Later, on the very same day the Hidden Storm Village joined the Shinobi Union, a group of rogue ninja traverse through a forest in the middle of the night, in order to rendezvous with another group of fellow criminals; their only source of light guiding them comes from the moon.

  “Is this Amachi-fellow… Is he REALLY as they say?” The leader asks his subordinate while hopping through the trees.

  “Yeah, the info brokers were very forthcoming on the intel…” Answers the henchman, he pulls out a piece of paper and reads the contents. “He used to work for Orochimaru. He’s a mad scientist who tried to make an ultimate underwater shinobi army. And he was beaten and captured by the 7th Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, who was still a child at the time.”

  Naruto…?! Blood boiling just from mentioning that name, the seething leader grits his teeth and clenches his fists. “What do you mean by ‘underwater shinobi’?”

  His lackey continues with, “Amachi kidnapped many people and experimented on them, turning them into fish-man-hybrids or 'kaima.' When he was caught, he only had 1 success… himself.”

  The rogue leader thinks back to how he got to this point; he deserted the Leaf Village after stealing a powerful weapon made and wielded by the Second Hokage, the Sword of the Thunder God, and defected to the Hidden Rain Village; like Amachi, he, himself, was defeated and nearly killed by Naruto Uzumaki in the Land of Tea. Naruto went on to defeat the Rain village’s leader, Nagato Pain, and when Pain, miraculously, returned after the Fourth Great Ninja War, the rogue ninja was stripped of his jonin rank and banished from the Hidden Rain.

  He may have lost his rank and place among the Leaf and Rain villages, but the one thing they cannot take from him is his name, Aoi Rokusho. He will acquire new power to replace what he lost. And he will get revenge on those who wronged him--Naruto, Nagato, and Jin--the thought of beating each and every one of them to death fills him with a sadistic pleasure.

  (Author’s note: Aoi and Amachi are the antagonists of filler arcs back in Naruto Part 1.)

  “Double time team! I want to be there, yes–?!”

  The former rain ninja is cut off as a pair of kunai come flying at them on their right, and zip right past him; one hits his right-hand-man in the jugular while the other is embedded in the knee of the lackey behind Aoi; the one whose neck was punctured bleeds out as he falls to his death.

  “Gnngh…!” The lackey stops in his tracks, groaning in pain.

  An enemy?! But where are they…? Aoi thinks to himself while, cautiously, scanning his surroundings; he slowly draws his weaponized umbrella.

  “We heard there were a buncha rogue ninjas in our neck of the woods…”

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  “…So, we were tasked with dealing with them!” Says a young, disembodied voice.

  The new arrival jumps onto a branch before them, appearing in the light; he is a young boy with red hair, unusually pale skin, and amber eyes; his eyes seemingly glow in the moon’s rays. The headband he wears gleams under the moonlight, it is of the Hidden Storm Village.

  “The name’s ‘Takato Uzumaki’…” The red-haired shinobi boldly announces; he smiles, confidently, while pointing at the enemy ninjas, declaring, “…And you, morons, can kiss your little plans goodbye!”

  “Heh heh heh…Aha ha ha ha ha…! Are you kidding?! You don’t think you’re gonna stop us all by yourself, do you?” Aoi cackles, maniacally; the rogue ninja’s men chuckle along with their leader, in the background.

  “Who said he was alone?” says another voice.

  Suddenly, two more appear at Takato’s side. They are his squad mates, his triplet siblings; they have the same peculiar pale skin just like him, but unlike him, their eyes are brown, and their hair is green with some red at the tips.

  “Don’t go rushing off on your own, Takato.” says Takato’s older twin brother in a chastising tone.

  Unwrapping a lollipop, Takato’s younger twin sister wears a deadpan and emotionless expression. “So, not schway.”

  “Whatever,” Infusing chakra, the red-haired shinobi brushes them off. “Satoshi! Ma, just be ready to back me up.”

  The rambunctious Storm Genin swiftly reaches into his backpack and pulls out a fūma shuriken, he unfolds the four-pronged projectile and leaps up, into the air, throwing it at the enemy. The instant it reaches the halfway mark, the weapon separates, revealing that Takato had, in fact, actually thrown two shuriken; the band of rogues take evasive maneuvers and scatter; dodging the attack.

  The duplicitous Aoi sneers, “What a joke! A simple attack like that won’t–?!”

  *Poof*

  To the rogue ninjas’ surprise, Takato suddenly disappears in a puff of smoke. At the same time everyone’s attention is drawn to a glowing light, coming from behind the rogue shinobi. Aoi quickly looks back and sees that it is none other than the red-headed ninja; a trio of flaming orbs, which resemble small suns appear out of thin air; they revolve, ever so slowly, around Takato, just above his head.

  “Scorch Style: Super Steam Kill.”

  The storm ninja sends the orbs after the enemy ninja who’re all still in midair from dodging his last attack. The first one hits who Takato assumes to be Aoi’s second-in-command; a hole is burned straight through his torso, and he mummifies as all the water in his body evaporates away, and he falls to the ground, dead. The same thing happens to another of his foe’s lackeys.

  Just as planned…! Grinning from ear-to-ear, Takato confidently folds his arms. “You, my friend, have just been SHOCKED!!”

  (Author’s note: The word, “schway” is slang from DC’S Batman Beyond, it means cool. In Marvel 2099, “shock” is the general all-purpose swear word.)

  Unfortunately, the red-headed shinobi celebrated his victory a little too soon.

  “Not quite!” An enraged Aoi spins around, weaving the Dog hand seal. “Water Style: Rampaging Water!”

  The rogue ninja spews forth a condensed stream of water from his mouth; it moves at high speeds, cutting through the young storm Genin’s jutsu, and makes its way right for him. Just as Takato prepares to substitute himself, a beautiful young woman in her early twenties with flowing blonde hair and green eyes appears out of nowhere, standing in front of him; he watches in awe as her pitch-black armor begins to glow, emitting a bluish-green barrier that completely dispels the water jutsu.

  “You shouldn’t run off without the team.” The woman looks back at the young ninja, chastising him with a cold and stoic glare.

  “Oh, relax, Itsu-sensei… I was just… sizing them up…” Takato’s attention is firmly fixated on his sensei’s armor; wide-eyed, all he can think of is, I want one…

  Annoyed, Aoi throws his umbrella into the air and weaves the Tiger hand sign. “I will not be ignored…! Ninja Art: Senbon Rai–?!”

  The rogue shinobi is interrupted as woodwind music mysteriously echoes all across the forest, its ominous melody fills Aoi’s ear drums; everyone watches the conniving rogue ninja’s body moves against his will, posing like he’s bound by some force; his face contorts with terror the moment he takes a look at his arms.

  “AAAAUGH!!” Aoi releases a bloodcurdling scream; tears stream down his horrified eyes while mucus runs down his nose. “GUAAAAGH!!”

  “Demon Flute: Chains of Fantasia.” Says Itsu’s shadow clone, who dispels her Chameleon Jutsu; she stands, stoically, between Satoshi and Mai, holding aloft a flute, poised to play another note.

  Meanwhile, an amazed Takato watches the true Itsu leap, calmly, onto the same branch as the paralyzed Aoi, and stands right by him; she holds up her right hand, displaying a porous metal gauntlet.

  *Ting*

  With her left hand, Itsu flicks her gauntlet. “Ninja Art: Resonating Echo Drill.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “AAAARGH!!!” A jolted Aoi screeches while his ears suddenly bleed.

  The now defeated rogue shinobi loses his footing and plummets to the ground, leaving a trail of vomit as he falls; the genins’ faces all turn green from watching the enemy being covered in what used to be his supper.

  “What’s up with that armor, Itsu-sensei? It’s so crash!” The red-haired ninja remarks, jumping onto the same branch as his teacher; he continues to marvel at her suit.

  (Author’s note: I don’t need to explain DC’s Young Justice slang, do I? LOL)

  Joining the two, Satoshi chimes in, asking, “The rumors… Is that the new equipment our S&G department has been working on?”

  “Astute as ever, Satoshi. This is chakra armor--the latest prototype--collecting data for it was part of the mission.” Their jonin leader explains.

  “But what makes it different from the armors used in the Land of snow?” Mai queries, enjoying her lollipop.

  The stoic Itsu continues by saying, “THIS armor is powered by a special type of mineral called, ‘gelel’. We’ve been mining it from the Land of Wind, among other things.”

  Other things…? Curious, Takato tilts his head to one side. “What kinds of stuff?”

  “That’s classified,” Itsu pokes his forehead, a small grin forms on her face. “C’mon. We need to search for and round up any stragglers nearby.”

  Throwing his hands into the air, a protesting Takato shouts, “Grunt work? That’s so beneath us!”

  “Keep talking like that and you’ll never become Onikage.” Mai finishes off her candy tossing the stick away; she pulls out another and takes off the wrapper.

  Folding his arms, Satoshi scoffs, “I’m the one who’ll be the next Onikage!”

  Watching the rest of Team 1 hop away, an annoyed Takato hurries after them, scowling; he never liked how people just assume that he will turn out just like his father due to the simple fact that he resembles him.

  “Takato, keep up.” His brother calls after him.

  “You want to be the Onikage, Satoshi? Go right ahead. I’M after something bigger--much bigger…”

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  “Yo, dad… am I talking to the real you or a shadow clone?” A curious Takato asks.

  Sitting behind his desk, a coy smile spreads across Jin’s face; he leans back in his chair with hands relaxing behind his head. “MAYBE I'm the real one… or maybe I’m just a clone.”

  Two days later, in the afternoon, after completing their mission, Team 1 find themselves in the Onikage’s office; they are in the middle of a debriefing with their village leader and father, Jin Uzumaki, and the head of the Storm Village’s Science and Engineering Department, Doctor Rito Uzumaki.

  “SOOO, how’d it go…?” Jin queries, getting back on topic.

  “It was so simple. I mean, any one of us could've done it all on our own!”

  In the background Satoshi facepalms just from hearing Takato’s bold remark while Itsu cringes. Mai wears her usual deadpan expression as she reaches into her bag and pulls out another sucker candy.

  The Onikage’s smile quickly fades. “You shouldn’t ever discount teamwork, even on the easier miss–”

  “I’m not bragging, just stating a fact,” The red-haired ninja blurts out, proudly. “I already know Fire and Wind Style, and I inherited mom’s Scorch Style. And let’s not forget that Mai and Satoshi have–”

  “Itsu, just WHAT have you been teaching him?” The Storm Village leader sighs, turning his stern gaze to the jonin.

  The blonde kunoichi nervously avoids making eye contact, awkwardly scratching the side of her face. “I-I’m doing the best I can… It's just… he’s REALLY stubborn.”

  Jin goes dead silent, his lips pursing themselves outward and slightly upward, creating a facial expression that resembles a duck's beak; his pale white skin develops a slight pink tint to it.

  “*AHEM*,” Rito coughs, gaining everyone's attention. “So, Itsu… How did the suit perform?”

  “Well, doctor… The prototype worked like a charm. It dispelled enemy jutsu while also enhancing my own.” Itsu pauses before answering as she looks at the armor she’s still wearing, examining it.

  The genius engineer nods, taking notes on a clipboard. “Any side effects?”

  “No problems to speak of.” The kunoichi shakes her head. “It did its job and did it well--It will be returned–”

  “Keep it. You earned it.” Rito interrupts jotting the report down.

  The storm jonin protests, “But won’t you need it to mass produce more…?”

  “Nope, trust me…” The genius smirks, gesturing to his forehead. “We’ve already had the chakra armor’s specs safely stored away.”

  “Thank you, Rito-nii!” Breaking character, Itsu smiles brightly as she bows, politely; her face turns red the moment she realizes what she just called him.

  Covering his mouth, an amused Jin chuckles, “Heh heh heh… Before we wrap this up, I have something to give you.”

  Curious, Takato and his sibling look on as the Onikage reaches into his desk and pulls out three flyers, and hands them out; the red-headed Genin scans the paper, it’s an application for the Chunin Exams being hosted by the Hidden Leaf Village.

  “Why would I want to travel to another village for a test?” A disinterested Takato asks.

  Rito shrugs. “All your cousins will be there, and most of them will be participating.”

  The storm ninja thinks back to when he was a little kid, he remembers how his parents would take him and his siblings to the Leaf to meet up with their extended family; his mother would converse with his aunts and uncles while his father would quietly sip coffee as he watched the children play, only speaking when spoken to.

  “Ehhh…”

  “Only 3-man teams can enter the exams.” Mai tries to convince him, half-heartedly.

  “Look here,” With a stern tone, Satoshi gets into his face. “MY dream is to become the next Onikage. Are you gonna destroy my dream!”

  “First of all, don’t be so dramatic. And second, get outta my face.” Standing his ground, Takato remains skeptical.

  “Takato, you wanna be the strongest ninja there ever was, right?” Jin asks, speaking up. “Stronger than Uncle Sasuke and Aunty Ayanami? Stronger than me and Uncle Naruto, am I correct?”

  Dad, where’re you going with this? Tilting his head to one side, the intrigued Takato folds his arms. “Yeah… why?”

  The smug snake sage continues with, “How do you expect to catch up to us, let alone, SURPASS us if you don’t expand your horizons? The Chunin Exams allow you to shinobi from all over, who possess unusual techniques that you can test your mettle against.”

  The Storm Genin’s entire body begins quivering with excitement, his eyes sparkle like diamonds; he, speedily, takes a breath to compose himself and shrugs, “Well… when you put it like that…? Sure, I’m in--y’know--whatever.”

  “Is there anything else, Dad?” Satoshi questions, resting his hands on his hips.

  “Nope, that’s all.” Jin waves them goodbye. “See ya.”

  Itsu gives a salute before gesturing the genin out of the room. Once the door closes, the satisfied village leader reclines in his chair with his feet relaxing on his desk. Suddenly, he finds himself drowning in a raging tsunami of guilt and self-loathing.

  Hey, wait a minute… Did I just… manipulate my own kid…? Jin quietly thinks to himself, facepalming. …Jin, you’re both a gaping asshole AND a colossal son of a bitch…!

  “That went well!” Rito exclaims, breaking the silence.

  “Not how I’d describe it…” Jin mutters as he starts massaging his temples; to distract himself from what he’s done, he asks, “Why’d you make the armor look like something out of Power Rangers?”

  Grinning, his brother shrugs. “Why not?”

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  A few hours later, in a forest just outside the Hidden Storm Village, the Scorch Style user and former Hidden Sand ninja, Pakura, kneels before an unmarked grave, placing a bouquet of flowers at its base; she closes her eyes, brings her hands together, and silently prays.

  “You can come down and join me if you like.” Pakura says.

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  The one she’s speaking to is none other than her husband, Jin Uzumaki, who sits comfortably on a nearby branch; he holds a single flower, native to the area, in his right hand.

  “I’m curious… Why do you keep coming to pay your respects to Echo?” Her husband asks, plucking one of the flower’s petals. “Not that anything’s wrong with it--It’s just that you’ve never even MET the guy.”

  The Scorch Style kunoichi smiles. “It’s because of what you told me… your older brother is the reason you and your friends were able to come out of the war, victorious. If it weren’t for him, you and I wouldn’t have ever met.”

  “Oh, I see.” Jin pulls out another petal.

  Finished paying her respects, Pakura stops praying and stands up, she turns and looks up to make eye contact with the Onikage; he blushes while struggling to keep gazing back into her eyes.

  “PFFT! Ahahahahaha!!” Smiling, Pakura wipes the tears from her eyes. “15 years later, and you’re still as cute as ever~!”

  Jin rolls his eyes, pouting. “Damn you and your gorgeous eyes.”

  To the kunoichi’s pleasant surprise, the Onikage jumps down from his branch and suddenly pulls her in close, literally sweeping her off her feet and gives her a kiss; she is left stunned and silent as her face turns bright pink; her heart is pounding out of her chest and butterflies swarm in her stomach due to being carried in his strong arms like a princess.

  “Look who’s cute now.” Her husband gives her a loving yet pompous grin.

  “Don’t look so pleased with yourself.” Embarrassed, the Scorch Style kunoichi crosses her arms. “Now put me down, I need to prepare for dinner.”

  “Hmm… NAH. Let’s get takeout instead.” Jin playfully refuses her, walking back to the village while still carrying her. “You always cook. You deserve a break.”

  Still blushing, Pakura yells, “Wait--put me down! The villagers will see us!”

  “Who cares?”