Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Metal Gear. If I did then there would have been more black characters in the Metal Gear series, probably one as a recurring character… yeah… and I would have named him Antoine. Antoine Coltrane Malik Rutherford. Now that's a badass name.

Chapter 4: Domestic Pursuits


Naruto didn't know what was happening. He woke up at random points only to find himself moving through the woods. He could see trees moving past him, but he could never identify who was transporting him, he couldn't even stay conscious for long enough to fight back. Using so much of the Kyuubi's chakra utterly drained him.

He had never felt that much power before. He didn't even know that he could take that much. And then he saw black for the longest period of time since he had awoken in that lab.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto regained consciousness with half of his face in shallow water. Groaning to himself as he at first thought he was back in The Sorrow's realm, he picked himself up and looked around at his sewer like setting, putting a sneer on his face as he hadn't been here in quite some time. He knew exactly where he was.

Naruto stood up, ignoring the water dripping off of him and walked to a massive pair of bars, behind which a pair of very intimidating and large blood-red eyes were looking dead at him, "It's about time you acknowledged me boy."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Kyuubi, "What happened back in that lab? I've never taken that much chakra before." He looked at his own hands as if they weren't his own, "It felt… it felt-."

"-Incredible?" The Kyuubi tried to finish for him, hoping that feeling such intense power coursing through him would make Naruto easier to bend to his will. He had to have loved it. He effortlessly crushed the enemies that had done him so wrong.

"Horrible." Naruto said to the contrary of what the Kyuubi expected him to say. He was shaking his head in near disgust, his face reflecting his appalled tone at his own actions, "I tore those men apart. I fought like an animal… I was a monster." He looked up and glared at the Kyuubi, "I was like you!"

The Kyuubi growled angrily at the way Naruto had stated that, as if it were an insult, "Watch your tongue boy. Is it really so wrong to want to be like me in this environment? You are meant to kill as many enemies as you can. Is that not what the soldiers of this world are meant to do?"

"No! It isn't!" Naruto disputed heatedly. He never believed that he was only meant to kill others. That the amount of people he killed in the field reflected his overall value as a soldier, "It's about completing the mission! It's not just about killing others!"

The deep, rumbling laughter from the Kyuubi threw Naruto off at first, it had been angry just a moment ago, "Do you even have any idea how many other humans you've killed since you began your little career?" Naruto shook his head tentatively, "It really makes me quite proud to have you as my container to be honest. I thought you were spineless, but in this world you've killed far more people than I had expected you to in your other one. These people, these conditions, these weapons bring out the absolute worst in you." The Kyuubi saw Naruto's face turn irate and took delight in stopping Naruto's rant cold with its next statement, "By my estimation you have killed between 85 and 100 humans. The least of them you killed in that desert place Afghanistan. You killed the most in the Philippines."

Naruto didn't know it had even been that many. Then when he really thought about it, he had really only been counting the people he had shot directly himself. Naruto had indirectly caused many deaths even when he hadn't been the one pulling the trigger. His clones weren't firing blanks from their weapons, and even though they couldn't make their own plans or even have free will they could still aim and shoot. How many had they killed? Naruto had marked targets for airstrikes in the jungle, specific stronghold locations that he needed to find and scout himself. There was no denying that he had killed at least that many. Hell the Kyuubi might have been off on that number. He might have killed even more. He felt like he had killed so many people when he broke free of his bonds in that lab.

"Do you see now?" The Kyuubi said in a taunting voice, "You say these things, that you don't like to kill, but you love your job! You like the fighting, the panic of battle, the adrenaline of putting your life on the line! You crave it!"

"I don't need to enjoy killing to enjoy my job!" Naruto roared right back, not feeling like falling to the silver-tongued demon's words, "I like all of those things, but the killing is bittersweet! It's either me or them… I'm not like you. I don't kill just because there's someone in my way."

Silence reigned through the sewer-like representation of Naruto's mind as the two, human and demon, stared one another down. What was Naruto possibly afraid of, dying? He'd already been killed once. No, that wasn't it. Just his own death wouldn't be enough to convince Naruto of anything.

Kyuubi broke the silence between them after quite a bit, "You need me. Sure, you may be able to handle a fool with a gun, but what happens when it's not just that?" He saw Naruto stare long and hard, "Or do you honestly believe that all by your lonesome you can defeat a tank? Or an attack helicopter? Or do you believe that you can survive an airstrike going for scorched earth? Don't be a fool. There are things in this world that would give even me pause."

"Then you're the one that needs me." Naruto insisted in return. The slighted look on the Kyuubi's face told him that he had hit the right button to take this conversation into the deep waters, "You're right, I probably can't survive any of those things on my own. But that means neither can you since you're stuck inside of me… and I like the little setup you and I had when I first came here." He walked up to the cage and smirked, "You know the one right? The arrangement of you fucking owing me rent… so I'll just take what I need when I need it from you, and you just give it happily. I probably won't be doing that ever again after the last time by the way."

"What did you just say?" In a bitingly low voice the Kyuubi spoke, as if he was daring Naruto to say it again, threatening him to answer correctly the next time around.

Naruto shook his head almost in a pitying manner, "You don't get it. You don't get to bargain. Do you really think I'm okay with what your chakra made me do back there? I won't just use it like that for no reason."

"What exactly is your problem?" The Kyuubi said, trying to still turn Naruto to his side. There was no way that this puny human would turn down such power. It just wasn't human nature to do so, "Were you not paying attention to just what you're capable of with my chakra running through you?"

"I was paying attention." Naruto insisted with an angry tone in his voice, "And it makes me sick thinking of what I did back there. I didn't just kill them because I had to, I could have just escaped. But no, I wound up killing all of them."

Now Naruto was beginning to truly grate on the Kyuubi's nerves. What was this fool babbling about? Killing because he had to? It was absurd, "So what would you have done? Simply let those that held you captive live because you didn't have to kill them, boo-hoo?" It finished in its best crybaby voice.

"Yes!" Naruto shouted. God, he wished he was strong enough to walk into that cage and punch that damned fox right in the nose, "Just because someone is your enemy doesn't mean they have to die! If I killed just because it appealed to me then that wouldn't make me any different that a murderer!"

"Who do you think you are? Some sort of hero?" Naruto was just as stupid as the Kyuubi remembered him being. Did the fool really think that he could survive the life he was living if he found killing to be distasteful? Did he even think that he would have survived as a ninja with that kind of mindset?

"Is it so wrong to want to be?" Naruto asked quietly. His tone was now far more reserved and calm than it had been for the last few minutes, "Is it so wrong to find a problem with fighting for no good reason? In Konoha I would have been fighting to protect my friends… to become Hokage. I've been a soldier for two years now and I still haven't found the reason that I fight for in this world. I don't have a purpose but this is all I'm good at." He looked up at the massive Kyuubi, "If I can't find the real reason that I'm fighting for then I guess I really am like you after all… just some killer."

The Kyuubi remained silent for a moment until Naruto turned and seemed to start walking away, seemingly in a daze, "Where are you going? Take my power! Crush your enemies! Do you really believe that things are over? That the people that took you in the first place will just let you get away? They will come for you again! They will kill that girl and the old man that took you in! If they found you what makes you think they won't find them too? This goes far deeper than you could ever comprehend human, in this world things are not as they seem! Do not ignore me!"

But Naruto was long gone, leaving the Kyuubi to roar in anger at letting the opportunity to sway Naruto to its will get away. But this was not over. The Kyuubi would get him eventually, it would have to. There was no way it would leave that hairless ape to roam in this world where he could be killed by someone he would never see as long as he was stuck inside of him.

XxX

(Portland, Oregon – October 10th 2003 – Naruto: Age 17)

Alone in the room with Naruto was a girl with curly blonde hair in a ponytail and bright green eyes, though right now they looked rather dull. She wore a dark purple skirt and a black leather jacket she kept zipped up with the exception of a necklace with a valuable looking green gem on it. Right now she had her hand rested firmly on Naruto's as she let out a sigh.

"Happy birthday big bro…" Catherine said softly, sitting at Naruto's bedside in his hospital room. She and Miller had been told that Naruto had been wounded in Iraq and had been flown back to the United States and was currently in a hospital in Oregon. She had gotten her mother to allow her to take some time off from school for a bit to come and see him once she learned he was in a coma.

The thing about it was that he was fully healed, he was breathing on his own, there were no visible problems with him, and she had just been contacted about it the other day. He had told her about some of his injuries in letters and phone calls. From what she had read and heard if he had been hurt badly enough to be sent home then he should have been in dire straits at the moment. He was a-ok.

They had never told her when he had been wounded, what had been done to him, nothing. It was as if his records on the matter had been expunged, but that couldn't have been right. The armed forces would have kept some kind of record on the things that happened to him wouldn't they?

Still she was glad he was alive if nothing else. Being a freshman in high school barely took her mind off of the fact that she missed him.

"It's been really boring without you around you know." Catherine said, speaking to an unresponsive Naruto as if he could actually hear her. If he could she wanted him to know that she was there, "Mom tells me all the time in L.A. to be careful when I go around. *laughs* But then I just tell her if anything happens to me that you would be on the first return trip back to the U.S. and you'd crack heads until the problem was solved… you bonehead."

He looked peaceful… he also needed a haircut really badly. It was trailing down past his shoulders at this point in its usual unstylable spiky setup. She then looked towards the door only to look away just as quickly. It felt as if something had been watching her or them but maybe she just needed some rest. She had been worried for two days straight already.

"So how is he?" She heard her father say suddenly, surprising her. Catherine watched as Miller walked in and took a seat on the other side of his bed, opposite her, "I haven't seen the kid ever stay down for longer than one day except for the time he damn near fell off a mountainside when I was teaching him how to climb."

"I remember that." Catherine said, remembering the first winter they had Naruto with them, "I could have killed you for that dad. I remember saying that you shouldn't let him do things like that, that he was just a kid, barely older than me. I used to say that a lot." Her eyes then panned to the sleeping soldier, "…I still feel that way too."

Miller took his sunglasses off for a moment and rubbed his eyes, "The kid will be back up in no time. He'll wake up soon, hungry enough to eat everything this hospital will give him and he'll still probably beg you or me for some ramen after he finished."

Catherine let out a small laugh, "I'd give it to him too. It's supposed to be his birthday today. You know he's 17 right? He should be in high school with me, not fighting some war."

"That's your opinion Kitty…"

Hearing that weak voice stopped both Catherine and Miller cold as they both turned towards Naruto who didn't look like he had stirred at all except for when he opened his mouth to speak again, "…I'd know that voice anywhere… and only one person would keep griping about me not being in high school."

"Naruto!" Catherine exclaimed happily as Miller got up to find him something to drink, "You're awake! Are you alright?"

Naruto's eyes slowly opened and he had to squint for a while due to the fluorescent lighting in the room, "I'll be fine. I'm kind of stiff but I'll get over it soon enough." He then felt someone put a small cup to his mouth and he began to take a few sips of water, "Thanks."

Catherine handed the cup back to Miller and took her seat by Naruto's side, pulling closer to his bed, "What on earth happened to you Naruto? They said you were hurt in Iraq but no one told me how you got injured. I don't even think dad knew."

That made Naruto's eyes snap open before once again the light blinded him. They said he was found in Iraq injured? Now Naruto might not have been fully aware when he had his little Kyuubi-episode but he knew what Iraq looked like, and before he blacked out he sure as hell wasn't in Iraq. He passed out in the woods, and they were deep woods so there was no mistaking that. Also he didn't feel like he had just been in a coma like the last time he had woken up, it just felt like he had been sleeping for a while.

Then he thought about what the Kyuubi had told him while they had been talking. Things weren't what they seemed. The people that had taken him were influential enough to take him right out from under the army and cover it up so that not only did no one ask questions, his own closest people didn't even know he was gone until he reappeared. From the inquisitive look on Catherine's face she didn't know anything other than what she was told. Miller looked suspicious but he was much the same way, he must have suspected something.

What was he supposed to say? Was he just supposed to come out and say, 'Yeah I did get hurt in Iraq… months ago. For the past few months some bitch studied my genes and did experiments on me. It's okay though, I broke out and killed everyone there before somehow winding up here.' No. Because the Kyuubi's other words rang true. If these people could get to him in front of his alert unit in the middle of a warzone then they could easily get to a 14-15 year old girl in high school or her well-known retired soldier father that lived by himself at the moment in the middle of Alaska. They didn't need to know. This wasn't about them.

Naruto gave a weak grin and tried to pull up something on the spot, "Well I didn't get hurt by insurgents or anything. They hired some roaming mercenaries that were way better than what we were used to… I got hurt taking out a bunch of them before they could pin down my squad and a few others. They weren't even native to the region."

Miller seemed to buy this excuse with his own explanation, "Ah I see. It reminds me of back when I was a mercenary myself. Telling the public about a group of mercenaries hired to fight against the U.S. would cause some serious problems especially if they weren't from Iraq where the fight took place. An army without borders is a rather dangerous thing."

A smile and a nod came from Naruto, happy that they bought his bullshit excuse, well formulated it was as Miller filled in his own blanks. He then found a pair of arms wrapped tightly around him as Catherine hugged him tightly, "Don't ever get hurt again! I was scared to death when I found out what happened to you!"

Once again as tears started hitting him through his hospital robe Naruto felt terrible. It was true that none of this would have ever happened to him if he hadn't gotten himself hurt in the first place. It was once again his fault that he was making his favorite girl cry. All he could really do was pat her on the back and tell her it was okay, "Don't go worrying about me. Some Russian chick with a kick-ass knife can't kill me. I'm better than that. Just stop crying okay? I'm not dead." He looked over at Miller for some help only for the man to back away with his hands in a defensive gesture, not knowing how to handle this.

Catherine pulled away with teary eyes, seeing how uncomfortable Naruto was with her crying as she took her seat and tried to stop, "I'm sorry, it's just I already told you that I wouldn't know what to do if you died. I have nightmares of you getting hurt all the time."

A frown came to Naruto's face. Was it really that big of a deal to her that he was out fighting? He then noticed the necklace she wore prominently around her neck, even over her leather jacket, "You took care of the necklace. I'm glad you still have it."

Catherine blinked before looking down at the necklace around her throat, "Of course I took care of it. I always wear this." She said, prideful of her gift that Naruto gave her years ago, "D-Do you want it back?"

Naruto gave her a grin and slowly sat up in his bed, "Nah, you wear it better than me." He said, getting a soft, embarrassed smile out of her, "I don't feel like taking it back just yet. I want you to keep it until you graduate okay? Then I'll take it back… maybe." He was happy that his change of topic away from his injuries in combat succeeded in stopping Catherine from crying. He was a sucker for tears, especially when he was the one that caused them.

"Are you coming home?" Miller asked Naruto suddenly with a hard look in his eyes. Catherine's face lit up at the prospect of Naruto going home to Alaska again. Maybe he could even move down to Los Angeles with her while she finished school? There was a real reason that Miller had asked Naruto this however. Whatever had happened to Naruto had been serious enough to wind up with him being home. He wanted to know just how strong Naruto's resolve was. Naruto had seen just what could happen in battle, both on the side of victory and the side of when things don't go just your way.

Catherine realized belatedly once she caught the looks of utmost seriousness between Naruto and Miller that it wasn't just as simple as it seemed to her. Naruto had fought. He had fought well. He had fought for two years and had gotten wounded badly. He could come home now couldn't he? But what if that wasn't it, what if Naruto wanted to keep doing what he did?

And her thoughts were proven correct when Naruto answered, "No. Not for good. As a matter of fact I won't be there for even a month or two I think." He then stood up out of the bed much to Catherine's surprise, "I don't want to quit… there are some questions that I need to answer. Questions about myself, about other things too… I can only answer these questions as long as I keep fighting." He turned to a crestfallen looking Catherine, "I'm sorry Kitty."

This wasn't over yet. He needed to be better, because there was no way he was ever going to get away from those people that came for him. And he couldn't get out, because as far as he could see the further away from the battlefield he got the clearer the bullseye on his back became. He needed to be in the system so to speak. It was the only way he would ever get to the bottom of just what happened to him.

"Besides…" Naruto said putting his hands on the younger girl's shoulders, "We've had this conversation before. What else would I possibly do?" He smiled at her only to get a half-hearted one in response as he let go of her. And backed up a few steps, "By the way… I'm all good to go, but I don't think there are any clothes for me." He asked, scratching his cheek as he realized that he was in a hospital robe at the moment.

Catherine pushed him back towards his bed and got him to sit down, before patting his cheek, "I'll go and get you something to wear okay?" She asked as she got her face close to his, smiling at him, "I'll be back soon okay?"

Naruto was almost unable to answer at first, as he had to hold back from physically lashing out at Catherine. He swore he saw Dr. Clark much in the same way he had seen her when she had gotten that close to his face in the lab. He quickly got a grip, telling himself he was fine, that it was just Catherine, but it scared him that he felt that way, "Y-Yeah, that would be great Kitty. Thank you."

Catherine took that as her cue to go find Naruto some clothes which left Naruto and Miller alone in the room. Once she went through the doorway she popped her head back in and gave a light glare to Naruto, "What did I tell you about calling me Kitty?"

Naruto ran a hand through his hair as his mind began to backtrack through his memories, not that he really wanted to remember what had happened to him. Still, he found it in him to give his usual response to his sweet little sister, "I'll stop calling you Kitty when I drop dead… and I'm not dead yet." The blonde girl let out a huff, but couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she went on her way.

This left Naruto to be alone with his thoughts once again as he had nothing he needed to say. He could feel particular jabs of phantom pain, not in any particular place, but it was beginning to mess with him. He couldn't even make a tight fist because of his nerves. Master Miller noticed Naruto's heightened breathing that he somehow was able to hide from Catherine until she left the room, "Something the matter kid?"

Naruto's eyes snapped to Miller as for a moment he could swear that his hospital room resembled the lab he had been in. Whatever had been done to him he was getting flashes of whatever had occurred now that his mind had the time to wander. Naruto eventually grabbed his own hand to stop his nerves, trying to play it off as him cracking his knuckles, "No, nothing's wrong. Just a little stiff Master Miller, that's all."

Miller walked over and sat next to Naruto on the bed, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. He had definitely been keeping active, as he could feel Naruto's muscles were more solid than he remembered him leaving with, "So how's the life treating you?"

"Other than the getting shot, stabbed, blown to hell, and put in a coma thing…" Naruto said, trying to go for some darker natured humor, "I'm doing great." 'Except for the whole getting captured and randomly getting bits and pieces of getting tormented in a lab… but you don't need to know that.' Naruto then added something else, "I don't know though… I'll probably be shipped right back to Iraq again once the brass realizes that I'm good to go."

"Not particularly." Miller said with a grin forming on his features, "A few months ago I got contacted by a man, he had a codename of Liquid Snake and apparently he's the field commander of FOXHOUND that took over after my friend Colonel Campbell retired. Anyway, he said he was going to try and reach out to you, because Campbell had been vouching for you using both of our credentials to anyone that was looking for someone to bolster their special forces."

He remembered the last conversation he had in Iraq before all hell broke loose. Apparently FOXHOUND had been there asking about him, wanting to talk to him themselves. Then he fought Olga and the Gurlukovich Mercenaries and while he won… there were more important things to deal with other than a glorified job interview; namely him being captured.

"Anyway…" Miller got back on track quickly, "Right after I heard that you were here and started making plans to run down here to see you I got another call. This time from a man that referred to himself as Liquid's right hand and a member of the unit. Apparently they still want you to join. They heard about your work in the Philippines… apparently that's what got their attention in the first place."

They still wanted him to join. They were still interested in him. Now this was something that could work out for him. If there was a group that was out for his blood or his genes or whatever the hell he had been captured for then what better group of soldiers to surround himself with than a group that was known to be the best? If he could become a member of FOXHOUND then he'd love to see anyone try anything on him behind his back. Never again, he would never be put in that situation again.

That was his next step. It had been a goal of his in the first place to be a member of FOXHOUND anyway, because Miller had always told him that they were the best.

Naruto turned towards Miller with the same gleam in his eye he had when Miller had suggested training under him in the first place. Miller noted a smoldering intensity in the boy's eyes and couldn't help but fight back a shiver. There wasn't any mistaking it like the first time he had heard Naruto call himself one, he was without a doubt an experienced soldier now.

Naruto let a small grin come over his face, "So how do I get in contact with these guys?"

XxX

(Cordillera Central – Andean Region of Colombia – January 2004 – Naruto: Age 17)

He went home to Alaska, on the basis that he needed some time to recover from his 'wounds', and for the next three months worked hard to find any possible hole in his overall game that needed to be touched up. He didn't have time to lag behind and play catch-up if he was serious about what he planned on doing. He couldn't allow any weaknesses that would put him in a similar predicament as the one that allowed his injury and capture.

Whether he had paid attention to himself or not he also developed a few new quirks that Miller and even Catherine when she came up for Christmas were able to point out. Things that made an already weird personality even weirder.

He would vanish for hours, never telling anyone where he went, he became impossibly difficult to find even to those who knew him best. He could have been anywhere around the property, but catching sight of him or any sign that he existed at all became nearly impossible. It wasn't like he was going far, because food that Naruto would eat would be missing over periods of time, so he was coming back, they just weren't catching sight of him. Then just like that he would appear and laze around for a day or two before repeating the process over again.

When he could actually be found at home he became increasingly alert to even the slightest happenings, oftentimes where you would find Naruto himself he would already know that you were searching for him due to having clones in hiding in certain places in the house dispelling to inform him of such. He was nearly impossible to sneak up on when he was resting for this same reason, even in his deepest sleep.

He also took to hiding more weapons on his person, not only in his regular clothing, but in more unorthodox locations that were easy for him to access quickly. A nasty little surprise for troublesome enemies never hurt; he had learned this firsthand from Olga and her trick ballistic knife.

Other than that his eating habits became even faster than before, as if he always had somewhere to be in a hurry, even if all he was going to do next was go outside and shoot. He would often switch modes of operating in a heartbeat, going from vibrant and energetic to borderline lethargic as if he were flipping a switch. By now Miller had stopped training him, he had nothing more that he could really teach Naruto how to do. Thus the man assumed that this was all a part of his new training regiment, as puzzling as it was.

(Flashback – Christmas Break)

In the falling snow Naruto lay on top of the roof of the house in his full winter clothing, he was barely moving an inch as he looked through the scope of the Dragunov that he had managed to procure for himself in the Philippines and smuggle back to Alaska for safekeeping. He merely gazed out from the top of the three story house at the overall scenery.

While he was doing this, a large ladder was placed against the side of the house as Catherine climbed her way up to the roof wearing all of her winter clothes as well, "Hey Kitty." Naruto said without even turning around to look. He didn't even have a clone watching out for anyone, there was only one person that would actively seek him out after Master Miller understood that everything he did was his own way to train, "What's going on? Did you need something?"

"No." She said, tentatively walking towards him so that she didn't fall off of the roof. She couldn't stick to surfaces like Naruto could, so she had to take care. Sometimes she wished she had superpowers like Naruto had… she could do without the crazy that went with them though, "You've been out here since last night, you never came in."

"How would you know that?" Naruto asked, still looking through the scope of the rifle. When she didn't answer Naruto let out a sigh, "You stayed up all night again didn't you."

Catherine eventually made it close enough to Naruto that she found it safe to stop walking and sit down just looking over the snowy forests surrounding the property, "It's my break. I can stay up for as long as I want. It's not like I have school tomorrow. It's good enough for you isn't it?"

"I'm different." Naruto said, pulling the trigger of the rifle only to get an empty click from the gun, "By the way, I'm going to be gone tonight too. I don't know when I'll be back. Maybe later that night, maybe tomorrow, I don't know."

Catherine rolled her eyes and poked Naruto in the side of his hooded head, "And what are you going to be doing this time? Tell me, I want to know. You're never home during the nights anymore."

A smirk came onto Naruto's face, "What, do you miss the stories I used to tell you back when I first started staying here?" He asked in a teasing manner, "I'll tell you what, before I head out tonight I'll tell you the story about the Nine-Tailed Fox that attacked a warrior village again for old times sake. You loved that one." He felt her shove him and let out a laugh, "Okay how about the story about the boy and the bridge?"

"I'm too old for your baby stories." Catherine said, remembering how he would actually do that for her when she was 10 years old, "I was too old back then."

"You weren't too old to sleep with your big brother were you?" This time he felt a pretty solid punch in his back that made him start to laugh out loud.

"I told you never to bring that up again!" She shouted with a red face. What the hell? She was 10 or 11, it was Alaska, and he was always warm. He was probably warm right now. It was probably why he could stay outside in these conditions for as long as he did.

Naruto stifled his laughter and stopped aiming his empty Dragunov, opting to sit up and chat with his 'sister', "Okay I'm sorry Kitty. I'll tell you what I'm doing tonight. I'm going to have a sniper battle with one of my Kage Bunshin all over the forest. One 10-round magazine each, first to get a hit wins, running out of ammo means you lose… no side-arm, no time limit… old-school style." He saw her glaring at him… probably because she knew that all he had was live ammunition to practice with, "What? I'm going to order the Kage Bunshin to aim to wound instead of kill."

She didn't like that even when he was home away from all of the war all Naruto could think about doing was fighting. There were no enemies to fight but it didn't matter. No enemies? No problem, Naruto could make his own enemies to go out and fight. And she knew that he hated sitting at home doing nothing, that was why he had come up with all of these weird things to do to train. It was practical though.

"So you aren't coming back inside tonight?" Catherine asked him, tilting her head to the side questioningly before she caught herself doing it. Damn it she was picking up some of Naruto's traits other than his like of shooting, "Do you want me to leave something out for you to eat when you come back in? I don't want you tearing through the ramen again before you go back into hiding mode."

Naruto just smiled at her and chuckled, cold air forming clouds from his mouth as he did, "I don't know who's taking care of who around here. Me taking care of you or you taking care of me."

"Someone has to do it." The female blonde teen said, leaning forward to put a kiss on Naruto's cheek before getting up to leave the roof, "Even if it's really a drag. You're a hard person to love Naruto… but you're still my big brother you jerk. Don't forget that."

"I know." Naruto said, returning to his work of getting used to his sniper rifle. Once he knew that Catherine was gone from the roof he sighed and spoke softly, "And I won't."

(End Flashback)

'Why the fuck am I here now?' Naruto thought to himself in a rather perturbed manner. He hadn't found a way to call or contact any part of FOXHOUND directly, something he found weird, but he was instead given directions on exact coordinates to meet them at during an exact period of time, 'Why couldn't it have been someplace like Japan? I hear they make their ramen fresh, just like home.' Still, he wasn't about to let his opportunity slip. He would jump through the hoops if that was what it took.

Which was why he was currently in South America, skulking through the lower portions of the mountains to find the coordinates indicated in his instructions left by whoever had come to see Master Miller. At least it wasn't the desert, that was all he could say.

He had to get himself all the way down to Colombia, which wasn't necessarily the problem. The problem was getting down there and keeping enough weapons on himself to feel comfortable. He had no explosives, at least any traditional explosives. He had nothing automatic on him, the most firepower he had were a pair of SOCOM pistols. But it wasn't like he was heading out there to fight.

He hoped he wasn't at least, because he might have been woefully underequipped if that were the case.

Naruto had made it to a village by the foothills before he started traversing the paths heading up the more remote parts of the mountain, a bearded guide that was apparently former Colombian armed forces, found him there and proved to Naruto that he was an actual representative of FOXHOUND, meant to guide him to the meeting site. The sticking point that actually made Naruto keep going instead of turning around to head home was the fact that the man was not armed or had any form of remote contact with anyone, otherwise Naruto would have smelled a trap and would have left.

So as they headed towards the true point of his coordinates, Naruto wore his headband with a black cloth, an olive colored jacket that was partially zipped up, a white shirt underneath, a pair of olive pants that had his usual accessories attached to him, and a pair of brown boots, "Why couldn't there just have been an actual headquarters of operations for me to go to?" He asked rhetorically as a means of griping out loud.

The Colombian man guiding him let out a laugh, "I suppose it would be rather cumbersome to get all the way down to Colombia in the middle of a village all by yourself. You're lucky this isn't a known place for freedom fighters to roost. By the way, your Spanish is very good for an American."

Naruto let out a small laugh. If freedom fighters had a problem with him and would have tried to detain him that really would have been a major problem, "Thanks I guess. How did you find me anyway?"

This time is was the Colombian guide's turn to laugh, "You were the only blonde, blue-eyed American that's been in this village since… ever." He stopped and laughed boisterously, "It wouldn't take a brain surgeon to find that you were the one I was supposed to find and lead up here. You're kind of young aren't you?"

"Getting shot at doesn't really have any age limits." Naruto quipped dryly. He was so sick of hearing about how young he was by the people around him. That got really old really fast, "Hey you aren't in FOXHOUND yourself are you?" He asked. Why else would this guy know where they were supposed to be going.

The man turned towards Naruto, "Sorry, I'm just the one that was supposed to bring you out here. Not everyone can know where they're supposed to be. They were sent down here to help with some problems the Colombian government's been having."

It seemed to be so, since they hadn't been on the beaten path for at least an hour, maybe more. He could see why since the terrain was not favorable for any kind of ground vehicle whatsoever. Rocky, yet with craggy land formations, plenty of places for a vehicle to get stuck.

"Alright, this is far enough." Naruto's guide said, stopping suddenly in front of Naruto with his back turned. Naruto's hand quickly went to his thigh as he produced a kunai, seemingly having been ready for any treachery. The man didn't even turn around, simply knowing that Naruto had dropped into a fighting stance, "Hey, you wouldn't kill an unarmed man would you?"

"Of course I can." Naruto said, by now having moved behind the man with his specialized blade at his neck, "It's not like you have any weapons to stop me. Now tell me who you are? Why did you bring me out here? Be quick with the answer now." Naruto threatened, pressing the kunai close enough to draw blood.

"I already told you kid…" The man said, seemingly not intimidated by the possibility of his death, "I'm the one that was meant to bring you out here… but I'll answer your earlier question too. It just so happens that I am FOXHOUND." With that, a gunshot sounded out and Naruto immediately let the man go, dropping to the ground like a flash of lightning as the man he had in his grasp not even moments before took off running, "Good luck kid! You're going to need it!"

Naruto grit his teeth and was about to go after the man, but he remembered the sniper watching him somewhere. Luckily, Naruto had brought enough tools with him to make some sport out of this. First thing was first, he needed to get out of the open somehow. Naruto quickly reached into one of the special carrying cases on his person and dropped a smoke grenade that enshrouded him from view.

XxX

From a vantage point, hidden well from the view of any possible targets and far away from the area of interest she was attacking, a woman lay on the ground looking through the scope of her Heckler & Koch PSG-1 sniper rifle. She had long blonde hair with bangs that almost covered her right eye, luckily this was not the eye she had looking through the scope of her gun. She wore a choker around her neck, lipstick, a pair of tight dark leggings that went down into boots, a pair of fingerless gloves, and a dark combat jacket that she left unzipped enough to reveal her rather impressive cleavage.

A smirk came to her face as she watched Naruto's actions through her scope. The first shot she fired when Naruto had grabbed the decoy slated to lead him out there in the first place was meant to be a warning. It wouldn't have been fair or sporting to just shoot the boy when he had no chance whatsoever to defend himself. That was his only freebie though, the next opening he gave her would be his last mistake.

Which was why she was pleased when she saw him make a smokescreen to cover his immediate position in the time that it took for another round to chamber, "He's not as stupid as he looks in his records." She said in a Middle Eastern accent, letting out a small laugh as she saw five Narutos rush from the smoke in different directions faster than any normal human could follow on foot, "I think I really want to see just what he can do now." She then got up to find a new position. She wouldn't be hitting any of the Narutos if she stayed there.

XxX

(With Naruto)

'A sniper… A goddamn sniper!' Naruto thought furiously to himself as he ran as fast as he could, making sure to keep an erratic running pattern as he did. Eventually he saw a nearby forest and as much as he hated to pigeonhole himself it was a fact that any sniper worth their salt would be able to take him out if he stayed in the open. At least around a forest setting he would have a chance to survive, maybe even hide and somehow get away.

Well this was worst case scenario if he had to pick a crappy situation to get himself into, and this time he definitely knew that nobody was coming for him because he was all alone. He had been led to a chosen ground for combat by someone who obviously knew the terrain while he only had base knowledge of the region. Great.

'Whatever… I do my best work with a handicap.' Naruto thought to himself when all of a sudden he felt a splitting pain in his temple that brought him to his knees. Well one of his clones got picked off, right in the head too. Luckily the other ones got the same message and were smart enough to dispel so that they didn't risk inflicting more pain on Naruto when they were killed. He didn't need mindless bodies that wouldn't be any good on their own. Still, at the moment his skull was ringing with pain.

The backlash his clones gave him when they took damage really was painful. There was no difference between getting shot himself and having a clone get shot. He still felt the exact same, only he didn't suffer the actual injury, and he would feel it for hours. No painkillers though, never any painkillers. Not only did he not want to wind up an addict because of them, he wanted to stay as far away from something that could mimic the effects of a sedative as possible.

He didn't register it much unless the wounds started to build up over a short period of time, either that or unless his clones took a direct shot that would kill him if he had been hit with it. A headshot from a 7.62 round would register as the latter in this case.

Naruto sucked it up however and kept moving through the forest. This was better though, better than walking through the mountains though. He needed to watch his own back better because this was getting ridiculous. Before he could curse his bad luck and actually getting himself in gear to come all the way to Colombia for an ambush, Naruto heard rather heavy footsteps walking through the forest as well.

Naruto immediately scrambled up a tree and hid within the leaves as the footsteps got closer behind the trunk of the tree he was hiding in.

"Yes, I'm inside of the small patch of forest that Wolf said the boy most likely fled to." Naruto heard a burly male voice say as the footsteps continued, "I've tracked him to this general area but his trail just stopped nearby. He knows how to disappear… that's good." The man must have been communicating with his comrades… well this was going to be his last transmission. Naruto gripped a kunai tightly in his hand in preparation until he heard the man's next words, "Well if he's so thorough in his hiding then I guess I'll take away his hiding places."

And with that, Naruto heard a hydraulic whirring sound that he hadn't heard in quite a while. What would something like that do out there? And he found out when machine gun bullets started ripping into the trees directly around the tree Naruto was in, tearing them asunder and knocking them down, right before Naruto's tree came next. Naruto quickly jumped out of the tree just as it started falling and rolled through the drop before turning to stare down the man that had been shooting at him.

He towered over Naruto at 6'9 and was nothing but pure muscle, 'Man he's got to outweigh me by at least double of what I am.' A man of from Naruto's experience in Alaska told him was of Inuit descent, he wore forest camouflage pants, brown boots, and no shirt but had a torso covered in odd tattoo patterns. He was also bald, but had a large marking of a raven across his forehead. Also in his hands was a particular weapon that made Naruto just stare.

"What the fuck is that?" Naruto exclaimed in pure shock and awe. In this man's hands he had a M61 Vulcan gatling gun… a kind of weapon that would be better suited towards being placed on fighter aircraft because there was no way that it didn't weigh any less than 250 pounds. That wasn't even taking into account the ammo drum he had with him or the power supply on his back, "How are you lifting that and who are you?"

The man blinked before chuckling at Naruto's reaction to his presence, "Of course, I was just stunned for a moment. You have a great power hidden within your body, it distracted me as to trying to find out what it was." He adjusted the massive weapon in his hands, "I am Vulcan Raven, and you are Naruto Uzumaki, my target." The large man stated simply with a grin on his face.

"Of course I am." Naruto said with a deadpan look on his face in return, "And why wouldn't I be when I'm just so special?" He said sarcastically as he drew his SOCOM and held it in conjunction with his kunai. How could this day get any worse, "Yep… special, special, special."


Omake – Happy Birthday Aniki

After getting Naruto his clothes, Catherine returned to the room, though from the look on her face she was rather displeased. As she entered to see Naruto sitting in his bed talking about some of the stuff he had seen while he had been gone in the Philippines and Iraq and her father in a chair nearby listening and adding his own two cents she placed a large bag on the bed, "Well this isn't much, or what I would have gotten you if I had more choice, but the pickings for clothes were slim so here you go."

Between the terrible choices she had to choose from when it came to clothes, this was the lesser evil. And he'd be going home soon enough to change into some clothes that actually made him look sane.

Naruto blinked and looked into the bag where his eyes went wide. Catherine sighed and turned away, waiting for his angry reaction to what she had bought for him only to hear quick rustling and movement. She turned to find Naruto already up and changed, "Wow… fast."

Naruto was dressed in an orange jumpsuit with black trim and looked as happy as could be, "Oh man this is great… I'm feeling nostalgic here. Where did you get these? I want some more just like these."

'Oh fuck…' Miller watched Naruto and facepalmed. Apparently when his daughter went to buy Naruto some clothes she forgot how much hell he raised when he first started living with them and Miller threw out his orange jumpsuit, calling it an eyesore. Although maybe she didn't remember because Naruto couldn't speak English back then… he certainly cursed vehemently in Japanese though, "Great… here we go again." He would have to throw that to the huskies to chew to bits the second he got home… just like the first time.

Naruto rushed over to Catherine and picked her up in a tight hug, surprising her that he was so strong when he had just woken up probably not even an hour or two prior, "Thank you Kitty. I've been wanting to get something like this for years. I've got my new favorite thing to wear now, this gift is awesome."

'You like that ugly thing? You look like a walking traffic marker!' She thought to herself but didn't say out loud. If he was happy with it then it didn't really matter Catherine guessed, "Um, sure thing. Happy birthday Naruto." She said half-heartedly with a tentative laugh.


Yeah! It's time to commence preparations for rumbling! Who are these strange attackers of Naruto (As if you didn't know already…)? What do they want from him? How's he going to get himself out of this one? Why am I asking you stuff that I already know the answer to? That's easy! Because most of you don't know and I like feeling smart!

Anyway, I'll catch you on the flip. Kenchi out. I gots to give my little brother his 19 birthday punches… and that will probably end in a fight… that I will win because I'm me. Either way it's going to be fun, so later.