Part 1

Introduction Arc

Chapter 3 - Descent into Darkness

Tower Roof - Forest of Death

It has been two months since Naruto's return to the village and things have been going as well as could be expected after so many changes lately. Naruto, currently dressed in black shinobi clothing and a hooded cloak, stood with his arms crossed over his chest and his hood shadowing his face as he stared out at the village beyond the boundaries of his home slowly disappearing as the sun set behind the mountain, pondering the events that have occurred since his return.

First, was the second talk he had with the Hokage.


Flashback

It had been three days since he gave the Hokage his ultimatum and from what Anko tells him, the village has heard his message loud and clear. After the initial protest that was immediately crushed when it was proven the now comatose man had instigated the conflict, all they could do was grumble. But it had served its purpose; the villagers now feared him which Naruto thought was a very nice change. Yes, it gave him no small amount of amusement to walk the streets now and see the worms that used to glare and shout now tremble and cower at his very presence.

Now he was on his way to the Hokage's office to finish the talk they started the day he arrived back in the village. As he walked through the village at a leisurely pace, watching the civilians cower and the ninja tense as he passed them, Naruto felt something bump into his leg. A glance down revealed it to be a ball.

Picking up the object he turns in the direction it came from which reveals a small group of children around six years old. They were definitely fearful when they saw who had their ball. No doubt due to their parents warning their children who he was and to be careful of him.

The area was quiet now, with the villagers worried about what he might do. Slowly walking over to the eldest one, a girl with large green eyes and brown hair in a small ponytail, he looks into her terrified gaze locked on his own shadowed face partially hidden by the hood of his cloak. Holding out the ball, Naruto asks - "Is this your ball child?"

The girl shakily nods and slowly moves to take the ball. Naruto lets her and as soon as his hand is free, he moves it towards the girl, making the surrounding villagers tense in fear, but he only pats the girl on the head and says - "Try not to lose it again, do you understand?"

The girl nods and shakily says - "Um, yes Uzumaki-san. Thank you."

Removing his hand, the girl quickly moves back to the group but not before turning around and giving a shy wave. Naruto only gives a small nod and resumes his walk towards the tower, not knowing that a pleased Hokage who was watching the blond with his crystal ball had seen the whole thing.

The fox then decides to make his presence known and ask - "Why did you not retaliate boy? I thought you hated these people."

Shaking his head mentally, Naruto replies - "My soul is dark and full of hate, but I am not yet so heartless as to strike a child undeservedly."

The fox scoffs but says nothing further to which Naruto decides to speed things up and shunshins away. Upon arriving directly in the Hokage's office, he noticed an ANBU already there with the Hokage; one with a familiar spiky purple hairstyle and snake mask over her face. Naruto gives her a nod of acknowledgment before facing the Hokage, asking - "Why have you summoned me Hokage-sama?"

After wincing almost unnoticeably at the carefully blank tone, Hiruzen responds - "I have come to a decision to your placement in the shinobi ranks. I have given this much thought since you left the last time we spoke and I have come to a decision I think you will be content with."

Nodding in curiosity, the whiskered teen motions the Hokage to continue, which he does saying - "Taking into account your skill level and current mindset, I have decided to grant you a place in the ANBU Black Ops under an apprenticeship program."

Naruto smirks in satisfaction, having been concerned the old man was going to try and place him into some genin squad in order to try and get him to interact with the villagers and hopefully grant them forgiveness or some other foolishness that he would never have consented to. Deciding to get the obvious question out of the way, he asks - "What does the apprenticeship program entail?"

Relieved at Naruto's easy acceptance, the Hokage explains - "It is an old program; one definitely not used often and only once in recent times. Basically, it is used when someone who has the correct mindset, but not the level of strength needed to be a full time member, is assigned a mentor, usually a senior agent, who will then train you for a certain period of time. After that time period lapses, you will then undergo a strict series of tests to determine if you are ready to become a full member of the ANBU corps."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto motions to Anko and asks - "Am I to assume due to my familiarity with Anko, she is going to be my mentor?"

The female ANBU staggers and then slouches, taking off her mask to reveal the pouting face of Anko who asks - "How did you know who I was Gaki?"

Naruto allows a smile of amusement to cross his face as he says - "It might have something to do with the fact I saw your ANBU gear among the mess you call your room when you showed it to me the other day."

'Not to mention that she often walks around in just her mesh shirt and skirt in the tower and makes no effort to hide her ANBU tattoo.' - Naruto adds mentally.

Hiruzen palms his face in exasperation as Anko scratches the back of her head sheepishly and says - "Uh, oops?"

Turning back to the Hokage, Naruto asks - "While I have no objections to this arrangement, I wonder why would you do this for me? I was expecting you to try and put me in some genin squad considering my age."

The Hokage scrutinizes Naruto for a minute before he sighs and says seriously - "I'm going to be honest Naruto-kun; you have shown too many psychopathic tendencies since your return to place you in a normal squad and I see this as a way to give you an outlet for them while at the same time keeping you out of the public eye of the village. I'm hoping Anko can teach you control and help you be able to function as a productive member of the village."

Naruto narrows his eyes at the explanation that basically says he is dangerous and needs to be watched, but after a few minutes thought he deems it a fair trade-off to be out of the spotlight in the village.

The blond, with his face still seemingly carved from ice, coldly says - "I accept."

End Flashback


Another event was finally meeting Anko's friends about a week after that talk with Hokage.


Flashback

Naruto stood aching and drenched in sweat and blood after another grueling training session. Feeling the burn as the Kyuubi's chakra heals his body he decides to have a soak in the onsen. Returning to his room, he strips off his sweaty clothes before making his way to the bathing area where he quickly scrubbed himself free of the sweat and blood that stuck to his body. After rinsing himself free of the soap, he grabs a towel and throws it over his shoulder without a care for his modesty and opens the door to the onsen only to find it occupied by Anko and two other, admittedly beautiful women, all completely naked and enjoying the heat from the onsen.

Hearing the door open, two of the women start in surprise with Anko only chuckling at a soon to be amusing situation. Upon seeing Naruto, also completely naked walk into the room completely uncovered, the two yell in surprise and duck into the water to hide their bodies while sending a fairly impressive killing intent at Naruto.

Raising an eyebrow at their reaction and the surprisingly large amount of killing intent directed at him, he couldn't help but remark - "That is an impressive killing intent you two are directing at me. However judging by your reaction to my presence, I can assume that Anko neglected to inform you of our arrangement, likely so this very situation would occur. Am I right, Anko?"

The two women's eyes widen and turn to Anko who is wearing a 'who, me?' expression that does not fool anyone. A small splash is heard as Naruto enters the onsen. He then takes a moment to get comfortable before calmly saying - "Before you two come to the wrong conclusion, let me just inform you that I am not here to indulge in some perverse activity; I am simply here to relax after my training. So you might as well relax as well; Anko is a lot less modest than you two, so it is not like I have not seen the female form in a less than fully clothed state before."

The two women look at each other and slowly rise out of the water again. While ignoring the pouting Anko, the black haired one asks in a soft voice still tinged with aggravation - "While you need no introduction Uzumaki-san, may I ask what this arrangement you and Anko have is?"

Naruto, despite his words is still only a teenager and cannot help but stare for a second or two before looking at her face, trying to ignore the blood rushing to his lower extremities. Having noticed his brief perusal, the two women began to look angry before Naruto reassured them - "Forgive me Kunoichi-sans, but I am still a teenager and not yet in control of my body in such situations, I mean no offense. Now if you don't mind, you already know who I am, but I'm afraid I don't have the same luxury. Anko only told me she had a couple friends come here occasionally, but did not tell me your names."

The two shoot another look at Anko before turning back to Naruto with the purple haired woman saying - "My name is Uzuki Yugao, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto nods and turns to the black haired one who says - "My name is Yuhi Kurenai, Naruto-san."

Nodding again, Naruto says - "A pleasure to meet you both, forgive me for not bowing, but I'm afraid my reaction to your nudity is making itself known and I do not wish to offend you."

Anko chuckles and says - "No need to be shy Gaki, Nai-chan and Yugao-chan need to loosen up. Don't let them stop you."

Yugao and Kurenai shoot a sharp look at Anko even as they blush at her crude remarks. To their relief however, Naruto only looks vaguely amused as he shakes his head and subtly moves so his now stiff manhood stays hidden below the water.

Naruto, deciding that the tension had been sufficiently dispelled, answers the question that Yugao and Kurenai posed before - "As to my arrangement, Anko-neechan was kind enough to open her home to me, seeing as my previous home was destroyed by the villagers during my absence from the village. I am now living with her and I am grateful for it as I don't have much interaction with the villagers anymore, due to the isolated location of this place."

Flashback End


The four spent some time getting to know each other and pretty soon they began to get along reasonably well. They still occasionally stop by the tower to see Anko, but they also take the time to try and talk with him as well. However, Naruto was not very interested in being all buddy-buddy with the two women like Anko was, so he was not very receptive. The only thing that he found them useful for was helping him with his training, especially Yugao who had got him interested in kenjutsu.


Flashback

Naruto was walking through the upper levels of the tower, heading toward his usual training area when his ears picked up the sound of metal striking metal. Curious, he decided to deviate from his current path to the source of the sound. Upon arriving at the correct room, he entered to see Yugao currently sparring against a few kage bunshin using nothing but a sword.

Naruto was instantly entranced as he watched the sword user fight against three opponents at once, locked in a deadly dance where the slightest misstep could spell her doom at the hands of her own clones. It was amazing to him. As he made no effort to hide his presence, Yugao quickly noticed him and ended the spar.

Seeing the blond's mesmerized expression on his usually expressionless face, Yugao chuckles and asks - "I take it you are interested in kenjutsu Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto quickly realizes that he is still staring and shakes himself out of his stupor and says - "That was very impressive Yugao-san and yes I am very much interested."

Yugao, who sees the opportunity to get to know Anko's mysterious little brother figure, decides to offer - "Would you like me to show you a few things Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto adopts an excited grin that shows off his larger than average canines and nods.

Flashback End


That small introduction instilled a zeal in Naruto that he had not felt since the beginning of his training with Itachi and he began to learn kenjutsu like he was born to wield a blade. Yugao, seeing the raw potential that he had, started coming around more often to give him kenjutsu lessons and making sure to leave plenty of scrolls on the subject for him to read when she left.

Naruto soon began focusing on his kenjutsu and practiced every technique he could find for many hours each day with an occasional spar with Yugao to judge his progress. This lead to Naruto now wearing a sword he found in the armory at his waist.

In addition to his kenjutsu, Naruto's own training with Anko was going very well, much better than it ever was with Itachi. Both Naruto and Anko were of very similar mindsets, meaning aggressive, ruthless and unmerciful, so they meshed very well together. Itachi was just too much of a pacifist for his tastes, one of the few things that annoyed him about his former sensei. Speaking of which, Naruto had not once seen the stoic Uchiha since his return, having only received a scroll from a messenger crow saying that he had urgent clan business to take care of and to apologize that he had to leave him so abruptly.

After reading it he could not help but feel a slight pang of hurt before he ruthlessly crushed it and the scroll. The Kyuubi had pointed out to him that all Naruto ever was to Itachi was a mission to complete; he never truly cared about him. Naruto could see that Kyuubi was probably right, but some part of him, the little boy that looked up to Itachi as an older brother, did not want to believe it and held on to his hope that Kyuubi was wrong.

Naruto's days were quickly becoming routine. He would wake up, eat a nutrient rich meal, spend all morning practicing his kenjutsu and personal techniques then eat a small lunch and then spend his afternoon training with Anko and occasionally Yugao when she had breaks from her ANBU duties, then after the day was done, he would relax in the onsen, go eat a filling dinner to recover his energy and then meditate on the roof of the tower for several hours before going to sleep.

Bringing himself back to the present moment, Naruto resumed his meditation, another thing he had taken to doing in an effort to keep his bloodlust from overwhelming him. Breathing deeply, he began bring up all his negative emotions, his hate, rage and fury, letting them fill him up as it always did; first it starts as a spark, then that spark becomes a flame and that flame becomes an inferno. A well of power, barely contained threatens to break free as Naruto struggles to control it.

The ground around him starts shaking and the wind starts burning as Naruto begins to lose control.

His eyes snapping open Naruto mentally screams - 'NO! I WILL MASTER THIS! I REFUSE TO LOSE CONTROL!'

With a bestial growl, Naruto slowly begins to exert his will over the now swirling maelstrom of chakra around him, drawing it back into him bit by bit. The exertion is easily shown on Naruto's face and body during this process. Every muscle is clenched and straining, veins stand out on his neck and temples, his teeth are clenched and sweat is freely pouring down his face; but through it all, Naruto perseveres and soon the storm raging around him begins to calm until eventually it disappears completely.

Clenching his fists until they begin to bleed, Naruto shouts out and punches the ground in frustration at his failure - "Damn it! I'm getting better, but I still can't control it completely!"

Utterly drained, Naruto slowly climbs to his feet and makes his way down to his bedroom to rest. Unknown to him due to his exhaustion, someone had been watching almost the entire spectacle.

In the shadows of the forest, a pair of three-tomoe sharingan morphed into a pinwheel shape before fading away into the darkness.

'Goodbye Naruto-kun.'


Later that night

A loud roar that only Naruto could hear startled him from his sleep saying - "Wake up boy!"

Jumping out of bed with his sword at the ready, an instantly awake and alert Naruto scans his immediate area for threats before relaxing and asking - 'What is it that requires you to disturb my rest Kyuubi?'

The deep voice snarls before saying - "Insolent boy, you will speak to me with respect. I will disturb your rest if I deem it necessary. Now stretch out with your senses to the village and tell me what you feel."

Knowing it was pointless to argue, Naruto focused his chakra and began searching for what had the Kyuubi so agitated.

'I don't sense any-'

Naruto's eyes snap open in surprise as his senses reveal several chakra signatures in the village dying all at once, too many to be natural.

'What is going on Kyuubi?' - Naruto asks urgently.

The great fox scoffs and says - "I don't know boy, but I suggest you go and see. This could be an excellent test for your strength against a real enemy."

Naruto's blood starts boiling in excitement at this statement and he quickly dresses and grabs his cloak and sword before vanishing towards the source of the disappearing signatures.


Outside the Uchiha District

Arriving silently at his destination, Naruto is immediately hit with the strong scent of blood in the air. Channeling chakra into his eyes, he can see that there are several bodies lying in the street; some impaled with kunai and shuriken, others slashed by a bladed weapon of some sort.

Naruto gives a feral grin as he surveys the carnage with gleeful eyes.

'So, somebody is massacring the Uchiha clan, how very interesting.' - Naruto cackles mentally.

Kyuubi remarks with its voice dripping in satisfaction - "I have waited a long time to see this. Ever since Madara Uchiha enslaved me with that infernal sharingan, I have desired nothing more than to see the his wretched clan fall."

'Well then, why don't we get a closer look at this mystery assassin's handiwork and if we are lucky the assassin might still be here.'

After this thought Naruto, with the Kyuubi's help, suppresses his chakra down as far as it will go, much further than he would have been able without the Kyuubi's help and makes his way into the bloody district towards the nearest active chakra signature.


With Itachi

"You are not even worth killing, foolish little brother." - Itachi says even as his heart is breaking.

Stepping forward and making sure that Sasuke sees the mangekyo sharingan spinning in his eyes, he says - "If you wish to kill me, foster your hatred and despise me until one day you come before me with the same eyes as I. Until then keep on surviving in an unsightly manner as this. Now go and flee; cling to your wretched life."

Sasuke says nothing as he tries to run, but only falls over in exhaustion, his brain shutting down to cope with the trauma it endured. A tear falls down his face as he watched his little brother's eyes close. Itachi prepares to flee before he feels an immense killing intent appear out of nowhere.

Spinning around, Itachi quickly identifies a figure shrouded in the shadows of the moonlight, making only his silhouette visible. The figure jumps down into the flickering torchlight to reveal his former apprentice with an enraged look on his face.


With Naruto

Naruto's eyes blaze with hatred and the feeling of betrayal settles deep inside him as he sees his former sensei. Growling ferally, Naruto says - "So, after all that preaching on the Will of Fire, your love for your family and the village, this is what it comes to."

Itachi says nothing; his mind is feverishly working to figure a way out of this now dangerous situation. He may be stronger than Naruto usually, but he was exhausted from killing his clan. Not to mention his eyes were burning from his use of the mangekyo sharingan.

Glaring right into Itachi's face, Naruto asks - "Tell me Itachi, was any of it real? All the praise, trust and pride that you showed me during my time with you; was it all a lie?"

Itachi, knowing he cannot break his cover, only stares at him with that infuriating stoic look on his face before responding - "Yes, it was. I care nothing for you Naruto. You were a mission to complete, the weapon I was meant to forge. But you were a failure; I never counted on the darkness you harbor in your heart. You will never willingly be Konoha's weapon, you despise the village too much."

Naruto's head fell with each sentence pouring from his mouth, his shoulders started shaking. "So, the truth is finally revealed." - Naruto whispers in a deadly voice.

Slowly, the air started to shimmer and a blood red chakra began to permeate the air bringing with it an oppressive feeling that the village of Konoha had not felt for almost fourteen years.

Itachi only had a moment to see Naruto's red eyes before he vanished in a blur of speed he could barely track even with his activated sharingan. Quickly bringing up his ANBU tanto he blocked a katon chakra infused sword strike that would have decapitated him. However, in his exhaustion, Itachi was unable to block the follow up strike to his calf that almost drove him to his knees.

'This is bad, I have to stop him before the feeling of Kyuubi's chakra can spread to the rest of the village.'

With this thought, Itachi engaged Naruto in a fierce kenjutsu duel; each one striking each other half a dozen times in the space of a few seconds. Naruto's skill with the sword was proving superior to Itachi's however, who preferred to fight with ninjutsu and illusions. He was like a storm raining down on Itachi. Above, below, left, right, in front, behind; Naruto kept unleashing blow after blow that Itachi, who in his exhaustion could only barely keep up with thanks to his sharingan. Not to mention the fact that without him reinforcing his tanto with chakra, it would have long since been destroyed by Naruto's katon chakra infused blade.

'He has progressed so far in such a short amount of time. His skill in kenjutsu is astounding for someone who only took it up recently.' - Itachi thought during the fierce exchange.

Keeping his sharingan fixed on Naruto's sword, observing the massive amount of katon running through it. Despite the life or death situation, he could not help the surge of pride when he observed the very visible effect, causing the blade to grow white hot with a red corona surrounding it.

Lashing out with a kick, Itachi managed to create some distance between them before he instantly flies through a series of hand seals and calls - "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

The fireball flies toward the blond at incredible speed. Still airborne from the kick, Naruto quickly forms a cross hand seal and calls out – "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and a single clone appears a small distance away to which Naruto substitutes with, letting the clone take the hit.

Rushing forward, Naruto sends a stream of lightning flying towards Itachi then blurs behind him he can attack him on two sides at once. Itachi only barely manages to bring up an earth wall to block the lightning and bring up his tanto to block Naruto's fierce overhand strike. He quickly realizes his mistake in trying to block instead of redirect when the sheer force of the impact almost breaks Itachi's wrist due to Naruto's physical strength being much greater than his own.

Despite the Uchiha's best efforts, Naruto's strength begins overwhelming his own and he can only watch as Naruto's sword slowly but surely makes its way closer to Itachi's throat. With the blond's murderous red eyes gazing into his own, Itachi performs a desperate move and head buts Naruto, breaking his nose and causing his concentration to falter for a split second. That is enough however, for Itachi to back away and gain some distance.

Panting heavily, Itachi thinks - 'If this continues I will lose the fight and as far gone as Naruto is; it will mean my death.'

Itachi watches as Naruto recovers and takes a moment to prepare himself for the coming pain and thinks – 'It seems I have no choice.'

Itachi decided to meet Naruto's next charge with his own and forced him into a blade lock. The Uchiha then channeled a large amount of chakra to his eyes, which begin to leak blood even as the tomoe morph into the pinwheel shape of his mangekyo sharingan. Naruto, so lost in his rage does not even register the threat as he continues to stare murderously straight into Itachi's eyes.

Kyuubi, who had been observing the battle, recognized the danger in the eyes Itachi now displayed and tried to warn his jinchuuriki - "DO NOT LOOK INTO THOSE EYES BOY!"

The fox's warning breaks through the fog of Naruto's rage but it is too late. With a strained voice, Itachi whispers - "Tsukuyomi"

And Naruto's world fell into darkness.


Three Days Later

Naruto slowly came back into awareness feeling an intense pain in his head. Slowly, he opened his eyes to the sight of a white ceiling.

'Where am I?'

As his eyes adjusted to the bright light, Naruto looked around his room and came to the conclusion that he was in the hospital. Looking down at himself revealed that he was clad only in a pair of white trouser shorts. Looking around for his clothes, Naruto notices his sword leaning against a table on the other side of the room as well as his clothes folded neatly on top of the table. Naruto shakes his head and tries to get his thoughts in order.

'How did I get here? Last thing I remember is...'

In a flash it all returned, Itachi; he fought him and lost.

"That's right you lost you idiot boy! That blasted Uchiha confirmed everything that I've ever told you about him and you immediately lost control and attacked him like a wild animal! Your foolishness could have cost us everything!" - Kyuubi roared in his mind, adding to his already splitting headache.

Naruto winces and presses a palm against his head, trying to relieve the pressure. He is however saved from responding by the arrival of the Hokage, who no doubt was informed the second he woke up.

"How are you feeling Naruto-kun?" - The elderly Hokage asks kindly.

"I'm alive, that is sufficient enough." - Naruto responds shortly while looking down at the bed with his longer hair shadowing his eyes.

Hiruzen sighs, saying - "Fine then, I'll get straight to the point. We found you collapsed in the Uchiha district surrounded by bodies in an almost comatose state that seems to be the result of some extraordinarily powerful genjutsu. You have been unconscious for three days and I need to know what happened."

Naruto lays back into the bed with a sigh, but explains all the same - "Something drew me out of my rest during the night and-"

"By something, I will assume that means the Kyuubi told you." - Hiruzen interjects pointedly.

Naruto's face betrays his surprise only for a second, but the Hokage caught it and explains - "I know the Kyuubi is active inside of you now. During our investigation of the Uchiha district, we found traces of the Kyuubi's chakra in the air; not enough to be felt by the village, but enough to guess there was a battle of some sort, which is probably what stirred the Kyuubi from its dormant state."

Naruto nods at the explanation, choosing not to correct the Hokage's assumption and resumes his explanation saying – "Fine yes, the Kyuubi woke me up and told me to stretch out my senses. Upon doing so, I noticed several active chakra signatures disappearing all at once. Deciding to investigate, I made my way to the source which turned out to be the Uchiha district."

Scowling in remembrance, Naruto continues, saying – "I found Itachi just after he was finished with his little brother. We exchanged words and I decided to attack him using the Kyuubi's chakra, figuring I could get the drop on him and for a while it worked. I was winning the battle, however I lost focus. The last thing I can remember is hearing Itachi call out some technique, Tsukuyomi I believe and then I woke up here. That's it."

After hearing Naruto's explanation, Hiruzen turns away with a look of despair on his face saying – "It is as I feared then; Itachi has gone rogue."

Naruto curiously asks – "Do you know what prompted this Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen pulls the tip of his Hokage hat over his eyes, as he says – "No I don't Naruto-kun; I wish I did."

"The old man is lying." – Kyuubi interjects.

'What makes you think that?' – Naruto mentally asks in surprise while keeping his expression unchanged so as not to draw the attention of the Hokage.

"I can sense negative emotions boy. When he said he did not know why the Uchiha went rogue, his heartbeat changed and I felt a large surge of guilt coming from him. This is indicative of a lie. Meaning, he does know why the Uchiha did what he did and he feels guilty about it." – Kyuubi answers in a voice of absolute certainty.

'So, yet more secrets are being kept from me. I don't know why I'm surprised. It seems I truly cannot trust anyone in this village.' – Naruto snarls mentally, much to the Kyuubi's excitement.

'It's nearly time; one final push should do it.' – Kyuubi thinks with a sinister chuckle.

Deciding he needed to get out of here before he let something slip, Naruto asks – "Am I free to leave Hokage-sama?"

This question jerks Hiruzen out of his thoughts as he sends a surprised look at Naruto and asks – "So soon Naruto? You just woke up from three day coma, you need time to rest."

Naruto shakes his head in disagreement and responds – "No, I feel fine and I want to leave. However, if you insist on me resting, I can do it at the tower. I would not be able to truly rest while I am here due to the presence of the villagers. You never know when some disgruntled doctor will try to take advantage of my weakened state."

Sighing in resignation, the Hokage says – "Fine, go; but I expect you to take it easy for a few days and work on recovering your strength before you begin any intense training."

Fully intending to disregard the advice, Naruto nevertheless nods in acknowledgment so that he can get back to the tower and away from the villagers faster. The Hokage sighs and leaves, no doubt heading back to his office. After pulling on his clothes and sword, Naruto shunshins away.


Tower – Forest of Death

Arriving back at the tower, he storms his way straight through the tower to his room, barely giving a nod of acknowledgment to Anko along the way so lost was he in his building rage.

The Kyuubi, sensing Naruto was at his breaking point, decided to make his move and says - "Come to the mindscape boy. There is something you must know."

Scowling, the blond heads to his room and latches the door shut. Sitting down on the floor with his legs and arms crossed, he closes his eyes and enters his mindscape to see what was so important. Upon hearing the splashing water, Naruto opens his eyes to reveal the sight of the sewer like mindscape. Following the now familiar red glow, the blond arrives at the Kyuubi's chamber and asks - "So what is so important Kyuubi?"

Disregarding the question, the Kyuubi adopts a curious expression as he says - "Tell me boy, how do you feel about the village now?"

Frowning deeply, Naruto retorts - "What the hell does that have to do with anything Kyuubi? You said there was something I needed to know; now tell me."

The fox snarls and growls - "Answer the question boy, now!"

Frustrated, Naruto blurts out - "Damn it fox, Konoha is my home and I will fight to protect it alright!"

.

.

.

'Wait...'

Flabbergasted, Naruto asks - "What? What did I just say?"

Looking at the fox that has a curiously blank expression on its face, Naruto frantically asks - "What the hell fox? Why do I suddenly feel this way? What is going on?"

"It is as I feared then. It seems I was unable to completely negate the technique." - Kyuubi rumbles out.

Looking sharply at the fox, Naruto demands - "What are you talking about? Tell me!"

Bringing its massive head down so the enormous crimson eye was level with the teen, the Kyuubi asks - "Use your head boy; you were unconscious for three days! Vulnerable in enemy territory! Did you think no one would try to take advantage?"

Naruto's fury starts to boil, as he responds - "No; I would be foolish if I thought that. Do you mean to tell me something happened?"

The great fox nods and while smiling evilly, it asks - "Would you like me to show you what happened? Would you like to see how far this village will go to keep you under control?"

A sick feeling building in his gut, Naruto nods and does not resist as Kyuubi brings a tip of one of its tails through the bars of the cage and presses it to the center of Naruto's forehead.

"Know the truth Naruto and break through the fog of lies that this village has created around you." - Kyuubi says before a memory starts playing in front of his eyes.


Flashback

Naruto opens his eyes to see himself lying in the hospital bed motionlessly. Watching anxiously for what is to happen, his sharp ears pick up the sound of wood tapping on concrete, growing closer and closer to his room.

Tap

Tap

Tap

Tap

The door opens revealing an elderly man with spiky black hair and dark skin carrying a cane. The man is heavily bandaged with his face bearing an x shaped scar on his chin. This man is Shimura Danzo, one of the military advisors on the village council and the secret leader of ROOT. Naruto recognized him easily as Itachi's warnings flashed through his mind.

His lone brown eye stares at the jinchuuriki as he makes his way to the blond's bedside and begins speaking.

"You are dangerous Uzumaki; angry and rebellious are not good traits for the village weapon. I may not be able to take you now, but I can still force you to submit to the purpose you were made for."

The man pulls away the bandages around his right eye, revealing a mangekyo sharingan in the shape of a four bladed shuriken. Standing over the unconscious jinchuuriki, he forces open the blond's eye and gazes directly into it with the sharingan.

"You will protect Konoha, whether you want to or not. Kotoamatsukami."

End Flashback


The memory fades and Naruto returns to the present time in his mindscape, which quickly starts shaking as Naruto's rage peaks.

"THAT BASTARD TRIED TO PLACE A MIND CONTROLLING GENJUTSU ON ME!" - Naruto roars in absolute fury as he begins to furiously pace back and forth around the chamber.

"Yes he did and he would have succeeded if not for my presence. That particular technique is usually impossible to break. It is only because of your strong will and my presence here negating some of the effects are you able to notice it." - Kyuubi explains in a knowing voice to which Naruto only snarls in response.

Kyuubi, knowing the moment had finally arrived, says the words that will bind the boy to it forever. Adopting the same voice it repeatedly used to tempt him previously, the one that radiated the promise of power, it says - "You see Naruto, this village will never change. They will forever see you as a weapon and nothing more. You must break the chains that bind you to this place. I can help you do that."

Kyuubi pauses to let its statement sink in and continues - "You know what I ask Naruto. Pledge yourself to me and I will make you stronger than anyone in this pathetic village. Embrace your inner darkness and I will train you in all that I know; more than enough to make the worms in this pathetic village tremble at your feet."

Naruto stops and looks at his trembling hands, saying - "You are the only one who has been completely truthful to me in my life. Everything you said about my sensei, this village, all of it has turned out to be truth. I am tired of being manipulated by this village."

Clenching his fists, Naruto looks up at the great fox and kneels, saying - "I pledge myself to your teachings."

The fox, not wanting to seem to eager, lest the boy be suspicious, warns the blond by saying - "Be warned Naruto, this will be unlike anything you have undertaken. I will not go easy on you nor will I show mercy. You will either succeed; or you will die."

Naruto's resolve does not falter at the warning. He only raises his head allowing the Kyuubi to see the indomitable will in his gaze and says - "My answer remains the same, I accept."

"Good. Then leave my presence and get some rest; for tomorrow your training begins."


And begin it did; there was no slow start, no easing into it. Kyuubi immediately began working Naruto to the brink of collapse from the very first day and every day after. For the next two years, there was nothing but intense training designed to hone his body into perfection; for the Kyuubi would demand no less than that.

Every morning at dawn he would wake up, eat a calorie packed breakfast, meditate on the roof of the tower for three hours and then begin his morning workout. First he worked on building his strength and had a grueling regiment which consisted of 1000 push-ups, 1000 pull-ups, 500 sit-ups, 500 curls and 300 squats, all of it being done without chakra enhancement and often weighed down in some manner. Next he focused on his speed and endurance. During this time he ran many laps around the 44th training ground with only a few breaks in between them. Sometimes he ran using his legs, other times he ran on his hands and other times he would only use his fingers.

The end of his morning workout was dedicated to refining his sword technique. He did this by running through drills and sequences with each movement having to be perfect, otherwise he would be forced to stop and perform the same move over and over until it reached a level of perfection Kyuubi was satisfied with. At which point he would start the sequence over and not dare to repeat the mistake again before moving on to the next. It was constant repetition, with the same movements being done over and over to ingrain it into his muscle memory until he could run through an entire sequence in seconds without a single mistake.

Naruto's muscles ripped and tore constantly during this time, causing him excruciating pain that was only compounded when the Kyuubi used its chakra to heal the wounds enough so he could keep going. By the end of the morning workout, every single part of his body screamed in agony, from both the workout and Kyuubi's healing. It was torture, it was agony and it made Naruto hate the Kyuubi greatly. But that was good, because Naruto used his hate to make himself stronger. He nurtured it and tucked it away until he needed it, using it to rejuvenate his weary body during moments of exhaustion.

After a lunch to recover his energy, he spent the rest of the day on training and refining his use of chakra. It quickly became apparent that Naruto's control over his chakra was beyond atrocious. While he had incredible amounts of chakra, he had almost no control over it and the only reason he could do the things he could was due to the fact that he spent almost ten times the amount of chakra necessary to do it.

Kyuubi did not like that one bit and started mercilessly drilling Naruto in every chakra control exercise that it knew and demanded that he gain sufficient proficiency in them all. This was even more difficult than his morning workout and often left him nearly depleted of chakra, which considering the amount he had was quite a feat. It was only after two months of non-stop chakra control exercises that Naruto finally managed to bring his control into an acceptable range. This lead to the Kyuubi to direct him to began working on ways he could use his immense chakra capacity to his advantage.

Seeing as he did not have the control to perform normal ninjutsu beyond a few specialized techniques, Naruto and Kyuubi began working towards using it in a way that enhanced Naruto's martial prowess, such as combining his katon sword technique with chakra shape transformation. The project came from the knowledge of knowing swords could be broken, no matter how much chakra was forced into them. This project was their efforts to rid of that weakness.

Between Naruto's research into the sword used by the Nidaime and the Kyuubi's memories of the Yondaime's Rasengan technique that it had recalled seeing used against the Uchiha who controlled it during the battle that saw it sealed into Naruto, saw the technique that was born of this becoming Naruto's primary weapon.

Using a sword handle with the blade removed as a medium, Naruto drew on his massive chakra and molded it not into a sphere, like with the Rasengan, but into a cylinder and eventually a blade. This part of the technique was difficult enough due to his massive chakra and poor control; adding katon chakra into the mix made it damn near impossible. It took weeks of utilizing the Kage Bunshin's memory retrieval feature before the technique was completed.

The results were worth it however. With the technique now complete, Naruto was left with a blade of fire-infused chakra protruding from his specially commissioned sword hilt modeled after the famous Raijin no Ken of the Nidaime Hokage. Taking the form of a straight blade instead of a curved one like most of the japanese katanas; the amount of chakra and heat causes it to glow white at the core with a red aura surrounding the immediate space around it. It was a magnificent technique that enabled his sword to cut through all but the strongest of materials and Naruto was very eager to try it on a living foe.

Naruto's meditation also took a turn for the better. It turned out the reason he was unable to manage his anger and bloodlust without loosing control was due to the fact that he was unconsciously drawing on the Kyuubi's bloodlust at the same time. Due to this, he simply caused the two to clash and fight for dominance; which is what caused his blood rages.

The Kyuubi told him the reason for this is that it's own bloodlust was too massive for him to control without intensive training; training that the Kyuubi would provide him. Every day he fought to master his own bloodlust; strengthening it, refining it, harnessing it, until the time came that his own bloodlust was comparable to the fox's.

This is when he started consciously drawing on the Kyuubi's bloodlust to augment his own, occasionally losing himself to the Kyuubi's bestial instincts when he was unable to keep it under control. Eventually however he was able to use the two simultaneously and without effort. This eventually refined itself to not needing any effort at all to call the two different bloodlusts and use them as one. The result of this 'synchronization training' manifested in his eyes glowing gold when his bloodlust made itself apparent.

Naruto's life as a ninja was not idle during this time either. While rare, Naruto did occasionally find some time away from Kyuubi's training to spar and train with Anko per the demands of his apprenticeship to her. And while he did not learn much from her anymore, seeing as Kyuubi's training made him pretty strong, Anko didn't care as she greatly enjoyed having someone to train and fight without having to hold back. It was near the middle of the second year that his apprenticeship ended and he was given the ANBU trials, which he of course passed with ease due to his training with Kyuubi making him high jonin in terms of strength and skill after one and a half years of constant training.

After passing his tests, Naruto was placed on Anko's squad; no doubt due to the machinations of the Hokage in an effort to keep him appeased and remove any temptation he might have to defect while away on a mission somewhere. Not that he would have left anyway, seeing as after his ANBU career began in earnest, he became almost content in his supposed duties to the village. He was always given a challenging mission, his squad never receiving anything below an A-Rank mission. It provided Naruto with many enemies to fight; some weak and some strong, but enemies all the same and Naruto relished every kill.

Through it all however, Naruto never lost sight of his goal; to become strong enough to show the village his might. While he was constantly tempted to just kill everyone, he knew that the time had not yet come for the village's reckoning. It was at Kyuubi's urging that Naruto decided to be patient and wait for the right opportunity to extract his vengeance. So he would continue waiting, all the while pretending to be loyal to his so-called village.

Little did the biju know that the loyalty his jinchuuriki held toward it would be tested soon and the darkness that was consuming the blond would soon be fighting against the spark of light remaining in him.


EDIT 1/19/2017: This chapter has been revised with new content added.