Heirs to the Sannin - Chapter 1

[WG_Writer]

It was barely a year after Danzo made his offer and Orochimaru found himself in the hospital looking upon his only surviving student. The only reason he wasn’t in the Hokage tower right now yelling at the Sandaime was the fact that Anko was suppose to regain awareness soon. He frowned at himself, this wasn’t like him.

Orochimaru used people and threw them away; he could torture the innocent and ignore their suffering, even draw in some enjoyment out of their pain. He was someone to be feared, the genius of the Sannin, one of the greatest Shinobi ever. He was someone who mastered their emotions a long time ago. And yet here he was, preparing to comfort the young Anko, after her team was annihilated six chunin, a jounin, and four genin gone. Only a single chunin, a genin and Anko made it back.

He barely noted as Hatake, in full ANBU regalia, and Jiraiya solemnly walked past the door, the elite ANBU clearly broken. Technically most chunin wouldn’t notice, but for himself it was very clear as to his emotional state. Orochimaru was not surprised, nor really interested. He knew why the ANBU was distressed; the snake summoner simply could not care.

Glancing again toward Anko’s door he again was forced to note other people’s coming and going, despite himself he felt relieved at the distraction. The chaos helped him to not focus on the fact he failed his students. He had to admit that now they were chunin they were no longer his students, but with the time he spent teaching them he grew fond of them, Anko especially. That was why, after all, he allowed her to sign the snake contract. He glanced briefly at his vest, one of the scroll pockets to be specific, where his latest revision of his ‘cursed seal’ series lay.

Frowning at the scroll, he decided to ask both Jiraiya and Tsunade their opinions on it. The ‘Blessed seal of Heaven’ might be a risk, it was after all untested, but he also knew that it just might prevent Anko from dying in the future. Unlike the Cursed seals which had security measures, and polluted chakra, the Blessed seals were security measure free, and purer chaka. Unfortunately he was not sure there was no risk.

Growling at his own indecision he was so distracted he almost missed a young chunin kunoichi dashing past the door, he recalled her name, if only to further collect his mind, as Yugao Uzuki. He schooled his face as he recalled all he could about her. This was an old practice for him, running through dry facts would distance himself from his emotions, and this is what allowed him to develop his, darker, aspects of his personality. He recalled her as one of root’s rejects, Danzo rejected the girl at the last minute before she got any training. She was simply to emotional for Danzo, Orochimaru was momentarily amused by the fact that he himself was too emotional for Danzo and being here proved that fact.

Refocusing Orochimaru further recalled various elements of her training, upbringing, and continued with varying links, she had developed a crush on Hayate Gekkou. And imprinted on the poor newly minted genin as Danzo hoped she would on himself. In the end the shinobi scientist could only chuckle, the girl was initially selected to not seek romantic attachment, and would now likely follow Hayate around like a lost puppy. Hayate was, unfortunately for Yugao, usually with his family in the minor shinobi village of hidden fire.

Furthering his pondering he remembered his most recent visit to hidden fire and the fact that it was slowly dying as a village, most shinobi families were moving to Konoha. Hidden fire was the last real hold out of the fire country’s once many shinobi villages since the great integration that occurred 70 years ago which lead to the forming of Konoha. He supposed it would only last another ten years at most before the last of the families move to Konoha. For the most part the only reason it lasted this long was the previous Daimyo of fire country used them often for his own missions, his son however was raised in Konoha and preferred it.

Noticing stirring in the bed he stood next to, he quietly pressed the call nurse button and spoke soothingly to the young girl, “Rest my little viper, you need more time to heal yet.”

The only response he got was her stirring to cease and light snores coming from the energetic young girl. Quietly he informed the nurse and asked to be notified about any change. Taking a quick glance at the scroll of his seal he came to a decision, he would speak to Jiraiya, he lost much for the sake of his research, and it was time his knowledge of seals and techniques worked for him.

As he exited the hospital an ANBU, one he recognized as a ROOT member arrived to take him to see Danzo. He smirked as he realized that the ANBU kept his distance, he surmised that he still disliked being in the presence of the one who gave him the ‘cursed seal of fire.’ Not that personal opinion existed in Root, but despite Danzo’s attempts, humans were still humans ultimately.

---

Years later Naruto had thought life had finally turned his way. He got a personal trainer to make him a ninja, with the stipulation that he leave the academy, no big loss in his book since the end result would be the same, only now he had someone dedicated to making him as kick ass as possible. However it was a short lived joy and it was because of his new trainer that he found himself hanging upside down practicing hand symbols while listening to the old man. He tried to focus, he really did, but the lecture was more boring than his young mind could take and he slowly drifted off into a ramen based fantasy. He was brought out of his daydream by the old man saying his name, “Naruto, are you listening?”

The young kid rubbed his head and nodded. Sighing Jiraiya let the kid down, this was one of the minor training things that he was doing with Naruto, having him upside down, mainly because of the ninja trick of sticking to walls. He was annoyed when he found that a C class mission almost failed because the Gennin were walking along a high ceiling to get close to a group of bandits hiding in a castle when one passed out and fell. Luckily the jounin was there to catch him, but it did make him a bit thoughtful about possible things to prep his young charge with.

Of course the orange prankster could not channel chakra properly yet, properly meaning at genin levels and not Kage or high Juunin levels, but teaching him the hand seals and having him practice would help him later when he could use chakra. It also helped to keep the brat’s hands busy, and taught him multi tasking, one simply cannot form a seal looking at their hands mid battle, not even the academy was dumb enough to over look that obvious problem.

Finally while he had his formerly upside down godson hanging there practicing seals he was trying to hammer geography into him. The fact was that when he was teaching the Yondaime’s team that the yellow blur himself couldn’t out point rock country when he was fresh out of the academy still floored him. He knew the school tried now, and was far better than it was, but still.

Looking at Naruto he decided to test him, “Ok brat, using this map, point out Rock country.” Naruto stared at the map then pointed at the correct country, “Good, need to work on your recall, now point out Lightning Country.” Naruto pointed, shaking his head he told the kid, “That’s wind country.”

Looking up the young kid asked, “What’s the difference?”

Deciding to get a drink after this lesson he explained, “A wind ninja is not as likely to kill you on sight.”

Naruto paled, “oh.”

The Toad Sage shook his head then noticing the time grinned, “I have something I need to do kid. Take a two hour break and be back here promptly.” He then gathered his supplies and sealed them in a scroll before disappearing.

Orange clad kid blinked a few times, and then walked off to get some Ramen, two hours was a lot of time for him, after all ramen only took ten minutes to make and eat, if he was taking his time. So as expected twenty minutes later he was bored, and staring out his apartment’s main window. Looking down he saw a cart full of random objects being handled by a rude book store owner that kept running him out unless he was escorted. Grinning Naruto took off with plans forming in his young mind.

---

Jiraiya stood looking at the kid, and many unpleasant thoughts ran through his head, followed by the mantra, ‘he is just a kid, just a little kid, my prized student’s son, my Godson, mustn’t harm… intentionally.’

He shook his head and looked at himself and performed a couple quick jutsu’s to clean the paint off, especially the red paint on his hands. For all that he wanted to throttle the kid for what happened; in the end he really couldn’t blame him. After all there was a reason that book store did not carry Icha Icha Paradise, and it had nothing to do with his student. He was half way convinced anyway that half the pranks the kid did because he found getting caught to be training, but then again he could not be sure.

Sighing at the unfairness he knew that the sequel to the Icha Icha book would be delayed. He simply could not let the boy go unsupervised for more than half an hour at a time. He watched Naruto as he finished doing the cleaning technique, technically a C-ranked water technique the kid was spell bound. Not that it was unsurprising, most young kids even academy students were amazed when they see a jutsu used right.

He was about to start lecturing Naruto about his behavior when an ANBU appeared nearby, “Jiraiya-sama. I see you got him.”

“Dog-san, yes I found the brat. Had three squads of chunin hunting for him.”

The ANBU named Dog was smiling in the humor of the situation. He glanced at Naruto who seemed to be getting bored, “Maa, those squads need refresher courses in searching and tracking anyway, this just proves it. After all nine chunin tracking down one kid should have been done in ten minutes tops, a two hour chase around Konoha twice does not look well. Especially where a Sannin has to step in.”

The Toad Sage thought for a moment, “I think proper punishment for slacking off would be to clean up the mess.”

Dog nodded, “Sounds fair to me, I better report in, see you later.” With a twirl of leaves he disappeared.

Jiraiya looked at the curious youngster, “Now since you seem to have so much energy, let’s see what you can do with it?”

Naruto shuddered at the old man’s sudden grin and wished he was still running from the chunin.

---

Orochimaru was, for the third time this week, studying the academy roster. It was just over a month ago when Jiraiya made the boast about being the best teacher left in the village, having trained the Fourth. And now he had taken on a new student. Orochimaru had no illusion as to the real identity of the brat. Anyone with sufficient brain cells could tell that. Allowing himself to chuckle he remembered how few that actually did know that particular linage.

Jiraiya had an unfair advantage and a head start. Orochimaru needed a student with potential, one he could train quickly up to the same level as his fellow sannin’s student, once that was done it would be a simple matter of surpassing him. Looking at the list once more he sighed, “There is really no choice.” The snake summoner smiled, “Well he is an Uchiha and they so hate being anything but number one, besides once his eyes awaken this will be easy. After all once awakened it will be a simple matter of demonstrating jutsu after jutsu.”

“That and he is so deliciously cute that I could just eat him up.”

Orochimaru glanced to his side at the smiling Anko, the way happier then she should be Anko, “I doubt the Uchiha elders would allow that.” After seeing her pout he cackled, “Not that anything of the sort ever stopped me.” After she brightened up again he mustered up his curiosity, “Torture some genin recently Anko-chan?”

Anko’s smile brightened and replied, sounding like a cat that just ate the canary, “Some mist missing nin thought we were easy targets. Took him alive and got a juicy bonus out of it.” The snake summoner could have sworn that was not all, it usually took more than that to make her this excited, and that was when she burped before continuing, “Then on my way here I found my favorite Dango was on sale.”

Orochimaru smiled, he hid some annoyance that his apprentice was likely on a sugar rush and decided to help her burn some energy. Glancing around he found what he wanted, he picked up the scroll then read it carefully to ensure it was the correct one. Turning to Anko he spoke, “Take this to Danzo, he’ll know what to do.” Anko nodded before taking the scroll and walked off; taking a Dango box she left on a table on her way out.

“How she can specialize with assassinations is beyond me,” he returned to the data on Sasuke and thought for a bit. Getting approval would require cunning, especially to keep him unmarred by the Uchiha seal.

---

It was Friday, a day most ninja loved as it meant the start of the weekend, meaning missions in the categories ranging C to A tended to occur less, and D ranks occurred more. However some ninja hated Fridays. Every Friday all the heads of the clans, important shinobi and department heads got together to discuss anything of importance. Unfortunately this meant that people use to bouncing around trees were forced to sit still in wooden chairs for what sometimes lasted as much as 14 hours. Irony at its finest.

Today was fortunately shaping up to be a short one, only 8 hours debating various diplomatic issues, both within Konoha, and Outside it, Including another hour long tirade from the Uchiha clan head as he was prone to do every month about the seals on his clansmen. Tired of this old argument the Sandaime glared at him and interrupted it part way through, “Really this is an old complaint, you have been whining about it for the last five years, least I remind you that you agreed to this, to quote you, ‘prevent another Itachi?’”

The head of the Uchiha shook his head, “That was then; we were crippled and panicked as we didn’t know everything about what happened. Now we know we feel we can prevent it.”

Saritobi stroked his beard looking thoughtful, “How so?” He didn’t believe it to be true. However the Uchiha did have the means to remove the seal themselves, theoretically. They had the instructions, just no seal masters good enough. This lead him to wonder why they were still here, With the seal they were practically branded as slaves and the Uchiha ego never allowed to feel even as low as someone’s equal. Nor were they required to stay, but they were weakened after Itachi had slaughtered a third the clan, all the traitors that had their bloodline active.

“We discovered a weakness in the Mangekyo Sharingan,” He paused a moment and licked his dry lips in hesitation, “its use causes blindness.” Although the flaw was reluctantly released he had decided to keep it secret that the problem could easily be remedied by swapping eyes.

There was instantly murmuring coming from all over the room. None of the other clans have ever revealed the weaknesses of their clans, it was foolish, completely so, however it did have the potential of limiting the damage someone else gaining those eyes would have, after all Itachi was unique, a prodigy.

Taking a deep breath the Hokage wondered what to do then decided, he would give them a little rope, only a little and see where they would take it, if they entangled themselves it would only make dealing with the mess easier, “How about a compromise then? Any non-shinobi Uchiha may have the seal removed. However once they become Gennin then they must be sealed. Will that be sufficient for now Tatewaki Uchiha?”

Tatewaki frowned and was about to reply when Orochimaru interrupted, “May I interject?”

The Hokage knew where this was going, but decided to allow it, for the moment, and so he nodded his consent, followed by Tatewaki.

The snake summoner grinned and spoke up, “I am sure by now all in this room know that my former teammate Jiraiya took an apprentice.” He paused a moment as general nodding passed around, they all remember that meeting vividly, “I wish to take on Sasuke Uchiha as my own student.” Noticing the frown forming on the Uchiha’s face he decided to add, “After all if I am to take a student I should start with the best.”

Realizing how this was going, and how it could be turned to his advantage the Hokage spoke up, “Orochimaru, didn’t you once say that your enhanced seals were not compatible with the Uchiha clan?”

Nodding with some confusion Orochimaru replied, “Yes it is, and it’s for the simple reason that the Uchiha seal blocks chakra past a specific point in volume, and my seals work by storing a person’s chakra when they are at rest then unleashing when needed, An Uchiha with my seals would become less effective as they become stronger.”

Looking at the Uchiha representative the Hokage raised an eyebrow, “If I allow this I will also allow Sasuke to gain this seal so he would not be sealed like the others of your clan. Perhaps this could hasten a mass unsealing as you seek.” Internally he knew that Danzo was seething at this release of the Uchiha, as it would give them the chance to strike again later. However this risk was minimal, and had potential benefits, and if Sasuke had to be eliminated as a threat, he could arrange something. Once he had Itachi dealt with first.

The Uchiha sighed, a concession now could mean more later, but at least he now had something, “I agree, but both the training and the sealing will be Sasuke’s decision alone.”

“It is agreed then.” Stated the aged Shinobi, “Now what’s next on the agenda?”

Hiashi raised his hand and after a pause of seeming doubt, “What of your remaining student, will she be taking on someone as well?”

The Hokage beat Tsunade to the punch, figurative because she might have resorted to physically, “What do you have in mind?”

Taking a drink of water he paused before looking around, “A potential solution.”

Tsunade raised her left eyebrow as she looked at him hard, “A solution to what?”

“Several problems, some internal Hyuuga matters, some external, some public, some political.”

Tsunade now knew what he was getting to, “Your eldest?”

Nodding he continued, “She is her mother’s daughter, while my youngest takes after me.”

Frowning she countered, “I do not see what this has to do with me?”

“If Hinata was your apprentice then she couldn’t be sealed, and I would be free to declare Hanabi my Heir apparent. “

“Unlike my slimy teammate I do not intend to force such a seal on anyone, nor have I agreed to teach. Less you forget I am retired at the moment for a reason.”

Nodding The Hyuuga elder resumed his formal posture, “Very well, so long as you know my stand.”

Tsume smirked at the Hyuuga, “Getting soft in your old age Hiashi.” Most everyone but the referenced man chuckled before the Hokage got things back in order.

---

Tsunade looked over the academy class Shinzune was going to teach. She mostly ignored the formal introduction; Shinzune still had not complexly forgiven her over the loss of Dan, but they were at least polite if not friendly now. Looking over the class she frowned, none of the students would fit her needs if she was to take a student. She frowned internally as she was reminded of how useless she was at the moment. After the loss of both her lover and her brother she had developed a fear of blood and it left her unfit as both a shinobi and a doctor. She suppressed a wince as an old saying came to mind, ‘Those who can do and those who can’t teach.’ Unfortunately she could do neither well right now.

She watched as her one time student started the class she went into a review for basic first aid when she noticed a hand up. She pointed at the hand and asked, “You have a question?”

It was a girl, named Gyakuko Nara, aptly named as she was the total opposite to any Nara she knew. The girl asked, or rather whined, “Why do we need to go over this? Wouldn’t taijutsu training be better?”

Shinzune would have to make this clear so that she would have fewer problems to deal with later, and Tsunade watched as she did, “How would you like to fight off enemy ninja without an arm? Would you even be able to continue being a ninja? Medical ninjutsu can do amazing things to help you recover from injury. I should know as I was trained by the one that invented most of the Konoha techniques. However, medics are hard to find on the battlefield, a training accident in Konoha can have virtually any problem resolved rather easily and quickly because we have the staff here. Out in the field you do not have that.”

A voice in the back called back, “Why not.”

Tsunade decided to interject and echo her former sensei, “Ask yourself this, do you have any interest in being a medic nin? What about your friends?” Silence greeted her, but one hand did go up, and she noted to check the boy’s potential later. “So out of all of you only one has interest in being a medic. That should be your answer. One out of over a dozen potential ninja has the interest in healing.”

Taking a deep breath she gave that a moment to sink in to the kids before continuing, “How would you deal with poison, or a bad sword wound? What if a teammate has a concussion? How will you be able to tell, or how would you treat it? First aid is now being trained to a greater extent so that you can get to the medics so miracles can be done. Which would you prefer to come back from a mission healthy with a full team, or injured and short members, possibly being crippled for life?”

Tsunade was looking deeply at each student, “You are not learning first aid for yourself. You are learning it for your friends, your teammates, and your village. Yes the strongest and smartest shinobi wins the fight, but if your client is dying of poison then even if you killed a dozen enemy ninja you still will fail the mission if your client dies.”

Shinzune glared briefly at Tsunade for the interruption then finished introducing her lesson, “I am going to teach you not how to fight, but how to survive after a fight. And that can be more important than even the strongest jutsu.”

---

Tsunade was sitting at a desk in the Academy, it was now the day after the academy exams finished and seven students passed. Internally she growled as she felt forced to make a decision, as to who to train and not if she would train. However that was now behind her. She had all the folders and profiles of all the graduates, she knew her options would be limited beyond her control anyway, but she decided if she was forced into this she would take her chances and make the choice as much hers as possible.

Reading off the first name she knew out right that this one was a no go as she follow up quickly and confirmed that yes the ino-shika-cho trio was back again for a second generation, “Ino Yamanaka, excellent chakra control, but limited capacity. Her Taijutsu is lacking heavily, just above the academy minimum. She also has limited talent for anything beyond her families mind arts, and Kunoichi infiltration techniques.” After thinking a moment she decided, “Not what I am looking for but I see some potential for a field medic, I will have to talk to Shinzune about her.

Looking at the next folder she continued, “Choji Akimichi, Low level chakra control, but second highest in volume next to Sasuke, would have been third if Naruto wasn’t pulled for his training. Heavy Taijutsu like his father, again not suitable.”

“Shikimaru Nara, Heavy chakra control, but low reserves, not to unusual for his clan. Also his family has quite a medical archive, would be worth that alone to teach him but he has motivation issues and very low academy scores. Then again he is a Nara, probably calculated the precise amount of effort needed to pass. I’ll put him under my maybe column.

“Kiba Inuzuka, Moderate chakra control and reserves, loyal, but he is more of a fighter as he goes out of his way to cause trouble. He is highly attached to his partner, which would be problematic as often times a medic would need to be in a sterile environment which means being separated often. His sister is a vet as well and if he were to become a medic he would probably go that route, but from what I heard he is more like his mother then his sister.”

Shino Aburame, Moderate Chakra control, to very low reserves due to the requirement of the kikaichu. Has some potential as his clan techniques do have some limited medic techniques but they only work on themselves and other members of the clan. Unfortunately this would mean his training would be utterly incompatible with my teachings.”

This continued as she read the remaining names until she came to the last two folders.

“And here we are, you two. One of you is the Hokages choice, and the other is the Hyuuga’s choice. Sakura Haruno, and Hinata Hyuuga. Both have High chakra control, Hinata has moderate reserves, while Sakura has low reserves. Hinata is reserved, and from what I read here with a little more confidence could make a good diplomat one day, and that could translate to a good bedside manner, Sakura’s low reserves could be brought up easily with some extra training.”

Deciding to get a drink after this she continued, “Hinata already has her father’s approval which was something the sensei didn’t expect, also her eyes could help with looking for problems. Sakura on the other hand is not from a major clan and is more of a blank slate and would be easier to mold. However she does not have enough basics down, and is weak in direct combat, although Hinata is not much better there as her combat style is very different from mine.”
Nodding she looked at the two folders before her before returning the others to their place, “Screw it, I’m going to bed, first one I see in the morning is the one I’ll chose.”

---

The ANBU known as Dog stood in the Hokage’s office standing at attention. He had been called to ANBU headquarters and told he would receive his assignment here, and now here he stood. To be honest he knew what was coming, or at least felt he knew. He had been in ANBU for longer then was technically allowed by mandate and the only reason he was still there was he was so good. However, the last month he had no missions that took him past the walls of the village.

He stood still as the Hokage finished reading a scroll before he was addressed by the village leader, “I assume you have an idea of why you are here.”

Dog nodded, “Yes Hokage-sama, I assume you are removing me from ANBU duty.”

The Hokage nodded, “Correct, I am going to have to ask you to take on a genin team.”

Tilting his head he asked, “So I will have no choice but to take them on as a team, no test?”

Smiling the Hokage shook his head, “You will still have the option to test them, however if they fail you will get to test them every three months, and it will be the same team.”

The Anbu frowned unseen behind his mask, “Maa, now that is unusual.”

“They won’t be usual genin.”

That was when it clicked in Dog’s mind, “The Sannin.”

The Hokage’s smile grew a little, “Precisely.” His smile then faded, before sighing, “None of my students did exceptional as teachers of teams themselves, except maybe Jiraiya. I will not deny that they are amazing teachers, and have each had produced at least one student that was skilled, even Tsunade for all her griping to the contrary is still responsible for making Shinzune into an excellent medic.”

Dog stood in silence wondering where this was going, he knew he fit into this for a reason, but why was lost on him. Then he realized it wasn’t lost on him, he just was refusing to admit it. But the Hokage would allow him no self delusion.

“Now Dog remove your mask,” waiting for his subordinate to comply before continuing, “Jonin Kakashi, you are asked to test and if they pass, lead team seven. Your primary responsibility is to teach them teamwork and how to work with each other, as well as other teams. Their individual growth will be in the hands of their respective trainers and I ask you work with them and their schedules.”

Kakashi nodded, he placed his mask on a side table that appeared built into the wall and left in a swirl of leaves after getting his dismissal.

Glancing at the table the Hokage noted that Cat who was behind that wall had already removed the mask without his notice.

---

It was a week since Naruto first started his special training under the old man he came to know as Ero-Sennin. Of course the old man hated the name and got after him, but some of the toads found it funny and started calling him that, not many, just the smaller ones, and a couple bigger ones.

Naruto remember his introduction to the old fart. That day Naruto was uneasy as he walked towards the Hokage’s office, usually when the old man called for him it was because of something he did and was going to get in trouble for it. His last stunt, that caused the old man to call for him, was of sneaking into a book store and using a number of special ninja scrolls, which he got from a pair of weird ninja ladies, one who looked like she wrapped herself in a scroll and the other who looked like she objected to clothes. He got the impression that the one who had a snake on her shoulders was not telling the other what he was going to do with them, but that was fine with him.

It was the ultimate anti-pervert prank, and he just didn’t know it would get him into so much trouble. He did not know what yaoi was, or why a jutsu was named that. Honestly, all he knew was that when used on something it like a book or scroll it would cause the reader to see something that would punish them for perversion. He knew that those little orange books were perverted, the weird snake lady said so, so what he had to do was obvious. He was still mad that the Hokage had the weird animal masked ninja follow him for a week to ensure he had no ramen. Naruto still remembered that week, and it had been half a year since.

The Orange loving eight and a half year old continued towards the doors to his destination. When he arrived he entered nervously and noted that a second old man was standing next to the window, which was open. The Hokage was nice to him and spoke with him for a long time before giving him the offer to be trained by the guy that trained the Yondaime. Naruto was speechless, who would refuse that. And now he knew why the Yondaime was so good, this sensei was a slave driver, but Naruto felt better now than he ever did in the academy. He couldn’t wait to show up Sasuke.

---
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After note I am posting this only here to get opinions on how I came to these characters to be at these points:
As we can see here more changes have snowballed, Shinzune is a teacher at the academy teaching first aid. She doesn't respect Tsunade as much as in Canon because Canon Shinzune saw Tsunade torturing herself far worse then she could have, this one did not see much of that.

Kakashi is still ANBU until now, It was never said why in Canon why he left, But I think when Jiraiya left to keep tabs on Orochimaru he lost himself, so I am saying here he still had that moral support.

Anko is well respected and a little feared, but that is how she likes it. Orochimaru isn't a boogieman in this world so she doesn't have that over her head.

Naruto is about the same as in Canon, unfortunately the third in all his wisdom still made his law and it was before these events, I could have said that Jiraiya snuck him presents in secret but lets be honest there are only two results from that, either Naruto makes too much noise and he has to stop to protect Naruto, or Naruto doesn't trust the gift from strangers.

Hinata is not seen yet but she was already mentioned as her mother's daughter, and was shown to be shy back at a very young age. This time her confidence would be higher but beyond that who knows. Remember she imprinted on Naruto because of his never say die personality, the question to be asked is if she had more confidence would she still lean his way, or go to the Uchiha? Or simply ignore both.

Sasuke has not been shown deliberately, all I will say though is about the Uchiha in general, the oft mentioned seal looks like Mara's Demon markings on AMG!!

[DCG]

Good chapter here warg.

More behind the scene's plotting being hinted at. And itchi on the run? Should be interesting to see how sasuke is with the clans massive ego gutted out.

This Anko seem to be growing up in amusing ways as well, All ready corrupting naruto huh?

How are you going to play out this naruto's fights now that he dont have massive clones to spam?

[WG_Writer]

Him not having Kage bushin is reliant on Jiraiya being patient enough for his control to get high enough fast enough. But You are correct his combat style will be much different.