I don't own Naruto.

"Talk"

'Think'

"Talk"

'Think'

"It's nice to see you Lord Hokage. Hopefully we'll be able to do this again under less serious circumstances."

"Hopefully, but my paperwork usually has me too swamped for this. But, let's get to the point. How bad is it Inochi-san?" Sarutobi asked.

Inochi Yamanaka let out a long sigh. The Hokage had come to him earlier in the day to see the extent of the mental damage done to Naruto who was currently waiting in the other room, "Well to be honest he's actually pretty stable considering what happened to him. Most things were expected. A fear of doctors that will probably develop into a fear of hospitals, he is much more shy and quiet then the little boy who used to run around here, and of course he has a great hate for those involved in the experiment." Inochi quietly responded.

"Shouldn't there be more damage? I mean considering what was done to him."

"That is what I thought too. But, apparently the fact that he had a couple of friends managed to keep him somewhat trusting however, depending on how harsh the villagers are on him we could have a real problem. There's also the emotional damage he'll suffer when he finds out his mother was the one operating on him. The Kyuubi is a whole different problem in its self."

In the next room the nine year old blond boy wearing a orange jumpsuit and wrappings on his hands sat quietly in a chair with heavy thoughts on his mind. He was free but, would things be any better? Would the adults still treat him like they use to? And the thing that worried Naruto the most. Were his friends okay?

Before he could think any more about these things he felt a bit of weight on his head when he looked he saw a blond haired girl with turquoise pupiless eyes staring down at him, "Hi, I'm Ino Yamanaka. What's your name?" the girl asked him.

Naruto's first reaction was to tense up with someone this close to him but, after he realized that she wasn't trying to hurt him he decided to answer, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki." he quietly answered her question.

"Naruto Uzumaki, where have I heard that name before? Hmm...oh wait now I remember! You used to go to the academy right? You were that really funny kid that would always prank the teachers." Ino said with a smile causing Naruto to grow a small grin, "But, then you left the academy after a couple of months. Why did you do that? Your grades were bad but, not bad enough to flunk out." Ino asked with a curious look.

"I don't want to talk about it." Naruto simply said.

Ino immediately noticed the sad look on his face and decided to drop it. One thing she learned was that people who came to there flower shop not looking for flowers were usually here for her father's mind walking abilities. Most of these people were unstable her father told her and she should be careful. But, with him she didn't see anything dangerous about him, just a lonely boy sitting by himself looking troubled.

"Hey Naruto, Do you wanna go play outside?" the blond girl asked him.

"Huh?"

"Come on, let's go." she said before grabbing him by the arm.

"Inochi, I know you probably already know this but, I haven't told the council or anyone about Naruto's experimentation. If the rest of the council gets wind of this they'll finally have enough of a reason to have Naruto executed. They would see him as to great a threat because of his abilities and the information put inside of him. I can trust you to keep all of this secret correct?" Sarutobi asked.

"You have nothing to worry about Lord Hokage. Unlike most people on the council I have faith in Minato's work. Besides he'd never forgive me for selling out his kid." Inochi said with a smile.

Before the adults could discuss what to do anymore two blond children came into the room. One being forcefully pulled along by the other by the looks of it.

"Dad, can me and Naruto go out to play?" Ino asked. Inochi was shocked at first that a boy who went through what he did would be that open with someone he just met but, he just smiled.

"Sure you two go play."

With a happy smily Ino immediately turned and pulled the poor boy along with her. And once they were out of hearing range, the Hokage turned to Inochi who just smirked.

"Ino has a habit of picking people up off their feet but, let's talk about that later. The important thing is now that he's back in the village what are you going to do with him?" Inochi asked.

"I'm not quite sure yet. I don't want to send him back to the orphanage, because they would probably find out about Naruto's mutation, not to mention the unneeded mental stress he'd receive from the other kids. As for academics, I think I'll have Naruto enroll back into the academy."

Two Weeks Later

Naruto Uzumaki sat silently in the academy courtyard eating lunch by him self. His first day at the academy had been rather uneventful. When he arrived at school only one teacher looked remotely happy to see him, his old teacher Iruka Umino. Most of the students who knew Naruto from when he used to go to the academy expected him to make a spectacle of himself or set off some huge prank, but they were all surprised to see him sit down and take notes quietly. They didn't hear a peep out of him unless it was to answer a question that Iruka asked him. Then they were even more surprised that he gave the right answers.

At lunch Ino offered him a seat with her friends but, he politely to turn her down. It just wasn't worth it to hear the girls talk about their beloved Sasuke-kun. As he sat under the shade of a tree Naruto thought about how the students had changed.

Sasuke Uchiha who used to be just a quiet kid was now basically a perpetual angst machine. Of course, Naruto could understand to an extent considering Sasuke's situation but, he had been through worse, and he managed not to become a jackass.

Kiba was still loud an obnoxious. Naruto was avoiding him because he kept questioning him about where he had been when he was gone. The only thing different about him was the small dog he carried around with him by the name of Akamaru.

Hinata hadn't changed much but, he noted she was very happy to see him back at the academy. He asked her if she wanted to eat lunch with him, but she blushed Tomato red and declined before running off leaving him highly confused.

The rest of the class was as he remembered except Sakura who went from being shy to the loudest person in class. Chouji still inhaled food at the speed of light, and Shikamaru was still the laziest person you would ever meet.

After thinking about his classmates his thoughts began to drift back to his friends in Sea Country. Would Isaribi, Dashi, Zaku, Takashi, and the others be safe? Were they even alive? It was a lot for one nine year old to have on his mind.

As Naruto was eating he noticed that a couple of ants had slipped into his lunch box.

"Gee thanks a lot guys." he grumbled. Scooping the food they had been on off of his tray and started to chow down on the rest. "Alright then let's eat." the blond sighed to himself.

As Naruto continued to eat he noticed an unfamiliar smell. After a couple of light sniffs he looked up the tree. "Hey Shino, I didn't see you up there. Is this your spot?" the blond asked though, if you happened to walk by you would have thought Naruto was talking to the tree.

It was silent for a moment before a brown haired boy with sunglasses jumped lightly out of the tree. "Hello Naruto, to answer your question I don't mind if you sit here although, I'm curious how did you know it was me?" Shino asked him.

"I have a good nose. When the wind changed direction I caught the smell of a lot of bugs but, I didn't hear them so I guessed it was an Aburame in the tree because their bugs are silent when they're inside the body." Naruto replied.

Shino was slightly surprised that the idiot he used to know would ever make such a smart deduction, "But, no matter how good your nose is it should be well out of the range of the average human to know I was there just because of the bugs." he commented.

Naruto mentally began to panic. He didn't really have an excuse prepared incase someone got close to finding out about his abilities. "It's my bloodline." he lied through his teeth.

"I never heard of a clan like that in Konoha." Shino replied.

"Well to be honest I don't really know anything about my family. Uzumaki was just the name they gave me. Nobody has any idea who my parents are." the blond sadly replied.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you with my question." Shino apologived, now feeling a little bad at bringing up bad memories.

Naruto wiped the look of his face and replaced it with a small smile. "It's alright, you were just curious. So what are you doing here eating by yourself Shino?"

"I enjoy the peace it gives me. Besides, most of the other kids feel uncomfortable around me." Shino said his face devoid of emotion even though Naruto knew he heard a little bit of sadness in his voice.

"Why would they do that? I think your bugs are pretty cool. It's like having a whole bunch of pets with you. The only real problem you have is that you're too quiet and even that's not a bad thing."

Shino seemed a bit surprised by this but quickly regained his composure. "Umm...thank you Naruto." The bug user replied.

One Year Later

Naruto was adjusting to his old way of life fairly well. If anything he was getting along better than he use to. His quietness had kept him from drawing to much attention to himself and he was able to avoid a small amount of his old attackers.

He was able to make a couple of friends. The first was Ino Yamanaka who was determined to get him to be the same loudmouth he was before he left. Then there was Shino Aburame who Naruto could always count on for advice. Finally, Naruto had become good friends with Hinata Hyuuga who always seemed to be so kind to him.

Naruto was doing very well in the field of academics. Because of the knowledge Orochimaru already had put into him academy lessons were just like reminiscing and his test grades rivaled that of a certain pink-haired kunoichi. Because of his the three years he spent with no physical training aside from the basic upkeep Orochimaru wanted him to have, Naruto had a hard time readjusting to the physical aspects of the shinobi life. Luckily for him his heightened sense gave him superior aim, speed, and reaction time. Because of this at the end of the year he ranked fifth in taijutsu behind Sasuke, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba.

One of the things Naruto worked on was harnessing his power from the experiments done to him. Naruto still remembered the day that the Hokage told him what he knew of the experiments. That was the first in a very long time he lost his temper, and his hatred for those who did this to him grew. And worse off one of them was his own mother! Worse off that he was the Yondaime's son, and she blatly ingored that they looked identical. If that bitch was stupid enough to come back to Konoha she would get no sympathy from him. But, no matter how much he tried to wish death on the woman he would always see the Yodaime's face and calm down just a bit.

'Damn you old man. As much as you've fucked up my life the least you owe me is the right to hate.' Naruto thought bitterly.

Naruto's reminiscing was stopped short as he reached the destination he had been moving towards. The Higurashi weapon shop was one of the few businesses that let Naruto purchase from them. Apparently the old owner of the store used to make every shuriken, kunai, and other weapon that Minato had ever used. The current owner was a retired shinobi who was rumored to have worked in the same Anbu unit as him.

Naruto first came to this store as a thief. He would take all of the thrown out, defective kunai and shuriken that were considered unworthy for sale and used them. Unfortunately, or what would be fortunately in the future, very few people have the stealth skills to steal from an experienced member of the Anbu and he was caught. After recognizing who the boy was the weapon maker immediately asked why he was stealing from the trash instead of buying from the store. When Naruto told him that he didn't think they would let him in, the old man laughed and told him he was more than welcome at the store.

Naruto entered and made his way to the counter.

"Hey, old man Hiroshi have you finished my latest masterpiece." Naruto yelled up to the counter.

Behind the counter a tan skinned man with brown hair and green eyes who looked to be in his late thirties gave the boy a mock frown. "How many times have I told you not to call me an old man? I'm still in my prime." the retired Anbu retorted.

"Sure, sure, keep telling yourself that. So is it done?"

The weapon seller grinned and reached down under the counter. When he came back up he was holding what looked to be a large arrow head with a small hole at the top and a hole big enough for a person's hand at the bottom. It had a clear tube in the middle on both sides of the weapon. Upon closer examination one would notice liquid in side of them.

"I gotta admit I had my doubts about this one, but I think it's got potential. I made it just like you designed it. Click the switch on the right of the inside of it." Hiroshi told him.

Naruto put his hand into it and did as he was told. Immediately a two and a half foot long blade extended from the contraption. "Wow this is great work old man. The Higurashi's remain the best weapon makers in Konoha. Did you put it in?"

"Push the button on the left. The liquid on the right is the poison that's usable." Hiroshi told him. When Naruto did so there was a small clicking sound and the liquid in the tubes changed. "You press the button in the middle to release the poison on to the blade. If you don't mind me asking though, what's with that extra hole you asked for? I didn't really seem to have much of a purpose." the weaponsmith asked him.

"For most people it wouldn't it's really more of an experiment. I wouldn't add it to the model you'll sell at the store." Naruto told him.

"So you got a name for it yet?" Hiroshi asked him.

"Not yet but it'll come to me. See you later old man. I'm going to go train with this thing." the blond replied before leaving the store.

Unknown to both of them there was another person watching there conversation. A brown haired girl with brown eyes made her way up to the counter.

"Dad who was that guy?" the girl asked.

"Oh, why would you want to know Tenten?" Hiroshi said with a smile on his face causing the young girl to blush.

"I didn't want to know because of that! I was curious about that weapon. Did he really design that himself?" Tenten asked her father.

"Oh yes. That boy has quite the creative mind. He's come up with a couple of other designs before too. He comes to me with ideas and if it's possible we build it and I sell it in the store with a fifty percent cut to Naruto." Hiroshi replied to the curious girl.

Since Tenten was curious about the boy and wanted to find out what the weapon could do she decided to follow the blond to his training site. As she followed the boy she was amazed at how sharp his senses were. He almost caught her a couple of times and she had to retreat back some to remain out of sight.

Finally Naruto stopped in a small clearing in the forest. Tenten watched as Naruto took some practice strikes with the strange weapon.

"Alright let's see if it works with my other abilities." Naruto said to himself confusing the girl hiding in the trees.

'Other abilities? What is he talking about?' Tenten thought to herself. It was at that moment the girl saw something she would never forget. Naruto took off the strange weapon and started to concentrate. In a second a four foot long tail covered with green scales came out of the base of Naruto's back.

Tenten had the reaction that any eleven year old girl, who would done have after seeing someone grow a giant lizard tail.

"AIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!" Naruto heard someone scream before he heard something falling out of the tree.

When he went to check what it was he saw a very frightened girl staring up at him pointing a finger at his tail. She had brown hair that was tied up into two buns and brown eyes. She was also wearing a Chinese-style pink shirt and brown pants.

"H-how in the world? Why do you have a TAIL?" Tenten shouted.

Naruto immediately began to sweat. He thought he sensed someone on his way here. He didn't know her but, he thought he had seen her at the academy before. She also had a striking resemblance to Hiroshi. "You're Hiroshi's daughter aren't you?" the blond asked.

Instead of a response the girl continued to gape at his tail. Realizing tat they would get nowhere fast unless he did otherwise Naruto retracted the tail.

"H-how did you...why?" Tenten asked.

"Bloodline. I have the ability to take the forms of certain animals. The weapon I had your dad design was made to assist me in this form. You're old man Hiroshi's daughter right?" Naruto asked the girl causing her to break out of her stupor.

"Umm...yeah. My name is Tenten. What's yours?" the girl asked him.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. So, why were you following me?" Naruto asked the girl.

"I was curious about that weapon you made. My dad said you made others before that one. Could you show me?" Tenten asked.

Naruto quickly thought about it. If he didn't show her she might go blabbing his secrets. He also figured that he owed Hiroshi anyway. "Alright I'll show you one." he said as he pulled a small scroll from his pocket. Naruto opened it a little bit and put his hand on a strange seal written on the scroll. After pushing some chakra into the seal there was a burst of smoke and Naruto held a sword in his hand.

The sword in his hand had a straight, double edged, thin blade. The handle had an oriental design and a small golden tassel hung from the bottom. The thing that caught Tenten's attention the most however was the strange seals written on the blade.

"This is the Shinkirouken (Mirage blade). I got the idea for it when I learned that you could put seal's on items. It uses a slight variation of the seals for the Clone Jutsu to make clones that follow and move head of the sword to confuse the users opponent." Naruto said as he slowly swung the sword in the air. Tenten watched as what looked to be two more blades come out of the side of the sword.

"So you know how to use a sword?" the brunette asked him.

"Yes."

"Do you think you could teach me?"