Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Genin ❯ Chapter 6: Enlightenment ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. Nor do Sakura, Sasuke, or any of the other characters mentioned or described herein. I haven't even bothered to get permission from their great and august creator. Feel free to sue me if you wish, but you won't get anywhere. Not only do I have no money, but as a college student, I have LESS than no money. That's right. A negative net worth. Have fun, Mr(s). Lawyer! Also, I will be using adult language in this fic. If you're not supposed to read such language, GO BACK TO SCHOOL!

Genin

By: Flashfyre5

Chapter Six: Enlightenment

"My first message is for the people of Konoha," the woman named Masako announced, just loud enough so that the overnight gate guards could hear her. "Orochimaru is dead. The war between the Leaf and the Sound is over." At this rather surprising statement, the guards looked at each other warily for a moment, while Masako stood mostly in the shadow of the gates. Sunlight shone on her face brightly, yet she did not so much as squint at it. Her pale blue eyes reflected the sunlight, while her thin lips pursed in silence. She wore her hair, an odd shade of bluish black, short and very mussed, almost like a man's. Though the cloak hid much, she had no figure to speak of. If it weren't for her soft voice, it would be easy to mistake her for a man, an illusion she did nothing to dispel.

"Wait there," the female guard shouted back at Masako, as her male counterpart leapt from the gates. "We need someone to confirm this." Masako merely nodded and waited patiently. As time passed, and the sun began to beat down on her cloaked body, Masako released the strings holding the front of the garment together. Underneath, she wore a simple gray short-sleeved shirt to cover her torso and a pair of baggy black pants. They were gathered at her ankles with bandages, which then descended to wrap around her feet. The woman wore no shoes. Eventually, the gates opened, and a rather well endowed blond woman stepped out, followed by a pair of male shinobi.

"Hello," Masako greeted the woman, inclining her head slightly.

"So, this is Orochimaru," the well-endowed woman asked, examining the head on the pole. Masako found it interesting that the woman had not even greeted her.

"Yes," Masako replied simply. "We found and executed the man in the Sand country. He was trying to use the desert caves as a hiding place." Masako turned to face the well-endowed woman, her cloak slipping a bit as she did so. The sun glinted off of something metal inside the woman's cloak, and Masako quickly pulled the garment back into place. The well-endowed woman was facing her; Masako had no doubts that she had seen it.

"Well, you're telling the truth, at least," the well-endowed woman said with a half grin. "This is Orochimaru's head, and he is dead for good. His spirit still lingers over the body." She turned to face the shinobi that had come out of the village with her. "Take this garbage and incinerate it," she instructed the man simply. He nodded, yanked the pole, and walked through the gates of Konoha, carrying it.

"Godaime, I presume," Masako ventured, having noted the shinobi's immediate obedience.

"You presume a lot," Tsunade replied, her tone turning cold. "You said that you were carrying two messages. What's the second one?"

"I'm sorry. Those words are for the ears of Uchiha Sasuke alone," Masako shook her head, her voice still soft. Tsunade's eyes narrowed a bit. "May I enter your village?" Masako asked softly, after a minute. Tsunade stood in place for a minute, thinking.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure what to make of you," Tsunade mused aloud, walking slowly around Masako. "You bring us news and proof of the death of the village's greatest enemy, you act as a messenger to the person that that enemy most wanted," she continued, her scrutiny unabated. Masako did not flinch under the woman's unwavering gaze, but it was easy to sense that the fifth Hokage was none to happy about her appearance.

"And yet," Tsunade started again after a short pause, reaching inside Masako's cloak suddenly and withdrawing her right hand. On the ring finger glinted a small golden ring, inscribed with a seldom-used character. "By the ring and the… butchered hitai-ite, you are Akatsuki, and not an underling." Masako pulled her hand away from Tsunade, who let the limb go. Masako tucked it back under her cloak.

"You speak the truth," Masako admitted simply, saying no more on the subject. Tsunade finished circling the woman and regarded her seriously again.

"You will make no move against any man, woman, or child in the village," Tsunade demanded suddenly. "Particularly Uzumaki Naruto. If you take such an action, all of Konoha will mobilize against the Akatsuki." Masako nodded slightly.

"The organization has no further interest in Uzumaki Naruto. Our research has revealed that, contrary to what we had thought previously on the subject, the Kyuubi is uncontrollable once removed from a sealed vessel," Masako explained quietly, her tone even. "The Uzumaki child is too uncontrollable himself for our purposes anyway."

"Fine," Tsunade relented, stepping aside. As Masako passed her, she added quietly, "But you will be watched." Masako stopped, nodded slightly again, then continued into the village of Konoha.

* * * * * *

/So, does this mean that you're coming over to my side?/ Inner Sakura asked cheerfully. Sakura, walking just a bit awkwardly, scowled at her counterpart's question.

"Just because you hid all my real underwear and I had to wear this… thing doesn't mean anything," Sakura said with a blush. She was wearing her red jeans higher than usual today, in a desperate attempt to keep the strings of her… underwear hidden from the rest of the world. Strapped across the small of her back was her new ninja-to, which she was more than proud of. Even though Inner Sakura was by far the more skilled of the two of them with the weapon, Sakura could wield the weapon with skill as well. In her left hand, she carried the scroll that Sasuke had left in her possession.

/It's not like you actually looked very hard for your normal stuff,/ Inner Sakura taunted, and Sakura's blush deepened by several shades. It was true; upon discovering Inner Sakura's rather risqué idea of underwear, Sakura had only spent about five minutes searching for her proper under things before putting it on.

"Shut up," she growled at her inner self, which only sent the mischievous girl into fits of laughter. Finally, she arrived at her destination: the apartment building in which Naruto lived. Carefully, the girl looked up. There, on the top floor, was the only apartment with a porch, which Naruto had installed himself. With a nod, Sakura jumped up to the top of a nearby building, which was much shorter, then again to another building that was within leaping distance of Naruto's porch.

/You want me to be in control?/ Inner Sakura taunted her as Sakura was about to make her final jump. She stopped, knowing that she couldn't afford the distraction on such a long jump. /If you do, I can make sure that Naruto-kun gets the full benefit of your laziness from earlier this morning,/ Inner Sakura said with a mental wink.

"Aaah, you pervert!" Sakura shouted at herself, unable to contain her response from her surprise. "You know full well that we're waiting for… for…," Sakura trailed off.

/For Sasuke?/ Inner Sakura asked, her mirth dispelled by Sakura's remembrance of the raven-haired boy. /You know damn well that he's never gonna have anything to do with you, at least not in the way you wanted. Naruto-kun… well, he's right there./

"I know," Sakura admitted with a sigh. "I'm just not ready for that kinda stuff. It's just…" she trailed off with a sigh.

/Too much to deal with, I know,/ Inner Sakura finished for her. /Don't worry. I'm not gonna hijack your body to have a wild night of passion with Naruto-kun. I promise,/ Inner Sakura reassured her. Then, with a wave of mischievousness, added, /unless you want me to./

"Shut up," Sakura rolled her eyes, pushing Inner Sakura do the recesses of her mind. She had a jump to make.

"Hey! Sakura-chan!" Naruto's voice intruded upon her, just as she was about to ready herself to make the jump. Sakura looked up to see Naruto leaning against the railing of his porch and waving at her "What's up?"

"Hey! It's just me, Naruto. I need to talk to you!" Sakura shouted back. Naruto moved away from the railing to give Sakura a place to land. With a running start, Sakura leapt from the building she was on and landed easily on Naruto's porch.

"Actually, I kinda needed to talk to you too," Naruto said as she landed, then blushed and looked away.

"What is it?" Sakura asked before she remembered what she was wearing. With a yelp, she pulled her pants higher up; they had fallen just enough for the strings of her… underwear to become visible. "Inner Sakura's idea of a bad joke," Sakura said by way of explanation, her cheeks burning red. Naruto seemed to relax a bit at that, but he kept his eyes fixed rigidly on her face.

"Anyway, I needed to apologize for being such an ass and not coming to see you sooner," Naruto explained, his right hand scratching the back of his head. "I just got jealous of Sasuke again. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Sakura replied with a sigh. "Actually, you were right about him all along. I thought he was just playing hard to get, but I'm pretty sure now that he doesn't like me." Naruto did a double take, then checked her eyes.

"Are you sure that you're not Sakura-chan?" he asked upon discovering that Sakura's eyes were indeed green.

"It's a long story," Sakura said with the type of sigh that closed the subject. "Actually, I want you to take a look at this," she continued, handing the scroll that she was carrying to Naruto. He took the cream-colored scroll and opened it, scanning over the characters.

"I don't get it," he shook his head, rolling the scroll back up. "I know that it's not a summoning scroll, but aside from that, I'm clueless. Why do you want to know?" Naruto asked quizzically.

"Well, Sasuke got me to copy this thing over for him, and he played me pretty hard to get me to do it," Sakura explained as she leaned against the railing of Naruto's porch. "I've never seen him go that far to get a technique. I'm worried."

"Really?" Naruto asked. Sakura simply nodded. "Well, then," he declared with a grin. "Let's go find out what it is!"

"Huh?" Sakura asked dumbly, confused.

"Tsunade-baba owes me a couple. I'll just ask her!" Naruto confidently declared, taking a running leap off of his porch. He landed on a nearby building, then turned and waved for Sakura to follow. She too took a leap off of Naruto's porch.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked heatedly as she landed. "Tsunade-sama's not gonna just let you burst in and ask her. You've gotta make an appointment!"

"Trust me, Sakura-san," Naruto reassured her, jumping off towards the central offices. Sakura found herself following the blond-haired boy with a nod as he hurried from building to building. Naruto was much faster than she was, but he didn't go so fast that she couldn't keep up. As they were making their final approach to the offices, Naruto suddenly motioned with his right hand. Sakura looked, and saw Tsunade walking down the road, followed by a cluster of shinobi. Naruto leapt toward the group, and Sakura followed.

"I want at least two Anbu on her at a time. She goes nowhere without us knowing. And I want to know everything about her training. She wears a Konoha hitai-ite; she lived and trained here at some point," Tsunade demanded curtly. All of the ninja followed her made motions or statements of agreement, and one of the shinobi leapt away from the group, heading towards Anbu headquarters.

"Hey! Tsunade!" Naruto crowed as he landed. The procession came to a halt as Tsunade, at its head, stopped to regard the young ninja.

"What is it, Naruto? I've got a lot of stuff to do today," Tsunade said, her tone betraying a hint of exasperation at the hyperactive ninja before her. Sakura landed behind him somewhat meekly, then offered a bow to Tsunade.

"It's quick, I promise," Naruto said, tossing the scroll to the Hokage. "We just wanna know what that is, okay?" Tsunade gave a sigh and opened the scroll, glancing its' contents. Her eyes narrowed, and she opened the scroll further, examining it much more closely.

"Where did you get this?" Tsunade asked directly, looking up from the scroll. One of the ninja behind her, a Hyuuga by his eyes, was murmuring to another ninja, his face showing obvious concern.

"Sasuke gave it to me to copy," Sakura explained before Naruto got the chance. "What is it?" she asked, worry darkening her face.

"This is a Hyuuga blood scroll," Tsunade replied, rolling the scroll back up. She turned to the Hyuuga standing behind her, who immediately snapped to attention. "Tell Hiashi-sama that I need to see him at his earliest convenience," she said to the silver-eyed man. He nodded and leapt up, moving quickly away from the group. Returning her attention to the two younger shinobi before her, Tsunade said, "I'll take care of this. You two should go train. After all, the jounin exams begin in less than a week." The two youths nodded dumbly, and Tsunade moved away from them, making her way towards her offices. The two shinobi left in her little procession quickly followed her, leaving Naruto and Sakura alone.

"What the hell's a Hyuuga blood scroll?" Naruto asked nobody in particular once Tsunade was gone.

"I don't know," Sakura shook her head. "Of course, they are the Hyuuga clan. Not exactly known for being up-front with the rest of the village," she continued after a moment with a snort.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "Well, I'm gonna go try and get some training done. You wanna come?" Naruto asked, having seemingly banished the odd scroll from his mind. Sakura couldn't help but smile at Naruto's ability to simply deal with any random unpleasantness that he came across.

"I'm not going to get any stronger or faster in a week, Naruto," Sakura replied with an exasperated look. "Anyway, I've been doing my best to practice my new genjutsu in my room, so nobody sees what they do before the test," she explained when she saw Naruto's disappointed expression.

"All right," he nodded in response, and made to leap away.

"Wait," Sakura said impulsively, and Naruto practically fell over; he'd gathered himself to jump, and was now badly overbalanced. The boy managed to keep himself from tumbling onto his face, however, and turned to regard the pink-haired girl. "Well, umm…" Sakura stammered, her sudden impulse not seeming like such a good idea anymore.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, smiling. His easy confidence gave Sakura a bit of her own, and she was able to continue.

"Well, you always wanted to go out with me when we were younger, and we've been friends for so long," Sakura said. As she spoke, she could actually see Naruto's eyes widening in surprise. Inside, Sakura found herself wondering just how much of what she was saying had been influenced by her inner self. "If you still want to go out with me, I'd like to give you the chance that you deserve," she finished in a rush, her cheeks turning a pale pink with embarrassment.

/HELL YEAH!/ Inner Sakura shouted inside Sakura's head. Sakura couldn't hold back a tiny wince at the volume of her other self's voice.

"Sakura-san…" Naruto trailed off, trying to formulate a response. He'd dreamt of this when he was younger, but he'd come to realize something himself in that time. A short while after Jiraiya had left Konoha, Naruto had stopped trying to get Sakura to go out with him. Now, he found himself at a loss for words.

"I do, but," Naruto paused, trying to find the right words. "There's a part of me that you don't know about. A part of me that I don't want you to know about, because it scares me. I never really dealt with it, because I didn't think you'd ever be interested in me." Naruto paused again, and he could see Sakura's face falling, her disappointment easily apparent. "I just need some time," Naruto hedged; he could guess how Sasuke had let her down, and he wasn't about to do the same. "Maybe after the jounin exams," he finished with a wan smile. /Goddamn fox,/ Naruto thought angrily. /The one time I get what I want, I've gotta pass it up because you're too damn unpredictable!/ The demon inside Naruto pulsed against his seal malevolently for a moment, then settled back down.

Sakura was silent; she could think of nothing to say. The silence pressed on between then until it was uncomfortable. Even her inner self had nothing to say. Naruto turned back around, obviously intending to leave.

"Naruto," Sakura said quietly, before Naruto had an opportunity to gather himself. "Just don't make me wait too long." He looked back at her and smiled, then leapt to a nearby roof.

"Sakura-san!" Naruto shouted back at her. Sakura looked up in surprise, just in time to see Naruto pulling his pants up in an exaggerated fashion. It took the pink-haired girl a moment to grasp his meaning. With another yelp, Sakura again pulled her pants higher, which provoked a fit of laughter from Naruto.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything!" Naruto shouted down at her, then stuck out his tongue.

"Pervert!" she shouted back, laughter in her voice. Naruto simply turned and jumped to another building, making his way away from her.

/Now,/ Inner Sakura said smugly, /Aren't you glad that you wore them after all?/

"Shut up," she told her inner self as she began her trek home. Inner Sakura didn't respond, instead sending waves of smugness toward the side of her that was currently in control. /After all, I didn't exactly say `no' there,/ Sakura mused to herself. Somehow, she had a hard time convincing herself that she would have, had her inner self pressured her.

* * * * * *

Toru Masako was annoyed. This… was unusual for her. She was a patient woman, and would gladly admit that the thrill of the hunt was far better than the rewards of finding one's prey. Still, she had been in Konoha for three days now, and she had yet to find the Uchiha boy. She had asked many people in the village for help in finding him, but nobody would offer her any assistance, even when she offered money. This was most likely due to the Anbu that shadowed her everywhere.

"Damn it." Masako said to herself in an unusual fit of exasperation. "I've got three days left until the jounin exams begin, and a week until `he' arrives." She glanced backwards, and an Anbu scooted into a convenient bush. This was fine with her; the Anbu had been far enough back that he couldn't have heard what she'd said. Masako had left her cloak at the inn she was staying at, and wore a shirt unburdened by the Konoha hitai-ite that adorned her fighting clothes.

Masako saw a flash of red and white, and turned her head in time to see the symbol of the Uchiha clan, a red-and-white fan, on the back of a black-haired teenager. He was moving towards the village's forested training areas, and Masako couldn't help but smile. /Perfect,/ she thought, smiling thinly. /Now, to lose the Anbu./ Masako followed the teenager as best she could. He passed over a red-painted bridge, and made his way towards the memorial. Masako allowed him to vanish into the trees, knowing that she could catch up to him easily. She could sense the Anbu behind her.

"Come out of hiding," she called out to them, her voice quiet enough that she was unsure that the Anbu squad would hear her. "I need you to take a message back to the Hokage," she said more loudly, turning around. Only one Anbu emerged from the trees, her face hidden by a raccoon-like mask. Masako ground her teeth a bit at this, but she knew that the other one was nearby.

"What is it?" the woman asked warily. She fingered a short sword strapped to the outside of her left thigh, but did not draw it. Masako suddenly brought her hands up, her fingers forming a circle. Chakra exploded off of her, but she spoke before either Anbu could react.

"Maru no Suimin no Jutsu," Masako said quietly. The Anbu she could see fell to the ground, asleep, and Masako heard clearly the sound of a body falling out of a tree. She walked over to the man and checked to make sure that he was actually asleep. Satisfied, she crossed the bridge and stepped carefully over a faintly glowing white line in the ground. If it were broken, her genjutsu would be undone, and the two Anbu behind her would awaken. With one last glance backwards to ensure that she was free us surveillance, Masako made her way to the fallen shinobi memorial. She was more than surprised when a man dropped out of the trees as she was on her way and put a kunai to her neck from behind.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" he asked curtly, the tip of his kunai pressing uncomfortably into her neck.

"My name is Toru Masako. Are you Uchiha Sasuke?" Masako asked, her voice steadier than her confidence would suggest. /I'm not sure weather this guy is very good or very bad. I can barely sense his chakra,/ she thought to herself.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied quickly, then the pressure his kunai was applying to her throat lessened. "Where do I know that name from?" he asked himself aloud.

"I have a message for you from your brother," Masako stated flatly, relaxing somewhat. /If things have worked out that way I planned…/ she thought to herself as she resisted the urge to nibble her lower lip in nervousness. The kunai was quickly withdrawn from her throat, and Sasuke took a step backwards. Masako stepped away from him and turned to face the youth. He looked at her with an obvious interest, poorly masked by affected boredom. Masako noted with interest that he had already returned his kunai to the holster he wore on his right leg.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, looking off to his left. Masako had to work to keep a smile at his poor acting ability from surfacing.

"Itachi is coming. He will be here in little more than a week," Masako explained simply, having never been one for preambles. "And he plans to kill you this time." Sasuke regarded her dispassionately, and Masako found herself wondering if his acting ability was indeed poor at all. /Either he's a lot better at acting than I thought,/ she mused to herself, /or he's supremely confident./

"Good," Sasuke nodded, a grim smile crossing his face. "I'll be waiting for him." The Uchiha boy moved to leave, but pulled up short. "That's where I know you from," he said coldly, looking at her. Masako found herself meeting his gaze, somewhat to her chagrin. "I'll never forget those eyes," Sasuke growled, his eyes narrowing.

"You seek to blame me for what your brother did?" Masako asked simply, her expression betraying nothing.

"You stood with him before, and left with him afterwards. You were there," Sasuke accused coldly, turning to face her properly, his eyes never leaving hers. "You were his woman."

"I was his partner," Masako replied, her tone finally betraying an icy coldness. Her own eyes narrowed as she glared at the young Uchiha. "And I still am. I merely hoped to spare you from a quick death at your brother's hands." Masako took a quick gamble, guessing that the younger Uchiha was not hiding his chakra, but simply didn't generate enough to be easily sensed. "You are weak. If you don't want to die, leave here now. I won't tell him where you've gone," she stated coldly, her accusation eliciting a sneer of anger from Sasuke, telling her that she'd guessed correctly.

"You're wrong," Sasuke returned, stepping forward so that his face was mere inches from hers. Seething anger was apparent in his tone. "This time, Itachi will die, I promise you. Then I'll kill you, for letting him get away with what he did." Masako did not respond, but continued to glare at Sasuke.

* * * * * *

Itachi walked slowly from the ancestral Uchiha home. The street he entered was littered with the corpses of those who had stood with his family when he had attacked. Standing alone in that street was a woman made remarkable only by the fact that she was alive. Itachi joined her, and said something to the woman. She had nodded, and Itachi left. Then, the woman had turned her head to look through the open door of the Uchiha home, from which a terrified seven-year-old child stared. Cold blue eyes met wavering brown ones for a long moment before she followed Itachi.

Sasuke had never forgotten the intense coldness of those eyes.

* * * * * *

Masako finally turned her eyes away from Sasuke's gaze. He snorted disgustedly, but allowed her to move around him. Without another word to her, he continued towards his chosen training grounds. Slowly, thoughtfully, Masako returned to where she'd left the Anbu sleeping. Carefully, she stepped over the softly glowing line and resumed the position that she'd taken when she'd used her jutsu. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she tossed a shuriken behind her. It arced up, over the bridge, and came down in precisely the right location to sever the glowing line in the dirt. Immediately, the two Anbu began to wake up, quickly shaking the effects of the forced sleep from their systems.

"Tell the Hokage her Anbu are in need of more intense training," Masako stated simply once she was sure that they were roused enough to hear her. The anger that the two exuded was palpable, but Masako simply made her way past them and walked back towards the village. /Perfect,/ she thought with a small nod. /Absolutely perfect./

* * * * * *

Hyuuga Hiashi, the strongest member of the strongest clan in Konoha, slid the doorway to the Hokage's personal quarters shut behind him with a soft thump. He removed his shoes and stepped up into her home. Tsunade was waiting for him, obviously less than pleased. She turned and began to lead him into her living room.

"Thank you for coming to see me, Hyuuga-sama," she addressed him with a false smile. "I trust that my couriers conveyed the urgency of this meeting?" the Hokage asked, her politeness obviously forced. Hiashi made an effort to keep his anger in check; though he was the head of the most powerful clan in Konoha, it would not do to offend the Hokage.

"They did," Hiashi replied, his tone conveying neither disrespect nor anger. "I trust that my couriers informed you of the unimportance of the matter?" he asked with a bow of respect, attempting to remind Tsunade that he had, he thought, dealt with the matter sufficiently.

"That is not for you to determine, Hiashi," Tsunade stated flatly, the diplomacy fleeing from her voice. Hiashi paused for a moment at the intenseness of her tone before he continued to follow her. "The council installed me as Hokage. You were a part of it. As such, when I try to perform my duties, I expect you to cooperate," Tsunade continued, finally losing her temper. "It has taken me four days to get you to come here."

"I am sorry, Hokage-sama," Hiashi replied, uncomfortable at being on the defensive. "But, as I am sure my couriers have informed you, a Hyuuga blood scroll will only work for someone capable of using the Byakugan. It will not function for anyone else," Hiashi continued as they entered Tsunade's living room. Hiashi sat down on one side of her table, his outermost kimono pooling around him on the floor as he sat. "It is not the duty of the Hokage to waste the time of her most capable supporters," he said calmly, returning her earlier barb. With narrowed eyes, Tsunade tossed a cream-colored scroll to the elder Hyuuga. He opened it, gave it a cursory glance, and closed it again.

"It is a blood scroll, yes," Hiashi said, his tone finally betraying his exasperation. "Now, if I may? I need to supervise the completion of Neji's training. The jounin exams are only days away." The elder Hyuuga moved to rise from the table, whereas Tsunade had not even sat.

"Look again," Tsunade commanded, sliding the doorway to her living room closed. Her anger was apparent to Hiashi, and it put him off-guard. Tsunade had never been like this to him before. He opened the scroll again and spread it on the table, examining it more closely.

"It's the scroll for the Shijuukaigan Sharingan," Hiashi exclaimed, surprised. He looked up at Tsunade with alarm.

"I know," Tsunade replied coldly, moving to sit down across the table from the elder Hyuuga. "Since you refused to grace me with your presence, I had to track down all of the recorded histories of the uses of Hyuuga blood scrolls. Much to my surprise, I only had to look as far as the Uchiha rebellion."

"The technique that created the Uchiha clan," Hiashi breathed in amazement, looking again at the scroll before him. "I thought that all of the scrolls containing this technique were destroyed long ago."

"Apparently not," Tsunade replied dryly, her anger abating somewhat. "The histories told me what it was, and how to identify it. They didn't tell me how it functions. Would you be so kind as to fill in the gaps?" she asked, sarcasm dripping from her tone. Hiashi, having little other option, nodded once and rolled up the scroll.

"The Shijuukaigan Sharingan wasn't only the technique that liberated the Uchiha clan," he began, his tone low. "It was the technique that created it. In those days, it was simply known as Shijuukaigan no Jutsu, and had been developed recently as a way for those Hyuuga clan members who were talented in ninjutsu to fight back against their opponents more effectively. It changed their Byakugan eyes to become what we now know call the Sharingan permanently. We learned later that the change was genetic, and would be passed on to their children."

"In those times, we were much less cautious about who we allowed to use out blood techniques," Hiashi continued, his tone betraying a bit of shame. "It required a great deal of chakra to change our Byakugan eyes. The man that invented the Shijuukaigan Sharingan, Shinda Uchiha, discovered that, through a specific combination of seals and blood symbols, it was possible to increase one's chakra generating and physical combat capabilities permanently. What we didn't know was that the power surge would strip the user of his sanity. We also didn't know that Shinda was obsessed with being free of the Hyuuga clan's dominance."

"He gathered capable shinobi to his cause quickly. They called themselves the Uchiha clan because, as they said, they would burst free from the Hyuuga house like a tidal wave," Hiashi continued. Tsunade leaned forward, her interest piqued, the histories of the Uchiha clan rebellion having been vague at best. "When they made their move, we found out very quickly how unstable and powerful their technique had made them. They could no longer use our techniques on their own, but their Sharingan eyes allowed them to copy us perfectly. Those few that chose to activate their technique again were the most devastating of all. We had to let them go, or risk being destroyed, despite our overwhelming numbers." Hiashi stopped for a moment and drew in a deep breath, then released it.

"To someone that already has access to the Sharingan, the power surge of the Shijuukaigan is overwhelming," Hiashi explained, finally addressing Tsunade's question directly. "It strips the mind of any semblance of sanity. Whatever thoughts the user has at the moment of activation consume him, turning him into an obsessive maniac. Furthermore, paranoid schizophrenia and psychosis are common along with this. In exchange for this madness, the user of the Shijuukaigan Sharingan has his or her capabilities in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu increased proportionally from the levels they are at when the technique is used."

"You're kidding me," Tsunade said, her brow furrowed in worry.

"That's not all," Hiashi said, shaking his head. This caused Tsunade's eyes to widen a bit, but he continued before she could say anything. "The Shijuukaigan Sharingan temporarily allows its user to see moments into the future, by allowing them to read chakra patterns as they prepare a muscle to move. With sufficient speed, a user of the Shijuukaigan Sharingan will become undefeatable in combat, simply because he can execute a counterattack before his opponent has even finished performing their own attack."

"And if what Haruno-san says is true," Tsunade thought aloud when Hiashi stopped, "Sasuke already a copy of this scroll in his possession." Hiashi thought about this for a moment before he replied

"If that is the case, then we must retrieve the scroll from him, then destroy it," Hiashi stated deliberately, striking his shaven chin thoughtfully. "We must not, however, give him any indication that we plan to do so. Also, we must not push him in any way to use the technique. Once he does, he will readily use it again to defend himself."

"Damn," Tsunade cursed under her breath. "I'll have to inform the jounin taking part in the examinations. We can't take the chance that one of them will push him too far in the Anbu or the Assassination sections."

"Agreed," Hiashi nodded, his lips pursed in thought. He was silent for a moment, then nodded, as if to confirm his own thoughts. "There is not enough time before the jounin examinations begin to take the scroll from him safely. If, by some chance though, he does use it, he will be a danger to the whole village."

"I know. It will be up to me to deal with him if that happens," Tsunade nodded, rising from the table. She made her way to the door to the room, opened it, then turned to regard Hiashi again. "Next time, I trust that you will be more compliant when I summon you," she stated flatly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Hiashi replied humbly, also rising. They walked out to Tsunade's landing together in silence.

"We might have been able to take care of this before the jounin exams if it weren't for your arrogance," Tsunade noted, moving aside to allow Hiashi to step down to put on his shoes. He did so in silence, his head bowed.

"I know, Hokage-sama. I am truly sorry," Hiashi repeated, then bowed again. Without another word, he left, his wooden geta-style sandals clicking quietly as he walked away.

*** Author's Notes ***

Bwahahahahaha… another chapter down! And early! I must be going INSANE!!! Not really, but oh, well. So, what did you like, guys and gals? Sakura in a thong? Sasuke going even more obsessive than he already is? ITACHI, of all people, coming back for blood? DO you like Masako? ::Cowers in fear, hoping that his only main-line original character won't be hated:: I had to make her, guys, honest! Nobody else in the cast would do!

Anyway, in case you hadn't noticed, it's Thursday, and I'm posting. Does this mean that I'm going to post on Sunday too? Well, your answer is… YES! Since the Christians who run my school wanted Friday off, they let the rest of us off too. Thank you, Christian peoples, and have fun celebrating whatever holiday it is that you're celebrating! If I managed to offend anyone with that last line, just remember… I'm giving you a free chapter this week! So there!

Seriously, though, I'm still begging for feedback, in any form that anyone wants to give to me. PLEASE!!! ::Ahem:: Thanks to everybody who's taken the time to review my fic so far. I respond to EACH AND EVERY review that I get, so long as there's an e-mail address attached. Thanks again to my prereaders! You're great, guys! Now, to write chapter seven… ::shoulders hurt in anticipation::

As always,

~Flash (Flashfyre5@msn.com)

P.S.: Does anyone even READ these themesongs that I include? I spend much time on them…

P.P.S.: Double points to anyone who can figure out what Masako's name translates as, and what it references to! Here's a hint: "Masako" has roughly the same meaning as "Michi no." I think.

The Number One Song on Naruto's Playlist:

"Electric Clouds," by po! This is a very nice, relaxing remix of the Zeal theme from Chrono Trigger. Well-done, and of a variety that I think everybody'd like. Nice and relaxing for a chapter with almost no `action' in it. Pick it up at the Overclocked Remix (Remix.overclocked.org).

Character Themes:

Toru Masako: "The Journey to the West," by Strider Yokoshima. This is a remix of the excellent song by the same name from Princess Mononoke. It's quiet, yet fast. I like it a lot. Find it at (Animeremix.org)

New Moves:

Maru no Suimin no Jutsu- Circle of Sleep Skill: This jutsu inscribes a circle around its user. Anyone caught inside this circle, aside from the user, is immediately put to sleep by this powerful genjutsu. The radius of the circle is dependant upon the amount of chakra that the user puts into the technique. Any damage or smudging will cause the jutsu to cancel. This jutsu is not resistable.

Translations: (Shijuukaigan is under here because Hiashi-sama told us what it does!)

Shijuukaigan Sharingan- Continuous Enlightenment Copy Wheel Eye

Baba- literally "Old Woman." Naruto calls Tsunade this.

Hitai-ite- Those cool forehead protectors that everyone wears.