Authors notes: Thank you to everyone who read the latest chapter of my story and to the two readers who left a review. Here is the next installment of the story. Enjoy.

Chapter Three: A Dying Breed

Village Hidden in the Leaves

Two Days Later

The Village Hidden in the Leaves was in mourning, though this was mostly felt by those who were in the Ninja profession. Those who were closet to Naruto all met around a hole in the ground that was being filed with a dark colored coffin. As the coffin went into the ground it exposed the name that was engraved on the stone that was already buried in the ground. "Naruto Uzumaki Senju. May his soul find peace in the afterlife where his mortal body could not follow." Was what the stone read. Though everyone who was present knew who the ceremony was for it didn't stop some of those present from falling apart. One such person was a young boy with spiked up deep brown hair and a pair of goggles strapped to his head was one of the worst ones to be breaking down over the loss of Naruto.

"Naruto! How could…you…leave me…" the young boy started but couldn't finish once he started to gasp for air from the amount he was crying. Falling to his hands and knees the boy was finally able to regain his breathing but that didn't stop him from continuing to wail out into the air. "Konohamaru!" spoke the familiar voice of Tsunade. Everyone who congregated at Naruto's grave thought that she was going to snap at the boy, even Konohamaru himself thought so. But what she did surprised everyone. Tsunade dropped to the ground herself, grabbing ahold of the boy and puling him to her.

In the softest voice anyone of the village has ever heard their leader speak to anyone Tsunade spoke to the boy. "Konohamaru. I understand that you are crying because you miss him and trust me I have been crying on and off since I found out and most likely will continue to cry for the rest of my life, but you have to know that Naruto will always be with you if you keep him in your heart!" Tsunade informed the young boy who was heartbroken about the loss of Naruto. Though Tsunade was talking to Konohamaru everyone who was there that day got the message and vowed to never let Naruto leave their hearts.

Far from the Village Hidden in the Leaves

A man was seated on the ground, scarping a piece of metal across what looked to be a bladed weapon of some type. In front of this man laid a blond-haired boy who was about the age of 13. "Its strange. With each passing second, the boy's wounds are disappearing, same as this strange chakra." The man whispered to himself in a contemplating voice. Soon the wounds that covered the boys body was gone all together and the last vestige of red chakra soon followed. "Ugh!" the boy groaned out as whatever was keeping him unconscious let go of its hold on him. "It seems that he is waking up…" the strange figure thought to himself as he watched the blond-haired child try to sit himself up.

Naruto's Perspective

"Where am I?" Naruto inquired as his tried to blink the fogginess from his eyes. Naruto who did not know that he was being watched by someone was not expecting an answer to come from anyone and when it did he nearly fell back into unconsciousness from a heart attack. "You are in an abandoned cave that I have recently taken residents in." the stranger who was watching Naruto replied. This caused Naruto to jump though in his weakened state he could not do much but move a slight bit. "Who the hell are you?" Naruto squeaked out though he tried to make it a roar.

"Well my name is Hattori Hanzō and I rescued you from that rocky grave of yours and brought you here to heal but on most of my days I am an Assassin though I am the last of my kind in this land." The man that Naruto now known as Hattori replied to his question though with a little more detail than Naruto needed. "Assassin…so that means he is a hired killer…but how is that any different than what we Ninja do?" Naruto inquired to himself as he watched the man in front of him suspiciously. "How is an Assassin any different than a Ninja, we do a lot of the same work don't we?" Naruto inquired of the man. Though he was still being cautious of the stranger he let his curiosity get the better of him. "Well the main difference is the creed that we follow. While most of my brethren were Ninja before their deaths we followed a different path. Our main priority is to hunt down those who are trying to take control of the world." Hattori informed the curious Naruto.

This answered did nothing to satisfy the curiosity that was building inside Naruto. "So, does that mean that you only hunt down those who you feel are trying to take control of the world? Or do you also take missions to eliminate other people?" Naruto asked of the man another question. "While most of the missions I take are for these people I deem to dangerous to be allowed to live and thrive in this world. I also take contracts, which are when someone needs a problem taken care of; for example, if a group of bandits are running amuck or if someone is assaulted and the law won't take care of it then Ill gladly take payment to end this problem for these people." Hattori explained to Naruto.

"Does that mean you take contracts on anyone?" Naruto asked hoping that he would get the answer he wanted. "No. If someone tries to hire me to end the life of a child or the life of someone who is trying to do good in the world then I will turn around and end their life before they can try to contact others to do their bidding when I turned it down." Hattori replied. This answer seemed to be the one Naruto wanted because his body physically moved to a relaxed pose. "Oh, thank God that I am not spending time with someone who murders babies and grandmas." Naruto contemplated to himself as he continued to watch the man though he is a lot less suspicious of the man now.

"When you assaulted that bandit camp about a week and a half back I was watching you fight." Hattori informed Naruto before he continued speaking "The way you moved through the camp and the way you used that smoke to hide that devastating attack was a very strategic plan." Hattori finished telling Naruto. This caused Naruto to blush from embarrassment before he jumped once more. "Its been that long since my team and I assaulted that camp? I need to get going before the Hokage gets worried!" Naruto hollered as he tried to push himself off the ground, but even with his wounds being healed he did not have the strength to continue and he collapsed back to the ground.

This caused Hattori to jump up and move over to Naruto. "Are you okay?" Hattori inquired of the young Ninja that is in his charge. "I'm fine but I have to get home!" Naruto cried out as he once again tried to push himself off the ground. But this time Hattori stopped him. "Stop. You are going to hurt yourself even more than you already are. You must let your body rest and I am sorry to say this, but they don't even know you are alive. The last thing they saw was a pile of broken rocks and dirt collapse on top of you." Hattori explained to Naruto hoping that it would stop him from struggling. Which it did though he was just as downtrodden as those from his village when he learned that everyone he knows and cares about thinks he is dead. "Do you know how long it will take before I am able to return to the village?" Naruto inquired of Hattori.

"I am not sure how long it will take for your body to fully heal from the injuries that happened to it during your fall." Hattori explained to Naruto knowing that he was not going to like the answer that he gave him. "Damnit…then what am I going to be doing during my wait to return to my village?" Naruto inquired of Hattori. "Well I believe that you would make an excellent member of my order, so I would like to offer you a position and during your stay with me I would like to train you in the ways of the Assassins. What do you say?" Hattori asked Naruto who took a moment to answer him back. "I guess I could join him since I have nothing better to do while I am here…" Naruto contemplated to himself as he looked up at the man who rescued him. Naruto shook his head in acknowledgement of the request which formally sealed the relationship between Hattori and Naruto.

Authors notes: Thank you for all who read this chapter. If anyone is wondering who Hattori Hanzō is he is one of the Master Assassins in Japan in the Assassins Creed universe. Please everyone please review with your likes, dislikes, and general comments.