebrows scrunching in a mix of curiosity and concern.

"A young Bounty Hunter, approximately fifteen-sixteen years old I'd say, came into the Village asking for some temporary work" Hayahiko began to explain, lacing his fingers together as he sat back in his chair.

"A Bounty Hunter? That's unusual" Hashirama exclaimed.

"Not many Bounty Hunters have the guts to come into a Clan allied Village to work for hire" Tobirama commented, arms folded across his chest.

"That's just the thing, he wasn't asking for a hit. He was asking for menial work" Hayahiko corrected.

"Menial work?" Hashirama parroted in surprise.

Most Bounty Hunters would never lower themselves to such a thing unless they were truly well and desperate. And even then most wouldn't have such honor not to rob others instead out of pride.

Hayahiko nodded affirmative, "And that's not all. According to Lady Tori the young man possessed chakra".

Hashirama and Tobirama immediately tensed.

"Chakra?! Do you think the young man could be a spy using the Transformation jutsu?" Hashirama demanded seriously, his concern spiking.

"If I may my Lords" a firm but soft and respectful feminine voice sounded.

The three Lords turned to face the graying woman sitting regally in rung closest to the center.

Hashirama gave his clansman a small smile, happy to see that she was doing well.

Tori Senju had been a lower prestige member of the Clan that was given to the second brother of the previous Head of the Takumi Family in a political marriage as a way to solidify the alliance between the Takumi and Senju Clans.

She had been chosen specifically for her talents with the Sensory Technique.

Meaning it was her job to monitor everyone coming in, out, and around the Village for any potential threats.

"You may Tori" Hayahiko allowed.

“He didn't seem like a bad kid. Honest. Not the brightest, but when testing him he did more work for me than we bargained and didn’t ask for any more than we agreed on afterwards. Throughout the work he was cheery and talkative and didn’t complain which likely means he’s used to doing menial chores. If I had to guess I’d say that’s how he gets most of the things he needs in life. His personality is actually a lot like your own Lord Hashirama…Though with Lady Mito's temper” Tori detailed.

“So you don’t believe he’s a threat” Hashirama concluded.

“Nothing is a hundred percent in this world…But no. I don’t believe he has any nefarious intentions” Tori commented.

Hashirama hmmed, conflicted on what they should do.

"There is one other issue of importance my Lords" Tori continued.

"Which would be?" Tobirama inquired.

"I felt both Senju and Uzumaki in his chakra" Tori revealed, her tone firm and unwavering, letting every one of them know she was not joking in the slightest.

"Are you certain?" Tobirama demanded.

"Undeniably" Tori proclaimed, not back down.

"How…" Hashirama muttered in disbelief, this was the second person they've come across recently that…

Hashirama's eyes widened. He immediately spun his head around to his brother to see if he had come to the same conclusions he had. And judging by Tobirama's sharp knowing gaze he had.

"Do you know what direction the young man headed when he left?" Hashirama asked hopefully, silently praying that she did.

"Knowing that your arrival was imminent I offered him more should he return today. He enthusiastically accepted, though I do not know when or even if he will return for certain" Tori informed them.

Hope soared within Hashirama. If the Bounty Hunter was really who they were hoping than they would finally be meeting the elusive Naruto.

Tobirama however took a more active approach to the matter, sensing around the Village's perimeters to see if he could locate the Bounty Hunter.

"Hmm" Tobirama grunted.

"What is it?" Hashirama asked, curious what could have disgruntled his brother.

"I don't sense any chakra around-"

Before he even finished the sentence Tobirama shot up from his seat, his expression one of urgency.

"What is the matter my Lord?" Hayahiko inquired, immediately standing as well, his body tight as a bowstring as he gripped the katana at his waist.

"Tobi?" Hashirama demanded, his expression now serious.

"I sense both Madara and Izuna's chakra near the Village" Tobirama shortly detailed, his eyes sharp, concern sparking through them.

Hashirama's expression scrunched in confusion, reaching out his senses as well, "Why would-".

"And the Bounty Hunter is right near them!" Tobirama proclaimed, cutting him off.

And sure enough, Hashirama sensed the unmistakable chakra of a Senju/Uzumaki in-between the Takumi and Umino borders, and the unmistakable chakra of Madara and Izuna Uchiha bee-lining their way straight for him.

Humming a low cheery tune Naruto slowly made his way out of their camp and back through the forest to Takumi Village.

Both Sasuke and Sakura agreed that sticking around the Village one more day was worth it for the food.

He would complete whatever tasks Grandma Tori asked, and Sasuke and Sakura would remain within their camp. He had put up his Chakra Concealing Seals so no one would sense them within the Seals' borders.

After today though the three of them were definitely booking it to Waves. Whatever was keeping Kakashi-sensei from meeting up with them couldn't be good.

Naruto just prayed to the high heavens that he hadn't been caught...or killed.

Suddenly, two large masses of chakra slammed into his senses, freezing him in place and causing his heart to momentarily stop in horror.

Not a 5 seconds later two men flanked him from the front and behind.

Naruto's breath caught in his throat, beads of sweat forming at his brow, not even daring to move as he glanced at the two men out of the corner of his eyes.

And while Naruto would be the first to admit he hadn't been the best academically, even he knew the face of one of the Village's founders glaring down at him with his Sharingan.

And if he had to guess the older Sasuke look-alike was probably the Izuna Uchiha Sasuke mentioned.

Naruto cursed himself to the high heavens for not keeping up with his Sensory Technique.

"Dispel the Transformation" Madara ordered, arms folded across his chest.

It wasn't a suggestion.

Clenching his teeth Naruto (reluctantly) did as the man asked.

When the puff of smoke cleared Madara and Izuna took in the boy's appearance.

Madara gripped his fingers tighter around his arms when the puff of smoke cleared and a young boy with dark brown spiky hair and blonde roots appeared before them.

"Looks like we finally caught up to you" Madara proclaimed, deactivating his Sharingan, "I'm assuming the other two are within the area of the forest you just exited out of?"

He and Izuna had felt the boy's chakra appear out of thin air, just like Hikaku reported in Yama-Hin.

And the boy wasn't just a descendant of the Uzumaki clan as Hikaku had speculated. He was of direct Senju-Uzumaki descent.

And he would bet his left arm that the boy was somehow directly related to Hashirama. Possibly even one of his children if his Uzumaki ancestry and similarities to Hashirama's own chakra were any indication, though the blonde hair peeking out of the dye threw him for a loop.

"I've got no idea what you're talking about Buddy. I'm just a clanless orphan trying to survive and make ends meet" Naruto countered, refusing to give Sasuke and Sakura's position away any more than he already had.

Madara leveled the boy with an incredibly unimpressed look.

"Ignorance is not becoming. Any sensor can tell that you have Senju and Uzumaki ancestry. Your description matches reports given by both my clansmen and the members of the Nekoka clan, and the fact your chakra appeared out of nowhere points to the use of a Chakra Concealing Seal like the ones found in Yama-Hin" Madara bluntly detailed.

If possible Naruto tensed even more.

Madara could understand his fear. The Uchiha were known for their war against the Senju, and by extension the Uzumaki.

"Never heard of-"

"You've been had. Accept it rather than wasting all our times" Izuna declared, cutting Naruto off, causing him to forcibly keep himself from jolting in surprise at the interruption and pulling out his tanto.

"Izuna" Madara reprimanded, seeing how jumpy the boy was.

"No harm will come to you-" Madara began, dropping his sentence when he sensed the fast incoming chakras of both Hashirama and Tobirama.

"Figures they'd be in the area" Izuna growled in annoyance.

Suddenly Izuna's Sharingan eyes narrowed, "Kai!".

Dispelling the genjutsu, Madara and Izuna looked up to see raging fireballs raining down upon them.

Madara calmly sped over and grabbed onto the boy's waist, leaping the two of them effortlessly out of harm's way.

"Hey! Put me down!" Naruto demanded, not giving a damn if he was yelling at the Madara Uchiha.

Madara ignored him in favor of scanning his surroundings.

That was the Uchiha Clan's Phoenix Flower jutsu.

Which meant that the two other children were hiding out in the forest within the borders of the Chakra Concealing Seals and using guerilla tactics to combat against them.

"Smart" Izuna muttered to himself, though Madara heard him none-the-less.

"Come out!" Madara commanded, "We mean the three of you no harm. We just want some answers"

"I'm calling epic bullshit on that" Naruto exclaimed, still squirming in Madara's grip.

Focusing his chakra in his stomach and bringing his hands together in a prayer formation Naruto was about to Wind Style: Breakthrough Madara's ass, when an incredible crushing killing intent caused his breath to catch in his throat.

"Don't" Madara commanded, Sharingan glowing with the promise of red, the order reverberating right down to Naruto's bones, the sudden fear breaking his focus and control, dissipating the jutsu.

Seeing that the boy had been effectively cowed from trying anything stupid, Madara released his Sharingan and turned his attention back to the forest.

"You should be grateful we are helping you Senju-spawn. So be silent" Izuna clipped, getting annoyed by the boy's attitude.

"Who the hell are you calling a spawn you bastard?! At least my hair doesn't look like a duck's butt!" Naruto shouted furiously at the other Uchiha.

"What did you just say?! I'm not the one here who's a bastard you little brat!" Izuna growled, getting more ticked off by the minute.

Madara for the life of him found the situation more amusing than anything else. It actually gave him an odd feeling of nostalgia…

"Awwww they're arguing like we used to" an annoyingly familiar voice echoed throughout the forest.

And the nostalgia was now dead.

Madara turned to face Hashirama and Tobirama as they made their way closer to him and Izuna.

Tobirama being the reasonable Shinobi he was, was glaring at his brother for just casually walking up to the two Uchihas brothers. Though he like Madara and Izuna knew, just because Hashirama was giving off an air of friendly calm doesn't mean he wasn't poised and ready to strike at a moment's notice.

And with the Senju child they'd been looking for currently in the arms of the Uchiha Clan Head, Tobirama knew that old friend or not, his brother would place that child's safety above Madara's.

"Oh come on! Does the universe hate us or something?!" Naruto exclaimed in exasperated annoyance.

There was no way it should have been possible for them to have run into both the Senju and Uchiha Brothers at the same damn time!

A sentiment both Sasuke and Sakura shared as they thunked their heads on the tree branches in front of them.

Suddenly, Sasuke sensed a presence behind them.

Taking out his tanto, Sasuke whipped around to face the unknown enemy.

Of course said unknown enemy turned out to be Tobirama Senju, or rather, more likely one of his Shadow Clones.

"Let us all join the conversation, shall we?" the Clone stated blandly, though both Sasuke and Sakura could tell it wasn't a suggestion.

Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration.

There was no way they were just getting out of this one.

Sasuke and Sakura reluctantly jumped out of the foliage of the trees, landing a bit away from the two groups while still situating themselves between them, both of their expressions wary and grim.

"Lose something?" Tobirama's Clone stated, gesturing his head over in Sasuke's direction while still keeping position behind the duo in case they made an attempt to either escape or attack.

Sasuke scowled at the Clone, though his glares were pointedly ignored.

"I could say the same" Madara retorted, keeping a firm grip on Naruto, though he was eyeing Sasuke with an incredible intensity.

"Look there's been a huge misunderstanding here" Sakura exclaimed, hoping that they could still talk their way out of this.

"Really now?" Izuna deadpanned, not liking how close Tobirama's Clone was to his mini-me.

"Why don't we trade. Izuna's son can go with you-"

"He's not my son" Izuna cut in.

"I'm not his son" Sasuke exclaimed sharply at the same time.

"And you give us Naruto" Hashirama continued undaunted.

"You know him?" Izuna stated in disbelief.

"Your son then?" Madara stated, unsurprised that Hashirama would name one of his children after a food topping.

Hashirama blinked in surprise, "No actually. We only learned of his existence not quite a week ago...Although we weren't aware that the other two children were an Uchiha and Haruno…"

The four legends just stared at the three kids as if they were some anomaly they couldn't figure out.

"Why don't we all settle down and sort things out? Somehow I get the feeling that the three of you have been causing trouble across the Land of Fire" Hashirama suggested, eyeing Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke with interest.

"Humph. Only cause none of you know how a take a hint and just leave us alone" Sasuke scoffed.

"That and we have the best worst luck" Sakura grumbled.

It was a running joke that their Team was "lucky" number seven.

The only thing lucky about their Team was that they were somehow still alive. Life seemed to love making them the butt of all it's jokes.

Though Sakura had to admit, it could be far far worse. Of all the Uchiha and Senju they could have run into at least it was the ones who seemed like they were the least interested in actually harming them. Though on the flip-side what they probably wanted from them wasn’t much better.

“You heard him! Put me down already!” Naruto shouted irately, resisting the growing urge to try and stab the Uchiha legend with his tanto.

Madara just rolled his eyes and unceremoniously tossed the boy in the direction of the other two children.

Though surprised by the sudden action at first, Naruto quickly flipped himself around and landed on his feet.

“Now, just where are the three of you from? What happened to your parents-”

“Were you kidnapped?” Madara demanded, cutting Hashirama off and getting right to the heart of the matter.

Silence.

Hashirama couldn’t help but think that the kids resembled owls with how stunned speechless they were.

“Kidnapped” Sakura parroted dumbfounded.

“Kakashi? You think Kakashi kidnapped us?” Sasuke reiterated, not quite believing the accusations his great-great uncle was implying.

"You're all bastard children correct? Born outside of your Clans and Family? This Kakashi found you. Or did he steal you because of your heritage?" Izuna inquired, impatiently fishing for information.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"

Naruto couldn't help but double over! It was just too funny! Kakashi-sensei a kidnapper!!

The four legends couldn't help but jump slightly at Naruto's unexpected laughter. Confused beyond belief at what caused such a reaction.

"Pfft" Sasuke exhaled, trying and failing to cover up his laughter with a couple coughs.

Sakura though laughed right alongside Naruto, though nowhere near as loud or obnoxious.

"Oh my God we're never letting him live this down!" Naruto chuckled, trying to regain control of his laughing fit.

"Never" Sasuke agreed, the largest shit-eating grin adorning his face.

"Damn right. Best blackmail ever!" Sakura agreed, grinning victoriously.

The men were a little surprised at the girl's blatant use of language, but brushed it aside as a part of how she was raised.

"I'm assuming that means he did not kidnap you" Tobirama inferred, narrowing his eyes at the kids.

"Nope" Naruto confirmed, though he wisely didn't say any more than that (as per Kakashi-sensei's contingency plan).

"Then how did you all end up together?" Hashirama inquired, "And what happened to your parents?"

"Kakashi left the Hatake Clan when he was about eleven. He was looked down upon for being the only son of a man who chose to save his clansman's lives over their mission. His father committed suicide to atone and his mother had died during his birth so it wasn't like there was anything keeping him in the Clan" Sasuke began, reiterating the start of the cover story Kakashi had made them memorize.

A chill went up the four men's spines.

"That's actually how Kakashi-sensei met my Dad" Naruto stated, continuing where Sasuke left off, "My Dad was a Senju bastard from the Main Branch who was taken in by a passing Toad Sage. By the time he met eleven year old Kakashi-sensei, he was already twenty-one and married to an Uzumaki girl he had saved from slavers when he was a kid. Dad taught Kakashi-sensei and two other kids he came across how to survive and Kakashi-sensei returned the favor to me when my parents were killed the day I was born"

An air of depression started forming around Hashirama, while Tobirama ignored him in favor of mentally going through what he knew of their family tree.

"My great-grandfather actually left the Nishu Temple to try his hand at opening a Medical Ninjutsu Clinic. Needless to say our Clinic was destroyed by the Kaguya Clan, and my parents were killed. Kakashi-sensei just happened to be in the area and rescued me. I've been with him, and Naruto ever since" Sakura explained, making sure to put on a sad, grieving expression.

It sounded possible, Madara considered, though he immediately turned his attention to the boy, Sasuke.

"And you?" Madara all but commanded.

"My father was actually your 'missing' Uncle Kenji" Sasuke stated with a particularly vicious scowl (he and Kakashi had taken advantage of what he knew of his family tree), "He actually left the Clan because he didn't agree with what he saw as pointless fighting. He faked his death and settled elsewhere, got married and had my older brother and myself. When I was seven Tajima Uchiha found us. He called my father a traitor and killed him, my Mother, and my older brother. The only reason I'm alive is because he didn't bother to check if my heart was still beating. Kakashi found me that night. Sakura kept me alive"

A rage Madara had never known roared within him.

He knew his Father had no compunction about sending a young child out into battle, called it their 'duty to their Clan'.

He knew that his Father wouldn't have hesitated to strike down any dissenters within the Clan.

But to hear that his Father had not only murdered his own brother in cold-blood, but went on to murder his wife and children as well?

If his Father had still been alive today Madara had no doubt that he'd make a move to kill the man himself.

Izuna wasn't much better.

He knew his older brother treasured him and would never lay a hand on him in such a way. And for their own Father to do such a thing? Well Tajima Uchiha should be counting his lucky stars that he fell in battle alongside Butsuma Senju.

Hashirama on the other hand was full-on slumped over in depression, with Team 7 looking at the man in confusion as if he had grown three heads.

'They're never going to trust us' Tobirama thought, 'They've been hurt too badly by the Warring Clans to even try'.

Though now this Kakashi's actions make a tad bit more sense.

The Hatake were similar to the Inuzuka in that they were very Pack oriented, though in the case of the Hatake their Pack style mimicked more that of a wolf's than dog's.

And if the Hatake left his Clan than Naruto's Father, and later the kids themselves probably became a substitute 'Pack' for him.

Though that still didn't explain the implanted Sharingan in the man's eye. Though he'd keep that little tid-bit to himself for now.

"And just where is this Kakashi now?" Tobirama inquired curiously, noting the man's absence.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura gave each other worried glances.

"We...actually don't know. He stayed behind to handle to Nekoka and Uchiha Clan members coming after us in Sora-Ku, but…" Sakura trailed off worriedly, shifting her gaze to look at Madara and Izuna, praying for any good news.

Madara and Izuna looked at each other in confusion.

"The Shinobi tailing you were halted by some manner of Word Script jutsu and then a fog covered the land. He was not caught by us" Madara informed them.

"What?!"

"What's wrong?" Hashirama demanded, immediately coming out of his depression at the sudden seriousness of the conversation.

"Kakashi doesn't use Word Script jutsu" Sasuke proclaimed gravely, his words causing dread and unease to surround the Senju and Uchiha brothers at the implication.

"The fog was probably him. But the fact that someone else stopped our pursuers and Kakashi-sensei has yet to return…" Sakura speculated, her voice trailing off in fear.

"Means someone else is after us and likely went after him" Naruto continued grimly.

Which is probably why he hasn't met up with them yet. And considering Madara and Izuna found them before-

Just then, a sudden realization slammed into Naruto's skull.

Naruto eyed the Uchiha brothers warily, silently praying he was very wrong, "How did you find us?"

Madara and Izuna blinked in surprise at suddenly being addressed by Naruto.

"An artist we passed gave us your correct descriptions and general...direction they...saw you...take" Madara detailed slowly, his speech breaking up as he started coming to the same conclusion Naruto had.

"Brother?" Izuna asked concerned.

"Their hair is still dyed" Madara declared, "Their hair is still dyed and yet the picture he drew contained no hint of hair dye at all"

Izuna's eyes widened.

"We're being followed" Sasuke concluded grimly.

The question was, By whom?

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

“And here we are! Iruka Port!” Hashirama exuberantly exclaimed, his arms spread out wide toward the sparkling waters.

“I hate you” Naruto deadpanned.

Hashirama immediately slumped down in depression at Naruto’s callous words.

Tobirama fought the urge to roll his eyes at his elder brother’s drama.

Tobirama was almost certain at this point that Naruto was keeping score of just how many times he could get Hashirama to slump over depressed as a (mostly) harmless form of retribution.

Of course his brother being his brother was taking it hard that he couldn’t seem to get Naruto to warm up to them.

He on the other hand was just grateful Naruto hadn’t yet made an attempt to escape, though logically Naruto probably knew he wouldn’t get far.

“The Land of Whirlpools is beautiful! And entering the island never ceases to amaze me, and I think you’ll enjoy it just as much” Hashirama exclaimed, a genuine smile on his face as he remained knelt down closer to Naruto’s level.

A stab of longing pierced Naruto’s heart.

He never had a chance to know his Mother, and the Land of Whirlpools (along with the Uzumaki clan itself) had been destroyed long before he was even born.

[An image of grand structures and pillars emblazoned with the Uzumaki spiral pushed its way to the forefront of his mind, though he shook it off as expectations].

As messed up as the circumstances were, he couldn’t help the curiosity fluttering through him at the prospect of seeing his Mother’s birthplace.

Glancing at the disgruntled teen out of the corner of his eye Tobirama could see the hurt and fears hidden behind the boy’s stubborn expression as he continued to ignore his brother’s attempts to reach out an olive branch.

Hashirama though refused to be discouraged...But he hated that he and Tobi were the “bad guys” in this situation. But truly, they had no idea what else to do.

*Flashback*

"Like hell we're going with you!" Naruto shouted.

“You’re being tailed by an unknown enemy and your care-taker has yet to return and you expect us to just leave?” Izuna deadpanned.

"Up until five minutes ago you were the unknown enemy" Sasuke deadpanned right back.

'Touche' Madara thought.

"Izuna though-"

"Don't address me so familiarly" Izuna scowled cutting Hashirama off.

"-has a very valid point" Hashirama continued undeterred, "I can't in good conscience leave the three of you to fend for yourselves under such circumstances"

'Why the hell does the First Hokage have to have such a bleeding heart?' Sasuke scowled.

"Actually...maybe they have a point" Sakura said slowly, knowing the reaction she'd get.

"What?!" Naruto and Sasuke exclaimed in disbelief, wheeling around to face Sakura with equally surprised expressions.

Likewise both Madara and Tobirama had a skeptical eyebrow raised at such a quick change of opinion.

"We aren't from around here" Sakura began, choosing her words exceptionally carefully as she glared at her teammates (cough Naruto cough), "We were investigating something suspicious in our area that we think transported us here"

Sasuke's eyes widened in realization of just what Sakura was doing.

The four titans blinked in surprise, not expecting that at all.

"Transported? Like a space-time technique?" Tobirama questioned, narrowing his eyes at the pinkette.

Sakura nodded, "It was a giant diagram. One moment we were examining it and then a heavy gust of wind knocked us into the center. There was a blinding flash and horrible tugging sensation and the next thing we knew we were near the Kohaku clan"

"Heavy gust of wind? A wind style technique perhaps?" Madara considered aloud.

"Honestly I didn't even think of that. But it would make sense. Especially if…" Sakura trailed off, her eyes widening in realization and horror.

"What is it?!" Hashirama worriedly exclaimed.

"We were investigating flashes of light. The diagram flashed as it transported us. Which means the enemy tracking us and the causes behind the initial flashes of light are likely one and the same" Sasuke hypothesized grimly.

'This is bad...No this is so much worse than bad' he thought.

It meant that someone, multiple someones, had used the diagram to intentionally go back in time.

And he had a sinking feeling that it wasn't for anything good.

Someone had ambushed them back at the diagram.

But why send them back in time?

Why try and kill them now?

Why not kill us in the present so we couldn't report our findings?

"Well, what are we going to do about it? We don't even know who's after us or what their goal is that they think we're a threat to" Naruto added in, finally coming to the same conclusions as his teammates.

Hashirama and Madara looked up at each other.

Silently the pair agreed upon the necessary plan of action.

"Brother…" Tobirama said warningly, recognizing the look in his elder brother's eyes.

"The Uchiha and Senju will settle for a temporary truce until we capture the enemy and halt their apparent invasion plans" Madara exclaimed, answering for his one time friend.

The trio just whipped their heads around at the Uchiha clan Head, blinking at him owlishly as they tried to comprehend the fact that Madara said 'truce' and 'Senju' without the word 'never' somewhere in the sentence.

Izuna openly gaped at his older brother, "Madara you can't be serious?!"

"We will discuss the matter further later. I've already made up my mind" Madara proclaimed with finality.

Izuna just growled in frustration at his brother's stubbornness.

"And that means what for us exactly?" Naruto asked, skeptical of such a turnaround.

Tobirama sighed.

"It means that you're coming with us"

*End Flashback*

Personally Tobirama thought they should've taken the girl with them as well, seeing how she seemed to be far more knowledgeable and logical than the boys. However Madara and Izuna argued that she would at least have relatives at the Uchiha Compound and likely feel less out of place going with them and Hashirama had caved.

The trio hated to be split up, but it was for the best.

Hashirama tried not to let his regretfulness show as he saw the wary hurt in Naruto's eyes.

While Hashirama wouldn't have cared having Sasuke in their home, realistically he knew that most of their clansmen would not be so welcoming.

Additionally, having the kids split up between them ensured their so called 'temporary truce'.

If only because all four of them knew that hell would freeze over before the three of them would ever join their blood families. At the first hint of betrayal they knew the kids would be long gone (or at least try to be).

Which meant if they didn't want the kids escaping they themselves needed to be the ones keeping an eye on them. That or someone like Toka or Mito where they could be more certain that Naruto would be less liable to sneak away.

And call it paternal instincts, but Hashirama had a strong feeling that Naruto inherited that Uzumaki mischievousness like his own son (as if his teasing wasn't already an indication).

"The Uzumaki are seal masters. Between myself and them I'm certain that we can find a way to return you all home once the matter of the unknown enemy is resolved" Tobirama assured him, trying for a different angle with the boy.

Keeping his gaze on the water's horizon Naruto gave him a slow reluctantly accepting nod, "Not like we have much of a choice"

And they really didn't.

Sure they knew that at some point they would have needed to find a way to confront Tobirama Senju in order to have any hope of returning to their time...They just hadn't expected to be split up.

Kakashi-sensei was still MIA, and his teammates, his friends, the only people in this time period who he truly trusted to have his back were taken from him.

'I'm on my own...' Naruto thought grimly.

Suddenly a surge of stubbornness rose up in him.

Clenching his fists, Hashirama and Tobirama blinked in surprise at the sudden fiery resolve in Naruto's eyes.

'We need to get back home! So I need to do whatever I can do to make that happen!' Naruto thought determined, 'Sasuke and Sakura will be fine scoping the area with the Uchiha to find the enemy and Kakashi-sensei. My job is to make sure we know how that stupid diagram works!'

Naruto turned to Hashirama with a confident smirk plastered on his face, absolutely no trace of the pain and doubt it held earlier.

"Well? Are we going to Whirlpools or not? I'm expecting to be impressed here" Naruto snarked.

Tobirama snorted in amusement.

So he was right. The brat was just as much a little troll as his elder brother.

"Absolutely!" Hashirama exclaimed, near popping up from his kneeling position in his excitement.

Whatever Naruto had decided Hashirama was just glad that he was finally giving them a chance!

Mito and their kids will love him!

Sakura couldn't help but look around the Uchiha Compound in awe.

It was huge!

Sure her family had their own complex, but it wasn't anywhere near this large!

[Though something about that nagged at her conscience, telling her that she was wrong].

There were scrolls hanging along the walls, and various different study and training rooms.

If she had to choose a word to describe the layout and design of the Compound it would be efficient.

No unnecessary decorations. No space wasted for frivolous matters.

[For some reason an incense and meditation room flashed in her memory, though she didn't understand why. Her home didn't have that..?].

But she supposed that was a testament to the Uchiha's single focused warrior mindset.

And from what she and Naruto had gleaned from Sasuke, things hadn't changed much in their time.

Sakura gave Sasuke a wary glance out of the corner of her eye.

He'd been taut as a bowstring ever since the Compound came into view, keeping almost glued to her side from the moment they set foot onto the wooden plank floors of the building.

In fact he was damn near scowling at just about every person who so much as stared at her for more than a few seconds.

Honestly, she didn't know why he was being so protective.

She had pink hair for cryin out loud! Of course she would stand out!

Upon arrival Madara had spoken to the Clan's Council about his newly decided temporary truce with the Senju.

Now that had been an interesting conversation.

Or rather not so much conversation as them watching as Madara flashed his Mangekyou Sharingan and flared out his chakra threateningly the second council members began vetoing the idea.

Of course after the council members had been effectively cowed from attempting a rebellion Madara calmly proclaimed his solid and undeniably logical reasoning for the temporary truce. With him making a very clear point to emphasize temporary.

And when the topic of discussion near abruptly changed to demanding just who the two of them were, Madara explained their false backstories and how Hikaku had first come across the two of them, eventually leading up to the truce with the Senju.

Naturally they were seen not heard, keeping silent throughout the entire meeting (as what was likely expected of them).

The Council were definitely surprised to learn that Sasuke was a 'lost' potential heir (after Lord Hikaku of course).

To say that it was uncomfortable having all those cold calculating eyes on them would be an understatement of the century. Their stares only got more uncomfortable when Sasuke decidedly moved to shield her from their view.

She didn't need to see his expression to know that he was likely glaring them all down, daring them to challenge his action like the stubborn idiot he was.

She wanted to chastise him for potentially making the situation worse, but bit her tongue instead, reigning in her growing irritation. Somehow she didn't think speaking out of turn to chastise her teammate during an important Clan Meeting would do them any favors.

The only good thing about the entire situation was that Naruto was safe with the legendary Senju Brothers and not in danger of being murdered if he had been brought to the Uchiha Compound with them.

Not seeming offended at all, one of the 'older' members immediately demanded they be escorted to the baths on the grounds that they were 'filthy' and had standards required of them to uphold.

Why she was included in that she'd have to ask Sasuke later.

The female retainers had bathed her (awkward) and given her an absolutely gorgeous red kimono decorated with a pattern of white petals to wear.

'Uchiha colors' her mind supplied.

She supposed it made sense since it was the Uchiha Compound, though she figured they would have given her one of the outfits the non-Uchiha retainers wear, but Warring States inter-clan/family etiquette wasn't exactly something she was knowledgeable in.

Currently they were waiting in one of the designated meeting rooms. Apparently Madara and Izuna thought they'd be more comfortable having some clansman named Akaru tour them around the Compound while their rooms were being set up.

Sasuke on the other hand was about to jump out of his own skin.

He hadn't been around so many members of his family in almost 6 years!

The day he dashed through the Compound past the massacred corpses of his clansmen would be burned into his memory forever.

But here he wasn't the only Uchiha anymore.

[Oddly a memory of his parents and older brother attending his Academy graduation came to the forefront of his mind. A notion he dismissed as an old fantasy].

Although at the same time, being around the members of his Clan again reminded him just how unhappy he had been as well.

All their standards.

Training since he was three years old (Because there was no way the Uchiha would ever let the Hyuga show them up).

The pain of never being good enough compared to Itachi.

Sakura was soft-hearted and emotional. Traits the Uchiha frowned upon. Scorned.

The general mindset was that emotions had no place or purpose as it made you weak.

It took him a long time to break himself of that mindset.

And he didn't want Sakura to face that scorn and judgment.

But there was only so much he could do to shield her.

The sooner they set out to find Kakashi the better.

At the sound of footsteps Sasuke and Sakura turned to face the sliding doors to address the man making his way into the room.

While the man was unmistakably an Uchiha, Sasuke and Sakura couldn't help but take note of his unusual hair color.

In some clans certain physical traits tended to be hereditary. The Yamanaka clan were known for many of the members having orange-blonde and auburny hair. The Haruno family had various shades of pink hair. Red hair had been a common color in the Uzumaki clan. And the Uchiha were no different.

Uchiha's were known for their attractive darker coloration and aristocratic features. Black eyes and hair that was some shade of brown, gray, or black.

This man's hair color was a dull gray with a noticeable dusty rose tint to it.

"I am Akaru Uchiha. You two are Sasuke and Sakura correct?" Akaru asked, taking careful note of the closeness of the pair.

"We are" Sasuke confirmed, trying really hard to sound bland and expressionless.

"I was told of your backstories by Lord Madara and it was decided that due to my own heritage that I would accompany the two of you around the Compound" Akaru explained.

"Heritage?" Sasuke inquired, narrowing his eyes slightly at the twenty-something year old.

"I'm assuming it has in part to do with me?" Sakura inquired carefully, carefully omitting his hair color (and an unintentional offense), unsure if she actually had the 'right' to speak.

Though internally Inner Sakura roared 'FUCK THAT!', logically she knew they had to 'play nice' for now.

Akaru nodded, not looking perturbed by her question at all.

"My mother's maiden name was Tsubaki Haruno. She married into the Uchiha clan as insurance that our Clan would honor the Neutrality Stance" Akaru relayed.

Sakura blinked in surprise.

She had no idea that one of her past family members had married into the Uchiha clan.

She definitely needed to look more into her family's history when they got back...

["Our Clan hasn't had pink haired Uchihas since the Warring States Era. I think that's about to change. What about you?" Shisui jested, giving him a suggestive wink].

Sasuke fought the urge to shake his head at the ridiculous "memory".

Something was clearly wrong with his head as of late.

"Shall we begin the tour?" Akaru inquired, not waiting before turning to exit the room.

This was going to be interesting, that was for sure.

"I definitely get why they call it the Land of Whirlpools!" Naruto exclaimed, standing on the bow of the small transport boat.

The entire ocean was riddled with countless whirlpools. Some small, some gigantic.

He had to give the Umino Captain credit. Knowing how to weave between those eddies without getting caught up in their currents was no small feat!

Apparently the Umino clan had some sort of Sonar sensing technique that helped them to navigate, even with their eyes closed!

Naruto had also been thoroughly amused by the fact that the boat had the design of a dolphin at the prow.

Hashirama told him that it was because the Umino clan was in charge of all passage to the Land of Whirlpools. Any ships nearing the Uzumaki clan's territory without the symbolism of the Umino clan was immediately to be treated as a hostile unless they'd been notified prior to the meeting.

"We're not even at the best part yet!" Hashirama teased, grinning wide.

"What'd you mean?" Naruto asked confused.

"Look for yourself" Hashirama proclaimed, pointing back out into the horizon.

"What?" Naruto asked, leaning forward with his hand on his forehead to block the sun as he squinted to try and find what Hashirama was talking about, "All I see are a ton of whirlpools clustered together…….Wait!! How the hell are we going to get around that!! There's no space between them at all!!"

Hashirama just gave Naruto an amused, unconcerned smile in the face of the boy's panic.

"I told you. That's the best part. You don't want to miss it" Hashirama reiterated, shifting Naruto's shoulders so that he was facing forward again.

Just as Naruto was sure they were about to be sucked down to a watery death, seals lit up across the ocean.

The currents rumbled and the eddies parted as if by magic, making a steady, calm path of water for them to pass through.

Suddenly the air around them rippled as their boat passed through what Naruto realized was an invisible barrier.

As if suddenly transported by a space-time technique, an entire island was suddenly directly in front of them.

Surrounding the entire island, an impressive stone gate emblazoned with the Uzumaki spiral and taller than any building back home opened up for them.

Naruto's breathing all but stopped as he gazed upon the stone port.

The Umino pulled them under the stone pavilion, each of the pillars carved with the symbol of the Uzumaki clan.

Exiting the boat onto the dock, Naruto noticed a small group waiting for them at the edge of the most gigantic stone staircase he'd ever seen.

"Ah! Naruto, there is someone I'd like you to meet!" Hashirama said excitedly, leading him over to the group.

As they got closer a strange nagging feeling overtook Naruto as he got a better look at the severe looking older man with long white hair at the front of the group.

["You should be grateful your great-great-great-grandfather is even alive to meet him dattebane!" Kushina scolded him].

"This is Ashina Uzumaki. The current Head of the Uzumaki clan" Hashirama respectfully introduced.

Naruto's great-great-great grandfather.

Chapter Text

(Third POV)

“Ashina...Uzumaki” Naruto muttered, freezing in place as his mind hazed over with a recognition that shouldn’t have been possible.

[Though instead of the man in front of him Naruto’s mind flashed to the image of a man that looked older than dirt and frailer than glass, with short spindly thin white hair, and sagging wrinkly skin that bore innumerable scars from both battle and the sun.]

“No one here is going to harm you” Hashirama assured him, his tone gentle yet firm, misinterpreting Naruto’s hesitance as fear, “I give you my word”

Snapping out of his reverie Naruto turned to the Senju Clan Head and gave him a firm nod, his expression growing serious as they continued to make their way over to their welcoming committee.

With each step Naruto grew more and more anxious, feeling like the stone structures were closing in around him.

‘What am I supposed to say? Am I supposed to bow, or say some kind of formal crap? What are you even supposed to say to a Clan Head anyway? Hell half the time I’m trolling the First Hokage and I’ve cursed out Madara Uchiha several times already!’ Naruto internally panicked.

Hashirama and Tobirama said nothing when Naruto tried (key word: tried) to subtly position himself between the two of them (though a step or two behind). The boy was understandably nervous, and Tobirama welcomed the caution while Hashirama internally warmed at the trust Naruto was placing in them.

“Lord Hashirama. Lord Tobirama” Ashina addressed, his gaze and tone as firm and unwavering as his stance, “I trust you had a safe trip”

“We did” Hashirama assured him, giving the Uzumaki Clan Head a bright delighted grin, “We are fortunate that all our allies are doing well at this time. Though there were some unexpected variables that we came across by happenstance. Fortuitous ones in fact!”

Naruto internally applauded himself for not flinching when the Uzumaki Clan Head’s severe piercing gaze landed on him.

“And I’m assuming that is one of said variables?” Ashina questioned, giving the spiky haired blonde a critically appraising glance.

‘That?!’ Naruto mentally screamed in outrage, a tick mark forming in his anger.

“Yes indeed!” Hashirama joyously proclaimed, placing his hands on Naruto’s shoulders and moving the boy in front of him, “This is Naruto! His story’s a complicated one, but his father was a Senju and his mother an Uzumaki. He was being raised by a Hatake along with two other different clan children”

Naruto was impressed.

Every single one of the Uzumakis’ eyebrows basically flew off their heads.

Everyone except the Clan Head that was.

Naruto had to give the old man props. His expression hadn’t so much as even twitched or given any indication that he’d even heard the future First Hokage.

“I’ve never heard such a ridiculous tale in my life-” a man with dark red hair proclaimed in disbelief, scowling at Hashirama in offense from beside the Clan Head.

“Akane” Ashina scolded without taking his eyes off the blonde child.

“But Father this claim-” Akane tried to justify, clearly frustrated.

“Is of no concern” Ashina harshly cut off with finality, “If Lord Hashirama wishes to spin a fantastical tale for a mere bastard’s origins then it is not ours to question”

A rage that Naruto hadn’t known since his early days of being ostracized by the Villagers took him by storm.

The Villagers hating him was one thing.

This was supposed to be his family.

He’d gone by Naruto Uzumaki for his entire life for fucks sake!

For them to just toss him aside as trash unworthy of their clan name without even getting to know him!...To insult someone as great and amazing as one of the progenitors of the Leaf Village, Hashirama Senju!...What the hell made this guy so great?!

“Who the hell are you calling an It! The only bastard here is you! What gives you the right to judge anybody’s worth or word?! It’s close-minded old farts like you that are preventing peace from being a possibility! I don’t care if you’re an old man, the Clan Head, or God himself! I’ll kick your ass ten times over if you insult me, my friends, or Lord Hashirama again! Got it dattebayo?!” Naruto roared out in fury, his teeth comically turning to points as he raised his fist to the white haired Uzumaki Clan Head, not giving a damn about proper etiquette...Or his own safety.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Naruto ignored the hands tightening on his shoulders, refusing to move or drop his glare or fist until he got a damn reaction out of the Head Uzumaki Bastard.

A wide mischievous self-satisfied smirk made its way onto Ashina’s face, causing Naruto’s aggressive stance to drop as he blinked in confusion at the sudden unexpected shift.

“There it is...I was beginning to wonder if my senses had dulled in my old age when I’d felt the Clan in your chakra and yet was presented with such a skittish deer...Welcome to the family brat” Ashina proclaimed, a teasing chuckle to his tone.

Naruto’s mouth nearly dropped to the floor.

Kakashi sunk down to the floor of the cave.

Sifting his hands through the loose stones embedded in the cave wall he eventually found what he was looking for.

Slamming his hand over the seal, the mouth of the cave was covered over by rocks and boulders, preventing anyone from entering the secret hideout unless they knew where to look.

Immediately Kakashi focused the chakra in his eye, allowing him to see better in the sudden darkness before taking out one of his long-lasting glowsticks.

It would do him better to spare his chakra where he could.

Looking around Kakashi found himself crushed by yet another wave of nostalgia.

[Pulling his arms out from around Rin and Obito's necks, he slammed his hand down on the seal, allowing himself to collapse to the floor in relief as his one hand gripped the throbbing spot where his left eye had been.]

Ignoring the getting more frequent by the day, influx of unfamiliar and worrisome memories, Kakashi took a better stock of his surroundings.

The cave was one of many Hatake clan hideouts scattered across the Land of Fire, typically used during the Warring States Era for emergency cover or a place to rest when traversing the Land.

["But it's my fault you lost your eye!" an eighteen year old looking Obito exclaimed, frustrated and ashamed tears welling in the corners of his eyes.]

Fortunately for him the cave still contained enough materials to make a fire, and the secret inflow of water he smelled a little further down likely contained fish (he hoped).

Taking the moment’s rest to strip out of his torn and bloodied clothes, he began to suture the gashes on his legs before rubbing a healing ointment on his bruised neck.

He would rest for a day. Plot and plan.

And pray that his kids hadn’t gotten caught.

["We stay here until Rin can patch me up. Then we will meet back up with Minato-sensei at Kanabi bridge" Kakashi commanded once he considered all their options.]

But first things first.

There was something he needed to check out before meeting up with the rest of his Team in Waves.

Sakura couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Soon she and Sasuke would be leaving the Uchiha Compound with Lord Madara and Lord Izuna to search for Kakashi-sensei.

First they would start at Sora-Ku and try and track his route from there.

And in her opinion the sooner they left the better.

Because if they stayed any longer she was going to start threatening some of Sasuke's ancestral clan members.

‘One more fucking sexist comment and the Uchiha clan are going to need new Elders!’ Inner Sakura roared, rapid punching the air of her mindscape.

While she was pretty decent about keeping her true thoughts to herself in the presence of those she wasn’t familiar with, she was very quickly reaching her breaking point.

It wasn’t even that she was a woman that was the problem.

Well it was...But the bigger issue was that she was a non-Uchiha woman.

From what Sasuke had explained to her, Uchiha women were primarily the homemakers of the Clan, but since the Uchiha were a Clan proud of their power they still taught their women basic skills should the Compound ever be attacked. Few women ever actually joined their male counterparts on the battlefield as women were needed to bear the children that were getting slaughtered left and right. That only began to change during Madara’s reign as Clan Head, hence why she saw a few Uchiha kunoichi walking around.

So the Uchiha respected their own clanswomen who proved themselves. Great. It was a start for shinobi-kunoichi equality.

So the problem? Again, she was not an Uchiha woman.

She was a tiny, pink haired, delicate and flowery looking girl from a family of non-combatant Ninshu Monks.

They did not view her as a ninja at all. Let alone an equal.

As such, she had been nearly kicked out of the strategy meeting to find her Sensei, and she had to bite her tongue hearing the pompous stuck up Elders figure out just what to do with her.

She couldn't be trusted in their kitchens or to watch the children lest she turn out to be a spy and poison them all and kill their young.

She had to sit quietly and grind her teeth as they decided they couldn't trust an unknown to patch their clothes and armour.

She had to hold in her eye twitches when they suggested that she'd probably like the meditation rooms, and ensured that she had an escort when not in her room as it was "inappropriate" for a young lady to be around Sasuke and other men alone.

She needed to get the hell out of this Compound asap or else she was going to go Lady Tsunade on their asses and send them all into orbit.

The worst part was that they weren’t being rude, only mildly condescending without really meaning to be. It was just the social norm of the time period...But it still pissed her off on a deep level.

The whole situation reminded her too much of everything she had fought to change about herself.

In the beginning she hadn’t taken her career as a ninja seriously. She had been too focused on insignificant things like her looks, love, and being "suitable".

The mindset of a civilian as Kakashi-sensei had helped her come to realize.

Yes the Haruno's were considered a Clan, but her father was a Leaf Village Ninshu Monk, not a ninja, and her mother was an unremarkable civilian-born genin who realized she wasn't suited for shinobi life only after she became a genin.

During the Second Shinobi World War the Leaf couldn’t afford a decline in their troops, so unless you were permanently injured, those that graduated from the Academy had to remain in the Shinobi Corps. But once the War ended her Mom retired at fifteen and never looked back, finding solace in the teachings of Ninshu and ended up marrying her father due to bonding over their shared view of using chakra to connect with others as opposed to using it to fight.

[“The Second Shinobi World War took place over the course of three years. I know you were all about one years old when it first started, but do you remember anything about the War?” Iruka-sensei asked them from his position at the lecture podium.]

As such, her parents hadn’t been thrilled when she asked to attend the Ninja Academy and become a kunoichi like Ino.

[“I want to go to the Ninja Academy with Ino!” five year old Sakura determinedly proclaimed. Mebuki smiled and gave her daughter a proud yet sadly accepting gaze, “Then I’ll pick up the application tomorrow”.]

‘No’ Sakura mentally corrected, her head starting to throb at all the interruptive memories, ‘It didn’t happen like that’

While her parents outwardly encouraged her she understood now that they hadn’t actually thought she would graduate...Or stick it out even if she had.

As such, her Mom made sure to encourage her 'pursuits of love' and that she knew how to properly care for her looks. How to act like a lady. Sew. Cook. Clean.

But she was more then the stereotypes and learned gender roles that were still ever silently present even in her time period.

Hell she worked hard to be more than that dammit!

She was a kunoichi!

A protector of the Leaf Village!

And she was going to show these old-fashioned sexist Uchiha jerks that other women could be badass kunoichi too!

It wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing to further kick-start improving shinobi-kunoichi gender equality right?

Especially since she and Sasuke have both been experiencing more and more of those flashes of memories that “didn’t” happen anyway (Was that ethical? She wasn't sure).

Or rather the flashes were likely things that had likely changed in the future.

That was a terrifying thought (And she didn't even want to delve more into the new “memory” of Iruka-sensei talking about the Second Shinobi World War).

Sasuke hadn’t shared with her the “changes” he’d seen so far, but from his pale expression when she had hypothesized that the flashes they were seeing were actually “memories” of their changed future, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know.

It also begged the answers to much bigger questions that she wasn’t sure she wanted the answers too.

Like, would they even exist when they went back?

Would their “new” memories replace their old ones?

Would they become someone different?

Could they even go back?

Just thinking about all the possibilities where things could go wrong made her chest tighten in anxiety.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Sakura you ready?” Sasuke’s voice inquired from behind the sliding door to my designated room.

“All set” Sakura exclaimed, opening the door.

Sasuke was wearing a high-neck short sleeved deep purple shirt, lavender colored pants, his plated armguards, and a chestplate and shin-guards that the Uchiha had practically thrown at him. His tanto was strapped to his back above his pouch, and his holster was back on his right thigh.

There was only one thing that was really out of place.

“You’re not wearing the Uchiha crest?” Sakura asked curiously as they slowly made their way through the Compound to meet up with Lord Madara and Lord Izuna.

“This...isn’t my Clan” Sasuke tried to explain, having a hard time putting into words how he felt.

While everyone here were the ancestors of his Clan members in the future, they were...different. More bloodthirsty. More archaic. Colder. More...proud.

While his Clan is-was, was, prideful of their heritage and arrogant, the Uchiha are-had been, very much involved in the Village and are-were proud of the peace their Clan helped found.

This wasn’t the Uchiha clan that had founded the Leaf Village and loved the peace that came with it.

[“I know you're excited, but first comes the formal congregation of the Village. And you know Father speaks every year on behalf of the Clan so it's expected that we attend” Itachi reminded him, as he helped an eight year old Sasuke put on his formal robes, "You can have fun at the Founder's Day Festival with Naruto after"]

Not yet anyway.

Sakura nodded as they made their way out to the front of the Compound, stepping out into the bright light of the day, both of them eager to get moving on their mission.

To Sakura's surprise there was a small group outside to send them off.

Asshole Elder #1 as Sakura had dubbed him scrunched his eyebrows, narrowing his eyes at her as if she were a puzzle he were trying to figure out.

And he wasn't the only one, all the Uchiha men, minus Lord Madara and Lord Izuna, gave her a not so subtle once over, their expressions completely baffled.

A tick mark quickly formed on Sakura's head in indignant frustration.

She had one guess as to why she was getting those looks and she didn't like the implications one bit.

Sakura was currently donned in a long sleeved red collared shirt, light pink shorts with tight black leggings, her plated armguards, and the chestplate and shinguards Sasuke had gotten for her. Her tanto was strapped to her pouch, her poisoned senbon launcher was strapped to her left arm, and she had her holster on her right thigh and her hair in a braid.

All in all, she looked nothing like the cute, delicate, and fragile exotic haired demure and harmless little girl the Uchiha had assumed her to be.

Or rather maybe to them she looked like a little girl trying to play ninja.

"Is there a problem?" Sasuke questioned, his tone unimpressed and cold as he glared at Asshole Elder #1.

"I was under the impression the Haruno girl would remain here" Elder Baku replied, frowning at their young clansman's continued lack of respect.

Twitch.

"Sakura is a shinobi. And she's coming with us" Sasuke proclaimed with a firm finality, narrowing his eyes challengingly at Elder Baku, his expression clear that the matter wasn’t up for discussion.

Of course the Uchiha Elder didn’t listen to a mere child of a traitor who didn’t even wear their Clan’s symbol, ‘secret heir’ or not.

"Her?...A shinobi?" Elder Baku questioned, eyeing the...interestingly dressed young female monk with a near palpable amount of skepticism. He didn’t sneer, but it was a near thing.

Twitch.

"While having a medic traveling with your group holds logical reason, she will only slow you down" Elder Atsuhi dismissed, opting for a more delegative route.

[“What the hell Cuz! I know you’re named after a delicate flower but are you really such a pansy that you’re going to let Ami and her fucking bitch-ass posse bully you!” Tayuya demanded, getting right up in her face, “Fucking stand up for yourself!”]

Boiling point reached.

“I’d like to point out that nobody knows the human body better than medics” Sakura ground out, her steel-like unflinching glare meeting the Elders the moment they turned to acknowledge her, channeling her inner Zabuza, “For example, there are eight points in the body that if hit would cause immediate death”

"Would you like me to demonstrate?" Sakura challenged, her tone as steely as her glaze.

The air almost crackled like embers as Elder Baku released some of his chakra outward.

Having already experienced Orochimaru’s foul chakra and sheer killing intent, neither Sasuke or Sakura so much as flinched.

“Is that a threat?” Elder Baku demanded, debating on whether or not just to kill the disrespectful wench now.

Though from the corner of his eye he could see that Lord Madara and Lord Izuna, though their stances were casual, he could see it in their eyes that they were even daring him to try and make a move against the kids.

Blast their amusement. Blast that damn ‘truce’.

“If you stand in the way of me finding my Sensei, then yes” Sakura proclaimed, refusing to back down.

Her confidence bolstering even more with Sasuke standing directly by her side, his arms crossed as he glared down the Elders without fear.

No one was going to stop her from going out to search for Kakashi-Sensei.

“I approve”

The words startled everyone out of their stare-down, causing them to blink in confusion and look as if they were imitating owls.

The group turned to Elder Benimaru who had a soft yet almost unnerving smirk on his lightly wrinkled face.

Sakura recognized him as the one who had ordered the retainers to bathe and clothe her and Sasuke.

“I like her. I approve” Elder Banimaru repeated, nodding slightly to himself as if he’d decided something.

Sasuke immediately stiffened, his cheeks going red in a kind of embarrassment he couldn’t name.

Sakura though was just confused, looking back and forth between Sasuke and the Elder as if the meaning behind their cryptic words would suddenly appear in thin air.

“Now that everything has been settled I’d prefer to get going before you waste any more of our precious travel time discussing irrelevant matters” Madara chastised the members of his Council.

“Move out”

“Report” Hyo demanded the moment Sai’s ink mice and birds returned to his scrolls and transformed into writing.

“According to my intel Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno are under the protection of the Uchiha clan, and Naruto Sen-Uzumaki is under the protection of the Senju, and was last detected heading for the Land of Whirlpools before my birds lost him. Kakashi Hatake evaded detection. Location currently unknown” Sai informed his superior, silently hoping Hyo didn’t comment on the name slip.

It was getting harder and harder with the flashes of the changed future barraging them at inconvenient times. It had distracted all of them enough in their assassination attempt against Kakashi Hatake that the man had figured out their abilities and gained the upperhand, forcing them to retreat.

Hyo had not been happy about that.

“We must speed up our timetable then. With Team 7 here in the past and out of reach the risk of failure grows every day” Hyo announced, “Contact Shigaraki and Terubo and have them initiate phase one”

“Understood” Sai nodded robotically, focusing his chakra to draw more birds.

Not for the first time Hyo was grateful that his mask prevented others from knowing if he was observing them or not.

Sai and Shin were not acting any different.

They completed every order.

And yet somehow Team 7 had escaped their blades three times.

Shin had justified that if the Nekoka and Uchiha had captured Kakashi it would have placed their plans and the future in peril.

Understandable.

Hatake eluding them.

Understandable.

Madara, Izuna, Hashirama, and Tobirama all coming across the remaining members of Team 7 at the same time?

Suspect.

Sai had said he’d driven Madara and Izuna away from the genin, but said it was possible that since each of the legends were powerful sensors they had sensed the genin anyway.

It was a logical possibility...But the circumstances were suspicious.

Glancing between the two ‘brothers’ Hyo made up his mind.

Danzo’s orders were very clear: Eliminate anyone who poses a threat to the mission.

Anyone.

“Summoning jutsu!” Kakashi called out, swiping his hand across the drying blood on his sutures and slamming his palm down onto the stone below him.

A puff of smoke emerged next to him, and Kakashi waited with bated breath for the result.