RedEye00 – He's only showing hostility towards them because he's being forced to accept them as teammates. If they were to have met under different circumstances, he would've called Sasuke a jerk and Sakura an insult to kunoichi but otherwise wouldn't have cared or interacted with them. But since he's stuck with them, he's going to take his extra aggression out on them when he gets the chance.

And as for Hinata, she will be a little different but when she and Naruto finally meet, things will fall into place for all of you readers.

ICHA-ICHA 1 FAN – Shush! Don't give away future chapters!

Oh…

Wait…

Oh well, not like that was a really big secret anyways.

Chewie Cookies – For shuriken, thanks for pointing that out. As for Kurai; according to freedict - com/onldict/jap - html (- means .) Dark can be written out as Kuro or Kurai. And the site is nothing but a big translation site so I trust it. Besides, in my opinion Kurai Kitsune sounds better than Kuro Kitsune.

And a lot of people are wondering about his team-mates, his Iwa hatred, and if they're connected somehow. I will not say anything specific but by the time of the Chunin Exams, both will be answered. Until then, you all have to just wait and see.


03 – The Heir of Uzushio

"Is everybody in position?" The voice asked over the headsets.

"Hai." A girl answered.

"Hai." A boy answered.

"Why the fuck am I stuck on D-ranks again sensei?" An annoyed voice answered. There was a loud sigh and they could almost swear he had just face palmed himself.

"Because Sasuke and Sakura aren't ready for the higher levels yet. Now are you in position Naruto?" Their sensei responded. A quick 'Hai sensei' was his response before the man looked up at the sky. "Alright then. GO!" There was some rustling of the bushes and trees before a small blur ran out and tried to escape a young boy wearing blue and white. Just before it got far it had to quickly change directions as a girl with pink hair shot out to grab it. It kept running, hoping to escape its pursuers, when a kunai swung around it and caught its legs in some string. The string tightened and suddenly it found its legs tied up. The pink haired girl sighed and picked the animal up, revealing it to be a small cat with a ribbon in its ear. "Can you confirm the ribbon?"

"Sensei, I fucking chased this cat down at least fifty times with my old team. I think I'd recognize the damn thing after getting my face clawed off so much!" A blonde boy shouted as the girl started petting it and calming it down. The other boy sighed but answered the question.

"Hai sensei."

"Good, then missing cat Tora, captured."


"Oh thank you for catching my little darling." A large woman shouted as she hugged the captured cat, damn near close to death. Is it any wonder why it ran away? She paid the Hokage before leaving which left Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi standing before Iruka, said Hokage, and another Chunin.

"Well done team. Now if you would like another mission we have helping the Inuzuka clean out their kennels or painting the fence down on old Jiro's new house." Sarutobi offered as Kakashi closed his book. Naruto was scowling with his arms crossed due to being forced into D-ranks once more. For the past year Kakashi and Naruto had been doing nothing but C-ranks on their own or B and the occasional A-rank with other teams. Getting dragged back into the shinobi hell of menial labor pissed him off.

Sasuke was also scowling due to the D-ranks. He felt he was better than common chores or civilian work. Plus his Uchiha pride was telling him these 'missions' were insulting to someone of his stature. That and he wanted something challenging. Surprisingly Sakura was perfectly fine with D-ranks. They weren't dangerous and she got to spend time with Sasuke. A 'win-win' in her pink haired head.

"Actually Hokage-sama, do you have an easy C-rank we could do?" Kakashi asked. Naruto grinned, hoping to finally get back to better things. Sasuke smirked, thinking he'd be able to prove his skills better. And Sakura seemed impassive; Kakashi said an easy one so she felt she'd still be safe.

Iruka looked over Sasuke and Sakura and seeing their attitudes about his request, chose not to say anything. Sasuke was a fast learner and Sakura was the smartest girl of their class. So if Kakashi felt they were ready then he'd let it go. Besides, he knew Naruto's strength so if anything went wrong he and Kakashi could handle it. The Hokage, having come to similar conclusions looked down at the list of available C-ranks.

"Ah, here's one for you. You are to escort a man to his home in Nami no Kuni and protect him as he finishes his project. Send in the client!" Sarutobi called out. The door opened and a man wearing mostly brown and tan clothes walked in. He had a bottle of sake in his hand and a blush on his face showing he was clearly drunk. He looked over the team before taking a swig of his sake.

"This is it? A group of little brats to protect me? They don't look like much, especially the blond one." He muttered before taking another drink. Or trying. He looked down to see there wasn't a bottle in his hands anymore. He looked at the team to see Naruto holding his bottle with a smirk on his face. He took a swig before tossing the bottle back.

"Not bad sake Ji-san. Got any more?" The old man looked between where he was and the blonde before smirking. Sasuke and Sakura were staring at Naruto in shock as they hadn't even seen him move. Kakashi and Sarutobi just sighed at the blonde's actions. Since the three weeks of being a team, Naruto had taken every opportunity to show how superior he was to Sasuke and Sakura. He did so for a couple reasons, one was to hopefully get them to quit or ask for a team transfer once they understood how weak they were. And the other was to get them to train harder to try and catch up. Sasuke seemed to take the hint and had trained harder. Sakura on the other hand, well she trained harder than she used to but she was still more concerned about looks and Sasuke than her own life it seemed. In spars he would beat them down in seconds as brutally as he could get away with. And in everything else he would mock them and belittle any accomplishment they got. He hated being with them and was determined to either get rid of them or whip them into shape.

"I like you kid. Anyways, I'm the great bridge builder Tazuna. I expect top class protection on this trip." Kakashi just looked down on his students.

"Okay you three, meet at the main gate in an hour. Pack some supplies for I'd say a week or two." He then vanished in a puff of smoke. Sasuke and Sakura left out the door to do just that while Naruto just gave a slight nod to Sarutobi before vanishing in his own Shunshin. Tazuna looked back at his bottle wondering if he was seeing things before shrugging his shoulders and heading towards the inn where he left his stuff.


"So where's your sensei kid?" Tazuna asked as he and Naruto stood by the main gate. Naruto and the old drunk were just standing there waiting for Kakashi as Sasuke and Sakura were standing off to the side. Sasuke was thinking about what might happen on the mission while Sakura was trying to talk to Sasuke about how 'romantic' the trip could be. Needless to say Naruto was barely holding himself back from throwing a kunai into her head. He could see that Sasuke seemed to be silently praying he would do just that as well. 'Tempting, but I can't. I can scare her though.' He thought before turning back to Tazuna.

"Oh he'll be here soon." He then made a hand sign and three clones popped into existence right next to him. "Go get sensei at the Hero's Stone and tell him we've got to go. Drag his ass here if you have to." The clones nodded and vanished in swirls of leaves. Naruto then rolled his eyes and grabbed a kunai before tossing it at Sakura, giving her a slight cut on the cheek. "Haruno shut the hell up! He's not talking and you're just pissing both of us off!" Sakura held her hand up to her cheek and quickly glared at him as he just glared back. "Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong. Neither of you have a good enough poker face to hide shit from me yet. And I swear to Kami, if you try something I will shove my foot up your ass." She scowled before turning away and giving a glance at Sasuke to see he hadn't changed facial expressions once during Naruto's shouting episode. She sighed but stayed silent as she took out a small bandage and covered her cheek.

"I take it you don't like her?"

"Or him either." Naruto muttered but stayed silent showing he wasn't wanting to talk about it. Tazuna just shrugged and went back to his sake as they waited for Naruto's clones to bring their sensei along. Which was a surprisingly short wait as they all dropped him in front of the original five minutes later with his hands tied behind his back. They then dispelled, giving Naruto the memories on how they captured him and he shook his head as he untied the jonin. "Seriously sensei, you need to pay more attention when you're at the Stone. That was way too easy for three to get you. Normally that would've taken at least ten." The silver haired jonin chuckled sheepishly before checking over the three of them and leading them out.


"So, Nami no Kuni huh?" Naruto asked as they were all walking down the road. Tazuna was standing between all three genin, with Naruto at point, Sakura to his right and Sasuke to his left. Kakashi was a few feet behind them reading his book. When Tazuna answered in the affirmative Naruto raised his voice. "Hey sensei; would it be okay if I go visit after the mission but before we come back?" Sakura and Sasuke got confused looks as Kakashi looked up from his book as he thought about it.

"I don't see why not. If there's no danger and we finish ahead of schedule then sure." He then went back to his book as Naruto was now staring ahead with what looked like a blank stare. But even Sakura could tell he was thinking about something.

"Visit where?" She asked. Naruto opened his eyes a bit as he hadn't expected her to care. But then his expression softened a bit and he guessed he might as well answer.

"My ancestral home. Uzushiogakure."

"Wait, you're not even from Konoha?" Sasuke asked. Naruto chuckled and shook his head.

"No, I'm from Konoha. But my mother wasn't, and neither was my clan." Deciding to explain he took a deep breath. "My clan was the ruling clan of Uzushiogakure of Uzu no Kuni. They were exceptional fighters specializing in fuuinjutsu. And to a lesser extent, kenjutsu. They were one of the first hidden villages formed, before Konoha even. In fact after forming and seeing how they seemed to be doing well, the Uchiha and Senju clans which had been trying to come to peace with each other for years decided they would join together and form their own shinobi village. They contacted the Uzumaki clan and asked for them to be the mediator to their peace talks and help them establish a village here in Hi no Kuni. Which my clan agreed to. Eventually they got the attention of Hi no Kuni's daimyo and the daimyo agreed to provide funds and recognize them as a separate military force so long as the village agreed to serve and protect the interests of the country. The result was the birth of Konohagakure no Sato. To thank the Uzumaki and Uzushiogakure, Konoha became allies with them. The red swirl on my back, and on the clothes of so many other ninja back home, that's my clan symbol. Worn proudly as a sign of honor and respect to the clan that helped the Uchiha and Senju found the village."

"I always wondered what that mark was. I thought it was just something they older generation wore cause they had to, like their headbands." Sakura stated as she looked at the swirl on his back. Naruto shook his head.

"No, cause otherwise it would be mandatory like them. It's not though and some people don't wear it. Most have forgotten what it means, since this was so long ago. To further cement our alliance though, the Uzumaki clan head married off his daughter to the one chosen to be the Shodai Hokage. In a way, I'm related to the first to Kage's of our village." Naruto said with a grin. Sasuke stared in shock.

"You're kidding! You're related to the Shodai?"

"Kinda. Uzumaki Mito was the woman he married. And she's sort of like my great aunt or something. I'm not a direct relation, but more like I'm cousins with the Senju clan." Sasuke and Sakura seemed to be quiet as they digested all the information before Sakura noticed something.

"Wait, so after the mission you want to go visit you're clans' homeland? But we're going to Nami, not Uzu. You'd be going to a whole other country!"

"No I wouldn't, because Uzu doesn't exist anymore. Neither does Uzushiogakure either now that I think about it." He said as he hung his head down.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked. Sakura seemed to be eager to learn as well as Naruto sighed.

"I mean I'm like you Uchiha. I'm the last of my clan as well." This got both of them to recoil slightly as they didn't expect that. "My clan and village was strong. They were a minor village, but they were as strong as one of the five greats. And said greats didn't exactly like that. Iwa and a few minor villages allied with it decided to 'put the Uzu nin in their place' as it were. They launched an attack that pretty much wiped them off the map. It wasn't a battle, but a slaughter. A massacre. Not one person in the village survived." This got Sasuke to grit his teeth and look down. Any mention of massacre's got to him since his clan went through one. "It was this that started the Third Ninja War actually. Konoha was outraged one of our closest allies was destroyed so we retaliated." Both could tell that this had to be part of the reason he hated Iwa. After all they destroyed his entire clan and their village. You can't just forgive something like that.

"If nobody survived, then how were you born? I mean you said you were born in Konoha, but your clan was wiped out long before you were born." Sakura asked. Naruto chuckled slightly.

"About ten to fifteen years before the destruction and war, Konoha needed something. They needed someone with a special kind of chakra for a special task. They searched the village but didn't find one that fit the bill. So they had people search their allies to see if they did. Turns out, Uzushio had someone exactly like they were looking for. My mother was discovered to have the special chakra Konoha needed. After some deals and negotiations she was brought to Konoha and enrolled in our ninja forces." Naruto explained. "When the war broke out, she was usually leading the charge on battlefields in vengeance for our clan. Uzumaki Kushina, the Aka Takai no Konoha (Konoha's Red Death), the only ninja with a body count higher than her was the Yondaime. With her home village gone and being the last of the clan, she decided to restart the Uzumaki in Konoha. Sadly, she died the day I was born." He muttered with clenched fists and closed eyes as he thought about something. What neither of the genin knew. Kakashi sighed behind his book as he listened into the conversation. He was opening up to his teammates which was good, but still had that problem of letting go of the past. Not that he was much better, which he freely would admit.

"Wait, you said you wouldn't be going to another country. You never explained that." Sakura pointed out. Naruto was about to talk but Tazuna surprisingly answered that.

"That's cause Nami is Uzu." He said before taking a drink. Seeing Sakura and Sasuke looking at him in shock he continued. "After the war our people wanted to forget the humiliation of our total defeat and wanted to start fresh. So the country changed its name from Uzu no Kuni to Nami no Kuni and we never again tried to make a ninja village. We kept our close ties to Konoha and Hi no Kuni though. We just wiped our hands clean of our own shameful history." Tazuna finished and Sakura and Sasuke nodded as things seemed to make sense as Naruto was quietly growling at how Tazuna referred to their slaughter as shameful. To him it wasn't shameful because though they lost, Iwa was damn near crippled from the fight and if not for their allies, Konoha would've swept through them instantly. But as it was, they couldn't until the Yondaime came in with his Hirashin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder Go Technique). That was far from shameful.

"Alright, that's enough of the depressing talk for now." Kakashi interrupted. The genin looked at him but then at Naruto ho had his hands balled into fists and noticed they were shaking. Both Sasuke and Sakura could tell the talk was starting to anger him and seeing as he could not relax himself as he normally would (by eating ramen or visiting the Hokage Monument) they decided to drop it. Tazuna just shrugged and started drinking his sake again.


The trip was silent and peaceful after Kakashi told them to drop it. At least until they noticed a puddle in the middle of the road. Naruto and Kakashi stiffened slightly but otherwise made no motion to do anything. Sasuke and Sakura didn't notice anything strange and Tazuna just kept drinking. They manage to get a few feet from the puddle when it actually happened. Two figures in torn black cloaks jumped out of the water and wrapped Kakashi up in chains before pulling and tearing the jonin to pieces. Sakura screamed in shock, Tazuna was scared into being sober, and Sasuke's face flashed through shock, fear and then settled on anger. "One down…" One started.

"Three to go." The other finished before they charged forward at Sakura, correctly assuming she was the weakest of the group. Sasuke sprang into action and tossed a shuriken that pinned the chain to a tree before locking it in place with a kunai. As the two dealt with being jerked back he landed on the clawed gauntlets the two had and then kicked them both to the face simultaneously. They shook the pain out of their heads as Sasuke landed before they disabled the chain and charged again. One headed to fight Sasuke while the other headed at Sakura again. Sasuke whipped out a kunai to his hand and started to block the claws of the Kiri nin and try to find an opening while Sakura was still staring in shock and fear. Just as the ninja came close and was about to take her face off with a clawed hand to the face He was suddenly thrown back hard enough that he collided with the other and both crashed into a tree.

"Pathetic Haruno. At least the Uchiha fought back. Why are you a ninja again?" Naruto taunted as he stood in front of her with his leg outstretched as if he had just kicked something, which technically he had. "If you're scared senseless by such a small thing then you need to quit. You're just dragging us down even more than I thought. Now let me show you how a real ninja handles things." He said as he lowered his leg. The moment he did he vanished into thin air and four Narutos' appeared and rushed the two missing nins as they were standing. The clones split up to take them on two-to-one each. One was pounded between the two like a ball from a barrage of rapid kicks and punches while the other was thrown to the ground before getting tossed up and slammed down again. Not even a minute later and both were wrapped up with ninja wire and tied up back to back. It was then that the clones vanished and Naruto was standing there without even looking winded.

"How?" One mumbled out as he tried to stay awake. The other was silent but that was more because his jaw was broken. Naruto knelt down and turned their heads to face him. "Who the hell are you?"

"The Kurai Kitsune." Was the blonds' response. Both paled dramatically as they looked at him in horror. Sasuke was torn between anger at his fight being taken away, shock and fear at how simple Naruto had beaten them, and curiosity at why they were paling so much at his title. Other than being the only genin in the Bingo Book under that title, Kakashi hadn't told them anything else about it. And they didn't have a Bingo Book to check and see what he did to get in it. "Now you two are going to tell me why you attacked us, who you're working for, and why you should live." Naruto ordered in a no-nonsense tone. Both nodded and the one that could still talk explained everything. From being hired by Gato to kill the bridge builder to also working with Mamochi Zabuza in planning the small attack. They had no doubt Zabuza would shortly learn of their failure and would come himself next time. They also pleaded to be allowed to live. Naruto just stood with a blank face and they thought they were going to die before he lashed out with a kick that knock both unconscious.

"Well that's a little frightening. The Demon of the Mist huh?" Kakashi muttered as he seemingly appeared next to Tazuna without a mark on him. Said old man and Sakura both jumped into the air with a shout as they hadn't heard or felt him come up. They all then looked to his 'corpse' to see a pile of shredded wood, no doubt from a log he had replaced himself with. Kakashi continued as if he didn't just drive two nearly into premature heart-attacks. "Naruto, you know those two are the Demon Brothers right? Chunin level missing nin from Kiri. And Zabuza is an A rank jonin that was formerly part of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu, right? (Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist) I don't think Sasuke and Sakura are ready for this." Naruto sighed as Kakashi had a point.

"I know. We should go back. I may hate these two but I don't want them killed. Sorry Ji-san, but we're going back to Konoha." Naruto said as he made a clone to carry the demon brothers. Sasuke scowled at missing his chance to actually fight while Sakura seemed relieved. Tazuna on the other hand, looked more terrified than when the ninja was charging at him and the pinkette.

"You can't! If you do then I'll die!" He shouted. Kakashi sighed.

"You paid for C-ranked protection. This is not C-ranked protection. Unless you can pay for at least a B-rank, then we're going back. I'm not going to risk my students dying when I know the danger that's coming." Tazuna flinched but then looked down.

"I see. And I'd like to pay you what you deserve, but I can't. Gato has our country in a chokehold. We're a fishing and merchant nation and he has gained control of all the docks. Thanks to taxes he's placed on everything, we could only scrounge up enough for a C-rank." Tazuna then raised his head and looked at all of them. "Nami is dying off! Gato's thugs run around doing whatever they want because he lets them. We can't fight back because then he kills us. The bridge I'm building is the one and only hope for our country. With it complete, our nation would no longer be forced to use the docks that he controls and our land would be freed. He knows it too, which is why he wants me dead."

"Be that as it may, you still didn't pay so I'm sorry but we can-"

"We'll do it." Kakashi whipped his head around to see Naruto staring right back at him with a fierce determination in his eyes. Seeing the silent question Naruto kept talking. "Nami is dying sensei. We can always set up an interest plan to get the country to pay us back later for lying to us. But I'm going to help them. Besides, what would my clan think if I knew our homeland was suffering and I turned a blind eye?" Kakashi sighed.

"I'm with him." Sasuke spoke up, getting the attention of the rest. "I was doing fine against that chunin so I think between your skill and his, we'll be fine. Besides, isn't Konoha known for helping stop suffering wherever we go?" He asked with a smirk. He didn't care about the country in the slightest really. That was just a side bonus. He wanted to test himself against a ninja of higher caliber. A jonin listed as an A-rank threat that was once part of the seven strongest swordsmen in the world was definitely a higher challenge. Kakashi sighed again and looked over at Sakura to see her opinion on the matter. She looked from the confident look on her teammates face to the pleading look on Tazuna's before nodding herself.

"Fine then. Tazuna, it looks like you still have us for this mission."


OMAKE – Chibi!

A young Naruto was walking back to the Academy with a large grin. He had passed and graduated early. Now he was going to meet the current graduates and be sorted into teams with them. He couldn't wait. As he opened the door he saw that the class was full of students a couple years older than him all talking or whispering with the ones nearby. Nobody noticed him until he closed the door and walked inside. Which is when someone actually spoke to him. "Hey kid, you lost or something? This is for the graduates not students." Naruto looked at the kid to see a boy with messy brown hair that was spiked up. He had black eyes and on his cheeks were red triangle signifying the child was an Inuzuka. He wore a long sleeve black shirt that hugged his form, showing his developing muscles. He also had on over that a light brown coat with a red fur around the hood which was down at the moment. The kid was standing which let Naruto see he also had on black shinobi pants. Sitting on the desk next to him was a small brown dog with black ears, also staring at him like the boy. In fact, since the boy had called out to Naruto, the whole class was now staring at him.

"Uh, I graduated." He answered timidly before shaking his head and then grinning as he pointed to his headband which was tied around his head. "See? I graduated early and I'm one step closer to being Hokage!" He shouted. The kid grinned and nodded his head.

"Well not bad. Been a while since someone graduated early. I guess we got another genius this generation." He said as he sat down. He then motioned to the seat next to him that was open and Naruto just grinned and took it while the rest of the class went back to whatever they were talking about before. As soon as Naruto sat down the kid offered his hand. "Name's Inuzuka Koji. This pup here is my partner Kairi." Said dog gave a small bark but otherwise stayed sitting. Naruto shook his hand with a grin.

"My Name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be Hokage!"

"Hokage huh? Well graduating early is a nice jumpstart to that Chibi." Koji replied. Naruto just huffed about his new nick-name.

"I'm not a chibi!"

"Sure you are. You're young, short, and I bet over half the girls here would call you cute. In fact, that might be nice. May get some of them to stop bugging me." He muttered as Naruto held a hand out towards the little pup. Kairi sniffed his hand before giving him a little lick and Naruto started to pet the animal. "Heh, guess Kairi likes you a bit." Naruto grinned before he put on a thoughtful expression with his eyes squinted, strongly reminding Koji of a fox.

"Uh, why would the girls bother you?" Koji scoffed but otherwise didn't lose his cheerful look.

"Cause I'm from a big clan and I'm the Rookie of the Year. Or at least I should be. How good were you on the test?" He asked as he genuinely became curious about how good the young blond was.

"Iruka-sensei said I barely passed. But I still passed so it doesn't matter!" He exclaimed. Koji chuckled at how energetic the boy seemed to be before nodding his head.

"True." He agreed before the door opened again and a tall man came in. He was bald and had red eyes. He also wore the standard chunin outfit and looked over the class, which got silent as he entered. The man looked over the class with a smile until his eyes fell on Naruto. He then looked confused.

"Mind telling me why you're here kid?"

"I passed the graduation test early." The man closed his eyes and nodded his understanding. He knew exactly who he was and was genuinely surprised the 'Kyuubi kid' was good enough to pass early. He also had no ill will towards the child. In his mind it was more along the lines of indifference. He didn't care if Naruto lived or died; so long as Kyuubi didn't get out he could care less. He pulled out a clipboard and noticed the revised teams, a couple small revisions from placing Naruto into the class as a graduate.

"Alright, well good for you. Now to all of the students I taught; congratulations on passing. I spent the last four years whipping you into shape and now you get to head out to the world and show just what a great teacher I am." He declared getting a few laughs from the kids. "But seriously though, do your village and families proud. Protect your teammates, train your hardest, and always work towards your dreams. From today forth all of you are shinobi of Konoha! Do those headbands proud and live with honor! For that is the 'Will of Fire'!" He concluded which got all the students to be staring at him with determination and happiness in their eyes. He could just tell this group would go far. "Now, as for your teams. Team One will be…" And everybody pretty much tuned him out except for their own name.

"Team Five will be Uzumaki Naruto," Said blond whipped his head up as he looked at the chunin. "Inuzuka Koji," The boy's head went up with a smirk towards the shorty next to him. "And Sakuya." A girl towards the back of the class smiled and nodded, apparently pleased with her placement. Many of the other girls started whining about not being with their Koji-kun though. Seeing as he no longer had to worry about possibly offending a future teammate, Koji stood up and spun around to face all the girls.

"WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP? I've been holding this back for four damn years! Your constant squealing and screeching has just been hurting my ears damn it! Shut the hell up and actually try being ninja for once!" He then sighed and sat back down with a quick apology to his sensei for interrupting him. Said man just smirked and shook his head as the girls that were fawning over him were now whining about how heartless their crush was.

"Think nothing of it Koji, it needed to be said. Anyways, your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team Six…"