Uzumaki Naruto's head was spinning as he walked along Konoha's main road. He had less than three hours to make one simple decision that would put his life on one of two completely different directions. On one hand he could turn down the offer and be placed on a team with the rest of his class to be tested over his worthiness of being a genin. On the other hand he could gain a definite place within the shinobi forces, however he would have to remain a shadow for at least three years. Not only that but he wouldn't be allowed to tell any of his friends about it because of the nature of his job.

He wanted to become a member of the regular forces where his skills could be recognised as being his, however there was a good chance that he might fail the true graduation exam and lose his hitae-ate, making him a civilian once again.

However if he was to join ANBU he would be guaranteed his place and would also have three years of missions as well as a chance to develop his skills to an awe inspiring level before joining the regular forces, giving him a better chance of getting recognition and eventually being named Hokage.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" an unfamiliar voice cut him out of his musings and caused him to turn and look at the person who had called out his name in a questioning manner.

The culprit was a young boy around the same age as himself, possessing sickly pale skin and short dark hair that simply fell around his skull. He was wearing a simple set of grey pants and a brown jacket, causing him to simply blend into the crowd as nothing more than a civilian. However that did not give Naruto any ease of mind, the boys eyes more than made it obvious he wasn't just a normal passerby. The strange boy completely lacked any warmth in his eyes but at the same time there was no coldness either, there was simply nothing, it was as though the boy had no emotions to speak of and it genuinely unnerved the blond.

"Y-yeah?" he finally answered, he didn't know if he was doing the right thing by admitting to the stranger that he had found the right person but something about the young teen made him feel that even if he had lied the strange being in front of him would have seen through him like a plane of glass.

"Come with me," upon hearing the request the blond felt a cold chill run down his spine at the tone used, one that had a surface of warmth but was completely empty of emotions underneath the obviously faked warmth.

Naruto watched as the boy started walking towards a less populated area of the village, following him cautiously and ready to run or fight if this stranger tried anything, since he was only the same age as him there shouldn't be a problem with either of those options.

The duo walked for several minutes before coming across familiar scenery, the same park he had started teaching Konohamaru the Oiroke no jutsu. This caught the whiskered child off guard, fortunately for him the stranger simply proceeded to sit on the very log he and Konohamaru had spoken to each other on earlier that very day.

"Do you want to sit or are you happy standing?" the dark haired stranger asked him earning a few blinks of surprise from the blond as he tried to process the situation he was currently in.

"I'll stand," came the response as he slowly began to relax a little now that the stranger was seated and he was standing far enough away to respond to anything the other boy might try.

Upon hearing the blonds statement the plainly clothed individual let out a simple of nod of confirmation before he opened his mouth, ready to try to complete his mission.

"Did you know that there are actually three people outside of the Hokage that are privy to the identities of ANBU operatives?" the strange boy asked, causing the blond to stiffen considerably, "my grandfather is one of those people."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Naruto asked, as his heart began to pound at the idea that this stranger might know of the offer he had been given by the Hokage less than half an hour ago.

"My grandfather believes that your presence would be better served in the regular forces, with both your burden and heritage you possess an immense chakra capacity and could easily throw around area destruction techniques and save many lives in the next war," the strange teen stated with a fake smile plastering his face.

Now Naruto knew that there was something wrong, this boy about the same age as him knew of his burden, something that was forbidden by the Hokage himself, plus the boys statement of his heritage also intrigued him, despite his curiosity he had never been told anything more than the fact his parents were ninja that died during the Kyūbi's attack on Konoha the day of his birth. However this boy apparently knew about his heritage, meaning there was someone feeding him information that shouldn't be given to him in the first place.

"How do you know about my burden and what do you mean by my heritage?" the blond demanded as his body tensed and he assumed a rather sloppy taijutsu stance, only for the stranger to hold his hand out in a placating manner.

"There are plenty of clues that any perceptive person can pick up on that give away your burden, as for your heritage, you are an Uzumaki are you not?" the boy who had not yet given his name said with his strangely empty tone, earning a series of blinks off of Naruto as he processed the words.

"I don't know… Ji- I mean Hokage-sama has only told me that my parents were ninja," the whiskered child finally stated after several seconds of contemplation.

"The Uzumaki clan was well known for having naturally massive chakra reserves and for living to ridiculously old ages," the civilian dressed boy said calmly, earning a slight widening of the blonds eyes, "after hearing about your ability to create hundreds of Kage Bunshin without breaking a sweat, I am inclined to believe that you are indeed a true Uzumaki."

Hearing this suddenly made the blond feel strange, he now had someone that believed he was actually the last member of a clan as opposed to a mere orphan, if it was true then he might be capable of discovering the identity of his parents with enough research. His mind stalled at that last thought… since when had he ever even considered looking at books let alone want to? This resulted in a conflict, which did he want to do more? Avoid books or learn his parents identities?

"I apologise if I have caused you any trouble, however as I explained earlier my grandfather is rather anxious to have you join the regular forces, with the correct tuition you could possibly become a shinobi on par with Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama themselves," the stranger told him with his usual blank tone, "however if you enter ANBU you will be restricted to improving far fewer skills than you could in the regular forces and run the risk of becoming overspecialised."

That statement did little to ease the blonds concerns, the mere idea that he could potentially grow to be as strong as the man known as the strongest Hokage and his rival was ridiculous but at the same time it made him wonder, did this boy really think 'he' could become that strong? Or was the stranger talking about what 'could' happen if he started harnessing the Kyūbi's power?

It was no mystery how powerful the bijū was, possessing the raw power to tear through practically anything excluding the Shodaime himself and that person was known as being closer to a god than a man. Thinking about it he couldn't help but begin to doubt the boy he was currently speaking to as his mind began to think over everything the boy had told him so far and the results caused his eyes to narrow.

"You just want me to use the Kyūbi don't you," the edge on his voice made it clear that it wasn't a question but a conclusion and Sai couldn't help himself from carefully thinking how to address this issue, the jinchūriki seemed to suddenly grow more aggressive, as though he had something against the idea of using every tool at his disposal.

"I don't see why you are growing so aggressive over the idea of using every tool at your disposal," it was a carefully constructed criticism, said in such a way that the blond would rethink his current train of thought concerning the beast sealed within him, however he did not know the blond well enough to expect the response he would receive.

"Tool? Screw you, even though it might have attacked Konoha, even though it is supposed to be a mass of pure hatred, it is still a living being, it still has its own thoughts and feelings and that means it is not just some weapon for some bastard to use!" the anger contained within the spiky haired blonds voice made one thing clear, the emotionally stunted individual had made a serious mistake and was probably going to pay for it, "go back to your grandfather and tell him this, screw you, if you think I'll just be a way for you to control the fox then you've got another thing coming!"

Without so much as another word the blue eyed teen started storming away from the dark haired boy who could only think one thing 'Danzō-sama is not going to be happy with this result'.

XXX XXX XXX

Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but think over his decision to accept Koharu and Homura's proposal, was it really the right thing to do to place such a young child in an organisation like ANBU? The only other person accepted into the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai at such a young age was Uchiha Itachi and he had already witnessed the horrors of war and been rendered a pacifist, however Naruto was still a child blinded by the illusions of the world, would he really be alright if placed in such a dark and secretive organisation?

Of course, if such an event was to occur there would have to be some precautions taken just like with every other ANBU when working within the village, the mask, cloak and odour killers were standard practice after all the mask and cloak were a Konoha secret designed to block the penetrating capabilities of the Byakugan and hide the wearers chakra from sensors and the Aburame's bugs, while the odour killers were proficient enough to neutralise scent from even an Inuzuka's nose. It was this combined with the ANBU's hoods covering their hair that rendered the ninja's true shadows within the walls. Unfortunately the cloak's material was too thick to use in regular clothing and the possibility of being captured by the enemy made taking the cloaks out of the village a possible security issue.

Of course no ANBU should ever be captured, as it is standard procedure to use a technique specially designed to destroy the users body should they ever be close to death or capture. It was also one of the reasons the aged leader did not enjoy the idea of making the boy a member of the force, the mere thought that the child may have to practically erase himself from existence was painful and made his guilt over the situation rise once again, he knew that if the boy accepted the offer, he would never be the same innocent child he was now.

Suddenly he was snapped out of his musings as a knock on his door indicated that either he was about to receive more paperwork, or someone was here to see him.

"Enter," the aged leader said in the tone he used for all official business, causing the door to widen before a face he never thought he would see come in after knocking on the door, "Naruto? It isn't like you to knock before entering," he said with a raised eyebrow as he prepared himself for the boy to be a fake.

"Yeah, well if I'm going to be an ANBU then I'm going to have to start acting like a normal person aren't I ji- I mean Hokage-sama?" the blond started with a grin before starting to blush at his near slip up.

"So you've decided to join then…" the determined nod he received from the spiky haired blond almost made him feel as if he was even older than he really was, this innocent child was literally giving himself to the dark side of Konoha, sacrificing his innocence to ensure the stability of the tree, "very well, tomorrow morning go to this address and when asked what you're doing there say 'I am a root that supports the tree', they'll take it from there."

"Alright Hokage-sama, I promise I'll do you proud," the whiskered child said with a thumbs up before taking a small slip of paper from the aged leader, "so I'm to say 'I am a root that supports the tree' right?"

"That's right, don't forget it, that's the most important part of what you've learned today," the old man said with a warm smile as he remembered how bad the boys memory was for things like that, "and remember this as well, no matter how much you want to, you must not tell any of your friends about your place within ANBU, that is an order from your Hokage to you, do you understand?"

"Hai Hokage-sama, as far as everyone else is to know I failed the graduation exam and gave up trying to become a ninja," the determination in the blonds eyes was enough to make the older man finally accept that perhaps the boy wouldn't have such a hard time adjusting to life within ANBU… however that didn't stop him from feeling guilt over the 'training' the boy would have to endure for the next six months.

"Alright, go home and get some rest, tomorrow will be a long and hard day for you… I will see you in six months and for what it's worth… I'm sorry," the statement made the blond give a small cross between a grin and a smile before he opened his mouth and said something that put the old man at ease.

"Don't be, it was my decision and I'll take anything they throw at me, this is my way proving to myself that I can be something without having to rely on the Kyūbi, I swear I won't give up, I will take anything they can throw at me and I'll show you that you made the right choice to give me this chance," and with that said, the blond left the office, causing the Hokage to let out a sad smile upon realising exactly why the blond accepted the position before he started working on his stack of paperwork once again.

XXX XXX XXX

Danzō wouldn't deny that he was slightly disappointed. From what he had heard from Sai the Kyūbi's host seemed completely against the idea of using its chakra, however that part of the report was also the piece of information that made him feel slightly less uneasy about what the outcome would be. If the boy had not been so offended by the idea of using the beast in his gut then the idea of the boy joining ANBU would've been a major waste of power, however as it stood it would make significantly less difference if he entered the darkness or stayed in the light.

"That is all for now Sai, return to your post and await further instructions," the bandaged man said in a calm monotone, earning a nod of acceptance from the young boy who immediately leapt into the shadows and out of sight as he donned his usual mask and cloak, ready to be called into action at a moments' notice.

It was a surprise for the young ninja as he was simply allowed to go back to duty instead of receiving punishment for the failure of his mission, of course he wasn't complaining about that fact, merely surprised. It was unfortunate for him that he lacked the knowledge of emotions required to deduce the reasoning behind his lack of punishment.

Danzō however couldn't stop himself from pondering what the fate of the jinchūriki would be, he knew that if he had been Hokage instead of Sarutobi the boy would've been raised almost exclusively to learn how to harness the power sealed within him, however that was not the case, instead the boy was raised as a normal child with the teachings of the will of fire pummelled into his head until a righteous and stubborn will had become a part of him.

It did cause him some slight concern however, the simple fact that the boy had taken so much offense towards his pawn calling the bijū a tool meant that the boy was still being blinded by the light… perhaps in the darkness he will learn to see and understand the world he lives in.

Time is not an issue for the greatest village on the continent.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto couldn't stop himself from releasing a sigh of relief as he entered his apartment, he honestly couldn't believe just how tiring his day had been, who knew that simply having to think could be so tiring?

So here he was, preparing himself mentally, wondering what sort of training he would be forced to endure the next day, knowing how the ANBU were considered the best of the best made him slightly nervous however he was certain that the old man wouldn't have offered him the position if he didn't think he could handle it.

Thinking about it he couldn't help but let out an excited shiver at the prospect of special training that the rest of his year would have to wait years before getting… that is if they ever got it in the first place. If only he could tell them.

Realising that no matter how much he wanted to let them know how awesome he was, he wouldn't be allowed to because of the very nature of his new position. It made a glob of bile appear in his throat when the reality sunk in, everyone would think he was just an academy dropout, a civilian that couldn't even make it to genin despite attending the academy for several years. The only people that would know his true status were the Hokage, his advisors and the other ANBU operatives.

Almost immediately he let out a shiver of nervousness as he realised that he wouldn't be around others his own age but adults that spent several years if not decades in the regular forces before earning their right to join, it was something he realised would probably cause him problems with the rest of his new colleagues with his only hope being to prove to them that he was worth his place in the organisation.

The real question was how much he would have to tear his body apart in training to earn their acceptance, or would they simply shun him for being different like everyone else did? At least in the academy he knew the people that shunned him and could at least get their attention for long enough to prove his existence but would he be able to in a group of professionals like ANBU?

"How badly have I screwed up Gama-chan?" the blond asked his frog wallet with downcast eyes, hoping for some sort of sign that he hadn't made the worst mistake of his life, "why did I have to get all worked up by that Sai asshole? Dammit, it's too late to change my mind… I already gave jiji my word that I'd take whatever they throw at me… dammit, what sort of idiot am I?"

It certainly was not a normal scenario for the blond, to go to bed with his hands clutching his face without having any supper but for the first time in his life the blond had something more important than that on his mind… what the future had in store for him.