Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, so please don't sue me. If you do, you'll only be a hundredaire so…

"Human talking"

_Human thinking_

**"Demon or Summon talking"**

_**Demon or Summon thinking**_

7-year-old Naruto Uzumaki hated his life. He hated how he was kicked out of the orphanage last year. He hated how he had to sleep in cardboard boxes on the south side of the red light district. (The prostitutes of Konoha were the only ones who wouldn't try to kill him in his sleep.) He hated the drunken villagers who beat him within an inch of his life, last night on his birthday. But the one thing that he probably should hate he couldn't bring himself to. At least not after the conversation he just had with it as he lay in his hospital bed under the now watchful eye of the Hokage.

**Flashback, Naruto's mindscape:**

Naruto woke up in warm water, comfortable warm water. He would have turned over and gone back to sleep if it hadn't been for a ridiculously loud, deep voice that seemed to come from everywhere, yelling at him. **"You lazy human scum, WAKE UP!"** the voice practically roared. This had the effect of waking young Naruto up completely.

Upon opening his eyes he quickly analyzed his surroundings, something he had learned to do the hard way, after the many times he had woken up on the streets. The water only came up to his ankles now that he was standing, and had a faint red glow to it. There were pipes running along the walls to his left and right, some with a blue glow and the others red. About 20 feet in front of him was a giant cage of some kind, with bars wider than he was.

Halfway up the bars there was a piece of paper with the kanji for 'Seal' on it. Naruto couldn't see what was in the cage, but based on the sound of its breathing it was huge and deserved a cage this size. "I didn't survive this long on my own by being curious," he said to himself as he got ready to take off.

**"That's it, kit, run away like you always do," **taunted the voice. Normally, Naruto would have ignored this, choosing continued survival over his pride.

But in light of this last beating finally pushing him over the edge, he turned around and yelled, without a drop of fear but an entire ocean of rage in his voice, "What do you know about me? What do you—?"

**"Everything! I have been sealed away inside you since the day you were born. My chakra is continuously healing you, saving you from beatings and poisonings and malnourishment. I've felt every blow the people of this pathetic village have dealt you. But no more! You will sit down and shut up while I explain certain things to you. Do you understand, kit?"**

"The sit down and shut up part yes, the rest, um… not really," Naruto responded honestly, but moved to follow instructions. Eyes, giant, red glowing eyes were all Naruto could see through the bars now that whatever he was talking to moved closer. "What are you?" he asked in awe.

**"I am the Kyuubi,"** answered the now-identified demon fox.

"Kyuubi? But they taught us in class that the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi," Naruto said, confusion clear in his voice.

**"I am a force of nature, boy, I cannot be killed. At least not permanently. Your Yondaime knew this and sealed me away in a human infant. You."**

"So that's why they hate me… they think I'm you!" yelled Naruto, standing and pointing an accusing finger at the fox.

**"SIT DOWN!"** roared Kyuubi, annoyed that he once again had to raise his voice. **"I did not choose to be sealed away in you. Nor did I choose to attack your village. 7 years ago I escaped my previous host and tried my damndest to get away from this wretched village before I was sealed again. I was only 4 or 5 miles outside of Konoha when a cloaked human with strange Sharingan eyes appeared in my path.**

**"I wasn't even going to kill him, choosing to simply jump over him instead. But while I was in the air passing him, he hit me with the most powerful fire jutsu I've ever seen a human produce. I landed and whipped around to end the insolent little twerp's life, but made the mistake of looking him in the eyes. He must have placed me in some kind of genjutsu, because the next thing I knew I was inside this cage, sealed away again despite my best efforts. That's what I get for showing mercy, I suppose,"** Kyuubi said in a slightly defeated voice.

Impressively Naruto was able to keep up with all this and quickly formulated a list of questions to ask the fox. "May I ask you a few questions now?" Naruto asked calmly, not wanting to anger the fox again.

"You may."

"Why did you heal me all this time if you hate showing mercy?" Naruto started off.

**"You and I are bound together, which is why I feel what you feel. If you die, I will be dispersed and it will take 9 years for me to reform. This process is more painful than anything you can imagine and is the worst fate any demon can experience. I healed you merely to save myself,"** informed the Kyuubi.

"Who was your last host?"

**"A redheaded human named Kushina Uzumaki. She was giving birth to a child when the seal holding me weakened. I seized the opportunity and escaped."**

Naruto was filled with multiple emotions when he heard this. He forgot to control himself and yelled his next question. "WAS SHE MY MOTHER?"

**"First of all, check your tone, human! Secondly, to answer your question, probably. I am not certain. When sealed I spend most of my time asleep so that my imprisonment passes faster. If my host draws enough of my chakra or is in enough pain, only then will I wake up completely. Because of this, most of my memory of the time spent sealed in her was of her battles,"** said Kyuubi.

Naruto, desperate to get any info he could on a potential family member, asked this: "What can you tell me about her?"

**"She used shadow clones both in battle and in training. She also used genjutsu heavily. She used multiple blades and collected them from her defeated enemies whenever possible. Now, ask one more question so we can move things along."**

"Do you have any idea who my father is?" asked Naruto.

**"In battle, she seemed to always worry about a man with blond hair and blue eyes, more than her other comrades. He was more powerful than she was, so I never understood. Anyway, now that I'm awake and looking through your memories, I see his picture in your history book. He was the Yondaime Hokage, the same person who probably sealed me in you,"** answered the fox with an unseen grin, knowing that this info would probably add to Naruto's hatred and rage.

_My father did this to me?_ he asked himself. _He's the reason why I live this shitty life?_ However, before he could continue this line of thought, the Kyuubi started talking again.

**"Kit, before I go to sleep I want to teach you how to defend yourself with my chakra. Stand up." **Once Naruto had done as instructed, he continued, **"My chakra is driven and controlled by hate and rage. To summon it, you simply have to channel these emotions. I want you to think back to how you felt when I taunted you earlier. Or think about just how fucked up your life is. Use your hate to connect to my chakra, and then pull."**

Naruto did as instructed and the results were both explosive and immediate. The vile chakra surrounded him in a red cloak. While he was surprised by the pain he felt along his chakra pathways, it paled in comparison to the rush of power. He could feel his fingernails and teeth growing, sharpening and coming to a point. His muscles and bones strengthened, stimulated by the chakra flowing through them.

**"Good, good, now I want you to create arms out of the chakra and try and touch the bars of my cage. Stay where you are, though. Practice extending and retracting them,"** instructed the Kyuubi. Naruto did as instructed and completed the task. "**Hm. It seems that you are a natural at using my power, which, because of how your life has been up till now makes sense. Now, kit, listen to me well. When inside of the village only use my chakra when your life in danger, because it is easily felt by people around you."**

**"If you use it too much, people will think the seal is weakening and that will lead to all sorts of problems for you. If you liked the chakra cloak and the chakra constructs, you can use your own chakra to make them. But you will need to work on your chakra control constantly,"** the Kyuubi warned.

"But why? I mean, it wasn't that hard to do just now. Why would using my chakra be different?" asked Naruto, having deactivated the cloak.

**"I was helping you control my chakra, but the seal prevents me from manipulating yours in any way,"** answered the fox, letting out a yawn.

"Okay, I understand," replied Naruto.

Naruto woke up to a boot in his gut and pain lancing though his body. "Well, would you look at this? The demon isn't dead yet, all the more fun for us, aye, boys?" asked drunken villager number one. "Yeah, my big brother came back that night with 3rd degree burns over his whole body. We had to give him a closed casket funeral. Let's set the demon on fire like he did to my brother," said drunken villager number 2.

Hearing this, Naruto knew he needed to do something quick, so he drew on the Kyuubi's chakra just as he had been taught. The chakra quickly formed a cloak around Naruto that burned through the villager's boot. Said villager jumped away, hoping to avoid the same happening to his foot, when a red fist made out of chakra hit him with incredible force on his right temple, jerking his head violently to the side and breaking his neck. He was dead before he even hit the ground.

The 3rd and final villager of the group let out a horrified scream and turned to run away.

**"I won't let you… (cough …cough) escape!"** Naruto half-yelled, half-croaked through the blood in his mouth and throat. He then sent an arm after the man, reforming its hand into a blade and simultaneously cutting and burning the man's head off. Because of the intense heat melting the majority of the vessels and arteries closed, there was little to no blood.

Funny how that didn't make the sight any less gruesome.

The 2nd villager was so afraid, he couldn't think properly. All he could do was stare at the slowly-standing blond child. Naruto limped toward him, and actually entertained the thought of sparing this one. But his train of thought darkened when he remembered the man's rant. "Let's set the demon on fire," Naruto repeated quietly. "There's an old saying. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

"No! Y-You st-tay way from me, demon!" the man stuttered.

**"Oh, and here I was, about to give you a hug. You know what? I think I still will."** Naruto grinned and grabbed the man in a bear hug. The villager was quickly burned by the cloak, but before he died Naruto let go and turned to walk away.

"Why? Why are you letting me live?" the villager whispered hoarsely.

The man's screaming had shaken Naruto out of his revenge-driven stupor. Letting his cloak fade, he looked down at the man with tears in his eyes.

"So that you can back me up when I tell them that I did this in self-defense." Naruto then channeled the fox's chakra to his eyes, turned them red, and looked into those of his victim**. "You will back me up, won't you?"** Naruto demanded, unknowingly channeling killing intent for the first time.

"Y-y-yes, of course, I promise," the man swore waveringly.

**"Good,"** Naruto replied as he cut the chakra and left the alley. He never saw the man pass out, nor did he sense the dog-masked ANBU—whose shift had just started—sneak up and knock him unconscious to rush him and the wounded villager to the hospital.

**Authors note: There you have it, my first try at writing a fanfic. I will probably have another, longer chapter up within a week (I have a trig test Wednesday and drill this weekend). All advice and criticisms, positive or otherwise are greatly appreciated.**

**Thanks and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto not me … (Wouldn't mind borrowing it though.)**

"Human talking"

'Human thinking'

"**Demon or Summon talking"**

'**Demon or Summon thinking'**

Jutsu will be underlined 

At the moment 61 year old Hiruzen Sarutobi absolutely hated himself. He hated how the council had pulled every damn trick they could to keep him from placing Naruto with young Yugao Uzuki who was a former student of Kushina Uzumaki and had requested to adopt Naruto once she learned of her sensei's death. It was to late now, Yugao's skills had continued to grow and she was currently undergoing initial Anbu training at 'the Pit', which is a hidden compound located on the other side of the Land of Fire.

He was pretty sure they were the cause of the ungodly amount of paperwork that tied up most of his time. Time that should have been spent looking after the injured child in the hospital bed in front of him. Before he could wallow further in self loathing a crane masked Anbu appeared in a bow to his right via smoke shunshin (body flicker).

"Hokage-sama, the council has called for an emergency meeting to take place 10 minutes from now." Crane informed. 'Crane, according to Ibiki's intel this man is possibly root compromised. That means Danzo most likely threw his weight around and called this meeting himself.' Sarutobi concluded. "Very well I'll be there shortly, dismissed."

As soon as he got to the S Crane was already gone in the same fashion he arrived. "Dog" Sarutobi summoned. "Hokage-sama?" Dog replied remaining in his hiding place. "No one enters this room until I return, not even hospital staff do you understand?" Sarutobi commanded in a tone that left no room for argument. "Hai Hokage-sama." Was Dog's simple reply.

8 min later in the Council Chambers:

Sarutobi looked around and saw that unsurprisingly everyone except the Uchiha and Senju Clan heads were present. As he sat down he called for the meeting to commence even though he was sure that at least the civilian side had already been discussing certain topics.

"Lord Hokage we called this meeting to discuss the horrible events that have happened recently and to ask that certain measures be taken to ensure Konoha's safety." Kohara Utatane informed. "I know that this is about Naruto so just cut to the chase."Sarutobi half sighed. "The boy is becoming unstable. I propose that he be placed in my care until he graduates from the academy."

Danzo Shimura (aka shady bastard) boldly stated. "Oh and I'm sure you will raise Naruto in a caring, nurturing environment." Sarutobi replied mockingly. "Well it's that or killing the thing! We can't allow it to go around ripping people to shreds!" Shouted Koji Ohayashi, a civilian council member.

This led to an uproar in which everyone besides Sarutobi and Shikaku Nara participated in. "SILENCE!" Sarutobi yelled, flooding the room with killing intent. " As long as there is breath in my body Naruto will never be one of Danzo's pawns nor will I allow him to be executed!" Sarutobi proclaimed causing most people in attendance to pause.

'I'm going to have to say something to get things moving again, how troublesome.' Shikaku thought to himself. "Hokage-sama if I could make a suggestion?" He asked and continued at Sarutobi's nod. "What if we gave Naruto his own place to stay that was somewhat isolated away from the villagers. We could give him a curfew of say… 9:30 or 10:00 at night that way he will be safe and out of sight before certain people are out on the street.

Assigning someone to check in on him from time to time and give us updates wouldn't be a bad idea either. Who knows maybe Naruto will form some kind of bond with this person after all a Jinchuriki with no positive bonds to their village is a dangerous thing." Shikaku warned. 'Thank Kami for you Shikaku.' Sarutobi thought.

"Who is going to pay for this place and who do you propose we get to watch him." Asked Hiroto Haruno who was the wealthiest merchant in Konoha. But before Shikaku could answer Sarutobi spoke up. "The industrial district has multiple buildings that could be converted into an apartment or two. Funding could be drawn from multiple sources but if necessary my clan will handle it.

As for who will be Naruto's guide it will obviously have to be a shinobi and I already have someone in mind." Sarutobi answered. 'If I can get him to agree to the assignment then she won't be to far behind.' He plotted cleverly. When no one decided to press the issue further one council member decided to change the topic of discussion.

"Hokage-sama if the village's police force wasn't in shambles last nights incident might have been avoided. I would like to propose that the Chunin and Special Jonin of the Hyuga branch family take over." Hiashi Hyuga suggested. "That is fine for the short term, however in light of last month's tragedy I will be passing a law banning one clan from making up an entire public service. The Uchiha clan massacre has kept us without a police force for a whole month now. This can never be allowed happen again." Said Sarutobi.

Hiashi, ever the politian did an admirable job hiding his displeasure at this. But Sarutobi had known the man since he was a Genin and could easily see through his mask. "As you wish Hokage-sama." "If there are no more issues that cannot wait until this councils scheduled meeting next week we are adjourned."

Meanwhile at the hospital:

Having been awake for the last 20 minutes or so Naruto was trying to decide what to do about his current situation. He was laying in a hospital bed with an IV that he probably didn't even need in his arm. But as annoying as that was, the fact that he was being watched was far more distressing.

He was doing his best to pretend like he hadn't noticed but he doubted he was succeeding. He was too jarred from everything that had just transpired to control the more subtle aspects of his body language. Seeing this Dog decided to try and calm the boy. "It's alright Naruto-kun I won't harm you. Your safe now." Dog tried to assure him from his hiding place.

"I'm never safe Anbu-san." Naruto answered quickly, exaggerating 'san' so that the Anbu would know that he didn't appreciate the 'kun' suffix being used behind his name. The tension in the room lessened however as the Hokage and a doctor entered the room. "Ah Naruto-kun I see your finally awake."Sarutobi with relief in his voice.

'What is it with these people acting like we're close or something. If this wasn't the Hokage I would have exploded just now. I'll have to try and keep myself in check while speaking to him.' Naruto thought. Taking a deep calming breath he responded. "Hai Hokage-sama, I am feeling much better now. When will I be able to leave the hospital?" "Well, I'm not sure Naruto-kun. How about we talk about what happened last night while doctor Kichida here gives you an exam?" Sarutobi asked.

Thinking quickly, Naruto told the Hokage about blacking out and going inside his mindscape. But he made it seem as though his visit with the fox was far briefer than it actually was. "So your saying that you blacked out, met a monster that said it was sealed inside you and asked if you wanted the power to protect yourself?" Sarutobi asked.

"Hai, when I said yes some kind of red light hit me and the next thing I knew I was back in that ally with a boot in my gut. They started talking about burning me alive and I…I just snaped." Naruto half lied, one of the many he would tell to not only this Hokage but the next.

"Naruto-kun you were only protecting yourself you didn't do anything wrong. Although I wish you hadn't used lethal force." Sarutobi said. 'Why, so the next idiot that tries to attack me thinks they will come out of it with a slap on the wrist?' Naruto asked himself. Doctor Kichida finished his examination ended the diagnostic jutsu he was using and turned to address the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama, I've never seen someone heal this quickly. The broken nose, ribs, and fractured patella have all mended completely. Even the bone calluses are receding which shouldn't be possible with out some kind of use of the injured bone. What's even more surprising is that there isn't any trace of his other injures. The bruises, the torn ligaments and cartilage, even the kidney trauma is gone without a trace." Kichida informed with absolute awe in his voice.

"So that means I can go right?" Naruto asked. "Well because the use of the Kyu… um I mean the monsters chakra seems to have put a strain on your chakra network. I think it would be best if you rested here for another day or two. I would also like to see you next Wednesday after you are released from the academy for a check up." Kichida's requested. "Ok" Naruto agreed. "Naruto-kun I am going to speak with the doctor, I will be back shortly."Sarutobi said giving a reassuring smile to which Naruto only nodded.

Doctor Kichida's office:

"Well what do you think?" Sarutobi asked. "Physically he his healing better than I had hoped. But mentally, (sighs and runs a hand threw his hair) who knows. I would order a psych eval but I can't think of one psychologist on staff that could be trusted to handle the situation." Kichida replied in a defeated tone.

"I have a plan that will hopefully aid Naruto-kun in that regard. I'm just thankful that you don't share in the prejudice that has gripped the village." Sarutobi said with a small smile. "Being the son of a seal master may have something to do with that. I over heard my father explain the difference between Jinchuriki and the demons they carry to Jiraiya-senpai as a child." Kichida said.

"That reminds me. Did you examine the seal like I asked?" Asked Sarutobi his smile being replaced by a more serious look. " I couldn't find any sign of it weakening. But Hokage-sama I must admit my skills are not quite on Jiraiya-senpai's level and not even close to Minato-kun's. Add that to the fact that I haven't seen the Shiki Fujin's (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) schematics I could be easily be missing something." Kichida replied truthfully.

"Well with Jiraiya-kun out of the village and your father and Minato-kun being gone you are the villages foremost seal master. If I didn't know how much you love practicing medicine I'd ask you to teach a few of my Jonin the art. Now let's go wrap things up with Naruto-kun he's probably wondering about the monster he saw in his mindscape. " Sarutobi responded.

4 days later:

Naruto walked into his classroom in the academy seconds before the bell. Looking around he noticed that there were only two seats available. One in the row to his right beside the bug kid Shino and the other up front beside Sakura, who was to busy fawning over Sasuke to notice him.

'Why am I into her anyway? All she ever does is hit me when I try to be nice to her. Goes to show what being nice gets you.' Naruto thought as he sat down next to Shino.

As the instructor began his lesson Naruto noticed that he was able to follow along and retain the info easier. 'Did all of the chakra going through my network do something to my brain.' He wondered as he, for the first time in his year and 3 months in the academy began to jot down notes.

Paying attention in class caused the day to pass by quickly and the next thing he knew it was the second to last period which is the practical exercise portion of the school day and since it was Thursday it was sparing day. Naruto watched the matches and realized that he needed to learn some kind of fighting style besides the academy basic that he was learning because the clan kids that used their family's style absolutely demolished their opponents.

"Alright Ken Maeda and Naruto Uzumaki report to the sparing circle." Once there the instructor explained the rules like he did over and over every match. "No shots to the groin, no eye gouging. This will be a 5min spar; in order to win you must either make your opponent verbally forfeit or get them outside the circle. Do you understand these rules as I have explained them to you?" He asked. "Hai sensei" "Hai sensei" "Alright begin."He commanded as he steped out of the ring.

Fight scene:

At 4 feet 78 pounds Ken Maeda was a big kid. Especially to Naruto's 3'6 - 53 pounds . If the rumors Naruto had heard were true then Ken was a year older than the rest of the class because he stared the academy late. But in Naruto's mind that still didn't excuse the fact that he was so Kami damn big.

He was a good dude though having never picked on Naruto like 60% of the rest of the class. "Lets do it Naruto." He stated in his deep slow drawl that others made fun of daily. Naruto nodded and took a defensive stance. Ken seeing this went on the attack.

He charged and launched a haymaker that Naruto managed to dodge. He followed up with a back fist that, albeit slow still connected because it smashed through Naruto's block sending him to the ground. 'A blow from this dude is almost as bad one from those drunken idiots.' Naruto thought to himself.

"Too damn big." He grumbled too quiet for anyone else to hear as he got to his feet. Ken being the slow thinking guy he was gave Naruto time to collect himself instead of pressing his attack. 'Ok he is strong and has a killer reach; I somehow doubt that I'll be able to deal any serious damage to him. So how am I going to do this?' Naruto said looking at his opponent, it was when he looked at Ken's feet which were right beside the edge of the circle did he get an idea.

"A freak, I was wondering, was your mom a huge like you? I bet she was huh? She probably died with a doughnut in her throat." Naruto taunted with a grin on his face. He knew that it was a douchey thing to do and felt remorse using the death of Ken's mother like this but didn't let it show. Over the last few days he had come to understand rage and knew that most people couldn't use it like he was learning to.

Rage tended to engulf nice people like Ken rapidly while his was a slow but constant burn. "Aaaaahh! Ken yelled fist raised as he charged ready to turn Naruto's grinning face into paste. Naruto jumped back to the edge of the circle behind him .

When Ken reached him and swung that haymaker of his Naruto dodged down and left extending his right leg causing Ken to trip out of the circle. "Winner Naruto" The instructor announced surprise at Naruto's victory clear on his face. However, before he could call for the next match he had to place Ken in a head lock to keep him from going after Naruto. "Practical Exercise is over for today. Everyone back in the class room now, no talking!" He yelled and the students not used to this particular teacher raising his voice quickly complied.

Later in the class room:

"Naruto come down here and apologize to Ken for insulting his mother." The teacher demanded. "No" Naruto responded. Looks of disbelief passed though out the class room. "And why not?" The teacher demanded through clinched teeth.

"Because I'm not sorry about the insult, I'm sorry Ken's mother died but since my taunt led to Ken losing focus and me winning the match I'm not going to lie to his face about it. All I did was use what was available to me to defeat someone who is a better fighter." Naruto finished.

'Naruto-kun what has happened to you?' A certain white eyed girl wondered to her self. Kiba Inuzuka couldn't keep his anger in check and yelled out. "It wasn't fair you messed with his head." "He was physically superior so it was necessary." Naruto responded getting tired of defending himself.

"Ken go back to your seat." The teacher stated with a sigh. "That's it? Naruto-baka isn't even going to be punished?" Sakura asked/demanded. "Oh he will but I'm not going to be the one to decide his punishment the headmaster will.

Naruto you are unwelcome in my classroom when you come to school tomorrow you will report directly to the headmaster's office do you understand?" The teacher asked. Naruto nodded and left the room without looking back. If he had he would have noticed that amongst the sea of disapproving eyes a set of onyx ones looked at him with curiosity.

Next day:

Naruto entered of the Headmaster's office fully expecting to be suspended and assigned a new class. He was surprised however, when he noticed the man sitting behind the desk. "Your not the Headmaster." Naruto stated. The Headmaster was a chubby woman of roughly 40 years of age. The man had to be closer to 60. He had shaggy hair, bandages covering his forehead and right eye. He also had his robe situated around his right arm in a way that resembled a sling. "Uzumaki-san my name is Danzo Shimura; I have a proposal for you."

**Authors note: And there you have it. Another chapter knocked out. If you are disappointed about the lack of violence in this story don't be it's definitely on the way. I'm gonna try and post the next chapter by 5-3-12. **

**Ps. I haven't quite decided if Naruto is going to take Danzo's offer. If I you want to put your two cents in on the subject please review. Thanks! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Nothings changed, still don't own Naruto. **

"Human talking"

'Human thinking'

"**Demon or Summon talking"**

'**Demon or Summon thinking'**

Jutsu will be underlined 

Two year timeskip:

If Crane could still feel hate like a normal person, he would definitely hate his life right now. When Danzo-sama moved him from being a messenger to a root personnel trainer he thought that his skills were finally being recognized. Turns out that he was only given one trainee which wouldn't have been so bad if not for this particular student's personality.

Such a thing shouldn't even be a factor in training a root candidate because of the intense emotional conditioning regimen that they have to go through. But because of the Hokage's interest in his student Danzo-sama decided that it would be best to design a regimen to help him control his emotions as opposed to restricting/removing them. This has led to his student being focused and efficient but also ruthless and on occasion defiant.

In the last two years the skills of young Naruto Uzumaki had absolutely skyrocketed. The boy was certainly not a genius in the traditional since as he took longer than others to grasp certain concepts especially Genjutsu. But it was Danzo-sama himself who diagnosed this problem 17 months ago. Naruto despite his young age had the chakra reserves of a high ranked chunin but his chakra control was terrible. Danzo-sama had him teach Naruto the basic chakra control exercises: leaf floating and kunai balancing which took 3 entire months to be done to standard.

Once they were complete Danzo-sama himself taught Naruto the shadow clone jutsu and had him create a few while learning tree and water walking. This enabled the training to go much faster and be completed in just 3 weeks. Naruto's Ninjutsu and Taijutsu improved at a ridiculous rate under the now dubbed shadow clone training method.

However Genjutsu was still a problem, not only was Naruto unable to cast his own but he was unable to notice and expel even the lowest of d-rank Genjustu. Danzo-sama theorized that because of the size of Naruto's chakra coils, foreign chakra has more room to move which makes it harder to be detected and expelled.

To combat this Danzo-sama tasked his best Fuinjutsu experts and med-nin to devise a solution to this problem. What they came up with was an extremely radical medical procedure that only someone with Naruto's ability to heal could undergo and surgically implanted semi-microscopic seals into all 361 of Naruto's tenketsu that were designed to detect any chakra other than Naruto's and the Kyuubi's and block it from entering the body.

Said seals could be deactivated with a series of hand seals if necessary and needed to be replaced every 5 years but since the surgery and seals were successful Naruto is now completly immune to all forms of Genjutsu.

"Your not getting tired are you Crane-sensei?" Naruto taunted. "Just lost in thought Naruto lets proceed, remove your weights." Naruto undid his weighted shin and forearm guards allowing them to fall to the ground with a deep thud and took a fighting stance. "Lightning Release: Lightning Ball Jutsu" Crane launched his jutsu at Naruto.

" Wind Release: Air Bullets Jutsu" Countered Naruto aiming two bullets at Crane's jutsu dispelling it and the other two at Crane himself forcing the root operative to be the first to go on the defensive. His pressed his attack by creating three shadow clones to draw any further fire from Crane while he closed the distance.

'Crane-sensei is better than me with Ninjutsu I'll need to engage him in Kenjutsu or Taijutsu if I'm going to have a shot at beating him.' Naruto concluded. He drew his straight sword and attempted to stab Crane only to jump back at the last second, narrowly escaping as Crane seemingly turned into lightning chakra and exploded. "What the hell was that!" Naruto asked having never seen such a thing.

"Lightning Release: Shadow Clone Jutsu." Crane answered his voice echoing throughout the chamber. "You made a shadow clone out of electricity, impressive." Naruto observed. Hearing multiple kunai slicing through the air he wiped his sword around and deflected the entire barrage of over 40. "Your skills in Kenjutsu have exceeded my expectations. Goes to show how having two of the leafs experts in said area teaching the same student can produce."Said Crane. "It took forever to talk Hayate and Yugao to take me on as there student instead of just babysitting me like the Hokage ordered them to. Now how about you show yourself so we can finish this." Naruto replied.

"You are a close to mid range type, because of this your opponents may choose to attack you hidden and at a distance just as I am now. If you can find a solution to this problem I will recommend to Danzo-sama that you be promoted to Jr. Root Anbu status." Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, he had expected to be kept at trainee status for a couple more years despite his skill because of his young age.

Jr Root Anbu were allowed to leave the village and take part in minor missions such as destroying bandit camps or stealing documents from courier-nins. With this new incentive Naruto desided to stop holding back and flew through the hand seals for his first original jutsu. Bird-Horse-Rat-Ram "Demon Mimicry: Human Chakra Cloak Jutsu!"

Naruto called out as he summoned his chakra and forced it to mimic that of the Kyuubi. His body was strengthened by the influx of chakra running through it and underwent a transformation similar to the one it takes when using demonic chakra, the only difference being his eyes that while gaining an animalistic slit remained blue in color.

Blue chakra surrounded Naruto like a fiery armor producing heat so intense that it melted the concrete beneath Naruto's feet. 'Damn, I'm still using to much chakra when I first start the technique.' Naruto thought to himself as he cut his chakra out put. "So this is the technique you have been developing. I wonder how long you can keep it going." Asked Crane

"I'm afraid you won't be able to see this time sensei Demon Mimicry: 360 degree Chakra pulse Jutsu." Naruto stated as his chakra cloak took on the shape of a dome and then expanded out in a burst of speed. His jutsu slammed into the walls of the sparing chamber they were in, forcing Crane from his hiding place and into the air. Seeing this Naruto sent two chakra arms after his sensei and because he was in the air he was unable to dodge them effectively. Once Crane was in Naruto's grip he tried to send some electricity though the arms to shock his student.

This proved to be a mistake because as soon as he started generating a current he was hit with a surprising amount of feedback and almost lost consciousness. Naruto lowered his opponent to the ground while simultaneously squeezing him. "Do you yield?" Naruto asked. "Hai, it seems you have surpassed me after only two years of training. Of course I'm only chunin level myself."Crane admitted.

"So what now?" Naruto asked as he let his cloak fade but before Crane could answer the chamber doors creaked open and Danzo entered the room. "I believe I can answer that question." Danzo stated. Naruto and Crane immediately took a knee and bowed upon seeing him. Since Crane was still out of breath Naruto decided to be the one to speak up despite being the Jr of the two.

"What do you require of us Danzo-sama?" Naruto asked in a slightly more respectful manner than normal. "Naruto Uzumaki you are herby promoted to Jr Root status and upon the successful completion of the mission I'm about to issue you, you will under go the final stage of your Root training." Danzo informed. "Hai Danzo-sama." Naruto accepted. "Tomorrow at 2000 hrs you will be attached to a team tasked leave Konoha and infiltrate Takigakure.

The village is in a state of panic because of it's leaders sudden illness making now the perfect time to under take this mission. According to our intel the village's Jinchuriki is a young girl of 12 years of age with green hair and orange eyes. She apparently is not allowed to actually enter the village and will most likely be patrolling it's perimeter.

You and Crane will draw the villages Jinchuriki away from the village without alerting the shinobi within while the infiltration team acquires a sample of the villages Hero Water. The skill level and abilities of the Jinchuriki are currently unknown so avoid a direct confrontation with her if at all possible. Questions?" Danzo asked.

"I thought that the entrance to the village was unknown?" Naruto asked. "After some… creative interrogation of a Takigakure Jonin we have the location of the entrance." Danzo stated and for a split second Naruto could have sworn there was a spike of chakra in Danzo's covered eye.

Three nights later: 0237 Hrs

Naruto and Crane were crouched behind a bolder waiting for Mantis to give them the hand signal to start the operation. Naruto adjusted his blank porcelain face mask not being used to wearing it. They were about 200 yards away from the entrance of the village and had been waiting for over a half hour. When Naruto looked to his right he saw a Green and White blur heading away from the village he then looked at Mantis who nodded and gave the signal to begin.

The six Root spilt into two groups with Naruto and Crane following their target and the other four going after theirs. 20 mins later Naruto and Crane found a very naked Fuu bathing in a small stream. "Lead. Jinchuriki. Further. Away. From. Village. I. Will. Remain. Hidden. For. Now" Crane ordered in hand signals.

Naruto nodded and created a shadow clone to steal Fu's gear while he appeared next to her on top of the water in a shunshin. "You know you're the first naked girl I've ever seen. I must say you're fairly developed for a 12 year old." Naruto said. Fu blushed heavily and letting out a roar of outrage swiped at Naruto with a knife hand that he proptly dodged.

She then jumped onto the waters surface and engaged the masked boy in Taijutsu. 'She's fast and has excellent reflexes but lacks an actual fighting style.' Naruto assessed. He was temped to try and knock her out then and there but stuck to his orders and took off into the woods away from the village. Fu in a rage induced haze followed after him without even bothering to look for her now stolen clothes.

It took her over 10 mins to calm down enough to realize that she wouldn't be able to catch her opponent without using _it. _Letting the vile chakra of the Nanabi come to the surface she formed two chakra tails, one on each side, and began to flap them at near supersonic speeds taking to the air she began to close the distance between them.

Feeling the spike in chakra Naruto turned around and couldn't believe what he was looking at. 'She can fucking fly! I guess leading her further away from the village is out of the question now. I'll have to fight her and by the other team more time. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough" Naruto extended his palms out toward Fu hitting her with a powerfull and wide spread gust of wind.

Unluckily Fu was exceedingly experienced in flying and was able to level herself out. But because her attention was focused on staying in the air she failed to notice the shadow clone that Naruto had created earlier as it jumped out of a tree and delivered a powerful kick to her right temple sending her crashing to the ground. Naruto rushed in sword drawn in an attempt to end this quickly but but Fu got to her feet before he could reach her and launched a jutsu of her own at near point blank range.

"Ninja Art: Poision Fog Jutsu" Fu opened her mouth and exhaled a thick puple posion fog. Naruto thinking quickly channeled wind chakra into his sword and swung the flat of the blade at the fog generating a small gust of wind. This combined with jumping back as hard as he could allowed him to narrowly escape Fu's technique. 'Assuming that your opponent was stunned and rushing in like an idiot. I can practically feel Crane-sensei shaking his head in his hiding place right now.' Naruto thought to himself feeling his anger beginning to surface.

'I launched that jutsu practically right in his face! Who the hell is this kid? Should I use another tail of the Nanabis's chakra?' "Who are you?" Fu half asked half demanded. "I don't have a name yet. Any suggestions?" Naruto asked. "Yeah, how about pervy masked boy!" Fu yelled. "Pervy masked boy, that's the best you can come up with? All beauty and no brains, you're what they call ditzy right?" Naruto Taunted hoping she would rush him recklessly.

He got more than he bargained for when dark green chakra took the shape of a four tailed beetle around her complete with clawed hands and huge sharp looking teeth. **"We're getting tired of your mouth human. It's time we shut it once and for all." **Said Fu/Nanabi

'Damn it, apparently her demon actually fights with her and if she uses anymore of the things chakra than the more sensitive chakra censors of Takigakure will notice. But I can't use the Kyuubi's chakra because the Nanabi will recognize it. That only leaves my human cloak but I won't be able to keep it going long enough to survive fighting a Jinchuriki using 4 tails of her demons chakra.' Naruto thought to himself only to narrowly dodge one of Fu/Nanabi's whip like tails.

"No choice." He said out loud as he went though the necessary hand signs. "Demon Mimicry: Human Chakra Cloak Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he underwent his own transformation. **"Your cheap trick won't be enough; you will not leave this place with your life! ****Hiden: Hiding in Scale Powder Jutsu****!" **Fu/Nanabi yelled and exhaled a powder that quickly filled the entire area and do to it's luminous quality taking advantage of the nights full moon it shined so brightly that Naruto had to close his eyes. Fu/Nanabi then attacked with a swipe of their tail only for it to be caught by a blue hand made of chakra.

"Taking away one of my senses won't help you because this _Cheap Trick_ as you called it enhances all of them pass human levels." Naruto informed as the radio in his ear crackled to life. "Naruto, if you can hold her down for a few seconds I can end this." Crane told Naruto. Naruto seemingly, nervously opened and closed his hands. But was actually signaling his acceptance of Crane's plan, he then reached in to his equipment pouch and swallowed a soldier pill so that he could keep the cloak going.

Creating three more chakra arms he latched on to his opponent and brought her close to him. He quickly realized how crazy trying to hold onto a pissed off Jinchuriki was. But I steeled his resolve when his sensei shunshined behind said Jinchuriki and slammed his strangely purple glowing hand into the small of her back. "Five Elements Seal!" Crane cried out while suffering 2nd to 3rd degree burns to his hand. Fu/Nanabi's eyes widened as their chakra violently halted causing them both to lose consciousness.

Naruto then dropped to a knee in exhaustion having already released his cloak as soon as he felt Fu's body slack. "What…was ..that?" He panted. "A technique that Danzo-sama thought me incase you ever got out of control." Crane answered. "You mean if …I ever lost control right?" Naruto asked eyes narrowed. "Sure." Crane answered in a monotone that seemed somehow less convincing than normal. "She should remain unconscious for several hours. If we were to kill her now Takigakure's military might and treat level will decrease significantly." Crane answered drawing his tanto with his good hand.

"No, we should leave her for now. In my current state I doubt that I could out run the blast when her demon dispersed its self other wise. Naruto recommended. "Fine we'll restrain her with chakra suppressing seals and meet the others at the rendezvous point." Crane ordered.

Three days later: 0830 Hrs

The mission was successful with only one team member losing her life holding off pursuers. The only one who was wounded was Crane whose severely burned hand had already been treated and bandaged by med-nin. Mantis was finishing debriefing Danzo who was holding the Hero Water sample in his hand.

"I see, the loss of Spider is disappointing, getting Hyuga into Root is quite difficult… but not impossible and a chance to study the Hero Water makes her death an honorable one. Mantis you and your team are dismissed." Danzo said.

Once Danzo, Naruto and Crane were alone in the chamber Danzo turned to his two followers and gave an order that shook them both. "I have no use for a broken tool or one that places sentimental bonds before the good of the village. Crane, Naruto only one of you are to leave this room alive." Danzo stated before leaving in a shunshin.

**Authors note: I'll admit that this chapter is a little rushed** **but I plan on keeping the deadlines I give myself. Next chapter should be up by 5-8-12.**

**Ps. Still looking for a beta. If your interested or want to recommend someone please send me a PM. Thanks and Please Review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I like to think of Naruto the same way I think of my uncle's new Mustang. I don't own it but it's still cool to take for a drive. **

"Human talking"

'Human thinking'

"**Demon or Summon talking"**

'**Demon or Summon thinking'**

Jutsu will be underlined 

Naruto hated Danzo for more than he had just made him do. Two years ago he had taken the shady man's offer only at the fox's insistence. He hated the caged bird seal variant that Danzo had applied to the small of his back, interwoven with the nerve endings of his spine. He hated (albeit to a lesser extent) the seal on the bottom of his tongue that kept him from speaking of Danzo or Root. He hated how, when pitching his proposal Danzo had decided not to mention the seals and upon Naruto's acceptance of becoming Danzo's apprentice (he never agreed to become a root agent) he was placed under a sleep inducing Genjutsu and awoke a slave 24 hours later.

But despite himself he had allowed his hatred of Danzo to fade into a strong disliking/grudging respect for the man. After all Danzo had never once used the seal on Naruto's back to discipline him. Instead he would just train Naruto into the ground pushing him past his limits and causing him incredible amounts of pain. But it was a type of pain that Naruto was glad for. A type of pain that allowed him to gain power at a ridiculous rate.

However as he looked down at the slain body of his first sensei, the first person who he had ever formed any kind of bonds with he made himself a rage influenced promise. Danzo Shimura would die by his hand.

"Well done Naruto, remove his mask." Danzo ordered from the now opened doors of the chamber. Naruto knelt down and took his teachers mask surprised by how young he was maybe 16 or 17 years old. "Now rise, new Crane of Root." Naruto looked at Danzo with surprise and outrage clear on his face, unable to conceal his emotions after everything that had just happened. "Do not forget your place." Danzo warned raising his hand in the half ram seal. Schooling his features Naruto simply replied "Hai, Danzo-sama" and slid his dead sensei's mask over his face. "Crane, follow me."

Atop the Hokage monument 10:04 Hrs

Naruto landed on top of the head of the Nidaime seconds after Danzo not at all surprised the supposedly _crippled _man could move so quickly. What was surprising was the slight but unidentifiable emotion present on the mans face as he looked down on the village below. " Crane when you look down on this village what do you see?" Danzo asked. "I see civilians and shinobi going about their day." Naruto answered not understanding where Danzo was going with this.

"I see those that walk in the light with happiness and hope and the will of fire in their hearts. I see what I must protect by any and all means even if it means giving up my soul. I had you kill your predecessor to see if you could do what was necessary for the betterment of the village i…" "I killed Crane-sensei because he would never have disobeyed you! I killed him to survive!" Naruto interrupted. "Yes, your survival is important not only to you but to this village." Danzo informed.

Naruto, lost once again simply replied "What?" "I was not lying to you when I said I wanted you to be my apprentice. When I am gone you will lead Root and as its leader you will have to commit atrocities far greater than killing a sensei. Root exists for this purpose, to spread our roots in the darkness so that the great tree that is Konoha can grow strong in the light." "But why choose me? Most of the people of this village hate me and I hate them right back." Naruto asked.

"Look at that little girl eating ice cream in front of Haruno's convenience store. Do you hate her? Of course not. People are stupid, panicky, easily influenced animals. They abused you because they believe you are the Kyuubi or are being influenced by it but it is not you, Naruto Uzumaki that they hate. Just as it is not the people of this village that you truly hate, but the pain that you have suffered at there misguided hands and your own weakness that prevented you from stopping them. I know that you have grown close to Hayate Gekko and Yugao Uzuki no matter how much you deny it. They will not be only people of this village that you will hold dear. Despite this hatred will always be what drives you and it is hatred that will always keep you from walking in the light. It is for these reasons that I choose you to be my apprentice. From this moment on the training wheels are off and you will bare witness to the horrors that this shinobi world has to offer. Welcome Crane, welcome to Root."

Industrial district 21:12 Hrs

Naruto sat on top of the abandoned chakra conductive metal factory the tallest building in the industrial district thinking about all the things that Danzo had said to him. Some of which he had taken to heart but mostly, he chalked up Danzo's little speech as an attempt to manipulate him and placate his fury. 'I'll take over Root when he's gone and it will be sooner than he thinks.' Naruto thought to himself. It was a few minutes later that he sensed someone approaching.

"Naru-kun no time no see." "Uzuki-san how many times have I asked you to stop calling me that?" Naruto asked sighing, to tired to put up his usual protests of the overly affectionate nickname. Mistaking his fatigue for brooding Yugao decided to ignore his question and cheer up her little brother figure. "I have some great news for you. Hokage-sama pulled some strings and found a teacher willing to give you a chance. Next year you'll be going back to the academy instead of that dreadful alternative school. Isn't that great!" Yugao exclaimed far to excited for Naruto's liking. 'The alternative school is run by root if I get transferred back to the academy my training will be set back. I'll have to see if Danzo can get me out of this.' "Sure Yugao-san, I can't wait to catch up with my old classmates." Naruto lied with a very convincing smile on his face.

It turned out that Danzo and his allies on the council where unable to stop Sarutobi from placing Naruto back in the academy. For this reason Danzo decided to bar Naruto from going on any more missions despite promoting him to full Root Anbu Status. He spent the next 9 months training Naruto even harder than before determined to capitalize on the time he had left with him. He put together I team of instructors with various skill sets and assigned them each an army of Naruto clones to train.

He was even able to get Naruto to cast D-rank Genjutus to standard and use his tenketsu seals to sense when someone was trying to cast one on him. Danzo also discovered that Naruto possessed a high aptitude for Fuinjutsu but that was one talent he couldn't afford to nurture at least, not until he was sure the boy had come around to his way of thinking. After all, he was forging the greatest weapon the world has ever seen. A monster of a shinobi, allowing said monster to figure out a way off its leash could prove disastrous.

Night before Naruto's return to the academy:

Naruto was running through the residential district, a place that he usually avoided but needed to cut through tonight if he was going to make curfew. When on active status in root he could stay away from his apartment for weeks at a time thanks to the highly talented Chameleon who created some sort of special henge that was nearly imposible for even Jonin to detect. But because of the Hokages renewed interest in him Danzo had changed Naruto's status to sleeper agent.

Naruto was forced to stop running when a training kunai was implanted into the ground a few feet in front of him. Looking to his right he saw none other than Sasuke Uchiha preparing to launch another. "What the hell is wrong with you Uchiha?" Naruto asked. "Fight me." Was Sasuke response. "Look I don't have time for this if you want to fight we can do it tomorrow after class." Naruto offered. "So the rumors are true, you're returning to the academy?" Sasuke asked. "Yeah, later." Naruto took off even faster than before. 'Faster than a academy student should be able.' Sasuke thought to himself.

Next morning 7:55 Hrs Academy Courtyard

Ino was waiting for Sasuke-kun to show up hoping that he would maybe walk her to class today. Deep down in her heart of hearts she knew that he would just blow her off but a girl had to hope right? After all nothing worth having comes easy right? As she was scanning the courtyard for her crush she noticed something that drew her attention, a fellow blonde. None of the rest of her clan's youth were currently attending the academy being either to young or having already graduated.

Upon closer inspection she saw a boy of slightly above average height but definitely above average build walking towards the building. He was wearing an unzipped black track suit jacket with a burnt orange muscle shirt underneath and a pair of slightly baggy shinobi shorts with kunai and shuriken holsters on each leg. Upon looking at his face she couldn't help but think the boy handsome.

Maybe not in the obvious, in your face way Sasuke was but with his near shoulder length spiky blond hair that seemed to glow in the morning sun and framed his angular baby fat free face he was definitely a looker. It was when she noticed the whisker like marks on his face that she realized who this kid actually was. "Naruto?" Ino asked. Despite being seemingly out of ear shot Naruto looked at her and nodded and then walked past her not stopping for conversation. Forgetting about Sasuke for the moment she walked behind him all the way to their nearly empty classroom and sat in the row behind him completely entranced.

She was so entranced that she only noticed Sasuke when he walked up to Naruto with a group of fan girls behind him something that should have bothered her but for some reason didn't. "Don't forget our fight later today." Sasuke reminded him. "Kami, class hasn't even started yet, why do you want to fight me anyway?"Naruto asked. "You remind me of someone that I hate." Sasuke informed. For some reason Ino didn't like the idea of Naruto and Sasuke-kun fighting so when their Two new instructors walked into the classroom and had everyone take a seat she couldn't help but be relived.

"Hello everyone my name is Iruka Umino and this is Mizuki well be your instructors for the remainder of your time in the academy. These final two years will be more intense than your last three and a third of the people in this classroom won't even make it pass this year. That's why its important that you take your training seriously and ask for help when you need it." Iruka lectured.

"This year while the class is so large you'll be split into two groups, I will be the primary instructor for A group which will consist of those whose last names beginning with A-M. Everyone else will be in B group. You will all receive instruction from both of us but when you need extra help and are turning in your test papers come to your group's instructor that way we can keep up with all of you… Oh that reminds me tomorrow when you come to class A group will sit on the right side in alphabetical order." Mizuki said. "Um… everyone in B group will sit on the left side of the classroom but I'm pretty good with names so your order doesn't matter." Said Iruka.

Many of the students such as Choji Akimichi were upset about not getting to sit with their friends. Others like Sakura and the rest of Sasuke's fan club that weren't in his group were absolutely outraged. This outrage led to the class becoming acquainted with Iruka's Big Head Jutsu.

The rest of the day passed unremarkably with the students taking a few assessment tests so that Iruka and Mizuki could see where they should start off. When class was over Naruto left to see everyone gathered in the courtyard deciding to get this out of the way he walked into the group and squared up with Sasuke. "Glad you decided to show I would have hated to have to hunt you down."Said Sasuke. "Let's skip the banter and get to the fighting." Naruto replied.

Not wasting any time Sasuke started going through a set of hand seals Naruto recognized completed faster than the Uchiha. "Great Fireball Jutsu" Naruto exclaimedsending a ball of fire at the Uchiha. Sasuke was undeterred and to Naruto's surprise launched the Jutsu's fire chakra enhanced version that seemingly absorbed his jutsu and continued right for couldn't help but feel a small amount of fear at the trouble he'd get in for setting the blond on fire but when the flames receded he found himself looking at a burning log instead of a burning body. "Substitution" Sasuke smirked excited at the prospect of finding a worthy opponent.

Sensing an incoming attack from behind he spun around to defend himself. Had he acted a split second sooner he might have avoided being hit with the strongest punch he had ever taken in his life. It was so powerful it lifted him the ground but recovering quickly he managed to roll away form Naruto and get to his feet. Feeling something dripping from his mouth he wiped it with the back of his hand to discover he was bleeding. His opponent had drawn first blood.

Deciding that engaging Naruto in straight Taijutsu (given his powerful punches) would be a bad idea Sasuke generated three regular Bunshin and channeled a small amount of chakra to his legs hoping to confuse and overwhelm Naruto with his speed. It was not to be however, as Naruto simply ignored the intangible clones and blocked 80% of Sasuke's attacks.

Those watching the fight couldn't believe what they were seeing. The former dead last was now winning a fight against Sasuke Uchiha how could he have gotten so strong in alternative school? Sasuke was asking himself the same thing after all this was the most intense fight he has ever been in. He might actually get hurt. It was this realization and the small fear that came with it, combined with the speed in which Naruto, who was now on the offensive was attacking that did it. Sasuke's Sharingan awakened.

It was like someone had slipped a pair of glasses over his eyes and then slowed time down to a crawl. He now able to deflect more of Naruto's punches and having his reaction time greatly improved grabbed one of his opponent's wrists and twisting his body flipped Naruto over his shoulder and onto the ground. As he prepared to unleash a heel drop on Naruto's face he managed to stop himself when two words he didn't expect hear came from his target. "I give." Naruto loudly but calmly said.

For his part Naruto had been holding back the entire fight after all a jump in skill could be explained by two years of being tutored by Hayate and Yugao but actually beating the Uchiha would cause to many waves. What happened next began a friendship that would end in tragedy Sasuke extended his hand and helped Naruto to his feet. "Good fight dobe." Sasuke complemented with a smirk.

"You too teme, although you could have mentioned being able to use the Sharingan." Naruto replied mirroring the smirk. "That's because I couldn't before now." Realizing how valuable having someone like Naruto as friend and rival he swallowed his pride and asked Naruto a question. "Would you like to come by my place later and train? The compound I live in has its own training ground and equipment." "I don't have anything better to do." Naruto answered deciding the Uchiha could prove to be a valuable ally in the future.

In the time that followed Naruto and Sasuke could be found walking through the village or just hanging out at Ichiraku's ramen shop. Naruto's friendship with Sasuke combined with him taking the number 2 spot in the class standings led to many things that Naruto didn't expect. First he developed his own small group of fan girls despite their parents telling them that he was dangerous and to stay away from him. After all who doesn't like a bad boy? Second the some of other males in the class started to challenge both Naruto and Sasuke thinking that if they put up a good fight that they'd be allowed to hang out with the 2 _coolest_ kids in school. Needless to say they were all fairly unimpressive.

But the most surprising thing to Naruto was how some of the villagers seemed to be more tolerant of his presence. They weren't exactly nice to him but he was able to by goods and equipment at regular prices in some places. Naruto was even starting to feel a small amount of optimism about things improving for him. But upon entering the industrial district one night after a training session with Sasuke his reality check came in the form of a masked female assassin managing to get the jump on him and plunging a kunai into his chest.

**A/N: Alright I know I did a lot of things that people may not agree with (Sasuke awaking his Sharingan early and forming a friendship with Naruto. Making Ino into a possible love interest.) But just remember that this story is labeled as a tragedy for a reason. **

**Ps. I feel like I'm still rushing so now that the story is getting closer to the events of cannon I'm going to take more time between updates and try to put together longer more thought out chapters. If you want to speed things up just share your ideas with me in a review or PM. Next update should be 5-15-12 **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. There I said it**.

"Human talking"

'Human thinking'

"**Demon or Summon talking"**

'**Demon or Summon thinking'**

Jutsu will be underlined

Naruto always thought that when you were about to die you were supposed to have some kind of epiphany. That night all those years ago a million thoughts crossed his mind and a rage he had never felt manifested itself in his heart. But now despite all his training and emotional conditioning (incomplete emotional conditioning) he felt something that, while he was familiar with had never experienced to the degree he felt looking at the kunai embedded in his chest.

Fear the likes of which he had never known gripped his heart making him do something that he had never done. Naruto froze, but as the assassin ripped out the kunai and prepared to stab him once again she suddenly whipped around and deflected two incoming shuriken. _Ting!_ The sound of the first shuriken and kunai meeting woke him from his fear induced stupor. _Ting!_ The second shuriken spurred him to action. Channeling chakra to his fist he swung at his assailant's face, unfortunately she sensed the spike in chakra and dodged nimbly out of the way.

Appearing next to him in a shunshin (a technique Naruto taught him) was none other than Sasuke Uchiha. Upon his arrival Naruto felt his strength leave him and he fell to a knee, one hand on the ground keeping him up right the other clutching at his profusely bleeding chest. "Your not gonna die on me are you dobe?" Asked Sasuke. "Not if you buy me some time." Upon seeing Sasuke's confusion he elaborated. "I have a kind of healing ability i…" "He's a demon." The assassin interrupted.

"Stand aside Uchiha-san it would be a shame to kill someone with the potential to do so many great things for Konoha such as yourself." "How much time do you need dobe?" Sasuke asked Naruto. " A few minutes should do. But be careful she's at least chunin level." Naruto informed. Sasuke nodded and rushed his opponent launching a couple of kunai. She deflected the first but upon striking the second was blinded by smoke. 'A smoke bomb henged into a kunai, clever.' She thought to herself as she waited for the Uchiha to make his next move.

After all the Anbu currently on duty in this area had all ready been bribed by her clients and the shift change wasn't for another hour. She could afford to be patient and she could use this smoke to her advantage. Sasuke finished making hand seals and launched his most powerful jutsu hoping to end this quickly. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu" A fireball the size of Sasuke himself slammed into the spot the assassin was standing and much to Sasuke's satisfaction the high pitched scream of a woman being burned alive filled the air and as the smoke subsided he saw the burning corpse of his opponent prone on the concrete. Sasuke removed his last kunai from his pouch (he wasn't even supposed to have real kunai on account of only being a academy student and technically a civilian) and approached the body to confirm his kill.

"SASUKE IT'S A GENJUTSU GET BACK!" Naruto screamed still unable to join the battle but thanks to his tenketsu seals was able to notice the assassins ruse. Sasuke immediately activated his immature Sharingan while simultaneously jumping back. Had he been without the legendary Doujutsu his throat would have been slit but because of his birth right he was not only able to see through the Genjutsu but calculated the path of the assassin's tanto and dodged accordingly.

'Damn, the packet I got on the Kyuubi brat said he was terrible at Genjutsu, I should have known better than to go off of intel gathered by those idiots at the academy. Not only that but the Uchiha is what, 9 or 10 and already awakened his Sharingan making him resistant to genjutsu as well. I need to get out of here before the demon recovers.' The assassin decided that it would be pratical to retreat and cast her most powerful escape Genjutsu after throwing down 3 smoke bombs of her own. When the smoke cleared she was gone. "What the hell was that dobe, what did she mean demon?" Sasuke asked. Deciding he was too vulnerable right now to tell even Sasuke the truth he lied simply "I don't know".

Time skip next day:

Naruto had convinced Sasuke not to take him to the hospital but to his apartment instead stating: "What if someone is waiting at the hospital to finish me off, besides with my healing ability all I need is time and maybe one of the blood pills I have stashed at home." While this was a legitimate part of the reason why he didn't want to go to the hospital the major reason was that he didn't want his attack investigated by the leafs conventional forces (which he both distrusted and believed were mostly incompetent) but by Root.

Sasuke had insisted on spending the night at the apartment guarding his injured friend which was why he was sleeping through Iruka's lecture on the dangers of chakra exhaustion. It was the same reason he missed the surprised look on the late Mizuki's face when he saw Naruto present in class. Naruto didn't. "Naruto wake Sasuke up!" Iruka yelled finally noticing Sasuke, upset that his best student apparently found his lesson so boring.

The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully until it was time for B groups practical exercise period. "Alright everyone I know that we normally only do one on one spars but I've decided to switch things up a bit. I've invited three seniors who are set to graduate later in the year to take part in a team on team spar." Iruka said. Taking there queue the three seniors emerged out of the academy's side door.

The first was a girl with buns on either side of her head who was wearing a blue sleeveless blouse, shinobi pants and sandals. The next was a boy with incredibly thick eye brows. His hair was short and curved backwards and he wore a white robe styled top with a belt keeping it closed and black shinobi pants and sandals. The last was a very intimidating Hyuga boy that was taller than the others with long hair wearing an off white jacket and black shinobi shorts and blue sandals. The bandages around his forehead tipped Naruto off to the fact he was probably of the branch family.

"These are Tenten, Rock Lee and Neji Hyuga their teacher picked them for this demonstration because they will most likely be placed together on the same team. Now will Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka step forward?" Iruka asked. "You three are the best of B group so do your best against your upperclassmen alright?" Upon getting three head nods he gave the signal to begin. The two groups stood across from each other getting into battle stances. The Hyuga was the first to speak.

"Tenten take the Yamanaka out quickly and act as support for Lee and I at a distance, Lee you take the muscular blond I'll engage the Uchiha." Neji ordered. Naruto expected the other upperclassmen to say something about being ordered around but to his surprise they simply said "Hai". Neji may have been the first to speak but it was Lee who was the first to act. The boy charged Naruto with surprising speed and slammed his fist into Naruto's guard with an even more surprising force. Naruto responded in kind punching and kicking just as hard and just as fast as the other boy. "I am most impressed Uzumaki-san your attacks are filled with the passions of youth!" Lee complemented enthusiastically. "Um thanks?" Naruto replied.

Sasuke was thrown to his back the victim of a particularly vicious Juken strike. "This is the best you can do Uchiha? I thought you were supposed to be the elite?" Neji taunted but thanks to sparing with Naruto (who loved to taunt his opponents to get them off their game) Sasuke refused to take the bait. Rising to his feet with closed eyes he calmly addressed his opponent. "Oh I'm just getting warmed up Hyuga." Sasuke then opened his eyes revealing his Sharingan.

Ino was glad she had been training with her mother (a former med-nin) in dodging. This Tenten girl had weapons for days and threw them at her with incredible speed. 'How is it okay for her to be throwing all these dangerous weapons around we're just academy students.' She thought to herself. Had she had the time to actually observe the weapons she would have seen that most were blunted or were made with a substitute training material.

"With that skinny ass of yours you must be on a diet to impress some boy right? How long can you keep dodging without any fuel in the tank? Cause I hate to break it to you but I could do this until sunup tomorrow morning but since Neji said to hurry up." Tenten said desiding to stop throwing weapons and charged her opponent with a single katana in hand. When Ino saw this she looked around and grabbed the closest weapon off the ground beside her.

Any shinobi worth their salt would have told you that the weapon was a bad choice. They would tell you that the bulky, top heavy thing was more a tool for civilians than shinobi and that the fact that she was female made it even worse. However no one would have guessed that the weapon would feel so right or that it would change her very destiny. When Tenten reached her she brought her katana down in a flawless slash only for Ino to retaliate by swinging her weapon up in an awkward c shaped arc.

What Tenten foolishly hadn't accounted for was that her katana was made out of a metal-**like** training material. On the other hand the weapon Ino was wielding possessed a blunted but very real metal head. It wasn't until they collided and her katana shattered like glass that she realized her mistake. Ino capitalized and spun her body around building momentum and brought her already raised weapon down smashing it's flat against Tenten's temple droping the girl. She then looked at her downed opponent in disbelief and then she looked at her new favorite possession, she looked at her axe.

Sasuke was always taught by his clan that the Hyuga were their rivals because of both clans possessing doujutsu and believing theirs was superior. But as he fought Neji he came to the conclusion that the Hyuga's ability to fuck you up while barely even touching you was what made them so strong. It also made Neji a pain in the ass.

He had done well at first, using his Sharingan he was able to anticipate Neji's attacks and dodged each one flawlessly. But as the fight dragged on and the fatigue from last night started to kick in he found himself only partially avoiding his opponent's strikes. That partial contact was all Neji needed to turn things to his favor once again.

Sasuke's entire left arm was the first of his body parts to be shut down, the tenketsu being blocked. His right foot was next followed by a crippling Juken strike to his lungs that resulted in his ability to breathe being hampered. Neji arrogantly deactivated his Byakugan and slowly walked towards the downed underclassman intent to finish him.

If he had kept his Doujutsu active he would have seen the incoming danger. But while he was completely oblivious, Sasuke, with his Sharingan improved peripheral vision saw a running Ino throw her weapon. Wood, metal, wood, metal, wood, metal, the axe spun through the air and found the side of Neji's head knocking him unconscious.

Naruto weighed his options trying to decide how to best defeat Lee without revealing his true abilities however as Lee's punches started to get even stronger, rattling his very bones he decided enough was enough. "Fuck it." He said aloud going through hand seals "Wind Release: Great Air Breaking Bullets!" Naruto thrust his palms out causing a gust of wind to lift Lee of the ground diminishing his ability to dodge. Naruto then inhaled and spat four fist sized balls of compressed air at his opponent each finding their mark. Lee was knocked out before he even hit the ground.

Iruka couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Sure he had chosen his best students but he never in his wildest dreams thought that they would actually win. Ino knocking out two of the three and Naruto not only using wind release but combining two different jutsu and creating a new one as an academy student was just unheard of."Aiko go get the duty med-nin, hurry!" Iruka ordered.

Later, end of the school day:

Naruto and Sasuke were walking out of the courtyard when they heard someone calling them. When they turned around they saw a jogging Ino with new axe in hand nearing their position. "Let's go dobe, she probably just wants to ask one of us out or something." Sasuke suggested. "Oh come on teme she did take out two upperclassmen today, as a matter a fact she saved you from the Hyuga right?"Naruto replied getting under Sasuke's skin.

Ino reached them and tried to speak but was out of breath. Naruto stood there patiently waiting for the girl to compose herself, Sasuke on the other hand…not so much. "Look we have training to get to so are you going to stop wasting our time or what?" Sasuke rudely asked. Ino was taken back by the normally brooding but quiet boy's tone. "Don't mind the teme he's just grumpy on account of being sleepy and getting his ass handed to him, nice save by the way." Naruto reassured Ino gracing the girl with a small almost unnoticeable smile.

"Thanks, um I was wondering if I could train with you guys?" Ino nervously asked. Naruto looked at Sasuke and could tell by looking at his face what his answer was. As he thought about it he was about to agree with his friend when he noticed Ino nervously adjusting her grip on the axe in her hand. "Okay, but none of that fan girl shit alright? If we catch you ogling us instead of focusing on training then that's it alright?" He asked. "You got it." Ino enthusiastically agreed.

Two days later 19:28Hrs:

Naruto had just entered his apartment when he felt a familiar presence. Turning around from facing his door he saw fellow Root operative Chameleon holding out a scroll. Upon opening it he found a simple green square instantly understanding it's meaning as a "green light" for the mission he had proposed to Danzo. He destroyed the scroll with a simple fire technique and went to his kitchen.

Turning his oven to 200 degrees and putting the timer on 14 mins he then channeled a small but precise amount of chakra into the devices handle and pulled the entire oven out of the wall. Behind the oven was where Naruto's Root gear could be located. Naruto changed into all black and then put on his cloak and Crane mask he strapped his straight sword to his back and put the oven back into the wall. Upon reentering the living room he saw Chameleon henged into his likeness sitting on the couch watching tv he nodded and left in a shunshin.

He had recommended that Mizuki be retrieved for questioning and had finally been given the go ahead. Naruto landed on top of his targets apartment complex and walked down the side using chakra to stick to the surface. He reached the window only to find it locked so instead of using some kind of elaborate jutsu to open it he simply knocked until Mizuki came to the window and opened it. "Certain counsel members have requested your presence." Naruto lied in an older, gruff sounding voice.

"In the usual place?" Mizuki asked. "Hai" Naruto then seemingly left in a shunshin. Mizuki went back into his apartment for a few minuets and left in full shinobi gear towards the civilian residential district walking instead of jumping across rooftops. He was about halfway to his destination when he felt a pain in his neck. Looking back behind himself he saw the same Crane masked Anbu and realized he had been compromised. He tried to retrieve the cyanide pill from its hiding place among his teeth but found himself unable to move as his vison blurred and ultimately faded.

Root base 20:02Hrs

"So am I going to take part in his interrogation?" Naruto asked. "Negative, instead of using traditional methods Danzo-sama has authorized a mind probing and partial reprogramming." Mantis informed Naruto. "He has a Yamanaka skilled enough to do something like that?" Naruto asked wondering if Danzo would do something like that to him. "Hai" Was Mantis' simple reply. Naruto was about to ask another question when a Panther masked Root agent walked into the interrogation cell. "Crane, Danzo-sama wants you to join him in planning room echo."

Upon entering the room he saw Danzo sitting alone at the head of a conference like table. He could see the man was pissed despite the outwardly look of stoicism he was projecting. This was the reason that Naruto sat all the way across from the man instead of taking a closer seat. He wasn't sitting long before Danzo went through a short series of hand seals and put up a silencing barrier around the room.

"Tell me why in this mornings council meeting the civilian members as well as Hiashi Hyuga were up in arms about the Kyuubi brat not only using Elemental Manipulation but using a jutsu that no one has even seen before on an academy student." Danzo questioned with expertly restrained but defiantly present anger in his voice. Naruto for his part knew this was coming and also knew that an excuse would just set the man off.

"How bad is it?" Naruto asked. "The Hokage was able to assure them that he wasn't responsible for your jump in skill, he also promised to up surveillance on you to which certain members of the council protested because of the waste of manpower such a thing would cause." "They don't want that because of how hard it would make another assassination attempt." Naruto stated.

Danzo nodded and continued speaking. "Because of your foolishness the Hokage undoubtedly suspects that I have been training you and will not only be watching you more closely but me as well. So this is how we will proceed. Crane you are here by placed on indefinite inactive status. You will go back to your apartment and place any and everything possibly traceable back to Root in a duffle bag and give it to Chameleon. You will not contact Root personnel under any circumstances even if you are attacked again. Do you understand?" Naruto just nodded and got up to leave but upon reaching the door frame heard some parting words from Danzo. "I still have high hopes for you Crane do not disappoint me by getting yourself killed." Danzo said. Naruto simply nodded and left via shunshin feeling something that he hadn't felt since he was 7 years old, alone.

**A/N: I would like to start off saying that writer's block is a bitch. Sorry this chap isn't longer like I said it would be but the next one will consist of the Graduation, bell test and at least the beginning of the Wave mission so the word count should be up there. For those who are wondering why I gave Ino an axe as a weapon its because I just finished reading Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and thought that the way Seth Grahame-Smith had Abe use an axe was pretty bad ass. Plus if Ino wasn't impressive as a kunoichi Naruto would never be interested in her. **

**Ps. Next update should be up by 5-19-12 as always please Review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Never have never will.**

"Human talking"

'Human thinking'

"**Demon or Summon talking"**

'**Demon or Summon thinking'**

Jutsu will be underlined

{Non-verbal speech}

One year time skip, 6 hours after Graduation :

Mizuki hated the Kyuubi brat. He had planed on failing the blonde demon container but between the boy's ridiculous skill and that fool Iruka arguing on his behalf when he tried to use a technicality to fail the hell spawn Mizuki had to take a different route in getting Naruto to steal the Scroll of Seals. He had managed to catch Naruto by himself outside of the academy after the new genin were released for the day and convinced him that if he managed to complete a curtain 'training mission' he would be considered for promotion to chunin before his peers.

After that things had gone well. The Hokage found out that the scroll was gone and Naruto was the culprit. Now Ninja of all ranks were searching the village for the boy and because of his head start, he was confident that he would find him first. Then he could kill him and take the scroll to Orochimaru-sama.

As he jumped through the trees he felt a small spike in chakra about a mile and a half Northwest of his position and changed course to investigate. Upon arriving he saw not only a tired looking Naruto but Iruka as well the scar faced chunin had just asked the brat a question that Mizuki didn't arrive in time to hear. But he was able to hear the brat's response.

"But Mizuki-sensei said snatching this thing was just a training mission and that I would get promoted to chunin faster if I did it." Naruto answered innocently. "I wish you hadn't heard that Iruka now you're going to have to die too." Mizuki said with a sigh revealing himself up in a tree. "Mizuki why are you doing this?" "I don't have to explain myself to a dead man, now shut up and wait your turn, after I'm done killing the demon your next." Mizuki said with grin.

Reaching behind his back he grabbed a giant shuriken and launched it at Naruto. Iruka moved to intercept it but Mizuki could tell that he wouldn't be able to make it in time. Mizuki watched with satisfaction as his weapon found its mark right in the demons chest but his satisfaction was short lived when he felt someone grab him from behind.

Partially turning and looking down he saw that it was the same brat that was lying dead less than 30 yards away with a shuriken in his chest. "How…" "That is a reinforced shadow clone." The Naruto holding Mizuki informed. Mizuki overpowered the boy breaking free of the clinch and stabbed him with a kunai, however as soon as the tool finished sinking into his opponent the boy exploded in a burst of wind blades. "Wind Release: Shadow Clone Jutsu I wouldn't have learned this technique with out you Mizuki-sensei. Thanks. " It was the last thing that anyone ever thanked him for.

Next day, team placements:

When Naruto walked into the classroom all of the excited chatter that its occupants had been engaging in came to an abrupt end. ' I guess they heard about me killing Mizuki, this just goes to further prove that the Hokage's gag orders don't mean anything in this village'. He took his seat in between Sasuke and Ino and as soon as he was fully seated Ino wrapped her arms around him in a crushing hug.

"Ino-chan, I know you were worried but I'm fine." Naruto whispered into her ear. Ino let him go only to punch him with a left cross to the chin knocking him out of his chair. "Ino what the hell!" Naruto yelled. "That was for fighting Mizuki yourself and not letting Iruka-sensei handle things." Ino stated. "He moves so slow that it would have taken him all night to beat Mizuki and I had things to do." Naruto stated.

"Yeah like learning more jutsu and then refusing to share them with your friends." Sasuke mumbled annoyance thick in his voice. "Teme I can't teach you the shadow clone jutsu because you just don't have the chakra for it." Naruto who had managed to hear him replied.

Iruka entered the class and called it to order, after giving his spiel about what was expected of them as Konoha shinobi he got to what everyone was anxious to hear. "Alright class team placements are as follows. Team 1…. Team 7 will be, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka. Team 8: Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka Team 9 is still in rotation Team 10 will be Choji Akimichi ,Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara Team 11 will be … Your Jonin sensei will be here pick you up in a few minutes good luck everyone."

Sure enough the Jonin came in the classroom and took there students with them. Some were impressive looking and some…not so much. Naruto noticed that the attractive Jonin of team 8 looked at him the minute she entered the room but that wasn't surprising as he drew attention everywhere he went, no what was surprising was that the hatred, the absolute loathing that he had seen in the eyes of countless villagers was absent. What was in its place was, Guilt? "Team 8 come with me." She said turning to leave with Kiba, Hinata and Shino behind her.

"Teme, do you know who that Jonin with the red eyes was?" Naruto asked. "Yeah, I asked around after seeing her on the street one day. Her name is Kurenai Yuhi she is apparently a recently promoted Jonin who specializes in Genjutsu." Sasuke answered. "How long ago did you hear this?" Naruto asked, his voice getting louder.

"Like a couple months ago, why?" "The assassin that came after me was female and used Genjutsu remember?" Naruto asked in aggravation, surprised that his 'genius' friend hadn't made the connection and come to him with this info sooner. "You think this Kurenai lady could have been the assassin, Naruto-kun I don't think a shinobi of Konoha would try and kill you. Besides I thought you told me that it was probably some missing-nin that was hired outside of the village?" Ino asked.

Naruto had decided to tell Ino about the assassination attempt so that she wouldn't be caught completely off guard if it happened again."Yeah, but the way she looked at me combined with the fact that both she and the bitch that tried to kill me used Genjutsu… just be careful around her." Naruto instructed in a tone that left no room for arguments.

Two hours later a Jonin with silver, gravity defying hair walked in and addressed them. "So you guys are who I was given this time huh? My first impression of you three is…You're a little scary. Meet me on the Roof." The Jonin ordered and then disappeared in a leaf shunshin. He was surprised however when the three rookie genin used the same method as he to reach the roof only moments after him.

'So the Hokage's intel was correct they are advanced for their age.' Kakashi thought to himself. "Okay so um lets sit down and get to know each other, introductions please." "What exactly do you want to know?" Sasuke asked. "Likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future and what ever else you guys want to throw in." Kakashi explained. "How about you go first." Naruto suggested.

"All right my name is Kakashi Hatake you are all a little too young to hear about my likes and dreams for the future (perverted giggle) and I have lots of hobbies." "So all we learned was his name?" Sasuke asked his fellow teammates in a some what hushed tone. "That and he's a pervert." Ino added.

"Alright so how about you with the axe on your back go first?" Kakashi asked. "Alright, My name is Ino Yamanaka. I like training, my family, my friends Naruto-kun and Sasuke and flowers. I Dislike anyone that would try and bring harm to those that are precious to me. My dream for the future is to become the first female Yamanaka to become an S-Class ninja. My hobbies are flower pressing and maintaining my axe and hatchets."

'She seems fond of both boys but from the way she is sitting closer to Naruto it appears that she has stronger feelings for him. But unlike most girls her age she seems serious about being a kunoichi and has her crush on the boy in check, good I was hoping that she wouldn't be another fan-girl.' Kakashi thought to himself pleased with this turn of events. "Alright you, the emo one, your up." Sasuke frowned but began his intro with out any protests.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are tons of things I dislike so I won't even bother listing any. The only things I like are these two" Sasuke said pointing his thumb toward his teammates. "As for my dream, well my goal is to resurrect my clan and kill a certain man." 'So dispite forming positive bonds with these two he is still consumed by a desire for revenge.'

"That leaves yo.." Kakashi started but when he really looked at Naruto for a split second he could have sworn his dead sensei was looking back. Naruto sat looking at his new sensei who seemed to be swept up in some kind of memory and decided to go ahead with his intro despite the man freezing up.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are training, my teammates and ramen, which is the food of heaven by the way. Um my dislikes are child abusers and people that harm there comrades. My dream is to be a shinobi legend like the Yondaime." Naruto finished, only lying about his dream, which was actually to take over Root.

'He seems to have turned out well despite all that has happened to him.' Kakashi summarized shaking himself out of his nostalgia induced daze. "Alright now that that's done you guys are released for the day. We'll meet tomorrow for your real genin exam at.." "Wait! What do you mean real genin exam?" Ino interupted.

"He means that of the 27 graduates only 9 will actually become genin the others will be sent back to the academy." Sasuke informed. Ino saw that Naruto didn't seem surprised in the slightest meaning she was the odd one out once again. "Why didn't you two tell me about this!" She demanded. "Because Ino-chan you tend to obsess about things, but don't worry we'll pass."

Naruto said giving Ino the same charming smile he had been using for a year to discreetly manipulate her and as always, it worked like a charm causing the girl to instantly calm down. "As I was saying meet me at training ground 7 at 0730 tomorrow morning oh and don't eat breakfast you'll just throw up."

And with that Kakashi left in another shunshin. "There's a lot of daylight left let's head to my place to train." Sasuke suggested and after receiving nods of approval from his friends all three took off roof hopping to the Uchiha compound.

Next Day 0953 hrs

"When is this dude going to show up?" Sasuke asked. {Actually he's been observing us for the last 10mins}. Ino discreetly messaged Sasuke by the way she handled the hatchet in her hand. About 5 months prior the three had discovered that Ino was actually a sensor type and they had been helping her hone her abilities ever since. {If you knew he was there why didn't you tell us sooner?} Sasuke asked annoyed.

{It's not fun to be out of the loop huh?} Ino answered inwardly smirking.{Well I'm tired of waiting Ino-chan, how about you show our sensei how skilled you are at throwing hatchets?} Naruto suggested. Ino threw her weapon with remarkable strength and speed for a girl of her size into the trees to her 3 o'clock without even looking in the direction.

Kakashi's eye widened as he was forced to dodge but he found himself just a little to slow and received a small cut to the shoulder. The last thing he thought before going up in smoke was 'it was poisoned? Clever girl.' The real Kakashi received his shadow clones memories and deciding to get things going appeared behind the three via shunshin.

"Yo!" He greeted with a wave. "Sensei if you don't mind me asking…WHY ARE YOU OVER TWO HOURS LATE!" Sasuke asked in a uncharacteristic outburst. "Well you see there was a bunch of roofers doing work in my neighborhood so avoiding walking under all those ladders and getting a major case of bad luck caused me to have to take the long way here." Kakashi answered with an eye smile prompting the three genin to all sweatdrop.

"Oookay, so what's the exam on?" Naruto asked. Kakashi pulled out an alarm clock and two bells from his backpack and then set the alarm clock on a stump. "The alarm clock is set for noon, your task is to take these two bells from me by then. If you can't complete this task you fail, also since there is only two bells one of you is going back to the academy no matter what." Kakashi said reading there reactions. Ino seemed nervous apparently not liking her chances of getting a bell.

Sasuke seemed to have come to a grim acceptance of the fact that one of his friends wasn't going to make it and was prepared to go for his. Naruto was sporting a frown and seemed to be already looking for a loophole to allow all three to stay out of the academy. "I suggest coming at me with the intent to kill or you won't stand a chance. BEGIN!" Kakashi instructed jumping back and taking a defensive stance. 'Something tells me that enjoying a chapter of Icha Icha while dealing with these three would be a mistake.'

Up in their hiding place among the trees the other members of team 7 were engaged in a small debate. {We should work together.} Naruto suggested. {Why when one of us is going to fail regaurdless?} Ino asked. {Because he's a Jonin and despite us being better than most nin our age going up against him any other way besides as a team will only result in failure anyway. Plus I think that there is something else to this test, something he is in't telling us but wants us to figure out.} Naruto answered.

{Okay then how do you suggest we go about this oh great leader-sama?} Sasuke asked laying the sarcasm on pretty thick. {We will engage him at all three primary distances. Ino with her axes and some of my clones in close, me at mid-range and you with kunai, shuriken and that long range fire jutsu you developed at a distance. Sasuke, he should only be able to see me and Ino so stay out of sight and watch your back, we know that he can use the shadow clone jutsu so expect him to send one or two after you.} Naruto ordered all business. Sasuke and Ino were slightly taken aback by his tone being used to Naruto only giving them suggestions but agreed anyway.

Kakashi was still in a fighting stance when Ino burst threw the tree line with her axe at the ready. Kakashi grabbed a kunai in each hand and prepared to meet her charge when he noticed as she ran over a patch of grassless earth that no sand was kicked up. 'A regular clone? I'm a little insulted.' He thought to himself when he sensed a spike in chakra behind him and spun around putting up both kunai in a X guard blocking the downward strike of Ino's axe.

But the girl wasn't done there and took advantage of his unguarded sides by launching a surprisingly strong kick that landed right on his ribs. But before she could bring her leg back Kakashi brought his left arm down and locked her leg up. He then over powered her by shoving her axe down with his right hand and grabbed the top of her shirt and pulled her in for a punishing head butt knocking the girl to the ground dazed but not knocked out.

He was about to rectify this when he heard the cry of, "Wind Release: Air Bullets Jutsu!" from the tree line. Kakashi dodged the four balls of air when to his surprise another volley came from the other direction managing to catch him of guard and forced him to use a Kawarimi. The moment he landed in the logs place he was almost hit with an arrow made of fire and decided to switch with the other shadow clone he stashed before the test even started.

From his hiding place it wasn't long before he saw his clone get taken out by Naruto and a recovered Ino. 'These kids are something else! I have apparently been slacking off more than I thought since I got out of Anbu. Well they already pass since they decided to stick together but I still need to test their limits. I can't believe I'm using this on a bunch of genin though. ' Kakashi thought to himself as he lifted his head band revealing his Sharingan eye.

"Ino-chan do you know were he is?" Naruto asked back to back with said kunoichi. "Sorry Naruto-kun but now that he knows that I'm a sensor he is doing to good a job suppressing his chakra for me to find him." She replied. 'This is bad. Not having eyes on our opponent with one teammate separated from us is really bad.' Naruto raised his hand in the air and signaled for Sasuke to link back up with them but to move with caution.

Sasuke moved from his hiding place to follow Naruto's order but found himself blocking a devastating kick from Kakashi. Upon the attack landing however 'Sasuke' burst into blades of wind that, while not charged with enough chakra to be fatal did a decent amount of damage to Kakashi's leg. 'Naruto had a Wind release: shadow clone henged into Sasuke placed as a decoy. The report I got on these kids said they were good but this is just ridiculous.'

Sensing another spike in chakra behind him he spun around and blocked a kunai strike from what he assumed was the real Sasuke. "Attacking from behind via shunshin. You copying your teammates moves already?" Kakashi asked feeling some what disappointed in the Uchiha. "Not exactly." Said Sasuke who disappeared and then reappeared in a crouch on Kakashi's left and took a swipe at his injured leg it was only because of his Sharingan and his years in Anbu that he was not only able to dodge but launch an attack of his own.

But milliseconds before it should have connected the Uchiha disappeared once again and appeared in front of Kakashi panting heavily. Upon looking in the boys activated Sharingan eyes Kakashi realized what the genin was doing. "You've reproduced Shisui's technique, how?" Kakashi asked in awe. Smirking Sasuke answered. "I'll tell you when you tell me how you got that eye Kakashi the Copy-Nin" Before he could answer Naruto and Ino appeared in Shunshins and Kakashi found himself surrounded a fact that Ino decided to remind him of.

"Give up sensei your surrounded." "Am I ?" Kakashi asked before going thought hand seals faster than the three (even Naruto) had ever seen and slapped his hand to the ground "Earth release: Decapitating Mud clone squad" he called out before being swallowed up by the ground while three sets of hands grabbed the genin by the ankles and yanked them up to their heads under ground. Said hands then slowly rose from the ground and three Kakashi's looked down at the trapped genin with kunai in their hands. "Looks like you guys are the ones that are surrounded."

**A/N: I'm sorry that it's been so long since I updated and the wave mission and increased word count I promised not being there but my uncle got killed since my last post and I've been pretty messed up lately. I know having Sasuke use Shunshin in a way similar to Shisui seems kinda out there but I imagine that while it would take a long time to fully master, using a dangerous and draining incomplete version of the technique would be to tempting for someone like Sasuke. **

**Authors rant: To Agato The Venom Host and any like minded individuals. If you think that this is going to be an unbeatable, perfect Naruto - fic sorry to disappoint but it won't. He'll be strong, to an almost ridiculous degree but WILL catch an ass whooping or two before this story is done. The assassin caught him slipping at the end of chapter four and capitalized plain and simple. **

**P.s I'm not going to say when the next update is coming but it shouldn't be too long from now, as always please review (but constructive criticism please). **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me and no money was made from this piece of fanfiction…unfortunately. **

"Human talking"

'Human thinking'

"**Demon or Summon talking"**

'**Demon or Summon thinking'**

Jutsu will be underlined

{Non-verbal speech}

Three months after the bell test. Hokage Tower:

"Kami I hate this cat!"Sasuke shouted in exasperation as he held a hog tied Tora. "It really did a number on you this time Teme" Naruto laughed. "Team 7, Hokage-sama will see you now" said man's secutary informed them. They entered the Hokage's office and gave the customary bow before being addressed. "Ah, team 7 you've captured Tora even faster than your record setting time last week, congratulations" Hiruzen stated.

"Thank you Hokage-sama" said Kakashi as he took the cat from Sasuke and placed it in a pet carrier held by Iruka. "Kakashi, because of the current situation at the northwestern border I would like to issue Team 7 its first C-rank mission a little earlier than we discussed." "I believe that they are ready Hokage-sama."

"Good good, while I would have preferred to brief you all myself I'm afraid that I have a Jonin council meeting to prepare for. Iruka will take you to a conference room in the floor below and give the briefing instead. Kakashi, as soon as he is done I expect you come to the meeting as well" Hiruzen ordered and after receiving hai's from the shinobi present, left via Shunshin.

Team 7 followed Iruka to room 108. A small room with no tables and only three chairs, however it did have a dry erase board with a map of the continent taped in the center. "Alright you guys have a seat and we'll get started" Iruka stated in a worried but resigned tone. As soon as the three genin were seated with Kakashi leaning on the wall behind them he began the brief.

"There have been a few reports of bandit attacks and kidnappings around Otawara village. Your mission is to investigate these reports and if they have merit, wipeout the bandits and recover the missing villagers." Iruka then turned to the map and picked up a ruler to use as a pointer.

"Otawara village is located in the Tochigi region of the Land of Fire which is between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Waves. It is highly possible that the bandits are from one of these countries but team 7 is not authorized to cross either border at this time. If you find that the bandit camp is outside of our country you are to send up a sitrep (situation report) and wait for further orders. Do you understand?" "Hai" everyone replied.

"You are to leave no later than 0900hrs tomorrow morning, questions?" The three genin shook their heads as Kakashi walked to the door and turned to address them. "Since I don't know how long this meeting is going to last you are all released for the rest of the day. Don't engage in any strenuous training and be at the southern gate by 0730 with your packs laid out for pre mission inspections" and with that he left his genin to their own devices. "Be careful you three." Iruka said as he left the room.

"Didn't expect to get a mission outside the village so soon, I need to buy some more supplies anyone want to come along?" Ino asked. "I have plenty of supplies in the compounds armory, why pay when you could just borrow some stuff from me?" Sasuke asked. "Because a lot of your gear is old and outdated and I don't want to use up the gear that's not." Ino answered thinking of all the times she and Naruto had borrowed or broken the left over supplies of the nearly wiped out Uchiha clan. While Naruto didn't seem to be bothered it felt too much like grave robbing to her.

Unfortunately the Uchiha air only focused on the first part of the girl's explanation and caught something of an attitude. But before anything could become of it Naruto defused the situation. "She just wants to go shopping" Naruto stated standing up and walking towards the door. "Besides you don't have any rebreathers and southern fire country is filled with marshes and swamps let's go by the Harashi place and see if they have any in stock." As the three left they failed to notice a gnat fly out of the rooms cracked window.

Upon entering Harashi's weapon supply their arrival was announced by the bell hanging above the door causing the nearest employee, a teenage girl about 17 years old, to turn and automatically recite "Welcome to Harashi's how may I help you?" "Um we'll look around for now thanks" Ino responded with a smile, politely dismissing the girl.

As they walked around Ino noticed that while the quality of the weapons and other merchandise was very high, the stores atmosphere was a little on the cold side. There were no bright colors to attract you to sales, no music playing over the loudspeaker system and even the other customers seemed to show little emotion.

Unknown to her, the owner of the store Isao Harashi , was a supporter of Root who had contacts in the continental black market. Isao started of as a bandit and made the evolution to arms dealer in his early twenties. By the age of 45 Isao had become one of, if not the most influential arms dealers in the elemental nations. But with success came paranoia and he started looking for a way out of his trade.

He was approached by Danzo and offered plastic surgery to change his appearance and false paperwork establishing his new identity as a blacksmith from tea country looking to move to Konoha. In exchange for this all he had to do was supply Root with high quality weapons and equipment and inform Danzo of all the major weapon deals in the Elemental Nations. Naruto, while unaware of just how important the man was to Root, saw the man's merchandise as having the organizations seal of approval.

"Look, the rebreathers are over there" Sasuke announced pointing towards the back of the store. They walked over to the display and saw that the breathing devices seemed to be of a new smaller design with seals instead of mini-tanks on the side. Naruto picked one up and read the back of the devices packaging. "Looks like the tanks are inside the seals making the device lighter."

"Yeah but they cost 16,000 Ryo each. That's like three D-ranks! I'm not sure I want to spend that much on a piece of equipment that we might not even use." Ino said biting her lip. "The dobe and I are both buying one. It's a good tool to have especially considering where we're going. " Sasuke reminded. "Fine" Ino sighed in defeat.

When they went to the counter to check out Isao was at the register. Sasuke and Ino paid first and left to wait for Naruto outside leaving him alone with Isao. "Make sure to check that receipt carefully those new rebreathers don't always ring up right." Isao advised. Naruto did as he was told and saw that the item number for the rebreather was actually a numeric code used by Root. {Beware assassin during mission.} "Looks good to me, have a good day Harashi-san" Naruto replied waving on his way out of the store with his thumb, pointer and middle fingers extended signaling that he understood the message.

Next day 0710 Hrs Southern Gate:

Naruto and Sasuke arrived at the gate at the same time and when they started laying out their gear Naruto spoke to Sasuke in a hushed tone. "Conserve chakra during this mission. I got a bad feeling about this one." Sasuke simply nodded resigning himself to ask Naruto what he meant when they were in a less open area. Ino appeared via shunshin and hurriedly laid out her pack grumbling about cheap alarm clocks. Kakashi arrived at exactly 0730 much to his genin's surprise and started going through their equipment. 'Rebreathers didn't expect that.' "Alright pack up and lets go."

With that they showed their mission pass to the guards at the gate and took off in a light run down the road leading from the village. After about half an hour Kakashi decided to see what his genin could do and jumped from the road, tree hopping at low-chunin level speeds to take a more direct path to Otawara village.

8 hours later he was pleasantly surprised that his fresh from the academy genin were able to keep up, only needing to take a handful of short breaks. It was on one of these breaks that the wind changed and Kakashi caught the scent of big spray and sweat. Team 7 had taken repellant pills earlier in the day so the smell of big spray wasn't coming from them so he decided to find the source.

Silently moving to the edge of the wood line and pushing a bush partly to the side he saw that the area's wooden terrain was starting to give way to salt water marshland. He also saw a family of four hurriedly moving down a series of man-made bridges. "Why are they speed walking sensei?" Ino asked.

"Salt water marshes are tidal so when high tide sets in a few hours from now those bridges are going to be underwater." Kakashi explained pulling his map from his pack and after some quick terrain association pinpointed there position. "The village isn't too far away. If they keep up that pace they'll probably beat the tide, we'll henge and shadow them to make sure they get there safely."

Kakashi ordered taking the form of a man in his mid 50's. Ino followed suit taking the form of a woman of 27 or so who bore a resemblance to Kakashi's new form. Sasuke and Naruto took the form of twin brothers of about 7 or 8 years of age. They had been following the family for about 40 mins when they saw two men with katana on their hip standing on the last bridge connecting the marshes edge to flat land.

They channeled chakra to their ears and heard the families' father arguing with the swordsmen. "I've been to Otawara before and there wasn't any toll, especially one that cost 2500 Ryo." He said. "Sorry but the mayor and the village elders have…" The shorter of the two started but was interrupted by his partner. "You know what, if anyone asks you paid us alright? Now you better hurry before the tide comes in." Not needing to be told twice the family took off entering the wood line in short order.

"Why did you let them go Harou?" "Look at that next bunch. The old man will put up less of a fight than the guy we just let pass and the woman is hotter than that chubby bitch. Plus the two identical twin boys will fetch a higher price than those other kids." Harou explained in a near whisper. Kakashi covertly signaled Ino to see if she could sense anyone else in the area to which she simply replied "No".

"Take them alive." Kakashi ordered dropping his henge and taking of in a sprint quickly closing the 60 ft distance followed by his genin. "Shit they're ninja, lets get out of here brother!" The shorter and still unnamed of the two yelled while turning to run only to be grabbed by his sibling. "We can't out run ninja, use the drug!" He ordered taking a small flask from his jacket pocket and drank the contents in two quick gulps. He then drew his sword and rushed to meet Kakashi at high-chunin level speed.

'Is he a shinobi?' Sasuke wondered to himself as he and Naruto broke off to engage the other swordsman who was also drinking something. Kakashi met Harou and was about to parry the man's katana with a kunai when the man channeled chakra into his blade and quickly changed the angle of his attack. Kakashi dodged accordingly ducking the blade and then jumping back to reassess his opponent. Ino who had decided to aid Kakashi stopped running and drew her hatchets when she reached his side.

"Ino report on their chakra output" Kakashi ordered. "Their chakra was of high civilian level consistent with martial artists before but when we dropped our henges they apparently stopped suppressing themselves because his chakra jumped to chunin level and the other one's to mid-genin" Ino informed. "Did whatever they drank cause the chakra increase?" Kakashi asked but before she could answer Harou interrupted her.

"No, the drug should be kicking in right about….now!" He yelled as his chakra level jumped again as his skin tone darkened slightly and his vines bulged. Kakashi lifted his forehead protector and opened his implanted sharingan eye to better analyze his opponent and what he saw shouldn't have been possible.

'Three of his Celestial gates are open and there's some type of foreign chakra present in his system. If this drug has similar effects on the other one…' "Ino go help Sasuke and Naruto. Tell them not to hold back against their opponent." The seasoned Jonin ordered his student who nodded and shunshined further down the bridge to relay the message.

With Sasuke and Naruto:

Clang! Clang! Clang! Naruto's new Uchiha made straight sword clashed angrily against his once grossly inferior opponent's blade, receiving nicks and cracks with each exchange. 'I'm channeling wind chakra while he's just sending raw chakra through his blade and yet my sword is the one that's about to give, time to change tactics.' Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by Ino's arrival and the relaying of Kakashi's new orders. "Okay new plan, attack pattern bravo!" Naruto yelled out causing Sasuke to smile as he had so far taken a back seat to Naruto in the battle; but his role in attack pattern bravo was the most important of the three.

Naruto jumped away from the swordsman who would have given chase had the need to deflect and evade the kunai and shuriken Ino and her single water clone were rapidly flinging at him not arose. "You think this is enough to stop me!" He roared, former fears forgotten as the power the drug provided started to effect his thought processes.

He charged the genin despite Ino's efforts only to be blown back by a jutsu from the blonde boy."Wind release: Great Air Breaking Bullets!" Naruto yelled thrusting his palms forward while simultaneously spitting four balls of compressed air at the sword slinger. The attack lifted the man off his feet and the air bullets all found their mark keeping the man from correcting himself while airborne, he landed awkwardly on his head with his neck seemingly broken and his legs in the air.

"You did it Naruto." Ino yelled victoriously only for her celebration to be cut short by insane laughter. "Ha Ha HA! Yeah Naruto you really did it. YOU'VE REALLY PISSED ME THE FUCK OFF!" The swordsman screamed as he stood up, grabbed his head and snapped his neck back into place with an audible CRACK!

"Two words dude situational awareness." Naruto said to his opponent who had felled to sense Sasuke's shunshin. The raging swordsman wiped his head to the left then to the right finally seeing a dark haired boy standing the railing of the bridge eye level to him just out of range of his blade. As he moved to cut the boy down he made the mistake of looking him in the eyes.

The two tomoe in the left eye and three in the right spun madly as darkness enveloped the area causing the swordsman to lose his sight. Realizing that he was under a genjutsu he attempted to manipulate his chakra to escape it like his brother had taught him but failed due to the drug disabling his finer chakra control. 'Pain!' he thought to himself and bit down as hard as he could on his left pinky finger and jerked his head to the right dislocating the digit. His sight returned to him just in time for him to dodge and parry strikes from all three genin who had seemingly closed in on him.

However the three genin were actually about 15 feet away, watching the man fight phantom opponents. "A double layered genjutsu with just one look, your becoming one scary teme." Naruto complimented his friend. "So do we kill him or what?" Sasuke asked, brushing the compliment off because of his friend and rivals genjutsu immunity.

"Kakashi-sensei will probably capture the other one alive. We should take this one out and recover the flask he drank out of." Naruto suggested. "But he's trapped in a genjutsu and I can feel that he is running out of chakra shouldn't we show mercy?" Ino asked not wanting to kill someone when there were any alternative measures that could be taken.

"So what are we going to do Ino drag him _**and**_ his brother around for the rest of the mission? I'm finishing this now." Sasuke declared but discreetly looked to Naruto with his peripheral vision to see if his friend was in agreement. At the wind user's barely visible nod the young Uchiha went through a slightly long set of hand seals and called out his first original jutsu (though Naruto had a hand in its invention).

"Fire release: Beheading Arrow!"Sasuke expelled an arrow of fire whose tip was about eight inches wide and was as long as he was tall. The arrow moved at an absurdly fast velocity that put the great fire ball jutsu to shame. The technique struck in between the C3 andC4 vertebre of the spine and exited through the man throat burning the nerves away causing instant, painless death.

As the three genin turned around they saw their sensei walking towards them dragging the unconscious and now right handless elder brother behind him tied up in thick ninja wire. "Good job team, once I seal up the one you killed we'll get out of this marsh before the tide comes in." Kakashi ordered.

Next day 0723Hrs:

Team 7 reached Otawara village shortly after the battle at the bridge and Kakashi ordered the genin to check into the hotel while he interrogated their prisoner. What he discovered was extremely troubling. The two brothers were low level samurai from the Land of Iron who had been banished from the country for insubordination.

They had been living as bandits for the last couple years before they were approached by a scientist from the Land of the Sea to kidnap civilians and take them to Rumo port for not only money but for a new drug that could turn anyone able to channel their chakra into a juggernaut. The brothers were planning to save enough money to bribe their way back into their own country so that they could use the drug to get revenge on their platoon leader whom they blamed for their banishment.

It was known to those in Konoha's black ops community that Orochimaru has or at least had a hidden base somewhere in the country. While the description of the scientist didn't sound like the snake sannin Kakashi's gut was telling him that the legendary ninja had something to do with this. The mission would require further investigation but with its possible connection to Orochimaru it now exceeded the scope of a C-rank and Kakashi decided to inform the Hokage of this development sooner rather than later. He had summoned Uhei the fastest of his ninken (ninja dog) familiars to run the scroll with the dead samurai, as well as a sitrep back to the village.

Now he was just waiting for a team of anbu to arrive and take over. As he turned the page of his beloved Icha Icha he sensed four incoming chakra signatures, one of whom he recognized and turned to his team. "Pack up and be ready to roll in ten. I'm going to the roof to address our company."

Upon reching the roof Kakashi met with the four Anbu and addressed the one he knew. "You guys got here a quick what's going on Tenzo?" Kakashi asked. "We had just left the village on a mission to aid genin team 8 and were still within radio range of Konoha when we intercepted your summon and called up your sitrep to the Hokage who then ordered us to take over your mission and send your team plus our medic, boar on ours." Tenzo then handed Kakashi a scroll and finished speaking. "Senpai, you're going to Wave."

**A/N: I'm back. Sorry about the long absence only to return with a filler chapter but I didn't like the idea of jumping right from the bell test into the wave mission. Plus I wanted to introduce the drug (open to suggestions on its name) which will play a major role in my story. This should be the last unbeta'd chapter since Bottle Glass has agreed to help me out. Next chapter will be posted on (but maybe before) 8-9-12. As always please review! **


	8. Chapter 8

"Human talking"

'Human thinking'

Jutsu will be underlined

{Non-verbal speech}

_**Coast of the Land of Waves, 1120Hrs:**_

As Kakashi paid the ferryman who had agreed to transport the shinobi, Naruto observed the ANBU attached to his team, wondering if the solidly-built woman was part of Root.

He was interrupted by Sasuke, who walked over and started speaking to him in a lowered voice. "Before we leave, mind cluing me in on that warning you gave me at the gate?"

"I think someone is going to come after me again," Naruto stated without a drop of fear in his voice, as if he were talking about the weather.

"How do you know?"

"Someone slipped a warning note under my door the morning we left Konoha," Naruto, not for the first time, lied to his friend.

"Are you going to tell Kakashi?"

"No, you and Ino are the only people I trust." _Besides Root_, Naruto thought to himself.

"Taking down an assassin at home is one thing, but you plan on confronting one during a mission—in an area we're unfamiliar with—and not give our Jonin sensei a heads up?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"The assassin will probably strike when I'm away from the 'Legendary Copy Nin.' All I need to do is distance myself from him and the ANBU, and I'll get a chance to find out who wants my head," Naruto said with conviction.

"I'll back you up, but I still think we should tell someone. We may be skilled, for genin, but we don't have the experience or resources to handle this by ourselves."

Before Naruto could respond, Kakashi called everyone over to his position.

"All right, team, I'm not going to waste time reading the entire sitrep, but basically Team 8's client—a bridge builder named Tazuna—lied in his mission request, stating that there was a chance he may be attacked by bandits on his way home in Wave, due to the country's depression. The client failed to mention that Gato of Gato Shipping Company has erected a blockade around the country, keeping his competitors from doing business there and allowing Gato to raise the prices on his goods to make an enormous profit at Wave's expense. Tazuna is trying to build a bridge that, if completed, will revitalize the economy and free them from Gato's control.

"Apparently, Gato has hired Zabuza Momochi, a Jonin-level missing-nin from Kirigakure, who along with two Chunin level subordinates, attacked Team 8 in an attempt to kill Tazuna. Kurenai-san, the team's Jonin-sensei, was able to critically wound Zabuza, but sustained grave injuries herself.

"While she was fighting, her genin killed the two chunin, but Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka, while still able to move, were injured as well. Only Shino Aburame, who wrote and relayed the sitrep via his insect familiars, is still battle-ready. He managed to get his team and client to the client's home, due to the intervention of a possible Kiri hunter-nin who disabled Zabuza and carried him away.

"In his sitrep, Shino suggested that the ninja was actually one of Zabuza's associates, which would mean that Zabuza, once recovered, will attempt to assassinate Tazuna again. Our mission is to guard Team 8 until Boar-san declares them able to be moved, at which time we will act as a med-evac team and transport them back to Konoha. Questions?" Kakashi finished.

"What about Tazuna?" Ino asked.

"In return for the lodging he is providing us, we will be guarding Tazuna and his family in addition to Team 8 until we are ready to leave," Kakashi answered.

"It's this Tazuna guy's fault that we're in this jam in the first place, why not just make him and his family let us stay at their home?" Sasuke asked, not liking the idea of protecting someone who had almost gotten fellow Leaf-nin killed.

"Because commandeering any civilian's property during peacetime is against protocol and could lead to a decline in mission requests for the village."

_**Tazuna's home, 1340Hrs:**_

As Team 7 and company leapt from the wood line, they witnessed Shino reforming himself from a swarm of insects in front of a medium-sized, two-story home, accompanied by Boar.

"Please remain still while my Kikaichu inspect you for genjutsu and henges," Shino requested.

At Kakashi's nod, Shino raised his arms and released a small cloud of insects that quickly flew over and around the Leaf-nin and then returned to his body, informing him that they couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary. "I've applied what first aid I can, but I believe that Kurenai-sensei's wounds have still become infected. Please hurry and attend to her." And with that, Boar shunshin-ed inside the house.

As Team 7 was walking toward the house, the door opened and a remorseful-looking Tazuna stepped out to address them. "I'm sorry that lied and got your comrades hurt. I knew that Gato might hire some ninja to come after me, but I never would have thought he'd go so far as to hire a monster like that Zabuza guy."

"What's done is done, but be advised that whether your bridge is completed or not, Hokage-sama will demand fiscal compensation for the mission's expanded parameters," Kakashi replied sternly.

"I understand; now that you're here though, I would like to go into the village and notify my workers that we will recommence construction tomorrow morning," Tazuna said, wanting to get as much of the bridge done while the shinobi were guarding him.

"Ino, Sasuke, and Naruto, you three will accompany Tazuna while Shino briefs me on what has happened since his report," Kakashi ordered. The genin nodded, handed their packs to Shino and Kakashi, and left with Tazuna.

As they were walking, Naruto produced four shadow clones and sent them out into the wood line to form a 100-yard perimeter. He then ordered his teammates to form a reverse triangle formation around Tazuna, with Ino and himself up front and Sasuke covering their six. Tazuna was highly impressed with the way the blond boy took charge, and also with his two teammates for not arguing with him (like the boy with the dog had with Shino, during their battle against Zabuza's henchmen). While he was still a bit apprehensive about entering the village without their Jonin sensei, the young ninjas' professionalism eased some of his concerns.

"Ino, since sensei isn't here, you're our early warning system. Stay sharp," Naruto reminded.

"On it," Ino responded.

"Tazuna-san, how long until we reach the village?" Sasuke asked.

"Uh…maybe 35, 45 minutes."

"How much of the fight between Kurenai-sensei and this Zabuza did you see? Could you describe any of the techniques he used?" Sasuke asked, not really expecting much from the civilian, but wanting any info he could get.

Before Tazuna could say anything, Naruto started speaking. "Zabuza Momochi is a former Kiri ANBU, as well as one of the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He still has his sword Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Carving Knife) which, despite its massive size and weight, he is still able to handle with incredible speed and skill. He is skilled in water release, but is said to be the most skilled, non-Kage level ninja Kiri ever produced in the silent killing technique, which he has been known to use in conjunction with the Hiding in the Mist jutsu."

"How do you know all that, Naruto?" Ino asked.

"I acquired a bingo book from a chunin back home," Naruto lied, thinking about how Danzo had made him study bingo books from each of the great five ninja villages. He may not have memorized every page of every bingo book, but Danzo had made sure that he knew the shinobi world's heavy-hitters.

"Why am I not surpr—," Ino started, but paused when two chakra sources entered within her sensory range. Bringing her hands up in the ram seal and channeling her chakra, she boosted the range and effectiveness of her ability, allowing her to get a 'better look' at the incoming individuals.

"Ino, what is it?" Naruto asked.

"Distance 200 yards, Direction 2:00, Description: Three males with civilian… no, Academy student-level chakra reserves. I could be wrong, but their chakra seems tainted, kinda like those two samurai after they took that drug," Ino informed him.

"Ino, take Tazuna into the wood line and hide; my shadow clones will still help you guard him. Sasuke, we're going to observe these three guys, and if they're some of Gato's henchmen, we'll interrogate them ourselves," Naruto instructed his teammates.

Naruto and Sasuke silently made their way through the tree tops until the three men in question came into view. Channeling chakra to their ears, they were able to make out their conversation. "…sure the Konoha ninja are as fucked up as Zabuza?" Thug number 1 asked.

"Relax, man. Zabuza's partner or assistant or whatever said that only that kid ninja is able to fight right now. All's we gotta do is find the bridge builder's place, drink some of this here go juice (pats his left breast pocket), and kill everybody inside. It'll be cake, dude," Thug number 2 assured.

"Look, we're dealing with shinobi here, so no fucking around. I'll take the kid while you two take care of the house's occupants. No enjoying yourselves and making them scream. No raping the women. We get in and out, that's it, understand?" Thug number 3 ordered, wishing Zabuza's brat was taking care of this his or her self (he still couldn't figure out if the teen was male or female).

{How do you want to do this?} Sasuke signed to Naruto.

{You kill the two subordinates while I knock out the leader. I want to do this fast so they don't get a chance to take the drug,} Naruto replied. He then went through the hand seals for the shunshin and disappeared in a burst of speed with Sasuke right behind him. Sasuke emerged from his shunshin first, a kunai in each hand and plunged the weapons into the base of his target's skulls, killing them with relatively little pain.

Naruto landed behind his target as well, reaching up to grab the taller man's shirt collar and jerking him back, while simultaneously kicking the man's legs from under him. Naruto then punched the man in the face. The man hit the ground with a thud, unconscious.

When he woke up, he was tied to a tree with a blond boy holding smelling salt under his nose and a dark-haired boy with a bloody kunai in his hand. "Ugh, get that shit away from me!" he yelled.

"What's your name?" Naruto asked.

"My name? My name is fuck you, brat."

"Well, Fuck You, Brat. My friend and I are going to ask you some questions. If you answer truthfully, you'll be fine. But if you don't answer or we feel like you're lying, we'll start cutting things off, understand?" Naruto asked, but didn't receive a response.

Shaking his head, Naruto turned to Sasuke and nodded. The young Uchiha grabbed the man's left ear and pulled it painfully way from the man's head. He then very slowly started to cut it off, making sure to do it as painfully as possible. Sasuke hadn't heard screams like this since the night his treacherous older brother slaughtered his entire clan.

But he couldn't show discomfort in front of the man. Naruto had already told him that this would be unpleasant, but reminded him that it wouldn't be the last time they would have to do something like this. So the 12-year-old hardened his heart, and consoled himself with the idea that the man he was carving up had had it coming.

The man was tough though, and 7 fingers and one eyeball later, he still hadn't told them anything. "You stupid little brats, you don't even know how to torture somebody. I'll die of blood loss before I tell you anything," he taunted while finding it hard to stay conscious.

Naruto grabbed the man by the hair and pulled hard, forcing the thug to look and him. "Oh, you do seem to understand how much control we have over this situation. You won't die until we want you to." With that Naruto snapped his fingers and the man was instantly whole again.

"W-What is going o—" he started to ask, but was cut off by the blond.

"Aa, Sasuke, he made it through the first iteration. How many more do you think he has in him?"

"Two. Maybe three," Sasuke answered.

"No, no more, please," the thug yelled, not wanting to go through that again, much less two or three more times. Upon hearing this, Sasuke removed the gag that was actually in the man's mouth and released him from the only A-rank genjutsu he knew, Demonic Illusion: perpetual agonies, a technique invented by the Kurama Clan before Konoha was even founded—an attempt to try and mimic the Mangekyo Sharingan's Tsukuyomi. Unlike Tsukuyomi, the technique took time to cast, and could easily be dispelled unless all of its layers were in place, which was why it was mostly used for gathering info from initially-unconscious targets.

The man told them his name was Hiroyuki and that he had been working for Gato for almost 10 years, making him one of the mogul's most trusted henchmen. He also told them that Gato and Zabuza were in a compound about 2 miles east of the village, and that Zabuza wouldn't be able to fight other shinobi for another week, according to his masked companion. When Naruto asked about the masked shinobi, all Hiroyuki could tell him was that he or she was about 14 and seemed to worship the ground Zabuza walked on.

Naruto told Hiroyuki that he and Sasuke would be back, once they decided what to do with him and his friends. "But they're dead, right? I mean, I saw you kill them," Hiroyuki asked.

"That was just another illusion; they think you're dead too," Sasuke answered. Naruto and Sasuke went where Hiroyuki couldn't see them and then returned with his subordinates, who had their hands behind their backs.

"You're going to go back to Gato, and tell him that we don't care about the bridge builder and will kill him ourselves for 500,000 Ryo each. Tell him to bring our money to the construction site at 0930 tomorrow morning, and we will handle his problem for him once and for all," Sasuke instructed. After seeing Hiroyuki's nod, he was untied and sent on his way with his still hand-tied flunkies running behind him.

_**One hour later, Gato's Compound:**_

Hiroyuki reached the compound and barged into Gato's office, flanked on both sides by his still hand-tied men. "Hiroyuki, what have I told you about barging into my office?" Gato yelled, pushing the young girl who was servicing him away and zipping up his trousers.

But before he could answer, he was cut off by the man on his right who ran right up to Gato and fell to his knees. "Gato-sama, I have something to tell you!" the man yelled.

"Fine, what is it, you idiot?" Gato asked. The man then started to blur, and took the form of a stone -faced blond boy.

"Boom."

_**The village, same time:**_

Naruto smirked when his exploding clone's memories returned to him. While he didn't know whether or not Zabuza and his companion shinobi were killed in the blast, he was sure that they were at least injured.

"What the hell was that?" Ino asked.

"I don't know, you two take Tazuna home while I scout it out," Naruto answered.

When Naruto arrived at the complex, he saw that the half that hadn't been immediately destroyed in the blast was now on fire. He used the water from a nearby stream to cast one of the only 3 water jutsu he knew. "Tearing Torrent!" Naruto yelled, siphoning water from the stream, filling it with his chakra, and sending it crashing against the building, dousing most of the flames.

_Damn, that took a decent amount of chakra, I need to learn Water manipulation soon, _he thought to himself, before making 5 shadow clones. The clones already knew why they were created and looked for the two missing ninja's bodies amongst the rubble; after about twenty minutes of searching, one of his clones yelled that it had found something.

Naruto reached its location, right as it pulled the object from under the damaged beam it was under. Naruto couldn't help but grin when his clone handed him Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō. The sword's edge was damaged and its tip was just gone, but if the sword's ability was legit, that wouldn't be a problem for much longer.

Naruto cut into his hand, spreading his blood along the long blade and watched, amazed, as the sword absorbed the iron in his blood and repaired itself. Thanks to his Root-influenced training methods, Naruto was far stronger than the average genin, but the legendary sword was still too heavy for him. It would take a few months of specialized training before he would be able to wield it properly, unfortunately for him he wouldn't have that long.

"Earth Release: Rising Rock Jutsu!" he heard someone yell, before being slammed by a rock the size of an ox and going up in smoke. Naruto looked at his attacker from the position of the shadow clone he had replaced himself with. The man was large, 6'6, maybe 6'7, and about 250 pounds, he was dressed in all black with his face hidden behind a plain black porcelain mask.

"You look just like him," the ninja said angrily, his statement sounding more like an accusation.

"Letting a statement like that slip, it would appear that just like the rest of your countrymen, you assassins have rocks for brains. Isn't that right, sensei?" Naruto asked, right as Kakashi, who had snuck up behind the ninja, plunged a kunai in his spine, only for the masked man to crack and break in to rocks.

Kakashi moved over to Naruto's position and placed his back against his students. "Keep your eyes peeled and be ready to jump, he'll probably come at us from under the ground," Kakashi warned. Naruto put both hands on Kubikiribōchō's hilt and channeled chakra to his arms and legs so that he would be able to swing it with at least some speed.

"Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation!" The assassin's voice seemingly echoed from everywhere before an earthquake rattled the area, as a volcano roughly 30 meters high emerged from the ground, and 30 rock clones erupted from its crater and into the sky before falling towards the two Leaf-nin's position like meteors.

"HO…LY…SHIT!" Naruto exclaimed, his partial Root conditioning failing him for a moment.

"Naruto, get out of here now!" Kakashi barked out in a tone that left no room for argument. As Naruto turned and prepared to shunshin, a pair of rock-covered hands grabbed him around his ankles and pulled him underground. Kakashi put his hands together to begin the seal sequence that would allow him to give chase, but had to dodge as the first of the rock clones neared his position and exploded in a shower of rocky shrapnel.

Kakashi dodged the explosion and deflected most of the shrapnel with a kunai, but found himself surrounded by the other clones that had just landed. _This is bad. This guy is A-class Jonin level easy. How can I save Naruto and fight him at the same time?_ Kakashi wondered to himself. His answer came in the form of none other than Naruto Uzumaki, who exploded from the earth, covered in his Human Chakra Cloak. "Naruto?" Kakashi asked, wondering how the blond was putting out so much chakra.

"Sensei, now that I'm using this jutsu, I can handle the rock clones while you flush out the real assassin," Naruto stated, his voice full of confidence. Looking at Naruto with his Sharingan eye, Kakashi decided that even if Naruto couldn't defeat all the clones, the freakishly strong genin should at least be able to stay alive until he could find and defeat the Jonin assassin. Extending his battle-honed senses outward, he managed to pick out a faint scent coming from his 4 o'clock and went to investigate.

Some of the clones moved to pursue the copy-nin and protect their nearly chakra-depleted creator, but were stopped by the yellow devil's spawn. "What? I'm not enough for you? You bastards are pissing me off!" Naruto yelled as he swung his new sword with the boost of speed and strength the cloak always provided, taking out two rock clones at once. A clone four yards to his right tried to sprint past him, but found itself impelled by a knife-handed chakra arm.

_**With Kakashi:**_

Kakashi easily dodged and deflected the kunai and shuriken of his fleeing opponent. That is, until a hollow one that had an explosive note inside went up two feet in front of his face, catching the Sharingan (and unfortunately not Byakugan) user by surprise. When Kakashi emerged from the cloud of smoke, arms full of tiny metal shrapnel and in an x block in front of his face, the assassin was no longer in sight.

Normally, that wouldn't have been enough to stop him, but the world started to spin and he fell to the ground. As he inspected the wounds in his arms, his saw a miniscule amount of dark purple liquid. "A sedative…" he managed to get out before losing consciousness.

_**Next day, 1437Hrs, Tazuna's Home:**_

Kakashi awoke to the sight of a boar mask mere inches from his face. "Ah, sempai, I wasn't expecting you to awaken for 3 or four more hours," the ANBU stated blandly.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked, his voice strained.

"Uzumaki-san carried you here yesterday evening and then promptly went to sleep. He is now downstairs trying to convince the child, Inari, that Gato is dead."

"And the others?"

"Yamanaka-san, Uchiha -san, and Aburame-san are guarding Tazuna-san at the construction site. The rest of Team 8 are recovering nicely; we should be able to depart for Konoha in 3 to 4 days," Boar informed him.

Downstairs, a frustrated Naruto was trying to explain things to Inari. "Look, kid, I'm telling you I have it on good authority that Gato is dead. I mean, someone blew his complex skyhigh," Naruto informed him.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he was inside, you idiot," Inari retorted.

"Look, kid, can you keep a secret?" Naruto asked.

At the boy's nod, Naruto leaned down and whispered into Inari's ear. "I know Gato's dead because I'm the one who blew him up," Naruto said, and looked the child in the eyes, channeling a tiny amount of killing intent to get the point across, and then quickly stopped and smiled. "So now you're going to stop annoying me about leaving your grandpa to die in a few days, right?" Naruto asked, and received a vigorous nod from Inari before leaving the room. Had he looked inside the sink, he would have seen a Kiri Hunter-nin mask in the frozen water's reflection.

_**Two days later, 1900Hrs, Iwagakure:**_

The assassin pulled off his mask and barged into the Tsuchikage's office, hitting the two Chunin inside with the full brunt of his killing intent. "It would seem that my son has something to say to me; you two are dismissed," the Tsuchikage said, watching the two ninja flee his office like bats out of hell.

"It's true, father, his facial bone structure is slightly different and his skin tone may be a shade darker, but I'd know that blond hair and steely blue eyes anywhere. That brat is definitely Namikaze's son," the Tsuchikage's son told his father.

"What do you mean **is, **Rotsuchi?" Onoki asked, flaring his own killing intent.

"He is still alive father, I-I failed," the now-identified Rotsuchi answered, trying in vain to hide his discomfort under his father's anger.

"Tell me exactly what happened," Onoki ordered, and Rotsuchi did just that, going over everything that had happened in great detail. Onoki closed his eyes, digested the information, and asked a question.

"So it's confirmed; he is a Jinchuriki?"

"I don't know. The… shroud I told you of was made out of his own chakra," Rotsuchi answered.

"He's a genin and already this powerful?" Onoki said to himself in disbelief as wisps of fear made their way into his heart. "Go to the intel division HQ, and tell them to put Naruto Uzumaki in the next bingo book with a kill-on-sight order for all Iwa shinobi, Special-Jonin level or higher. And add an 85 million Ryo reward for him dead, and 100 million alive, so that I can kill him myself!"

**A/N: First of all I'd like to credit to the amazing Kenchi618 for the hollow, explosive note filled kunai thing. I got the idea from reading one his stories. I'd like to thank Bottle Glass for cleaning my grammar and mechanics. I haven't decided if Zabuza survived the blast yet but a very pissed off Haku will be making appearances in later chapters.**

**Next Chapter by 8-19-12 Please review!**

**Ps. I'll never own Naruto or make any money from writing fanfiction so I don't see the point of writing anymore disclaimers. **


	9. Chapter 9

"Human talking"

"_Human thinking"_

**"Demon or Summon talking"**

"_**Demon or Summon thinking"**_

Jutsu will be underlined

**4 days later, 1012Hrs, Konohagakure:**

Naruto stood before a pensive Hokage who had been briefed on the events of the Wave mission, hating that he had been forced to reveal his trump card so soon. The Hokage dismissed Kakashi and summoned Danzo. The man was furious enough to order his ANBU to bring the 'crippled' man to him ASAP, prompting them to carry the war hawk to his office.

"Sarutobi, what is the meaning of this?!" Danzo yelled, after suffering the indignity of being thrown over someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes and spirited away, instead of being properly summoned like his rank as a village elder demanded.

"Danzo, don't bullshit me. You know exactly why you're here," Hiruzen stated with barely restrained fury, killing intent whispering off him like smoke.

Looking around the room and seeing Naruto, Danzo took a seat and calmly addressed his former friend and rival. "Since he was placed in the reform school five years ago, he has been trained and protected by Root."

Hiruzen looked at Danzo, a mixture of shock and outrage on his face. He knew that the old war hawk wouldn't disband Root, despite being ordered to by both him and his late successor, the Yondaime. He had wanted to have Danzo executed, but something had changed his mind and for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was.

"Danzo, I told you that Naruto was off-limits! Did you think it was a suggestion; did you think there wouldn't be repercussions for your disobedience?" Hiruzen asked angrily, giving his ANBU the signal to restrain the focus of his wrath. But then something he never saw coming happened—the room's hidden ANBU grabbed him instead! Hiruzen didn't waste time by trying to question the obviously Root-compromised shinobi, but responded by shooting kunai hidden under his robes into the faces of the ANBU on either side of him and jumping over the table to end Danzo once and for all. However, while he was dealing with the two ANBU, Danzo had removed the cloth covering his right eye, and upon looking into the stolen Sharingan eye, Hiruzen was ensnared in Danzo's Kotoamatsukami before even landing.

"Listen to me carefully, Hiruzen, this is the way you will remember this meeting going. You called me here and I admitted that Root has been protecting and training young Uzumaki, and while you didn't like the idea, you came to realize that without Root the boy would have been assassinated a long time ago. You gave me permission to further his training so that he may survive Iwa's eventual attempts on his life. After much debate, you also agreed to renew funding to Root due to the current situation at the northwestern border, so that the Leaf may be prepared for the upcoming war," Danzo stated, going through the Kage's mind, rearranging mental pathways to enforce his hypnotic commands.

When he was finished, two Root ANBU materialized near their fallen comrades and retrieved their bodies. Hiruzen walked back around his desk, sat down and started doing his paperwork as if nothing had happened. "Danzo, Naruto-kun, you're dismissed."

**Main Root compound, underneath the Hokage Monument, 1104Hrs:**

Naruto was in a kneeling position before a stone-faced Danzo. He knew that he was in for it, having forced Danzo to use such a jutsu. If they were any other master and apprentice combo he might try apologizing, but Danzo hated apologizes and making one would only make his punishment worse.

However, to Naruto's surprise, Danzo reached behind his back and retrieved his Crane mask and handed it to him. "I read Hatake's mission report. I know that you had no choice but to use the cloak. But because of your actions, a delicate situation in the north has taken a turn for the worst," Danzo said, before taking out a remote, turning on the room's projector and pulling up a map of the elemental nations.

"Because of our theft of the hero water, Takigakure has abandoned its isolationist attitude and instigated a series of skirmishes with Kusagakure, who they blame for our actions. Normally such conflict between two small villages wouldn't be much of a concern, but two days ago Takigakure signed a treaty with Iwagakure. There is no way that our ally Kusagakure could stand up to Iwa's might, and if they fall, Iwa will be able to march it's forces right up to our door step and force us to fight them on our own land—something that has never happened before in our village's history," Danzo informed him.

"What about Amegakure and Sunagakure, how do they factor into this?" Naruto asked.

"Ame is currently locked in civil war and Suna, while technically our allies, are resentful of us due to their daimyo outsourcing missions to our village, causing them to suffer a recession. It's unlikely that they will take a side in the upcoming conflict until a side proves to have the upper hand."

"So let me guess. You want me to take out Taki's Jinchuriki and weaken them," Naruto assumed.

"Eventually, but once Iwa shinobi step foot on the battlefield and shed the blood of a Kusagakure shinobi, Konoha will have no choice but to declare war. I want your team to gain battlefield experience and prestige during this conflict, so when you're ready, I'll be arranging for your 'advanced' team of Genin to be field-promoted to the rank of Chunin and sent to the front lines," Danzo stated.

"You want to create a new group of legendary Sannin loyal to Root," Naruto realized.

"Hai, Konoha has always prevailed in war because of our Village's ability to produce 'super ninja' such as the Yondaime, the white fang, the copy-nin, Shisui of the Shunshin, and the Sannin, just to name a few. But as of today, Jiraiya and Kakashi are the only truly remarkable shinobi that are currently battle-ready due to Sarutobi's age, Orochimaru's defection, and Tsunade's bullshit."

"But the Sannin each had talents that made them special. One, the greatest med-nin the shinobi world has ever known, the other an amazing—if twisted—scientist, and the last a prodigious spy master. Not to mention that they all possessed summoning contracts of biju-sized animal clans," Naruto said, wondering how his team could ever hold a candle to the legendary three.

"Your teammates will be evaluated by Root, and their greatest talent will be nurtured just like those three. When I initially evaluated you, I discovered that you had an abnormally high aptitude for Fuinjutsu, but decided not to pursue this skill due to a fear that you might free yourself from my control."

"But because of that show of force earlier, you aren't worried about that anymore?" Naruto asked.

"No, I commissioned my scientists to use the hero water we acquired to boost certain enhancements I made to myself, but the procedure backfired. I contracted some kind of slow-acting cancer. That's why you becoming too powerful and killing me is no longer a concern. By the time you become skilled enough to try, I'll already be at death's door," Danzo stated with absolutely no emotion.

"So what now?" Naruto asked, not completely believing that the old war hawk was dying from some disease.

"Your parents left scrolls and other items behind for you. Jiraiya has the items left to you by your father, but I was able to obtain your Uzumaki inheritance and secure it, "Danzo stated while taking a scroll the size of Naruto's arm out from behind his chair and giving it to him."A private three room training bunker located under training ground 14 will be provided for your sole use, you can expect your team to be sent to the Northwester border within the month."

"Won't I be a liability to my team and whoever we're attached to, with Iwa out for my blood?" Naruto asked. "Now that the need for you to hide your abilities is gone, I have no doubt that you will be able to keep yourself and your teammates alive," Danzo answered, standing up and limping out of the room.

**Naruto's Bunker, 1212Hrs:**

When Naruto closed the door to one of his 40 by 55 foot training rooms, the automatic seals placed on the walls gave off a faint glow. He noted that the front right side of the room was set up like a study, with a desk, blank scrolls, ink, brushes, and other Fuinjutsu supplies already stocked. The rest of the room was bare, but Naruto decided it wouldn't be for long.

Setting the scroll down on the floor, Naruto unrolled it and deposited a small amount of chakra into the seal, unsealing its contents. After the puff of smoke dissipated, he was faced with 2 scrolls and a fairly large gold chest, with the symbol of Uzushiogakure in its center.

Naruto picked up the scroll on the left, and observed that a blood seal prevented just anyone from opening it. Biting his thumb, he smeared his blood over the seal while simultaneously applying chakra, and unrolled the scroll—which turned out to be a letter from his mother.

"_My dearest Naruto-kun,_

_I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there for you while you were growing up. The doctors tell me that because of my status as a Jinchuriki, I won't survive giving birth to you—that my body won't be able to handle keeping the Kyuubi at bay and bearing a child. I haven't told your father yet; he's so happy, so proud that he's going to have a son. I think he's going to burst. If I told him about my condition, he'd try to convince me to have an abortion, and I just can't do that. I love you so much and I haven't even met you. _(There's a water stain on the paper here; Naruto assumes that she started crying at this point.)_ I won't let you die. Since I'm not around, you've probably had to hear about your Uzumaki heritage from well-meaning people that aren't of our clan. Well, there are few clan secrets that no one in Konoha knows, well, not anymore that is. One would be that our supposed Kekkei Genkai, chakra chains, are predominately inherited through the female members of our clan. Another is that our clan has a summoning contract of its own. Years ago, before the founding of Uzushiogakure, our clan would go into battle with the little armored ones of El Dorado, which translates into our language as 'The City of Gold'. They are an extremely proud clan of animal summons that are able to form massive biju-sized bodies out of the materials around them, and instead of the entire clan only having two of three elemental affinities, they have all five spread throughout themselves. The reason that we haven't used them in battle in so long is because they are extremely selective of who they allow to summon them. Once you sign the contract, you are reverse-summoned before their leader, the armor sage who makes you undergo 'The Trials.' When I attempted to become their summoner, I was tasked to fight 5 members of the clan one after the other. I only made it past two before I was knocked unconscious and woke up back in Konoha. From what I understand, the trials are different every time and you don't always survive. Naruto-kun, I'd rather you didn't try to become their summoner, but if you feel you have no other choice, the contract is in the chest accompanied by this scroll. But be sure to take the other scroll I sealed away with this one as the tribute that they require to even consider you as a potential summoner. Always remember how much I love you._

_Your Mother, Kushina Uzumaki_

As Naruto resealed the letter and placed it in his left leg's cargo pocket, he felt a tear run down the left side of his face. _"__I'm crying? I'll need to talk to Danzo about going through another round of emotional conditioning,_ Naruto thought to himself. He then turned his attention to the gold chest that contained the Armadillo summoning contract. _Kakashi gave us the next two days off and once Danzo starts pulling strings, team 7 will probably be going on missions non-stop until we get promoted. Now would be the best time to undergo the trials" _Naruto decided, using his blood to undo the seal on the chest and on the contract.

Unrolling the contract, Naruto saw twelve names with a line running through them. Above them, he saw the name Hiromasa Uzumaki, which was line free. Naruto assumed that the man was the last successful Armadillo summoner, and decided to try and look him up later. Biting his thumb again and writing his name on one of the few lines left available on the contract, the reverse-summoning wasn't immediate, and 30 seconds later, Naruto wondered if there might be something he was missing—until he remembered what his mother said about a tribute and picked up the other scroll. As soon as he touched it, he felt the room spin around him so hard that he closed his eyes.

Before he opened them, he felt a 10 degree hike in temperature, and smelt the scent of dirt all around him. Opening his eyes, he found himself in an underground cavern that had stalagmites and stalactites made of gold seemingly growing out of the ground, and hanging from the ceiling. **"So you're the next Uzumaki bobo to try and get us to fight with you, huh?"** Naruto heard someone ask from behind him in a thick accent that he had never heard before. Turning around, he saw a small, bearded Armadillo that was about the size of a gallon of milk. It was on all-fours and its back armor was a silvery gold, with the exception of its white beard and gold-covered claws.

"My name is Nar..." Naruto started, before being cut off by the small Armadillo.

**"I can freaking read, nino. Now, before I introduce myself, I'll have to ask you for our tribute,"** the Armadillo stated impatiently.

Naruto unsealed the contents of the scroll and had to jump back to avoid being crushed by a huge block of lead, roughly three times the size of the Ichiraku Ramen stand. The armadillo walked around to the block, inspecting it before sitting up on its hind legs, clapping its foreclaws together and placing them on the block, turning it into solid gold.

**"This will do, nino. My name is Arumaeiji; I'm the armadillo sage of El Dorado. I've only held the title for the last three years, as my predecessor passed away shortly after the last potential summoner failed her set of trials. Our clan specializes in both battle and scouting/espionage, and if you pass your trials then we will fight with you anywhere, at any time, even if you summon us into the depths of inferno to face El Diablo himself," **Arumaeiji informed him. **"Now, if you are ready to begin, assume the lotus position with your head bowed low enough for me to reach it, but be advised that once you do this, there is no backing out and you might die just from me touching you." **

Naruto simply nodded and followed instructions. Arumaeiji walked over and climbed atop Naruto's crossed legs. Placing a single paw on Naruto's head, the elderly Armadillo said something under his breath and Naruto felt a cold sensation start at his head and spread throughout his body.

**"I'm going to** **temporarily turn you into gold so that I can take a look at your soul. As long as you stay calm, I shouldn't have a problem turning you back." **

Naruto's eyes widened at this, but since the process had already started and he didn't want to end up as a golden statue, he dipped into his Root emotional conditioning and calmed himself, making sure to slow his heart rate. About 20 minutes later, the armadillo sage reversed the process and released Naruto, crawling off of the young ninja.

**"Good, nino. You've passed the first trial. Your soul is tainted, but with the life you've had, I'm not really surprised. If it wasn't for the fact that you care for your teammates, if only a little bit, I would boot you out of here right now, but you do—so I won't. Normally, the next two trials would be to try and rid you of that Uzumaki anger problem, but this Danzo person has already done that, so I'll just skip to your final test." **Turning from Naruto, Arumaeiji put his fore claws to his snout and yelled in a surprisingly loud voice, **"Arumagoro! Get out here and meet the potential summoner!" **Seconds after he said this, a set of foreclaws, each twice the size of Naruto's head, broke through the ground about 10 feet in front of Naruto and Arumaeiji. Naruto sized up the animal as soon as it was out of the ground. It was far larger than Arumaeiji; standing on its hind legs it seemed to be about 8 feet tall with the same color scheme as the sage. It was extremely muscular and had a black spear with a 10 inch blade strapped to its back. Upon closer inspection, Naruto noticed that the large armadillo had two horrific-looking scars on the right side of its face and his right eye seemed to be sewn shut.

"**Odelay! We're finally getting a summoner, huh, gramps?" **Arumagoro asked, obviously extremely excited.

**"Perhaps. Naruto, although Arumagoro here is young and easily excitable, he is extremely talented and is next in line to be Armadillo boss. The position is unfortunately vacant at this time. For your final trial, I want you to fight him, and if you're still alive after 10 minutes, then I will accept you as the armadillo clan's summoner. Arumagoro, if you can kill this human nino before time runs out, I'll make you boss today," **said Arumaeiji**. **

**"Seriously?" **Arumagoro asked in his childlike voice**. **

**"I promise, but you have to fight him as you are, no expansion techniques," **Arumaeiji responded.

"**Naruto, ready?" **Naruto nodded and took out a scroll from his inner hoodie pocket, unsealing Kubikiribōchō. **"Arumagoro, ready?"** The armadillo air nodded, dropped to all-fours and then took his spear from his back with a ridiculously-long tongue and pointed his weapon at Naruto. "**Begin!"**

Arumagoro didn't waste any time, rushing Naruto and thrusting his spear forward, his tongue extending to over 3 yards. Naruto swung Kubikiribōchō while spinning his whole body, successfully parrying the spears thrust. Jumping forward while still in a spin, he attempted to slice into Arumagoro's tongue, but the future boss summon proved to have an amazing amount of dexterity with the organ, and pulled it back out of the range of Naruto's attack. Naruto placed the end of his blade on the ground and its hilt on his shoulder. Bringing his hands together, he created 15 regular shadow clones and 4 of their reinforced counterparts.

Sending in 7 clones in a bum rush, he ordered the rest, save two of the reinforced ones, to surround his opponent. "Mid-to-long range support," he ordered his two remaining clones. One left in a shunshin and reappeared on the cavern's ceiling, already going through the hand seals for a wind jutsu. The other used the Hiding Like a Mole Jutsu to tunnel under the ground to make itself available for a surprise attack. Hearing an explosion, Naruto knew that one of his other two reinforced clones had been destroyed, and focused on the memories streaming to him from his fallen clones. Arumagoro had abandoned his semi-stationary approach to the battle, and was now moving his entire body around at astonishing speeds; only 4 of the attack clones remained, one of which was reinforced and primed to dispel in a gust of wind blades. Naruto resealed Kubikiribōchō, estimating that the sword would slow him down too much and entered the fray, wind chakra-enhanced kunai at the ready. Naruto emerged from a shunshin and attempted to slash at Arumagoro's side, only to abort his attack and block a swipe of his opponent's armored tail which hadn't been used until then.

**"Arrgh!" **

Naruto heard a pained yell, and observed via a dispelled clone that 2 feet of his opponent's tongue had been cut off and his spear chucked halfway across the cavern.

**"Time to get serious!"** Arumagoro declared, apparently having little difficulty speaking even with his injury. Standing on his hind legs for only a couple seconds, he slammed his foreclaws into the ground, pumping a massive amount of chakra into the rock surface. **"****Earth wave pulse!****" **

Naruto was hit by a large wall of gravel and dirt that had surrounded the armadillo and expanded in all directions, making it nearly impossible to dodge. Despite having the air knocked out of him, Naruto looked behind him and saw that if he didn't do something, the wall of earth that was pushing him back would smash him against the side of the cavern. Dropping the kunai in his hands and making the necessary seals, he was able to pull off a substitution with the support clone on the ceiling. The substitution was sloppy and jarring, making Naruto unable to apply the necessary chakra to his feet in time to avoid falling.

While plummeting toward the ground, Naruto saw Arumagoro going through what he assumed were hand-claw seals. **"****Fire release: Fire ball barrage Jutsu!****"** Arumagoro spat out dozens of fist-sized fire balls that were moving with amazing speed.

Thrusting his palms in front of himself, Naruto yelled out, "Wind release: Great Breakthrough!" using the recoil of his technique to narrowly dodge the first wave of his opponent's still incoming attack. Capitalizing on the short break in between waves, Naruto quickly swallowed a soldier pill and activated his chakra cloak. Firing off a chakra claw into the ground below him, Naruto yanked himself out of the air and landed, creating a large crater in the ground. Arumagoro was about to adjust his aim and renew his attack, but the shout of **"Time!" **made him stand down.

"**Bueno, Muy Bien done! You both pass!" **Arumaeiji called out in a pleased voice, while emerging from the ground.

**"We both pass?" **Arumagoro asked, confused.

"This last trial was for both of us. While Arumaeiji-sama wanted to see if I was skilled enough to stay alive in a fight with you while not taking your life, he also wanted to see if you would really be willing to kill a potential summoner just to get promoted into a position that'll be yours in a few years anyway," Naruto explained.

"**Si, and instead of trying to kill each other from the beginning, you both pulled your punches while making sure to put on a good show. Naruto, because you had already deduced the point of the trial and you, Arumagoro, because you didn't want to kill Naruto when you could go out and battle with him in the human world and get all that glory you want so bad," **Arumaeiji elaborated.

"**Well, si, we've become something of a joke to the other animal clans, and the humans don't even remember us,**" Arumagoro said, bothered by his clan's current state.

"**Come here Naruto, take a knee," **Arumaeiji commanded. When Naruto did, the sage pushed the left sleeve of Naruto's hoodie up and exposed Naruto's bare skin. **"Naruto Uzumaki, the covenant in which you are entering is lifelong and can only be dissolved by you signing a contract with another clan or purposely taking the life of one of your armadillo comrades. Do you accept these terms?" **

"Hai."

**"Then with the application of this summoning tattoo, I, Arumaeiji, Armadillo Sage and the acting leader of the armadillo clan of El Dorado, acknowledge you, Naruto Uzumaki, as our summoner," **Arumaeiji said, before one of the nails on his right claw began to glow and he drew the kanji for 'summon' on Naruto's left forearm right above the wrist. The black symbol rose up from his skin and turned gold in color.

**Two days later, Training ground 7, 0830Hrs:**

As team 7 sat together, waiting for their sensei to show up, Naruto came to an important decision regarding his teammates. "Guys, after we're released for the day, I want to talk to you," Naruto stated in a serious tone. Sasuke raised an eyebrow but then nodded, hoping that the dobe had finally decided to clue them in as to what the hell was up with him. Ino was about to say something, when she sensed an approaching chakra signature.

"Incoming nin," Ino warned her teammates, who rose to their feet, preparing themselves for anything. An ANBU trainee with a blank mask appeared before them in a puff of smoke.

"Impressive, Yamanaka-san. Team 7 is to report to the Academy auditorium in 15 minutes for a Genin meeting; after which you will then return here to wait for your Jonin sensei, who is currently in a Jonin meeting," the trainee informed them, before leaving the same way he came.

"Since when do Genin have meetings?" Ino asked.

"It'll be more like a mass briefing. Something big must be going on," Sasuke guessed.

_So it started already huh? _Naruto thought to himself.

**Academy, 0841Hrs:**

As team 7 entered the auditorium, they saw that the room was only a quarter full, with about a hundred Genin of various ages and sizes. They took a set of seats toward the middle of the room, and noticed that while they didn't see any of the Genin of their graduating year, the group of upperclassmen they had defeated back in the Academy were in the row in front of them, slightly to the left.

Up on the stage, Hayate Gekko, flanked by Iruka and a Nara Chunin, walked out from behind the curtain and called the room to order. "All right, Genin, listen up. Two hours ago, the Hidden Leaf village declared war on Takigakure and Iwagakure. You have been recognized as the top third group of genin the village has to offer, and will be more involved with the war effort than your less-skilled counterparts," Hayate started, before explaining the reasons behind the upcoming conflict as well as its potential for becoming another shinobi world war.

"While you will initially be used to carry supplies and messages, you will, due to your skill level, eventually be called upon to fill in for injured or fallen Chunin on the battlefield. If you survive long enough, it is highly likely that you will be given field promotions and your Genin cell split up," Iruka told the Genin.

"All 102 of you won't be active at the same time during this conflict. 17 teams will be on duty while the other 17 is in recovery/skills training. During this time, any innate talents you may have in Fuinjutsu, Medical jutsu, and any sensory abilities you may have will be sharpened by retired shinobi," the Nara Chunin threw in.

"All right, if I call your cell number, you are to join me on stage. If I don't, you are to remain seated," Hayate stated while Iruka and the Nara Chunin jumped of the stage. "7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 32, 33, 37, and 38," Hayate read off his clipboard, and waited for the Genin to join him on stage. Once they were, he led them behind the curtain and out of the auditorium to a random class room.

Team 7 sat toward the front, ignoring to whispers of the older Genin who wondered whether they deserved to be there. "All right, question time. Raise your hand and I'll answer whatever questions you have to the best of my ability." As soon as Hayate said this, 2/3rds of the Genin immediately raised their hands.

Hayate pointed to Tenten, who asked, "Jonin-san, will our sensei be with us on our missions?"

"Initially, yes, your sensei will (cough) continue running missions with you unless their particular skills are needed on the front lines, in which case another Jonin, Special-Jonin, or a (cough) high-speed Chunin may be attached to your cell to lead you. Once you guys start getting promoted, you may end up in a three-man team. Like, um… you, Rock Lee, and Neji Hyuga make up team 9, right?" Tenten nodded. "Well, let's say your team gets attacked while transporting (cough) rations or something, and you do so well that Gai-san puts you in for promotion and it gets approved. Then, 3 weeks later Gai-san gets ordered to fill in as a platoon leader on the front lines and there aren't any senior ninja available to fill in as your team's leader. If that happened then you, newly-promoted Tenten would take over as team 9's leader—do a good job and you might get pulled from your team and attached to a platoon on the front lines, depending on how bad things get out there," Hayate answered, causing quite a few of the hands to go down.

Pointing to an older genin of about 22 years of age, Hayate was asked another question.

"How often can we expect to be hit while transporting supplies, and what will the enemy consist of?"

"It will probably be small teams of enemy hunter-nin. We've already (cough) been deploying border patrol teams with sensor-nin attached, but small teams of enemy ninja with small chakra reserves may be able to slip past. When they do, some will act as scouts, and some will be gunning for you guys," Hayate answered, pointing to a female Genin next.

"What will the other Genin be doing while we're mobilized?"

"Well, the crappy ones will be up to their necks in D-rank missions, that's for sure. Um… some will be covering C-ranks with the occasional D-rank, and the ones who prove themselves will be bumped up to the advanced group of Genin, like you guys. Like, say team 15 all get promoted and sent to (cough) the front, or killed. If that happened, they would get replaced by a new group of Genin," Hayate answered.

"How long will we be active and inactive?" someone asked, without being called on.

"Can't follow directions, huh, kid? You won't last long," Hayate said, annoyance present in his voice. "But to answer your question, no team will be inactive for more than a month. However, how long you're active (cough) is up in the air, could be a few weeks, could be a few months." Hayate pointed to Kabuto Yakushi, someone that Naruto knew from Root and had been told by Danzo was most likely a traitor and double agent.

"Gekko-san, didn't you fight in the last world war? Do you have any advice for us?"

"My Genin cell got bumped up to forward status like you guys, toward the end of the war. We only ran two supply missions before the war was over, but on our last mission our sensei died protecting us, and my teammate Genma took over. When we got back, he was promoted even though the war was wrapping up. That type of thing can happen when you're out there, and if it hadn't been for Genma stepping up, my whole team would have been wiped out. So I'd say, obey your superiors, don't squabble over who's in charge if they bite it, don't be a hero since you're just Genin, and don't hesitate. I've seen so many skilled comrades get killed because of hesitation; it's ridiculous. You guys haven't seen war before, so you're gonna be second-guessing yourselves, but remember that any decision is better than none," Hayate told the Genin, so serious that he fought off the urge to cough.

Hayate pointed to Sasuke, who didn't even have his hand raised. "All right, Uchiha-san, your team encountered a drug during your last couple missions that we've named Cerberus. I'm getting kind of tired of talking, so would you please brief us on it and I'll elaborate when you're done?" Hayate requested.

"On our first mission outside of the village, we were attacked by two low-level samurai who had been exiled from the Land of Iron and reduced to working as bandits. Initially, one was of about Chunin level and one at Genin, but once they drank the drug, three of their Celestial gates opened and they became juggernauts. Our sensei defeated one, while we killed the other though teamwork and a well-placed Genjutsu. According to our sensei, there were traces of a foreign chakra in their systems. Before we could complete our mission, we were sent on another one in the Land of Waves, where Ino, our team's sensor, detected traces of the same foreign chakra present in a group of bandits that were approaching our position. Naruto and I did a short recon and then dealt with them; upon examining their bodies, we discovered that they all had the drug on their person," Sasuke reported, and sat down once he was done.

"Okay, nice job, Uchiha-san, so it turns out that Orochimaru is the creator of this (cough) drug and is supplying it to bandits and missing-nin. The foreign chakra present in the drug's user is the snake's. In the short term, it provides a ridiculous boost in chakra, as well as speed, strength, and endurance. But over time it erodes the (cough, cough) chakra coils, resulting in the loss of the ability to mold chakra, and in some cases, death. It also appears to be somewhat addictive. According to our scouts, the enemy has already hired mercenaries equipped with Cerberus and are using them with mixed (cough) results. Usually forward Genin aren't needed until the war has been going on for a (cough, cough) while, but because of these juiced-up idiots acting as a force multiplier for the enemy, the war council decided to tap you guys now," Hayate explained and looked at his watch.

"This is A group, and the one still in the auditorium is B. Teams in A group will be mobilized at different times within the next 72 hours. If your family and friends aren't shinobi with a level 2 security clearance or higher, then don't tell them that you were assigned to this taskforce. When on active status and in the village, you will be staying in barracks that your Jonin-sensei will take you to after this. The Jonin meeting should actually be over by now, so they will answer any questions you guys have left, so… you guys are all released," Hayate finished, and left through the door at the front of the classroom.

**Training ground 7, 1133Hrs:**

Team 7 landed in the familiar training ground after leaping from the trees. Turning to an obviously worried Ino, Naruto asked her to do a thorough scan of the area, to which she reported that no one was around. "I wanted to do this is in a more secluded place, but I need to tell you guys something before we go on any more missions…" Naruto started, before he was interrupted by Sasuke's dry statement of "Finally."

"Apparently, Iwa is under the impression that I'm the son of the Yondaime. Someone in Konoha's upper levels tipped them off about me, as well as where I would be during the Wave mission. The assassin that attacked me was sent by them," Naruto informed.

"Are they right? Are you the fourth's son?" Ino asked.

"All I got from Hokage-sama was a maybe, but apparently, I'm in Iwa's bingo book with a bounty on my head and a kill-on-sight order, so that the Iwa ninja that we come across will probably do everything they can to kill me," Naruto explained.

"Which is why we will have to be on guard even more than the other teams," Kakashi said from right behind them.

Ino let out a yelp and addressed him. "Sensei, h-how did you sneak up on me?" she asked.

"I've eluded my fair share of sensor-nin, plus, you haven't been properly trained as one yet."

"So sensei, what are our orders?" Naruto asked, wanting to get down to business.

"Our team is one of the first to go out. We are to report to the supply pick-up point by the northern gate in three hours. We'll be given the coordinates to the drop-off point then. Pack for a 2-week mission, but leave enough room in your bags for three 9 by 2inch supply scrolls. Oh, and it's supposed to start raining soon, so make sure you pack wet weather gear. I'll see you guys back here in exactly two hours, with your packs lied out for inspection," Kakashi said before leaving in a swirl of leaves.

**A/N: Thanks to Hidden Fox for the name of the Cerberus Drug, and to Bottle Glass for Beta-ing this chapter. The next two chapters are actually already written and just need editing so you can expect 10 to be posted by Friday night. **

**My Spanish sucks but according to Google nino means child, Bobo means stupid and Odelay means Okay or Cool—to express enthusiasm.**


	10. Chapter 10

"Human talking"

"_Human thinking"_

**"Demon or Summon talking"**

"_**Demon or Summon thinking"**_

Jutsu will be underlined

* * *

**19 days later, 10 miles south of the Northwestern border 0207Hrs:**

BOOM! BOOM! "Exploding arrows, cowards" Sasuke said to himself as he and Ino weaved in and out of enemy artillery-fire. "What's taking Naruto and sensei so long? You might be able to sprint and shunshin forever but my legs are about to give" Ino informed her teammate before avoiding an explosion by performing a substitution with one of the many water clones she was able to create due to the moderately falling rain.

Team 7's first seven supply drops had been largely uneventful with only the unusually cold and wet weather in the Northern part of Fire Country to contend with. But when Kakashi, and then Ino detected a four man enemy team he ordered Ino and Sasuke to stay behind with shadow clones that he and Naruto discreetly created while the originals snuck behind the enemy to launch a surprise attack. That however was 15 arrows ago and while Sasuke's suggestion that they draw fire to keep attention off of their flanking teammates seemed good at first Ino wasn't about to last much longer.

"Ino, lock on to my charka signature and get ready to follow me out of here" Sasuke ordered before going through hand seals. "Demonic Illusion: Triple False Surroundings Jutsu" Sasuke whispered casting a fairly wide spread Genjutsu to mask their escape. As he and Ino fled the area he could already tell that the archers had already dispelled the first layer of his jutsu but figured that by the time they discovered that there were two more layers left he and Ino would be out of the danger zone. "A little insurance couldn't hurt" the Uchiha air thought to himself before scooping Ino up in a bridal carry and taking off in a ranged shunshin.

* * *

**With Naruto and Kakashi:**

Naruto pulled Kubikiribōchō from the chest of the male missing-nin mercenary who he assumed was from Kiri. The man wasn't exactly powerful but he was clever and with the abundance of water in the area due to the weather it took Naruto longer than it should have to finally put him down. Looking ahead he saw Kakashi engaging a dual nunchaku wielding female Jonin. Trusting his sensei's skills Naruto went to take out the two archers that had just stopped firing.

Naruto spotted his targets who were looking down in the slight depression that contained his teammates. "Release!" he heard one call out busy dispersing a Genjutsu. Capitalizing on his enemies distracted state Naruto raised his massive sword and turned it so the flat of the blade was facing them. Channeling wind chakra into Kubikiribōchō Naruto swung it straight down generating a massive gale, filled with wind blades. "Akina move!" The male called out before substituting himself with a fallen tree branch. Unfortunately his female partner was just a little too slow and was cut into pieces milliseconds before being blown away.

"You asshole! You killed my sister!" The remaining archer yelled before drawing his tanto charging Naruto blindly. "Seriously, dude?" Naruto asked before tossing a hollow, kunai at him. When the enemy shinobi struck the kunai with his tanto in an attempt to deflect it he was surprised when it shattered and the knockout gas filled pellet inside went off right in his face. Naruto walked up to his now unconscious opponent and beheaded him in one clean swipe, granting the young nin a quick and painless death.

Hearing a pained yell followed by a gurgling sound Naruto looked behind himself and saw Kakashi had one kunai plunged into his kunoichi opponent's heart and the other in her throat. Pulling his weapons free, blood gushed from the woman's arterial artery as her body fell to the ground. "Let's link back up with the others and make the drop" Kakashi said to Naruto who simply nodded.

* * *

**FOB Tobirama, Grass country, 0321Hrs:**

As team 7 were waved through by the gate gaurds and entered the farm turned forward operating base commandeered by companies Shibi and Asuma they noticed that there were way more Kusa shinobi present than normal. "You guys go ahead to the S-4 (supply) tent and deliver the scrolls. I'm going the main house to find out what's going on" Kakashi ordered. Upon entering the main house Kakashi was immediately waved up stairs to the main bedroom turned Base commanders office. Before he could even knock on the door it was opened by a small swarm of insects.

"Hatake-san, you're here good. The Hokage and Fire Daimyo have worked out a deal with the Land of Rice Fields' Daimyo to allow us to create a FOB in his country. The FOB will have a modified make up consisting of only one full company of Konoha shinobi lead by Choza Akimichi and two platoons of Kusa shinobi, which are the extra personnel that you noticed upon entering the base. There will also be a platoon of Leaf Anbu and commandos for more covert missions. The war council has ordered that you be removed as leader of Team 7 and placed in charge of this Special Ops platoon. Your students will be assigned to this post and will conduct their active supply missions and inactive training from here" Shibi informed him.

"Who will be their team leader?" Kakashi asked wanting to make sure his students were in good hands. "It was initially supposed to be Genma Shiranui but I sent him and his squad to rescue the Grass Daimyo's kidnapped son a half hour before these orders came in. For now I plan to switch your Genin to inactive status have them start training. But if something happens I'll attach someone capable to take over team 7 myself" Shibi answered.

* * *

**FOB Tobirama, 0938Hrs: **

Kakashi explained Team 7's new orders to his Genin and left with the Kusa-nin for the new FOB. Naruto, Sasuke and Ino had then been shown to tent 30 which was set aside for Genin teams to rest in between supply runs and told that they would be living in it for the time being. They managed to grab four hours of sleep before they were woken up by 3 Special Jonin.

"Team 7, My name is Santa Yamanaka and I'll be training Ino during your inactive status, the kunoichi on my left is Uroka Kurama and she's been paired up with Uchiha-san leaving Machi Gai with Uzumaki-san" Santa said before leaving with Ino.

* * *

**With Sasuke: **

Sasuke stood in front of his trainer on a narrow stretch of mud and gravel in between the FOB's west wall and a barn wall. Looking at the woman the first thing he noticed was that she wore a face mask like Kakashi and that the right side of her face that was visible was horribly burned. She had hazel eyes and short, spiky, light brown hair that was only a couple inches long. All of her skin from the face mask down was covered in a tight black body suit and black gloves. She wore her flack vest (which was also black) unzipped, most likely finding it more comfortable that way because of her large, D sized bust.

"Oy, Uchiha, are you finished checking me out?" Uroka asked. "Hai, sensei" Sasuke responded blushing only slightly.

"So I've been ordered to add to your Genjutsu repertoire. Kakashi-senpai came and found me before he left and told me about your proficiency with the Shunshin jutsu as well as your ambition to become as good with it as Shisui Uchiha. My older sister went on a few missions with him back in the day and told me her theory on how he fought.

According to her he probably used a multi-layer area Genjutsu on his opponents before entering battle as well as using regular clones to confuse the enemy and casting a technique over himself so that he appeared as a blur after exiting a shunshin, making it easier to avoid strikes to his vital organs.

What made Shisui's use of Genjutsu and shunshin so scary was that by the time you realized you were under a Genjutsu and dispelled all of its layers Shisui would probably already have a kunai in you. And on the off chance that you were able to totally snap yourself out of all of his illusions before he could get to you it only took one look in his eyes to be snared again.

We're going to be working on your Genjutsu casting speed, the potency of your illusions as well as sparing to speed up your reflexes. Oh and here (Uroka hands Sasuke a small scroll) Shisui quickly struck at two of his opponent's vital organs and then moved on to the next poor bastard, so I want you to study that scroll and make sure you are intimately familiar with the location of vital spots" Uroka finished.

"How did your sister become so familiar with Shisui's techniques and tactics? I mean this sounds a little too descriptive to be a theory" Sasuke asked. It was only due to having Kakashi as a sensei that allowed him to know without a doubt that the woman frowned before answering him.

"Our clans didn't exactly get along back then so she never admitted it but I think my sister may have had an affair with Shisui for a couple years…before your brother killed him that is. Now let's quit talking and actually train." Sasuke grimaced at the mentioning of Itachi but didn't allow it to distact his as his new teacher started going through hand seals.

* * *

**With Ino:**

"All right Ino, I plan on teaching you some more clan techniques as well as sharpening your skills as a sensor and teaching you how to use this" Santa stated before taking a small scroll from his hip pouch and unsealing a small back pack with an antenna and a wire with a suction disk coming out of it. "This is a mobile Chakra Transmission Communication Device. It's basically a radio that's powered by chakra and can only be used by a chakra sensor. It can broadcast and receive messages via Morse code or telepathic messages although the latter is very difficult and it will be some time before you are able to do it" Santa explained before sealing up the device.

"Now I want you to lock on to my body's chakra signature. Unlike the Hyuga and Uchiha we can't actually see chakra but we can feel it. This ability makes it possible to feel an opponent move before they actually do. (Ino frowns not completely understanding) Ok, before someone moves there body sends a small, almost unnoticeable amount of chakra along the chakra pathways and tenketsu of the moving limb. If someone purposely channels extra chakra to their limbs to increase their speed or strength it is easily noticeable to us sensors"

Santa explained before channeling chakra to his legs and left arm before quickly closing the distance between Ino and himself and launching a left jab which Ino sensed coming and ducked. She didn't however avoid a knee to the chin that knocked her on her ass.

"See what I mean? The jab was easy to dodge because it was chakra enhanced and you could feel it coming before I even moved. That knee however was launched using only my natural speed but after I'm done training you, you'll able to feel both types of attacks coming" Santa told Ino before instructing the girl to take a lotus position for sensor meditation drills.

* * *

**With Naruto**:

Naruto and his teacher who he discovered was the 17 year old niece of Maito Gai (and had the same since of fashion as her uncle) were currently engaged in an intense spar. They had been able to get one of the 3 small training areas present on the FOB due to the Jonin who had reserved the area for himself owing the personable Machi a favor.

The point of the spar was to improve Narutos ability to wield Kubikiribōchō. Machi had suggested learning one handed seals as well as using shadow clones to keep his opponents busy while he swung the heavy sword. Naruto had already thought of both tactics but had not had the time to properly train in them.

He decided to hold back less than normal and keep upping the difficulty as long as Machi could take it. She proved to have no problems with Naruto in the speed department not even needing to remove her leg weights but she her blocks did seem to buckle every once and a while under the force of Naruto's powerful swings.

The Genin was pumping chakra to his arms, swinging Kubikiribōchō as hard as he could without utilizing his chakra cloak. Machi was wearing special metal gauntlets that absorbed the kinetic energy of Naruto's strikes only to grow stronger and more durable after each one.

"Ah, very good Naruto-kun! You are extremely strong and resilient for your age, we have been at this for a while now and you do not even look tired, more over you have taken three blows to the head from me and remained conscious!" Machi said enthusiastically while grinning her sparkly white teeth sparkling briefly.

Naruto wondered how they did that with the overcast sky that was over head before bringing the flat of the sword up and blocking a punch from Machi that pushed him back 3 or 4 inches.

"Come on Machi-sensei I know you are holding back some and could have knocked me out any of those times you got around my guard" Naruto stated while thinking that he could probably defeat Machi if he pulled out all the stops.

"Ah but for you to even…" Machi was interrupted by the arrival of a bland looking Chunin.

"Machi-shoi, your squad has been ordered to do a patrol in grids B7,8,9 and C1 by Anko-chui, you are to leave in 30 minutes."

"Understood Eita-kun, but where is Anko-chui now?" Machi asked.

"She was walking towards her tent when she stopped me and sent me here" Eita answered.

"I see, thank you, you may go back to whatever you were doing" Machi said smiling at the Chunin causing him to blush.

Turning to Naruto she asked him if he would like to go on the patrol with her squad to which Naruto of course said yes. After they found Anko and asked her if the Genin could tag along Machi's 13 man squad plus Naruto left left the FOB heading west into the wood line.

"Naruto-kun unless I say otherwise I want you to stay with in arms reach of me got it?" Machi asked to which Naruto nodded.

"Machi-shoi, is it wise to have this Genin with us outside of the FOB, has he even seen battle yet?" a male Hyuga main branch member who was in his early twenties asked. "Ask him yourself Han-san"

Naruto couldn't help but notice that Machi used san instead of her usual kun horrific when addressing the Hyuga.

"Well Genin, have you see any conflict yet and try not to embellish in your response please" Han asked Naruto.

"Hai Hyuga-san my teammates and I have killed a low ranking samurai turned bandit from Iron country who was on the Cerberus drug though our use of teamwork. I also defeated a physically weak but clever missing-nin from Kiri roughly 10 hours ago while my team was in route to the FOB" Naruto informed him, purposely leaving other battles out as to not seem like he was 'embellishing'.

The condescending look in the Hyuga's expression lessened upon hearing the polite and humble response from the Genin. Han gave Naruto a small nod convinced that the boy wasn't impulsive and arrogant before turning and falling into formation with his team.

"Well done Naruto-kun you handled that very well" Machi complemented.

"I've met a few Hyuga before, they aren't that bad as long as you know how to speak and act around them" Naruto responded.

Machi had her squad patrol B7 together before sending Alpha and Bravo teams to grids B8 and 9 respectively. She and Naruto went with Charlie team to C1 and after 15 minutes Han saw something with his Byakugan and signaled the team to stop. "What is it Han?" Machi asked. "There is a four man team of Taki-nin assembling what appears to be a man sized mortar launcher" Han reported.

"Ayano, signal the other teams to meet back at the rally point as well as sending some of your insects back to the FOB to notify the taichou. We are pulling back for now but leave some insects here to monitor the situation" Machi ordered. The female Aburame raised her arms and four different groups of insects left to complete their tasks.

When Machi's squad reconsolidated in grid B7 the Alpha team reported that they had also discovered a small team of ninja setting up a mortar launcher only they were Iwa-nin.

After only three minutes of waiting a dragon fly zipped through the trees and landed on Ayano's shoulder. "Shoi, we are to ambush the mortar teams and destroy their equipment" Ayano informed Machi.

"Alright, Alpha and Bravo will engage the Iwa-nin while Charle takes out the Taki-nin. Our focus is on destroying the launchers though, so if the enemy is too much for you just blow the thing up and run, understood?" Machi asked before receiving nods from everyone and leaping away with Charlie team and Naruto behind her.

* * *

**Grid C1, 1127Hrs:**

Naurto crouched behind a tree with Machi on the edge of the wood line before the small clearing in which the Taki-nin were finishing up their task. Giving the signal to attack Charlie team minus Machi and Naruto rushed into the clearing tossing shuriken and kunai at the Taki-nin who deflected the attack.

Three of the Taki-nin rushed to meet the Konoha-nin while one went through a series of hand seals before raising a small dome of earth around himself and the mortar launcher. "Naruto-kun let's go!" Machi yelled unsealing her gauntlets and taking off for the dome in a burst of speed.

Channeling lightning chakra into her fist Machi punched into the dome dispersing the jutsu. "Water release: Water Gun!" The Taki-nin shouted firing a volleyball sized ball of water at Machi at point blank range that had so much force behind it Machi was lifted off her feet.

Luckily the young Special Jonin was able to put her arms up in an x block. Unluckily her right metal gauntlet was still cackling with electricity causing her to catch a nasty shock.

The Taki-nin was preparing to set off the mortar when a pair of hands grabbed his ankles and pulled him underground. Naruto emerged from a shunshin and slapped two explosive notes on the launcher before scooping up Machi and calling out "Machi-shoi's down but the launcher is tagged fall back!" Naruto then left in another shunshin detonating the explosive tags and the exploding clone holding the Taki-nin underground.

The Konoha shinobi fled and the Taki-nin who had lost a ninja to Naruto and another to Han's gentle fist decided against giving chase. The squad regrouped in a different rally point in B7 Alpha team having lost a ninja against the Iwa-nin before killing three and destroying their target.

Machi recovered by this point and was able to move under her own power so she ordered the squad to move back to the FOB saddened by the loss of one of her ninja and embarrassed at having to me carried away form the battle by a Genin.

Once they were only 300 yards away from the FOB Han spotted something. "Machi-shoi there are two men in black robes with red clouds at the bottom riding on two giant white birds heading for the FOB"

"_Red clouds, Akatsuki?"_Naruto wondered to himself remembering what Danzo had told him about the band of rebels form Ame before turning to Han.

"Hyuga-san please tell me what they look like" Naruto requested.

"One in wearing a slashed Iwa headband and has long hair, some of which is covering one of his eyes. It looks like there is something wrong with his hands like they have…teeth? The other is a hunched over man with dark skin with dreads, his face is hidden behind a mask that I can't see through at this distance" Han told Naruto.

"This is bad, really bad" Naruto said mostly speaking to himself.

"What is it Naruto-kun?"Machi asked.

"The Long haired one is Deidara of the Explosion release. He is an S-class missing-nin from Iwa that does terrorist attacks for money. Iwa must have hired him to blow up the FOB. I don't know who the guy with him is but if he's as powerful as Deidara we're in trouble" Naruto informed.

"Are you sure Naruto-kun?" Machi asked to which Naruto nodded. "We must get to the FOB and warn the Commander!" Machi yelled before removing her leg weights and disappearing, the rest of her squad behind her in shunshins.

* * *

**Main house roof minutes later:**

"Yes I'm aware; our sensors just picked them up and our long range specialists will begin firing as soon as they are in range" Shibi stated calmly. Machi and her squad looked into the sky as the two ninja flew closer. It wasn't too long before shouts of "Fire!" were echoed all over the FOB.

* * *

**The sky above FOB Tobirama:**

"Check it out Master Sasori, this place looks like a great canvas for my art! un" Deidara yelled excitedly.

"We don't have time for your bullshit Deidara, just start the bombardment so we can leave" Sasori replied.

Deidara reached into his pouch before producing to clay clones of himself complete with their own giant birds. The clones flew wide going to opposite sides of the FOB while releasing clay birds of various sizes from their hands. Two thirds of the birds were shot down by the long range jutsu coming from the FOB but the ones that weren't exploded with disastrous effects.

Feeling a pull on his chakra Sasori thought to himself _"it seems that my puppets on the inside are ready"_. He created a reinforced shadow clone and encased it in a Hiruko duplicate puppet which had summoning seals engraved in it. He then sent a small amount of chakra in to a summoning seal signaling his brain washed shinobi inside the FOB to summon it.

* * *

**Guest house storm cellar FOB Tobirama:**

Four shinobi were gathered around a 6x6 foot summoning mat in the lotus position, their hands in the ram seal. The technique they were using wouldn't be able to stop the FOB's sensor's from detecting that something had been summoned from the outside of the FOB but it would keep them from pinpointing their location.

In a puff of smoke their master appeared and addressed them. "Go out to key locations around the FOB and prepare to detonate yourselves" The Sasori clone ordered before waiting a few minutes and exiting the cellar himself.

* * *

**With Naruto:**

"This isn't working! Enemy's technique is still getting around our defenses and causing a huge amount of damage!" One of the members of Machi's Alpha team exclaimed.

"Sir I think I can help" Naruto said to Shibi.

"How so Genin?" Shibi asked.

"My summons can raise a defensive wall around the FOB but I'll have to use **its** chakra to summon the amount of the familiars needed to cast a jutsu large enough" Naruto responded. Shibi looked in Naruto's eyes and saw that he was serious.

"Machi, you and your squad go and cover him."

"Yosh!" Machi yelled before taking off behind Naruto.

Naruto landed in and semi open area and made the half ram seal "Stand back some!" Naruto exclaimed before pulling on the Kyuubi's chakra, biting his thumb and swiping the blood over his summoning tattoo.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed calling forth Arumaeiji, Arumagoro and three other armadillos of various sizes that Naruto had yet to meet. Naruto quickly explained what was going on as well as what he wanted the armadillos to do. "Can you help us out Arumaeiji-sama?" Naruto asked.

"**Of course Chico, Arumagoro tunnel near the North wall, Arumaiko the east, Arumaetsu the west and Arumaisao the south. I'll stay here and monitor you, as soon as you're all in position I'll start the jutsu and you all back me up" Arumaeiji ordered before his kin dug into the earth racing to get in position.**

Less than a minute later Arumaeiji started going through hand-claw seals. **"Armadillo clan art: Great Golden barrier jutsu!"**

A massive dome of earth quickly started to rise around the FOB enclosing it. It rose so quickly that only one of Deidara's clay clone was able to make it inside before detonating its self at the top of the dome in an attempt to grant its creator access.

This proved to be futile as the dome changed to gold right before sealing its self completely with the exception of a few air holes with gold screens infront of them.

"I've never seen anything like this" Han said in disbelief.

"Hai this is a most impressive jutsu I …" Machi started before having to dodge multiple senbon.

"If it isn't the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, who would have thought you'd have such powerful summons?" Sasori asked from atop a building looking down on the Konoha shinobi. "Tell me, will this dome come down once I kill that old armored rat there?"

**A/N: I'd like to thank quinisrael for his/her encouragement and advice on my usage of Spanish. I wish I could say that the next chapter will be posted in a week but since I'm thinking of rewriting it and maybe finding a new/additional beta I won't put a deadline on it. As always thanks and please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

"Human talking"

"_Human thinking"_

**"Demon or Summon talking"**

"_**Demon or Summon thinking"**_

Jutsu will be underlined

"If it isn't the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, who would have thought you'd have such powerful summons?" Sasori asked from atop a building looking down on the Konoha shinobi. "Tell me, will this dome come down once I kill that old armored rat there?"

"Who the hell are you?!" Hideaki, a member of Machi's Bravo team and was a Mizuki look alike (glasses, a slightly different nose and a two inch height difference being the only things allowing you to tell the men apart) asked.

"Sasori of the Red Sand" Sasori answered watching as only four of the shinobi present seemed to recognize his name. "Ah, so you've heard of me Kyuubi brat? Since you know who I am you know that you and your squad don't stand a chance against me so I tell you what, if you agree to come with me peacefully I'll spare your little friends here" Sasori bartered.

"**I'd love to stick around and watch this little showdown but I'm out of chakra, don't get yourself killed Naruto"** Arumaeiji said before leaving in a puff of smoke.

Sasori reached inside his robe, pulled out a scroll and with a puff of smoke unsealed his contents revealing 10 puppets of various shapes and sizes with equally varied weaponry. Not wasting anytime Sasori sent his puppets to attack the squad of leaf-nin who took on a defensive formation. Naruto unsealed Kubikiribōchō and rushed a childlike puppet that kind of reminded him of Inari, well besides the extra set of arms and scorpion tail coming from its back.

The puppet started things off by opening its mouth and spewing senbon at a surprisingly high rate of speed prompting Naruto to instinctively bring his sword up to use as a shield. "All right Naruto think! How do you deal with puppeteers?"

**Flashback, 5 years ago:**

"There are shinobi that use toys in battle?" an 8 year old Naruto asked skeptically. "No Naruto not toys, I'm talking about highly dangerous puppets that can be customized for various tasks and opponents" Crane explained but upon seeing Naruto's cynical facial expression hadn't changed he decided to skip the text book explanation and speak from personal experience.

"On one of my first Root missions my 4 man team was found in a part of Wind country that we weren't supposed to be in by a Suna shinobi and kunoichi. The shinobi wasn't much of a problem until he ended up killing our team leader in some sort of suicide jutsu. The kunoichi was easily Jonin-level but had only been using taijutsu and kenjutsu. When she was seemingly distracted by her comrade exploding my teammate Hare shunshined in front of her and stabbed her in the chest with his kunai. That's when we all saw that something was wrong because she didn't bleed… at all. Hare tried to get away but she grabbed him, opened her mouth to an impossible degree and exhaled a cloud of dark green smoke right in his face, he managed to slap an explosive note on her before he died…"

"He died? Don't Root and Anbu masks have filters built in them?" Naruto interrupted.

"Hai, but the filters are not infallible; the green cloud was so toxic that the miniscule amount that Hare inhaled was enough to kill him in less than 20 seconds. When the note went off her 'body' was blown apart however as soon as Komodo and I escaped the blast the real kunoichi jumped out of the sand with four puppets equipped with all kinds of weaponry. We fought the puppets, slowly taking them apart but even when we would cut off their limbs the kunoichi would just attach chakra strings to them and attack us with the dismantled puppets limbs" Crane narrated.

"So what did you do?" Naruto asked. "Komodo noticed a slight delay between her hand movements and the puppets' actions and deduced that she was compensating for this by anticipating our movements. He switched from using his naginata to spawning multiple fire jutsu erratically. The kunoichi had to concentrate on him more in able to keep up, allowing me to hit her with a long range lightning technique. 2 hours after we had sterilized the area Komodo fell ill and 4 hours after that he died…"

"How?" Naruto interrupted once again. "During the battle Komodo was nicked by one of the puppets' katana it was only after Komodo's autopsy that we discovered that the blade was poisoned" Crane finished.

"So… not toys" Naruto stated now grasping what Crane was getting at.

"No Naruto, definitely not toys" Crane answered.

**End of Flashback:**

Do to the rarity of puppeteers and the sheer amount of material that Danzo forced Naruto to learn, that conversation with Crane was the only time during Naruto's Root education that the subject of Ninja puppetry was touched on.

"_So avoid getting cut by their weapons, keep changing my style and tactics up and take out the actual puppeteer instead of only focusing on the puppets"_ Naruto thought to himself. He also briefly considered passing this info to the members of squad Machi but quickly dismissed the notion.

"_If they were Sasuke and Ino I could tip them off nonverbally but I need Sasori to think I'm just a snot nosed Genin jinchuriki with a flashy summoning contract. If he hears me breaking down his technique he will be more on guard and I'll never be able to get close to him."_ Naruto quickly but sloppily dispatched the puppet he was fighting and left the immediate area via shunshin.

"Did that little shit cut out on us!" Hideaki yelled in exasperation before bringing his tonfa blade down in a slash cutting the puppet open from its crown to its sternum causing the automaton to drop its commas and stop moving. Grinning he attempted to withdraw his weapon before a sizzling sound caught his attention.

Hideaki's eyes widened comically as he pumped chakra into his legs and jumped backwards as hard as he could avoiding the blast. Unfortunately he was riddled with shrapnel from the puppet's inner mechanizations, taking him out of the fight and ensuring a slow and painful death.

Sasori reached into his cloak to retrieve another scroll full of puppets when sensed the tell-tale burst of chakra preceding someone coming out of a shunshin and brought his tail up to defend against a sword strike from the Kyuubi Jinchuriki before kicking the 'boy' in the chest. It was only his vast experience as a shinobi that allowed him to jump off of the building and narrowly escaping the resulting blast, his puppet shell damaged but the enhanced shadow clone inside very much intact.

With the majority of his opponent's clothing burned away it was easy for the real Naruto, who had rejoined what was left of the squad, to see that what he had failed to blow up was just another puppet. When he left in his body flicker he created a total of 11 doppelgangers, one exploding clone to attack the puppeteer and the rest to use the Hiding Like a Mole Technique and make sure the puppeteer wasn't really underground.

They hadn't found anything yet but since they were only shadow clones (not as powerful as the original) and the fact that Naruto didn't have an earth affinity they might not be able to find him at all.

"Shoi, my kikaichu are detecting massive spikes in chakra, that puppet is about create a blast radius so large that we will not be able to escape it" Ayano reported. Not wasting any time Naruto flashed through a short series of hand seals and summoned a massive amount of chakra "Demon Mimicry: Human Chakra Cloak Jutsu!"

Sasori couldn't believe it. This 12 maybe 13 year old genin had not only found a way to use his own chakra to mimic that of his burden's but had managed to spawn two huge chakra hands, pick up his 300 pound puppet and rapidly extend his chakra arms, pushing him up in the air away from the squad. Sasori was sure that the boy would use his impressive chakra reserves and apparent shunshin skills to avoid the worst of the blast and survive due to his healing factor. This chakra cloak was unexpected.

With his right hand he had what was left of his puppets dig into the ground in an attempt to stop his ascent. He slowed momentarily until his chakra strings snapped and he shot up even faster than before. He detonated around 20 feet shy of the dome.

* * *

**Sky Above FOB Tobirama 1307 Hrs: **

"A giant golden dome? How garish un" Deidara said to himself before putting his hands in his clay pouches and having his palm mouths eat a large amount of the explosive substance.

"Gold is one of the weakest metals there is. My C2 dragon will blow it away then it'll be a true work of art, un!" He exclaimed before creating a huge clay dragon that was 7 or 8 times larger than the bird he was riding.

His dragon flew over the dome regurgitating over a dozen man sized spiders that landed on the dome and crawled over the grated air holes before detonating themselves. However when the smoke cleared the dome was only slightly dented.

"What? That wasn't enough huh, I 'll just AAHHGAH!" Deidara shouted as his outstretched right hand was cut off by the fastest flash of fire he had ever seen. Deidara had made the mistake of leaning forward past the giant birds obscuring wing span to touch one of the small dents he created. This gave a curtain Uchiha a clear shot at his torso, had Deidara sensed the attack any later he would have been killed.

Turning in the direction of the attack he activated the scope over his eye and looked right into the spinning tomoe of Sasuke's Sharingan.

"Another Uchiha!?" Deidara yelled instantly thinking back to his defeat at the hands of Itachi. "And this one's just a brat, I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL HIM!" Deidara roared before being stopped by Sasori's chakra strings.

"It's time to go Deidara, the patrols they sent after our further out decoys are returning plus you're injured and have gone through too much clay trying to take out the dome, we need to leave. Besides, the mission is a success any way, between your earlier bombardment and my suicide bombers going off the base is crippled, and I have Intel on the Kyuubi Jinchuriki that leader-sama needs to hear." Sasori, who had just received his clones memories explained.

Deidara was pissed but didn't want to disobey a direct order from Sasori while the puppet master was giving him **that** look.

"Fine just let me scoop up my hand, un" Deidara said as he looked for his severed limb. "Where is it!?" Deidara exclaimed not seeing the appendage anywhere.

"We'll get you another hand to apply the kinjutsu to, now let's GO!" Sasori yelled while ducking a flame arrow.

As the two missing-nin flew off Deidara made himself a vow "Those eyes, I'll hunt down and kill everyone who has those eyes!"

* * *

**20 minutes later, inside the FOB:**

Naruto had no idea why he was ordered to be in Shibi's new command tent (the main house was destroyed) to attend an emergency meeting with so much rank. Base Commander Shibi Aburame, Company Commander Asuma Sarutobi, Moena Watanabe (Leader of the Kusa shinobi), 6 of the original platoon leaders and 2 newly appointed ones were the only other people in the room. The platoon leaders had just finished reporting their dead/wounded totals which were so staggering that even the normally stoic Shibi removed his sunglasses and rubbed his face.

"With 47% of our shinobi out of the picture it's only a matter of time before the enemy's main forces show up to take the base. I suggest we place explosive tags in key areas inside the FOB before pretending like we are trying to defend it, luring the bastards inside and blowing them all to hell" Anko suggested prompting a couple of her fellow platoon leaders to nod in agreement.

"Negative, I have already called in a sitrep to the war council and they have ordered that we hold this base by any means necessary. They are putting replacement personnel and equipment together as we speak" Shibi sated calmly.

"Replacements and not reinforcements, the council is going to feed us into the meat grinder?" Asuma asked, his expression grim.

"It appears so, new intel from Jiraiya-sama suggests that the enemy will be utilizing a company of Cerberus enhanced mercenaries with missing-nin in leadership roles and a company of Iwa and Taki shinobi when they attack" Shibi explained.

"Why? I mean this FOB is barely over the Grass/ Fire border. Why pull out all the stops to take this place when there's no way they will be able to keep it?" a rookie platoon leader asked.

"They don't expect to, this base's location allows us to defend Tenchi bridge at a moment's notice. If they can take out the FOB destroying the bridge - a major supply route - will be childs play" Asuma said slightly annoyed by the kunoichi's stupid question.

"Not to mention that this base holds one of Konoha's most important military assets" Anko added glancing at the room's lowest ranking occupant who, until then had gone mostly ignored.

"Those summons of his were pretty impressive" Moena commented.

"_Well with that, the kid's status as a Jinchuriki and his probable lineage Iwa undoubtedly wants him dead more than just about any other Konoha shinobi" _Asuma thought to himself before speaking up.

"Maybe we should get the kid out of here before the battle, he maybe freakishly skilled for his age but he is still a first year Genin" Asuma suggested worried about Naruto's chances of survival.

"I would agree with you but I was specifically ordered to 'utilize the Uzumaki' and his team" Shibi answered before turning to Naruto. "Naruto-san do you have any biju sized summons?"

"Most of the Armadillo clan can control earth so well that they can manipulate the rock, dirt, and mud around them to create massive artificial body's while their real one is safely contained inside" Naruto informed him thinking how Danzo must still be actively pulling the Hokage's strings.

"With so many of our ninja out of the fight we will be relying on you and your summons when the battle starts. Will the dome they put up continue to hold?" Shibi asked.

"Hai the gold of the armadillo sage has special properties that make it stronger than steel, I'm not saying that it's invulnerable but it should do the job" Naruto assured.

"Good and as for you being a Genin, the War Council has ordered your immediate promotion to Chunin" Shibi informed before tossing a small scroll with the kanji for 'vest' to Naruto.

"Anko, I'm attaching team 7 to squad Machi until further notice, I want Machi herself watching Naruto-san's back during the battle understood?"

"Hai, sir" Anko replied not exactly happy that the human target known as Naruto Uzumaki was going to be with **her** nin during the battle.

* * *

**40 minutes later, Outside of the Dome: **

Squad Machi sat in a trench, waiting for the long range specialists of both sides to finish their exchange. Naruto his thumb, slid it over his summoning tattoo and channeled a specific amount of chakra to summon two small 4 inch fairy armadillos (**A/N: **they're real animals google them).

"You guys are the 'special children' that Arumaeiji told me about right?" Naruto asked. **"Si!"** The telepathic twins said simultaneously in hi pitched voices. "Then I need one of you to go back to EL Dorado so that I can stay in contact with it during the battle" Naruto requested.

"**I'll go back, I don't like loud noises too much"** Arumaeri the male twin admitted before going home in a puff of smoke. **"Okay he's back and he's with Arumaeiji, Arumaiko and Arumagoro. What do you want to say to them?"** Arumaemi asked moments later.

"Tell them that I'll be summoning Arumagoro first and that he should start the Earth Expansion Jutsu now and to let me know when he's ready to go" Naruto told Arumaemi who relayed the message.

"Etsuo-san, you are pretty strong, do you think you can toss Machi-sensei and I high into the sky over the enemy when I give to signal?" Naruto asked.

"I can use my clans multi size technique long enough to toss you guys" Etsuo answered.

"CHARGE!" was shouted from the tree line before the Cerberus enhanced company of mercs rushed out to attack the FOB. Naruto waited a minute or two before nodding at Etsuo who went through a series of hand seals, expanded to a gigantic size, and grabed Naruto and Machi, tossing them into the air.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto yelled before summoning Arumagoro under Machi and Himself and crashing to the ground, crushing an entire enemy platoon**. "Odelay! It's finally time to fuck somebody up!" **Arumagoro yelled enthusiastically before finishing a set of hand-claw seals and exhaling massive blue flames at the enemy mercs taking cover in the tree line.

* * *

**With Sasuke: **

Sasuke was covered in a blurring Genjutsu shunshining through a platoon of Taki-nin slitting throats and stabing hearts, temples, lungs and kidneys while dropping the occasional explosive note or two. However when he went to stab a middle aged male Taki-nin he felt a surge of chakra behind him and just barley brought his kunai up in time to block a katana slash.

"You're not the only ninja around that's good with the shunshin jutsu you dip shit Uchiha brat!" A twenty something, masked Taki kunoichi whose eyes had green irises, no pupils and red sclera, yelled pushing Sasuke back.

"You know I'm an Uchiha and you're looking me in the eyes? Seems like you're the dip shit" Sasuke said while placing the kunoichi in an ocular based Genjutsu. Once she was snared Sasuke threw a kunai in her heart before picking up her katana and cutting her head off.

He was about to leave in a shunshin before he saw the weirdest thing he had ever seen. Black oily looking treads of hair shot out of the kunoichi's neck and pulled her head back onto her body. She then stood up, removed her mask revealing more of the hair that was growing out of her mouth and spoke.

"I hope you enjoyed that demonstration of the **Earth Grudge Fear** Uchiha, it'll be the last thing you ever see!" The kinjutsu wielding kunoichi yelled before shooting treads at Sasuke.

* * *

**With Ino: **

Ino spun her axe over her head building momentum before bringing it down in a C shaped arch, slamming it into the skinny Iwa-nin's gut so hard he was lifted off his feet. Pulling her weapon out of her hunched over opponent she raised it above her head and brought it down, severing the young man's spine.

Sensing an underground spike of chakra 15 yards away to her 7o'clock Ino looked behind herself and saw Ayano who was releasing a swarm of insects.

"Ayano, jump back now!" Ino warned the Aburame saving her from the heavy set Iwa-nin that was jumping out the ground. Unluckily for him he was facing away from Ino so he never saw the flying hatchet that imbedded its self in the back of his skull.

"Thank you Yamanaka-san, that would have been my end if not for you" Ayano said in a drone voice.

Looking across the battle field Ino saw what she assumed was a Iwa Jonin kunoichi spewing lava from her mouth and killing multiple Konoha-nin. "You can thank me by helping me out with something" Ino said before taking off into the tree line with Ayano right behind her.

When they got into position approximately 50 feet away from the Iwa lava user Ino turned back to Ayano "I need you to protect my body for a minute" Ino said to which Ayano nodded.

Using her sensor ability Ino estimated that her target would be doing a chakra enhanced jump backward and adjusted her aim accordingly. "Mind Body Switch Jutsu" Ino said before launching her consciousness straight ahead possessing the Iwa Jonin.

"What the…?" the woman asked herself internally unable to move her body.

"It'll be quick I promise" Ino told her before locating the woman's explosive note pouch, slipping one under the woman's flack vest and shirt and priming the note. After Ino fled the body and returned to her own the Iwa Jonin tried to remove the note but it went off right as she touched it, killing her instantly.

When Ino came to, Ayano's insects were draining an unconscious Taki-nin's chakra just two feet away from her. "I am sorry he got so close Yamanaka-san, he was quite skilled" Ayano apologized.

"Hey you kept me alive and uninjured that's good enough for me" Ino said before stumbling slightly. "Are you alright?" Ayano asked.

"Restraining that Jonin's consciousness took a lot of chakra and mental effort, I need a moment to rest" Ino explained.

"Please remain still" Ayano requested before sending some of her kikaichu to Ino. The insects landed and bit into her skin regurgitating chakra into her system. "How do you feel now?" Ayano asked.

"Grossed out but better, don't ever do that again" Ino said and Ayano simply nodded not at all offended. The two kunoichi left the wood line axe and insects at the ready, rejoining the fight.

* * *

**With Naruto:**

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto heard someone yell before turning to his right to see a Taki Jonin standing atop a species of cat he had never seen before, Arumagoro however had. **"Little lion"** Arumagoro said respectfully, nodding to the giant grayish colored feline. **"Little armored one"** the female sounding giant cat said in the same respectful tone.

"What is that Arumagoro?" Naruto asked. **"She's a jaguarondi; thousands of years ago, before we gained sentience her clan hunted mine. They're the reason we tunneled underground and eventually created El Dorado in the first place, they're highly skilled in lightning jutsu. I don't have enough chakra left to go the distance against her so have Arumaiko get ready"** Arumagoro advised.

"**If you're quite done, Lightning Release: Bolt!"** The jaguarondi yelled with an accent similar to Arumagoro's. Said armadillo managed to raise four massive walls of earth to protect himself however all but one fell to the giant cat's jutsu.

"_That cat has the elemental advantage and even if I summon Arumaiko there's no guarantee she'll be able to win, she is less skilled than Arumagoro after all. Looks like I'll have to kill the summoner and send the jaguarondi back to its own world"_ Naruto thought to himself before speaking to Machi.

"Machi-sensei when I give the signal I want you to shunshin with me on top of the enemy summon's head and engage the Taki-nin. Arumagoro can you get in close enough for us to do that?" Naruto asked so only Arumagoro and Machi could hear. **"Hai"** Arumagoro answered.

"Then let's do it" Naruto stated prompting Arumagoro to rush the cat and grab it. **"You must have loss your mind"** it stated before digging its claws into Arumagoro's artificial earth body and pumping lightning chakra into it sending the armadillo back to its home world with nasty burns.

It was too late however to save it's summoner who blocked a high kick from Machi, but was unable to react in time to stop the burning arm made of blue chakra that pierced his heart.

Naruto and Machi immediately jumped from the head of the summon to avoid being caught in its wake as it was dragged back to its home world.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto yelled before he and Machi roughly landed on Arumaiko's back. "Ugh that was a very unyouthful landing" Machi said rubbing her ass drawing Naruto's attention to it. Shaking his head and telling himself to focus Naruto ordered the slightly smaller giant armadillo to attack.

* * *

**With Sasuke:**

"What are you, why the fuck won't you stay down!" Sasuke screamed having seemingly killed the kunoichi two more times and was now extremely low on chakra. So low that he was unable to dodge the treads that the kunoichi ejected from her partially detached wrists.

As he was pulled within arm's reach of the female monstrosity he reached into his supply pouch and prepared to prime his entire roll of explosive notes. _"If this is it I'll drag this bitch with me to hell"_ Sasuke thought to himself.

"Five point exploding heart technique!" Han yelled after releasing the camouflage jutsu he used to sneak up on the Taki-nin and striking her five times in the back with incredible speed.

The kunoichi slumped forward releasing Sasuke who placed a tag on her chest and jumped backwards as hard as his exhausted legs would allow, narrowly avoiding the blast. Walking over to look at the body Sasuke turned to Han.

"Thanks" Sasuke choked out, not at all happy at being saved by a Hyuga. "No problem" Han answered before spotting Ino and Ayano exiting the woodline and deciding to link back up with them. Popping two soldier pills Sasuke felt an artificial sense of rejuvenation flood his body and ran behind Han. It wouldn't be long before the pills effects wore off but that didn't matter to Sasuke _"Everyone else is putting it all on the line so I'll fight until I can't anymore"_.

* * *

**With Naruto:**

With the help of his summons Naruto was able to take out a little over 2/3rds of the Cerberus enhanced merc company before Arumaiko ran out of chakra and returned to El Dorado. While the mercs failed to take out many Konoha or Kusa-nin they did serve as a major distraction allowing the Iwa and Taki-nin to tunnel right under Naruto, avoid his biju sized Armadillos and launch both personnel and jutsu from under the ground.

"Machi-sensei, how are they doing this, doesn't the FOB have an underground mine field around it?" Naruto asked his breathing labored. "The enemy must have knowledge of the mines locations and devised …" Machi started before punching/shattering a man sized boulder that had been launched at them from an Iwa-nin 30 feet away. Going through the five hand signs required for the technique at an amazing (but not Kakashi) level of speed Machi thrust her gauntlet clad hands forward, lightning chakra cackling in between them and called out "Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!".

Several thin tendrils of electricity shot at the Iwa-nin who slammed his hands down raising a defensive wall of stone that protected him from the jutsu. Machi, grateful for the aid in lightning chakra control her gauntlets provide built up a good amount of said energy before releasing it all at once. The stone wall shattered and the Iwa-nin taking cover behind it was killed by a piercing lightning tendril, his body convulsing even after his death.

"_That jutsu was made to travel through a medium of some kind before reaching its target, her control of lightning chakra is even greater than Crane-sensei's was"_

Feeling a burst of familiar enemy chakra to his immediate left Naruto swung his sword just in time to block a massive rock covered steel war hammer.

"The assassin from Wave" Naruto said recognizing the large nin's build and scent. "I failed to kill you before because of Kakashi's meddling but look around little Namikaze, there aren't any shinobi of his caliber around to save you this time" Rotsuchi taunted before kicking Naruto so hard a sickening crunch was heard.

Rotsuchi ran towards the downed Naruto, war hammer raised, intent on finishing the Blonde once and for all when a green blur appeared right in front of him and he was hit with a powerful lightning chakra enhanced fist.

"Hatake-san may not be here but I'll never let anything happen to **any **of my comrades!" Yelled before a strong set of hands broke the grounds surface and pulled her under.

"Sensei!" Naruto yelled as he shakily rose to his feet noticing that the 'Rotsuchi' on the ground was now just a pile of rocks. **"Careful kit, two of your ribs are fractured" **the Kyuubi informed. Naruto was about to reply when he too was grabbed around the ankles however before he was waist deep in the ground Sasuke appeared in shunshin and grabbed his hands.

"Saving your life is like a full time job, you should start cutting me checks dobe" Sasuke said around gnashed teeth, straining to keep his friend above ground. Naruto could only grunt painfully in reply since being pulled from both ends was undoing the healing his tenant had performed on his ribs.

Feeling a spike in chakra Naruto turned his head to his right as Han exited a shunshin of his own with an unconscious Ino in his arms. "What's taking her so long!?" Sasuke asked right as the Iwa-nin released Naruto allowing him to pull the injured blonde out of the earth.

"He was strong willed and had been possessed by one of my clansmen before, just getting him to open his hands was almost impossible" Ino answered as Han put her down.

"Senpai, Ino, where is He?" Naruto asked. "I don't know. Our enemy is flooding the earth with so much chakra that I can't see through it" Han answered. "and I can't lock onto his chakra signature anymore but I can sense… he's creating more clones, their surfacing!" Ino yelled readying her axe.

10 Rotsuchi's sprang from the ground two of which were immediately on Han and crashed their war hammers into his chest and back simultaneously only for the Hyuga to explode into a flock of screeching hawks that seemed hell bent on pecking out their eyes.

Realizing that they were in a Genjutsu they tried to escape it but were destroyed by a few well-placed Jūken strikes from the real Han. "Thanks for the assist Uchiha-san" "Hn" Sasuke grunted in response as he ducked under a hammer swing and vanished in a shunshin leaving a rolled up explosive note in his wake.

The clone that he was battling jumped back in time to avoid being damaged in the explosion but was beheaded as soon as it's feet touched the ground by the stolen katana wielding Uchiha who had struck from behind.

With his peripheral vision Sasuke could see Ino, who was protecting a kneeling Naruto, swing her axe into the side of a rock clones head dispelling it. He was about to turn away to find another Rock clone to smash but his Sharingan picked up a brownish translucent chakra coming from right under his teammates.

When his Dojutsu finished computing the data it presented Sasuke with a series of images with Ino scooping up Naruto and jumping to avoid an earth dragon only for both of his teammates to be consumed by a dragon twice as large as its decoy counterpart.

Sasuke was about to take off in a shunshin to aid his friends when he felt the effects of the soldier pill begin to wear off and came to a heart wrenching realization.

"_I can't save them both!"_

**A/N: I'm sorry for the wait but I'm back. Part of the reason it took so long is that I wrote this chapter like 3 times before finally deciding to go with this version. I'm still not completely happy with it but it's been driving me crazy so…**

**Next chapter by 12-24-12**

**P.S: Still looking for beta's  
**


	12. Chapter 12

"Human talking"

"_Human thinking"_

**"Demon or Summon talking"**

"_**Demon or Summon thinking"**_

Jutsu will be underlined

Looking back on it now it seemed that he was born with a speed over everything mentality. Itachi told him that when he was an infant he would always wobble as he stood up before taking off in a run and falling on his face. "You didn't have much strength in your legs but you could definitely get them moving"

It was only when he started training with Naruto that he questioned the level of his endurance. The blonde could spar for hours on end without getting winded. Outside of actual combat Sasuke had only seen his friend out breath twice and both times were when he was trying to create some new Wind Release technique.

Naruto would say "Don't worry about it; I've always had a freakish amount of stamina". Sasuke's pride wouldn't allow that though and for a while he incorporated endurance training into his workout plan. But when he came to the realization that he would never be able to outlast his rival in a fight, he decided to totally eclipse him in speed.

Maybe if he had kept up the endurance training he would have enough chakra left to carry both of his friends in a shunshin. Maybe he wouldn't have to choose…

* * *

Ino watched in satisfaction as yet another rock clone fell before her axe. She was about to ask Naruto how he was doing when she felt a large spike in Earth chakra right under their position. She turned to pick up her injured teammate/crush but saw a squatting Sasuke already had Naruto in his arms. Time seemed to slow as she gazed into his eyes. She had never seen such a look of agony on Sasuke's face but what was even stranger was that as he mouthed out 'sorry' his tears turned bloody and for a split second the pattern of his Sharingan completely changed.

Her two teammates sped away in a blur leaving her alone. _"What the hell?" _Ino wondered to herself as she dodged an Earth dragon. Her answer came in the form of a second earth dragon that exploded from the ground directly beneath her airborne position. The dragon's maw clamped down above her navel leaving only her upper body visible. Ino didn't even scream, she just coughed up an ungodly amount of blood and slumped forward, her eyes open but lifeless.

* * *

The earth construct tossed the young kunoichi's corpse at her friends' new position but before it hit the ground it was intercepted by a green and black blur. The new shinobi took a drag of the halfway gone cigarette in his mouth before looking down at the dead Genin in his arms and letting out a smoky sigh. "Hyuga-san take team 7 back to the FOB to see the medics, leave this nin to me" Asuma Sarutobi ordered handing Ino over to Han.

"Let's go guys" Han said turning to leave. "Take Ino and Sasuke with you, I'm staying here" Naruto said standing up and taking a deep and only slightly pained breath. "Uzumaki, leave now!" Asuma ordered only to be met with a pair of angry, red, slitted eyes.

**"Not going to happen" **Naruto stated, his voice deep and gravely, a red, two tailed chakra cloak forming around him. "Fine, Hyuga, Uchiha go" Asuma conceded. Making three unique hand seals Naruto bit his thumb and swiped it over his summoning tattoo **"****Summoning: Armored Excavation squad****"**. As the smoke cleared 7 armadillos of multiple sizes equipped with helmets and digging equipment appeared.

**"Whha-what's up?" **the largest who was obviously afraid of the malevolent chakra shrouded Naruto asked. **"There is a powerful ninja hiding underground lobbing earth jutsu at us. Force him topside, keep him from resubmerging and set up a perimeter so that no other enemy nin can enter the area. Be careful and avoid a direct confrontation"** Naruto instructed. The armadillos quickly got to work, effortlessly going underground. It took 30 seconds for the first subterranean explosion to rock the field and 3 quakes later Rotsuchi jumped out of the ground, pissed but unharmed.

The armadillo that spoke to Naruto emerged beside his summoner with an unconscious Machi in his arms. **"We found this woman before we set off the mines" "Take her to the FOB" **Naruto ordered the armadillo who complied without hesitation.

"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning" Asuma said taking in a deep breath and exhaling a stream of ash based gunpowder that expanded into a smoky cloud right before reaching Rotsuchi, temporarily hiding him from view. Naruto who had studied the technique extended a cloak hand/claw into the cloud of gunpowder igniting it. Naruto found Rotsuchi's body inside the explosion and grabbed his throat squeezing it as hard as he could.

As the smoke cleared Asuma and Naruto saw their basically unharmed opponent with darkened, blackish grey skin trying to get out of the blonds hold. **"His skin isn't burning" **Naruto stated wondering why the scorching effect of his cloak wasn't doing any damage.

"Incoming!" Asuma yelled before a volley of kunai and shuriken flew from out of the wood line on their right side but Naruto formed a shield like chakra construct and blocked the projectiles with only seconds to spare. "I created that clone to see how my Iron Skin jutsu would fair against your demon's power. I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised at the results" Rotsuchi taunted as he walked out of the woods, his clothing badly singed but his skin just as dark as his clone's.

"Naruto, find a way to take out that clone, I'll keep him busy" Asuma ordered. Naruto was about to say something but was cut off. "Don't disobey me two times in row **Chunin**" Asuma stated. Naruto's first instinct was to just kill Asuma a do as he pleased but he fought the impulse, recognizing it as an effect of the tainted chakra coursing through his system.

"**Hai, Taicho" **Naruto said before unsealing Kubikiribōchō and taking of in a sprint. "Bad move Sarutobi. If you were your father or older sister I might be worried but…"

"You knew my sister?" Asuma asked. "Oh I got to know her real well back in my Anbu days" Rotsuchi grinned lecherously.

"You! You're the asshole who raped my sister and left her to die!" Asuma yelled channeling wind chakra to his trench knives. "Yeah, but if it makes you feel better she got even with me last year, bitch nearly beat me to death"

"What are you talking about, my sister died on a mission **7** years ago" Asuma asked. "Did she now?" Rotsuchi laughed before unslinging his war hammer and charging Asuma.

Naruto raised the clone into the air for the fifth time before slamming it back into the ground with little to no effect. _"Fuck! Blunt force doesn't work: burning or piercing it with the cloak doesn't work and cutting it with a wind chakra enhanced blade damn sure didn't work"_ Naruto thought to himself looking at his broken Kubikiribōchō, the top half of which was where it fell on the ground beside the clone.

"**I think we should try that thing" **the Kyuubi suggested. _"Feel like being more specific?"_ Naruto thought back. **"Oh you know, that thing that you created by blending our chakra natures. The blowtorch thing that you're so afraid of" **the kyuubi chuckled.

"_It never made it out of its developmental stage, I mean I almost blew myself up the last time I messed with it. Plus Danzo threw a fit and forbade me from attempting it again until I was 14"_Naruto answered. **"Ah, but that was almost two years ago kit. Your wind chakra control has improved since then. Plus I 'm awake **_**before**_** the explosion this time so I can help with the fire chakra manipulation" **

"_Using an experimental technique in the middle of battle is foolish and if it backfires you deserve what you get"_ Naruto said quoting Danzo word for word. **"Yeah, but if you're having so much trouble with a clone how much longer do you think the monkey is gonna last against the real thing?"**

"_You could just give me more tails of your chakra" Naruto suggested._

"**The blowtorch created from our chakra working together is probably hotter than 5 tails of just my chakra and if I pumped anymore of my chakra into your body right now your ribs would probably explode and damage your internal organs" **

"_Fine, I hope we don't die"_ Naruto sighed canceling the Kyuubi's cloak. Naruto then started to saturate the air in the field with so much of his chakra it took on a nearly unnoticeable green tint. Pulling the methane, oxygen, carbin dioxide and nitrogen present to his position he carefully charged the gasses with different amounts of his chakra.

Holding what was left of his sword with both hands and channeling pressurized wind chakra around it Naruto pushed different amounts of the gasses along the blade.

"_Your turn"_ Naruto stated allowing the Kyuubi to channel its fire chakra into the blade. The effect was immediate as a massive stream of whitish-blue energy twice as long as Kubikiribōchō's normal length erupted from the weapons hilt vaporizing the blade instantly.

"Too much! Too much!" Naruto yelled cutting as much wind chakra as he could without allowing the technique to become unstable. The Kyuubi slightly cut the flow of its chakra as well but while fire chakra control is paramount, the amount of fire chakra actually needed for the jutsu was infinitesimal so Naruto barely noticed.

"**See kit, we didn't blow up, got it to work and all it cost us was you're sword" **the Kyuubi smugly said. _"I only have 50 seconds worth of fuel around me to sustain the jutsu" _Naruto thought before noticing the clone was conveniently charging him. Naruto rushed forward to meet it and easily pierced its chest before burning/cutting up leaving a half inch gap that was bordered by red hot, molten iron covered rock.

The clone promptly collapsed in a pile of smoking rocks. Turning around Naruto saw Rotsuchi and Asuma, whose left arm was apparently broken (it was just hanging limply) pushing against each other, iron skinned war hammer vs. single flying swallow.

"**Looks like the monkey is done for" **

Thinking quickly Naruto tried to perform a substitution with Asuma but he flared his chakra and broke the technique. _"Duh, Naruto he doesn't know it's you"_ Naruto chided himself before channeling a small amount of the Kyuubi's chakra and trying again.

"_Alright, you want to switch then we'll switch. Hope you've had better luck then me kid" _Asuma thought to himself while allowing the technique to execute.

Rotsuchi felt the change in chakra and jumped backwards. "That's a pretty light around your sword you little shit, what do you call it?" He asked but didn't receive an answer. "Fine don't tell me, you're about to be paste anyway!" Rotsuchi yelled before sprinting a few steps and bringing his weapon down on Naruto's head smashing the ground. _"Wait, that didn't feel ri ough!"_ Rotsuchi thought before his chest was pierced by an incredible heat. Everything in front of him seemed to go up in smoke and once it cleared both Naruto and Asuma were in front of him.

"In honor of the sword I lost in its creation I'll call it Torch Release: Executioner's Blade" Naruto said before Rotsuchi's head started to fall forward but was caught and jerked back up by Asuma. "Two things before you go to hell, asshole. One: That smoke Genjutsu I used before substituting with the kid was created by the woman you raped. Two: Your son's name is Konohamaru" the Sarutobi said before punching the half-dead man in the face.

Naruto took a deep breath feeling strange as his technique ran out of fuel. Asuma tapped his earpiece and said "Snakeskin, this is Smoke one, requesting sitrep, over " a few moments later he ended the transmission and turned to Naruto. "We took heavy losses but the enemy is retreating, let's head back to the FOB" Asuma suggested. Naruto nodded before turning, walking a few yards and losing consciousness.

* * *

**Next day 0942Hrs: **

Naruto woke up in a small tent with two cots separated by a ratty blanket with two scrolls sitting on it. Sasuke was sitting Indian style on the other cot staring at the scrolls stone faced. Sitting up Naruto noticed that he was shirtless and that his abdominals were wrapped in bandages. "Teme, what happened?" Naruto asked. "You tell me" Sasuke asked suddenly getting angry but still looking at the scrolls. "What do you mean?" Naruto asked trying to play dumb.

"What do I mean? WHAT DO I MEAN!?" Sasuke yelled before placing his feet on the ground, shifting to the edge of his cot and leaning closer to the scrolls. "You hear that Ino? He wants to know what I mean." Sasuke whispered to the rolls of paper.

"Sasuke…your creeping me out" Naruto hesitantly said. "Then I guess we're even because that red chakra you used yesterday creeped me out" Sasuke said before finally looking up from the scrolls, activating his Sharingan and looking right at Naruto. "You know, the strangest thing happened last night" Sasuke said lifting the blanket and scrolls and placing them on his cot revealing a burn mark on the floor. **"Careful kit"** The Kyuubi internally warned.

"I was in this tent crying my eyes out blaming myself for not being able to save her when some medic-nin brought you in here and laid you down on that cot. I guess I had figured you used some kind of secret, double edged jutsu to kill the ninja that killed Ino. But when I asked the medic how you were doing he said that besides a small case of chakra exhaustion and some bruised ribs that you would be fine."

"I asked myself, how that was possible? If that jutsu healed you **and** gave you a boost why did you wait to use it? Why did Asuma-taicho, a Jonin, let you have your way when you did? Why was he afraid of you?"

"Then I thought back to when I met you and realized that we became friends because you reminded me of my brother, you know, before he turned into a murderous asshole. I thought back to the first time I saved you and remembered how that assassin called you a demon. That's when I wondered, could Naruto have just let Ino die?"

"I quickly dismissed the thought. After all why would you spend so much time hanging out with her helping her train and just let her get killed? But all this reminiscing and questioning made me realize both of us, me and Ino, have always blindly followed your lead. That whether you really care about us or not you've been brainwashing us ever since we became friends with you. Grooming us to be your…I don't know…henchmen or something."

Sasuke then closed his eyes and took a breath, blood streaming down the sides of his face.

"I looked at you and saw Ino die again in my head. I got so angry that my Sharingan activated and then evolved. You're lucky I was able to look down in time because black flames shot out of my left eye." Sasuke then opened his eyes revealing their new pattern. The color sceme of Sasuke's eyes was inverted (black iris and red pupil and tomoe) and had six tomoe instead of 3.

"I'm going to ask you some questions and if I feel like you're lying to me I'm going to kill you. What was that red chakra? Why did you wait to use it and do you think of me as your friend or your tool?" Sasuke finished his red tomoe seemingly glowing.

Naruto knew that due to the state the young Uchiha was in he was fully prepared to go through his theat, consequences be damned; and with the Mangekyō trained on him that he didn't have many options. If he tried to escape or attack Sasuke would see the buildup of chakra and roast him alive. There was a **chance** he could dodge Sasuke's Amaterasu but then again maybe he couldn't. He could lie but maybe it was time Sasuke knew the truth.

"I'm a jinchūriki, container of the nine tailed fox; it was its chakra that I used. I can tap into its chakra at will but when I do my judgment is impaired and I start to lose control of myself the more of it I use. The chakra heals me when at low levels but damages me when in excess so I had to wait for my injuries to heal before taping into it."

"The Kyuubi feeds on anger and hatred so when Ino was killed and Asuma-taicho tried to keep me from avenging her I was so pissed that it was able to flood me with its chakra. Luckily it had healed me enough for my body to handle the strain of its chakra. Sasuke, I… I'll admit that when I met you I thought that you might be of use to me, especially after you saved me from that assassin."

"But don't act like I was the only one. I know that you started hanging out with me because you thought that I could help you get stronger and we both know that Ino started hanging out with us because of her crush on me. But even though we were all using each other we eventually became real friends."

"Everyone else in my life either hates me, wants to use me for something or were ordered to be around me. I'm an orphan Sasuke, you and Ino are the closest things to family that I've ever had and I'd die for you." Naruto said only lying in the last four words of his speech, he would never die for just one or two people, his desire to take over Root was too strong to allow it.

Sasuke looked at his friend as if sizing him up before deactivating his bloodline. He wished he thought Naruto was lying. That would mean there would someone else to blame besides himself. He ran a hand threw his hair and sighed digesting everything he had been told, starting to silently cry. They sat in silence for ten minutes at first looking at each other and then at the scrolls containing their fallen teammate before Sasuke spoke.

"I believe you and I'm sorry I thought you let Ino die"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the Kyuubi before I just… was afraid you guys would…" "I get it" Sasuke interrupted.

"So what's the condition of the FOB?" Naruto asked desperately needing to change the topic of conversation. "We were barely able to hold the base. Only two platoons worth of our shinobi and like 4 or 5 of the Kusa-nin survived the battle. On the plus side the replacement troops and an entire platoon of med-nin showed up around 2130 last night" Sasuke said no longer crying and wiping his face.

"Did you hear anything about Machi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"No sorry, I've been too busy wallowing in self-loathing and planning to kill you to leave this tent. I only know about what I know because the medic-nin that brought you in here tried to cheer me up with the info. I didn't say anything back to him so he gave up and left" Sasuke informed him.

Naruto stood up and pulled on his hoodie and Chunin vest and turned to the Uchiha. "Then let's see what's going on" Naruto said walking out the tent. Sasuke grabbed the scrolls and followed him.

The FOB was filled with shinobi, all scrambling about trying to find their new posts or running in and out of the medical tents. Naruto and Sasuke walked over to the command tent and saw Han exiting it. "Good, I was just on my way to retrieve you two" Han said stepping aside and holding the tents flap open for them. The place was packed but there were two vacant stools off in a corner. "Sit down, I'll be back in a minute" Han said before walking off.

Five minutes later he walked back with Asuma who had his injured arm wrapped and in a sling. "Let's go outside" The group left the command tent and walked to the small unoccupied training field. "Before I start the brief I want to give you two my condolences, losing a teammate is always tough" Asuma started. "Thank you" Naruto said while Sasuke just looked at the ground.

"The war council has ordered you two back to Konoha ASAP but since there's a medevac caravan scheduled to leave in two hours so you'll head back with us. The caravan will consist of 5 horse pulled wagons with myself, Anko Mitarashi, Han here, Ayano Aburame, Etsuo Akimichi, you two and Genin team 9 sans Gai-Taicho who's filling in for me as a Company commander, pulling guard. Any questions?"

"How is Machi-sensei?" Naruto asked. "And Uroka-sensei?" Sasuke added. "They're both stable and are two of the patients we will be transporting." Han answered. "The convoy will be forming up at the south entrance in an hour, be there ready to go 10 mins prior" Asuma ordered retrieving two "Hai, Taicho"'s in return.

* * *

**1850Hrs, Fire country:**

Sasuke was walking alongside the second wagon in the caravan looking at the scroll in his hand. Tenten who was walking beside the forth wagon was irritated that the young Uchiha wasn't scanning his sector and called out to him "I how bout you stop staring at that damn scroll and pay attention?" Sasuke wiped around Sharingan blazing hitting Tenten with so much killing intent that her breath hitched. Turning back around Sasuke thought to himself

"_I should burn this scroll. If it comes from __**him**__ I should definitely burn it."_ remembering how said scroll came into his possession.

* * *

**Flashback, previous night, 1 mile south of FOB Tobirama:**

"Alright Kabuto, this is far enough, can you really bring Ino back to life?" Sasuke knew that following this shady med-nin so far away from the FOB was a bad idea but he was desperate to find a way to get Ino back.

"Not me Sasuke-kun, such a feat is currently beyond my abilities however Orochimaru-sama can return your teammates soul to her body"

"Orochimaru? Yeah…you know what, I think I'm going to run away now" Sasuke said preparing to shunsnin. "Then I suppose that Ino-chan will stay dead and Itachi will continue to live" Kabuto said turning to leave, hiding his smirk with the majority of his hand while adjusting his glasses with his pointer finger.

"What?" Sasuke asked his voice dropping dangerously and his Sharingan activating. "Orochimaru-sama will not only revive Ino but he is willing to take you on as an apprentice and he guaranties that after only three years of training that you will be powerful enough to defeat your brother"

"What's the catch?" Sasuke asked. "After Itachi is dead you allow Orochimaru-sama to transfer his soul into your body" Kabuto answered. "What will happen to my soul?" Sasuke asked not completely believing that even a shinobi of Orochimaru's caliber could manipulate souls.

"It will be transferred to a plane of existence between here and the afterworld and placed in stasis for eternity. It will be like going to sleep and never waking up" Kabuto sort of lied.

"I don't …" Sasuke started but was cut off by Kabuto. "Orochimaru-sama knows this is all very hard to believe so he prepared a gift for you" Kabuto said pulling a purple scroll out of his pocket and tossing it to Sasuke.

"What's in the scroll?" Sasuke asked. "A power that if you'd had during the battle would have allowed you to save **both** your teammates" Kabuto responded.

"You have one week, if you decide to decline the offer burn the scroll before the week is up or it will explode" Kabuto said before starting to melt away revealing himself to be a mud clone.

* * *

**Flashback end:**

Naruto jumped down from a tree and landed beside Sasuke putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright teme?" "I'm fine Naruto" Sasuke responded. "Well you just called me Naruto so I know you're not all right, look you got to…" Naruto started but stopped talking when he saw that Sasuke had stopped listening to him and was looking ahead with his eyes squinted which was strange because his Sharingan was still active.

"Teme?" "I think…I think we're walking into an area wide Genjutsu" Sasuke said uncertainty present in his voice. "You sure?" Naruto asked. "No but I'll try dispelling it anyway" Sasuke answered before forming the ram seal and whispering "Release".

The forest around the Caravan shimmered away revealing an open field with two individuals wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them. The taller of the duo pushed up the straw hat that covered their eyes and spoke. "Hello little brother"

**A/n: Sorry for the wait, had some holiday family drama. Made a lot of big moves in this chapter and I'm anxious to hear what you guy think so please review! **

**Ps. I've never seen anything like the Torch Release in the fanfic's I've read, it's my creation so shout me out if you decide to use it in your own story. **


	13. Chapter 13

"Human talking"

"_Human thinking"_

{Non-verbal speech}

Jutsu will be underlined

* * *

"Hello little brother" a deep, raspy but distinctively feminine voice echoed throughout the clearing. The color seemed to instantaneously drain from Asuma's face as the voice registered in his mind, pulling at the painful memories associated with it. "Atsuko?" Asuma asked, disbelief heavy in his voice.

The now identified Atsuko fully removed the hat from her head revealing a curly white Mohawk cut short at the sides and back. She had a black, ball shaped; labret piercing with the kanji for 'smoke' on it below her bottom lip. Her skin was a light caramel color and like her father at her age, she had a single line running vertically under the outer corners of her beautiful hazel eyes.

The now identified Atsuko took a wood tipped cigarillo from her cloak, lit it and took a drag before speaking. "Sorry to disappoint but I don't have time for a family reunion, so I'll just cut to the chase and tell you what's going to happen. My young associate and I are going to take the Kyuubi Jinchūriki off your hands; anyone who decides to interfere will die"

"Teme, you might want your rebreather" Naruto said unsealing his own and covering his nose and mouth with it. Tenten who was right behind them frowned and asked "Is there something you two want to share with the rest of the class?" "If this is really Asuma-taicho's sister then she may start exhaling all kinds of poisonous smoke, she…" but before Naruto could continue he, Sasuke and Tenten were forced to jump apart by a spray of ice senbon.

Naruto landed with his left foot in a puddle and scanned the area, looking for his attacker. Unfortunately, due to his rebreather obscuring his downward peripheral vision, he was unable to see the water at his feet shift and silently defy gravity behind him. He did however feel the chill on the back of his neck as the water took the form of a mirror and froze.

Naruto tried to move away from the sudden cold spot but could only let out a surprised "Ah!" as frigid hands wrapped around his arms making sure to prevent him from making any hand seals and yanked him back into the mirror.

The ice mirror only stayed solid for a second and some change before it melted away but that was all the time a certain shunshin proficient Uchiha needed to hop inside and give chase.

One second Sasuke was in a cold dark void and the next he was dropped face first into a shallow, mist covered creek. Standing he was nearly over whelmed by a since of vertigo but still noticed that the water only came up an inch or two above his ankle and was extremely cold. Looking to his right he could just barely make out Naruto who was standing atop the water 7 feet away and wiping some vomit away from his face with his sleeve.

"Unfortunate. I never meant to bring you to this place Uchiha-san. Since Itachi-senpai will be displeased with me if he learns you died by my hands I will make you this offer only once. Abandon the **Uzumaki** and I will allow you to live, for if you remain by his side you will surely die." Haku said only breaking her calm monotone when she spat out Naruto's surname.

Since Sasuke couldn't see through the chakra saturated mist with his regular Sharingan he activated his Mangekyō and was able to make out his surroundings.

"Dobe, we're trapped in a dome of twenty-one floating ice mirrors. Twelve at ground level, eight above the first twelve and angled toward the ground, the final mirror is above the rest and facing straight down. Our opponent seems to be a 5 foot tall Kiri hunter-nin who's 15 feet away to our one o'clock" Sasuke informed Naruto seemingly ignoring Haku's warning.

Haku who was only slightly surprised that Sasuke could see through her mist (Itachi could somehow see through it too but told her that his brother shouldn't be able to yet) stepped back, entering the mirror behind her.

Sasuke informed Naruto of what had just happened along with the fact that the enemy's reflection was now present in all the mirrors. "You've made your choice, now…**DIE**!" Haku said as she threw senbon at the young leaf-nin at a ridiculously fast rate of speed. Despite the velocity of the incoming ice based projectiles, Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan was able to estimate their trajectory allowing him to duck, dodge and deflect more than 90% of the senbon. It was only due to the fact that the enemy seemed to be faster than him that any got threw at all.

"Demon Mimicry: Human Chakra Cloak!" Sasuke heard Naruto yell out and saw all the ice senbon that had pierced his friend melt away. {Collabo #1} Naruto signed to Sasuke before going through hand seals his teammate doing the same. The fact that one couldn't see the other didn't matter as hour upon hour of practice took hold and they got the timing for their joint technique down perfectly.

Naruto extended his palms forward and sent out a powerful air cone that blew away the mist in its path. Sasuke spat a fireball into the air cone that, while only being 15 inches in diameter, was packed so full of fire chakra that it was blue instead of red. "Collaboration Jutsu: Braking Blaze!" Naruto and Sasuke shouted as the newly created blue flamethrower made contact with two of the ground level mirrors.

"It's no use. The flame you two have created is among the hottest I've ever encountered but it is not enough" Haku taunted while flooding the area with more mist. "Teme, when I smash the mirrors get out of the dome, if I can't make it support me from the outside" Naruto mouthed out taking advantage of the mist and Sasuke's ability to see through it.

"Rodger" Sasuke said acknowledging the fact that he heard the order. Naruto who still had the technique going extended two chakra claws and slammed them into the ice mirrors causing them to crack. He then extended the chakra claws to cover the two mirrors and began squeeze them as hard as he could.

Haku found that despite the area's abundance of water and her own enhanced chakra reserves (achieved through her short but intense Akatsuki training and the performance enhancing drugs provided by Konan) the heat and pressure was too much and she was unable to strengthen the mirrors in Uzumaki's grasp so she decided to strike now. She flung a handful of metal senbon but found them either stopped by a chakra cloak or deflected by Sasuke's kunai. As she jumped to a different mirror she felt a flare of the Uchiha's chakra and noticed it contained some kind of dark feel to it. Right when she reached the halfway point between mirrors she saw ethereal black flames racing towards her.

Making three lightning fast one handed seals she formed a chain of ice from the creek bed below that wrapped around her right arm and yanked her down. The flames still hit but landed on her left hand instead of her chest. Haku screamed as she placed her hand in the water below but found it ineffective in dousing the black flames. She tried freezing the water but that didn't work either and as the flames moved up to just below her elbow she came to a grim realization.

Making 2 seals with her right hand she formed an ice katana and cut off her left arm just above the elbow. As she looked up she saw her mirrors finally give way and the two Konoha-nin escape. _"Wait, my mist is still in effect how can I see them?"_ Haku asked herself before flaring her chakra and dispelling the area wide Genjutsu. Now once again surrounded by mist Haku used all of her senses besides sight to track her opponents but couldn't locate them.

Feeling slight movement at her feet she jumped back narrowly avoiding a pair of hands that attempted to grab her ankles before feeling a burst of chakra at her left. Due being airborne and the sheer speed of the attack she was unable to dodge the right hay maker that knocked her unconscious.

When Naruto emerged from the ground the mist had thinned considerably and the ice mirrors, while still intact where lying on the ground. Sasuke looked at him and asked a nonverbal question. _"Do you want me to finish her?"_ Naruto shook his head wanting to take her back to the village for interrogation. Reaching into his vest Naruto took out a chakra barring tag and a sedative filled auto injector and walked towards Haku but before he could reach her a large venus fly-trap emerged from the ground and closed around her before going back underground.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly jumped together and put their backs to one another scanning the area for the opponent, knowing that they couldn't take another shinobi of Haku's level or higher. Both had burned through a considerable amount of their respective chakra reserves, Sasuke more than Naruto.

Much like the regular Sharingan, the Mangekyō seemed to 'ask' for more chakra than it actually needed in order to be sustained. It took Sasuke a couple of months to find the right amount of chakra to channel into his regular Sharingan and had yet to properly train with its advanced form.

As the two stood in the ice cold water they couldn't help but wish that Ino was still with them to scan the area. Finally Naruto decided that they should try to find the others. Channeling chakra to his nose Naruto caught the smell of blood and tobacco and leapt into the trees Sasuke right behind him.

* * *

**With the convoy:**

He couldn't believe it. Not only was his sister alive but so far she had killed four Konoha shinobi like they were nothing. A wagon containing two patients, a med-nin and the Chunin driver had all been set ablaze by a powerful fire jutsu. The sight infuriated the green spandex clad member of team 9 and before anyone could stop him he charged Atsuko and engaged her in taijutsu.

The S-class Kunoichi seemed to enjoy toying with Lee and Asuma guessed it had something to do with the fact that she dated Maito Gai's older brother. Deciding to take advantage of her seemingly distracted state and shaking himself from his own Asuma turned to his second in command. "Anko, take Han and find Naruto and Sasuke" "Glad to see your head is back in the game" Anko responded before taking off with Han.

Atsuko saw the two attempting to leave and sighed "It seems that I'm going to have to wrap this up kid. It's a shame, you remind me of someone I used to know". Deflecting Lee's punch Atsuko grabbed the back of his head achieving a muay thai-like clinch and kneed the Genin in the stomach forcing the air out. Taking a drag of the cigarillo still in her mouth she let it fall to the ground before grabbing a handful of Lee's hair and bringing his face up.

His eyes widened as the enemy Kunoichi kissed him right on the mouth and exhaled, forcing smoke in to his lungs. Atsuko carelessly pushed him away before vanishing in a grey smoke shunshin. As Lee tried to get up, he found himself paralyzed and having a hard time keeping his eyes open. _"Such an unyouthful thing can't count as my first kiss can it?" _He asked himself before losing consciousness.

Anko and Han were nearly at the wood line when Atsuko appeared in front of them in a larger than normal puff of smoke with her head turned to the right. Exhaling a stream of fire she turned her head to the left creating a U shaped wall of flames baring Anko and Han from going anywhere except back.

"Looks like I'm going to need a hand keeping you all here" Atsuko said before biting her thumb and smearing the blood over her labret. "Summoning: Spawn of the Enenra" 6 child sized creatures floated up from the flames. They had burning red eyes and goat-like heads with mouths filled with rows of sharp teeth. Instead of hands their arms ended with sickles and instead of legs they had smoky tails.

Touching her ear Atsuko received a message from Zetsu "The assessment is over, we should leave now" "Make sure no one leaves the area" Atsuko ordered before vanishing in a puff of smoke. "Shadow Snake Hands!" Anko yelled sending some of her more expendable serpent familiars to attack the smoke monsters. The snakes passed through the beings and landed on the ground dead. "Be careful they're toxic!" She yelled out. The young Enenra monster that she attacked flew towards her but found its target blocked by a man with milky eyes. "Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!" Han yelled as he released a high-speed chakra enhanced palm thrust that pummeled the Enenra dispersing it.

"Thanks, come on, we need to find the brats and hall ass out of here" Anko stated. "Actually, they are 300 yards to our 8 o'clock and headed this way" Han informed her. "Good let's get rid of the rest of these bastards" Anko said before using one of the few wind style jutsu that she knew.

* * *

**2120Hrs, Akatsuki** **Hideout, Northern Land of Rivers:**

"Assessment, who ordered you to do such a thing" Pain asked, his voice even but somehow still jam packed with anger. "No one leader-sama, I got a tip from one of my subordinates that the Kyuubi Jinchuriki was in the area and figured that it would be a good idea to test the full extent of the kid's abilities and see how the new trainee stacked up. I mean I'm supposed to be training her right? Well I'm a woman of action and a firm believer in learning by doing. Sasuke Uchiha possessing the Mangekyō was an unknown unknown and I…" "**Silence!**" Pain roared half in anger and half in a desperate attempt to head off another one of Atsuko's migraine inducing known unknown rants.

"I warned you of Uzumaki's abnormal level of skill, sending your trainee after him regardless of her unique bloodline was foolish. Especially since you weren't present for her battle" Sasori admonished.

"Maybe she wasn't thinking clearly, maybe her brain cells are dying do to having a little more than tobacco in those cigarillos of hers" Kisame joked. "Atsuko-san maybe in the wrong but her mistake has provided valuable intel. My younger brother seems to be protective of Uzumaki and now we know he possesses the Mangekyō and can plan accordingly" Itachi pointed out.

"I say we just kill the little shit now!" Deidara yelled pissed that Sasuke had grown more powerful in such a short amount of time. "I agree. Although they didn't get into specifics my spies inform me that Orochimaru has taken an interest in Sasuke Uchiha. If the snake takes the boy's body and dojutsu he will become a far larger problem than he is already" Sasori warned.

Itachi looked at Pain who had promised to help him get Sasuke's eyes once they had properly matured. "I have my own plans for the younger Uchiha so for now none of you will make any attempts on his life. Continue to acquire funds, keep tabs on your jinchūriki targets and carry out any special projects I assigned you, dismissed" Pain ordered causing the astral bodies around Atsuko to shimmer out of existence.

Standing up Atsuko walked out of the main chamber and down a dark flight of stairs before reaching a brick wall and doors to her left and right. Biting her thumb and writing a short sealing array on the fourth brick from the left three rows up from the floor she channeled a precise amount of her chakra causing the wall to open up revealing a room containing a sleeping Haku and Obito Uchiha who was standing above her wiping his hands.

"How is she Madara-sama?" Atsuko asked after kneeling. "Her body initially tried to reject the cloned replacement arm but then changed the appendage's very nature" Obito said interest heavy in his voice. "It changed its nature?"

"Hai, the arm was frozen solid as the Mokuton chakra present in the arms cells was siphoned into the girl's body, changed into Hyōton chakra and then channeled back into the clone arm modifying it into a perfect copy of her original arm"

"How is that possible?" Atsuko asked in disbelief. "It would seem that the Hyōton possesses unique properties of its own and can consume the chakra of the Mokuton to use for its own ends. Perhaps it has something to do with the water chakra aspect of the Mokuton" Obito answered his eye closed in thought.

"Did you know this would happen? Is this why you wanted me to send her after the Kyuubi kid, so that she'd get hurt giving you an excuse to incorporate the Shodai's cells into her and study the effects?" Atsuko asked as respectfully as she could although deep down she was annoyed that her student had been used as a test subject.

"I had heard stories of Hashirama having difficulties against the Yuki clan when he was young but never truly believed them. When you brought the girl to me I decided to see what would happen if the two bloodlines were put against each other, the Mokuton being completely overcome on a cellular level was quite a surprise" Obito admitted.

"So you're going to use Haku to kill Danzo?" Atsuko asked having already told Obito of the war hawks 'upgrades'. "When the time is right" Obito answered before thinking _"I'm kept alive by the Hashirama clone's cells. I may have to kill this girl one day"_

* * *

**Next day, 1339Hrs, Konoha:**

What was left of the caravan was just pulling up to the village gates, exhausted, having taken only 2 one hour breaks since being attacked by the enemy kunoichi. Tenten was looking at Naruto and Sasuke trying to figure out just what their deal was. The two had just lost a teammate and fought an highly skilled Jonin level kunoichi but instead of being freaked out they both appeared to be lost in thought.

"Naruto come here" Asuma called waving for everyone else to go ahead and Anko to go check in with the gaurds. Tenten's curiosity got the best of her and she hung back a little channeling chakra to her ears. "Here's the half of Kubikiribōchō that broke off during our battle with Rotsuchi, maybe you can do something with it" Asuma said handing Naruto a scroll. _"Kubikiribōchō! Why would Asuma-taicho give Naruto the remains of one of the 7 legendary swords of the mist?" _Tenten asked herself.

"Tenten, we need to get Lee and the other patients to the hospital" Neji called pulling her from her thoughts. "I'm coming" she replied deciding to find out more about Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

**One hour later, Root Hokage Monument base:**

Naruto was kneeling in front of Danzo finishing summing up everything that happened since he first arrived at FOB Tobirama despite the fact that the war hawk had probably already heard about it. "So the Uchiha knows of your status as a container, has the Mangekyō and your relationship with him is somewhat strained?" Danzo asked.

"Hai Danzo-sama, I don't think he blames me for Ino's death…at least…he said he didn't but I know he doesn't trust me as much as he used to"

"Then maybe you should give the impression that you completely trust him" Danzo stated. "You want me to tell him about Root?" Naruto asked.

"No, I will approach the Uchiha after Ino Yamanaka's funeral myself you will simply accompany me" Danzo answered before standing up and walking towards the door.

"Young Yamanaka's death was unfortunate but not totally unexpected so I took the liberty of commissioning the creation of a new weapon that is nearing completion. Follow me" Danzo stated leading Naruto to a hidden elevator that he had never seen before. They entered and went down an additional 7 levels and exited entering a well-lit laboratory, a stark contrast from the rest of the base. It couldn't be said that the room was especially large but it was filled with high tech equipment that looked as if it had come straight out of a science fiction novel with a small group of people in lap coats tending it.

As Naruto was taking everything in one of the lab coats turned around revealing a familiar face. "Hello Danzo-sama, I was just writing up a progress report for you, we've made a breakthrough in the experiment" Doctor Kichida said after nodding to Naruto, his voice filled with excitement. "I brought Naruto here to see his new teammate so bring them down and give a brief explanation of the project before explaining the breakthrough" Danzo ordered.

Kichida nodded before going over to the room's only open wall and entering a code into a key pad. There was a hissing sound as two 7x4 foot cylinder shaped tanks slowly descended from their hiding place in between floors. One contained an adult female who was floating in a clear liquid, nude except for bandages that barely covered her genitals. The other contained a girl around Naruto's age who seemed familiar to him, floating in a reddish liquid clad in a sports bra and panties.

"Next Generation Root shinobi #13 but you knew her as Ami" Danzo clarified before signaling Kichida to start. "Three years ago Subject Thirteen was sexually assaulted by her Chunin level foster father. During the assault she instinctively absorbed all of the man's charka killing him. Although she killed him before receiving any significant physical damage she suffered a psychotic break and was placed in a juvenile psychiatric ward. Due to her status as an orphan Root was able to acquire her with little difficulty and spent 7 months repairing the damage to her mind."

"Once she was mentally stable we taught her a condensed version of her basic shinobi education and started both Root combat and med-nin training. We also applied three levels of emotional conditioning stopping at a level equal to your own Naruto. Thirteen was originally supposed to be your teammate but do to the capture of this woman (Kichida gestures to the other tank) Guren, a subordinate of Orochimaru, who possesses a unique bloodline we reevaluated that plan."

"Orochimaru had planted a micro bomb in her brain and tattooed a sealing array in near invisible ink on her skin to destroy her body. I was present at the start of her interrogation when she attempted to set both off and managed to disable the body seal in time. She's brain dead but due to her bloodline Danzo-sama ordered she be kept for study."

"I was treating Danzo-sama and was struck by a realization. Part of the reason Danzo-sama's body was rejecting Hashirama Senju's DNA was because he had already reached puberty! So, I pulled blood, bone marrow and spinal fluid samples from the Shodai, Tenzo, and Orochimaru's other 59 test subjects and made a discovery. Although all the test subjects had the same blood type as Hashirama Senju and 5 had a 50% bone marrow match, Tenzo's bone marrow was a 90% match and his spinal fluid was the only one with a composition even remotely resembling the Shodai's."

"With this new data I found fourteen prepubescent female Root candidates that met the required standards and started trying to replicate the blood line. 10 died, 2 survived but showed no noticeable changes leaving subjects Eleven and Thirteen. Both subjects hair and eye color changed to match that of Guren's and both, for a time, were able to use her bloodline."

"After a couple months their new abilities started to fade and my team and I racked our heads for a way to keep the subjects from losing the bloodline completely. It was Danzo-sama himself that suggested using the special energy present in the Shodai's DNA to strengthen the bloodline but when we tried this on subject Eleven the opposite happened and she turned into a living tree".

"It was one week ago when I was re-reading a history book about the Shodai that I got an idea that lead to the success of the project. The Shodai's wife was of the Uzumaki clan. A clan that was said to live long lives and possessed their own unique chakra. I managed to get my hands on some of Mito Uzumaki's genetic material and replicated some of her DNA."

"After what happened with Eleven I was reluctant to actually inject Thirteen with anything so I made a mixture of the Uzumaki DNA and some chakra conductive chemicals, filled this tank with it and placed thirteen inside, taking advantage of her natural chakra absorption ability."

"Based on the tests we've been running it seems as though Thirteen has absorbed so much of the Uzumaki chakra that her own chakra has temporarily taken on similar characteristics. I estimate that thirteen will need 2 yearly 'mass' transfusions of Uzumaki chakra, a process taking 5 days in a tank like this"

"How much longer until this transfusion is complete?" Danzo asked.

"16 hours Danzo-sama" Kichida answered.

"Good, I will give you another week to run more tests before having her spar with Naruto here. Given you don't find anything after you've give him a full evaluation" Danzo stated thinking back to Naruto's report and how he fell for a Genjutsu. _"The fact that one of my agents actually saw Kabuto treat Naruto is extremely distressing. That traitor most likely took some of the anti-genjutsu seals to study. The question is what else did he do?"_

* * *

**0348Hrs,** **Orochimaru's Kusagakure Hideout:**

An ecstatic Kabuto was in his second most advanced private laboratory looking at samples through a microscope "I…I've done it. Thanks to the samples I acquired from Uzumaki I've strengthened the serum enough to cure Kimimaro! If the brat's genetic material can do this…" Kabuto said out loud before his entire face lit up in a disturbing smile. "I'm gonna to have to get some more"

**A/n: I don't know about you guys but I hate when authors introduce OC's that play a major part in their story but barely touch on the character's back story so more info on Atsuko is coming. Science is my weakest subject so please don't bash me to hard if I messed up the explanations on bone marrow and spinal fluid ect. For anyone that thinks I'm making Ami over powered I'll drop a little spoiler. Ami's a prototype and prototypes tend to be...glitchy. Next update by 2-6-13.**

**P.s An Enenra is a Japanese smoke monster.  
**


	14. Chapter 14

**Four days later, 1247Hrs, Ino's Funeral:**

Sasuke hated funerals. Before this one he had only been to his clan's mass service but he hated that one too. He didn't believe in gods or the existence of an afterlife like the fire temple monk that he was currently having a hard time listening to. Once you were gone, you were gone, body reclaimed by the earth and your soul wiped from existence. All that was left was your friends and family, your legacy.

That's why he was here instead of at the memorial stone mourning in private. All these people: Ino's clan head father who was trying to look strong, her mother, who was way past that and was bawling hysterically. Her childhood friends, Sakura who was looking at Naruto like Ino's death was his fault, a silently crying Shikamaru and a depressed looking Choji who looked like he had lost some weight, Sasuke had let them all down. His arrogance let something precious slip away from their lives and at the very least he owed it to them to show his face.

Tears fell from his eyes, turned bloody by the subconscious activation of his Mangekyō that seemed to be not only feeding on his chakra but on his guilt as well. Kakashi, who was ambushed by a group of Taki-nin on his way back to Konoha and forced to miss the previous days wake, put a hand on his shoulder at an attempt at reassurance. He had shared how he lost his teammates with the young Uchiha as soon as he got to the village. Sasuke knew that his sensei had already been where he was but that knowledge didn't make his gesture any more effective.

Sasuke was brought out of his thoughts by the mourners standing up and realized that it was time for everyone to say there final goodbyes so after deactivating his dojutsu he stood up as well. The Yamanaka clan went first. Walking by Ino's open casket and saying things like "I'll miss you" and "See you again someday" with the occasional member bending down to kiss her on the cheek.

The remainder of team 7 was the next to approach the coffin with Naruto, who had been sitting on the other side of Sasuke, being the first of them to reach her. As he looked at her lifeless body it was as if something inside him broke and although he didn't whimper, he shed tears for the first time that day. "I'm sorry" he managed to choke out as he lightly touched her cool hand with his and walked outside the clan's temple.

"_This is it, the last time I'll see her"_ Sasuke thought as he looked down. She looked pale and a little stiff but beautiful in her light make-up, white kimono and crown of flowers. Sasuke gave a sad smile at this; she had always talked of becoming a ninja princess during their early academy days. He had always tried to tune her out back then but he did remember that. As he took in her appearance as a whole he felt that something was off.

This wasn't what his friend was. She wasn't some delicate princess. She was a skilled and proud kunoichi and if he had been a better teammate she would have achieved her dream of reaching S-class. Hell, she probably would have worn down the dobe and married him or something. Reaching inside his coat pocket he pulled out the only one of Ino's hatchets that had been recovered and placed it under her hands making her look more like the kunoichi he had known.

Despite not believing she could still hear him he took a steadying breath and spoke to her one last time. "I'm sorry I was too caught up in my own crap to help you do it but I promise…I promise that one day I'll train one of your clanswomen and help her achieve your dream"

Not able to take being there anymore Sasuke left the temple and looked up at the stormy sky right as the day's first few drops of rain started to fall. "Why does it always rain at these things?" he asked himself before leaving in a shunshin.

* * *

**Konoha Hospital, 1633Hrs: **

Naruto sat in Kichida's office waiting to hear the results of the doctor's tests. Danzo had forbade him from doing any serious training and had assigned two Root-nin to monitor him for any 'suspicious' activity. Without training or missions to get his mind off of things Naruto had spent the last four days thinking of how he could have saved Ino. Sasuke seemed determined to take all the blame for himself but Naruto knew that he had a hand (probably the larger one) in her death as well.

Through Danzo's connections Naruto was able to obtain battle reports from most of the team and squad leaders who fought at the 'Battle for FOB Tobirama'. It turned out that Rotsuchi hadn't been seen anywhere else on the battle field which meant that instead of acting as a general combatant he was still trying to assassinate Naruto and Ino died because of it.

It was for this reason that Naruto marched into Kichida's office and demanded that his final examinations be done immediately. Someone in Konoha with the right connections was trying to get him killed and he planned on finding out who. Naruto was pulled from his thoughts as Kichida walked into his office and handed him a folder. Closing the door the doctor/scientist/seal master went through 14 hand signs and placed a hand on the right side of the door frame. A glowing, green seal array made of characters that Naruto had never seen before spread over the walls, windows, ceiling and floor before dimming into a dark green color.

"Now we can speak openly" Kichida said before walking across the room and sitting down. "I've run just about every test I can think of. While there is evidence that Kabuto took some genetic samples and two of your anti-genjutsu seals I don't believe he actually did anything else to you. That folder is for Danzo-sama, it contains my findings, details of yesterday's procedure to successfully replace your AG seals and my recommendation for your RTD (return to duty)"

"Do you think that Kabuto and Orochimaru will be able to reverse engineer the seals?" Naruto asked.

"I doubt it. There are a number of fail safes incorporated into the seals, some of which I helped design. Danzo-sama made sure that no one person on the team that designed them would know how to disable all the fail safes minimizing the chance of a security breach"

"Good, good. I've been using shadow clones to study Fuinjutsu in my spare time for the last month or so and I've never seen any of these characters in any of the books or scrolls that I've read" Naruto said while looking around the room.

"That's because they were created by my grandmother so that her seals would be harder for enemy nin to decipher" Kichida stated.

"So sealing has been in your family for generations?" Naruto asked.

"Hai, my grandmother was actually from Uzushiogakure"

"Was she an Uzumaki?" Naruto asked wondering if he was somehow related to the impressive man before him.

"According to my father she was an orphan but I do remember him saying that she had red hair…" Kichida started before being interrupted by his watch alarm going off.

"Ah, I'm sorry but I have to start making my rounds" Kichida said before standing up to leave.

"Before you go, I was wondering if you would maybe take me on as an apprentice or maybe suggest someone who can. Even with the use of shadow clones trying to learn on my own has been…difficult"

Kichida stopped and thought to himself for a moment before speaking. "With the war going I can't think of anyone who'll be able to teach you full time. But you have a summoning contract from the Land of Whirlpools right?" Kichida asked, continuing at Naruto's nod. "Well there you go, if I were you I'd ask one of your older summons for help" Kichida recommended making Naruto feel stupid for not thinking of that himself.

* * *

**War council chamber, 1723Hrs: **

Despite entering the chamber 7 minutes before the war council meeting was scheduled to begin Danzo was one of the last to arrive. Taking a seat beside Homura he only had to wait two more minutes for the Hokage and Shikaku Nara to walk in together and Hiruzen's call to order. "There's no way to soften the blow so I'll just say it, 40 minutes ago I received a message from Jiraiya saying that the Wind Daimyo has been assassinated" Hiruzen stated his voice grave. Several of the clan heads/ representatives gasped at this, the Wind Daimyo was a friend of Konoha and was the glue that held their alliance to Sunagakure together.

"How could this happen? Didn't we send a team of our Anbu to guard the Wind Daimyo after he dismissed his regular gaurds?" Hiashi Hyuga asked worried about his late wife's nephew who was assigned to the mission.

"According Jiraiya-sama's report he went to the Daimyo's safe house to ask for his help in convincing the Kazekage to aid us in the war. When he arrived he saw the safe house had been destroyed in an explosion and Deidara of the Explosion release and Sasori of the Red Sand were advancing on the only surviving Anbu. Jiraiya-sama attacked the two shinobi who, after recognizing him, managed to escape on a giant clay bird." Shikaku explained.

"Deidara of the Explosion release and Sasori of the Red Sand, aren't they the members of Akatsuki that were hired by Iwa to attack FOB Tobirama? Bo Akimichi (who was filling in for his clan head nephew who was currently in the field) asked. "Hai" Shikaku answered. "Why would Iwa kill the Wind Daimyo? Won't the Kazekage have to declare war on them now?" Hiroto Haruno, who was the only civilian on the council and the new economic adviser to the Hokage after his predecessor's recent death asked.

"The Kazekage is a ruthless man who resented the late Wind Daimyo for outsourcing mission requests from the Land of Wind to us. He also harbors a deep hatred for the leaf due to his older brother being killed by the White Fang. It's possible that had a hand in this." Koharu theorized.

Nodding Hiruzen spoke again "I thought that something like this could happen which is why the Fire Daimyo and I began having talks with the Lightning Daimyo and the Raikage as soon as we discovered Iwa was considering a treaty with Takigakure".

"You can't seriously be considering drafting a treaty with Kumo! Every time Konoha has tried in the past we've been met with nothing but treachery" Hiashi reminded, his hands clinched into fists and trembling with suppressed anger.

"I understand your reservations about Kumo Haishi but consider our position. With Taki's unsuspected level of ninja and resources, the Cerberus drug and Iwa's use of Ame's rebel group Akatsuki, which has managed to recruit at **least** 3 S-class shinobi and now Suna's questionable motives we don't have many other options left. We need help or we won't survive" The Hokage reminded everyone.

"It's a good move" Shikaku said drawing everyone's attention. "We know that the Cerberus drug is being made in the Land of the Sea, transported across the ocean and smuggled through the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Rice Fields to Taki. The spec-ops FOB we placed in Rice Field country has only had… mixed results at stopping the drug from getting to the mercs and missing-nin. If Lightning Country were to use their naval force, a resource that we lack, to stop the shipments from ever reaching the mainland then our chances of surviving this war go up by 33%"

"Kumo has been allies with Iwa for the last, what…15 years? Why break that alliance now and join up with us when we're the underdog in this conflict?" Tsume Inuzaka (who had just returned from the field and was sporting some nasty looking burn marks on the left side of her neck and jaw) asked.

"According to the new Raikage, in the last few years Iwa has been caught trying to increase the number of its intelligence personnel in the Land of Lightning. In addition he confirmed what we already knew about the Earth Daimyo increasing taxes on goods heading to Lightning country. As for our current disadvantage in the war, the Raikage spoke of our villages tendency to produce what he called 'super ninja' when our backs were up against the wall. He also spoke of wanting to meet Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha" Hiruzen answered.

"Why so he can kidnap them?" Hiashi spat.

"No, he's heard of their power and teamwork and would like to meet them himself. He acknowledged that, due to his predecessors actions, we have a right to mistrust him so instead of sending a spokesman he said that he'd come to discuss the terms of the treaty himself. He's even agreed to leave the bulk of his escorts outside of the village and enter with just two gaurds" Hiruzen informed gaining looks of disbelief from most of the council.

"He'd risk that?" Bo asked incredulously.

"With Suna's apparent intent to align its self with Iwa and Taki, and Kiri's weakened state after years of civil war he doesn't have a choice. If we fall, Iwa will most likely turn its attention to its next biggest threat, Kumo" Danzo said speaking up for the first time.

"Because of this matter's sensitive nature I'd like to put it up for vote. All for inviting the Raikage to discuss a treaty raise your right hand" Hiruzen instructed surprised that everyone even Hiashi raised his hand. "Then it's decided, now does anyone else wish to bring up any pressing issues before we get into our regular topics?" Hiruzen asked, acknowledging Koharu after she raised her hand. "I believe we should reevaluate the skill levels of the remaining members of team 7 and endeavor increase young Uzumaki's control of the Kyuubi's chakra."

"You want to make it…I mean him even stronger?" 60 year old Inoma Yamanaka who was filling in for her son asked.

"Of course, it's confirmed that Taki's Jinchūriki has control of five tails worth of her bijuu's chakra, meaning that she can utilize 71% of its total power with losing control of herself. The most Uzumaki-san has so far been seen using is two, add that to Suna's Jinchūriki and the fact that Iwa possesses **two** Jinchūriki of their own and it is imperative that we make sure that ours is ready to face them. We should also make sure to aid Uchiha-san in his mastery of the Sharingan since we know that Sharingan based Genjutsu can affect the various kinds of bijuu" Homura elaborated.

"The boy is skilled but still young, is he ready to start training with the Kyuubi's power? Can his still developing body handle the strain?" Shikuro Aburame, another elderly clan head fill-in asked.

"While its unknown if Uzumaki-san can handle the strain now, maybe after six months of mental conditioning and Anbu level training at the pit Uzumaki-san might be able to start training with his burdens power. We should have Kakashi evaluate both of his remaining students, one on one and see if they are ready to enter Anbu. We're not getting as much out of them now as we could if we sharpened their skills just a little bit more" Danzo suggested.

"I agree, plus it might be better to take the Uzumaki piece off the board for a while since he just killed the Tsuchikage's son and Akatsuki seems interested in capturing him" Shikaku stated getting nods of agreement from all of the council members but one. Something that Danzo noticed instantly.

"In that case I'll give Kakashi the order first thing tomorrow morning. Now let's move on to this week's financial report…

* * *

**2103Hrs Uchiha compound:**

Sasuke sat on the roof his grandfather's house thinking about Orochimaru's offer with the snake's scroll set to explode in 26 hours. He had finally made up his mind and decided that he didn't want anything to do with the snake sannin. Anything that man brought back would be some dark, twisted version of his friend and he couldn't dishonor her memory by helping to bring it into the world.

As for Itachi, while Sasuke knew that he still had a long way to go before he could challenge his brother he knew that he was on the right track. Naruto was the key. He was only as strong as he was because of his friendship/rivalry with Naruto. Plus Itachi seemed to be a part of this group that wanted to capture the blond so if he stuck around him he would eventually run into Itachi anyway.

He was about to burn the scroll when he felt four bursts of unfamiliar chakra surround him on the corners of the roof. Pocketing the scroll and activating his Sharingan Sasuke stood up and calmly brushed off his shorts before speaking. "Who are you guys supposed to be?" Sasuke asked the odd looking shinobi. "We're the Sound Four you piece of garbage" the grey haired one in make-up answered.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked having already decided on 'flight' if something jumped off.

"Our orders were to watch you and if you made the foolish decision to reject our lord's offer we were to 'persuade' you to reconsider" Sakon stated nodding to Kidōmaru who slid into a fighting stance and Tayuya who took out a flute and started playing an entrancing melody. It was only when she tried ensnaring the young Uchiha that the sound four's Genjutsu mistress noticed that something was wrong.

"The little shithead's already put us in a Genjutsu! Release!" She shouted causing the Sasuke in front of them to shimmer into nothingness revealing a large, out of place, roof tile. "Damn it spread out and find him" Sakon yelled angrily.

Sasuke was running as fast as he could for the police station which was just a block outside of his clan's compound. As he approached the compounds northern gate he was able to see a wall of chakra in front of it. Channeling more chakra to his doujutsu he saw that a barrier had been put up and he couldn't leave this way.

As he turned around he came face to face with the red head Genjutsu user. Or at least that's what she wanted him to believe. "Release!" Sasuke yelled out, the Tayuya in front of him vanishing. Sasuke saw slight movement with his peripheral vision and chucked a kunai at the blurry image causing the real Tayuya to deflect the kunai with her battle flute.

"You fucktard! You chipped it!" Tayuya yelled furiously.

Since escape seemed to no longer be an option Sasuke charged the red haired kunoichi, closing the distance between them in seconds. Tayuya tried to back up but the Uchiha's speed was too much and she realized that she would have to step things up if she wanted to complete her mission so after taking a deep breath, Tayuya activated the first level of her curse mark.

Sasuke aimed for the red heads jaw and threw one of the strongest right crosses he had ever executed only for it to be stopped by an x-block. Spinning on the ball of his left foot the young Uchiha tried to sweep his opponents legs but she had already channeled chakra to her feet, using it to stick to the ground. Tayuya attempted to hit Sasuke with a right cross of her own but instead of blocking he leaned forward, down and to the right, moving his head just enough to avoid Tayuya's punch while simultaneously firing a lightning fast left jab.

The jab apparently shook the kunoichi's concentration because she lost her chakra enhanced grip on the ground and took a couple steps back. It was on her second step that she was rocked by a roundhouse kick that knocked her down and nearly rendered her unconscious. _"No wonder lord Orochimaru wants this kid. His speed and strength are equal to mine even with the first level of the curse seal activated" _Tayuya thought to herself as Sasuke's heel come plummeting at her head. Forming the half ram seal Tayuya performed a substitution with an old, mildewing lawn chair right before her face was turned into paste. However Sasuke's Sharingan had predicted her escape and as soon as she landed in her new position her opponent exited a shunshin with his right arm cocked back ready to deliver what was sure to be a devastating attack.

As he moved to unleash the same chakra enhanced haymaker that dropped his last female opponent he felt his forearm wrapped up in some kind of sticky webbing and jerked back, the motion painfully dislocating his arm. Turning to his right he saw the four armed boy who now had markings similar to the kunoichi's holding the webbing in his hands. "Tayuya! Do it now!" Kidōmaru yelled knowing that they didn't have long before someone sensed their chakra output and came running.

He was proven right when his webbing was cut by a wind chakra enhanced short sword. "Looks like I'm finally saving you for a change teme" Naruto said after freeing his teammate, prompting Tayuya to jump back at his sudden appearance.

"There are two more in the compound" Sasuke warned through gritted teeth.

"In that case we should hurry and kill these two" Naruto said preparing to attack Kidōmaru.

"To late dipshit!" Tayuya yelled right before Sakon and Jirōbō appeared behind Sasuke and Naruto via shunshins of their own.

"How did you get past that barrier!?" Sakon demanded.

"Cut my way through" Naruto answered.

"No wind blade could've cut though one of my…"

"I used a torch" Naruto said planting his sword in the ground.

"A what? You.."

"Multi-Shadow clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled spawning 50 clones, half of which were henged to look like Sasuke. "I sent… a couple…shadow clones…for help…before I…carved my…way in here. You guys…think you…can find…the real…us before…the Anbu…show up?" The 'Narutos' asked, a different clone saying every couple of words.

"You mother…" Tayuya started but was cut off by Kidōmaru. "Sakon we're out of time, if we don't leave now we won't leave at all!"

"Aahggr, fine! Let's go" Sakon ordered before addressing Naruto with an expression of pure hatred on his face. "Next time we meet I'll be sure to take my time killing you" and with that the Sound Four vanished in four puffs of smoke.

"You four stick around. The rest of you spread out and make sure they really left the area" the real Naruto ordered his clones as he popped Sasuke's arm back into its socket. "So what was that about?" Naruto asked. As Sasuke was about to explain what happened the barrier faded out of existence and two squads of Anbu who were clad in black cloaks with four buttons on the front as opposed to the normal, button less beige color cloaks arrived.

"Where are they Naruto?" Mantis asked making Sasuke raise an eyebrow at the familiar way the Anbu spoke to his friend.

"They ran away. There are four of them, these four shadow clones will lead you in the direction they left in as well as henge into them so you know who to look for" Naruto said as his clones transformed. "Alright, 1 squad stay here and form a defensive perimeter. 2nd squad with me!" Mantis said before nodding to and following the fake sound four who left in shunshins.

"Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san it would be best if you went inside and stayed in the same building for the night." A young sounding male Anbu in a spider mask suggested. Sasuke nodded and lead the Anbu squad to his house. The Anbu took positions outside and atop of his home while Naruto and an Anbu in an elephant mask went inside with him. The Anbu left to make sure the house was secure while Naruto and Sasuke sat down. "So you probably want me to tell you what that was all about huh?" Sasuke asked only to be answered by the elephant masked Anbu who had returned.

"Hai Uchiha-san, we do" the man said removing his mask and revealing his elderly, bandaged face.

**A/N: I'd like to thank SalemTheSpeakerOfTruth for the advice. Old habits die hard but I promise to work on the jumbled paragraph thing. I'm thinking about renaming this story, don't have a clue what its gonna be though. Next update Mar-27... guaranteed. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Two days later, Main Root base, 1058Hrs:**

Sasuke and Naruto stood in front of a small, fūinjutsu secured tank looking at the white snake floating inside. The snake was alive but unconscious due to the seal on its belly which had the Kanji for 'sleep' in its center. "I still find it a little hard to believe that it's possible to transfer your soul or consciousness or whatever into someone else's body, you know, long term" Naruto said while fighting the urge to tap the tank front of him.

"And I'm still finding it hard to believe that you're being groomed to take over the most elite shinobi force our village has to offer" Sasuke said before rubbing his tongue along the bottom of his mouth. "Ugh, how long did it take your tongue seal to stop hurting?"

"I don't know, a few hours maybe? Just be glad Danzo didn't put the 'kill' seal on your back" Naruto answered looking at Roots newest recruit. The night of the sound four's attack Danzo had surprised Naruto by only halfway lying to Sasuke. He told the Uchiha heir about Root and how the organization had officially been ordered to disband but unofficially ordered to cut back on its missions and focus on recruiting and training individuals that had 'promise'. Sasuke had been told how Naruto became a member and how he would have been recruited at a young age as well if not for his fragile mental state after his clan's massacre. Sasuke was even told about Root's hand in causing the current war, Danzo's cancer and Naruto being picked to be the man's replacement.

After Sasuke digested what he had been told he recognized the need for a group that could carry out missions that absolutely couldn't be traced back to the village. Due to his S-class missing-nin brother, he also saw some of the merits in placing seals on your more promising ninja, he even agreed with the whole emotional conditioning thing…to an extent anyway. The only thing about Root that really bothered him was the fact that it seemed to be a too much power for one person, especially one as shady as Danzo, to have. This was the reason that he refused to join Root unless his 'kill' seal was applied by Naruto after **he** took control of the organization. If somebody was going to be able to kill him with only a couple of hand signs it would be one of the two people who he trusted with his life.

The two were pulled from their thoughts by their prospective teammate who entered the room. Sasuke still couldn't believe how different his old admirer looked. She had the same asymmetrical hair cut but had apparently decided to dye her hair a light blue color. Her eyes were now a darker shade of brown and most of the baby fat that had given her face a round almost chubby look was gone allowing her beautiful bone structure to be more easily seen. She was wearing a short black jacket with purple straps over a black and purple striped, high-collared midriff shirt, black pants, shinobi sandals and dark purple fingerless gloves. She also carried an injection shot sniper on her back instead of the customary Root tip-less tanto and had a seemingly standard issue med-nin back pouch sitting above her left hip.

"Naruto-senpai, Uchiha-san, Danzo-sama has ordered us to report to the main training chamber" Ami informed in her smooth voice that reminded Sasuke of Kurenai Yūhi's, only more youthful.

"That's right, your audition's today" Naruto said before he and Sasuke followed the girl to the chamber where Danzo and Kichida were both waiting. Naruto, Ami and Sasuke all knelt down before Danzo with their heads bowed awaiting his commands.

"Naruto, you will spar with Thirteen and push her as far as you can without killing or critically injuring her. Thirteen, you will do the same with Naruto. Your objective will be to subdue your opponent i.e. knock them out or render them unable to continue fighting. Thirteen, use your bloodline to put up a protective wall that we can watch behind" Danzo ordered.

"Crystal Release: Crystal Encampment Wall" Ami said as a three sided wall of crystal rose up from the ground around them.

"Try not to get your ass kicked dobe" Sasuke said as Naruto as Ami walked to the middle of the room.

"Nah, I got her"

If Ami heard this she didn't show it as she slipped into a fighting stance.

"Begin"

Hearing Danzo's order Naruto created 3 shadow clones and had them charge Ami in order to get a feel for her Crystal release. Ami however had other ideas. "Earth Release: Earth Flow River" Ami yelled, causing the ground around the clones to turn into a shoulder-deep mud pit, trapping all three at once. Extending her palms forward she shot out several chakra threads that latched onto the immobilized clones and drained their chakra popping the doppelgangers in seconds.

"_Earth manipulation and chakra absorption through chakra threads, her long range defense/offence is good. Time to see how she does up close" _Naruto thought to himself before creating two exploding shadow clones and having them shunshin towards Ami.

"Crystal Release: Abatis" Ami said surrounding herself with a defensive circle of pointy crystals that detonated the clones before they got to her. Feeling another spike in chakra Ami ducked just in time to avoid being struck by the blunt side of Naruto's short sword but was too slow to dodge a kick to the face. Instead of recoiling from the blow Ami's head turned to mud before hardening around Naruto's leg trapping him.

"Mud clone" Naruto said to himself as the real Ami jumped out of the ground behind him and quickly brought a tanto made of crystal down on him as she landed. In feat of flexibility that caught everyone by surprise Naruto bent so far backwards that his head was only a couple inches above the ground and blocked Ami's heavy two handed slash with just one hand on his short sword. _"She was only out of my line of sight for a few seconds after my clones exploded but managed to not only create a mud clone to trap me but tunnel underground for a surprise attack as well. Her jutsu casting speed is impressive but her physical strength could be better" _Naruto thought to himself as he blocked all of Ami's slashes.

Making three one handed hand seals with his free hand Naruto struck Ami's Tanto as hard as he could knocking it out of the girls hand before thrusting his palm forward "Wind Release: Great breakthrough!". Due to his position under her, Naruto's attack lifted a spinning Ami 15 feet in the air.

"Crystal Release: Jade Senbon!" a still airborne Ami called out, firing a wide spray of green senbon at Naruto. The attack came from above and since Naruto was still inside of Ami's circle of crystal there was no way he could dodge the attack so he tried to stop it in its tracks with another great breakthrough gust. "Shit!" Naruto yelled when the needles went right through his wind attack, their velocity slowed but still dangerous. Channeling wind chakra around his blade to cut down on its air resistance Naruto whipped the weapon around like a mad man, managing to defect all the crystal needles.

Cutting himself free of the clone and jumping out of the crystal circle Naruto found himself swarmed by mud clones that he quickly dispelled as soon as they attacked however they attacked so fast that Naruto didn't immediately notice the way the mud splattering on him was hardening, restricting his movements and weighing him down. More and more mud clones rose from the ground and attacked Naruto, dog piling him once he was slow enough.

Twenty feet away the real Ami was panting with her hands still in the ram hand seal. _"Okay, now all I have to do is disperse the clones that are on him and he'll be encased in stone. This Uzumaki chakra is something else, I'm tired but I could still make another couple dozen clones if I needed to" _Ami thought to herself before feeling a surge of chakra.

"Demonic Mimicry: Chakra pulse Jutsu!" Naruto yelled surrounding himself with chakra and unleashing it in a violent burst that repelled the mud that was on his skin and clothing as well as dispersing the mud clones. Placing his sword back in its sheath as he ran, Naruto prepared to engage his opponent in Taijutsu. Throwing a punch Naruto was surprised when Ami just planted her feet and took it. He was even more surprised by how hard her fist felt when she punched him back. She was fast, not Sasuke fast, but definitely faster than he was. She also had a strange fighting style that seemed almost like a dance. She was constantly moving her body left, right, backwards and forwards. Dodging attacks instead of trying to block them, cartwheeling over leg sweep attempts and supporting her body weight with her hands while attacking with her feet. It was almost like she was fighting to a rhythm but as soon as Naruto figured out the pattern to her attacks she'd change the tempo.

Her speed, hard skin and odd fighting style added up to Naruto getting his ass handed to him. So when Ami put both hands on the ground and horse kicked Naruto into the air he used the kicks energy to somersault away from her before landing and continuing to back flip away. Ami charged forward pressing her attack but Naruto had managed to buy himself enough time to form a few hand seals.

"Demonic Mimicry: Human Chakra Cloak!" Naruto yelled, generating his cloak just in time to block a kick that would have knocked him out if it had landed. With his speed boosted Naruto was finally able to change the flow of the fight, putting Ami firmly on the defense. Naruto was now able to land a few blows but found that Ami was still able to take them without being shaken to badly. It was when she ducked one of his punches and the light coming from his cloak hit her just right that he saw what was going on.

"_She's covered in some kind of transparent crystal armor! Is that why she just took my first punch, to test her armors effectiveness?" _Naruto created four chakra arms, two small ones that grabbed Ami's wrists and pulled them out to her sides before forming tight coverings over her fingers to prevent hand seals of any kind. He then created two large chakra claws that closed around Ami's body from the arm pits down and lifted the girl off the ground.

"My armor will outlast your cloak Naruto-senpai. When you run out of chakra I will finish this fight"

"Fights already over" Naruto said before pulling out two purple pellets from his vest's left chest pocket and throwing them at Ami. The pellets hit the girl's hardened chest and released a pressurized knock out gas. Ami tried to hold her breath but Naruto used wind manipulation to slow the gas's movement, keeping it on her. When the gas finally did dissipate, Ami's prone, unconscious form was revealed.

Behind their protective wall Kichida's mouth was agape, "Amazing, with the addition of Ami to team 7 we might just be able to do it. We may be able to create a new group of Sannin"

"_That's what they have planned for us? No pressure"_ Sasuke thought to himself incredulously.

"Too bad we aren't the only ones with such ambitions" Danzo ominously informed just as Naruto reached their postion.

"What do you mean Danzo-sama?"

* * *

**Iwagakure, Training Ground 12, Same time: **

Ōnoki was floating over one of the many mountains surrounding Iwa looking at the two different generations of his shinobi stare each other down. On one side of the training ground stood two of his elite Jonin, Monga of the Stone Bamboo Shoot and Gari of the Explosion Release. On the other side stood Iwa's future, three young ninja with the potential to become Iwa's version of Konoha's legendary three.

The oldest was 14 year old Hirutsuchi his name ironic due to the fact that his father, Rotsuchi, figured out how to use the Iron Skin technique by imitating the boy's bloodline limit. At 5'8, 160 pounds Hirutsuchi was tall and muscular for his age and would probably grow to be the same size as his father. Like Rotsuchi he has dark eyes, buzz cut hair, a strong jaw and a large bulbous nose. He wears the standard Iwagakure shinobi uniform with a left sleeve and a right lapel, his Iwa plate sewn on his left sleeve at the sholder. Instead of a war hammer he has a sledgehammer strapped to his back, head up.

His apperance seemed to be the only thing that he inherited from his father since, much to Ōnoki's disappointment, the boy was the definition of a 'gentle giant'. Despite his prodigious skill in the ninja arts the boy hated violence and absolutely despised killing. If Ōnoki didn't know better he'd think his grandson was the reincarnation of some Konoha-nin.

Next was the 13 year old Maiko who was found in the border village of Tochigi at the age of 6. While Tochigi is technically in Lightning country, a group of Iwa-nin were in the area on a training exercise and were approached by the village's leader. An invisible thief (or thieves) had been stealing a large amount of food and the local officials had been unable to catch them. When Ōnoki okayed the C-rank mission via messenger hawk he never thought that his shinobi would return with a caramel-skinned little girl with green eyes, snow white hair and the fabled Swift release.

Maiko was (and still is) rude, defiant and prone to bursts of anger but over time came to see Iwa as her home and agreed to join its shinobi ranks to protect it. While training her it was discovered that Maiko had trouble seeing at the high speeds Swift Release granted and she also had a hard time coming to a stop. After exhausting every training method that he and the girl's instructors could think of Ōnoki found the solution which led to Maiko's strange form of dress. She wears a skin tight, black and green body suit and chakra armor that was bought from the land of snow that covers everything from the upper neck down. Her armor consists of mechanical looking ear coverings each containing half of her HUD visor. She wears black gauntlets that start at yin/yang symbols on her shoulders and cover her entire arm. The gauntlets also have stabilizers built into the palms that release pressurized bursts of her wind chakra to aid in stopping/changing direction. She wears black knee high boots with wind stabilizers as well. Maiko also has a lightning affinity but has trouble controlling said element.

Last was the youngest but most powerful of the three, 12 year old Tetsuo Makino. At 5'2, 105 pounds Tetsuo was the smallest member of the team but with his Magnet release and iron powder/sand the boy was hands down the deadliest Chunin in Iwa. Years ago, during his first few years as Tsuchikage, Ōnoki had managed to plant one of his most skilled espionage kunoichi as one of the Sandaime Kazekage maids. Said kunoichi was young and incredibly beautiful and managed to tempt the Kazekage into cheating on his wife. Although the man didn't engage in pillow talk and none of Suna's secrets were disclosed her mission wasn't a total loss since Iwa was able to acquire a powerful bloodline.

Tetsuo knows of his status as the illegitimate grandson of the Sandaime Kazekage but is still deeply devoted to Iwa and sees the Nidaime Tsuchikage as his hero. Like the Nidaime his entire upper body is covered by intricately wrapped bandages, with only his spiky, near shoulder length brunette hair, honey-colored eyes and nose being visible. Instead of a bandanna he wears his Iwa plate as a belt buckle to keep his black shinobi pants up. He wears an open dark brown cloak that looks a size too big for him with the metallic grey kanji for 'Iron' inside a white diamond on the back. The boy was everything Ōnoki wished that his grandson would be, calculating, unafraid to use underhanded tactics to insure the success of the mission and just a little sadistic.

All three had been trained in secret since a young age, only going on missions within the Land of Earth but had only been training with each other for the last 3 years. The team worked well together with both Maiko and Tetsuo acknowledging Hirutsuchi's seniority and following his lead. Tetsuo's unflinching politeness and Maiko's rudeness, along with her view of Tetsuo's mid to long range (mostly stationary) fighting style being lazy/cowardly causes her to frequently belittle the iron sand user. Luckily Tetsuo's calm personality usually wins out and the two have never physically fought each other outside of spars.

"Oy! You fall asleep up there old man? When are we going to get this started?" Maiko yelled up at him pulling him from his thoughts. If she had been anyone else such disrespect would have been severely punished but since all the punishments that he had tried giving her had so far had failed Ōnoki just shook his head and yelled "Begin!"

"Steel Release: Impervious Armor" Hirutsuchi said applying his bloodline's ability to his arms making them turn dark gray with the middle and ring fingers being red with red lines coming from them and merging together below the knuckles. From there the red line ran up to his red elbow before continuing up to the shoulder.

Tetsuo channeled chakra to one of the many seals sewn into the inside of his cloak summoning a couple hundred pounds of iron sand.

"Velocity Armor: Quick Start" Maiko said causing her yin/yang symbols to glow and a short beeping noise to come from her armor before her HUD visor shot out from her ear coverings and covered her eyes.

Seeing that the kids were ready Gari immediately went after the one that he perceived as the biggest threat. In an impressive burst of speed he appeared in front of Tetsuo and threw a lightning quick punch but his target disappeared in a green flash. Sensing an incoming attack Gari ducked a sledgehammer swing before turning around and attacking the brat that had tried to sneak up on him "Explosion Release: Exploding Palm!". While he hadn't put enough chakra into the technique to kill, Gari was surprised when Hirutsuchi wasn't blown back in recoil and simply looked down at the scorch mark on his Chunin vest.

"You'll have to do better than that Gari-san" Hirutsuchi said before taking another swing.

Across the training field Maiko sat Tetsuo down on the ground before slapping him in the back of the head. "Ow! Maiko-chan why do you always have to hit me with those gauntlets on?!"

"Why do you have to be so Kami damn slow?" Maiko asked annoyed.

"I was about to execute a substitution and launch a counter with the sand at his feet wh…" before Tetsuo could finish his sentence he was forced to summon more iron sand from his cloak and form a dome around Maiko and himself to protect them from an incoming boulder.

"Humph, sensing my attack and putting up that dome in time to stop it is impressive for one so young. Just imagine what the two of you could do IF YOU WOULD STOP YOUR CHILDISH BICKERING!" Monga yelled furiously.

"Maiko switch opponents with me, Tetsuo get airborne and provide long range support" Hirutsuchi ordered not getting anywhere with his speedy opponent. Tetsuo reformed the dome in to a 5x5 foot iron platform allowing Maiko perform a substitution with Hirutsuchi. Floating into the air he formed what looked like the back of a chair and a right arm rest to lead on to watch the fight more comfortably.

As Maiko stood in front Gari she couldn't help but be a little intimidated. The man was a legend, one of the most skilled Jonin Iwa has ever produced and now she was about to fight him one on one. Well Tetsuo would be helping at a distance but as usual she and Hirutsuchi would be doing the lion's share of the work. Maiko was about to attack when Gari brought his hands together in a cross like seal.

"Shadow clone jutsu" Gari said as two doppelgangers took shape in front of him. "Keep her busy" He commanded before forming the tiger hand seal and disappearing.

Pressing a button on her left HUD control (ear covering), Maiko switched through her four different vision sittings: speed, anti-genjutsu, thermal and night but was unable to see the original Gari anywhere. She was about to use the radio in her right ear covering to warn her teammate when one of the clones decided to attack. Despite being a clone it was still fast, throwing an explosive chakra packed punch that Maiko barely ducked in time.

"Wind Release: Repulsor palm!" Maiko shouted after driving her palm into the chakra construct's gut. The clone was lifted off of its feet by a pressurized jet stream of air and flew back 30 feet until slamming into to the stone wall behind it dispersing in a loud explosion. Maiko turned her head looking for the other clone when a red, blinking, upside down triangle in her HUD alerted her to a large heat signature coming directly from under her feet. Putting her hands together in the boar hand seal she quickly vanished right before for the ground exploded.

Tetsuo was above the fighting when he heard a loud explosion followed by another even larger one. _"Figures that even her fights are irritating"_ Taking his eyes off Hirutsuchi's fight Tetsuo looked at the other side of the training field but couldn't find his kunoichi teammate or her opponent. Feeling something moving at a high speed through the iron powder particles floating around his airborne position, Tetsuo turned around just in time to have a watered down landmine fist go off in his chest. Or at least that's what would have happened if he hadn't pulled off a substitution with a small boulder right before the blast.

"_How can he even see me?"_Gari thought to himself due to his Hiding with Camouflage Technique still being active. He was even more surprised that the kid had managed to pull a substitution that fast having heard from the child's tutor as well as from the Tsuchikage himself that, while the boy's defensive and offensive capabilities were great, his speed and reflexes left something to be desired.

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Coffin"

Gari's eyes widened as the platform Tetsuo had been riding on burst into sand before re-consolidating around him from the neck down leaving him immobilized and suspended in the air. Looking down he saw Tetsuo standing on the ground already going through hand seals for another jutsu. _"I don't care what kind of bloodline he has, I refuse to get done in by a kid" _"Explosion Release: Double landmine fists!" Gari yelled propelling the iron sand away and freeing himself. However by the time he landed he found himself surrounded by tens of thousands of tiny iron sand granules that were crackling with electricity.

"Lightning Release: Magnetic Murder Dome" Tetsuo said as he finished going through hand seals for his original jutsu. Gari tried to escape the dome with 2 different jutsu but couldn't, he also noticed that his movements were getting sluggish.

"The offensive aspect of this technique takes a while to charge but luckily its paralytic effect is pretty fast. It gives you just enough time to try a substitution, which is disrupted by the dome's electromagnetic based chakra interference, or a jutsu like the Hiding Like a Mole Technique which is neutralized by the abundance of lightning chakra in the dome's immediate area. Impressive huh? Can you believe it only took me a month to create this technique? I just finished it two days ago so I might mess up and kill you Gari-san but don't worry, if you die I'll name one of my children after you" Tetsuo finished his explanation with a grin.

"Tetsuo! Cancel the jutsu. Gari you're out of the battle!" Ōnoki yelled, not putting it past Tetsuo to actually use an experimental technique on a comrade in order to perfect it.

The crackling stopped and the sand turned back into a platform which Tetsuo promptly hopped on. "Just so you know Tsuchikage-sama, Gari-san, my chakra control isn't good enough to discharge a serious amount of lightning and hold the iron particles in position, if I had tried we all would have been riddled with holes"

"_He beat me with a bluff?" _Gari thought to himself as Tetsuo flew off.

Frustrated and waist deep in mud Hirutsuchi punched through the leg of another rock clone replaying the fight in his mind. Initially Monga had launched a wide variety of Earth jutsu including his Earth Release: Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot technique at him but he'd been able to successfully defend against the attacks with just his armored arms. Then Monga had mentioned how slow he was and traped him in this mud pit to drive his point home. The pit was probably more than waist deep but Hirutsuchi was able to keep himself from fully submerging by dumping an ungodly amount of chakra from his feet. He wouldn't be able to keep it up forever though, even with his freakishly large reserves he'd run out of chakra eventually.

This fact left him with two options. One: He could wait for his teammates to come save him but look incredibly inept in front of his grandfather or… Two: He could allow himself to undergo a full transformation and use the one of the different jutsu that the advanced state makes available to him to escape.

The ability to turn every inch of his skin into metal was new and had only been reached with Tetsuo's help. The main problem was that, when fully armored, Hirutsuchi's aggression went up and his impulse control went way down. When he made his first full transformation he had demanded a spar from Tetsuo and nearly killed him which was scary due to the fact that his entire body was covered in a material similar to what the smaller boy manipulated on a daily basis.

Hirutsuchi had managed to convince Tetsuo to keep his ability to fully transform to himself knowing that if the Tsuchikage found out he'd make Hirutsuchi train with the ability despite the risks. Deciding to go with his first option he called out for "help". The second the word left his mouth Monga was lifted off his feet by a black and green flash.

"We really need to work on your speed big guy" Maiko said appearing at his side and grabbing his hand preparing to pull him up.

"Don't touch him!" Ōnoki yelled floating down into plain view. "Tetsuo, Maiko, you've both past this test but Hirutsuchi has yet to prove himself ready for the task I have in mind for you, stand down. Hirutsuchi, if you don't pull your head out of your ass I'll remove you from the team and reassign you to the academy!"

By this point Monga had gotten back on his feet and was rubbing his jaw. Looking at the Tsuchikage Monga got a look that basically said {apply pressure}. Following orders he made a few hand seals and made the ground around Hirutsuchi harden and constrict, slowly crushing him.

From his point above everyone (Ōnoki had floated down below him) Tetsuo watched as his best friend's face switched from a mixture of frustration and concentration to pure agony. While, on some level, he enjoyed seeing his enemies in such states he wasn't able to handle seeing Hiru like this so he did something that he knew would anger him to know end. He forced his friend to undergo the transformation he was so afraid of.

Discreetly moving the smallest of his iron particles which were too small to be seen with the naked eye (Maiko who still had her HUD active could see what he was doing) Tetsuo placed them on Hirutsuchi's skin. A few months ago Tetsuo discovered the secret to Hirutsuchi's bloodline. While Hiru's chakra was needed to boost his magnetic field and prepare his skin for the trauma of transformation it wasn't required for the actual transformation itself, **that** was fueled by the strangest chakra Tetsuo had ever felt. A chakra that seemed to come from nature itself.

All of Hirutsuchi's skin started to darken and the red lines that had previously stopped at his shoulders traveled horizontally across his collarbones before moving up his neck, cheeks and eyes before reaching his hair line. The entirety of both eyes turned blood red and his short dark hair turned red and grew rapidly, stopping just past his shoulders in multi-directional spikes.

Hirutsuchi's head was tilted down, his eyes covered by his new red hair. **"You…"** the boy said so quietly that he was barely heard. **"You fucking assholes! I'll fuCKING KILL YOU ALL!" **the boy roared his voice deep and staticy like it was being broadcasted through a loud but busted speaker. In an impressive show of brute strength Hiru jumped out of the pit and into the air spraying his immediate area in rocky shrapnel.

"Such power" Ōnoki said in awe as waves of chakra flew off his grandson.

"Hai, just like last time…" Tetsuo started.

Monga who was admittedly just a little intimidated slammed his hands to the ground and channeled his earth chakra in it before lifting a huge boulder that was at least 5 times his already large size and hurled it at Hirutsuchi. In a matter of seconds said boy absorbed more of the strange chakra that was surging through his system as well as some of the dirt and rock under his now bare feet. His red lines, fingers and eyes all began to glow before shining, orange molten steel started to drip from his elbows down to his fingers. Raising his right hand, Hiru rapidly swung it dozens of times at the incoming boulder slicing it into pieces with some kind of newly formed steel whip.

"…however that's new"

Once the boulder was cut down to manageable bits Hirutsuchi just stood there while they harmlessly bounced off his armor. Looking at his hand he saw that the whip was actually his middle and ring fingers and grinned. Swinging his whip fingers at Monga he tightly wrapped the man up from his shoulders down to his wrists ensnaring him.

"Well, I can see where this is going" Tetsuo said making the half ram seal with his left hand and extending his right arm, forcing pounds of his iron sand towards Hiru who sensed the attack and made a large shield over his left arm (ripping his sleeve to shreds) in the same manner he created his whip. The sand slammed into the shield, making the sound of iron sand bouncing off metal echo across the field. Tetsuo was surprised that Hiru had enough chakra control in his current state to repel his sand but wasn't afraid. The sand was forced away from the shield in chakra bursts shooting in random directions making it child's play to move a descent amount of it that was blasted up above Hirutsuchi back down onto his armor.

"**I'll get you for this you little shith…"** Hirutsuchi started before his magnetic field was forcefully returned back to normal and he lost consciousness.

There were looks of disbelief on the faces of everyone on the training ground before their attention was drawn by a chuckling Ōnoki. "That should do grandson that should do"

"Tsuchikage-sama?" Monga-asked while rubbing his arms in an effort to get the numb feeling out of them.

"Monga, take Hirutsuchi to the hospital for an eval. The moment he's cleared for duty I want you to take these three and find that good for nothing uncle of yours. Tell him that his self-imposed exile is over and that he's ordered to become the sensei of team Roshi and has 6 months to get them ready to fight a jinchūriki" As he floated away Ōnoki looked up at the overcast sky and whispered.

"Just wait a little while longer son, vengeance is close at hand"

**A/N: Didn't mean to post this chapter so late in the day but something came up. If you hadn't guessed Ami's fighting style is Capoeira. I'm pretty sure Hirutsuchi's name means 'imitation earth'. I took HIRUtsuchi and MaiKO's bloodlines from Hiruko hence their names. Hirutsuchi was also modeled after Jūgo and Greed from FMA. Maiko's armor is modeled after Ironman's although she won't be using it to fly at any point in this story.**

**P.S I promise to chill out with the major OC's for a while.  
**


	16. Chapter 16

**11 weeks later, Anbu black site, Southern Hot Water Country, 2002Hrs:**

Chirp…chirp….chirp…chirp chirp chirp chirp "I got it. I got it!" Sasuke yelled in triumph as more and more lightning chakra encased his hand forming a slightly smaller version of the Chidori, a jutsu Kakashi had him observe with his Sharingan after clearing the Uchiha prodigy for Anbu training. If he had had more free time during his 10 week stay at the Pit he probably could have mastered the technique before now but the second he, Naruto and Ami reached the secret training center they were thrown in with 27 Anbu recruits and put through the course's red phase.

Red phase consisted of: Anbu physical conditioning i.e. speed drills, strength and endurance training, broad spectrum weapons familiarization/training. Taijutsu training (during which he got his ass handed to him by an Interceptor Fist using, turtle masked, Anbu who helped him correct several bad habits he'd developed from years of practicing the martial art with nothing but tattered scrolls and fading memories of his brother and father's spars to guide him).Basic Fūinjutsu training, (although Sasuke couldn't begin to tell you what was 'Basic' about that complicated shit) infiltration/espionage classes and hundreds of hours of stealth training. After all that the majority of the new team 7's scarce free time was dedicated to teamwork building/familiarization exercises.

Once Red phase was over Team 7 was introduced to a brown haired, happuri forehead protector wearing Jonin named Yamato and informed that the man would be acting as their team leader as well as overseeing the next level of their training. Yamato then lead them to an old, Uzumaki hideout located on the southern coast of Hot Water Country which, before the fall of Uzushiogakure, belonged to the Land of Whirlpools. The hideout was an underground complex that could only be entered via underwater cave that was half the size of leaf's ninja academy consisting of two large, high ceiling training rooms, three small sleeping areas, two restrooms, a small kitchen and a lower level that was protected by a complex seal that none of Konoha's seal masters could unlock. Apparently the hideout was commissioned to become a black site by Kushina Uzumaki during her time as an Anbu commander despite the fact that even she couldn't access its lower level.

Upon entering the hideout Team 7 was immediately greeted by Yamato's teaching assistants Machi Gai and Uroka Kurama who, while cleared to train, couldn't return to active duty for another two months. At the beginning of everyday of the week that followed Yamato would pick a member of Team 7 to go top side to the beach for Taijutsu training with Machi while sending another member to the smaller of the training rooms with Uroka for Genjutsu training and he'd train the final member in Ninjutsu. This one on one training would be conducted from 0600 to 1530 followed by a half hour break, three hours of team training, two hours of free time and then lights out.

Sasuke had used nearly every second of this this week's free time on the Chidori and after six days he'd finally been able to form a stable one. Looking up Sasuke spotted a wooden training dummy propped up against the wall to his left and activated his bloodline. After taking a deep breath he took off in a sprint closing the 20 foot distance in seconds and stabbing a lightning covered knife hand through not only the dummy but the concrete wall behind it as well. As he pulled his arm free he looked at his hand and saw several small, barley bleeding scratches. After further inspection he couldn't find anything wrong with it besides a slight numbness but decided to seek out Ami anyway.

He found her and Naruto in the teams sleeping area Ami sitting on the floor dipping darts for her Injection Shot Sniper in a violet colored solution while Naruto sat on his bunk with a paint brush in his hand and a large blank scroll unrolled across his lap. "How's the Calligraphy coming along dobe?"

Frowning, an annoyed sounding Naruto answered without out looking up or stopping his careful strokes "Slowly".

"Sasuke-san what happened to your hand?" Ami asked pushing her equipment aside and motioning for him to sit in front of her on the floor.

"I managed to form a stable Chidori but it looks like I still have a ways to go as far as mastering the technique" Sasuke said as he sat down and Ami started a diagnostic jutsu on his hand.

"Well it would appear that you're close. The scratches are mostly superficial but there is some minor nerve damage, have you been training with the Chidori all week?" Ami asked as she did what she could to heal the damage.

"Hai, every day, this is the first time the numbness has lasted longer than a minute or so though"

Ami nodded and finished her medical jutsu before reaching into her med pouch, withdrawing a small ointment container and some bandages. "I've closed the cuts and done what a can but healing nerve damage is complicated and still beyond my level of skill. This ointment will keep the cuts from getting infected as well as draw a small amount of your chakra to your hand and help speed up your recovery. The numbness your feeling will probably be gone when you wake up tomorrow but the nerve damage will take at least 3 or 4 days to heal so no Chidori training until then. Understood?" Ami asked as she finished applying the ointment and wrapping up his hand.

"Doctor's orders?" Sasuke asked with a slightly flirtatious smirk that would've made most of the girls their age in Konoha swoon.

"I am a level two combat-nin not a doctor however you may think of it that way if you wish. Now if you will excuse me I must go find Yamato-sensei and inform him of your condition" Ami said as she left the room, Sasuke's attempt at flirtation going right over her head.

"And the Teme strikes out again!" Naruto chuckled now lifted out of his funk.

"I don't get it she was all over me back in the academy. Didn't Kichida say that she'd only under gone the same amount of emotional conditioning as you?"

"Yeah but I've been hanging out with you and Ino, Kami rest her, for years while Ami's fresh out of Root. Add that to the fact she had some kind of mental break since the academy and romance is probably pretty low on her list of priorities" Naruto said while putting up his writing supplies. Upon seeing Sasuke's trademark 'brooding face' Naruto made a realization. "Wait, you're not just trying to get an emotional response from her like you said, you like her don't you?"

"No!" Sasuke denied lying through his teeth. Sasuke knew that he was attracted to the girl. After years of having to deal with gushing fan girls he couldn't help but find Ami's calm, if somewhat stoic, demeanor refreshing. The fact that she was a skilled kunoichi and Kichida's modifications giving her an exotic appearance that only added to her natural beauty didn't hurt either.

Naruto grinned about to indulge in the rare opportunity to truly make fun of his best friend when Ami jogged back into the room. "Yamato-sensei wants us in his room ASAP" Ami informed before jogging away. Naruto and Sasuke quickly followed her and found themselves in Yamato's room, said Jonin at his desk facing away from them speaking into a radio.

"They're here now, I'll ask them" He said before turning and addressing Naruto and Sasuke. "Is there anything about Oto's sound four that you two left out of your report?" Looking at each other in confusion both boys shook their heads knowing that they told the authorities everything they knew several times in the days following the attack.

"And you're sure there were only four of them?" Yamato asked his voice grave.

"Yeah why? What's going on?" Naruto asked.

"The War council just received a message from Jiraiya-sama stating that the Sound **Five**, two members of Akatsuki and an entire squad of Cerberus equipped, Jonin-level Oto-nin are planning to ambush the incoming Kumo/Lightning delegation in an attempt to assassinate the Raikage and leave evidence framing Konoha" Yamato informed them.

"_Makes Sense. The upcoming treaty signing is just a formality, Kumo's navy has been sinking ships trying to smuggle the Cerberus drug to the continent for the last month and a half. The Raikage is negatively effecting the enemy war effort as well as hurting Orochimaru's pocket. Having a supped up Jonin squad deal with the near platoon of regular Chunin and Jonin he'll probably have with him while the Sound Four or Five deal with the more elite of his guards and the two S-class monsters that Akatsuki tends to employ attempt to kill the Raikage himself and then frame us for it is a decent move. Ballsy but decent" _Naruto thought to himself having been told of Kumo's naval operations by Root operatives stationed at the pit.

"Did Jiraiya-sama try and get a message to the Kumo-nin?" Sasuke asked.

"No, I don't know the specifics but it apparently wasn't feasible from his current location"

"When and where is the ambush supposed to happen?" Naruto asked.

"Two miles south of Yugakure at 0600 tomorrow morning"

"Can't we send a messenger hawk to the northeastern border patrol and have them go to Yugakure to warn the Raikage?" Sasuke asked.

"That's the plan although HQ wanted to check and see if you two had any more info on the sound group before sending the message" Yamato informed. Smirking, Naruto couldn't help but shake his head. That wasn't what HQ or more specifically Danzo wanted. If it was Yamato wouldn't have been ordered to answer their questions which was obvious due to the time crunch the situation was under.

"I've got a better plan" Naruto said drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"We go and warn the Raikage ourselves."

"We're at the southernmost part of Hot Water County and Yugakure is nearly at the country's northern border. If we left now and ran as fast as we could it's doubtful that we'd make it in time and even if we did we would be exhausted in the midst of a battle where 2 S-Class shinobi would be present" Ami spoke up for the first time.

"Not if we hitched a ride" Naruto rebutted biting his thumb and sliding it across his summoning tattoo causing Arumaeiji to appear in a puff of smoke.

"**Oye, chico! Bout time you summoned one of us. Qué pasa?" **

Walking over to a map of the Land of Hot Water that Yamato had up on the wall Naruto showed Arumaeiji their current location and where they needed to go and then quickly explained the situation to the Armor sage who walked closer to the map, looked at the distance chart in its legend and did some mental math.

"**Arumagoro can get you half way there in 4 hours but after that he'll most likely run out of chakra. Arumaiko and Arumaetsu are just as fast as he is underground but will only last 2 hours apiece but the 3 of them can get you where you need to go in about 8 hours. Well let's say 8 and half since they'll have to surface so you can summon the next one and then they'll have to form an earth construct for you 4 to ride in. The only problem is that you may run out of air inside the earth construct"** Arumaeiji explained.

"Yamato-sensei, do you have a rebreather?" Naruto asked getting a nod from the Jonin. "There you go, Ami, Sasuke and I all have rebreathers too, we can do this. I mean Orochimaru probably has ninja set up on the Fire/Hot Water border just in case we caught wind of his plan. But I doubt he considered someone pulling shit like this"

"We'll call it up and wait for the War council's decision" Yamato said.

"It'll take too long for those old fos…"

"We'll call it up and wait for the War council's decision" Yamato stated firmly, an uncharacteristic look of anger flashing in his eyes.

"Hai sensei" Naruto stated tapping into his emotional conditioning to calm his frustration and annoyance.

"**I'll head back to El Dorado and have Arumagoro on standby just in case" **Arumaeiji informed them before leaving in another puff of smoke.

Surprisingly it took less than 15 minutes for the order to execute Naruto's plan to come back and less than 2 to tell Machi and Uroka that they we're leaving. As the four members of team 7 reached the beach Yamato spoke to his subordinates. "When we get there you three will follow **my** orders to the letter understood?"

"Hai, sensei"

"Rodger"

"Completely, Summoning Jutsu!"

**0517 Hrs, 1.3 Miles Southeast of Yugakure:**

Arumaetsu surfaced near a small creek, her form artificially modified to the size of a medium sized ox cart. Big enough to carry the four Konoha shinobi, releasing the jutsu the rock and dirt that was her body cracked and fell away revealing her cargo as well as her real body which was roughly the same size as her summoner's. **"Is there anything else I can do for you Naruto?"**

"Yeah if you could have Arumaemi and Arumaeri get ready to be summoned that would be great"

"**No hay problema" **Arumaetsu assured him before leaving for El Dorado.

"I've got to get a summoning contract" Sasuke said while putting his rebreather away, impressed by the versatility of the Armadillo clan.

After waiting another few minutes Naruto summoned the two twins and sent Arumaemi to the village's southern gate to wait for the Raikage.

* * *

"I still don't see why we couldn't stay for the hotel's breakfast special" a blond athletically slim girl of about 16 years sleepily whined.

"You're a Special-Jonin now Yugito, act like it" A young man 3 or 4 years her senior, who possessed the same shade of blonde hair and dark eyes as the girl admonished.

"C, you're my cousin not my…" Yugito started before the Raikage and Darui shunshined in between them.

"Alright, form up let's get ready to go" Ē ordered. Darui took his place a step in front of, and two arm lengths to the Raikage's right while C took up the opposite to his left and Yugito moved to her position directly behind him, the three forming a tight reverse triangle around their leader. A squad of Kumo-nin quickly ran around the four of them and took point, forming a wide wedge while the other two squads fell into two staggered columns on either side of the Raikage and his 3 elite guards the entire formation looking like a big arrow.

As they left the village C felt a discreet pulsing right below the dirt roads surface before seeing a pink rat looking thing dig its way out of the ground behind the lead squad.

"Raikage-sama, I believe that small animal is trying to get our attention" C said gesturing toward it. As they moved closer to it Ē was able to see that it was some kind of armadillo and after recalling the story of the Uzumaki boy using his armadillo summons to defend FOB Tobirama he bent down and picked it up once close enough to it.

"**Raikage-sama, this is Naruto Uzumaki speaking to you through one of my summons…"** Naruto via Arumaemi stated loud enough for Ē to hear before, as quickly as he could, warning the Raikage about the ambush as well as giving him team 7's basic location and offering their assistance.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer boy. Catch up to us but stay hidden, when things start I want your team to engage this 'Sound Five' so my guards can help me quickly deal with the two S-class ninja" Ē ordered receiving a **"Hai Raikage-sama"** Before the summon discreetly crawled up the sleeve of his robe, hiding in his collar.

Not wanting to tip off the enemy by putting all of his shinobi on high alert he muttered the code word "insidiis" loud enough for only Darui, C and Yugito to hear.

Forming a half ram hand seal in his pocket C focused on extending his sensing range to scan for anything suspicious when he felt the chakra signature of a familiar trap and signaled for the delegation to come to a halt.

"Already?" Yugito huffed, asking out loud what Ē and Darui were thinking to themselves.

"The first five ninja in 1st squad's wedge have entered someone's barrier encampment method" C informed his tone grim since the Raikage was the only one in the delegation with the fūinjutsu skills required to save the trapped shinobi but he was too valuable to risk defusing explosive notes. His concern was proven mute as the Raikage was shrouded in lightning chakra so powerful it could be easily seen and vanished in a lighting shunshin. He reappeared in the same spot less than 4 seconds later with 4 out of the 5 trapped shinobi, two slung over his shoulders and one in each arm. He quickly dropped the ninja and shunshined back for the last of his trapped ninja, a shinobi roughly his equal in size and build which was why he wasn't saved at the same time as his comrades. As he approached the encampment method Ē felt a buildup of chakra that was far too large for the priming of regular mid to high grade explosive notes and realized that at least 4 black label notes must be about to go off. The entire area was about to be wiped off the map.

"_C will sense to the potential yield of the notes and order everyone to fall back so they'll all probably make it but if I slow down even a fraction then I'll get caught in the blast, I'm sorry K." _Ē thought to himself as he pumped even more chakra into his legs blew right past his subordinate.

**KA****BOOM!**

When the smoke cleared Ē could be seen taking cover behind a large tree in nearly a mile away from the blast site. "Someone's going to die for this!"

"That'd be the idea Raikage-sama!" A voice yelled before Ē was forced to dodge a salvo of water bullets. Feeling an incoming attack from his six Ē wiped around and used his left vambrace to block the angled swipe of a large bandaged sword before punching his fairly large attacker in the chest so hard he flew backwards a good 6 feet before the ninja nimbly rolled back to his feet.

"That actually knocked some of the air out of my chest; this is going to be so much fun! Hey Itachi, let me fight him by myself!" The strange, pale faced man yelled in excitement before looking up and to his right. Ē was about to follow his gaze until the name Itachi fully computed in his mind and he quickly trained his eyes back on the large shinobi in front of him.

"I'd rather just get this done Kisame, leader-sama cares more about the 'other' objective than the assassination contract we have with Iwa" Itachi said hopping down from the tree he was in.

"_Damn it! When the Uzumaki boy said Akatsuki I automatically assumed it'd be Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara of the Explosion Release. Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha are on a different level than those two and it doesn't sound like Itachi is planning on messing around. Mabui was right; I should have brought Bee…"_ Ē thought to himself before a grinning Kisame decided to attack.

* * *

**With the rest of the Kumo delegation:**

Darui wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. After C had sensed the incoming explosion he ordered everyone to shunshin as far as they could to the groups 6 o'clock. He, C, Yugito and a few others were able to flicker fast enough to clear the blast but the majority of the Kumo-nin hadn't been as swift. Darui was sure they were goners but once the smoke cleared the ones closest to the blast were safe and sound behind a wide wall of interlaced wooden branches while the 5 others that were in between his group and the stragglers were encased in some kind of purple crystal.

"Hey isn't that Guren's technique?" A voice behind him said as the Kumo-nin were freed from there protective prisons. Wiping around Darui saw five shinobi in tan tunics with the yin/yang symbol centered at the bottom and purple, rope-like belts tied in an inverted bow around their waists standing in front of 13 Anbu looking ninja in ski masks and dark purple/gray camo shinobi gear.

"Duh, dumbass! The question is: was Guren the one who just saved those pieces of shit?" A girl with red hair asked.

"Kimimaro, the defensive jutsu that saved the Kumo-nin were launched by four subterranean shinobi, said shinobi are surfacing right now" The largest of the rope wearers warned the one with dots on his forehead.

"Delta squad, take the drug, I want all the Kumo fodder dead within the next three minutes. Sound five level one now!" Kimimaro ordered as red contorting and parallel lines moved to cover his skin before turning black. None of the other members of the Sound Five even slightly hesitated in following the 15 year old's order after the three months of hellish training he put them through testing his rejuvenated body.

The members of delta squad all pulled flasks from their pockets and prepared to drink the contents but were nearly stopped by Yugito as she started to do hand signs. "Oh no you don't! Fire Release: Fir…" She began before a flurry of movement that her synapses barely registered ensued right in front of her. Looking up she saw the back of a green flak jacket with a red spiral in the center. _"Konoha"_ She thought to herself as she jumped back and saw a man in his mid-twenties holding a wooden katana against the Kimimaro boy's…bone sword?

"Humm, I was under the impression that the Mokuton was extinct" Kimimaro said calmly, his strength slowly winning out against his opponent's.

"I thought the same about the Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse)" Yamato said through gritted teeth.

"I would love to test the limits of your abilities but your interference wasn't planned for and thus cannot be tolerated" Kimimaro said before, in under a second, unwrapping his left pointer finger from his swords hilt and firing a fingertip bullet at point blank range hitting Yamato right between the eyes. The wood user collapsed in a heap, his body deathly still. _"There's no blood…"_ Kimimaro thought before he was hit with the overwhelming urge to flee. Back flipping out of harm's way he nimbly avoided being crushed by two spiked, wooden walls. It was then that all 4 members of team 7 emerged from the earth blocking the Sound Five from the 3 Raikage guards.

"Uzumaki!" Sakon seethed pointing at Naruto, his entire body shaking with rage.

"Make-up boy!" Naruto said mimicking Sakon, getting a laugh from Sasuke and a small chuckle from Ami.

"Kumo guards, the Raikage is currently fighting Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, please leave things here to us and go to his aid" the real Yamato requested.

"Rodger, C lead the way" Darui ordered before following C in a shunshin.

From the corner of his Sharingan eye Sasuke watched the three Kumo-nin leave with a mix anger and longing displayed across his face. Part of him wanted to go and confront his brother but another part wanted to stay and help his teammates. Shaking his head to clear his darker impulses Sasuke trained his full attention on the Oto-nin. Itachi could wait; his team needed his help kicking some sound freak ass right now.

**A/N: Sorry about the ridiculously long time between updates. Long story short I had some financial trouble and had to sell my computer for some extra cash... yeah, lame I know but anyway I back with a cheap walmart laptop and writing again. I wanted to make Yugito a potential love interest for Naruto or have them have a tight friendship like cannon Gaara and cannon Naruto but since cannon Yugito was 26/27 and supposedly a pretty serious kunoichi (and not at all childish like Bee) I aged her down to her teen years. It still might be a reach for a 16 year old girl and a 13 year old boy to start some thing so don't expect anything with those two for a while. Sasuke and Ami however... Oh some people may be calling bullshit on Sasuke learning the Chidori in such a short amount of time with out Kakashi's direct help but remember that my Sasuke has a fully developed Sharingan and better Chakra control than his cannon counter part did at this point in the series. **

**Next post should be on/before 6-6-13, please review!**


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