Greetings, this is my first story and, unlike most starting authors, I don't give a fuck if you review or not, but I will read your criticism or praise if you do decide to respond to something. This doesn't mean I will respond back to them or you directly, but I will listen to any advice you may have. Maybe. I will continue writing no matter what. This fanfiction is dedicated to Hiden, Haku and Zabuza. May they rest in peace or, in Hidan's case, escape from accursed holes, Amen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Disclaimer: The only stuff I own in this thing is my intellectual property. What that is, exactly, will be found out later.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter one: A Hard Decision

Sarutobi Hiruzen was a wrinkled old man with grey hair and a beard on his chin. He was the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, and was known as the God of Shinobi, due to his outstanding knowledge of various jutsu.. Yeah, right. What kind of god was he if he couldn't even protect a four-year-old child? None at all, that's what. These were his thoughts as he sat in the hospital room of Naruto Uzumaki, the blond haired, whisker marked child that was known as the Kyuubi jinchuuriki by most of the village of Konoha, said four-year-old he failed to protect.

He was broke from his musings when his long time friends, teammates, and advisors burst into the room. One was Utatane Koharu, an old woman with her grey hair done up in a bun on the back of her head. The other was an equally old man Mitokado Homura with slightly spiked grey hair with a beard and green-rimmed glasses over his eyes.. Both were panting slightly from a seemingly long sprint. Homura was the first to catch his breath.

"Hiruzen-kun, we came as soon as we there was a problem. What is it?" he asked exasperatedly, taking his eyes off Sarutobi to steal a glance at Naruto, whom he just noticed. Said blond had bandages here and there with an I.V. needle sticking out of his arm.

Koharu, following her companion's glance, also saw the state the boy was in. She hurriedly ran over to him with the speed you wouldn't expect from a sixty-something-year-old, all the while calling out "Naruto-san!" and proceeded to read the medical chart attached to his bed.

Whilst this was happening, Sarutobi turned back to Homura and said, "I'll explain, but first, where is Danzou-san? He was supposed to be with you." This was asked with such a questioning tone that you would think he was a child himself. He was obviously expected himself, yet he was nowhere to be seen.

It was Koharu who answered, her voice full of impatience "He is currently at the council annex covering your ass and overseeing that the civilian branch of the councle doesn't try to pull any shit while also preparing for Kumo's arrival. You know he would be here to see his student if he could, but as I just explained, is unable to at the moment with all the shit currently piled on. Now, care to explain how he got all these stab wounds and lacerations?" this was her answer whilst indicating to the clipboard near the end.

Yes, one may ask how this one boy can be connected to so many seemingly important individuals, or how he came to be in the hospital. Well, the answer is pretty simple. You see, there was once a Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, to be precise. He was student to one of the sannin, Jiraiya, and married to a beautiful, red haired woman by the name of Uzumaki Kushina, a kunoichi from the former Uzu no Kuni, that was destroyed years earlier, but that's a story for another time.

On the tragic day of October tenth, a baby was born to them. This baby was Naruto. However, the reason it was tragic was because it was on this day the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked, ruining thousands of lives, civilian and shinobi alike. That is, until Minato took charge.

Using a fuuinjutsu he invented, called Shiki Fuuin, he summoned the Shinigami to take away his soul in exchange for sealing the Kyuubi's into his son's body. Now if only his wife survived childbirth, we may not be here now. Unlikely, but maybe.

So, thinking something like this may happen after foolishly announcing his newly acquired status, Sarutobi thought it best that he and the other two former students of the Nidaime Hokage be his guardians. But, having seats so high on any sort of council took up a lot of time, so they all decided that he would need help with their duty. Thus, we have Danzou, who trained Naruto every day in the shinobi arts until he dropped since the day he learned to walk. Horrible, some may say, but, without this training, this day could have been far worse. Anyway, while Danzou also had a seat on the council, he was also in charge of his own group of ANBU that he named Ne, or Root. So, he simply sent one of them as a representative. Funnily enough, the Nidaime also created Ne.

Of course, some things needed to be handled personally, like setting up for the arrival of Kumo's ambassador, who would help resolve the problems of the last Great Shinobi War between the two, and hopefully delay another one from happening.

So, to people who were still cross after the Kyuubi attack and who wanted retribution in the form of a dead Naruto, this was the ideal time to strike. Which is what they did. Mob-like in size. But we will let Sarutobi explain the rest of the incident.

"Well, I would, but I think it would be best if the one who found Naruto be the one to explain. Inu-san, get up and explain, if you would." Said Sarutobi to a man recently left unnoticed on the floor.

He appeared to be between seventeen and twenty, with silver hair that was raised to the air, slanted to the left. One could tell he was an ANBU from the white dog mask he sported on his face, though one would not expect it from the footprints that trailed the back of his dark cloak, one set larger than the other.

As Inu stood, he stared at the two advisors, and even through the mask, one could plainly see he was slightly pissed at the two. Hell, his anger was palpable, 'whatever happened to knocking?' he thought, but the two just absentmindedly shrugged it off. He eventually got over it and turned to address the Hokage, only to find him struggling not to burst out laughing at the sad fact that one of his best shinobi was caught off guard by two old farts. Granted, they were as old as him, and that together, they were nearly impossible for anyone under sannin level to take on and win, but he still found it funny as fuck.

He finally lost the fight and burst out laughing. His two former teammates were now getting annoyed at the Hokage's apparent show of senility for forgetting the seriousness of the situation at hand, and together turned to face Inu, only to find him curled into the fetal position in the nearby corner, the back drop changing to purple with squiggly black lines going in a downward direction (emo corner, for those who don't know) at being laughed at for this. Finally having enough, the two shouted at the supposed ANBU, "Oi, get off your ass and tell us what happened to Naruto-san!"

Finally composing himself, along with the Hokage, Inu finally spoke, all previous hostilities forgotten, "Forgive me, Mitokado-sama, Utatane- sama, allow me to recount what happened and how I came across Naruto-kun."

xxxflashbackxxx

Inu was currently on his patrol route. As an ANBU captain, he wondered why he even had a patrol. Shouldn't some newer squad be doing the remedial work? But, he supposed, it could be worse and just be his squad doing this. So, he reluctantly carried on, grumbling under his breath about squad, protocol and command reforms..

He was suddenly shaken from his revere for several reasons. One, being that he felt a decent amount of both chakra and killer intent a few dozen meters away. Two, being the sounds of a nearby battle taking place. And, finally, the best reason for him to stop his important train of thought and suddenly stop completely was the incoming kunai that would have hit him in the face if he had not snatched it out of the air.

All serious now, he pocketed the stray kunai and went to investigate. What he saw next would haunt him for a while.

As soon as he reached his destination, he quickly called in the rest of his squad. "Tora, Washi, Kuma, get over here immediately, we have a situation!" and with that, he rushed to the aid of the blond boy in the epicenter of a mob, blood and bodies strewn about the street.

xxxendflashbackxxx

"When I reached Naruto-kun, it was only then that I realized that there were a few high-level chunin in the crowd. My suspicion is that they got the drop on him while his back was turned. With out Danzou-sama's training, it is very likely that Naruto-kun would not have survived the encounter." Inu stood their in front of some of the most powerful people in the village, waiting for some semblance of a verbal response, instead of the pitiful looks for the boy and the hateful looks screaming for the death of, what he hoped was, the mob that attacked the said boy, not the messenger.

Finally, the Hokage granted his wish, "Do you have anything else to repot Inu-san?" the old man asked gruffly, wanting to wrap this up so that he could deal prepare for the paperwork that was sure to come from the undertakers office do to the influx of bodies.

"Actually, yes, I do Hokage-sama," said Inu as he pulled a sheaf of papers from his pocket. "It would appear as if the mob consisted of seventy-three people total, sixty-one civilians and twelve chunin, with only twelve civilians and two chunin remaining after I and my squad 'broke-up' the fight, three of the civilians and one of the chunin getting away. It would also seem that at one point in ambush, Hyuuga Hiashi attempted to intervene until he was incapacitated due to a kunai hitting him in the lung. He is currently in the intensive care ward of the hospital but is expected to make a full recovery in six to eight weeks. (1) All the names of the assailants have been compiled into this report." With that the masked man indicated to the papers in his hand and waited for further orders.

With a heavy sigh, the Hokage said, "Thank-you Inu-san. Please hand your report into my secretary and inform your squad that I will have a mission for you all in the morning. Dismissed." With that the masked man left in a swirl pf leaves via shunshin no jutsu. When the man was gone the three turned to each other once again.

"What can we do, surly we can't keep him here, there is too much of a risk this could happen again and the outcome could be worse, and as much as Danzou has helped, I refuse to let him in the Root headquarters. We have to get him out of the village!" This comment came from an exasperated Koharu, who feared desperately for Naruto.

Homura then decided to step in. "We can't. First of all we can't just send him off, we have no idea when he is going to wake up, and where would we send him? Besides, what would Danzou think? He knows Naruto-san better than any of us and would know what is best for him."

"Actually, I believe Koharu-chan is right," said a voice from the open door way. All three turned to see a man with black hair and a heavily bandaged face with the cotton wraps coming over his right eye and an x-shaped scar on his chin. He also appeared to be missing his right arm. This was the commander of Root, the self-proclaimed war hawk, Danzou. "In fact I have the perfect idea," said the man with confidence.

"And what would that be my old rival?" asked the aged Hokage.

"Glad you asked Sarutobi-kun," replied the man, "You see, Naruto-kun's greatest aspiration is to be a shinobi of great strength. He also wants to learn jutsus from all across the land. So, my plan is that we send him to Yugakure no Sato. It is a very peaceful place, more so than us, remaining neutral for all these years, and even if they find out about the Kyuubi, it is highly doubtful they would resort to violence. It would also be best if the villagers didn't know about this meaning he should be transferred ASAP. However, it is your decision in the end, what do you say?" finished the man.

Sarutobi took his time deciding what to do. He looked from Danzou to Homura to Koharu to Naruto and finally back to Danzou. Eventually, he heaved a great sigh and with a nod tiredly said, "Do it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well, here's the prologue. Takes up about five fucking pages on Microsoft word. So, as you can see, there will be many differences between this and the original. If you don't like it, don't read it, and certainly don't bitch about it to me. And remember, if you have an idea you think I won't just completely disregard, review. Now, on to explanations and translations.

(1): To those who know what the repercussions of this will be and don't like it, I suggest you either get over it or find another story to read.

Sama/san/kun/chan/ect.: Suffixes used to describe how well you know a person and your relationship with them.

Inu: Dog.

Kyuubi no Kitsune: Nine-tailed fox.

Tora: Tiger.

Washi: Hawk.

Kuma: Bear.

Kumo: Cloud.

Uzu no Kuni: Land of whirlpool.

Yugakure no Sato: Village hidden in the hot springs.

Konohagakure no Sato: Village hidden in the leaf.

Jutsus:

Shunshin no jutsu: Body flicker technique: a technique designed to allow the individual who uses it to move at high speeds whilst concealing oneself in either a puff of smoke or a swirl of leaves, as is the conventional method, giving off the illusion of teleportation.

Well, I think that's all. See you later. Maybe. Sayonara.