Yo! Out with a new story.

Only just thought this up today wrote this epilogue style intro chapter - i'm still undecided as to whether to continue it but you know, i enjoy writting them out.

Enjoy!


Konohagakure – First shinobi war period

"Don't go, Tobi-kun," a woman whispered, her blue eyes shimmering with threatening tears.

"I have to, you know that," His eyes fell on the naked form of his lover, "It's my duty."

"Fuck your duty," she said, her fingers playing with the locks of her blond hair, a small pout on her lips.

He grinned, a rare commodity for anyone who knew him personally, "Natsuki, there's a war going on. The village needs me."

"Fuck the village! Fuck the war!" Her eyes locked onto his and staring into those cerulean orbs he found his breath hitch, "I want you to stay."

'Damn this woman' he thought to himself out of love and not spite.

The man sat down by the edge of the futon and caressed the girl's cheek with a calloused hand, "You know I'm going to go." The girl turned her face into his hand but averted her eyes, "You know this Natsuki. I cannot leave the village unprotected. This village is my brother and I's creation. What kind of Kage would I be? What kind of man would I be?" She nodded dumbly accepting his words.

"Tobi-kun I-" he looked at her curiously as she tested the words in her mouth.

"What is it?"

The woman looked at him, an expression crossing her eyes that he couldn't decipher, "It's nothing," she breathed before rolling over and pressing her face into the pillow, the sheets covering her falling to the small of back revealing her smooth tanned.

The man watched on with wandering eyes that trailed up from the dimples on her lower back, to the mounds of flesh that could be seen pressed against the mattress and the strands of hair that lay in disarray.

"I love you, Natsuki."

"I know, you idiot," she mumbled into the pillow.

He nodded his eyes on the floor and stood slowly, running a hand through his grey white hair, "I'm leaving," he said.

The girl didn't show any sign of hearing and instead hugged the pillow underneath her tighter.

"Goodbye, Natsuki-chan," He admitted his farewell.

Soft feet padded across the tatami mat floor before the sound of a door sliding open and then clicking shut echoed throughout the now silent room.

Embraced in that silence that the girl had grown to hate, the tears that had once threatened to fall now streamed down her cheeks freely damping the soft material under her.

Rolling over, she brought her hands to her stomach and smiled a watery smile.

"Looks like it's just me and you kid."


Konohagakure – Second shinobi war period

"Arashi-kun! You can't just leave!" The girl pleaded, cradling her bulging stomach.

"Don't look at me that way woman, you knew this day was coming." The man stated emotionally, his black eyes cold and uncaring.

"But, what about the child?" The man's eyes drifted to her stomach before he turned away.

"I do not wish to be responsible for a child of ninja heritage." He replied succinctly, his lips tightening into a thin line.

"How could you say such a thing?" She gasped in disbelief, "He is of your blood!"

"That is of no consequence, whether he holds my blood or not is irrelevant." The man span on his heels and made for the door.

"Wait, Arashi." He stopped and looked over his shoulder, "Don't you still love me?" She asked, as if giving her whole self to the question.

The man simply smirked a cruel, sad smile, "Foolish woman," He opened the door and gazed directly into her red eyes, "I never loved you."

The door slammed shut and the woman fell to her knees, fresh hot tears streaming down her tanned cheeks.

She held her pregnant belly and leant forward, her forehead touching against the hard wooden floor. Salty liquid dripped from her face and fell through the cracks in the floorboard as she wept openly, absorbed by the sudden enormity of having to raise a child alone in a death filled world.


"Narumi-san, I need you to give me one last push!" A nurse stressed as she looked up from between the legs of the woman, her eyes laced with worry.

Screams echoed throughout the room as the woman exerted all her strength into giving life to her child. Her matted white hair was sodden with sweat and clung to her face. Her eyebrows furrowed in a permanent grimace, eyelids closed and mouth scrunched.

Suddenly, paired with the relief of a mountain being lifted off her shoulders, a sharp wail cut throughout the room.

"That's it!" The nurse shouted as she retrieved the bloody babe in a white towel and wrapped it thoroughly, "Congratulations, Narumi-san." She wiped the child down, and approached the pained woman, "Your new baby boy."

Narumi took him in her arms and felt a warmth spread throughout her chest that was unparalleled to any feeling she'd ever felt before. The overwhelming affection and love completely outweighed the pain that coursed through her body.

The wailing stopped as the steady bleep of the heartbeat monitor began to slow.

Red puffy eyes opened and revealed blue cerulean orbs that shone like the sparkling ocean on a sunny day.

"My little boy." She whispered as she brought up her hand and stroked his soft cheek with the back or her finger.

"We're losing her!" A shout suddenly sounded, but the woman didn't hear.

"My little boy" She repeated, delirious from the pain and anaesthesia, "Namikaze Minato," her eyes watered and tears bled down her cheeks, "Grow up strong, Mommy loves you."

Despite the sound of shouting midwives and scrambling doctors, the woman let a soft smile grace her lips as a steady haunting flat line pierced the chaos of the room.

"Looks like it's all you kid."


Konohagakure – Peace time

"Naruto, you've got to pay more attention in class. How do you expect to become a shinobi if you never attend your lessons?" A black haired teacher scolded with his arms folded in front of him.

The boy in question simply huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets before mumbling something unintelligible.

"What was that? You're going to have to speak up Naruto or I can't help you." His sensei watched with black eyes as the blond squirmed under his gaze

"I said, it doesn't matter anyway." He shrugged and looked down at his feet, "None of the other teachers mark my work when I hand it in and just give me a bad grade anyway. And whenever I ask questions they just make me look stupid." Iruka's gaze turned sympathetic, "And I'm not stupid! I know I have some difficulty readin' but that's just cause no one ever taught me! This whole academy's stupid."

Iruka sighed, a pained expression corssing his face, "Look Naruto, I'll have a word with Hokage-sama about the teachers and-"

"No! Don't, Iruka-sensei!" the blond looked up urgently, his gaze turning sheepish, "If they get told off by the old man then they'll just hate me more and find new ways to sapotage my ninja training."

"It's 'sabotage' Naruto." Iruka smiled softly at his student.

"Huh?"

"It's 'sabotage', not 'sapotage'" He explained.

"Oh" the blond's expression turned downcast.

"Look Naruto, if you're having problems in class, I could give you some tips outside of the academy if you want." Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Really? You'd do that sensei?" He exclaimed happily.

"Sure Naruto. Just ask whenever and we'll meet after lessons finish for the day." Iruka smiled at the boy's enthusiasm.

It was sad really. To see such a simple gesture bring so much happiness.

"Thanks, Iuaka-sensei, it really means a lot." The man looked at the boy. He knew he meant it.

"Alright, I've got to do some marking so why don't you run along and get some training done." He suggested.

"Sure thing sensei, see you tomorrow!" Naruto grinned as he gave his teacher a wave and exited the classroom.

Stepping out into the cool evening he sighed. An autumn breeze swept through the streets of Konoha and picked up burnt orange leaves that lay stranded on the dusty ground.

Naruto loved autumn. It was easily his favourite season.

He meandered his way through the streets lazily, ignoring the blatant glares and hushed comments.

Soon, the streets that were sided with quaint wooden houses and stores gave way to fields of grassy greens and forestry. The earth was littered with a plethora of yellow and orange, the trees like they bore fruits of pure gold.

The sound of kunai hitting wood reached Naruto's ears.

He followed it through the maze of trees until he came to a small clearing where he found a boy with black hair that fell down in spikes. He wore plain beige shorts and a blue high coloured t-shirt with the red and white fan crest on the back.

"Sasuke…" He whispered to himself as he watched the boy mercilessly launch the weapons at the tree opposite him.

To Naruto, Sasuke was a confusing person. The boy was cold, ruthless and incredibly arrogant. However underneath the showboating and the patronising smirks he saw a loneliness that he had only seen in himself, a thirst for acceptance and praise. He was aware of the Uchiha massacre. Everyone in Konoha was. He still remembered the when it happened. The whole of Konoha seemed to slip into a period of mourning. The stares, beatings and insults stopped for a short while. Sasuke wasn't in class for a month.

Naruto noticed the boy's hands were bloodied and wrapped poorly in bandages. It looked as though he had been training for a long time, and hard.

Absorbed in the show of skill, the blond failed to notice that he had been leaning forward slowly and suddenly found himself falling, landing face first in a pile of leaves sending up a small plume of orange and yellow.

A kunai whizzed over his head and implanted its self into a thick trunk behind him.

"Who's there?" Sasuke called out, his brow knitted in a curious anger.

"Ah Sasuke-teme watch where you're throwing those things you coulda killed me!" The blond shouted as he brought himself to his feet, brushing down his trousers.

"Oh it's just you Naruto." Sasuke said crossing his arms, "You should be more careful, you'll get yourself killed one day." He smirked.

Naruto scoffed, "Yeah right, I ain't dying till I'm the Hokage."

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, "Sure, keep dreaming dead last."

He frowned at the black haired boys words but said nothing. Honestly he was tired of being called the dead last for something that was completely out of his control.

"Well? What do you want? I'm busy training here." Sasuke frowned, visibly annoyed by the disruption to his training.

"Nothing really," Naruto shrugged, "I was gonna do some training myself and I heard some noises so I thought I'd check them out." He looked around the clearing before pausing and glancing carefully at a particular tree branch.

"Look dobe, I don't have time for your antics. Unlike some people, I'm actually trying to be a ninja." He bit back, uncaring of the hurt that flashed in the blond's eyes.

"Yeah well I'd like to see you train without any help or any instructions!" Naruto shouted back, his eyes narrowing at the black haired boy.

"What are you talking about dobe? We get plenty of instruction at the academy." The Uzumaki simply rolled his eyes, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Yeah course the village's golden boy does, but not me! Bet you don't even notice that my grades come back the same regardless of what answers I give, or that not one of the teachers answer my questions!" The blond smirked when he saw the conflicted expression that suddenly crossed the Uchiha's face.

"That can't be right, are you sure you're not just an idiot?" Sasuke asked, almost to himself.

"I'm not an idiot!" Naruto replied angrily.

"Sure thing, dobe." Sasuke muttered dismissively.

He let out a grunt of annoyance at the black haired boy's tone before pointing off into the trees, "Fine! If I was an idiot, how would I know that there's one of those mask guys watching you in that tree over there?" He declared.

Sasuke turned and looked at the area the blond was pointing to with a raised eyebrow, "Dobe, there's no one there. Are you delusional as well as idiotic?" He asked with a sly grin.

"Alright then teme, throw a kunai at it then. If no one's there, I'll admit that I'm a dead last, if they are there you have to let me train with you."

Sasuke stared at the boy blankly before sighing, "Fine, and you'll leave me alone also?" He added.

"Yeah yeah I'll leave you alone." Naruto waved his hand in front of him.

"Alright well where is he?" The Uchiha asked.

"Umm," The blond stared into the trees for a moment, "He's over there now, he's moved slightly." The blond pointed off into the corner of the clearing to a partially obscured branch.

Sasuke, not one for wasting time, quickly launched a kunai in the direction of the branch. Shortly before the projectile entered the foliage, a black blur shot out of the trees with a rustle of the leaves.

Onyx eyes widened in awe as Uchiha looked back at the blond who stood standing with a smug grin on his face, "How did you-" His mouth snapped shut as he frowned, "Does this mean we have to-"

"Yep" Naruto grinned happily, "I look forward to workin' with ya, partner."

Today was a good day for Uzumaki Naruto.

He loved autumn.


"And you are sure they noticed you." The Sandaime frowned as he leaned forward onto the large wooden desk, hands clasped before his face.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Uzumaki pointed out my location and Uchiha threw a kunai that would have hit me had I not moved." The man confirmed, the white mask on his face vaguely portraying a cat in red paint.

"And do tell why you simply didn't evade the kunai without being seen?" The Hokage asked, and got the vague impression that the man was smirking under his mask.

"The Uzumaki boy made a bet with the Uchiha." Sarutobi rose an eyebrow, "Uchiha did not believe that Uzumaki could detect someone when he couldn't so, they made a wager. If there was someone there, they would train together, and if there was no one, Uzumaki would admit that he is the dead last and leave Uchiha alone. I concluded their cooperation would be beneficial for the village."

Understanding the man's logic, he gave a confirming nod as he relaxed, spinning to the side in his chair.

Now he was the one grinning. He had to admire the man's quick reasoning, he doubted many ANBU would have done the same.

The old man then sighed before dropping some tobacco into the pipe that sat on the oak surface of his desk. He lit the pipe and brought it to his lips, taking a long, weary drag. Exhaling the smoke he watched as it drifted lazily into the expanse of the office.

"Cat." He called out, demanding the ANBUs attention.

"Yes, sir?"

"How do you suppose Naruto-kun was able to detect your presence? Considering you're a jounin level ANBU."

"I'm not quite sure Hokage-sama," He paused, for a moment, "I can only conclude that he has a strong sensor ability."

The Hokage paused with another slight nod, humming lightly in response.

"And who was the last known Konoha shinobi to weild such a strong affinity to sensory abilities." Sarutobi asked again, a hint of mirth lacing his voice.

The ANBU took a moment to think, "Well, there have been many sensors who have gone through the Konoha ranks… However, when you factor in that Uzumaki is but a child, a poorly trained child at that, to be able to sense a high level shinobi… I'd say the last person I recall would be the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama, if the stories of his prowess are true that is."

The Sandaime nodded thoughtfully and let another cloud of smoke disperse throughout the room.

"That'll be all Cat, you are dismissed." The man nodded and disappeared in dark blur.

The Hokage span in his chair and looked out over the village, a small grin gracing his aged lips.

"Tobirama you old dog."


Yo! Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

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