If you think I own Naruto, then I want some of what you're smoking. But seriously, I own nothing except for one OC. Any similarity to real persons living or dead is purely coincidental and the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Luckily there were no innocent here, so no names had to be changed.

Chapter 1

The night was cool, but seemed colder to the man sitting behind the desk. The full moon illuminated the room with a cold light, making everything seem stark and frozen, like time itself had just simply stopped. To the old man, it felt like more than just time itself had stopped, more like the whole world had almost come to an end. From outside the window drifted the mixed sounds of both complete and utter joy and dark, crushing despair.

For the man behind the desk, known to most simply as "The Third", he felt a constant mix of both. Joy and happiness that the people he cared about, the ones he had sworn to protect so long ago had been saved. Despair and sorrow for the ones who had been lost that night, the ones he had failed to protect from possibly the most terrifying evil to ever roam the world. He also felt a certain amount of sadness for one other, one whom had not perished that night, but who he had failed possibly even more than all the others.

The desk was filled with paperwork, some filled out, some waiting for the signature of the man who was once again doing something he thought he had left long ago. But out of all of it, only one sheaf of papers on the desk held his attention. It was a fairly standard form, nothing at all interesting about it, other than the fact that it was a copy. The mans eyes felt drawn to it however, seemingly unable to stop from reading the first couple lines over and over again.

Name: Naruto Uzumaki

Date of Birth: October 10th, 143 KY (Konoha Year)

Age at time of Admittance: 3 hours

Parents Names: Unknown

That last line hurt the most. He had wanted to fill out that part truthfully most of all, but he knew that if word had gotten out, which it most certainly would have, the child would have been dead within the week, maybe even less if the Iwa ninjas ran really fast. So, to protect a child not even a day old, he had been forced to steal the only thing the child had left in the world from him, his heritage. He hoped that someday Naruto would be able to forgive him, but he didn't honestly expect it.

A soft knock at the door roused him from his 12th re-reading of the orphanage admittance forms.

"Sir, the ambassador from across the sea is here to see you now," said his secretary, her own eyes red from crying, but struggling valiantly to hold her grief at bay.

"I understand, thank you very much. Once you see him in, why don't you take the rest of the night off?"

"Thank you, Lord Hokage."

The Third flinched a little, hearing that title again after what seemed like an eternity. He had honestly never expected to hear it again, in fact, he had actually hoped to never hear it again. Letting out a sigh, he stands up, straightening out his robes a little to make himself presentable to the new ambassador.

"Thank you for seeing me at such a late hour, Lord Sarutobi," said the man that came through the door. He wasn't tall, but he wasn't short either, though his long coat probably gave the impression of being shorter than he really was. His dark hair was unkempt and reached his shoulders, his eyes almost hidden behind a few strands that fell across his face. His movement was that of a warrior; strong, confident, but cautious, moving carefully and always in balance, never extending himself too far in case he needed to make a quick move. The sword strapped to his back also indicated that he was probably a warrior of some kind and from the lean, tight chest muscles visible under his tight black shirt, he knew how to use it and probably had on many occasions. His pants were a simple black, with fairly simple black leather boots on his feet, worn by the road and many years of use, but still seemingly comfortable and sturdy. All in all, the man looked rather dark and mysterious and the former ex-Hokage could tell that though he was relaxed now, this man could switch over to deadly in a heartbeat.

"It's no problem at all, with the way things are right now, I need something to distract me from the current situation, at least for a little while."

A small smiled graced the mans face, his eyes lighting up a little as they became somewhat less cold in that moment. "Well then, perhaps I can find a reason to extend my stay and give you an excuse to further put aside your paperwork."

As strung out as the Hokage was, he couldn't resist a small chuckle at that statement. However, the other mans face fell slightly as he recalled exactly what all that paperwork was about. "I understand if you wish to meet at another time. I mostly came just to let you know I'd arrived; we can save the more substantial issues until later."

The Third simply nodded his head. "I don't really feel up to going into all the technical difficulties right now; I will settle for an overview of what your country has to say to mine. People from beyond the sea have been very rare for quite a long time, it was a surprise to many when your exploratory team wandered into the village."

"Yes, we've been dealing with some…internal issues for quite a while. Now that the threat has finally passed, my King feels it is time to announce ourselves to the world, make alliances, engage in trade, do all the things that we should have done before, but were unable to do. Part of this is to learn as much about your land as possible, while respecting your own security of course, while at the same time allowing you to learn about us through me and any other ambassadors that may be sent out."

The leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves thought about it for a few moments before reaching a decision. "Very well, I believe this alliance will help strengthen our village and at the time, we are in desperate need of strength. I cannot afford to refuse." He stood to shake the mans hand. "Welcome to Konoha, Mr. Ambassador."

The man took the offered hand, but winced slightly at the name. "He he, please, call me Konpaku, it's the closest translation I could find for my name back home."

"Please, allow me to show you to a hotel where you can stay until the embassy district is rebuilt," said the Hokage, leading Konpaku to the door. It was a valid excuse to get out of doing more paperwork and that was enough reason for him to do it instead of having another ninja do the work.

"By the way, Lord Sarutobi, I feel I should let you know that my King has given me permission to offer you my services while I'm staying here. Should you need me for anything, don't hesitate to call."

The Hokage nodded for a moment before the gravity of what had just been offered settled in. He knew from the exploratory team that the warriors of the land across the sea were not to be taken lightly, and to have a high ranking ambassador on his side, one essentially untouchable by his own people, the implications were simply staggering. But could he trust this man? The thought had just crossed through his mind when he realized that he had to trust him, the village was too weakened by tonight to allow him to refuse any help. At the same time though, he had to be careful. It wouldn't do to have an ambassador get killed on some assignment; that would cause nothing but trouble. So tasks outside the village were out of the question, but tasks inside the village, using someone who's own position made him essentially untouchable politically, that was an offer too good to pass up.

"I think I may take you up on that, Konpaku," he said with a small smile on his face.

…...

Meanwhile, across the village, the orphanage was overflowing with new residents. The events of the night had left more than a few poor souls homeless, with no one to turn to and no where to go. One of these poor souls, a baby boy not even a day old, was crying quite loudly, almost managing to drown out the other babies in the same room. A nurse was wandering from bed to bed, checking each baby and seeing if diapers needed to be changed. When she came to the bed with the small, blond haired baby in it, she recoiled in shock, a look of fear crossing her face for a moment before she waved over the headmistress of the orphanage.

"What is that…that….thing doing in here?" she asked, the venom in her voice almost palatable enough to kill.

The headmistress scowled at the boy for a moment as well before answering the question. "The Third brought him in personally, otherwise I would never have allowed it."

For a brief moment, the nurse looked horrified at the very thought that the Third, the legendary ninja, the Professor, would actually leave such a terrifying evil among helpless children. "What was he thinking? Who knows what he may do to the other children. I mean, look at him, you can already see that the demon has begun to affect him," she whispered loudly, pointing at the three marks across each of the child's cheeks, faint lines that almost seemed to be whiskers, just barely visible upon the child's fair skin.

The headmistress thought about it for a moment before a realization seemed to dawn upon her. "The Third only said that we need to take care of him, he didn't say how or even what exactly we should be doing. I say we should make sure to keep him separate from the other children, for their protection."

The nurse nodded before roughly picking the still crying baby from the crib. Grabbing a few blankets and an old, worn mattress, she quickly walked over to another part of the orphanage, where she pulled down a set of retractable stairs and carried the child up into the attic. Finding an old pile of torn and worn out clothing, she quickly spread the mattress there, then placed the boy there, tossing the blankets on top of him with little regard to whether he was covered or not. She then almost fled from the attic, closing the stairs behind her and making a mental note to have the headmistress put a sliding bolt on the door just in case.

"There, now we don't have to worry about that monster hurting any of the other children," said the headmistress, smiling with a sort of perverse satisfaction. She turned back to her duties and left the nurse to go back to hers, both of them tuning out the sound of crying that still came from the attic.

…...

Konpaku looked around the hotel room for a moment before shedding both his sword and his coat and draping it across the only chair in the room. It wasn't a palace, but it was livable enough and after 2 months on a ship and three weeks on the road, it was nice to have a bed that couldn't be folded up into a package he could carry on his back. His other luggage had already been delivered to the room and he paused for a moment to check that everything was there before slipping a hand to his belt. The two daggers that hung off it were quickly thrown on top of the coat. He kicked off his shoes and his pants before deciding that was enough for now and collapsing onto the bed without even pulling back the covers. He was glad this hotel catered to foreigners as the bed was something he was more used to rather than a traditional bed of the region, which he had heard was actually not much more than a mat on the floor.

He rolled over and looked at the ceiling, trying to force his mind to rest, but the thoughts just kept coming. He was further away from home than he had ever been before, carrying something he had honestly never thought he would ever see, much less have. A quick glance at the back of his right hand told him it was safe, but he wondered for a moment if he should have told the Hokage about it. But the whole point of this mission rested on secrecy and besides, if he told the Hokage exactly what he was carrying and what it could do, there was the possibility, however slim, that he might be killed so they could obtain it. That kind of power in the wrong hands was the very reason he had been sent far away from his homeland. It was his job to make sure that the full power of this artifact, this relic of an ancient age was never used again. It had already caused more trouble that it was worth in his country and from what he saw on the way into the village, this land had enough troubles of it's own.

Letting out a deep sigh, Konpaku rolled onto his side and tried his best to fall asleep. He wasn't exactly sure how long it would be before he was called back to the Hokage's office, but he wanted to make sure he was well rested. It wouldn't do to let something slip just because he was tired. As he drifted off to sleep, the back of his right hand seemed to pulse for a brief moment before it settled down and Konpaku settled into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Yes, short first chapter, I know. I have a few chapters already done. so depending on the feedback and a few other factors, I'll probably have some more up pretty soon. This is the first fan fic I've ever published, so I need ADVICE, not trolling. Advice will be read and appreciated, hate messages or unproductive responses will be shredded with wind jutsu and then burned with fire jutsu.