ch. 61

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto questioned as he stared at the seal that Genji had drawn on the wall. It was an absurdly complex seal that had almost a hundred strokes. This wasn't what Naruto couldn't believe however.

"How the hell can you draw a seal that complex in a space smaller than the tip of my finger?" Naruto questioned, and for good reason. This seal was apparently the same seal as that almost microscopic dot that Naruto had found when he first arrived.

"Excellent question Menma. The answer is both simple and brilliant." Genji pulled a storage scroll out of his robe and pulled out an enormous magnifying glass. It had a flat bottom made out of thick concrete that allowed it to stand upright like a pillar. Genji placed it down in front of a wall and reached into his pocket.

"All you need is a big magnifying glass and... This!" Genji exclaimed as he pulled his hand out of his pocket.

"Air?"

"No, not air. A tiny ass brush!" Genji held his hand in front of the magnifying glass and with the help of the tool Naruto saw what could only be described as the smallest paint brush in the world.

"... That's it? You make these tiny ass seals with a giant magnifying glass and a tiny brush?"

"Were you expecting something else?" Genji said with a cheeky grin.

"God damn it..."

"We Uzumaki work for a living. Remember that Menma. Nothing I have to teach you is easy. No one besides me has ever been able to master the art of micro seals, even with the aid of shadow clones."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes. Not even my own children could do it. But you however... I have this strange feeling that you could do it. When I look at you... I just get this sense that you have some grand destiny. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

"Uh... Grand destiny... Nope! Not that I know off, hahaha." Naruto rubbed his head and tried not to look suspicious but failed spectacularly.

"I swear this guy knows more about us than he's letting on."

"I get that feeling too but I don't think we're in any danger. Let's just keep training until we're strong enough to deal with Nathair and the Akatsuki."

"That should conclude the lesson in seals for the day. Let's dispel so we can get dinner ready." Genji exploded into smoke with Naruto following shortly after. All through out Genji's mansion, poofs were heard as clones of the pair finished their lessons in different subjects of the ninja arts and dispelled.

Outside of the mansion in a garden area, the real Naruto and Genji were working on physical conditioning. Naruto stood in a pool of water that had an artificial whirlpool raging in the middle of it courtesy of a seal. He used the same principal as the widely used tree walking and water walking exercise to keep his feet cemented to the bottom of the pool as he performed squat thrusts. It was an intense workout that had Naruto ready to drop unconscious but he persevered and finally completed his ten thousandth squat. Triumphant and tired Naruto slowly made his way over to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out with Genji's help.

"Let's eat!" Genji declared as he and Naruto headed for the beach.

The teacher and student duo sat down on towels surrounding a fire and began roasting their night's catch over a fire. The fish in this region were huge and meaty due to the whirlpools in the area. Only the fish who were strong enough to swim against the currents whenever they were caught up in them survived.

"It's done." Genji said as he handed Naruto a fish and the two began eating. "Would you like me to tell you a story or something while we eat?"

"Sure... What can you tell me about the invasion?"

"I can tell you to forget about it. The invasion has nothing to do with your generation and your attention is best kept on the future."

"But how are future Uzumaki supposed to make sure nothing like that ever happens again if we don't know why it happened?"

"My answer is no. Please think of something else you'd like me to tell you about."

"What was up with all those dick drawings?"

"I got bored one day and decided to set up that room to mess with anyone who came to loot the ruins of the village. Next."

"How are you still alive?"

"Luck mostly. I was lucky enough to be born with a life force even greater than the average member of our clan, letting me live over two hundred years. As for how I survived the invasion... I almost didn't. I had to deal with a squad of shinobi specifically chosen to kill me. My elemental affinity is earth and they were all water affinities. My defensive jutsu was rendered useless because water jutsu can soak into earth turning it soft. They were an exceptionally skilled group led by one of the seven swordsmen of the mist."

"One of the seven swordsmen? I ran into one a few years ago. He was pretty strong so I was lucky I didn't end up having to fight him."

"You most likely would have lost if you did, especially if that one was the wielder of Samehada."

"Is the guy with Samehada really that strong? You're the second person to warn me about him."

"The current owner of Samehada was the student of the previous owner and a man that was a part of the team sent to kill me. Even back then he was a monster of equal strength to his own mentor. Had I fought him any later in his life, I dare say he would have defeated me."

Genji stood up and discarded the remains of his dinner." I'm retiring for the night. Go to sleep soon because we're getting up even earlier tomorrow." Genji walked back toward the village and Naruto sat watching the full moon's reflection dance across the waves.

"I really wish someone would just tell me why the invasion happened."

"Naruto... Perhaps it's best that you don't dig any deeper into why. I'm getting the feeling that you won't like the answer."

"Kurama, I know that if I keep looking I might find something bad but... I just want to know."

"And if you discover that the Uzumaki clan wasn't as innocent as most people think?"

"Then that's something I'll have to live with. I'll just have to take that knowledge and make sure that the future members of the clan don't make the same kind of mistakes." Naruto stared up at the full moon and it's beauty reminded him of someone.

"I wonder if I have a message waiting from her?" Naruto thought as he slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out the seal that connected him to his beloved. Sadly it wasn't shining.

"Dang... I should probably write her soon so she knows that I'm okay. Now's the best time since the old man went to slee..." Naruto's thought were interrupted when the seal started suddenly shining red.

"What the hell?" Naruto said aloud. The seal had never done this before but he vaguely remembered the toad that gave it to him saying something about it. He decided to summon Gamakichi to ask him. When the smoke cleared Gamakichi appeared looking uncharacteristically solemn.

"Summon my dad."

"Gamakichi, what's going on?"

"Just summon my dad. He'll explain everything."

Naruto summoned Gamabunta as fast as he could. When the smoke cleared and Naruto could see the toad chief clearly, he was stunned beyond words. The titan of strength that Naruto knew was standing before him bloodied and bruised. His right shoulder was bandaged up and his arm was still covered in dry blood. Gamabunta took a hit of his pipe, whatever was in it seemingly helping him deal with the pain.

"Hey there kid. I had a hunch about that Nathair guy and asked an old friend what he knew."

"Boss... What happened to you?"

"Oh this? It's not as bad as it looks. Besides I got a new snake skin wallet out of the deal so I'm happy. As I was saying, I had a hunch that this old friend of mine may have known something about Nathair so I paid him a visit."

Gamabunta started his tale right as he met up with Manda, the strongest of the snake summons. He found him not far from ryuchi cave, in the ruins of an ancient city. Manda was curled around the remains of an ancient tower but when he saw Gamabunta he slithered down and met the toad.

"I take it you were expecting me?" Gamabunta asked. He took a gourd off of his back and filled two cups with the contents.

"It was only a matter of time before someone realized that Orochimaru is still alive." Manda answered as he took one of the cups with his tail.

"So you won't even try to hide it?"

"No. I'd much rather get straight to the killing."

"I couldn't agree more. You and I have put off our reckoning far too many times."

"I'll eat your legs first. If frog legs are a delicacy then toad legs must not be that far off."

"Maybe I'll have some snake skin boots made out of the leftovers once I've made my new wallet."

The two old friends turned bitter rivals gulped down their drinks before tossing the cups aside and charging at each other. Gamabunta took out his sword and slashed at Manda but the snake evaded it and countered by slapping Gamabunta across the face with his tail. Gamabunta slammed into the side of a ruined building and Manda lunged at him intent on tearing out his throat.

Gamabunta blocked Manda's bite with his sword but Manda just kept lunging at him over and over again. Gamabunta continued to block but he knew he couldn't go on like this forever. He jumped into the air to try and regroup but Manda was able to follow by coiling his body like a spring and shooting up after him. The momentary reprieve from attack was enough time for Gamabunta to prepare a jutsu.

"I recognize those hand signs. His oil bullets are useless without a summoner to set them on fire" As Gamabunta finished up his hand signs he reached back into his robe and pulled out a lighter, holding it up to his mouth.

"Oh shit... I forgot he's a smoker." Manda was unable to dodge as he was assaulted with a rain of fire balls. Manda's flaming carcass slammed into the ground and Gamabunta landed nearby. Moving closer to confirm his kill, Gamabunta noticed that Manda had managed to shed his skin and escape underground before the fire consumed him. Gamabunta jumped out of the way just in time to avoid Manda bursting through the ground and sinking his fangs into him.

Realizing that his oil attacks wouldn't be as effective with a simple lighter providing the fire, Gamabunta switched to more traditional water style jutsu and attacked Manda from the air with a rain of water bullets. Manda evaded them all easily and slithered over to where Gamabunta was going to land. Gamabunta tried to slash Manda as he landed but Manda avoided the attack and wrapped himself around Gamabunta's body restricting the movement of his arms so that he couldn't use his sword or perform hand seals.

"It's over!" Manda proclaimed as he sunk his venomous fangs deep into Gamabunta's shoulder. Gamabunta screamed in agony and started wailing around in a desperate attempt to get Manda off of him. He purposefully slammed himself into various buildings in the ruined city but it was to no avail. Manda kept biting Gamabunta until the venom started to take affect. Gamabunta fought to the bitter end but eventually he fell flat on his face. Manda released his hold of Gamabunta and looked triumphantly upon the body of his defeated enemy.

"Goodbye old friend. I'll be sending your children to keep you company soon enough." Manda turned around and started slowly slithering away. Before he could get very far he felt pain rush through his body and turned his head to see Gamabunta still alive and piercing his tail with his sword.

"How!?" Manda yelled before Gamabunta pounced on him and grabbed his head so that he couldn't move.

"You and Orochimaru never got along. He had Tsunade create an anti-venom in case you ever turned against him." Gamabunta began squeezing Manda's head with all of his might. Manda's eyes started to bulge out of his skull and he would have been begging for mercy if he could talk at the moment.

"Any part of me that may have still considered you a friend died the second you threatened my children. Goodbye Manda." Manda wriggled and writhed but he simply wasn't strong enough to get out of Gamabunta's hold. Gamabunta squeezed the very life out of Manda until his body went limp and his eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"After our fight I skinned the bastard and came home to the mountain to dress my wounds and rest. We may not have proof that he and Nathair are one and the same yet, but it is undeniable that Orochimaru is alive."

"... Good." Naruto shocked everyone when he said this. Even Kurama didn't understand.

"I've had something I've regretted not being able to tell him. Now I'll have a second chance." Naruto punched his own palm and held it there for a few seconds. "I'm strong now. Strong enough to beat him I think. If he is Nathair then even better. All I have to do to prove my innocence is kick his ass and show the world who he really is." Naruto thanked Gamabunta for everything he did and bid the toads farewell.

"Naruto... Are you all right?"

"Never better."

"Don't get hung up on the possibility of Nathair being Orochimaru. We still don't have any proof of that."

"Of course he's Orochimaru. I stopped Gaara and I brought sis, Bee, and the boob lady to the chunin exams. I screwed over his entire invasion plan and he wants payback. Plus there's all the stuff you told me about how he hated my dad for taking the hokage position. It makes perfect sense."

"Just don't do anything rash. Let's continue our training for the time being. If Nathair really is Orochimaru then we'll need the help of someone who knows him, like Jiraiya."

"Speaking of my good for nothing god father, where the hell is he? I expected him to show up by now."

"How would he get in? He's not an Uzumaki."

"He's freaking Jiraiya, he'll find a way."

"Good point... Where the hell is he?"

At this exact moment Jiraiya was miles away, supposedly on an S rank mission to assist Sasuke and his chosen team take down the akatsuki squad that his brother was attached to. They were only a half days journey away from Itachi's supposed location when they camped for the night. Jiraiya was supposed to be on lookout for the deadly criminals but of course he took a short break from that when Sakura slipped away to take a quick bath in a nearby lake. She dragged Sasuke along to watch out for the notorious perverts they were traveling with but Jiraiya's stealth skills were above even Sasuke's ability to detect. Of course none of this mattered when he sneezed at the the exact moment Naruto and Kurama were thinking about him. Luckily he was able to dodge the boulder that Sakura grabbed from the bottom of the lake and threw at him. Sai, Lee, and Kakashi weren't so lucky.

END CHAPTER 61

Hanabi gaiden ch. 3 Genin test

Hanabi and her new teammates arrived at the training grounds right on time and walked over to their sensei prepared for whatever he had in store for them. Shiro had already covered her clothes in her insects and Shimmy had already been morphed into a beast clone of Yoko. Hanabi walked up to Neji with her byakugan activated and Neji smiled from his position sitting at the foot of a tree.

"As I hoped, you came prepared."

"Praise Yoko. She's the one who realized you were trying to trick us."

"Oh, is that true? Well done Yoko." Neji congratulated. "Looks like I lucked out. When I heard I was assigned an Inuzuka I was worried I would get someone like Kiba." He added in his mind.

"I understand why you would bring Kurenai sensei but what's up with smokey?"

"You and I have spars all the time. I needed someone you had never encountered before so I could better test your team's information gathering and adaptability." Neji explained as Asuma and Kurenai stepped out from behind a tree.

"Your lazy ass just wanted an excuse to not do anything."

"... Begin the test Asuma." Neji ordered with a vein in his forehead throbbing. Asuma charged at Hanabi who jumped back to rejoin her team.

"You don't mind if I stay and watch, do you Neji? I'm curious to see if Hanabi really is stronger than Hinata."

"Of course Kurenai sensei, though I don't know if you'll be satisfied with the answer to your question."

Shiro took the first swing at Asuma and received a punch to the gut for it. Luckily her bug armor absorbed the blow and she managed to plant some parasitic bugs on Asuma. He backed off a few feet and took a long hit of his cigarette. He quickly flashed through some handsigns and exhaled a large cloud of smoke that surrounded him.

"Can you follow his movements Hanabi?" Shiro asked.

"He's not moving. That smoke cloud was to suffocate your bugs, not for stealth."

"It's our turn then! Let's get him Shimmy." Yoko and Shimmy charged at the cloud of smoke from both sides and attacked him with a vicious spinning attack. Asuma jumped out of the cloud of smoke right before Yoko and Shimmy hit him but they changed direction during the attack and followed him up. Asuma was unfazed however and right before Yoko hit him he kicked her hard enough to send her flying into Shimmy and the two collided and fell to the ground. Asuma didn't have any time to rest however as Hanabi and Shiro were on him with a coordinated attack.

Shiro sent a swarm of her bugs at Asuma and while he was preoccupied with the hand signs for a jutsu to counter her, Hanabi attacked him from behind with a dropkick. Asuma wasn't one to fall for such a simple trick however and he ducked Hanabi's attack.

"Wind style: Grand gust jutsu!" Asuma hit Hanabi with the jutsu and she went flying through Shiro's swarm and straight into Shiro. Thankfully Shiro was able to stand her ground and she caught Hanabi.

"Are you alright Hanabi? He held back considerably but there was still a lot of force behind that technique. He killed my entire swarm."

"I'm fine. Thanks for the assist." Hanabi and Shiro separated, slowly circling around Asuma boxing him in with the help of Yoko and Shimmy who had finally recovered from earlier. Neji watched the whole fight with a small smile on his face.

"They're doing much better than I expected. My team didn't have as much chemistry as this when we first started."

"What do you think Kurenai sensei?" Neji looked over and asked his senior jonin.

"The three of them make a good team. I can see how Hinata would think that Hanabi is stronger."

"So you realize it too?"

"Yes. Hanabi is confident and filled with fighting spirit. She possesses the traits that Hinata lacks. That's why Hinata is so convinced that Hanabi is stronger even though she's not."

"For now." Neji added.

"For now?"

"If I'm being perfectly honest, in regards to raw fighting ability Hanabi has more potential than Hinata. Hinata is an excellent shinobi and her training as a combat medic is well suited to her but she lacks the killer instinct that a born fighter like Hanabi has. I honestly think that Hanabi could end up as strong as me and her father if she applies herself."

"What about right now? Do you think her and the other two are ready to be genin?"

"They're doing better than my team did when we fought Guy sensei for the first time. As long as they can get one solid attack in then I will pass them."

Getting a clean hit on Asuma was easier said than done. The girls and Shimmy were running out of steam but Asuma wasn't even trying. With a spinning roundhouse kick he knocked all four of them away. They all rolled in different directions and Asuma began preparing another wind jutsu aimed at Shiro.

"Damn it! He's way too strong for us. If only I can distract him with something I could get a clean hit in... Wait a second." Hanabi saw Kurenai and Neji talking on the other side of the training grounds and hatched an evil plan.

Asuma finished his hand signs but before he could unleash his wind jutsu Hanabi yelled at the top of her lungs "NEJI! STOP TOUCHING KURENAI SENSEI YOU PERVERT!". Now Asuma may have been an elite jonin but the idea of a young punk like Neji trying something with his woman was too much for him to ignore. He turned around to face them and the look of anger on Kurenai's face scared him unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"You idiot she's just trying to distract you!" Asuma realized how ridiculous he was being too late. All four of his opponents were lunging at him intent on capitalizing on Hanabi's ingenious distraction. Shiro, Yoko, and Shimmy nailed Asuma with punches to the stomach while Hanabi drove into the back of his head with another dropkick. A normal shinobi would have been knocked out easily with such a combination of attacks, but Asuma was no normal Shinobi. He stumbled for a moment but quickly regained his composure and unleashed the wind jutsu he had been holding the whole time, knocking Shiro, Yoko, and Shimmy away. He turned around to face Hanabi who attacked him with a palm strike that was easily deflected.

"That's not a funny thing to joke about young lady." He lectured as Neji and Kurenai walked over. Kurenai gave Asuma a stern look for making such a silly mistake while Neji looked proudly at his little sister.

"I've seen enough. You've all exceeded my expectations. I officially declare you genin of the hidden leaf village." Yoko squealed in delight and hugged Shiro who reciprocated the hug. Shimmy changed back into his dog form and started pawing at the two girls legs begging for attention which he received.

"Shouldn't you be joining them Hanabi?" Neji asked.

"You know I was never into that lovey dovey stuff. A bad ass like me can't be seen hugging like some silly little"

"Shiro, Yoko! Don't forget Hanabi!" Neji yelled and the two girls plus dog all ran after Hanabi who ran away cursing Neji under her breath. It didn't take long for Yoko to catch up to her and pull her down with a spine crushing hug. If Hanabi hadn't been yelling for her new team to get off of her one might think she enjoyed the attention with the way she was blushing and smiling.

"Well, now that that's all over I think you and I should go talk about that thing I mentioned earlier." Kurenai said causing Neji to blush and look down embarrassed.

"Hold on a second, what are you talking about?" Asuma asked clearly jealous and a little weary of Kurenai and Neji spending time together now that the idea of Neji perving on her had been introduced into his head.

"Think about it Asuma. Neji is now responsible for three girls. Three girls who are nearing the age where "that" happens. If "that" were to start on a mission and Neji had no idea how to deal with it then there would be a huge problem."

"Just to be clear, your talking about their menstrual cycles right?"

"... Yes Asuma. I'm talking about their menstrual cycles."

"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding you... Carry on."