Sinful Tendencies

Chapter 1: Nurturing the Seeds

A/N: Well, the feedback I got from the Prologue was surprising for me. I started this story just for the hell of it really. But I am feeling the grove so I am going to run with it and keep writing for this story. Something I forgot to mention in the previous chapter was that graduation age is set for 15 years old. I know it's around 13 in canon, but that's why this is AU. Now, here is the first actual chapter. Enjoy!

-(With Naruto, 2 Hours Prior to Hokage's Announcement)-

Naruto followed Zabuza as they sped through the trees. After travelling for an hour or so they arrived at the bottom of a rock face. Looking around Zabuza slipped into a crack with Naruto following him again. They came out of the crack into a large cave with various supplies in it. There were four sleeping mats distributed around the cave. In different spots were cooking supplies, weapons, a table, and some scrolls. Naruto froze as he felt cold metal on his neck. "Who are you?" A voice asked.

Zabuza chuckled at the person. "Remove the blade Haku, the runt is with me.' Naruto let out a sigh of relief as the kunai was removed.

"My apologies." Haku said as Naruto turned around. "It's not often that Zabuza brings people to our hide-out."

"That's no problem. He saved me and is even going to train me for a bit." Naruto extended his hand. "The name is Uzumaki Naruto."

Returning the hand shake Haku replied, "The name's Haku."

"Alright brat, here's a sleeping mat." Zabuza said tossing the mat to the boy. "As we aren't supplied to have another mouth to feed, you are on your own for food for the week until we resupply." Naruto nodded his head. "You will also carry your own weight around here with work. We aren't going to baby you." Naruto set up his mat as Zabuza kept talking. "Tomorrow I will see what you can do and what I need to teach you, we start at 6 in the morning. So be up and ready by then, I am not going to go easy on you."

"Where are the brothers Zabuza-san?" Haku asked.

"I sent them after a couple of low level bounties to help get us some money." Zabuza replied as he took his spot on a mat. "I'm getting some sleep, I would suggest you do the same runt." With that said Zabuza turned over onto his side leaving the two to talk.

"So how did you end up with Zabuza?" Naruto asked. Haku gave him a look and took his place on a mat close to Zabuza.

"Forgive my curtness, but I will save all pleasantries for once I know you better." Haku replied as he laid down. Naruto sighed as he sat on his mat in silence.

"Great call leaving the village." Naruto said to himself as he laid down. "They will pay, for Iruka-sensei." Naruto turned to his side and closed his eyes and across the room Zabuza did the same.

-(Konoha, after Council Meeting)-

Shikaku arrived home and sighed as he saw his wife standing there. "Not now dear, it's far to troublesome to argue right now." She stepped to the side and Shikamaru was standing there. "What's this about?"

"What's going on with Naruto?" His son asked. Shikaku let out a deep breath and rubbed his temples.

"So much for getting some decent sleep." He said to himself. He signaled for Shikamaru to follow him as he went to his study. The two sat down in chairs across from each other at a table; on the table sat a board and multiple black or white pieces. "What have you heard?" Shikaku asked as he moved his black piece.

"I have heard all kinds of things." Shikamaru replied as he moved a white piece. Shikaku moved another one of his pieces. "I have heard all throughout the academy that Naruto was a monster. I heard today that he stole a forbidden scroll, killed two chuunin, and escaped the village. I have heard the curses directed to him by other villagers." Multiple pieces had been moved at this point in the game.

"How do these pieces of information affect you?"

"They don't." Shikamaru said. "From what I have gathered is that the generations of shinobi before mine harbor a strange hatred for Naruto, but they have never been around him like I have." Shikaku looked curiously at his son as he made another move. "Naruto is an idiot." Shikamaru thought carefully before moving a piece. "There is no way that he killed two chuunin level shinobi by himself. He can't even do a basic Bunshin jutsu properly. Something doesn't add up. He was always yelling how much he loved his village and how he would become Hokage to protect everyone." Shikaku smirked as they entered the final stage of their game. "There are only two possible scenarios in my mind to cause Naruto to leave."

"What would those be?"

"Either he has been framed for crimes he didn't commit." Shikamaru moved the last of his pieces. "Or he is being influenced by the Kyuubi." Shikaku froze at Shikamaru's statement.

"How do you know of this? That is supposed to be a secret." Shikaku said.

"Please, I am your son." Shikamaru replied. "I figured it out about a year ago with Chouji. We set out to find out why Naruto was hated. We just listened to a couple of drunk Jounin mention something about Kyuubi, October 13th, Yondaime, and Naruto. So I did some digging and found some things I thought interesting. It's common knowledge that the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi on October 13th fifteen years ago. What isn't common knowledge though, is Naruto's birthday, which just so happens to coincide with the exact day the Kyuubi was defeated, October 13th. That, plus the attacks that seem to happen against Naruto every 13th of October, most everyone's nicknames for Naruto, and his whisker marks solved the question for me. Naruto is the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi." Shikaku sat back with a blank look on his face. Shikamaru continued, "Given the fact that the chakra of the Kyuubi would be very easy to distinguish and sense, I don't believe he was under the Kyuubi's influence tonight. I think there is something strange going on in the village involving Naruto."

"Keen observation skills you have there Shikamaru." Shikaku said looking at the board.

"They are troublesome to have. Sometimes I wish I could just be simple-minded and accepting of how things happen." He frowned as his father made his last move. "Seems I still can't defeat you."

"Hold onto your skills Shikamaru. They are one-of-a-kind." Shikaku stood up and walked to the door of his study.

"What are your thoughts on the Naruto situation?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know what is going on behind the curtains son." Shikaku opened the door and looked back at Shikamaru. "My loyalty is to the village, but my loyalty is not blind." Shikamaru rose a confused eyebrow. "We are still a shinobi village, and as a shinobi, we should question everything." With that said Shikaku left his son alone in the study.

"Troublesome father." Shikamaru said to himself. "He knows I won't stop until I know the answer." He stood up and frowned at the board. "Looks like Chouji and myself have some work to do."

-(The Next Day)-

Naruto awoke early and noticed the other two occupants of the cave were gone. He walked outside and did some quick stretches before looking around. He spotted Zabuza setting up some different pieces of equipment in a dirt area next to the cave. "Hey Zabuza-san!" Naruto said walking over to the man.

"I'm surprised runt, you're up an hour before your training. I was expecting a pampered little boy from Konoha to sleep in." Naruto frowned at the man. "There is some leftover food on the table over there, help yourself to breakfast." Naruto looked over at the table and saw a couple pieces of fruit and a piece of meat. He jogged over and his stomach let out a loud growl as he looked at the food. He shoveled the food down and smiled.

"I didn't realize how hungry I was."

"If you're still hungry, there are some fruit trees around here." Haku said walking out of the surrounding forest.

"Hurry up brat, the sooner we get this evaluation done, the sooner I can decide if you're worth it." Zabuza said as he started running through some katas with his sword. Naruto nodded and walked out into the forest and started looking around. He walked for five minutes and came to a tree with low hanging peaches. Picking a couple he ate them quickly and grabbed an armful more. He walked back to the cave and set the peaches on the table.

"Ah, you found the peach tree. They are delicious aren't they?" Haku asked.

"The best ones I have ever had."

"Enough yapping boy. Get over here." Zabuza snapped slamming his sword into the ground. Running over to the man Naruto stood at attention. "Alright, there are a couple of things I want to find out before we get started. First, how much weight can you lift?"

"Um, I don't know. They never had us do exercises like that in the academy."

"Is that a joke?" Zabuza asked. Naruto shook his head no. "Fucking Kami. What about chakra control exercises? Do you know how to do water walking?" Naruto looked at the man confusedly.

"The only chakra control exercise I know is the leaf sticking one."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Zabuza snapped. "How the hell does Konoha have the strongest military if they aren't teaching their shinobi jack shit." He looked at the boy. "Tell me you know some useful techniques at least."

"Well, I know Kawarimi, my Henge is really good, and I know the Kage Bunshin." Zabuza picked his head up at the last piece of information.

"So, they teach students the Kage Bunshin in the academy?"

"Well no, it's a technique I learned from the scroll."

"Do you know what it does?" Zabuza asked dreading the answer.

"Yeah, it makes this super awesome clone that can punch and kick people." Naruto put his hand on his chin. "And I think that's it." Zabuza kicked the boy in the chest and sent him bouncing across the ground.

"You have to be pulling my damn leg now. There is no way you are stupid enough to learn a technique without knowing what it does." Naruto groaned and pulled himself off the ground.

"What does it do?" Naruto asked rubbing his chest.

"Create one and have it come to me." Zabuza instructed. Naruto concentrated and created five clones. "I told you to only make one."

"I tried to only make on." Naruto replied. One of the clones walked over to zabuza and he told the clone something. "What now?" Pulling out a kunai, Zabuza slammed it into the clones forehead, destroying it. A couple seconds passed and Naruto and all the clones shouted at Zabuza, "Hey, I'm not a fucking moron!"

"How is it that you know what I told your clone?" Zabuza asked smirking under the bandages.

"I don't know. I just remember what you told him some how." Naruto replied. A look of realization dawned on his face. "Wait a second, I remember now. When I read the description it said that the kage bunshin was created as a recon technique. It's so the user can find out information about an area without putting himself in danger."

"Well now, you aren't as stupid as you look." Zabuza told him. "Now I know how I am going to train you this week."

"Awesome!" Naruto said smiling. "When can we start?"

"We will start once you quit lying to me." Naruto looked at the man confusedly. "I'm going to ask you this question again, and im going to only ask it once. If you dont cut the bullshit and give me the truth, you can just go on your way and leave."

"What's your question?"

"Why did you leave Konoha?" Naruto looked at the floor quietly. "You can take however long you like to answer the question, it just better not be a lie." A couple minutes passed before naruto replied.

"They took everything from me." He said quietly. "The Hokage betrayed me and took my most important person out of my life. The village took away my childhood, for fifteen years I have been made fun of, beat up, and starved for something im not in control of. The bastards wanted to control me and turn me into a weapon."

"What aren't you telling me boy?" Naruto let out a sad chuckle.

"I contain a monster. I'm a jail for one of the most powerful beasts in the world."

"You're the Jinchūriki for the Kyuubi arent you?" Naruto nodded his head. Zabuza smiled underneath his bandages. "Tell me, what do you want most to gain from my training?" Naruto looked up at the man with hardened eyes.

"I want to become powerful. I want to get stronger so that i can watch konoha burn to the ground for what they did to me." If possible Zabuza's smile got wider.

"You understand that this week is going to be the most grueling and taxing week you have ever experienced?" Naruto nodded. "You will do everything I instruct, no complaints and you will complete them fully." Naruto nodded his head again. "You have one week to impress me."

"Well than, what are we waiting for?"

"Create around one hundred clones." Naruto concentrated and created a mass of clones. " good thing we are working on your control. I count roughly almost two hundred clones. Alright all of you, seperate into groups on fifteen." It took a couple of minutes to get the clones organized but eventually there were thirteen groups of clones with eight left over. "Haku!" Zabuza shouted. Within seconds Haku arrived in the clearing.

"Yes Zabuza-san?"

"Take these eight clones in the forest and teach them basic survival techniques. Hunting, gathering, things like that."

"As you wish. Follow me please." Haku led the clones off into the forest.

"Alright you clones, I want eight of you groups to go collect leaves. You will all work on the leaf chakra exercise you know, but you will up the number of leaves from one to ten. Go collect the leaves now and do it quickly." The groups did as instructed and while they were doing so zabuza addressed the remaining groups. "Alright, youre going to be working on a chakra control exercise called tree walking. It's simple, you apply chakra to your feet and try to stick yourself to the tree. To much and you get blasted off the tree, to little and you slide of." Zabuza demonstrated the exercise to them. "Get to work." He finally gave naruto an exercise to do. "Alright kid, we need to figure out what you can lift." Naruto followed Zabuza as he walked to an area with a metal bar and a bench. "This is a chakra weight, we will use this to find out, lay on your back on the bench." Naruto did as told and Zabuza picked up the bar setting it in naruto's palms on his chest. "Alright, this is twenty kilograms. I want you to do bench press it five times. Every time you complete five reps, I will up the weight by eleven kilograms. We will do this until we max you out at what you can press." Naruto quickly did the five reps with the twenty. Adding chakra to the bar Zabuza increased the weight. This went on until the weight was sixty-eight kilograms. Naruto was able to lift it four times before he could go no longer. Zabuza grunted as he grabbed the bar from the boy and set it on the ground. "Not bad for a civilian." Naruto frowned at the statement.

"Can't we just have the clones do this also to help speed it up?" Naruto asked.

"Unfortunately not. When a clone is dispersed it only retains memory and muscle memory. No physical benefits are passed onto you." Zabuza replied as he signaled Naruto to get off the bench. "Your clones will handle all chakra exercises and you will do all the weight lifting." He smiled at the boy and sent a chill up his spine. "And with your healing abilities of the Kyuubi, you can be pushed a lot harder than a normal person. That, plus your abilities with the Kage Bunshin, we can get a months' worth of training in this week. Sit down." He told the boy. Naruto did so and Zabuza handed him a metal disc. "This is another chakra weight. It's set for nine kilograms, I want you to do five hundred sit-ups while holding it on your chest." Naruto made to complain but Zabuza glared at the boy. Naruto begrudgingly started to do his sit-ups. Forty-five minutes later he had finished, completely exhausted.

"What…next?" Naruto asked.

"You get a fifteen minute break while I go and dispel some of your clones." Zabuza replied. "I'm going to dispel a group every five minutes, so you might want to brace yourself." Zabuza walked over to the clones that were working on the leaf exercise. He observed the groups before making his decision. "Groups four, seven, and eight come here." The three groups stopped what they were doing and came over to the man. "You three appear to be making the most progress with the task, you all can hold at least 3 leaves onto yourself with no difficulty. Group four, I want all of you to dispel yourselves." They all did as told and Zabuza coughed waving the smoke out of his face. "Seven, I want you to wait five minutes and then do the same; eight, you are to do the same five minutes after seven." The two groups nodded in agreement and Zabuza went back over to Naruto.

"It looks like the clones have a good idea of what they are doing."

"They are picking it up." Zabuza replied to Naruto. "With the progress they are making, when they dispel it passes the knowledge on to all of the other clones." Zabuza picked up a vest and the disk laying next to Naruto. He put the disk in an opening on the vest and dropped it on the ground next to Naruto. "Once the last group is done dispelling, you are to put that vest on and do five hundred push-ups." Naruto continued resting for the next ten minutes. He eventually stood up and put the vest on. "To help work on your focus I'm going to dispel two groups of clones randomly while you are doing your push-ups." Zabuza walked over to the clones working on the tree climbing exercise and observed them for fifteen minutes. "Eleven come here." The group stopped what they were doing and walked over to the man. Zabuza kept his eyes on Naruto, "I want you all to dispel now." They did as told and Naruto stumbled in the middle of his push-ups. "Focus boy!" Zabuza yelled to him. Starting again Zabuza watched the clones for twenty-five minutes. "Ten, you're turn." He watched Naruto again as the clones dispelled themselves. Naruto paused for a couple seconds before continuing. Zabuza walked over to a group of clones working on the leaf exercise. "One, I want you to dispel." They looked confusedly at the man but did as told. Still watching Naruto the boy didn't pause this time in his push-ups. He continued doing push-ups for five minutes before collapsing.

"Five…hundred…done." Naruto gasped out. Zabuza walked over to the boy and looked at him. "Is…it…lunch…yet?"

"Just one more exercise." Naruto groaned as he slowly stood up. "Take off the vest." He let out a sigh of relief as the vest hit the ground. "Don't be too happy yet runt." Zabuza said as he cracked his knuckles. "We are going to see what you know in the fighting department." He took a stance and Naruto took his own. The next five minutes were the longest, most painful minutes of Naruto's life. "I'm going to dispel some more groups for you. Just lay there and rest." Naruto lifted his head off the ground and manage to give Zabuza a middle finger. After dispelling the groups Zabuza let out a sharp whistle. Minutes later Haku arrived in the clearing with the clones that were accompanying him. "What's for lunch?"

"The boy happens to be a natural for survival skills. A couple of clones managed to snag a deer while the others found some vegetables and fruits." Haku replied handing him a scroll. "How is the training over here?"

"It's going decent enough." Zabuza said. He unsealed all of the findings in the scroll and nodded his head in approval. "You clones can dispel yourselves now." The ones who were with Haku disappeared. "Get up boy." Slowly Naruto managed to make his way to his feet. "You get to learn how to cook now." As Naruto walked over to Zabuza the man turned to address the rest of the clones. "You all can dispel yourselves in five minute intervals. Start with group two and go in numerical order." After the three had cooked the food and sat down to eat Naruto asked a question.

"How is a ninja as strong as you not affiliated with a village?" Zabuza looked at the boy as he pulled the bandages away from his mouth.

"I have my reasons." He replied as he took a large bite out of a piece of deer. "Let's just say that Konoha isn't the only village with its dirty secrets." He looked over at Haku. "If you make it through the end of the week I will tell you a bit of my history." Zabuza finished his food and stood up grabbing his sword. "Take your time finishing your food. We will continue your training in another hour." Zabuza walked off and went to the weight bar Naruto had used earlier and started lifting the weight after increasing it.

"You two are sealed up tighter than a bottle." Naruto said to Haku.

"We will know within the week if you are trust worthy. Zabuza-san doesn't tell his past to those he doesn't trust." Haku replied taking a bite of a piece of an apple. Haku stood up taking another apple. "If Zabuza-san tells you his story, I will tell you mine as well."

"Is there any way for me to prove myself other than in the exercises he gives me?"

"I would suggest being pro-active in your training. He said you will start training again in an hour. Don't do any physical training, try some mental training." Haku replied. Walking off, Haku sat down near Zabuza eating his apple.

"Let's see, pro-active." Naruto said to himself. He put his chin in the palm of his hand and thought. Naruto's eyes lit up and he looked at his palm seeing the seal. "I got it." He put his palm on the table and used some chakra. In a puff of smoke the enormous scroll appeared on the table. "Might as well see what is in this thing." He picked it up and took a seat under a shaded tree. He unrolled the entire thing and it was fifteen feet long by ten feet wide. Naruto let out a whistle at all the seals in it. "And to think, I only unrolled this thing two feet." The first four feet of the scroll contained descriptions of various techniques. The Kage Bunshin and the Eien no Fuin were there, along with other powerful moves. Naruto shook his head as he read the descriptions. "There is no way I can learn those yet. I should have realized Mizuki was tricking me, there should have been no way for me to learn anything from this."

He kept looking down the scroll and came to various sets of containment seals. There was a seal that was labeled "Library" and another that said "Strategy". The next three feet were separated into six sections with four sub-categories. Each section correlated with a different element; Katon, Suiton, Raiton, Doton, Futon, and Medic with the sub-categories divided by class; C, B, A, and S class jutsu. The next foot of scroll was labeled Fuinjutsu with five sub-categories; Novice, Apprentice, Advanced, Expert, and Master. The next two feet of the scroll was labeled, "Known Blood-lines." It was divided into many individual seals each labeled by a village and one that said unknown. The next four feet was various seals divided into village sections again with sub-categories of history and notable shinobi. Looking over the scroll again Naruto frowned. "For a Forbidden Scroll there's not a whole lot of forbidden stuff in it other than those first techniques. Naruto went to roll it up but something in the corner stopped him. There was a tiny seal in the corner with no label. He put some chakra into the seal and three scrolls popped out. The first was labeled, "Village Secrets". The second was, "Secrets of other Nations". And the last was labeled, "Black-Op Missions". Naruto went to open one but something stopped him. He couldn't explain it but he put the scrolls back on the seal and sealed them away.

"Why didn't you read those boy?" Zabuza asked. Naruto looked up at the man.

"I don't know, I just feel like I'm not ready to know what's in there." Naruto replied. He went up to the strategy seal and unsealed it. Eight much smaller scrolls, four books, and three thick books came out. Naruto concentrated and created seven clones frowning. "Damn, I only wanted to make two clones." He picked up two of the scrolls and handed them to two of the clones. "You guys take those and read them." He dispelled the rest of the clones and set one of the books to the side and sealed the rest of the strategy contents away. He rolled the Forbidden Scroll up and sealed it back in his hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I figured I would learn a bit of strategy before we get back to training." Zabuza let out a grunt at the boys response and walked away. "Huh, I have never heard of Sun Tzu." Naruto said looking at the book. He leaned back and started reading the book. Half an hour passed and Zabuza came back to him.

"Ready to get back to work?" Naruto closed the book and set it on the table they ate their breakfast at.

"Let's get back to work."

"How are you feeing?" Zabuza asked.

"Strangely enough, I'm a bit tired, but I'm not all that sore." Naruto replied.

"Good, the healing abilities of the Kyuubi are much better than I expected." He tossed the vest from earlier to Naruto. "I doubled the weight on this, I want you to do five hundred squats." Zabuza then pointed over to a tree. Once you are done with the squats you are to go do two hundred pull ups." Naruto's jaw dropped at the man. "I dont care how long it takes you, just get it done. If you finish in a respectable amount of time I might start teaching you how to fight." Naruto steeled himself and walked over to the tree Zabuza pointed at and started doing the squats.

"You're being awful harsh on him with the workout." Haku said from next to him. "You were never this hard on me."

"You don't have a millenia old demon sealed inside you to accelerate the process." Zabuza replied. "I'm going to turn him into a machine. Between you and him I will have the ultimate tools to take Kiri back."

"What if he doesnt want to help with Kiri?" Haku asked.

"He has become angry towards Konoha. And once I tell him my story, and you tell him yours, he will hold a negative opinion of Kiri; and possibly towards all hidden villages."

"Are you going to tell him the truth?"

"Yes I am. If he gets as powerful as I suspect he can, than getting on his bad side will be something to avoid." Zabuza told him. "He has already impressed me with his drive to get stronger. Let's just see if he can keep it up for the next week, especially once I ramp up the work-out." It took Naruto a two and a half hours, but he finally finished the exercises. He slowly hobbled over to where Zabuza was standing. "Alright runt, make thirty clones." Naruto did the Kage Bunshin and eight clones appeared.

"Damnit, I still cant get it right." Naruto said.

"Dont worry, it will come with time. I want fifty of you to dispel." After the clones did as instructed Zabuza continued, "I want you to go with Haku, he is going to show you some stretches and some first aid training." Naruto followed Haku into the cave and Zabuza addressed the clones. "We are going to develop some fighting skill in you all."

"Alright Naruto, I'm just going to go over some basic stretches with you. You're going to want to do these stretches before you do these work-outs, during lunch, and when you are done for the day. I know the Kyuubi heals you pretty quickly, but doing this will prevent you from pulling a muscle or straining your back. An added benefit is that stretching can increase your flexibility and maneuverability in battle." Haku spent the next hour going over the stretches and walking Naruto through them. "How do you feel now?"

"I actually feel pretty good." Naruto replied.

"Good, now we will be teaching you first aid. While not applicable to you, you may need to perform some first aid on someone else." Haku told him. Haku walked over to a table with some scrolls on it and picked up two. "Make a clone, you two are going to read these scrolls and in about two hours we will put into practice what you have learned. Male sure you have a good grasp of what you are reading." Haku left the boy and his clone alone as he went outside to Zabuza.

"I have to do what they want me to train in if I want to stay here after a week." Naruto said to himself as he dug into the scroll in front of him.

-(Konoha)-

The graduating class of shinobi were restless in the classroom. Everyone was talking about the events of the previous night. "Are you sure about that Shikamaru?" Chouji asked munching on some chips. "I mean, Naruto was a loner, he could have been fooling us all."

"I'm pretty sure about it." Shikamaru replied not lifting his head off of the desk. "All the times he has been around us he never showed signs of this in his personality." He finally sat up and slouched in his chair. "Like I told my father, something just doesn't add up about this whole situation and he agrees."

"So your dad isn't the only one asking questions about this." Chouji said. Shikamaru looked at him curiously. "I overheard my mom and dad talking last night after he got back from the council meeting. He told her flat out that he wasn't buying what the Hokage was selling." A girl with blonde hair let out a grunt of dissatisfaction as she took a seat next to Shikamaru.

"Stupid billboard brow getting Sasuke-kun on her team." She said.

"I still don't get why you're so obsessed with that guy." Chouji told her. "He has shown no interest in any of you girls." Ino frowned at the boy.

"It's about the principle." She replied. Shikamaru rose an eyebrow at her. "Sakura wants him, so she can't have him."

"Wait, so this is just a petty issue where you don't want her to have him?" Shikamaru asked.

"Duh you lazy-ass." Ino said. "When I was younger sure, I thought he was dreamy and awesome. Now that we are older, I'm not stupid. He isn't ever going to go after one of us girls from class. I have just been having fun causing her hell."

"I'll never understand you troublesome women." Shikamaru said as he put his head back on the table.

"It sucks that Naruto decided to go all psycho and leave the village." Ino said. "He may have been a pain in the ass, but he was always so nice and genuine. He was even kind of cute." Chouji started choking on his chips at the statement.

"Just like I said, women are troublesome." Ino's eyebrow ticked and she punched Shikamaru in the back of the head.

"I can't believe I have to be on a team with a lazy-ass and a tubby-ass." She scowled at the two. The door to the classroom opened and a group of people walked in. One by one they addressed the class and took their teams with them. A bearded man smoking a cigarette stepped forward.

"Team Ten, you're with me." Shikamaru and the other two got up and followed the man out of the classroom. They followed him in silence until they reached a barbeque restaurant. As they took a seat their new teacher finally addressed them after they placed their orders. "My name is Sarutobi Asuma, and I'm going to be your instructor until you reach the rank of Chuunin. Let me be straight up with you all; there is typically a test I'm supposed to give you all to see if you are truly ready to be genin. Normally I would say I'm too lazy to give you the test and just pass you; I'm going to pass you today but not for that reason. I have been instructed by the Hokage to pass you no matter what and train you for a specific future mission."

"What is that mission Asuma-sensei?" Ino asked.

"We are going to be in charge of bringing the traitor, Uzumaki Naruto, back to the village for his crimes. Your families backgrounds and techniques are perfect for this mission." Asuma told them. "While this mean that I can't be lazy and actually have to put in a lot of effort with you all, this is an enormous task we have been given. With it, the rewards will be vast once we complete it." Shikamaru studied his teacher as he told them this.

"Why is it that we are being tasked with this?" Shikamaru asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to send our fathers after him?"

"They are more skilled than you all in your clan techniques, that is true." Asuma replied. "They don't know the boys tendencies or personalities like you do." Asuma opened a scroll and unsealed a file folder from it. "Our records show that you and Chouji both formed a friendship with him while in the academy. And our observer in the academy saw that even though he was very much focused on Haruno Sakura; he was caught showing a very small interest in Ino." The blonde girl blushed slightly.

"Yeah we became friends with him in school." Chouji said. "I still don't see how that is going to help us catch him. Everyone in our class knows how Naruto is."

"Yes, but they aren't friends with him like you two." Their food arrived at that time and Shikamaru was surprised to see Chouji didn't immediately dive in. "While everyone else shunned and mocked him, you two were there for him. We can use that to catch him. He won't think that his only two friends would be out to grab him."

"So we play on his emotions?" Shikamaru asked. Asuma nodded his head. Shikamaru frowned on the inside.

"That's correct. It's the best shot we have as it appears he has evaded our ANBU and hunter-nin so far. We need to trick him with friendly faces." He pulled out a pocket-watch and looked at it. "Sorry to be so brief in our meeting, I have to see the Hokage and tell him you all are on board. Tomorrow we start training at 7 a.m. in training ground ten. Don't be late." The man left the group there in silence.

"Well damn." Ino said. "No pressure on us or anything. It's still weird that they chose us to do this." Shikamaru furrowed his eyebrows as his two teammates started to finally eat their food.

"What's wrong Shika?" Chouji asked between bites.

"I'm not sure." He replied. "Troublesome heritage making me question everything." He said to himself as he started to eat his food.

-(With Naruto)-

The two hours passed terribly slow for Naruto. The first aid information just wasn't interesting to him. Haku came back in carrying a decent sized box.

"Time to see what you learned." Haku said as he set the box down on the table. He opened it and lifted a limp creature from it. "I found this little guy in a hunter's trap. Unfortunately I wasn't able to prevent him from succumbing to its wounds. But the injuries it did sustain will be a good test for what you learned in the scroll." Haku laid it on the table and Naruto noticed it was a fox. Naruto walked over to the table and started looking at it.

"I don't remember seeing these injuries in the scroll I read." Naruto turned around to the other clone. "Hey, dispel yourself." The clone gave Naruto a middle finger and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Stupid clone." Naruto processed the information he gained from the clone and looked over the fox again. He ran his hands over its body and frowned as he came to certain areas. "It appears that his right, hind leg is broken; he has a couple dislocated ribs on the right side; and a laceration on his left side. The break doesn't appear to be too serious so we will need to put a splint on his leg just to keep it from getting worse. We will also have to carefully put the ribs back into place so that we don't end up puncturing any organs. As for the laceration, we will have to shave the fur around the wound, apply something to prevent infection but promote healing, and bandage it." Haku nodded his head in approval.

"There is some first-aid stuff over by the food supplies." Naruto dug through the supplies and came back with what he needed. He put the splint around the foxes leg and gently put pressure on the ribs until he felt them pop back into place. He pulled out a kunai that he used to gently shave the fur away from the laceration. Once he was done he bandaged its waist.

"The bandage would have enough pressure on it to keep the ribs from popping back out while they heal a bit." Naruto said. "It's a shame you weren't able to save the little guy. I always wanted a pet." Naruto's eye twitched. "Looks like Zabuza is done training the clones; he wants me to go outside."

"Don't worry Naruto, I will properly dispose of the fox." Naruto nodded his head and left the cave. Once Naruto was gone the fox turned into an exact copy of Haku before shattering into ice.

"Alright Zabuza, what are we learning now?" Naruto asked as he arrived outside. Zabuza turned to Naruto as the last clone disappeared.

"We are going to do a little spar." Naruto's face paled. "It's not going to be like the one we did earlier, I'm actually going to try to help you learn and apply what I taught your clones. So we are going to go half your speed and I will critique you during it." Naruto took the stance that he remembered from his clones. The next twenty minutes were slow and methodical for Naruto. Every now and then they would stop and Zabuza would give advice, "You're over extending your punch." A couple more moves, "Instead of blocking, you should dodge. That would give you an opportunity to counter." The slight spar continued with many more corrections before Zabuza stopped. "Not bad runt." He told him. "Let's go eat some food." The two walked into the cave where Haku had laid out a their dinner. "What do we got today Haku?"

"Well, I cooked the rest of the stuff that Naruto's clones brought back." Haku replied placing the last plate on the table. "I chopped up some of the venison and mixed it up with some potatoes and onions. I also cooked up some of our stock supply of rice and heated up some of the bread we have.."

"Good as usual Haku." Zabuza said taking a bite of his food.

"Seriously, I think this is some of the best food I have ever had." Naruto said. "It's not ramen, but it is still amazing."

"Thank you Zabuza-san, thank you as well Naruto." Haku replied sitting down and eating as well. Naruto looked at Haku curiously.

"Okay, there is something I have been trying to figure out since I got here." Naruto said. The two looked at Naruto. "Are you a boy or a girl?" Zabuza burst out laughing and Haku choked on his food. Haku took a minute or two to compose himself.

"I'm a boy Naruto."

"Well, why do you dress up like a girl? I mean, it's pretty strange for a boy to be wearing a dress." Zabuza almost fell out of his chair laughing when it looked like Haku was going to blow a blood vessel.

"I'll have you know that this is a battle kimono." He replied. "Many men wear them during battle to show their standing." Haku narrowed his eyes curiously at the boy.

"How the heck do you fight in that thing? I would think that your legs would get tangled up in the dress." Haku lunged across the table but was pulled back by a chuckling Zabuza.

"You set a new record kid." Zabuza said. "It only took you forty-five seconds to set Haku off. If I wasn't training you, right now you would probably be singing soprano. I will vouch for him though; he may only be your age, but he is almost as strong as me on a bad day." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Wow, do you think I can be that strong soon?" Naruto asked. Haku sat down and started picking at his food.

"Maybe, if you take your training seriously anything is possible." Zabuza replied eating some more of his food. "Embrace the tools you have at your disposal and you could become one of the most powerful shinobi out there." Naruto looked at his food and took a bite.

"Let's increase the load tomorrow." Naruto told Zabuza. The man smiled at Naruto.

"I was hoping you would say that. You realize that means it's going to get harder right?" Naruto nodded his head. "Alright than, we will increase all of your weights by nine kilograms and add one hundred reps to each exercise." Naruto froze at that. "The five minute spar before lunch, will be a ten minute survival exercise." Naruto gulped. "Each day this week the weights, the reps, and the time limit will increase." It was Haku's turn to laugh as Naruto's head hit the table. "It's going to be a fun week for me. On Sunday I will decide if I'm going to continue training you." Naruto sat up and shoveled his food down.

"I better get some rest; I have a rough week ahead of me." Naruto got up and went to the mat he was using. He looked over at his bloody and dirty jumpsuit jacket. "This is going to be the most important week of my life." He was asleep as soon as his head hit the mat.

"Let's see how motivated he really is." Zabuza said as he slowly finished his meal.

"It's going to be an entertaining week that's for sure." Haku told him. "The brothers should be back by then shouldn't they?"

"You never know with those two idiots. I just hope they didn't stop at Tanzaku and gamble away all the bounty money." Zabuza replied.

The following week was the single most painful and tiring week Naruto has ever been through. His muscles were screaming at him by the end of the day, he had bruises that gradually took longer to heal, and his mind was spent. He will also remember that week as the most beneficial experience he had with training. Thanks to the Kyuubi he had greatly improved. He was stronger, faster, his chakra control had vastly improved, and he gained knowledge about strategy as well. Sunday finally rolled around and Naruto stood before Zabuza and Haku. "I'm actually impressed kid." Zabuza said. "Not once did you complain, not once did you turn from one of the tasks I issued you, and you completed them all as well."

"Does that mean you're going to continue training me?" Naruto asked hopefully. Zabuza made to speak but he was interrupted.

"Oi, who's the runt?" A voice called from the trees. The group looked over and two identically dressed men walked into the area.

"Took you two long enough to return." Zabuza said. "Gozu, Meizu, this is Naruto." He introduced them. "These two idiots are the final members of my merry group." He told Naruto. "Are you two all rested up?" Meizu pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Zabuza.

"Six bounties collected in a week. Albeit they were all genin or low skill chuunin; that's a new record for us." He told Zabuza. "We crashed in Tanzaku over the night so yeah, we are all rested up."

"Good, you two will fight Naruto here in a spar."

"Why us?" Gozu asked.

"Because I said so." Zabuza told them. "Take this seriously Naruto, this is going to decide whether you get to keep being trained by me." Naruto nodded as the two men took spots across from him while Zabuza and Haku distanced themselves. Zabuza raised his hand in the air and looked at Naruto, "Ready?" Naruto nodded at Zabuza. Zabuza looked at the brothers, "You two ready?"

"Aye aye captain!" Meizu said.

"This runt's going down." Gozu replied.

"Go!" Zabuza shouted bringing his hand down.

A/N: It took much longer than I was expecting it, but with an 11 day work week those last 2-3 pages didn't want to get done. And there is the first official chapter. Personality wise Naruto isn't where I want him yet, but it will come soon. He will be very dark once the story gets going a little more, and if you haven't noticed he will be pretty OP in this story. I am trying to kind of show what Naruto having left the village would affect the people he went to the academy with. If you enjoyed it leave a review! If not, give me some constructive criticism. Thank you!