Of The Five Elements

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Kishimoto-sensei.

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Dawn had arrived as the sun was slowly rising, no longer hidden by the mountain range, shining its yellow ray onto the sea of trees. The sound of birds chirping became the music of nature. The open highland would have been the perfect location for occasional picnics, or even settlement if it weren't for the deafening explosions that were ripping through the forest canopy at the moment. A piercing inhuman shriek followed, so loud that leaves rustled from the bellowing roar.

"Holy shit. I had never seen him like this before," blurted out a man riding on a giant white bird that was hovering above the trees. He had ponytailed blond hair with a long bang covering his left eye. He wore a knee-length black coat with red cloud emblems, his headband having a scratched Iwagakure's insignia. "Han is superbly strong. No wonder you lost your puppet armor, Sasori-danna." Deidara said to himself, looking down below, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

The two Akatsuki duo had spent almost two days chasing their target. Even though the blond missing-nin hailed from Iwa, he didn't know this particular region of Earth country very well. It was no easy task to corner an elusive shinobi. Han was as stubborn as a mule, to say the least. The battle had been waged for hours already, but their target finally showed sign of exhaustion. However, it was not without the destruction of nearly half of Sasori's one hundred puppets from his Red Secret Technique. Indeed, equipped with a formidable shield on its back, even Hiruko couldn't withstand steam-enhanced punches from the Five Tail's Jinchūriki. Thus, Sasori had to pull out his favorite puppet, the Third Kazekage, before the rest were destroyed as well.

On the ground was the humanoid form of the transformed Jinchūriki crouching in a huge crater. It was neither a human nor an animal, its skin dark red verging on black, and there were five tails protruding from its behind. Luckily, the former Iwa nin's C3 bomb had seemingly done some damage to the beast as it was writhing in pain.

Deidara's eyes widened before commanding his flight to swirl to the left, barely dodging a pair of demonic chakra-arms. A second late and he would be dead. The beast roared again when spikes of iron sand rose from the ground and impaled its limbs. Then an enormous square of iron black dropped on top of the beast, so heavy that it kicked dust into the air and the ground trembled from the impact. Han was now successfully trapped where they had wanted.

"Deidara! Now!" yelled Sasori straining to keep control of his puppet's jutsu. The puppet master was looking a bit worse for wear, having caught off guard by the sudden power boost Han got from what seemed to be his second version of Jinchūriki forms.

After his bird steadied its flight, Deidara formed a hand seal before activating his bombs, "Katsu!" The ground was blasted apart by the explosion of the landmines Deidara had planted directly under the transformed Han. An eruption of smoke blanketed the area as the two Akatsuki members waited in anticipation.

A few seconds later when no more sound was emitted, the iron sand-constructed square was lifted up and disintegrated before streaming back into the mouth of the Third Kazekage puppet, revealing the burned form of the Five Tails' Jinchūriki. The red armor was still there, but his furnace was nowhere to be seen.

Deidara's bird then soared down toward the unconscious Han before using its tail to secure him in a bind. A blank expression was displayed on his face as he looked at his former comrade. For a moment, Deidara felt sympathetic toward the fallen Jinchūriki who throughout his entire life had been neglected and hated by his own village. In a way, the two of them were both considered outcasts by their village, just for different reasons. Such was life of a shinobi, so that was why he doggedly believed life might as well go out with a bang.

The blond bomber then turned to his partner who was resealing the Third Kazekage puppet and the broken parts of Hiruko. "That Akashi guy didn't tell us that Han had that much control over the Five Tails' power, hmm," Deidara grunted in annoyance, their battle increasingly difficult because of the lack of information. After all, every intel and secret about Jinchūriki were kept only among The Shinobi Council and the Kage, so even the missing-nin didn't know all about Han's ability. If they had been informed about that, the fight would have ended much earlier. He was not sure whether it was a mistake from Nobu's part, or the Akashi clan head had deliberately left out that information.

Nevertheless, the elder had promised to make sure no rescue party would arrive and interfere, and no one did come, so that made up for the mishap.

"Let's go. We've wasted a lot of time already," said Sasori, hopping on the giant white bird. Deidara grunted in response before ordering his ride to fly away, heading for their secret hideout in Kusagakure.

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Naruto sighed in content as cold water cascaded down from the top of his head. He then turned off the shower and reached for a towel to dry himself off. Having put on his shorts, he exited the bathroom then walked toward his wardrobe. As he was combing his hair, he glanced at his reflection in the mirror and noticed something.

"I guess it's time to dye my hair again," Naruto muttered to himself. He checked the roots of his hair, and they were turning red as his hair grew longer.

"I still don't know why you have to dye your hair, Naruto. Can't you just put on a Henge?" asked Machi, sitting on a sofa and folding her clothes in the living room.

"I'm not Tsunade-sama, nee-san. Plus, I don't want to worry about any complications during mission," Naruto responded as he put on his dark red T-shirt.

The transformation technique was invaluable for both combat and intelligence gathering, allowing the users to apply diversion tactics or deceptions by transforming themselves into an animal, a plant or inanimate object. If the users were skilled enough with the jutsu, their guises would be close to indistinguishable. However, one of the drawbacks of the jutsu was that the transformation would dissolve the moment the users fell unconscious. The only known user who could keep the guise active all the time was Senju Tsunade, and how she managed to do it remained a secret to the world.

How ironic it was that for shinobi who could achieve feats unimaginably possible, such as walking on water, spitting fire, etc., simple and easy tricks could sometimes be the better options.

That being said, the exact reason he had to color his hair blond in the first place was to hide his Uzumaki lineage. The Uzumaki clan were known for their powerful Fūinjutsu and their incredible life force, but the most common trait among the members of the clan was their red hair. However, not so long ago, Uzushiogakure, the homeland of the Uzumaki, was destroyed by a coalition of some of the world's nations out of fear, forcing the survivors of the invasion to go into hiding.

And, Naruto didn't want to gamble on whether those nations wanted to completely eradicate any remnants of the clan or not. Hence, the young ANBU decided that his having red hair would be a dead giveaway that could jeopardize his real identity.

At the same time, having blond hair wasn't that much of a distinction as there were quite a number of people in the village who had that hair color. An obvious example was the members of the Yamanaka clan, some of whom also had blond hair. That way, on the off chance that any double agents within the village had their hands on his profile, they might just turn a blind eye to his surname, seeing that he didn't have the hair color trait of the ruined clan.

On a more personal level, Naruto was able to have something to remember his parents by: his mother's Uzumaki surname and his father's blond hair.

"I see. Is that what it's like to be an ANBU?" Machi softly muttered to herself, patting her soon-to-be-born child at the thought of her late husband. Of course, the brown-haired woman was no stranger to the lifestyle of a ninja, being a seasoned Chūnin herself. But the difference between a Chūnin and a Black Ops agent was miles apart. From the confidentiality of their identity to the nature of their missions, it was almost as though they lived in two different worlds.

It was as if the ANBU were ghosts existing among the living. Perhaps, that comparison wasn't that too far-fetched.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, brushing off the incredulity of his situation, "Eh, I'm used to it."

If living like a ghost kept his loved ones safe, he would do it a thousand times over.

Naruto then sat down on the floor before rolling open a scroll on the table. It contained the secret of the infamous technique of his father, the Flying Thunder God. Technically, it was the Nidaime Hokage who created the jutsu, but the Yondaime had ingeniously invented his own version and even incorporated his own seal onto his special tri-pronged kunai, allowing for more creative fighting styles.

The young ANBU himself had been gotten pretty good at using Fūinjutsu, but the Hiraishin no Jutsu was at a whole different level of difficulty. No wonder no one had been able to replicate the technique so far. He already had the formula down and the sequence of the kanji characters. However, he still couldn't figure out how to activate the seal. At the back of his mind, Naruto felt like something important was missing. After two years or so of experiments, the jutsu continued to be the puzzle he hadn't been able to solve yet.

Minutes went on as the Uzumaki studied the scroll with full concentration. Having finished folding her clothes, Machi went to do the dishes at the kitchen sink. Seeing her brother figure so busy doing mission and training during any free time he could get, Machi worried that him visiting her was a hassle.

"You know, you don't have to visit me regularly, Naruto. You must be so busy these days, with the Chūnin exam coming along and all. I can take care of myself. If not, I can just ask Yugao to come," said Machi. Yugao, the cat-masked ANBU in Naruto's squad, had already been checked out of the hospital. But the doctors recommended her to take at least a week off for rehabilitation as her gaping wound was quite severe. So, she could take Naruto's spot to stay with Machi for the time being.

"It's fine. If it's for my family, I always have time," replied Naruto, looking up at his sister figure with a broad smile on his face. Despite being only 12, the blond understood that people came and went in life. He had personally seen several of his colleagues fall during missions. Now with Boar gone too, it cemented his belief even further that no one could escape death. The least he could do was to cherish and protect the living as much as he could. "Family time is a top priority for me, neesan."

Suddenly, his eyes widened as he was struck with an epiphany. Time. Time!

That could be the last piece of puzzle that was missing. He had gotten the space aspect done, but not time. He wanted to mentally face palm himself right now. After all this time, the problem was right there in the classification of the jutsu. A Space-Time Ninjutsu.

All he needed to do was to add the link between the physical plane and a dimensional void where time moved incredibly slowly, if not at all. Once the seal was activated, he would be warped into a special dimension unaffected by the law of space-time continuum, upon entering which would allow him to instantaneously teleport to the jutsu's mark. Quickly scribing an additional formula on his seal, Naruto abruptly stood up with both hands raised high. He had finally completed the formulae.

Machi looked behind, alerted by the sudden movement. "What's wrong?"

"I did it." Naruto muttered absentmindedly before his face stretched into a wide grin, "I did it!" He couldn't help but express his excitement outwardly. He had gone through blood, sweat, and tears working on this, and finally he had succeeded. Immediately, he raised his fingers in a half tiger hand seal and closed his eyes tightly in utmost concentration.

"Did what?" asked Machi with one eyebrow raised, a spatula in her hand and a soap-soaked sponge in the other as she turned toward the young man.

Her answer came in the form of Naruto disappearing in a flash of yellow, followed by the sound of the spatula falling out of her hand and hitting the wooden floor.

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Held biannually, the Chūnin Selection Exams provided an opportunity for ninja of Genin rank who had confidence in their ability to try out for the promotion to Chūnin. Aside from being a chance for the Genin to move up the ladder of the ninja ranks, the exams, when open to all villages, could also improve relations between those villages. Economy wise, the participating villages had a platform to display their bright and promising talents in order to attract potential clients who came to attend the final stage of the exams.

Following the Third Ninja War, open Chūnin Selection Exams became more common. Invitations were sent to every village. In a way, the Chūnin exams were more like a power play among the villages, especially the Big Five. However, putting the young talents under the spotlight was a mixed blessing. Showing off up-and-coming ninja for the world to see would appeal to the clients and elevate the village's reputation. On the other hand, doing so could inadvertently paint a target on their backs, so some villages tended to hesitate to reveal their young generations.

Thus far, only two of the big five, Konoha and Suna, and a few minor villages such as Kusagakure, Amegakure, and Takigakure agreed to participate in the open exams. Hence, it was such a surprise to see not one, but two teams from Iwagakure coming for the exam held in Konoha this year. An emerging village, Otogakure, had also sent their own Genin to attend this year exam.

Currently, all the participating teams were standing in front of the Konoha Ninja Academy which had been designated as the place for the first part of the exam.

As the two Iwa's Genin teams were waiting to enter the exam room, they were bombarded with intense scrutiny from the other teams, especially those from Amegakure who had been glaring at them since their showing up.

"Don't worry, guys. Show 'em what you've got." Kurotsuchi exclaimed, trying to cheer up her junior ninja. "Remember the Will of Stone. We, Iwa shinobi, face the problems head on with confidence. We rise up to the challenge! No backing down!" Bringing her hand forward, she grinned in satisfaction as the six boys and girls stacked their hands on top of each other. "Let's kick some asses!" A collective determined grunts followed, their worries reassured.

Kurotsuchi proudly smirked with her hands on her waist as she watched the six Genin from her home village enter the building.

"Wow. You're good at giving pep talk." Said the female of the two Iwa Jōnin instructors.

"Yeah. No shit. Even better than you." Said the male Iwa Jōnin, referring his fellow instructor, earning an elbow jab from her.

Kurotsuchi chuckled in embarrassment. "Are you guys going to the Jōnin lounge?

The female Jōnin responded, "Yeah. You wanna come?"

The pink-eyed kunoichi shrugged her shoulders. "Nah. I have somewhere to go. Alright, see you guys later." Then she casually walked away as though she knew the place so well. Her two seniors blinked dumbly as they watched her retreating form.

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Five minutes later, she arrived at a training ground and saw Rat leaning on a post in the middle of the clearing. Staying in her quarter all day and doing nothing was too boring, so she had asked Rat for friendly spars with her every morning for the past week. It was not like they were revealing any secret techniques to one another, so they figured it was not that big of a deal.

The two might not have recognized it yet, but they had gotten closer, having spent a lot time talking, sparring, and grabbing meals together.

"I can't spar with you today, Kurotsuchi. I have to do the final inspection of the second test's location in about… five minutes," Rat said, noticeably dropping formality when he called the granddaughter of the Third Tsuchikage.

"Oh. Then, can I come with you?" she asked. Sensing his hesitation, she hurriedly explained her reasons but ended up stuttering a little bit, "You know… as the second party observer and all… I mean it's not like I want to go with yo-"

"Sure." Rat calmly answered. What she said sounded reasonable enough. Their villages were at the stage of testing each other's trust. Hence, she would be the witness to check whether Konoha would sabotage the Iwa teams or not, and vice versa for Rat. But a small part of his mind postulated that it was more than just the logical aspect by which the blond made such decision. Maybe he started to enjoy her company as well.

Kurotsuchi grinned, excitement shown on her face as the two started walking side by side. "So where is it?"

"The Forest of Death." Rat answered dramatically, moving his fingers in a slitting motion at his throat.

"Oooh~ spooky."

"That's where the demon lives."

"Demon?"

"Yeah. That's what I heard from the civilians and some ninja."

"Cool. Now I want to go there even more."

"All kinds of dangerous animals live in there. They'll eat you if you aren't careful."

"I ain't scared of animals." Kurotsuchi snorted.

"I warn you~"

"Try me."

Rat then raised his hands up in a theatrical fashion to mimic a scary monster and made unintelligible sounds, like parents usually did to their children when they played chase. Kurotsuchi just chuckled, rolling her eyes in amusement. The ANBU could sometimes be as serious as a dead man and sometimes as playful as a kitten. But his cute and weird antics always managed to make her laugh.

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"Akashi Nobu has begun putting his plan of a coup d'état into action as we suggested. He will strike when the finals of the Chūnin exam starts." A masked figure in a black cloak reported, kneeling in front of a man who was dressed in a white shirt and a dark grey robe, and was leaning on a cane in his left hand. "Orochimaru is in contact with the Fourth Kazekage. Why they met up we do not know. What is your order, Danzō-sama?"

"We will do nothing. Let Sarutobi deal with it. We'll interfere only when the situation is critical. For now, keep an eye on what they are planning and report immediately," said the leader of Root with a stoic expression. Although Danzō had dealings with Orochimaru before, they each had their own agendas. The Snake sannin's goals were to kill the Third Hokage and destroy Konoha in the process.

Danzō would never allow the latter to happen, but he was willing to let the former slide. When Hiruzen died, the seat of Hokage would be vacant, which presented the perfect chance for the Root leader to swoop in and take over the village. In the rarest of moments, a smirk escaped his emotional barrier as he was looking forward to how things would pan out.