To clear up some possible confusion on the previous chapter: There is some confusion because I cut the prologue short and didn't get to build or show the situation properly. I mentioned it in passing, but the situation with the Uchiha and Konoha was very tense, obvious even to civilians. Naruto Knew without question that the only way something big (a civil war) wasn't going to erupt was an eradication of the Uchiha, a conclusion he knew Itachi would come to as well since they both think similarly when it comes to those aspects. Plus Naruto was very angry and he didn't like most Uchiha to start with so even if there was another way (perhaps get the Daimyo involved (they will be more relevant and powerful here)), he didn't really care that much.

Also, Geography: If you would like to see the map I am using as reference, just google Elemental Nations Political Map by xShadowRebirthx on Deviant Art.

Chapter 2: Back to Square One

"Weakness is the path of those who no longer wish to protect what is theirs. Those who wander aimlessly shall lose all that they have." - Uzumaki Naruto


As soon as Naruto exited the detection barrier, he spawned two clones. One to cover any tracks he might make and the other to create a false trail should anyone follow him carelessly. He was headed west at the moment and as he did so, he ran through the options of where he could go. He had discarded Kiri or anywhere in Water Country before he had even left. They had recently entered a civil war, something about prejudice against those with bloodlines.

Water Country's Daimyo didn't have a strong enough military to make much difference in controlling that village for a variety of reasons. One was the fact that the Daimyo was young as a result of the Mizukage having the former Daimyo and some of his prominent generals assassinated. The other equally troubling problem for them was a lack in mobility compared to the shinobi. It was looking like the Mizukage - Yagura, he believed - would have the young Daimyo killed should he follow in his father's footsteps and attempt to stop the civil war.

While the prospect of fighting in that war was tempting, logic overruled his desire to fight. He had no allies, next to no information on any organized group against the Mizukage, and it was unlikely at best that the Mizukage would welcome him. The Uzumaki may not officially have a bloodline, but their strong life force was likely considered one by some extremists. He wasn't willing to risk his life on a bet like that when there was no way he could escape a meeting with the Mizukage - assuming he would even get one.

Aside from that, the people of Kiri tended to be distrusting at the best of times. They didn't much like outsiders. Perhaps if one side got desperate in a few years, he'd attempt something, but not now. Besides, it was hard enough to even get into Water Country. Apparently, Yagura had ordered a lockdown of trade and harsh inspections before a boat was allowed passage.

Kumo had also been quick to be crossed off his list. They may not be in any sort of conflict that he had an almost guarantee of dying; however, they, contrary to Kiri, loved bloodlines. That in itself was not off putting, but they were rather possessive of those they had and jealous of those they didn't. They tended to keep what they viewed as prized bloodlines under a tight lock and he didn't want that. He wouldn't mind that they would want him to impregnate a bunch of women, that didn't so much affect his combat ability.

The only problem he really had with that was the greedy bastards would brainwash his kids into being loyal to Kumo. He did not want his name slandered by blindly loyal children. That would imply that he could be made into a blindly loyal tool.

Perhaps he would have if Konoha weren't so blind and Sarutobi so soft.

That, of course, wasn't even taking into consideration what they'd do when they found out he was a Jinchuuriki and the son of the Yellow Flash and the Red Death (1). The current Raikage had been rivals with Minato and had not been pleased when the world declared Minato the fastest man alive.

He discarded Iwa for much the same reason as Kumo. They may not covet bloodlines as much, but they despised the Yellow Flash.

He could try to stay in Hi no Kuni, but there was little that came to mind in terms of combat that he could use to improve himself. Not to mention, it kept him close to Konoha. While he could probably avoid most patrols, it was the few he couldn't that worried him.

Itachi, chief among them.

Of the Great Five nations, that left the Land of Wind. Unfortunately, he was … reluctant to go there at best. While he was normally all for training in harsh conditions, he only had a rudimentary understanding of how to navigate in the desert. That rudimentary understanding mostly consisted of using the sun to tell which direction he was going.

That didn't account for any sandstorm that might come up and despite his fortitude, he doubted his ability to come out of one of those unscathed. After all, there was only so much he could subject himself to inside Konoha to train to endure extreme conditions.

Aside from that, he wasn't entirely familiar with where many cities in the Land of Wind were, let alone towns that would be more useful for resupplying. Oh, sure, he had studied a number of battles that had occurred there - Suna was quite high on the list of being able to use their surroundings to great strategic advantage after all - but he had somewhat neglected geographical knowledge. He knew where the capital was and the general areas of some major coastal cities, but knowing where they were on a map and navigating through the desert to find them were two very different things.

Unfortunately for him, the Land of Wind was probably the safest place he could hide from Konoha and train in peace. Sure Sunagakure was allied with Konoha, but that relationship was strained and he doubted Sarutobi or the council would want to go to them directly for help. It would paint them in a bad light if they couldn't catch a child on their own, no matter how skilled.

If they did announce that he was the one responsible for the Uchiha being massacred, it may take some heat off them, but he had remained relatively unknown. Sure he had gained a small reputation, but not enough of one for other nations to not at least mock Konoha. Until he was confirmed by another source or two of being a great threat, he likely wouldn't be taken too seriously. That suited him fine for now. He could not keep off the trail of the upper quarter of most of the major villages. And he probably couldn't fight with the upper third or so in a straight fight.

For now anonymity would be his best friend. He could stay in some of the smaller countries for a time, but most had little to offer him at the moment. Only a couple were embroiled in any sort of conflict and those were mostly cold wars with sparse fighting. All of them certainly had some hidden gems, but he had no leads on such things and searching blindly was a fool's game. The few that could offer him something at the moment weren't great choices for a variety of reasons.

The Land of Iron was home of the best and largest force of samurai in the world and he could surely learn some phenomenal Kenjutsu there. However, the samurai weren't terribly receptive to even unknown ninja, let alone those who had a reputation, as he would no doubt gain. They presented themselves as a neutral party, but they did not like ninja. The samurai were all about honor and straight on fights mixed with some tactics, even if they had grown a little more lax in that department. They would not take kindly to one like him, who thrived on subterfuge and traps.

Snow country was another option he thought could give him something. For one, it'd give him some experience in cold and the snow, something he couldn't simulate well in Fire Country. And more importantly, Snow country was generally agreed to have some of the most advanced technology in the Elemental nations. He thought it would be very interesting to dissect that technology and see if he could utilize it in any way.

The problem with snow country was that he would no doubt have trouble covering his tracks. He was well acquainted with covering his tracks in forests and grasslands, but snow was a different matter. One could argue that it was similar to sand in that it was ever shifting so covering tracks didn't take much effort, but he didn't want to take the risk, especially if there were no storms to actually cover his tracks.

In addition to potential trouble covering himself properly, he'd have to go North through the Land of Waterfalls, which was uncomfortably close to Earth Country. That left him with few options aside from the Land of Wind.

With a few more moments of deliberation, he decided that he would head through the Land of Rivers, stop in some villages on the way, and find someone or some book that could teach him how to navigate the desert, along with a map or two.

-o0o-

Itachi watched as the sun rose over the village, bathing it in its constant light. It was a bitter contrast to the dark path he had to follow. The life of a shinobi was always a dark one, but his would take it's darkest turn tonight. He would kill his family with the help of Uchiha Madara and then become a deep cover agent within his organization, the Akatsuki. He had no idea how the man could still live, but the things that man had shown him… they were not things anyone of this era bar the oldest shinobi would be aware of.

Regardless of his future woes, he would see his close family one last time before he had to kill them, then see Naruto to-

His thoughts were cut off by a loud explosion. His mind raced and his body moved on auto pilot towards the explosion. Who would have the audacity to attack Konoha so openly?

And then he realized that explosion had come from the Uchiha district.

Panic and fear overcame him at once, a million questions racing through his mind.

Who did this?

Did Danzo have someone else act in his stead?

And most importantly, was Sasuke ok?

He forced his panic down and brought up the cold, efficient ANBU he had become known as, then started to sort through information to find answers.

It was unlikely Danzo had acted. It wasn't like him to try something so open. He dealt in the shadows above all else. He wouldn't have drawn attention to one of his operations barring the worst case scenario. For him that would be the Uchiha moving in to start a civil war. That was impossible, they weren't set to do such a thing for another week at the least.

Madara was certainly not involved in this incident. There would be no reason for him to do such a thing with how secretive he had been. Aside from that, he appeared to want to recruit him and destroying all the Uchiha before the agreed upon time and method was certainly not a way to endear himself to the elder Uchiha.

That left precious few with both the motive and the means to want to take out the Uchiha. Of those people, almost all were leaders of a major village and No one wanted another war right now. It was still a bit too soon after the Third Great Shinobi War to start throwing the number of bodies in the ground that a fourth would cause.

He had no more time to speculate as he arrived at his clan grounds. ANBU were swarming the place, seemingly looking for a culprit. More higher ranked shinobi were showing up while Chunin and Genin were escorting civilians away from the scene. An ANBU agent he was vaguely acquainted with noted his approach and nodded to him. He gave a courteous nod back and gave the man a look that asked for details on the situation.

The man, Kuma was his mask, spoke in a hushed tone, "The explosion happened at the Naka Shrine. There were no bodies and only a little blood. The most odd thing is that the only bodies we have found are those of children. All are alive and all were hidden and restrained in parts of the compound. We are currently searching it for any other survivors. Sasuke was one of those found." Itachi let out the slightest breath of relief at that, Sasuke was fine at least. That relief quickly gave way to worry for the others of his clan. Kuma continued, "None aside from children have been found - alive or dead. Someone took all the bodies."

That was worrying. No bodies at all? There were easily ways and reasons to take the bodies of a target, the Uchiha more than most, but everyone. That was not only at least mildly difficult for most to achieve with such great numbers - though certainly not impossible - but there would be little point to taking every adult - especially civilians.

If they were merely kidnapped, then why? Information on the village, knowledge, and use of the Sharingan were obvious answers, but there was no need to take civilians for that as well. There was no way someone would be stupid enough to try to subvert them to their side. Even if this enemy knew about the turbulence between the Uchiha and Konoha and offered an alliance against the Leaf, they would almost certainly refuse. The Uchiha felt threatened and merely wanted to not feel as if they weren't trusted in their own village. They didn't want the village to collapse.

Plus the skill needed to transport that many people alive was far greater than to transport that many dead. He also hadn't heard anything of a deal like that, and despite becoming something of an outcast in the clan recently, his father still trusted him with most of their plans.

That left the alternative of them all being dead and transported. More plausible by far, particularly if the use of Fuinjutsu was involved. Regardless, if all of this was done undetected, then why would the perpetrator blow the Naka Shrine up and draw attention to the Uchiha Compound? Following this train of thought through he came to a conclusion. There would be only two reasons to blow the shrine sky high. One would be to make a statement, and the second would be to draw attention to the scene to buy more time to get away.

And then he had no more time to think as the pressure that heralded the arrival of an angry Kami no Shinobi bore down on him.

It sent a clear message to everyone in the vicinity. Get the fuck out of here.

Only he, Kuma, and the ANBU already sorting through the compound for things to track stayed for obvious reasons. Everyone else evacuated the area like the Shinigami himself was after them. And considering how the normally grandfatherly Sandaime was acting, they probably felt like that. The God that was the Sandaime Hokage took a slow look around, taking in the situation in mere moments and then set his glare on Kuma and Itachi. He seemed to glide over to them until he was standing a mere step away. The look in his eyes made Itachi and Kuma, some of the best the village had to offer, shiver in undisguised terror.

The God seemed to growl out his question, "Would someone like to explain to me why the Uchiha are gone, dead I presume, and how no one noticed?"

For a moment, neither of them could speak, so overcome with terror, but they put a lid on those emotions, difficult even for them, who had mastered their emotions. Then Kuma responded as he snapped to attention, "Sir, we have no leads thus far. Aside from Itachi, the only bodies we could find were the children's - all alive and unconscious. We have yet to receive word from the Barrier Division, but we assume the perpetrator somehow knew a way to get in and out of the barrier undetected."

The Sandaime was pleased by his response, seeming to have already put that together. He flicked his eyes to Itachi for the briefest of moments, who in response gave the barest shake of his head. He almost growled before walking towards the Uchiha Compound. They followed the unspoken command to follow.

"Get Kakashi and Tsume. I want them here yesterday. See if Shibi can have his insects find any noticeable chakra residue he can follow."

Kuma disappeared to do that as Itachi continued to follow a step behind him. A wave of their God's hand sent the ANBU escort he had away to bring him results.

They walked in silence until they reached the Naka Shrine. There, they stopped, and the God demanded, "What happened?"

Itachi nearly swallowed audibly as he took a half second to collect his thoughts, "I don't know. I didn't do this and we both know he doesn't operate like this. All I've been able to put together is that whoever did this blew the Naka Shrine up to direct our attention here. Either to distract us and gain more time or to make a statement."

He didn't have to say what that statement may be. They both knew. Konoha has grown soft, it said, Look how the famed Uchiha clan can be wiped out in a single night.

The war veteran said nothing for a moment, only gazing at the smoldering ruins of the Naka Shrine. Then, he mumbled in a voice so soft he almost missed it, "Whoever did this was very good, but also inexperienced. We will find something, and I trust you will be able to help identify who."

Itachi didn't question how he knew whoever had done this was inexperienced, but he didn't question it. This man was his God, and he would do as ordered. He was all too glad to be of use in finding out who had done this.

The Sandaime spoke a bit above his previous mumble as he addressed Itachi once more, "Go clear your mind. You will need to have all your focus to deal with this. Meet me in Headquarters in an hour. I should have the most useful information by then."

He took the silent dismissal and order for what it was. So he went to the place he had the most fond memories to clear his head, despite them being tainted recently. The Naka River.

It took barely over a minute to reach the river. And once he arrived, it quickly became a place he did not want to be. He smelled blood. It was faint, but it still hung in the air. He might've passed it off as being a psychological effect of killing Shisui here, but this smell came from a specific spot, not near the river's edge - though a general smell of iron still lingered.

That could be dealt with later. His greatest concern now was Madara, standing at the edge of the river with his navy blue trench coat and orange mask, striped with wavy black lines. He did not seem pleased. His deep voice resonated through the clearing, barely hiding his aggravation, "I am most… displeased that an outside factor decided to take matters into their own hands."

The simple statement put Itachi on edge. This man was far out of his league, and while there was a slight chance he could cause enough of a commotion to gain the Sandaime's attention, that would likely do more harm than good for him. For now, it was best to play along.

"I am as well. Now I am not able to cut them down myself and give them a dignified death." Despite the words Itachi spoke, they both knew he hadn't truly wanted his family dead. Itachi was just trying to dance to the more powerful Uchiha's tune. He knew he was walking a fine line here. Saying that implied their deal for him to join Madara was now off. It wasn't a terribly scathing reply, just enough to communicate the teen's hesitance to keep his end of a defunct deal.

The reply he got was both reassuring and worrying. "Hmm. I suppose that's true. And I can't take you without drawing attention, but then I'd rather you not go telling the world I'm alive."

The two Uchiha never broke eye contact even as the younger of the two tensed. "That won't be a problem. Few would believe it even if I deemed it something worth telling."

Madara hummed and turned to look down at the Naka River. "I suppose that's true enough, but the few that did believe you would be the problem." He turned back to Itachi and his lone visible Sharingan eye seemed to glow, "Let's compromise. I won't kill you, and you'll forget you ever met me."

Itachi realized what was happening halfway through his last sentence and attempted to fight the memory erasal. At least keep something to clue him i-

Itachi blinked and the clearness and beauty of the world returned to him. What had caused him to space out like that?

He smelled the iron tang of blood in the air and came to the only conclusion he could. He had most likely gotten caught in a flashback of when he had killed Shisui. He could still clearly see Shisui's smiling face, caked with blood and exhaustion, giving him his last eye.

Shaking the image away, he looked to the sun to see how much time had passed. Confirming that it had only been five minutes at most, he set his focus on finding the location of where the scent of blood was coming from. It didn't take him long to find the smell. It came from a bush near the edge of the clearing. There was a small splatter of blood coating the underside of a leaf. He frowned at that. While the three of them - he, Shisui, and Naruto - had found themselves bleeding more than a little while training here, they always cleaned up. None of them were terribly fond of training in a place that stank of blood. Aside from that, they bled either in the open field or on top of the vegetation, not under it.

He sent a modicum of chakra to his eyes to activate the Sharingan. The enhanced vision it granted would help. With it on, he could now pick out minute details that no one would normally pick up. The most prevalent were the minute bending the stems of the plant had, as if it had been pushed aside to put something there.

Pushing the stems aside, he saw some black markings, reminiscent of a seal, a storage seal to be specific.

It didn't seem to have any traps, but that meant little if what was sealed inside was dangerous. As he examined it more closely, Itachi realized that he recognized this style and the unique hand writing of the storage seal. Despite what many thought, there were numerous styles of Fuinjutsu. This was one of the reasons the destruction of Uzushiogakure was thought by many to be one of the greatest losses of knowledge. Their style was different than what anyone else knew, and it had been kept to a group who refined it over generations. Other styles could accomplish the same thing, given someone figured out how, but the Uzumaki had been the only ones who had ample time to develop a certain style, in addition to a great number of talented people in Fuinjutsu.

Besides that, everyone who used Fuinjutsu was had handwriting even if it was barely noticeable, so if you were good enough - or in his case, had phenomenal vision - one could take a good guess at who had made it. If you were familiar with that person's style, of course. And this style was undoubtedly Naruto's. He would recognize the unique, more fluid and free pattern of his Fuinjutsu anywhere. Seeing that assuaged his fears of a trap and he channeled chakra to the seal to open it.

When he saw what was inside, he wished it had been a trap.

In his hands was a sheet of paper that had a single word on it - sorry - and an arrow pointing down. Realizing the greater implications of this as well as the intent of the arrow, he hurried to the edge of the cliff that hugged the Naka River. Sure enough, tied up at the bottom of the cliff was Izumi.

And suddenly all the pieces fell into place. This was all the evidence he needed that pointed to Naruto as the culprit of exterminating the Uchiha. There were ways of forging Naruto's Fuinjutsu style, but not only was that unlikely and difficult, the fact that Izumi had been left unharmed (relatively) pointed towards Naruto. It fit with what he knew of Naruto too well. All the Uchiha gone, without a trace and no one in the village noticed? That fit with Naruto's absurd ability to be stealthy. The explosion at the shrine that was most likely delayed fit with Naruto's knowledge of exploding seals.

He also knew, that despite their friendship - a relationship more akin to brothers - Naruto still hated both the village and the Uchiha. He had tempered it, and Naruto could hide it well, but he could no longer fool himself into thinking Naruto would stay loyal to Konoha just because of him.

The only thing that seemed off was the timing. Looking at it objectively, he knew Naruto planned to eventually leave the village, but this was too soon for his character. He liked to think that he knew how Naruto thought well, and Naruto, while confident, bordering on arrogant at times, was a firm realist. Itachi knew that Naruto had likely been hiding some skills from him, but there was also no way he could be so good that Naruto would think he could leave the safety of the village without being in a significant amount of danger.

Naruto may be confident and thrive on danger, but he wasn't suicidal. He stayed in the village for the protection it provided.

A small, sentimental part of his mind also said it was because he valued their friendship.

Regardless, his point stood that Naruto wouldn't do this without being given a good reason. His mind went to Shisui and all the tension that he and Shisui had been exhibiting in recent weeks. Naruto was perceptive, there was no way he had missed that. What's more, he was nosy and did not like to be kept in the dark. There was more than a good chance that he had at least an idea of what was putting them on edge.

His mind worked furiously, connecting the dots. The timing of the attack, - right after Shisui died - Naruto's ability in stealth, everything.

It was very possible that Naruto had been spying on Shisui's final moments. Naruto could have easily put together what he planned to do and intended to save him the pain of doing so. Couple that with Naruto's friendship with Shisui and his viscous need for vengeance on those who wronged him and it wasn't too far of a leap in logic to find the blonde's motive.

That said, what should he do with this information? On one hand, he could tell the Hokage of this and have teams sent after him immediately. And possibly have a Bingo Book entry released. On the other, he could keep it to himself to buy Naruto a little extra time as far as bounty hunters coming after him. Teams would be sent after him regardless. It would only be a bit harder for them to precisely find someone they didn't know the appearance of.

They would find out eventually of course, especially once they noticed their Jinchuuriki was gone after they took their attention off the Uchiha situation. Still, keeping the information may buy Naruto the extra little bit he needed to escape. His reputation would take a hit if anyone ever found out he had known and not told anyone, not to mention those that would question loyalty. That could lead down a path similar to what the rest of the Uchiha suffered and he couldn't stand to put the children of the clan or Sasuke through that.

Naruto was still young and had much to learn, but he was far more prepared for the world and knew the consequences his actions would bring. What ultimately made his decision was the fact that Naruto could bear the weight of any burden, while Sasuke would crumble beneath the weight as he was now. He headed towards ANBU HQ with one final thought, 'I'm sorry, Naruto.'

-o0o-

Naruto had rarely been as exhausted as he was now. It had been roughly eight hours since he had left Konoha and the sun was just beginning to rise. During that time, he had taken the time to drench himself in mud and wash off in a river to rid himself of an easy trail to follow if Inuzuka were sent after him. Then he'd taken to heading north for a bit without suppressing his chakra much to try to throw off any Aburame.

After that, he had stopped in Tanzaku Gai to get some civilian clothes. He hadn't had time to prepare everything he would need to stay anonymous during his time outside the village. Besides, he didn't have many civilian clothes, not having seen much of a point to them when he could just use the Henge for the few short times he did need civilian clothes.

It was an odd experience. For one, he had never really gone shopping for clothes. The few times he needed something, he either stole it or, if he was feeling a bit less bitter than usual or was with someone, buy what he needed from one of the armories. Admittedly, the service from armories had been curt and to the point rather than the typical scathing glares he got elsewhere. Still, his general buying experiences had left a bitter taste in his mouth. Stealing was so much easier.

In Tanzaku Gai, it seemed they waited on you hand and foot, likely trying to get the customer to buy more than they needed. They hadn't even cared that he looked so young, only that he had the money to pay for what he bought.

Unfortunately for them, this sort of service only made him uncomfortable. For one, he had never been treated like he was worth much of anything. Itachi and Sakumo treated him more like an equal than anything, something he appreciated. He was also rather uncomfortable with people getting so close to him. He actually had to stop himself from putting a kunai through a clerk's throat when she had seemingly teleported to his side. He admitted, privately, that perhaps Sakumo was right in that he was a little too paranoid.

Then he reminded himself that he was no longer within the protective walls of Konoha, so his extreme paranoia would be useful and completely justifiable.

Of course, he only legitimately bought this clothing to throw off his pursuers in the unlikely event he would be tracked to this specific store. He had later stolen what he would actually wear from a different store half way across the town. He then proceeded to mess with their records to make certain the missing clothing wasn't easily noticed.

He had gotten clothing for a variety of occasions that the poor and middle class might wear. He doubted there would be need in the near future to have high class clothing available for long periods of time. Plus high class clothing was more easily noticed missing. By then he had realized that money may be a slight problem. While he could easily live off the land and cared little for money, it was a useful tool to wave around to get people to do what you wanted.

So while he was in the gambling capital of Fire Country, he decided to make a little cash. He may have saved his money from the missions he did, but it wasn't like those missions paid terribly well.

So he had sent five clones to various casinos, all Henged into a nondescript looking person, both men and women, with brown hair and eyes. All had varying degrees of middle class dressing on and played a variety of card games. It would have been child's play to demolish the games he was in and rake in the cash by using some sleight of hand, but he refrained for a multitude of reasons. For one, it would not do for one of his clones to get kicked out and be popped by some bouncer.

Most prominently, however is that it would draw a lot of attention if five people all suddenly wiped the floor with other players at the same time. That would blare warnings to any half decent tracker and information gatherer. Even an idiot could put together something fishy was going on and for ninja, it would give his ability to make high functioning clones away, if they didn't divine exactly what technique he had employed.

He still came away a good 50,000 ryo richer, so for now he called it good.

From there he made his way to River Country, zig zagging the whole way and creating fake trails that led farther North than he was actually going. Overall, he was very tired from the ordeal. Normally, he could have done it with few problems. A straight shot from the Hidden Leaf to the closest border of River Country was only about 100 miles. With the eight hours he had, a straight shot would barley be a strain at all.

However, he hadn't been running the entire time, and that left him with closer to six hours. Still not too much of a problem even if he added in retracing his steps and making fake trails. All told, that brought up the distance closer to 140 miles. That put him at an average speed of 23 miles per hour. Not a problem at all for a decent shinobi. Even six hours of straight running wouldn't normally exhaust him despite being nowhere near his physical prime. What really got to him was his lack of sleep. He'd been awake for something around 50 hours now.

So he was now looking for a town that he could get a few hours of sleep in before heading off again. He planned to stop in River's capital, Tani, before he headed for the border with Wind Country both to satisfy his own curiosity and to see if there was anything useful to come back for eventually.

It was another half hour before he found a town. It was small and only had a single road leading into or out of it. Perfect for a rest stop. He easily slipped into town unnoticed and quickly found an attic that didn't seem to see much use.

As he leaned back against a box, he took the sword he had stolen from the Uchiha off his back and set it to his side. As he did so, he gazed longingly at it. It seemed to beg to be unsheathed and used, but he knew that was a bad idea. He knew next to nothing about this sword other than the few (likely inaccurate) legends he had glossed over. Still, all those legends warned against pulling it out as it either made the user mad or forced them to kill before resheathing it.

Those stories were likely exaggeration, but all legends had a grain of truth to them. And if the fear generated from Muramasa's mere name was anything to go by, there was likely a little more than just a grain of truth in those legends.

With fantasy's of dissecting those seals on the sheath and finally drawing that blade, he slipped into a light slumber.

-o0o-

Itachi walked into ANBU HQ in a somber mood. None of it showed on his face of course, but he knew that he would leave this building feeling he had betrayed his own principles. He nodded in greeting and respect to the ANBU who greeted him. They knew why he was here.

It took him barely any time to reach the room he could sense the Sandaime was in. His presence was just so much more than anyone else in the building. And with each step towards the room, he felt his dread and guilt grow. There would be no going back after this. As he opened the door, he let out one final breath to clear himself of all emotions that may get in the way at the last moment.

Sitting around a table with the Hokage at the head, were some of the most prominent members of the village. Two clan heads, Inuzuka Tsume, her ninken; Kuromaru, Aburame Shibi, and Hatake Kakashi. He had no doubt the ANBU commander was also in the room, hiding in the shadows. All of them had grim looks.

They glanced at him as he entered and Sandaime-sama nodded to an empty chair before immediately going back to business, "What do you have for me?"

A simple command that they responded to at once, Kakashi starting, "All the houses we investigated used the same method of attack. It is likely that there was only one person to blame for this. In all the houses there was little to no blood. Whoever did this was good, but not a professional. They haven't yet mastered killing without letting blood spill to the floor. There have also been some seals found on the walls of the compound. They were to keep any minor disturbances unnoticed."

Tsume went next without any prompting, "We found a scent that followed a path through the compound. However, there were places that we couldn't find much of a foreign scent at all. It was there, but not as strong as in other places. The path it follows is also odd, so we assume they know how to use clones."

Shibi added on to that, "There was also only one foreign chakra that my Kikauchi were able to detect as non-Uchiha. It was hidden well, and this person either knew how to cut off his trail from my Kikauchi or they suppressed their chakra even more on the way out of the village. I find it more likely to be the former. Why? Because it would be illogical to not suppress their chakra as much as possible when assassinating the Uchiha. The only place it was not suppressed was at the Naka Shrine. There seemed to be a battle between Fugaku and the culprit."

Sarutobi nodded in thought and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, taking in all the information. Itachi took this as a good time to insert himself into the flow of intelligence. "Sandaime-sama, I believe I know who is responsible," all eyes in the room snapped to him. This was it. It was time to betray his friend. "Uzumaki Naruto."

They all only stared before the most brash of them, Tsume, spoke out in disbelief, "You've gotta be kidding me Itachi! Sure the brat's a little cold and all, but surely you don't think he has the skill to pull this off! I know the Uchiha aren't all that fond of him, but I thought you knew to look past such things!"

He remained resolute, his expression remaining impassive. "Tsume-san, I do not harbor ill will towards Uzumaki Naruto. I have trained with him on numerous occasions and have come to respect him." she gave him a slightly disbelieving look, but he pressed on, "I do have reason to believe he did this beyond some flimsy conjecture."

Tsume gave him a large frown, "Itachi, I haven't met the kid myself, but I've heard about him. He may be skilled, but he doesn't have what it takes to do this. Regardless of what evidence you have, there's simply no way he could pull this off on his own."

He agreed on that much. He had thought about it on his way over here. Naruto couldn't have pulled this off himself. There had been a meeting in the Naka Shrine and he would not have been able to get in there unseen. Plus he certainly couldn't win a straight on fight with most Uchiha in that meeting, let alone all of them. It clearly pointed to Naruto having someone help him. Maybe not necessarily in a direct fight because that would have certainly been noticed, but by placing some seals he had designed. Naruto could really be a viscous, sadistic little monster when he wanted to.

If he had someone that was stealthy enough to do that, there wouldn't be a need to fight all that much. He knew Naruto had a number of contacts in the less scrupulous part of Konoha. There was bound to be someone that stealthy. Plus, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume that Naruto had a way of weakening people - likely poison - that would allow him to fight his father and win. He had seen some plants in his friends apartment before that he knew to be very poisonous. He had also noticed some that he didn't recognize. It was likely those were some more exotic and dangerous plants.

"I agree Tsume-san, but I don't think he did it entirely alone. I believe he had someone set seals he designed around the compound to close it off and weaken those he couldn't assassinate outright. I know he is skilled enough to do something at least on that level, though it is still surprising how much he has hidden."

Tsume still didn't believe him, so he decided to stop beating around the bush and reveal why he knew it was Naruto. "I am sure you know that there are subtle ways to tell who has written a seal. I found such a seal I know is of Naruto's style merely about half an hour ago. It contained the location of the body of Uchiha Izumi. I have since delivered her to the medics."

That shut Tsume up as she took in a deep breath. They were all familiar with how difficult it was to fake another's style of seal.

At that point, the ANBU commander bled out of the shadows and dropped into a kneel. "Hokage-sama, Uzumaki Naruto is not at his apartment and many of his things have disappeared as well."

The Sandaime took in a deep breath of smoke from his pipe and then let it out in a sigh. "I see."

No one spoke for a minute, taking the time to process that. Itachi could see that Kakashi was not taking this well. He likely viewed this as one of his greatest failures for failing to keep his sensei's son safe within the walls of Konoha. Then the Sandaime spoke up, his voice unwavering, "We cannot let this go unpunished, regardless of the boy's age and status. I will send some Hunter Nin after him and if he is not captured within three days, I will set a bounty on his head. You're dismissed."

Shibi and Tsume got up to leave immediately, though Tsume seemed most displeased and surprised by the revelation. No doubt because she didn't want to think of someone so near her son's age being capable of such a massacre.

He and Kakashi stayed. He knew Kakashi would wish to seek guidance after this devastating realization. He wished to speak with the Sandaime to give him the full picture, so he decided he could wait a few minutes longer.

-o0o-

Kakashi was in a state of shock and despair. First he had failed to save Obito all those years ago because of his ego and scars from how his father was disgraced for doing such a thing. Then, he had failed to protect Rin from the Kiri ninja who wished to use her as a bomb to weaken Konoha via the Sanbi. After that his sensei and Kushina-nee had been forced to give up their lives to save the village. To even sacrifice their own son, burdening him with being a Jinchuuriki.

After all that, he drowned himself in his sorrows, coming alarmingly close to suicide had it not been for the then leader of his ANBU squad, Rooster. Following that disgrace, he had thrown himself into ANBU mission, barely sparing a thought as to what would become of his sensei's son. He had been young, yes, but he could have at least watched over him a few times a year.

And now this. He had failed his sensei completely. He had been proud - and scared- when Naruto had graduated in his first year like he had. He'd been able to interact with the kid openly without it being too suspicious. The boy was a little cold and cynical, but all things considered, he had turned out well. A bit more similar to himself at that age than he would've liked but it was manageable.

Now this happened. He cared little for the Uchiha, and they thought likewise of him, but they were a valuable asset to the village that could not be replaced. This would not be forgiven and harsh consequences would be dolled out on Naruto, especially because he was a Jinchuuriki. If he were captured, they'd likely rip the Kyuubi out of him. He couldn't let another of those close to him. He couldn't let this curse continue. So he resolved himself to help Naruto as best he could from the shadows. If he was too open about it, others would get suspicious and it wouldn't be long before someone put together the dots and figured out who's son he was. That would just put the kid in more danger.

He needed to find out for himself, from Naruto's own mouth, why he had done it. Then he would judge what he should do about his sensei's legacy. The first step was to convince the Sandaime to let him track Naruto, "Sandaime-sama, let me lead the team to capture Naruto."

It was not the compassionate grandfather that turned his eyes on him, but the commander that had been through countless battles and thrived. "I cannot have personal feelings getting in the way of this mission, Kakashi. Should you come across him in one of your missions, you are welcome to capture him. But I won't send you on this mission while your emotions are running high."

And it was that singular statement that shook him to his core. He couldn't even attempt to help him now. Pleading to be put on the case would only further prove Sarutobi's words right. With as composed a voice as he could manage, he responded, "As you will, Hokage-sama."

He left then, nodding to Itachi on his way out. He became nearly blind to his surroundings after that, not hearing, not seeing, only walking. An undetermined amount of time later, he found himself in front of the memorial stone he spent so much of his time at.

He dropped to his knees, tracing his fingers along the many, many names that covered this stone. He had become familiar with all of the names over the years he had spent staring at it. Some he knew, recognized from meeting them. Others, and more often, he found had died before he was born. Some names were recognizable by the fame that they had gained. Most, however, were those he didn't recognize, the unsung heroes of Konoha.

As he wept and wallowed in self pity, he felt a bump in the ground that he knew had never been there before. Despite his sorrow, he was still a highly skilled ninja. Things like this didn't change for no reason. Someone had buried something there.

He was paranoid from his time spent in ANBU, and he wouldn't allow for the chance that a bomb had been planted. Reaching for his Hitai-ate, he pulled it up to rest across his forehead and opened Obito's eye. If it was a bomb, the Sharingan would help him react quick enough to protect both himself and the stone.

It wasn't a bomb. It was a small slip of paper. Despite there only being two sentences, it might as well have been an explosion that hit him.

Weakness is the path of those who no longer wish to protect what is theirs. Those who wander aimlessly shall lose all that they have.

He didn't know who had written it or for what purpose, but it was in that moment that Kakashi realized something he had been guilty of since Minato-sensei died. Something that others had pointed out in their own way, but had never struck him as this piece of paper did now. Perhaps because he'd been too caught up in himself, too full of himself.

He had followed no path since Minato-sensei sealed the Kyuubi, only following orders. Going on what most labeled suicide missions, constantly for over a decade. He only ever took a break when he was bedridden or one of his superiors refused to give him a mission. He had gotten stronger in body from this, certainly, but he had no drive to actually improve himself. He had been looking for death, lamenting how he only brought death to those around him whenever a squad mate died on a mission. But never him, always someone who had more to live for.

He put on an act for those few that he could call friends, but they could see what he was doing. He'd no longer lament so much. He would focus on the little he had now and gain more. And eventually he would catch Naruto when he came to the best mental state he could be and judge his actions.

But, perhaps, before he did that, he could mourn a little more.

-o0o-

Naruto woke from his slumber suddenly and silently. Looking to the sun, he determined it was time to move. Five hours of sleep was plenty to operate on for the immediate future.

He had stayed in one place too long already. He was mildly surprised he couldn't sense any ANBU. Surely they'd had enough time to catch up with him. Though perhaps he underestimated how well he had covered his tracks. Then again, he thought, as he glanced at the sun once more in contemplation, they likely had only been dispatched about two hours ago. The explosives he left were set for eight and that would likely take up an hour of investigation before they could send out anyone with some information.

The ANBU were good at tracking, but he didn't think they'd be good enough to track him a hundred miles while dismissing all the false trails he'd left in only two hours. He likely had another hour before they arrived at this village. That would hopefully give him enough time to eliminate any trace of which direction he took.

And if not… well, he was good enough at setting up traps that they'd likely have to spend some time treating their wounds.

With that, he created a dozen clones to set up some rather nasty traps around the village while he took off towards Tani, the capital of River Country. He wasn't far from it - he could get there in under half an hour if he took the most direct path. The added time to cover his tracks added a half hour to his travel time.

When he finally arrived, he was impressed - or intrigued may have been a better word. Konoha was slightly above average size as far as villages went. But comparing any village to a capital, even of a minor country, was like comparing a grain of rice to a full sized meal. Especially considering the fact that Tani had some of the best trade in the Elemental Nations. Many of the numerous rivers that gave the country its name converged on this city. That alone gave it plenty of reason for a large city to be built.

The Land of Wind and Land of Fire had tried numerous times to annex River country because of all the trade it commanded and the strategic importance its river's held in times of war. Neither country had much success as despite River Country not having a military anywhere near as impressive as either country, other countries would come to their defense. Whether to curry favor or to spite the larger country's it didn't matter to them.

Plus, the Land of River had terrain both sides weren't used to. While there were great forests, there were considerably larger swamps - swamps he planned to take advantage of to cover his tracks. The military leaders of River knew how to use this to their advantage and had gotten rather good at pitting the two larger countries against one another to soften them before moving in.

Tani had proved many times that they had an impressive capital that would not be toppled easily. It stretched along the main river that ran through the entire country, branching off to both the Land of Fire and Wind. The river stretched out so far that there was barely half a mile from the edge of the city to another major River that ran from part of Hi no Kuni to Hanguri Gulf. He could even see a small - in comparison at least - port town further down the river.

The buildings were larger as well. The tallest building in Konoha was the Hokage Tower and that was four stories tall, most other houses were one or two stories. There were very few buildings three stories tall and most, if not all of those were apartment complexes. Of course, many places had at least one floor underground, but that wasn't his point.

The buildings here were two stories tall at the minimum. He could see a sizable number of three story buildings as well, and the tallest building he could see was eight stories.

The architecture was also slightly different than that of Konoha. Konoha had a mix of traditional Fire Country architecture of curved roofs that stopped to give a flat roof and occasional buildings with more modern cobblestone bases, in addition to the occasional building that bent around a tree.

Tani, on the other hand, had very few wooden buildings and they were obviously old - part of the city when it was still a town. Many of the buildings here were made of cobblestone and a few were even made of metal. He even spotted some buildings made with a material he vaguely remembered having been invented recently. Concrete, he believed it was called. There was very little of it in Konoha, but from what he knew it was usually somewhat course and could withstand a great deal of compression, but was not very good at withstanding tension. A good material for a building from what he understood. Especially for support pillars.

Overall, this city positively eclipsed any other town he'd ever been in.

Unfortunately, he wasn't here to sight see. In fact, he wasn't even entering the city. As curious as he was, he didn't have the time. He was here to catch a boat from the small port far to the south of River Country. Catching a ride in the city would invite far more potential witnesses with more strictly manned boats. Considering he planned on being a stowaway, it was best to catch a ride in a less secure vessel.

Aside from that, it was better that he take a ship on a less traveled river that led a more direct route to his destination. The river in the city couldn't take him as far South and it was significantly closer to Sunagakure. He wasn't overly worried about them trying to take him in because of his inevitable bounty - ninja of all villages were rather notorious for being xenophobic - but it never hurt to be cautious.

Sure Sunagakure may act all nice to civilians and even let some merchants into their walls, but he knew they constantly watched all foreigners within the limits of their not inconsiderable reach. That wasn't even mentioning if he slipped up and some Suna Nin called him out on being a ninja. Ninja were cracked down on way harder even when they were invited. So if you were caught and weren't invited to their territory so to speak, well… you should expect to be introduced to their Torture and Interrogation Unit.

He could argue that he wasn't a ninja - a warrior, ronin, or some other type of trained combatant - but there was very little chance they would care even if he faked it well enough. So no, he did not want to be near Suna. Hopefully, he could pick up enough navigation skills before he truly entered the desert to avoid wandering near the place. If he didn't, then he might as well expect it to happen with how shitty his luck was.

He sighed to himself as he entered the cargo storage area of the ship he had snuck onto. It was headed for the coast - plenty of distance needed to be covered should his ANBU tail pin down the vessel he stowed away on. He planned to get off in an area he knew was a heavy swamp. This was going to take far longer than if he had just ran, but he didn't want to exhaust himself. Plus taking a boat would be a better way to throw off his tail if his traps in that village had failed.

'Well', he thought as he swung Juuchi Yosamu off his back, 'perhaps i can use this time to decipher some of these seals.'

Running his hand along the beautiful sheath, he took in the seals as he turned the blade. It was only a mild annoyance to have to turn the sword to see all the seals and how they connected.

The seals that made it so only certain people could draw the blade were separate from the other seals upon it, being the only one that were drawn where the hilt met the sheath. Finally getting more than a cursory glance at the seals, he could make out a little more of what the qualifications were.

The seals judged the person who held the sword in some way. He frowned at that. He couldn't tell what exactly it judged, only that it did. He had seen very few seals that, for all intents and purposes, interacted with a person's psyche. He did not like having been in contact with that type of seal - he very much liked to keep his mind his - but he consoled himself in the fact that he could see nothing that indicated it was linked to another person. It was simply an unbiased judge.

In fact, he had only seen two seals that interacted with a person's psyche. The first had been drawn up by Sakumo as an example, being only a brief lesson because they were so rare.

The second, he had discovered on his own - on his own stomach.

The seal on his stomach that held the Nine Tails at bay was still far too complex to come close to understanding, but he could make out fragments of it. One of those parts he had noticed shortly after that lesson.

All seals that dealt with the psyche - in a given style of Fuinjutsu - started with the same base. While his style was different than Minato Namikaze's, it held a number of similarities - something he had pondered on and eventually chalked up to Konoha teaching similar styles, though he still held some doubts and theories.

So he had been able to recognize a similar base to what Sakumo had shown him in his example on his stomach. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to make out much more than that and he knew Sakumo would only have him research it himself if he brought it up, so he had been on his own. This was something that sucked quite a bit because Fuinjutsu was not only an obscure art, but often a misinterpreted one. There were not many books on advanced Fuinjutsu in Konoha - in the world really - and especially not ones he could access pertaining to a nearly unused portion of an obscure art. Anyone of any skill past that of knowing enough to copy exploding tags and not blow themselves up typically had a mentor.

His mentor, however, was an asshole and liked to make things difficult for him, so he was left to make guesses on what the seal did to him. His best guess as far as he was concerned was that it separated his conscious from that of the Fox's.

Of course, if their psyche's were separated, then that implied there was a way to make it less separated, or perhaps a way to converse with the fox. If he could glean even a fraction of the knowledge the ancient fox had undoubtebly accrued, then he would consider that a huge victory. Surely the fox had seen techniques long forgotten begin and die.

Most would call him insane for even considering trying to learn or steal knowledge from a being such as the Kyuubi. The so called embodiment of hatred with no morals or conscious aside from seeking destruction.

Naruto called those people fools. If there was a resource at your disposal, why not use it? Everything worthwhile had some risk in it. And he was cautious - he wouldn't dive head first into something like that unless he thought he had a good chance to gain something without losing himself and a few back up plans.

Besides, he theorized that the Bijuu weren't quite as mindless as many made them out to be. Digging through very sparse records and accounts of the attack - of debatable reliability - had told him that the Kyuubi may have spoken some few words during the attack. More than that, the Ichibi was all but confirmed as having declared his name to be Shukaku.

If they had enough sentience to speak, then what's to say they couldn't have minds that thought just as complexly as humans? Perhaps they just saw humans as beneath them. With as much power as they had that was certainly possible - probable even if they used the typical human as their measuring scale. Very few humans ever reached the level capable of besting a Bijuu alone. Only their own hubris and the monster of a man that was Hashirama Senju brought them all down from their roaming in a single generation.

His mind was wondering though. The seals on the sword. Yes, they judged a person's psyche. Perhaps to see if they had enough strength of will, likely made by someone who didn't want just any idiot trying to wield a supposedly evil blade. Those seals, ultimately were pointless to him at the moment. When he eventually decided whether or not it was worth the risk to draw it, this seal would either prevent him or it wouldn't. If it prevented him he would merely wait until he became skilled enough to disengage the seal.

For now he was more interested in the suppression seals. They were far more complex than anything he had ever seen. They did conceal or at least severely temper the blades presence, as he had initially surmised. But they did more than just conceal it. They seemed to take in whatever dark presence the blade released to fuel themselves. A rather ingenious way to keep the seal running. In addition to that, it seemed to - for a lack of better word - conceal the sword from those that could see it.

Not conceal as in hide, but make those who knew what it was and how to recognize it shy away from that train of thought. A very useful little feature indeed. Obviously it wasn't absolute and if someone got a close look at it they could override it, as proven by his recognizing the blade. Still, it would be useful to let him carry it around without others recognizing it for what it was. He would already have his hands full with bounty hunters chasing after him. He didn't need sword fanatics and possibly even entire countries after him because he practically openly declared he was in possession of a legendary sword.

Perhaps his luck wasn't all bad after all. Though it had been a mistake to take this sword without thinking about how it could easily paint a huge target on his back.

Studying the seals for a few minutes longer revealed nothing too extraordinary. There were some other minimal features of the seal and some things he didn't understand, but he knew enough to be reasonably sure that the seals meant no harm. After all, you could never be 100% certain with Fuinjutsu if you couldn't completely decipher it. Even then it wasn't always a sure thing if whoever wrote the seal screwed up in a minor way.

Seals were kind of a bitch like that. Treat them right and there was nothing better. Fuck up and you could be well and truly screwed.

They were endearing like that. And a metaphor for battle.

Done examining the seals, he was sorely tempted to draw the blade. On one hand, it was unlikely drawing the sword would do any true harm. The seals were highly unlikely to harm him and aside from the stories about Muramasa's terrifying blades, he should be fine.

On the other hand, if someone had taken the time to seal off the blade, then it's presence would stand out like a beacon, and even possibly leave a trail. He couldn't take that risk now.

So he decided to leave it be for now and rummage through the cargo. Surely there was something of at least mild interest in one of these boxes.

-o0o-

Naruto was hopping through the trees in the swamp he had picked as best as he could manage. The mist and giant insects that inhabited them were not making it an easy or pleasant journey.

After he had rummaged through the cargo of the ship and found nothing of any interest, he had set about meditating. It was a relaxing exercise that both calmed him and sharpened his mind. That extra focus, he thought, would be useful once he left the boat. He had yet to sense any pursuers, but now they had had ample time to have traversed the necessary distance. It would only be a matter of how well he had covered his tracks and how much damage his traps had done that would determine the time it would take for them to catch up.

It had taken an excruciating six hours to travel roughly 70 miles of river. Even after reasoning out his plan, the extra time it took to travel such a short distance did nothing good for his nerves.

Now he could travel on his own two feet again, he felt a touch more at ease. And travelling through this swamp would give him the greatest chance of losing any trackers. Not only was this swamp notorious for being quite hostile to life, but it was also confirmed to have various beasts living inside it. He could only guess at what these beasts were from the stories he had heard. A number of these stories he came by either second hand or by eavesdropping on a civilian and civilians tended to be unreliable in these types of matters.

Some even claimed that this swamp housed some of the few demons that popped up every once in awhile. While he felt that had a low probability, he held out some hope of it. Demons were rare and he wanted a look at one in person.

Still, from what he could tell, it was similar to the Forest of Death in that it held creatures far larger and far more vicious than the norm in addition to mutated animals. So far he had only run into giant bugs, and while annoying, they were no threat. He had heard some loud cracks, so he knew something big was out there, it just wasn't near him. And however much he wanted to explore, observing the creatures of this swamp was a secondary objective.

Finally, after a half hour of traversing the swamp and covering his tracks, he felt something was wrong. He hadn't seen a single giant creature since entering the forest. Sure he could write it off as superstitions getting the better of people, but there were just too many tales to be flat out false. Plus, he had heard very loud cracks that likely came from enormous beasts. He just hadn't many. It was almost as if they were trying to hide.

He frowned at that thought. These enormous beasts should be alpha predators in this place. Unless an outside force or an infrequent and very intimidating predator emerged there should be no reason for them to act this way. Taking in his surroundings more closely he got even more suspicious. The number of bugs flying around were far less than he had initially seen. Hopefully that meant he was closing in on the area that they feared being near.

Perhaps an interesting area to look into as a potential diversion. Perhaps -

Naruto frowned. The mist was getting thicker. He was on high alert in an instant, funneling chakra to his ears and stretching his senses as far as he could while keeping up his pace. Something was not right here.

It took him over half a minute of searching before he could say he was being followed for sure. He didn't like it. It had been a long time since someone had nearly evaded his senses once he put nearly all of his focus into searching his surroundings. This being had to have been following him for at least a bit of time undetected. Whatever was following him likely didn't have any particular desire to kill him since it hadn't attacked.

From what he could sense after pinning down its location more accurately, it was more likely he was being observed by a curious onlooker rather than an assassin. Not one intent on killing him in any case. He still couldn't completely nail down their position, but he could tell they were close, following him slightly to his right.

And now the mist was getting very thick. He could barely see a few feet in front of him at this point. He needed to change course. He was good at fighting blind, but he doubted he could outright beat whoever was following him in these conditions considering they were likely responsible for the change.

Then the choice was taken from him as a blast of high intensity wind was shot at him.

He was able to dodge rather easily - Sakumo had subjected him to sudden ambushes numerous times in the past. 'Still', he thought as he looked in the direction the attack had come from, 'that was a fairly powerful attack for being built up so quickly. I heard at least three trees fall.' He could only match and surpass a blast of wind like that if he had a bit of prep time. That didn't inspire any confidence he'd had in his chances here. He kept his senses sharp, but his opponent seemed intent on waiting for his response to the attack. Well if they wanted to give him the chance to prepare, who was he to deny them?

Deciding that a big distraction was needed to set up anything meaningful, he released the full brunt of his considerable chakra, flooding the area. This served two purposes - to gauge his opponents reaction and, more importantly, infuse his chakra into the mist so he could take control of it.

His opponent didn't seem impressed if his lack of reaction was any indication. That was fine with him. Hubris had led to many defeats - he could attest to that personally, his eye was a constant reminder.

Flipping through hand signs at a rapid pace, he slammed his hands onto the ground, forcing up both walls and spikes.

This didn't seem to deter the man at all, merely backhanding any spikes that neared his body. This man, unsurprisingly, had some rather significant physical strength. Physical strength alone didn't determine who would win a Taijutsu exchange, but it typically correlated with someone at least decently skilled. Plus, despite his own insane strength relative to his age, he knew he couldn't match this man.

But that hadn't been the point of the spikes and walls. They were to give him cover to both create clones and traps. For now, he'd prefer he kept the man from getting bored or annoyed with his hiding. That might cause him to blow the entire field away. So he hopped out from the cover of the Earth wall and sent out a hail of shuriken, further enhanced by both wind and his use of Kage Shuriken Bunshin. A veritable wall of metal popped into existence and rained down on the man who merely lifted a hand and let a tornado kick up around his arm, tearing the shuriken apart.

That showing gave Naruto reason to be quite a bit more nervous. There were not many shinobi who could just gesture and create a jutsu - especially one of such power. In fact, he knew of less than a dozen shinobi currently alive who could or were highly rumored to be able to create a jutsu of equal or greater power with a mere gesture.

Five of them were the Kage.

From what he'd seen so far he didn't think this guy was near the level of the Kage, but to be able to control wind like that… He was either a savant or he was not a shinobi.

Magicians didn't use hand signs, right? Still, from the little information he had been able to obtain on them, they used magic circles - whatever that meant. Regardless, he was pretty sure this guy wasn't using magic circles. He could look into it later. For now, he needed to dodge, dodge, Dodge!

The whirlwind of, well, wind that came at him cut through the meager earth barriers and spikes in its way as if they were leaves.

Then the cloaked man spoke, "Disappointing. After what I sensed I thought you'd be at least a little more capable. Where's that power I sense buried beneath what you use now?"

Buried beneath what he used now? What the hell did that mean?

He continued before he could think more on it, "If you won't bring out that demonic power, then I suppose you aren't worth as much as I thought if this is the extent of your power."

The world seemed to freeze at that moment, realization striking like lightning. This man could sense the Kyuubi.

From what he had gathered, no one he had ever met could actually sense it. Not even Sakumo, and he had flat out asked once, concerned about whether or not it could compromise him. Sakumo might not specialize or be a natural sensor, but he was still damn good. Probably better than almost anyone in Konoha.

The only time he himself had sensed the Kyuubi was when in deep meditation, and even then he could only sense it half the time he actively looked. A testament to the Yondaime's seal that it could keep a being of the Kyuubi's power locked up so well.

In recent years he had felt its presence strengthen marginally, but he supposed that was to be expected from Kyuubi, especially without anyone to keep the seal strong.

Regardless, the fact that this guy could sense it either meant he was naturally attuned to sense the Beast's presence somehow or he was a phenomenal sensor. He was leaning more towards the former despite not knowing how he could be attuned to sense it. This was because the number of sensors in Konoha that were good enough to do so without assistance numbered on one hand - maybe one finger.

He then focused on the other part of the man's statement, of how he wasn't worth as much as he thought. That meant he wanted to capture him, not that he had been confronted to be killed. And if his actions thus far were anything to go by, it wasn't because of his actions against the Uchiha - it was of personal interest for another group.

This could work for him. The man seemed to think little of him, so a surprise from his clones would work more easily. Alternatively, if he couldn't put the man down permanently or for long enough to run, hopefully his showing would be enough for his attacker to decide not to kill him.

Then the world started again as the man dashed towards him, wind whipping around his arm. "Zoom," he said as he accelerated. He was fast, but Naruto could keep up with just his normal eye. And with his Sharingan he could react easily.

Casting a quick disorientation Genjutsu, he slid under the man's legs, flipping through hand seals as he did. Finishing the set, he sub-vocalized the name of his jutsu as he came up behind him, 'Sesatsu Suisho.'

Suddenly, the previously thick mist vanished and in its place were a thousand water needles soaring towards the cloaked man. With those needles came a gust of wind that surpassed what he had first been attacked with, striking the man straight through four enormous trees.

Immediately thereafter, two Naruto suicide clones fell on him and blew up in a spectacular explosion. Not willing to wait and see if his enemy was put down for good, Naruto left a few clones to pepper the cloud of dust and mud with wind enhanced kunai and shuriken while he got the hell out of there.

'Well I might as well have stuck a sign to my back that told the world I'm a wanted man and walk through Tani for all the subtlety that fight had.' Before he could continue that line of sarcastic thought, he had to substitute himself with a log to prevent being cut in half as memories of his clones' fiery deaths filtered back.

"Well shit."

The previously cloaked man landed across from him on a branch, sporting only mild injuries. The worst he had was a light gash running from the center of his chest to his shoulder with some light burns. This gave Naruto his first chance to get a good look at his opponent. Naruto saw that it was not in fact a man, but a beast with a humanoid shape. It had brown fur covering its body barring its shoulders, which were black, almost as if he were wearing pauldrons. Also odd was the fact that this beast-man had hair as a human would - dirty blond in color, spiky, untamed, and long enough to reach its waist.

Oddly enough, the beast seemed concerned with modesty as it was wearing a pair of black pants that came just over his knees. And on the bottom of them, there was a bronze metal with a black symbol on it, almost resembling an upside down hook.

The beast spoke to him again, "It seems I was wrong in my initial assessment. You are not entirely weak. Perhaps you could be of some use."

Deciding that diplomacy was his best option as fighting had proven to be ineffective, he replied with a question, "Be of some use how?"

The beast eyed him as if he were assessing his worth, though he replied, "My Master is always looking for strong subordinates. You are not strong now, but I see potential," He paused for a moment and Naruto resisted the urge to snarl. He was not weak. This man merely outclassed him. The man continued, heedless of Naruto's anger, "especially if you release that power I sense."

Naruto sensed the question in the declaration and gave a vague reply, "That power you sense is locked away. I do not know how to access it at the moment," The man was not pleased by his answer, but he at least seemed curious instead of furious. Deciding to test the waters, he asked a question of his own, "I have never met anyone who could sense it before you. How can you?"

The beast gave him a piercing stare before also giving a vague answer, "I am somewhat experienced in sensing demonic presences."

Naruto frowned at that. Sakumo had made sure he knew of most of the Jinchuuriki so he could avoid them if he ever ran into one. They had the best chance of being able to sense the Kyuubi as far as he knew. But this beast couldn't be one. For one, he didn't recognize this beast. Secondly, and more importantly, this beast didn't seem to recognize that he held a Bijuu or possibly even knew what a Bijuu was - only that it was demonic in nature. And now that he wasn't focused on other things, such as fighting, he could sense this beast had a bit of a demonic feel to him...

Naruto pulled his attention away from his thoughts. He could think later. Negotiations were more pressing.

"Well, I may be inclined to join your ranks if you told me what your goal is."

The beast narrowed his eyes at him. Perhaps he had overstepped his bounds. Luckily, after a few more seconds of silence, it answered, "Our goals are of no concern to you. Merely know that should you be deemed fit to join us, you will gain power and knowledge as you wish as long as you complete the missions you are assigned."

Well that sounded enticing. More so at least than death, imprisonment, or slavery. And he didn't much care what this beast was fighting to attain, only that he lived. Besides, if this beast was any indication, then its group could provide protection from Konoha.

Keeping that, as well as the fact that he'd almost certainly die if he resisted in mind, he gave a Sakumo-esque reply, "Well lead the way, Commander." The beast only seemed to take mild offense to that, but started hopping from tree to tree all the same.

Deciding to fish for a little more harmless information on the way to the base, he made some idle conversation, "So, you got a name, or should I just call you Commander?"

He took some petty pleasure at the displeased look on the beast's face. It answered all the same, "I have no name. But the humans call me Calamity, so you may call me Tempester."


Well that took longer than I thought. Still, this is longer than should be typical so enjoy. All feedback is welcome and any questions you have, just send my way. Also, if you didn't connect an image to who this character is - it's Tempester from Fairy Tail, the first of the crossover's I'm introducing. Now I'm off to bed.