Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Naruto Shippuuden. I only own the plot.

Alright, so I read through my first three chapters, and you know what I noticed? I curse to much. I'll try to tone that down, but being the son of a navy veteran give you the mouth of a sailor.

Also just for future reference, I will be using custom jutsu that I came up with in my head. If the names are incorrect, blame the internet for lying.

Warning: graphic Violence/Gore, Language.


November 8, a little past three in the after noon

"Hit me with your best shot." Kakashi stood in a relaxed posture, his eye on a confident looking Naruto. The boy stood in his unique stance, grinning up at the Jonin in front of him.

'He's just as confident in himself as he was before.' Kakashi noted, Then the jinchuriki charged forward, moving like an orange streak across the ground.

Kakashi barely had any time to block Naruto's punch, his eye widening in surprise at the vast improvement of speed. 'This is just ridiculous! he went from slow as a snail to a cheetah!' Kakashi thought, weaving his head to dodge another punch.

Then ducking to avoid a third... and blocking a fourth... and you get the idea.

Kakashi shoved Naruto back with his foot, not surprised when he got back up and rushed him again.

'Still charging in head first though... close combat expert?' It would fill a team need, with Sasuke being a ninjutsu specialist and Sakura being a medic, having someone that got up close and personal would be greatly beneficial. None of them were strategists from what Kakashi had seen however.

Kicking Naruto back again, Kakashi spoke. "You've gotten fast Naruto... you've got more of you're father in you than looks, I'll give you that."

"You think I'm fast?" Naruto asked, a grin slowly creeping up his face. "What if I told you, I'm only at half speed right now sensei."

"...You're bluffing." Kakashi said, narrowing his eye before they zeroed in on the slight bulges on his legs. 'Oh damn, weights? That's... too much like Gai for my tastes.' he thought dryly.

Naruto kept the grin on his face, before he pulled the straps off his weights and held them up. Kakashi eyed them, then when Naruto let them drop, he sprinted with a noticeably quicker burst. As they hit the ground in a loud thud, Naruto struck out with his fist right into Kakashi's face, uterrly catching the copy ninja off guard.

Kakashi shook the blow off and narrowly dodged a second punch, and blocking a third before a person could even blink. The copy ninja tried to jab Naruto in the chin, but Naruto blocked the attack and struck Kakashi in the chest with a well placed kick.

The Jonin felt his back collide with a tree, and he was in a daze. It was obvious, that he completely underestimated Naruto's growth in close combat, believing that Naruto wouldn't have gotten this good for another few years.

Still, when Naruto came at him this time, Kakashi was prepared. Blocking Naruto's attack with his arm, he twisted to elbow Naruto right across the jaw, spinning from the momentum and backhanding Naruto backwards, knocking him off his feet.

Naruto was up quickly though, not giving Kakashi a chance to end it early.

Kakashi braced himself again, thinking Naruto was going to use the same bull rush tactic he had used up to this point.

Instead, he watched Naruto give him a cocky smirk and begin to weave through hand seals rapidly, Kakashi recognizing immediately that he was about to use a wind style element.

'Asuma is going to through a fit about not having Naruto as his student hearing this.' Kakashi thought dryly. That was the rarest affinity in the land of fire, the only place where anyone really had a wind affinity being Suna.

And even then, not many people used it there either.

"Fūton: Daitoppa no jutsu!"

Kakashi's eye widened again, the attack blasting him backwards but not off his feet. His heels dug through the dirt, scraping across the soil while his arms came up to shield his eyes.

'Okay, maybe not strictly a close combatant.' Kakashi thought inwardly. 'Naruto has already begun learning about chakra natures, and that wasn't a weak attack either... Itachi, whatever method you used, it worked. You've turned Naruto from mediocre to a prodigy in a mere two months. The potential ceiling for him is higher than anyone I've ever met... even Sasuke's potential doesn't seem to reach quite the height of Naruto's right now.'

Lowering his arms, Kakashi expected to see Naruto still standing where he was when he was weaving hand seals.

Instead, Naruto was about to clobber him in the face with his foot.

"Amai Agoongaku."

Catching the jinchuriki's foot, Kakashi decided he might have to show a tad more effort than he did against Naruto months ago, and fought harder, going as hard as he did against Sasuke day one. He did manage parried every shot that was taken by Naruto, though now he was trying to hit Naruto back, but Naruto just ducked or blocked them just as quickly.

Their spar seemed more like a dance between them now, moving gracefully and calculatedly against each other. Punch met punch, kick met kick... Kakashi unknowing continued to try harder, to the point he was fighting as hard as he would when he sparred against Sasuke now.

Yet still, Naruto managed to break through Kakashi's defenses, and thought he landed a solid kick right into his sensei's ribs.

However, at the last moment, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke, being replaced by a log of wood. Naruto's foot smashed into it, snapping it into two pieces as his foot landed back on the ground. Naruto's eyes narrowed as his head darting around to find Kakashi.

He heard a faint but chillingly familiar piercing sound, the night against Mizuki flashing briefly through his mind before Naruto leaned his head to the side. He watched a shuriken sail right over his shoulder and impale a tree.

Naruto turned around quickly, throwing his own set of shuriken towards a bush, knowing his opponent was there.

Kakashi leapt up onto a low branch in a crouch, Naruto already leaping up at him again. Kakashi caught Naruto's fist and threw the boy to the ground, though Naruto managed to drag Kakashi down with him.

The copy nin managed to land on his feet however, instead of on his back like Naruto.

'His taijutsu stance is naturally similar to Sasuke's, being taught by his older brother. However, it's style is unique in its own way, Naruto's speed making him.. what is he doing now?' Kakashi was watching Naruto go through hand seals again, though this time it was a familiar fire jutsu.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu!" Naruto spat a ball of flame at Kakashi, to which Kakashi again used the body replacement technique to avoid.

Naruto frowned, not knowing where Kakashi went again. "Come on Sensei, I thought this was a spar, not hide and seek!"

'He has two natures.' Kakashi almost smiled. One from both of his parents, wind from his father and fire from his mother. 'He might actually be able to not just compete in the exams, he might be able to win.'

Whist thinking this, Kakashi got behind Naruto and was kicking Naruto in the side of the head, though the attack was physically softened by the copy ninja. He was testing Naruto, not trying to cripple him after all.

Naruto rolled back up to his feet and sprinted right at Kakashi, planting his fist into the man's gut before he could even react. The blow knocked the wind out of the masked copy ninja, but he recovered quickly and grabbed Naruto's arm in a vice grip and trying to put it in an arm bar.

Naruto however, twisted as they fell to the ground and kneed Kakashi in the face, knocking the man off of him. Naruto rolled back up to his feet, noting that this time, Kakashi was the first to his feet.

"I have to admit Naruto," Kakashi began, not winded in the slightest. "you've improved far more than I could've hoped you would. Remind me to thank Itachi if I ever see him again." The copy ninja continued, slipping into his stance. This fight had already extended beyond what Kakashi had ever previously used on Sasuke, and Naruto still fought with the self given handicap of not using his own sharingan.

Naruto grinned, resuming his combat stance. "Trust me sensei," He disappeared in a puff of smoke, much to Kakashi's confusion.

He remained confused until the fist hit him in the mouth.

"I'm just getting started!" Naruto finished, disappearing again.

'Shadow clones? But how? He never weaved a hand seal for it.' Kakashi thought, ducking under the punch this time before striking out with a kick to Naruto's mid section.

However, Naruto took a page out of Kakashi's play book and Kakashi found himself snapping a board clean in half before a kick hit him in the back of the head, making him stumble.

Naruto stood with his arms crossed as he grinned at his sensei "I would definitely say that shunshins are definitely the coolest thing I can do, aside from my elemental jutsu." as Naruto spoke, his smile so full of cheek that Kakashi thought he could smack it. "Well, or this." Naruto then did one seal, and performed his favorite jutsu.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto's voice rang out.

Kakashi expected at most a hundred, but the numbers he saw were much more. Easily around a thousand, Naruto and his instant army immediately surrounded him. Some were crouching on the trees in the grounds like vultures watching an animal being slaughtered, but most of them were circling Kakashi on the ground.

'You're not leaving me much choice here Naruto... to think, you're actually forcing me to resort to this in a spar with you already.' The copy nin lifted up his headband to reveal his sharingan eye, and prepare for a fight.

The sharingan changed everything though. Now, Kakashi's movements were ten times faster and precise, seeing what Naruto was going to do the second before he did it. The mass swarmed forward towards Kakashi, who for a moment thought of using the chidori to blow them away, but decided that the small chance of him hitting the real Naruto weren't worth the gain.

So, he just dodged and smacked the army around for a bit, enjoying the change to stretch his legs. He still wasn't really trying, is sharingan eye making him go back to the level he had used against Sasuke. For a while this went on, before Kakashi grew bored resorted to a jutsu he rarely used to blow them all away.

A ball of chakra formed in his hand in an instant, and Kakashi smashed it into the ground. The results were pretty powerful, the shockwave blasting back and dispelling the entire army, leaving the real Naruto to land on his back and groan.

Naruto sat up, rubbing the back of his head. What the world was that just now? It was awesome! "Sensei, what the heck was that?"

Kakashi gave his usual eye smile, and spoke fondly. "That, was the Rasengan Naruto. It's an A-ranked jutsu your father invented... I'll teach you it some time."

"Seriously?" Naruto was ecstatic at that little tidbit of information, Trying to find anything about his father was something of a hassle, with him being a hokage and having his records locked up for security reasons.

That, and learning an A rank jutsu just sounded badass. The fact that it was created by his father made it better.

Naruto got back up to his feet, and grinned happily at this recent turn of events. He resumed his stance, ignoring the small voice in his head urging him to use his sharingan.

Kakashi looked at Naruto proudly, "...You wouldn't happen to have a trick up your sleeve for when an opponent is stronger than you, would you?"

Naruto's grin widened and he replied "I might..."

In response, Kakashi went and tossed shuriken at Naruto, fully expecting him to dodge the attack. Instead, they went straight through Naruto, who didn't even flinch or react when they cut right through him.

Kakashi stared at Naruto in utter panic, believing he just killed him. Then off course, came the utter surprise Kakashi was promised.

'Naruto' opened his mouth, and a raven popped out unharmed. Naruto's entire body seemed to turn into a flock of ravens that flew off in different directions, before the jinchuriki was no where to be seen.

'So, Naruto knows that trick too huh?' Kakashi thought, not all that surprised. Ravens were an animal that was fond of any of the Uchiha clan, much like the Nara clan with deer, and the Inuzuka clan with dogs. A Uchiha clan contract already signed years and years ago, back in the days of the first Hokage. All Naruto would have to do is learn the jutsu and he could use it.

The same could be said of Sasuke, but he would probably be less willing given that his brother is famed as 'The Raven of the Uchiha clan'.

Kakashi heard a twig snap and he whirled around, expecting Naruto to attack him up close again.

Instead, he was greeted by the sight of Naruto going through hand seals before shouting out "Fūton: Renkūdan no jutsu!"

Bullets of air hit Kakashi in the chest, making Kakashi have to do a flip to prevent himself from landing on his back. When he got his footing back, he found that Naruto had disappeared. 'Where did he go?' the copy nin asked himself mentally, before thinking sourly 'This is a lot funnier happening to someone else.'

Kakashi's sharingan eye however, saw a flicker of movement to his side, and Kakashi instinctively sidestepped, and landed his elbow into Naruto's stomach. "Raiton: Raijū Tsuiga." A wolf of lightning extended from Kakashi's hands, chasing after Naruto.

Naruto ducked behind a tree, the lightning wolf cleaving the tree in half before dissipating and letting Naruto charge at Kakashi again.

But this time, Kakashi was fully prepared for the burst Naruto had. He blocked ever attack with one of his own, countering with light jabs at Naruto's chest and ribs and from there, the tide turned fully towards Kakashi's favor, forcing Naruto onto the defensive.

"You know Naruto," as Kakashi spoke, he jabbed Naruto in the chest for what was the fourth time. "Your eyes would prove to be pretty useful Naruto, I suggest you use them." The copy ninja continued his onslaught on Naruto, landing a knee right into the boy's stomach.

The jinchuriki winced but didn't hunch from the light blow. "Yeah? Well I suggest you duck." Naruto said back, disappearing and reappearing behind Kakashi.

Effortlessly, Kakashi caught the boy's fist by the wrist before ramming his knee into Naruto's stomach again before flinging him to the ground. Knowing that Naruto would not activate his sharingan unless provoked, Kakashi decided to try to antagonize him until he used it. "You're still behind Sasuke, I do hope you know that."

Naruto again ignored the verbal jab."I Won't be for long." he replied simply, getting back up and aiming a kick up at Kakashi's head.

Kakashi blocked the kick easily, jabbing Naruto in the kidney. "Are you jealous of him?" Kakashi went on, shoving Naruto in the back before continuing. "I mean, he has everything you've ever wanted, recognition and power, he's treated with respect around the village,"

"I really don't care." Naruto growled, his fist clenching and his eyes flashing. He was obviously starting to get rattled now.

Then Kakashi put the icing on the cake. "He even has Sakura." The copy nin said coolly.

Naruto glared at Kakashi for a moment, unmoving. "I'm over it." He said finally, much to Kakashi's surprise. It didn't stop the copy ninja from attacking again, this time a kick to Naruto's chest, but it was still surprising.

Naruto rolled back up from the momentum, resuming his stance.

Kakashi frowned at failing to get Naruto to use his eyes, but braced himself. "Any more tricks?"

Naruto was focusing at the moment, but he breathed out "Just one. Katon: Karyū Endan!"

A serpent-like dragon burst to life, coiling to form a sphere around Naruto, yet leaving a gap for him to breath through the top. Kakashi's jaw dropped behind his mask, surprised that Naruto could use something like that so easily.

The dragon let out a roar and launched itself at the copy ninja, searing the grass beneath it. It collided dead on with the ground where Kakashi stood, a small explosion blasting it to rubble.

For a second, Naruto was worried he actually just blew his sensei to high hell, when a kunai poked him in the left side of his neck.

Naruto glanced back and saw his sensei standing behind him, the sharp knife in his hand. "Damn... thought I had you." he muttered.

Kakashi gave an eye smile and asked again "Now are you out of tricks?" Kakashi asked, the blade still head firmly in place.

Naruto sighed, and for the first time since returning considered using his eyes. Why did he care about other's opinion on the matter anyway?

'Mostly because for all I know they'll think it's a trick from the fox and hate me more.' Naruto tried to reason with himself, but now he was thinking how idiotic that was. They didn't know a damn thing about the fox aside from it attacked them thirteen years ago.

For all they knew the fox attacked them because it didn't like the fourth Hokage's haircut.

Still, too little too late for using them. He felt a thud hit him in the neck and immediately collapsed.


Kakashi was looking down at the unconscious form of his student. 'He's definitely improved, he's at least high chunin level with taijutsu and ninjutsu, and he's able to show basic skills with genjutsu. Individually both Sasuke and Naruto have shown that they deserve the chance to become chunin.'

"Ow... my everything." Naruto groaned, sitting up. He saw Kakashi sitting on a rock above him, giving him an analyzing stare.

"Well Naurto," Kakashi began to say, looking down at Naruto with an eye smile. "I can't believe how far you've come. Not even two months ago you couldn't of touched me even when I was reading a book..."

Naruto smiled and interjected proudly "Now I can punch you in the face!"

Kakashi got a glint in his eye. "Yes. Now you can punch me in the face... but not before I kick your ass." the copy ninja said, smiling beneath his mask and saying "The team is going to be together at eight tomorrow in this training ground, come prepared. I still need to see how you three work together with you being gone so long."

Naruto gave a thumbs up and said "You got it Kakashi-sensei!"

"Another thing." Kakashi said, grabbing Naruto's attention. The copy ninja pointed at Naruto's weights and said plainly. "I don't like those."

The blond sweat dropped at the bluntness of his sensei, before he looked up at Kakashi in confusion and a little irked by that."Hey! I worked hard to get where I am with those!" Naruto shouted indigently.

"They're too... Gai standard." Kakashi explained, though that just confused him more.

"Who's Gai?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi shook his head and sighed. "Nevermind. But instead of those bulky weights, I have these for you to use." He handed Naruto four small slips of paper, a small seal placed on the center.

"Press these on you're limbs for me."

Naruto did, and found that the paper itself didn't stick, just the seal. It was like one of the kiddy tattoos that people could buy from a dollar store and wash off after a week or two.

"What are these?" Naruto asked, poking the seal on his left arm. He watched before his eyes as they seemed to fade away like a mirage, which made him stare at his arm dumbly.

"They're called gravity seals." Kakashi said, proud of his handiwork. "You can activate them as you please, just give a simple thought and they're working. The two additional weights on your arms will work separately from your legs, since they are unused to having weights."

"Really?" Naruto asked sounding excited. He decided to try them out, activating the ones in his legs and making the weight fifty pounds. Sure enough, he felt the familiar pressure on his legs without any of the bulkiness of normal weights. 'Fifty pounds have been getting a little light for me... maybe if I add five pounds?'

He raised them, and was feeling a little better now that he could actually alter them at will.

Kakashi watched Naruto getting used to the additional weight on his arms in mild amusement. "This is the first level, the first of a dozen. It can go up to a hundred pounds. When you've gotten used to that weight, all you have to do is put on another seal."

"Got it."

"I suggest for your arms to start with lighter weight, say about twenty pounds." Kakashi continued.

"Alright sensei." Naruto listened to the advise, though his arms were a little unfamiliar with it, he didn't have too much trouble using them.

Kakashi turned around to leave, but at the sound of a roaring lion however, Kakashi whirl around ready to fight. Only, he found Naruto rubbing his stomach sheepishly.

The copy ninja sweat dropped and was almost afraid to ask. "Was that your stomach?"

Naruto rubbed his neck sheepishly, and said hesitantly "... I haven't had lunch yet?"

Kakashi gave a sigh, shaking his head. "You might have grown stronger and more mature Naruto, but you're still the number one knucklehead shinobi in Konoha."

Naruto puffed his cheeks indigently. "Oh yeah... well, uh... You still have old man hair!" he finally shot back, sprinting off towards the village.

And by the time Kakashi registered the words, Naruto was gone.

Kakashi smiled under his mask and shook his head. He reached into his back pouch and pulled out an orange book. 'Now, what page was I on?'

However, there was one thing Kakashi had failed to notice during the entirety of the spar. Near the entrance of the training ground was a teenager, hiding behind the thick oak trees with a dark smile on his face.

'So Naruto, you seemed to dislike using your eyes unless you are in a dire situation. Orochimaru-sama will have to be told of this development right away...'


The bell for the end of class rang absently through Konohamaru's ears, and Konohamaru started to pack his stuff. He shrugged his bag onto his shoulders and walked out the classroom, missing the look Iruka was giving him.

'Naruto's spar should be over about now,' Iruka thought, reading the clock as 3:30 in the afternoon. 'I hope you can talk to Konohamaru soon Naruto.' He saw Konohamaru just brush roughly past another student's shoulder, and walk towards the door without saying a word. 'This is hard to watch.'

Since the day Naruto was announced missing, Konohamaru stopped trying all together in class. Granted, he didn't try much normally, but he at least did what he could to try and pass. Now, he put down random answers.

Konohamaru kept his head down as he walked, his mind in turmoil. Memories of his father would flash randomly in the Saratobi's mind, who went missing when he was four and was never found. Now the same thing was happening with Naruto, who was like an older brother for him.

To put it mildly, the last few months sucked.

Moegi and Udon were both waiting outside, hoping he would stop and talk to them like they used to.

But he didn't. He kept his feet moving and walked right past them, his eyes not even looking once in their direction and staring down at the floor absently as he walked. He felt their stares on the back of his head, but he still didn't look back.

He didn't know where he was going, only that his feet were going wherever they wanted to.

Or his stomach. He found himself walking into Ichiraku's, a place he had started going to almost every day, just like Naruto.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's... oh hello Konohamaru." Ayame's voice was unusually quiet, even in greeting Konohamaru. She perked up slightly as to try at least make it look like she was fine, but she missed seeing Naruto's face in the store.

He was like a little brother to her, all but living at Ichiraku's for the last six or seven years. For Konohamaru, Naruto was like an older brother, like Iruka was to Naruto himself. They were rivals, at least that's what the Saratobi told himself.

"Miso Ramen again?" She asked Konohamaru, who nodded absently, sliding into a seat and fiddling with his fingers. Ayame walked into the back to prepare the meal.

A second person came in after a few minutes, and Konohamaru glanced back expecting to see Udon or Moegi again, but he was greeted by someone a little older than them.

And also a little more blond.

"Oi, Konohamaru! Why do you look like your about to cry? You're about to eat the food of the gods!"

the Saratobi stared in utter shock at the newcomer, stuttering out "B-boss?"

Naruto sat down next to him with a grin on his face and said "One and only." He ruffled Konohamaru's hair, while the younger boy stared at the scar on Naruto's face.

Konohamaru didn't know how to react at first, caught completely off guard.

So he settled with engulfing Naruto in a hug. Naruto smiled softly, returning the hug. The fox inwardly rolled his eyes, not really caring what his jinchuriki host was doing but completely bored.

He shrugged before deciding to nap again, the best hobby the gods ever created.

Konohamaru let Naruto go and looked up at Naruto's face, but the Saratobi himself frowned at the scar on his face.

The smile disappeared seeing the scar on Naruto's face. "That scar kinda makes you look like Iruka-sensei boss." he said to Naruto.

Naruto kept the grin on his face, and said "I guess it does, huh? It's just in the wrong place, they should've hit my nose instead of under my eye."

They heard Ayame coming out with Konohamaru's food, and Naruto smiled up at the waitress. "Hey Ayame! Miss me?"

The girl just stared blankly at him, not blinking. She slowly grabbed a frying pan, never breaking eye contact with Naruto while keeping a disturbing look of calm on her face "...You idiotic little asshole."

Naruto's smile got smaller and his eyes showed worry. He gave a nervous laugh and tried feebly "I love you too?" After a moment, his face froze in fear as Ayame stalked closer to him, the food long forgotten on a counter and brandishing a pan menacingly.

Konohamaru looked between Naruto and Ayame before he gulped in fear and scooted away, shielding his eyes to the violence. 'Sorry boss, you're on your own for this one.'

Naruto's girlish screams were the only noise for miles around.


Itachi took a deep breath, coming up out of the lake near Ame. He was almost positive that the moment the first rain drop hit his head, they were aware of his presence in the village hidden in the rain.

Still, he had a job to do. It'll likely end in his death, or at least the loss of a limb, but he'll do it none the less.

Jiraiya had begun his journey back to Konoha, though Itachi knew that he wouldn't arrive for another six weeks at the very earliest due to the toad sage's 'research' for his novel.

But right now, Itachi couldn't worry about that. He was more worried about his own well being.

He summoned a raven, its sharingan eyes looking up at him expectantly. Itachi stared back for a moment, before letting the bird fly away to do its duty. With that, Itachi heard his stomach grumbling, and decided 'A meal before I die wouldn't hurt.'

He stopped in the first restaurant he found, a place called The Milked Cow. An absolutely terrible name, but given what the waiters and waitresses were wearing, it was not the worst part about the place.

No, the worst part was the terrible mistake he made. Strobe lights dotted the dimly lit place, hordes of aging women and even a few men lounging on half a dozen red couches.

This wasn't a restaurant. It was a brothel.

"Well howdy there mister, can I help you?" A fat and aging blond woman asked, walking up to her. She kept batting her eyes flirtatiously at him, which nearly made him gag. But that wasn't the worse part.

That honor belonged to the disgustingly scandalous costume she wore.

It was an actual cow outfit. Equipped with a bell tied around her neck, utters on her stomach, and a one piece barely covering her, ahem, cleavage. Itachi kept a blank face, but inwardly he was screaming in utter terror.

"...Mister?"

Itachi shook himself out of his stupor and said "I thought this was a restaurant... my apologies."

The waitress smiled deviously and tried to discreetly spread her legs while speaking. "this is a restaurant... if you want it to be."

Itachi blanched while she gestured to her... well, her womanhood with her hand.

'Kami save me.'


Naruto sat pouting with his arms crossed, large welts on top of his head. Konohamaru was snickering next to him, the first smile on his face in two months on his face.

"Now, may I take your order Naruto?" Ayame asked sweetly, cleaning off the pot she just used to bash Naruto's head multiple times.

"A simple hello would've worked... you didn't have to beat me up." Naruto grumbled, still pouting. He shot an annoyed glare at Konohamaru, who was cracking up.

"Do you want food or no?" Ayame asked again, this time a little more forceful.

"Uh... let's see." Naruto tapped his chin before he said "Ten Miso Ramen bowls, uh... no. You know what, make it twenty."

Ayame sighed dejectedly, mumbling "...I should seriously make you pay for your meals." before walking to the back to start making the large order.

Konohamaru sat around, spinning in his chair and making whishing noises which left Naruto to his thoughts. Naturally they fell in the line of his team and how he would be seeing them again tomorrow morning

'I wonder just how they've changed.' He mused, before snorting slightly. 'Wonder if Sasuke's still going to be a twat to me.'

"All Uchiha are the same, arrogant and conniving." The nine tailed fox said in his head, speaking for the first time in a few hours. "Do not be surprised that he'll prove to be the same."

Naruto frowned slightly. 'I thought I told you to shut up?' He shot at the fox sarcastically.

He could almost see the cruel smile playing the demon's lips. "You are the most ballsy boy I have ever met." The Nine tails said in an almost amused tone. "Here I am, a demon stronger than anyone you have ever seen, and you sass me. If not for the fact that I'm trapped in here, I'd applaud you."

'Damn, thanks. Most people get annoyed for backtalk.' Naruto thought, wondering if the fox was done.

Of course, it wasn't. "I'm not a person foolish brat." The kyuubi snarled darkly. "I am the monster that caused the death of your parents and destroyed most of this pathetic land."

'You really are dead set on that one aren't ya?' Naruto asked dryly.

The kyuubi didn't dignify that and remained silent. Once he had stopped talking for a few minutes, Naruto finally let himself come back from la-la land, just in time for Ayame to put twenty bowls right in front of him,

"Its on the house Naruto, call it a welcome home gift." The older girl smiled down at him kindly, the way a sister would smile at her brother.

Naruto took it gratefully, before he started to dig in happily.


Sasuke leaned against a tree with a stoic face, awaiting Kakashi's arrival. And though outwardly he was calm, inwardly he was berating himself. 'Why the hell do I even bother showing up on time?'

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, a column of smoke appearing in front of him. His eyes widened however, as a shuriken flew towards his face.

Reacting on instinct, Sasuke ducked and rolled to the side, his sharingan spinning to life immediately. He knew that he was overly reliant on them, but the way they gave him a boost in just about every single attribute made it hard to resist.

Sasuke saw Kakashi was standing where the poof of smoke once was, his headband up and his sharingan already active. Was Kakashi seriously doing this?

Apparently so, because while Sasuke stared dumbly at Kakashi the jonin went through hand seals quickly and attacked.

"Fūton: Renkūdan no jutsu."

Sasuke was blasted in the chest by a bullet of air, still caught well off his guard by the sudden fight he just found himself in.

"Kakashi, what are you doing-" Sasuke's question was cut off, as he was forced to block a high punch from Kakashi, shoving the limb away before ducking beneath a kick aimed for his head.

The last Uchiha grit his teeth and realized that Kakashi wasn't going as easy as he had in all the spars they had before. The bruise on his chest was an obvious pointer to that.

Going through hand seals, Sasuke let out an attack "Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu."

A fireball rocketed towards Kakashi, singeing the ground in its wake.

Kakashi went through hand seals quickly and put his hands on the ground. "Doton: Doryūheki no jutsu."

A wall of earth formed in front of Kakashi just in time, the fireball crashing straight into it.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as smoke filled his vision, not letting him see anything more than five feet in front of him. Fortunately for him though, that's all he needed with his sharingan eyes.

"Come on Kakashi, why are you hiding?" Sasuke called out, his eyes darting from side to side while the thick Uchiha boundary wall was at his back. Seriously, where did he go?

Sasuke heard footsteps to his left, and he immediately saw Kakashi running at him blindly.

Thinking that for once he had a free shot on him, Sasuke cocked his fist back and rammed it right at Kakashi's face, aiming to hit the copy nin as hard as he could.

But Kakashi didn't let that happen. No, he was too crafty for that. He caught the punch, before electricity flashed through his eyes. The oddity didn't escape Sasuke, but before the Uchiha could react, He felt Kakashi's hand dissipate into lightning that blasted him back in a bright explosion.

"GAH!"

Sasuke felt himself smack hard into the boundary wall. 'What the hell was that... a clone jutsu?' Sasuke looked up taking note that the smoke was clearing. The 'Kakashi' he tried to hit was all but dissipated into electricity that was sparking in mid air, the copy ninja fading away with the wind.

Once the smoke cleared, Sasuke saw the real Kakashi was sitting on top of the earth wall he made previously, a vintage eye smile on his masked face.

Kakashi waved good naturedly. "You're getting soft Sasuke." Kakashi called down at him, still smiling. "I've been too easy on you."

Sasuke gapped at Kakashi like this man completely lost it. 'Too easy? TOO EASY! You've been working me into the ground, and even then you make me get back up and keep going!' He mentally screamed.

Seriously, Kakashi made Sasuke work himself into exhaustion before kicking the boy awake and forcing him to keep going. Sasuke didn't know what was going on, but if Kakashi was about to start pushing him even harder, he was in for a world of trouble.

As much as Sasuke wanted to improve, Kakashi had ludicrous training methods that usually ended with Sasuke unconscious.

Kakashi jumped down, landing in a crouch on the ground. "I want you to come at me like you're going to kill me Sasuke. I want to see how far you've come."

Sasuke kept a stoic face, before he nodded and fell into his stance.

Kakashi kept the smile on his face and gave Sasuke the 'come here' gesture with his hand.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, his sharingan analyzing everything about Kakashi's stance. He tapped his knuckles together and charged, sprinting forward and threw a punch at Kakashi's face.

The copy ninja blocked it, stepping down towards Sasuke's ankle to sweep his legs out.

Sasuke pulled his arm back, leaping backwards to avoid Kakashi's attack. He went through hand seals rapidly and said "Katon: Hōsenka no jutsu."

Kakashi's eyed the small fireballs coming at him, a poof of smoke covering his person as the first one struck.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, his sharingan making out the wooden dummy that replaced Kakashi at the very last moment. 'Where did you go?' Sasuke thought, his eyes narrowing as he kept looking around, only finding that Kakashi was no where to be seen.

Mostly, that was because he didn't look up.

Kakashi was sticking to the Earth wall about twenty feet above Sasuke with his chakra, sprinting downwards and aiming a fist down at the last Uchiha.

Sasuke looked up hearing the patter of running feet above him, and his eyes widened. He pushed off the wall and dove out the way, Kakashi's attack cracking the earth beneath it.

It was a restrained version of what Kakashi could've really done if he wanted, a Chidori would've killed the Uchiha even if he got out of the way, but it would've been more than enough to knock Sasuke clear into next week. The Uchiha got up quickly, trying to go through hand seals to use a jutsu.

Problem with that was that Kakashi wouldn't let him.

'Oh shi-' Sasuke didn't even have time to put together a string of words together in his head before he felt Kakashi's fist go across his face, sending him rolling across the ground.

Sasuke's shoulder hit the wall to stop his momentum, and Sasuke spent the next moment catching his breath before he got back to his feet. The Uchiha barely had time to widen his arms before he was blocking Kakashi's next attack, another punch at Sasuke's face.

He pushed Kakashi back, before he struck out with a kick into the copy ninja's midsection to create separation.

Sasuke had a scowl on his face, slightly winded to this point. He glared at Kakashi momentarily before he sprinted forward, going on the offensive again.

He swiped at Kakashi's face with his fist, hoping to hit the jonin in the cheek but failing to do so. Kakashi ducked under the attack, letting Sasuke spin around in front of him.

But Sasuke wasn't finished, extending his leg and using the momentum from the spin he did to kick Kakashi across the chest.

Kakashi was knocked backwards, and Sasuke kept swinging at the copy ninja in an attempt to beat the hell out of him. The jonin moved with the grace of a dancer, dodging every single attack.

Kakashi finally caught Sasuke's fist, planting both feet right into Sasuke's chest and driving the air from the boy's lungs. Sasuke smashed into the ground and sliding, using the momentum to roll up to his feet and resume his stance.

Kakashi stood in a more relaxed stance, his sharingan meeting Sasuke's in a stare. "All that power means nothing without speed Sasuke."

Sasuke was by no means slow. One of the fastest rookies of the class, he naturally possessed speed that no one else had. Hell, before the wave mission Sasuke was the fastest genin in all of Konoha. However, a hard work always would overcome natural talent, and if Kakashi compared Naruto and Sasuke strictly by speed right now, the edge went to Naruto by a large margin.

However, strategy was Sasuke's strong suits. He also had the raw power expected of the Uchiha clan, a clan that rivaled the Senju for centuries before the nations had formed.

So it came down to skill. And as of this point, Kakashi couldn't give either an edge. Naruto had a slight advantage in a unique fighting style, combining the front lotus with the Uchiha clan style, but Sasuke had the advantage of being a combative genius.

In short, it was almost unfair for them to be on the same team. With Sakura excelling at medical ninjutsu, they were well on their way to become a team greater than the sannin.

As long as they don't split the way the previous Team Seven had done.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes again, keeping a level head and charging forward. He put more speed behind his punches, silent rage helping him fight.

After a third attempt at punching him in the face, Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's forearm and spun him around. He tried to kick Sasuke in the back, knocking the boy back into the boundary wall, when a poof of smoke erupted around him.

Kakashi found himself kicking a log in half, and a fist nailing him in the cheek.

The copy ninja landed on his back, surprised by the punch. He got up onto one knee and rubbed his jaw. 'Substitution... not bad. Not bad at all.' Kakashi looked up and saw Sasuke about to clobber his face again, forgoing his usual over-reliance on ninjutsu.

Kakashi leaned backwards to avoid the punch and flipped backwards on his hands, landing on his feet. The earth wall he created earlier was to his back, and Sasuke was only a dozen or so feet away from him. "Intend to kill Sasuke, stop holding back." The copy ninja ordered sharply.

Sasuke glared before he muttered. "You asked for this..."

'Monkey, dragon, rat, bird, ox, snake, dog, tiger, monkey.' Sasuke went through hand seals quickly, both physically creating them and naming them in his head, though he did have to use the longer variant of the set needed due to lacking the skill needed for it. This was the first in battle use he had of this technique.

Lightning covered his left hand, and the sound of chirping birds filled the air.

As Sasuke sprinted forward, he let out the name of his attack in a shout.

"Chidori!"

The last Uchiha slammed his hand forward, aimed right at Kakashi's chest.

The copy ninja let out an eye smile of pride, though he managed to keep Sasuke from seeing it as he leaned out of the way. 'You've grown too Sasuke.' He thought, hearing the wall of earth behind him explode. He rammed his fist into Sasuke's gut, making the Uchiha spit out saliva.

Sasuke stood hunched over for a moment, before he fell to his knees, and eventually onto his face. He wasn't unconscious, but the attack efficiently ended the fight in an anti-climatic finale.

Kakashi looked down at Sasuke for a moment before crouching down to his level, the smile on his face hidden behind his mask but filled with pride.

"You did great Sasuke, better than I expected... you can have the rest of the day to yourself. You'll spend it training anyway, but make sure you don't do anything strenuous. I have a surprise for both you and Sakura tomorrow, don't be late."

"...You're the one who's always two hours late..." Sasuke groaned out, coughing. He sat up slowly, looking up at Kakashi.

Kakashi's smile didn't falter. "Don't worry. I won't be late for something like this."

Sasuke blinked, but Kakashi poofed away in a column of smoke before he could ask what the jonin meant.


"I said fifty laps!"

Guren's order echoed through the training ground, and rang in her teams ears. She knew they already ran that amount, but damn it she was feeling lazy today. She really didn't want to work with a team anyway, so why not just force them to do stupid stuff like this?

As she thought about this, she got more comfortable on her tree branch. Currently she was lounging leisurely on a tall tree in the center of the training ground, able to oversee everything that her team did.

They were good for their age, around mid-chunin level. But the fact that Orochimaru stuck her of all people leading a group of genin for an exam that was a month away pissed her off beyond all reason.

Hence the stupid exercises.

"We just did fifty!" Zaku complained up at her. "Why can't we just spar with each other or something?"

Guren gave a heavy sigh and glared towards the ground to her left, finding that Zaku had plopped down to the ground. He had his legs spread and his arms behind his head, looking like he was about to take a nap right on the ground. Dosu glanced warningly at his teammate, but said nothing as he stood next to a stoic Kin and stared up at Guren.

Guren glared down at Zaku, creating a thick shard of crystal with a terribly sharp point. "Pompous little brat." She muttered, tossing it at him, letting it land mere millimeters away from Zaku's manhood.

The Oto genin gave a yelp and crawled away, staring up at Guren incredulously.

"For kid mouth over here," Guren pointed at Zaku with her thumb. "Do a hundred more laps, and they better be done in thirty minutes this time."

Dosu narrowed his eyes, and spoke up. "Are you out of your mind?"

Guren raised an eyebrow at Dosu, who stepped forward. While she was insulted that the kid was about to call her out, she respected the fact that he had the guts to stare her in the eye unflinching afterwords.

He gestured to his two teammates, and spoke in a louder tone. "We've been running all day, we can barely stand as it is. You expect us all to run a hundred laps?"

Guren sat up in her tree branch, a dangerous look growing on her face. "In thirty minutes. Why, are you afraid that you can't do it?"

Dosu snorted at that, and said blankly. "No. I know I can do it, but..." He pointed to Kin, who raised a confused eyebrow at him. "She can't do it." Then he pointed down to Zaku and said "And this one probably could if he wasn't so damn lazy."

Zaku growled and jumped up to his feet, shouting indigently "Oh hell no! I can totally do it! Want me to prove it?!"

Dosu looked at Zaku impassively, while a tick mark appeared on Kin's forehead. "I can do it as well."

Guren looked confused, seeing what looked like a wink from Dosu and the boy turned his head to speak directly to his teammates. "Really? I'll make a bet with you two." He leaned closer and said "All three of us will run one hundred laps as quickly as possible, and the winner learns a jutsu from Guren. Deal?"

Guren blinked before it registered what he had said, but she didn't debate it. As much as she loathed to say, she was their sensei and was responsible for their growth, so why not teach them a few things.

"What do you say Guren-sensei?" Dosu asked, calling back to the crystal user.

Guren smiled at how Dosu practically worked this completely to his advantage. From what she had seen, he was the fastest in long sprints, as Zaku tired quickly and Kin just wasn't as fast as her teammates. So now, he had his team working harder and he was likely going to get a new jutsu out of this in the process.

If he wasn't careful, Guren might grow to actually like the kid.

"Sure kid." Guren nodded, leaning back in the tree. She knew no matter how hard they ran, it would take a minimum of an hour for this race to be over and wanted to get comfortable again.

Dosu, Kin, and Zaku all lined up next to each other and got in a sprinter's stance, while Guren began to count down for the race to start.

"3...2...1... Go!"


Naruto walked out of the Ramen stand, Konohamaru behind him with a happy grin on his face. The Saratobi decided to follow Naruto for the time being, a little clingy to him.

'Must be because of what happened to his dad.' Naruto thought sadly, though he kept the happy mask on his face. He didn't know the full details, just that Konohamaru's father went missing on a mission and never came home.

"Hey boss, do you have any new jutsu you can show me?" Naruto was knocked out of his stupor at the sound of the young Saratobi's voice.

Naruto looked down at him, and contemplated it. While he had numerous jutsu he could show Konohamaru, he didn't know his element and thus likely couldn't use any of Naruto's attacks. Besides, if Konohamaru had an affinity for lightning or earth, he was completely out of luck since Naruto knew nothing on any of the two at the moment.

There was also the crow clone technique, but Naruto was sure that Konohamaru couldn't use it either. Itachi told him that Ravens were expressly a Uchiha clan animal, the entire clan already having a contract written and signed for the next hundred generations.

"Sorry Konohamaru," Naruto said apologetically. "You have to wait until your older to get into the stuff I'm getting into."

"Aww!" Konohamaru groaned. "No fair!"

Naruto chuckled, and rubbed the back of his neck. He looked down at the Saratobi and began to muse what element he likely had an affinity for.

'Asuma-sensei has Wind from what I've heard, and Jiji has fire, so that rules out water and earth, but I don't know about his dad. Maybe Lightning?' He snorted softly so that Konohamaru couldn't hear him. 'No, Lightning needs someone with a level head to be able to use it, so it has to be either fire or wind.' Between those two Naruto couldn't rule out either. He guessed it was fire since it was the more common element, as Asuma and Naruto are the only two living shinobi of Konoha with Wind affinities.

'Maybe I should ask pointers from Asuma-sensei sometime? I'm sure he wouldn't mind...' Naruto continued in his musing, not able to completely ignore the glaring eyes of the village, though Konohamaru didn't seem to see them. What was it about this place that was so dead set on doing everything they could to go around the Hokage's laws and make his life hell?

It didn't mater. It never has mattered to him, but now it annoyed him. It felt like a thorn stuck on his shirt, the point broken off. Not painful, just a nuisance.

"Hey boss..." Naruto was snapped out of his musing and looked down at Konohamaru, who was looking up at the sky with a red tint on his cheeks. The Saratobi mumbled a few incoherent words and Naruto stared at him blankly.

"I can't hear a word your saying Konohamaru." Naruto said.

Konohamaru sighed and closed his eyes, blurting out loudly "How do you tell a girl you like her?!"

Naruto stared down at Konohamaru blankly for well over a full minute, who glared back up at him with a scarlet face. Naruto wanted to laugh, he really, really wanted to.

But he found that he couldn't. Not with all the people staring at him with hate in their eyes as he talked to the grandson of their hokage.

Why was it bothering him so much now? He was practically suffocating in the hatred right now, it was terrifying.

"...Just be yourself Konohamaru. Don't be someone you're not." Naruto advice, his left hand clenching and unclenching as he walked. He needed to get away from this, before he did something he was going to regret for the rest of his life.

Naruto patted Konohamaru's shoulder, saying "Listen Konohamaru, it's late and I have to be up bright and early tomorrow. Why don't you head on home, I'm sure Hokage-jiji will be happy to know where you've been for the last few hours."

Konohamaru frowned. "But you just came back."

Naruto gave a sigh and said lightly "Exactly. I need to get reacquainted with my team for the chunin exams next month." Naruto frowned as his explanation didn't work, and he continued. "That, and I have a lot to prove."

Konohamaru looked confused. What did that even mean? "You have to prove what?"

'That I'm not a dead last, that I can be just as good as my father once was, that jinchuriki aren't inherently evil.' Naruto rapidly thought, though he didn't say any of that. Two of those reasons weren't reasons that anyone aside from the adults of the village were aware of, and only two or three people knew who his father was not counting himself.

Instead he beat his chest with a cocky grin and proclaimed loudly "That I'm still the best damn shinobi in all of Konoha!"

Konohamaru looked up at the older boy he saw as a brother, truly believing Naruto's proclamation. Winning the chunin exams in Kumoagakure will prove it.

"Alright Naruto... see ya later!" Konohamaru said the last bit as he started to head home, waving goodbye.

"yeah..." Naruto's voice trailed off as he climbed up to the rooftops of Konoha again, finding it much easier to breathe. Naruto smiled lightly, taking a deep breath of air before he sprinted full speed towards his house, his weights still laying forgotten back at the training ground.

When Naruto got back, it was around nine P.M. He yawned and flopped straight down on his bed, smiling as he thought of the restful night of sleep he was going to have.

At least, it was supposed to be restful.


Naruto let out a groan as he found himself face first in ankle deep water, half his face above the water. He blinked twice before his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, staring up at an enormous red gate with a small paper seal up near the center of it, acting as a lock. There seemed to be no definite ceiling, the cage expanding past where Naruto's sight ended.

Behind the cage was utter blackness, nothing visible inside the large prison save for two chilling red eyes staring back at him. Each eye was about a hundred feet high, near the small seal in the center of the cage from Naruto's view, slightly above it.

"Well," The Kyuubi's voice rumbled above him snidely. "It's about time you arrived."

Naruto wanted to speak, but the killing intent radiating off the fox was utterly suffocating, and the fox wasn't doing anything threatening aside from looking at him.

Seeing his container was about to pee his pants, the fox snorted in disgust. "I swear boy, you are nothing but utter trash. A real jinchuriki would have more courage than this. Where did all that bravado go from the noodle restaurant a few hours ago?" The monster growled down at him.

The harsh words however, made Naruto raise his chin indigently and lip off without a single thought about his well being on the line. "Well damn, that's not very nice fur ball." He said, standing up and dusting himself off. He looked the demon right in the eyes now, and held a thumb up to his face. "But my courage is still right here."

"A mask." the fox said blankly, before it's tone grew dark. "Little fool, you think putting on a mask that I've seen since you created it makes you brave? It makes you look even more pathetic than my last host."

Naruto shrugged, keeping the cocky smirk on his face. "Makes me pathetic? Oh, I'm sorry, who's the asshole trapped in a cage?"

The fox's eyes narrowed, and he spat "Calling me pathetic is foolish. You're mortal, you will die off and then I am free once again. I don't have to break free, eighty years is a blink of the eye to me."

Naruto nodded, but said "That's true, but those eighty years, you're going to be... well, you're going to be-"

"If you say it, I will kill you." The fox snarled maliciously, knowing exactly what Naruto was about to say.

But Naruto just kept grinned and said it anyway.

"My bitch."

The fox smashed itself against the cage in a feeble attempt of breaking free, the nine tailed fox's form being revealed to him for the first time. It wasn't quite as big as the Hokage mountain like the stories made it out to be, but damn it was close. Well over a few hundred feet, the fox was hunching over to stare down at him. It had eye popping orange fur, matted down by the water of its prison. All nine of its tails were the size of entire apartment complexes in length, and all of its claws the size of full grown adults.

"Come here, and I will tear you apart!" It roared at him, its fangs dripping with saliva.

Naruto gave the fox a deadpan look. "Then I'll just stay over here." he shrugged, unknowingly infuriating the fox even more. "Now, is there a reason I'm here instead of sleeping like I wanted to be doing?"

"Aside from promising to meet me face to face?" The Kyuubi snarled dangerously. "It's because your weak, and I am not going to be trapped in a sniveling coward." The fox said, finally calming down after their little spat a moment ago.

Naruto glared at the demon through the bars and said "I'm no coward-"

"Then why did you not use your sharingan against Kakashi?" The kyuubi asked. "Why hinder your own abilities unless you were afraid!"

Naruto clenched his fist. "It wasn't the right time... and mostly because I didn't want to until the end."

The fox shook his head in disgust and spat "It wasn't the right time? No, the right time was the beginning of the fight! The sharingan is a tool, one meant to be used. You saw what just how much more powerful you were with it than you are without it. Are you going to be satisfied tied with the Uchiha brat for the rest of your existence?"

Naruto didn't speak on that.

"You are a jinchuriki, the weakest might I add. The human sacrifice of the one tail is ten times more powerful than that pathetic Uchiha!" The Kyuubi roared, slamming its paw against the cage. "The five tails is over twenty times as, and the six is over forty, and the Eight tails, over a thousand times! Out of the eight pairs, we are one of the weakest, and I will not stand for it any longer!"

Naruto was stunned at that. While he wasn't overly surprised that there were others like him, he didn't expect the fox itself to tell him that they all were that much stronger than him.

"Do you see the problem now? Your eyes won't make you catch up with them immediately, but in the long run they will do nothing but help you."

"I don't care what you have to say about it." Naruto finally snapped. "I've already grown stronger than I ever was, hell I've already been told I caught someone no one thought I'd ever equal!"

"I don't care that you're catching up with that boy on your team, you need to grow to be as strong as his older brother!" The fox said in a calmer, albeit still very hostile tone.

"You want me to grow as strong as Itachi?" Naruto snorted. "Do you not think I'm trying? If it was easy, I'd already of done it!"

"I never said anything about it being easy. You are too brash, cocky, and weak minded to realize your true potential." The fox said, lowering its head to Naruto's level.

"Weak minded," Naruto's face scrunched up. "what the hell does that mean?"

"It means that I am not the only one capable of seeing through your façade." The fox said harshly, its face coming into a cruel smile. "The Yamanaka clan are specialists in reading people, in more than just their minds. They can read facial expressions, they can see body language. The Nara clan is full of complete genius, and though they are pathetically lazy, they are keenly observant. Hell, the Akimichi are one of the few clans I'd ever call decent enough to see someone suffering. That entire little trio you ran into earlier could read you like a book, boy."

Naruto didn't know what to say to that. Was it true, was he really that easy to read? "So what? It won't stop me from becoming Hokage... it won't stop me from growing stronger!" Naruto proclaimed, pointing his finger challengingly at the demon caged before him.

The fox surprisingly nodded in agreement. "No it will not. Not with me helping you as well as that Hatake brat."

Did Naruto hear the fox right? "...uh, did you say something about you were going to help me?"

"I did." The fox said blankly, cocking its head and giving a dark smirk. "And it starts tonight."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, and asked "Uh shouldn't I be the one who tells me what to do? After all, you're a little... stuck?"

The fox gave a chuckle, before it said in a chilling voice "Stuck I may be, but Uchiha Itachi is not the only one proficient in genjutsu. I can force you to see so many horrors, that you will be afraid to blink." The fox's eyes flickered, making Naruto flinch and blink.

And thus began Naruto's tour of hell.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT (A lot more than anything else I've written so far.)

Fire. Everything was on fire. That was the first thing that Naruto realized.

The pungent smell of death and decay filled Naruto's lungs. It took a minute, but upon seeing the charred and nearly destroyed version of the Hokage mountain in the distance, he realized that the flaming crater was once his proud village. Corpses were strewn everywhere, terrified looks on their faces as they died in mid scream being burned alive.

Naruto's heart seemed to crawl up into his throat, and he started running. He didn't know where he was going, only that he had to get away.

Unfortunately, he tripped, and tumbled down an ash covered hill. The disgusting taste got in his mouth, but that was the furthest thing from his mind upon standing up to survey where he was.

The Rookie nine were all together, their sensei's with them. Dozens of other nameless people were there, but Naruto barely registered the civilians. Just the Konoha twelve mattered.

The closest team was Team Ten, who were lying in pools of their own blood on the scorched ground, limbs missing and grave wounds all over them. Their eyes were open and their faces twisted with terror and pain.

Ino, the person closest to him, particularly looked the worse. Aside from her face being scuffed up with cuts and bruises, her left arm ripped off and a gaping hole through her stomach so big Naruto would have seen the ground beneath her if not for the pool of blood.

Teams eight as well as the rest of team seven save for Sakura and himself was near them as well, looking just as bad, with Akamaru torn in half, And Kakashi's masked head ripped from his shoulders, laying next to his leg, while his torso was barely still together from the cuts on it.

Naruto couldn't hold back the tears. "No..." He whispered, backing up a step from shock, but he tripped again, something fuzzy cushioning his fall, also being what tripped him.

He looked at it in horror, and saw that it was a tail. It was a vibrant orange color blackened from all the blood and ash, coated in the life of others. Naruto frantically began to look over the rest of his appearance, finding his hands were growing long black claws and the whisker marks on his cheek turning to actual whiskers.

More tears stung his eyes and fell down to his knees, his hands over his head and he was desperately using the genjutsu breaking method Itachi taught him, though it failed miserably.

'This... this can't be happening,' Naruto thought, shaking his head and staring down to the ground, refusing to look up. ' I couldn't have done this to them...' Naruto's thoughts were jumbled at best with terror and he resisted the urge to vomit.

"Na..ruto..." he heard a voice rasp out. His neck shook slightly in surprise, the voice coming from behind him. He slowly turned around, finding Ino's haunting eyes had moved to stare at him, her mouth moving. "Why...d...id you... do... t...his?"

Naruto shook his head numbly, and tried to speak. "I-"

"Do...be..." Naruto's eyes snapped down to the other side of him, where Sasuke lay. "Y...you... I hate... you... How... c...ould you?" His tone of voice was the same raspy voice as Ino's had been.

A third voice spoke up, making Naruto leap to his feet. "Y..ou saved... me...from those... bullies... when... we were... little... j...ust to do... this?" Hinata's head moved on its own to roll over and stare at him.

Once again, Naruto shook his head frantically. "No-"

"Y...ou were my... f...friend..." Shikamaru said from behind him, clawing for breath. "N..aru...to...you... monster."

Choji was the next person Naruto cared about that spoke up. "I...gave you...food...thought you...weren't like...the rest of them..."

Naruto heard yet another voice, though this was more disturbing than the rest. "I...screwed up on the... bridge... but I was... sorry... I really was..." Kakashi's head spoke, the mask still on his face. The copy nin's severed head had lost its headband, letting the sharingan eye stare at Naruto as his body twitched horribly.

Finally, Naruto began to crack. "Stop it!" he screamed, his hands going up to cover his ears and clutch his head. He fell to his knees as tears flowed like rivers from his eyes.

"I... thought you loved me..." came a voice on the wind. It was Sakura's voice, though her body was no where to find. "Y...ou always... called me... beautiful..."

Naruto looked around in vain for her, until and saw Sakura's head rolling towards him, the flames licking her blood stained hair. "Y...ou're a... mon...ster..." her voice rasped out of her lifeless head.

Naruto tried to speak, but no words came out of his mouth. Sakura's head stopped rolling right in front of him, her face seeming stuck in one horrible expression.

Pain.

He wanted to scream, but a horrible sensation overcame him in the moment, forcing him to watch his own body as he let out a sickening laughter in the voice that belonged to the Kyuubi.

In his mind, a booming voice spoke.

"NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO UZUMAKI, IT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH!"

Next thing Naruto knew, the world fell to black.

GRAPHIC CONTENT OVER

Naruto finally opened his eyes, finding himself laying down in the water right in front of the demon fox's cage. His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might burst in his chest. The fox was staring down at him impassively, clearly not impressed with Naruto in the slightest.

"And that was one of the nicer ones. Remember that." The fox said in a calm tone, grinning dangerously.

'But... the seal? It protects me... right?' Naruto gave an involuntary shiver, standing back up.

"It keeps me from eating you or killing you yes." The fox acknowledged. "However it can do nothing to stop the little bit of chakra I can send to you. I can't shoot fire at you or grind your bones to dust, but I can still use genjutsu on you if you annoy me."

Naruto stared up in horror at the fox, hatred and fear filling him all over again. This monster, it was never powerless, this entire time? That's impossible, the seal should...

His eyes widened with realization. 'The seal can't stop his chakra whenever I'm in a fight and need a power up, I guess he's not wrong about being able to push some of his chakra through whenever he wants.'

To think a few moments ago, he actually called the fox...

"It will be dawn soon, and you still have to train with that Kakashi." The fox said finally, interrupting his train of thought. "I see that the first thing I have to do with you is teach you how to break such a simple genjutsu."

"I already can break basic genjutsu!" Naruto said with narrowed eyes. That was by no means a simple illusion the Kyuubi cast on him moments ago.

"Simple in my terms." The fox amended, rolling his eyes. Of course he knew Naruto knew how to break a genjutsu, he was trapped in his body. "Honestly, being able to break a child's illusion isn't an accomplishment, especially if you run across an enemy with Uchiha Itachi's skill in the art."

Naruto clenched his fist until it shook. He couldn't believe this thing was such a dick.

...Well, he could, but that's aside the point.

"Then... we're done?" he asked slowly, staring up at the fox with narrow eyes.

"Yes, we are finished." The fox looked at him critically, before his lips twisted into a smile "For now." With those parting words, Naruto felt himself leave his conscious back into the real world.


Jutsu list (in order of appearance)

Fūton: Daitoppa- Great Breakthrough. C-ranked. A technique that creates a sudden gust of wind, though it's power is determined by its user (IE, an average chunin uses it, it can destroy a part of a forest. A kage can use this to destroy an entire mountain.

Amai Agoongaku- Sweet Chin Music. C-ranked. A strong kick that is aimed straight for an opponent's chin, producing a loud smacking sound through the air on contact. This attack can decapitate enemies.

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu- Great Fireball. C-ranked. A popular move among the Uchiha clan, It is a technique where the user's chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire and expelled from the mouth as a massive orb.

Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. A-ranked. A massive version of the regular shadow clone technique, it clones mass numbers of the user.

Karasu Bunshin no Jutsu- Crow Clone Technique. C-ranked. A technique that produces a clone by projecting one's own chakra towards dozens of birds. Because it uses birds as a medium, it requires less chakra than the normal Shadow Clone Technique, while still being able to perform techniques. The dozens of crows come together to form the body of a clone. When the chakra projected by the user is severed, the crows disperse, though the user is still able to continue to speak through it.

Fūton: Renkūdan no jutsu- Drilling air bullet. B-ranked. The user sucks in air before they shoot a highly compressed air ball from its mouth. Because of the large quantity of chakra kneaded into it, it explodes the moment it reaches its target, dealing an enormous amount of damage, as well as levelling anything in its path.

Raiton: Raijū Tsuiga- Lightning Beast Tracking Fang. C-ranked. By manipulating lightning chakra into their hand, the user can make the lightning expand to create the form of a hound. The hound remains connected to the user's hand, allowing them to control it during its attack.

Katon: Karyū Endan no jutsu- Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. B-ranked. The user molds their chakra into flames, then manipulates the shape into a dragon (The ones with no wings).

Fūton: Shinkūgyoku- Vacuum Sphere. B-ranked. The user takes a deep breath and then exhales a powerful blast of wind chakra. It can be fired in rapid succession from one shot, dispersing the attack over an expansive range, enough to make it difficult to avoid them entirely without taking any damage. Due to the properties of this technique, the expelled blasts are capable of piercing into and potentially through an opponent's flesh when they collide with it.

Doton: Doryūheki-Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall. B-rank. The user creates a solid wall of earth as a form of defence. Chakra is either converted to earth within the body and then spat out to form the wall or the user can manipulate pre-existing earth to form the wall. The barrier itself is also coated with chakra, making its strength incomparable to that of a normal mud wall. Because of the earth's special characteristics, the wall is highly resistant against, for instance, fire and water.

Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu-Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu. C-rank. This technique creates a volley of small fireballs, which are sent flying can also be concealed within the flames, creating an unexpected secondary surprise attack.


Before anyone complains about how Naruto hasn't used his eyes, be patient. That's coming, and not the 'GoT the dragons are on their way' but it's coming up in the next few chapters (Actually its already written, I don't want to ruin the surprise). Mostly this chapter was to further show what Naruto could do, not show him actually go toe to toe with Kakashi (Kakashi was still not going all out, let's all remember who he is and how badass he will always be).

Another thing, should I make Naruto use a weapon (IE a Tanto (Like Sasuke's sword in Shippuuden but a tanto is about a foot and a half to two feet smaller) or a Katana)?

I update this chapter twice because I was informed that Sasuke's sword was called a chokuto. Not entirely sure it's right, I've been calling it a tanto for years now, so... yeah.

Don't forget to review!