The Real Monster

by Shadenight123

Monster. He was Monster. On one side, the happy bright family of the Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage, on the other, Monster. Four years of hell in orphanage, one year in Root, and finally five years in Kumo. Still, will he get over his traumas, or will his traumas bring him to deeper pits of darkness? Naru-Shizuka Chap-26onwards . Sad story. Finished. Dojutsu!

10. Execution

Tenth chapter

When life decides that you're on her black list, on her evil doers list, on her *Karma truly hates you* list, it sends you something, some sort of clue, like a volcanic eruption the day you're born, or a murder of crows at your window, Naruto got the Kyuubi, that should have been a big enough sign that life actually had him among the most wanted on her hit-list.

As the sun timidly peaked over the clouds that were slowly but surely moving around Konohagakure, a boy stood with a slightly frowning face in front of his opponent. Obviously, it couldn't have been someone he'd like to fight. Truth be told, it wasn't even somebody *worth* being fought.

So, as it turned out, his opponent in the Taijutsu spar turned out to be Sakura Haruno.

The surname, it had taken a while to connect the dots, with the elderly woman of the orphanage who had treated him so *kindly*. Once he had, however, he had simply loathed the girl, maybe he should have come to know her better, Yugito-oneechan always told him not to stop at the first impression, but still, how much further away from the tree could an apple fall? In the case of Sakura, it seemed that it actually fell on a lower branch: whiny frigging weak-willed girl whose only purpose in life seemed to mate with Sasuke Uchiha, and whose only ninja creed was to keep a graceful figure. She was purposely the first in written tests, chakra control exercises came to her easily, and she was good with the Ninjutsu, the basic academy one of Konoha…which meant it was worthless in a real battle. Naruto could break her like a twig. Even better, he could crush her, break her leg bones, reduce her to a beaten pulp to the side of the ring and leave her there as a blood stain for those who would follow…a bit macabre, but it still wouldn't make it up for all the waste of air the girl breathed.

He could do that, but Shino was nearby, as was Shikamaru. The two didn't hate him, obviously, and he too didn't hate them, Shino was his new *Bro*, and Shikamaru was *too troublesome* to have as an enemy. There was purpose for them being there, obviously, he had been the one to suggest it, once they had heard the pairings for the test.

"Just…Shika stop me and Shino drain me, if I go out of hand, okay?" The two had nodded. Naruto was anything, but not a cold-blooded murderer…it's just that, since *that* event, his bouts of anger had simply grown, and there were times where he was simply uncontrollable. His right hand hadn't been lost. The Kyuubi regeneration powers were truly something, his back was scarred like, listening to Anko's tale, that of Ibiki Morino, one of her colleagues at the Interrogation department. Still, since that time, his anger had simply become nearly uncontrollable. There were moments where he simply wanted to tear down and destroy everything on his path, and he stopped only if someone close to him called his name. Anko had been the first, to stop him from pummeling to death a drunken ninja who had called her *Snake bitch*, he had kept at it until Anko had pleaded him in tears, calling his name. He didn't want to see Anko-Oneechan cry, not for things he did. He was feared, and that was fine. Better to be feared in silence, than to be pointed at or hit by the mob.

As he stood on the ring, his dark green jacket and his slightly bright green shirt, with black cargo pants, the pink-haired girl, wearing a dark red one-piece dress, with black thigh shorts, was clearly nervous. She would have forfeited immediately, but doing that would have meant zero points. She needed at least five points to actually be certain to pass, she did ace the test, and she was certain all the Ninjutsu would come perfectly, but she still needed *some* points in Taijutsu. Kami had decided that today was going to be her unlucky day, however.

"Only Taijutsu, remember we're among friends…no breaking bones." Iruka muttered, his tone was actually pleading, as he was pretty sure that he, as a Chuunin, wouldn't be able to stop Naruto from effectively landing in a bone-breaking strike, all he needed was to punch the girl to break a bone, he was just *that* strong, if he didn't hold back, that was.

"Give up, Sakura-chan!" Ino yelled: some points in a test weren't just worth a complete facial remake. Even make-up had its limit. She was even willing to not call her forehead-girl, if it actually saved her *ex-best friend for life* face.

"You'd wish Ino-pig! I'm not going to risk failure just because of him!" as Sakura yelled that back, Naruto chuckled. The boy had always acted like a cold-hearted jerk, both to her and any other girl in class, making a slim to none exception with Hinata, and only because Kiba had spoken nicely of her to his new *boss*. Not that the boy cared in the slightest about any of his classmates, Sakura was sure he simply deemed them all worthless, even her *Sasuke-kun*, who was just in need of someone to warm his heart, had been forced into working in the garbage collection system till then, he was the last of the Uchiha clan! A really famous clan that would, clearly with her be brought back to its former glory.

"Iruka-sensei, how about you just give me full marks, and I avoid fighting her? She can fight the other cheerleader," as the boy said that with a smirk, he pointed at Ino with his right index finger, "So I don't stain my hands with weaklings, and you don't risk losing a student to a test." Iruka…Iruka was just actually thinking about that. It wasn't a matter of pride, Naruto had gone from sweet to outright steel in a matter of days, after a couple of days of hospital leave, and he no longer played around. He wasn't boasting, to him Sakura *was* weak and even Iruka admitted it: in Taijutsu, the young Haruno had no hopes, none at all, to even scratch the boy. It would just be a one-sided battle…life wasn't fair however, he knew it, and the students were bound to know it too.

"No, the sorting has been completely casual…and you might just lose to her, it can happen." Iruka just wished he could stop time, hit himself repeatedly, and then try another sentence. Naruto wasn't like Sasuke. Sasuke scoffed, growled at knowing someone was stronger, moped in a corner and then trained alone, or he otherwise dismissed the issue of *someone being stronger than him*, without even trying to fight them. Naruto nodded in silence, acknowledged what the truth really was, and then proceeded to prove his point, actually fighting to show if the words could have any value... It was deadly. It was silent. He didn't boast or growl or be annoyed, he acted...like a ninja, and that was scary, because it came from an eleven year old.

"What is it? You scared to fight me, you snake…" the words she wished to say were interrupted by a loud yell from Shikamaru, who, while thinking it was troublesome, still thought it was less troublesome than having to attend a funeral.

"Enough! It's troublesome as it is right now! Sensei give the go, the sooner we get this done the better it is!" Iruka stared at the bout of anger of the Nara, who weren't renowned for it, but nodded, raising his right arm.

"Go!" as the arm got down, the battle was already over. Sakura had kind of hoped she would have been able to at least strike the boy, but she hadn't got any luck…Naruto had come to school without his weights just for today. Sure, he had hope to face off against someone who could at least pack some punch, like Kiba, he enjoyed sparring with Kiba, this instead…he just felt merciful.

His right hand held Sakura tightly in a chokehold, he hadn't moved much except in a straight line, all techniques of Taijutsu in defense were worthless to begin with, if you didn't have the eyes to see the enemy's attack, or if you simply weren't fast enough to actually *block* the attacks, but as Sakura weakly tried to get that hand off, that hand that was like a damn snake, or even crocodile, bite, Naruto, unfazed, turned his gaze to Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei…I am stronger than her." He pointed that out, just like Iruka thought he would. He actually gave her a fighting chance. Sure, it was a split second window for her to make any sort of move, and it was her fault that she hadn't done anything. Someone like Shikamaru would have probably seen it, but would have been to slow to act, Kiba would have certainly been more pissed off at him for having *played around* and wouldn't have used it, but she did nothing. She didn't see it and she didn't use it. She was weak, and Naruto wasn't.

"Is this enough for full marks, Sensei?" as Naruto queried that, Iruka cringed, he knew what the boy actually meant: if it wasn't he'd beat the hell out of the girl, using all the techniques in the book of the academy. It was giving Iruka the choice: either grace the girl or don't. He was washing his hands clean of the matter, to him, she wasn't a stepping stone, an enemy, a classmate or a friend, she was just *there*, he had no bouts about her actually passing or failing, as he didn't have an actual problem with beating another eleven years old to a bloody pulp.

"Y-Yes, it's enough Naruto-kun." The boy nodded, releasing his iron grip and letting Sakura fall on the ground, her legs too shaky to do anything, her face pale as she greedily breathed in air into her air-deprived lungs.

Naruto slowly got down from the ring, staring at Shikamaru for a moment, before grinning.

"Thank you."

"Meh…troublesome," the Nara replied, shrugging it off.

Shino sighed in relief too.

"Merciful." He pointed that out.

"Yeah boss, you could have given her a good lesson, maybe spanking her on the ring, you know!" Kiba replied with a nice grin, "damn whiny bitch and that guy!"

Nobody felt comfortable saying Sasuke's name in front of Naruto, as no-one had a death wish. Even when rolling attendance, Sasuke was simply called by his family name, and even that tended to make Naruto's skin crawl. He just wanted to smash him on the ground and let him feel what it meant to explode into smithereens, he just wanted to smash every single bone he had and show him the meaning of pain, and the more the time passed, the more that anger boiled inside of Naruto, then the more dangerous it would be the moment it would explode.

The Taijutsu practices came to an end, with Sasuke battling a fan-girl who forfeited for *her love*, Kiba beating the hell out of a boy, Shino holding his ground, Shikamaru muttering *troublesome* as he repeatedly used the same old academy Taijutsu to get *some* points. Katsumi battled another girl, and, as it degenerated into a catfight, Naruto simply turned around, not wanting to see such a debased use of Taijutsu, as Kiba had a slight nosebleed from seeing pieces of clothing flying.

Secondly, it was the long-range throwing, where Mizuki was the examiner.

Naruto stared at Mizuki, and saying nothing, he hit the bull's eye every time, with slow precise movements, acting kind of annoyed even when faced with moving targets, like he was walking in a park in an annoying morning. Then, after everyone else took their turns, it came the turn of the Ninjutsu…

"So…Naruto-kun," as Iruka spoke, the blond hair boy muttered back.

"Listen sensei: say the Jutsus names and I'll do them all. No need to make this longer than it should be." Iruka sighed, and then nodded.

"Just make a Bunshin, a Henge, and a Kawarimi." Naruto would have rolled his eyes over, and would have probably made a Kage Bunshin to do it too, if only he feared the Kage Bunshin would have actually conjured another clone to do the same stuff. There were limits that even the clones weren't thinking about passing.

With the most *unenthusiastic* behavior ever displayed in an exam, Naruto obeyed and produced everything in the blink of an eye, yawning at the end, as he slowly rubbed his eyes from the need to sleep.

"Naruto-kun," Iruka had a nervous tick mark on his forehead, as he forced himself to smile, and to remember that he was just a kid, a kid who could pretty much be a genius, but never the less a kid, "congratulations on passing with full marks. Some enthusiasm wouldn't kill you, you know?"

"Yeah…well, I'll be off then?" As Naruto turned towards the door, Iruka coughed pointing at the leaf Headbands on the table.

"I really need to take one?"

"I'm afraid so…why did you actually bother going to the academy, if you didn't want one?" Iruka refrained from hitting the boy on the head, usually they cried or begged to take one, they didn't feel extremely pissed about it.

"Maybe because it was either this or forced brainwashing in Anbu?"

Naruto sighed, as he grabbed it with the point of his thumb and of his index, not refraining from outright showing some sort of disgust at it, before slowly moving out.

Both Iruka and Mizuki remained silent for a moment, as the boy slowly moved outside. That as an answer wasn't expected.

"Iruka-san…isn't it risky to give him a Konoha headband?" Mizuki was the first to interrupt the tense silence, as he queried, perplexed, "He doesn't want one, clearly, but with it he can have access to the ninja supplies of Konoha…and if he does something with that headband on, it might bring trouble to the leaf."

"Hokage's orders…he got the permission from the Daimyo, who is all too happy to have an alliance with Kumo…still, it's going to be hell assigning the teams…" as Iruka muttered that, he stared at the chart, Naruto wasn't the last one to be tested, there were still others, but unless they passed two more students…there was bound to be a team of more than three or one with only one student…said student obviously being Naruto.

The Hokage had final say on the teams, so all Iruka could do was give hints on the principal characteristics and hope, sincerely hope, that wherever the boy ended up, he'd come to like his teammates. He did double cross out of the equation Sasuke and Him on the same team, too risky, and he did clearly write in bright red and orange that he, Shino and Kiba were possible a good team, with at most Shikamaru in the mix. He knew it would be slim to nothing thought, as the Nara-Yamanaka-Akimichi formation was too well known in Konoha.

There was another thing he actually feared. That the Hokage would do what would result in the most horrible day ever for him.

While on one side, the teacher was thinking that, on the other, Naruto was trying to decide wherever tying the headband of Konoha to his sandals, so that he could walk on it every step of the way, would be deemed too much of an insult. He didn't want to offend Anko, or Shino, or Kiba…but he didn't want *that* thing on him.

As he thought about that, he looked inside his right sleeve.

"…Kuro, come out." The snake that emerged from his sleeve was black, kind of the opposite of what Shiro had been, he was thicker, bigger, and had blue eyes, the only strange feature in an otherwise perfectly normal poisonous black snake. His gaze was hard but it wasn't mean, it just looked scornful, but deep down the snake was a softy, only, one had to go really deep down...and be called either Anko or Naruto. Kuro stared at the headband of Konoha while raising, with a puzzled expression, his right pupil…he didn't have eyebrows, obviously.

"Not a chance in hell." The snake replied, shaking his head before going back into the sleeve. Did the boy take him for a trash can? He knew perfectly well how much he hated Konoha, and, since he was his snake, he hated Konoha too. It was a sort of empathic bond between the two, the sole reason he was the only snake capable of eating ramen. That had brought a funny expression on Anko, when she had found out. She had actually worn a pink kimono for an entire week after that, promising herself never, ever again to take on a bet with the boy.

"Oh come on! You're no fun you know that?" Naruto whined, before kicking some dirt to the side and moving to leave the academy, thankful that nobody, actually, of the families that stood there at the gates, spoke to him, leaving instead a nice empty space for him to walk through.

"Naruto-kun!" The voice, damn did he hate that voice, why couldn't he just dash away? Oh yes, the voice wasn't alone, there was also that bastard with her, who needed but a flick of the hand to send him crawling on the ground. Naruto stopped, trying to avoid showing off more hate than he was meant to, and slowly turned around, trying his best forceful smile he could.

"Yes, Uzumaki-sama, Hokage-sama?"

"So you're now a ninja of Konoha. Like your friends, Shino-kun and Kiba-kun," as Kushina said that with a smile, and a little grin, Naruto turned his gaze to the Hokage, who said nothing, quite actually avoiding his stare, as the boy sighed, and replied.

"So it would seem, Uzumaki-sama, at least now I won't risk the Anbu program," Naruto muttered, gritting his teeth, just four more years, four more years of this hell and then he'd be free to go back to Kumo, he couldn't wait the Chuunin exams, just so he could finally see Yugito-Oneechan and his Otou-san again.

"You know, I'm going to be the one to assign the teams…I could place you with them," Minato muttered, staring at the boy, he knew he wouldn't trust him, it was pretty clear he wouldn't, not after having failed to punish the Uchiha, who he himself *would* have wanted to kill with his own hands, that much was clear, but the damn council had refused, claiming it was just a kid's prank without the intent to harm, "That is, if you can provide convincing arguments over a lunch..." there, his plan to coerce the boy into a lunch had been done, wherever he accepted it or not Kushina would have seen he had actually tried to.

"Thank you for your so kind offer," Naruto replied, before narrowing his gaze towards the school's exit, "but I think you're not going to enjoy your lunch, Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-sama…and I do not want to make your family uncomfortable," with that, Naruto turned and walked away, as Kushina, turning around, stared at Katsumi coming to her…empty-handed. She did not have the forehead protector of the Konoha's ninjas, and she was outright crying.

Naruto was trying his best to keep his thoughts from meddling with him dashing gleefully back home.

Ah! She didn't pass! She didn't pass!

Such a display of happiness from other's disgraces…I like it.

I know it's not the right thing to think, or say…but she didn't pass! The spoiled little Hokage's brat didn't pass!

You know that tomorrow, they're going to assign the teams, right?

Yeah, and?

You just ditched the Hokage, who is going to be extremely angry at you for not having gone with him to lunch.

Naruto stopped on a roof, half-frozen in fear.

Said Hokage who can promote people on his own whims...

No.

Team balancing means that there must be the dead last with the rookie of the year.

No.

If he goes against the sensei's decision, and promotes her by force…

He wouldn't DARE!

I think he actually would…and with *Uzumaki-sama* as the Jounin leader…

No, I'll go back to the academy; I have the right, correct?

Because he'd let you, really? He'll just force you…

I need to speak with Anko-Oneechan...or Kakashi-san.

Like they can do anything about it…

Naruto bit his left hand, trying to shake off the desire to yell, instead dashing, like a mad-man, to where he knew Kakashi would be: the memorial stone of the Konoha's cemetery. He actually jumped from a tree to the entrance of the cemetery, as he didn't feel like disrespecting the dead by jumping from tree to tree like a monkey, just so he could reach the silver-haired Jounin more quickly.

He slowly got to the sensei's back, and waited patiently, as Kakashi slowly turned around, making his *eye-smile* that still didn't come to Naruto. It had to be some sort of little Genjutsu, that the boy wasn't able to replicate.

"What brings you here, Naruto-kun? Want to go poison hunting?" Naruto shook his head, before explaining the problem, Kakashi hadn't obviously queried wherever he had passed, or not, the exam: he could clearly see the Konoha's headband, in the boy's right hand, once he finished, the copy-cat ninja nodded.

"Well, the only way for that to happen would be for the Hokage to publicly do an act of favoritism, something that he cannot do, unless he wants Danzo, his principal rival, to seize the opportunity. He can however place you in a damn horrible team with a damn horrible sensei, if he wants that." Naruto groaned, "But at least your cousin won't be with you, unless she actually manages an impossible feat like learning a forbidden jutsu or defeating a chuunin level ninja."

Naruto smiled…yeah that would be impossible, the girl only cared about fashion, Sasuke, and the likes, there was no way she could do any of that by tomorrow, when the teams would be announced…he was safe.

"You'd like to go eat some Ramen? Anko-Oneechan isn't coming back home till later tonight, she's got work to do," as Naruto queried that, a bit hesitantly, Kakashi nodded, he *was* a bit hungry. Though he supposed the real reason for why the boy would do that was to see under his mask, a fact that had made Naruto curious since he had started to notice just how *difficult* it was to find out.

Kakashi chuckled, as they made their way towards Ichiraku's, and recalled just how the boy had changed, after going so close to death. He knew he also had *his gift* on him, it was nothing more than a chakra metal Ninjato, since the boy seemed to have a natural affinity with lightning, albeit it should have been wind, it could prove fatal in enemies who'd cross blades with him. With the wind affinity che could cut, with the lightning he could numb down the enemies muscle. With good enough training, he'd be a force to be reckoned with. Obviously without a Kekkei Genkai, the combined use of the two would prove to be a feat, but in time, and with experience, Kumo would get a great strength to be reckoned with, the copy-cat ninja had no illusions on which side the boy would choose, he knew that, no matter how much he actually wanted the boy to have a change of heart, choose Konoha, and take him on as his apprentice, he'd choose Kumo. Kakashi was fine with it, as long as they didn't, later on, have to meet on the battlefield as enemies, but if the alliance treaties stayed, then there was bound to be no problem at all. The two sat in front of Teuchi and his daughter, and, as Naruto showed off without a single bit of pride the headband, Ayame giggled.

"Well, I was told ninja graduates were all happy about their forehead protectors…you don't seem to like it at all, Naruto-kun," Ayame didn't actually need to take Naruto's order, nor Kuro's, as both were usual customers of the stall, and even Kakashi to a certain extent was, for what it mattered. She also knew precisely where the black snake was, and even that it was a ramen eater. The first time she had seen it, she had obviously been startled, before fainting as the snake actually *apologized* for having scared her. Teuchi had taken the things in stride, one more ramen-eater? One more customer: it didn't matter that it had scales and no hands, and that it kept its mouth inside the bowl until it had emptied it. A customer was a customer.

"I'm just trying to find a non-offensive place for it that at the same time makes it clear I don't actually enjoy having it," Naruto muttered, staring at it with his right hand, "and Kuro, obviously, doesn't want to eat it."

"I am not a trashcan," Kuro hissed, "and how can you display it from my stomach, huh?"

"Well…I could, you know, show you from my right sleeve and you could open your mouth?" As Naruto said that back, Kakashi sighed, so much for Sensei's plan to *convince the boy to love and enjoy the academy*, he knew it was bound to fail no matter what, but it did fail miserably.

"Why don't you tie it on your fist?" Ayame actually suggested, clenching her small right fist in a sort of punch, "you show it off and can punch it against a wall when you want to, or against *Konoha's enemies* when you need to act like a good boy."

Naruto stared at Ayame for a long, silent minute. Kakashi actually thought he was about to strike at her like a snake does with a mice, and even Teuchi stared at the eyes of the boy, growing wider with…happiness.

"You're a genius Ayame-san!" with that, Naruto tied the headband to his right wrist, before trying to make it naturally move downwards to his knuckles, and then bring it back up to his wrist.

"Perfect! I've got metal knuckles!" He muttered once more.

"Typical, oh, look, a mouse!" Kuro exclaimed, staring at a small rodent on the side of the road, before dashing off with a speed that made him look only like a black blur, before jumping back on Naruto's shoulders, the mouse slowly being crushed and crunched by the snakes powerful mouth muscles.

"No matter how many times I see it…I still find it disgusting," Ayame muttered, slightly green, as her father just about finished the orders for the customers.

"I am disgusted when someone eats vegetables…but I don't go and speak of *if Kami gave us fangs, then he wanted us to eat meat*, right?" Kuro replied, his blue iris staring straight at Ayame, who shook her head.

"That's a diet! I've put on weight, with all the ramen there is around…" she pouted, making Naruto chuckle.

"You're not fat Ayame-chan! Kakashi-sensei is!" with that, the silver-haired Jounin looked lightly annoyed at the boy.

"I am *not*, where do you see the fat, huh?"

"Under your mask sensei," Naruto replied, shrugging, as he added, "you see, he has really puffy cheeks, and enormous lips, he stores half his bodyweight under his mask and…"

"Well, now that would explain everything," Ayame replied back to the boy, "I did indeed think it was something like that, albeit to have that much fat…"

"I do *not* have fat under my mask, does this seem like a fat face!" as Kakashi lowered his mask, Naruto's grin grew wider, as Ayame's eyes sparkled at the real face of the silver-haired Jounin.

"You…you got me," Kakashi raised his masks once more… "I'm no longer the mysterious ninja now…I'm just another closet pervert who reads perfectly well-written porn."

"Come on Hatake-san, you know it was just a matter of time…" Kuro muttered, as his face slowly drifted out, with a satisfied expression, from the ramen bowl.

"Yeah, yeah…" Kakashi muttered, as he lowered his shoulders and proceeded to finish eating his ramen. They got through the first seven bowls with ease, Kuro and Naruto, and afterwards, as the spiked blond boy recollected his snake-partner, paid, and turned to leave, a thought crossed his mind.

"Kakashi-sensei…now with the ninja missions I won't be able to go poison-gathering…"

"We could make it a week-end activity! Like camping," Kakashi replied with a chuckle, "I did enjoy the time spent training with you, Naruto-kun: it was definitively more relaxing than anything else."

"Well, then I'm off Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto replied, a wide smile on his face, as he waved goodbye to both the silver-haired Jounin and the two stall vendors.

That's when he turned around to leave, only to find a really angry Minato staring at him. Before he could say anything, before he could even query the reason, he felt the pain of having his chakra cut off, and he fell down on the ground, as the only thing he could hear, in the back of his head, was a…

"Sensei!"

Naruto woke up feeling light-headed, his throat parched, and his head spinning as he barely focused the colors around him. Now the only problem was realizing where he was, as the things he saw around him where a bit strange. It was a clear white walled structure, with a glass panel on one side, and a metallic door on the other. He was, also, for lack of a better term, tied up, and he could feel something in his system making its course, making him see colors in the otherwise perfectly white room. He could hear various noises, the effect of a hallucinogen probably, and he couldn't feel the familiar slithering of the snakes that used to wrap around his body. He hoped they were all fine…

When his surroundings finally came to focus, he felt the need to chuckle, it was an interrogation room, he had been brought there once, behind the glass panel was a room for the people to see inside. Right now, one of the stationed ninjas would go and call for his interrogator, but still he thought why he had been called in. Was it because he had given a piece of teaching to all those damn arrogant people that insulted his Anko-Oneechan? Breaking bones and tearing muscles wasn't a capital offense. They did the same thing to him too when he was younger, why not give back the same pain, the same medicine? He recalled his methods, to find the flaws in his plan. Kuro's poison was a paralyzing one, he would slowly open the ninjas window, disabling the traps, then the snake would slither silently, in the dark of the night, his black scales made him nearly invisible, towards the enemy's neck, then he would bite them on the head, not on the neck, or in another usually visible place, in the neck, among the hair. It took a couple of seconds more to be effective, and sometimes, well, sometime brain damage was to be expected, but it didn't matter to him. Then Naruto's turn arrived, as he slowly moved in, doing his job with his combat knifes, enhanced with wind nature. Like a medic. He was training to be a nice medical-nin, so that C wouldn't be worried about him. He needed to train on someone, however, and there were really few people who would teach him, basically, he grabbed what Anko-Oneechan told him about the human body, and then…then he taught himself through sectioning the Jounins and the Anbus, cutting muscles, breaking bones, but never touching the organs: he still wasn't ready to work on them, he needed more…practice…his *other* sensei told him that.

To him, it wasn't at all an evil thing. He would have gladly trained under a Konoha's medic-nin, if any of them had been at the very least willing to speak to him without scorn in their voice. They never suspected him, never found the snake marks, never saw anyone, and especially they would have never thought a simple minded Genin, no matter how skilled, would be more deadly and silent than Anbu-class ninjas. Heck, their security in their barracks was pitiful, he had no doubt he could enter them while being fully dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit, while yelling out loud his hate for the Hokage.

At least…*those* guys, of whom he no longer had heard anything, *those* guys knew how to hide, how to make passageways crumble on the wrong step, how to hide their tracks. Anbu's, the *best of the best* was made of a lot of weak guys.

The door slowly slid open, as Inoichi Yamanaka entered the room, followed by Ibiki Morino.

"Morino-san…hehe, you've got a nice bandana! I love the color." Naruto muttered, his words lingering in his throat, it was pleasant to talk, he realized, it was probably the effect of whatever drug he had been subjected to.

"I tell you the brat wouldn't have done it, Inoichi-san...Anko's too fond of the kid, she basically speaks of nothing else at work…" as Ibiki said that, the Yamanaka shrugged.

"It's always the quiet ones, anyway, the *Crocodile Tears* should be at its peak course, so let's ask anyway…" as Inoichi said that, turning to the boy, who was even drooling a bit to the side of his mouth, the blond haired interrogator queried, with a distinctively annoyed tone, "have you stolen the scroll of forbidden jutsus from the Hokage's office?"

"I want nothing to do with the damn bastard," Naruto replied, grinning widely, "I'd burn him alive if I could, Kuro could bite him up his ass, I'm sure…"

"Yeah…loyalty a bit on the low, huh?" Inoichi turned his gaze to Ibiki, who shrugged.

"Boy's got it tough, basically kidnapped from Kumo, you know that too, still doesn't mean anything if you can't get a straight answer."

"Yeah, yeah, now then, Naruto-kun…did you steal the scroll from the Hokage's office?" as Inoichi queried that again, Naruto shook his head.

"N-nah, I hate the guts of the guy, don't want to see him, nor go in his office…hehehe, you've got golden hair, goldilocks."

"Well…" Inoichi was slightly pissed at the goldilocks reference, but the boy *did* seem to have lost it to the poison, so it wasn't like he could possibly lie.

"See, told you…*goldilocks*" Ibiki snickered at the nickname.

"So his alibi of being with Kakashi-san the entire time is valid?" Inoichi queried.

"He knows the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and it can fool even the Byakugan…he didn't immediately meet the copy-cat ninja, so we can't have that as an alibi, unluckily for the brat, and for us." Ibiki replied.

"Why also for us?" Inoichi muttered.

"His *Oneechan* is in another room, interrogating someone, how do you think she's going to be when she realizes we had to go through all the basic procedures, to prove he isn't lying?" as Ibiki pointed that out, Inoichi frowned, before recollecting the thought.

"We can't read in his mind, because it's a breach of the alliance contract…so we have to go through the first five steps of the torture procedure…" he actually paled, staring at the boy, "Anko-san is going to kill us."

"Yeah…I'll get the tools and lock the door, and I'll tell someone to keep her busy."

"Don't you dare take three hours, Ibiki-san: you're getting half of her wrath, I've got family to see at the end of the day, got it?"

As Ibiki nodded, he closed the door, poor brat. He moved along the white walled corridors of the interrogation department, firstly reaching into the adjacent room, where the Hokage stared lost in thoughts at the scene of the boy, getting prepared for the *second step* in the torture routine.

"Hokage-sama, the boy's probably clean." Minato turned around, nodding, but then shaking his head, with a slightly sorrowful gaze.

"We have to make sure, after all Mizuki-san spoke clearly of having seen him head towards my office, and leave later on with the scroll, and there are only a few people who can actually enter my office without problems," as he pointed that out, Ibiki nodded.

"Still…why send him through the torture routine?"

"Because he is to be treated like an adult, the moment he puts the headband on. He's got no alibi, so he's a liability, and he needs to be thoroughly checked…you heard him speak about what he thinks of me...it could all be a ruse to get to me in the end."

"If you say so, Hokage-sama…it's a first however, usually the age of those that get the torture routine are between their twenties. We simply don't have the correct dosages for an eleven-year old physique."

"He's perfectly able to handle a twenty-year's dosage, Ibiki-san. Now, do go and keep Anko-san away from the room." Ibiki nodded, leaving, he didn't like it, but it was his job. He was sure Anko wasn't, at all, going to forgive either him or Inoichi…he'd better buy snake traps.

As Ibiki heard the yells of pain from the boy, in the corridor, he winced. It had to be the third step in the torture procedure. The first was just a light *tongue-melt*, it made it nice, and easier, to talk. Usually there was no need to go through any other steps. The second was a dose of a truth serum that would leave the boy with a heavy headache, tomorrow. The third step was the pain step…with both the previous poisons in the body, a third one would send jolts of pain and spasms to the muscles, increasing the pain the more the time went by. The fourth step was the physical pain, cuts on the cheeks, on the forehead, on the places it would hurt, but do no lingering damage. The fifth was psychological, and if one went through all of that then usually he'd be clean. If need was there, there were a total of twenty more steps…all that could be avoided with a mind-dive by Yamanaka, who, however, couldn't because of the Kumo alliance's points. Something meant to protect the boy, was actually doing him more harm than good.

He entered the room where Anko was silently jolting down the confession between spasms of the ninja in front of her, who had been accused of nearly murdering a civilian: he did have the attenuating circumstance of having gone through the third shinobi war, and being thus a war veteran, with battle scars, both outside and in the soul... still, he did try and kill someone, only because he thought he was a Iwa ninja.

She finished jolting it down, and then, since Ibiki wanted to speak to her, she exited with him, leaving the culprit in care of another Ninja.

"I'm hearing someone's yelling," Anko muttered, the walls were paper-thin, so that one could hear the highly pitched screams and increase the tension in the rooms, making it easier to nab confessions, "whose taking care of the poor sod?" as they began walking further away from the screams, she wondered why Ibiki needed her.

"I am, with Inoichi, in room thirty-two."

"Two big-shots like you? What did the bastard do?" Ibiki repressed the urge to tell her she was insulting her *blond ticket out of hag-hood*.

"He's suspected for having stolen the forbidden jutsus scroll from the Hokage's office, and there's an eyewitness who saw him enter and then leave the office with the scroll…but he's got an alibi, and we're verifying it."

"Strange," Anko muttered, "why are you torturing him before verifying the alibi?"

Ibiki coughed for a moment, before saying, in his best neutral as possible way.

"His alibi could have been faked with a Bunshin…until it's verified we have to hold onto the Chuunin-sensei's eyewitness, since the other is just a Genin."

"Yeah, speaking of Genin's," Anko grinned, "today's the day my aniki gets his Konoha's headband, and then, tonight, it's ramen!" Yeah…Ibiki was thankful that all the years in the interrogation department had made his face impossible to read, because otherwise, he'd have probably told her how improbable that would have been.

"Oh, the brat…Naruto, right?"

"Don't call him brat!" Anko pouted, "He's quiet and good mannered, and he's always doing what his Anko-Oneechan tells him, yeah, I've got to buy him a gift for his graduation, I suppose…" as the purple haired Kunoichi began thinking about what to give as a gift to the boy, Ibiki looked at the watch. Inoichi should have finished by then…he hoped.

"What did you want to talk about, by the way?" As Anko queried that, Ibiki coughed, once more.

"Damn, that cough is going to get you…have you turned into another Hayate-san?"

"No, I suppose I'll be fine, there's no way someone could become like Hayate-san," Ibiki replied, as he looked towards the hall he had brought Anko in, where there were coffee and snacks machines, and the coffee was obviously free of charge.

"So, you wanted to grab a coffee with this beautiful *Anko-chan* huh? Why not say that sooner," as Anko grabbed a cup, as did Ibiki, Inoichi entered the hall with an angered face, pointing at Ibiki, before looking at Anko near him, and just as the purple haired Kunoichi waved at him, he took a step back, earning a frown on her face.

"You said you wouldn't take three hours!" he said, pointing at Ibiki.

"What's the problem Inoichi?" Anko queried perplexed.

"I think I'm being called." Ibiki said, moving towards the exit, but the firm grip of Anko on his shoulder stopped him.

"Well, he's innocent, as he kept saying he didn't do it, even after five steps in the torture routine," Inoichi pointed that out, taking another step back, as Anko's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, Ibiki-san spoke of the Genin, so what's the reason for all this fear, huh? You didn't do a mind dive, so he had to be either really strong or quite a bastard," Anko queried, as Ibiki, gulping and heavily sweating, whispered…

"Well…it was the Hokage's orders…and there's a treaty with Kumo." Anko took a moment to connect the dots. Kumo's treaty could, at most, be valid for one person only…her face turned pale, before transforming into one of pure anger, as she dashed, not wanting to believe it, towards the room where Inoichi had been. By the time she reached it, the door was slightly open, and as she slowly opened it completely, she cringed, knowing deep down that her worst fears had become reality.

Naruto lay there, his face already healing from the wounds suffered on his chin, his cheeks and his neck. His wrists had been tied with iron manacles, and his right and left arm had the typical signs of needles, as he stood there, his eyes' white slightly showing, Anko slowly moved closer to him, slowly hugging the boy to her, as she began sobbing.

"Oneechan…I…didn't…" he whispered, "sorry…" he added, before finally giving in to the sleep he needed, as his brain couldn't take any more pain, or suffering.

Anko grabbed the boy with both her arms, and holding him tightly, moved to exit, just to see the Hokage actually coming towards the room, probably to look at the result of his handiwork, no doubts, with Ibiki and Inoichi behind him.

She stared at the man with the angriest stare and killing intent she could muster, which was more than enough to make the Hokage, at the very least, flinch.

"Until I release him, he's still a probable culprit, Anko-san," the fourth Hokage muttered, as the purple-haired woman snapped back.

"He's innocent alright! And you're a damn fucker and a bastard, and you know that! Why did you do this to him, huh! What the hell did he do to earn this! He's barely a kid! A KID! You'd do this to your own frigging daughter? No! But since it's *HIM* you'd do it, right? You're doing this just because it's him!"

"Anko-san, calm down, he's the Hokage," Ibiki muttered, "and it's not because of him being…a Jinchuuriki, you know."

Anko would have killed Ibiki, and the Hokage, on the spot, but she had something more precious within her arms, and she sure as hell didn't want to lose him to those fuckers and those bastards.

"With you and Inoichi I'll speak later, can he leave now, *Hokage*?" as Anko snarled that, the Hokage nodded, not saying a word as the kunoichi kept her fast stride, dashing out of the building.

"She still had three hours of work to do, today," Inoichi pointed that out only when the lingering killing intent in the corridor died down.

"I'll take them…I feel I'd be safer in here doing overwork than outside," Ibiki muttered.

*That night*

Naruto groggily opened his eyes, as the first thing he actually felt was warmth. There was the usual slithering mass of snakes around him, and Kuro was staring with his blue eyes, that had clear and unstoppable anger in, at Naruto. He obviously wasn't angry at the boy. He was angry the boy had given them all the order that, if he were to fall down unconscious, they'd run for their lives instead of protecting him. He understood that the one who came before him, a certain Shiro, so much for name originality, had kicked the bucket in a bad way, but that didn't mean they would suffer his same fate! They were snake-nins, not apartment snakes!

"You're an idiot." Kuro hissed, as he slowly slithered away, to where Anko was, as she had fallen asleep sitting on a chair, near the bed Naruto was in, her hands clenching tightly the right one of the boy, like he was her life anchor. Kuro slowly moved on the purple-haired kunoichi, and then gently tapped her cheek with the tip of his tail, swiftly *jumping* in a spring-line manner back on Naruto's lap, who had in the meantime gotten to a sitting position.

Anko firstly opened her eyes, then rubbed them, letting go of Naruto's hand in the process, and finally she hugged the living hell out of the boy, who gasped, feeling still the lingering pain in all of his muscles.

"Oneechan!" Naruto exclaimed, wincing in slight pain, gritting his teeth not to scream.

"Naruto! I'm sorry, so sorry! I didn't know! I'd have brought you out of there in an instant!" to hell with being branded a Nuke-nin, "I'm sorry…can you forgive me?" as Anko's eyes were watery, Naruto stared puzzled at the woman. Her eyes were already red, so she had already cried before. Was he the one at fault?

"It's not your fault…Oneechan. I'm sorry I made you cry." Naruto whispered, trying to return the hug, his arms weren't in top shape at the moment.

"You Baka: Baka, Baka, and once more Baka. If you say you're sorry once more I'll hit you in the head, got it?" as Anko muttered that, ruffling the boy's hair, Naruto silently muffled an *okay*.

"Now, what happened? Say everything to your Oneechan so I know who I have to kill later on," as Anko whispered that, she didn't let go of the boy.

"Killing is bad Oneechan…" Naruto muttered, "You shouldn't kill for me."

"Aw…then I'll kill for myself." Naruto slowly nodded, not knowing how to counter-argument said claim, and so he briefly spoke of what had happened, as the various poison's effect, barring a pulsing headache, slowly drifted away.

"…well, I'll forgive you for having *me* and my subordinates slither through the dirt of Konoha's streets to get back here," Kuro muttered, "But next time, we bite the hell out of those two…right younglings?" the other snakes hissed their consent to the matter, as Naruto would have smiled, if it weren't for the headache.

"Well, you clearly need a good night of rest, Naru-chan." Anko said, pushing the boy back down, "You get some more sleep, I'll get you something warm to gulp down…porridge, maybe."

"Oneechan…you can't cook anything except rice and scrambled eggs." As Naruto pointed that out, trying to get back up, Anko kept him down.

"Stay put, boy. Tomorrow you've got team assignments, you know?" Naruto groaned, yeah, it was going to be one hell of a day…and depending on the case he might just as well murder someone.

"Oneechan, I trust you…remember not to use sugar…" Naruto muttered, as he closed his eyelids, to try and get a quick nap.

"Using sugar instead of salt? I don't cook that badly!" Anko snapped, before going to the small kitchen corner, there was something however that was making her perplexed, just how did Kuro manage to slither till her shoulder unnoticed and without her feeling him do that? She was a trained Anbu-class ninja and he…he was just a snake…

She didn't bother much, until she felt an all too familiar set of hisses, coming behind her. She turned around just in time to see Naruto, a kunai at his throat, and a masked Anbu holding him with a wide grin.

"Now, now, be nice and let the boy go." Anko growled, as the snakes slowly tried to slither near him.

"Call your pet back, you snake whore, before I slash the fox demon out of existence." As the Anbu moved close to the window, she stiffened, why was she stiffening? She never stiffened: she usually acted easily as the normal Anko that never, ever, stiffened. Yet, as the Anbu held her…brother? Precious one in a kind boy who understood her? She realized just how much it meant to her not losing him. Sure, she had lost her teammates to that damn bastard of Orochimaru, her parents had died years before, and Kurenai was her friend, but she wouldn't have stiffened for Kurenai, or Kakashi, or Asuma or anyone else…but the boy, she couldn't risk losing the boy. The snakes slowly slithered back, at her command, all except Kuro, who was nowhere to be seen.

"My, you actually did that? Seems like you're just a whore, a fox whore however…" with that, the Anbu jumped out of the window, "don't follow, or he dies!" with those words, the masked ninja began running towards the forest, where he knew, a certain Katsumi was training hard on the forbidden jutsus.

He had been called to answer if he was certain the boy was the culprit, and Mizuki had cursed the fact they hadn't simply believed his word over that of the demon boy, but then, the solution. Katsumi-chan, that damn idiot of a Hokage's daughter, had more than gladly given him the information he needed: the house of the demon, all in exchange for a chance at a special *secret test* to pass and become a Genin. She had actually believed him, and right now, he was running with the fainted, obviously because of the tortures he had been subjected to, demon, to here Katsumi was. He'd kill her, give the bloody kunai in the demon's hands, and then drop the anbu mask on him, it would all turn out as a plot from the boy with Kage Bunshins to help him out in getting alibis, and nobody would *ever* suspect him!

As Mizuki reached the small meadow, he bit his lower lip: Iruka obviously had reached the red-haired girl before him. A pity…he'd have to kill them both.

As he dropped the boy on a higher branch, he turned around, with a smirk. The snake woman hadn't actually followed him! The bitch really cared for the demon! How amusing!

He launched forward a volley of shurikens, smirking as Iruka had just enough time to push Katsumi down, before he himself descended.

Meanwhile, Naruto opened both his eyes, blood-red.

He said it, didn't he?

Oh that he did.

Nobody insults my Oneechan.

Yup, nobody does that.

"Boss," Kuro hissed in whisper, appearing from the back of his shirt, "he didn't realize I was here. He's a weak chuunin probably…and he did insult the Oneechan. He's no anbu."

Naruto said nothing, but nodded, as Kuro slid into his own position, curling around Naruto's right arm. It was time.

The boy slowly got on his feet, the pain of the past hours of the interrogation still taking their toll.

Slowly, his muscles relaxed, as a vile foul chakra covered and repaired the nasty effects of the poisons, returning everything as it was before. With a hardened gaze, Naruto slowly knelt in position, before making a straight dash forward, to follow Mizuki's and Iruka's battle, while Katsumi was running.

In the end, even Iruka couldn't run anymore, too wounded to do anything. Naruto could have intervened, before, but he needed to make sure he wouldn't be interrupted. He wanted to have some fun with Mizuki…some training, maybe he'd touch the organs this time?

Maybe he would.

"Why do you protect that girl? Don't you know she's just a spoiled brat!" Mizuki yelled, pointing his kunai straight in front of Iruka.

"No, that's not true, she's a hardworking student, I saw the bruises on her hands every day as she tried to understand Taijutsu, I saw how battered she was while trying her best at the Ninjutsu, she never gave up…I'm proud of having her as a student."

"Yet you failed her anyway, you hypocrite? Only because her father sealed the Kyuubi, instead of killing it? You would have wanted revenge right? Instead all you got was seeing the Kyuubi go unscathed transformed into a boy! A boy you even had to teach!" Mizuki chuckled.

"Mizuki! Have you gone mad! She would have just died without being able to produce a workable Bunshin! The rest doesn't matter!" Naruto rolled his eyes, when were they going to finish it? Katsumi stood in a corner, hidden behind a tree, trembling slightly. He could actually go over there, give her a quick chop on the back of the neck, and be done with it…he could, but he wanted to play with some organs.

"It won't matter after tonight: I'll kill you, I'll kill her, and then I'll frame the demon brat, and I'll come off as the Hero who brought back the forbidden jutsus scroll!"

Naruto had actually enough of waiting: he was just about calculating the distance when…

"Stop!" Katsumi yelled, standing up from her hiding place. Why did she have to yell? Couldn't she, just…hit him in the back with a kunai?

"My, there she is!"

"I won't let you harm Iruka-sensei! Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" with that, Naruto frowned. He would have scowled, but he wasn't an Uchiha. The girl had to learn the only technique he had, obviously, since she had wanted to know it from him, but he had refused her, and she actually had the chakra, or the guts, to use a higher number variant? Well…he waited, as he saw the hundreds of red-haired twin-tails attack the chuunin, through sheer numbers and not technique, hitting him until he lost consciousness, dispersing one by one and leaving a trembling, and nearly on the verge of collapsing, Katsumi.

"I…I did it, Iruka-sensei." She muttered, as she fell on the side, fainting from the overuse of chakra. Iruka slowly got up, to move closer to the girl, and, in that moment, Naruto jumped down.

Iruka saw the boy walking forward and it took him a minute to understand why he was here: probably he had been beaten up by Mizuki and brought there to be framed, but had freed himself.

"Naruto-kun… Are…you fine?" Iruka queried, staring at the boy's eyes, red, with slits like the Kyuubi. The same murderous intent he had felt that day, months before, in the classroom.

"No thanks to Konoha's interrogation department." As he said that, from his right arm a black snake darted forward, his maws extended and wide, as its mouth closed around Mizuki's face, pulling him back and into Naruto's open palm.

"You framed me…You're the reason my Oneechan cried," Naruto muttered, staring at Mizuki's fainted face, as Iruka's eyes shot forward in surprise, what was the boy going to do then, was something that the chuunin sensei would have thought more befitting of…Orochimaru, "Kuro Sen'eijashu!" Kuro darted forward from Naruto's sleeve, the Ninjato that Kakashi had gifted the boy, while he was in the hospital, sprouted from his tongue, enhanced with wind ability to pierce strongly, and as the snake passed straight through the man's neck, Naruto's left hand touched Mizuki's body, as electricity sparkled charring the chuunin to a near-unrecognizable state.

"Raiton: Electromagnetic Murder, Naruto's Execution variant!" there were no yells, but gurgles of pain and spasms, as Iruka tried his best not to puke at the scene of Mizuki's body, then, as Kuro re-ingurgitated the chakra metal Ninjato, slithering back into Naruto's sleeve, the boy with a kick removed Mizuki's head from his body.

"Now I say I can play with his organs for a while, might learn something."

Iruka paled, as he slowly grabbed Katsumi and made a few step backwards.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto's voice was calm, quiet, tranquil, even nice, as he spoke, "Konoha is that way."

"Ah…yeah, you're right Naruto-kun." Iruka nervously laughed, as he dashed towards Konoha.

The boy was worse than mad…even with all his wounds, Iruka deemed it safer to die by blood loss in Konoha, then remain in the meadow where Naruto was sectioning the corpse of Mizuki.

He shivered, thinking that there was only one solution in his mind, to solve most of the problems.

*Next day*

Anko had stayed up all night, outside of the Hokage's office, waiting to know just what was going to happen to her little brother. The fact that he had woken up, and then defeated Mizuki in a most gruesome way wasn't what bothered her. It was Iruka's claims that not even Orochimaru would have been that wicked. What did they know about her young brother? What the hell did they think? Obviously he would be pissed at the man who framed him! Though there was a bit of pride in her mind, thinking that he did it just to avenge her. Finally, the door of the Hokage's office opened, and Naruto came out, smiling at Anko.

"Anko-Oneechan! They say everything's fine…and that I must get to school in time for the team assignments!" Anko managed to hug Naruto tightly once, before the boy *dashed* towards school, leaving the purple haired woman to face the Hokage, and as both stared at each other, the question in the woman's mind was pretty clear.

What punishment did you give him, you bastard?

"It seems that, since he's a Genin now, an adult, he would like to start living alone once more." The words hit her like daggers, but she said nothing.

Bullshit! That's bullshit! So that's his punishment, huh!

"The techniques he used, were techniques he learned by mimicking your actions, and while we were fine to let him run along, the actions of last night cannot be, at all, *undone*, he risks becoming mentally unstable, if this continues," the Hokage spoke slowly, keeping a neutral tone.

YOU FUCKING PRICK OF A FRIGGING BASTARD! You kidnapped him! You forced him through shit! It's obvious he's going nuts!

"That is why you will tell him that he's to go back to his old apartment, for his own good, and stop any contact with you, from now on, if it will not happen soon," Now Anko faced at the Hokage with her mouth slightly open, "Then I am sorry to say the separation will have to be brought forward through force…you are still, after all, Orochimaru's…"

"Ex-student," Anko snapped, "Ex-student, and I never taught him anything that bastard taught me, I don't know how, or when, but I didn't, I swear I didn't, have Inoichi sweep my mind, he'll prove it."

"Can't do that, he's your colleague, he might lie to save your skin…at the moment, you are not under trial, Mitarashi-san, but that…can change." Anko wanted to spit on the man's face, she really wanted to.

"Why don't you tell that he has to leave me by yourself, Hokage-sama?"

"Because he already *hates* me," the Hokage replied with a small chuckle, what was there to laugh about? The Hokage had turned nuts, that was what was going on, "but he certainly won't hate you, he *trusts* you, doesn't he?"

"…who told you that?" Anko's eyes narrowed.

"A little bird," Minato replied his gaze narrowing, "this is a secret S-rank mission, Anko Mitarashi. You will be highly paid just for completing it. Think about the money you can make…or the dangos you can eat."

"…you'd sell that boy out to the world for money?" Anko was thinking if murdering the yellow flash of Konoha was going to make it, to calm her anger…did he really think she didn't actually like the boy, love him like a little brother? Did he…

"Separate yourself from him, that is an order, or do you prefer being executed on the spot?" The tone was cold, and dark, Anko knew it wasn't a joke, or a threat…it was a promise.

"Get the money ready then." She muttered, turning around. She'd put it in a bank and give it to Naruto one day, without even touching a ryo of it…it would be too filthy money for her.

As Anko left, from the Hokage's office a bandaged man, with only one visible eye, came out, followed by a small masked Anbu, no more than eleven years old too.

"Bird, go and reestablish the Root operatives," as Danzo muttered that, the boy nodded before disappearing.

"Danzo-san, you'd better keep your part of the deal," the Hokage muttered, staring at the man.

"Do not worry, Hokage-sama, I am glad you finally saw reason and came to me. I will have the boy turn to love the leaf in a matter of months, and he won't even realize it." With those words, the old man crept away. Well, Monster-kun would return to the nest. A pity he wouldn't be only his, but he had to make a compromise somewhere…

Naruto, on the other hand, reached school just in time to sit down, and wait the team announcements. Neither Iruka-sensei, who was sick, nor Mizuki-sensei, who was *undisposed* albeit Naruto chuckled at that, a chuckle that didn't go unnoticed by Shino, who said nothing, however.

"Team 7 will be Sakura Haruno, Katsumi Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and their team leader will be Kakashi Hatake…" as the announcer said that, unknown to them, Sasuke actually sighed in relief. He'd rather run all the way to Suna and turn a missing nin, rather than even go as close as being in the same team as *that* monster.

"Team eleven will be made of Naruto Uzu…" the announcer stopped, gulping before going along, trying to ignore the killing intent radiating from the room, "Sai, and Yakumo Kurama," murmurs in the class, as the last two hadn't even been mentioned in class, ever before, "their sensei will be Kushina Uzumak…" another wave of killer intent waved through the class, as Shino actually had to calm his own bugs from running away, and Kiba whined to the *boss* to stop it, as Akamaru had peed himself twice already…in his jacket.

"…it's been a pleasure. Wait for your senseis here." With that, the unnamed Jounin-sensei dashed away, just as the classroom slowly emptied, as everyone came to pick their respective *brats*.

The only difference was Naruto, who waited in there, together with Team 7's teacher, who was late.

Naruto chuckled, grinning to himself as he thought Kakashi was going to throw a fit if he didn't already throw it before, reading the names of the students he had been assigned to.

Katsumi placed a board eraser on the door, pouting that their sensei was being late.

He'll always be late…but I ain't telling you that.

"Naruto-kun," his thoughts were interrupted, when Katsumi actually moved close to the boy, who stared back at her, "where you the one who came to help me and Iruka-sensei?" as she queried that, her bright blue eyes stared deeply into the boy's dark blue, they should have been the same color, but one had never seen hatred, and difficulties, the other had seen much already to scar his soul.

"What if?" Naruto had thought she had fainted…maybe one of her hundred's clones had seen him in the corner of an eye?

"Thank you," she said with a smile, as Sakura stared her face pale at what the girl was doing, she was thanking the monster who had no qualms in hitting girls!

Naruto's right eyebrow shot forward in surprise, why thank him?

"You did most of the job." He pointed that out.

"But you came because you were worried about me, right? So you care for your cousin! And I'm sure I'll see you around, if Kaa-san is your team leader, you might even have training in our home's training grounds! And…"

In the blink of an eye, Naruto's right arm shot forward, a bunch of snakes, one after the other holding the other's tail, dashed forward, the last one grabbing the board eraser just in time for Kakashi to avoid taking it, albeit voluntarily, on the head, then the snakes retracted back into his sleeve, as the chalkboard stood in Naruto's hand.

Naruto's gaze turned to Katsumi, and he simply muttered.

"Your sensei has arrived, Uzumaki-san."

"Yoh!" Kakashi muttered, raising his right hand, he had wanted to act not too seriously, because he actually was already hating this group of Genins. There was a fan-girl, a troublemaker, and a probable murderer…he was going to make them fail so bad…if only Sensei's daughter hadn't been in the bunch he wouldn't have even come there with *only* three hours of lateness. He'd have come by dusk.

Sasuke actually smirked, hoping to catch a glimpse of envy from Naruto's face, as they were going to get *his* previous private teacher. Instead, he actually saw him slightly chuckle.

"Sensei! You're late!" Katsumi and Sakura both yelled at the teacher, who turned to face them.

"You told them nothing, right?" as Kakashi queried towards Naruto, the boy shrugged.

"I'm telling you…they're going to fail it." Naruto muttered, shaking his head, "and if they don't…well, I'll start reading Icha-Icha."

"Damn, I got the sucky bunch of Genins." Kakashi muttered back, as Sakura stared perplexed between the silver-haired Jounin and Naruto, did the two know each other? And why would the Jounin trust the boy's words?

"Sensei! We're strong, don't listen to Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, receiving a *Yeah!* from Katsumi.

"Actually…I'd rather listen to him drunk than to you lot sober." As Kakashi said that, he waved at Naruto, who waved back, while the silver-haired Jounin moved out of the classroom, the three students following him with a perplexed expression. Sasuke simply had a scowl on his face, however.

Naruto remained alone, in the classroom, waiting. In the end, just as the clock turned to six o'clock in the afternoon, Kushina entered the classroom, in her Jounin sensei outfit.

Naruto got up, looking around, and behind her, expecting to see the rest of his team.

"Well, Naruto-kun! I'm sorry I'm late, really…I still had to grade the last exams of the year…" she said with a small smile, staring at the boy who simply walked down.

"Uzumaki-sensei," at least he acknowledged her as his teacher, "where is the rest of the team?"

"Oh…right, they all have *issues* but you'll meet with them tomorrow morning, training ground seven! Yeah, we'll start there our special training!" Naruto nodded, and then waited in silence. Kushina stood silent too, for what looked like half an hour, but probably no more than five minutes, as finally, Naruto raised his right eyebrow.

"Uzumaki-sensei, is there anything you wish to tell me?"

"Oh…no, it's just…" she had been lost in thoughts, looking at how her son had become in the years…she never did hold him as a mother when he was but an infant. She never saw him walk his first steps, she never saw him eat his first solid meal, hear him speak his first word, she lost a lot of first things with her son…but she wouldn't lose him to Kumo. She wouldn't lose him to a snake bitch, she wouldn't lose him to a cat bitch, and she wouldn't lose him to anyone…never again.

"Then may I leave? Anko-Oneechan is waiting for me for dinner now, I suspect…she might be angry I skipped lunch, waiting." Kushina clenched her fists, but then shook her head, no, everything was fine, and Minato had told her everything. The principal reason she was late was because she had to make sure her hands didn't hurt too much. Minato had told her about what happened with the chakra seals, he had told her what had happened with Jiraiya, the toad-sage that had dared *accuse* her of not loving her son enough, but she hadn't slipped, the sannin still thought it was Minato who had called favors on the Anbus around the border to intercept any Kumo letters. No, it was her. She had asked the favors, to make sure no Kumo bastard would ever get his grasp on his son, and he, the damn pervert, had managed to sneak a letter through! She had been livid with rage when she had known that. There, in the kitchen, she would have wanted to grab a kitchen knife and stab the sannin were he was. Why could nobody understand that she was just protecting her son from the evil world? Why?

"Yes," she forced herself to smile, "you can go Naruto-kun," as he left, Kushina knew, she had asked Minato to, after all, the red-haired Uzumaki knew that Naruto would go home to an empty apartment, with nothing more than a small slip of paper as a note, she knew, she had double checked before coming here, to make sure that snake whore left without a fuss, she had to make damn sure the note was appropriate, that nothing remained, and, expect powered instant ramen in a cupboard, nothing truly remained, and with that, she was sure that Naruto, her Naruto, would cry and come within her arms, she was his mother, he'd come and cry in her arms, and he'd hug him and tell him that everything would be fine, and that he'd always be loved by her, and she'd never, ever, leave him alone.

Naruto reached home, sure, he was angry that he'd ended up with his *mother*, but still he didn't know who the other two were, and thus maybe, maybe, they might turn out to be pleasant.

As he entered the apartment, he stared in surprise at how empty, empty, it was.

"Anko-Oneechan?" There was just his bed, no snakes, the storeroom was empty. No Couch-san. No Anko's bed, or *Anko-goodness*, no cheers, no noise, no cooking, nothing. There was just the small table and a note on it.

Naruto's right hand grabbed the note, hoping there was a good enough explanation for it, hoping it would explain that maybe, they had simply changed address and that he simply had to move elsewhere.

Five months of rent are nearly over. The guy wants us both out, so you can go back to your old apartment: it's still there. It's been nice sharing an apartment with you. Don't bother looking for me, I'm well-hidden. Thanks again, see ya.

Mitarashi Anko.

He fell on his knees.

He actually fell on his knees, strength being sapped away by something in the air, tears falling down his eyes as he clutched his chest. No, the message was a lie.

It had to be a lie.

He read it again, maybe he had misinterpreted something?

Maybe she was teasing him.

But then…why? Why accept being called Oneechan, why call him Aniki, why joke with him, why smile to him, why accept him, why, why, why? Why? WHY?

What did he do wrong? Was it the fox? Was it his eyes? Was it his face? Was it the snakes? No she loved the snakes, was it him being tortured? He had said he was sorry, was it him saying he was sorry? No, he could change, she just had to give him a chance, she could just talk to him and he'd change, no, why not look for her? Did she hate him? He shouldn't have killed Mizuki? He shouldn't have shown how a monster he was to Iruka and Katsumi? It was his fault, his fault, only his fault.

"Boss! BOSS!" Kuro's yell brought him back to reality, a reality where blood was gushing out of his clenched fists and bitten lips, a reality where there was no happy smiling Anko in the apartment, where there was no Anko at all around him.

"She's…she's gone…I was…just…misunderstanding…I…I thought…" just how much of a delusional could he be, it was obvious that she had never felt anything like friendship, or love, in his regards, she had simply taken her worth in money back, and then had left him, left him without a second thought.

"Boss…" Kuro slowly hissed near Naruto's ear, "you're being watched…there's snake pheromones in the ramen box," the hiss was little more than a whisper in the wind.

Naruto slowly stood up, and looked around the room once more. The only difference was the Instant powdered ramen that stood lonely on a shelf, still closed and sealed.

He slowly opened it, putting some water to boil in *his* only kettle, his right hand clenching tightly while he poured the powdered, and the frozen noodles, inside.

Without a word, he got to the side of the room, in the corner, to cry alone, and there, he slowly unwrapped the small slip of paper that had been put inside the box.

H. forced A. leave. Secret or death A. Sorry.

This…this he could understand. He was no longer crying…tears were drying up, as he carefully re-read the message, as Kuro did too, before the black snake ate the only message that showed some glint of truth in all the matter.

The Hokage had forced Anko to leave, she had to be secret on it or she would have died. She was sorry for that.

The Hokage wanted to play at his back, placing him in the same team as Kushina, bringing him back to his old apartment? Fine…two could play the game of backstabbing.

As he stood up, the ramen ready, he threw it in the garbage bin, exiting the apartment and dashing towards the person he had met and that could help him…

*flashback-Two days in the hospital*

"You're looking for Medic-nin medicine books? Meh, look around in silence, if you find anything read it." The old hag didn't care about the bandaged boy to actually become a medic-nin or not, he was the demon of the fox, why care for his education? The Konoha's library had a lot of books, and it was also on a nice flat level, which Naruto, still slightly limping from the wounds on his back, that were healing, and that of his hand, could reach after having just so silently *escaped* the hospital. Anko-chan would have his head, he was sure of it, but still, he had to become stronger, so she wouldn't cry for him being wounded. As he slowly started to look at the books, his eyes actually lost in the enormous amount of titles, a boy with the leaf symbol came behind him, with a small smile, and a pair of round brown glasses.

"Can I help you, kid?" Naruto turned around, actually nodding at the young man.

"I was looking for…medicine books, for medic-nins, sir."

"My, what a polite little thing you are," as the young man said that, he added, "your dream is to become a medic, huh?"

"Well…my dream is to become the Raikage…but if I don't get strong, Anko-chan is going to keep crying when I get wounded," Naruto replied, to the young man who nodded, before grabbing a medic book, the easiest one he could find that wasn't overall for kids. If the boy was serious, it was good enough to start, if he wasn't, he'd stop.

"Oh, is Anko-chan your girlfriend?" he teased the boy, before connecting the dots on him saying that he wanted to be the *Raikage* and not the Hokage.

"No…she's my Oneechan." Naruto replied, slightly blushing as he whispered that.

"Oh well, wait…are you perhaps speaking of Mitarashi Anko?" as he queried that, the young blond spike-haired boy nodded.

"Yes, she does this cool trick with snakes…wish I could do it too." At that point…Kabuto was sold and bought. Orochimaru-sama was truly going to be pleased…

*flashback end*

He knocked at Kabuto's door, in a corner of Konoha's middle ground for houses, perfectly average, perfectly normal, nothing worth seeing or worrying about.

Kabuto opened the door, perplexed at seeing his young *pupil*, who he had taught some basics, but nothing more, look at him with a sort of hardened glare. It was kind of funny how he had just finished speaking with someone's whose glare was far worse than his, yet looked similar enough.

"Naruto-kun? What can I do for you?"

"Can we speak somewhere…private?" Naruto replied, in a silent wheeze, and, as Kabuto smiled, albeit narrowing his eyes, did the boy catch up on something? Maybe Anko actually told him something about Orochimaru's techniques, and he connected the two things…that the case, it would be a pity, but he'd have to kill the boy. No matter the case, a *private* place was needed.

"Follow me, you look like you saw the Shinigami," As Kabuto brought him down, into his house's cellar, that, by the way, had silencing seals on the door, and tables when he needed to…*operate* certain things, the boy nodded to the man…before whispering, in a hushed tone…

"I want help in killing a Kage."

Yes…Orochimaru-sama was going to be very, very, very, very, pleased.

*Meanwhile, In Kumo*

"Yugito-oneechan!" Naruto was once more there, on the bridge. On that damn frigging bridge with that damn red-haired whore. She couldn't survive seeing this shit of a nightmare again, she couldn't.

This time, however, Naruto hugged her, maybe it wasn't a nightmare. He hugged her, and no chains came this time, nope, no chains to take her little brother away. None at all.

No, an enormous looking snake emerged from the ground, chomping the boy in half, and as he bled to death he still smiled at her, closing his eyes while whispering, as always, as he always did…

"I'm sorry…"

Yugito opened her eyes, she damn hated sleep. She would have gone without forever, but all she could do was sleep, nothing more. She had a team now, three idiots of recently made Genins. For going to Konoha, only two bodyguards could be selected, the rest had to be Jounin-senseis. So, with B and Darui as the Raikage's bodyguard, she and C had to take a team. C was lucky, another sensei actually retired, and he took over his team, of brats who already had a year of experience as D-mission levels, and some C-missions levels.

What she got was three recently trained rookies, who could barely, and by barely it meant really barely, doing anything more than catching the Land of Lighting's Daimyo's dog.

She kind of thought if every Daimyo had some sort of animal that always escaped the grasps of the Daimyo's wife and had to be captured back every single time. Even Princess Yukie had similar missions, as she had taken a pet *chinchilla*… Yugito shivered at the thought of having to go knee deep in the snow, because the spring generator wasn't always used, to find a white furred damn thing no bigger than a foot. She swore she'd crush the thing, next time she'd see it.

"So, Raikage…we captured the beast once more," she had fallen asleep in the Raikage's office? She had fallen asleep halfway through, Matabi pointed out that without her there to catch her, and bring her all the way to the office by herself she would have looked silly.

Really Cat…you should stop going without sleep.

It's always the damn dream…Matabi, it's always the damn dream…

I know it's hard Cat, but it's just a year more.

And then it's going to be three more.

Come on…he's not going anywhere. We'll cuddle him to death when we see him next time.

Then we'll slap him to death.

Then cuddle him.

But more slapping.

"Yugito Nii is desired in the Raikage's office!" A yelled, slamming his fist down on the desk, which brought the blond Nibi Jinchuuriki back to reality.

"Yes, Raikage-sama?"

"You are to go to Takigakure, the village hidden by a waterfall, and free it from the grasps of a group of bandits, passing by Otogakure, who has granted passage…got it?"

"…it will take a month or more of travel!" Yugito screeched, "And they're not ready for a B-level mission yet! It's at least that level, right?"

"Actually it's just C-level, by the time you arrive, they'll probably have already left the villages premises…doubt they'd do much in a month. You also have to bring them relief packages, which is the main bulk of the problem. Bring them supplies, guard them from bandits along the road, and fight the bandits in the village if there are any, got it?" Yugito nodded, as she left, followed by her three Genins…who were all too vocal in how cool it was going to be.

To her…it would be a nightmare. Maybe, however, she might go and come back, and be fast enough to grab Naruto's new letter, which he'd certainly write to her, once Jiraiya-san would come back from the land of fire…that she hoped.

Author's notes

GAH. Didn't know where to stop the character again, I'd have kept writing, but then I'm sure you'd have gone all: "Wtf, 13K words already and still going? Is he a machine, a monster, or a man-made monster machine!"

That said, *let the drums sing*, the team's been done!

Who thought I'd do that, huh? (Well, except Sai, but Sai is actually *always* chosen if there's a need to *fill* a hole in a team).

Obviously Kurama *isn't* as per canon, in the sense that she's not all that physically weak, and she hasn't been forced to *die* per third Hokage's orders, as the fourth and Kushina solved the problem with seals, (obviously, damn bastard).

Q&A Time:

Tamult: well…why make him lose an apartment after a couple of days…when I can force him out after months? Did you guess correctly on who died?

Purpledemon43: Will do! ( I hope)

Rei: aye aye, if he had been, I'd have to write *attempted murder* scenes at every training exercise…

Batros940: He could have tried that, but Naruto would have refused. Naruto hates him and the *woman with red hair* he can't escape too, as it would force even Kumo (as they are in an alliance with Konoha) to track him down. And Sasuke got community service as a garbage collector! It's more than nothing…it's something!

SeigZeon: Well, now there's Kuro, who can even talk! …yeah, not the same, Shiro was fluffy, scaly and cute. Not a black python-like thing.

Ezcap1st: it was Kakashi, who bought the new apartment, to tell Kushina where the boy lived, as they both got to his apartment together.

Argentorum: You actually, kind sir, grabbed the character I thought nobody, at all, would realize I had planned to place in the team. (I gave a sort of foreshadowing when I spoke in the first chapter about the three Kumo shinobi graduates in Naruto's class, one of them being an expert in Genjutsu) if it turns out a love interest or not, we'll see.

Dragonskyt: I throw waterballons only if I want to get hit by elderly ladies. My aim is suicidal, meaning they fall back on my face. XD and Kiba isn't difficult to portray…he's just a sort of wolf mentality.

Narutoisdabomb: I know, but I preferred Samui there, so that I can use Mabui *elsewhere*.

Maleivius: are you using a spyglass? The storm is coming…and it's worse than saying *Winter Is Coming*.

IncludeyourBanana: I am, in no way, a man-made monster machine. No sir. Error 32, refuting option.

Mzr90: No, it's not Naruhina, and it probably won't no matter if half of Fanfiction decides to plead it to become one.

Angeldoctor: The Jinchuurikis are actually treated as Tools of war. Which means that Kumo, (with Minato's shrewd and bastardly way of *putting things*) has actually *leased* Naruto to Konoha for five years, and then the boy could either go back home, or stay in Konoha with *his family*. Instead of outright telling him that, Minato has simply pointed out how he was being used by Kumo, and how, in five years, he might be able to go back home…if he doesn't change his mind (fat chance). So, for those five years he's Konoha's responsibility, unless he becomes a Nuke-nin, which means it's Konoha's and Kumo's responsibility to catch him.

General answers:

"The team you chose sucks" = Live with It.

"What is the *Kuro* …" = suppose it's obvious, but it's just having Kuro (the snake) doing the same thing as normally a couple more snakes would do in the normal technique.

…and yeah, the Uzumaki family seems to be more psycho by the second. I, as the writer, admit that too. It wasn't in my intention, I swear, but after the initial push they just…just *became* that. …Two psychos and one blissfully ignorant Katsumi.

…I'm a monster…

And by the way…I'm imagining your faces at the end of the chapter, when you read just *who* is giving a back-spine to the boy.

…

*sorry, can't, stop, chuckling*.

Read, Enjoy (I hope), Review (constructively, nicely, or in any way that you feel comfortable with that isn't outright flame), and wait for another update.

By the way…I don't know what's gotten into me…I'm writing too long chapters.

…

Meh.