Disclaimer: This isn't Kishimoto writing, sorry
Prologue
Cold, slit eyes stared down at the encampment comprised of just over 50 tents, guarded heavily. Rain was pouring, matting down his hair and dampening his overcoat but he paid it no mind.
'Two minutes and the guard to the left will switch out' the boy slowly drew out his Kunai and tapped the handle with his index figure methodically in wait.
Surely enough the guard left his post momentarily to grab the other sentry and hopefully get some sleep.
It was all he needed.
Keeping a steady pool of chakra in his legs, he leapt over the wall and into the now empty sentry tower. He quickly crouched down in a corner just in time to avoid the sight of the other guards on watch duty. He poked his head over the chest-high wall and surveyed the large encampment up close, taking in all the details within a few seconds.
Nodding to himself as he committed it to memory, he crouched back low and flipped his hood on. The black cloak he was wearing melted into the darkness leaving only his blue, predator-like eyes dimly glowing in the shadows.
After ten seconds of waiting, the guard finally climbed the ladder into the small room. He rested the spear onto the wall and leaned over the rails, not even pretending to be ready for potential enemies that could come. He paid for the lack of alertness.
Grabbing the man's mouth, the boy slit his throat cleanly and brought the guard down to the ground out of sight quickly. Muffled gurgles met the boy's ears as the man drowned in his own blood. Once the man's futile squirming subsided the blonde leapt down to the muddy ground as silently as he could.
Wiping the black metal off from the life liquid that thickly coated it; he looked to the guard in the tower next to the one he had exited with a concentrated squint of his eyes and a raise of the now clean blade.
The young assassin timed his throw perfectly at the back of the man's head so the unsuspecting guard would hit the wall rather than fall to the ground to detract the noise as much as possible. The plan worked, leaving the new corpse leaning against the wall. The sound of the heavy rain drowned out any overly obvious noise.
He left the other sentry towers be, only needing those two opened if he needed to make a quick exit with no obstructions. The hooded boy moved around the tents swiftly, avoiding sight of the occasional drunk bandit.
After around five minutes of searching, he found the tent he wanted, or rather the occupant of the tent. The signs of a VIP inside were blatant with two large men armed with swords guarding the entrance. The tent was also quite a bit larger than the surrounding tents.
He quickly ran through some handseals and closed his eyes in concentration. Genjutsu wasn't his strong suit, but he was efficient enough to entrap two men who didn't even know how to sense chakra. After a second of waiting the men's eyes glazed over. With that done, he simply walked in, the guards not even registering his presence. Undoing the flap and walking through, he finally saw the person he went to all this trouble for.
A rather lanky man with greying hair sat at his desk, writing on a piece of paper with some ink and a brush. It looked as if the man hadn't done anything physically exerting in years, he probably hadn't if the description of how he lived was correct. This was not a nice man, just a step down from that slime ball Gatou.
Slavery was this guy's main source of income. And apparently it paid well. Not that any of it mattered to black-attired boy.
The tall man heard the footsteps of the boy but kept his head down as he wrote.
"You got here quicker than expected." The man grunted, "Are the prisoners still misbehaving?" Silence met his question. The man lifted his head with a scowl, "When I ask a-" he stopped mid sentence as he took in the sight of a person he wasn't expecting with with a not so intimidating figure, standing at only the height of a young child.
Yet those eyes that met his unflinchingly were truly terrifying.
"Guards!" To the man's surprise they didn't come running in to restrain the frightful boy in front of him, instead the strange individual just kept moving forward slowly with a kunai in hand. Getting out of his seat quickly and taking a few steps back he tried again, "Guards!" to no avail.
The cloaked figure seemed to get bored of the man's tiresome behavior and moved in, stabbing the man in the chest far too fast for him to react. The man tried to get a scream out of his lungs as the life left his eyes, but all that he managed to grate out were a few chokes before his heart stopped beating.
The man dropped to the ground with an unceremonious crash, leaving the blue-eyed figure to inspect his handy work. After a few moments of staring he departed, his eyes returning to normal.
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Another figure blended in with the darkness perfectly just outside of the camp, watching the boy depart. The silhouetted figure inclined his head to the encampment that was now a swarm of activity, noticing their boss' death far too late to even hope to catch the culprit.
The figure adjusted his porcelain mask and spared another glance at the boy before disappearing in a flurry of leaves.
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"Too easy." The boy undid his hood, revealing his spiky blonde hair to the world, dampening again in the heavy downpour. His face now unobscured showed off a scowl that didn't belong on a face that young. "Far too easy."
Naruto Uzumaki was not happy. His test fell flat. He completed the kill in no more than five minutes, hardly an exercise. He wanted to work more on his stealth, but bandits just weren't enough anymore.
He didn't bother running; he was far enough from the camp for it not to make a difference. These weren't experienced hunter nins, they were just thugs looking for a paycheck. They probably had dogs for tracking but the rain got rid of any scent that he might carry, and they definitely didn't have anyone in their midst that could accurately track him down in the night.
His face morphed into one of boredom as he took to the trees, one useful thing the academy taught him. Not that they stressed the importance of it too much. Regulating one's chakra for quick movement was less useful than history according to the academy.
Naruto abandoned any conceptions that the academy would teach him how to be a true ninja long ago. Though a well-timed kawirimi, a well-placed bunshin, and a good henge could potentially save your life, you needed more to survive than those parlour tricks. A lot more.
As it was, any civilian fresh out of the academy deserved praise if they made it past the first few months. The clan kids had a ridiculously higher chance to survive compared to the kids who didn't have access to clan techniques or have ninja relatives.
Except for Naruto.
Through an incredible work ethic and small acts of domestic espionage, he could say without a doubt that he was the strongest in his graduating class.
He hadn't seen any of the older genin to compare himself to, but he would probably rank up pretty well. He had heard stories of the notorious Hyuuga Neji, and wondered how a fight with the genius would turn out.
He shook his head to get on another train of thought, the genin exams tomorrow. Truthfully, he could have passed years ago, but the old man held him back. He didn't hold any grudge against the man, understanding why he had done it. Sarutobi wanted to salvage what little of a childhood he had left.
A nice thought, Naruto supposed, but flawed, seeing as how he had just taken three lives without a second thought, simply to test his skills. Though being held back was irritating, he did have time to learn the techniques from the ninja archive of the library, even if he did have to steal from the jutsu scrolls due to him not having proper clearance. The security of the library was shoddy at best.
But being an actual ninja would be refreshing, rather than having to go against the law to get his kick of danger. He supposed that it didn´t really matter who he was going to be on a team with. They were all children in his mind. The only one who had experienced death was the Uchiha, and even then he hadn't taken a life before. He didn't care who his sensei was, he would be fine with anyone that wouldn't outright ignore him.
Seeing the huge gates of Konoha rapidly approach, Naruto had to wonder what his new life would entail as he made to enter without being spotted by the – in his mind – all too lax chuunins on guard duty.
XXXXXXX
The Sandaime sat in his office, pipe in mouth with a grim countenance as he waited. He didn't have to wait for long as an ANBU appeared just as he was about to pack another bowl. He decided to set it aside for later.
"I would like to know your take on this, Tenzo." The aged Hokage spoke.
"It's impressive if nothing else, Hokage-sama." A voice spoke from behind the impassive face of a tiger, staring blankly at the Sandaime Hokage.
"But..." The Hokage pressed.
Shuffling on his feet slightly in the first break of professionalism he had had in years, Tenzo quickly steeled himself.
"It is worrying to say the least, to see that in such a boy. To be able to accomplish such things at that age, it's not unheard of, but due to circumstances I'm sure the council is in an uproar about what to do with the boy." The man said in monotone, as what was expected of an ANBU captain.
Inarguably one of the most powerful and wisest men to ever grace the Elemental Nations sighed as he let his age shine through; deciding that maybe packing another bowl of sweet tobacco wasn't such a bad idea after all.
"The council does not know of this." He turned his intense grey eyes to the man in front of him. "Nor will they." Tenzo nodded in acknowledgement of the unspoken order.
"If you know what the boy is doing why aren't you stopping him, Hokage-sama?" The tiger mask tilted only slightly in inquisition.
"I'm afraid that might do more harm than good. You know of the boy's burden, and how the villagers treat him despite my efforts. He most likely has more pent up rage than anyone in his age group - discounting Uchiha Sasuke - and needs an outlet. If we take that outlet away and leave him with the spiteful villagers and overwhelming potential to harm that he has shown..." The Hokage let that hang in the air. It was all he needed to say really. The prospect wasn't pleasant to think about.
"If you don't mind me asking Hokage-sama, would you say he's... stable?" The ANBU captain asked, the tiniest inflection of his voice ringing in Hiruzen's ears.
The oldest occupant in the room steepled his hands together and rested them on his mouth as his eyes narrowed slightly in thought.
"I will have to get a full psychological evaluation to answer that question completely. However, based on what I have seen and how he interacts, I believe he hasn't been driven off the edge just yet." Slate eyes drew to the slit eyes of the mask involuntarily, "But he is becoming more and more like Orochimaru when he was younger. Distant, arrogant, and seeing his peers and others around him as mere obstacles. The boy has little to no connections inside of these walls."
Tenzo listened to Hiruzen with rapt attention. The Hokage stopped, obviously wanting Tenzo's input. It was rather flattering having quite possibly the wisest man on the planet wanting his thoughts on the matter.
"Well, judging by who he went to take out, perhaps the boy does have more compassion than you think. Going through that much trouble to kill a slaver speaks wonders. But I could imagine him not getting along with his peers at all. Just from seeing him tonight, it is unquestionable the boy's mentality is on another level to what is expected of that age." The man paused a second in thought, "Could the Kyuubi have changed his mental development?"
The Sandaime leaned back in his chair and stroked his goatee slowly.
"I'm unsure if he did it out of the bit of kindness in his heart. I think it was just a challenge for him, a sport really. He has done similar feats in a short duration of time but now I think it's less of the target, and more how well he pulls it off." Sarutobi said with a weary sigh, "As for if I think the Kyuubi has altered his mind in some way, I don't know. I have faith in Minato's seal work; however it could be a possibility. I hear the boy who holds the Ichibi is rather unstable due to his demon, along with other circumstances. Naruto will be watched carefully either way. I want him to make connections with the people around him, and I'll be damned if the Fourth's legacy drowns in his own hatred like my student did. I will not allow that to happen." Hiruzen said resolutely.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Tenzo responded.
"You are dismissed Tenzo. I will call for you if I need anything more." Hiruzen said with a wave of his hand.
The ANBU captain bowed slightly before disappearing as quickly as he came, leaving the aged Kage in silence once again.
The Sandaime turned to look out the window, seeing the lights of his beloved village glitter and shimmer like stars in the night. He heaved a sigh and looked to the head of the Fourth Hokage, only the outline visible in the dark night.
"I won't fail you again, Minato." The man said to himself as he went back to the work set out on his desk.
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A short prologue for what could be my next story.
There will be NO bashing in this story, so sorry to all the people that wanted to watch Naruto totally pwn Sasuke in front of everyone and make him cry while Sakura 'screams like a banshee' from behind. That's not my thing.
The story will probably focus mostly on Naruto's development, changing because of the people around him and the things that he will be forced to face. As you can see, he's REALLY different from cannon. And no, he's not going to be an absolute badass who is incredible at everything and can go toe-to-toe with any of the notably strong characters in the first few chapters (Kakashi, Gai, Orochimaru etc.). But he is going to be a lot smarter and stronger than cannon Naruto, and you'll see how these differences change the story.
To all you beautiful readers out there, leave me a review and tell me what you think.
Peace out