Full Summary: Before Sasuke's defection. Before Tsunade's arrival. Before Jiraiya's intervention. Before the Chunin Exams. Before it all went sky high, Konoha dropped to hell. Shimura Danzo always knew his perfect plan of assassinating the Sandaime would succeed, and as the new Godaime Hokage he has a hell of a lot of changes he wants to make. Least of which involves making one Uzumaki Naruto the perfect weapon. Not if Team Seven has anything to say about it. Whoever said that the lives of missing-nins weren't interesting? "Hey Kakashi-sensei?" "Yes, Naruto?" "Where are we going from here?" "I assume that as missing-nins, we can go anywhere in theory. Except, you know, where someone would find us and kill us. Which is in a lot of places. Actually, we shouldn't be able to go anywhere at all. But that's just in theory, of course." "... Damn."

Hello, welcome to my second fic on here! Eclipse. Whee. ... Enthusiasm. No, I actually am excited. This is a fun story to write, and I'm actually fairly happy with the beginning chapter. It's a little dark in some (a lot) of places, but there's humor in this story too! Believe- *bricked*

Anyway, this mostly focuses on the original Team Seven and their development if they were all missing-nins right before the Chunin Exams. Which means before Orochimaru screwed up everything and Sasuke turned into an even bigger douche-bag. I've always thought that Naruto could have done a lot more good if he was outside the village, you know, where all the action was happening. Where people were getting kidnapped and organizations were taking over and a hell of a lot of crap that he always arrives too late for. This isn't going to be a story that makes it all right, but...

Actually, just read it instead of reading my rants. Yeah.

Enjoy.

It was raining the day the Sandaime died.

Actually, it was storming. Black clouds had rolled in that morning and freezing winds had made the elderly sit at home, shivering in front of their fireplaces, and children look up and whimper at the prospect of the coming storm.

It wasn't until late afternoon that it actually started raining though, and the Sandaime had been in his office and going over his paperwork with a frown. The Chunin Exams were coming up, and the village of Oto had requested permission to enter. It was a new village, but the leader somehow came off to the old man as something to be wary of... He hadn't actually met the mysterious person, but the fact that he was allied with the Kazekage even in such a new state made several warning bells go off in his head. Suna had gotten along with Konoha since the war, but the Kazekage himself...

A rumble of thunder almost drowned out the knock on the door. With a tired sigh, Sarutobi straightened his papers and raised his throat for the person to come in. He raised an eyebrow at the man before him before greeting him politely, and what would he-

A crackle of lightning sounded, a little too close to the village, and Hatake Kakashi shot up in his bed, breathing heavily as his eye snapped open. He looked around his dark room, noting with a curse how the lights had gone out. He'd been looking forward to his nap, and now he probably had to fix his electricity...

"… Nah." Kakashi considered the idea of leaving his warm bed for all of three seconds before coming to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it. "People sleep in the dark all the time." He announced, glancing at the plant above his head as if expecting a return comment. Mr. Ukki had no such retort and he shrugged. "Maa, I can fix it no problem anyway." He yawned and quickly added "When I wake up." He rolled over and was about to go back to sleep with another crackle of thunder sounded and he shot up, staring out the window. A single bolt of lightning struck at the Hokage Monument that was displayed through the glass, smashing into the side of the Sandaime's stone head and breaking off several chunks of stone with a resounding explosion.

There was a dead silence as Kakashi stared with a wide eye at the smoking monument, for some reason an unearthly chill going down his spine at the sight. But it didn't mean anything, because superstitions were silly and old-fashioned. If Gai heard word of him thinking these kinds of thoughts, he would never live it down.

Not that he particularly cared about what Gai thought, but he was one of the few people in Kakashi's life that knew how to make his life a living hell. Him and Kakashi's genin team, of course. Especially Naruto.

Kakashi finally breathed out and ran a hand through his silver hair, deciding he needed more sleep. He wrapped himself up in his covers after drawing the curtains, enveloping the room in a blanket of darkness.

It wasn't until five hours after the storm had settled to a heavy rain that they found the body of one very deceased Sarutobi Hiruzen, laying on his back and staring with sightless eyes at the falling rain in the middle of what appeared to be the greatest battlefield at least three miles outside of Konoha.

Cause of death was ruled to be the summoning of the Shinigami in a Shiki Fujin. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal. If not the gaping hole in his heart from what appeared to be a sword wound. No one could find out anything more behind the Sandaime's death, except for the imprints on the ground around him that told of many, many destructive jutsu and the marks on his body that were still under investigation.

Kakashi found himself showing up on time at the Sandaime's funeral the next day, amidst the heavy rain. He probably might not have because of that itching need to visit Obito suddenly springing up, but there was one man that somehow kept him rooted to his position beside his blonde-haired student being comforted by his academy teacher.

Shimura Danzo.

Danzo was the speaker for the Hokage's funeral. And somehow every word he spoke in honor made it feel as though he were spitting on the old man's very corpse. By the time he had bowed his head along with the rest of the group, Kakashi felt as if he was insulting the Sandaime's memory by bowing his head as well. But when Danzo's head had gone up again, his single eye had locked onto the blonde that stood silent as stone. His student, Uzumaki Naruto. The meeting that night called together all the council members and the Fire Daimyo, and together they had all named Danzo as Godaime Hokage. His inauguration took place the next week.

Through it all Kakashi could feel an unknown eye watching both him and his students. It was one week of a terrible, terrible feeling later that Kakashi realized he had every right to worry.

Training had gone on that week. Naruto was a little lagging at first, but something Iruka had said made him more determined than ever to fight for the right reasons. For protecting Konoha, like the Sandaime had probably died for. Sasuke had been unusually quiet (well, more so than usual) and Sakura had been a bit more... docile in her attempts to cling to the dark-haired boy.

And Kakashi had read his book like usual when they went in for their usual D-ranks, but over the top of his pages he watched the man behind the desk like a hawk. Danzo was monotoning about some babysitting mission, but the genin didn't seem to notice that he kept shooting the scowling Naruto glances from time to time. At length he suddenly set down his scroll of D-ranks, regarding the blonde for a long moment.

"... Are you unhappy with these missions, Naruto?" He asked kindly, which made the hairs on the back of Kakashi's head stand up. Naruto nodded slowly. "I suppose a ninja of your caliber would want something exciting and actually beneficial to Konoha, wouldn't he?"

"Of course!" Naruto stood at attention, chest puffing out in pride. "I can do anything-'ttebayo!" Danzo might have purred if he were part feline, Kakashi decided, even as he sent the team outside with a promise of a C-rank or even B-rank (Naruto had almost squealed with delight) and asked the silver-haired jounin to stay behind. They needed to talk.

And it all went to hell from there.

Uchiha Sasuke stood outside the door with a deep scowl on his face, and it only went darker when his teacher walked out looking... well, very un-Kakashi like. His usual slouch was actually stiff as a rod, his glazed look now tinged with the feel of looking past what he was seeing into some sort of horrible vision. He had seen Danzo's interest in Naruto himself, and he didn't like it one bit. Sure the blonde was a loudmouthed moron, and Sasuke usually didn't care about who was the ruler of this crazy little village, but if the warhawk became interested in Naruto and instead neglected Sasuke...

… It would hurt his chances of getting to Itachi. Yeah, that was it.

"Sasuke." Kakashi said with a tired look in his eye. "What are you still doing here? I told you three to wait outside..."

"What does he want with Naruto?" The mention of the blonde made Kakashi go very, very still before he was suddenly back to his usual self, a hand ruffling the boy's hair and eye curved in a happy little smile.

"Hokage-sama was just talking about Team Seven's performance review." He said cheerfully. "So far it's all very impressive, he says."

Not here.

Sasuke gave no indication of the man's hidden words as he only gave a noncommittal grunt, letting the hand on his shoulder steer him to the two waiting outside the tower.

"There you are, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's eyes sparkled as he bounced on his feet eagerly. "What about that mission, huh? Is it gonna be super cool?" Kakashi stared down at the blonde for a long moment before replying.

"Yes." He said dully before he turned and began to walk away. Sasuke felt something cold in his stomach when the silver-haired man glanced back to make sure Naruto was following, locking eyes minutely with Sasuke before turning back to ignoring Naruto's pestering.

Whatever it was, it was something he wanted Naruto to hear alone.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura looked after the two with a furrowed brow. "Does Kakashi-sensei seem... off to you today?" Sasuke considered several possible answers before a glint of movement in the corner of his eye made him pause.

"... He seems fine." He said instead, turning away. "I'm going home." He watched the pink-haired girl accept this and wave goodbye before setting out to her own home.

Then he turned around and walked straight into the woods.

"You need to get out of the village." They were fairly familiar words to Naruto. It hadn't really been said in such a blunt manner, more of a yelling and cursing sort of way, but he'd heard it before. 'Leave the village brat', 'get out of our village', 'just go back to where you came from', but of all the people he'd heard it from, he'd never expected to hear it from his teacher.

Kakashi was in front of him with a hand on his shoulder, a dead-serious look in his eye that made a shiver go down his spine. If this was a joke, then it wasn't funny. At all.

"Leave Konoha?" Naruto's voice almost went high-pitched with disbelief. "Kakashi-sensei, have you been drinking? I can't leave Konoha, I'm a shinobi-'ttebayo!" The jounin slowly shook his head.

"It's not safe for you anymore." He said in a low tone, not looking at the blonde. "Danzo wants you to join Root. He wants the container of the Kyuubi to join Root." Which was rather disappointing to hear, because apparently the Godaime's interest in him was only because he held a bijuu in his stomach, and not because of his superior ninja skills. Damn. "Root isn't supposed to even exist, Naruto." Kakashi continued after a pause. "The program was banned many years ago, though Danzo has been keeping it up. They lock children several miles underground their entire lives, never bringing them up to the sun, only training them to become the perfect weapon. Emotionless, hard-hearted, able to snatch an infant from a cradle and kill it in front of its parents without a single shred of regret." Naruto felt himself pale at the idea. "And those that have emotions need to be broken."

Which implied many, many painful things to come in Naruto's future.

"H-He told you that?" Naruto swallowed heavily. Kakashi nodded.

"I'm not supposed to know how Root operates, no one is." He said shortly. "As far as any knowledge of Root goes, Danzo is offering you to join the most elite ranks in all of Konoha."

"Then how do you-"

"My sensei was the one who had it banned." Kakashi's eye creased slightly as he smiled under his mask at the blonde. "The Yondaime, Namikaze Minato." Naruto's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he stared at his teacher.

"You were taught by the Yondaime?" He exclaimed, eyes sparkling at the thought. His teacher was officially awesome. "As in your sensei was the greatest Hokage of all time that..." His excitement hit a brick wall. "That..." Kakashi's gaze traveled to his stomach along with him.

"Hai." He said softly. "He died defeating the Kyuubi." Naruto swallowed again.

"But... you never-"

"Minato-sensei was like family to me, Naruto." Kakashi ruffled his hair with an eye-smile. "If he said that you were meant to be a hero, then you were meant to be the greatest hero of all time." His look turned sad. "That's why I can't let Danzo get a hold of you. He's going to try and undo everything that the Yondaime died for. That the Sandaime lived for. I'm not saying it'll be forever, but..." Naruto felt his eyes stinging as he clutched his stomach.

"But if he gets a hold of the furball, then it won't matter, will it?" He said with a shaky laugh. "I-I guess if he had me all emotionless and blindly following orders, h-he'd get whatever he wanted. And because he's Hokage, he can just make me even if I said no."

"..." Kakashi let his eye close as he gave a short nod. "Hai." He then pulled a very un-Kakashi and pulled the quivering blonde to him, holding him tightly. "I'm so sorry, Naruto..." He whispered. "I wish there was something else, but..."

"It's okay, sensei." Naruto said into his flak vest. "I'm gonna be the hero and save everyone, even if it means leaving for a while. And it won't be forever!" He pulled back and grinned sunnily at the man. "Because I'm still gonna be Hokage-'ttebayo! I'm gonna knock that mummy out of my village and make him wish he never messed with Uzumaki Naruto!" Kakashi let out a chuckle as he released him.

"Of course." He said before his expression turned serious. "But it needs to be tonight."

"WHAT?"

"Shhh!" Kakashi sighed heavily. "Danzo's promised B-rank is supposed to be your initiation mission into Root. It's an assassination for the eight-year-old heir to a fortune. His mother too." Naruto paled.

"I-I guess I better start packing then." He said with a shaky laugh before smiling sadly at his teacher. "I'm gonna miss you guys, sensei..." Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about? I'm coming with you." Naruto froze. "You aren't strong enough to evade being hunted by the people Danzo would send, Naruto. You'd be killed within the week. Of course I have to make sure you at least make it past the gates."

"Kakashi-sensei... You'd really-" Naruto blinked away the mist in his vision. "You'd give up Konoha... for me?"

"It's not Konoha without it's number one unpredictable, knuckle headed ninja." Kakashi nodded solemnly. "It'd be like a pool without chlorine, ramen without noodles, a woman with no- Oof!" His speech was cut off by a blonde cannonball into his stomach, driving the air from his lungs and nearly throwing him to the ground. He blinked in bewilderment before he rested a hand on the boy's shaking shoulders, listening to the sobbed out 'thank you's that didn't seem to end. "You can come out now, Sasuke. Sakura." He suddenly called and Naruto yelped and whirled as the two slowly crawled out of the bush. There was a pause.

"You're abandoning Konoha?" Sakura asked quietly, looking at her teacher. "Really?"

"Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. Isn't that what I've always said?" Kakashi stepped forward and placed a hand on the girl's head, bending to her height with a sad smile. "Danzo isn't after you two, Sakura. He only wants Naruto."

"Why?" Sasuke demanded, narrowing his eyes at the silent Naruto. "Why him?"

"I'm afraid that's confidential, Sasuke." Kakashi said blandly before ruffling his hair. "I'm very sorry you two, but this is something we need to do. I did like being your teacher, even if I wasn't the greatest." He gazed at the two for a moment. "I hope you can find another team." Sasuke was silent as Sakura ran forward and hugged the silver-haired man, tears streaming down her face.

"I-I'll miss you, sensei." She whimpered. "I liked being on your team, too." Kakashi patted her head, closing his eye as he remembered the past months with his team. Memories of all those missions and training, the fighting and yelling, the horrible feeling that his team would probably never grow out of their headache-inducing ways...

It was something he would cherish forever.

Naruto packed everything essential. Meaning that as soon as he had cleared enough room with his clothing and various equipment, he'd stuffed as much instant ramen as physically possible into his bag. And then he grabbed another bag and stuffed that one full of even more instant ramen. He soon discovered that carrying both bags was actually beyond his strength capabilities, and so with a heavy heart he left the second bag in his apartment.

As he was walking towards the gates that he was to meet his teacher at in the dark, he passed by a certain house that made him pause for a moment.

Kakashi was waiting with a pack of his own by the gates, and the mood was a little too solemn for Naruto to even consider the fact that the man was actually on time. He did, however, question the object strapped to the silver-haired man's back. Kakashi hesitated and reached for it, drawing a small silvery blade about the size of Naruto's forearm.

"Standard procedure is to confiscate all possessions left behind." He said, looking at the blade in his hands for a long moment. "I haven't used a tanto in years, but... I didn't like the idea of my father's weapon in Danzo's possession." Which seemed rather out of character for the man to confess, and it only made Naruto's gut clench from the seriousness of the situation. "Where's your hitai-ate?" The blonde touched the leather goggles that he had worn for years before his graduation.

"I... left it with someone." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "He can take care of it until I get back."

"Ah." Kakashi touched his own hitai-ate over his eye as if he hadn't thought of that before he nodded. He didn't exactly want to wear the leaf symbol when he was officially declaring himself an enemy of Konoha nor simply toss it in the bushes, but... "I suppose... Hey Gai, you can come out too." Naruto's eye twitched and he wondered just how many people were hiding whenever he thought he was alone before it was dashed away by the bright green blur that appeared in front of his teacher. Bushy eyebrows furrowed and a frown on his usually grinning face, Maito Gai regarded the silver-haired man for a long time.

"... He's after your student?" Kakashi only nodded. "You really think this is the only way...?"

"Don't try to stop me, Gai." Kakashi said in a low tone. "You know it has to be done." Gai hesitated before nodding slowly.

"I... see." And then Kakashi was enveloped in a manly hug, tears streaming down the bushy browed jounin's face and what Naruto forever swore to be a sunset in the background. "I will forever miss you, my eternal rival!" He cried as Kakashi's eye twitched. "May you overcome any obstacles you and your youthful student find with the FLAMES OF YOUTH!"

"Not so loud!" Kakashi slapped a hand over the man's face, looking exasperated. "Dammit Gai, can't you understand the 'sneaking' part? And you two," He pointed to the nearby bushes that had a strange pink and black growth on the side. "You already said goodbye." Sasuke and Sakura slowly stood from their hiding positions, and Kakashi's eye narrowed. "No." Sasuke shifted the pack on his shoulders and leveled an even gaze at the man. "You're not coming with us, Sasuke. You either, Sakura."

"Itachi's still out there." Sasuke said bluntly. "I can learn faster under pressure and meet him sooner. Besides," He smirked at Naruto, who stared back with wide eyes. "Someone needs to make sure the dobe doesn't walk off a cliff when you're reading your books."

"And I'm going with Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said with a sharp nod, tugging her long hair behind her back and straightening her own pack. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her as Kakashi and Naruto sighed.

"You were already coming here with your stuff before you met me." He said as Naruto stared at Sakura with wide eyes. Sakura flushed and ducked her head, her bangs falling into her eyes without her hitai-ate to hold them back.

"I-I knew Sasuke-kun would be coming!" She said meekly before slumping in defeat. "And we're all a team anyway... I don't want to have another one." She admitted quietly. Kakashi rubbed his temples while Gai looked like he would burst into tears at the scene.

"This isn't something that you can change your minds on once you're out that gate." He said in a dark tone. "You can't just grow tired of running away and come back whenever you please. We'll be hunted by strong enemies and even allies nonstop and always be on the move. It's something that will probably get you killed, and I'm not so skilled that I can protect all three of you forever."

"Then we'll get stronger so you won't have to." Sasuke said with finality in his voice. "As I said before, we'll become stronger more quickly under pressure."

"Please, sensei!" Sakura begged when Kakashi still looked like he would say no. "I can be strong too! And besides," Inner Sakura seemed to take over, shifting her features into a vengeful scowl. "If you don't take us now, we'll just have to leave without your protection. And then you'll be responsible for anything that would happen to us." She threatened. "I'm not staying in the same village where the guy in charge is a greedy mummy that wants to make my teammate into a zombie." Naruto's head snapped to her and she smiled back briefly as Kakashi slumped in defeat.

"Maa, you play dirty." He whimpered as Gai finally exploded.

"HOW YOUTHFUL!" He cried, tears streaming down his face. "That your entire team would- Mmph!" Kakashi slapped a hand over his mouth again.

"Still trying to be sneaky!" He hissed as he released him. The two men stood before Sakura coughed awkwardly.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei? Who's this?" The jounin slapped his hand back over Gai's mouth before he could give his usual introduction.

"An old friend." He said simply as Gai's eyes welled with tears at the words. Kakashi ignored them as he tugged off his hitai-ate, handing them to the green jounin as he pulled out a simple eye patch and placed it over his closed Sharingan. "I don't want to just lose it somewhere." He said with a shrug before he was captured in another manly hug. He sighed in exasperation but allowed it. For three seconds.

Then he grabbed the man's jumpsuit and delivered a blow to the back of his head. Naruto's mouth dropped as Gai slumped in his teacher's hold. "What was that for?" Kakashi eye-smiled and propped the jounin against a nearby wall, placing his hitai-ate in his hand.

"I hate goodbyes." He said simply, turning and walking through the gates. After a moment of hesitation the three former shinobi of Konoha followed their teacher, looking shaky but otherwise determined.

They would come back someday. It was the only thought that made leaving possible.

The morning the village discovered Team Seven's defection they discovered their hitai-ates as well. Umino Iruka awoke to find his old hitai-ate placed on his front doorstep with a little note. It didn't say much, but it still made the chunin simultaneously pale and choke on a sob.

Hey nose-bleeder!

Thanks for everything. Take care of Konohamaru, will ya?

Your number one student, Uzumaki Naruto.

PS: I'll be back someday, and you're gonna buy me lots of ramen! Believe it!

Yamanaka Ino opened the flower shop with her father that morning to see an abandoned hitai-ate on her door. It was tied to the doorknob with a bright red ribbon that made something cold sink in the pit of her stomach. They didn't discover Sasuke's hitai-ate until they did the clean out of his home, where they found it between a photo of his team and a photo of his mostly-dead family.

Maito Gai was awoken by his student Rock Lee, who had gone on his morning laps and found his sensei rendered unconscious. This had attracted quite a crowd after they realized that the hitai-ate in the man's hand was the newly-defected copy nin's. Gai had stared at the headband in his hand and then at the ANBU members that stated that they needed to ask some questions about when he'd last seen Hatake Kakashi.

No one really questioned it when he burst into tears.

And several miles away, two genin huffed as they attempted to keep up with their silver-haired teacher's long legged stride, not at all deterred by the pink-haired girl he'd been forced to carry sometime in the middle of the night. Finally Kakashi called for a brief break; they were near the border of Fire Country.

Naruto took a swig of his water and regarded the forest around him before turning to his teacher. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Where are we going from here?" Kakashi hummed in thought, tapping his chin.

"I assume that as missing-nins, we can go anywhere in theory." He said slowly before shrugging. "Except, you know, where someone would find us and kill us. Which is in a lot of places." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Actually, we shouldn't be able to go anywhere at all. Everyone should want to kill us now. But that's just in theory, of course." Naruto's expression deadpanned along with the rest of the team's.

"... Damn." They monotoned. Kakashi snickered.

"Ah, don't worry." He reached into his bag and pulled out his orange book. "I'm sure we'll all be fine."

"You brought that stupid book?" Sakura demanded, eye twitching. "You perverted moron!"

"What else am I supposed to do with my time? Missions?" Kakashi turned the page as Naruto's eyes suddenly widened.

"Hey, do you know what this means?" He pointed at Sasuke and Sakura in excitement as they waited. "No more D-ranks!" There was a moment of silence as they let that sink into their minds.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

And back in the village of Konohagakure, Shimura Danzo, Godaime Hokage, regarded the orders he filled out for the newly-declared missing-nins. There was another file for one Yakushi Kabuto that had vanished the day the Sandaime had been killed, but he had taken it before calmly lighting it on fire and tossing the ashes to the wind.

Danzo still liked to consider himself a man of his word, no matter what kind of snake he made deals with.

... Spooooky~

Anyway, please review? :D

Peace out.

Edit: Big thanks to Crimson Siyrean for pointing out my big oopsies: only Akatsuki members actually have a scratch through their hitai-ate. Go look up every other missing-nin; you will find this to be true. Sasuke's own scratch was just a thing with him saying Naruto couldn't scratch his forehead. A missing-nin apparently just wears their (undamaged( hitai-ate for the heck of it or simply abandons it altogether. Serious mistake on my part. My bad. But it's fixed now! :D