Chapter 3 – Two meetings

It was dark. Sky was decorated with stars. Naruto was sitting on a branch gazing at the vast sky, taking in all the beauty he could. He was rather short for a 10 year old. But with practice and pushing himself to extreme on a daily basis for last few years, he had made sure that height factor does not affect his power, skill and fighting abilities. He has started making a name for himself. 'Little fox' was what people were calling him, for the fox mask he used to wear. His name was not as famous as Itachi, being both the child prodigies. But this was not related to their level in any way. After all, Root was all about being invisible, working from the shadows.

The people who had seen the face of the fox and know his name were handful. Few of them were below, setting up tent to have rest after a mission. It was a simple mission of getting some intel. But as Danzo used to say, 'no intel is unnecessary, no mission is small'. . Naruto had left this work to one of his shadow clones.

"Hey! You can go and sleep. I will take the first look out" his team captain who was completely dressed in root ANBU uniform said.

Naruto looked down and jumped near the tent. He gave a nod to his captain and went inside the tent and drifted to sleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

Just few moments have passed, Naruto sensed someone's presence. His survival instincts kicked in and sprang into crouch holding a kunai. Eyes blaring red looking at his unexpected guest. The orange masked man, the kyuubi had told him about, was sitting next to him. He was the person responsible for his parents' death, for all the deaths in konoha and more importantly his own 'condition'.

He studied the man. He was wearing orange mask with one hole through which red eye was shining brightly. He felt a little pang in his heart. He hadn't felt like that before. He just ignored that and prepared himself to attack in case his guest tries something.

"There's no need for that. I am just here to… talk. And also I don't think it will affect me anyhow. Don't do anything stupid and you will live". The fake Madara had come to check the Jinchūriki of nine tails. Naruto know that if the masked man wanted he could kill him in instant and disappear just like he came, without alerting the Root who was guarding. So, he decided to play along. "Now is not your time".

"Time for what?" Naruto asked.

Obito just stared at him. The mask was hiding the small smile which was gracing his lips. "So, how did you get the sharingan?" It could be his opportunity to make his work a little easy.

Naruto didn't reply.

"When you going to wake up, you will forget our meeting. I am going to give you something" Obito closed in the distance and looked into his eyes. Sharingan stared back at Mangekyo. After few seconds Obito stood up. With final words he disappeared, "We will meet again Naruto, may not be in this world".

Naruto just looked at the disappearing figure and drifted to sleep once again.

In seconds Obito had calculated his steps and made the best possible path for him to his success after looking at Naruto's eyes. But one thing he missed, he missed kyuubi. He did not take account of him. He made Naruto forget about their meeting but he forgot about the creature of which Naruto was the jailor. He also didn't know that Naruto's eyes had taken something more than what he planned to give.

Hundred meters away, Obito appeared. He was glad he decided to come and see his 'human sacrifice' today. At first he just wanted to kill some time. He had took his first step in capturing the Jinchūriki.

"What did you do do to him?" asked white Zetsu while appearing from the branch on which Obito was standing. "We could have captured him"

Obito turned to face him and answered him "I just gave him something which will benefit us in future. Now is not the time for us to take any actions" Bijuus had to be extracted in order to maintain balance. Extracting Nine tails first, was not possible. Neither was he going to babysit Naruto till they were ready to extract his bijuu, which could at least take years. The best and easy thing to do was to wait. He has other priorities which were as important. He has to make Akatsuki stronger.

He waited for a second and asked Zetsu, "You were bringing some new members for Akatsuki I suppose"

"They are waiting for 'the leader'. I came to inform you about that" the black part of Zetsu replied.

"Let's go then" they both disappeared the way they came.

It has been a month since his meeting with Obito. Naruto didn't forget about their meeting as Obito had planned, thanks to the Kyuubi. When Naruto woke that day from sleep he had forgotten but Kyuubi made him remember. He had given his report to Danzo about that mission including about his small meeting. Danzo didn't let his face betray any emotions but Naruto could tell he was little tensed with all these developments. He told Naruto to forget about all these and he would look into this masked man.

Naruto woke up, panting. He had that dream again, that nightmare which he had been having for a month. Everything was red in his dream, there were people lying, he couldn't tell whether they were dead or asleep. Whenever he tried to look up, he would see the moon, a red moon. Seconds later, he was thrown out of his own dream.

"Trouble sleeping? That dream again?" Kyuubi asked from his prison. Naruto had told him about that dream.

"Yea. That bloody dream again. That dream doesn't make any sense" he closed his eyes, his jaw clenched hard enough for the muscles to tick. After all the practice he was assigned by the slave driver Danzo, he was barely getting any sleep. He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He misses the clear sky filled with stars so much which he only get to see when he is assigned a mission and during practice it was generally day, which he was getting regularly, and he thanked god for that. Most of his missions were generally easy reconnaissance mission or just as a support. Danzo didn't want to give an important mission to a ten year old irrespective of his abilities but he also wanted to help him gain as much experience as possible, after all he was his prized possession. If he had to compare him with Itachi at his age, he would put his wager in favour of Naruto blindly.

"This doesn't look god if you ask me. That masked bastard used his eyes on you. You better look your back from now on"

"You don't have to tell me that" Naruto looked in the eyes of Kyuubi, almost half as big as him. He then turned to walk out of his sewer mindscape.

"Talking to me like that? You sure like to take your chances" Kyuubi waited Naruto for his response. When he didn't get any, he closed his eyes and he added, "Don't misunderstood me puny human. I just don't want to see you die in the hands of that Uchiha. I could care less if you die or rot somewhere"

Naruto knew what Kyuubi wanted to say, Naruto will come to him for power sooner or later. And he knew he was right, if that masked man was really the one who infiltrated Konoha and got out unharmed, even after facing the Yellow Flash himself, he would need all the power and help he could to face him. Help was something he didn't believe in. If he had to fight he was not going to depend on others, atleast any other human. He also know that Kyuubi was not showing him any care by asking to take precautions. He just hated that masked man more than he hated Naruto. He stopped and turned to look at him before disappearing in darkness.

A year passed. The sun was up, Naruto was looking at the sky, standing still. If only this was night, he would have savoured the sight. A voice brought him back from his thought. He ignored it and continued to look at the sky. The voice called him again. He looked to his right at the person who was calling him. He was of same age as him. He was wearing black pants and black shirt, showing much part of his abdomen. Naruto understood what was going on. He was going on a mission. He went to the root operative and asked "I guess we have a mission, Sai?"

"Yes. Danzo-sama requires your presence for the briefing at his office". This got Naruto attention. Why is he asking to meet him in his office for briefing rather than in the briefing room? He decided to drop this.

Sai looked behind Naruto from where he came and gave Naruto a smile, "That's very impressive Naruto-kun. We should call some medic-nins".

Naruto looked back at the training ground, at the 4 root ninjas lying down. They all were around his age except one who was few years older. A couple of them were unconscious and one was helping the girl to sit, taking the support of the tree. She was same age as Naruto. Her hair was black and up to shoulder's length. She looked at the standing boys and said to Sai with a smile, "Naruto-san is getting better. It's like we are not improving at all".

Naruto left after saying "After fighting you, I wouldn't disagree". Sai gave them a synthetic smile and followed Naruto to Danzo's office.

It was a small room with a table in the centre. Behind it was a chair where Danzo was sitting. Against all the walls were shelves full with scrolls and books. Danzo looked above form the papers scattered on his table at the blond. He motioned Sai to wait outside. Sai bowed and left.

Naruto looked down at the papers to find it some kind of maps, drawn by hand. He looked at the old man again and asked "I suppose you have a mission for me. And seeing there's no one here other than us, I suppose this will be my first solo mission".

Danzo looked at the blond Jinchūriki for a minute before saying, "This is a simple reconnaissance mission. You have to head to sound village to get some information on one of Orchimaru's hideout. High stealth is required for this so sending more than one will increase the chance of getting detected. And you are the best asset I have available free now. You have to go in, look around and come out. A simple in and out mission. But I do warn you, this can go south anytime and you will on your own".

Naruto knew who Orochimaru was. One of the great minds and truly genius. At least that was what he would have been called by everyone if he had chosen the right path. But Naruto knew, good or bad, he was extremely dangerous and on a whole another level than him. If he really had to face him there, there would be snowball chance in hell he would come back alive. Then he had to do only one thing, as Danzo explained, go in and just come out undetected with any information he could get. "When I have to leave?" he asked the old man.

"You will leave in an hour. You will reach the sound city around evening. Get out of there by tomorrow. I want to see you here in one piece by tomorrow evening. Take this map. It's not accurate but it will somewhat help you. Dismissed".

Naruto bowed and leave. He had a long journey to cover. After all the morning practice it was going to be one hell of a mission. He went to his quarter to get ready.

After one hour, Naruto was standing on a high branch of a tree. He was in his complete root gear. His fox mask was hanging behind and had a black sword on his back. It was still morning and academy was just going to start. He looked down and saw few kids of his age were going towards academy. The boy in front was wearing a blue shirt and white half pants. The thing which got his attention was back of his shirt. The Uchiha emblem was clear as sky. 'An Uchiha'. He had heard about the massacre which took place couple of years back. He knew there was only one survivor. Itachi had left his brother alive.

Before him were following few girls. This was something new for him. Pink hair. The girl next to her was a blonde. He looked at each girl for a second and moved his attention to the sole Uchiha again.

Sasuke stopped and turned to look at the tree where Naruto was standing. He had left seconds earlier. "What happened Sasuke-kun?" asked the pink haired girl.

Sasuke looked at the girl from the corner of his eye for a moment and went ahead without giving an answer.

It was dark already when Naruto reached the hideout. He saw some sound ninjas who were keeping an eye on the location. Naruto decided to maintain a low-key and moved in the shadows. With the help of sharingan, he had an advantage. He could see where no one else could. Shadow was supposed to be the true friend of a ninja, but with sharingan it was a part of the ninja. He looked for the safest way to get inside. After few minutes Naruto was hiding behind a tree, looking straight at the entrance which he selected as his point of entry.

He made several shadow clones and sent them inside. He had a gift for this kind of missions in the form of shadow clones. When they disappear he get their memories, what they saw, what they learn. It was the one of the reasons of his growth at such a remarkable speed. The only drawback is that his shadow clones could not remain for longer than an hour or two. He had to complete his mission in that span of time or else he had to send his shadow clones again and again or worse he would have to go himself in the snake's pit.

He looked again around for any sound nins. He was hiding on a tree just few meters west to the entrance which he had used. He looked to his right and saw one coming to his way. Naruto took out his sword and waited for him to come. If situation calls and he was spotted, he had to dismiss that sound ninja before he could make any sound. Or else he had to abort the mission and run. The sound ninja came below the tree and passed straight. Naruto took a deep breath which he was holding for some time and sheathed his sword.

After an hour and half he received the memories of one of his shadow clones. One of his shadow clones was out of chakra and dismissed itself. He knew others would disappear in no time. Slowly one by one each shadow clones dissapeared.

His last clone was moving silently toward the end of the corridor. At the end, was a large gate. He could feel that the room that gate led to was different, and somewhat important. He slowly opened the door and looked inside. He was shocked to say at least after seeing what was inside. It was some kind of experiment and research room with bodies decomposed and destroyed at different stages in the large container which was filled with certain liquid. He knew those were dead and there must be a reason to keep them that way. When he realised where he was, he at once came to one conclusion. 'Experiments. Orochimaru's guinea pigs'.

A sudden knock got his attention. He turned to look at his right jumping backwards to make some distance. His sword was now in his hand. He looked at the… he did not know what he was looking at. He could barely see a human body floating inside the container which was filled with a different liquid, other than the others. Since he was still alive, Naruto realised it must be some kind of life supporting liquid, which was cloudy. His body was covered in black designs or tattoo, which was on most parts of his body.

"please h-help me. They had gone a-and left m-me to die here"

Naruto saw his lips moving and understood what he wanted to say.

Naruto went ahead to get a clear view. He looked at the board in front of the container. 'cursed seal? Subject Number – 41'. It was written on the board that he was subjected to this 'cursed seal' just a day before and he was dying in under a day. Whatever it was, that was dangerous. Before it could see the subject again, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

All the memories came back to Naruto. He clenched his teeth. He had to see it again, there must be something left other than the bodies. He had to find something, because he was getting a bad feeling about this cursed seal.

Either he could send again clones or he could go himself. He was not sure whether sending a clone again would do any benefit. The room was on the opposite side of the hide out. The clones didn't had enough chakra to go, search and came back. If situation arises he would have to carry something back, which could be heavy, meaning extra chakra.

He decided to take his chances. He once again looked around for any sound ninja. When he was sure he was alone there, he went inside. Before he could reach his destination a blast shook the complete foundation of the hide out. It took him just a fraction of second to regain his balance.

'This building is not stable anymore. I have to get out of here' he knew he would not be getting any more information even if he went there. He could tell the blast was coming from there only. A stone double the size of his head, dropped from the ceiling. He had to jump to the side to keep his head from splitting up. He looked at the cracks forming at the walls and ceilings. He stood up and ran towards the exit before the hide out could swallow him alive.

When he barely got out of the exit, he saw some sound ninja already present there.

"So, it's you who destroyed this hideout. Thanks for the help, Orochimaru-sama had already given us orders to destroy it". The sound ninja looked at the small root ANBU and said laughing sadistically, "now let me repay you" he jumped on him when his hand mutated and his finger nails grew to a length of half a feet, "WITH YOUR BLOOD".

Naruto drew his sword and slashed across his chest, blood flew like water from a fountain. His attacker was lying behind him, dead, after a second. Seeing how easily the small boy killed one of their own, the remaining 17 sound ninjas got furious and prepared themselves to leap on him. Naruto was not going to play this game defensively. The only way he was seeing himself getting out of there alive was to kill one or two from a side, make an opening, and get away as fast as possible. He jumped to one of side, before the sound ninja could move pain spread throughout his chest before getting numb and finally falling on the ground. He took out the sword from the dead ninja's chest and stabbed the next in the side.

He saw it, he saw an opening but before he could move a large fist made contact with his chest and he was sent flying to the nearby tree. He coughed blood and thanked his shield he was wearing for saving his life. He was just spared with a few cracked ribs. That punch was something he had never felt before. He looked at his attacker, his hands were large coming down to his knees. 'One of Orcohimaru's experiments'

He stood and prepared himself for the incoming ninja. His eyes widened when he realised he was not holding his sword. It was still there, stabbed in one of the dead ninja.

It was too late for him to defend himself. He prepared himself but the attack never came. The ninja was thrown backwards. He saw who had saved him. A white haired man was standing next to a toad, who was of same height as the man. White hair and toad, it didn't took Naruto long to know who he was.

In the next few minutes, all of the sound ninjas were lying on the ground. Jiraiya turned towards the eleven year old ANBU. "You doesn't seem old? How old are you?"

Naruto stood silently for a minute then spoke "eleven".

"Root ANBU? Well there's no surprise with your age there. But Danzo really send you here of all the places? Where is your team?"

"There's no one. I am solo".

"Alone?" Jiraiya said almost shouting.

"I could have successfully completed my mission if it wasn't for that blast. I guess it was you. Well thanks for the heat you put on me by doing that"

Jiraiya laughed "Well in defence I didn't knew there would be any kid playing here. And I save your life in last. Didn't I? Well come on now, we should head back now. I suppose you would also be going to konoha?"

"Yes" was the reply from Naruto. "But I know my way" Naruto turned and started to leave.

"I am not letting you go alone. Naruto" Jiraiya said with a serious face.

Hearing his name Naruto stopped. He was not expecting Jiraiya to know who he was.

"Yes I know who you are. The 'Little Fox'. I can tell just by seeing your hair and those whiskers are a dead give-away"

Naruto touched his mask, it was broken from a side. 'It must have been broken during my escape from the hide out'.

"So, I guess you were keeping tabs on your godson after all"

The surprise was all over Jiraiya face "How? How did you know about that?"

Naruto just stared back at him and removed his mask revealing his sharingan to his godfather.