A/N: Relatively short chapter, but I will make things longer next time. Either way, do read and review, would you kindly?

…

{Play: "Dispossession" by Okabe Keiichi, from "Nier"}

[Somewhere in the Uchiha District, several days later]

The calming sound of the stream could be heard as Setsuka sat nearby the water. The Uchiha District was known to have a creek running through it, breathing life to the garden at its heart. It was said that the greenery was created by Senju Hashirama as part of a peace offering to the Uchiha clan, the main part being the construction of the Uchiha Dojo. A solid oak building, grown from white oak acorns along with time-reversing and reinforcement seals provided by the Uzumaki clan, ensured that the dojo could withstand any amount of punishment doled out by the clan in the middle of spars.

Due to its durability, the dojo was used as a war room whenever the village had to deal with enemies within and without; as well as a place to settle disputes via the old-fashioned method of dueling. It also had a temple, where people also came to think while they trained in the Uchiha taijutsu style. Such was the tranquility of this place that it was said that Uchiha Madara came here to fast and meditate before his ill-fated duel with Senju Hashirama.

Setsuka had never been in the dojo too often; it was often locked up tight. Besides, she couldn't bring herself to do so every time she neared it. The muffled voices she heard before the Uchiha Massacre gave her a bad feeling, and put her off from visiting as often as she liked. Fortunately, whoever was in the dojo, saying such disturbing things in such suspiciously low voices was dead now. Heavens forbid if her mother was ever in there, talking about who knows what with those vile people in the dojo.

However, her thoughts about this place had come to a halt when she noticed that Naruto had walked into the area. "Mind if I take a seat?"

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the request. Setsuka patted down on the grass next to her, with Naruto taking it as his cue to have a seat. After the Teamwork Exercise, she was forced to re-introduce herself to the team and the Hokage, starting with her real name. Since then, word about her true identity had spread like wildfire, and so she didn't even bother with the genjutsu anymore; before she knew it, upon leaving the Uchiha District, she was mobbed by parents wishing to marry her off to their sons. "It's actually nice here. I remember the time when I came here after pranking the Uchiha that were mean to me. Your dad included…no offense."

"None taken. I hated him for being an asshole, but he was still my dad."

The two of them sat in silence as the sound of the creek flowing filled the air. "What do you make of yesterday's mess?"

Setsuka chuckled lightly. "I think Sakura would've done us a favor if she actually killed that stupid cat."

Yesterday, Team Seven was assigned to track down Tora, for the fifth time this week. This time, the cat ran through an open street, and Naruto pursued. Luckily, Sakura was on point to capture the cat, and put the demonic feline into a blood choke the way Naruto showed her from his Pankration style. Given how book-smart she was, she managed to close off the blood vessels in the cat's neck long enough to knock her out without snapping her neck or stopping the airways.

"Well, at least it's better than when we reported in for debriefing." When Team Seven brought in Tora, Kakashi began with the debriefing. Midway through the debrief, a little boy burst into the room with a wooden kunai, and tripped on his own overly-long scarf. Setsuka wound up using Tsukihime Shiranui to cut the wooden missile in half as it sailed towards her, while Naruto grabbed the boy by his shirt. A jōnin walked into the room, and angrily revealed that the boy he was manhandling was the Hokage's grandson. She found it particularly hilarious when Naruto performed the "Circus Act" by throwing the arrogant brat to the wall, pinning him there by his clothes with kunai, and throwing a particularly large shuriken into the wall just below his crotch.

After the debriefing was done, Setsuka watched as Naruto was shadowed throughout the Uchiha district by the Hokage's grandson. It was so easy to spot the boy that she had a hard time believing that he'd survive for long in a career as a shinobi. After a quick lesson on the finer points of Naruto's new Oiroke no Jutsu (which she filed away in her mind for possible use later), and an amusing humility lesson to the boy's teacher, Naruto gave the boy a bit of a reality check. She could only hope that the boy took his words to heart. "What did you say to the boy anyway?"

"You saw the whole thing?" asked Naruto, looking at Setsuka as though she'd grown a second head.

"Passed by without saying a word," Setsuka lied easily. She was on the rooftops, looking at them with binoculars. "Neither of you saw me, but I could tell that you two spoke after you gave his teacher a bloody nose."

Seeing nothing wrong with the explanation, Naruto began. "I pretty much told Konohamaru that there's no easy way to being Hokage, and that he had to work hard to do so. I also explained to him that I only got lucky that I now have more advantages to help me out in my goals. He told me he was going to be Hokage; I told him that by the time he became Hokage, I would become king of Hi no Kuni."

"And what did he say to that?"

"He said, and I quote: 'like I'll ever let you be king before I become Hokage!'"

Setsuka laughed loudly. She hadn't laughed like that in a while, and for some reason, Naruto was smiling at her. "Now that's the girl I remember back then."

As things settled down, the two of them allowed the sound of the rushing creek to fill the silence. "So what do you make of the mission we're going on now?" Setsuka finally asked.

"Well, it's better than sticking around here." said Naruto. "You think you're ready?"

"I've spent a good chunk of my time making sure I'm packed up well."

The mission in question had come earlier today after they had finished their job at the Mugenjin Arsenal owned by a family of a kunoichi that Naruto got along well with. The dad was a ginger-haired man with brown eyes that was very clumsy, and the mom was a strict, blue-eyed lady that had a soft center. The family lived with the man's dark-skinned and white-haired older brother and his hot, blonde wife. All of them were skilled weapon-users in one way or another, with the mom Rin being particularly good at sealing jutsu and knife-fighting. The dad, Shirō and his brother Kurō were both adept at using a variety of weapons, but were best as archers, Nitō-ryu fighters and blacksmiths. Kurō's wife Arutoria was by far the best swordswoman of the family, often beating out a lot of shinobi swordsmen with only a wakizashi-style shinai

After a whole day spent helping the family to reorganize the arsenal's inventory and catching up, Naruto decided he'd had enough of D-rank missions, and practically demanded that the Hokage get his team a higher-ranked mission (much to the protest of Iruka). The job they got was a C-rank mission to escort an old bridge-builder back to Nami no Kuni.

"Hopefully it goes well."

"You and me both." said Setsuka, before taking a deep sigh. "Naruto, I wanted to apologize…"

"There's no need, Setsuka," Naruto interrupted. "You probably had a reason to hide your identity, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is that you and I have pretty much started over after the exam. All I ask is that you don't hide anything from me anymore; we're a team now, so we need to trust each other."

Setsuka smiled tearfully. She would have a long ways to go before Naruto could fully trust her, but that was okay; she had plenty of time to earn his trust. Standing up, she turned to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun."

"Glad we had a chance to talk." Naruto answered, standing up and leaving. They would need all the rest they could get for tomorrow.

…

{Play: "Cosmos" by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts, from "Cowboy Bebop"}

[Near the border of the Uchiha District]

The steps towards the border of the Uchiha District were uneventful, but that was just what Naruto wanted. Shadows followed him from the Hokage Tower; he had a pretty good idea who they worked for, and what they were following him for. After all, he'd just sent word to Danzo that he wanted information.

"You can come out now," said Naruto, stopping after five more steps.

"Impressive senses, my liege." said a shinobi, walking out of the brush with four other shinobi. Their masks identified them all as ROOT ANBU operatives. "Danzo-sama has the information you requested."

"And?"

"The information is classified."

Naruto folded his arms. "Explain yourself."

"That is all I'm allowed to say."

Naruto sighed. It was doubtful he'd be getting much else. "Is Danzo holding out on me?"

"With all due respect, sire," began the ROOT operative, "Part of the reason for this is because he wishes to see how you fare before he decides to work even closer with you. If you should survive, he will respect you enough pledge unconditional loyalty to you. That is also what he's told me to tell you."

"And the other part?"

"We're still looking into it. Most of the shinobi we sent into Nami no Kuni so far have been unable to report back in at all. All signs point to their deaths."

"And that is where not fearing death bites you ROOT guys in the ass." said Naruto, sighing in exasperation. "Because you are so willing to throw your lives away, you don't even try to find a way out to complete your mission. I'm telling you this, not to make light of your sacrifices, but to make a point…that you have to at least relearn that fear of death if you want to make your sacrifices count for anything."

"And what would put the fear of death back into us?" challenged a ROOT operative.

Shortly after he said that, Naruto performed a sweep kick, and pounced on the operative's chest with his fist outstretched. As soon as he landed, the ROOT operative found himself on his back, Naruto's free arm pressing down on his neck and his smashed to pieces with a single punch. The next punch smashed into the operative's face, before Naruto reeled back one last time; as he did, the operative watched as four points started to sprout from his knuckles, extending to a foot long. The ROOT operative closed his eyes, when he heard the sound of something digging into the ground…but no pain. He opened his eyes, and found himself looking to the side, with Naruto's fist-claws just barely missing his ear.

"That's what it takes to put the fear back into you." said Naruto, pulling his fist out, leaving the claws dug into the ground. As he stood back up, he looked on the operative's face. "Hasaki-sensei told me that the trick is to take that fear, and show it that you're the boss, you're in charge. Once you master it, you can turn your fear into that boost of strength you need to get the job done." He then turned his attention back to the remaining ROOT operatives. "Also, I want you guys to tell Danzo that if he pulls this bullshit on me again, I'll have his head on a platter for treason…after that, let's just say that it won't be pleasant what I plan to do to him."

Naruto left the area with the ROOT operatives watching his departing back.

…

{Play: "Labyrinth of Moonlight" by Junichi Nakatsuru, from "Soul Calibur III"}

[Tower of Remembrance, Naruto's mindscape]

Deep within the Tower of Remembrance lay the hidden treasure trove of knowledge that Algol had accumulated during his time as King of Wa. The entirety of the basement floors of the tower is, in essence, a vault containing treasures worth more than gold and silver. Books and scrolls of all shapes and sizes can be found here, with contents that are equally as varied. Secret recipes for the perfect bowl of ramen in scrolls, a bamboo book written by the ancient Chūgoku tactician Sun Tzu on the Art of War, even a tale of two lovers that were separated by fate.

All of this was kept safe, and well-maintained by the scholars of the tower; an army of men and women of knowledge and undying loyalty, whose main purpose was to protect the contents of this library with their lives. Every one of them patrolled the spiralling double-helix walls of the complex as they surrounded a tower of shelved books and scrolls in the middle. In addition to their vast knowledge of the books within, each scholar was more than capable of handling themselves in a fight with the variety of martial arts scrolls catalogued in the library. Such is their knowledge that they could qualify as at least captain-level commanders with the amount of theoretical knowledge at their fingertips.

According to what Kurama heard from Elysium and Inferno, as well as the memories that Naruto was seeing, there was a reason why the tower was erected in Naruto's mindscape: upon his defeat at the hands of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, Algol willed himself to become the crystal statue Naruto found him as. While he did this, he immediately sent every one of his loyal followers, living and dead, into Astral Chaos, along with the Tower of Remembrance. This was done so that he could devote his remaining energy and willpower to stopping Kaguya from laying a hand on either of the Soul Swords. When Naruto came around, and became Algol's successor to the throne, he inherited not only the Soul Swords, but his loyal subjects and the wealth of knowledge in the tower.

"And all this belongs to me," Kurama said to herself, an avaricious grin on her face. In her hands was a book of torture machines and techniques that she fully intended to read. She also had a scroll in her hands labelled "The Way of Love," which she found was actually a sex manual. "Well, for now at least. But once I beat Naruto for the throne, I will make use of the knowledge in this book to deny him the sex he would be having in the future."

As she crossed a bridge from one wall to the central tower in the library, she stepped onto a platform inside and waited for it to rise. She paused in her perverted giggling for a moment to register the latest memory that had come from Naruto, before continuing to giggle in earnest. "So it begins. Let's see how you do on this mission, my future little sex slave!"

Kurama was smacked from behind the head. She turned to see that the person that whacked her was a female scholar that had a snarl on her face. "Pipe down! You're in a library!"

…

{Play: "Tristram" by Matt Uelmen, from "Diablo"}

[En Route to Nami no Kuni, the next day]

Team Seven and Kakashi walked at a brisk pace with the client following closely behind. Tazuna was a bespectacled old man with a beard and mustache. He wore a pointed hat to shield himself from the sun, and a backpack with traveling gear. Naruto kept a close eye on the old man, feeling that there was something off about him…as though he were nervous that something would be found out. Nevertheless, he could feel the desperation in him; that was more than enough incentive for Naruto to help out Tazuna, whether or not he was lying to him.

No need to rush, he thought to himself, after all, I can always question him about his suspicious behavior later. In the meantime, I'd better think of a perfect punishment for Danzo if he holds information back from me again.

As he walked through the woods, Naruto could not help but feel a sense of tranquility as the wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves as it breezed past them. The birds chirping away seemed to add to the serenity of the area. All that came to a sudden halt as soon as two shinobi burst out from puddles in the ground. Each wore a claw-tipped gauntlet on their arms that fired chains with kunai in the links that they used to wrap Kakashi in.

{Play: "Rush!" by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts, from "Cowboy Bebop"}

"Setsuka! You handle one, while I handle the other one!" snapped Naruto.

Naruto immediately went to work with Setsuka, pulling out an ulna that pivoted out of his forearm, shaping it into a double-edged sword with a four-foot blade encrusted with a blue crystal. The second he neared one chain, he brought his sword up to slice the chain in one pass before bringing it back down to cut Kakashi free. The remaining shinobi retracted his chain, and watched as Setsuka rushed him, ducking as he swung the claw-tipped fingers of his gauntlet at her head as soon as the chain had completely retracted. She then drew her blade, her sword cutting clean through his knee before bringing her blade back up to cleave into him midway through his abdomen as he fell to the ground. His severed intestines spilled out of the cut made into his side.

Angered by the death of his partner, the remaining shinobi fully extended his blade, many kunai ready to use his chain as a whip. Naruto charged, slicing through one length of the chain as he closed in on the retreating shinobi. Finding a tree, the enemy shinobi pounced off from it, only for Naruto lead with a kick, and following through by slicing the enemy shinobi's arm off with a single downwards stroke. The enemy shinobi cried in pain after hitting a tree, having lost the arm wearing his gauntlet. He then watched as Naruto moved in, fear at the prospect of the finishing blow coming so suddenly. But before Naruto could slice off the surviving shinobi's head, Kakashi caught his forearm in mid-swing. "We still need to question him."

Seeing his point, Naruto nodded in agreement. After all, Danzo withheld information from him (something he never intended to let the old man slide for). Instead, he rested his arm, letting it fall while keeping it at the ready in the event the enemy shinobi decided to attack. "Gozu and Meizu, the 'Oni Kyōdai', chūnin-level Nuke-nin from Kirigakure no Sato. You two obviously didn't come here for a stroll…so what brings a pair of criminals to Hi no Kuni?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" taunted the surviving shinobi, shivering from having his arm cut off.

"He's not kidding," threatened Setsuka, bringing her blade out. "Talk, or you're dead."

"Do it, Leaf-bitch! Let me join my brother in death!"

Setsuka was about to oblige the shinobi when she felt Naruto grabbing her by the shoulder. "I need you and Sakura to hold down his brother's corpse by the shoulders, and his legs." he said. "I want to try something with him. Besides, I doubt he's going to talk unless we try this my way."

Curious as to what it was that Naruto was thinking, Setsuka and Sakura moved to do what Naruto had asked. As they pinned down the corpse by the shoulders, they saw Naruto's free hand engulfed in a whitish blue flame.

"Hold him tight." cautioned Naruto, nearing the corpse's head. "He's gonna be more than lively when he gets back up." He knelt down, and got a good grip on the head with his blazing hand, before letting out a sudden rush of chakra and briefly setting the shinobi's body alight. Once the flames died down, the shinobi's wounds had been healed over, and he was breathing again...much to the shock of everyone present.

Naruto stood back up, wobbling from weariness as he did. "Your brother is alive again, but he won't be for long if you don't start talking."

"You wouldn't dare…"

Before he could finish that sentence, Naruto stabbed the sword into the shinobi's right hand…making the shinobi cry out in pain, while his brother was restrained by Kakashi. It was here that Setsuka and Sakura knew why they were told to hold the corpse down. As he pulled the sword back out, he glanced back at the brother at the tree. "I'll keep stabbing your brother until he dies. And if you still won't talk by then, I'll make what I did to your arm look like just a scratch."

As he wandered around the body of the shinobi on the ground, stabbing at various non-vital areas. While he struggled, Setsuka and Sakura did their best to hold him down. After ten stabs at the shinobi, Naruto found the perfect place at the junction between both legs. He rose his sword above the struggling shinobi's crotch.

"WE WERE HIRED TO KILL THE BRIDGE-BUILDER!" screamed the shinobi at the tree, desperate to stop his brother's suffering. He said that just in time for Naruto's blade to stop a few inches away from the crotch. "WE WERE HIRED TO KILL THE FUCKING BRIDGE-BUILDER! NOW LET MY BROTHER GO! I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST STOP TORTURING MY BROTHER!"

Naruto dropped his sword, allowing it to disintegrate into nothingness as he turned to face a very nervous Tazuna. "You sure?"

"Oh, he knows exactly why we're after his head." said the shinobi Kakashi was restraining, panting in weariness, "If you want to know the truth, ask him!"

Satisfied with his answer, Kakashi pulled the shinobi out before hitting him behind the head hard enough to knock him out. Setsuka and Sakura did the same for the shinobi on the ground. They then tied them both together with a strong rope, and Naruto finishing the job by engulfing his hand in another blue flame, healing the shinobi he stabbed.

"What did you do to bring that shinobi back to life, Naruto?" asked Sakura, genuinely curious as to what happened.

"It's a trick only I can do, sorta like a kekkei genkai." he answered, "I give up a lot of spiritual chakra so that I can heal wounds and bring back the dead. It's very tiring."

"A useful skill," Kakashi agreed, tying the final knot that bound the Oni Kyōdai together before sending a pigeon to Konoha with a message to pick up the prisoners. Once he was done, he turned his attention to Tazuna; the glare he leveled at the old man, along with his tone, spoke of his displeasure. "You had two chūnin-level nuke-nin after you; this means that the mission should be at least a B-rank, yet you are clearly paying for a C-rank mission. I would think that now is a good time for an explanation, Tazuna."

There was no way out of this, and Tazuna knew it. With a regretful sigh, he looked at the shinobi gathered around him. "Alright. You guys got me. The truth of the matter is, that I would've gone through the proper channels to pay for a B-rank like any other regular person, but the problem was that I only had enough for a C-rank. Times are hard where I'm from, and that was all I could manage. I'm sorry for lying to you guys, but I'm desperate; I don't know who else to turn to."

Kakashi heaved an exasperated sigh before he turned to regard his students. "Well, since the client lied to us, we're not obligated to continue on with the mission; which is why I'm giving you three a vote on what to do."

As the three genin looked to each other for an answer, Naruto looked into Tazuna's eyes. He saw that he wasn't lying about desperately needing help; whoever sent those nuke-nin after him must have really wanted the old man dead. "I say we finish the mission." he finally said. "This is a good experience for us in the future. Besides, I can tell he really needs the help."

"Not to mention that it'd make us look bad." Setsuka added.

"Something I can agree on." finished Sakura.

It was unanimous, they would finish the mission. Kakashi turned his attention back to Tazuna. "It looks like you lucked out, Tazuna. My students are still willing to finish the mission in spite of your deception. However, you will owe us big in the future; are you willing to accept these conditions?"

"Do I have a choice?" asked Tazuna. "I've decided that I would bring shinobi home to protect me, and I've already come too far to go back empty-handed. So yeah, I accept those conditions."

"Then consider Team Seven on your payroll." Kakashi said, with his infamous eye-smile. Team Seven and Tazuna continued down the road. The battles to come would reveal more of Naruto's inheritance from the King of Heroes for his path to kingship.

…

A/N: I wonder…what would be a perfect punishment for Danzo attempting treason against Naruto a second time? And it has to be far worse than death.

…

Vocabulary:

Metacarpals─your knuckle bones, the ones that make up your palm.

Mugenjin─the name of the shop means "Infinity Blade", and is written as "無限刃".

Oni Kyōdai─the Demon Brothers.

…

Styles used:

Voldo─Naruto's fist-claws

Mitsurugi─Naruto's forearm-sword

…

Cameos/References

Naruto's "Circus Act"─a type of performance known as the Impalement Arts…where people get knives and arrows thrown at them. Normally performed in the circus.

Mugenjin Arsenal's operators─I'm pretty sure it should be obvious as to who they are if you follow the Fate series.

"Just a Scratch"─Monty Python and the Holy Grail