This is an idea that I got reading some story I found on here, and it got me to thinking; whenever Naruto gets taken out of the village as a kid, someone always runs it by the Hokage first, and he always says yes. What if he just left? What if the Hokage found out by accident and started throwing people who would be involved in prison? Where would that take things? That's what I was thinking about. So, you get this story after a weekend of nothing but playing paintball with a huge prick, a fat guy, a short kid, a dumbass, and a slacker. Hope it doesn't come out as too much crap.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anything else, that appear in this story, except for the OC's.

9 year old Naruto Uzumaki sat against a wall, his eyes closed, deep in thought. 'One screw up could be my last,' passed through his mind. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. He didn't know why he chose to wear an oversized blizzard-tested jacket in the middle of the summer, but he wore it. He did a lot of things he didn't see any sense in. Impulsive would be how he described himself.

He glanced at the clock on the wall opposite to him: it read 6:30 p.m. Two hours had passed since the beginning. Two hours of repetitive trial and error, and still there was no edge for either of them.

"We don't have all day, Naruto-kun."

Naruto opened a single sapphire blue eye, glaring at the speaker. It was a man, with sharp, calm, coal black eyes, black hair tinged with green, and pale skin. He wore a red skin tight, long sleeve shirt, and one knee was pulled up to his chest, showing that he was wearing loose green sweat pants as well. His lips were curled up into a smile. Naruto hated that smile. It was arrogance. Pure arrogance.

"There isn't much time to think in a situation like this. Most of the time you would have died already," the man continued, the smile still in place. Naruto really hated that smile, even more with every passing second. "Hmmm… Yeah, you should probably make a move."

Naruto sighed; possibilities flickered through his mind, all too quickly to see. Bits and pieces of outcomes that all seemed to fit together, but he knew they didn't. He exhaled slowly. The images slowed to a crawl, but still floated past. A small smile crept onto his lips, before Naruto opened his eyes. The blonde reached forward, moving a small, highly detailed horse's head carved from black marble.

The green haired man raised a thin eyebrow; Naruto was trying something, and knew it was obvious, which was a good thing for the blonde, but dangerous for everyone else involved. In simple terms, Naruto was a calm, cruel, ice cold genius. Beyond genius, in fact. He found joy in mentally torturing people, whether by fear or confusion didn't matter, so long as there was at least temporary madness created, he was happy. And he was good at it. Great, actually, nearing the skill of a professional in his field of expertise, above the ability of most ANBU, but still unpolished enough to accept teaching from Ibiki Morino . It wasn't working, mostly because Naruto's resources were extremely limited. The Hokage had forbidden Ibiki from teaching Naruto any truly advanced torture methods. But only Ibiki was forbidden from teaching Naruto, which was where Koga came in.

"Your turn, Naruto-kun," Koga said softly.

Naruto looked at the board. Koga was going for offense. An amateur mistake, just begging to be pulled into a trap. Any other time, Koga would play carefully, regarding every move as life or death, finessing his way out of every problem that came up.

But it was different now. The man had seen through the deception of changing strategies, but only that far. Still, it was far enough to kill Naruto's plans. Naruto moved another piece, which was taken on Koga's turn. This went on for five minutes, until Naruto was left with six pieces, and Koga with eight.

"… Well, Naruto-kun?" Koga prompted when the blonde didn't move.

"Amateur mistake, tou-san," Naruto sighed, a smile on his face as he shook his head. He reached out to the board, moving a single piece across in a zigzagging pattern and jumping a; of Koga's pieces in the process. "Checkmate."

Koga stared at the board. Then he looked up at Naruto. "I guess you win, kid," he chuckled, closing his eyes. "But…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"There's still one important question," Koga continued.

"And what is that?" Naruto asked, curiosity evident on his face. He couldn't help asking; he felt the need to know whatever he could find out. An obsession, really. But Koga didn't give an answer. He just seemed to go off onto another train of thought.

"When you're playing chess, what do you focus on?"

Naruto thought for a moment, before he said "…I watch what my opponent is doing." He narrowed his eyes. "Why?" Koga wasn't making any sense. Naruto hated it when people didn't make sense.

Koga grinned. "Exactly. You watch your opponent's moves, hoping to figure out what moves they might make next, what their response to your move would be, their expression, everything. Am I right?" He didn't wait for an answer. Naruto wouldn't have given him one anyway.

"You predict what will happen, using what has already happened. Passing what you know into what you know could happen, then acting on what you see the most."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Your point?" Whatever Koga was trying to say, Naruto wanted him to just go out and say it for once. Subtlety was nice, but it got old.

"Straight to the punch, like always. I like that," the green haired man laughed softly. "My point is that, while you are still in Konoha, your skills are up against a glass ceiling."

Naruto knew it was true. He had said it himself countless times, and he had known Koga was going to do something about it, but the blonde hadn't expected it so soon. It was like Koga knew when Naruto was becoming anxious, or angry, or depressed. It was actually kind of creepy.

"But," Koga began again. "If you were to leave the village, I could train you, and get you better teachers for your other skills, namely taijutsu, genjutsu, and torture."

Naruto thought for a moment; it was a good offer, one he would probably never get again. But there was a catch. There was always a catch, even with Koga, even if it was a simple one. "… What would you get out of this?" the child asked slowly. Whatever answer he was expecting, he didn't get it.

Koga just shrugged, saying "I'm bored here. Taking you on as my apprentice and leaving the village would be fun." He looked at Naruto, serious for once. The expression Koga had when he was serious was kind of scary, really. He looked… old. Dead. Like a zombie that wasn't rotting. "And… You're basically my son. You have no future when your entire past is here." Naruto looked at his adoptive father. The only one he had ever had. And he nodded. Both got to their feet, and, as they were leaving the village, Naruto groaned "You could guilt trip a sociopath."

*Hours later*

Hiruzen Sarutobi burst through the doors of the council chamber, unfathomable rage flowing off of him in waves.

"Where is he?!" he roared, at the only person in the room, a scarred man with most of the right side of his body wrapped in bandages; Danzo. When the council chamber wasn't in use, Danzo used it as his office, despite Hiruzen's orders not to.

Really, the aged Hokage didn't know why he let the man live. He only got in the way, opposing Hiruzen on everything, then whining like a child, when he didn't get his way.

Danzo looked honestly shocked at the question. "Where is who?" he asked, slightly nervous that the Hokage had found out about his plans. Countless as they were, one slip up could put them all on permanent hold. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hiruzen bit back another fit of rage; Danzo may not have known Naruto was gone, but he was involved somehow. "… Komodo!" he growled. In an instant, a tall, muscular man wearing a black and white mask patterned like a lizard's face stood next to the Hokage.

The man, Komodo, as he had been titled, wore the standard ANBU armor, but with a pale gray scale pattern, and, in place of the standard issue katana, a three foot long curved sword with a serrated edge in the center of the cutting edge and oblong holes in the flat of the blade.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?" he replied, in a cold, far off voice. Danzo's eye widened visibly at the lizard masked ANBU's arrival. Hiruzen noticed, but didn't let it show. Everyone was scared of Komodo, even his fellow ANBU, because of his more violent urges. Recently they had come under control, but he could still be unstable if the situation called for it. Danzo was afraid one of the two would decide the situation "called for it".

"…Take Danzo to the holding cells," was all Hiruzen said, before turning and walking out, a small smirk on his face.

"Gladly," Komodo intoned. He pulled his sword from its holster. "Let's go. Wouldn't want too much..." He paused, and Danzo could have sworn the man was licking his lips. "…Bloodshed, before my friend gets a hold of you."

There's the first chapter. Review it, flame if you want, but give me feedback.