Well you all know I don't own Naruto, so let's leave it at that.

Chapter 6: A Training cut short; Enter the Warhawk

(Namishu)

Naruto dodged a punch to his face, before jumping over a kick to his mid-section from his opponent. His opponent rushed toward him once again, their long faded red hair billowing in the soft breeze.

Entering his stance once more he prepared to defend himself. His opponent threw a fist to his face which he dodged, following up on his attack with another kick to Naruto's gut which the blond blocked but was pushed backwards from the force of the kick, sticking to the surface of the water, the blond skidded atop the surface of the water, creating a small wave-ish path as he disturbed the serene waters. He came to stop as a loose wall of water rose from behind him and he smacked softly into it. Regaining his bearings he saw an axe kick descending toward him from his opponent and the blond rolled out of the way before attempting to take out his opponent's legs from under him with low kick to his opponent's legs which the man jumped over.

Charging towards his opponent, a wave-ish trail of water rushing behind, he engaged him in a bout of Taijutsu. The two were mere blurs to the naked eye as they clashed against one another, throwing punches and kicks in speeds that were impressive to look at. Naruto twisted his body in a 180 turning motion as he sent a roundhouse kick to his opponent which was blocked, before following it up with another long kick which connected with his opponent's chest, albeit with the metal armour covering them taking the brunt of the attack.

His opponent responded with a knee to the gut and a kick to the face of the blond which he blocked with both his arms. Leaping backwards to put some space between himself and his opponent, Naruto assessed the situation. Currently he and Higure were sparring atop the water and the blond was looking a little worse for wear. He was bruised, battered and starving but the latter could wait, the weights he was wearing didn't help either as they made it difficult for him to move faster and restricted him. He was panting harshly, a river of sweat flowing down his face showing the exercise was making him work up a sweat.

It had been five and a half months since his training with Higure had begun and it had only intensified by the day. With each day his redheaded Sensei would add a new obstacle or a crazy rule that would put him at a disadvantage or handicap him, like the one they were doing now for example.

The man had decided to add weights to his clothing and right now the blond was fighting not only the redhead but was fighting with every muscle fibre in his body to prevent himself from sinking into the cold water below him. This was another one of Higure's 'self-created' training exercises where he had to stand and spar atop the water while wearing 150 lbs weighted metal plates all over his body. Although it was troublesome, the effects and results of this particular exercise were extraordinary and astonishing and well worth the trouble. It not only improved his Chakra control significantly, but went a long way toward increasing his speed, endurance, strength and the blond himself was quite pleased with how far he had come from just the basics of physical training.

That though, didn't mean he neglected his studies, spiritual and cognitive training, no he read every book and scroll he could get his hands on to improve his grammar and vocabulary and Higure also dedicated some of his time toward teaching him calligraphy and the blond recognised that the efficiency, control, calamity and elegance that went into the art calmed him down significantly.

One of his primary goal was to find out more about the Uzumaki clan but there weren't many books or scrolls about the once great clan, it seemed the three nations which had attacked and destroyed the nation not only took their lives but paid special effort toward wiping out everything about them from the face of the earth. For now, many didn't have a clue that once a few decades ago the Uzumaki clan existed and the powers preferred it that way.

The little he had found was that the clan were heavy practitioners of the sealing arts and that the clan, almost the entirety of it were recognisable through their red hair, a characteristic he didn't have despite being told he was of the clan by both the Kyubi and Higure. It made him wonder sometimes why he had blond hair and not the traditional red, as the clan genetics books he read pointed out that in every pairing, even one where an Uzumaki had children with an outsider, almost all of them had red hair. Something to do with being the dominant gene or something, he couldn't remember quite well.

So what was it about his 'father' that was so special to overwhelm a potent gene as the Uzumaki's.

He looked toward the shore where currently Hotaru was seated, observing them battle it out intensely. The girl had taken to doing that a lot often lately where she would just sit there and watch him and the redhead spar intensely every day. Why she did it, the blond didn't know but he guessed it could be out of boredom or from a lack of things to do in the house. He sometimes wished she had some friends but at the same time the thought disturbed him slightly, it made him feel as if she would leave him alone if she ever did get any friends. The blond knew if the girl ever wanted to make any friends that she could do so, but since Namishu was basically a ghost town after it was abandoned several years ago following many bandit and Nuke-nin attacks on the small town, the idea was impossible.

He didn't know why but he had the feeling that the girl didn't easily trust anyone; even he wasn't sure where he stood with her. He knew it could be something to do with her past but he never questioned her on it. Despite all this, he had warmed up to the girl considerably, similar with Higure. The two meant a lot to him, and for someone like him, having their first taste of 'family', even and adopted one, the feeling was irreplaceable. He knew he would do anything to keep and protect them and thus the training.

He was somehow uncertain of what his current goal was, having lost his first if not well thought out goal and dream but for now he believed that Higure and Hotaru's safety was his prime goal and he would train his body to the brink of death to become strong, not for him but this feeling. For he never wished to be alone again. To feel hollow, lost and lonely.

He was snapped out of his daze as he heard a loud sound of rushing water, he noticed, albeit a bit too late, a large water ball soaring his way. It wasn't big enough to kill him but definitely big enough to hurt like a bitch. His wide eyes closed as he braced himself for the impact which came down on him like a ton of bricks. Smacking him loudly with so much force it drove him into the river like a pile-driver; he felt a hand grasp his before he could sink and pass out and looked toward the source to see Higure there with a smile on his face.

"You are improving, you managed to stay atop the water for four straight hours without falling in and drowning despite the increase in your weight I added earlier. Good work, but learn never to take your eyes of your opponent" he was proud of his student, in just five months Naruto had absorbed everything that he taught him like sponge and endured any torture he put him through without backing down or hesitating. The blond truly reminded him of himself when he was younger and of another fiery redhead whom he believed he had failed.

Grinning weakly with drooping eyes the blonde's head fell as he succumbed to the blissful call of unconsciousness.

Picking Naruto up and flinging him to his back to carry piggy back style, Higure walked back toward shore.

Finally stepping out of the river water he looked at Hotaru who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow "Was that really necessary?"

Chuckling at the brunette the man glanced at the sleeping blond "Well I believe so, he took his eyes of an opponent in a potential dangerous situation and besides I knocked him out because he was on his last breath. He would have simply asked to keep on going and I didn't want to test the limits of his stamina"

"Fine I guess, let's get him to the house so he can heal and get some rest before he annoys me about food when he wakes up" leading the way to the house with Higure following closely after. She looked back at the man who had changed somewhat dramatically since Naruto's arrival and saw the large smile on his face as he walked behind her 'I've never seen him happier, I guess you really did save him Naruto'

The elder Uzumaki gave a hearty chuckle at that "Well, things certainly seem livelier with him around don't they, perhaps i should give the two of you some time to get well acquainted with each other and just be children, Kami knows you both need it"

Hotaru huffed at that, not at all glad at being reminded she was still a youth; the expression on her face drew another heartfelt laugh out of the elder man. With a pout the girl looked away deciding that for now she would simply let him have his fun.

Glancing at the unconscious Naruto on the elder man's back, she couldn't help but notice how peaceful he seemed. Her lips twitched slightly as a small smile etched itself on her face, 'Yeah, I guess things are interesting once more again, just like that time' she thought to herself, a wistful look appearing on her face at the end of her statement.

~~The next day~~

(Konoha- Hokage Tower)

"Well. What have you been able to find?" the voice of Sarutobi resounded out as he turned to gaze at his white haired student, a pipe in his hand as he calmly took a drag of the contents of the tobacco.

Jiraiya sighed wearily "Nothing, I don't know why but it's like he just disappeared off the face of the planet, a few witnesses say they saw a blond haired boy matching his description last in a bandit camp near what was once the port town of Namishu, apparently he was abducted along with a few people but he escaped"

The elder man nodded somewhat reluctantly, as if he wanted to hear more but couldn't "This is troubling indeed and Danzo? What did you find about him and his Root?"

Jiraiya made his way toward the large window where rays of the sun peaked in into the building "Well they have been spotted numerously around the land of rice, why Danzo went there I don't know but I have a hunch Orochimaru may be the reason. It seems Orochimaru may have a hideout in that country" frowns marred the visage of both men at that statement.

Sarutobi set his pipe on the desk before him, looking at Jiraiya with a resigned look "Now what should I do? I cannot send men into another a foreign country without knowing whether out target is there or not" Drawing in a long sigh as he rubbed at his temples "But for now I believe that as long as Danzo can't find Naruto, then we have nothing to worry about. One thing I know for certain is that the fool will never ally himself with someone who would have intentions to destroy Konoha"

The white-haired man turned his eyes back to his Sensei, a serious expression on his youthful face "Well then you're wrong, because a few months ago the Daimyo of Ta no Kuni and his whole family were killed and it seems an unknown assailant is vying for control of the country and they are militarizing it. It's becoming somewhat worrying"

Sarutobi frowned, his narrowed eyes glancing toward Jiraiya with a thoughtful expression "Do you believe Danzo and Orochimaru may be working together and are in on this?" his voice was calm, yet there was an underlying sense of weariness in it.

The white-haired Gama Sannin merely nodded "I believe so, for now we should be ready for anything. Anything involving Danzo is bad but when you have Orochimaru in as well then you have reason to worry greatly"

Sarutobi sighed and just nodded tiredly "Thank you for your help Jiraiya; I don't know what I would do without you. Who would've thought that out of all my students you would be the only one I would come to rely on?"

Jiraiya frowned, his facial features scrunching up slightly "That's because no one thought at all, everyone expects less from clan-less Shinobi and many believe they will never progress far as a Shinobi as compared to more talented and genius individuals from prestigious clans. However I proved that it's not the genetic makeup but the guts and the undying will to never give up that makes a true Shinobi and neither Orochimaru or Tsunade understand that and for a time you didn't either" there was a tinge of bitterness in the Sannin's voice that wasn't lost on his former Sensei.

"Well I suppose you are right. Talented ninja are easier to teach but many never do understand what it means to be strong, even I was blind to that mere fact" the old man let a shamed smile spread over his features.

Jiraiya noticed the downcast mood surrounding the man, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He also had his own guilt and shame to wallow in "Yeah, I better go now, I'll see you later" he headed toward the door.

The Hokage sighed sympathetically before he spoke "Regarding Naruto-kun, don't blame yourself Jiraiya. If there is anyone to blame it should be me, i-" he was cut off as the other man raised his hand, stopping near the door and looking back at him.

Jiraiya's eyes moved to look up at the frames of the four Hokage on the wall. His gaze focused on one particular picture, of a man with spiky yellow hair and sharp piercing blue eyes. A smile was on his handsome visage and he similar to the other three wore a necklace with four crystals around his neck and the Hokage robe "No, we are all equally to blame for this, Minato, you and I…we will always be weighed by this mountain of regret and guilt for as long as we live. I could've taken Naruto from Konoha if I really wanted to but I was stuck in the past and used my spy network as an excuse, you could have adopted him if you really wanted to, or gave him over to a foster family to be raised with love, and Minato…" he trailed off at the end, his gaze lingering on the picture of the blond haired man.

Hiruzen nodded in understanding, his gaze focused on the same picture "I understand, he made the gravest mistake of all. That being choosing his son's happiness over the village. No matter what you may say to them, a child would never comprehend that. Children are naturally selfish and too centred on themselves that they do not see the big picture, but even if they were not, anyone would harbour bitterness toward their parents when they choose something bigger over them. I know the feeling…"

"Asuma?" Jiraiya asked his Sensei with a knowing gaze.

He nodded, grasping his pipe and bringing it to his lips. He gave a weary sigh as he stuck it into his mouth "Yes, sometimes it seemed that every time we talked he just drifted further away from me. I suppose I failed him as a father but I just wish he'd come home"

Nodding at the elder man's statement, the white-haired man sympathized with his Sensei. He knew about the man's fallout with some of his family members, especially his younger son Asuma. "I understand and I'm sorry to hear that"

The elder man waved him off "It is alright Jiraiya, now go, I don't wish to keep you, but remember…you aren't the only one suffering from this"

Naruto absentmindedly stumbled his way back home. He was currently walking in the middle of an empty street in what was once the port village of Namishu. The area around him was unkempt and most of the houses were collapsed and some huts had caved in on themselves. The state of the buildings showed they hadn't been lived in for a very long time. In the horizon the glow and rushing of the sea was visible but the blond wasn't focused on sightseeing.

His vision was blurred and his clothing tattered in many places but the blond was unminding of the state he was in and he just simply continued sauntering back home. The state he was in was contradicted by the large grin of accomplishment he wore on his face.

The blond couldn't stop grinning, and the reason for that didn't include a large steamy bowl of ramen or the fact that he had just went toe to toe with his Sensei atop water for five hours straight and not get knocked out.

What had him grinning like a bulldog was because he had, after five months of intense training, the second step of his Suiton training. It had involved halting the flow of the water and he had struggled with it at for months but in the end he got it down today. Now he could finally do Suiton Ninjutsu, something which his Sensei described as extraordinary.

The blond continued on his walk absently, not aware of his surroundings or of the pair of hidden bespectacled eyes watching him intently which disappeared soon after as they were swept away in a whirl of wind. He continued walking, so lost in his own little world that he didn't notice as he bumped into someone as he turned around a narrow corner.

"Oww" the blond fell to the ground on his butt, having been taken by surprise by the steady presence he had ran into.

"Hey you okay there kid?" in the midst of his grogginess, he could hear as the person spoke. Their voice was soft and Naruto figured it was someone young. Looking up Naruto was met with greyed hair as the person whom he had ran into stared down at him, their face extremely close to his and a kindly smile on their face.

Naruto shook his head to regain his bearings with a groan and looked up. The person before him looked to be a boy, roughly around 15 to 16 years of age; the boy had grey hair tied into a ponytail, wore circular glasses and had on a high collared purple shirt with a white one underneath it, and similarly coloured purple Shinobi pants. He had on plated fingerless purple gloves similar to those worn by Shinobi. Although his Chakra was well suppressed, Naruto's Rinnegan could clearly see that the boy before him had Jounin level Chakra pools at best. His posture was relaxed, although the way his Chakra flickered about showed he was ready for anything. He had on a headband which the blond didn't recognise, even after months of refining on his studies.

Naruto was surprised to see a Shinobi in the area, he never knew there was Shinobi presence in the area but guessed the boy before him was back from a mission and was just 'passing through'.

"Yeah I am, sorry for bumping into you like that. I wasn't paying attention" The blond rubbed at his head sheepishly, a nervous smile on his face as he gazed at the elder boy.

The white-haired boy just smiled politely, dismissing his apology with a wave of the hand "It's alright, I wasn't paying attention either. Say, what's your name kid?"

"Uhh, why you wanna know?" Naruto gazed at him suspiciously but the stranger just chuckled and ruffled his hair and the blond couldn't help but feel there was something off about the boy before him.

The stranger just shrugged nonchalantly as he responded "Well you just seem like a good kid and I thought I should get your name. I'm Kabuto but you don't have to tell me yours if you don't want to"

Naruto shook his head, somehow still feeling this wave of uneasiness radiating off the boy whom had just given off his name far too easily "It's okay I guess, I'm Naruto"

"Well Naruto-kun, it was nice meeting you. I look forward to seeing you soon" and with that the white-haired boy turned around and began walking away. However he stopped after a few steps, turning his head to gaze at Naruto over his shoulder "Oh and Naruto-kun, you have very…interesting eyes" chuckling ominously, his four eyed glasses gleaming darkly in the same manner as well, the white haired boy continued on his way.

'So that's him huh?' Kabuto thought, his back to Naruto as he disappeared into the woods.

Naruto kept staring at the diminishing silhouette of the mysterious whitehead. Naruto's eyes were narrowed in thought and suspicion, there was something off about that guy, and the comment he had made about his eyes certainly unsettled him. Why would a Shinobi be interested in his name? It didn't make sense, no matter how innocent and nice the guy tried to look.

'That was Kinda creepy', Naruto summed up his thoughts with a long held sigh. At first he had thought the older boy would beat him up for bumping into him or curse and berate him. That was what happened in Konoha after all. Shaking off his troublesome thoughts, the blond began his 'creepster' delayed short walk home with a smile on his face, he just wanted to fill up, take a nice warm bath and bury himself in his Fuinjutsu theories scroll.

~~A week later~~

(Otogakure no Sato *still doesn't exist*- (Ta no Kuni)

Orochimaru sat atop his throne-like chair in a dimly coloured room that was only provided light by a few candles.

Before him was an expressionless Danzo who had his back turned to him, the remnants of his Root faction standing a short distance away from him. The old warmonger had his eyes closed and BOTH his hands folded neatly underneath his robe with the baggy sleeves touching.

Orochimaru's slit golden eyes were curiously watching the man who over the past few months since he had stumbled upon his hideout in the land of Rice, had become his 'ally' of sorts. Their allegiance to one another was rather tenuous at best, after all with the history they had and how things had ended in Root, both men had valid reasons not to trust one another.

The Sannin of course wasn't overly jolly over allying himself with someone as paranoid as the man before him prior to the man's defection from Konoha, he knew that the presence of the man would invite unwanted enemies and Danzo had those in spades. Bur alas he went ahead and did it anyway; he believed the benefits of allying with the man were well worth the risks.

He still remembered the day when Danzo and a hundred and thirty of his men came to him five months ago like it was just yesterday.

Flashback- Five months ago

"I would like you to become my ally"

Orochimaru gazed at the stoic man who stood before him with a raised eyebrow. He didn't like the man for obvious reasons.

The man's name was Danzo Shimura. He had invited the man in when he learned he was seeking a meeting with him. He knew of the risks and knew the old fool would never dream of invading his hideout, not with everything the Sannin knew about him and could do against him.

In all his time in Konoha and even after defecting he had never understood the man and even now he didn't.

Everything that Danzo did perplexed him greatly; whether from getting involved in international affairs as he did with the original Akatsuki, ordering the mass massacring of clans, and killing everything that could remotely be considered a threat to Konoha, no matter how minimal it is. It seemed the man's paranoia was bordering on the levels of insanity and coming from him, that wasn't a compliment.

Orochimaru had then come to the conclusion that he wouldn't be surprised by everything the crazy old former elder would do. That was before today and now and the same man stood before him.

"What did you just say?" Orochimaru stared at the man with a surprised look, having come to the conclusion that he hadn't heard right.

"I wish for us to become allies" the man repeated the statement he had previously said in the same monotonous and without blinking.

Orochimaru gazed at the man before him, his slit golden eyes blinking and blinking and blinking before he chuckled ominously at seeing the serious expression on the man's face. Sometimes Danzo just said the most utterly stupidest things you could never expect from a man like him. The man was so unlike him in most ways, Danzo was always so serious and dull, but he certainly made things fun with his unpredictability.

The Sannin leant forward from his chair, a half-interested look on his face "Oh, and what would I get in return for allying myself to you Danzo?"

"Hiruzen's death and whatever else you may wish" the almost robotic reply shocked the Sannin who recoiled a bit.

The Sannin smirked, knowing the next statement would sour the stoic expression on the man's face "Well you do know that I want to destroy Konoha don't you?"

Danzo just kept looking at the Sannin as if he was looking past him "Yes and I will assist you in doing so"

Saying Orochimaru was shocked was putting it lightly, he was bewildered. Out of all the crazy things that he expected Danzo to sprout out the minute he stepped on his porch, what he just said was the craziest of them all. Not because the snake Sannin believed Konoha couldn't be destroyed, no far from it actually since he himself had been plotting Konoha's downfall for years. No what shocked him about the statement was that Danzo, a man who loved Konoha as much as he loved little boys, had just said he wanted to ally with him, a traitor to his beloved Konoha and two said he wished to invade Konoha with him.

So none could really blame the Sannin for being shocked. But his eyes soon narrowed in anger as he gazed at the former elder. "Do not take me for a fool Danzo, you and I both know that you would never contribute to the downfall of Konoha as you so bluntly declare. You hope to betray me in the midst of it all don't you?" he chuckled at the end of his statement.

Danzo didn't share in his amusement however as he just remained aloof as always "Well perhaps but we both know you are too clever to fall for any trap i may set your way and besides, the Konoha I want you to destroy is Hiruzen's. Mine will be rebuilt from the ruins of what was once the greatest village of the five and will be made into an even stronger superpower than before. One that will conquer the elemental nations"

"You're playing a very dangerous game old man, I like it." The Sannin gave a large predatory grin, licking his lips with a long tongue, his golden eyes gleaming in the dark room and drawing a small smile from Danzo as well "However, should you betray me Danzo I promise you that not even those lovely Sharingan you have will save you" the Sannin's smile just widened at seeing the elder man's eyes narrow.

The smile quickly fell from Danzo's face and he glared intensely at the pale skinned man who just continued smiling widely, his smile stretching his pale face to the point of his canines becoming visible "Are you threatening me Orochimaru?"

Chuckling childishly Orochimaru just shrugged as if he had said the most innocent of things "Perhaps I am or perhaps not"

End Flashback

Suffice to say, since that day he and the former Konoha elder had been making plans to accomplish their common goals and individual goals. The Sannin was glad for once for aligning himself with the man because with his help, Otogakure was no longer a mere idea but was growing into a cluster of hideouts and given a few more years would become a fully-fledged hidden village. They were securing more weapons, conquering more and more of Rice country and gaining more territory of the country.

In just five months they had nearly won over the whole country and it helped now that the new Daimyo was more or less a pawn of theirs.

Although Orochimaru could care less about Danzo's ambitions to restructure Konoha by becoming its Hokage immediately after its 'destruction', and to conquer the five great nations. He somehow found himself curious of the man's intentions and fixation with the runaway Jinchuriki of Konoha, the son of the man whom he loathed and respected.

The boy called Naruto Uzumaki.

The Sannin knew the boy's last name couldn't be a coincidence but that wasn't enough to warrant his attention.

From Danzo's brief mention of him, the boy was apparently quiet powerful. Although a little rough around the edges, but with enough training could rival and possibly surpass his father. The Sannin was however more intrigued by the type of attack, a powerful one that is, that his 'ally' had briefly mentioned the boy used. Gravity Ninjutsu. That was a field the Sannin had never ventured into, not because of uninterest but rather because it was impossible, at least without a bloodline if the Sannin had to guess. So because of that the notorious Nuke-nin had gained a sudden interest in Naruto.

The Sannin gazed at Danzo who was quietly gazing into the distance of the dark room. He inwardly sighed; sometimes he wondered why he had aligned himself with this man. Danzo was no fun at all, in fact you could get more emotion out of a rock than you would out the former elder of Konoha. And Orochimaru didn't like overly serious people, and Danzo, well he transcended the boundary of seriousness. It was as if the man had no people skills at all, he had locked himself in a hole way too long but the least he could was hold conversation.

Days spent with the man made Orochimaru realise that hanging out and peeping on women with Jiraiya when they were younger was the most entertaining thing to do compared to well… this, although he always pretended to not enjoy it back then.

He sighed inwardly again, how he wished Kabuto was here. Speaking of which he wondered when the boy would return. He had been sent out to Nami no Kuni to look for a young Hyouton user he had discovered was in the area and rumoured to be travelling with the notorious Kirigakure no Sato Nuke-nin Zabuza Momochi. The Sannin hoped to add the two to his 'collection' of playthings.

"Danzo-sama" A new muffled voice broke the Sannin from his thoughts and his gaze travelled to the owner of the voice. A kneeling member of Danzo's Root who had just entered into the room accompanied by five others.

The state they were in clearly displayed the obvious notion that they had just returned from a mission.

"Yes?" Danzo replied monotonously, gazing down at the bowing men before him. He had sent them on a mission to search for and find the Kyuubi Jinchuriki.

The leader handed a scroll toward the man who unfolded it and read the contents silently. The man's furrowing of his brows was the only indication he was displeased with what he was reading.

"You failed to find him?" the captain nodded nervously, feeling uncomfortable under his commander's intense scrutinizing gaze, whose voice was tinged slightly with anger.

Tentatively the man spoke "I apologise Danzo-sama, but we searched all designated locations on the scroll and we couldn't find him. We could've searched all the places he could have gone but we were cautious of venturing out into the open without fear of being spotted by some of Jiraiya-sama's spies. He is looking for the boy as well my lord"

Danzo sighed inwardly, he contemplated killing the men before him for failing him, but couldn't since he had no more orphans to expend. For now he had to work with the failures he had until he could get his hands on Naruto.

"Oh my Jiraiya-kun? It has been a long time since I saw him. It seems he doesn't care about me anymore. Anyway i wonder who will find him first, you or my resourceful idiotic former teammate but with your situation I highly doubt it" Orochimaru's mocking tone chirped in, his lilting tone adding further irk to Danzo's mood.

Danzo tossed the paper away and tossed an annoyed glare toward the pale skinned Sannin "That may be likely, however I will find the boy, the Kyuubi will be mine. Hiruzen and Jiraiya must be even more foolish than ever if they believe they can prevent me from claiming the boy. He will be found and I WILL FIND HIM"

"Well then you're in luck" a soft new voice tore into the fray, snapping the attention of all and Orochimaru who recognised it instantly toward the owner who stood before the door, all in his bespectacled glory, his glasses glowing ominously. He pushed his glasses up with a finger, a devious smile on his face.

"Because I know where he is"

Naruto dodged his opponent's punch, retaliating with one of his own which connected with his opponent's face and instead of having them reeling on the ground in pain; they simply puffed out of existence in a cloud of smoke.

He kept his blindfolded stare ahead, sensing as four more enemies charged toward him again, settling into his own Taijutsu stance, with his feet slightly bent, his left foot brought forward while his upper half lent backwards slightly, the blond got ready to defend. His similarly blond haired opponents all attacked at once, forcing the blond into a corner as he dodged and blocked their well organised and flawless attacks.

He had learnt the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu from his Sensei and so far the blond was praising the genius which had developed the jutsu. He had learned it in the fourth month of training and unlike the Bunshin no jutsu which had been a bane of his existence in his short time in Konoha's academy, this jutsu favoured high Chakra usage and practically no Chakra control at all. The former which he had in spades and the latter which he had impeccably improved in, with the help of his Rinnegan. Although he was limited to only a few clones since unbelievably he could see through them and it was quite disorientating and dangerous. Even now as he sparred with his doppelgangers, he and his clones were sparring blindfolded, working merely with their senses to alleviate the advantage the advantage they would all have over another.

He had been told of the advantage of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu but the blond wanted to do things himself, he only used the clones for physical training, reading and sparing while the rest of his training he did all by himself. He believed the jutsu allowed him to basically cheat his way out of working hard for his own strength.

The blond blocked a kick from a clone however failed to sense as one of his clones crept up behind him and connected with a kick that sent him flying away and tumbling across the ground. Removing a Kunai from his holster the blond plunged it into the ground to stop his harsh skidding across the ground. With a groan, he pulled out his weapon from the ground; the blond heard a whooshing sound and descending toward him. Deftly rolling out of the way of the kick which cracked the ground where he had been standing, causing debris to momentarily fly into the air.

Naruto disappeared in a blur of speed, appearing behind his doppelganger who reacted accordingly to jump over the low kick to his feet from the original, however was surprised as the blond got under him before he sent a long kick that connected with his chin and dispelled him instantly. The blond sensed movement from behind him, he grabbed his opponent's leg as they sent a kick to his chin, mustering all his strength, he swung the doppelganger around before tossing him away however they simply regained their balance and skidded to a stop.

The blond went on the offensive yet again, charging his remaining four opponents; however he and his clones were stopped cold by a shrill scream of fear coming all the way from the house. Recognising the voice as Hotaru's and taking it to mean she was in danger; he wasted no time in taking off, practically flying toward the house. The clones dispelled automatically and the blond shrugged off the influx of information as he hopped from tree to tree in a blur of motion.

As he edged closer he could easily make out hundreds of Chakra signatures that he didn't recognise with his Rinnegan, they were surrounding two Chakra sources that he recognised instantly as his Sensei's and Hotaru's, with the latter's smaller Chakra source held back in a grip by a larger one.

Naruto began panicking slightly at that. All of the strange, signatures were, if Naruto had to guess, Jounin level with one that was slightly above, perhaps the same level as his Sensei, and were all channelling Chakra around the area, and it was suffocating and their Chakra clearly underlined their purpose, to kill his family. The largest Chakra signature held a strange feeling of familiarity to it which the blond couldn't quite place.

Bursting to the scene, Naruto landed in the middle of the crowd of enemies. He looked at Hotaru to see her held in a firm grip by a masked Shinobi, a hand clasped over her mouth with a Kunai pressed to her neck enough that it left a small cut and drew a small trickle of blood. There was a terrified expression in the girl's eyes and the blond could feel anger well up in his veins.

His Sensei was standing in the middle of all the men, who seemed to reach hundred in numbers, a grim expression on his face that was impassive. His body was slightly tense and he was intensely staring at one particular figure clad in a black hooded robe, their hood was covering their head, obstructing any of their facial features from being made out.

It was the one with the larger Chakra source and signature compared to the others, Kage level from what he had read, with their right arm having a much denser Chakra source and ten smaller ones along the length of their entire right arm, which ironically had a very dark coloured Chakra but wasn't as dense as the rest of the Chakra along the arm. Taking in those features into consideration, recognition struck in Naruto's mind and his heart nearly exploded out of his chest as his anger gave way to fear.

Naruto's breath hitched as his body turned cold, his legs wobbled slightly and absently he backed away surprising his Sensei. There was no killing intent being channelled however the blond knew that with the person before him, killing intent was unnecessary. Their darkened Chakra was frightening enough as it was.

The figure, whose back was turned to Naruto, Higure and the others, slowly took off their hood, revealing spiky but somewhat shaggy black hair. Turning around, their coal black eye and single red three tomoe eye which spun calmly met Naruto's rippled purple ones and Naruto's rippled ones widened as his eyes met that of his forgotten greatest nightmare.

A stoic, expressionless look on their face, which had an X-shaped scar on their chin. The man spoke.

"I have found you, Kyuubi Jinchuriki"

I love the ending, did you also enjoy it?

Guess what ? Danzo's 'I WILL FIND HIM' dialogue was recommended to me by Legion343, it's a quote from the man of steel, made by the kryptonian militarist Zod. Didn't use it exactly the way he hoped but I figured it fit. But thumbs up to Legion for that and for sporting the similarities between Danzo and the supervillain.

Leave a review and say what you thought of the chapter. This is kind of two chapters in one by this story's standards but this is the beginning of lengthier chapters for this story.

Note: One thing I'm not particularly good at is writing battles; even if I do have the mental image and the battle planned out I struggle with it and I often feel they lack that killer 'wickedness' that just makes readers go 'well fuck that's freaking badass'.

It's a defect of mine and I acknowledge that and have been trying to improve but if you guys ever feel that you can contribute, I'm open to ANY suggestions and assistance you might provide me with.

The next chapter will be a heavily battle chapter (My first true battle chapter), and I promise i will not disappoint.

Cheer, I'm out.

-The Disturbed Immortal -