Prologue

The Mask Dissolves

Kakashi Hatake was not exactly in the best of moods as he walked through the halls of the hospital for the entrance that he knew would soon be the portal for the entrance of his erstwhile student. Of course, no one would believe that looking at him since he kept such a lackadaisical look at all times. But, with the knowledge that the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru, had an inordinate interest in his young Sharingan-equipped charge, he was left chilled and intent on training his young Uchiha student to the best of his ability in the month that he was given before the Chunin Exam finals.

Unfortunately, much to a part of himself's dismay, left no time for his other student. The son of his late sensei and hero of Konoha. But, sometimes the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few, with the knowledge of both the Suna Jinchuriki being Sasuke's match and the specter of Orochimaru looming over the Chunin Exams, he had to sacrifice Naruto's training.

That wasn't to say that he wasn't going to have someone train Naruto, but there was no logical way that Naruto could beat the Hyuuga prodigy. He had looked at it from every single angle and he could not find that any possibility that Naruto could win. It was all for the best though, Naruto wasn't ready for Chunin, he was too young, too brash, and he just didn't have the makings of a good ninja. That was part his failing as the blond had grown up, and the partially Konoha itself. The stigma of being the container of Kyuubi had prevented anyone from adequately raising the boy or even training him. It was a miracle that he had become a genin in the first place, the luck of being able to master a kinjutsu saving him from failing the tests again.

Still, that was the past and this was the present. Ebisu may be a moron, but he was at least dependable in providing a modicum of structure for Naruto to improve himself on. Hopefully the rumors of Jiraiya being nearby were well-founded, it was more than likely that as soon as Jiraiya became aware of Naruto's situation he would swoop in and provide training specifically tailored to Naruto that he could not.

Speaking of the kid, Kakashi mused as he walked into the main lobby of the hospital, where Naruto was busy clamoring to see Sasuke, only to be denied. He noted the looks on the attendants' faces, sighing internally.

"Naruto," he called out, "this is a hospital. Keep it down."

Objective achieved, Naruto's attention had shifted from the nurses to him, the blond's face lit up at his presence, driving the dagger of muted guilt into his gut. His sensei's son trusted him and he was abandoning him because sacrifices had to be made.

"Kakashi-sensei," the boy cried running up to him as he came to a stop, "I've got a favor to ask!"

Which I cannot honor, he added silently, looking down upon him.

"You don't need to say it all. I thought it would come to this, so I searched for someone to watch your training."

The look on Naruto's face drove that guilt further to the forefront, sacrifices must be made, he tried reasoning with it, knowing it was a lost cause. It was a cheap excuse based upon the premise that Sasuke just had better potential and he could train Sasuke easier because Sasuke, for all of his faults, could at least sit still and absorb the knowledge given to him without getting excited and screaming to the heavens. It was just a massive differential in personalities, that's what it was. Naruto was just too different.

"Why?! I want you to, Kakashi-sensei," he demanded, sticking a finger in his face in demand, though he could easily take it as a silent accusation, once again, he had put Sasuke before Naruto.

"I have some matters to take care of," he lied, he knew it was a lie, but lies were sometimes the best salves to a growing personality. The Shinobi world was a harsh place, and sometimes, harshness was warranted.

"I don't have the time to trouble myself with you."

"You're going to train Sasuke, aren't you," again with the finger pointed right at him.

"Don't say that. I found a sensei who's more reliable than I am," he simply stated, watching as Ebisu walked up behind Naruto.

"It's me," Ebisu declared, suddenly he found himself thankful, now Ebisu could take Naruto's energetic behavior and allow him to focus on Sasuke…

But then everything seemed wrong. Instead of Naruto turning to face Ebisu as he expected him to do, making a scene of the situation, nothing happened. Instead, head turned slightly, his eyes shifting in the direction to Ebisu for a moment before coming back to him, the smile was gone, replaced with…a blank expression, the light in the blue eyes seemed to dim, they seem tired if anything.

What was bringing this on, he could only think as he watched his student suddenly change personalities in an instant.

"I…see," Naruto finally stated, the voice seemed duller, no, not more dull, just tired and with a hint of jadedness? Naruto? Jaded? That couldn't be possible.

"Such insolence," Ebisu spoke, adjusting his sunglasses, "I'm here to train you-"

But Naruto seemed to already tune him out, instead the blonde's eyes came to his own. There was an immense sadness to them that caused him, a jounin, to flinch.

"You know," Naruto finally started, "I'm glad, Kakashi. You don't have to hide your lack of interest in me anymore, now you have a legitimate reason to not focus on training me. No longer do you have lie to me about training, giving me barely the basics while you dote upon Sasuke and give a bit of training to Sakura, not much, but a bit more than me."

Naruto's eyes closed as he took a deep breath, the chill running down Kakashi's spine.

"Naruto, I don't-"

"Please, don't lie to me," there was no rise in the voice, no Naruto-isms, just calm, cool, collected, "you and I both know that Sasuke has been the apple in your eyes since day one, if we hadn't passed the genin exam you would have been able to individually train Sasuke, but Sakura and I threw sand in the gears of that plan. I don't blame you, honestly, I don't, Sasuke is too much like you to be ignored, you can train him in so many things while I, on the other hand, what do I know? I barely passed the Academy, but then again, no one spent the time actually taking a look at how and what I was being taught and how I was being taught to fail. But we both know the reason behind that, don't we. Kakashi-sensei."

He felt like he was being slapped, yet it even worsened as the blue eyes opened once again, he didn't find himself staring into the eyes of his student, no, he found himself staring in eyes too much like his sensei's silently judging him and casting a verdict.

"Just remember your hypocrisy, Kakashi. You told all three of us that in the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends, or their students, are worse than scum. You abandoned Sakura and I, therefore you are worse than scum."

"Now, listen here-" Ebisu started, only to freeze when Naruto's head swiveled around and cast a glare down on him, the killer intent pinning him down like a bug on the wall.

Such raw power! Is it Kyuubi, he thought, but he saw no sign of the foul red chakra that signified the presence of the plague that had wrought so much death and destruction upon Konoha.

"Naruto, you are reading too much into this, Sasuke needs the training-."

"Because he's fighting the jinchuriki of the Ichibi," Naruto finished, his eyes widened at his students bluntness and knowledge, where did it come from, how could he know? What was going on?!

"I know, Kakashi, but that's no excuse. What if you spent just a bit more time with each of us? What if you trained Sakura and I just a bit more? Maybe what happened in the Forest of Death could have happened differently. If you had just spent a little more time on the both of us, but that doesn't matter anymore. What can I learn from someone who cannot look underneath the underneath as he so claims? But it doesn't matter anymore, you won't have to worry about me-"

"Naruto, you need to change your tone, you are-"

"Kakashi Hatake," Naruto declared, his voice raising an octave, cutting through what he was going to say, silencing him like a Raikiri to the chest, "I, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, hereby resign my position on Team 7, effective immediately. My parents would have been so disappointed in what you have become."

Before he could say more, the blond disappeared in a yellow flash, Kakashi's heart stopped as he realized exactly what he had just seen and what his student had just declared.

Kami, what have I done, he could only wonder.

So, this is the first Naruto Fanfiction I ever have done. I actually blame an amv "(A Naruto AMV with the title Already Over by xAdsuailx) for planting the seed in my head that just wouldn't go away no matter how much I quashed it, so I decided to put it down. Hopefully, November will be when it's next few chapters are written, but I have other fics I have to worry about (Catharsis desperately needs and update, as well as Ice and Fire.)

This all comes down to how much time I have, in between my other fics, the work I have been doing on The Illusive Emperor (A Code Geass/Mass Effect Crossover) has allowed me probably a good month to take it easy as soon as the next chapter is finished being written. Also, I start my Teacher Observations this upcoming term, which means whatever schedule I have can go straight to hell as soon as I get the news on where I will be teaching (here's hoping it's my old high school stomping grounds).

Well, that and the plethora of games both in my quiver and incoming. Pokemon, Mario, Zelda, Diablo 3, GTAV, Arkham Origins, Battlefield 4, Ghosts, and so on and so forth.

Anyways, just bear in mind, this is just the prologue, the next chapter will reveal what has caused this Naruto, and no, he isn't going to be a genius Naruto, just different in how he is.

Til next time, hope you leave some reviews.