The C-Rank turned A-Rank mission had finally ended, and Tazuna had finished his bridge. He had chosen to name the bridge 'The Great Naruto Bridge' because Naruto had saved Inari and Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami. Then, the citizens of the Land of Waves decided to name the patch of ocean under the bridge the 'Shinigami's Waters'. This was because Hitoshi was now regarded as a shinigami in the Land of Waves. It was mostly to commemorate where Hitoshi killed the tyrant Gato, but some of the inhabitants of the island saw it as a metaphor for a shinigami reaping a soul long due.

Something Hitoshi learned about his new eyes were that they couldn't be turned off. They were now this ringer lavender permanently. Not that the ginger minded all that much. They were pretty cool and intimidating, but he did miss his old gold hue.

Team Seven had since returned to Konoha, and Hitoshi had already spotted the various shinobi from the other nations milling about. The ginger had heard about the Chuunin Exams before, but he didn't realize that the event was going to be so soon.

'I wonder if Kakashi will let us participate...'

Hitoshi was snapped out of his musings by a thick, brown-paper-wrapped package smacking him on the head. There was a note attached to it that Hitoshi decided to read.

Hitoshi,

Here's the cloak. It's a slightly different design because the cloak you saw me wearing was from a criminal organization that you are not a part of. But I managed to get you something similar. Please don't kill me.

Kisame

Hitoshi snickered at the note, and his teammates turned to look at him. They were waiting for Kakashi-sensei to show up, so the other three were getting bored.

"Hey, Hitoshi, where'd that package come from, dattebayo?" Naruto inquired.

Hitoshi didn't say anything, but grinned widely and unwrapped the package. It was in the same style, a long-sleeved cloak with a high collar, but the design was slightly different. It was still black with red lining, but there weren't any of the red clouds on it. The material was still the same, and the design was the same minus the clouds, and Hitoshi was okay with that.

The ginger wrapped himself in the cloak, relishing in the weight and durability of the garment. The cloak's collar rose to right around Hitoshi's nose and the sleeves were a bit too long for his arms, but the ginger didn't mind.

"I love this thing so much already." Hitoshi smiled happily, swishing around in his new cloak.

"Hey, that looks like that cloak thing the fish guy was wearing." Naruto pointed out, studying the design.

"Yep! I forced Kisame to get me one!" The ginger explained, eliciting dumbfounded expressions from his teammates.

"And when did this happen?" Sakura inquired.

"Oh, after I thought Sasuke died. I killed Haku and was going to kill Kisame, but I let him live because he promised to get me a cool cloak like his." Hitoshi explained offhandedly, moving the belt with his sword and sheath to the outside of the cloak.

"...What the hell." Sasuke was constantly astonished by Hitoshi.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before they noticed a square rock 'sneaking' up on them. Naruto gave it a distasteful look, whereas Hitoshi was curious. "I didn't realize that rocks formed in that shape." Hitoshi muttered.

Naruto started to walk away from the rock, but it followed him. The other members of Team Seven raised their eyebrows as the small, square, boulder started to chase Naruto around. Eventually, Naruto spun around and the boulder skidded to a halt. "Do you think I'm stupid?!" The blonde shouted, pointing at the rock accusingly. "There's no such thing as a perfectly square boulder with two holes in it!"

The boulder chuckled. "Just what I'd expect from my rival."

Hitoshi was mildly confused, and that confusion only got worse whenever the boulder started to glow. It exploded into three giant clouds of colored smoke, the colors being blue, yellow, and pink. Out of the smoke emerged three six-year-old kids. The first had brown hair and a chipped tooth, a blue scarf wrapped around his neck. The second was also a brunette, but with a runny nose and glasses. The third was a younger girl with ginger hair that was pulled into two very poofy pigtails.

They were all wearing goggles on their foreheads, and were all wheezing and coughing because of the smoke. Hitoshi had to refrain from laughing at the children because that probably wouldn't be good for their self-esteem. "Hey!" One of them choked out, the one in the blue scarf. "That's too much gunpowder!"

When they remembered that they had an audience, they quickly recovered. The girl stood first. "With an adult sexiness, I'm Moegi of the senior class at Kunoichi Preschool!" She posed after she finished, a hand against her hip.

The bespectacled boy was next, also posing. "I love factoring! Udon!"

The scarf wearing boy was up next, standing between his two friends. "The most brilliant ninja in the village! Konohamaru!" He finished his sentence with a pose as well.

The three started speaking in unison. "The three of us together are... the Konohamaru Gang!" The shouted, finishing in different poses.

Hitoshi was trying extremely hard not to laugh or cry. The three reminded him of when Kyro would dress up and pretend to be the Yellow Flash of Konoha. But their introductions were pretty funny.

Naruto seemed nonplussed. "I knew it was you, Konohamaru, and your friends."

"Do you know them, Naruto?" Hitoshi questioned, still attempting not to keel over and burst into tears. The three turned to face him.

"Naruto-nii-chan is the best!" Konohamaru declared, adjusting the goggles on his forehead. That almost sent Hitoshi over the edge, and he adjusted his cloak so it covered more of his face.

"Yeah, I ran into Konohamaru a day or so after I became a shinobi, and we've been rivals ever since." Naruto grinned at the ginger, unaware of his internal conflict. "So, is there something you guys want?" Naruto asked, turning back to the three stalkers.

"Do you have some free time now?" Moegi asked their blonde leader. "We want to play Ninja with you!"

'Why!?' Hitoshi mental screamed at the children. 'Why are you so similar to Kyro!? I want to leave, but I can't. We're still waiting on Kakashi-sensei. I hope I don't start to cry, I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable or guilty.'

"Actually, I have to train!" Naruto grinned at the three preschoolers. "I need to get stronger so I can help my team more!"

Hitoshi smiled through his misery. "Aw, that's sweet, Naruto." The blonde turned and grinned at his ginger friend.

"But really, what ninja plays Ninja?" Sakura commented offhandedly. The Konohamaru Gang turned to the pink-haired girl. Hitoshi briefly considered stabbing Sakura, before he regained his senses. 'Control yourself.' He mentally chided himself. 'She's allowed to have her own opinions.'

"Ooh, nii-chan, is she your girlfriend?!" Konohamaru inquired, and Naruto blushed, laughing.

"No, no, dattebayo. She'd kill me if I referred to her as that. Besides, I have a crush on someone else." The blonde grinned, red in the face. Hitoshi turned his head slightly, a disappointed feeling rising in his body.

'Well... I shouldn't have been surprised. It's only my gay ass that likes him. And Sasuke. And Neji. And... him.' Hitoshi chuckled silently to himself, glad of the high collar to cover his shameful grin. 'Jesus, I'm indecisive.'

Sakura was mildly surprised. For the longest time, Naruto had a crush on her, though it shouldn't have come as a surprise. She'd seen the way that Naruto looked at Hitoshi, and Sakura couldn't deny the fact that Sasuke felt the same way as the blonde.

"Ooh, ooh! Who is it nii-chan?" Konohamaru grinned at the blonde. "You can tell us!"

Naruto flushed. "No way! How do I know that you aren't going to tell him?!"

The world ground to a screeching halt as the group realized what pronouns the blonde had used.

"HIM?!" Konohamaru screeched, grinning widely. The little boy ran over to where Sasuke and Hitoshi were standing. "Is it one of these two?!" The boy shouted over-excitedly, pointing at the two males. Naruto's face lit up bright red in embarrassment.

"Konohamaru! Leave Sasuke-teme and Hitoshi alone!" The blonde shouted, running over to pull the kid away.

"Ohoho!" The kid grinned in a conniving fashion. "It is one of these two!"

As Sasuke looked between the other two boys on his team, he noticed that most of Naruto's embarrassment and attention was directed towards Hitoshi. As Sasuke looked between the two boys, he finally figured out that he and Naruto were love rivals. The Uchiha snarled and began to death glare at the blonde. "Ehe, Sasuke-teme, why are you looking at me like that?" Naruto questioned, as Sasuke activated his Sharingan. "S-Sasuke?"

"You dobe!" The Uchiha shouted furiously, charging at the blonde jinchūriki. Naruto attempted to dodge the angry raven-haired boy, but Sasuke could see through his attempts with his Sharingan. The two began to fight each other, before Hitoshi sprinted between the two boys, pushing them backward using his doujutsu. They landed on their butts, about six feet away from the ginger.

"Calm down you two." Hitoshi reprimanded, putting his hands on his hips. The two boys' eyes widened, and they blushed.

"R-Right, sorry." Naruto apologized, getting back on his feet, not meeting Hitoshi's eyes.

"Hn." Sasuke relented, still glaring at Naruto. The Uchiha stood and brushed off his clothes, giving Hitoshi a quick glance to make sure that he wasn't in trouble.

Hitoshi tilted his head, laughing sheepishly. 'I wonder what's gotten into them.'

Sakura almost facepalmed at Hitoshi's obliviousness. Konohamaru noticed Naruto and Sasuke's very obvious reactions and chuckled slyly. Naruto heard the noise and turned to glare at Konohamaru, simply making the boy grin wider. "I don't think he's noticed, boss." Konohamaru told the blonde, making Naruto steam red in embarrassment.

"You're dead, Konohamaru!" The blonde shouted, chasing after the small brunette. The Hokage's grandson squealed in slight fear and excitement, sprinting away from the older boy. They started to play a mad game of tag, which ended when Konohamaru accidentally ran into another boy. He was about Sasuke and Naruto's age, and wore a loose-fitting black bodysuit with a cat-ear hoodie. He was carrying something bandaged on his back that was about as tall as he was, and his face had purple markings on it.

"Oi, kid! Watch where you're going!" The teen shouted, hoisting Konohamaru off the ground by his scarf.

"Calm down, Kankuro." There was a dusty-blonde-haired girl next to the teen, who appeared to be his companion. She had on a loose-fitting dress with fishnets underneath, and a giant fan was across her back. Her green eyes looked tired and bored.

"No way in hell! This little brat needs to learn a lesson!" Kankuro shouted.

Hitoshi calmly walked up to the pair. "I'd advise you to put the kid down."

Kankuro gave Hitoshi a cocky look. "Oh? And what're you going to do?" The teen didn't know that Hitoshi was a shinobi, as his hitai-ate was hidden beneath the collar of his new cloak.

"Nothing. But you should know, that kid is the Hokage's grandson. So if you don't put him down, you might cause an inter-village incident." Hitoshi remarked offhandedly, and Kankuro flinched, dropping the boy.

The blonde girl sighed. "This is what you get for being an idiot."

Kankuro whirled to face her. "S-shut up, Temari!"

The two began fighting, and didn't notice the red-haired boy watching them from a tree branch. The boy in question looked like he hadn't slept for years, and the kanji for 'love' was carved onto his forehead.

"You two." The boy hissed, and both teens froze. "Shut up. You're getting on my nerves."

"O-Of course, Gaara." Kankuro conceded, holding his hands in front of him in a defensive manner.

"R-Right." Temari agreed quietly. Hitoshi glanced up at the red-head curiously, and the boy in question stared down at him disinterestedly. The pair stared at each other for about five minutes before Gaara decided to speak.

"What's with the cloak, Hitoshi?"