Disclaimer: Although I would terribly like to, I don't own Naruto…yet.

Chapter 3: Meeting New friends and family

(Konohagakure, Village Outskirts)

'My god….' Hatake Kakashi thought in disbelief as he gazed at the reshaped and bare landscape.

His other team member in a squad of five, a woman with purple hair in a cat mask vocalised her thoughts unlike the silver haired ANBU with a shocked "What…happened here?" it sounded more like a question that didn't require an answer but the ANBU Captain still answered.

"I don't know, the only thing I could compare this sort of destruction to is a natural disaster" he said offhandedly however you could tell he wasn't trying to make a joke by the look of his eyes from behind his mask. The others nodded knowing what the man meant by the statement, they themselves were rendered speechless when they saw the condition of the area.

It looked as if it had been swept bare by some hand of a Greek god in a spurt of rage. What had once been a blooming and blossoming lush green forest was now merely a gigantic crater, the rubble that had collected had formed some sort of mountain of rubble in the area. It was so huge they all had no doubts that it was visible all the way back from the village.

Kakashi simply couldn't believe that his sensei's son was capable of doing such a thing; the kid had practically erased the western section forest of the village. Even the Kyubi would whistle proudly at this level of destruction.

The area had literally been turned upside down and it would take several decades without the Shodaime Hokage to restore the area back to what it was, and even with Tenzo's help the man would only manage to restore small portions of the forest since he wasn't as skilled in Mokuton as the original wielder of the bloodline was.

This area of Konoha would remain scarred for some years; it would be a reminder of the young blond village pariah who had left the village his parents had sacrificed their lives and his happiness to protect. He wondered what could seriously have pushed the boy to use such a technique and it made him wonder what more the blond could do if pushed hard enough.

One thing was for certain in the young ANBU's mind, whatever technique was used here; he hoped to never be a victim of such a technique.

He felt a tug on his leg and looked behind to see one of his Ninken Pakkun pulling on his leg. The dog was short in stature, had brown fur and dark brown snout and ears and wore a Konoha forehead protector on one of its legs and some sort of blue scarf around its neck. "You find anything Pakkun?" he asked the short canine which had a lazy look plastered on its somewhat puppy looking face.

Shaking its head in the negative it responded in a very deep and gruff voice, "No he is long gone by now. Although his trail is still fresh, I doubt we would catch him if we pursued after him. He was travelling extremely fast, too fast for a child and he left traces of the Kyuubi's Chakra" the silver haired man didn't appear all that surprised by the statement but that could be because he knew the blond haired boy could use the Bijuu's chakra ever since that when he killed night Mizuki.

"In which direction Pakkun?" the silver haired man asked gravely.

The small canine sighed in response, knowing the man might not like the answer "Any of the coastal areas within Hi no Kuni or possibly leaving the country itself I would presume" the small canine paused as if to recollect its thoughts before continuing "Considering the speed he was going at he could be out of Hi no Kuni within a week" it said as it stared directly into the eyes of its summoner who could only narrow his in clear worry.

Although he could not see it, the canine knew the man was frowning intensely from the tense posture he was exuding."Thanks Pakkun, you can go now" the dog only nodded before a puff of smoke later it disappeared.

Kakashi turned to look at the direction in which the blond in question had taken off in with a wistful expression, in deep thought 'This is bad, last I heard that area of the world was embroiled in a war. I only hope someone wards him off from going there' turning to look at the sight before him again he sighed 'Hoping is all we can do right now' he though sadly to himself.

He turned around and scanned the area with his Sharingan; he immediately noted that there was no sign of life in the bare landscape, after all what could possibly survive this sort of destruction. He shook his head to free himself from his thoughts and continued scanning the area around him. After a couple of minutes of looking without finding anything he was just about to give up to conserve his Chakra but something caught his eye that made him halt his current line of thought. He focused on it and his eye widened as he saw a body, No, bodies under the mountainous pile of rock and rubble.

He motioned over to his teammates who followed as they approaching the first body. They all stopped before it and Kakashi looked at it critically and only one thought came to his mind, 'This guy was fucked up pretty badly'. Kakashi could have sworn he heard a cry of 'Such Unyouthful words my rival' at his words in the horizon but he just choked it up to be his imagination or the scene getting to him.

He returned his attention to the body below him. It was unrecognisable; it was twisted in a sickly way and when he prodded it with a foot, it bent in a disturbing manner as if all the bones in it had been turned into milkshake, the force of the technique must have been severe to have done this.

"Taichou, loot at this" one of his squad members, one with short brown hair and almond shaped eyes, wearing a cat mask with red and green markings pointed toward a small white shard lying on the ground.

He looked at where the man was pointing to see a discarded and shattered mask on the ground, picking up a small piece he spoke "This is from an ANBU mask and I know that no ANBU team besides ours was assigned to this Mission, which means…" he crushed the small piece within the palm of his hand "This has Danzo written all over it…"

Tenzo nodded at the man's statement "He must have used the distraction brought by the Hokage's panic attack to seize Naruto secretly for his ROOT operations" Tenzo concluded and their other teammates looked at them in disbelief.

"Is he really that bad Taichou?" the young purple headed woman could not understand how an elder of the village could be so heartless as to attack and try to abduct a child and brave enough as to go against the Hokage without fear of execution. She had heard the man was cold and would do everything, even repulsing acts to ensure that he gets what he want all in the excuse that it would be good for Konoha, but never this.

Kakashi looked at the woman with an eye that showed how serious he was "Trust me Yugao; he is not someone you would want to get involved with. We have had the misfortune of being in league with him and let's just say if not Hokage-sama I would be dead by now"

Kakashi sighed; things had just gotten more complicated and this could ignite the flames of a civil war in Konoha if this matter wasn't handled meticulously. For now the silver-haired Anbu captain just hoped Hokage-sama would take care of the man this time, unlike the time when he had let him off for trying to assassinate him. After all every time the man got involved things spiralled out of control.

It seemed that with every passing day the old War-hawk got impatient, time was after all every ambitious man's enemy and who knew what else the man would do when he finally became desperate enough, certainly something like this albeit on an extremely higher level.

He somehow couldn't believe the man had the gall to do this right under the Hokage's nose. The man had pushed the wrong button this time for give or take he would be executed for his treason, Sarutobi was extremely protective when it came to Naruto after all.

With a sigh Kakashi looked at the rest of his team, "Alright team, let's split up and look for any more clues before we rendezvous back to the village in an hour's time, we need to give a report back to Hokage-sama that the mission was a failure"

"There will be no need for that Kakashi-kun" a new voice interjected. They all turned to look toward where the new voice came from to see the Hokage coming toward them with Raidu Namiashi and Genma Shinranui.

Genma and Raidu's eyes widened to dinner plates proportions when they saw the condition of the area that once was a forest. It looked like desert. Then their jaws hit the floor when they saw the massive mountain of rubble before them. 'T-this is unbelievable, and they say a kid did this? I feel so insignificant as a ninja just looking at this' Genma thought, still gaping like a fish.

They were brought out of their shocked state by the voices of Kakashi and his team as they addressed the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama" The silver haired young man and his team uttered out in unison before they all bowed.

Shaking his head the elder man spoke "Please Kakashi-kun, everyone, get up" the Hokage's voice was low and solemn and he looked extremely pale and aged more than he was.

"Did you manage to find him?" he asked the silver haired man who was still bowing despite his statement.

The silver haired man and his team both shook their heads "No Hokage-sama, he was long gone when we got here. Best case scenario, he could still be within Hi no Kuni, and worst, Mizu no Kuni"

Although the aged Kage hid it well, there had been a flicker of worry that had alighted in his eyes as he repressed the urge to sigh wearily "I see. I suppose Naruto-kun is now well out of our grasp. We will return to the village, I shall have Jiraiya look for him" he said softly, his hands entwined and folded behind his back in his favourite calm Hokage posture.

The young man nodded, understanding that Jiraiya had a greater chance of finding the boy as the man was said to be the greatest spy master in the Shinobi world. After a moment of deafening silence the young masked man spoke.

"So he really is gone huh" Kakashi sighed out tiredly as he finally stood up, he knew it wasn't the best thing to say but he just felt better saying it because it was just unbelievable and incomprehensible to think about.

"Yes, I just pray to kami for his safety and for Minato and Kushina to watch over him wherever he may go"

"Yeah, the village will be somewhat quiet without him" Kakashi said as he stared off into the distance.

The old Hokage smiled sadly "Yes it will, indeed it will" Sarutobi said with a melancholic expression on his face.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi said as his voice took on business like tone, his eyes hardening slightly "The battle that took place here was between Naruto and members of the ROOT faction. We identified a corpse with an ANBU tattoo over by that area under the rubble; I have reason to believe Danzo wanted to abduct Naruto for his ROOT operations without your knowledge and seized the opportunity presented by your panic attack"

The Hokage remained impassive at that, the narrowing of his eyes the only indication he gave in acknowledgement to the statement, "Is that so. So he wasn't fighting your team?" he asked with an extremely calm voice, but Kakashi knew the man was extremely angry, he was just masking it.

The young man nodded.

"Do not worry Kakashi, I will see to it that Danzo is taken care of and punished accordingly. The last time I let him off was because I was his target, but this time, he went directly under my nose and not only that tried to abduct the son of a Hokage but compromised the safety of an innocent boy." Turning to look at the towering mountain with the face sculptures of the Hokage on the horizon he continued "Danzo has stepped on the legacy of my predecessors for the last time" with that said the man known as the professor swivelled on the balls of his feet and walked back toward the village.

Kakashi looked at the members of his squad, "Tenzo, create some clones to carry the corpses to the T&I Division, I'm sure Yamanaka Inoichi will gather something out of them" with that said they followed the Hokage. The silver haired ANBU knew one thing was certain; Danzo Shimura was going to reap what he sown tenfold.

He had stepped on the Hokage's toes one too many times, and this time was the final straw.

Sarutobi stared at Danzo who sat opposite of him on a large tatami mat, he had had various cuts and bruises on his form, and he was staring back with well-practised impassiveness but the Hokage could pick out some hints of nervousness in his eyes.

The air was grim with tension and it was so thick that it was almost palpable.

Danzo's uneasiness was like an open book for the Hokage, the Hokage was just glaring at the other man impassively and the other man was uncomfortable under the stare even though he hid it well.

Danzo couldn't remember the last time someone or Hiruzen for that matter had made him feel this way, this uneasy. It was a feeling he did not like at all, it reminded him of how he would always be inferior to Hiruzen. He could not read the other man's emotions as his face was set in an impassive expression that would have made the second Hokage proud.

Sarutobi couldn't believe it had finally come to this, he had always knew Danzo's extremist ways would be his downfall however he had never thought the man who had once been his best friend would fall so far.

So here they were now, and the Hokage knew he couldn't afford to have another Orochimaru scenario here. Danzo had gone against him at his own risk and he would have to take responsibility for his actions. There would be no remorse this time, he had to deal with Danzo strictly and harshly and set an example that he would not allow any traitors in the village.

In a way Danzo had always been right, his passive and pacifistic ways had made him soft and made him susceptible to take advantage of, but it still did not mean that Danzo had to go against him in this matter. The case involving Naruto was not village threatening, it was just Danzo's greedy desire to have more power and that would be his downfall tonight. He would make an example of the man to all that he would not stand for treachery in his village.

It was time to show who was the Hokage, and he was the Hokage not the council.

"Danzo, you do not know how extremely repulsed and disgusted I am by what you have done, you have gone too far this time" the aged Hokage said as he drove a piercing glare at the other man who sitting opposite of him.

The man knew lying was out of the question. He had to play his cards right here if he was to get out of this. "I did no wrong Hiruzen; I merely tried to secure and stop the village's Jinchuriki from escaping and return him to Konoha" he said emotionlessly hoping the Hokage would buy his lie.

Sarutobi did not seem at all moved by the statement, his eyes closed as he spoke "At whose permission I ask? Did the Hokage order you to?" he asked as he glared at the other man whose poker face recoiled a bit at the question.

When the man did not answer Sarutobi continued, "There is only one Hokage in this village Danzo and you are not him, you will not do as you please anymore and furthermore you still ran ROOT despite my order to disband it. You have disobeyed me one too many times Danzo" the Hokage said sternly keeping his hard and stern glare on the other man who was now visibly nervous.

Danzo remembered when they had been at the very same situation after the Uchiha massacre, and how angered the man had been by his actions. This time he knew that it would be hard to escape the Shinobi no kami's wrath.

"But Hiruzen-" the Hokage silenced the man with a raise of his hand.

"There will be no buts Danzo, this the second time in the span of a year we have this conversation. You remember the last time we had this conversation? It was on the night after the Uchiha massacre and I told you I would not tolerate your acting on your authority." The Hokage stood up from the mat, glaring intensely at the black haired cripple, "Yet you still went and did this, this time you touched a sore subject Danzo and I will not show you any mercy"

He took a deep breath of air before he spoke again "Danzo, for your numerous treacherous acts against the village and the Hokage, you shall be executed two days from now. ANBU!" Various ANBU appeared inside the office, all of them there to subdue the war-hawk should he attempt anything. Danzo's eyes widened at that, but they quickly turned grim "You will accept your punishment with honour and dignity, befitting of your stature. Do you have anything to say?" the Hokage asked as he looked down at the other man who was still seated.

Danzo stood up, before a smile broke on his face "Yes, it is not my time yet. I am sorry that it had to come to this Hiruzen but one day you will see things my way" he said before in a blink of an eye, several bodies fell down as six of the ANBU took out Katanas and stabbed the others. They moved near the elder and grabbed on to the old War-hawk.

"ROOT! What is going on here?" The Hokage asked fiercely with a glare at the other man.

Danzo looked at his one-time friend with a glare, "You thought you could protect the boy from me, but cannot. He will be mine. He will embrace his destiny and become a true Jinchuriki, he will be ROOT. Take care of the village Hiruzen, I shall return one day."

"This time to be Hokage" he said before he was pulled away by his Root ANBU as they leaped out of the Building.

"Damn you, Danzo. ANBU…ANBU" He called and not long Tenzo and Kakashi came bursting into his office.

"What is the matter Hokage-sama?" Tenzo asked the Hokage whose fist was clenched tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Kakashi, Tenzo, Gather a squad of elite Jonin and ANBU immediately, Danzo is trying to defect from the village. I want you to stop him at all costs. He is going after Naruto"

"Hai" both men nodded, understanding the graveness of the situation before they disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

The Hokage felt a bit lightheaded for moment as worry and fear for Naruto racked his being for a second time. Leaning down on his chair, he rubbed at his forehead with a clearly weary sigh 'Danzo, just what monster have you become?'

(Two Days Later)

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he shot up from the bed where he was sleeping on, breathing and sweating heavily with his shirt clinging to him due to how soaked it was.

He looked around in panic and the first thing he noticed was that he was in a room but he didn't recognise it. Did that mean he was caught? Had Danzo managed to catch him? Looking at the stiches on his body, he wondered when he got them, he remembered that he had been attacked by a group of bandits when he had collapsed due to exhaustion and hunger after two days of constant running.

He frowned lightly at the memories; he wondered how he ended up in this place because it seemed way too comfortable to be any place to place a prisoner but figured he couldn't get his answers by snuggling in bed.

He was immediately put on guard as the door to the room he was held 'captive' in squeaked lightly before it swung open and in walked a young girl probably two or three years older than him. She had silky light brown hair and pale, milky skin with warm beautiful forest green eyes that captivated with a sense of mystery to them.

Seeing he was awake the young girl smiled a beautiful smile as she gazed at his direction, "Oh you're awake. That is good, how do you feel? We had found you passed out near the river in the forest near our home. It seemed you had lost quite a lot of blood and suffered from exhaustion and hunger as well" she explained as she came near him, before looking at the now blood stained shirt and bandages that were covering his body. "I should probably change those, look at how bloody they are, I can't believe you lost so much blood yet you are still alive. Just how much blood do you have?"

Ignoring the girls rambling Naruto asked the first question that came to mind, "Where am i?"

"Oh you are in Namishu, it is a small village near the coast of Nami no Kuni"

"Are you the one who found me?"

"No you were found by Higure-oji, he brought you here, which is very strange since he doesn't usually like bringing strangers here, especially those from Ninja villages. My name is Hotaru by the way" the girl said absentmindedly as she worked on un-wrapping the bandages covering the blond.

"So you know where I am from?" the girl nodded her head with a bright 'Yep'. "Then you must know that it is not safe for me to be here and for you as well, thank you for everything but I must leave now"

The blond moved away from the girl and tore his bandages, drawing a protest from the brown haired girl however no soon after the bandages were fully removed she gasped in shock at what she saw.

The boy who had been knocking on death's door when her grandfather brought him the previous night, with numerous bone, and muscle fractures and having lost quite a lot of blood, far too much for a human, was seemingly standing there without so much as a scar to show he was critically injured on his being the day before.

She brought her hand to her chest trying to stem the shock she felt and another to her mouth to prevent herself from squealing like a fangirl at the blonde's strange fast healing "But…but how?" she asked as she moved closer to the blond, running and tracing a hand gently on his unblemished skin, failing to notice the small shiver Naruto gave when she touched him.

Her doctor instincts kicked in. She knew all about herbs and Medical Ninjutsu, and she knew how they can speed up the healing process but this was insane. The blond before had been critically injured but here he was all healed without the help of any Jutsu.

Just a good rest and he seemed raring to go.

As she continued examining this strange 'human', she caught the obvious discomfort he felt with her touching him like this "You're not comfortable with this are you?" She asked sheepishly with a blush, looking at his piercing purple rippled eyes which widened at the question before they became solemn and slightly downcast.

"Yeah, I'm just not used to this sort of things" he said before he moved away from her, much to her disappointment, toward the night stand "And I heal fast that's all" Naruto exclaimed in answer to her previous question as he put on his torn white, which currently looked brown shirt, discarding the one he was wearing which he assumed had been put on him when he was brought to this place.

"Indeed you do young man" any further conversation was broken apart when a new slightly gruff old voice entered the fray snapping the attention of the two to the owner.

There at the door entrance stood an elderly man probably in his seventies if Naruto had to guess. He had light or faded red hair which went to his back tied in a long ponytail, sharp purple eyes and a pale but fair complexion. His body was firm and his stance was that of someone who had trained harshly for years, he was clad in a grey coloured Kimono that went to his legs, with white a shirt underneath and Japanese styled magenta sandals with white socks. He had a kindly look to him, however his eyes were what caught Naruto's undivided attention, they were eyes of someone who a rather dark, sad past and one who harboured a great deal of regret.

"Hello young Uzumaki-kun my name is Higure" the older man said as he offered his hand, introducing himself to the young blond who shook his hand.

The young girl's breath hitched at that, "Uzumaki? You mean to tell me that he is…" the older man nodded cutting her off from finishing her statement.

Naruto looked at them with a confused expression, before something clicked about the man's statement.

"You know who I am?" The man nodded, "How?" Naruto asked with an understandably confused and somewhat alarmed expression.

"It would be a shame if I couldn't recognise one of my clansmen wouldn't it?" he said casually deciding to tell the blond the truth.

Naruto's eyes widened at that as the brief wave of fear momentarily left him "You mean you are from the Uzumaki clan?" when the man nodded Naruto's face gleamed with hope and happiness, "But how? I thought they were all killed"

"Yes but a few of us escaped and we are now scattered all over the world, it saddens me to see what has become of our once proud clan but the world is a cruel place and our clan fell to that cruelty" the man finished bitterly.

Naruto saw the bitterness etched across the man's face and could understand how he felt. He sort of reminded him of that Sasuke kid from back in Konoha "Thank you Higure-san but I have to leave now, it is dangerous for me to be here and I don't want to intrude" he said as he thought about what would happen when they discovered his 'condition', he didn't want to leave but he knew that if he stayed he would only be pushing his luck.

They would learn about the Kyubi and they would hate him, and the blond would rather leave than suffer the pain and heartbreak of having a relative hate him.

The gleam that had been in his eyes had all but disappeared now.

"Where will you go then young man?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I…don't know, I guess I haven't thought about it yet" the young blond said quietly slightly downcast.

"Then you can stay here, what kind of man would I be if I let you roam this dangerous world by yourself? Considering your 'condition' you would be hunted like a trophy by many villages for what you contain. No you must stay here with family, it would be safer" the man didn't miss the widening of the young blonde's and the way his body tensed when he mentioned the word 'condition'. He inwardly sighed sadly; he had figured the reason for the young boy running away from Konoha village.

Although Naruto didn't want to show it, his jaw was snapped tight and his fist was clenched tightly, not in anger but rather disbelief. He couldn't believe that the man was so accepting of his status as a Jinchuriki, regardless of the dangers it posed and what was amazing was that the man had only just met him.

It made him even angrier at Konoha, if a stranger, even though they were family could accept him after only meeting him regardless of his status, then why the people of couldn't Konoha do the same after 8 years.

"A-are you…are you sure about that" the blond said softly, trying to hide the tremor in his voice as he felt the urge to cry.

The only response he got to his question were wide welcoming smile from both Higure and Hotaru.

Yes he didn't regret his decision to leave Konoha at all.

For the first time ever in his life, Naruto Uzumaki smiled a true, heartfelt smile.

He was home at last.

(Hidden Cavern, Unknown Location)

In a large dark room, several coloured projections flashed into life, showing silhouettes nine of various individuals.

They were all transparent, making it harder to see what they looked like. The only distinguishable and visible feature were their eyes, and the ones which attracted the most attention were the ripple-like patterned eyes, with light purple sclera and irises.

"Heh, it's been a while since we gathered like this, I wonder what this is about" a deep, gruff voice spoke from one of the projections.

One with rippled purple eyes spoke in a voice that commanded attention and the utmost respect, "We have a new member. His name is Itachi Uchiha, missing-nin from Konohagakure no Sato" he said and one of the projections' eyes opened to reveal blood red eyes with three tomoe orbiting excitedly around the pupil.

"So he is the Kid who massacred his whole clan huh?" another gruff, slightly muffled voice sounded out.

"Yeah, he looks like someone who could give me a good fight. Samehada agrees that he is a worthy opponent as well"

"Yes however he shall be partnered to Orochimaru since the two are from the same village, they will work well together" the leader said and Orochimaru was glad for the Jutsu making them indistinguishable or else everyone would see the large, predatory grin on his face.

His slit snake-like golden eyes gleamed excitedly. 'Uchiha Itachi eh' he thought sinisterly as his eyes glowed with a glint full of mad curiosity.

"Things are starting to move huh, so when will we start collecting the Bijuu. I'm itching with excitement for a good fight"

"For now we will continue gathering resources and funds to help our cause. We will begin that part in a few years' time. You can return to all your assignments, you are all dismissed" the leader said and all the spectral projections disappeared. Only the spectral projection of the leader remained as he was caught in deep thought. His projection seemingly on top of a towering shackled humanoid statue with a blindfold on its face, the grotesque thing was in all words frightening beyond comprehension. 'The time to put forth a plan that would change the world forever is etching closer. Soon the Bijuu will be collected and merged to form the greatest weapon to ever live and then….'

'The world shall know pain' he thought intently as he flickered out of existence.

Another chapter done and dusted...

Higure and Hotaru are OC'S who will have a great impact on Naruto's life. And as established, Higure is of the Uzumaki clan. All will be revealed as the story progresses.

So please R&R...