Summary: Well considering it's now appearing magically above every chapter, I guess that means making this summary is redundant ehh?
When newcomers visited the Hokage's office, many expected ostentatiously rich and luxurious surroundings. Surely the office of the most powerful and wealthiest of the hidden villages would reflect its standing in the elemental nations. The truth couldn't be farther. The oval office of Konoha's leader was spartan in its design, and gave off a very comforting ambiance to its shinobi. It was universally agreed by traveling merchants that the Hokage had the most welcoming office. It was hard to believe some of the darkest betrayals, suicidal missions, and assassinations were planned within the same walls.
"Report."
"It was a partial success Hokage-sama, I was able to successfully seduce the target, but was unable to procure any significant intelligence," recited the kunoichi to the wizened ninja, "However, I was able to discover the target is seeking revenge on an individual, though the identity is unknown."
"Very well… Good work Anko-chan. Report back to Morino Ibiki for further orders. For now, consider yourself reinstated into Torture and Interrogation."
With a respectful "Hai," the female ninja vanished from the Hokage's office in a whirlwind of leaves.
Shifting a stack off papers from his crowded desk, the Hokage read over the debriefing from his Anbu watching the Namikaze. A curious interaction with the last Uchiha, drunken training sessions with the son of the Fourth Hokage, and of course, the interesting little tidbit that Anko-chan was able to discover. An avenger… Just great. Was the Namikaze in Konoha, looking for his kill? Or was it truly chance that another Namikaze had found his way to Konoha. The long lost and unknown brother of the Yondaime… A miracle? Or a plot…
Sarutobi signaled one of his new Anbu guards to fetch him the Commander of his Hunter corps. A heartbeat later, he signaled the guard to also find Anbu Captain Neko, of Sigma Squad. The loyalty of the Namikaze had to be tested, and what was better than a baptism in fire?
Rubbing his forefinger and thumb across his temples, the old Hokage once again felt himself cursing the Yondaime for his untimely death, he'd said it once, and he'd say it again. He was too damn old for this shit.
A mission? What the hell? The time traveling ninja froze for a fraction of a heartbeat as the Lord Hokage laid out his orders for the next two months. The timing couldn't have been worse. He'd miss the start of the chuunin exams, hell, maybe even the entire invasion itself! Naruto felt himself holding back on some choice words, as the Hokage finished the briefing. Zabuza of course had no such reservations.
"God damned mother fucking son of a monkey-raping whore! That fucking old shit! The bastards doing this on purpose, no fucking doubt about it!" cursed the raging presence of his sword/sensei.
Naruto couldn't help but agree. From what the Hokage was saying, he'd be part of a team consisting of multiple jounin and chuunin, and would be stationed at one of Konoha's forward operating bases near the Land of Rice. Apparently there had been numerous reports of roaming missing-nin in the area.
No fucking shit there were enemy ninja in the area; it was the birthplace of the thrice-cursed Sound village. Damn them to hell.
"You will be placed under Jounin Uzuki Yuugao and her team. Despite your rank as a Special Jounin, you are a newcomer to the village, and thus, you will answer to Konoha shinobi, regardless of rank Understood?"
"Yes Hokage-sama," acknowledged the Namikaze, bowing his head respectfully to the old man.
"Roger fuck face!"
"Excellent. You are to meet your team at the North gate immediately. Dismissed."
Slamming his fist to his chest in the customary Konoha salute, the swordsman, vanished from the Hokage's office. Running across the rooftops of Konoha moments later, Naruto let loose a stream of curses that barely conveyed the frustration the time traveler was feeling. All of his half-baked ideas of changing the events leading to the invasion were shattered into unachievable pieces.
He had wanted to prevent the last loyal Uchiha from ever receiving the cursed seal, tearing the snake sannin to pieces in the process. With his new orders, he couldn't even assassinate the damn spy Kabuto before the exam. The situation with the invasion was already fucked up beyond all reason and it hadn't even started yet!
As Uzumaki Naruto, now Namikaze Zaraki, approached the towering north gates of Konoha, he decided to make his first promise in years. The Village Hidden by Sound would not survive its invasion attempt. Fucking believe it.
Anbu Captain Uzuki Yuugao, codenamed Neko, Sigma squad leader, did not like the latest addition to her team. The shinobi reminded her too much of the drunken mess that was her father, and being forced to babysit Konoha's newest shinobi was annoying to say the least. Considering the fact that Sigma squad and herself and were not serving as the masked Anbu elite unit that they were, but instead as regular shinobi for the sake of some newcomer grated on her nerves. Of course being the consummate professional, she let none of her emotions show on her unmasked face.
She had a mission and she would carry it out, despite any personal feelings. Turning to her second in command, Namiashi Raido, she watched as the scarred shinobi briefed the Namikaze on their mission and his role in the squad. Ignoring the Kakashi-esque eye-smile that the bandaged shinobi sported and his easygoing manner, the Anbu Captain kept a sharp eye on the blond. One step out of line and she would initiate the secondary objective of her mission. The termination of one Namikaze Zaraki.
"Kotetsu, Izumo, you two are on over-watch, watch our six," quickly ordered the squad captain, "Genma, Hayate, Raido, and Namikaze. Standard wedge on me."
Yuugao watched as the two chuunin gate guards moved into position behind the v-shaped wedge, few knew that the two chunnin were in fact members of the elite Anbu black ops, and the less that knew the better. Yuugao's eyes widened imperceptibly as she saw the Namikaze seamlessly take his position in the battle formation, moving with the speed and grace of any standard black ops operative. Eyes narrowing, the jounin mentally filed away the incident in her head. Namikaze Zaraki seemed way to at home with Anbu standard battle formations for comfort.
"Let's move out," ordered the violet haired kunoichi, as she leaped into the canopy. Suspicious or not, Sigma squad plus one Namikaze, were on their way to the Land of Rice.
Tenten was not an easily impressed kunoichi. As a member of a team with a genius bloodline user, an incredibly skilled taijutsu expert, and Konoha's strongest jounin physically, it was hard for her to be too impressed by anything. It would figure that Konoha's loudest and brightest idiot would forever skew her views on strength and ability.
After teaching the orange-clad genin the basics behind the explosive tag, she was awed and terrified at the ease in which the blond grasped the advanced concept of the seal. After recreating the seal, the blond, to her absolute horror, quickly modified the seal to his own liking. Working with some sort of kami given instinct, the rookie genin increased the explosive output of the tags while decreasing the amount of chakra needed for activation, all the while using who knew how many clones to set up a complicated, timed set up of explosives throughout the forest.
Attached to a chakra trigger. That the loud mouth created on the spot. Needless to say, when the Anbu dragged away the blackened and soot covered genin in response to the explosive show the boy put on, she was speechless. At a loss for words. Frozen in shock. Freaked the fuck out.
Uzumaki Naruto was going places. No doubt in her mind about it. So when the weapons mistress happened to see the orange clad ninja eating at a local ramen stand, she didn't hesitate to join him.
"Hey Naruto, whats up?"
"PANDA-CHAN!" came the ear-splitting cry of joy, "Welcome to the most greatest fantastic tasting ramen in the WORLD! Bow down to the Prophet of Noodles, bringer of heaven on earth Teuchi-sama himself! Served by the angel of Ramen, Ayame-hime herself! Taste the rainbow!"
Tenten looked at the shouting genin incredulously before rolling her eyes in amusement. No way was Naruto really this loud and idiotic, seeing as he is a genius with seals, it was probably just a weird sense of humor the younger genin had. Weird she could live with. Lee and Gai-sensei being unfortunate examples. Note to self. Never let Lee infect Naruto with the flames of youth…
"I have a question for you Whiskers, weren't you in the class above me back at the academy? Why are you only a genin now?" questioned Tenten curiously. After thinking about her interactions with the blond, she was shocked when she recalled the same whiskered-faced blond at the academy in the class above hers.
"Ehhh? Whiskers?" said Naruto, his eyes narrowed in an odd state of confusion, his hand scratching the back of his head cluelessly.
"What?" defended the weapons mistress hotly, her cheeks burning red in a flash of embarrassment, "You call me Panda, I call you Whiskers, so deal with it! Now answer the damn question!"
Naruto cocked his head questioningly at the girl, an odd look of emotion quickly crossing his face. "Hehehe, umm well Panda-chan y'see. I kinda failed the genin test. Umm… Three times to be exact!" finished Naruto, smiling sheepishly.
"Huh? What the hell? How the hell did you fail?" Tenten nearly shouted at the blond.
"Weeeeeeelllllll, I couldn't do the stupid clone technique, well I kinda could y'know, just not very good. Looked like a dead version of me! Which was scary, kinda like a ghost! Oh man I hate ghosts, Iruka-sensei said ghosts don't exist, but I totally saw one in the Forest-of-killer-scary-screw-that-place-death, and he was all transparent and scary lookin' and had this crazy swirling orange mask on and-"
"Naruto!"
"Ohh right, so anyway I couldn't do the clone technique so they failed me til I could!"
Tenten stared at Naruto in shock for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Speaking very slowly as if to a child, "You. Couldn't. Make a clone?"
"Nope!"
"But-but-but…"
"Yeah Panda-chan?"
"Ughhh… Never mind," she'd deal with the headache that was Naruto later. A hidden presence materializing behind her caused her to lash out instinctively with a kunai. A firm grip attached itself to her arm and disarmed her a fraction of a second later.
"Hmmm, you're a feisty one aren't cha?" drawled a lazy voice from behind her.
"Kakashi-sensei? Huh?" came the confused blond, "Whatchu doing here Kakashi-sensei?"
"Naruto-kun. I think the correct question is why you're here, and not at the team meeting?" said the copy-nin lazily as he read his beloved book, "Though seeing as you were entertaining company I think I could forgive you…"
Wiping a fake tear from his visible eye, the jounin continued, "You kids grow up so fast… I guess it's only proper that since I'm your beloved teacher, I pass on some crucial knowledge to you! Enjoy kiddo, have fun!"
A second orange book materialized in the jounins hand, before swiftly appearing in the hands of Uzumaki Naruto. Glancing at the inside of the book, the blonds eyes widened as a trickle of blood fell from his nose. An overwhelming feeling of killer intent suddenly appeared beside him. Looking into the murderous eyes of an affronted Tenten, Naruto quickly used his newest technique his cousin-uncle-drunken-sensei taught him.
Tenten growled ferally as the blond escaped in a whirlwind of leaves. "Oh you're so gonna get it Whiskers, when I get my hands on you, you're in for a world of pain!" shouted the kunoichi loudly.
"Hmmm…. Be gentle with him 'kay little panda?" said the jounin, his single visible eye smiling creepily, "Perhaps you could wait until after the exams neh?"
Tenten swiped at the jounin with a kunai, only for it to pass harmlessly through the illusion.
The sound of Kakashi's good-natured chuckling echoed throughout the street. Messing with impressionable young genin? Priceless…
(Location: Forest of Death, One year before the Fall)
"You have achieved an honor few shinobi can claim to possess. You now serve the Will of Fire from the depths of the shadows, a hidden blade, poised in the defense of the village. The cutting edge of your village's sword, you have answered a higher calling. Welcome to Anbu. Welcome to the Hunter Corps. Rise Kitsune and receive your mark."
The blond shinobi rose from his kneeled position in the illustrious Forest of Death, his black and red fox mask grinning ominously in the moonlight. Exposing the inside of his forearm to the Hunter Corps Commander, the newly initiated black ops soldier was silent as an intricate tattoo made from complicated seals was placed on his arm. When it was finished, a tribal looking eagle was stained into his skin, marking his status as a Hunter, before it disappeared with a burst of chakra into nothingness.
"For Konoha I will serve, heart, mind, body, and soul. For Konoha I will kill, none shall escape my blade, and death will greet our enemies. For Konoha I will die, as those who came before, for those who will come after. For as long as the Will of Fire burns bright, Konoha will not fall!" said the blond solemnly, his bright blue eyes shining bright behind the grinning fox mask, "Believe it."
AN: Wow… I'm only gone for a couple of months and this site completely changes on me. Story art? The summary at the top? A massive review section on the bottom… Kinda obnoxious ehh? Lol Anyway, story is finally moving towards the first major arc, so not so much humor, and more setting up the plot. Shit is gonna be insane… You get a lot of crazy ideas when you're bored at basic training… There's a reason why I called this The Crimson Death. Probably only gonna be one or two more chapters before I go back to AIT so just a heads up. Y'mind leaving a broke-ass Private a review? Or some fan-art… That'd be the shit! -Private Jenkins-
P.S. You guys want a prequel? Naruto's journey into the Black ops, his battle with Orochimaru, the Fall of Konoha, the years on the run... Lemme know! (Shit would be depressing as hell though, not as fun as this fic...) :P
