Naruto huffed and puffed as sweat dripped down his forehead. 

He bit his lip in frustration as his eyes narrowed on the craters in the ground and broken trees littering the field. He hadn't meant to destroy so much of the landscape but he felt a strong need to keep going after the first successful rasengan. 

Naruto grumbled at himself and lowered to his knee. He took a deep breath and tried a jutsu he'd only ever read about but the blonde genin wanted to try it to somehow undo his destruction.

"Mokuton Risutoa no jutsu!" Naruto's palms became sweaty as he placed them on the ground. The blonde concentrated heavily as sweat dripped all over him.

His breathing became heavy as he felt his chakra try to work to a wood style jutsu.

The blonde glared down at the ground and almost laughed as a small bud began to grow but his victory was celebrated too soon as the bud started to die quickly again.

He furrowed his brows and was about to push more chakra into his jutsu when a heavy force suddenly knocked him back against a sturdy tree.

Naruto coughed as the wind got knocked out of him, he hadn't even sensed another presence as he was too focused on the jutsu.

The genin cursed himself for allowing his guard to drop but that thought vanished from his mind as he glanced down at his arms. The boy hadn't noticed before but small red blots appeared on his arms and as he concentrated on them he realized they were slowly growing.

The genin slowly began to panic as he didn't know how to stop the color from spreading and it was only then that he noticed the slow pain spreading up his arms.

"Calm down, Naruto"

Naruto looked up with fear in his eyes as he'd forgotten about the force that kicked him. He relaxed slightly as he realised Jiraiya and Tsunade were standing in front of him but the pain in his arms wouldn't let him forget about the red blots.

"Baka. Don't you know it's dangerous to practise chakra elements that you dont naturally have? At such a young age, you shouldn't even know about this kind of stuff" Tsunade scolded harshly as she glared down at the genin.

Jiraiya simply stared down at him with crossed arms and a look of disappointment on his features.

Not that Naruto cared about their opinions but he couldnt stop the hurt in his heart as the two Sannin stared down at him whilst the after effects of jutsu still spread across his body.

"Tch" Tsunade clicked her tongue before kneeling down to the silent boy and began healing his arms.

Naruto simply looked down in shame. In his mind, he wanted to try something new but instead - he was rejected...again.

Jiraiya recognized the boy's emotions as it played across his face, albeit minuscule, but chose to say nothing as the genin had to realise how dangerous his actions were.

Yet Jiraiya felt almost empty as he let the boy suffer from his own destructive thoughts.

The Sannin sighed, opening and closing his mouth to say something but couldnt form any words. Instead, he turned away from the two and surveyed the damage the blonde had done with the rasengan.

To say he was surprised would be an understatement. It took the kid just less than a week to master the jutsu and win the bet against Tsunade - though she's yet to mention anything.

His eyes narrowed down at the ground where Naruto had been before he kicked him away to stop the jutsu. It was a good thing he convinced Tsunade to check up on the genin's progress otherwise the Sannin would've been forced to stop the red blots from spreading another way.

"Done!" Tsunade announced as she stood and stepped back. She left the boy to get up in silence and wait for the two whilst she surveyed the area as Jiraiya had done.

Her eyes glossed over as she remembered her lover but a deal was a deal and she was impressed with the kid so far.

"Naruto" she called him over.

His features remained emotionless as he tried to hide the hurt and rejection he felt. His eyes faced the dirt he walked on until he saw the Sannin's feet and came to a stop.

His sight suddenly became blocked by the glowing rock of Tsunade's necklace.

The blonde looked up with pure surprise on his features.

"You won the bet, so don't look at me like that idiot" She stated with a pout but as Naruto took the necklace from her fingers in awe, she gave him a soft smile - being reminded of her lost ones and finally having hope for the future.

While Naruto grinned in satisfaction at his hard work being paid off and growing another connection in his life, he felt a strange feeling as though something bad was about to happen. It was only the day after that Jiraiya had sent Naruto out to practice his rasengan more and Tsunade had tricked Jiraiya with mild poison so that she could meet Orochimaru.

Luckily, Naruto wasn't a good listener toward anyone who wasn't his team or sensei and was quick to catch on to the suspicious behavior of the future Hokage. 

The blonde couldn't do much to help Jiraiya but the genin rushed to support the female Sannin and got there just in time to stop Orochimaru's sword tongue from piercing the village's leader.

"I don't think so, snake." Naruto growled as he blocked the attack with a kunai before using his speed and smashing the snake Sannin back and away from Tsunade.

After Tsunade's constant cries of disapproval and pleas to let her die, Jiraiya had shown up and helped Naruto in pushing the snake back enough for them to deplete their chakra to the point of doubting their victory. Naruto had laid into Kabuto without mercy, it was a surprise when the medical ninja showed up at Orochimaru's side just before they disappeared. 

Naruto would have to be extra careful with dealing with that assistant-snake in the future.

After Tsunade overcame her fear of blood and Jiraiya joked around about having to save her life, the trio set their sights toward home. 

Shizune and her pig kind of showed up out of nowhere and followed them back.

The sun was starting to rise as the small group set out for their return but everyone could see and feel the tension between Naruto and Tsunade. Only, Tsunade couldn't place why the blonde was feeling on-guard with her as she'd agreed to take the position of Hokage which is what the blonde had been spouting about the entire time she's known him.

As the others walked ahead, the older lady slowed her pace to walk beside Naruto who put the task on himself to guard the back even with two powerful ninja by his side.

"Well, spit it out already. Your attitude is annoying me" Tsunade crossed her arms as she glared down at the boy from the corner of her eyes.

Naruto gave no hint of emotion and simply continued to look around for anything suspicious.

"Oi! i'm talking to you brat!" Tsunade growled as she waved a fist in the air as a warning.

Naruto ignored her for a moment longer before sighing and glancing at her "You want to know what's wrong with me? You are." He said without a moment's hesitation.

Before Tsunade could react to his words, he continued "You're going to be the Hokage but the way you were begging for your life to end back there...It makes me doubt that you have emotional stability to take on the roll of 'Parent' to the village" He explained further with complete seriousness in his tone. 

The topic meant a lot to the boy, especially because he portrayed Hokage's as the type of people to always be at the front-lines - ready to protect the village to its bitter end.

'She's no Hokage...' Naruto thought to himself with disappointment.

"Let me tell you something, kid." Tsunade brought him out of his thought bubble. The genin hesitantly paid attention to what she had to say as she looked free of any aggressive emotion.

"Life isn't all about being a ninja, or in my case, Hokage. There's more to people than either being a civilian or a ninja. There's emotions that can't be suppressed even though the first thing that's taught in the academy is to never show one's emotions. It's impossible. When something means too much to a person, it's going to affect them deeply. While I make no excuse to being in a weak state back there, there were reasons for it and while I don't think of myself as strong, It's a great feat to overcome something that's traumatized you for years." She said with a grim smile.

"I don't really need to explain myself to you but you've got my respect and as you said. I'm the 'parent' of the village which makes you my responsibility. So stop doubting me and shut up!" She stated with a smirk as she looked ahead with determination in her eyes.

Naruto couldn't help but stare at her in awe. She was right and he thought back on all the time's he'd lost control of his emotions during a mission. 

Naruto, like the rest of his team, just had trouble keeping control of their emotions because of the training Kakashi had put them through but the blonde wouldn't have it any other way.

He'd found a family because of it and he'd do it all over again if it came down to it.

"Sorry, Granny Hokage" Naruto smirked as he found his respect for the new Hokage.

Tsunade smiled for a moment before looking down at the boy with a wicked glare in her eyes.

"What'd you call me, you little brat?!"

_____

"Sasuke" A voice called from the shadows. 

Sasuke, who'd been illegally searching through the Hokage's manifesto library for information on the Uchiha Clan, came to a halt with his fingers still on a file. He turned his head toward the voice with wide eyes to find his sensei glaring back at him from the shadows with a sinister look in his eyes.

"Sensei..." He muttered, slowly moving away from the files. 

It was just the two of them, in a dark room filled with files upon files about everyone and everything. Kakashi recognized his students chakra upon dropping off his paperwork for the Hokage.

"Something you want to explain?" Kakashi asked, his eyes softening as he noticed the genin's tense posture.

Sasuke licked his lips as he debated on lying but knew that was impossible with his sensei. The man knew the three genin better than themselves.

"I-I need to find-"

"Is this really the way to go about it?" Kakashi's cool voice cut in, now completely relaxed as he walked out of the shadows.

Sasuke huffed, realizing his sensei was just trying to give him a scare.

"It's the only way to find the truth without going to Itachi himself" The young Uchiha gave a short but understandable explanation which is exactly why Kakashi paused before humming to himself.

"Very well, where have you already looked?" He asked his student who simply gave a look of disbelief.

Kakashi rolled his eye "We don't have long, baka. Now, do you want help or not?" 

"Hn. There's nothing in the clan sections or the Uchiha clan specifically..." Sasuke explained, choosing to accept his sensei's help.

"Hmm. If theres anything hidden about the Uchiha clan, they wouldn't be obvious about where it's hidden. Take a look at any sections to do with large deaths and keyword 'shadowing'" Kakashi explained before rolling up his sleeves and picking up a stack of files Sasuke had left on the table to pack away again.

Upon noticing the Uchiha's hesitant state, Kakashi paused and turned back to him "I'd like to think after all the work we've been through, and the fact that we live together, you'd have at least a little trust for me kid" The Jounin muttered, disappointed.

Sasuke immediately shook his head "it's not that Kashi-sensei." He mumbled looking away with a soft pink tinge to his cheeks.

Kakashi, moving the stack of files to his other arm, raised his eyebrow "hmm?"

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment before looking up at his sensei "I just never thought this team would grow on me. What I'm trying to say is..."

"You're welcome kid" Kakashi chipped in with a closed eye smile. Sasuke stared at him, surprised, before smirking.

"Now, come on. We're not exactly being covert" Kakashi moved to put the stack away again whilst Sasuke gave a nod and returned to searching for any information on his clan and the massacre.

After almost an hour of searching, Kakashi and Sasuke came together in the middle of the room and sighed heavily as they found nothing.

"This is hopeless. Theres nothing here about the Uchiha clan apart from names and basic information" Sasuke growled as he leaned his hands on a table.

Kakashi, leaning against another table with crossed arms, simply stared up in thought at where the file could be.

"Ahem" a throat being cleared brought both males' attention to the other presence in the room.

Their eyes widened as they saw their pink haired teammate/student standing before them with a look of anger in her eyes.

"What do you two think you're doing?" She hissed with a dark look in her eyes.

The two men looked at each other, debating whether or not to throw the other under the bus, before awkwardly rubbing the back of their heads and looking away from each other and Sakura.

"No answer hmm? Maybe I'll just beat it out of you then!" The female genin growled as she took a step forward.

"Now now, no need for that Sakura" Kakashi showed his hands in surrender with a small chuckle.

"What are you even doing here, Ra?" Sasuke questioned with mild annoyance.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him before giving a small smirk "same as you" she stated, her smirk growing as the two males glanced at each other in shock.

"But...I just have better luck, I suppose" she coyly continued whilst holding up a lone folder.

Sasuke stepped forward with wide eyes whilst Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"Good work Sakura." Kakashi praised the genin causing a soft blush to grow on her cheeks. It wasn't often someone got praised by Kakashi Hatake.

"Hn." Sasuke...spoke up.

"What is it?" Kakashi could tell there was something on the Uchihas mind.

"As much as I want to find out what that file says...we made a pack, so we wait for To to return" he stated, shocking his teammate and sensei.

"That's very mature of you, Sasuke. I'm proud." Another blush "for now, let's get out of here before someone catches us. We've already been here way too long."

With that said, the three snuck out with ease and even brainstormed about where and how to improve Konoha's defences.