It's been quite a while! Nearly a fricken year. As you can guess, my life's been very busy, but fear not; unless I manage to get myself killed, I'm going to finish this story. The ending is way too awesome for me not to finish it.

It pains me to say it, but this chapter isn't action packed like I wished it was. That's part of the reason it took so long for me to finish it. Every time I motivated myself to sit down and start writing I got bored and went to do something else. But, filler-ish as it may be, this chapter is necessary. But it's done! Finally!

Enough for now. Bear through this chapter and read my notes at the end. You can do it. The plot which made me start this story in the first place almost upon us!

Special thanks goes to Kyuubi123 for beta(ing) this chapter!

Sinister Chakra

Book 1: The Beginning

Chapter 11: Preparations


Hyuga Compound, Months Later

It was raining. Hinata looked up to the sky with worry written on her face. It rarely rained in Konoha…but she hated it when it happened. She glanced around, wanting to go inside, but before that, she needed to know where she was. She walked along the grass until she reached an edge. Looking over, she immediately recognized that she was on top of the Hokage monument…why would she be here during a rainstorm?

Lightning flashed across the sky, followed quickly by the roaring boom of thunder. Hinata fell to the ground in surprise, now worried for her own safety. What was she doing out here?

Suddenly, she heard a noise coming from the side, and she turned to look at the edge of the monument cliff, squinting her eyes through the rain. It was hard to identify it at first, but she began to recognize a person walking toward her. It wasn't until that person was in close proximity that she recognized who it was – Naruto!

She stood up and was about to run up to him when something stopped her in her tracks. Naruto's eyes…they were…

Her eyes widened as suddenly she began to remember. No…it couldn't be…this was the dream again…the vision…Naruto was going to leave her! She had to stop him!

"Hm, so you found out that it was me who killed her," Naruto stated, his face not showing any emotion. "I thought you would…no matter, you can't stop me now."

"Naruto, please!" she shouted out to him over the rainfall. "You can't leave the village!"

Naruto chuckled darkly. "Don't play stupid. I'm leaving Konoha for good, and when I return, it'll be to burn this place to the ground, in the blackest of flames!"

"I can't stay here," Naruto continued, looking down at the village to the side. "Especially after killing her. I…I have no other choice. I'm finally leaving this sickening place. And I'm leaving you too."

Hinata's eyes widened again in horror.

"Naruto-kun…" she cried out, "You promised me! You promised me that you would never leave me!"

Naruto shook his head, his face still showing no emotion. "I can't stay here Hinata. I already told you that. I have to leave. Haku was right…without a purpose, living life is meaningless. But I have a purpose now. He helped me find it."

Hinata stared down at her own hands, her world crumbling before her. Nothing she said worked! She could never convince him!

"Take me with you," she spoke out to him, looking up into his crimson eyes. "I'll leave everything behind for you, Naruto! I'll leave Konoha to be with you!

For the first time since the conversation began, Naruto's mask of ice suddenly cracked, his face showing shock for a split moment.

"You…you would leave all of Konoha behind…for me? You'll leave everything behind?"

Hinata nodded, smiling at him while the tears fell. "Of course, Naruto! You're my best friend, the greatest friend I could ever have! You've helped me more than I can imagine…I'll do anything to stay with you!"

Naruto's emotionless mask completely shattered, and he looked down at himself, now staring at his hands. His head kept shaking back and forth, and his lips moved silently…almost as if he was talking to someone.

Hinata remembered this moment…she almost convinced Naruto to let her come with him, but then it seemed as if he was having a conversation with someone…someone who convinced him that he should leave her.

Not waiting for that moment to happen, Hinata ran forward and hugged Naruto, enwrapping her arms around him.

"Please, Naruto-kun," she shouted, tears falling from her eyes. "You promised! I don't care where you're going, and I don't care what you're doing!"

Naruto stared down at Hinata, a tear forming in his eyes. "Hinata-chan…I…"

"You mean too much to me!" she continued. "Don't leave me!"

Naruto remained silent for a moment, not moving, not even hugging Hinata back, while she cried into his chest. Hinata looked up into his cold eyes, and to her surprise, his Sharingan was gone. Instead, she was staring into a pair of his natural blue ones. He was crying…

"I'm sorry, Hinata-chan," he finally said. "You mean too much to me too…that's why you can't come with me."

Hinata's heart shattered along with the rest of her world, all over again. She felt as if her own heart had actually been ripped from her chest. Breathing was nearly impossible; the pressure was too much. This…couldn't be happening. She couldn't lose him. She…

Suddenly, Naruto was gone, and she stumbled forward having nothing to hold on to.

"Close your eyes Hinata." The voice came from behind her. "And when you wake up, I'll be gone."

She continued crying, closing her eyes like he told her, slowly. She didn't want to close her eyes; she wanted to stay awake and run away with him! But…she didn't have a choice…

"I'll…I'll come back for you. That's my new promise."

"How can I trust you?" she whispered back. "You broke your promise."

Silence. Hinata could feel his breath on her neck.

"You…can't. Be strong, Hinata."

She continued squinting her overflowing eyes shut, holding her breath, trying to hold back in her sobs. Trying to be strong, like he said.

And suddenly…darkness.

Hinata sat up in her bed, covered in sweat and tears. After a couple moments of heavy breathing, she lowered her head, grabbing onto her fox doll beside her, letting out a few silent tears. This was the third time she'd had this dream…and no matter what she did, she could never convince Naruto to stay, or take her with him. But why? Why did he want to leave in the first place? Who did he kill? What did Konoha do to him? Who gave him a purpose? And why did he have the Sharingan?

She fell back down to her pillow, staring up at the ceiling. There were so many questions without answers. She was so afraid that Naruto would leave her…she knew that she was far too attached to him, and that it was unhealthy, but she had to be! She had to make sure that her vision never came true. She had to make sure that Naruto wouldn't leave her behind!

But then again…Naruto didn't have a Sharingan! He wasn't an Uchiha…he would never get one! Even though the Naruto in her vision looked to be around the same age as he was now, as long as her Naruto never got Sharingan, then the vision couldn't come true, right?

Hinata closed her eyes and sighed, trying to relax, but found that she couldn't. She looked at the clock next to her bed, and was annoyed to find out that it was 5:30 in the morning. Unable to sleep, she decided to get up and get an early start on the day. She would probably spend some time outside in the garden, and enjoy the early sun before she went to the Academy.


Ame

With all the rain falling heavily from the sky, Yahiko was forced to squint as he looked up into the stormy clouds. He was on top of the Ame tower, standing outside the opening at the top, the highest point in all of Ame, giving him the view of the entire village below him. When he looked down, his ripple patterned eyes caught the smiles of children, playing together in a park despite the rain, the blush of lovers, holding hands in the street, the sweat of ninja, training together outside of the city. Ame was a beautiful village, and the people here were happy, and he would do whatever it took to keep it that way. Akatsuki was the power that kept his villagers safe, but right now, Akatsuki was vulnerable.

Changes were to be made.

Ame still needed more money, and he would open up the village and allow it to become a trading capitol of the ninja world. After all, the industries of Ame were second to none, and villages already were wishing to buy from him. But ever since the rule of Hanzo, Ame has been an off limits zone, as to avoid any spies from other villages coming in. Especially now that he had nine rogue wanted ninjas working for him…he couldn't afford for the villages to discover that just yet.

And so he would seclude Akatsuki. Akatsuki would be like another small city area inside of Ame, surrounded by walls and impossible to penetrate. That way, he could allow the rest of Ame to become a trading capitol, earning money for Akatsuki. This change would be drastic…but he had to ensure the safety of his organization. He had already gone to the lengths of searching through the minds of everyone who tested before him to join Akatsuki, and he had already had to kill off two ninja who were spies.

But that didn't mean that Akatsuki was still safe. Having his nine captains, along with a regular ninja force, already made Ame more powerful than any individual village…but should Ame attack now, the villages would ally together and overcome Akatsuki…

Well, technically speaking. Of course he knew of jutsu that could completely decimate an entire village, but there can be no leader if he has no followers. Killing everyone wasn't an option. The culture of the ninja world had to be maintained to a certain degree, so he needed to take out others with minimal casualties.

And that time is soon to come. Today would mark the graduation day for Akatsuki's Lieutenants, as the regular Akatsuki had already graduated and were assigned to certain squads. He would assemble his Captains later today to discuss his new plans and begin building this Akatsuki domain.


"A separate district, huh," Zetsu stated with a serious look on his face, or half of it. "I can see how that might bring more money into Ame, but how would we actually go about doing it? And how would the citizens feel?"

"It doesn't matter how they feel," Kakuzu input. "The less Akatsuki has to do with citizens the better. We are an elite ninja force, and we'll need to have the money to support our own army."

"I don't like it," Deidara put in, shifting in his seat. "Right now, no outsiders are allowed to even come near Ame, and it's working out well. If we suddenly open up Ame for commerce we'll have enemy ninja inside our own village with a much better chance of infiltration."

Sasori snorted, his voice deep from within his Hiruko puppet. "I don't think the other villages would consider our "general alliance" if we continued to keep our doors shut. They don't want us to continue producing as much as we do unless they get some of the benefits. Part of being a Great Village is playing by their rules, which means we'll need to trade, and we'll have to participate in silly events like the Chunin Exams. Ame is already the largest industrial capital in all the nations, and that's most likely the only reason we were even allowed to become a great nation in the first place."

"But what about our true goals?" Deidara spat back. "Why are we worrying so much about what the other nations think of us? And if enemy spies come into contact with Ame civilians, there is a chance that they'll get someone to tell them about our identities…and if the other villages find out that Akatsuki has nine S-ranked villains as Captains the 4th Great Shinobi War could break out for all we know! The less Ame has to do with the rest of the nations until our time comes the better."

"Deidara's right, for the most part," Raizo commented, causing everyone's attention to go to him. "If other nations discover our identities, the Captains, they will have an incentive to ally together to take us down, so the less they know about us the better. However, while right now we are a great nation and we are receiving many missions, we don't know long this will take in order for us to have enough money to pay for war. If we open Ame for trading, we may put ourselves at risk, but it we'll definitely amass enough money quicker than if we simply relied on missions and bounties. Not only that, but it'll be easier to fortify a smaller Akatsuki district rather than all of Ame."

"Enough."

All talking stopped as everyone turned their attention to the Leader. "You may not like it, but this is something that has to be done, and something that will be done. Starting today, Akatsuki will be isolated, and we'll soon begin preparations in order to get this accomplished. Kakuzu, you'll be in charge of this. But until then…I believe you have some students who will be graduating today, so leave now and prepare for your final classes.

"Kimimaro, stay behind."

With that, all the Captains disappeared from of the room, aside from Konan and Raizo. Raizo merely stayed behind because he didn't bother to shunshin. Instead, he simply stood up and walked to the door, earning him a nearly inaudible giggle from Konan, who was starting to smile more now that the other Captains were gone.

"I heard that," he muttered quietly before shutting the door behind him. Konan stuck her tongue out at him.

"So what's up?" Kimimaro asked in a relaxed manner, leaning back in his seat with his hands behind his head. He didn't like to talk much during important meetings such as the one he had just been in, but he had been one of the first members of Akatsuki and had known Yahiko for a while so he was pretty relaxed around him unlike anyone else. After all, Yahiko and Konan were like family to him, having raised him when he was left for nothing.

"Two things," Yahiko said, leaning back himself and suppressing a smile when Konan walked over to him and began massaging his shoulders. "The first one is pretty simple, and you'll like it. Because you're not a teacher, and because Kakuzu is going to be in charge of the construction of this Akatsuki District, you're going to be in charge of bounties for a while."

Kimimaro sprung out of his seat and pumped his fist in the air. "Hell yes!" he shouted, grinning like crazy. Because all of the Captains were busy with classes, Yahiko hadn't been giving out any serious missions, and Kimimaro had been filling his time either with being a training dummy for the other captains or attending their classes for the hell of it. He didn't mind training with them, because it made him much stronger. Because of his unique abilities…none of the Captains ever really needed to hold back that much.

Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku kekkei genkai was truly incredible. Not only did he have control over his own bones, but as he was a Kaguya, his body possessed incredible healing abilities. Healing regeneration powers was his clan's natural kekkei genkai, though it led to their barbaric and careless behavior and eventually their overconfidence and downfall. He could grow new bones, his skin would heal within seconds after using bone jutsu, and he could heal from nearly any injury. In order to kill him he would have to die instantly, or with some strange illness. That, along with the fact that he had a thick layer of bone directly underneath his skin which acted as an inner shield of armor as strong as steel meant that kunai and regular swords couldn't penetrate him, so people like Hidan had little concern for holding back their blows when sparring. Either way, because his bone layer was so thick and it was merely skin on top, he didn't feel any intense pain anyways. And in the rare case that he was injured during practice, he would simply heal from it minutes later.

Quite simply, Kimimaro had the perfect body for taijutsu. It was safe to say that if one were fighting him with taijutsu alone, it would be nearly impossible to beat him, regardless of their talent level. He was also the perfect sparring partner, because whoever was sparring with him barely had to hold back.

But if he were to go on a bounty mission, he wouldn't have to hold back, and he would actually be able to test out how strong he was against people who weren't S-ranked geniuses. He always felt like an inferior ninja because he usually lost in his spars, but that was simply because the other Captains were older and more experienced than he was. But if it was simply some regular A-ranked shinobi…

"But you can't just go and kill him," Yahiko continued, reading Kimimaro's mind, who was now for the most part, slightly disappointed. "But you'll like why. The ninja I want you to find actually has some talent, more so than the average runaway ninja, so I want you to see if you can first convince him to join Akatsuki."

"And if he declines?" Kimimaro asked, a small grin growing on his face.

Yahiko sighed. "Then, you can test out your Bone Pulse jutsu on an A-ranked ninja."

Kimimaro cheered again, causing Konan to giggle silently once more. "Oh, don't get too excited just yet, Kimimaro-chan!" she said with in a knowing matter that caused Kimimaro to remember that Yahiko had two things to tell him.

"Why?" he asked. "What's the second thing you want to tell me?"

Yahiko sighed again and stood up, holding Konan's hand and walking over to the balcony-door of the room, where he could see part of the city around him. "Ame's a Great Nation now," he simply started, warming Kimimaro up to what he was going to say. "And that's certainly something that we've wanted. These other Captains may not understand as well as Konan and you, but Ame hasn't always been a thriving city, and it's always been a war zone for other countries, never able to stabilize itself economically, especially under Hanzo. But now that we're a great village, we don't have to go to war unless we choose! And I'm the first official Amekage now, who decides these things!

"But…as we discussed today, being a great village means we have to play by majority rules. Trading with the other villages is one example. The Chunin Exams is another good one."

Kimimaro stared at Yahiko blankly, not knowing where the Amekage was going with this.

"We're going to have to compete in these upcoming Chunin Exams," Yahiko finally said, turning around to face Kimimaro. "Ame has competed in the past, but once I had taken over, I decided to make sure that none of our ninja compete to hold our secrecy…now that's not an option. Orochimaru's opted to send in a team to represent Otogakure, which is still technically its own minor nation. But the other villages are going to want to see whether or not Ame truly deserves to be its own great nation. That…and for other reasons that you don't need to know just yet…you're going to compete in these upcoming Chunin Exams."

Yahiko waited in silence for several seconds before Kimimaro gave his initial reaction.

"What?" he nearly shouted. "No! That's ridiculous! Why would I need to compete in the fricken Chunin exams?"

Yahiko sighed for what felt like the millionth time. "I need to get into the finals. As Amekage, I'm not allowed to attend unless a ninja from Ame makes it to the finals. You're the right age…and more importantly nobody knows who you are. So you need to go in order to insure this."

Kimimaro wasn't convinced. "That's stupid," he responded. "You don't need me to go…that's just overkill! Send in…Utakata, or Guren…or Sasori's apprentice! All of them are well above Chunin level, so they should be able to make it to the finals without a problem! I don't have two months to waste playing patty-cake with some wet-behind-the-ears genin!"

Yahiko was starting to become annoyed. As the Amekage and Leader of Akatsuki, he wasn't used to having to convince someone to do what he wanted. Not verbally, at least. "I'm sending you for a reason, Kimimaro. There are several wild cards going into these exams. Orochimaru, for one reason, is going to be sending in three powerful ninja, and Sasori's apprentice just happens to be one of them!"

At this, Kimimaro's eyes widened in surprise. "But…why would he send someone like Masahiro to the Chunin Exams? What's he trying to prove? Can he even do that?"

"He's not trying to prove anything," Yahiko explained. "Like me, he's just ensuring that he has at least one person who makes it into the finals."

Kimimaro still wasn't happy. "But…if Masahiro's going, then that just means that I'll have to face him in the finals! He's a Lieutenant! And I hear he's the best! I don't know if I'll be able to beat him without using my…newer abilities."

"That may be," Yahiko stated, "and at first I wasn't going to allow Orochimaru to let Masahiro go, but he has a…good reason. Something strange is going on with Sunagakure, but you don't need to know about that just yet."

Kimimaro looked defeated. It didn't look like he would be able to convince Yahiko to choose someone else. Masahiro, who was the same age as himself, Kimimaro, would have been the next best choice, but apparently Orochimaru was thinking the same thing as Yahiko was.

"So, let me get this straight," Kimimaro said, using one final argument he could think of. "Something strange is going on with Sunagakure, so you want to make sure that you're there during to finals to monitor everything. But what about Orochimaru? Isn't he enough for that?"

This time, Yahiko didn't sigh, but instead his faced turned into a dark scowl. "Orochimaru can't be trusted. And what's worse is that the bastard knows more about fuinjutsu than I do and I couldn't read his mind. For all I know, he could be planning something with the Kazekage. Unlikely as that may be, I need to be there to make sure nothing goes down. Orochimaru has always had a vendetta against Konoha…and maybe it's just coincidence, but these Chunin Exams are being held there and he's shown unusual interest in attendance. I can't have him doing something stupid there that might allow people to know his affiliation with Ame, and cause Ame to be demoted from "Great Nation" status, or even worse, start a war."

"And in order to make sure I'm there, I need you to be there. The reason he might be sending Masahiro is because Masahiro is the strongest Lieutenant, and he would be able to personally make sure that none of the people I sent made it to the finals. But Orochimaru wouldn't expect me to send you."

Kimimaro slouched, a defeated look on his face.

"Don't worry," Yahiko said, his face lightening a little. "Even without Masahiro, from what I hear your competition won't be all that disappointing. And I'll let you pick out your team, as well as your "sensei". But this won't be for a long while, so you don't even have to worry about it now. Right now I want you to contact Zetsu and see if you can get him to find this rogue ninja for you."

"Hn." Kimimaro said, before disappearing from sight with nothing but a shimmer of wind.


Ame – Evening - Restaurant

Utakata nodded his head and replied "Arigato" for what felt like the millionth time that night as a random person walked by his table. He was wearing his official Akatsuki Lieutenant robes, proudly showing that he was one of the nine that graduated and became official Akatsuki Lieutenants earlier that day. There had been a large ceremony in front of the entire village, and Yahiko had given them the rest of the day off to celebrate. Utakata had chosen to spend the day with his Captain friend Kimimaro, who had actually sat through most of the school with him.

"How do you get used to all of this stardom?" Utakata asked his white haired smiling friend next to him, even though Kimimaro seemed busy winking at some nearby pack of girls. "I mean, I wasn't exactly loved back in Kiri so all of this is still new to me."

Kimimaro seemed unworried. "Eh, you get used to it with time," he replied, turning to Utakata. "Or…actually you probably won't."

Utakata gave him a curious glance.

"Well," Kimimaro continued, "Yahiko is planning on separating an Akatsuki district from the rest of the already security tight Ame to allow for trading and such. So that means you and I won't be allowed to roam the city anymore…unless we do in incognito. And even then Yahiko told me that we'd only be allowed the weekends off."

Utakata's eyes widened a little at the news. "A completely separate district? That sounds insane! Why would the Amekage do that?"

Kimimaro shrugged, not really wanting to have to go through a similar debate he had gone through earlier that same day with the rest of the Captains. "Akatsuki needs to be shrouded in secrecy – if any of the other villages find out that we are harboring S-ranked criminals they are bound to ally together to attack us, ruining our true goal. Now that we are a great village, we want to be able to make a lot more money by selling what we manufacture, so enemy ninja will constantly be around us."

Before Utakata could start firing out the many questions that he had about this radical change, ringing bells could be heard over the noisy chatter of the restaurant, signaling someone had entered. Kimimaro raised his hand and waved the person over to their circular table, pushing out a chair for her as well.

Utakata resisted the urge to smack his forehead when he saw a familiar blue-haired pony-tailed girl walking over to them. He had been hoping to relax this evening with his friend, but relaxation was impossible when this girl was involved. Guren was Kimimaro's Lieutenant, so of course she was nice to him, but to everyone else she acted like a bitch, especially him.

"Hn," she said, noticeably scooting the chair away from Utakata before she sat down in it. "Kimimaro-sama, what is it that you've called me here for?" she asked, sitting up straight and completely ignoring Utakata.

Kimimaro smiled warmly at her despite the fact that he was her Captain, and scouted a menu in her direction. "Come on, why don't you order something to eat first?" he nicely asked. "I'll treat you. I just wanted to spend some time with you two, that's all!"

Guren pushed the menu away from herself. "I'm not hungry." She continued to sit perfectly straight up in the presence of a Captain, which caused Utakata to audibly sigh. Inevitably, an argument broke out between the two. Even though they had spent the past few weeks in the same classes together, they seemed almost predestined to hate each other.

"She's definitely not hungry," Utakata told Kimimaro, even though his eyes were boring into Guren's. "She has to maintain that womanly figure of hers!" he sarcastically stated, often poking at her physical features, or lack thereof.

"Shut it, bubble-boy!" she spat back, her face slightly reddening. "I just don't wear…womanly clothing, that's all!" She motioned down to her genderless tunic, as if Utakata already didn't know that. "What do little kids who blow bubbles care about womanly figures anyways?"

Kimimaro rolled his eyes. Every day in class with these two there would be an argument involving how un-womanly Guren's figure was and how un-manly Utakata's bubbles were.

"You can't make fun of my ninjutsu if I can kick your ass with them!" he confidently stated.

"What? We've never even had a real fight before where I could use my full attacks! And if we did, I'm sure I could manage to make a crystal that's sharp enough to pop one of your bubbles…of wait, anything is sharp enough to do that!" she replied.

"Oh really?" Utakata coolly stated. "Then why do I have a better sparring record than you? I believe the scoreboard is Utakata: 44 wins, 6 losses; Guren: 39, 11!"

Guren's face further reddened. "That's only because I had to face Masahiro more than you did!"

Utakata wasn't fazed. "It's not like you use anything made of metal anyway! All you use are –"

"Aright guys, I didn't bring you two here so that you could confess your love to each other," Kimimaro intervened with a mischievous smirk on his face. But before either of them could express their mutual hatred further, he waved them off with this hand.

"Anyways, it's interesting that you brought up Masahiro to this conversation, cause he's somewhat related to what I have to tell you guys." Both Guren and Utakata shut their mouths, wondering what they had to do with Sasori's apprentice.

"You two are going to be competing in the upcoming Chunin Exams. I'm going to be your partner. Konan nee-chan is going to be our 'Jonin' sensei."


Suna

Arms crossed, face emotionless, his eyes narrowed down on the scroll as it flew through the air toward him, almost as if in slow motion. However, even as it neared his face, his arms remained calmly crossed across his chest, in their usual position, making no attempt to grab the airborne scroll. However, at the last second, before the scroll was a foot away from his face, sand shot out seemingly from nowhere and interrupted the scrolls path, holding onto it in front of the stoic boy.

"Another earth scroll?"

The Kazekage smirked as his hand reclined from throwing the scroll at his youngest child, Sabaku no Gaara. "Yes, but this one was specially shipped from Iwa as a gift. It's harder, to say the least, and it should take you longer to master it than the last one."

Gaara's arms finally broke their usual position as he held one hand out in the air. Instantly, the sand floating in the air released its grip on the thrown scroll, allowing it to drop onto the outstretched arm. Gaara gave it a quick glance before he tucked it into his tunic, his arms immediately crossing afterwards.

"You are dismissed."

However, instead of Gaara leaving like usual, he stood in the same position, his eyes boring into his father's. After a moment of silence, his father leaned back in his chair, an amused look on his face. "Question, Gaara?"

The red-headed boy nodded. "What are your motives? Why am I learning new jutsu?"

The Kazekage nodded in turn, with his small smirk gone. His son was always brutally to the point. If he wanted to know something, there was no point in hiding it from him. "Very well, I suppose now is a good time to tell you," the Kazekage began, leaning forward again, his elbows resting on his desk. "I wish to prepare you for this upcoming Chunin Exam."

Gaara stared blankly at his father, clearly not satisfied with that answer, though his face showed no change in emotion. "I will kill every single shinobi with my sand. I have no need for other ninjutsu."

The Kazekage chuckled this time. "I don't doubt that you have long since passed the level of a Chunin. But I am only sending one squad into these exams, and it is very important that you make it to the final rounds."

"You doubt my power? Surely at least one of your many assassins was above a genin level."

The Kazekage grimly nodded. "I sent some of the best. But that's beside the point. Normally I wouldn't interfere with your training, but this year's Chunin Exam calls for my intervention. The competition will most definitely be stronger. Ame, as a new nation, is sure to send some of their strongest in order to prove themselves, and Konoha is a wild card. This year, it is likely that many clan heirs will become genin, including a genius from the Uchiha Clan, the last survivor of the legendary Senju Clan, and, perhaps most importantly, a Jinchuuriki, trained by the Uchiha nonetheless."

Gaara's face remained unreadable up until his father mentioned the word 'Jinchuuriki'. "They have…someone like me? A weapon?"

The Kazekage confirmed. "Yes. I don't know if they've trained him to use his Bijuu, but knowing the Uchiha Clan, I'm sure he won't be a pushover. Your sand may be enough, but I think learning some jutsu of your natural element shouldn't hurt."

"What is his name?"

"Naruto Uchiha, though he is really an Uzumaki."

Gaara nodded, a smile nearly growing on his face. "Naruto Uchiha…Very well. I will train with earth…but in the end, it will be my sand that is stained with his blood."

"Obviously," the Kazekage put in before Gaara shunshined out of the room. "I am sending you to these exams for more than simply bragging rights for our Village. I have something special planned with a certain Sanin, and you are a very important part of that plan. However, you don't need to know about it just yet…we still have quite some time before these Exams start. Either way…Orochimaru told me that he's sending his best, including a certain magnetic ninja about your age. I'm sure you remember him?"

Gaara stared at his father with a blank and unreadable face.

"Either way, I'm sure he'll remember you," the Kazekage finished. "And I don't think he'll want to meet up with you for a cup of tea when he finds out you're in the Exams. Orochimaru has complete faith in him, so it means he's only gotten stronger. Watch your back. I can't have you dying before you get to the finals."


Kiri

"Wake up, boy."

The girl slightly pouted, a little put off at being called a boy, something her sensei did to annoy her for reasons unknown. Regardless, she sat up in bed and stretched her arms out, taking a few seconds to let out a large yawn.

"Why'd you wake me up so early?" she asked, suddenly looking very alert when she noticed it was only five in the morning. "Is someone on to us?"

The large, muscular man leaning against the doorway shook his head. "No."

The girl rolled her eyes before lazily falling back down on her bed. She wasn't used to being awake this early, and she definitely hadn't ever been woken at this time unless it was because they had to move, and quick.

Suddenly, the man at the doorway disappeared, the girl suddenly felt the familiar presence of a metal kunai being pressed against her neck.

"Dead."

She rolled her eyes again, not at all alarmed in this deadly situation. "That doesn't count…I'm in bed."

"Killing a ninja who's sleeping is significantly easier than killing one who's awake," the man responded in his low and gravelly voice, leaning over her. "I can't tell you how many times I've killed a ninja that way…I've lost count. And none of them had time to complain about the 'fairness' of it when they didn't have a neck to speak through."

The man finally moved his kunai away from his student's neck and walked away from the bed and toward the door. The girl sighed in relief, closing her eyes and rolling over, thinking that her sensei was leaving. However, not a second later after rolling over, something small but hard smacked her in the face, causing her to sit up in confusion. On her lap was a strange scroll, and she picked it up, looking at it while rubbing the forming bump on her head.

"A scroll I picked up some time back in that last port we visited," the man commented. "You'll be training from it every day from now on, around this time in the morning. Your hyoton techniques are deadly, but few in number. Its time you increased your repertoire of jutsu."

The girl immediately opened the scroll, and was surprised to find various techniques of her style drawn throughout, with detailed pictures and hand-seals. How had he gotten these? And why the sudden need to train harder than they already were?

"Times have changed," the man answered, reading her thoughts. "Ame is growing too powerful too quickly, and I fear that unless we get out the ninja world quickly, we'll be caught in whatever Ame and their Akatsuki plans to do."

The girl nodded. This wasn't news to her. "But what does that have to do with me training harder?" she questioned. "Gato is giving us steady employment, and with the two of us, none of the work is ever too challenging."

The man nodded again. "I fear Hunter-nin aren't the only ones after us now," he began slowly, his face emotionless. "Late last night…I received an interesting visit from a boy your age of the Kaguya Clan."

"But they were wiped out!" the girl interrupted. The man nodded knowingly.

"The sole survivor. And he lives up to his Clan's reputation…it seems that he mastered the art of Bone Pulse jutsu at a young age, and it earned him the title of Captain in Akatsuki, representing Kiri."

The girls eyes immediately shot open. "An Akatsuki Captain visited you last night?" she nearly shouted out, jumping out of her bed. She was very up-to-date with the current ninja world, having memorized the bingo book from front to cover, and she knew just how powerful the Captains were famed to be. No one knew who they were or where they came from, but supposedly they were all S-ranked. Not everyone believed that…but she knew better than to doubt.

"What did he want to say?"

"He said the Amekage personally sent him to find me so that he could recruit me to Akatsuki."

The girl's eyes widened even further. "Did you…accept?"

"No."

She sighed, leaning back down against her pillow, relief washing over her. Her sensei had promised her that as soon as they had earned enough money from Gato, they would run away from the ninja world forever, living a life of peace. She didn't know as well as he did, but the ninja world was corrupt, and he always told her that the sooner they got out of it the better. Joining Akatsuki would simply be more bloodshed, something her peaceful nature hated.

"But that's what I'm worried about," he continued. "You of all people should know about the bingo book ninja who suddenly disappeared without explanation…and almost every time there was an Akatsuki invitation letter found in their hideouts or on their person. People who reject Akatsuki…don't tend to live long."

She nodded, understanding the severity of the issue. She needed to train harder than ever, so that the next time Akatsuki paid them a visit, she would be prepared to fight.

"Get ready, Haku," the man finally said, leaving the room. "We begin in ten minutes."


Konoha

"You summoned me, Danzo-sama?"

The elderly looking man with bandages wrapped around his face turned around to the ninja who had appeared silently behind him in one of the Root's training dojos. The boy before him was quite pale, not unlike many who trained secretly in Roots underground facilities. There was no emotion on his face whatsoever, something which caused Danzo to smugly grin on the inside. The greatest type of ninja was the ninja who would obey you without hesitation, without emotions to stand in his or her way, and Sai was exactly that type of ninja.

But that wasn't the reason he had summoned him. Everyone in Root had the same lack of emotions like Sai, but none of them were the correct age…near the age of Naruto Uchiha.

"Because of your natural skills and talents in ninjutsu," Danzo began, "you were going to be assigned to assassin certain threats to Konoha. But the plans have changed. From now on, you will be personally training with me in preparation of a new assignment."

Sai was silent for a moment before he uttered a single-word response. "Hai."

However, Danzo continued by throwing a scroll in front of Sai. The boy was certainly special, and he was almost excited to see how powerful he would become. He was already the top of his generation in Root, but he would need to be even stronger if one day he was to monitor Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata. Luckily for him, Sai had a certain bloodline limit and history that would help in making him even stronger than he was now.

"This is a scroll from Iwagakure," Danzo continue, before Sai had managed to fully open it. "It holds many jutsu which utilize explosive chakra techniques, as well as a kinjutsu. It was left by the ninja who dropped you off at Konoha, though to this point it has served us no purpose as no Konoha ninja has the bloodline limit that it pertains to."

At this, Sai nearly dropped the scroll in surprise. He had never heard about his actual heritage before, only knowing up until now that he was a simple orphan that Danzo had picked up.

"Then…I'm from Iwagakure?" he asked quietly.

Danzo nodded. "It's why only you will be able to actually use the jutsu in these scrolls, which is why your brother felt confident in leaving such an important Iwa scroll with you."

Sai nearly gasped, though years of training under Root allowed him to maintain his composure. "I have…a real brother?" he asked again, his lack of emotions noticeably fading.

Danzo nodded grimly. "Yes. And an affinity for art seems to have run in the family. Or rather, using art in a deadly way."

Sai didn't necessarily understand what that meant, but he looked down at the scroll nonetheless, scanning through it. The primary purpose of whatever jutsu this was seemed to be to be able to knead your chakra into certain objects, kind of like he already did with his ink, but this seemed to be much more complex.

When he reached the bottom of the scroll he was surprised to find a strange hand-written message that seemed to be directed towards the reader.

-Geijutsu no Bakuhatsu da!


Uchiha Compound

In nothing but a shimmer of wind, ten clones appeared around Naruto, all wearing his identical Uchiha outfit, all with satisfied smiles on their faces. "There!" the real Naruto shouted out, pointed his finger at the on looking Shisui, who was leaning against a nearby tree nonchalantly. "I made ten clones without a single one appearing in a cloud of smoke!"

Shisui nodded with a smile on his face as well, stepping away from the tree. "Great! You really made great progress today Naruto! Are you ready to head back home now? It's getting pretty late."

All of the clones disappeared in clouds of smoke to reveal the real Naruto with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

"No!" he shouted back. "You still haven't explained to me why I've been working on this in the first place! So what if my clones make a cloud of smoke or not? They make one anyway when they disappear, and even if-"

Naruto was interrupted when Shisui promptly pulled out a kunai from his pouch and lodged it into his own chest, leaving Naruto speechless. However, to his surprise, Shisui exploded into a cloud of smoke, leaving Naruto even more confused. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn around. To his greater surprise, he yelped when he saw Shisui standing behind him with a smirk on his face.

"And I thought you were creative!" Shisui laughed at seeing the shock on Naruto's face. "You've pretty much mastered the kawarimi, and yet you've never thought that you could substitute with your own clone?"

Naruto crossed his arms and regained his previous composure, slightly offended. "Well…wait a second, that wasn't a shunshin?"

Shisui resisted the urge to laugh again at the new expression on Naruto's face. "Nope," he responded. "I created a clone behind you without hand-seals, and I used a kawarimi with him. Because he was made in my exact image, it was nearly impossible for you to see us switch places. And because I made sure that he appeared silently without a cloud of smoke…you had no idea that he was there, even though he appeared only a couple of feet behind you! Now do you see how the lack of a smoke cloud can be so effective?"

Naruto didn't respond, and instead he immediately formed a shadow clone sign, getting ready to try the new move out himself.


Konoha – Weeks Later

"Naruto Uchiha."

Naruto, adorned in his usual black Uchiha shirt with the Clan's fan on the back, stood with his hands in his shorts pockets in front of a large desk. Iruka and Mizuki, his two Academy teachers, sat at that desk with piles of papers in front of them in an otherwise empty room.

"This is the final test today to see whether or not you qualify to be assigned to a Genin squad," Iruka stated, shuffling through some files until he came up with Naruto's name. "You've passed the written test, the taijutsu test, and the general skills test! So all you need to do is pass this ninjutsu section, and come tomorrow morning you'll be assigned to a Genin team!"

Mizuki scoffed, leaning back unimpressed. "Worry about that later, Iruka," he smugly stated, looking at Naruto with clear distaste. "It just so happens, Naruto, that this test is going to be on something we've never actually seen you do…the bunshin!"

Both Iruka and Mizuki seemed slightly put off when Naruto's expression didn't change in the slightest. It was well known that every time Naruto tried to create a bunshin, it failed incredibly.

"Well, to be more specific," Iruka stated, "for this test, we would like for you to create at least two other bunshin that look exactly like you, understand? So you can take a second to relax, collect your nerves, and – "

Before Iruka could finish speaking, Naruto held up one hand in a half-seal, and without so much as muttering a word, two clones appeared in front of him in a shimmer of wind, no smoke cloud to accompany their appearance.

Mizuki actually slammed his hands on his desk and stood up with an incredulous look on his face. "W-What?" he shouted out, looking back and forth to see if this had actually happened. Naruto had never managed to make a single clone appear even related to him, but now he had just made two without even a full hand-seal!

As surprised as Iruka was, he couldn't help but smile. Naruto had to be the most interesting student he had ever taught.

"Naruto…you passed!" he said, almost surprised at the way it sounded coming from his mouth. "You can show up to class tomorrow at 8 and receive your official ninja headband and be assigned to a genin team!"

But before Iruka or Mizuki could say anything else, both the clones in front of Naruto disappeared in a small cloud of smoke, along with Naruto himself, leaving the two Chunin confused. Far away at the Uchiha compound, the real Naruto smiled as the memories of his three Kage Bunshin came rushing into his head.

"Hey guess what?" he asked, causing his two best friends and his older brother Shisui to look at him in curiosity at the lunch table, interrupting Sasuke who was bragging about how he had won Rookie of the Year. "I just passed!"


Later that Night

Shisui shuffled anxiously in place, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. The Hokage had summoned a select number of eligible Jonin to this annual meeting; the meeting where each Jonin would be assigned to a Genin squad. Itachi leaned coolly against the wall beside him at the back of the room.

"Why are you worried?" Itachi asked, glancing over at his best and oldest friend with his crimson eyes. Shisui turned to look at him, still a little put off that Itachi had his Sharingan activated. For a while now, Itachi seemed to always have his Sharingan activated. He claimed it built up his endurance, which was true. The average Uchiha could probably keep their eyes activated for a few hours at most, less during battle, but Itachi could almost make it through an entire day now.

"Cause this is gigantic!" Shisui exclaimed in a hushed voice. Other Jonin nearby chatted lightly about rumors and stats they had heard about the potential Genin, and who they would prefer to be with. But Shisui already had a plan long established for his choice of Genin. "If the Hokage suspects something, maybe he won't let us all be on the same squad!"

Itachi shrugged in indifference. He wasn't really worried or anxious at all; he was the head Captain of the Anbu and obviously wasn't here to be assigned a team, Shisui had just asked him to come.

Eventually, the Hokage called for silence and began his speech. He talked about the importance of Genin to the village, and the responsibility that each potential sensei would have over them. Finally, he got to the part that every Jonin was anxiously waiting for.

"Now," the Hokage announced, his voice clearly carrying over all of the room. "It is time to announce the teams, and then which of you will be assigned to test each of them." Almost immediately, Jonin began to raise their hands or shout out which Genin should be on the same team and which Jonin should be assigned sensei, forcing the Hokage to call for silence once more.

"But," he said, slapping his hand on his desk, "before I hear your comments on my choice of Genin teams, I will say the one team that is non-negotiable." Shisui's eyes widened. This was it, the moment he had been waiting for!

"It has been tradition for Konoha that every year, one Genin team remains the same," the Hokage continued. "As I'm sure you know, this team consists of the Rookie of the Year, the academic best, and the Genin who has the lowest scores. This formula is known to produce a balanced Genin team and has shown great results. It was the Shodaime himself who created this team, and since then great ninja have served Konoha through it, including the Sannin."

Murmurs passed through the crowd of Jonin; some of the newer ones hadn't known about this tradition or that the Sannin were a part of it.

"This year," the Hokage finally stated, "the Genin team of tradition will be Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Senju…and Naruto Uchiha."

Sarutobi sighed as instantly an uproar broke out among the Jonin. He had known that this would be the case; he himself had been quite shocked when he saw the stats that Iruka had handed him. He had asked Iruka if this could even be possible and the Academy teacher had explained that most likely the three friends had known of the tradition and exploited it.

"Two Uchiha's on the same team? And a Senju?"

"Two major bloodlines and a Jinchuuriki?"

"That's ridiculous! Who could handle a team like that?"

"Uchiha and Senju have never been on a Genin team together…is that even allowed?"

"Plus the girl's a Hyuga! Are you trying to start a Clan war?"

"Enough!" the Hokage interrupted in a booming voice. "This team is tradition, and it's nonnegotiable! We now have to decide on the Jonin who we think is fit to be the sensei of this team."

The room fell silent. Who could possibly want to be the sensei of such a troubling team?

"I have a recommendation."

The room turned around and gasped when they discovered the source of the voice. Itachi Uchiha, the Captain of the Anbu…why would he even be at this meeting?

"Go on," the Sarutobi said after everyone's attention was on the Uchiha prodigy.

"This year's traditional Genin team is certainly a trivial one," Itachi started, his voice not loud but clear enough to be heard throughout the room. "Normally, an experienced Jonin would be required to take the role as sensei. After all, this is the only team not chosen because of similar or complimenting abilities, and teamwork has always been an issue at first. That's why the renowned "bell" test had been used in the past…while many teams fail this test and don't become a Genin team, those who do prove to be extraordinary. But in this case, that's not the only requirement. Sasuke will surely awaken his bloodline limit, the Sharingan. I believe that it would be beneficial to him to have a sensei with his same bloodline limit in order to teach him well. Also, Naruto is a Jinchuuriki and therefore has an insane amount of potential."

Most of the crowd gasped at this statement. To many of them, Naruto was seen as a monster that held an incontrollable power waiting to be released to destroy them at any moment, not a potential weapon for the village. Many didn't agree with the Uchiha Clan housing such a person.

"But because of his burden, he had been isolated during his early childhood. He would need a sensei who doesn't look at him like a monster, but instead an ally to village. The Uchiha have seen Naruto in this light since we welcomed him into our Clan years ago. And finally, Hinata is a Senju, who is bound to revive her Clan one day. Perhaps if she were to become close teammates with the Uchiha and learn to see them in a better light, we could destroy the same rivalry that plagued the two Clans since their origins."

Murmurs passed through the crowd. Who did Itachi have in mind for this?

"I already know of someone who could fits all of the requirements of such a Jonin, and not only that, has already worked with these three many times in past. I recommend Shisui Uchiha to be their sensei."


The Next Day

Naruto didn't need an alarm clock to jump out of bed this morning. Today he was officially going to become a Genin and be assigned to his Genin team! Well, there was still going to be a test of their abilities after…but he was confident in his two friends and his own talent! Nothing could stop them!

That's right…no more pretending to be an idiot or having to get beaten in training spars! He could go all out all the time! Not only that, but he would be spending so much more time with his older brother and his two best friends! And Hinata would be able to leave the Hyuga and start living in her own compound! This was just all too amazing!

"Wouldn't it be humorous if Sasuke and Hinata were on the same team and you were assigned to a different one?"

Naruto sighed as the familiar pessimistic voice sounded in his head. He had determined this; there was no way that what he was hearing was his own thoughts. No, it was something else.

"You and I already know that that's not true," Naruto replied while he put his Uchiha tunic on. "Shisui came home yesterday with a smile on his face, and even though he didn't tell me anything, he definitely would've told me if things didn't work out!"

Was he crazy? For having a voice in his head…he didn't think he was crazy, but if someone walked in the room and heard him talking to himself, they would probably think of him as crazy.

"You're definitely not normal. You're fated to do great things, I'm sure of it! You'll be a part in changing this pitiful world and destroying the corrupt fools who think they can run it."

Naruto sighed. He had finished preparing and he was just about ready to head over to Sasuke's before they went to the Academy together. "You see its things like that which make me really worry. I thought for a while that maybe I have a split personality or something…and that I hear voices in my head. But that can't just be it…you know way to many things that there's no way I could know myself…you can't be a part of my mind!"

"I never said that I was."

Naruto immediately stopped. Then he was right…the voice was something separate! But what? A bloodline limit?

"No, you fool! I am no kekkei genkai! I am the true heir of the Uchiha! The true heir to the Sage! The one who will-"

"Yo, Naruto!" Shisui poked his head in the room and waved at Naruto to come out of the room. "If you don't hurry up, you're gonna miss your big day!"

Shisui frowned at Naruto who seemed to be deep in thought. He would've expected his younger brother to be a little happier, or livelier to say the least! "You alright there, Naruto?" he asked, causing Naruto to look up at him with a worried face.

"Hey…Shisui," he asked slowly, wondering how to word this to his older brother without completely sounding like a nut case. "Is it normal…or, is it bad…that I have a voice in my head?"

Shisui's eyes widened in shock for the slightest moment, though he tried to play it off as he walked in the room. "Well, everyone has a 'voice' in their heads, baka! It's called our inner thoughts!" He laughed it off, even though Naruto still had a somber look on his face.

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first too," Naruto replied, sitting back on his bed. "It seemed as though the thoughts were my own, too…but for a while now, I've realized that there's just no way! For example, the 'voice' just claimed to be the 'true heir to the Uchiha' or something like that!"

Shisui's eyes widened again, and this time, he didn't make an effort to conceal his surprise. The true heir? That could only mean…it could only be Madara! But how was it possible that Madara could communicate with Naruto? He was supposed to be sealed away, or at least that's what he was told! Who could he go to for this? Only a select few knew about Madara's existence in Naruto, but the Hokage had made it painstakingly clear that it was a forbidden secret.

Itachi would know what to do. Even though he had been a little distant lately, his eyes were incredibly powerful, and they just might be strong enough to peer into Naruto's subconscious and see if there is anything wrong!

"Um, well don't worry about it for now," Shisui reassured, patting Naruto on his head despite his annoyance. "I'll have a talk with Itachi about it later today and we'll see what he thinks about it…but first, you have more important things to be worrying about!"

Naruto nodded, smiling once more as he got about out of his bed and sped around Shisui and out the door. This was it!


Later

"Oh Itachi? He's out in training in the woods where he usually is I think."

Shisui nodded and bowed respectfully to Mikoto as he turned around to leave Itachi's house, his search in vain. "He's been out there a lot recently," she added before he left. "And normally he comes back bruised or burned up when he's out training or with the Anbu, but nowadays he looks completely fine! I wonder what he's doing…?" She turned to look up at Shisui, but the speedy ninja had already left, closing the sliding door behind him.

Shisui sighed as he jumped toward the Uchiha training grounds, thinking about how his best friend had been acting lately. He was certainly becoming more distant, but that was to be expected if he was the Captain of the Anbu and had gruesome missions all the time. Either way, Itachi's behavior didn't really matter. What mattered was Madara was starting to communicate with Naruto, and Itachi had to know about this. He and Itachi had seen what could happen if Madara got control…long ago, before Naruto had even joined their Clan, they had seen Naruto attack three Cloud Jonin with Madara in control of him. It was gruesome, to say the least, and Naruto didn't even remember any of it!

When he finally did find Itachi, he was surprised to find the prodigy sitting crossed-legged in the middle of a clearing, his back straight and his hands on his lap. What the hell could he be doing? Since when did Itachi meditate?

"Yo, Itachi!" he called out, landing quietly next to him, causing the stoic ninja to turn and look up with his crimson eyes. "First of all…why are you out here in the middle of the woods meditating?"

Itachi sighed before standing up and turning to face his friend. He raised a hand to rub his eyes, as if they were tiring him. "I'm training my Sharingan," he responded. "My eyes need to be stronger."

Shisui chuckled at this. "But everyone knows you already have the strongest eyes in the entire Clan! Why would you of all people need to be training them?"

"Because they're not strong enough," Itachi replied with a dark tone in his voice, causing Shisui to frown with concern. "Not for what I've been assigned to do…not for…"

He stopped, realizing that he had already said too much. He shrugged it off and put a hand behind his head, rolling his stiff neck around. "So what's the deal…why did you come looking for me?"

Shisui felt a little bit relieved when Itachi turned back to his regular self again. "It's Naruto!" he said, his own face becoming worried. "I think…I think that Madara is communicating with him through the Fourths seal!"

At this, Itachi's eyes widened with genuine surprise. "What? I thought the seal kept Madara and the Kyuubi dormant inside of him! Does that mean that it weakened?"

Shisui shrugged, but motioned for Itachi to come back to the village with him. "I'm not sure, but before we tell your dad or the Hokage, I thought that you could check Naruto out with your Sharingan…my eyes aren't strong enough to look into his mind, but I know yours are! We need to make sure that the seal is safe before we tell anyone else!"

Itachi nodded, and the two jumped away, heading straight back Konoha. If Madara was someone awake in Naruto's subconscious…then there's a chance he could help…

Itachi had to find out for sure.


The Academy

"Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Senju, and Naruto Uchiha. You three will make up the seventh Genin squad, with Shisui Uchiha as your sensei."

The words still rang fresh in his mind, and by all means, today was probably going to be the happiest day of his life…but…

"How could Shisui possibly forget?" Naruto shouted out, standing on the ceiling, chakra covering his feet. He bounced around the room some more, a bundle of nerves, while Sasuke sat coolly back in his original seat and Hinata stood anxiously by the door.

"Seriously, today is like the biggest day of our lives, and he doesn't even show up?"

The three soon-to-be-teammates sat alone in their Academy homeroom, waiting for their sensei to arrive. About 15 minutes ago, Iruka had told the entire class the genin squads, and the multiple Jonin sensei came to pick up their students to further test them. Well, except their sensei!

"I swear, if Shisui's at home sleeping on the couch again…" Naruto starting saying, dropping down to the floor, cracking his knuckles.

"I'm s-sure Shisui-sensei has a reason for being late," Hinata hesitantly put in, unsure herself. "He'll be here any minute!"

Sasuke merely sighed, laying his head on his desk in boredom. Another five minutes passed until the door actually did open, causing all three of them to look at the intruder in excitement. But, instead of the expected Shisui, it was Itachi who walked into the room, his Sharingan activated.

"I-Itachi?" Sasuke asked, confused as to why his brother had just shown up instead of their sensei. "Where's Shisui? And why is he late?"

Instead of having to answer himself, Shisui walked in behind Itachi, an apologetic smile on his face with his hand behind his head. "Yo, what's up guys? I'm Shisui, and I'm going to be your Jonin sensei!"

He was greeted with three silent and angry stares. "Um," he nervously laughed off, "Sorry for being a little late! I had to go and grab Itachi real quick for something important…Naruto, could you come here for second?"

Confused as he was, Naruto stood up and walked over to his older brother and Itachi, arms crossed, hoping for a good explanation.

"This will be real quick, Naruto." Itachi stated, his voice very serious. "It's very important. I want you to look into my eyes."

Naruto was further confused with why this had anything to do with Shisui being late, but inevitably ended up looking into Itachi's eyes anyways. He was instantly surprised when his own blue eyes connected with the sharp and glaring red ones of Itachi's Sharingan. He wasn't surprised that Itachi's Sharingan was activated, after all, it usually was, but for some reason it felt like his eyes were now drawing him in…or better yet, it felt like his eyes were…peering into…


Naruto's Subconscious

Itachi looked around with a surprised look on his face. He had practiced going into the minds of other people before, but no subconscious in the past had looked anything like…this. The ground was wet, and he was surrounded by towering walls…it was almost as if he was in some sort of gigantic sewer.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a low rumbling coming from one of the massive hallways that was in front of him. Slowly and cautiously, he walked forward, hoping to find what he had come here for. While Shisui expected him to find out whether or not the seal had weakened, Itachi was there for a different purpose. He had questions without answers, and he needed help from a certain someone.

When he reached the end, he turned into the hallway where the rumble had come from, and immediately gasped in shock when he saw what had to be the most massive gates he had ever seen in his life. No…they weren't just gates, it was like a prison. That could only mean…

Suddenly, two massive red eyes opened up behind the bars and peered at Itachi, releasing such a strong and evil chakra that Itachi inadvertently took a step back in fear. This chakra…he had felt it before…it had to be the Kyuubi! His memories immediately took him back to when he had last felt such a foul and evil chakra, the night the Kyuubi attacked his village. He had been a young boy then, but the experience of death and fear was still fresh in his mind. This feeling…the memories of war…made him want to puke. He was a pacifist, after having seen part of a Great Shinobi War and the Kyuubi massacre…he had devoted his life to becoming strong so that he could make sure wars like that would never take place again!

"Lord Kyuubi, forcing your chakra upon him like this doesn't seem like the proper way to greet the first guest we've ever had!"

Itachi's eyes widened when a low and menacing voice sounded from behind him. He slowly turned his head until he finally saw him; there stood Madara, standing in his full military gear and long black hair, glaring down at him with a soul piercing Sharingan and a chakra possibly even more sinister than the Kyuubi's itself.

"I've seen you before," Madara continued, now looking at the nearly shaking Itachi before him. "The night where I took control over Naruto's body all those years ago…yes, I remember it well now. Your eyes must be powerful to peer into this domain. You do the Uchiha name well.

"So tell me then boy, why have you come here?"

Itachi had to take a deep breath to calm his nerves and stop his shaking. He had expected Madara to be behind bars as well, but instead, standing before him now was one of the most powerful ninjas in history, and perhaps the most evil! He was like a living nightmare of ancient stories!

But, he was here for a purpose, and it wasn't just to check and make sure the seal wasn't weakening.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi…I've come here to make a deal with you."


End

A/N: So it's been a while. Life's been busy for me, but right now I'm just really glad I was finally able to push through and finish this chapter. This one was exceptionally hard to write for some reason. There's no action, no comedy or anything…but it had to be written, because it had important things that couldn't be skipped over.

But, Naruto's finally a genin! And my ideas for this story will finally come into fruition! You all knew that Naruto was going to be a genin and what-not since the beginning, but this is where the fun parts come in and I get to use originality more. I'm excited.

Here's the list that I used to write this chapter and you can use to review. It's not really in order.

-4th Kazekage instructs Gaara to begin seriously training with him because of the recent rise of Akatsuki. (done)

-Danzo instructs Sai to begin training under him personally so that later Sai will be able to be on the same level as Naruto. (done)

-Zabuza instructs Haku to begin training harder. (done)

-Discussion with Captains about Akatsuki. They want trading with other villages, but they don't want Akatsuki to be infiltrated. So, they separate Akatsuki from Ame by making a separate district. (done)

-Yahiko tells Kimimaro that he's going to be in the Chunin Exams

-Kimimaro makes a team with Guren and Utakata. Guren will be the sensei.

-Hinata has another dream about Naruto leaving her. (done)

-Naruto tells Shisui about the voice in his head. (done)

-Naruto graduates from the academy

-Itachi enters Naruto's mind.

This chapter was titled Preparations, because as you can hopefully tell, sh*ts about to go down.

Also, I mentioned a new character that is soon going to be introduced…Masahiro. Here's what we know about him from this chapter to recap: He's Sasori's apprentice, strongest Lieutenant, referred to by the Kazekage as a magnetic ninja, has a bad history with Gaara. He'll be very important later on in the story, and he has an awesome background intertwined with Gaara's that I can't wait to share.

Here's the list of people who reviewed the last chapter. As you know by now, I read every review at least twice, once when you first write it and second when I go back to pick faq questions, so know that if you decide to review this chapter, it will be read by me, and if you ask a good question that won't spoil the plot, I'll answer it!


Anyone who's name is below here ROCKS

Starxwind

RavenTwilight***

hhrforeverhhr

cmcwiki

Kyuubi123***

VLS

Inuyonas***

No- I'm not on facebook***

Slayer End***

87Above

Anon

Dragonjek ***

Third Fang

dudeaga

smitty1110

lord Martiya

Sal-91

Swordmagic51***

beast keeper 9

NarutoFanBoy4Life

Leaf Ranger

raw666***

reven228***

kami no ryu***

roboguy45

Deadzepplin***

mattchew ***

Kitsune No Sennin

Kingswriter

Rom Nom Nom***

bakapervert

Riku Uzumaki***

BleachX11***

Jyuubi6

KaOn KaI

Con Ganas

Heiryuu (I laughed at how you ended it )

The Darkest wizard

The real leghendary supersayji *** (too many questions!)

fanficreader71

The Soul of A Warrior (thanks! If I have time…maybe… )

Fury074(sorry too lazy to look up all the numbers )

Tobi274(lol)

Shikakitsune***

Brady

cali girl11

pegp

Earthdude

Hideyoshi 26

Narutopokefan

apimpnamedKyuubiDragon'sBlood

Element-Chaos***

miner249er

Dragon Man 180

SageKyuubi***

Boby09

Skotos***

NinjaKiwi96

harlequin320

RagingDragon04

naruto7332

Timewatcher

the ultimadum

pkp033

Electric Claw ***

Drakedruid*** (hilarious review!)

mackjav

ManOfSteele

poloport

Chewie Cookies

SilentSinger948

Glodfindel

Mavs

DarkFox2

kyubii's shinigami

SalemTheSpeakerOfTruth

Josher

19Gaspar90

Kurtulmak

KyubbiNaruto***(someone else asked your question too)

Qwerty

KingOfTheIceLord

DaveInACave (thanks for the review and helpful criticism! I'm still trying to improve my writing style so it's something to work on. Hopefully it'll get better as the story progresses and moves on to more Naruto, less Akatsuki)

Rinoti

starwarsdude8221991

Vanquish123

ArmorOfGeddon

MadFrog2000

Aryk von Straln

FreelanceBum

NamikazesDemonKyuubi

Cries of the Jinchuriki

Gstar391

Midknight Killer

gamarasengan16

Ccebling

uchiha isuke

Harem Lover 72

Sol-El-Gabal


Question and Answer

I did a lot this time because of holiday spirit and a long wait! Sorry if I didn't/couldn't answer your review. Skim through these and pick out questions that seem interesting to you…

Q: Ame obviously can't be everyone's ally or that would negate all benefits to an alliance...

A: I probably didn't make this clear enough. Before, Ame was an off-limit zone. No outsiders. Zero tolerance. Yahiko comes in and now Ame is a booming city that manufactures like crazy. A general alliance, in part, means that Ame will become a great village and can trade with other villages for now. Also, should war come, Ame has the potential to ally with the villages now. Before, they were just a war zone, but by coming forward with a general alliance, they have the potential to ally with villages. Sorry for making this idea murky and not explaining it well enough (even now).

Q: According to Yahiko, the hidden rain village is preparing itself for war. Are they looking to start one or will they actually be the most reluctant to enter into a war considering what they've already gone through?

A: I haven't really revealed Yahiko's true plan yet, but I'll tell you this: He's looking to start one. It's true that Ame has been through a lot, but Yahiko wants to bring world peace so that no one will have to go through what his village had to go through again. And for that, he's willing to start a war. I'm going to explain this more in future chapters…so don't worry for now. It goes along with a main theme in this story which is: Who are the bad guys? The corrupt or the force trying to get rid of the corrupt?

Q: that Guren Girl is gonna wanna kill Itachi...

A: I'm glad you noticed that. She joined Akatsuki so that she could become strong enough to one day kill Itachi…she's also going to the Chunin Exams. Guess who else is going to the Chunin Exams who looks exactly like Itachi? Wonder what will happen then…

Q: Why is Konoha limiting the Uchiha (apart from the suspicion cast by the Kyuubi) while performing no such efforts on the Hyuga who seem to be just as powerful?

A: Awesome question. I won't answer now, but you'll find out why soon (I think in the next chapter!). It'll explain why the Uchiha want to have the coup d'état. It's more than you think…

Q: You've been ignoring him for a while now, but, will Danzo become a threat in the future?

A: Absolutely. Danzo is a major villain. We'll be seeing some more of him in the future. He was briefly shown in this chapter, but I have more planned for him.

Q: Akatsuki scares me more here than they ever did in canon….But that isn't what scares me... it's how horrifically sympathetic they are becoming.

A: This isn't a question, but I'm glad you noticed. I'm trying to make them sympathetic, and I haven't even revealed Yahiko's backstory and true motives yet! Just wait then, haha! The only reason why I'm spending so much time writing about Yahiko and Ame now is because they are more than just generic villains, but he has a legit reason for what he's going to do.

Q: Is Naruto going to get stronger soon?

A: Reading this made me feel proud. I made sure when I started this story that I wouldn't overpower Naruto so early. Right now, Neji would kick Naruto's ass. So would Kakashi, Rock Lee, Orochimaru, Yahiko, Utakata, Gaara, ect. I hate Naruto stories where he's overpowered by chapter 2…what's there to look forward to? Remember how awesome it was in the anime/manga when Naruto first used the Kyuubi powers against Haku? But that pales in comparison to when Pein used Chibaku Tensei on 8-tailed Naruto. If Naruto had been so powerful early on (what I'm trying to say) then later on, the story isn't exciting.

Q: When will Naruto be informed of his inheritance and being part of a clan?

A: Soon, actually. When he becomes a full Genin, he's an adult. I believe it's Konoha's responsibility to tell him of his inheritance…they didn't in canon, but the Uchiha Clan will probably end up telling him in my story.

Q: Why did you base your Akatsuki like the soul society in bleach?

A: Yahiko's in charge of Akatsuki now; not Nagato, and not Madara. It wouldn't make sense that Yahiko would make Akatsuki in the exact same way. I feel that Nagato was always more secretive…Yahiko was all about world domination. He was a public leader…even Hanzo knew about him and his group in canon. So I changed up Akatsuki to be more like his character. He wants world domination, and he's not as secretive as Nagato, so I decided he'd make Akatsuki huge, like his previous group. Bleach's theme just allows it to be more neat, and have the original Akatsuki members still hold important roles.

Q: I wont deny that i probably will hate you at some point in the story, as i'm a major naru/hina fan, so long as its nothing to serious like rape, which i absolutely cant stand, ill probably still read it.

A: No rape! And I'm a Naru-Hina freak as well. I'd never have her with someone else…it just doesn't make sense! She totally loves him, even in the canon when he's a blockhead and publically admires Sakura! In my story she's obviously different, and you will hate me at one point, but they will end up together and there's no rape and no Hinata x someone else.

Q: Will he (Naruto) be able to unlock the regular sharingan and if so will he be able to use it at will or will madara have to take over him

A: Naruto is not an Uchiha. The Sharingan can only be activated through an Uchiha eye. The penalty of Madara using a Mangekyou Sharingan through Naruto was permanent blindness. Luckily, Naruto has the Kyuubi who provides him with incredible healing abilities. Therefore, Naruto himself will never unlock the Sharingan, because like it or not, he wasn't born with the Uchiha eyes. However, Kakashi was never able to unlock a Sharingan, but he still has one.

Q: I like the way you're telling the story but it almost feels like it went painfully slow in the second half of the story. Also, the brief glimpses of the life in Akatsuki are kind of disorienting.

A: I understand how you feel. Hopefully you can bear through it for now…in the future, it's going to be mostly Naruto. I just want to familiarize readers with Akatsuki and Yahiko right now. Also, as Naruto readers/watchers we are used to Kishimoto's style, which is story now, history right before the character dies via flashback. I'll try to use more of that as the story and my writing progresses.

Q: Will Naruto kill Itachi?

A: Kind of specific as a question…as of now, Naruto has no reason to kill Itachi. No spoilers for you.

Q: You will have him train under Jiraiya eventually, right? Jiraiya is too awesome a character to cut out of a Naruto story!

A: You answered yourself! Jiraiya is far too awesome of a character! He'll have a large part in this story, don't worry! Who else could possibly teach Naruto about the ways of women?

Q: 10 chapters and still no kick ass action?

A: I know, and I'm sorry. It'll get there, trust me.

Q: How does the kyubi effect naruto with madara inside him?

A:Madara and the Kyuubi decided a while ago that Madara would be the one who took over Naruto when he passed out and the Kyuubi would be in charge of healing and such. Right now, Demon Lord Kyuubi simply doesn't care about Naruto's affairs. He will in the future though.

Q: How does Iwa only have around a thousand nin, when the combined Shinobi Alliance had over 80,000, and Iwa was said to make up the bulk of that.

A: I'm not sure how I got that number. I'm also too lazy to go and look up how many ninja each village has…this story isn't revolved around that, though, so I think we should be fine.

Q: I do wish to ask if the other rookie nine and members of team gai that havent been shown will be important characters, or if they will just be background noise like the rest of the ninja populace?

A: For now, they're background noise, but some of them are going to end up being important later on.

Q: Are you going to delve into Naruto's past aka Minato and Kushina? In fact, If Minato and Kushina still have a part of themselves (chakra) inside of Naruto, that could lead to some interesting confrontations with Madara and Kyuubi.

A: Yes I will, and I hope you look forward to that confrontation because it's going to be a major plot point!

Q: Does Hinata have control over the Mokuton element?

A: No she doesn't. Will she? Hmmm I don't know if I have explained the Senju bloodline limit yet, but I will in the future, so don't worry. I think soon to, because Hinata is leaving the Hyuga next chapter and she's going to learn more about what it means to be a Senju!

Q: Will neji and naruto straighten things out?

A: No. Neji swore vengeance on the Hyuga Clan, and Naruto was largely responsibly (in Neji's mind at least) for the death of his father. By all means, Neji is not going to forget what happened to him. (insert evil Neji laugh)

Q: I was wondering if you were going to have the Kyuubi do anything other than just heal him and be a fellow prisoner with Madara.

A: Yes, but not until later. The Kyuubi will play a much larger part and interact with Naruto a lot in the future.

Q: During the story, will Naruto's power only come from the persons sealed inside him, or will he be powerful through himself alone?

A: Naruto will eventually be a complete badass using his own power!

Q: Iruka just discovered the secret of our trio; now the question I'm asking is this: What is this going to have as an impact?

A: I had planned for an entire scene with Iruka and Hiruzen discussing this…unfortunately, it never came around. I just really want to get this chapter out and get to the fun parts. It won't have a consequence!

Q: Right now, in your story, even though He's the deadlast, He seems to have no contact what so ever with anyone of his class

A: In canon, Naruto had grown up alone and tried to seek the attention of everyone. In this story, he already has his closest friends and for now he isn't really trying to make friends with everyone else. We'll hear from them later, don't worry!

Q: In canon, the fact that Naruto stole the Forbidden Scroll had a huge impact in the story line and everything surrounding that line did as well. Now, I got to wonder, is Naruto going to do anything of that kind in your story when he graduate's?

A: I'm still debating. I haven't planned on it, but if I do, it'll be in the next chapter. As said before, I really want to move away from canon and onto the fun parts, so I'm not sure.

Q: Will Utakata become close to Raizo?

A: They will, but I'm going to start writing more about Naruto and less about Akastuki as the chapters advance, so I won't have as much space to write about this . However, you'll see how things go with them and all of Akatsuki much later when things don't go as planned! Ps – I'll make sure to put in some more Shisui-Ayame!

Finally done. I'm so happy! This chapter was so hard to finish. But now the fun parts are coming in! Itachi gets to scheme with Madara, Naruto is officially a genin, Hinata moves out of the Hyuga Compound and learns about her heritage, and a whole lot more is coming next chapter!

I have a whole week free to get started on the next chapter. So I will. Hopefully the wait will be much shorter! Tell me what you think about the story so far. Leave a review!

See you then, and Merry Christmas/Happy New Years!

-williams5505