Sharkskin Legacy

Hey guys I'm back with my first ever Naruto fanfic. I know I've been off the grid for a while. Well the first week, I was just taking a break, the second week I got a new game and last week I got on my Naruto kick so I'll be focusing on this for a while. I apologize to all of my Fairy Tail fans. This fanfic is NaruYugi, it's not my favorite pairing but it is up there on my list. Anyways without further ado. I OWN NOTHING!

Prologue: Betrayal

On a mission to the Land of Waves, Team 7 found themselves in an unusual predicament. What was supposed to be a simple C-Rank escort mission quickly spiraled into an unforgiving situation that the fresh genin were not prepared for. After encountering and supposedly being rid of Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Bloody Mist, the team quickly discovered that Zabuza was still alive and that the hunter-nin that 'killed' him was actually his accomplice. After some extra training with their recovering sensei, the team found themselves on the half constructed bridge, once again fighting for their lives against Zabuza and the 'hunter-nin'.

"What the hell are we gonna do to get out of here teme!?" Naruto shouted as he and Sasuke were trapped in a dome of ice mirrors and dodging senbons like there was no tomorrow.

"Shut up dobe. I am an elite. I don't need yours or anybody else's help." Sasuke snapped back at him.

"Dammit Sasuke! If we don't work together on this, we're both gonna die here!" Naruto growled, his patience for his arrogant teammate quickly growing thin.

Thanks to his newly awakened Sharingan, Sasuke saw a particularly large flurry of needles flying towards him. With no room to dodge, he came up with a new plan. "Fine, you want teamwork? Make yourself useful!" He reached behind himself and grabbed Naruto's collar.

"Wha-." Before Naruto could question Sasuke he was grabbed by the back of his shirt and dragged in between Sasuke and a large flurry of senbon.

.

.

.

Pain. Pain was all that was registered as Naruto found himself being used as a human shield by his so called comrade and a human pincushion by his enemy. As he collapsed into a heap, he could feel that his lungs had been punctured as well as several arteries. He was hemorrhaging internally at an alarming rate and his vision was fading as he barely noticed Sasuke taking advantage of and dispatching the 'hunter-nin' who was stunned by his blatant act of betrayal.

"Sasuke . . . you bastard." Naruto choked out before he started coughing up blood.

"Hn. Like anyone's gonna miss you. I've seen how everyone in the village looks at you. If anything, I just did you a favor. When I tell everyone how you threw yourself in front of me and sacrificed your life for my own, you'll be remembered as a hero." Sasuke commented with an arrogant smirk.

That smirk was the last thing that Naruto saw before he blacked out.

*Drip*

*Drip*

Aww man. What happened? And where am I? Naruto stood up and found himself in what appeared to be a dimly lit sewer. "Well no point in standing around. Might as well look for a way out." Naruto mused to himself.

He started down the only path in sight for a while. Jeez how long is this stupid tunnel. After what felt like an eternity of walking the path opened up into a large room with a massive cell at the far end of it. Looking between the bars, the darkness seemed to stretch on forever. "What the heck is this place?"

Out of the darkness, two blood red eyes with slit pupils appeared. "Well well well, it seems my warden has finally graced me with his presence. To what do I owe this pleasure?" A deep demonic voice called out from the darkness.

Naruto, surprisingly didn't even flinch. "You said warden. So that means you're the Kyuubi aren't you?"

"You're not scared? Interesting. Do you know why you're hear?" He asked, somewhat amused as he exposed the rest of his massive form to the light.

"Not a clue. I was hoping you could fill me in on that." Naruto responded with a nonchalant shrug.

"You died. Well almost. After that bastard spawn of the Uchiha clan used you as a meat shield you passed out and your mind brought you hear while I heal your body."

The memories of Sasuke's actions flooded back to Naruto as he was filled with rage. "THAT BASTARD! I'll kill him when I get out of here!" He roared.

"Hmm, I like your anger, your rage. It calls out to me. That is how you draw on my chakra. However, you must also know how to control your fury. Never allow it to control you lest the seal that keeps me here be broken."

Naruto was struck with confusion at this statement. "Wait, what? Why are you telling me how to keep you in here? I figured you would try to trick me into letting you out. That's what you want isn't it?"

"No, not anymore. The world outside is no friend to a being such as myself. Humans only seek to capture us and use my brethren and myself as weapons and symbols of power. Besides, the sealing and unsealing process is excruciatingly painful. Imagine having your entire body crammed through the eye of a needle while remaining alive and conscious through the ordeal. It's not fun." He finished with a grimace.

"Yikes, that sucks but thank you for helping me. It's nice having someone looking out for me for me for once, even if it is for their own reasons. So uh . . . why does it look like a sewer in here?" Naruto asked, trying to change the subject to something less heavy.

"How should I know? It's your mindscape, I'm sure there's a mind in the gutter joke somewhere around here. If you want to change it than just imagine it."

"Hey! I happen to hate perverts thank you very much." Naruto announced indignantly before attempting to change their environment. The dark sewer shattered away revealing a lush forested mountainside with trees, streams, and rock formations. The bars of the Kyuubi's cage twisted and contorted to form a metal band that secured itself around one of his tails along with the seal.

"Yes I know. I've sifted through your thoughts and memories occasionally and it's dreadfully boring. I swear not even any healthy curiosity. Thank you for the change of scenery and getting me out of the cell by the way. Though I must ask. You act less intelligent around others than you truly are as well as hide your true skill. And that crush you have on the little pink screecher is false. Why?"

"Simple. A ninja's greatest tool is deception. If people think I'm a talentless idiot they underestimate me and they slip up. Honestly, I'm the son of the Yellow Flash and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero, I have some big names to live up to and I'm not gonna do that by actually being an idiot. Crushing on Sakura-san just solidified the idea that I was one. I was gonna start showing my true strength after I became a chunin. Besides, none of the girls from my time at the academy really interested me. Hinata-chan was better than most of them but she was to shy and timid. I like a girl with a little fire and one who takes being a kunoichi seriously." He answered honestly.

"I see, interesting. So you already know who your parents were. I can't say I'm surprised, you'd have to be blind to not see the resemblance between you and your father and there have only ever been two other Uzumakis that have lived in Konoha. And one of them was dead before you were even conceived. It's safe to say it wouldn't take much digging to find the identity of your mother. I swear your village is either inhabited by the blind or the stupid."

"Yea I bet if people knew they'd probably kiss my ass more than the teme. Speaking of him when can I leave to beat that piece of shit to death?" Naruto asked, his anger flaring again.

"Your wounds are almost finished healing. You can leave whenever you choose. However, I ask that before you go that grant me one favor."

"Sure what do you want?"

The Kyuubi moved his tail with the seal on it in front of Naruto. "I ask that you allow me to establish a mental link between the two of us. That way I can observe the outside world through your senses as well as communicate with you without you having to come in here and leave your body vulnerable. Also by establishing the link you will gain a heightened sense of smell and increased hearing. All you must do is remove a small piece of the seal. In doing so, my chakra will slowly seep into your own chakra network. This will also help to acclimate your body to the malevolent and poisonous nature of my chakra and over time, grant you the ability to draw on more of my power at a time without harming yourself. As you are now, you can handle up to two tails worth of my power safely, thanks to your heritage." The fox explained.

"Why are willing to do all of this for me?" Naruto asked, awestruck by the Kyuubi's apparent generosity.

"Simple. You are my container. I you die than so do I. Of course I will reform in a few decades but then I would be right back to square one, constantly running from power hungry fools. If keeping you alive means working together than I'd gladly do it to spare myself that fate."

"Whatever floats your boat, buddy. Sure, I'll do it." Naruto grabs the corner of the seal and tears off a small piece. "There you go Kyuubi, I guess this makes us partners now." He stated with a foxy grin.

"Kurama. My name is Kurama, and if we're going to be partners than you better start using it." Kurama proclaimed with a grin of his own.

Naruto didn't respond, he simply gave the giant fox a thumbs up as he faded back to the land of the living.

(Land of the Living)

Naruto felt groggy, nauseous, and incredibly sore as he slowly regained his senses. He could hear the familiar voices of his team. "Kakashi-sensei, he's waking up. Naruto's alive." That sounds like Sakura-san. "Well well well, seems you're more durable than you look, Naruto." Kakashi-sensei. "Hn. What do you know? You survived after all. Thanks for the save by the way." At that comment Naruto's eyes shot open, blood red. "SASUKE!" He roared as he jumped to his feet. As soon as he saw his bastard of a teammate, he grabbed Sasuke by the throat and effortlessly lifted him off his feet.

"You got a lot of nerve trying to act all buddy buddy with me after what you did you son of a bitch." Naruto growled. Sakura was cowering in fear from the sheer force of Naruto's killing intent, and it wasn't even aimed at her. Kakashi was faring better but he could still feel a bead of sweat rolling down his neck.

Kakashi recovered first and just barely managed to remove Sasuke from Naruto's death grip. "Naruto, what's going on? What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked, genuinely confused by Naruto's aggression towards Sasuke.

Naruto turned his blood red gaze to his sensei as Sasuke struggled to regain his breath. "This bastard used me as a fucking meat shield, and now he's gonna pay; that's what's going on!" Naruto growled.

"What are you talking about *cough* dobe. You jumped in front of those senbon to protect me. You saved my life. *Cough* *Cough*." Sasuke choked out, putting on a believable act.

"Keep lying and I'll rip out those damn eyes you're so proud of!" Naruto snarled.

"Ok, let's all just calm down. I think I know what's going on here. Naruto I get that you and Sasuke don't exactly care for each other but what you did was extremely brave. There's no reason to be embarrassed about saving him. In the heat of the moment, you saw that your comrade was in trouble and you risked your life to protect him. And for that, I am extremely proud of you Naruto." Kakashi stated, hoping the praise would help Naruto get over his ego and calm down. Or at least, that's what he thought he was doing.

Naruto stared at his sensei at a complete loss for words. This scarecrow thinks I'm acting like this because of a bruised ego. Everyone always takes that teme's side. 'Well then why do you stay?' Kurama? What do you mean? 'I mean why stay in a village that treats you like dirt. Why work with people who don't even have the decency to acknowledge your side of the story? If I were in your shoes, I would leave without hesitation. And at the very least look for someplace that will accept you. Then begin planning revenge.' I don't know about revenge. But maybe you're right. Maybe I should just leave. It's not like anyone will miss me. But where will I go? If I leave, I become a missing-nin and Konoha hunts me down. 'Hmm I sense two large chakra signatures nearby. One of them is remarkably similar to the Uchiha brat's. The other is extraordinarily large. The signature is almost the size of a tailed beast's. I don't sense any ill intent from them at the moment, though that doesn't mean much. But if you can reach them, you might be able to convince them to assist you. It's a long shot, I know. But it's your best bet at finding a long term solution to your problems at the moment.' You're probably right. If I just made a break for it, they'd catch up to me eventually then I'd be executed for treason or at the very least imprisoned until they need you for something. Ok just point me in the right direction and I'll create a diversion. 'Ten kilometers to the southwest, moving slow. If their course alters, I'll let you know.

"So that's it huh? I'm not even surprised anymore. Why should you believe me when your precious Uchiha says otherwise? Well you know what, you can go to hell for all I care, every last damn one of you. I'm done, I'm done with this mission, I'm done with Team 7," Naruto reached behind his head to untie his headband and throw it away, "and I'm done with Konoha. If my own teammate is willing to use me as a decoy and a human shield than what hope do I have that the rest of the village will get any better? Tell Jiji I said thanks for everything but I can't do this anymore." Naruto announced resolutely.

Kakashi was stunned. He had no idea how to react to Naruto's declaration and even began considering that maybe there was some truth to his side of the story but unfortunately he didn't have the time to think about it.

"Before I go, I do have one last thing to do." Naruto announced with a feral grin. With a burst of speed that none of them knew he was capable of, Naruto cleared the distance between him and Sasuke with his fist cocked back before delivering a crushing haymaker to the side of Sasuke's face, relishing in the popping sound of Sasuke's jaw dislocating before Sasuke was sent flying over the side of the bridge.

Kakashi and Sakura took their eyes off of Naruto and watched as Sasuke soared through the air before plummeting into the still waters below. Sakura immediately jumped in after Sasuke to make sure he was ok while Kakashi turned his gaze back on Naruto.

"Naruto, if you're going to do this you better make damn well sure you know the consequences of your actions." Kakashi said as he slipped in to a fighting stance and pulled a kunai from his pouch.

"You didn't notice Kakashi-san? I've already done it." Naruto replied smugly before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"A shadow clone!? But when did he have time to make the switch!?" Kakashi thought out loud as looked around frantically for any trace of the boy, finding nothing. Of course, he's been outrunning Anbu for years now, it's no wonder he knows how to cover his tracks. He must have switched with the shadow clone while we were watching Sasuke. Dammit, I can't follow him now because we have to stay here until the bridge is complete. By the time that's done he'll be long gone. I guess we'll just have to finish the mission and see what Lord Hokage wants to do about this.

(With Naruto)

Naruto was bolting through the trees at top speed towards the two chakra signatures that Kurama sensed. As he finally arrived at their location, he found two men wearing black cloaks with a red cloud pattern. One was really tall with pale blue skin, creepy white eyes, and dark blue hair with some kind of strange zanbato on his back wrapped in bandage. The other was someone Naruto never thought he would see again. He had long dark hair tied into a ponytail with bangs framing his face, onyx black eyes, and deep tear-troughs on his face. This man was Itachi Uchiha. The man responsible for the genocide of his entire clan sans himself and his little brother. He was also assigned to protect Naruto when he was first kicked out of the orphanage. Itachi did a good job of keeping Naruto safe until he had to leave due to the massacre. Of course he explained why he did what he did to Naruto before he left and asked him to look out for Sasuke for him in his stead. A promise Naruto did his best to keep until now.

Naruto jumped down from the trees and landed in front of the two missing-nin. "Hey Itachi, long time no see." He said, with a playful smirk.

To say Itachi was caught off guard was an understatement. Itachi was completely baffled at the blonde before him. "N-Naruto-kun? What are you doing here!?" He asked losing all semblance of self-control in his confusion.

"Itachi-san, is the Kyuubi brat here a friend of yours?" The tall man asked with a vicious grin . . . or was it mocking grin, friendly? It's hard to tell with this dude.

"Wait, how did you know that shark face?" Naruto asked.

"Our organization keeps track of all the jinchuuriki. Or at least, we were members of the organization until tall dark and gloomy over here decided that we quit, something about how the jinchuuriki already have it hard and refusing to add to their pain or something along those lines. By the way, my name is Kisame Hoshigaki, not shark face. Call me that again and I'll feed you to Samehada." Kisame retorted with what was definitely a vicious grin.

"H-hai." Naruto stammered while sweating bullets.

Itachi, having regained his composure decided to get to the bottom of this situation. "Naruto-kun, what are you doing here . . . and where is your headband?" He asked, a slight scowl on his typically stoic face.

Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I might've . . . sorta . . . you know . . . abandoned Konoha." He finished quietly.

Internally, Itachi was fuming at Naruto's insubordination and going AWOL, though his features remained unnervingly calm. "You made me a promise Naruto-kun. How are you supposed to keep my brother on the right track if you're not there?" He questioned sternly.

Naruto's demeanor shifted from nervous to livid at the mention of Sasuke. "To hell with your damn brother. That little shit's a lost cause. You should just be happy I didn't jam a kunai in his gut instead of just decking him like I did before I left." Naruto spat.

Itachi was shocked and worried by what his brother could have done to warrant such hostility from the young Uzumaki. "What did Sasuke do Naruto-kun?" He asked warily, not entirely sure he wanted to know just how far his brother has fallen.

"Oh you know nothing major . . . JUST USING ME AS A FUCKING HUMAN SHIELD TO SAVE HIS OWN SKIN!" Naruto roared as his eyes turned red. "Then he left me to die. If it wasn't for Kurama, I wouldn't be here right now. How's that for irony? The reason that everyone hates me is one of the few people that actually give a damn about my life." Naruto chuckled bitterly.

Itachi was torn between shame and regret at hearing his brother's actions. He knew the massacre would affect Sasuke but to have fallen this far. Konoha's very foundation was based on the virtues of teamwork and camaraderie. "It appears that the Uchiha clan is truly irredeemable. Naruto-kun, I have one last request for you." He stated solemnly.

"What is it?" Naruto asked cautiously, unsure of how he felt about the direction of the conversation.

"I want you to kill Sasuke." He announced with as much conviction as one could when asking someone to kill the only family you have left.

Naruto was stunned. Itachi had just asked him to kill Sasuke. Not that he wouldn't love the chance to but there were some complications to that plan. " . . . Fine, but I have a request of my own." He replied, his eyes flashing red with a mischievous glint for a second.

"What is it?"

"I want you to train me, both of you."

"What?"

"I said I want you both to train me. If I'm gonna kill Sasuke-teme, then I'm getting my own payback too. And that payback will be in the form of me beating him into the dirt." Naruto claimed with a vicious grin.

Itachi pondered this for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "Then we will train you." He stated confidently.

"I'm sorry but did you say 'we'?" Kisame asked, not liking the idea of training the orange runt after resolving to shoot down his request.

"Yes I did. Is there a problem?" Itachi asked calmly, leveling a glare at the swordsman.

"*sigh* No, no problem at all." He responded complacently.

"Alright! I'm getting trained by two super strong shinobi!" Naruto shouted pumping his fist in the air, completely excited that two S-Class shinobi were willing to train him.

"Yes. Let's see. You have two years before you're eligible to compete in the chunin exams. That gives us eighteen months to train you and another six to find a new village for you to join and make enough of a name for yourself to be nominated for the chunin exams."

"Huh? Why a new village? Why the chunin exams?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Simple. During the chunin exams, killing isn't encouraged but it's not against the rules. Plus it gives you the perfect opportunity to get close to Sasuke, unimpeded. As far as finding a new village, how else are you supposed to compete in the exams? Plus this way you won't have to spend the rest of your life on the run as a missing-nin." Itachi explained logically. He wanted Naruto to be able to do this for him with as little backlash as possible.

Naruto thought about it for a moment before concluding that it was the best course of action. "Alright, when do we get started?"

(Back in Konoha 2 Weeks Later)

"So what should we do about Naruto, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked nervously. He knew how close the two of them were.

"You said your ninja hounds spotted him training with Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, correct?"

"Yes, Pakkun reported that the two of them seemed to hold no ill intentions for Naruto. He also heard them mention something about joining a new village when their training concluded as well as competing in the chunin exams." Kakashi reported gravely.

Hiruzen's eyes shot open in shock upon hearing that. "Training with two of the most dangerous men on the continent in preparation for the chunin exams. If that is true then I fear we have lost Naruto-kun for good. Tell me are we able to open up an investigation to ascertain the legitimacy of Naruto-kun's claims of Sasuke's betrayal?" He asked seriously, despising the idea that one so young could be capable of something so despicable.

Kakashi just shook his head. "I'm sorry but there's just not enough to go on to open up a formal investigation. The only possible witness was the enemy shinobi they were fighting and his corpse has already been disposed of. We can't say that Sasuke might have killed him to keep him quiet because it was a hostile combat situation. Plus we can't justify a memory scan on Sasuke without probable cause in case he's telling the truth. The political repercussions would be disastrous." Kakashi sighed, their hands were completely tied.

Dammit Naruto-kun, you better know what you're doing. I only hope that you return to us one day.