Disclaimer-I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form...why would I be writing this if I did? Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto, I have no ownership of Naruto...DarkKitsune666 also does not own Naruto either

Ok, first off, let me say this chapter is not my best work...this chapter is more or less a filler for the events that will come in the later chapters. I am working on updates as fast as I can, however I have work and school holding me back. So sadly, those are in the way, and unless I want to lose my house, I have to work.

Note-This story is AU, the characters are OOC, and this story will NOT follow canon. Elements of canon will be extracted, but canon will not be what this story is about. Also, let it be forever known, that in this story, and likely almost every single story I write, that Kushina Uzumaki, will NOT be the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, FORMER OR OTHERWISE!

Here are stories I personally recommend…I have followed these stories for a while, and I feel they deserve more recognition for the amount of work the authors put into each of them.

Eye of the storm-Lord of Daemons

Onigumo: The Demon's Web-Lord of Daemons

Naruto: Strange Aeons-Lord of Daemons

Naruto's Butterfly-gadman85

Devils Advocate-livezinshadowz

Please read and review these stories, they are really great stories, and I personally feel they are not getting the attention they deserve.

Important: I am planning a mass update of my stories, as in updating multiple stories at once, or within a period of a few days. So at some point within the next two to three weeks those of you who have favorited stories I have had the pleasure of writing will see several stories be getting update. I say two to three weeks because, once again, I have work and school, which takes up a majority of my 'free time'.

Anyways, enjoy the story, please read, review, PM, and so on...

All across the docks, workers who before had been lazing about were now bustling about like a well-oiled machine as the ship was closing in to port.

One dock worker, who was apparently in charge was shouting orders left and right, "Clear the docks, bring those anchors over, come on people let's move!"

The dock workers did as told, and not a moment too soon.

The ship pulled in parallel to the docks, and the crew aboard began its own preparations.

At the front of the ship, Kushina Uzumaki stared out at the docks they had pulled in to, and beheld the landscape of Rai no Kuni beyond them.

Even from the coast, one was able to see the great mountains in the distance, where the village of Kumogakure was located.

Kushina frowned and turned her head as the ramp to get off of the boat was being lowered, and she turned her head to one of the workers, "Will it be possible to move the carriages?"

The worker she spoke to looked up from their duty, and looked between the docks and the carriages. After a few moments, which seemed like minutes to Kushina, the worker spoke up, "I suppose so, it will take some time though, if we rush it we might damage the carriages, then what purpose would it serve to get them off the boat anyways."

Kushina sighed and nodded her head, "Very well." she then turned her head, making a mental note that they needed to figure out a way to make the carriages more accessible in situations like these. After all, not every single dock was designed with carriages in mind, and since Uzu no Kuni was a coastal nation, it would be prudent to make their modes of transportation more accessible.

"Uzukage-sama."

Kushina turned her head and saw another worker walk up to her. The worker bowed his head, and Kushina spoke, "What is it?"

The worker stood upright, "Uzukage-sama, Shinobi stationed at these docks are awaiting you at the base of the ramp. We managed to convince them to not come aboard for the time being but-"

"Hey, get off Uzukage-sama's ship you damn…"

Kushina stared blankly at the worker as they turned around, and saw the Kumo Shinobi pushing their way on board the ship. The worker was obviously nervous, "U-uhm…"

Kushina sighed and dismissed the worker; "I will take care of this." she walked past the worker, who then quickly went to their duties.

The Kumo Shinobi were waltzing on the deck as if they owned the place, "Who is in charge here? I demand to know who has the nerve to trespass on Kumo protected docks!"

The workers and others who came on the boat simply scowled at the Kumo Shinobi as they turned back to their previous activities.

The Kumo Shinobi scowled, "Don't you dare ignore me you-"

"Or what…brat?"

The Kumo Shinobi froze in place for but a second before they snapped around, and stared into the annoyed eyes of Kushina Uzumaki.

The other Kumo Shinobi with the loud one backed off, their eyes widening in fear, they had not even sensed her as she moved behind them.

The loud one that had been shouting at the workers simply scowled, "Who the hell are you?"

Kushina frowned, "I believe courtesy dictates that one give their own name before having the arrogance and audacity to demand another's, wouldn't you agree?" she said with an obvious condescending tone in her voice.

The Kumo Shinobi sneered, "Mind your tongue woman, you are trespassing in Kumo waters and-"

Kushina cut him off, "Actually, these waters are owned by Rai no Kuni, and in accordance to the laws of Rai no Kuni, Kumo has no jurisdiction over them, only the daimyo has any say in who can, and cannot be on the docks, and last I checked, Uzu no Kuni is not blacklisted by Rai no Kuni."

The Kumo Shinobi was obviously angered, under most circumstances; they were able to intimidate those that pulled into port, something they had been doing for a while. They enjoyed the power trip they got by making people fear them. However, Kushina was not stupid like many merchants, and was quite familiar with the laws of many of the other nations.

The Kumo Shinobi however, was far too prideful to let Kushina's 'insolence' slide, "You bitch!" and he swung a fist at her, fully intending to try and break a tooth, in an attempt to show her, and everyone else their place.

The Kumo Shinobi never expected for Kushina to grab his hand before it touched her face, with only her thumb, and index finger.

The other Kumo Shinobi backed up further, shocked by what had happened. Their comrade was rather strong, even if he was arrogant and prideful, to see somebody block one of his attacks with so little effort, it only made them even more frightened of Kushina.

The Kumo Shinobi whose hand was in Kushina's grip cursed as he tried to throw another punch, only for Kushina to grab that one as well, using the exact same amount of effort.

Kushina frowned down at the Kumo Shinobi, "However, I am familiar with one other law of Rai no Kuni…" and she began to squeeze her thumb and index finger around the Kumo Shinobi's hands, causing indescribable amounts of pain to rip through their arms.

The Kumo Shinobi grunted and gasped as he fell to his knees as his hands were literally being crushed by Kushina.

Kushina scowled at the Kumo Shinobi, bent on his knees before her, "That law happens to allow me to tear your arms out of their sockets for attempting to assault me…" and she began to twist the Kumo Shinobi's hands as she began to pull on his arms.

The Kumo Shinobi yelped in pain and began to whimper as he felt his arms start to creak, "N-no, p-please, I-I'm sorr-AAGHH!" the Kumo Shinobi cried out in pain as he felt his right arm get pulled out of its socket.

Kushina's expression was stoic, emotionless as she began to twist the other arm out of its socket.

The other Kumo Shinobi finally spoke up, "A-alright, please, I-I think he has learned his lesson." they said with obvious fear in their voice.

Kushina's only sign she heard them was a brief glance towards the other Kumo Shinobi, before she spoke, "No…I don't think he has."

'CRACK'

The Kumo Shinobi began to shriek and whine in pain as they began to thrash on the deck of the boat as Kushina brutally twisted his arm out of its socket, no doubt the force from which it was twisted fractured the bones inside the arm.

Kushina looked up at the other Kumo Shinobi, and smiled as she closed her eyes, "There, now he has learned his lesson."

The remaining Kumo Shinobi gulped as their comrade began to whimper and sob on the deck.

Kushina turned towards them, "Now, on to business, I have come to Rai no Kuni in order to speak with the current Raikage on a potential alliance."

The older of the Kumo Shinobi spoke up, albeit in a reserved tone, "W-with all due respect, I find that hard to believe with what you did to…well…" they glanced down at their comrade.

Kushina responded with a frown and a clipped response, "Had your comrade not barged onto my ship so impatiently and tried to strike me, I would not have needed to do that. But regardless, we are where we are, and I am certain the Raikage would be willing to hear the benefits of this alliance, especially with what I have in mind."

The other Kumo Shinobi spoke up, "And, what precisely do you have in mind?"

Kushina smiled, and she glanced at the Kumo Shinobi, a noticeable glint in her eyes, "Oh, I am sorry, but I am afraid I cannot divulge that information to you. Security risks and all that, I will only discuss my terms, and my intent, with the Raikage."

The Kumo Shinobi who had spoken up earlier, "W-well, in that case, you and your…entourage…will need to be escorted to Kumo by an armed guard…security risks and all that." they said, albeit withdrawn and frightened.

Kushina smirked, "I expected nothing less."

Hi no Kuni

Lightning arced across the sky, the trees billowing in the wind as the rain poured down with such force it felt like the five cloaked travelers were being assaulted by a volley of kunai.

One of the figures, a girl, snarled and snapped at the nearby boy, "Assuming the storm lightens up you say, well guess what?! The storm not only has not lightened up, but it has gotten worse!"

The one she was shouting at turned his head, "Hey, that was him over there." he said pointing to another cloaked figure.

Said figured snarled, and spoke with an obviously feminine tone to their voice, "Him? I am a girl you baka!"

The third girl groaned, "In this rain we won't make it to the next town, we need to find shelter and wait out the storm!"

The last figure spoke up, "I agree, into the trees n-"

Their statement was cut off as lightning struck a nearby tree, and sent it toppling down, falling into the path.

The other four members of the group stared at the one who suggested going into the trees as they stammered, "Uhm…well…"

'BONK' out of nowhere, one of the girls smacked them over the head and tried to throttle him, "Oh yeah, into the trees, marvelous idea!"

The male grunted and stared back at her, "Oh come on, how was I supposed to know that would happen?"

One of the other girls groaned, "Oh would you two knock it off, we need to find shelter." she began to look around, "Are you sure we can't make it to the next town?"

The male sighed, "We can try, but it is a while away, and this storm doesn't look like it is letting up."

One of the other girls looked around, "Is there a shortcut, a hidden path or…" she stopped when she saw something in the distance as she looked through the rain.

She could see a faint outline of a building off to the side of the road, and what she could make out as lanterns glistening on the outline.

She pointed her hand towards the source of the outlines, "Look, over there!"

The other four turned and looked where she was pointing.

The male sighed in relief, "Oh sweet Kami, shelter!"

The girl that had seen the outline quickly started to run towards it, followed by her four comrades.

Rai no Kuni

Kushina looked around as her entourage was successfully bringing the carriages down off of the ship. It was a slow process with how small the docks were, they actually had to move some of the equipment and crates that normally littered the docks, but they were fortunate that the docks were just large enough to allow the carriages to be moved. However, only one carriage could be moved at a time.

Meanwhile, the horses and oxen were being fed on the ship.

Kushina looked to her side as the Kumo Shinobi who had not been crippled by her was looking across the horizon through a pair of binoculars, "Looking for anyone in particular?"

The Kumo Shinobi sighed and lowered their binoculars, "Yes, the platoon of armed guards which will escort you to Kumogakure. They should be here any minute."

Moments after Kushina had explained her reasons for being in Rai no Kuni, one of the Kumo Shinobi had gone down to the lookout tower, and immediately sent a falcon to a nearby outpost to have an armed guard sent to escort Kushina and her entourage, thankfully, the outpost was not too far away.

Kushina nodded, "Very well, please inform me when they arrive." and she turned and headed back inside the ship.

She walked down the halls and returned to her room, and sighed heavily as she opened the door.

Inside, Naruto was sound asleep on his bed, though he would jitter and twitch every so often because of the intense amount of chakra he was producing.

After he had told her what had happened to him in Konoha, the emotional exhaustion it had caused him forced him to fall asleep to let his mind, body, and perhaps even his soul rest from remembering all that he had been put through.

Kushina smiled sadly and walked inside, closing the door behind her as she walked over to the bed she and Naruto shared as they slept.

She gently reached out and lightly placed the back of her hand against his cheek, and slowly began to slide her fingers through his hair, watching his sleeping form.

A small smile came to her lips as her shifted closer to her hand as he slept.

With a soft sigh, she leaned down and gently kissed his forehead, and whispered softly, "It has almost started sochi…almost." and she kissed his forehead one more time and continued to lightly trail her fingers between his golden locks.

Hi no Kuni

The five cloaked figures practically stormed inside of the Inn, which apparently had been built so recently, it was not on their map. Granted no map was perfect, but the inn was on a main route in Hi no Kuni, and every map handed out to Shinobi was up to date, accurate as can be. So for the inn to not be on the map, it had to have been built within the last two weeks.

Normally, the Genin would have found that incredibly suspicious, but the torrential downpour and lightning strikes knocking down the nearby trees suppressed their paranoid instincts and they headed inside without a care in the world.

Panting heavily from the speed they were running at to get to the inn, one of the girls spoke, "It looked…closer…"

The taller of the two males gasped as they leaned against the nearby wall, "Y-yeah, you are telling me."

The only member of the team not fully out of breath walked up to the receptionist, who was staring at them as if they had just popped out of the ground. They reached into their pocket, and pulled out a roll of money, "One room for five please."

The receptionist stared at them, "Uhm, I am afraid that all of our rooms currently only hold two beds each."

They sighed, "That is fine, we can share the beds."

The receptionist looked back at the other four, "Uhm, are you sure? We have other vacant rooms."

They looked up at the receptionist…and for a few seconds, not a single word was said, "Look, we just trekked here in the middle of a storm, none of us are in the mood to go through the effort of signing up for more than a single room…just take the money and give us the fucking room key…"

The receptionist stared at them, and sighed as they took the roll of money, and then gave them a key, "Enjoy your stay."

They sighed and looked back at their teammates; "Come on…" and they began to head down one of the halls towards their room.

The receptionist called out to them as they returned to their work, "The bar is down the hall to the right, and the dining hall is right across from the bar."

One of the cloaked teammates perked up at the mention of bar and turned to their comrades, "Uhm, you four go on ahead, I am going to have a drink or two."

The one holding the room key seemed to scowl at them, "Really?"

They only shrugged, "Hey, can't I enjoy myself?"

One of the girls spoke, "Not at our expense you can't."

They shrugged their shoulders, "Ah, don't worry, I am not a lightweight like you guys." they turned and headed off to the bar, "Be back in a little while."

The four remaining figures only sighed, and they headed off to the room.

With the Four

The four remaining members of the five man squad walked into the room, and sighed in relief as they saw the seemingly comfortable beds.

Deciding to remove their wet clothes, they began to strip.

The one holding the room key was a young looking woman, her hair was black and shoulder length, her skin was pale, and her eyes were a steel blue color.

The second one was also a young looking woman, though she seemed younger than the first one. Her hair was short, almost tomboyish, and it had streaks of blonde and light red in it. Her skin was tan, and her eyes were a greenish color.

The third was a girl as well, she seemed to be somewhere between late teens and early twenties. Her hair was a dark brown, and her skin was a light peach color. Her eyes were pupiless brown in color.

The last one was a male, he had a rather average face, and his hair was a brown color, as were his eyes.

The girl holding the key sighed and looked at her comrades, "So…who gets which bed?"

With the One

The remaining member of the squad pushed open the doors to the bar. Surprisingly, the bar was relatively empty, minus a few customers lingering about.

They smirked inwardly and removed their hood, revealing that their physical features were just slightly above average in physical complexion. Their hair was a brownish red shade, and their skin was tan, but was still slightly pale in places. Their eyes were a brownish green color, and they had a small scar on their chin, nothing too noticeable.

They walked up to the bar and spoke, "Hey, can I get a bottle of hot sake please?"

The bartender obliged and got them a bottle of hot sake.

A grin adorned their face as they downed the hot sake, and a deep blush went across their face, "Whoo, that hits the spot."

"Heh, I'll bet."

The final member of the squad suddenly turned their head, and saw a man sitting next to him, who he noticed was looking at a map of some sort.

They frowned slightly, "Who are you?"

The figure chuckled and grabbed their own glass, "Now, now, isn't it polite to give your own name before demanding another's?"

They only frowned, "Who said I was trying to be polite?"

The figure stared at him for a few moments, before they broke out into laughter, "Hahahahaa, I like you kid." and they downed the glass of sake they had been drinking, "Most people I give that line to just automatically give their own names. Nice to see somebody who doesn't fall for that trick."

They stared at the man in confusion, and began to look them over…only for their eyes to land on the map.

And the location of him and his squads destination.

The figure had seen him glance at the map, "You looking for something kid?"

They looked back up at the man and frowned. While he knew the ramifications for giving details on a mission, the man in front of him seemed harmless enough, "Yeah, we are trying to get across the sea to Uzu no Kuni. However, it seems none of the shipping companies will go out to open sea, and none of them are willing to direct us to those who do."

The figure seemed to nod his head, "Is that so?" he grabbed his own bottle of sake and poured himself another glass, "Well, I guess today is your lucky day."

They looked at the man like he had gone crazy, "Lucky? How is that lucky?"

The figure chuckled, "Well, for one, if you had gone out today, no doubt the storm would have ripped your boat apart, and you would be drowning at sea, and that is the best case scenario."

They looked at the figure before them and frowned, "For one? What other reason am I lucky for?"

The figure smirked, "Well, it just so happens I am in need of a crew, my old crew is…indisposed, and I happen to need a few hired hands." they sipped their glass of sake, "I can get you to Uzu no Kuni, but I got to make a stop in Umi no Kuni first." the man grinned and glanced at them, "That okay with that?"

They frowned and looked at the map, "But Umi no Kuni is in the opposite direction of Uzu no Kuni."

The figure shrugged, "True, but you got any better options kid?"

They looked at the figure, and then began to think on what options they had. They needed to get to Uzu no Kuni as quickly as possible, however, they were not having any luck so far as far as finding a good boat, and it didn't seem that luck was going to change any time soon. What did they have to lose?

They sighed, "Alright, but I got to speak with my friends on this one."

The figure shrugged, "Fine by me, just…" they reached into their coat pocket and pulled out a card, "Just head here tomorrow, it's in the next town over." they figure stood up, "Come by if you want the job…if not, well, I'll just keep looking." they turned and headed towards the exit, waving their hand goodbye.

Leaving the last member of the five man squad in the bar.

They frowned and looked down at the card in their hand, and read its contents.

'Gato Shipping'

I know, not my best work, as stated in the top AN, this chapter is a filler for the events that will occur in the latter chapters, everything will tie together, I do have a plan for this story...surprising as it may be. Many questions about this chapter will be answered in latter ones.

If you have any questions, concerns, etc, please review the story, PM me if you wish to be more direct...also, feel free to flame me, I really don't care if you flame me or not, as I write these stories because I enjoy writing them, I am not going to bend over backwards and make a story what the readers want it to be. I tried that once and let me tell you not a day goes by I don't regret it.

Show your support by checking out the following...it encourages me, and many others to keep writing awesome fanfics and make continuous updates as often as we can.

Authors: Each of these authors has written stories, there are too many good ones to pick just a few. So instead, we are placing the names of the authors who have written the stories. If you would like to be added or removed from the list I am providing, send a PM or post a review.

-dracohalo117

-Hakkyou no Yami

-Mystic 6 Tailed Naruto

-TheDemonKingNaruto

-Hector Enix

-Lord of Daemons

-Agurra of the Darkness

-livezinshadowz

-Shadow Kurogane

-tibo

-Obito the III

-Leaf Ranger

-King of the Fallen

-VFSNAKE

-Saito Namikaze Reborn

-Vaanarash

Challenges

-Hakkyou no Yami's Various Challenges...Dark Naruto Challenges

-Mystic 6 Tailed Naruto's Various Challenges…

-dracohalo117 Various Challenges…Naruto Hates Yondaime…Naruto Quits Shinobi Life

-Agurra of the Darkness Challenges...on Agurra's profile page

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Hakkyou no Yami-Forum link located on top of dracohalo117 profile page

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Until my next update...which hopefully should be within the next week...Ja-ne