A/N's will be at the bottom

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Left… right... duck. His breath was heavy and even with the mask the boy could hear his opponents breathing. He had to keep moving. Never stop moving. The moment he stopped moving he was dead. That was life.

His mind was sharp even if other people thought otherwise. His body was agile and he could bend it to his will. Move. Keep on moving. He had patience. He needed patience. If he didn't have patience then it really defeated the purpose of all his work. It defeated the purpose of all his training.

A fist flew past his face and grazed the wisps of his golden blonde hair. He could feel the gust of air from the force of the punch. It was interesting to him how much you could learn about someone just from sparring, from fighting, from just simply moving.

Step to the left, duck, and jump. Patterns, they were all patterns. In the end though all patterns faltered if even for just a moment and it would be then that he would strike.

Blue eyes stared on apathetically. His opponent stepped too far to the right. He was out of position. A tug of his lip and the boy felt himself smiling.

Strike. Moving forward he couldn't feel the ground beneath him. He could only feel the rush of air moving past him. His blonde locks were swept away clearing his face to the masked opponent.

The masked man tried to defend. He tried to cover himself and retaliate, but he wasn't fast enough. He had already been out of position.

'Foot was too far to the right' The boy thought to himself again. He dodged the meager attempt at a punch to his shoulder. Crouching low and bending at the knees with perfect form he felt his fist tighten.

Tight and compact it felt natural to him. He was raised fighting, he was raised to win. 'Now' His feet pushed upwards with a blazing fury and his fist extended. Right below the chin and above the collarbone, that's where his hit would land.

"Match!" A voice called out. Stern and cold, the voice held an air of authority to it. Everyone knew who was boss here. The blonde boy's fist stopped. Inches. It was only inches away from the masked opponent's throat.

'It would have been the perfect uppercut.' He mused silently. He thought he heard the masked opponent breathe a sigh of relief. Slowly and more stiffly than he had meant it to be he lowered his fist to his side. His fingers uncurled from their position.

"Thank you for the match sempai!" The masked figure said and bowed quickly. Blue eyes stared on and a twinge of emotion showed momentarily. A small smile worked its way to his face.

"Yes…" He started almost hesitantly. "Yes it was a very good match. Thank you as well. I look forward to meeting you in combat again." He lowered himself into a half bow respectfully. It did not come natural to him.

The boy walked away. Blue eyes strained in the dark to see. It was quiet, but it had always been quiet down here except for the sounds of fists clashing. His feet stepped over the boundary and the boy left his arena. The small four sided square that he called home.

"Naruto." The blonde boy stopped. Hair hung over his eyes.

"What?" Naruto snapped back irritably.

"You would think you would show more respect for the one who trained you. The one who made you the fighting machine you are now." Out of the shadows another man stepped out. Bandages wrapped his face and he seemed crippled if nothing else. The cane he used echoed as it clapped down to the floor.

"You did nothing but use me for your own gain Danzo. You wanted me in the ring so I would become the perfect weapon for the village." Momentarily Naruto thought back to their first meeting. It hadn't been the most pleasant experience.

"I am who I am today because I trained myself and fought my way to the top."

"Very true, but where would you be if I hadn't shown you the ring boy? Answer me that." Naruto turned around and sneered at the man. Naruto could beat the best of the best, but this man always had to point out something to knock him down or to give himself credit for Naruto's hard work.

Silence reigned between the two of them as they stared each other down. Blue eyes a light with fury and Danzo's lone eye gleaming with a hint amusement. "Your graduation is tomorrow no?"

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Yeah… I've already taken care of everything."

"Good. I want Mizuki taken care of then."

"I could have taken Mizuki out years ago and you have forbidden me from doing so until now you asshole. What's so special about now huh? Why not keep me back another year?" Bitterness laced Naruto's words.

"Do not start with me again on this boy. We have already discussed it." Danzo said with a flippancy that irked Naruto to no end. "You were the one who wanted to play the fool with everyone else not me. But it has worked to our advantage. Mizuki's information about Orochimaru will be more than useful to us now then it would have been two years ago when he knew next to nothing."

"Fuck you." Naruto spat.

"Remember who you are speaking to boy." Danzo clipped as his eye hardened.

Glaring Naruto bowed down. "Apologies are in order then no?" It was sarcastic and not genuine, but Danzo knew that was all he would get from the boy.

"The next match is tonight am I right? I heard Iwa's best competitor will be there. It will be no easy feat for you."

Naruto grunted and nodded his head. "Yeah, it's a little ways outside of the village. I'll have to leave a clone, but I have it worked out."

The boy looked directly and Danzo and cocked his head slightly. A cocky smiled played on his lips. "And it doesn't matter who I'm facing. I will always win. Not as if I have the choice to begin with."

"Maybe if you were taller I would believe you."

Naruto twitched and the corner of his lip dropped. "Asshole."

Shrugging slightly Danzo began to walk away, "If you ate better you wouldn't be so short. Try not to lose tonight though it reflects badly on Konoha."

"Konoha doesn't even know this exists." Naruto quipped watching the older man walk away slowly.

"Doesn't matter. Like Root you do the things that others can't do. You do the things that the Hokage can't know about, that the village can't know about. From the shadows we protect the things that we cherish."

"I cherish nothing." Naruto replied back instantly.

"You cherish the money that fills your pockets because of it."

"Tsk." Naruto turned and walked away. The conversation was over, the blonde knew that, but he couldn't help but to get the last word. "Old man, it would do you good to remember that I am not part of your sleazy little Root club. I am Naruto Uzumaki got that?"

Danzo glanced over his shoulder for an instance. "Whatever you say…Kyuubi."

Naruto turned on his heels ready to yell profanities at the older man, but he was already gone. It was if the shadows had already taken him. It was always like that. Danzo was there one minute and then gone the next.

They had an odd relationship, him and Danzo. Yet Naruto acknowledged the fact that they needed each other. They used each other for their own purposes.

To some extent though Naruto knew he was slightly fond of the crippled old man. He had been the only constant of his life, the only one that cared enough to push him past his limits. Even if it was for Danzo's own scheme they were bonded none the less.

Naruto walked over to his bag that lay thrown on the ground. He dug out his clothes and laid them neatly on the bench. For a moment he just eyed them.

Bright and colorful the familiar orange clothing brought disdain to his eyes. Still it was necessary. No one needed to know his true strength. No one needed to know his true intellect. Not until he decided he wanted them to know. Therefore he would play the fool they made him to be.

Only bandages covered his upper torso. He left those on during the day as it added a little more padding. Carefully he unraveled the black bandages that went down his forearms and unto his fingers. He wore them in the ring, but outside of it there was no reason.

Throwing on a black form fitting sleeveless tank, Naruto grabbed the orange jacket and put it on quickly. It hid all the muscle on his arm and chest making him look smaller than he actually was.

He quickly shed his favorite black training pants and replaced them with the matching orange pants to his jacket. Finishing it off he placed his blue sandals on to his bare feet.

Moving over to a mirror in the damp room he looked at himself. To some extent it was hard being two people all the time. There was the Naruto that lived in the shadows by Danzo and then there was the Naruto up there. Up there where the village was and where reality was.

At some point he was positive that the person down here with Danzo was the real Naruto, but as time went on he wasn't sure. The boy that craved attention topside wasn't all pretend. Naruto wanted attention. He wanted companionship. He just never seemed cut out for it.

But it left a question behind. If the Naruto topside wasn't fake and the Naruto with Danzo wasn't fake then who was he? Who was Naruto Uzumaki? Shaking his head, sometimes the blonde even confused himself.

Stuffing his other stuff into his bag he began to make the trek to the exit. Adrenaline still pumped in his veins. That was good. Danzo was right when he said the match wouldn't be easy tonight. Naruto would have to work for the win. It didn't help that he had just about run out of his funds from last match.

As Naruto walked along, he couldn't help but remember his first meeting with Danzo again. It followed him like a dream.

Flashback

4 years ago

Young Naruto sat in an alley way hunched against the wall. It was pouring rain and he couldn't stop himself from shivering. Tears fell from his young face. He didn't understand. He didn't understand any of it.

"Why?" He asked to no one. "Why do they always yell at me? What did I do!" He shouted to the sky. The rain pelted his face and he cried. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. Whatever I did I didn't mean it! Promise…"

He was always so alone. All by himself with no one to care for him. Even the Sandaime didn't care about him. All he had wanted was to be a ninja. To make the Sandaime proud and make all the villagers see him for who he was. Make them see Naruto Uzumaki.

"Boy." A voice called out to him. Naruto looked up and saw a man standing in front of him.

Naruto curled up even tighter and tried to get further away from the man in front of him. "I-I'm sorry mister. I'm sorry. Ple-please don't hurt me. I didn't do nothin bad."

"Boy." He said again. Naruto's eyes look terrified. "My name is Danzo. Do you want to be strong?"

"What?" Naruto asked weakly.

"Do you want to be strong? Do you want to be a ninja? Do you want to prove all these fools wrong?" He said in a barrage. Relentless his voice was like ice with no emotion.

"I-I don't understand mister." Danzo's single eyes hardened. He raised his cane and brought it down upon the defenseless boy. Again and again in the pouring rain Danzo cracked down with his cane. Naruto screamed out.

"Stop! Please stop! Somebody help me!" No one came. Naruto knew no one would come. No one ever came. He didn't' want to do this though. He didn't want to keep suffering all the time. He didn't want to be the outcast that everyone beat on. He didn't want to be weak.

With a warlike cry Naruto caught the can with his tiny hand. He attempted to charge Danzo, but was stopped when the cane was wrenched from his grip and then was hit across the stomach. He slid on the wet concrete back into the wall. Looking up at the man he glared and prepared himself to charge again.

"Enough." Danzo said. Naruto spat at him.

"It looks like you do have a backbone. I was worried they had already broken you."

"You're mean." Naruto said simply glaring.

Danzo smiled wanly. "So do you want to be strong then? Do you want me to help make you strong enough to stand on your own two feet?"

Naruto looked at him seriously. "…strong…you're seriously going to help make me strong?" Danzo nodded.

Naruto climbed to his feet and walked over to the man. Standing directly in front of him the young boy craned his neck so he could look up at the man. "When do we start?"

"Now." Danzo turned and walked off and slowly but surely Naruto began to follow closely behind him.

End Flashback

The blonde found it funny how much he got caught up in his past especially that one moment. Every day it felt like he wondered what kind of person he would be if he hadn't have met Danzo that night. Would he be happy? Would he be sad? Would he be alone? Naruto wasn't entirely sure.

Frowning Naruto walked the streets of his village back to his apartment. He ignored the glares the villagers cast him and even the sneers from peers his own age. He looked to the sky. The sun was already starting to set. If he wanted to make it on time to his match he would need to leave soon.

Rushing back to his apartment he jumped through the rooftops. Sliding in through the window of his home, he quickly made a shadow clone.

Danzo had taught him this technique ages ago. Though Naruto did have to be careful of who he used it around. The Hokage wasn't to know about this. Then again the Hokage wasn't allowed to know a lot of things.

The clone looked at him with no emotion. "You know what to do?" The real Naruto asked. The clone just yawned and nodded. Walking over to the bed, it sat down and got out a book.

Naruto shook his head at his clone's complete disregard. "Dumbass clones never show any damn respect." The blonde mumbled.

"That's rich coming from an asshole like you." The clone replied back. The real Naruto simply flipped the bird off at it before shaking his head.

Going to his closet he pulled out a dark red hoodie. Shedding his orange jacket he pulled on his hoodie. It was baggie and loose, but hung off of his frame well giving him more free movement than the orange jacket did. Kicking his sandals off he decided to go barefoot and changed back into a fresh pair of dark black ninja pants.

Throwing the hood over his head it covered his hair nicely, hiding his bright blonde locks. Lastly he reached in his closet and grabbed a black bandanna.

Tying it around the back of his neck he lifted the front so it covered the lower portion of his face. Naruto liked feeling anonymous. He liked being mysterious. It made him feel as if he had power.

Hopping up and down he gave himself a little pep talk. Well, he tried to until his clone looked over at him like he had lost his mind.

"Fuck you." Naruto spat.

"…technically you just told me-who is you-to go fuck yourself." It responded back. Naruto flushed and glared at the clone. Just once…once he would like a clone that liked him.

"Just do as your told okay?" Naruto said exasperated. The clone nodded before going back to its book. Naruto glanced around once more to make sure everything was in its place.

"Good to go." The sun was fading and the sky danced with the orange flames of the sunset. Leaving out through the door Naruto walked through the village streets quickly. No one recognized him. He was just another nameless face on the street.

Coming up to the gate Naruto ran through the hand signs of his favorite jutsu quickly. "Toton Jutsu (Transparency Escape Jutsu)!"

Naruto's body flickered before completely disappearing from sight. Moving quickly Naruto went forward past the gate. The two guards not even realizing he had run right past them.

Traveling through the trees the wind swept past him. His last match had been a little over two weeks ago. It had been held right outside of Suna and Naruto had been lucky it wasn't farther outside the village. It was getting harder and harder to accommodate both his life in the village and his life in the ring.

Sooner or later, someone was going to find out. And when that time came Naruto had no idea what he was going to do. What was he supposed to do?

Today's match was thankfully near Konoha's edges. The bird dropping off the location of the place had come by earlier yesterday evening. It was only about five miles outside of the gates in one of the more secluded places of Konoha's forests.

Naruto came up to a clearing and the sound of rushing water filled his ears. A waterfall was merely a few feet in front of him crashing down in waves.

The mist sprayed him even at a distance. It flowed into the large river that went through the entire Land of Fire. Walking to the edges of the bank his feet left imprints in the wet dirt.

"This is the place…" He muttered quietly. He looked around before bringing his hands together and closing his eyes. Concentrating he expelled his chakra outwards. It couldn't have been more than a year after meeting Danzo that Naruto had realized he was a sensor. Even more so, the blonde found that he was a natural. It was just easier for him.

Opening his eyes, he looked back at the waterfall before sighing. Focusing his chakra once again he stepped on to the large flowing river before walking directly to the waterfall. 'This sucks…'

Walking forward the onslaught of water hit him all at once. It was only an instant that he was under the waterfall before coming out at the other side, but in that second his clothes were soaked to the bone.

The hood of his red jacket pressed against his face while the rest of the jacket now clung to his soaking frame. Naruto shook off the excess water in attempt to try and dry off.

The first thing he noticed when he walked in was that behind the waterfall a large cave opened up. The second thing he noticed was how dark it was. Putting his hand out in front of him he realized he could barely see it no matter how much he tried.

The third and final thing he noticed was the single candle blazing at the corner of the cave. Next to it a steel door was bleakly illuminated. He'd found it. Going forward to the door he knocked twice. The sound echoed throughout the small cavern.

At the top of the door an eye slit was opened and two grey eyes stared back at him. A gruff voice spoke out. "Ticket."

Naruto shoved his hand into his pocket and brought out a soaking piece of paper. Unraveling it he glanced at the simple symbol on it. An image of a black fist was imprinted clearly. Passing it through the hole in the door the paper was taken quickly. The eye hole shut.

Naruto waited only momentarily before he heard the unlocking of the large door. The blonde stepped back as the steel door slammed open. A tall man stood in front of him. White hair framed his face and the starting of a beard hung from his chin.

"You were almost late." He said plainly.

"I'm here aren't I?" Naruto questioned.

The man grunted and nodded to someone Naruto couldn't see. "Hn. Whatever, your match starts in five minutes. It's my job to get you down there." A girl came up behind him and brought chains. "You know the drill boy."

Naruto nodded stiffly before putting both of his hands out. The girl came up in front of him and attached the chains to both his hands, binding them together. The metal was heavy and weighed down on his arms.

"You're young to be doing this…" The girl commented. She didn't look much older than him and Naruto figured she only had maybe two or three years on him.

Still Naruto said nothing. He stood a little bit straighter as someone brought the girl a metal collar.

"I'm going to take off your hood okay?" Naruto was silent. Her hands brushed his face and Naruto found his hood falling back. His blue eyes stared at her apathetically. Her pale hands moved to undo his bandanna around, but he turned his head away from her.

"No. That stays." He said simply. She nodded. Grabbing the metal collar she lifted the edges of his bandanna and placed the collar around his neck. The metal was cold against his skin and involuntarily he shivered.

The collar snapped in place with a click and a chain hung away from his body. It was attached to a long pole which he noticed was held by another man. He hated this. He felt like a dog. But Naruto accepted it as he knew it was necessary.

"Azami!" The older man said sharply.

"Sorry…" She said turning to apologize to the man. Quickly she brought her hands over to Naruto again. Grabbing his hood she brought it up over his face once again. It was a kind gesture. One Naruto did not expect.

"Azami huh?" Naruto said quietly testing her name out. Unknowingly he glanced at her. She was pale, but not the sickly kind. It seemed to suit her actually. Her dark raven hair cascaded down past her shoulders. What got him the most though were the purple eyes that stared back at his own eyes.

"It's a pretty name." He said offhandedly. "…and thank you." Finishing lamely the guard began to pull him through the door as he was finally done. The older girl flushed and looked embarrassed.

"Hey wait, I never got your name!" She called out to Naruto.

Naruto stopped to the annoyance of the man leading him by a pole. Looking back he stared at Azami through the shadows of his hood.

"My name? Heh… the name's Kyuubi. Don't forget it." The girl's eyes widened slightly. After all there wasn't a person down here that didn't know the Kyuubi.

"Come on scum! Keep it moving we're already late as it is." The man yanked on the pole and Naruto's neck pulled uncomfortably. Turning back around Naruto continued to walk forward.

The assault of screaming and cheering assaulted his ears and it was if the world opened up to Naruto. The cave he had seen before had transformed. In its place was a wide stadium like arena.

Hundreds of people filled the area. Screaming and shouting, money waved through the air like leaves in the wind. People were already making their bets. Their screams of battle were piercing, but Naruto was used to it.

Dragging the chained blonde through the crowds of people, the man and Naruto reach the edge of the arena. People crowded the edges of a four-sided square ring. A simple railing is all that separated the fighters and the crowd.

Naruto saw no headbands here. He saw nothing that would identify what village people would have come from. This was not the place for that. People here never had straight allegiances. They were simply here to take part in the trials. While people like him…people like him came to be the executioners.

Naruto looked over the railing. A man and a woman were fighting. The man was bulky and dwarfed the size of the petite woman. His arms were rippling with muscle and he radiated arrogance. The woman on the other hand was calm and seemed to hold herself in certain regard.

Naruto already knew who would win. The fighting pair exchanged blow after blow and the man obviously had the advantage and appeared to be winning to most of the crowd.

Yet when the woman's nails grew to talons and split open the bulky man's throat Naruto wasn't surprised. He praised the woman. Quick and efficient, that was how it was supposed to be.

Blood gushed on to the arena floor staining it permanently red. The woman simply stared before waiting to be called the winner.

Naruto watched as the bulky man gasped for air. The blonde heard the man call for help. He heard him call for anyone, just someone. He wanted to live. No one came and the man simply bled out. Naruto heard as the giant man took his last breath.

The man that had been leading him on a pole like a dog laughed next to him. Naruto looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Welcome to Konoha: Underground!" He shouted and Naruto allowed a smile to grace his face.

"Welcome indeed"

A/N - So this literally just kinda popped into my head and I couldn't stop thinking about it and I was like 'Fuck it, I'm writing this shit down.' And here we are now. So what did you think? It's just an idea I'm toying with a little bit and I wouldn't mind some feedback. It was more like a prologue than anything just to see what kind response I'd get.

I'd appreciate it if you dropped a review, good or bad I'll take whatever I can get. Oh and if you like this you should go and check out my other story A Hero's Journey. Who knows you might just like it...

Thanks!

Iron Legends13