Naruto trudged out of the office, his face hung low and an air of dread cast over him. It seemed even the cheerful secretary had noticed, because she didn't say anything as he walked by her. Walking through the halls of the Tsuchikage's building, Naruto passed several offices of civilian men and women. He wouldn't have paid them much mind except for the fact that on nearly every surface of those offices were pictures of those people's families. It did nothing but reminded him of his situation, something he wanted to be rid of.

'Why me? Why do they have to send me away? It's not like I did anything to them.'

"We both know that's not true kit. Even if you don't want to believe it, this is probably the best for you. It's a precaution that needs to be taken."

'That doesn't mean I have to like it though.'

Ignoring whatever the bijuu was going to say next, Naruto left the Tsuchikage's building and entered into Iwagakure proper. It was an aesthetic and architectural beauty; buildings carved from the marble that the mountain underneath it was composed of glistening in the evening sun, a sharp contrast to the dark granite that was created by the founder of the village to serve as its foundation. Naruto had just entered into the main throughway of the village, which started at the village's gates and wound across the labyrinthine roads that fed into and diverted off of it, leading to the plaza that he was standing in.

Looking around, he noticed that most people were finishing up any business that was to be had. Since this was the closest mercantile area to the seat of military power in the country of Iwa, only the finest of shops could be seen, each selling their wares at exorbitant prices. But the men and women who shopped here paid no heed to the cutthroat pricing; they were the richest of the rich in this country, money was no object to them. It made for a sour note on Naruto's already bitter mood.

Walking along the street, Naruto tried his hardest not to meet eyes with anyone, staring straight ahead of where he was going. He hadn't had to walk this path home very often, but occasionally his… mother had sent him on errands that took him to that great plaza. At first he enjoyed the trips and saw everything, filled with awe; now with the knowledge he had at his disposal, it all seemed like a waste of time.

He shook his head, trying to clear all of the dark thoughts that were drifting around in his conscience, but it seemed like it was futile. Every time he would think of something that he was once happy for, he would only remember that was nothing but a lie. He didn't like being quiet and broody, it just wasn't in his nature, but he couldn't find anything to be happy about.

Looking around, he noticed he was standing in front of some very familiar canvas panels and then he remembered it, the thing that brought happiness into his life. "Ramen…" Walking into the moderately sized cart, he hopped onto the nearest stool and yelled out his order, something that had been added to the menu after he had ordered it for the hundredth time. Waiting for the response netted him a smile.

"Dad! Naruto's back! You know what he wants!"

"Tell him it'll be a little bit, the last of the dinner rush just came in."

"Will do dad!"

It was few seconds before a girl appeared at the bar, several bowls in her arms. She began walking around the bar, placing bowls in front of the customers at the shop, before she turned to see Naruto still smiling.

"What's up with you? You look like something happy happened today." She blinked when the smile disappeared faster that she could see, and then shook it off. "Anyway, Dad told me to tell you that it'll be a little bit until we can get you your order." She flourished her arm, making it wave across the cart, where people were still waiting for their meals.

"As you can see, we're a little busy, so please hold on." Naomi knew Naruto would walk a thousand miles for the pleasures of ramen, but she couldn't help teasing him any way she could.

IT wasn't but a few minutes when the other patrons of the restaurant were served and Naruto received his first of eight bowls. He knew he could eat more than that, but he was inclined towards superstition as most ninja are, and it was a well-known fact that eight was a lucky number.

It was a fast half an hour for Naruto, even if nearly half of it was spent waiting for his meals. Paying the now family friends for the food, Naruto stepped out from behind the canvas flaps and back into the world, all of his problems forgotten.

When he got home, he went straight to bed, intent on not waking up for the next year.

XxX

"Okay Naruto, I want you to try to make a single Kage Bunshin, can you do that for me?" Hearing the ruler of his village ask for something in such a manner gave Naruto the shivers, but he complied anyway. HE focused his chakra, intent on making a single clone with it. It was a simple enough process he knew that for sure, since it just split his chakra in half. He was surprised to find out that when he split his chakra out to make a clone, he instead got four.

"It seems you need to work on your control. Let's try again." Naruto still couldn't get over the fact that he, a simple genin fresh from the academy, was getting training from the ruler of their village. Even weirder was the fact that they were training in the grounds behind the Tsuchikage's personal estate. It was eerie to Naruto, but he shrugged it off as nothing. Channeling his chakra again, he was once again met with four clones.

The Tsuchikage was hesitant to respond. He stared at the child in front of him, before looking at the eight clones he had created so far. Walking up the one of the clones, he punched it in the gut, giving him the response he was dreading: a pop. Looking up at the noon-day sun, Onoki was at a loss. He had no clue how to go about creating a solid clone, and neither did Naruto from what he could tell. Deciding that even though they had just started, a break was necessary he sat down.

"Curse my bad back. Naruto-genin, if you could head into the house and grab some tea for us, I would greatly appreciate it." Seeing the boy nod, Onoki knew he only had a few minutes to come up with an idea on how to create solid clones, but he didn't know how to start. Hearing some commotion take place inside the house, Onoki stood up; intending on making sure his charge was safe and sound. He was surprised to see his granddaughter appear in the doorway leading into the house.

"Grandpa? Why is Naruto in our house making tea?"

Onoki snorted. "He's here for some private training." IT was then that he noticed the books by his granddaughter's waist. "What are those for?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, but yesterday our sensei told us about how ninjas tend to specialize. He asked us if we wanted to specialize in anything, and I decided to focus on Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. Naruto I know for a fact decided to focus on Taijutsu, and Fu wants to focus on Iryojutsu and Ninjutsu."

Onoki froze. Iryojutsu. That was it; he knew what needed to be done now. It was a long shot to be sure, but if this didn't work, then he didn't know what would. Smiling as his granddaughter, he sat back down and waited to for Naruto to come back.

Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, Naruto came out with a tray. Setting the tray down and sitting opposite of the Tsuchikage, the two drank in silence. It wasn't until Onoki finished his first cup when he started speaking.

"Naruto-genin, what do you understand about the human body?" He noticed that the child was thrown off by the question, and decided to elaborate. "Did you take any initiative in learning about the human body past what the Academy taught you?" He didn't even need a response, the blush told him all he knew.

"Here's what you are to do until you leave : You are to check out as many books as you can find on the human body from both the ninja and civilian library. If they have any qualms about it, tell them to come see me. Summon as many clones as possible to read those books, and then before you leave, we will have one last training session. Now go, daylight is burning."

Naruto tried to ask questions, but when they met nothing but the stern glare of the Tsuchikage, he realized he would have no answers. So, with a slight hesitation about the situation he was in, he set off for the libraries.

XxX

"It seems you've betrayed me, old friend."

"Hiruzen, we've known each other for longer than we care to mention. It's time for you to step down as Hokage."

"Why? So you can take my place and plunge both this village and the world into chaos?" Even then, Hiruzen could feel his ability to control his chakra diminishing. He had been poisoned. He didn't believe it would happen, but that was the price he paid for being complacent. He wouldn't die, he knew this particular poison intimately, since he had been using it since the Third Ninja War; but he knew its effects were permanent.

"You and I both know that's not my goal. If I can make this world understand the sheer terror that is found in war, then it's possible for it to never happen again. Even if it required for the world to be in war for a century, I would surely go to war if it's to be the last one. You may think me a war hawk, but my goal is the same as yours; I just go about mine in a more overt way."

Hiruzen looked at his friend with a smile on his face. He could no longer feel his chakra, even as large as it was, but he knew it was still there. He would live, and die an old man. But he wouldn't give his enemy what he wanted. With a chuckle, Hiruzen stood up. "I suppose you think this makes you Hokage now, doesn't it, Danzo?"

The man on the other side of the table stood up as well. "I don't see how this doesn't old friend. Now I can finally finish what you've been planning on doing for nearly nine years now. It's time to make the world understand that Konoha is not to be messed with. It's time to show Iwa just what the Kyuubi Jinchurikki means to Konoha." With a snap of his fingers, a duo of ninja peeled away from the darkness surrounding the standing pair.

And with a snap of Hiruzen's fingers, one of the ninja next to Danzo sprang into action. With agility rarely seen in such a short figure, the ninja rushed the two people standing next to him, making Danzo flip away, and crashing his former ally into the wall. With but a flick of the wrist, the ninja's throat was cut, and lying in an ever-increasing pool of blood on the floor.

"What?!" Danzo glared at the duo in front of him. It seemed he had underestimated the shrewdness of his friend. They were in one of the most secure rooms in the depths of Konoha. Nobody to get to them unless they knew the way and only the three of them in the room knew. He had become complacent, and now he was paying for it.

"Good job Sasuke. Now go alert the council of this treachery and look for Kakashi. Tell him "The phoenix must rise again", he'll understand what it means. Now GO!" With but a flicker, Hiruzen's orders were followed, and Sasuke was gone.

HIruzen smiled wantonly. Even though he knew he couldn't give much of a fight, he also knew something Hanzo didn't. He knew that the poison he had ingested would permanently cut him off from his supply from chakra, but there was a work around. The funniest thing was that the work around had a tendency to kill the people involved. It was as simple as overpowering the person's chakra with their own, in the poisoned person's body. That was what got Hiruzen interested in this poison in the first place. But Hiruzen wasn't known as the "God of Shinobi" for nothing, and he knew another work around that would definitely have a better survival rate.

Throwing off his robes to reveal a black outfit, Hiruzen began focusing. Hanzo took this as a sign of acceptance, and went in for the now necessary kill, when he was thrown back by the force given off by the Hokage in front of him.

Hiruzen stood, his chakra blazing around him in a magnificent show of blues and greens. "You assumed I wouldn't know a way around my favourite poison Danzo. That will be your downfall." As he was speaking, Danzo had gotten to his feet and thrown his robes off as well, to reveal a fully functioning right arm, complete with grotesques knots of flesh surrounding sharingan eyes juxtaposed into it. Even more unsightly was the colour of the arm itself; a pallid white. Taking a moment to unlock the metal surrounding his wrist, Hanzo glared at Hiruzen. "Opening the gates. I suppose that would work, but tell me, how do you think you can win when I have so much more power?"

"The time for words is over Danzo. This has been too long in the making. May we both walk away from this battle, friend." Hiruzen steeled himself for what he was about to do, and charged.

"Ha! I will be the only one to walk away from this battle, friend. Then I will show this wretched world what real peace costs." Danzo charged as well, making handsigns as he did.

Hiruzen's eyes widened as he recognized the jutsu about to be used. 'I see.' In the split second it took for them to meet in the middle of the room, Hiruzen swept underneath Danzo as he brought his hands to his mouth, and started to slide. He succeeded in sweeping Danzo's legs from under him. He wasn't expecting for Danzo to anticipate it, and he gasped when he saw trees sprouting from where Danzo had touched the ground.

The trees annihilated the room they were in, and caved in the walls, exposing a secret hallway. That hallway was soon expanded as trees destroyed all structural integrity it had, leaving both Hiruzen and Danzo amongst the rubble in a pitch black area, how large it was neither knew.

Hiruzen sent chakra to his hand and swung around on them, rocketing himself onto one of the still growing trees. 'I've only opened one gate so far, but I can tell I'll need more. I don't know how long I can go on for after I open the second gate though.' He had no more time to think as he heard Danzo whip around one of the trees surrounding him. The Hokage barely managed to escape the surprise attack, and the chase was on. It was surprisingly tough trying to figure out where the next tree was, considering they were so large, but Hiruzen knew his eyesight was starting to go. 'I need some light…' Making a few hand seals, he started to spit out fireballs the size of large boulders, but he didn't seem fazed in the least by their heat. He didn't take the time to watch as the fireballs hit the trees surrounding him, as he knew that Danzo would be right behind him. But at least he could see now.

It also allowed Danzo to see, but what he was looking at was…Confusing. He knew they were underground, evident because of the sheer blackness that had permeated the area before the trees pierced whatever was surrounding the two, allowing minuscule amounts of light to leak through. Of course the inferno the trees had quickly become also helped with the light situation. But what had distracted Danzo so much was not the inferno, but what was on the wall in front of him. It was the largest sealing array Danzo had ever seen, stretching about fifty feet in width and the entirety of the wall in height, which itself was nearly a hundred feet. Whatever it was, it was draining a miniscule amount of chakra from him. What was distracting him the most however, was the large kanji for Jinchurikki in the exact center of the wall itself, where it seemed all the seals originated from. He didn't have much time to examine it as he was swept away by a wave of water.

Gasping for air, Danzo swam to the surface only to see spears of earth headed in his direction. He promptly utilized a Kawarimi, which gave him solace from the no doubt deadly attack. While it did quench some of the fire that was still blazing, it did little to actually stop it. Looking to the direction where he knew the water came from, He saw Hiruzen rushing at him, the aura surrounding him dimmer than it was before. He waited for the man to come to him, before dropping down and trying to palm the man's stomach, sending his chakra through his palms to disrupt his opponent's, but when he was rewarded with nothing but a "poof", he turned around blocked the kick that most certainly would have knocked him unconscious.

Hiruzen grunted, pushing Danzo away with the leg he used to perform the kick. They stood opposite of each other, staring each other down. It was then that Hiruzen remembered something that Danzo had said. "You said Iwa has him? How do you know?"

Danzo took a moment to breathe. "Simple. I had one of my ninja infiltrate Iwa, just as I had the other villages. He caught sight of the Kyuubi's host, and then formulated a plan to get him back. It ultimately failed, but I can assure you he is in Iwa's possession." He smirked, as the clone he had created underwater went to knock the man in front of him unconscious, only for it to be blocked by a clone as well.

Danzo only noticed a faint reflection in the water below him before he was met with the familiar blackness of being unconscious. Enma looked up at his summoner, the staff in his hands still shrinking. "You're lucky it worked out like this. If it wasn't because of that genjutsu, he would still be up."

"Which is surprising, since one of the abilities of the Sharingan is being able to detect Genjutsu; maybe the Senju DNA he had implanted into his body was preventing him from using the Sharingan to its full effect?" Hiruzen looked around his surroundings, trying to find an easy way out.

Picking up the still semi-bandaged man, Enma looked around the cavern. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"No clue, but some of the trees knocked holes through the walls, so if we climb through those we can figure it out." The next few minutes were dedicated to finding a hole big enough to fit both Enma and a now securely bound Danzo. In all that time, Hiruzen did not see the seal array slowly dissolve back on the stone wall.

While Hiruzen had an inkling as to where he was, he was still surprised to see the familiar structure of the largest building in Konohagakure standing before him. "Home sweet home."

XxX

(3 days later)

"Okay Naruto-genin, it's been three days. Have you been studying hard?" Onoki looked up at the child in front of him. The dawn was still approaching, bathing the two ninja in its pink rays.

They were back at his personal estate. It was the best place to do this in Onoki's opinion; if they actually succeeded in making solid clones, it would still be kept a secret from those who might persuade themselves to give it a try.

"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama, I have been." Naruto couldn't help but still be nervous around his commander. He sensed a great power within that small frame; he remembered how the textbooks he read in the Academy wrote about the Tsuchikage's exploits. Being one of the Pillars of the Old World along with Danzo Shimura, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Hanzo the Salamander along with being the only living being who fought Madara Uchiha and survived tended to give a person a commanding presence and aura.

"Good, then try your hardest to make only one clone this time. Try to focus as much chakra as you possibly can into making that one clone; that might help you."

"Okay Tsuchikage-sama." Naruto then made the seal for the jutsu and with a burst of smoke, several clones appeared. Once again, Naruto was surrounded by four clones. He walked to one of them and was halfway through the punch to dispel it when he heard Onoki yell out. "Stop."

Naruto looked at his leader, confusion marring his face. "Leave them be. Let them go train on chakra control or something similar. It appears you need it." BY the blush adorning the genin's cheeks, Onoki knew he had hit a sore spot. Standing up from his sitting position, Onoki himself made a clone. "This'll look over those clones for you, in case they decide to get rowdy. Now, let's get back to why we're here."

This process repeated itself for nearly an hour; long enough for Onoki to stop making a clone for every time Naruto made four. Eventually some of Naruto's clones began dispersing, some from fights that had broken out and before one of Onoki's clones could stop it. All of them were dispelled after one hit. After three more hours of continuously making quadruplets after quadruplets, Onoki became fed up.

"Okay kid, we're gonna give it one last shot. One more try, and I want you to make as many clones as you can using as much chakra as you can grab a hold of. Let's go big and see if that works." If Naruto acted how Onoki knew he acted, then what he was about to see would answer some of his more problematic questions.

"Okay, Tsuchikage-sama." Putting his hands in the seal for the jutsu, Naruto began pulling on his immense reserves, but he couldn't 'feel' much more than one-twentieth of his original reserves. He knew what he had to do. Reaching further than was necessary to control his own chakra, he awoke his tenant.

"Kit, what are you doing? What's going on?"

'Just need a little bit of your chakra. Anything would be good. Just got to impress the Tsuchikage'

He heard the Kyuubi snort in arrogance. "While it matters not to me, I understand why you believe you must pander to your leader. I shall give you but an ounce of my power. Use it with grace, kit."

'Will do Kyuubi.'

With the cerebral connection severed, Naruto was overcome with vertigo as his chakra reserves were replenished with a great wave of chakra. While he appreciated the help, the incessant burning irked him. 'Now, let's go big!' And with a great mental heave, Naruto used his jutsu.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With a singular 'poof', a smoke cloud proceeded to blind and congest all people in a quarter-mile radius. (1) When the smoke cleared, an unbelievable amount of Naruto clones were standing in any available space. Naruto, still coming back from the momentary high that his new chakra had given him, fell to the ground, unconscious.

Onoki, still very conscious, decided he had enough games and promptly shunshined to one of the clones nearest him and punched it in the stomach. The 'poof' of it disappearing saddened to wizened man. Looking at the kid still unconscious on the ground, Onoki felt a small pang of guilt at what he was about to do.

"Sorry kid, but it's for your own good."

XxX

"You ready to head out, kid?" Even if Naruto was in a foul mood, there was no way he was messing with this guy. He stood easily twice as tall as the blonde 'Nearly as tall as Tsuzuru-sensei' and easily thrice as wide.

"Yup. All packed up and ready to go!" Even if he wasn't entirely ready. He wasn't ready to leave his friends, not yet at least. He tried as hard as he could too, but managing a solid clone was still out of his reach. The upside though, was that he now knew moderately in-depth knowledge of most of the body.

It really did get to him though. Not being able to see his teammates and family for a whole year. Hopefully nothing too big would change in the time he was gone. With a final sigh, Naruto and the man beside him set out for their destination; the morning sun silhouetting them against the village gates.

XxX

"Tsuchikage-sama." Onoki didn't need to turn around to know just who was talking to him. No, the man that was speaking was dangerous, and you remember dangerous people. Of course, he didn't let the inner machinations of his mind show through.

"Oh, you're here. I take it you received my request then?"

"Yes. We will allocate some of our resources into this endeavor; the details are favorable."

"Good. It would be best to wait a few months before attempting anything. Let them think they're secure." Onoki swung around in his chair, only to find nothing in his room. He knew that either way, power was beginning to shift, and he intended to capitalize; whether it was on the back of an innocent child or not.

Author's Note Time!

So. About how late this chapter is. You wouldn't believe me if I told you I got a job pretty much right after school got out and I now have barely any time at all to write, which means shorter chapters overall, which was a thing I was going to do anyway but now it's sort of necessary because I don't have much writing time?

I didn't think so. But hey, the truth is always stranger than fiction. Although, I have to be truthful here; I did spend some of my free time on a different story, which you guys should check out. I plan on putting it on sometime later this month, since I'm still editing it.

Either way, enjoy this shorter chapter while I continue earning money and writing for you guys. My writing schedule should remain the same now that I've officially shortened the chapter lengths, so look forward to the first week of next month, especially since that chapter should be really spicy with the plot that is brewing; that and a little bit longer. It was a pain to write this chapter and I'm not sure why.

(1): I know what you're thinking. "The Kyuubi isn't that powerful." But it is. Because I made it so. It's not called the most powerful being on the planet for nothing people. Don't expect for the Kyuubi to be used too often.

Anyways, have a great summer you guys.

DON'T Stay Thirsty,
TimTheeEnchanter