Disclaimer: I wish I owned these series. Then I could make people make this into a manga for all of you fine folks to read. Maybe a never ending anime and a series of video games as well.


Chapter 4: Eye of the Tiger

[Again]

Vincent's calm voice echoed around the clearing as Uzumaki Naruto struggled to his feet. The seven year old was standing in a clearing surrounded by rotating wooden targets, each of which was connected via cables to a pair of drones hovering nearby. To the side of the drones stood the projections of Vincent and Yuffie, both of whom watched their young student with intense gazes. Yuffie had a faint smirk on her face as well.

Groaning, Naruto moved into a stance before rushing forward. As he approached the first pair of targets he dove forward, dodging between the strikes from the spinning pillars and rolling to his feet. He blocked a strike from a third target with the oversized golden bracer strapped to his right arm and countered with a stab with a kunai, severing the rope where it attached right where the heart would be on a real person.

Naruto dodged around the now stilled target only to come face to face with a pop up target swinging towards him. Naruto frowned as he leapt into the air, the kunai strapped to the target barely missing his bright orange jacket, and slashed behind where its neck would be to disable it. Naruto landed lightly, stumbling slightly as he regained his balance and looked for the next active target in the sequence.

Naruto found it and a grin began to form on his face as he raised his right arm and pointed it straight towards the target, palm open and flat. In one of the four sockets on the bracer a large green spherical crystal began to glow faintly as Naruto concentrated. After a few moments Naruto's grin widened and he spoke softly,

"Blizzard."

As the two projections and the boy-would-be-ninja watched a sudden chill surrounded the target as the air around it became super chilled. Moments later the target cracked under the extreme cold as a spike of ice crystals formed around and through it. The crystals held for a few more moments before shattering into a thousand tiny evaporating shards. Naruto let out a grunt of pain and collapsed onto his knees, his hands propping him up.

[That was better, but you are still much too slow]

[It took you three seconds to even cast the spell]

[And after it was complete it only lasted for two]

Cloud's voice echoed around the clearing as the blond man materialized from a newly arrived third probe.

[You need to improve your ability to channel the Mako]

[If you don't then attempting anything more powerful than a simple Blizzard]

[Is likely to drain too much life force from you]

Naruto grunted and looked up as the three apparitions approached.

[Be that as it may Naruto, your agility has certainly improved]

Vincent spoke, his face still with just the slightest hint of a frown like it usually was.

[And you're getting better with those kunai thingies everyday]

Yuffie interjected excitedly, grinning at her young student. The all-too-often hyper-cheery AI was proud that her student's chosen profession required so much of her help and training. It also meant she got to study the techniques of his world, not that they would do her any good mind you. She is a machine after all.

"huff Thanks huff I'll huff do better huff next time."

Naruto barely got the words out of his mouth before he collapsed flat on his stomach, arms spread to his side. Yuffie chuckled and cloud sighed exasperatedly.

[Come on runt, get up and train]

[Once more through a part of the course you haven't destroyed already]

[And then you can rest while Rufus and Aerith teach you inside]

Naruto glanced up from the forest floor for a moment before nodding and hopping to his feet. He stretched briefly, took a deep breath, and launched into the next section of the course as his instructors looked on. As he blew past another set of targets and prepared to use Blizzard again Cloud watched intently. As the ice spike formed, this time noticeably faster than before and lasting several times longer as well, Cloud smiled faintly.

[At the rate he's growing and improving under our training]

[He will soon be ready to be trained in weapons by Cid and myself]

Vincent and Yuffie merely nodded their heads, all three watching as Naruto collapsed onto his back, breathing heavily but with a silly grin stuck on his face. The three figures turned and silently began to walk towards an extremely large vine covered boulder that lay in a dense grove of trees off to the side of the clearing, the drones hovering along after them. After a few moments Naruto took a deep breath and then stumbled after them, still grinning despite his physical exhaustion and imminent mental work out.


"So the Shodaime Hokage and the Nidaime Hokage were brothers?" Naruto asked, confirming what he had just heard.

Rufus Shinra smiled down at the blond child who was currently sitting cross legged on the floor of the large but filled room. Naruto was sitting in an open space with scrolls copied from the library by the two drones at Rufus' disposal for the purpose of teaching Naruto. The rest of the room included a small kitchen with a large refrigerator, a closed door leading into what was presumably a bathroom, an alcove with a single bed in it, and a corner with some couches and a coffee table, facing a video screen on the wall.

It should also be mentioned that everything in the roof besides what Naruto had brought with himself appeared much more advanced than what was normally found on Naruto's world. The entire room was a mixture of blues and greens, offsetting the metals and artificial compounds used in its construction, and the pillows and sheets that lay on the bed and the couches were a painfully bright orange. Naruto may have chosen his outfit to be as annoyingly bright as possible, but clearly the color had grown on him.

[That's right Naruto]

Rufus replied with a smile.

[He wanted to ensure that if he fell in battle or from a sudden illness]

[That there would be someone strong enough]

[And who he could trust who could lead and protect Konoha]

[The two of them jointly named Sarutobi-san]

Jiji. Naruto mentally corrected the white-clothed figure before him in his mind.

[As the Sandaime and their successor as well]

Naruto frowned as he remembered something in what he had just read that had drawn his curiosity.

"But, if Konoha was founded by the Senju and the Uchiha clans, why wasn't one of the Uchiha chosen as the Nidaime Hokage? Wouldn't that have made more sense for the balance of power?"

Rufus smiled as out of the corner of his eye he saw Tifa sitting and 'reading' a book on the couch. It didn't surprise him in the least that one of Naruto's physical and taijutsu trainers was looking in to see just how the child behaved during his class work.

[That would have been true Naruto, had the situation been different]

[But according to the records we have]

[Including sealed ones that the Hokage authorized us to study]

[The only Uchiha at the time with the power to be Hokage]

[Was Uchiha Madara]

[And he was reviled as a monster at the time by his clan]

[According to the sealed records this was because Madara]

[Had taken his own brother's eyes in order to regain his sight after going blind]

[Although Madara himself of course told a different story]

Rufus finished speaking and Naruto paused, thinking on this. Rufus was proud of the child that the Collective had chosen. He was truly gifted, absorbing knowledge and skills like a sponge. And even though he had yet to master the first Materia, that Blizzard that he had found in the catacombs beneath the city after scanning signals from one of the drones detected it, despite the intensely high concentration of near pure Mako that seemed to be contained within him, the child's connection to the Planet was eerily strong. If Rufus didn't know better he would have sworn the boy was a Cetra.

"So…then the balance of power was maintained by putting the Uchiha in charge of Konoha's Military Police?" Naruto queried, looking for confirmation on what he was thinking.

Rufus nodded.

[That's correct Naruto]

[Although the Military Police is currently extremely weak]

[As the majority of its members died in the massacre last year]

Naruto paused as he remembered the massacre, and how everyone had claimed that it was done by the older brother of one of his classmates, one Uchiha Sasuke, the only survivor of that bloody mess. Naruto personally thought the dark-haired boy was a jerk, so he generally avoided him.

"So, I guess that means that in the end the Senju clan won out ne?" Naruto said with a smile on his face.

Rufus frowned.

[Child, thinking in terms of such conflict between the clans]

[Is counterproductive to your goal as Hokage]

[You should be fostering true friendship and alliance]

[Between the clans]

[Not celebrating the success of one over another]

Rufus paused for a moment before finishing.

[And no, while the Senju clan is still around in greater numbers]

[They have had their fair share of tragedies]

[A lot of Senju were lost during the last war]

[And the granddaughter of the Shodaime Hokage]

[Tsunade of the Sannin]

[Left Konoha because of the bad memories she has because of that war]

Naruto frowned and nodded, accepting his reprimand as he went back to his studying. He wanted to finish up his 'enhanced' history lesson quickly so he could spend the rest of the evening studying with the rest of his tutors before he had to go home.


Three weeks later Naruto sat crouched in another clearing near the massively oversized vine-coated boulder.

"Careful…careful…" Naruto spoke softly to himself as he focused on his current task.

As Naruto carefully maneuvered the object into position and placed it into the target hole Naruto grinned.

"Yatta! Mission Completed!" Naruto cried out as he leapt up, fist pumped proudly in the air.

From a rock nearby Aerith sat with her cheeks supported by her hands, smiling at her young charge as he looked around at his handy work. It had take nearly a year to teach him everything he would need to know for this, but it had finally paid off.

Naruto currently stood in the middle of a thirty by thirty foot fenced patch of tilled earth. The young boy had done the entire thing him self, impressing both his other tutors and the Hokage when he saw it. In rows all along the earth tiny little seedlings peeked out of their holes, absorbing the sun with their tiny leaves. Off to one side a small hut with the gardening tools sat in the shade of a tree, and to the side of it was a small well.

The Hokage him self had built them using Kage Bunshin, a technique that made Naruto's eyes go wide in excitement, so that the boy would be able to grow his own fruits and veggies. Sarutobi knew how the villagers treated the boy, despite the Fourth's wishes and his own laws, and he couldn't always help the boy by buying his groceries for him. Sarutobi had resolved that as soon as Naruto could master the chakra control exercises in the Academy that he would teach him the Henge no Jutsu early, if only so that the blond could buy his own food without having to worry about it being rotten or spoiled, or being charged exorbitant prices.

[Very good job Naruto]

[Now just remember that they will need to be watered every day]

[And that you will need to watch out for weeds and parasites]

Aerith smiled as the blond grinned brightly and scratched the back of his neck. Neither noticed the plants seem to grow and brighten a little as they bathed in the glow of Naruto's smile.


[Ok brat]

[So do you understand why you have to be exact in your measurements and calculations now?]

Barret grinned as a nine year-old smoke covered Naruto shook his head up and down. Naruto was sitting in the middle of a small blast crater, the orange jacket and pants he had been wearing half destroyed and the remains still smoldering. Naruto's face had turned completely black and Barret couldn't tell if the brat still had his eyebrows or not.

[Well, get up then brat]

[We'll get you back to Aerith and she can tell you how to clean up your burns]

Naruto merely stood, still in shock over how wrong his experiment with nitrogen based explosives had just gone. Naruto followed dumbly behind as a laughing Barret led Naruto back to the extremely large boulder. When they reached it Naruto stepped past the large man and reached into an innocuous hole that was hidden behind the vines. Finding what he was looking for, Naruto punched in a code and then stepped back as a glowing vertical crack suddenly appeared behind the vines. The crack remained stable for a moment before a panel slid open with a swoosh sound, revealing the inside of Naruto's secret training facility. Quickly Naruto ducked through the vines and into the chamber, followed by Barret's probe.

The doors closed behind them, the sound unheard as Aerith and Tifa, who had been sitting around the table in the kitchen chatting over a book they had just been reading, caught sight of Naruto.

[EEK!!]

[NARUTO WHAT HAPPENED?!?!]

The two women rushed to Naruto's side to check out what was wrong with him. Naruto chuckled as he could make contact with them, as long as it wasn't too hard. When he had first received the gift of the concealed training facility he had been pleasantly surprised to discover that the facility's systems allowed up to four of the AIs to be projected at a time as solid figures. The power required was great though, so they could only do it sparingly. Usually only one or two was solid, and then usually only partially unless an emergency, like Naruto blowing him self up during training occurred.

[Here let me take a look at your wounds]

Aerith grabbed a wet washcloth off of the counter and hurried to Naruto's side, scrubbing at his face. As the grime, smoke, and dirt came free all three AIs were surprised to see clean, fresh, unblemished skin underneath. As they scrubbed harder and revealed more of his face they became even more amazed. Despite having been at the center of a blast that would have seriously injured a normal sized adult Naruto was completely unharmed. Even his eyebrows, which they were sure must have been burnt off by a blast at such a close range, were intact.

As the two women continued to fuss over their charge like any mother would Barret retreated into his probe and brought up the advanced scanning functions of the house. Focusing on Naruto he noticed something strange. There were traces of that strange Mako flowing through his body, not simply contained and compressed within his navel. As Barret watched the small particles moved through the body, condensing on tiny injuries that were apparently still healing. Within a couple of minutes there was no sign remaining at all that Naruto had been injured, and most of the strange Mako had flowed back into the child's belly.

The AIs had long suspected that the strange seal that appeared on Naruto's stomach whenever he molded chakra, the energy within themselves that beings of this world harness to perform the spectacular feats that some of them are capable of, was related to the strange Mako signature that slept inside of him, but they had never had any proof of the connection. Now they did, and Barret was sure as hell going to make sure that the Collective did some digging, as they had some pointed questions now. Such as what was this strange Mako, how did it get inside Naruto, and was the Hokage aware of it?

"Ah, Tifa ne-san, stop that, that tickles." Naruto let out a boyish giggle as Tifa finished cleaning the smoke from behind his ears.

[There, mostly clean, and no sign of injuries]

[Now run along and take a shower]

[We can't have you returning home looking like you've been blown up]

[People would ask too many questions]

Naruto grinned and ran off towards the bathroom.

[And change into some clean clothes]

Tifa yelled after the blond, an exasperated smile on her face. Knowing him, if she hadn't said anything he'd have put on his dirty burnt clothes again after he showered. The two women turned to face Barret, who had just reappeared from his probe, with very disapproving looks on their faces.

[So what exactly happened, Barret-chan?]

Aerith asked pointedly. The nickname Yuffie had given him after they learned the language of this world well enough had stuck, much to the black man's chagrin.

[I was teaching Naruto to construct small nitrogen-based explosive capsules]

[You know, the kind that use an electric charge to trigger detonation?]

Both women looked at him blankly. Just because they were AIs didn't mean that they knew everything.

[Well, anyways, the size of the explosion is directly proportional]

[To the size of the charge imparted]

[Naruto thought it was cool]

[And before I could stop him he grabbed the wire leading to one of the charges]

[And…and dammit he used Lightning]

Both girls blinked.

[I've never seen someone use Lightning to set off an explosive before]

[Now I know why]

[What was supposed to be a small firecracker]

[Turned into a veritable stick of dynomite]

[I knew letting the brat buy a second Materia from that merchant so soon was a bad idea]

[He's only had three years of training after all]

Both woman were still in shock that their charge had been so foolish as to use a combat attack spell to trigger and explosion. They resolved that when he got out of the shower they were going to talk to the brat and make sure he understood to be more careful and to listen to instructions fully in the future.


Naruto sat on top of a rock in the middle of a small clearing in the training ground, beside the small stream that wound its way across the ground like a snake. He sat in what would be called lotus position, his eyes closed and his breathing steady. Nearby, perched on another rock, was the image of a large red beast.

Nanaki had Naruto's undivided attention today, because teaching the child to respect and commune with nature required more than just an hour a day. Thank fully Naruto was on break for two months for summer, and thus everyday was training day for the body.

Nanaki watched quietly as the air swirled around Naruto slightly, almost as if it was speaking to the boy. Nanaki smiled faintly, wishing he could truly feel a connection with the Planet, like his original self could. The AIs had all of the memories up to their creation, but when it came down to it, they could only experience the world through the sensors and manifestation of minute Mako particles.

But this child, he could do what none of them could. He could master the skills that each of them had to teach. He could commune with the Planet and be guided by its voice. He would be their hands and feet in this world, guarding the legacy of the old world, and ensuring the future of the new.

Nanaki smiled as his thoughts continued, watching the wind swirl slowly around the child. No need to tell him that he was truly aligned with the wind. Didn't need to give the kid a bigger ego than he already had. Not that Naruto's was anywhere near as bad as his classmates, from what he had discerned from his times watching over the boy's class.


Uchiha Sasuke was bored. That is to say, he had perfected his kunai and shuriken throwing skills as far as he thought was possible and he didn't have anyone to spar with. And since it was the weekend he had the entire day to do whatever he wanted. For a nine year old shinobi in training that would normally have been an excuse to hang out and relax, maybe play with friends. To an avenger like Sasuke it was just wasted time that he could have been training.

Sasuke was walking through the business district of Konoha looking for something to do when he caught a bright flash of blond and orange out o the corner of his eye. Turning his head he found Naruto standing against the wall behind a line of shops. He had several tiny capsules held in each hand and appeared to be trying to sneak along. Sasuke snorted. No way the dobe was going unnoticed when he wore something that obvious. Sasuke was still debating whether to tell the shop keepers or not when he saw Naruto flick one of the capsules under the stall of a vegetable vendor and then hit the ground running.

Sasuke only had to wait a few moments to find out just what was going on.

CRACK

An extremely loud explosion echoed through the street, but as everyone looked around frantically they couldn't find the source, or any sign of damage. Sasuke saw that the vegetable vendor had fallen over and was holding his ears in pain, and past him he saw Naruto rolling on the ground laughing. Uchiha Sasuke smirked and raised his arm slowly to point.

"It was him. He did it." Sasuke said calmly, his face still graced with a smile.

Naruto's laughing stopped long enough for him to notice the crowd of angry people who had surrounded him.

"Hehe, hey, lighten up. It was just a prank." Naruto said, weakly trying to defend him self.

Today wasn't so boring after all.


Naruto rubbed the back of his shoulder painfully as he slowly walked back to his apartment. Getting caught pulling a prank had been painful but after his latest lesson with Cait Sith, or Reeve as the strange entity had insisted on being called, Naruto had felt it was a necessary sacrifice. In order to keep up his deception he needed to make sure people believed it. Besides, he was able to use Henge masterfully now, and Cait Sith's other lessons had taught him well how to pretend to be someone else, and how to manipulate people.

Between those two abilities Naruto could wrap any woman around his little finger by transforming into a cute little six year old boy. He always made certain to look quite different than his actual appearance of course. No sense getting caught because of whisker marks appearing.

As Naruto was walking past a book store a tall man with silver hair walked out. He had on an ANBU vest and had an ANBU dog mask strapped to his waist. His face was mostly covered by a mask and his hitai-ate, which left only his right eye visible, and he appeared to be reading a small orange book. Naruto blinked as he saw the cover.

It was the same book series that Tifa, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid were always reading back at the 'house', but they had never let him read it. He had caught most of the adult shinobi in Konoha, Jiji included, reading it at one time or another. Naruto had always wondered what had fascinated them about it, and this particular day he got the bright idea of using a Henge to purchase a copy of the 'Adult's Only' book series.

After checking to confirm he had enough money in his wallet Naruto walked down an alley and disappeared. A minute later a tall nondescript shinobi with long brown hair, brown eyes, and wearing a chunin's vest walked out of the alley. After looking around slowly to make sure no one was watching he entered the bookstore.

Fifteen minutes later said shinobi exited the store with a large bag full of orange covered books. Whistling to him self the ninja slowly walked off down the street towards the apartment district.


Uzumaki Naruto sat in shock in his apartment. He was very glad he had asked the probes to stop shadowing him and to leave him his privacy in his apartment a year ago. He did not think that Tifa ne-san or Aerith ne-san would approve of what he was doing.

Spread out on the floor before Naruto was the entire set of Icha Icha Paradise. All twenty orange volumes of it, including the five special edition illustrated volumes. Naruto was currently staring at the open pages of the first special edition in shock. After a few moments he came to a conclusion, which he voiced aloud.

"All shinobi are perverts."

That day Uzumaki Naruto began down the path to developing the first of his original techniques, what would one day be known as a veritable Kage Killer.


Another year passed, and on Naruto's tenth birthday the blond boy, who had been growing quite steadily thanks to his intense exercise regime and improved diet (he only ate ramen once a week, much as it pained him to give it up), received several gifts.

The first was from the Hokage, who had found time to slip away from the festivities of the Kyuubi Day festival and had arrived to find the AIs throwing Naruto a smashing party. It was a black wooden box, plain and with no adornments. At first Naruto wondered what it could be. When Naruto opened it though his eyes widened, as did those of several of the AIs.

The inside of the box was soft velvet, with six circular slots. Within one of these slots rested a crystalline sphere, glowing faintly. Naruto's gasp of surprise as he saw the Materia and the wide genuine smile that followed brought a smile to the Hokage's face. As Naruto leapt at the Hokage in a hug the gathered entities took a closer look at the box in the little boy's hands. They couldn't tell for sure what Materia he had just received, but what was clear was that set within the box was a Blue Support Materia.

Naruto's second gift was a surprise from Cloud, Tifa, and Cid. Cid had been studying the projection technology his creator had developed, and after numerous failed experiments, had found a method to fully manifest a single AI for a short time. It was not very viable though as it required at least twelve drones working in concert to produce a solid enough body and maintain it, and it would drain so much power that it could only be used for about an hour a day.

Naruto still thought it was awesome, because of the trio's third gift to him. Tifa informed Naruto that his physical training would be taken from simply exercising and moving through katas to actually teaching him some unarmed combat. On top of her own unarmed combat style, and the techniques that Vincent was going to teach him, she informed Naruto that she had been observing and studying the training of various shinobi for the past several years, and had gathered an understanding of various Konoha styles of taijutsu that she was going to use to help Naruto develop a style all his own.

Cloud and Barret's gifts he thought were even cooler. The older blond man motioned towards the Hokage and with a smile the old man produced a pair of sealing scrolls. He set them both down on the table and with a puff of smoke the scrolls were obscured as a pair of weapons appeared on the table.

The first was a large zanbatou with a pair of linked Materia sockets in it. Naruto recognized it instantly as looking similar to the one Cloud always carried with him. Just, miniaturized to match Naruto's frame.

The second was a large pole arm like Cid sometimes carried around. Again, it had been redesigned to be smaller to fit Naruto's stature, but it possessed only a single Materia socket.

[These are your training weapons kid]

[They will serve you well for the next several years]

[When you achieve closer to your full growth]

[We have something even better waiting for you]

Naruto was nearly bouncing off the walls with excitement as he ran over to examine the weapons carefully.

"Just remember Naruto." The Hokage spoke calmly with a smile on his face. "You need to keep your training secret. You've done admirably so far, and although your grades could use improvement I do understand why you keep them so low. But I don't want you using these weapons outside of your training ground."

Sarutobi paused, a serious look taking over his face.

"Now, I've been lead to understand that your instructors have some blank capsules of the sort they used to carry equipment here. They are going to give you a capsule to carry each of your weapons in, along with other gear you might have from them. Just be careful to not let anyone get suspicious. This edge you desire to keep to yourself until you are ready to wield it is going to very tempting for you to use, but you must refrain no matter what the reason."

Naruto looked up at the Hokage with a mixture of unhappiness and understanding on his face.

"You don't have to remind me, Jiji. You aren't the one everyone seems to hate. The only time I ever learn anything is here anyways. Why would I jeopardize my ability to learn techniques and skills that are unique?"

The Hokage didn't have a good answer to that. As he watched the boy go back to reverently running his fingers across his new weapons Hiruzen Sarutobi had to wonder. Was he doing the right thing by letting these strangers from the past teach the child?

In the end, only Kami knows the answer to that question.


"Itai…" Naruto muttered as he flinched involuntarily from the alcohol swab Aerith ne-san was rubbing his forehead with.

[I swear Naruto]

[For a shinobi who is as resistant to damage as you are]

[You sure are a big baby when it comes to pain]

"You're not the one with acid being poured into your veins!" He cried back just before a second swab caused him to cringe again.

[You're right]

[And that's because I'm not the one]

[Chasing after a psycho girl with no interest in me]

"Hey take that back! Sakura isn't psycho! She's just…well…um…" Naruto's voice trailed off as he tried to think of a way to defend the girl he was in love with.

Aerith giggled. No matter what any of them did, they just couldn't convince their young charge that she wasn't right for him. Oh well, he'd learn eventually. He always did.

Aerith giggled again as she remembered the time they had finally broken him of the love of that obnoxious shade of orange, and the much more suitable clothes they got him to wear underneath his orange disguise. She and the others even had an outfit picked out for him when he reached his full growth, or at least close to it, but they were keeping that hidden as a surprise.

[Whatever you say Naruto]

[Whatever you say]


"Ok class, starting today I will be your instructor. My name is Umino Iruka. It's my pleasure to meet all of you."

The scarred chunin shuffled a few papers before looking up at his class.

"Now sit down and shut up."

In the back of the classroom an eleven year-old Naruto wasn't really paying much attention. One new teacher was the same as the last one in his book. They ignored his requests for help or his questions, yelled at him if he pulled pranks, and other wise ignored his existence or shot him angry looks.

Naruto wouldn't last another hour before Umino Iruka would change the opinion Naruto had of him. The man might have gone harder on him than any teacher had with detention before, but as he set Naruto to scrubbing the front of the classroom clean of paint late that afternoon Naruto grinned. Someone had acknowledged his existence, even if it was only to properly discipline him for pulling a prank. Over the next year Naruto's pranking skills would go from being simple rumor to Konoha legend.


Uzumaki Naruto slunk from the Academy Building in dejection. It was October fifteenth, a mere five days after his twelfth birthday, and he had failed the Genin examinations once again. The previous two he could at least accept, as he had pressured Jiji to let him take them early. The old man had only acquiesced because he felt that Naruto would better be able to fulfill his specialized training once he was a genin than he could while attending the academy…and because it got Naruto to quite bugging him about it. But to fail a third time, when he was the appropriate age. Naruto just sat on the swing in the corner of the school yard and hung his head in dejection.

The blond boy had his eyes to the ground and didn't even notice the whispers or looks the adults were shooting him. Had he been listening to anything other than the sound of the wind and the faint whispers of unseen voices it brought to his ears then he might have heard them muttering about being glad that the 'demon' hadn't been aloud to pass and become a shinobi. If his eyes had been focused on anything but a single shoot of a plant trying to grow in the shade of the tree then he might have seen a young, pale eyed girl with dark purple hair hiding behind the edge of the building and watching him with sad eyes. Had his ability to sense the flow of Mako in the natural world around him been tuned to anything but the small lizard walking across the ground between his feet then he would have noticed the odd emptiness in the tree above where a silver haired shinobi crouched, watching him with a thoughtfull look.

After a few moments the shinobi nodded and shunshined away.

The boy will work perfectly. Mizuki thought as he reappeared in his office, just moments before Iruka poked his head in looking for him to ask if he wanted to get dinner with the rest of the teachers.

Mizuki waved the man off, claiming he had stuff to do.

Oh yes, most important stuff indeed.

Mizuki gathered a few papers and then calmly exited the room, intent on finding Naruto and informing him about a 'special' make up test.


Uzumaki Naruto crept silently into the Hokage's office. Even in his bright orange coat and jacket he had managed to slip unseen past no fewer than six chunin, four jounin, and two ANBU to get into the Hokage's office. Luckily the old man was no where to be seen, so the blond haired boy crept quietly over to a hanging painting.

Carefully he slid the painting aside, and sure enough there was the door to a small safe, with a numerical lock keypad on it. Naruto grinned.

A simple 4-digit access code. This is a piece of cake. He thought with a grin.

Naruto reached into one of the deep pockets of his jacket and slipped out a small metal rod. It was about four inches in length, and had been a gift from Cid and Vincent on his twelfth birthday after he successfully cracked a much harder lock than the one that now sat before him.

Gingerly Naruto slid the tip of the rod underneath the key panel and tapped lightly. After several tries and listening closely he apparently heard what he was looking for, as he pushed the rod firmly against the panel and pressed a small button on the other end.

Lights began flashing on the key panel and the numbers began to rapidly scroll through the options. Slowly, one after another, the four digits locked until finally all four had been found. As soon as the fourth digit locked there was a cranking sound and the door swung open.

Naruto resisted the urge to cheer as he fully opened the door and reached in, pulling out the scroll that Mizuki sensei had told him about. Naruto strapped it to his back and then closed and relocked the door, sliding the painting back into place as he stepped back.

BUMP

Naruto spun to find him self more or less face to face with Jiji.

Sarutobi's eyes widened as he suddenly recognized the scroll on Naruto's back. His pipe fell from his mouth as he began to speak.

"Naruto, what are you doing with tha-"

Hiruzen Sarutobi never got a chance to complete his sentence as a panicked Naruto flipped his hands through some hand seals and let out a cry of "Oiroke no Jutsu" before he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Uzumaki Naruto was replaced by a tall, extremely buxom blond with long flowing blond hair pulled back in two ponytails and her privates covered only by tiny whisps of chakra smoke that refused to dissipate. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage and strongest shinobi in the village, known as "The Professor" and "The God of All Shinobi", was blown backwards by a fountain of blood that spewed forth from his nose.

Moments later Naruto dropped the transformation and grinned widely before slipping out the window and heading for the forests on the edge of the city proper. Mizuki had told him to go train at a spot in the woods near a small wooden hut if he wanted to pass the make up test.


Umino Iruka heard the sound of a jutsu being dropped and Naruto's loud cry of "Yatta!" as he sped through the woods. Leaping into the small clearing near the wooden hut ahead he landed in a crouch just in front of Naruto, who was sitting on the ground with the missing Forbidden Scroll on his back and looking at the ground.

"I've found you." Iruka said as he caught his breath.

Naruto looked up with a frown which quickly became a grin.

"Darn, and I only had time to learn two techniques. Ne, ne, you'll let me graduate if I demonstrate at least one technique on this scroll, right? That's what Mizuki told me." Iruka could hear the honesty and the earnestness in Naruto's voice, but when he mentioned Mizuki Iruka tensed up.

Mizuki?

Iruka barely had time to push Naruto out of the way and bring his arms up to shield his own body before a storm of kunai impacted with him, slamming and pinning him against the side of the hut.

"Nice job finding the moron." Naruto heard Mizuki's voice ring out from the forest.

Naruto promptly caught sight of the silver-haired chunin. If this hadn't been Naruto's first real combat situation (training with the AIs didn't count, as they were careful to never take things too far with him) then he would have glowered at the man for calling him a moron. But it was in fact Naruto's first time, and the adrenaline rush to his brain was triggering a reaction of pure fear.

"I see, so that's what's going on." Iruka replied as he gingerly pulled a kunai out of his arm.

"Naruto, give me the scroll." Mizuki shouted down at the blond boy.

Naruto was too scared to do anything, looking towards Iruka for guidance.

"Don't give him the scroll Naruto, even if you have to die to protect it! That scroll is filled with Kinjutsus, jutsus which have been forbidden and ordered sealed by the four Hokages." Iruka yelled at Naruto as he struggled to pull out another kunai.

Mizuki chuckled and looked down at Naruto.

Na-ru-to, there's no point in you having it. I'll tell you the truth." Mizuki began, ignoring Iruka's cry of "No, don't". "Twelve years ago, you know about the demon fox Kyuubi being sealed, right?"

Naruto looked up at Mizuki in confusion. What did the Kyuubi no Kitsune have to do with what was going on here?

"Since that day, a special rule was created for this village. But this rule was never meant to be told to you."

Mizuki chuckled at the open shock and confusion on Naruto's face.

"The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"W-what? What do you mean?" Naruto asked softly, his system in shock.

"STOP IT!!!!" Iruka cried out desperately.

"It means that you are the demon fox that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village. You were sealed up by the Hokage you admire," Mizuki continued, ignoring Iruka's continued cries to stop. "And you have been lied to by everyone. Didn't you find it odd how everyone hates you? Iruka is the same!! He also hates you!!"

Naruto collapsed in fear and shock, only peripherally hearing Mizuki's continued rant of how the same scroll he carried was used to seal him. He was only shocked out of it by a sudden gasp of pain and a splash of blood on his cheek. Naruto looked up to find Iruka on his hands and knees over him, a massive fuma shuriken lodged in his back and blood coming out of his mouth.

"Why?" Naruto asked, such a simple and innocent question with so much meaning behind it.

As Iruka explained about how he felt after his parents were killed, leaving him an orphan and in so much ain and loneliness, tears began to fall from his eyes.

"And Naruto, you also must have been in so much pain. I'm sorry Naruto, if I only did a better job, you wouldn't have to feel like this." Iruka said, his tear filled eyes staring down into Naruto's wide shocked eyes.

Back in his tree Mizuki ground his teeth in frustration at Iruka's interference. Suddenly Naruto took off into the forest as fast as he could, leaving the two shinobi behind. Mizuki taunted Iruka once more and took off into the forest. He henged into Iruka immediately, and concealed a small smile when he caught up with Naruto a minute later.

"Naruto, we need to hurry, Mizuki is after you."

Naruto just smirked and tossed a pair of kunai at Iruka, knocking him to the ground before collapsing himself against a tree.

"Why Naruto? How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" Mizuki asked as he dropped the illusion

Naruto just chuckled and then vanished in a puff of smoke to reveal Iruka. "Because I'm Iruka!!"

"Hehehe, you'd even transform into what killed your parents to protect him." Mizuki taunted.

"I'll never hand the scroll over to the likes of you!!" Iruka shot back.

"You idiot! Naruto and I are the same! With the skills on that scroll we can do whatever we want! There's no way that demon fox wouldn't try to use the power of the scroll, unlike what you're assuming." Mizuki yelled.

"Yeah…" Iruka replied quietly.

Neither shinobi was aware that the blond they were discussing was sitting behind one of the trees near where they were, observing them from his hiding spot.

I knew it…see…even Iruka sensei, deep down, doesn't acknowledge me. Naruto thought dejectedly as he sat with his back to the tree, huggin the huge scroll to his chest.

"The demon fox would do that, but Naruto is different, he is…I've acknowledged him as one of my excellent students." Iruka continued unaware of the open shock on the face of the young boy hiding nearby. "He may not be the hardest worker, and he may be clumsy and no one accepts him. But he knows what it is to feel pain in your heart. He isn't the demon fox, he is a member of Konohagakure. He is Uzumaki Naruto!!"

Mizuki ground his teeth.

"Well, whatever. Iruka, I know I said I'd take care of you later, but I've changed my mind." Mizuki said angrily as he pulled his remaining fuma shuriken from his back. "HURRY UP AND DIE!!!"

Mizuki began to spin the shuriken so fast around his hand you could barely see it and he sped towards Iruka, his eyes wide with psychotic excitement as he prepared to gut the man who he had once called friend. Iruka had resigned himself to his death when a sudden blond blur interspersed itself between him and Mizuki.

With a swift kick to the stomach Naruto sent Mizuki flying backwards as he crouched down, allowing the spinning fuma shuriken to fly off harmlessly and stick itself into the trunk of a tree.

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT!!" Mizuki screamed as he got back to his feet.

Mizuki was greeted with the sight of Uzumaki Naruto standing with one hand on top of the scroll, his eyes narrowed towards the blond chunin turned traitor.

"Don't touch Iruka sensei!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!!" Naruto practically growled out.

"HAHA, I'LL KILL SOMEONE LIKE YOU IN ONE SHOT!!" Mizuki continued to scream as he prepared to attack.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and brought his hands together in a distinctive cross-shaped seal.

"TRY IT TRASH!! I'LL RETURN THE PAIN A THOUSAND TIMES OVER!!"

"THEN DO IT DEMON FOX!!" Mizuki screamed once again, his throat already becoming hoarse.

"TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!!!!!!!" Naruto screamed into the night.

The forest all around them was filled with smoke and a few seconds later it cleared to reveal literally hundreds of blond haired, blue eyed, orange garbed shinobi surrounding Mizuki.

The original looked him straight in the eye and spoke a single word.

"Run."

As Mizuki stared in shock and fear at the nearly two thousand fists descending towards him a single thought ran through his brain.

Naruto was never this good in class…

Mizuki passed out from the pain of his beat down long before the clones were finished with him.

Iruka looked on proudly as Naruto dismissed the clones and turned to smile at him, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Ne, sensei. I guess I went a bit overboard on him, ne?"

Iruka chuckled.

"Naruto, come over here and close your eyes."

Naruto blinked in confusion but complied. He felt Iruka pull off his goggles and then felt him tying something in their place on his forehead.

"Ok Naruto, you can open your eyes now."

Naruto opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of Iruka standing smiling before him…sans his hitai-ate.

"Congratulations on graduating! Let's celebrate!! I'll buy you…a bowl of ramen!!"

Iruka was prevented from finishing as he was suddenly bowled over by the blond shinobi who had embraced him in a massive hug.

"Calm down, calm down Naruto. We still have to report to the Hokage first. But then I promise, I'll buy you a bowl at that place you always like." Iruka said as he rubbed Naruto's head.

Naruto's massive smile remained on his face all the way back to the Hokage's office.


"Now Naruto, I can't fault you for trusting a superior shinobi implicitly, that is the reason you aren't being tried with treason for stealing the scroll. But I do want you to be more careful in the future. If you think a superior is being untrustworthy, simply continue to follow their orders while also reporting your suspicions to me. Is that understood?"

Naruto nodded solemnly where he stood next to Iruka. The brown haired chunin chuckled as he realized that Naruto was just anxious to get to his ramen.

"Now, that said, I have a gift for you. I've had it for two years already, but I've been waiting for you to actually graduate before giving it to you."

The Hokage walked over to his desk and withdrew a small, unadorned black-velvet bag. Naruto watched in anxious anticipation as the Hokage walked back around the table holding the box gingerly. He sent a serious look at Iruka.

"Iruka, what I am about to reveal to you is an S-Rank secret. You are not to repeat it or speak of it within the hearing of anyone save Naruto or my self. Is that understood?"

Iruka stood up straighter and even smiled a bit when he noticed that Naruto was grinning up at him.

"Understood Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded in acknowledgement.

"Very well. Uzumaki Naruto has been receiving special training. The details are his and his alone to share, if he ever feels comfortable doing so. Needless to say, many of his scores during the Academy have been faked, but his knowledge and true skills are quite real. One of his abilities is to utilize special rare chakra-reactive gems to perform techniques very similar to jutsus."

At this point the Hokage held out the bag to Naruto, who took it carefully and untied the strings holding the end closed. When he opened the bag his eyes widened in shock and surprise and he looked up at the Hokage as if he couldn't believe what he had just been given.

"Yes Naruto, those are for you. They were spoils from the last war with Iwa, brought back by the Yondaime Hokage him self. I thought that it was fitting for you to receive them."

Iruka looked into the bag slightly confused. All he saw were three large crystalline spheres, none pure or free of defects. One was red and the other two were both purple.

"Um, Hokage-sama, I'm sorry for interrupting, but what exactly are those?"

Sarutobi smirked and glanced down at Naruto, indicating that he should explain. Naruto's grin widened.

"Ne, sensei, these are what I'm really good at using. Unlike the Bunshin Jutsu which I really can't see to perform they use my chakra in a different manner. My teachers call them Materia."

Iruka was no slouch in the intellect department, and he certainly caught the plural when Naruto mentioned teachers.

Just how much specialized training has this boy been receiving? And why has it been kept secret?

"Now put them away Naruto and you two may leave. I believe you have some ramen to eat, no?"

Naruto was gone before Sarutobi had even finished his sentence, dragging a bewildered Iruka behind him. Sarutobi chuckled and returned to his desk. He took out an unfinished letter he had been working on and quickly completed it and signed it, closing it and sealing the envelope with his seal. He summoned a Chunin and handed him the letter.

"Take this to Jiraiya of the Sannin. He is currently near the border with Wind Country. Ask one of our agents there and they will direct you on how to contact him. This is a B-Rank mission, now go quickly."

The nondescript chunin bowed and then shunshined away, off to gather his equipment and supplies before exiting the village at full speed. When the Hokage gives you a B-Rank mission to be a courier to one of the Legendary Sannin, you didn't waste time.


An hour later found an exhausted Uzumaki Naruto collapsing onto his bed in the corner of his 'hideout'. After the events of the day he just hadn't felt safe staying at his apartment, so he sought out one of the few places he had utter comfort, and the only one he could truly relax in. Grinning widely Naruto pulled out a black wooden box he had hidden in a compartment under the mattress and set it on the small table next to the bed, opening the lid carefully. Inside three crystalline spheres glowed faintly, invitingly. Naruto carefully pulled the black velvet bag out of his pack and carefully deposited both stones.

Jiji had said that he had until Friday to get his picture taken for his shinobi ID, as team assignments would be given out back at the Academy on Friday morning. That meant that Naruto had all of Thursday to learn what each of his new Materia could do. He couldn't wait.

Naruto arranged his stones carefully and put the box away. As soon as it was secure he said a small prayer to Kami before lying down and promptly falling asleep.

Within the computer matrix of the house Naruto's ten instructors, who had become like a big, awkward, funky family to him, watched and smiled as the child they viewed as their own slept peacefully. Once they were sure he was asleep, a drone shimmered into view and carefully hovered over the boy, it's scanning beam passing through and to the box below.

By morning his teachers would have a good idea what to expect from the new Materia the next day.


Naruto awoke the next day eager and excited. After a quick breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast, something that Cloud surprisingly had taught him to cook, Naruto got up, got dressed, and walked outside. He had his black box and his golden bracer, which fit him much better now than when he had first received it from his instructors, and he was going to test those Materia out.

He had paid very close attention during his lessons on Materia theory, so he knew that the two purple spheres were so-called Independent Materia. The third sphere was the one he needed to be careful about. His instructors had explained that the red spheres were Summon Materia, which not only took a lot of energy out of the user, but also summoned creatures of great power, whose eccentricities were directly related to their power.

[So child of the Planet, are you ready to meet your first Materia summon?]

Naruto turned to find Cloud walking alongside him. Naruto had long ago learned not to be surprised when one of his teachers popped up unexpectedly like that. It just seemed to be in their nature.

"Yup. Do you have any idea what kind it might be?"

Cloud shook his head.

[I do not]

[Scanning analysis revealed similarities to one]

[On record from our world]

[But we cannot be certain]

[You will merely have to be prepared to fight if the summon]

[Proves problematic]

[For that purpose we have used twelve probes to establish a containment perimeter]

Naruto nodded, understanding that what Cloud really meant was that they had enough probes for him to manifest and deal with the summon him self if it proved violent or dangerous.

[But first we will have you test those other new Materia]

[They will be a lot safer]

Naruto chuckled.

When they finally reached their destination, a beat up clearing that Naruto normally used for demolitions practice with Barret, Naruto put on his bracer and placed both purple Materia into the two slots ready to receive them. Sighing, Naruto took a deep breath and focused on the one in the left socket.

In less than a second a purple glow infused the orb and spread out over his bracer and his entire body, sinking in and vanishing. Naruto looked down at him self. He could see nothing different, couldn't feel anything different. Finally he turned towards Cloud, letting his arm swing out to his side as he did so.

"Hey Cloud, I don't think it's workin-"

CRASH

Naruto and cloud both blinked in surprise as the tree Naruto's hand had just slammed into now had a huge dent in the side of it. Naruto blinked again and looked at Cloud who merely chuckled.

[Well that's one way to identify a Materia]

[That one is what we call a Strength Plus]

[In exchange for drawing on a very tiny amount of your energy]

[It increases your strength by a fair amount]

[Those are useful because once they have become activated they require no further focus]

Naruto nodded and focused on the second purple Materia, willing it to connect with his life force and activate. Naruto was again infused with a purple light, and again he felt no different.

He began to turn towards Cloud again and fell over as he suddenly moved much faster than anticipated. Cloud's chuckles as he got to his feet again were starting to get on Naruto's nerves.

[And there's another way]

[That one is known as a Speed Plus]

[I think you get the general idea of what it does]

Naruto shot Cloud a mock growl and then removed the two spheres from the sockets and placed them carefully back in his box. He very carefully removed the red sphere and placed it into the primary socket on his bracer, grinning in excitement as he did so.

Naruto stood back up and grinned at Cloud when the blond man gave him a thumbs up.

[Go for it kid]

[Just be careful]

Naruto nodded and turned towards the clearing, holding his arm out with his palm open and flat towards the center. Naruto closed his eyes and focused on the Materia. As he focused, he felt his energy begin to build up and flow into the sphere, and he felt the flow of the Planet's Mako around him as the sphere channeled it. The wind carried a light whisper to his ears, and something deep inside connected with it. The word just felt right.

Naruto uttered a single word, light yet strong like ice on the ocean.

"Shiva."

A sudden swirl of ice began to drop from the sky as a circle on the ground grew cold and began to glow blue. Barely a second later ice spewed forth from this circle, as did a spinning blue-skinned woman with long blue hair wearing fairly revealing blue clothes, and a blue crown

The woman opened her eyes and gazed upon Naruto and Cloud. Her eyes widened slightly as her memory was jogged, remembering a world long since gone that her kind had once been connected to. She shook her head to clear it and returned her gaze to the young blond child, the one who had summoned her. She saw how he gazed upon her with awe, reverence, and a huge smile.

"Yatta!" The boy suddenly exclaimed pumping his fist in the air in his excitement. "I di-itai!"

Shiva floated back after delivering a punch straight to the top of Naruto's head.

"That's what thou get for behaving inappropriately, child. Now tell me, why hast thou summoned me here?"

Naruto blinked and smiled back up at the woman before surprisingly bowing.

"Forgive me. I received a Summon Materia as a gift yesterday, and I only desired to speak with the one who was connected to it. Forgive me for not introducing my self immediately. I am Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto looked up with a grin on his face. "And one day, I'm going to be the Hokage of Konohagakure."

Shiva blinked and looked down at the child. She could feel that he had a good heart, pure and while it carried the taint of one who had been mistreated, she could detect none of the evil that would normally have dwelt in such a heart. She was amazed that he could remain such a pure child, especially with what the fate lines read to her about his destiny. She would just have to make sure he stayed that way.

"Greetings, Child of the Planet. It has been far too long since I have been summoned. Nearly a thousand of your years since I last spoke to anyone outside of my own realm. My name, is Shiva, and I am the Goddess of Ice and Fate."


AN: So, here it is, at long last, a new chapter for my faithful readers. It would have been out sooner except for a couple of things. One, I decided to finish editing and put up a chapter of a new fic. Two, I had originally decided to dedicate my writing to finishing the entire preliminaries of the Chunin Exams for "Phoenix Rising" before continuing work on this or Golden Viper. Three, when that failed because I got the inspiration to get started on this chapter, the inspiration just wouldn't leave me alone. Thus, what you receive now is the equivalent of over three chapters at what I had originally planned to be the normal chapter length for this story.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite it being nearly six years in compression. I did my best to demonstrate most, if not all, of what the AIs were teaching Naruto, as well as to present the Materia that he has received by this point. I've also tried to create an origin for the Oiroke no Jutsu, as well as create an explanation for my own story as to why Naruto will later show him self to be quite familiar with Icha Icha. And of course, there is that second scroll Naruto learned off of the Forbidden Scroll. You'll just have to wait and see to find out what he learned.

Next chapter, obviously, Naruto will meet his new team, and their pervert sensei will put them through the ringer with their true genin test. As always, please Read and Review. Every review tells me someone has been reading, and reviews always brighten my day and give me encouragement to keep on working. Jaa ne.

PS: I decided to give Itachi a pet in this story. Don't ask why, how, or what, or even if it will survive for long. First three people to send me a PM with a correct guess as to why I named the chapter the way I did AND leaves a signed review reminding me that they guessed (this is both in case I misplace the pms and so I can more easily determine order I received them) gets to suggest a name for it. I will choose my favorite out of the three. Good luck!

Review Responses – Yawn, it's 1:30 AM and I'm still making sure this gets done. And I wrote 10000 words of story today too. (You heard me, I wrote this entire thing TODAY)

OBSERVER01 – Unfortunately no. Not that I wouldn't consider it, but, I already set in stone the AI compliment of the vessel. Don't worry, they may appear at some point in the story in some form though.

Moonfal – haha, well, as always it's great to hear from you, and I'm glad my timing worked as well. I hope you did well on your bio exam. If you don't mind my asking, was it basic biology or a more advanced course? Anyways, here's hoping that this triple sized monstrosity arrives at a perfect time for you as well.

As always, happy to hear from you.

-ZI

Challenger – I'm actually well versed on all the girls except for the 60+ episodes of filler at the end of the first series. But no, this is not going to be a harem story. Naruto will have relationships and relationships with at least two women, and there will be something off and on with one even after he has settled down with another, but his relationship, both romantic/sexual and friendship with people are important, and his romantic/sexual relationships are part of a counterpoint to his earlier experiences while on Team 7 (duh duh duh foreshadowing that things are gonna go to crap with that). Thanks for the review and massive list of suggestions though. As to the Naruto Wiki, I use it regularly for fact checking and looking up information, It's a great resource, especially when I forget stuff.

Silver Water 7 – There will be other characters, to lesser degrees, that are similar to him. Remember, he was chosen as the BEST candidate, not the ONLY candidate. As to him being with someone, I have a very concrete plan for him in mind now, one formulated after finishing the previous chapter. And the girl he ultimately settles down with will be a good match for him, and a counterpoint to his previous love interest (read: violent psycho Sasuke-loving bitch who never sees him for what he is). She actually appreciates him for what he is, everything that he is, and loves him with all her heart. And no, I won't spoil the surprise.

Animegamemaster6 – It's a pleasure to meet another fan of his works. He was actually one of the fanfic authors whose stories finally gave me the encouragement to just start on my projects and start putting them out there. I may not have the same following he does, but I also have far less time publishing here and far fewer stories than he does. Haha. As you can see, I have presented the method by which they teach Naruto sword fighting. This was part of the idea I had from the moment I created the 'hologram' manifestations. No Sephiroth will not appear, as will no other FF baddies. As to the weapons, he has learned to use several weapons that I have shown you, and a couple more that won't appear til later. Here's a hint though. Vincent may not have been able to give him a gun, but the dude could still teach him to use ranged weapons. Composite recurved longbow anyone?

Uncle Joe – Thank you.

Trife – Why thank you Trife. I'm sorry this update wasn't as soon as you were probably hoping for, but in my defense I've been busy, working on other projects, and I just wrote a ten thousand word chapter for this in a single day. And remember, my normal planned length for these chapters was supposed to be 2-3k words. Meaning this is 3-5 chapters rolled into one.

-ZI

Bobboky – grins Or the sword is the shield and its just in the shape of a sword. Remember that.

Zeynel – That was put in while I was still not 100% sure what I was going to do with it, but I wanted to lay the groundwork regardless of which path I took. After I finished the chapter and uploaded I was speaking with my best friend for a while and he helped me bring my idea with regards to Itachi fully together. Needless to say, I do have the idea formulated with regards to him, and at some point prior to the end of the 'time skip' he will cease to be a member of Akatsuki. For what reason and what state he is in I won't spoil yet though.

Johnny-on-the-spot – Why thank you. I've put a lot of work into this trying to keep it original while at the same time having it flow as I would expect the story to have flowed if these changes had been introduced.

Akira Stridder – Only 'kinda cool'? Man, I better get my act together then. Hopefully this chapter has rated more than just 'kinda cool' ^_^

Kyuubi's Masamune – Your penname is making me chuckle.

Wiccachic2000 – Here you are. Consider it a late thanksgiving present that its so big. For the real thanksgiving present I gave my fans go read "Phoenix Rising". I put an awesome chocolate cake recipe in there. My own personal modifications to an already great cake.

Lord Ezra'eil – Haha, thanks for the hints, but no, that won't happen. Once someone has died and entered the lifestream they remain there as a spirit, they can't be fully reborn, although it is clear that some retain full consciousness. As to the AIs, they may have all the memories and what not, but ultimately they are artificial constructs. They have no life to reinstated in a body in the first place.

Anihilation – I'm sorry to disappoint, but Sakura won't be redeemed form being a Sasuke fan girl too much. She will one day realized what a fucking idiot she was to have treated Naruto the way she did when she could have had him as her own. And what do you mean the other 19? The probes are merely communication modules for the AIs, essentially. And the twenty probes were sent to analyze and determine the best single candidate. That being Naruto.

Anyways, I'll work on keeping the good work up, and sorry that Sakura is a fan girl in this fic, but it is necessary. A large part of Naruto's LATER team is a counterpoint to his experience while on Team 7.

-ZI

Anihilation – Hehe, before you get confused, my review response system is simple. I respond to the oldest review that I haven't responded to yet and go in order to the newest. When someone reviews multiple chapters in a row, I respond to each review in order and separately. Like I said, just so you don't get confused.

Anyways, yup their planet was destroyed, and they are indeed grooming Naruto to one day prevent his world from making their mistakes. Again, there aren't 19 others.

-ZI

Anihilation – Yep, you'll see, far along the path. Needless to say there will be hints of it when Itachi shows up for the first time or two. I hope you enjoyed reading about his training in this chapter. I really only gave a brief overview of it, and I have specifically left out details of certain aspects of it. Don't worry, they'll get filled in eventually.

Until next time, Jaa ne.

-ZI

Kammari – Thank you. I hope you liked this one as well.

Chm01 – Now that would be telling, since it's so far along and its so important to character development. All I'll say is it's not someone from Konoha.

YYonder – Thank you. It's reassuring to get as much of a response to this story as I already have. It's reaffirmed to me that deciding to write this and put it up was a good decision.