Alright, here's the second chapter for you guys. Hope you enjoy. Also, just to note, I'll be finishing up with the time skip in this chapter. Naruto will be much stronger then he was in the last story, also to those who may complain about me making him too strong, please take note of how old Naruto is by the time he reached this level of power, and please remember that he didn't spend three years with Jiraiya doing nothing. he's been training with Kurama, who has the memories of both his parents, so… I hope you see Naruto's growth as realistic, because in all honesty, without spending three years on crap, Naruto could have been as strong as Kakashi by the time her returned from his training trip. By the time the time skip is done, Naruto will be 18, which means he'll be one year older then his canon counterpart. So please, no complaining about Naruto being too strong, I merely allowing for his growth in a way that in my mind, would ensure he reaches great heights in a realistic way.

Naruto: The Runaway Chronicles Redux

Chapter 2

"How did that feel, Idiot?" Kurama inquired as Naruto pulled himself to his feet and trudged forward.

"Fuck you." Naruto muttered aloud as he clenched his shoulder and let out a hiss of pain.

The fox merely laughed in reply. Watching Naruto, actually fight for his survival was exhilarating. Naruto had just been ambushed by five rogue ninja looking to cash in on the bounty Naruto had on his head from all his good deeds.

They had set an ambush in a tavern Naruto often frequented while looking for work. Needless to say, Naruto was victorious but not without a struggle. Four of his five opponents had been Chuunin Rank, and one was a Jonin, and while he did win, it wasn't without great difficulty. He had a large number of cuts and bruises which were quickly healing over thanks to the fox. He had a dislocated shoulder which he'd need to set, and one of his ankles was already starting to swell up, also his vision in his right eye was blurry as all hell from a hit to the head.

Obviously the night had not been kind to our young hero, but he survived.

As he walked out the door, he glanced over at the bartender and the large number of patrons who were backed up against the wall, fearful for their lives.

"Sorry for the mess." Naruto quipped as he proceeded out the door.

Those in the bar could only let out their collectively held breaths as Naruto left. Their eyes slowly drifted towards the three mutilated corpse that had once been rogue ninja. The Kitsune had displayed his superiority in a brilliant flash of swordsmanship, and Shurikennojutsu. And it left many patrons stunned.

Another day, another battle. It had now been four years since Naruto had left the hidden Leaf behind. He was Seventeen years old, and had grown immensely in that time. He now stood five foot, eight inches tall. He towered over his height from four years prior. Eating right, training right, and having the Fox to ensure that there were no medical issues guaranteed that Naruto grew quickly.

He was very well muscled now, and had cut his bushy hair, short. He still kept up his special henge, so as to hide his true appearance. His hair was red like his mother's. His eyes were purplish blue much like hers. And his whisker marks were no longer visible.

Naruto had grown strong in the last four years. He was able to take on four Chuunin level opponents and a Jonin, in a one on five fight, while rested though unprepared. At his peek Naruto could take on any two Jonin in a one on two fight with his skills alone. With the right teacher, and proper guidance, Naruto had everything working for him, to guarantee success. He had a bloodline, he had excellent parentage, he had drive, and determination and he had an amazing teacher, all in all, everything pointed towards success now that Naruto was in the right position.

While his base skills were incredible, it was when he was running at full power, that he proved just how far he had come. At his full strength and with Sage mode, he was definitely beginning to breach the S-ranking.

Yeah, in the year since he had freed that Kumo Chuunin from that group of rogue ninja, the toads had approached Naruto to ask him to learn their sage arts. Over the last four years, Naruto had confided in the toads, his reason for leaving Konoha behind. Needless to say they were not happy, especially Gamabunta, whom actually liked Minato a helluva lot more then Jiraiya. The toads had held to his confidence and had kept his location a secret from Jiraiya telling their contract holder that they couldn't locate him because he did no want to be found.

Of course, Jiraiya had argued that he had a right to know, but they always denied him, saying that one summoner didn't hold status over another. Naruto had full rights as their summoner, meaning that he was just as important to them as Jiraiya was, even if Jiraiya did hold the contract.

So, when asked to learn the Sage arts, Naruto agreed. It took him four months to master them, but according to the toads he had perfected their arts to the same level that his father had, years before.

It was after learning those difficult arts that Naruto returned to his area of operation, and continued his training under Kurama. By this point in time, his skill with his bloodline was on a level where it was useful in combat. He could sprout multiple chains from his back and palms, and use them to grapple and pin opponents. His sword skills were impressive, he'd dueled with a number of traveling swordsman and had learned many interesting tricks from them, on top of his mother's memories.

His chakra control was still good, it would probably never be perfect but it was definitely good. His skills in taijutsu were great, his speed had increased, by a massive quantity, thanks to the fox starting him on his father's speed training regimen. By this point Naruto was fast enough that within a few months time he'd be ready to start learning his father's signature Jutsu, the Hiraishin.

His skills in Genjutsu were still average at best, he was capable of casting large area genjutsu, but nothing pinpoint, or all that fine tuned, still, Naruto and Kurama were both cunning, and they used what they had. Naruto would often use Genjutsu to muffle the sounds of a surrounding area during a fight, so that his opponent would never notice Naruto's clones setting up traps and laying ambushes.

In terms of Ninjutsu, Naruto had completed his father's Rasengan. He had learned the Odama Rasengan, he had infused the Rasengan with the Fox's Chakra, he had created multiple sage art variants of the Rasengan, he had even infused the technique with his two base elements. Wind created, the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, and Water created the Water Style: Typhoon Sphere. The Rasenshuriken was an attack that could be thrown, and when it struck it's opponent, it created a sphere, and anything within this sphere was struck countless times by microscopic blades of wind, that destroyed anything it struck on a cellular level. The Typhoon Sphere was an attack that consisted of a super condensed sphere of water that was held under immense pressure from all sides, in one's hand. When a person was struck with the attack, all of the water and pressure would release from the point of the sphere that made contact with the opponents body, it was basically like a cannon ball, made of water that would only fire when it made contact. While the Rasenshuriken destroyed large areas, the Typhoon Sphere was nearly unstoppable once it activated since, since it required contact with an opponent's body.

Aside from that, Naruto had learned several more of his parent's ninjutsu, his repertoire of combat techniques was varied enough to cover all his bases, he had close range technique's like the Rasengan and it's variants. For medium range he had technique's like the Rasenshuriken, and Shadow Shuriken Jutsu. And for long range he had technique's like his mother's chakra chains, and numerous wind and water style abilities.

In the year, Naruto had also improved his stealth. He had learned the Chameleon Technique from the Toads, and that coupled with his years of practice, and Naruto became a ghost on the battlefield.

The skill that had probably grown the most though in the last year, was his Sealing abilities. Naruto was truly living up to his parents legacy. Within a year or two he'd be as good as his father, whom was a genius when it came to seals. Within three years, he'd be as good as his mother, whom had sealing in her blood, and had learned the art from when she was very small, from one of the few grandmasters on the planet, Mito Uzumaki.

He could create complex seals quickly and had even learned how to seal away others chakra if he needed too.

All in all, Naruto had grown, immeasurably in the past four years, with the Fox as his tutor. The only two things that Naruto sought to do now, was to learn the Hiraishin, and bond his chakra with Kurama's. The prior would begin in a few months, the later had to wait until he and the fox had a safe place to learn.

Any utilization of the Fox's chakra, had to be carried out in small amounts, otherwise nearby sensors may be able to recognize it's chakra and lead the Leaf to him.

In this most resent year, Naruto had built up quite the reputation and developed relationships with those around him.

So First and foremost, Naruto and Kurama's relationship was great. Naruto admired the Fox and was eternally grateful for all it had provided, and Kurama, in turn, grudgingly came to admire Naruto as well. Even with all the crap in his life, Naruto was still the happy go lucky guy he always was. He still liked to smile and joke and pull pranks, and his spirit was as strong as ever. He was just more mature now. And smarter too.

The two had developed such a close bond that Kurama was even willing to allow Naruto to bond his chakra to Kurama's thus allowing them to synchronize and enter Bijuu Mode. The only thing stopping them was that they had no place to train, so they were forced to wait.

Aside from that, Naruto had made several important friends in the local area. He now regularly visited Aski, the capital of this province of the Land of Lighting. There, there was three people that he had come to develop an important bond with. The first was a blacksmith by the name of Kenji, Lee. This guy was a fantastic smith and Naruto used him all the time for repairs and to fix up his gear. Though what made him one of Naruto's favorite people, was that he helped Naruto create his own personal sword.

One day, a few months prior, Naruto had entered the blacksmiths downtrodden and in need of a new sword. His sword technique, which he had named, The Final Draw Technique, had taken the life of yet another sword and sheath. Naruto had mastered the ability to a seamless precision, but he couldn't find a weapon and sheath that could withstand the power of the instant slash. It took him no more then a second to fully charge his sheath with wind chakra to power the slash, yet he could only use it twice at most before the sheath crack, and their was a thirty percent chance the sword would simply snap in half from the pressure. This had been the latter.

Seeing Naruto's depressed state, Kenji had inquired as to what was wrong.

-Flashback-

"You seem troubled Fox." Kenji the blacksmith noted with a chuckle.

"Yeah… my damn swords keep breaking." Naruto muttered as he removed his mask and let out a sigh.

"Really? You broke that sword you showed me the other day? How? That sword was in excellent condition?" Kenji inquired with surprise.

"I know. It's just… I need a blade that can take the kind of force I can dish out. I need something razor sharp, but also hardy enough to take a beating." Naruto explained.

"Hm… well… I think I might have an idea. I can forge a sword for you, and during the forging process you can infuse it with your chakra. The sword should become hardier, and more resilient to any techniques you use through it." Kenji explained.

"Hm… that sounds like a good idea." Naruto replied after a moment.

"Hey… you should put my chakra into the sword too. It would probably ensure that it was unbreakable and I've heard rumors in the past that sword infused with Demonic energy grow stronger the more they're used. It could make you a powerful weapon." Kurama offered up as well.

Naruto smirked at the idea, and informed Kenji that he would happily pay for the construction of a new blade. He quickly departed to get some money, as Kenji set about constructing Naruto's new sword.

-End Flashback-

Once the metal had been melted down, Naruto infused it with his and Kurama's chakra. The end result was shocking. The sword was a simple Katana in design, however, it was slightly thicker then normal. This reduced the cutting power, but that was alleviated by the Wind Chakra Naruto could channel through the blade. The blade itself was also red in color, earning a very surprised look from Kenji after the metal cooled and took on it's new color. It had a black handle, with a black cross-guard, giving the blade a menacing appearance.(Less high-tech version of Muramasa from Metal Gear Reveangeance. Yes I'm a huge fan.)

With both of their chakra's flowing through the sword, the blade became incredibly hardy. The sheath issue quickly disappeared when Naruto learned to create Chakra conversion seals that could change his chakra nature. Placing one on a new sheath, he was able to convert his chakra nature into an earth nature which hardened the sheath allowing it to survive his signature move. Now with a sword and sheath that could survive his power, Naruto was free to form an attachment to his sword. Given his speed and agility with the blade and his style involving lightning fast strikes, Naruto decided to name the sword, Harikēn or Hurricane.

Naruto's alter-ego quickly became well known for it's use of a blood red blade. A blade that radiated with demonic power. Power that seemed to bend to only Naruto's will. Which was true, considering it was Kurama's demonic power, and Naruto was the only human, Kurama would willingly allow control over his power.

It was this new development that led to a closer bond with the other two out of three. The second was Daso Hiyoto, the local Feudal Lord and a powerful Kumo ninja.

Daso was a tall and heavy set guy. They called him the Bloody Boar of Kumogakure, and for good reason. Naruto had heard rumors that the Hiyoto family had a terrifying bloodline. Daso himself was kind, but cunning as all hell. The man knew how to work any angle that was offered to him.

In terms of appearance, he was in his fifties. Short dark hair, thick, medium length beard, focused eyes. All around, an intimidating guy. Until you heard his laugh, it was a loud, hearty, laugh that came from deep within, the man was always in good spirits, and was always willing to offer a hand to his friends.

Naruto had formed a bond with the man, under the guise of his alias 'Kitsune', he was often seen in the Hiyoto family palace, inquiring as to whether or not Daso had any important missions he needed taken care of. Over the last four years, they had formed a rather sporting bond with one another. Daso always seemed to have some wisdom for Naruto, always a tip on where to find work, or where food was plentiful in the local forests. He always offered Naruto a helping hand and on more then one occasion the two had found themselves in town getting drunk alongside the locals, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Naruto was never afraid to remove his mask, with his henge up, he needn't worry about anyone recognizing him. The only reason he wore it around the palace was to piss off his third 'friend'.

His third new relationship came in the form of Nayumi Hiyoto, daughter of Daso and Ayane Hiyoto. Nayumi was a natural-born prodigy. The only reason she wasn't stronger, was because her time was spent between shinobi training, team building, missions, and developing her political skills. She was set to take Daso's place as Feudal lord one day soon, and she was obviously intent on doing her best.

This young woman was strong willed, focused, and driven. She had a fiery determination and temper to rival her father's. She didn't like to show weakness and rarely displayed any emotion that she may deem too, 'girly'. Still, she was a young woman, and she had a kind heart underneath it all. Her people cared for her, and she for them. She was cold to outsiders, but never mean about it. Naruto often liked to joke that she acted like a Tsundere, which was only partially true. While she had attacked him once, when she caught him spying at the bathhouse when he was younger and dumber, she didn't usually react with her fists first. Most of the time, it was her razor sharp tongue that saw action, long before her fists were needed. Nayumi Hiyoto could quip with the best of them.

In terms of appearance, she still had short, shoulder length, brown hair, cut in a bob cut. Her hair fell over one of her eyes.

In terms of build, she was average height, and lean. She had an athletic body, and descent curves. She wasn't an overly endowed specimen with light curves in the hips and thighs. She did have a descent butt, and her breasts sat towards the higher end of a b-cup which fit with her highly athletic lifestyle. She took more after her mother in terms of her body-type, thin and lean, rather then her father, tall and wide.

Their relationship came in the form of Nayumi being immensely curious about him, and Naruto taking great pleasure in teasing her, at least at first. She wanted to know who he was, and what he truly looked like, but most of all, she wanted to fight him. Nayumi was a woman whom always sought to test herself, and she had learned from the local legends that aside from her father and mother, Naruto was probably the strongest fighter in the area.

So, whenever she'd stumble across him waiting around in her home, she'd challenge him to a fight which he'd casually ignore just to get a rise out of her. This always worked as she wasn't without her pride and wasn't at all difficult to insult if you knew how. Still, his aloof attitude only served to further her curiosity and his natural skill in stealth, and his incredible ability to vanish in an instant, always intrigued her. I guess in a way you could describe their relationship as more like that of competing rivals. They hadn't been friends, mostly because neither knew much about the other, but they had a respect for one another. Or friendly lack there-of in Naruto's case. That all changed about a year prior, when Naruto finally conceded to a match between himself and Nayumi.

-Flashback-

"What?" Nayumi stuttered in disbelief.

"I said sure. Let's fight." Naruto replied, his face hidden behind his mask.

"Oh… well alright then. This way." Nayumi responded, still surprised that he had finally agreed to the match. She led him to her families personal training yard, which was wide open and perfect for allowing combatants a chance to let loose.

The two took position on a few yards from each other and faced one another. "Alright, Kitsune, if I win you need to finally show me your face." Nayumi stated to him as she shifted into a taijutsu stance.

"Fine, but if I win, you need to show me your boobs." Naruto replied, causing Nayumi's eyes to widen in shock.

Seeing her face Naruto burst out laughing. This was how he often fought, teasing and tripping up his opponents so they would lose focus. He knew enough about Nayumi to know that her mother was a Taijutsu specialist and her father was also great at it. That meant that Nayumi was probably a great Taijutsu fighter, so it was best to keep her off her A-game, even if he was better then her, he had learned to never give his opponents any edge. He'd push them to their lowest point, to keep them off put.

Nayumi's face was beat red, but she offered a nod none the less, which was actually surprising to Naruto. "She must really want to know what I look like." He thought.

"Well, you have been teasing her with that secret for three years. While she may be a girl, you've gotta remember that she's a girl who knows how to get what she wants, and take's risks when she sees a greater reward for her. Three years of wondering what you look like, vs you getting a look at her boobs, which you've already seen before. I think she just figures what the hell, I'll take that chance." Kurama offered as an explanation. Naruto nodded in agreement and shifted into a Taijutsu stance of his own.

"Wow, Yumi, I didn't think you were that adventurous, I'm gonna look forward to this." Naruto stated with a perverse chuckle, once again, trying to get a rise out of her.

"You've got to beat me first, perv. And that's not as easy as it sounds." Nayumi countered with an agitated smirk. Even though she was calm and cool under pressure, she really didn't want to flash herself to some guy whom might be an eighty year old creep or something. She had her pride to consider.

With a chuckle, Naruto shot forward in a burst of speed. The two quickly engaged in a Taijutsu match, both were strong, both were fast. Naruto had the edge in speed, while Nayumi had the flexibility.

The fought for several moments, before Nayumi drew a kunai and lashed out, only to be blocked by a kunai from Naruto.

"Why aren't you using that sword of yours? I thought you wanted to get a look at my body?" Nayumi tried her hand at pushing him.

"I only use this sword on people that I plan to kill. It has a nasty attitude and doesn't like when I use it for frivolous things. And besides I don't need it to beat you." Naruto countered as he delivered a powerful kick to her chest, sending her flying back. She landed on her feet and launched several shuriken at him, while flashing through handsigns.

The shuriken immediately exploded in bursts of lightning, with bolt arcing between all of the shuriken.

"Impressive. She can infuse weapons with her elemental nature." Naruto though as he brought his hands together and flashed through handsigns. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

With that he sent a blast of wind at the hail of shuriken, stopping them in their track.

He then quickly focused on Nayumi. He felt his heart rate begin to quicken, as the fight grew more intense. There was a smirk on Nayumi's face as well. This is what she wanted, to test herself against someone with his legend, and skill. The two quickly dashed at one another and re-engaged.

For nearly an hour the two fought. Nayumi was good. She excelled in Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, a natural born prodigy. She would be on his level if not for that fact that she didn't have the time to train as much as he did. Also she didn't have his healing factor so her physical abilities were far behind his own, since he could repair muscle damage in a few hours, instead of a few days.

That coupled with his stamina, and chakra levels ensured that she was at a disadvantage.

The fight finally came when she used the last of her chakra, to try and hit him with one of her strongest jutsu.

"Lightning Style: Roar of the Blue Dragon!" Nayumi shouted as she launched her strongest Ninjutsu at him. It was an A-Rank technique that involved expelling huge torrents of lighting from one's mouth, and Nayumi had mastered it to a fine precision.

"Holy Shit!" Naruto thought as she let loose with a roar of Lightning that shot towards him in a massive torrent of glowing blue and white.

Lightning slammed into him and the whole area around his body exploded violently. A direct hit from that attack would have killed most people.

Nayumi stared into the smoke as she dropped to her knees. Her chakra was extinguished and she was panting heavily. Her vision started to cloud over, and she wondered if she had managed to hit him or not.

She felt cold steel against her neck, and knew her answer.

"Wow, Yumi. That was impressive. If that had hit, I'd definitely need to visit the hospital. Well done." Naruto stated.

"Fuck… I guess… I lost..." She let out a tired huff.

"Yeah." Naruto stated as he stepped in front of her. She was staring up at him, trying to determine just how far she had pushed him. She then remembered their deal and a deep blush appeared on her already flushed face.

She heard him chuckle and then noticed him reach for his mask. Much to her surprise, he removed it. Revealing a handsome young seventeen year old face. He had sweat running down his cheeks, and a smile adorned present.

"I think you've earned this." Naruto said with a chuckle.

Nayumi found herself memorizing his look, even as she struggled to regain her breath and keep herself up. He was nothing like she thought he was. He was young, and handsome, and had a vary caring smile. There was a light in his eyes, a warmth that she couldn't explain.

"Oh, and don't worry about showing me your chest or anything. I was just trying to get a rise out of you." Naruto stated after a moment.

"Oh… that makes sense. Do you do that for everyone?" She asked still staring at him.

"Yeah. It's how I like to fight. Keep my opponents off their game. Anger them. Embarrass them. Make them lose control. That way, even if they are better then me, they aren't fully focused." Naruto explained as he knelt down and turned around.

"What are you doing?" Nayumi inquired as he turned his back to her.

"Hop on. I'll take you back up to the palace." Naruto told her.

"Uh… Ehm… I can walk." She stated after a moment but they both knew that was a lie. She could already feel the effects of chakra exhaustion kicking in. She knew she had gone too far.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Naruto replied as he pulled her onto his back. She didn't struggle, she merely let out a tired sigh.

"You're a good fighting Yumi. Keep up the good work and you'll catch up to me one day." Naruto stated to her as he carried her back up towards the palace.

"How far did I push you?" She asked as she held onto him. She actually found it interesting to feel the muscles on his chest, as she rested her head on his shoulder. Her vision was already starting to blur at this point.

"Pretty far. I didn't use my sword, or any of my super-powered techniques, but you didn't use you bloodline either, so I say we both held back a bit. Still, that was pretty good for someone who spends so much time learning how to go to fancy dinner parties." Naruto replied, adding in a joke at the end, that actually made her chuckle.

"I'll take fighting you, over those fancy parties, any day." Nayumi replied.

"Hehe." Naruto offered his own chuckle.

"I still owe you something, for beating me. You showed me your face, even though you didn't have too." She said to him.

"You earned it, and as for owing me something… how's about a rematch?" Naruto inquired.

"Hell yeah. Just give me a few months to focus on my training, and then we'll see how big the gap between us is." She replied with a smile.

-End Flashback-

It was at that point, the two stopped being acquaintances, and actually became friends.

There were still secrets about Naruto that interested Nayumi, and so she would often inquire about them, when the two fought. He was often tight-lipped about his past, but he would sometimes open up about himself. Those one thing he never shied away from was teasing her about her appearance. He always did so in a good way, complimenting her beauty while they fought, which would get her to blush, and throw her off her game. She had heard compliments all her life, but the way Naruto gave them was just so genuine. Even after he had told her that he used it as a way of undermining his opponents, she still felt he was telling the truth when he said those things.

Another secret that was interesting to Nayumi and her father was Naruto's acquisition of Harikēn which had intrigued the two Hiyoto, as the blade was quite striking and carried a powerful dark aura to it. A dark aura that stood in stark contrast to Naruto's kind, generous and caring nature. Nayumi may not have known a lot about Naruto and he may have shown her disrespect on multiple occasions through his teasing, but she did know that he was a good person. As whenever he wasn't training or working, he'd be in town, helping people out.

But anyway, that had been a few months ago, Naruto current sat in a tree resting from his injuries, while he held a mental communication with the fox.

"That hurt like a motherfucker." Naruto thought as he nursed a throbbing headache.

"You must never let your guard down. Even in place's you are familiar with. Those five assholes worked well together. But they underestimated you. You can't become complaisant." Kurama berated him.

"I know." Naruto thought.

The two were silent for a few moments before the Fox asked, "When are we going to stop running and make a stand somewhere? You've built a descent reputation for yourself and have made some powerful friends. Maybe it's time to seek sanctuary."

"What like in a hidden village? Why would I want to throw myself in another prison?" Naruto countered.

"No. Not a hidden village, I mean just anywhere. We've been on our own for four years now, and while making a name for yourself is good, this attack proves that people are starting to plan against you. How long before the next group comes after you? That was five rogue ninja working together, that doesn't happen often, I'm guessing that group has made a name for itself over the years, so chances are good that someone will recognize their deaths and you'll get credit for it. Meaning others will start coming, to collect on you, or test themselves." Kurama explained to him.

"Yeah… that makes sense. Still… if I have to align with someone, who? I can't openly side with a hidden village yet, not until after I finish learning dad's technique. Once I have the Hirashin under my belt, I can get in good with anyone." Naruto thought back.

"Well then… we'd best focus on that. But still, you need to think about it. Join a mercenary group. Hire yourself out to a local lord or something, but you need some political backing. The rogues are coming for you. How long before someone starts hiring the hidden village's to hunt you?" The Fox conceded.

"Alright. I get it. I'll put some thought into it. But for now, I need to rest." Naruto conceded as he let out a deep sigh. Sadly, it seemed his days as a free man were coming to a close. He'd need to align himself with someone. No one makes it alone in this world. At least, no one who wanted to achieve greatness. It was like that old saying, 'Without family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold.'

-One Year Later-

"Motherfucker!" Nayumi Hiyoto hissed out, as she plunged a kunai into her assailants skull. The man was pinned beneath her and unable to defend himself as she ended his life.

With him dead, Nayumi turned her attention to her surroundings. She and her squad had been tasked with escorting a merchant caravan through the land of Hot Water. It was supposed to be a simple mission. By this point, Nayumi was a Jonin, and was captain of a squad of Chuunin, her comrades were currently fighting for their lives against what looked like Iwa ninja. One of her squad mates, the youngest, a blonde haired girl was crawling away from a large man, wielding a ninjato. She was bleeding heavily and was obviously terrified that she was going to die.

Her other two compatriots were fighting back to back against three more enemies. Both of them were heavily injured, with one missing several fingers on his right hand, and the other with a stab wound to the stomach.

The merchants they had been guarding were pretty much all dead. Killed by a few of the extra enemies. The four man platoon had been ambushed by ten enemy combatants. Nayumi's squad had managed to down one before being split apart, and Nayumi had just finished killing the two that had come for her. That left four wandering through the caravan killing anyone left alive.

Seeing the situation for what it was, Nayumi knew she needed to use her bloodline. She rarely chose to utilize it outside of her home, since it was a very obvious indicator of who she was, and often after using it, she would need medical attention, and the nearest town was five miles away. And seeing the condition of her squad, none of them were going to carry her there.

Still, she didn't have much choice. She knew the mission had failed so she focused on her comrades. She rushed towards he downed female squadmate whom was crawling away in a desperate attempt to live, as the her assailant slowly approached her. The look on his face was completely neutral. Not one of these 'Iwa' nin had said a damn thing since launching the attack. The only time they spoke was to call out their jutsu.

This struck Nayumi as odd, as the most common description of an Iwa ninja was loud and boisterous.

Before she could close the distance, another enemy ninja burst from the caravan and jumped in front of her.

Nayumi swore loudly, as she focused on this new attacker. She heard her squadmate cry out, and then a loud squelch tore threw the air. Nayumi knew she'd been killed. Or at least… that's what she thought until she heard the sound of her squadmate's pained yelps.

Glancing past her opponent, Nayumi's eyes widened as she saw the sword wielding Iwa ninja, fall into two pieces. Standing over her squadmate, clad in dark blue robes, and wielding a blood red sword was the Kitsune.

"Sorry I'm late." The Kitsune stated as he created a shadow clone to collect the injured Kumo Chuunin.

Nayumi was stunned to see him. This was far outside of where the Kitsune operated, and she hadn't a clue about why he was there, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Better late then never." Nayumi replied earning a chuckle from the fox.

"Hehe… well… I would have been here sooner but someone decided to leave town early so I had to play catchup." Naruto replied as the Shinobi that had blocked Nayumi's advance turned sideways to keep the two separate.

Ignoring his comment, Nayumi charged at her attacker.

As soon as she moved to advance the enemy ninja turned to face her, just as another burst onto the scene and appeared behind the Kitsune.

This ninja was armed with a kunai, and he drove it right into Naruto's spine.

As soon as the blade made contact, a clone of Naruto burst from the ground beneath his assailant's feet and got him into a hold. Right then, both the clone from the ground and the Naruto that was stabbed, revealed itself to be a clone as well, and used the Shadow Explosion Jutsu.

The ninja trapped in between the two clones was split in half by the explosion. Meanwhile the one, Nayumi was charging towards, was rocked forward by the blast, allowing Nayumi to easily drive an electric imbued kunai into their chest.

"Five down, five to go." Nayumi heard the Kitsune state from behind her. She spun around right as he dashed toward her other two comrades who's enemies had all clustered closer together as they witnessed reinforcements arrive.

Right as Naruto closed in on the group, the final two missing enemies jumped in front of him and began moving through handsigns.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" One howled, while the other shouted, "Wind Style: Blasting Torrent!"

"Shit!" Naruto thought as he stopped and hurled a kunai towards the two.

The kunai was more aimed between them and both shifted out of the way of the blade, what neither knew was that inscribed on this kunai was the formula for the Hiraishin and while Naruto hadn't mastered his father's signature ability, the Hiraishin Sequence, which consisted of multiple jumps between a set number of kunai, he had learned the ability as it had been created by the second Hokage.

So… in a burst of speed, that none could follow, Naruto vanished from sight.

At that point, Nayumi had moved out of the way of the twin attacks, she was far enough behind the Kitsune that she could easily move away, so she had a good view of him just suddenly disappearing and reappearing in between the two enemy ninja.

He stood behind them, his sword in it's sheath. In an instant he channeled wind chakra into the sheath and blade, then with a burst of wind and a snap of pressure, his blade shot out and he slashed the two enemy ninja in half, in one slice.

Both fell to the ground with looks of shock on their faces, neither had even gotten their technique out.

Turning towards the last three Naruto pointed his sword at them.

"Who's next?" He asked. By now both of Nayumi's remaining teammates had pulled back to his position away from the other three enemies. Nayumi quickly appeared by his side as well, and stared down the three remaining opponents.

"Are you ready?" Naruto whispered to Nayumi. She sent a glance at him, and offered a nod. She knew he had something planned for these three. So she readied herself to move.

The three enemy Iwa nin shared looks with each other before one reached into his weapon pouch. Right then Naruto took a knee and activated his bloodline. Nayumi and her teammates were the only ones that could see the Dark Blue chains that shot out of the Kitsune's back and into the ground.

It took less then a second for the enemy ninja to retrieve a smoke bomb from his pouch and begin to throw it towards the ground, but in that time, Naruto's chakra chain's cleared the distance. Right as the smoke bomb hit the ground, Chain's burst from the earth and speared the three ninja. One in the leg, one in the gut, and one right threw the foot.

Smoke quickly billowed up around them, as Nayumi rushed forward. She quickly flashed through handsigns and shouted "Lightning Style: Erupting Thunder!" And with that, she slammed her palms into the ground an a massive electrical surge shot forward. It shot into the smoke and she could hear all three men scream out in pain.

She kept channeling the technique for several moments, pumping more lighting into the attack until the smoke cleared. She didn't want to risk her enemies escaping even if it would tire her out.

It took about thirty seconds but the smoke did clear showing the three ninja on the ground convulsing but no longer screaming. It was quite obvious that all three were dead.

Seeing that, Nayumi let out a sigh and released her technique.

"Well… that was fun." Naruto stated as he retracted his chakra chains. He was lucky they were infused with his chakra which was more geared towards wind, otherwise, they might have conducted the electricity from that attack.

"Fun? You call that fun? We nearly died!" One of Nayumi's squadmates hissed as he dropped to the ground and covered his bleeding hand which was missing fingers.

"Yeah… sorry about that. I would have been here earlier but I slept in." Naruto apologized.

"Slept in? You were following us?" Nayumi asked in confusion.

"You are the heir to the southern most provinces of the Land of Lightning. Your father wanted to make sure you made it back alright so he asked me to follow you. You guys decided to leave early so I missed your departure." Naruto replied.

"My father hired you to follow me? What the hell? Doesn't he trust me to handle myself? I am a Jonin after all. I'm been a dozens of missions like this." Nayumi snapped in anger. Sure he had helped save their lives, but that didn't mean she liked being followed. Even if they were now friends.

"Hey! Don't get snappy with me! This isn't the first time I've had to follow your narrow ass around to make sure you're safe and I'm sure it wont be the last. You're father does trust you to handle yourself, but you're more important to the land of Lightning then some simple C and B ranked missions. So he told me to keep an eye on you. To let you handle things yourself and to only get involved when you were in serious danger. I think fighting seven to three odds, constitutes things getting out of hand." Naruto replied folding his arms over his chest in the process.

"You've followed me before?" Nayumi asked in surprise.

"Sure. A few times, here or there. I've only had to get involved one other time, and that was to kill an assassin that had tried to sneak poison into your food about a year and a half ago, but otherwise you've handled things yourself." Naruto answered with a shrug.

Nayumi was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry for seeming ungrateful. I understand why my father sent you, and I thank you for your help." She offered in apology.

"See… was that so hard?" Naruto inquired earning an irritated look from her.

"Hey… not to interrupt but where is Anya?" One of Nayumi's teammate's inquired.

"Oh, I took her into the forest to patch her up. She's going to need medical attention, so it's best we sweep for survivors and get back to town." Naruto replied.

"Wait, before we go, we need to check these guys out. they're dressed like Iwa nin, but they acted so oddly. They never said a word, and seemed almost bored." Nayumi stated.

Naruto nodded in agreement and walked over to one of the corpses. Several minute's of investigation found nothing. Nothing on their persons, no identifying marks. Nothing. The only clue to their identity came in the form of seal on the back of their tongues, which Kurama had suggested he check.

"Shit, Kurama. How did you know this was there?" Naruto inquired.

"From your father's memories. When Nayumi described how they acted it sounded a bit to me like that group that Danzo ran. Anbu ROOT. Those seals confirm it though. They're the same one's that Danzo placed on ROOT members to stop them from spilling any secrets. Your father investigated the seal, during his time in office. He was trying to determine all of it's functions, so that he could break it, if Danzo put in on others." Kurama explained.

Naruto simply nodded and swore aloud.

"What is it? You recognize that seal?" Nayumi inquired as she watched him inspect the dead ninja's mouth.

"Yeah. I'll deliver this info to your dad. But first, we need to get your squad-mates some medical attention." Naruto stated.

Nayumi gave him a look but offered a nod. She'd question him about it later. For now, they collected the bodies and headed off into the forest.

While that was going on, Naruto's mind was in a whirlwind, as he analyzed this situation. 'What the hell was Danzo doing out here?' 'Why attack this caravan?' 'Was it the Caravan itself, or one of the guards?'

That last question caused him to glance over at Nayumi as they ran. She was set to become the new lord of the southern most provinces in a few months. If this one an attempt on her life, then things were going to start getting much more complicated, and soon.

Naruto let out a sigh, and pushed forward. The time had come to ally with someone. The leaf was making moves, and getting a little too close for his liking.

-To Be Continued-

Okay, so the intro's all all pretty much done. Prologue is finished. Naruto is now Eighteen, so please consider that before you start saying it's impossible for him to be this strong. Well it's not. He didn't have the three years of bullshit from Jiraiya, he's done pretty much nothing but train for five years now, so yeah, I see him power reaching this level. Also for those wondering why I showed him getting hurt in the beginning, it was just to show that while he's grown he isn't invincible. he can still be ambushed, and taken off guard, and still be hurt. so yeah.

I hope you enjoyed Naruto and Nayumi's interactions. I wanted to show them forming a bond before Naruto got pulled into the political landscape of things. She's a friend now. They may not be besties but they understand each other a bit, and have a bond.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy, the story starts fully, in the next chapter, no more time skips. K, so Ja Ne!