AN: This chapter has another spar between Naruto and Biwako – the recommended music is the Rival Battle Theme from Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

Naruto didn't want to be a burden, so he had decided to give some of his vegetables, fruits, roots, edible plants and leaves, and other such things to Biwako to sell; they were currently of higher quality than anything else anyone could find anywhere in the world – at least, in Naruto's not-so-humble opinion.

It would almost hurt him physically to part with things he had grown with his own hands and Chakra, but most of them would go to waste anyway; he had too large a garden nowadays.

Biwako said, "you aren't a burden, Naruto. There's no need to pay rent. Besides, I don't need it," evenly.

"If you don't need the money, then put it aside," Naruto countered, "besides, you've opened the Uchiha library to me – that's priceless."

Biwako sighed. She said, "you won't take 'no' for an answer, will you…? All right, but two thirds of the money will be yours – this time, I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."

After consulting Shizune and Tsunade, Biwako got the necessary permits in Konoha; normally, they wouldn't be available to a child barely ten years of age, but being the last Uchiha had its perks, apparently.

Tsunade also told them to start selling them at one fourth their actual price, which was still not very low, because nobody would buy them at the price they were actually worth until they had tried them and gotten (kind of) addicted.

"Tsunade-sensei," Naruto said, "do you have any pictures of my mother or father? You could make it a birthday present for me becoming ten tomorrow…?" Desperate for something of his parents. Anything. He hadn't dared make such a request before, when he barely knew his aunt.

Tsunade thought it over a bit, then unsealed a photo that contained an old woman with dyed brown hair, Tsunade herself, a little redheaded girl, five or so years old, and a young boy who was ten or eleven, with light brown hair and hazel (?) eyes. Tsunade looked to be in her mid- or late- teens.

Naruto could see that Tsunade was unable to look at the picture for long. He took it in his hands with reverence and looked at the little girl's face very carefully. Her violet-colored eyes were not that difficult to spot. He said, "is that…?"

"Yes," Tsunade said, her body trembling a bit, "that's Kushina when she was a kid, and the older woman is our ancestor Mito."

Naruto could tell that the young boy was a sore spot – it must have been Nawaki, her little brother; she always changed the subject when it reached him. So, he didn't say anything about him. He only said, "what about Namikaze Minato?"

"I don't have any photos of him," Tsunade said, "why don't you ask your sister?"

Naruto shook his head. He said, "what am I gonna tell her? 'Hello, I'm the twin brother you never knew about'?"

Tsunade winced, but she said, "you can't run away forever, Naruto. I know that from personal experience."

Naruto barely kept from saying something scathing. He said, "it's not that easy sensei 'ttebayo."

Tsunade smiled at him in a strange way, saying, "yeah, I know…." After a few minutes of silence, she withdrew another photo; this one had two people in their late teens, and the woman said, "here. Look at this one."

It contained a young man with light blond hair and hazel eyes and a young woman with bright blond hair and electric blue eyes.*

The female was the most beautiful woman Naruto had ever seen, bar none. Tsunade barely even came close. "Are these…?" He said.

"Yes, they are your grandparents," Tsunade said, "my older brother, Senju Zairuji; and Namikaze Reera, his lover."

Naruto couldn't take his eyes off his grandmother. He said, "what happened to them?"

Tsunade said, "Zairuji died when he was twenty years old, on a B turned A-ranked mission; he was being evaluated for the Jounin rank. Around half a year after that, Reera gave birth to Minato, though I never connected the dots. Grandmother went to visit little Minato a bit too often, especially after Reera's death five years later, though Grandmother died only a couple years after Reera – again, I never connected the dots."

"Was Reera a kunoichi?" Naruto asked, very curious.

"She was a civilian – do you think I would be called Konoha's most beautiful kunoichi if I had her as competition?" Tsunade said, a strange expression forming on her face, "though I did some digging the past few days – looked at some letters exchanged between Reera and Zairuji, and her parents were actually ninjas. Her father was a true Sealing Master, one of the few outside the Uzumaki clan. I think that the Uzumaki clan –and the Namikaze family– had brains wired differently to the rest of the world, and that's why they were so good at Fuuinjutsu."

Naruto found that very interesting, but he realized something. He said, "were you jealous of Reera being prettier?" Trying not to smirk.

Tsunade said, "it's called being envious, not jealous, you brat," glaring at him.

Naruto simply snickered. She hadn't answered his question.

Biwako was in the Academy again while Iruka was lecturing them, a few months after Naruto's tenth birthday. She noticed something out of the ordinary with Mito, though: she wasn't cheerful like she usually would be. No, she was obviously depressed.

When the lessons stopped for lunch, Naruto took Biwako with him and sat near Mito – he obviously noticed the same thing she did–, taking out the bento (lunch box) one of his clones had made.

It was rare for Naruto to show his friendship with Biwako in public, so this was a pleasant, though risky, surprise.

Mito lifted her head, saying, "Naruto…? What are you doing here?"

Naruto simply shrugged.

"I thought you didn't like me at all," Mito commented, blinking slowly.

Naruto said, "you caught me at a bad time before," though he didn't apologize.

Mito looked ready to question him, but she sighed and closed her eyes. Biwako could see she was shaking slightly, but neither asked her what had happened.

A few minutes of eating in silence later, Mito spoke again, this time seemingly back to her usual self. She said, "so, Biwako, what are you learning now?"

Biwako thought it over a bit, then said, "I am learning a secondary element, taijutsu, shurikenjutsu and how to recognize and break genjutsu better."

Biwako didn't mention that it was her dead cousin, Shisui, who was teaching her how to use shuriken, some taijutsu and about genjutsu. Nor did she say anything about the Hawk boss summon being the main one teaching her the Lightning Element, Shisui the Fire element and Tsunade of the Sannin taijutsu and recently a third element, Earth.

She had also improved the speed of her hand-seals by an insane amount, mainly thanks to various exercises Shisui taught her, and Shizune's help. Biwako also recently took up Shizune's offer to teach her first aid.

Mito nodded, seemingly impressed. "What about you, Naruto?" She said next.

Naruto smiled lightly, saying, "well, I've been learning about first-aid, how to use my element, Water, and a few other things."

Biwako knew that Tsunade had pushed a lot of medical books on Naruto, with Shizune teaching him about herbs, poisons and his third element, Wind; mainly how to enhance weapons with Fuuton (Wind Style) Chakra.

Tsunade had also barred the both of them from using clones to learn things faster unless she was supervising, and even when she was, she usually didn't let them use them anyway.

Her justification was that taking in memories from clones so often might overwhelm their young brains, and that their bodies might not be able to keep up. 'It hasn't been documented, what memories from multiple clones do to children,' she had said. Biwako knew that the older woman had a point, but she definitely didn't like it.

Naruto was also developing his very own Wood Style jutsu, but he remained tight-lipped on that. His sensory had also increased in range; rather than a bit below four hundred meters of radius, it had reached five hundred in the past year and a half.

Another thing Tsunade was teaching the both of them was Fuuinjutsu (the art of Sealing); the woman was adamant that they both learn it. Probably because it was very important in most major surgeries, but neither of them minded learning it. Naruto probably felt more connected to his mother's clan when he learned Fuuinjutsu.

On the other hand, Naruto, while he did put serious effort into learning the medical arts, often asked Tsunade for more combat training. The woman usually gave him Chakra Control exercises or physical training to increase his Control and reserves when he said such a thing; whenever he became a bit too annoying, she made him do 'dodge training', which –while a valid training exercise– was, in large part, an excuse for Tsunade to hit Naruto.

Tsunade did give him combat training, especially in taijutsu –including their strength technique, Byakugo no jutsu– and both his primary elements, but Naruto wanted more of it and less medical training. The boy wasn't as strong physically as Tsunade when she was his age, but he was still naturally strong – as in, without counting the Strength of a Hundred jutsu, or any Chakra enhancement for that matter.

Mito spoke again, saying, "mou, Naruto! Do you have to be so mysterious?" And pouting.

Naruto smirked, saying, "that's half the fun! Keeping people guessing 'ttebayo!"

Mito blinked, zoning out for a few seconds looking at Naruto's face. Then, she got up, said, 'I gotta go!' And left, forgetting what was left of her lunch there.

Biwako looked at Naruto, who looked back. She shrugged, and Naruto said, "Shikamaru was right, blond girls are troublesome."

Biwako rolled her eyes.

Kiba approached them then and told Naruto, "Naruto! What the hell did you say to her!"

What? Has the mutt lost his mind?

"What…?" Naruto said, looking confused.

"Don't play innocent with me!" Kiba said, glaring at Naruto, "what. Did. You. Tell. Mito!"

"We just talked," Naruto said, then narrowed his eyes. He said, "wait – do you have a crush on Mito?"

"That's none of your business, you idiot! Now explain – why did she seem so upset!" Kiba demanded.

Naruto said, "she was like that when I got here," narrowing his eyes further.

Biwako was starting to worry for the mutt and his apparent death wish and, as if on cue, she heard a puppy whimpering.

"What? Akamaru, what do you mean this clown is scaring you?" Kiba whispered.

If Biwako could hear that, there was no way Naruto couldn't.

"That's it! Me, you, the sparring ring!" Kiba said energetically, "and don't think you can give up like other times, Naruto!"

Naruto only faced the non-clan children usually –and won–, giving up against Chouji and Kiba; and recently Biwako, Hinata, Ino and Sakura. Though she didn't like the fact he forfeited against Biwako, it was better than fighting with both holding back almost everything in their arsenal.

He often tied with Shino, who was bad at taijutsu, and Shikamaru simply gave up first, the same with Ami (who was pretty scared of Naruto nowadays). Shino might know he was holding back, because according to Naruto, Shino looked at him in a weird way after their spars – though Biwako thought Shino always looked at people weirdly. Of course, she knew Naruto's true strength.

'Which means that this guy is fucked,' Biwako concluded.

Biwako could tell that Kiba was mainly looking for an excuse for a fight, but Naruto might not see that, blinded by his brotherly instincts.

When the lessons resumed, after a lecture by Iruka, they had taijutsu spars scheduled.

Kiba was about to speak, when Naruto cut him off.

Naruto said, "Iruka-sensei. May I fight Kiba today?" With clear signs of impatience.

Everyone's jaws dropped, other than Biwako's and Iruka's. Even Kiba looked like he was surprised.

Akamaru began whimpering again, probably intimidated by Naruto's Chakra and presence. So, ninken could be sensor-types, or was it because of his nose…? Naruto's Chakra reserves had increased this past year and a half from being on par with a slightly above average chuunin to a highly powerful chuunin.

While Biwako still had more Chakra than Naruto, and had improved too, the difference had shrunk. From having three times as much Chakra as Naruto, she now ended up with a bit over twice as much as him; she might have to redouble her training.

On the other hand, Naruto had greatly improved his Chakra Control, and according to Tsunade, he should be ready to start learning the Shousen jutsu (Mystical Palm jutsu) by next month. As for Biwako's Chakra Control, she was almost ready to learn B-ranked Fire Style and Lightning Style jutsu. She had already learned Ryuuka no jutsu, a Fire jutsu that spread by contact and made a new Lightning ninjutsu, the Jigokunagashi (Hell Current), though it needed quite a bit of polishing.

Lost in her thoughts, Biwako nearly missed the beginning of the spar between Naruto and Kiba.

Kiba attacked first, with Naruto waiting patiently, though the latter was obviously just as worked up. Kiba's attack was wild, but still accurate… or it would have been, had Naruto not dodged.

Kiba was still underestimating Naruto. By the time Kiba recovered from overextending, Naruto kicked the other boy's ankle.

Crack!

Kiba cried out as his ankle was either sprained or broken. Before Iruka could intervene, Naruto punched Kiba in the gut.

To Biwako, the sight of Kiba balancing on three limbs while puking was hilarious, but the others didn't seem very amused.

"Call! Uzumaki Naruto is the winner!" Iruka shouted in the midst of the other Academy students' chattering.

"That was cruel, Naruto-kun," Hinata said with her stutter absent, surprisingly enough.

The girl had an austere expression on her face, making her look like a true Hyuuga for the first time, making Biwako scoff.

"Biwako-san?" Hinata questioned, her stern façade broken.

"Kiba really had it coming," Biwako commented, ignoring Shino saying something about it being illogical to hurt comrades so seriously.

Naruto didn't say anything, but only walked away from the Academy completely. Mito wasn't there; she hadn't returned after she left during the lunch, and that was probably making Naruto worry. Biwako decided to stay at the Academy to inform Naruto of anything important that might happen after he left early.

She was tempted to send a Shadow Clone after him, but decided against it for the same reason she never displayed the Sharingan around a Konoha ninja or civilian: she didn't trust any of them, and wanted to keep her abilities secret.

Naruto was searching for Mito, but his sensor skill didn't reach far enough to find her. He started walking idly around the village, overhearing civilians talking about an assassination attempt on 'the honorable daughter'; he also heard that someone was killed in the attempt.

He started walking faster when he heard all that; then, he found the strongest Chakra signature he had ever felt – stronger than the Third Hokage; stronger than Tsunade, even.*2

He found his feet taking him to Training Ground Three, where the owner of the super-strong Chakra signature was. What he found was, in hindsight, not that strange.

The owner was extremely tall and had long white hair. He had his back to the side Naruto was coming from and seemed to be meditating.

"Beat it, kid," the man said without turning to look at him.

"Jiraiya-sama?" Naruto blurted out.

Jiraiya turned around as soon as he heard Naruto's voice, hopefully not giving himself whiplash. He was speechless for a few seconds while looking at Naruto's face, making the boy uncomfortable, then said, "what's your name, kid?" In a booming voice.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Jiraiya-sama," Naruto said, but he didn't bow. So this was Mito's godfather. Or was he Naruto's too?

Jiraiya opened and shut his mouth a few times. Suddenly, another strong Chakra signature entered Naruto's range, which he recognized as Mito's. He turned towards her, with Jiraiya doing the same not long after. Did he hear her, or was he a sensor-type too? His Chakra didn't feel like a sensor's, though.

"Pervy Sage!" Mito shouted, barely even breathing hard, despite running at a great speed.

She started when she noticed Naruto, and kept looking between him and Jiraiya. Then, she straightened up and said, "so, you two have met," her voice even.

"Mito… who is he?" Jiraiya asked, his expression unreadable.

"Oh, like you don't know, Jiraiya!" Mito spat, trembling, with her fists clenched.

Jiraiya blinked, then said, "Mito, I swear, this is the first time I've seen this boy-"

"Cut the bullshit!" Mito yelled, looking ready to slap the man.

Naruto couldn't help it – he laughed. He laughed long and hard, not caring about Mito's shiver when she heard him, nor the fact his laugh sounded like that of a madman. He said, "this is rich! Everyone is a pet to him, even his old student! It's no wonder the other two Sannin left the village!"

Jiraiya looked at him, eyes narrowed, while Mito looked confused. Jiraiya said, "you are talking about the Sandaime."

"Of course I am," Naruto said, "is there anyone that that man didn't treat as disposable?" Feeling his lips part in a grin.

Mito looked him in the face and cringed – Naruto had a feeling that his grin didn't quite look happy, or sane.

"Normally, I would slap you for talking about Sarutobi-sensei like that –and most Konoha shinobi would do the same or worse– but I can't find it in myself to care right now," Jiraiya said, his expression as unreadable as his aunt's when she played poker.

Naruto shrugged in indifference, still grinning.

"Shall we go see the Hokage?" Jiraiya said, expression not changing.

Naruto grimaced. "Do we have to?" He asked.

He would be happier if he never had to meet the Sandaime from up close. Feeling his Chakra didn't count.

Jiraiya scrutinized him, saying, "I hate to ask, but why don't you want to see the Hokage?"

Naruto said, "I would rather not meet the man who made sure to keep me from my sister for some unknown reason," teeth clenched.

"When did you find out?" Mito asked him, her eyes suspiciously wet.

"A bit over a year ago," Naruto admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mito asked, tears running down her face.

"What would I tell you?" Naruto said, " 'excuse me, I'm the twin brother you've never met'? Would you believe me?"

Mito seemed ready to tear into Naruto, but Jiraiya interrupted her, saying, "how did you find out, Naruto?"

"I'd rather not say right now," Naruto said very seriously.

"...Fair enough," Jiraiya said, his expression once again unreadable.

The three of them walked back towards the Academy, but instead of entering it, they went to the Hokage's office attached to it. The Hokage's secretary bowed to Jiraiya and Mito, ignoring Naruto, and the three of them entered the room in which the Hokage did his paperwork.

The Third had brown eyes and was gray, nearly white haired; Naruto wasn't sure, but he thought the hair had once been brown too. The man had a serious expression on his face – Naruto could tell that the man was a sensor-type from the first time he had felt his Chakra; he must have known they were coming. The man made a few hand-seals at an extreme speed, making Naruto tense.

Sealing formulas spread all over the room, and Naruto regretted not sending a clone. 'I shouldn't have come here,' he thought. He did recognize the array as being related to silence and privacy, but it could just as easily have been something lethal.

"Sandaime-sama," Naruto said, trying for the tone his upperclassman Neji, the one who was popular with the girls, used with the weirdo – Hinata or something.

The Third said nothing, but Naruto was still tense, making him go for a kunai when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Fortunately, it was only Jiraiya.

Jiraiya said, "calm down, kid – you're way too tense. I get that you don't trust the old man, but I am here and on your side," softly.

Naruto relaxed a bit, but didn't take his eyes off the Third.

"So, it has come to this," the Sandaime said, his expression still serious but not especially intimidating.

"Hokage-sama," Jiraiya said, "I have come for an explanation," his face even more blank than earlier, if that was possible.

"What will you do if you do not get one, or if it isn't to your liking, Jiraiya?" The Third asked, looking relaxed.

Jiraiya said, "you could always order me to remain quiet, but your opinions won't matter much if you're ousted from office immediately afterwards due to the public outcry," his lips thinning slightly.

Jiraiya was threatening the Sandaime! That took serious balls!

The presence of the Third suddenly became suffocating! Naruto faintly heard 'Kuchiyose: Toad Elders' and 'Kuchiyose: Monkey King Enma' while being moved to a corner of the office.

All those powerful Chakra signatures not being held back started overwhelming Naruto; a buzzing in his ears was all he could hear, but he tried to course more of his Chakra through his body.

Suddenly, he could hear voices.

"Jiraiya-chan? Hiruzen-chan? What is the meaning of this?"

"I would very much like to find that out, Hiruzen! I know the both of you, and this must be very serious!"

"My remaining student has turned on me, that's what it is!"

"What did you say, you old snake in the grass…?!"

"Woah, Jiraiya-chan! There's no need for THAT kind of insult!"

"Please, Ma! This is serious!"

"I agree with Shima-dono, Jiraiya – that was over the top!"

"Enma-sama, when you hear what Sarutobi has done, you'll definitely agree with me."

Naruto opened eyes he wasn't aware he had closed, and the scene was extremely unexpected!

Two rather small toad summons were perched on Jiraiya's shoulders, and a monkey summon (?) that was a bit taller than even Jiraiya was standing next to the Sandaime, a hand on the man's shoulder. Two copies of Jiraiya were standing in front of Naruto and Mito, with Mito curled up in a ball.

Naruto moved in front of his sister, coursing more Chakra through his body, which helped him feel better. He kept listening to the two older males argue, with the three summoned creatures trying to mediate.

After a furious debate between the two white-haired men, Jiraiya simply sagged and asked, "sensei… why?"

The Third thought the question over, then said, "you wouldn't get it, Jiraiya."

"Just spit it out," Jiraiya said, a defeated, disappointed expression on his face.

'Did the Sandaime ever look at Orochimaru the same way Jiraiya-sama is looking at him?' Naruto wondered.

"Very well," the Third said, looking older than ever.

The Third Hokage went on to tell all of them how the time after the Kyuubi attack was a difficult one, with low manpower; he had believed they couldn't afford to protect two infants from rogue Iwa assassins – and yes, they were a very real threat; after all, Namikaze Minato was that hated in Iwa, and an Iwa missing-nin nearly got to Mito recently.

Naruto could tell that he was still hiding something, but the man continued on to say that he, Danzo and Orochimaru had convened, and all three agreed on that course of action while Koharu and Homura were in the hospital, having been injured in the Kyuubi attack.

"In hindsight," the Third said, "Orochimaru was only trying to undermine me. I'm not sure why Danzo and I liked the plan. I can only assume senility on both our parts – besides, there was a slew of thefts and kidnappings, most of which were attributed to Orochimaru later, distracting us. Afterwards, I had to keep the secret, or I'd lose the support of most of Konoha."

"That's your excuse? Senility; distraction? It's not like you were mi-" Jiraiya said, then suddenly stopped talking.

All eyes were on Jiraiya this time, as he tried and failed to speak. He took a moment to collect himself, then said, "Uchiha Kagami's eyes went missing around that time, didn't they?"

The Third nodded, then said, "yes, I discovered them missing a week or so later when I checked- wait, are you saying…?"

Jiraiya nodded. He said, "you and Danzo wouldn't have been stupid enough – well, at least, you, sensei, wouldn't have been stupid enough to separate the twins without something like the Kotoamatsukami mind-controlling you."

"Are you saying you think that Orochimaru might have access to the Kotoamatsukami!?" The Third said, looking horrified.

"Either Orochimaru, or a third party that Orochimaru was likely colluding with," Jiraiya said, his expression grim.

"You don't think… the Akatsuki…?" The Third said, seemingly forgetting everyone in the room, other than Jiraiya.

"I don't think this is a conversation we should be having in front of Academy students," Jiraiya said, his body relaxing a bit.

The summons also relaxed, but they stayed there. Naruto was taken outside by Jiraiya's clones, and was carrying Mito in his arms.

Naruto had a lot to think about. He was still furious at the Third, though.

Naruto was on a mission, kind of. He was infiltrating the old Senju compound to get as much of the Senju Ninja Library as he could, especially Hashirama's and Tobirama's jutsu scrolls.

Most importantly, Naruto wanted to get whatever notes on the Second's Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) Tsunade didn't have on her already, barring those in the forbidden Scroll of Seals, though his aunt didn't know where exactly in the library they were; and, of course, anything he could find on the Mokuton (Wood Style), because so far he was nearly flying blind.

He was 'armed' with a few vials with Tsunade's blood, though his own might do in a pinch. Fortunately, the Senju compound was nοwhere near the Inuzuka compound, nor very close to the Hyuuga compound. Yay for Tobirama's vanity!

A Wood Clone was attending the Academy this time, because Wood Clones were way more durable than Shadow Clones.

Naruto was using Jiraiya's jutsu, taught to him by Tsunade, the Touton (Transparent Escape) jutsu, to infiltrate unseen. He was also covered in seals that would keep the Byakugan from noticing him and scent-killing spray, just to be sure. Tsunade didn't need to help Naruto all that much in training his infiltration skills – he was a natural in stealth.

His fellow sensor-types would be able to find him, but he would have to take the risk, because there was no known way to make oneself invisible and hide one's Chakra from sensors at the same time. The only one to manage that in the history of the Hidden Villages had been Mu, the Second Tsuchikage, who was known as the Non-Person because of that and his mundane stealth.

He poured a bit of Tsunade's blood into the seal protecting the gate of the Senju compound and put some of his Chakra into it. Nothing happened.

'Wait,' Naruto thought, 'why isn't anything happening?' Getting more worried by the second and keeping his eyes on the main array.

A few seconds later, the array glowed a faint green. Knowing that that was what was supposed to happen, Naruto opened the gate, entered, closed it behind him and reactivated the blood seal with a few hand-seals taught by Tsunade.

He went to the correct house, again according to his aunt's instructions, and entered it after using more blood and Chakra to nullify another Blood Seal. It took him less than a minute to find it – it was the largest building in the complex.

The boy went to the basement and used his sensor skill, putting his index finger on the floor the way Tsunade had taught him – it barely increased the range of the skill, at least above the ground, but the precision and accuracy went up by a lot that way.

According to Tsunade, Naruto would likely never go above three or four kilometers of range as a normal sensor, but his precision was absolutely insane.*3

'Now, where is it…?' Naruto thought, using the floor and dirt below as a medium to spread truly minuscule amounts of separated Chakra, in the form of Physical energy and Spiritual energy, all around. Something that only applied to true sensor-types, since a non-natural sensor like Iruka would need actual Chakra, more than the infinitesimal amount someone like Naruto could get away with, and wouldn't be able to spread it as efficiently and be more noticeable and less precise as a result.

Naruto didn't need to only limit himself to his plain-old Yin-Yang Style Sensory, though. When that failed, he went through a few hand-seals, executing one of two Wood Style jutsu he made himself. 'Wood Style: Forest Net Works!' He said in his mind.

The building housing the Senju ninja library was made of wood. Dead wood, which made things harder, but Naruto hadn't been idle in the last year and a half. He hadn't been taught much in the way of offensive jutsu, so he had time to explore his Wood element. Rather than go for offense (which could be covered by any of the three normal elements he could use eventually, even if his aunt was being stingy) or defense (which he could use both Earth and Water for), Tsunade persuaded him to use the Wood Style for supplementary jutsu, for the time being at least.

That was how 'Wood Style: Living Makibishi' was born. Naruto would use Mokuton to make ninja spikes, usually beforehand, and those spikes, made with his Chakra, could be manipulated almost at will to grow quickly and impale someone's foot. Shizune hadn't yet taught him enough about poisons to risk putting some into the makibishi, nor had he gotten good enough to control the spikes without a hand-seal, but Tsunade apparently intended to put him through his paces with poisons soon.

'There!' Naruto thought; a large hollow space in the basement stood out.

He went through a series of hand-seals, wrote a few things out on a particular place, and a secret passage opened. Naruto snickered at how similar the defenses the Senju and the Uchiha used were – fated enemies his ass!

He closed the library's entrance behind him and took out a few special Sealing Scrolls sealed in a band around his forearm and in his new goggles (which were green rather than orange!), a gift from Biwako; the Uchiha style of Sealing was all about making items with specific properties, and Biwako had found notes on that in the Uchiha Shinobi Library. The idea of forearm bands also belonged to Biwako – she had no shortage of good ideas, especially that band full of shuriken on her wrist.*4 Not that Naruto would admit that to Biwako herself.

Naruto preferred the Shuriken Kage Bunshin his aunt had showed him and promised to teach him eventually. It was amazing! That was why he rarely wore his own wristband of shuriken, even though he copied Biwako's near-perfectly.

He went about sealing as many scrolls and books as he could into the scrolls, while a few Shadow Clones looked for anything by Tobirama or Hashirama.

He eventually managed to seal pretty much everything, but he didn't find anything written by a Hokage. He did find his great-great grandmother Mito's notes on Sealing and Sensory, though.

After quite a bit of using his Forest Net Works again, he found something that even Tsunade might not have known about. A place in the Library where the wood felt… closer to alive, kind of. Naruto likened it to one of his Living Makibishi.

…In fact, it was exactly like that. While most of Konoha had been built the hard way, Hashirama had made SOME buildings and trees, like the Academy, as well as the Forest of Death a little ways outside Konoha – though the latter was made in his anger and depression over Madara's defection. Apparently, the main Senju building only had a few additions by Hashirama, and Naruto had stumbled upon one.

Naruto manipulated the wood with a few hand-seals. It resisted him more than any other wood he had manipulated, but after putting in a lot of tightly-controlled Chakra, he managed to make the passage open without needing a password or the correct hand-seals.

'Yet another creepy passage,' Naruto thought in humor, then shivering at the thought of ghosts. He entered the space anyway.

There, he hit the jackpot: more scrolls by his ancestor Mito, including incomplete information on something called the 'Adamantine Chains', Kuchiyose: Rashoumon, a lot of Suiton and Doton jutsu by Tobirama and Hashirama, quite a few jutsu from other elements too, notes on improving one's skill with the Water element, notes on sensing, the Bringer of Darkness genjutsu (which was a failed, but still otherwise useful, attempt to make doujutsu users useless), the Shadow Clone (which Naruto already knew), the Taju Kage Bunshin (Mass Shadow Clone), more notes on Space-Time jutsu – even some notes on the Hiraishin; what he couldn't find was anything about the Wood Style.

'That's what I wanted the most!' Naruto thought, hopefully without a pout on his face. "Damn it!" Naruto whispered, but he knew that he had been extremely successful anyway, and shouldn't get greedy.

Naruto dispelled his clones, made sure that the scrolls were sealed safely and that the anti-Byakugan seals were on, then activated the Transparent Escape and left after spraying a little more scent-killing solution on himself.

When he reached a safe-house, which a small part of Katsuyu was protecting, he had her contact Tsunade's part of Katsuyu to summon him from twenty five kilometers or so outside of Konoha. They had tested the range in which his Wood Clones would stay whole, and had concluded that he could maintain a Wood Clone nearly from the other side of Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire / Fire Country).

"Incredible," Tsunade commented, a small smile on her face, "you found my family's most secret scrolls after a few hours of searching! I've looked for the rest of the Hiraishin's notes and Grandmother's Fuuinjutsu for decades! Grandmother never showed me that part of the Library! Now we just have to read the Scroll of Seals and we're set!"

Naruto preened under his teacher's praise; she seldom praised him so strongly. "I did have a kinda unfair advantage 'ttebayo," he admitted, referring to his Mokuton.

"There's no such thing as an unfair advantage in the ninja world," Tsunade said, "just take the compliment and shut up, Naruto!"

"Eep!" Naruto said, letting out a squeak that was worthy of that weirdo in his class – the Hyuuga, Hinata or something, that is.

"Today, you're going to train your sensor skill," Tsunade said, "I am not a sensor-type, but my father was, so I know some things about it; these scrolls will definitely help. Here, read this," showing him a scroll which went into detail on how to saturate the air and earth with one's Yin-Yang Style energy by putting one's finger on the ground, more detail than Tsunade had taught him.

Tsunade had made sure that Naruto's senses and situational awareness was as good as possible, including his Chakra sense, but there was a lot of room for improvement.

Naruto still hadn't gotten any word back from the Hokage, only Jiraiya.

Jiraiya said, "Naruto, please keep everything you heard in the Hokage's office secret. Even your heritage – well, at least for now."

The whole Maifa incident passed through Naruto's mind, and the boy could feel his hatred for the village he lived in grow. 'They are gonna cover it up…?' He thought, clenching his fists.

"Just for now," Jiraiya said, as if he read Naruto's mind, "we'll figure it out, kid," ruffling Naruto's hair.

Naruto tried to slap Jiraiya's hand away without success.

Naruto woke up next to Biwako, who was shivering in her sleep.

'It's definitely not the cold – another nightmare?' He thought; it was currently May, after all.

He hugged her tightly, and Biwako gradually stopped shivering. She now had a somewhat content look on her face.

When both of them woke up (again, in his case), Biwako proposed a spar, since they hadn't done that in a while.

Biwako smirked at Naruto while they were going through warm-ups. She had finally managed to get Hell Stab down without messing up her fingers, though the power was still relatively low without the Raiton Chakra Mode, and she was probably missing more information than that, too.

She had also improved her Hell Current to a point it was usable in a spar, and gotten down the Katon: Gouryuuka no jutsu (Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire), which was B-ranked, after nearly two months of effort, but wouldn't use it in the spar.

Biwako activated her Sharingan, preparing. Naruto started things off by substituting himself with a Wood Clone, but Biwako's eyes didn't miss it, so she used a Doton (Earth Style) jutsu to force him to come out.

Naruto got close to her while his clone made a single hand seal, releasing the Wild Water Wave. Biwako made a Tiger seal, then a Snake seal; she had finally figured out how to use two ninjutsu at the same time, like the Sandaime.

While her Great Fireball was combating clone Naruto's water jutsu, a small clump of mud hit original Naruto's eyes; that was the best she could do with the Earth element when using only a single hand-seal.

The Water ninjutsu stopped before it completely overwhelmed the fireball because Biwako put the original Naruto between her and the water as a human shield. Naruto managed to free himself thanks to both of them being slippery with sweat, but not without a Lightning Style: Thunderbolt leaving her index finger, hitting the Wood Clone in the chest.

As the clone collapsed into splinters, Biwako and the original Naruto engaged in taijutsu. Naruto was better at it, seemingly overwhelming Biwako, but she had been learning something new from Shisui. She drew a tanto and coursed Lightning Style Chakra through it, scoring a glancing hit, which paralyzed Naruto for a few seconds.

Then, she went to put her kunai over Naruto's throat, but Naruto managed to put his hands together in a Bird seal and get her with a Fuuton: Shou (Wind Style: Thrust), which pushed her away a bit. She was caught off guard by that, and Wind Style Chakra apparently removes the electricity from one's system, so Naruto managed to put his kunai over her throat at the same time she did the same over his heart.

"A draw…?" Biwako whispered in disbelief, copious amounts of sweat running down her body and her breath having turned into panting.

She hadn't even gotten the chance to use her Hell Current or Hell Stab!

"Apparently," Naruto said, also panting and sweating hard.

A feral smile was on his face, and Biwako was startled to hear laughter… and even more startled when she realized it came from her.

That was a fight out of one of Naruto's manga (which Biwako would never admit she had read)!

Naruto laughed too, and said, "what do you call it – a dance? Well, that was a great dance, Biwako!"

"Indeed," Biwako admitted.

They barely got to spar one another nowadays; their teachers had put them through the wringer, and they also had other hobbies, like Naruto growing his plants and trees, Biwako taking after-dark strolls and both of them reading manga.

*Imagine Boruto's eye color which, according to Sarada, is a purer blue than Naruto.

*2 Tsunade in this story has about four times as much Chakra as she did in canon, which is about on par with prime Tobirama, prime Sarutobi and twenty-four-year-old Minato. The hypothetical prime Minato would be a bit stronger than all three of them, though.

*3 Seventeen-year-old Karin had a range of ~10 kilometers in canon, maybe more. Adult Karin likely has a way greater range. Also, note the NORMAL sensor part. No Senjutsu and such.

*4 It's a canon jutsu of Sasuke's. Look up Kuchiyose: Raiko Kenka / Summoning: Lightning Flash Blade Creation