This is my thoughts on what could have happened if there was a spy in Konoha which leads to a minor alteration in Kumo's head ninja's orders.

BTW I'm typing the Yondaime Raikage as Ei… I had it as A and it got kind of confusing.

Kumo's Lightning Bolt

Chapter 1: Changes in life

*Four years after the Kyubi attack

"You're sure these reports are accurate?"

Mabui, the young and beautiful, white haired assistant of the Raikage nodded. Though she was slightly nervous, she had only become the Raikage's assistant two months ago and this was the first time she had to speak with the Raikage face-to-face for more than a few minutes.

"Yes, one of our most dependable spies, a man by the codename 'Cook', sent an encoded letter stating that he knows the Jinchuuriki and has even gone so far as to befriend him."

Ei, the Yondaime Raikage was a mountain of a man, he stood at 6'5" had dark skin and an insanely muscular build. He was beyond proud of his 24" biceps. He possessed short white hair that he wore in cornrows. He was staring at his new assistant, challenging her to stick to her guns. A woman that would fold to his will so easily could never keep him grounded… that was her real job.

"But a Jinchuuriki is useless to me. He will be rebellious and if I have to use my own men to keep him here, there is no way I would be able to get him to fight for me. Not to mention if he sets the demon free."

Mabui shook her head.

"You don't understand Raikage-sama. When I said our spy befriended him, I meant he was the child's only friend. Konoha treats him as if he had the plague. So much so, that since he allowed the child to eat at his shop, his business has taken a cut of nearly 25%. He did however report that the Hokage is kind to him, from what his reports suggest, I would guess that he is making sure the Jinchuuriki doesn't wish to leave the village. He also seems to be manipulating him into wanting to be a shinobi, but that isn't surprising."

While the Raikage wasn't usually a man of many thoughts, he preferred action to words. He needed to give this a lot of thought.

'So, we should be able to capture, and have him here without Konoha knowing anything. Well, able to prove anything, anyways. Not to mention, we should be able to make sure he is loyal. That would make him a secret weapon. It could also lead to war. A war we could win with three Jinchuuriki. Whereas Konoha has none. Seeing as our spies have reported that the One-tail in Suna is a loose cannon and is more likely to kill his own army than to attack ours. I can't see the negative aspect of it… I will make it a secondary mission.'

"Mabui, send Juko, The Head Ninja in here. I have a change of orders."

With a smile and a nod, she told the nearby Anbu their orders. They faded into the shadows to complete their mission.

Just as she was about to walk out, Ei's voice caught her.

"Well done. Let's just see how it works out."

Five minutes later, Juko, Kumo's Head Ninja arrived at the Raikage's office. Juko was a tall, slim man with black hair and a beard. His head was wrapped in bandages with a Kumogakure headband covering his right eye.

"Is there a problem Raikage-sama? I was just preparing for my mission."

"Problem? Not really. Just a change. You now have a secondary target. Your primary goal is both children. However, if that is not possible then any unmarked, Hyuga child will do. Your other possible target is four years old. He is the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox."

Juko's eyes went wide.

"B-but sir. Surely Konoha would have their Jinchuuriki well-guarded."

The Raikage shook his head.

"They don't treat him like a Jinchuuriki, they treat him like a plague. He has no guards, he lives alone and nobody there truly cares for him."

Juko nodded. He still didn't like it. But he understood the power a third Jinchuuriki could bring to Kumo. Especially the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

"Hai Raikage-sama, I will do my best."

The Raikage nodded as Juko left his office.

'I hope this was for the best.'

*Two weeks Later

'God damn, ignorant fools. I hope the Raikage rips their fucking heads off!'

If there was one thing that Juko hated, it was false information.

'The report clearly stated that the guards were not permitted to use their Byakugan during patrols. They said it was for the clan's privacy.'

Having quickly aborted his mission of the Hyuga, and in turn, his primary mission. He was now heading towards his secondary mission, the Jinchuuriki.

Juko silently made his way through the apartment window of his target. It didn't take long to find his target, he was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit had golden blonde hair and was loudly slurping what was identified as a cup of instant ramen.

Before the boy even knew what was happening, Juko knocked the child unconscious and gathered him in a sack he had brought.

Juko quickly made his way from Konoha to the drop-off point. When he arrived he saw Darui. Though the man appeared lazy, he was one of Kumo's strongest shinobi and the Raikage often claimed him to be his right hand. He had been personally trained by the Sandaime Raikage as a child when the man saw such great potential in him.

Dropping the child and mission report off with the Jonin. Juko made his way back to his hotel to keep up appearances. He would be returning to Kumo in one week's time.

*Three days later

When Darui arrived in the village, he carried Naruto bridal style, which was now, clad in considerably more stealthy clothes, a pair of black shorts and a brown tee-shirt. The biggest change was his hair color, what was once golden blonde, was now a very pale blonde, bordering on white, a color rather common in Lightning Country. There was also the big, white piece of paper on the child's forehead with some symbols and the Kanji for 'sleep'.

Having been told of the man's expected arrival, the gate guards didn't even ask for his papers when he arrived.

Darui quickly made his way to the Raikage's office with the boy and the mission report from Juko.

The Raikage read through the report with a frown.

"It appears as though our spies that were checking into the Hyuga were either compromised or betrayed us."

"Raikage-sama?"

"The main reason for this whole thing to happen was because our spies reported that the Hyuuga clan forbids the use of the Byakugan in the personal quarters for privacy reasons. However, that isn't true."

The Raikage sighed.

"At least the mission wasn't a complete failure. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't alter the mission. Juko has never failed a mission, I'm sure he would have rather given his life and started a war than stain his record. Anyways, I see you already dyed his hair. It will do for now, but we will have to work on a more permanent solution. Any ninja, trained or not could see through that temporary crap. We will need to keep him as low-key as possible for the next couple years."

The Raikage looks at the sleeping boy before turning to Darui.

"The Seal Master is waiting for you at his office. Once he is finished analyzing the seal, report back to me."

Darui nodded and picked the boy up.

"Hai Raikage-sama."

Darui quickly made his way towards the outskirts of the village. He arrived at the small, strange house. Well, it was more like a shack. It was located on an old abandoned training ground surrounded by dead bushes and several trees that appeared to be melting, the fog that was cleared from the village seemed to condense here. Every ninja in the village avoided the area. The kinds of noises that come from here are often used in horror stories to get young ninja and children to behave.

Knocking on the door, one of the craziest looking men that Darui ever had or probably ever will see opened the door.

He was balding, he had white hair to his shoulders and none on his head, thick, red-rimmed glasses. When he smiled you could make out that he just one tooth, and it was more like a fang, hanging a half inch below his lip. If you would look close enough, the iris of his eyes was a glossy black. Nobody even knew his name. He refused to answer to anything but Seal Master and had lived in the village for nearly 60 years.

"EHEHEH come, come let's see this bunny."

Darui just raised his eyebrow.

"Bunny?"

The strange man frantically nodded his head.

(Like the song For the Love of Money.)

"Bunny bunny bunny bunny bunny…buuunyyyy"

Unsure of what to do, Darui just nodded to the kid.

Grabbing the child, the rather eccentric man kicked the Jonin out of the shack, slamming the door on his face.

Darui could only stand there, dumbfounded.

"Man, if that psycho wasn't a genius he'd be dead already. Crazy bastard."

With a sigh, Darui went and sat under one of the trees, resting for the first time in 3 days.

*6 hours later

'Holy Shit, I don't even think there is a bathroom in there. What the hell is he doing?'

Just as Darui was about to say the hell with it and break down the door, a very flustered and angry man stepped out of the shack, all the while waving his hands like a mad man and muttering to himself.

"I don't know how he did it, but he did…made a key…key opens cage…what to do? What to do?…big man with muscles won't be happy…that is one strong bunny…"

SLAP

Darui's slap seemed to knock the crazy out of the man known as Seal Master, if only for a minute.

"What is going on?"

Though he didn't look happy, the man told Darui everything he could.

"It is unlike anything I have ever seen. The Yondaime Hokage used dual 4 trigram seals to form an 8 trigram seal. Its strength is incredible, stronger than anything I've ever seen. However, there was a key hole designed into the seal. It seems that the key will either tighten the seal if the boy is having trouble keeping the fox at bay, or loosen the seal to allow more chakra if the boy needs more strength. The seal was definitely designed for the boy to be Konoha's secret weapon. As it is, he will be able to access initial, small amounts of chakra but probably no more than 1 tail worth and that would likely require a life or death situation or extreme rage."

As soon as the speech ended, the crazy man started going on about bunnies again.

'Man that guy is weird. I need to report this to the Raikage.'

*Raikage's Office

As soon as Darui entered his office A could tell something was wrong.

"What's the problem?"

Darui sighed as he set the still slumbering Naruto on the small couch.

"Boss, the seal has a safety measure..."

After he explained everything that Seal Master told him, Darui knew what was coming when the Raikage smashed his fist through his desk before calming down.

Just as he was about to yell to Mabui to get him a new desk, two Chunin were outside his office with the new desk he needed.

As the two were leaving the office, Darui spoke.

"Sorry about the desk."

Nodding to the two, the Raikage sat and thought.

'Damn it, all that for nothing. Though, maybe with enough time, the Seal Master can create a copy of this key. In the meantime, I will just have him trained so that when we can administer the key, he is prepared… Perhaps the situation is salvageable.'

"Darui, remove the sleeper seal. It is time we find out what his choice will be. However, we need to sway him to our side… If for no other reason than the risks of bringing him back to Konoha, not to mention the risks of killing him or keeping him captive."

Nodding, Darui followed his leader's orders and got in a good position to restrain the boy should he react with hostility.

A groan alerted them that the boy was waking.

"Uhhh, what happened? I remember…Oh yea, I was eating some ramen and then…nothing. Huh, I wonder what happened."

When Naruto opened his eyes, he expected to see a lot of things. A man bigger than any he had ever seen before wasn't one of them.

He couldn't stop himself.

"Woah! You're huge!"

A smirk crossed the Raikage's face at the boy's brash attitude.

"Ok, so we got ourselves a cheeky little brat here."

Just as Naruto was about to yell indignantly. Ei interrupted him.

"Tell me about yourself kid."

That stopped Naruto in his tracks, he couldn't help but smile brightly. It was an incredibly rare thing for someone to want to want to talk to him, let alone learn about him.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen, the Old Man, and the Ichiraku family. I don't like people who are mean to me, I want to be the greatest Hokage ever."

The Raikage's eyebrow rose at the last one.

Ei just shook his head.

'First things first.'

"Darui."

"Yes R-"

A pointed look from A stopped him from finishing…

"-Boss?"

The Raikage gave the man a slight nod.

"Take young Naruto here to the park…I have some paperwork, be back in oh, two hours."

It didn't take Darui long to understand the large man's plan when he saw Naruto brimming with excitement. The kid was nearly bouncing in his chair.

"This is dull, let's go kid."

The kid didn't seem put out by the white haired man's bored tone.

As soon as they were out of the building, Naruto stopped.

"Woah, it's so beautiful…"

Kumo was series of mountain peaks, all connected by a series of bridges. The village was literally, hidden by the clouds.

Darui nodded.

"Kumo is known as the most beautiful of the hidden villages."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"So I'm not in Konoha anymore?"

"Nope."

"W-will I be going back?"

Darui shrugged.

"This is dull, let's get to the park."

His previous question forgotten, it didn't take long for them to arrive at the park. By the time they did, Naruto nearly had tears in his eyes.

'T-they don't h-hate me? Nobody stopped to glare. In fact, a few of the women called me a 'cute kid'. That's never happened before.'

"Go ahead and play, kid."

Naruto looked hesitant so Darui sighed and brought him towards two kids about his age, they seemed to be arguing about something.

When he was nearly there, Darui leaned down and whispered something into Naruto's ear.

"No matter what you do, you can't tell anybody your last name, or that you're from Konoha. If anyone asks, you're my nephew from a small village south of here."

Naruto's eyes just widened and he nodded quickly. He wasn't about to give up his first real chance at having friends.

By that time, they had arrived next to the two bickering children, but Naruto was still scared. Every time he has ever tried to make friends or play with others, someone would yell at him, or hurt him.

"Hey you two, do you mind if young Naruto here joins you? He doesn't have any friends here."

The two four year olds were strange in Naruto's eyes. One, the boy had short spiky white hair and really dark skin, darker than he had ever seen. He was wearing black shorts and a blue shirt. The girl also had really dark skin, but she had red hair down to her shoulders, but the thing that stood out the most to young Naruto was her eyes. They were yellow. She was wearing a dark green shirt and black pants.

While Naruto took in their appearance, they took in his. They looked at him with suspicion before huddling in a small corner and whispered to each other.

Darui wasn't sure, but he thought he heard the white haired boy say something about the destruction of Kumo… That prompted the red haired one to slam her fist onto his head before turning to Naruto and gave a smile and nod.

"I'm Karui and this idiot over here is my cousin, Omoi."

She pointed to the white haired boy, still nursing his head.

Naruto happily joined the two children and Darui leaned against a nearby tree to keep an eye on his assignment.

'This is so, dull.'

Even through his excitement, Naruto was still nervous. Something that the two children picked up on right away.

"What's wrong Naruto?"

Naruto looked at the ground, moving the dirt with his foot.

"I-I've never played with other kids before. What do we do?"

Both of the kids' eyes went wide before they both smiled.

"Then we have lots of time to make up for."

Before Naruto knew it, he had made his first real friends. They spent the next two hours, playing ninja, which was just a combination of hide-and-go-seek and tag. Naruto had never had so much fun.

However, the fun had to stop since two women who had been watching the whole time walked up to Naruto while he was looking for the others.

"Hey young man."

When Naruto turned around, the women were surprised to see fear in his eyes.

"There is nothing to be afraid of young man, when you find them, I just wanted you to tell Karui and Omoi that we will be leaving in about ten minutes."

When tears started to form, it nearly broke both women's hearts.

"Don't worry young man, they will be back tomorrow if you can come."

Naruto nodded happily, tears in the corners of his eyes. But something in the back of his mind was trying to tell him that he may be back in Konoha, hated again tomorrow.

With tears at the corner of his eyes, he ran off to find his new best friends.

Darui saw the perfect opportunity to cement Naruto's story in Kumo.

'Local gossip is more believable then any forged passport.'

The two women stood there confused until Darui walked up behind him.

"He is my nephew, I recently learned that my brother died almost 3 years ago, he had been living on his own in a small village south of here."

"Oh my god, that's horrible."

Darui nodded as he watched the boy look for his new friends.

"Yeah, if I had known, I would have gone after him a long time ago, but me and my brother never really got along so we didn't speak much."

Darui could already see the wheels turning in the heads of two of Kumo's gossip queens, on that new piece of info. The whole village will know about Naruto in a week.

It was about two minutes after he finished that Naruto came running from the tree line with Karui and Omoi on his tail trying to catch him, both of their faces were covered in mud.

They stopped in front of the two women and Darui, smiling and laughing.

The two woman walked up to Omoi and Karui with small smiles on their faces.

"Looks like you three had fun…"

Omoi and Karui nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! Naruto's awesome! He's really fast!"

Both women gave a chuckle as they shook their heads.

"Well, you two need a bath, so let's get going now…"

When Darui walked up to collect him, Naruto almost cried.

Darui stopped him.

"How about, I bring you back tomorrow."

Naruto's smile almost split his face. He said goodbye to his new friends and was about to leave when Karui and Omoi ran up and gave him a hug, smirking as they covered him in the mud that covered them.

"See you tomorrow Naruto."

Naruto walked away with a big smile while he waved to his new friends.

On the way towards the Raikage-tower he talked on and on about how much fun he had.

When they arrived in Ei's office, Darui gave him a discreet nod.

"Naruto, it's time you come up with a decision. Option one, stay here, see your new friends whenever you want and become a Kumo shinobi. Option two, go back to Konoha."

Naruto's eyes went wide.

'I-I can't leave Konoha…I-it's my h-home, right? Then why do I feel like I belong here? I-I don't know.'

"C-can you give me a little while? I-I just don't know."

Ei nodded.

"Sure kid. You can stay with Darui here, until you decide."

Said man just let out a loud sigh, having already expected that.

Ei nodded and the two left. Naruto was deep in thought the whole time.

Flashes of his life in Konoha, and his day in Kumo kept competing. Ramen with the Old Man/Darui helping him meet Karui and Omoi. Ayame giving him a hug/laughing as Karui bopped Omoi's head for thinking too much. Hiding from angry people who want to hurt him/hiding from his new best friends for fun.

Slowly, but surly, even if he didn't know it, his home was no longer Konoha. Home was a place you went to feel welcome and loved. He may not know it yet, but right there in Kumo, that was his home.

*That night, nearly midnight

Naruto barged into Darui's room, nearly getting decapitated by the sleeping man's cleaver. However, Naruto barely noticed, fire and determination in his eyes.

"My home is here, I will be a Kumo Shinobi."

Darui sighed.

"This is dull, it's like midnight. You could have told me in the morning."

Without a second thought, Darui stood up and grabbed Naruto under his arm, said boy kicking and screaming, a huge smile on his face, at least until he was dropped on the couch that was his bed for the night.

"Get some sleep."

Naruto never noticed how tired he was, he fell asleep seconds after his head hit the pillow.

*Next morning

Ei was pleased.

Darui was standing in his office while Naruto was talking to Mabui about his new friends.

"Your plan was genius Raikage-sama. Had we just asked, I'm sure he would have refused. But he is a child, a child with no friends before yesterday."

Ei nodded while watching his assistant re-dye Naruto's hair white with a slight yellow. A cross between Darui and the rather famous Yamanaka Clan of Konoha.

"Darui, I'm going to remove every other project that Seal Master has and get him to start working on creating a key for the boy's seal. I need him strong enough to handle the chakra, but mentally stable enough to handle The Falls of Truth, raise him like a little brother, make him strong, but also make sure he knows you care about him."

Darui's usually lazy eyes went wide.

"You want me to what?"

"I want you to care for him, and train him."

"B-but I'm away on missions all the time. He can't take care of himself."

Ei shrugged.

"Bullshit, your primary mission is as my guard. You take like 1 mission every two months, besides, he did before. Plus from your report, I'm sure his new friends' parents wouldn't mind if he came over. Plus to have him friends with the Tenka Clan heir would do him wonders in the future."

Darui sighed.

"Is this an order?"

"Yes."

Darui sighed

"Ok, boss what do you want me to teach him?"

Ei thought for a second.

"Start with academics, situational awareness and chakra control. See how he picks those up, you have full control on this mission if you think he's ready for something or not ready for something, you decide…"

Darui nodded and the two continued to hammer out the details.

Darui couldn't help but think this was going to be harder than any mission he had ever taken.

*Six months later

Darui, heading towards the Raikage tower from dropping Naruto off at his favorite park with his friends, Darui can't help but think about the recent past.

'That kid is a freaking genius.'

When he arrived, he walked into the Raikage's office to give his report.

"So?"

Darui sighed.

"He isn't so bright when it comes to book smarts. He often has to read something several times before he understands it. However, his determination makes up for his troubles."

The Raikage took that in stride and nodded for him to continue.

"His situational awareness is good. He is still learning, but I have been working with him on different details. Unfortunately, that isn't something you can really train. It comes with experience, which he is getting by 'playing ninja' with his friends."

The Raikage nodded in agreement at that.

"His chakra control is still pretty bad, but is getting better. He can do the 'Surface Cling Exercise' but has yet to finish the 'Water Walking Exercise.' His reserves are about the same as mine now."

The Raikage nodded happily at that.

"As for potential, I think he will make an incredible close-mid ranged fighter."

The Raikage raised an eyebrow.

"I went to the academy to ask for some tips to improve his studies, while I was talking to teacher. He saw the third-year students practicing taijutsu. He got the basics down, not perfect, mind you, but above what most of the first year student has. He did in an hour what most kids take several months. On top of all that, he is rather sturdy, he fell out of tree while playing ninja, he broke his arm and just nursed it as he tried to find a new hiding spot. On that note, his…tenant…grants him accelerated healing."

The Raikage smiled happily at that.

'Thank god. Even if Seal Master can't make the key, he seems to be one hell of a ninja.'

"Good…While keeping up his other studies, you can introduce him to the basic three, and Taijutsu."

"Yes, Raikage-sama. That is perfect as both Omoi and Karui are beginning to learn their family Kenjutsu styles. I believe Naruto feels as though he will be left behind."

Ei stopped him before he could leave.

"Don't forget, I have that mission for you tonight."

Darui just stared lazily before replying.

"Yes, I was able to arrange a sleep over between the two parents. Omoi and Naruto will be staying at Karui's house."

The Raikage nodded in acceptance. When the two women found out about Naruto's living situation, they both volunteered to watch him when Darui was away.

Ok, that's it please review…I don't care if it's just a few words. I just want to know if I have any readers out there. Let me know what you think of the idea.

The Raikage was always known for being manipulative. What better way to convince a lonely child to stay than to give him what he always wanted.

Databook

Ei

Ninjutsu-5

Taijutsu-5

Genjutsu-2.5

Intellegence-4

Speed-5

Strength-5

Stamina-5

Hand Seals-3

Totol-34.5

Darui

Ninjutsu-5

Taijutsu-4

Genjutsu-3

Intellegence-3.5

Speed-4

Strength-4.5

Stamina-4

Hand Seals-4

Total-32