AN: I received some great feedback, both in reviews and according to favorite/follower ratio so thank you very much to everyone who read! I'll try to keep the Author Notes concise and respond to as many question as I can without it becoming very annoying.

reginald D. Uchiha: I have a specific view of the Naruto that I've created, he may be a little like Sun Tzu later but he will not be a complete reincarnation of him, just similar. My biggest issue right now is making him the way I want without it being tacky.

Erasels: The summary will make sense in the future, I made it vague on purpose. After however many dozens of stories I've read I have realized one thing about myself. The Super-Kage Bunshin-Naruto-Training-Method-of-Awesome irks me to no end and that is sort of where this handicapped Naruto idea popped into my head. I've seen other stories where he could do no jutsu at all, but I felt like Lee already had that covered. Rasengan is a possibility but if I can't figure a way to fit it realistically into the boundaries I've set then I won't be able to.

dalulzing: Well as I see it, basic survival is something that should already taught in the academy along with weapon proficiency, they are encouraged to do it outside of the academy to get better seeing as you only have so many hours in the academy but they do still have it. He will have all the basics that a soldier will need along with basic shuriken and kunai proficiency but I probably wont mention it unless it is in passing because I figure that most shinobi will have a decent amount of skill with them as they progress anyway. Regarding the body enhancement techniques though, while they are common sort of, most of the time they are just shoving chakra into an area for a boost in strength or stamina. If it was that easy to just throw tons and tons of chakra into an area and have it be the end all of offense and defense then everyone would be like Tsunade and her super strength really wouldn't mean anything at all. That is basically the essence I was going for. His defense will be more complicated and hard to replicate unless he teaches it to someone himself. Just like how Tsunade has to teach her super strength technique on her own.

I believe that is all the questions I have received thus far so if anyone has any questions then please leave them in the reviews and I will either put it before or after the chapter depending on how many there are. I wont promise that I will update at the same time every month or anything, but eventually I will get around to updating any of my stories that I happen to have going, so far only this one. If I ever get to the point where I just can't because I've done something silly and backed my story into a corner or something then I will say something, but I will try and fix it first, even if it means going back and editing a bit to fix whatever it is I had done.

The silence was so tense in the tiny little weapons shop. Naruto couldn't help be stare despondently at the very old and rusted blade he had been given.

"My money is worth more than this. I paid for a lot more than this..." Naruto whispered. He wasn't really sure what to say right now. Was this a joke?

The man snorted and kept on cleaning his counter top. "That is the best you're getting from me. No refunds brat." Throwing the towel onto his shoulder he disappeared into the back of his shop, leaving Naruto on his own.

He wanted to scream. To yell and smash and demand to be treated just as any other customer. Turning the katana over he almost bit his tongue in two. It had been carved haphazardly into the side of his weapon.

CURSED

Blinking slowly Naruto began to wake. It smelled too clean, he was in the hospital right now. He shook off the remnant emotions in his chest, the past needed to stay where it belonged. Getting up from the bed he was laying in, Naruto very quickly became aware that he was wearing one of their damn hospital gowns. He shivered.

"I hate these things. If they wanna' see my ass all they gotta do is ask." He muttered bitterly. The gowns gave the impression of clothes but there would always be a draft in the back. It was terrible.

"As firm as your buttocks is Naruto-kun, please lay back down for a moment." Jumping slightly, he turned back around to the door. Oh, it was Kagura-san. She was the nurse that the Third usually spoke to regarding any updates when his ninja came in for treatment or physicals. Supposedly she was offered a much higher position but turned it down, opting to stay as a nurse so she could continue to have more face time with any patients that came through.

Sitting down on the bed, he let the young nurse give him a routine check over. "How are you today Kagura-san?" Naruto greeted with a smile.

"Better than you last night that's for sure." She admonished him with an eyebrow raise.

"Sorry about making you take care of me again." Scratching the back of his head he gave her a sheepish smile. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't be silly, it's my job, but still you almost got your heart skewered." Looking around conspiratorially, she lowered her voice. "It's a little above my pay grade but could you tell me what happened?" She whispered. "I wont tell a soul pretty please Naruto-kun come on!"

Backing up a bit Naruto chuckled nervously. "I don't think I can tell ya' that. I'm sorry Kagura-san."

She huffed and turned around to write down on his clipboard. Giving it a couple of checks she put it under her arm and looked over her shoulder at him. "Your clothes are cleaned and in the bathroom, I'll just go sign you out myself, I know you wont wait and I've already made sure you were fine." Giving him a soft smile she opened the door and exited the room.

Kagura was a wonderful. She never made him feel isolated, she understood some of the shinobi that came through better then they themselves did. Standing up again, he went into the bathroom to quickly shower and leave. If the calender and clock were correct then he didn't really have a lot of time to make it to the academy.

Tossing on all his clothes hurriedly, he made sure he had all the gear he was admitted with then shot out of the open window. He needed to grab his sword from home, then make it to the academy before they started rattling off names for the test.

A minute after he left a doctor walked into the room with his nose in a folder.

"Well Uzumaki-san, we seem to be here once more. Let us just...Uzumaki-san?" Scanning the room slowly he noticed the open window. "...Again?"

As Naruto was nearing his apartment, little bits of last night were constantly running through his head. What happened to Mizuki after he fell unconscious? He knew his kunai connected, he felt it, but Jiji wasn't there when he woke up to tell him anything. Kagura, as wonderful was she was, always liked to be in the know. She probably would have mentioned something to him if she knew.

Then again. She was still a ninja despite working primarily in the hospital, Kagura could probably lie like nobodies business so maybe she wouldn't have said anything.

Mizuki was a traitor so ANBU probably brought him to a secure place to interrogate him if he was still alive. If he was dead though...he almost regretted aiming to kill. Information was invaluable and he might have killed a very valuable source of information last night.

Killed.

It didn't occur to him until he had acknowledged it in this moment but he might have killed last night. Snuffed out a persons life and erased their future. If Mizuki was dead then all that was left of him would be a slowly decaying corpse and memories from those who knew him. Whether they be good or bad. It was starting to cloud his mind. He shook the thoughts away.

"I can't do a damn thing until I find out what actually happened. He might not even be dead." Naruto growled to himself. Running circles in his head would help nothing.

Jumping onto his window ledge, he opened it quickly and slipped inside to grab his sword and leave. His apartment was small. No actual bedrooms, just a bathroom and one room that was his bedroom, living room, and kitchen packed into one. Easy to decorate and clean, that's how he saw it. As he was getting ready to rocket himself back out of the small apartment though, the clock caught his attention.

5:50PM

That was odd. When he left the hospital the clock had said it was only 1:00PM. Quickly throwing himself out the window he flipped onto the roof and took in the position of the sun. Standing still for a minute he contemplated what to do. The hospital clock was horribly off. Would anyone still even be at the academy right now?

Taking off again Naruto hoped that he could at the very least still test even if he could not be put on a team immediately. His gut was curling in on itself. Why did this shit have to happen to him?

There was no one here at all. The entire classroom was empty. It looked like Iruka had already gone home for today as well. Exhaling slowly, Naruto sat down on a desk to catch his breath.

He had missed the graduation test. A specialized graduation test that had been approved by the Hokage himself. That alone worried him. What if this was his only chance? A silly notion, Jiji wouldn't let a potential soldier go to waste just because of a missed deadline. His advisers might force the issue though. They weren't nearly as ruthless as Jiji was and in these years of peace they might want to uphold the law more so than they would if they were at war.

"As if I can help getting attacked by a traitor." Naruto grumbled. Laying back across two desks he closed his eyes. He would see Jiji then. If waiting was what he had to do then so be it. All it really meant was another year of training and preparation. He couldn't lie and say he wasn't disappointed though.

A door opening loudly made him shoot up. In the doorway stood a shinobi he hadn't seen around all that much. His hair was brown and curly. It stuck close together and puffed at the top a little. He had a heavy build, not nearly as much as an Akimichi, but you could still see it clearly in his face.

He had an unzipped flak jacket and a belt with several different marked scrolls held within it. His hitai-ate(forehead protector) was placed firmly against his forehead and he had bandages around his ankles.

"You do know that everyone has gone home already don't you?" The man questioned. Naruto chuckled and gave the man a nod.

"I know. I was suppose to be here actually. Woke up in the hospital instead and the testing was already over." Laying back again he stared up at the ceiling. Idly, he wondered why the man was here if he knew that everyone was home already.

A low groaning caught his attention as the shinobi mimicked his actions and laid out on the desks a foot or two away. "Saw you rushing into the building like a bat out of hell. Thought I should check it out."

Oh, so that was why. Part of him wanted to tell the man to stop reading his mind, he didn't look like a Yamanaka though.

"Not a Yamanaka. Just that good. Besides I wouldn't look good as a blonde." He shot the man a dirty look. The man laughed.

"How?" Naruto pushed.

"You have a pretty good poker face, but I'm still a jonin for a reason. My name is Kanden Tekuno. Nice to meet you..." Tekuno droned.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you as well Tekuno-san." Naruto extended. He knew that a jonin was well above him at the moment, but he didn't think he was that easy to read.

Tekuno and Naruto were silent for the next few minutes. Naruto just looking into the bland ceiling and letting his mind wander while Tekuno was hoping beyond hope that the desks here weren't as old as they felt or he was probably going to fall embarrassingly as one of them broke or something.

"They creek but the desks aren't actually that old." Naruto drawled noncommittally. He heard Tekuno choke on air slightly as they looked towards each other. Naruto raised an eyebrow in the mans direction. Tekuno laughed heartily.

"You're better than I gave you credit for." Chuckling lightly, they let silence fall over them once more.

The ticking clock being the only sound between them was getting on Tekuno's nerves, he didn't really enjoy silence.

"What are you gonna' do about the test then? If you were in the hospital it can hardly be helped that you couldn't make it." Tekuno asked.

Naruto made an interesting noise between a grunt and a hum. Absently toying with the earring on his hat as he answered.

"I'll see the Hokage first. If nothing can be done then I suppose I'll just be waiting until next year. Not the ideal situation but I'll live through it if that happens." Looking over at Tekuno he saw him nodding slightly.

"If you get it all straightened out then hopefully you get placed on my team. Several teams are actually short one, ours being among them. Hokage-sama didn't really enjoy the turn out this year. We might only have one team pass this year if we don't come to a consensus about what to do with all the uneven teams." Tekuno passed on.

Naruto placed his hat over his face with a frown. This made no sense. Jiji wouldn't force teams to not have members. Even if there were quite a few dropouts right after the graduation he would still move the teams around to fix it, he wouldn't just force them to go back...unless he was trying for very specific teams this year and he didn't want to switch them around. Even so, several teams all being booted back into the academy is a little too much for something like preferenced teams to come into play isn't it?

He had to talk to him. This day was eating at his nerves already. Putting his hat back on normally he bid Tekuno a hasty farewell before heading towards the tower. This day was turning out very strange. He needed to talk to the one person he could always bounce his thoughts and fears off of.

Empty. The goddamn tower was empty?! He had already checked for a genjutsu using pain several times and part of him wondered why the damn lights would be off as well. This wasn't a convenience store!

The sun was beginning to set, the shadows it cast through the windows were a lot eerier than they should have been. Naruto blamed his nerves.

Coming to the Hokage's Office he decided to channel chakra to his ears just in case and slowly opened the door...it was fucking dark in here too! What was going on?!

Naruto slipped into the room and instantly felt surrounded, his hand dropped to his sword as the lights blinded him. Jovial laughing stayed his hand, his vision cleared and he saw that the room was filled with ANBU all wearing their masks and the Hokage leaning back in his chair without a care in the world.

"...I don't really get it." Naruto deadpanned at them. They laughed harder.

Cat walked over from the left side of the office and gave his back a good smack. "You did it obviously. We were all told just today that Hokage-sama passed you on your exam! Congratulations Naruto!" This declaration was followed by wolf whistles and clapping. He was so very confused. He had passed? Did he sleep test? Half of him wanted to just take a bow and say thank you all around but he really needed to know what was going on.

Opening his mouth to say something he saw Hiruzen tilt his head slightly. That was closest he could get to shaking his head without giving it away. Naruto knew what that meant, they would be talking later.

Following along, he enjoyed his time with the ANBU who were able to show. Naruto had known most of them since he was a baby, it was one of the best couple of hours he had ever had. They had broken out the sake to commemorate, Cat had tapped into her inner mother and chewed the others out for being bad influences, meanwhile he and Shark had very quickly and quietly chugged right behind her back. This was followed by a lot of laughing and running away from swords as they all tried not to screw up the office under the watchful eyes of their leader.

Hiruzen happened to have his own special jug of sake. Not really surprising, being the Hokage and all. Though Bear did try to get a swig of it at one point and ended up being tossed right onto Mouse who spilled sake all over herself and proceeded to kick Bear straight out the window.

They continued late into the night. The sun had long since set, the ANBU who needed to patrol had left already and some were just now heading home. Those that needed to stay and protect the Hokage were told to head home and get some sleep as well after everything had been cleaned up. It was only the two of them now.

Taking out his pipe, Hiruzen quickly loaded and lit it with practiced ease. Sipping gentle puffs as he leaned back, the old leader gave the boy a calculative gaze. "You look like you are about to explode with questions. Ask away."

Trying his best to contain all the thoughts he had Naruto decided to start small.

"Why would there be so many teams with missing members? Even if they were highly specialized teams I don't think you would waste the man power or the talent they could possibly have by just being picky and unmoving." Naruto questioned in one breath.

Coughing once, the Hokage had the decency to look embarrassed. "That was actually mischief on my part. There were four teams that didn't have a member because after the graduation test I sent ANBU to scare the living daylights out of them..." Naruto couldn't keep the twitch from affecting his eyebrow.

"Alright maybe I didn't explain that well. Those four teams had students in them who were being backed by some of the well known clans. The clans were trying to push me to make certain teams and I relented simply so I could force this outcome and make them re-take a year and waste time." Seeing Naruto put his face in his hands Hiruzen could only laugh. He had to get his kicks somehow. The clans usually provided that kick as it so happened.

Getting over the fact that his leader was a bit more eccentric than he ever thought, Naruto looked up only to see a nicely lacquered wooden box being handed to him. Taking it slowly he opened it to find an expensively crafted pipe. It was a dark russet color with a decently sized stem that could hang from his jaw. He looked back up just in time to catch a pouch of tobacco that was being tossed in his direction.

"Smoke with me. Watch how I pack and light mine." Hiruzen said. He showed him quickly how to tamp the tobacco inside the chamber then how to light it and keep it lit. It was easier than Naruto imagined and the taste of the tobacco was actually rather nice. It reminded him of trees and rain water. They sat in silence for a few moments before Hiruzen broke it.

"I believe I already know the next questions you are going to ask so let me lead from here will you my boy?" He murmured softly. Naruto nodded weakly. Never before had Naruto been nervous in front of the Hokage, what was so different now?

Slowly setting his pipe onto a stand the Third Hokage threaded his fingers under his chin and closed his eyes. "The scroll you saw with Mizuki last night was the Scroll of Seals. I'm sure you remember it. The First Hokage sealed it because he felt that some of the techniques within were too dangerous for regular use." Naruto gave him another nod.

"Do you really think he could have taken such a thing, an average chunin like Mizuki, without my noticing?" Hiruzen posed to him.

Several thoughts sped through his head at that sentence, but the one he latched onto was- "You knew he had it all along." Hiruzen nodded.

Things were falling into place rapidly. Hiruzen kept going.

"Mizuki we knew was a traitor, but only recently. During the night this past week I decided to take a Yamanaka and dive into his head. We searched for who he might have been working with, what he might be after. Things of that nature." Picking up his pipe once more Hiruzen pushed forward. "We learned that he was working for an S Rank traitor from Konoha and I decided to not waste the opportunity. I impersonated the man he was working with, I told him how to get in so he could steal the scroll, then I ordered him to assassinate you, Naruto."

Naruto forced himself to breath correctly. His hands were shaking in his lap, he swallowed thickly. Trying to stomp down the sickness he could feel rising was a difficult task while thinking.

Several possibilities were here. The man he had come to trust was cruel and wanted to see him hurt. This was the worst outcome, he tried not to let it rule his thoughts.

Things hadn't gone as planned and he now respected him somewhat and that was why he was telling him this now. No hard feelings, just business. Not really much better.

Or, if he pushed past what he was feeling and looked at the facts, he could see the most likely outcome. Naruto had just got done with what was supposedly his graduation party, for a graduation exam he did not take. His hospital room clock was off by almost five hours. In his experience, hospital clocks are ever hardly wrong unless tampered with. If the hospital clock had been correct, he would have come straight to the tower instead of rushing back and forth between his apartment, the academy, and then idling around talking to that jonin who happened upon him in the classroom.

The assassination order was his graduation test. Naruto could feel his lips twitching upwards slightly. This crazy old fool had given him an incredibly dangerous graduation exam, probably on a whim. He would get him back for that eventually. Taking a few puffs of his own new pipe, Naruto let himself relax again, trying and failing to make smoke rings as he had seen Hiruzen do every once in awhile.

"You're taking this very well Naruto. Would you like to share your thoughts?" Hiruzen asked. He was smirking slightly.

"I've trusted you my entire life Jiji, if I can't trust you then I don't know who I can trust. An assassination for a genin exam seems like a little much but I can't really complain about passing can I?" Naruto stared him hard in the eyes. It was actually pretty intimidating, the moon was glinting against his pupils and the smoke was distorting it. Hiruzen was proud. He had made the right decision.

"This is why you passed. You didn't hesitate. You killed an opponent who was more skilled, who was stronger, and who had more experience than you. He may have been an average chunin in every sense of the phrase, but he would have still killed any other genin. Congratulations my boy. Welcome to the ranks." Hiruzen slid a hitai-ate across the desk towards his young friend. Naruto instantly slid the cloth around his hat so that it was proudly displayed to the world. He would have to look into getting it sown on.

The Third snorted. "I had a feeling you would put it there."

Naruto gave him a grin. "All of the best have something that set them apart don't they?"

They couldn't help but smile and laugh as the tension seeped out of the room. The duo continued to enjoy smoking their pipes together. Eventually everything caught up to Naruto and he sank into his chair deeply.

"Tired?" Hiruzen pondered.

Naruto shook his head. "I was thinking about Mizuki. I really killed him huh?" Hiruzen gave him a look of understanding.

"Too many organs were cut, it also appears that Mizuki wasn't very good about keeping hospital dates, he wasn't healthy in the first place." He took a few moments to collect his thoughts. "How do you feel Naruto? About taking a life. Do not be ashamed of being sad, even for a traitor."

Biting his lip gently, Naruto put his hat in his lap. "It's not that I'm sad. Sad I could understand. So many shinobi talk about the fear and the sadness and the guilt they feel when they first kill. I'm...not getting that feeling..." He trailed off slowly. If Hiruzen was surprised he didn't show it.

"What is it you feel?" The Hokage questioned.

Naruto gave a shallow bark of a laugh. "Pity. I feel pity. I don't know why I feel that way. Shouldn't I be punching walls and throwing up while calling myself a monster or something? How can I feel pity as if he was some sort of ant?" The boy questioned almost to himself. He hardly even noticed when the Hokage came from around the desk to squeeze his shoulder.

"Naruto. My boy. You, I, every single shinobi and kunoichi in this village. We are monsters." Naruto's head shot up to look at his leader.

"The darkness is our domain and the light is just a canvas for our atrocities. It does not mean we cannot love, have families and camaraderie with our brothers and sisters in arms. It does not mean we can not have empathy or sympathy for those we see out in the world, even enemies. It does not mean we cannot feel and be content with peace, but when the hitai-ate goes on, and our weapons are adjusted. We are monsters. We don't let our feelings rule us, we rule our emotions to rule the battlefield. In this way, we protect the things we cherish most." His leader tapped the still lit pipe out into his hand, the embers shining brightly in the darkness of the room.

"The will of fire. A blazing inferno, incinerating our enemies like a demon born from the sun. Yet, in it's nature it will also warm those we wish to protect in the darkest of nights. Shielding them in our stead when we cannot stand over them like some dark sentinel. I have believed in this for quite some time. I always saw it in you as well, my boy." His eyes shone brightly against the moon, not unlike Naruto's had just a few moments before. He saw so much of himself in this boy.

Naruto was enthralled. He had always been close to Jiji- No, to the Hokage of Konoha. This though, was something else entirely. This was another side of Sarutobi Hiruzen that he felt hadn't been seen for years. Naruto would take his lessons to heart, just as always. Who would selfishly throw away such wisdom?

The Third looked out of his window to see his village, clouds had moved over the moon and shrouded it in darkness. "Some of my ninja cannot accept this fact, they like the thought of protecting and being the good guy. The Fourth could not accept this fact of mine either. A strong shinobi he was, but Namikaze Minato was constantly trying to hold onto that humanity he thought he had. He was always hesitating. Just happened to be too fast for it to matter most of the time." Hiruzen muttered.

Naruto stood up next to the old kage. Looking out into the village. Young and old contemplated as they looked over the only home they ever knew.

"If we are all monsters...why then do I still feel pity? Where does the man in me end and the monster begin?" Naruto spoke out softly.

Hiruzen smiled.

"End? The man in you will never end Naruto, neither will the monster in you simply begin. You are one in the same, the monster in you can slaughter an entire platoon of shinobi. The man in you can leave some alive after you are done fighting. However, can you really differentiate the two? When you walk away from those shivering, crying men, was it really the man in you who did so? How can you be so sure it wasn't the man slaughtering the shinobi and the monster leaving them alive as a warning?"

Shaking his head the old man turned his gaze down to the boy. "Remember what I said. We are monsters. We can still love, we can still feel, just like a man. What you need to do is understand that you can't ever get rid of or even separate them. You must accept them for that is who you truly are. The acceptance will come one day. You'll know it when you feel it."

Naruto took a moment to mull over it in his head. It was a lot of information to take at once. "And the pity?" Naruto reiterated.

"The pity will always be there." Hiruzen said. "It isn't what you think though. You and I are very similar Naruto, and if you are anything like me, then that pity isn't because you think of them as ants. You feel pity, because if they hadn't made the choices they did, they wouldn't have come face to face with you. They wouldn't have died by your hand." Naruto frowned as he crossed his arms.

"You're saying that I pity them for being faced against me? That makes sense for you and any other kage rank ninja who can just destroy hordes of soldiers but for a genin like me?" He asked.

Hiruzen felt his lips twitch upward.

"That is exactly what I'm saying. I wasn't always The Professor you know? There was a time where I was just a weak child in a world full of war. The feeling was still there though. I believe it comes from inner confidence. Whether you know you have it or not." Trusting the Third's judgment he just nodded. Morning would be coming soon, Naruto figured he should probably get at least some sleep tonight. They spoke for a couple more minutes before saying their goodbyes. As Naruto was about to leap out of the window Hiruzen called out to him once more.

"Tomorrow your team is meeting at training ground eight. Your jonin sensei is Kanden Tekuno." Naruto took a few moments to stare at him, then he broke into a hysterical laughter that lasted until he got back home.

Hiruzen stared out the window that Naruto had exited from. "...Was it something I said?"

I basically got what I wanted across in this chapter. So how was it? I'm trying to take it a little slow right now but I'll be picking up speed once I get the general set up out of the way. Leave me some questions and reviews, I enjoy them immensely and they help me decide how to best approach my ideas. Also should you notice a problem don't hesitate to bring it up.(Like grammar, opinion and preference is another matter entirely)

Til' next time.