Disclaimer: I don't, and never have, owned Naruto. What I do own is this plot. That's mine. All mine MWAHAHAHAHA!

Warnings: Violence, possible language, child ninjas, etc.

Chapter 3-

Word Count- 2500

Suffocating Clouds of Mist and Demons

Naruto and Sasuke would be going on a C-Rank mission in the next morning. They had been Genin for a mere 2 weeks before the Hokage deemed they would be best out in the field. Kakashi would accompany them as their squad leader.

Naruto and Kakashi were picking up a few face-masks from a ninja clothing store. Not for Kakashi. Naruto had decided that wearing a face-mask when out on missions. If enemies caught on to his Jinchuriki status then Akatsuki won't be far behind.

They entered the store. It was bleaker than most stores, and had a dark air to it. Nevertheless, it is where most shinobi get their attire. Most clothes here were in natural colours, blending in with the forest-painted walls. A rack of weapons covered the far wall beside the counter. As Kakashi went to browse the swords, Naruto went up to the counter.

The young lady greeted him with a smile. "Ah, hello Naruto-kun. Your masks are ready," she said, bringing said masks out from beneath the counter.

He handed over the money with a soft thank you and looked around for his brother. He met him before a shining silver tanto. Its hilt was lined with bronze, the blade itself marked with a web of red lines. Naruto whistled in appreciation. Kakashi looked down at him and then back to the sword.

The copy ninja made a noise of finality and grabbed it off the rack, along with a matching black and red sheath. Naruto realised where he was going and felt a grin slip on. He followed Kakashi back to the checkout and reigned in his excitement.

They exited the shop moments later and his brother handed the tanto to him.

"Thank you so much, 'Kashi-nii!" Naruto widened his grin and Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Anything for you, Naru." The jinchuriki pouted at the nickname but inwardly he as beaming. No one had ever done this for him before.

The brothers returned to their home and Naruto sprinted to his room. He slammed open his closet and chucked in all but one of his masks. He threw that on his bedside and placed the tanto atop his chin-high bookshelf. Joy rushed through him as he gazed around at his room for the millionth time ever since he moved in.

My own room, my own room, he chanted in his head. A grumble made him freeze. He stood in silence and began to shiver. The grumbling stopped, but Naruto couldn't shake it off. He sat on his bed and calmed, though excitement continued to bubble and increase. He shut his eye and escaped to his mind.

He was met with a tumbling waterfall and a twining maze of forest trees. He was not alone. Atop the monolith was a ginormous red-orange mound, curled into a ball. He had nine swishing tails and a black mask of fur on his eyes. He was not contained by a sewer jail or blocked by unbreakable bars. There was no collar on his neck either, because there was no seal. As Naruto approached, the Kyuubi no Kitsune raised his head and stared down at his host. Warmth filled his usual cold gaze.

"Kurama!" Naruto yelped. He shook off his surprise and jumped up to his tenant, snuggling between his paws. A purr rumbled through the fox. The Uzumaki cried into the soft fur, reminiscing in the memories of his friend.

"Hello, Kit," the fox spoke. "I leave you for a short amount of time and look at you. Neck-deep in trouble barely any time later." Naruto growled, not unlike a beast. Kurama laughed and flicked the boy with a tail. Naruto was squished by its weight.

"Oi!" he screamed indignantly, but the cry was muffled by the Biju's thick pelt. Kurama laughed, his deep voice shuddering through his body.

"I have seen what is going on, there is no need to brief me. Now before you leave me to rest, I have an offer. You can't refuse it either way," Kurama began. Naruto raised his visible eyebrow. "There are remnants of Asura's chakra in here. Not much, but I can use it with my own chakra to give you a new eye."

"Oh? It would be different from a human's eye I bet. What is it?" Naruto asked. His tenant smiled.

"It would look very much human, and have the same capabilities. An extra perk, yes, but you will figure that out soon enough."

Naruto huffed, "Of course you'd say that. Fine, fine, not like I can refuse anyways. But how can I explain it to Kakashi?"

"You're the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, that ought to be enough," Kurama rolled his eyes. "The eye will be back by tomorrow evening. Now leave. I need my rest, brat."

Naruto was flung out of his mindscape.

The day went without much change. Kakashi and Itachi were confined to ANBU HQ for work today. That left the two time-travellers by themselves. Not long after the elder brothers left, Sasuke showed up at his house. Naruto showed him to his room. He could sense the Uchiha wanted to talk about the same thing as him. Changing the future.

Naruto stood in the room as Sasuke roamed around the place, picking things up and putting them down. He scrutinised a vase and glanced back at Naruto.

The Jinchuriki looked at him warily, staying in one spot. This would be an important conversation, he knew. He covered his face with his hand and tilted his head back.

"So what's the first step to this? The C-Rank's in the morning and we need to figure out what happens after. The massacre is almost almost a year away," Naruto began. "Innocent people are going to be slaughtered."

Sasuke shook his head and faced him. "No, Naruto," he replied, obviously guessing the blond's actions. "The event plays an important role. We can't change that."

Naruto scrunched his face, "But the clan-"

"Needs to go. We can't risk what could happen if something so large was altered," the Uchiha cut in. "A civil war could be prevented."

Naruto's hands trembled. "But we're protectors are we not? We can't let this happen! We can't let people die!" he clenched his fist and brought it to his side. Blood ran from his hand, nails sharp and piercing. Sasuke glanced at it but did not comment. "We are ninja, yes, but protectors first."

"It is the lesser of two evils," he answered monotonously.

Naruto glared at him. "Don't give me that crap!" he shouted, his anger getting the better of him. "We have been given a task and this is not it."

"We need to let the massacre happen. The Uchiha clan have no place in Konoha after all," Sasuke stated indifferently.

Naruto froze, rage flooding his veins. He began to shake, fury marking the lines on his face. How could he suggest that? The Jinchuriki bowed his head. His hair shadowed his eye. He looked downright terrifying. Sasuke dared not move a muscle, finally realising what he said.

"Leave. I need to think," Naruto spoke softly. He saw Sasuke open his mouth to protest but stopped him with an angered shout.

"LEAVE!" He through his arm up and out to the side, pointing at the door. The Uchiha didn't ask what that gesture meant. The message was obvious enough. Naruto stared at the ground, listening to Sasuke's resigned footsteps echo too loudly on the floor. The door was pulled open and gently closed. The apartment was cast into empty silence.

Naruto dropped to his knees, arm still pointing. He stifled his tears. Why did this have to be so hard? If they were meant to be the guides of this world, protectors of the people, then why did they have to let people die?

Sasuke berated himself. He should have worded it differently, elaborated or something. But he had spoken in a way about things that went directly against Naruto's ideals. He should have thought beforehand, known that speaking so matter-of-factly would make his friend react negatively.

He escaped to his home to think. The house was quiet and empty, both his parents out for work. He crossed the rooms in a closed in manner, there but not really there. His mind was in another plane. His legs took him to the kitchen, and he pulled his bento from a cupboard.

It dropped to the floor, lid still shut tight. The container made a loud crashing noise as it tumbled a length before stopping. The sound echoed loudly in Sasuke's ears. He leaned down to lift it when he noticed his hand shaking, and the pins and needles shivering through his arm. He felt it disperse and frowned.

Passing it aside he finally lifted his lunch and took it to the bench. Small pricks of pain and discomfort lingered for a while.

His mother came inside, greeting him with a suffocating hug. He mumbled in annoyance, but he secretly enjoyed the contact. He and his mum ate lunch together that day.

Naruto woke to the sound of birds outside his window. He sat up stiffly and glared at them. They paid no heed and continued tweeting and placing twigs on the windowsill. He dressed and ran to Kakashi's room opposite his.

The ANBU was silent and still in his sleep. The covers were unruffled and he still had his cloth mask on.

"How do you breathe?" Naruto muttered. His brother opened his eye and turned to the Uzumaki. "Ohayo, 'Kashi-nii."

"Ohayo," he muttered back. "We leave for the gate in ten minutes." Naruto nodded and left the room. He sniggered at Kakashi's despairing groan. He bet the ANBU hadn't been on something as easy as a C-Rank in years.

Not five minutes later, they were out the door and ready. They met Sasuke at the gate as dawn arrived. The Uchiha rubbed his eyes and glared weakly. Naruto squeezed his friend's shoulder. The apology was clear. He sighed and managed a soft smile, his own apology shown in his eyes.

Kakashi watched in silence and gained their attention. "Our mission is simple. Investigate a group of bandits terrorising a village on the north border of Hi no Kuni. It is two days at a Jounin's pace to Horagakure. We'll investigate the surrounding area and report to our client in the village. Our objective is to subdue the bandit group and eliminate them," he briefed.

"Village Hidden in the Caves? Isn't that near Otogakure?" Naruto asked. Kakashi looked at him weirdly but didn't comment. Sasuke slapped him upside the head and Naruto glared in habit. The Uchiha shot into hand signs, one eye on their leader to make sure he couldn't see. [I don't think we are supposed know about the village.] Under his cloth mask, Naruto didn't move to speak, eye shining in understanding. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Kakashi signalled for them to follow and they took to the trees. They moved at a high jounin's pace at Naruto's naghing demands, trees flashing by as they headed steadily north. They met no life forms on the way to Horagakure. The landscape of warm forest lead the Barren hills and finally a small range of mountains came within their sights from the tree line.

Evening had arrived and Kakashi called them to set up camp. Sleeping rolls were placed beside a small fire hidden by Genjutsu.

Oi Kit. You can try out your eye now. Kurama sounded tired so Naruto refrained from replying. He shivered in anticipation and turned his back to the others, pretending to watch the forest. He slowly lifted his hitai-ate, keeping his eye closed. Wind brushed against the area for the first time in weeks. He breathed deeply in comfort. With Kakashi and Sasuke occupied in soft conversation, they didn't notice his sharp intake of breath.

From his left eye he could see much clearer. The world wasn't as dark but at the same time wasn't as clear as day. It was easier to make out the area between the trees. He couldn't see any further than he usually could but it was clearer nonetheless. He let a grin get plastered on his face from ear to ear. He stifled a laugh that rose in his throat.

The others, now noticing Naruto's slightly aloof behaviour, looked at him questioningly. He turned back around and almost let go of his laugh at his brother's surprise. Sasuke's was more hidden, being used to the unpredictable antics of his friend. Kakashi's eye widened ever so slightly, and for him that meant a lot of surprise.

"How?" The Hatake whispered. Disbelief adorned his features. Sasuke caught on easily, shooting a questioning glance at his stomach, where the seal is. Naruto nodded.

"The Kyuubi isn't exactly useless," he said.

Thank you, Kit. Kurama's voice was heavy with sarcasm. Naruto ignored him and focused on his brother. Kakashi excepted the answer, but his eye held suspicion. Does he think you're trying to take over? Kurama didn't reply, not that he needed to anyway. The reason was clear as day.

Sasuke's hand formed one sign. Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu! He spit the fireball from his mouth and at the oncoming bandits. Naruto shouted an insult at his back. It sounded something like 'overkill' but Sasuke pretended he couldn't hear..

They were well away from the village and all the buildings were made of rock anyways. But the people are not, he imagined Itachi reprimanding him when he got home.

The bandits tried to dodge the oncoming flames but it was a futile effort. They became quickly engulfed, and their screams were muffled by the fiery cage. He let the jutsu disperse, and all that was left were the charred bodies of the bandits. Kakashi pat his shoulder and went to check they were dead.

His chakra felt tingly, when he used it. It wasn't the normally burning feeling but strange and uncomfortable, like pins and needles. He'd had it occurring more often lately. Sasuke frowned and pushed it to the back of his mind. The tingling was already gone.

He turned to Naruto but the boy was facing away from the bandits as if it was unbearable to look. It probably was.

"Naruto?" he whispered gently. His friend glanced at him before wrapping his arm around his torso.

"I know," Naruto replied. "It was the mission, after all, and if we're going to become ANBU then I should get used to it." Sasuke nodded affirmatively.

Kakashi called them over. He was already walking in the direction of Konoha. The genin joined him and he briefed them on the situation. "Our client is satisfied. We can leave now." Sasuke could tell a smile was underneath Naruto's mask. He let out a long sigh of relief.

They entered the treeline two hours later, and took to the branches.