Naruto

Chapter 1: The Beginning

The compound was destroyed. The buildings were on fire. Dead bodies were strewn all over the floor and at the center of the carnage stood one figure. Sasuke ran towards the cloaked man screaming in fury. He unsheathed his ninjatō and charged it with his chakra. He shunshined behind his target and swung his sword.

The man turned and stopped the blade with two fingers and whispered. "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu."

Sasuke was enveloped within the flames but was quickly replaced by a log. He shunshined back towards the cloaked figure and released the electricity charged within his sword. He scored a direct hit upon the small of the man's back but his victory was short lived as the man disappeared in a smoky puff. Sasuke turned around to search for his enemy but as soon as he turned his head, a hand grabbed onto his face.

"I'm sorry Sasuke." The man said, "Kanashibari no Jutsu."

Sasuke fell to the ground in a stiff heap and yelled. "You won't get away with this Itachi! I'll kill you! I'll get you even if I die!!"

"Please do Sasuke… please do." Itachi turned his back to Sasuke and jumped into the night.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Itachi ran into the center of ANBU headquarters, leaving many mutilated bodies in his wake. Itachi was bleeding profusely but he refused to give up. He had a mission, and would stop at nothing to accomplish it.

One last challenge stood in his way. Itachi sighed and began centering himself for the battle to come.

"So Itachi, it comes to this huh?" Shisui murmured. Itachi nodded. "Well, let's make it one to remember. You were always stronger than me, but you're wounded and spent. Bring it on Itachi."

Itachi began flashing through hand signs and said, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu." The fires burst from Itachi's mouth and sped towards Shisui at blinding speeds. Shisui pulled out his ninjatō and cut the flames in two as he dashed at Itachi in an attempt to end the fight.

Itachi, with a tear rolling down his face, flipped through more signs and breaking his normally calm demeanor yelled, "Chidori!"

The sound of birds chirping filled the chamber and a loud squelching sound could be heard as Itachi's hand was rammed through Shisui's chest. "I'm so sorry Shisui. Forgive me."

He looked up into the eyes of his best friend as he saw the life departing Shisui's body. He felt a change in his eyes and he realized that he had acquired the Mangekyou Sharingan. Itachi pulled his arm out and caught Shisui's body before it hit the ground and carefully laid him out.

Itachi looked up and continued on his way. After intense minutes of searching, he found what he had been looking for. He activated his Sharingan, turned on the computer and scanned every single document within the database. It was all logged into Itachi's brain at the end. Itachi placed explosive notes all around the chamber and left the building. In his wake, the entire building blew up and collapsed. Itachi prepared one last jutsu and jumped off into the night.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The lights inside the store called "Ryuzo's Armory" shut off and on the inside, Naruto walked up the stairs into his own apartment. Naruto turned the lights on in his room and his eyes quickly scanned the area for disturbances. His eyes came to rest upon a small picture of himself from when he was five. That was twelve years ago, and the happy go lucky smile that was present upon the little child reminded him of the days from the Ninja Academy. Those days were gone now and Naruto now owned his own weapon shop as a civilian. God knew how he hated that word.

Naruto reset the traps at his door and went to bed. He looked outside of his window to stare at the stars when he heard a beeping from his bedside computer. There was an intruder.

The blonde grabbed his special kunai set from beside his desk and prepared for another drunk that probably planned on getting lucky and killing the demon container. The traps went off but still his computer told him that the intruder was alive and moving closer to Naruto's position.

'Must be a shinobi.' Naruto thought, 'No normal person could've avoided my traps.'

Naruto steeled himself and tried to bring to memory his self-defense classes from years past. Only one layer of traps separated him from the intruder and Naruto thought that this was the end.

'My chakra coils are shot to hell and I haven't had hand to hand combat in over 5 years. Even Kyuubi can't get me out of this one.'

The last five traps were sprung and the dull thud of weapons piercing skin floated through the door. The door creaked open and the intruder stumbled through with various swords and kunai sticking out of his body from Naruto's numerous traps. Naruto sent a kunai towards the man's head, hoping to kill him but a hand shot up and pulled it out of the air. The man's head lifted and all Naruto could see were red eyes with a pinwheel spinning rapidly in the middle.

'Mangekyou Sharingan. Uchiha Itachi.' The knowledge flew through Naruto's brain as he processed the sight in front of him. He was held frozen as Itachi slowly approached him and Itachi pulled up two bloody fingers and tapped Naruto's forehead. The last words Naruto heard before darkness overwhelmed him was: "I'm sorry."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Sasuke stood outside the weapon shop and radioed, "The target went inside a building, Ryuzo's Armory, and he might have an accomplice in there or he might be restocking on weapons. Requesting backup."

The response he got was heartening, "Yamanaka Ino on the way. Hold your position."

Sasuke could hear brief sounds of conflict. 'Maybe the owner is putting up a fight, but against Itachi, he doesn't stand a chance.'

He hated to admit it, but if he was forced to go one on one with his brother, he would lose as well. But with Ino, his partner, they stood a good chance of subduing the rogue ninja. He snapped out of his reverie when a tap on his shoulder indicated the arrival of his girlfriend/partner.

"Let's do this." He smiled and they both entered the weapon shop. The inside of the store was what you could expect from a weapon store, and they slowly advanced, wary of attack. Sasuke scanned the room with his Sharingan on full blast. He saw no chakra residue, no signs of struggle, and no sign of Itachi. They arrived at the doorway leading upstairs and they both noticed the sprung traps.

'There's no weapons lying around from the traps, he must've been hit.' Ino signed to Sasuke. 'There's a good chance that he's very injured judging by the placement of them.'

Sasuke nodded his assent and they both walked up the stairs. The sight that met them was not something they would've expected in a hundred years. Itachi was lying dead on the ground, weapons protruding from his still body from every direction. It seemed as if the traps had done their job to perfection. But what was even more surprising was the security system within the room. Computer monitors had surveillance around the whole village and there was a wall of photos with shinobi and civilians alike. Sasuke approached the wall and noticed something.

"These guys are all dead; they were executed for breaking… rule… 37B." Sasuke mumbled.

"37B? What's that?" Ino asked, "I've never heard of it before. What classification is it?"

"I believe that it's Top Secret. Eyes only, I've only heard of it spoken about in whispers, I never actually knew what it was though."

A figure stood up in the corner of the room. Sasuke and Ino spun to face the new threat.

"37B, formed on October 11, the day right after the Kyuubi attacked and was… killed." The figure spoke, "It concerned the status of one of Konoha's citizens, effectively blocking his birth record and his parental record so as to not bring unwanted attention upon the child."

"Who are you, and how do you know Top Secret government information?" Sasuke asked. He slowly unsheathed his ninjato as Ino began to do the same.

"Me? I'm just a civilian." He spat out the last word. "An ex-ninja if you could even consider me that."

"Then explain how you know Top Secret government information." Ino advanced slowly towards the figure. "Explain it to me now or I will be forced to kill you."

"I don't know how I know." The figure stepped out of darkness into the bright light from the LCD screens around them. "I'm just a guy trying to stay alive, trying to make a life for myself."

Naruto stumbled forward toward them. "I don't know what happened to me! He came," and Naruto pointed at Itachi. "Told me he was sorry, touched my forehead and I blacked out. Now I feel the weight of the entire fucking world on my shoulders, I know things that I shouldn't know and all this information is just running through my head."

Sasuke stepped up and faced Naruto. He signed to Ino behind his back, 'I think that Itachi stole the government secrets and planted them inside this guy's head. That's what he was after; he broke into ANBU HQ and destroyed the database.'

He then took off his ANBU black ops mask and looked Naruto in the face. Naruto stared back and he suddenly blurted out: "Uchiha Sasuke. Hunter Nin Assassination Division. 17 years old. Second prodigy of the Uchiha Clan. Specializes in fire ninjutsu. Supposed lover of mmfph…"

Sasuke smothered Naruto's mouth with his hand. "That's enough."

"Who are you?" Ino took the initiative. "Did you have any connection to Itachi?"

"My name…is…Naruto. And no, I never knew him." Naruto looked at her with red eyes and paused for a while. "I'm so tired."

And with that he fell to the floor.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A tall robed figure stood by a window and said. "Who is he?"

Sasuke replied. "His name is Uzumaki Naruto, a civilian weapons maker. He seems to have no connection with Itachi and is unaware as to the extent of his situation."

The man spoke again, "Uzumaki Naruto… find out everything there is to know about him."

"Hai Hokage-sama!" Sasuke then shunshined out of the room.

'Naruto… what are we going to do now?' The Hokage took a long draw of his pipe. 'It's been so long hasn't it?'

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

'Such a plooshy bed… such comfortable pillows… boy my room rocks!' Naruto sat up and stretched his arms out and gave a big smile. His smile quickly faded as he opened his eyes and looked around his 'room'.

'The hell? Isn't this the… hospital?' The events of the night before flooded his mind and he lay back down onto his bed. 'So it wasn't a dream…'

"No, it wasn't a dream Uzumaki-san." Naruto spun to face another blonde.

Recognition flashed in his eyes. "You… Yamanaka Ino. The ninja from last night."

"Do you know what happened to you Uzumaki-san?" Ino asked.

"No. I don't and I need someone to explain it to me just about right now. I have a life and a store to take care of and I can't have crap like this happening to me. My head feels ridiculously full and every time I see something, a bunch of information just pops up and tells me everything."

Ino sighed. "We have a team trying to find out what happened to you, and if you wait a little bit we'll have an expert come and try to explain it."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The aftermath of Itachi's rampage left a completely ravaged ANBU HQ, a damaged ANBU unit, and a destroyed database containing the secrets of Konoha. Civilians and shinobi alike wandered the streets and examined the effect of their second strongest going berserk.

The Hokage called all people together for a public announcement and began speaking.

"Last night, there was an atrocity committed by one of Konoha's finest. What caused this to happen is still under investigation. The complete damage assessment is still unclear but it seems that the entire Uchiha clan compound was leveled and many of the clan members were killed. He turned upon his own ANBU squad and killed them. All of their names shall be placed upon the monument to honor their sacrifice. So many were cut down before their prime and their lives stopped short before they got to experience true life. I express my deepest condolences and we will do our best to prevent something like this from ever happening again."

'I'm getting too old for this.' Tears fell into his wrinkles and they followed the path set by them all the way down till they dropped off of his face. Sarutobi was a shinobi well out of his best days and he felt all of his years upon his shoulders at that moment. It seemed as if one problem was stacked upon another.

'Now unto Naruto, the last casualty in this violent incident.' The third Hokage pulled out a file and flipped it open.

Name: Uzumaki Naruto

Born: October 10

Status: Civilian*

*Academy dropout due to disruption of chakra coils

------------------37B----------------

The Hokage then cut his thumb and rubbed it across the paper. The page changed and turned into:

Name: Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto

Born: October 10

Status: Civilian*

Other Notable Facts: Son of the Yondaime Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina. Container of the nine tailed beast the Kyuubi. Uzumaki Naruto is known to have photographic memory and an IQ of 158. Genius level person with borderline paranoia.

*Due to Kyuubi's presence Naruto's chakra coils were unable to adapt and grow properly resulting in an inability to use chakra. Medical attention could fix the problem. See Tsunade.

Many other little tidbits of information were scattered across the page but none were noteworthy enough to examine again. The Hokage began to change the paper accordingly. He had received a briefing on the status of Naruto after last night's events.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Flashback

"Uzumaki Naruto contains all of the information that was destroyed from the database. It seems that his brain was able to retain the information that was passed unto him by Itachi. Other effects of this memory passing are unknown and only time will tell what the long term effects are. He seems to have a computer-like brain now and whenever something that was in the database is shown to him, he can instantly tell you what it is, its purpose, and other noteworthy facts about it. He is now a highly valued asset and we cannot let Root find out about this." The ANBU captain finished his report.

The Hokage turned around in his chair and thanked the captain. He needed to think this over more. 'Damn it Minato! I'm not supposed to be doing this right now! I should be enjoying sweet retirement surrounded by beautiful women! He's your son after all isn't he?'

But there was no response. Of course, Minato was dead and had been for the past 17 years. The Hokage sighed and pulled out his pipe. It would help him think clearly.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Naruto lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. He had undergone a battery of tests that day and there seemed to be no end to the probing and analyzing of his brain. He had known he was smarter than others all along, even when he was little, but he always hid it, nobody needed to know that. He remembered everything, all the events that had ever happened to him, big or small, he had looked it up a long time ago and they called it 'Photographic memory'.

The door opened but Naruto didn't want to face the next examiner. He was sick of this; he just wanted his life back, his normal boring life.

"Naruto." The voice said. "It's me, don't you remember?"

"How could I not?" Naruto replied. "You're the old man."

Naruto turned on his side and smiled at the wrinkled Hokage sitting next to his bed.

"Who would've ever thought that something like this could happen to me huh?" Naruto asked, "I thought all that intrigue and spy shit was over when we figured out that my chakra coils were FUBAR."

"I didn't see this coming either Naruto and I'm here to explain what happened to you and what you're going to do now." The Hokage took a deep breath and began his explanation.

"Naruto, what I'm going to tell you is something that only a select few know. Currently, we are at war." Naruto's eyebrows shot up in confusion, to his knowledge no declarations had been made and all the countries put up a semblance of peace. "Not a war with another land, but within ourselves. It is a secret war and it has been waged for a little over a decade now. But just now has it escalated to unexpected heights. Itachi's rogue mission was a mission that was commissioned by me."

At this Naruto sat up. "Wait, so you made this happen to me?"

"No, you weren't supposed to happen, that was an on the fly thing that Itachi did. But the database that Itachi destroyed was the objective. We are fighting a secret organization that has sprouted within our own ANBU and is being led by Danzo. They desire for all of Konoha to become a militant nation and to spread our influence by force over the entire continent and to conquer all of our enemies. But we all know that this plan will lead Konoha down and eventually to its death. He has recruited many of our young ANBU operatives and convinced them that ROOT is right. They almost took the database, which contains all of Konoha's military secrets as well as military plans and safeguards. If they took that they could take over all of Konoha overnight."

"And so what does this have to do with me? Itachi destroyed the database."

"He put the database into your head. He had seen your file somewhere and figured out that your brain was the only one that could handle the entire database. This would protect the information from being lost, quite a smart move by him too."

Through gritted teeth Naruto growled. "Get to the point old man, what happens to me?"

"We need you to save Konoha."

'Fuck.'

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-