36

"Did you talk about anything else?" Baki asked.

"Yes, although what he told me was given in confidence and I will not betray his trust" Gaara replied, after which he excused himself from everyone and left the Chambers to read his book in peace.

When Gaara left, his team was left in bewildered as before, as they weren't sure how to make of this. They couldn't believe that by just talking and listening to Gaara, Naruto had somehow help Gaara regain his humanity.

As Baki and Kankuro digested all this, both of them couldn't help but wonder, just who the hell was Senju Naruto.

While at the same time, the blonde haired Kunoichi near them thought, "Maybe you aren't as bad I thought Senju?"

-Konohagakure-

One week after the events in the Konoha Council Chambers, a certain Blonde haired Senju was sitting atop the Hokage Monument on the Yondaime Hokage's head, looking down at the village.

This had become a common occurrence for Naruto ever since the incident with the Akatsuki.

He had come to this spot at the beginning and end of every day so that he could be alone for a while and think on past events, specifically the Council's recent move to enact the Clan Restoration Act, placing both Sasuke and him under it.

And if that wasn't enough, he also had to deal with his recent "engagement" with Gaara's sister, Temari of Suna.

He had only agreed to the arrangement to ensure peace for Konoha and prevent another war from breaking out, resulting in more lives being lost.

"Huuhhh, what would you do in my place dad?" Naruto sighed, as he glanced down at the carving at his father's on the cliff side.

Sitting atop of his father's image was his favourite spot on the monument, since in a way it made him feel connected to his father, despite never knowing him.

He had of course heard plenty of stories about him from Jiraiya, his mother, Kushina and a few from Kakashi. But still the young boy yearned for more, wishing he could speak to him and getting his advice on things.

Sighing again, Naruto looked down at the village that his family founded, "How can I expect to become Hokage and protect this village, when I can't even protect myself?"

At the same time Naruto heard the whining of a small animal, and felt something rub against his leg.

Looking down, Naruto saw Kurimaru rubbing against his leg, and staring up with his with a sad face.

Seeing the small pup, Naruto smiled down sadly and began to gently scratch his right ear, knowing that the small dog had realized that something was bothering him and was trying it's best to comfort him.

"Thanks boy, but I'll be alright" But Kurimaru didn't believe him and continued to try and comfort him.

Turning his attention away from the pup, Naruto stared back at the village below and thought back to what happened with Itachi in the Genjutsu. Even now the memories of the event were still fresh, and he would still have flashbacks of what happened in the illusion when slept.

"Damnit, what's wrong with me?!" Naruto said to himself before noticing his right hand was shaking when he thought back to Itachi. "Why do I keep shaking at the mere thought of him, why can't I move on?"

Even though his body had recovered from his battle with the two Akatsuki members, Naruto's mental state had not, specifically his confidence. Every time he took his sword or Kunai in hand, he felt his hand shake and whenever he sparred with Yamato or his mother, he found himself hesitating and doubting himself, something that he had never done before.

This became ever more evident in a training session with team eight, where he sparred off with Shino.

During the match, an image of Itachi staring coldly at him, replaced Shino for a brief moment, causing the young blonde to freeze in fear. This then allowed the young Aburame to capture him in one of his bug Jutsu, allowing him to win the match.

And if that wasn't enough, Naruto had nightmares of his time in Itachi's Genjutsu, watching his family being killed off one by one in different manner, unable to do anything to stop it.

Even though Naruto knew that it had only being an illusion, and that his mother and others were fine, the images still haunted him, as it had felt so real. He had never felt so helpless in his entire life and it worried him, since what if next time it wasn't illusion.

After the invasion everyone had commented on how strong he was, a small part of him even began to believe them and that he could protect his family and friends from his enemies. But after his fight with Kisame and Itachi, Naruto realized that he was still too weak to protect those he cared about from those who would come after him.

Thinking back to Itachi again, Naruto could not help but shiver slightly, even though Itachi was not that much older than him, the difference between the two of them was vast, like a chasm.

When they fought, not once had he been able to land a solid hit on the former Uchiha heir, who just stared down at him with the same blank look, as if he wasn't even a challenge to him. But what Naruto remembered most about Itachi was his empty eyes, void of any emotion what's so ever. Yet at the same time, held an intensity that he had never seen before in anyone, making it seem as if he could look into the depths of a person's very soul.

As Naruto thought more on the matter, he was suddenly waked from his musing by a familiar voice.

"Naruto are you alright?"

Turning to the voice Naruto saw his teacher Yamato walking towards him.

"Oh hey Yamato-sensei" greeted Naruto, while smiling weakly at his teacher. "I'm fine, just thinking on some things"

After serving in Konoha's ANBU division for many years, Yamato developed a knack for when people were lying or hiding something. Naruto was no exception in this case, since the young blonde was easy enough to read, since he wore his emotions on his sleeves.

Like many others, Yamato had seen the change in Naruto after the Akatsuki incident. Gone was the lively young blonde, brimming with confidence and determination, he had now been replaced by hesitant young boy, who seemed unsure of himself.

"Naruto, the Fire Daimyo's congregation will be arriving soon, you need to get ready."

With his mother now about to officially become the new Godaime Hokage tomorrow, the Fire Daimyo himself and his family were due to arrive at the village for the inauguration ceremony. As the son to the new Hokage, Naruto was expected to greet the royal family with his mother, when they arrived at the village.

Sighing again, Naruto nodded and got up from his spot on the Yondaime's head and accompanied Yamato down the monument to greet the Royal family.

Elsewhere in the Hokage mansion, the new Godaime Hokage Tsunade was busy going over the Konoha charter, reading every word carefully and going over every law in the village. Hoping to find some sort of loop hope she could use that would allow her to get her son out of the Clan Restoration Act, which her Grandfather set up.

But despite her best efforts, she had yet to find anything that could help her, at least not without removing the law altogether or creating a new law to counter and remove it. Both of which were impossible without a majority favour from the Council.

Sighing angrily, Tsunade cursed her grandfather and granduncle for the millionth time, her grandfather for creating the CRA act, and her granduncle for creating the Council.

After becoming the Nidaime Hokage, Tsunade's granduncle formed the Konoha Council.

On paper the Council existed to solely help the Hokage govern the village and to make sure all decisions are made with the best interest of Konoha and its inhabitants in mind. It also allowed the major Shinobi Clans and Civilian population to have a voice in the ruling of the village. But what wasn't widely known was that the Council also acted as a counterbalance for the Hokage.

Fearing that one day a Hokage in the future may abuse his or her authority over the village. The Nidaime gave the Council certain powers to counter the Hokage and ensure the village's survival and make sure that people's rights where upheld and no family or Clan was favoured more or was persecuted by others.

Although the Hokage had final say in most matters involving the village, the Council had the power to overrule the Hokage in incidents that threaten the safety of the village, where the Hokage was unwilling or incapable of dealing with them effectively. But they could only do this, so long as the majority of the Council was in favour of it. The Council also had the power to select a new Hokage if required, but would have to be confirmed by the Jonin council.

Like the Hokage, the Council also had the power create or change laws in the village, but would need the Hokage's finally approval to be accepted. Just as the Hokage would need their approval to makes any changes to the Konoha charter. They even had the power to remove a Hokage from his or her position, but only if the Hokage was found unfit, corrupt or compromised and even then there would need to be proof and the majority of the Council would have to be in agreement before they could act. But in return the Hokage had the power to remove a member of the Council from their position if he or she had evidence that proved that the member was undermining the Hokage's authority, or had committed crimes against Konoha.

Shortly after Tsunade heard a knock on the door, where after responding with an "Enter" she saw her former apprentice, now assistant, Shizune enter the room.

"Tsunade-sama, the Fire Daimyo and his entourage are nearing the village, they should be here shortly."

"Thank you Shizune, I will be down shortly" replied Hokage.

Seeing how tired her former teacher was, Shizune decided to speak. "Has there been any progress in removing Naruto from the Clan Restoration Act?"

"None" Tsunade replied irritatedly lifting herself out of her chair. "That perverted grandfather of mine, made the condition for the Clan Restoration Act specifically clear. With Naru-chan having Mokuton and as the last member of our Clan, who is capable of reproducing, he falls under the act."

"What about Yamato-san?" asked Shizune, "He has Mokuton and would be capable of having children himself?"

"The Sandaime tried to argue that when the Council first brought up the Act, but since Yamato is not a member of our Clan, and only has Mokuton from Orochimaru's experiments, he is not considered an option. The Council also argued that Yamato's Mokuton is much weaker in comparison to my grandfather, while Naruto's has the potential to be significantly stronger, which makes the Council believe that Naruto is the best candidate."

"What about the Fire Daimyo, surely he would help you?" the younger medic asked, who was certain that the elderly Daimyo would help her master, given how she helped save his son. But to the dark haired woman's disappointment, Tsunade shook her head.

"Unfortunately he can't, in accordance with the agreement with the previous Fire Daimyo and my grandfather. The Fire Daimyo can only intervene on matters that affect him or Hi no Kuni (Fire Country), he cannot intervene on internal matters of Konoha."

"But he is the Fire Daimyo" stated Shizune.

"True, but Konoha was given a certain amount of freedom, and unless a law in the village directly clashes with one of the Hi no Kuni's laws, or if a certain event in Konoha threatens to destabilize the country or his power. He cannot do anything about it, and the Clan Restoration Act is an internal matter and is arguably in the interest of Konoha."

"But you haven't given up then?"

"No" the voluptuous woman replied, "It'll just take longer than orginally I thought."

Nodding to her master, Shizune the followed her out of the room, where they made their way out of the Hokage mansion to greet the Fire Daimyo and his family.

-At Konoha's Main Gate-

After making their way down from the mansion, Tsunade and Shizune met with Yamato, Naruto and Kurimaru.

Seeing her son, Tsunade smiled and greeted him, which he returned, although the two women could tell it was forced and that he was still dealing with the issues of his confrontation with Akatsuki.

Before either of them could talk to Naruto, they heard a shout from one of the Shinobi guarding the gate "The Daimyo-sama's entourage is here!"

-Enter Bleach OST: Kingdom Treasure Stamp-

Turning, the Konoha party saw the Fire Daimyo's entourage marching slowly towards them, at the head of the entourage were fifty mounted soldiers, dressed in bright red armor carrying spears and banners with the symbol of Hi no Kuni and the Royal family on them. Behind them were several more banner men on foot, who like some of the mounted soldiers, carried the royal standards of Hi no Kuni and the Royal family.

Marching behind the banner men were the musicians playing drums, flutes and other instruments. Behind them were a hundred Palace soldiers from the Daimyo court, dressed in bright red uniforms, carrying spears.

Directly behind them was another hundred soldiers dressed in blood red armor, not unlike a Samurai, but somewhat different.

Seeing the curious look on Naruto's face, Yamato explained to Naruto that these men were of the Fire Daimyo's Royal army, called the Crimson guard, which numbered of about ten thousand strong men. Although they could not use Chakra like Samurai and Shinobi, they were well regarded for their prowess in battle and for being fierce fighters, especially from the last war. (1)

Following after the Crimson guard, were ten Hi no Kuni Samurai from the Palace guard, who in turn were followed by several palanquins, which carried the Royal family. Behind the palanquins were ten more Hi no Kuni Samurai and another hundred Palace soldiers, who were then followed by the baggage train and another fifty mounted soldiers

After a few more minutes, the Royal entourage reached the main gate and came to a stop.

-End Bleach OST: Kingdom Treasure Stamp-

Once the Royal entourage came to a stop, the Fire Daimyo, his wife and their granddaughter Princess Rurichiyo got out from their palanquins and slowly walked over the Konoha party.

As they made their way over to the Konoha party, they were accompanied by Rurichiyo's guards Kenryū and Enryū and four other men, who Naruto would later learn were members of the newly reformed Shugonin Jūnishi (Twelve Gentlemen Guardian Ninja).

When the Royal family reached the Konoha party, Naruto suddenly heard a female voice cry "Naruto-kun!" before he was nearly knocked to the ground by a blonde blur, which groped him.

Once he had steadied himself, Naruto saw that the blonde blur was Rurichiyo, who proceeded to pound her fist into his chest,

"Idiot…Moron…Jerk…Fool! Did you not realize how worried you made us?!" cried the blonde Princess before she kicked him hard in the shin, causing the blonde boy to yell in pain. "We were worried and wanted to stay until you woke, but Sofu insisted that we returned to the capital, saying it was unsafe to remain in Konoha after the attack."

"I'm sorry Rurichiyo-chan, I didn't mean to make you worry, it's just that I couldn't stand by and not help when we were being-OW…!" cried Naruto as he tried to explain himself, but was kicked hard in the shin again by the angry Princess . "Can you please stop kicking me already?!"

Before the blonde girl could respond, Madam Shijimi suddenly spoke, "Rurichiyo-chan, a Princess does not act in such a manner, now leave the poor boy alone, he was doing what he believed was right."

After the light scolding from her grandmother, Rurichiyo mumbled out a small apology and moved back next to her grandparents, who just smiled down at the girl.

No sooner had Rurichiyo returned to their side; Madam Shijimi turned to Naruto and smiled kindly at him. "We are very pleased to see that you are well Naruto-san, poor Rurichiyo-chan was frantic when she heard what happened to you after the attack, and we literally had to drag her back to the capital."

"Obaa-sama!" cried a now thoroughly embarrassed Rurichiyo, who was now turning a shade of red that rivaled tomatos.

At the same time several amused chuckled could be heard coming from both the Konoha party and the Fire Daimyo's entourage.

Fortunately though for the Princess, their attention was soon turned away from her and to the soon to become Godaime Hokage, who stepped forward to speak to the Fire Daimyo.

"Daimyo-sama, on behalf of the people of our village, I would like to welcome you back to Konoha, and assure you that your safety and the safety of your family is out top priority."

"Thank you Tsuande-san, or should I say Hokage-sama…"said the old Daimyo with a small smile. "We are very pleased to be back in Konoha."

Nodding to the Fire Daimyo, Tsunade then spoke again, "I'm sure after your long journey you and your family must be tired, perhaps you and your family would like to rest for a while."

"Yes believe that would be an excellent idea, since the journey was rather exhausting, especially after being crapped up in that small space all day."

Nodding again to the old Daimyo, Tsunade was about to lead the Royal entourage to the Daimyo's private resident in the village. But before she could, her attention was suddenly drawn back to Rurichiyo, who suddenly spoke up.

"Ojii-sama, if it is alright, could Naruto-kun accompany us back to residents? We would like to talk to him, for we have many questions for him."

"Of course, if that is alright with Tsunade-san?"

"Eh, yes, of course Daimyo-sama" replied Tsunade, who was a little annoyed by it, since she had wanted to speak to her son, but had decided to let it go, especially since she could not refuse the Fire Daimyo.

With the matter now settled, Tsunade then preceded to lead the Royal family and their entourage into the village, where they were greeted by a large number of cheering Civilian and Shinobi, who were eager to welcome their nation's ruler.

Shortly after the Fire Daimyo and his entourage arrived at the village, a lone figure wearing a long purple hooded cloak and a red Hannya mask entered the village, and slowly made its way to the Hokage's residence.

-The Hokage's Mansion-

After leading the Royal family to their private residence, Shizune and Tsunade made their way back to the Hokage mansion to finish up some work that was left to do before the ceremony.

Moment after entering the Hokage's office, Shizune and Tsunade were surprised to find three ANBU, who had been guarding the office, on the floor and unconscious.

Before either Kunoichi could react to the sight of three of Konoha's "elite" ANBU lying on the floor. Their attention turned to the person sitting in the Hokage's chair, which was turned away from them, and was facing the window overlooking the village.

"I apologies for the mess, but your people here were a tad overzealous in their duties when I entered your office without an appointment" explained the unknown person who continued to look out the window. "I of course tried to tell them that you would not mind and that I would wait here until you returned. But they were rather insistent that they detain me, which was of course unacceptable and led to this sadly."

"Who are you?" Tsunade asked, narrowing her eyes at the intruder, who had yet to turn around and face them.

At the same time Shizune took out a set of Senbon needles and moved herself in front of her master, fearing that the person was an assassin, who had come to kill Tsunade before she could become Hokage.

"I must admit, when I had heard that you were going to become the new Godaime Hokage of Konoha, I was surprised. You were quite vocal about not wanting to be Hokage, and when you left you even declared that you would never return to Konoha." continued the unknown person, ignoring Tsunade's question and Shizune's actions. "…But still it was nothing compared to when I had heard that you had a son."

"Who the hell are you?!" Tsunade demanded, losing her patience, which was never a good thing.

"Oh come now Tsunade-sama, don't tell me you've forgotten me already, I'll admit it's been a couple of years, but I would have thought you would at least recognized my voice?"

Before the soon to be Hokage could respond, the person turned the chair around to face the two Kunoichi.

No sooner had she done this, the eyes of both women widened in recognition and disbelief.

"YOU…!"

Seeing the shocked looks on the two woman's faces, the person just smiled and nodded, "It's been a long time Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san."

-Later at the Fire Daimyo's Private residence-

Sitting outside in the garden porch of the Fire Daimyo's Residence, Naruto was busy filling in Rurichiyo on what happened during the invasion, as the young Princess was eager to hear what happen. Standing not far from them, were Kenryū and Enryū, who were watching the two young preadolescents.

Both men smiled as they watched over their charge, since they had seen how worried the young Fire Princess had been for Naruto after the recent invasion, and were glad to see her laugh and smile again.

Sitting next to the two was Kurimaru, who was chewing on a small soup bone he had been given earlier.

When Naruto first introduced the small pup to Rurichiyo, the Fire Princess let out a high-pitched squeal; over how cute he was, terrifying the poor pup. But before he could run away from the blonde Princess, Rurichiyo grabbed hold of him and proceeded to hug/squeeze the poor animal in a manner that eerily reminded Naruto of her grandmother Madam Shijimi, when it came to her pet cat Tora.

Fortunately though for Kurimaru, Naruto was able to calm Rurichiyo down and had her let go of the half-wolf, saving the small pup's life, and after much coxing and reassuring, Kurimaru began to warm up to the Fire Princess, but only after Naruto made her promise never do that again.

When Naruto recounted the events of the invasion, the young Fire Princess proved to be a very good audience, where she never interrupted him and gasped at all the right moments.

When he finished, Rurichiyo stared at him in awe and a slight be of reversence. "Oh wow, I can't believe you actually did all that, even after all those battles you fought in the Chunin exam? You really are amazing Naruto-kun!"

"Not really" mumbled Naruto, "I just got lucky."

"Lucky?" repeated Rurichiyo in surprise, "How can you just be lucky? Your one of the strongest people I know."

"Trust me, there are a lot of other people stronger than me, in fact when compared to them, I'm nothing" Naruto replied as he stared down at his tea cup and at his own reflection in the tea.

As he continued to stare, his reflection slowly turned into images of Kisame, Orochimaru and finally Itachi. At which point, Naruto's tea cup began to crack before shattering after being held too tightly.

"Naruto-kun are you alright?!" cried Rurichiyo, when she saw the tea cup shatter and the tea spill all over his pants.

"Yea, I'm alright, I must have just held the cup too tightly" Naruto said with a weak smile as he wiped away the tea from his pants.

Unconvinced by Naruto's answer and seeing that there was something bothering him. Rurichiyo was about to ask him again, but before she could even speak a word, Naruto grabbed hold of her and pulled her into the middle of the garden.

"Naruto what are you doing?!"

"Just stay close to me" Naruto ordered as he moved the Fire Princess behind him and stared at the hooded figure in front of them, standing where they had just been sitting a moment ago.

Seeing the intruder, Rurichiyo was about to call out to her guards for help, but when she turned to them, she saw both Kenryū and Enryūlying on the ground, seemingly knocked out by the intruder.

"Whoever this person is, they're good, I couldn't even see let alone sense them until it was almost too late" Naruto thought. He had only caught a glimpse of a blur when the intruder knocked out Kenryū and moved on to Enryū. And it was only thanks to listening to his instincts and his sharp reflexes that he was able to move Rurichiyo and himself out of the way when the intruder attacked.

At the same time, Kurimaru who only moments had been happily chewing his soup bone, now leaped over to his master and stood next to him, growling at the intruder, ready to protect Rurichiyo.

"Not bad, you have good reactions, not to mention good instincts" the intruder remarked in a muffled voice, while slowly walking towards Naruto and Rurichiyo.

"Who are you?" demanded Naruto, while at the same time analyzing his opponent. The intruder wore a long purple hooded cloak that covered his entire body and wore a red mask in the shape of a Hannya, covering the his face.

"Who I am is of little importance, all I want is the Princess, if you step aside now and allow me to take her, I will not harm you."

"Not a chance!" Naruto retorted as he moved Rurichiyo further behind him, while at the same time thinking. "Damnit, where the hell are the rest of the guards, aren't they supposed to protect the Fire Daimyo "and" his family? Don't tell me he took them out, before coming after Rurichiyo-chan?"

Hearing Naruto's response, the intruder just smirked behind his mask; in fact the masked intruder seemed pleased by the young boy's action.

"How sweet, and people say chivalry is dead, but I'm afraid you're out of you depth here young man."

"Heh, we'll see about that" retorted Naruto as he activated his chain earring, unwilling to take any chances with Rurichiyo's life, and at the same time, prepared to draw his Katana from his back.

But before he could even half-draw his Katana, the masked intruder disappeared in a blur, and reappeared right behind him

Before Naruto could even realized what had just happened, he was sent flying across the large garden and slammed right into the small outer wall that surrounded the garden, causing a large dent in it.

Remarkably though, thanks to his mother's training, Naruto was able to remain conscious, "OOOOh, damnit that hurt… I haven't been hit that hard since Kaa-chan's bombardment training…whoever this guy is, not only is he fast, but he's strong too."

Slowly, Naruto lifted his head up and turned to the masked intruder, who was now holding a two-meter-long shirasaya style nodachi, consisting of a simple long brown sheath and handle.

"Where the fuck did that come out of?" Naruto thought, as he tried to figure out where the intruder had been hiding the massive long sword.

With Naruto now dealt with the intruder quickily grabbed hold of Rurichiyo with his one remaining free arm, and lifted the blonde Princess up onto his shoulder.

Seeing his master hurt and the Princess captured, Kurimaru wasted no time and jumped into action and attempted to bite the kidnapper's arm. But instead bit the masked intruder's sword sheath, who had seen the small pup jump into the air and moved his sheathed sword to block the pup's bite.

Once Kurimaru had bitten the sword sheath, the kidnapper then swung his sword around and threw the half-wolf cub into a small pond in the garden.

"Kurimaru… Let us go you fend…!" screamed Rurichiyo as she kicked and punched her opponent, who just ignored her attempts at fighting back, like they were nothing. "Naruto-kun help us!"

"I suggest you stay down and not follow us, otherwise I might not be as kind to you again" said the masked figure before disappearing in a blur with Rurichiyo.

"Rurichiyo-chan no!" Naruto cried, before lifting himself up, and taking off after the two.

-With Rurichiyo and the Intruder-

"Let's us go…! Let's us go! Do you not hear us?" cried Rurichiyo as she banged her fist against the masked intruder's back. Who was still carrying her over his shoulder, and racing through the forest outside Konoha.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that" the masked intruder replied, who suddenly stopped in small clearing in the forest and lifted the blonde Princess gently down onto the ground.

"When Naruto-kun finds us, he will make you pay for kidnapping us and hurting Kurimaru."

"That is if he does come for you" replied the masked intruder.

"He will come for us, you can be sure of that!" Rurichiyo retorted angrily, glaring at her kidnapper.

Hearing Rurichiyo's retort, the masked intruder chuckled in amusement, "Heh, your still as willful as ever little Rurichiyo."

Surprised by the masked intruder's comment, the young Fire Princess stared at her kidnapper with suspicion, "Who are you…how do you know of us?"

Smirking again, the masked figure slowly lowered his hood and removed his mask, allowing Rurichiyo to see his face, causing the blonde girl's eyes to widen and surprise.

Shortly after leaving the Fire Daimyo's private residence, Naruto lost sight of Rurichiyo and her kidnapper, he couldn't even track them, since the intruder left no tracks to follow. Proving that not only was this person strong and fast, but was also skilled at cover his tracks.

Fortunately though, Naruto was not without tricks of his own and used his Chakura no Parusu (Chakra Pulse) technique to track the two them.

After a few minutes of racing through the forest outside the village, Naruto finally caught up to masked intruder, but to his surprise was without the Rurichiyo.

"What took you so long?" the intruder joked.

"Where's Rurichiyo-chan?"

"Oh my, now where did I put her, I swear I put her here somewhere" said the masked intruder in a rather dramatic manner, pretending to look around for her. "I swear I would lose my head at times if it wasn't attached to me.

"Cut the crap alright, where did you hide her?" demanded Naruto, who could feel his temper rising.

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk" spoke the masked intruder, while waging his figure, as if scolding an infant. "You should really learn to watch your language, not to mention your temper."

"Who the hell are you?"

"I told you before, who I am is of little importance…" answered the intruder, "The fact of the matter is, I have the Princess and if you want her back we're going to play a little game."

"What sort of game?" Naruto asked, while raising his right eyebrow, since he didn't like the sound of it.

"Nothing big, just you and me one on one, if you win, I'll tell you where the Princess is…"

"And if you win? Naruto asked, but almost immediately regretted asking when he heard the masked intruder chuckle darkly.

"You die…"

No sooner had the kidnapper said this, Naruto fell in a defensive Taijutsu stance. But to his surprise the intruder did not move, in fact it seemed as if the kidnapper was waiting for him.

"This was your plan all along…wasn't it?" Naruto asked, "You weren't after Rurichiyo-chan, it was me you wanted. You just used her to lure me outside the village so make sure that no-one came to help."

"Perhaps…or maybe I just wanted to have a little fun, before taking the Princess away" answered the kidnapper in amusement.

Worried about how strong the kidnapper really was, the young Senju heir decided to avoid making the first move and took a defensive stand.

Seeing this, the kidnapper frowned slightly, "Hmmm, from what I have heard, the boy is normally an aggressive type fighter, who prefers to make the first move. But instead he seems more cautious and is taking a defensive style stance; I guess his encounter with Uchiha Itachi really shook something in him."

"Come now, if you don't act now, you'll never find out what happened to the Princess" taunted the masked intruder.

Knowing he needed to do something, Naruto decided to make the first move, and took out several Kunai from his pouch and threw them at the intruder.

Unafraid of the flying projectiles, the intruder titled his body slightly, narrowly avoiding two of the Kunai and then deflected the third with his sheathed sword.

Before Naruto could even register what had happened, the intruder appeared right in front of him and attempted to slash him with his sheathed blade. But thanks to the intensive training under his mother's bombardment training, Naruto was able to avoid the crippling blow in time, if only narrowly.

The intruder then continued with his assault, unleashing a series of fast moving slashes, leaving Naruto little opportunity to strike back. "Shit, how can he swing that huge ass sword around so fast, and with so little effort?!"

As he continued to avoid the masked intruder's slashes, Naruto couldn't help but be reminded of his encounter with the Akatsuki, specifically Kisame, who like his opponent, could wield his massive sword without any ill effect. But before blonde boy could remark further on the similarities of the two sword users, Naruto was forced to halt his line of thought when he was forced to move his head to dodge a fatal sword stab, which had enough force behind it to go right through his skull.

Realizing the danger he was in, Naruto jumped back in a attempt to put some distance between himself and his opponent. After which he began to form hand-seals for a Doton Ninjutsu attack, but before he could even form his second hand-seal for the jutsu. The kidnapper disappeared again and reappeared right behind him.

"Too slow" spoke the masked swordsman before he hit Naruto in the back with a powerful swing from his sheathed sword, sending the blonde boy crashing face first into a large tree at the opposite end of the clearing.

Struggling to get back onto his feet, Naruto slowly turned to face the masked figure, who had yet to move. "Too fast, I couldn't even follow him…if he had unsheathed his sword in that moment; he would have cut me in two."

Wiping away the blood that was now falling from his forehead, Naruto preformed a single hand-seal and thought "Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Style: Gunshot)!" before spitting out several dozen large globs of water from his mouth.

Wasting no time the masked swordsman charged straight at Naruto, dodging each of Naruto's attacks by inches, with inhuman like grace, and without once losing momentum.

With only seconds to act, Naruto tried to create an Earth wall between himself and his opponent. But before the wall could be fully formed, the masked swordsman swung his sheathed sword down and destroyed the wall with one swift stroke, forcing Naruto to jump up into the trees and then propel himself of the tree, to the other end of the clearing to avoid any further attacks.

After landing back on the ground, Naruto preformed three more quick hand-seals and slammed both his hands on the ground yelled "Mokuton: Mōkushōku (Wood Release: Wooden Tentacles)!" When Naruto had finished, several dozen wooden tentacles burst out of the ground and raced towards the hooded intruder.

"Hoooo, so the rumours are true, you really do have the same Mokuton powers of the Shodai Hokage" commented the kidnapper when he saw the approaching wooden tentacles.

Unafraid of Naruto's attack, the masked swordsman lifted his sheathed sword up jumped into the air to avoid the tentacles, just as they were about to envelope him.

"That won't work!" Naruto shouted as he had his wooden tentacles follow after the masked swordsman, who had landed on top of a large tree nearby.

Seeing the tentacles moving toward him, the hooded stranger smirked behind his mask and lifted his sword up, and waited for the wooden tentacles to come closer.

Just as the tentacles were atop of him, the stranger leaped forward, and in one quick motion destroyed all of Naruto's wooden tentacles.

"Impossible…!" shouted Nartuo, not believing that this unknown person had destroyed all his wooden tentacles with such ease, and without even once drawing his sword. "Just who the hell is this guy?"

"Not bad" commented the masked swordsman as he turned to Naruto, "…but still I'm far from impressed. I honestly expected more from you, given what I have heard about you from your mother."

"Y-You know my mom?"

"Of course, in fact I had a rather interesting talk with her and her student Shizune earlier on."

When Naruto heard this, the blonde boy's eyes widen in fear, before his face quickly contorted into a look of rage. "If you've done anything to hurt my mother or Shizune-nee, YOU'LL PAY!"

"Heh, bold words, but if you lack the strength to back them up, that is all they are."

"What did you do to them…tell me!" Naruto shouted angrily.

"I'll tell you…but only if you beat me" replied the masked swordsman who then lifted his sheathed sword up again. "Looks like I'm getting to him…but he's not quite there yet."

"That's fine by me!" yelled Naruto as he jumped into the air and lifted leg up and shouted "Tsūtenkyaku (Heavenly Foot of Pain)!"

Familiar with this move, the masked swordsman quickly jumped back into the air to avoid the deadly kick, which hit the ground. Creating a large crater and destroying much of the clearing, causing several nearby trees to collapse.

Seeing that his opponent had avoided his attack, Naruto quickly chased after him into the forestry and attempted a straight forward punch to the face. But the masked swordsman gracefully sidestepped the punch by spinning around on his heel around Naruto, hitting him in the back of the neck with his sheathed sword, causing him to fall forward, and nearly knocking the blonde boy out. After finishing the strike, the masked whispered "Kajogeki (Coiling Strike)." (A)

Before Naruto could even hit the ground, let alone recover from the strike, the masked swordsman delivered a sharp knee to the gut and followed up with a spinning heel kick to the back, sending Naruto skidding across the ground.

"Your strength is impressive, but when you cannot hit me, it's worthless" commented the masked swordsman as he watched Naruto struggle to get up. "Also your moves are much too obvious, making them easy for your opponents to predict."

"Gyun!" grunted Naruto struggling to get up while holding his stomach in pain from the knee kick he received from his opponent. "Damnit I can't even touch him, it just like…"thought Naruto as images of Itachi and what happened in his Genjutsu began to flash through his mind, "NO! I can't afford to be thinking of that!"

Slowly picking himself up again, Naurto turned to the masked swordsman and started forming hand seals again, when he finished, he then shouted out "Mokuton: Konoha Kamisori (Wood Release: Razor Leaves)!" After which hundreds of tree leaves shot out from their branches and began to circle around the masked swordsman.

"My, My" remarked the masked swordsman, with hint of intrigue. But just as the spinning leaves were closing in on him, and were about to rip him to shreds. The masked swordsman lowered his sword, (so that it would drag across the ground), and began to spin around at high speed, creating a small spinning dust tornado, that blew away the spinning leaves, temporarily blinding Naruto, and blowing him back several meters away.

When the masked swordsman stopped spinning, and the dust died down, he simply said "Gunbu no Ikkai (War-dance of a Single Spin)" (B)

But as soon as he had stopped spinning, the masked swordsman spun around and blocked a powerful forward stab from Naruto, who appeared behind him with his sword drawn.

"Better…but I'm but still not good enough" the masked swordsman remarked, before pushing Naruto's sword away and delivering another sharp knee to the gut. But no sooner had he done this Naruto reverted into a wooden log, revealing he had replaced himself at the last second. After which the real Naruto appeared behind him with his sword raised, but just as he was about to strike. The masked swordsman turned around, allowing Naruto to catch a glimpse of the person's eyes behind his mask, and in that instant the devil mask was replaced by another person's face, a face that had haunted Naruto's nightmares for the past fortnight, causing him to freeze up in fear.

Seeing Naruto freeze, the masked swordsman took advantage of Naruto's hesitation and hit him with his sheathed sword, sending the blonde boy flying back.

Recovering quickly, Naruto landed back onto his feet, but when he looked back up to his opponent. He was force to suppress a small shudder as he remembered the look he saw in the person's eyes, bright green eyes that were void of any emotion whatsoever. Yet they held an intensity that made it seem as if the person was looking right through him, it was a look that Naruto had only seen once before… when he fought Uchiha Itachi.

"Their eyes…They both have the same look in their eyes" Naruto thought with another shudder, and for a moment the masked swordsman was replaced again by an image of Uchiha Itachi.

"Damnit, what the hell is wrong with me?!" Naruto yelled inside his head, before he was sent crashing into a nearby tree, by a strong kick from the masked swordsman, who had appeared in front of him.

"If you continue to hesitate and allow yourself to become distracted, you're liable to get yourself killed" berated the masked swordsman, who was he staring coldly at Naruto. "Whatever issues you may have, I suggest you get over them, as your life is not the only one that hangs in the balance."

Knowing that the masked swordsman was right, and at the same time becoming frustrated with how his opponent kept toying with him. Naruto took out several smoke bombs and threw them to the ground, covering the surrounding area with smoke, blinding the masked swordsman.

"What's he up to now" the swordsman wondered, while keeping his senses alert for an attack.

Shortly after the masked swordsman got his answer, where Naruto appeared out of the smoke and attempted to impale the swordsman in the chest with his Katana.

"Tachioyogi (Treading Water)" the swordsman silently remarked, recognizing the sword move, before gracefully sidestepping the forward sword stab and using the Kajogeki technique, to spin around and hit Naruto in the back of the head.

But as soon as she had hit the blonde boy, "Naruto" exploded into a puff of smoke.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" the swordsman realized before catching another Naruto coming out of the smoke behind him.

Wasting no times, the swordsman spun around and deflected the sword slash with his sheathed sword and then punched him in the stomach, causing "Naruto" to explode into smoke again.

After destroying the clone, another Naruto clone appeared out of the smoke, and swung his Katana in a horizontal slash. But when the masked swordsman blocked the slash with his sheathed sword, Naruto pulled his own sword back and switch it from his right to his left hand behind his back, at impressive speed.

Catching a glimpse of what Naruto was doing, the swordsman quickly jumped back and narrowly avoided Naruto's sword slash.

"Nagareru Mizu (Following Water)…well, well, if I had been careless, he might have gotten me there, it seems Kushina-chan has trained him well" the swordsman thought, smiling behind his mask.

Hoping to gain some sort of advantage, the clone pressed forward and attempted to use the Mizu no Atsuen (Rolling Water) technique to catch his opponent off guard by switch his sword for his left to right hand at the last moment.

Sadly for the clone, the masked swordsman was ready for this and ignored the faint slash and blocked the real one, by catching the clone's wrist as he swung his sword. After which the swordsman then hit the clone in the side with his sheathed sword.

After destroying the clone, the swordsman caught a glimpse of something disturbing the smoke and flying through the air towards him.

Realizing the danger, the masked swordsman titled his head slightly, narrowly avoiding the flying sword that flew right past his head.

Seconds later the masked swordsman jumped into the air, after hearing a whizzing sound coming from behind him.

No sooner had he done this, a crescent shape blade of Water flew right through the space he had just been occupying.

After landing back on the ground, two more Naruto clones emerged from the smoke and attacked from both sides, one with a Kunai and one with a Katana.

Knowing the danger he was in, the masked swordsman fell to his knee and preformed a wide sweeping leg kick, knocking both clones off their feet. After which the swordsman finished them off with a single swipe of his sheathed sword.

"Attacking from both sides and using Bunkatsu Mizu (Splitting Water) and Ochiru Mizu (Falling Water)…good strategy, but he needs to coordinate his attacks more" the masked individual observed. Before deciding to get rid of the smoke, where he then swung his sword in a wide arc, blowing the smoke away.

With the smoke now gone, the masked swordsman searched the surrounding area for any sign or Naruto, and quickly found the blonde boy standing several meters away, finishing a long series of hand-seals for a jutsu.

At the same time, the swordsman also noticed the surrounding trees and plants were beginning to whither and dry up, as if they were being drained of all their moisture.

"Looks like he's preparing a Suiton Ninjutsu, and a large one at that, given the amount of water he is gathering."

Once he had gathered enough water from the air and the surrounding plants. Naruto finished his hand-seals and roared "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!" creating a massive Water Dragon that roared and charged straight for the swordsman at high speed, tearing up the ground and destroying any tree that got in its way.

"Oh my, now that is impressive, looks like I might actually have to get a little serious" the swordsman remarked.

As the Water Dragon neared, the masked swordsman unsheathed his two-meter-long nodachi, (holding his sheath in his left hand and the nodachi in his other hand), and right when the attack was about to hit him. The masked swordsman swung his sword sheath, and with one swing, destroyed the Water Dragon, causing it to burst into a shower of water.

"What the…?!" Naruto cried, not believing his own eyes. But before he could even recover from what he had just witness, the masked swordsman brought up his massive sword, where for a split second Naruto swore he saw his opponents eyes glow, and with one powerful swing of his nodachi. His opponent created a powerful shockwave that sent Naruto flying fifty meters away, along with every tree in front of him.

Recovering quickly, Naruto preformed a quick mid-air flip and landed back onto his feet, but before he could even comment on what just happened. He suddenly heard a the swordsman's voice behind him."You open yourself up too much" and was then hit from behind in the back by his opponent's sword and sent flying forward, crashing right back to clearing where they started from.

"HHwwaahh!" cried Naruto after crashing hard onto the ground, struggling to back onto his feet. "Who the hell is this guy…and how did he block my Water Dragon like that?"

"It seems you still have a long way to go Naruto-kun…"commented the masked swordsman, who appeared behind Naruto and was only a few meters away from him. "You don't use your power properly, and relay too much on the overwhelming power of your attacks...you still have lots to learn."

"Just what the hell is with this guy?!" Naruto screamed inside his head as he looked at his masked opponent.

"I hope that isn't everything…?" the swordsman asked, "Things are finally starting to get interesting, you actually managed to make me draw my sword."

As Naruto continued to stare at his opponent, fear started to creep into him, "I can't win…this guy…he's just too powerful!"

At same time, Naruto began to having flashbacks of his fight with Itachi, and how helpless and completely overwhelmed he felt when he fought the elder Uchiha. And for a moment, for just one singular moment Naruto thought about running away…he was afraid…he was afraid of Itachi…he was afraid of this masked man…more importantly, he was afraid of dying.

As if reading his mind, the masked swordsman suddenly spoke, "Are you afraid…do you want to run away?"

Naruto said nothing.

"I asked you a question…are you afraid?"

When Naruto still didn't answer him, the masked man seemed annoyed, "So this is the extent of the great Senju Clan…PATHETIC!" the swordsman spat angrily. "I had expected more from someone like you, you're not the same boy I had heard about, who risked his life to help protect Konohagakure (Hidden Leaf). Your ancestors weep from their graves for having such a cowardly heir."

"I'm not a coward!" Naruto cried as he tried to deny the swordsman accusation, but the fact was, he was afraid.

"Aren't you? Just a moment ago you were just thinking about running away; I saw it in your eyes. You were afraid and were desperate to cling to your miserable life, abandoning the Princess, who you claim is your friend. If that is not the actions of a coward, then I don't know what is?"

Again Naruto did not answer, since it was the truth, even though it was just for a split second, he had wanted to run away. Glaring at the ground and tightening his fist in anger, which were shaking at the same time, Naruto cursed his own weakness, for even thinking of abandoning Rurichiyo.

"You may have the ability, but you lack the will…the will to act, that which is everything. Without that, all your skill and training is worthless" said the masked swordsman, causing Naruto to look up at him in surprise. "I heard about your confrontation with Uchiha Itachi, and by the looks of it, he didn't just defeat you, he broke you."

"Broke me?" Naruto repeated, not fully understanding what his opponent was telling him.

"Yes, he not only beat you physically…he shattered you mentally. When you fought him, he made you feel helpless and weak, as if you were nothing to him. He even made you start doubting yourself, causing you to hesitate and to become afraid to even fight, fearing that you might actually die or lose someone you care about."

As the swordsman's words began to sink into Naruto, the blonde boy looked down at his hands, which were still shaking.

"How can you hope to protect the Princess, your family…or anyone for that matter if you start doubting not only yourself, but your own abilities?" the swordsman asked. "Regardless of how strong or talented you are, there is one key thing that separates the strong from the weak, and that is the will to fight when it seems hopeless. Anyone can fight a person who is weaker than them, or who they know they can beat. But it takes true strength and courage to take on someone who you know is stronger than you, and yet still fights on."

Listening to the swordsman's words, and remembering how he needed save Rurichiyo. Naruto remembered Haku's words from when they first met in Nami no Kuni (Wave Country). "When a person… has something important they want to protect… that's when they can become truly strong."

He also remembered about what the Shodai and the others said to him, how he was the hope of their clan and that they believed in him.

"Damnit, he's right, I have acting like a coward…but not anymore!" Naruto thought as he stopped his hands from shaking and pushed aside the memories of Itachi away.

-Enter Naruto OST 1 Naruto Main Theme -

Slowly Naruto began to pick himself up, while keeping his head down, which prevented his opponent from seeing his face.

"Oh, what now, do you plan to run away?" the swordsman asked in a mocking tone. But was surprised, when he heard Naruto chuckle.

"Heh, you know you were right on the money about me, I haven't been myself lately, and I have been acting like a coward. And to answer your question, I am not going to run away; in fact I intend to beat you" replied Naruto with a new determination in his voice

"Really?" asked the swordsman, who sounded amused by Naruto's statement, "And how do you intend to do that?"

"By doing this!" Naruto roared where he suddenly slammed his fist onto the ground, which exploded with tremendous force, uplifting the surrounding trees and destroying the area, forcing the swordsman away.

"My, my, the apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree " the swordsman silently remarked in amusement. Despite being forced to jump into air by the power of Naruto's attack, and land a good thirty feet away from him.

"I don't care if you're ten times, a hundred times or even a million times stronger than me, I will defeat you and save Rurichiyo, believe it!" shouted Naruto as he looked straight at his opponent with a new and determined look in his eyes.

"Heh, so he's finally regained his fighting spirit…"the swordsman remarked, seeing the strong revolve in Naruto's eyes. "Took him long enough, now let's see what he is really capable of. I might even have a little fun after all" But before he could do anything the masked swordsman was force to move again when Naruto drew his katana to create a giant crescent shape blade of wind that slice right through a large tree behind him.

"That was close" masked swordsman commented before catching sight of Naruto, who was charging straight for him.

Once he was close enough Naruto swung his sword at the masked swordsman, but at the last second used the Mizu no Atsuen technique and switched his sword from his right to his left hand in mid-swing.

Seeing what Naruto was doin,g the masked swordsman quickly moved back to avoid the sword slash. But to his surprise he found a long diagonal slash across the front of his purple cloak.

It was then that the masked swordsman noticed that Naruto's Katana was covered in Chakra, causing the swordsman to raise his eyebrow slightly. "Sneaky brat, at the last second when he was switching hands, he channeled his Chakra into his Katana, causing me to misjudge the blade's reach."

"Impressive, you're more skilled with a sword than I gave your credit, but don't think that you're the only one who knows how to use Chakra with a weapon" the masked swordsman responded. Before he channeled his own Chakra into his massive blade and yelled "Issen (Flash)!" as he swung it downward, creating an arc shape blade of Chakra that cut right through "Naruto", splitting him in half, who then puffed away, revealing he had been a clone.

Realizing had switched himself with a clone, the masked swordsman quickly spun around and blocked several Kunai with his sword sheath, which embedded themselves into the sword sheath. After which the masked swordsman swung his sword sheath and sent the Kunai flying back right at Naruto, who was standing atop a large branch above his opponent.

Acting fast Naruto quickly ducked down to avoid the projectiles and then jumped off the tree branch, when he saw the masked swordsman jump towards him. Slicing through the thick tree branch that he had been standing on moments ago, with his massive nodachi, which was still covered in Chakra.

But no sooner had he done this, the masked swordsman noticed an exploding note stuck to the tree branch, which then exploded after he had cut it.

Seconds later, the masked swordsman jumped out of the smoke created by the explosion, slightly singed but otherwise fine.

But just as his feet touched the ground, he saw a dozen Narutos emerge from the nearby shrubbery, wielding their Katana and racing towards him.

Seeing the clones, the masked swordsman immediately sheathed his nodachi and fell into sword drawing stance and waited for the Narutos to come closer.

Once they were close enough, the swordsman drew his nodachi in one swift motion and disappeared right in front of the group of Narutos, before reappearing right behind them.

"Iaidō (Way of Iai)" said the masked swordsman as he re-sheathed his nodachi with a resounding click, after which all the Narutos fell the ground. But when the swordsman turned around he was surprise to see that instead of puffing away or returning to their natural element, like most clones, the group of Narutos simply faded away.

"Genjutsu!" thought the masked swordsman in realization, but by then it was too late as a large wooden dome suddenly erupted from underneath him and enveloped him, trapping him within it.

But as soon as the large wooden dome had encased itself around the masked swordsman, it shattered into piece, revealing the masked swordsman once again, who was slowly sheathing his nodachi again.

After destroying the wooden dome, the masked swordsman simply said "Iaigiri (Iai Beheading)" where his sword clicked closed.

At the same time, eight Naruto clones burst out of the ground surrounding the mysterious swordsman and attacking from all sides.

Unafraid by the surprise attack, the swordsman once again redrew his nodachi with a swiftness that should not have been possible with such a massive sword and used the Gunbu no Ikkai technique to create a dust large tornado around him. Blasting all eight clones away and causing them to disappear in a puff of smoke.

But just as the swordsman had finished his technique, several wooden roots sprung out of the ground and wrapped themselves around his legs, preventing him from moving.

At the moment, another Naruto emerged out of the ground in front of him with his fist raised and charged up with Chakra.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to avoid the approaching attack, and at the same time not having enough time to bring up his nodachi. The masked swordsman quickly brought up his sword sheath, (which he held in his left hand), to block the punch.

As soon as Naruto's fist made contact with the masked swordsman's sword sheath, a small explosion erupted, creating a small cloud of dust around the two.

Within seconds of the explosion, the masked swordsman emerged from dust cloud flying back several meters, tearing up the ground as he struggled to keep his feet on the ground.

Eventually the masked swordsman came to a stop, and was remarkable uninjured, although his sword sheath had been completely destroyed by Naruto's punch.

"Now that's more like it...! His strength may not be at the level of Tsunade-sama, but it is still something to behold, he actually destroyed my sword sheath and my arm's numb from the force of the attack."

Throwing away what was left on his sword sheath, the masked swordsman looked over to Naruto who was standing in a small crater, and was surprised to see him disappear into a puff of smoke, revealing him to be a shadow clone. But before he could ponder on the matter further, the swordsman noticed a large number of the surrounding trees and shrubs were drying up and dying.

It was then that the swordsman saw the real Naruto along with two more clones, hidden behind several trees and shrubs, which had now died from all their moisture being drained from them.

Recognizing the hand-seals that Naruto was using, the masked swordsman knew what was coming, but before he could do anything. Naruto finished his hand-seals where a massive Water Dragon formed around him. At the same time, the two Naruto clones converted their Chakra into their respected elements, where the first converted his Chakra in Lightning and the second into Wind.

When the two elements combined with the Water Dragon, the three Narutos shouted out "Mizu-fū, Konbo Rakurai: Saikō no Suiryūden Denaki (Water, Wind, Lightning Combo: Supreme Electric Water Dragon)!"

Once it was formed, the massive Wind and Lightning enhanced Water Dragon charged straights towards the masked swordsman, tearing the ground it as it moved and destroying everything it that was in its path.

"You really are something else Senju Naruto…but now the time for play is over" said the masked swordsman as he readied his nodachi, where within seconds the massive Water Dragon was atop of him and exploded cover much of the area in a vapour-like mist.

-End Naruto OST 1 Naruto Main Theme-

"Did I get him?" a panting and sweating Naruto asked himself, while his two clones disappeared in a puff of smoke, since his attack used up a significant portion of his Chakra. But before the vapour-like mist could even die down, a massive chakra arc erupted from it and flew straight for Naruto, who only avoided it by a hairsbreadth.

"What the…?!" Naruto thought, before he saw the masked swordsman appeared right in front out of nowhere, swinging his massive sword to the left side of his neck with the intent of beheading him.

But just before the blade could connect, a voice out of nowhere suddenly shouted "ENOUGH!" where the masked swordsman halted his blade, an inch from Naruto's neck.

"Huuuu, and just when I had finished warming up" sighed the swordsman sadly, while pulling back the large sword, placing it on his shoulder, while Naruto fell back on his rear over what had just happened. "Looks like he passed don't you agree…Tsunade-sama?"

At the mention of his mother, Naruto quickly turned to the direction that the masked swordsman was looking at and saw Tsunade, Shizune and an unharmed Rurichiyo, (looking very anxious), appear out of the tree line.

Unknown to Naruto, the three had been watching his battle from a distance under an illusion that kept him from seeing them.

Dumbfounded by the sudden appearance by the three, Naruto could only stare and say "Kaa-chan, Nee-chan, Rurichiyo-chan….?"

Naruto of course would have said more, but before he could Rurichiyo raced over to him enveloping him in a tight hug, much to the irritation of Tsunade and the amusement of Shizune and the masked swordsman.

"Naruto-kun are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" the Fire Princess asked in a fast pace, while checking for Naruto any injuries.

"I'm fine Rurichiyo-chan..." assured Naruto, where he tried to say more, but was again interrupted by Rurichiyo, who turned to the masked swordsman and glared at him. "You promised you wouldn't hurt Naruto-kun, you were too rough!"

In response to the blonde Princess's rebuke, the swordsman just laugh. "FuFuFu, come now Rurichiyo-chan, Naruto is a tough boy, he can take a few little hits. And to be honest I only said I would go easy on him."

Stunned by how familiar Rurichiyo was with her "Kidnapper" Naruto turned to the blonde Princess. "Rurichiyo-chan you know this this person?"

"Off course…she's my favourite Auntie, Aunt Kimi" Rurichiyo replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Naruto on the other hand could only stare in disbelief and think "AUNTIE?!" as he looked back and forth between Rurichiyo and her Aunt who was standing over the two.

"Can someone "PLEASE" tell me what the hell is going on?" Naruto cried, not understanding anything.

Sparing a sympatric smile for her son, Tsunade decided to answer his question. "I suppose introductions are in order..." At which point the masked swordsman removed his mask and pulled back his purple cloak, revealing that Rurichiyo's "kidnapper", was indeed a woman.

"Naruto allow me to introduce you to the First Daughter and Princess to the Fire Daimyo, Princess Kimiko (2), who also just so happens to be Princess Rurichiyo's Aunt and Godmother."

"A pleasure to finally meet you Naruto-san" the now revealed Fire Princess said in an elegant and rich voice, that was befitting of noble lady of her status, while smiling and bowing politely to him.

Too shocked to say or do anything, Naruto just stared at the elder Fire Princess and thought "Princess…?! Aunt…?!"

After a few more minutes of staring at Princess Kimko, Naruto was brought back to his senses, thanks to a hard smack to the back of the head, courtesy of Rurichiyo, who decided to snap Naruto out of his stupor.

"Ow!" Naruto cried after the smack, before realizing what he had been doing and quickly apologized, although at the same time thinking. "How the hell do I keep getting into these types of messes?"

Once he was back to his senses, Naruto quickly took in Princess Kimiko's now revealed appearance.

The Princess was a tall, slender yet shapely built woman with fair-skin and green eyes, (similar to Rurichiyo's), and an attractive face. She had waist-length black hair, like the Fire Daimyo and his wife, with shorter bangs in a hime-like style. She was dressed in rather simple attire that consisted of a white yukata with a purple sash, (which matched her purple cloak), and black belt and wooden sandals. But despite her simple appearance she held herself up in a dignified and graceful manner, befitting her royal lineage. In her hands she held her Hannya mask right and her shirasaya nodachi in her left. (3)

After full taking Kimiko's appearance in, Naruto turned to his mother, "Kaa-chan what is going on, why did Rurichiyo-chan Aunt attack us and kidnap Rurichiyo-chan, and what did she mean I passed? Was the some sort of test?"

"Yes" replied Tsunade, "You see Naruto many of us noticed the effects your fight with Itachi had on you, especially during your spars. You were hesitating more and seemed unsure of yourself and would often become distracted. So we came up with this plan in the hope of getting you to overcome your issues…which you did"

Knowing this was true Naruto just nodded. But even so, Naruto didn't like the way his mother and Shizune hand handled the matter, he was even more annoyed at the fact that Rurichiyo was part of it, given how worried he had been for her. But before he could rebut his mother or elder sister, Kimiko intervened, seeing the anger form on Naruto'd face, after learning everything had been staged.

"Please do not be angry with your mother or the others Naruto-san, this was all my idea and I was the one who convinced your mother and Shizune-san. Rurichiyo-chan also had no idea of what was happening until I explained it to her after I had taken her."

"This was all your idea?"

"Yes, I arrived shortly after my parents and their entourage arrived, where I met with Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san. During our conversation she mentioned the events with you an Itachi-san and the effects it had of you, and so I suggested this "test" to help you overcome your problem. I then secretly met with my parents and they agreed to help by pulling back the majority of the guard."

"I guess that explains why no-one came to help when she attack Rurichiyo-chan and me" Naruto thought. "It also explains why Kaa-chan and the others didn't come to help when I signaled them with my earring."

"But I still don't get this?" Naruto asked angrily, "Why did you have to make me go through all this, couldn't there have been another way?"

"Unfortunately no…" answered Princess Kimiko, "I will admit it was a tad extreme, but given what I had heard. After your battle with Itachi, you began doubt yourself, your abilities and allowed your fear of being weak and helpless to take hold of you. To overcome that, you needed to face the same situation again, to be alone, facing an opponent who was vastly superior to you, and who held someone you cared about. Only then could you possibly find the strength to move past it and persevere, even if the situation seems desperate."

Thinking back to the fight, Naruto remembered Kimiko's words from earlier and the way she had been goading him. "You may have the ability, but you lack the will…the will to act, that which is everything. Without that, all your skill and training is worthless…How can you hope to protect the Princess, your family…or anyone for that matter if you start doubting not only yourself, but your own abilities?…Regardless of how strong or talented you are, there is one key thing that separates the strong from the weak, and that is the will to fight when things seem dire. Anyone can fight a person who is weaker than them or who they know they can beat. But it takes true strength and courage to take on someone who you know is stronger than you, and yet still fights on."

Realizing what Kimiko had been really trying to do, the blonde boy let out a tired sigh, while Rurichiyo helped him to his feet. "I guess I really was afraid of letting everyone down, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to protect Kaa-chan and everyone else."

"Fear is nothing to be ashamed about Naruto-san, everyone is afraid at some point; in fact it can be a good thing at time, since it prevents us from doing something foolish. It only becomes a problem when we allow fear to take hold of us and rule us" Kimiko answered with sage-like wisdom.

"I guess…" Naruto returned, "But it's just that, I can't help but worry what would happen if someone attacked us, or tried to hurt Kaa-chan and the others to get to me. I don't want to ever feel or experience what I did in Itachi's illusion ever again."

"Naru-chan…" Tsunade spoke softly; now seeing how much worry had been on her son's mind lately. "You shouldn't place such heavy burdens on yourself. You may be a Shinobi now, but you're only twelve, it's my job to look out for you, you needn't worry about me. You've years before you have to worry about so much that was what I have been trying to tell you."

"Tsunade-sama is right, Naruto-san" joined Kimiko, "don't take so much onto yourself. There is no shame in relying on others, especially when they want to help you."

Understanding what Kimiko was telling him, Naruto simply nodded but he soon turned his attention to his mother after realizing something.

"What would have happened if I had failed?"

"If you had failed, I would have been forced to place you on the mandatory leave and restrict your movements to the village until such a time as I deemed you fit to return to active duty."

Sighing again, Naruto just nodded, since he wouldn't have blamed his mother if she had, especially considering how he had been acting lately.

Seeing how serious the atmosphere had turned, Kimiko decided to intervene and change the mood of the conversation into a pleasant one. By inviting the Senju family to have dinner with her family tonight and celebrate Tsunade's coming appointment as Hokage.

Not wanting to be rude, to both the Fire Princess and the Royal family, Tsunade and the others accepted, much to delight of both Fire Princesses. After which the group then slowly made their way back into the village.

-A Few Hours Later-

"…And that's what happened" Naruto finished after retailing his fight with Kimiko to Kushina, who was lying in her hospital bed, still recovering from her fight with Itachi and Kisame.

After his returning to the village, Naruto had decided to go visit his sensei in the hospital. Even though he had finally come to terms with what had happened with the Akatsuki and accepted that there were some things he could do nothing about. He still felt somewhat guilty for his sensei's injured state.

"Heh, so Kimiko-chan finally knocked some sense into you, it's about time. I was beginning to think that I would have to beat some sense into you myself, if you kept acting like some emo."

"Hey I wasn't that bad" Naruto retorted, where Kushina just shrugged.

"Well maybe you weren't a totally emo, but close enough if you ask me, especially given how much you were moping ."

Shrugging, Naruto then looked back at his red headed sensei, when he realized the familiar manner Kushina had referred the Fire Princess in.

"Do you know Kimiko-hime?"

"Yea, back when I was around your age, she often visited Konoha with her father and we became fast friends, she was sort of a big sister figure to me when I was growing up. Not unlike how the Sandaime's Grandson Konohamaru views you. In fact she was the one who got me interested in swordsmanship and helped me develop Arasuijin no Mai (Dance of the Raging Water Goddess)." (4)

"Seriously?!" Naruto asked in surprise, to which Kushina just nodded. "I guess that explains how she was able avoid and block my sword attacks so easily, she helped Kushina-sensei create it!"

"She's really strong" Naruto remarked, as his thoughts turned back to Princess Kimiko.

"Trust me Naruto, as strong as you think she is, Kimiko-chan is stronger, in fact she could probably give Tsunade-sama a serious run for her money."

After hearing Kushina's statement, Naruto would normally have thought that his sensei was being overdramatic, since his mother was credited of being the strongest Kunoichi alive. But after fighting the Fire Princess and seeing first-hand how strong she was, he believed his teacher. Although he was certain that his mother would still win in a fight between the two of them. He knew it would not be without cost, and that she would have a hard time fighting the Fire Princess, especially since she was no longer in her prime, unlike the Princess.

"I still can't believe that she's the Fire Daimyo's daughter, she's not at all what I would expect from a Princess" Naruto remarked, causing Kushina to smirk.

"Yea, well Kimiko-chan is sort of a black sheep in her family; she never enjoyed being royalty or dressing up in fancy clothes and things like that. Like me she was more tomboyish, which was probably why the two of us got along so well when we were kids. She fell in love with the swords arts and convinced the Fire Daimyo to let her train and then later trained in the Samurai arts."

"So she's a Samurai, like Kensai-sensei?" Naruto said, remembering his former sword instructor.

"Yea" nodded Kushina, "During the last war with the other great nations, Kimiko joined the Crimson Guard and earned a pretty infamous reputation. She is pretty well known and feared, even in the Shinobi nations, where many refer to her as the Akuma no Hime (The Devil Princess)."

Thinking back to when he and the others returned to the village and were walking back to the Fire Daimyos' residence. Naruto remembered seeing several Shinobi stopping and staring at Princess Kimiko with a look of awe and fear. At first he thought that they simply recognized her as the Fire Daimyo's daughter, but now he realized that was only half true. They had recognized her as the famed Devil Princess of Hi no Kuni. A name that Naruto thought was fitting since she fought like a Devil.

"If Princess Kimiko is so strong, why isn't that I haven't heard of her until now."

"Kimiko-chan doesn't really like much attention and prefers to stay out of the spotlight, and after the war she left to go travelling to see more of the world and to improve her swordsmanship. But even so, any serious Shinobi, or Samurai for that matter, would know of her, or at least heard of her, especially if the recent rumours are true.

"What rumours?"

"That she now holds the title of Kensei (Sword Saint)." (5)

"Kensei, what's that? Is it like the title of the Sannin?" Naruto asked, never hearing of the title before.

"Sort of" answered Kushina, "It's a title that is only given certain sword users, whether they be Shinobi, or Samurai, and only given to the strongest sword user in the world and to do that you must defeat the pervious holder of the title."

"So she must have defeated the last holder."

"That's what they say, the last holder of the title was Yagyū Mifune, the General of Tetsu no Kuni, which is the Samurai's version of a Kage, which tells you a lot about him."

Again Naruto was not surprised to hear this, as it only confirmed what he already believed about the Fire Daimyo's daughter, that she was not someone that should be taken lightly.

"What's with her sword then? When I fought her, it seemed different from other swords I've seen before. She was able destroy even my strongest attack with just a swung of her sword and didn't even use any Chakra, and she blocked by punch with just her sword sheath."

"Well the sheath is made from a special tree that is grown and fed with Chakra, not unlike the ones that are used to make affinity paper, which allow people to find out their nature affinities. Now unlike those tress, these trees are a lot rarer due to the fact that the wood from these trees are a lot stronger, making them difficult to cut and shape. The wood is as strong as stone, but weighs the same as a normal piece of wood, and can still absorb a certain amount of Chakra."

"That explains how she was able to block my enhanced punch with just her sword sheath!" Naruto thought, as he had now solved one mystery, "But what about her sword?"

"Her sword is no ordinary sword, it's a Muramasa sword."

"A Muramasa sword?" repeated Naruto, not understanding the significances.

"Yes, or as most people refer to it as, Yōtō Muramasa (Muramasa Demon Blade)," Kushina explained. "According to legend long ago, there was once a talented sword smith by the name of Sengo Muramasa, who created some of the finest blades you could ever find, and could cut through or withstand almost anything. In fact it is said that if a leaf were to simply land on the blade of a Muramasa, it would be split in two."

"But why do they call it a Demon Blade?" Naruto asked, feeling a little nervous at the moment, remembering the number of times he had nearly meant his end by said sword.

"Well according to legend, while Muramasa was a skilled and talented sword smith, he was also violent and ill-balanced and on the verge of madness…" explained Kushina. She then paused for a moment, as talking about Muramasa reminded something she had once heard. About how madness and genius went hand in hand, "Probably explains why so many gifted people like Orochimaru and others turned out the way they did."

Kushina then spent the next minute or two thinking about other talented Shinobi she had known, who also seemly lost their minds, or simply turned twisted. But eventually she turned back to her original thoughts and went to finishing her story.

"Now according to story, when Muramasa was making his swords, he was supposed to have passed on all these negative feels into his blades, where they became cursed sword."

"Cursed?"

"Yes" answered Kushina, "It's said that whoever wields an Yōtō Muramasa, not only would they become a fearsome swordsman with few equals. But they would be filled with an insatiable thirst for blood and battle, that would eventually drive them mad and cause them to kill themselves. In fact it rumoured that when a swordsman sheaths an Yōtō Muramasa, if they have not spilt the blood of someone else, the user is require to cut himself on it. It's also said that only the strongest of willed people can even hope to resist the urges of an Yōtō Muramasa and not go mad. It was for that reason that so few Yōtō Muramasa remain, since most people fear them and had them destroyed."

"Aren't you worriedly what will happen to Princess Kimiko?" Naruto asked, as he was more than a little concerned about Princess, after hearing the sword's history.

Smiling at this, Kushina reached over and ruffled Naruto's spiky hair in a kindly manner, "You needn't worry brat, Kimiko-chan is one of the strongest willed people I know, and she wouldn't let any old sword control her… Although I would advise to try and stay on her good side, as she is not someone you want as an enemy."

Having already known this, Naruto just nodded, since he had already made a mental note to stay on the Fire Princess's good side, if at all possible.

For the next half hour, Naruto and Kushina continued talk about Princess Kimiko, where Naruto mentioned how he and his family had been invited to dinner with the Royal family and invited her to join them.

At first Kushina was reluctant to accept the invitation, stating that she didn't want to intrude. But Naruto insisted that it would be fine and went on to say that Fire Princess would no doubt enjoy seeing her again.

After a few more minutes of coaxing, Naruto eventually broke the red haired Jonin and got her to agree to come. Although it didn't hurt that Kushina was already on the verge of going stir crazy from her long stay at the hospital.

Once Kushina had agree to come to the dinner, Naruto decided to ask his sensei, something that had been on his mind on for a while.

"Kushina-sensei…" Naruto said slowly, gaining his teacher's attention. "What can you tell me about Uchiha Itachi?"

At the mention of the traitorous Uchiha, Kushina's mood darkened, where a large frown appeared on her normally attractive face. "Why do you what to know?"

Naruto of course couldn't blame her for becoming angry at the mention Itachi, given how he was part of the reason why she was here. "Well he's part of the Akatsuki now, and sooner or later I'll probably have to face him again at some point, so I thought it would be best if I know about as much as I can about him."

At the mention of him having to face Itachi again, Kushina's frown grew and stared directly into Naruto's eyes, as if searching for something, which unnerved the blonde boy a little. Given how he was not use to his teacher staring at him so an intensely and a seriously.

But after about a minute or so she turned away and stared up at the ceiling, as if glaring at it for some reason.

For another minute or so Kushina said nothing, and continued to stare at the white ceiling. But just as Naruto was about to say something, she suddenly spoke. "I know Itachi about as well as anyone, although that doesn't say very much. Even at an early age Itachi was an inscrutable individual, nobody not even his own parents could fully understand him, or know what he was thinking. But even so, nobody could question the fact that he was a gifted child, maybe even more talented than your father Naruto."

At the mentioned of Itachi being possibly more gifted as a Shinobi than his father, Naruto eyes widen in shock. He had always heard from Jiraiya and others within Konoha, that his father had been one of the most gifted shinobi who ever lived. Even his own mother, who hated his father for turning him into a jinchūriki, acknowledge his skill, and stated that he had been stronger than her.

Seeing the shocked look on Naruto's face, Kushina just nodded and continued. "Itachi was always very intelligent for his age, and very perceptive and analytical. He was very quick-witted, controlled, disciplined and clear-headed, he showed great maturity, responsibility and intuitiveness, far beyond his age and was he rarely caught off guard or deceived. In fact I don't think I ever saw him look surprise in his entire life, even when he was in ANBU. But even then he seemed to have softness to him, especailly when it came to Sasuke, where he would often spend time with him in an attempt to make up for their father's neglect."

"Neglect?" asked Naruto asked curiously.

"Like most parents, who are blessed with a gifted child, Itachi and Sasuke's father Fugaku focused most of his time on Itachi. He believed that Itachi would bring even greater fame and glory to the Uchiha Clan; this of course left little time with Sasuke. But even with their father neglecting Sasuke, Itachi and Sasuke were about as close to one another as brothers could be."

"So why did Itachi kill their Clan?"

"Nobody knows, some people say that Itachi secretly despised his Clan and left his brother alive so that he would be alone and be tortured by the memories of their Clan being gone. Others say that Itachi went mad due to all the pressure he had been put under and because of the trauma he suffered during Black ops missions. A few on the other hand say that he simply decided to follow the same dark path as Uchiha Madara."

When Kushina finished, Naruto thoughts turned back to his meeting with the Shodai and the rest of his family. He then remembered what the Nidaime Hokage had told him about the Uchiha Clan being a cursed Clan, and how their feelings could turn them dark and cause them to fall into a deprived path.

"Could that be what happened to Itachi?" Naruto thought before turning back to his teacher "What do you believe?"

"To be honest I don't really know what to believe" Kushina replied with a small sigh. "Like I said, Itachi is an inscrutable person, nobody really knew him. But I know for certain he didn't simply go mad or broke under the pressure he was under, our recent fight with him proved that. When I saw him, he was just as I remembered him, calm, cool, collective and aware of everything that was around him. I can only guess that there is more to what happened that night than what most people think."

"What do you mean?"

"I always found it odd that no-one ever heard or saw what was going on in the Uchiha distract that night. Not to mention the fact that Itachi alone wiped out his Clan and the entire Military Police force, as skilled as he was, even Itachi had limits. Then there is the fact that Itachi left Sasuke alive, Itachi was not someone who would do something on spur of the moment or to be simply cruel. He always had a plan or a reason for what he did, meaning that there is something we aren't seeing."

After hearing his teacher's reasoning, Naruto found himself agreeing with her, since there were things that didn't make sense and made a mental note to try and figure out what really happened that night.

Thinking about Itachi and what he was like before he fled Konoha, Naruto's thoughts suddenly turned to Sasuke.

"What was Sasuke like back before Itachi wiped out their Clan?"

At the mention of Sasuke a sad look appeared on Kushina's face, where once again she stared back up at the ceiling and said nothing for several minutes. "Before Itachi wiped out their Clan, Sasuke was very different from what he is now. In fact he was a lot like you."

"Me?!" repeated Naruto in surprise, to which Kushina nodded.

"When Sasuke was younger he was a kind sweet and cheerful young boy, who always smiled and was polite to everyone he met." Think back to then, Kushina smiled remembering the times she had visited her friend Mikoto and met Sasuke. But just as quickly her mood turned sad. "But that all changed when Itachi killed their parents and their Clan. It was probably made even worse since it was Itachi who did it, since Sasuke idolized Itachi when he was younger. After his Clan was killed, Sasuke became cold, indifferent, cruel, cynical and somewhat arrogant, focusing solely on killing Itachi and avenging his Parents and Clan."

"Didn't you try to help him, wasn't his mother your friend?"

"I tried, but unfortunately there was little I could do since my duties in ANBU took up most of my time, and anyone that tried to get close to Sasuke, he simply pushed away. For the most part I have kept my eye on him during my off times, making sure that he was safe, and on more than one occasion I have thought of trying to take him in."

"Why couldn't you?"

"Well ignoring the fact that I was in ANBU, and even if I had retired from ANBU, I couldn't take him in since he was the sole surviving heir of a Shinobi Clan with and important Bloodline limit. There are laws that prevented other Shinobi Clans and families from adopting or taking in those with Bloodline limits into their families. These laws were created so that no one Shinobi Clan or family could steal another Clans abilities and skills for themselves or become too powerful."

When Kushina finished Naruto could only frown, and began to wonder if he had gone through what Sasuke did. If he had lost his family, would he have turned out the same way?

After thinking about if for several minutes, Naruto quickly pushed such thoughts away. He knew it did not do well dwell on such matters and decided to turn the conversation away for the Uchiha tragedy.

"Hey Sensei…"

"Yes?"

"How do you feel about Kaa-chan become the Godaime Hokage tomorrow?"

Knowing how it had been his sensei dream to become the first female Hokage in Konoha, Naruto was curious as to how she felt about his mother becoming it instead of her.

Smiling, Kushina turned to her student, "If you're worried that I am angry or bitter about it, you don't have to worry, because I'm not. Tsunade-sama is a fine choice, I'll admit I a little disappointed in not becoming the first female Hokage, but I can't deny that she is the better choice...Still, that doesn't mean that I have given up on becoming Hokage…" said Kushina, where she slowly began to smirk. "So don't think for one second that you will become Hokage before me."

"Heh, you're on sensei" responded a now grinning Naruto, where the two of them continued to talk and laugh for the rest of the afternoon.

Later that night the Senju family (including Tonton and Kurimaru), and Kushina arrived at the Fire Daimyo's private residence.

Due to the fact that they were having dinner with the Royal family of Hi no Kuni, Shizune had insisted that they wear proper attire for the event, much to the annoyance of both Tsunade and Naruto, who hated dressing up in such attire.

Naruto wore a simple light blue Kimono, with dark blue belt, that held the Kimono around his waist.

Shizune on the other hand wore a formal pink and gold Kimono where the upper portion of the Kimono was pink while the bottom part and edgings were gold with flower patterns. Around her waist she wore a cream coloured obi with leaf designs and a small gold robe to help keep her Kimono together. All in all, Naruto had to admit that his elder sister looked very lovely, but what surprised Naruto even more was that Shizune also wore makeup, which was exceedingly rare, given how Shizune rarely ever wore makeup.

Like Shizune, Kushina's dress in a very stylish purple Kimono adorned with flower designs and a matching obi around her waist. When Naruto first saw his sensei in her Kimono, he had been stunned with how elegant she looked, where the dress matched well with her hair colour, which fell down to her rear and had a small yellow flower tied behind her head.