Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto


Thank you to all of you who have reviewed so far. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Also, sorry about the long wait, I had exams. Horrible, evil exams. I've tried to make this chapter a bit longer to compensate, so I hope you enjoy it.

Guest: Yes. And I agree with you, all the other clan kids inherited traits from their parents, so with an Uzumaki lineage, Naruto should gain some of that talent.

Crazylony: Thanks. And fair enough, but I couldn't think of much to put into that gap. It was always my intention for Naruto and Danzo to meet, but my idea involved more…hostility. I've read that story, very good. And a good point. Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.

Zolydck: Non-active. As I see it, Jiraiya had no contact with Naruto in canon until the chuunin exams, so he is aware of Naruto's existence, but he won't be turning up for a while. On a side note, Naruto will be quite vengeful.

Jsx: Yes he will.

Guest: He is three years older than Hinata, the youngest.

Galler: Absolutely. The civilian council has control of the academy curriculum (no thanks to the sandaime), so obviously the standards are lower. Could you imagine what would have happened if the rookie nine went up against the Kumo gennin of the time? They would get ******* slaughtered.

Just to clarify, because these things seem to be coming up a lot, Naruto WILL get chakra chains, and he is three or so years older than the rookie nine.

Also, his current skill level (let me know if this is too unrealistic, keep in mind his training).

Stamina: low jonin

Strength: Gennin, high gennin with chakra

Chakra: 2x Kage (Uzumaki and jinchuuriki)

Control: jonin level, surface walking exercise, object sticking exercise

Ninjutsu: Substitution jutsu, Transformation (solid) jutsu, chakra strings,

Genjutsu: None, can dispel D –rank genjutsu

Taijutsu: None

Fuuinjutsu: solid level 4, partial 5 and six (see my profile for fuuinjutsu levels)

Bukijutsu: none, kunai throwing

Kinjutsu: None

Overall level: low gennin

Enjoy the chapter, any useful advice is welcomed.


"As grateful as I am to Kakashi, I just know that this is gonna suck" thought Naruto.

The reason for his frustration; he was lining up outside the ninja academy, waiting to take the entrance exam. He'd received several suspicious from parents, and more than a few awe struck looks from some of the kids. Though that may have been because of his choice of dress.

Currently, he was wearing some baggy black cargo pants, the ankles wrapped up in grey tape. He'd bought-actually bought, rather than 'acquired'- some steel toed, reinforced boots. He was also wearing a mesh undershirt, with a green-streaked, dark grey, sleeveless hoodie. He kept the hood up of course, his fiery red hair, which now reached down to the middle of his back and lay all about his head, was dead give-away as to his identity. Signing the acceptance form might be a problem, but he'd deal with that later.

But the most glaring item of his clothing, homemade leather weapons pouches notwithstanding was his mask.

It was practically a carbon copy of Kakashi's, the same fabric, the same shade of black, everything. He grinned to himself at the memory of Kakashi's face. It had taken him hours to find the man, but the look of shock on the man's face was totally worth the trouble it had taken to find the item. His sole visible eye had widened so much that Naruto honestly thought it would pop out.

He was broken out of his thoughts when one of the chuunin at the desk called for him, stepping forward, he grabbed a folder that contained a test paper and writing implements, before entering a classroom set aside for the examination, taking a seat to the side. Looking around, he saw that most of the children seated were eight years old, same as him, while there were a few that appeared to be slightly older.

It didn't take long for the room to fill up, and before much longer a handful of chuunin instructors entered, heading to the different corners of the room, no doubt to prevent cheating. He looked at the first chuunin, listening as he explained the test.

"This test will determine whether or not you will be entered into the academy, as well as which class. Those of you who answer more of the paper will be entered into next year's class, also, there is another test in the folder, and "all the children perked up at this "which, if completed to a satisfactory degree, will also advance you a year in classes. Does everyone understand?" He received several furiously excited nods. "Very well. You have 2 hours. Begin!"

Naruto removed all the materials from the pack. On one hand, staying back in his age group would be better, if only to prevent others attention from falling on him. However…he wouldn't be able to stand it. He couldn't intentionally lower himself to that level. And in the higher level classes, he might actually learn some taijutsu. He needed to be able to defend himself in the event that traps, seals, and his transformation technique failed to protect him.

Nodding to himself, he opened the test paper. Only to blink. "What the hell…the year the civilian council was founded…the Nidaime Hokage's clan name, and their greatest rivals…the most commonly used ninja tool…anyone with half a brain would know this shit! What kind of entrance exam is this?" he thought to himself as he started filling in the answers. 45 minutes later he lay down his pen. Looking around, he sweat dropped at seeing at least half of his fellow applicants sweating as they panicked, searching for answers that they obviously did not have. The rest seemed only slightly nervous, but soldiered on, pausing occasionally to think on a question.

Naruto laid his head on the desk. There really wasn't much point staying awake.

But he really should check their files for the curriculum later. If this test was any indication, then the next 4 to 5 years might just be a complete waste of time. In which case he'd need to speak to Itachi about a training regime. There was no way in hell he was going out into the big wide world without being as prepared as was humanly possible. And then some.


He walked out of the academy, staying to the side so as not to attract much attention. They'd been told to report back to the academy in a week's time, so that the staff could process the results, send them to the council for confirmation, and would then announce the year's classes. Given how easy he'd found the test, Naruto was sure he'd be placed in a higher class. Jumping to a nearby rooftop, he thought about his information gathering trip later that evening. If the number of kids taking the test was anything to go by, the academy staff would finish well into the night. Hopefully that would mean they were tired and as a result, there would be fewer people guarding the academy.

One of the upstairs windows, or vents on the roof would make a decent enough entry point. From there, he would make his way to the records room, and see what exactly was being taught these days. He had a sneaking suspicion that none of his future classmates had any idea how to access their chakra. Why would they, it wasn't like they'd needed to at such a young age?

"Oi, brat!"

He stopped dead in his tracks. To this day, he hadn't been able to stop Anko from calling him that. Then again, she was one of the few people who actually gave a damn, so he could deal with a bit of name calling.

"Hey Anko, how've you been?" he said with a smile, turning to greet the sadistic woman.

He noted that her hair had gotten slightly longer. Her clothing was no more modest than the first time they'd met. Not that he imagined she'd change anytime soon. And besides, it was damn effective when interrogating male prisoners. He didn't quite get why their noses started bleeding when Anko started posing, but he'd figure it out eventually.

"So, brat" she said, drawing out the title. She was shocked when she saw the facemask; the kid was busy turning into a mini Kakashi. Much better attitude though, and he neither read that disgusting smut in public, nor was several hours late for everything that wasn't a matter of life and death. "How was it at the academy? Anyone give you much trouble?" She grinned at his face. She hadn't spent much time there given her own 'unique' apprenticeship, but what little she remembered of it did not consist of fun memories. Even the entrance test had been boring.

"It was a waste of time. I can't believe that was so easy. I mean sure, the civilian kids might have a bit of trouble, but History? Basic common sense? What the hell are they thinking?" he groaned out.

Anko merely laughed. "Kid, you do have an unfair advantage. Besides, after the events eight years ago" she said, with a meaningful look in his direction, "they are sorta going for quantity over quality".

Naruto winced slightly at that. Sure he had studied more thoroughly than most likely any of the others examinees, but he hadn't considered the long term impact of the Nine Tails attack. The Leaf village had lost a lot of people, and a massive chunk of its ninja force. He wondered what the mortality rate of the leaf's ninja was though, with the academy education being so substandard. He shook his head. That wasn't something for him to worry about. And most likely, the only ninja who would suffer from such practices would be the ones currently in training.

"Well, you could always teach me…" he stated, half grinning at her. It had become, almost a game between them; he would ask for her help in learning the ninja arts, and she would refuse on the grounds that he didn't need anything more while he was still so young. Something about enjoying life. Right.

"Sorry kid" she replied, shaking her head at his antics. She'd honestly never met anyone, bar perhaps her sensei, who had such a thirst for knowledge. But this was different. This wasn't an insane quest to acquire all knowledge everywhere, to find a way to cheat death. No this was more…innocent. Pure, even. Seeking information for its own sake. And if it helped Naruto in some way, then good for him. "Still, if you can sneak into the chuunin archives…well, it's always an idea" she said suggestively, watching his reaction carefully.

Naruto paused at that. He still had to infiltrate the academy tonight but this was an intriguing thought. Gaining access to chuunin level materials meant elemental manipulation, advanced chakra control, and a far greater variety of techniques than any gennin had access to. A grin slowly broke out across his face. Already he was making plans, taking inventory of his tools, and wondering about guard movements. There was a knock-out seal in one of his books, and the only other real obstacle would be sensor ninja. However, with a big enough distraction…

He shook himself out of his reverie, to see Anko grinning at him. He smiled sheepishly back this wasn't the first time she'd found him plotting a raid of some sort. "That reminds me, I still have to pay a 'visit' to the merchant's district this week" he thought.

Following Anko to her favourite Dango bar, he wondered how the general populace would react if they knew the full extent of his 'criminal' activities. According to Itachi, the Uchiha police force was still looking for the serial thief that had been plaguing businesses in the leaf village going on three years now. Not to mention he owned an entire apartment complex, a bakery, and a utilities store. Not the original owners were fully aware of that. Apparently reading all those books on law and financials ad come in handy.

For a moment, he permitted himself a small smile, dropping his guard for an instant. As bad as his life had been, he was actually enjoying it for once.

Now if only he could get the academy infiltration right…


If he wasn't paying such rapt attention to his surroundings, he would have been surprised at how easy it had been to enter the academy unnoticed. Granted, he had some skill avoiding predators when he went out hunting, but this was ridiculous. Only four chuunin had been on guard outside, and another six were patrolling the inside of the building. It had been a simple matter to slip past them, dodging behind trees and bushes, until finally he'd reached the wall of the building. He'd entered through one of the upstairs windows. He'd had to wait for the nearest guard to pass him by before entering, a grey cloak hiding his features.

Currently, he was in the academy library, leafing through all the study materials available to the shinobi and kunoichi in-training. And honestly…he was severely disappointed. The only chakra control exercises available were the leaf balancing exercise, and basic meditation. The academy style taijutsu wasn't that bad, but he suspected that anyone who bothered to put even an ounce of effort into improving their taijutsu would be able to wipe the floor with even the most experienced academy style users. It was too…stiff, for lack of a better word.

The history section was nothing he hadn't read before, even if it was slightly more geared towards shinobi history. He'd already sealed away dozens of the more dusty tomes that didn't look as if they'd been opened since the third shinobi world war. He didn't bother looking at the titles, nor could he afford to use a light, not with ten chuunin nearby. He was confident in his speed and his prepared traps would slow any pursuers down, but he hadn't exactly had the chance to test his skills against a superior opponent.

Peeking his head out the door, he kept a wary eye out for the guards. He couldn't feel if any were nearby, but moved with caution nonetheless. Next stop; the records room.

Leafing through the files, he had to wonder who had messed up the academy curriculum so badly. Up until eight years ago – before the kyuubi attack – the graduation standard was much higher. Now, only three jutsu were required to pass – the transformation, substitution, and basic clone techniques – and a reasonable degree of skill in throwing weapons and taijutsu. Before, one would have to demonstrate in a spar against their instructor that they knew how to fight a chuunin, using anything and everything at their disposal. Jutsu, clan techniques, anything.

"That reminds me, I have to ask Itachi how he managed to graduate so quickly, sure he has the sharingan, but how the hell did he complete the academy curriculum in a year" Naruto thought to himself. Itachi wasn't the only one; Kakashi had quite the record as well, especially after what the academy records referred to as 'a tragic incident involving his father'. No one had really come close to either prodigy since, so impressive were their skills.

Placing the files back in the appropriate cabinets, he made to leave the academy. He had everything he needed to advance quickly so all he had to do was-

The floorboard creaked.

Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem. Normally, he wouldn't be trespassing in a ninja institution, nor would there be three chuunin guards around the corner.

For a moment, just one moment, everything stopped. The wind no longer whispered, water no longer ran, and for that moment, he thought that maybe, just maybe, that they hadn't heard him.

And then all manner of hell broke loose.


Leaning against a tree, he tried to gain his bearings, panting. Luckily for him, the chuunin hadn't called their colleagues outside, which meant that there were only four chuunin following him. Which just so happened to be four more than he could handle. He'd lost one just outside the academy, a present trap hoisting him up in the canopy. The beehive there should keep him occupied for a while. The other three had pursued him with a vengeance, not once letting up in their pursuit. More worrying however, was the fact that they hadn't called for backup. Surely a break in, especially to somewhere like the academy, would warrant a much larger search, ANBU even? Which brought him to a rather terrifying conclusion.

They knew who he was. Somehow they knew.

He wasn't sure if they'd caught a glimpse of his face, but he'd doubled his speed, leading them on a merry chase for over an hour. The adrenaline was finally wearing off, and he seemed to have lost them, but fuck was he tired. Standing up he prepared to return to his clearing. And then something hit him in the back. Hard.

He went flying forward, landing face forward on the grass. He rolled over, groaning. Standing over him were two of his pursuers, leering evilly down on him.

"Get him up by the tree"

He struggled as they pulled him up, but apparently they were strong brutes. The leader of the trio wasn't anything special, light brown hair, sharp features, and weak eyes, if his glasses were any indication. But what really scared Naruto were his eyes. The same eyes that everyone looked at him with, full of anger and hatred.

Only now, those eyes were attached, via bone and muscle, to a very, very sharp kunai.

The crazed chuunin leaned forward, getting right in his face, glaring, as if trying to burn a whole in his very soul. "So demon" he snarled, brandishing his weapon in the red-heads face. "Tell us what the hell you were doing, or this" he demanded, dragging the edge of the along Naruto's jaw, "is going to be a very long night for you".

For a moment, the Uzumaki weighed his options. The rage on these men was practically incandescent, and he didn't believe for a second that they would show him any sort of mercy. And the chase he led them on had taken them far from the village, far from help. With all this in mind, he did the one, brilliantly stupid thing that might just save his life.

He head-butted the man with the knife.

The chuunin screamed, blood streaming from his broken nose, stumbling back away from further harm. With the largest threat momentarily out of commission, Naruto kicked out with his left leg. The man holding his arm loosened his grip in surprise and shock, enough that Naruto could free his arm. He was about to try and claw out the eye of the man on his right, when he was brutally backhanded, sending him flying.

For the second time he tried raising himself off the ground-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"

He fell back down, a brace of shuriken peppering his side and back, the tiny blades digging into flesh and bone. He flashed back to the snake he'd encountered in the forest of death. At least then he'd had some sort of defence. Now though…

He grunted as someone grabbed his hair roughly pulling him up. He caught sight of one of the chuunin before his breath was driven from him by a blow to the stomach. He wasn't sure how long the assault continued, nor how many blows they rained upon him. After what seemed like hours, the eventually seemed to stop. Coughing up globules of blood, he managed to get a look at his assailants, even with one eye swelling shut. He could only imagine how he looked.

His eyes widened when he saw the men grinning as they took out kunai, holding them in a throwing position.

"No, wai-AAAAGHHHHH" he cried, when the first blade sliced its way into his thigh. HE couldn't stop screaming, as they used him for target practice.

Sometime later, the three men ran out of kunai. The demon was barely conscious, blood flowing from wounds all over his body. There were even two blades in his stomach. Couldn't let it be too comfortable.

The leader held his last kunai in a tight grip, as he walked up to the beast that had murdered his family. Twelve years he'd waited for an opportunity like this, for revenge. Kneeling down, he placed his blade at the throat of the demon looking into eyes, seeing the fear, the plea for mercy. He scoffed. "This thing doesn't deserve any mercy, not now, not ever" he thought.

"This is for my family, the family you killed, demon" he growled out.

Naruto looked into the man's eyes. He could feel the hatred, the grief. Why, why did everyone see him as the fox, why was this HAPPENING!

And then something snapped.

Later, he would try and understand what happened, whether the emotional response had awoken his bloodline, or whether Kami in her infinite wisdom had seen fit to grant him some luck for once in his miserable life. But nonetheless, if it hadn't been for his experiences thus far, for his heritage, he probably wouldn't have survived. As it was, two things happened.

He awoke his bloodline. And then the three chuunin died.

He didn't realise what happened until blood started leaking from the mouth of his would be murderer. He watched, unable to turn away, as the life drained from his eyes, his soul slipping away into the embrace of the shinigami. Even then, he could feel the lives of the other two men fading, joining their comrade. He looked down.

He gasped as he saw three…chains bursting from his chest, seemingly made of pure, blue chakra. Two went off to the sides, towards the other two men. The first chain…

The first chain had burst through the chest of the man over him.

At first it didn't register, the fact that he'd just killed a man, in arguably one of the most brutal ways possible. It was only when the chains retracted, and the full weight of the corpse dropped onto that he realised what he'd done.

And he panicked.


Kakashi had been witness to many things, even in his short lifetime. That last mission with Obito and Rin had been particularly stressful. But watching this…he should have acted sooner. He'd been trying to find Naruto all evening, eventually resorting to his nin-dogs to find the boy. He'd arrived at the clearing only moments ago, and had been about to move to protect Naruto when he'd seen the chakra chains burst from the boy.

He doubted to the child could see it, but the other two chuunin hadn't been so easily dispatched as the first. The chains had torn through their shoulders, before exiting out the top of their heads. Painless – mostly- but damn. Jumping down, he crouched next to the shivering form of the boy.

"Naruto" he called out. Nothing. The boy was still in shock. "Naruto" he shouted, shaking him. That seemed to snap him out of it. "Kakashi…I-I didn't…it just…" he stammered incoherently. Kakashi wrapped him up in a hug, rocking the boy to sleep. He couldn't leave him alone now, not in this state. And his apartment wasn't fit for habitation at the moment, so where…

With a sobering realisation, Kakashi set off for the one place where he could look after Naruto. His squad mates and commander would no doubt scream their heads off about having a child in their midst, but this boy was family. And if they said that the boy couldn't stay with him at ANBU HQ, then they could go fuck themselves.


He'd just covered Naruto in a blanket in the main 'rest' area, when he felt a presence behind him.

"Best case scenario, its Yuugoa or Raidou. Worst case scenario, Shikaku" he thought to himself as he turned around. He couldn't stop his breath from hitching when he caught sight of his watcher.

Worst case scenario then.

Shikaku Nara, the current ANBU Commander. Set to retire to the position of Jonin Commander in a few years, the man was a legend, both as part of the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and in his own right, the man was a master of his clan's shadow manipulation, as well as several other shinobi arts. He was the most brilliant strategist in the Hidden Leaf, if not the entire Elemental Nations, and if rumours were to be believed, completely and utterly whipped by his wife. He was very protective of his men and his family, so much so that the line between the two often blurred beyond recognition. So it was understandable that he was…curious about the child now sleeping on the couch. In what was arguably one of the most secure buildings in the village.

"Shikaku-senpai-"

"Kakashi" That one word was enough to stop the cycloptic captain in his tracks. Kakashi had no doubt that the elder Nara knew exactly who was sleeping on the couch but bringing unauthorised personnel, and a civilian no-less, into such a secretive facility was a severe offense.

"What happened to him, why is he covered in blood?"

Kakashi sighed, and began his explanation. He told Shikaku about how he'd found Naruto, and about what must have happened. After Naruto had fallen asleep, he'd sealed the bodies and taken him straight to the ANBU medic. Granted, with the boy's accelerated healing they hadn't had to do much more than remove all the sharp implements and dress his wounds. The female medic had asked for an explanation, but Kakashi had waved her off, promising to explain later.

Kakashi waited for a response. The commander's first priority was his men. Everything else came after. However…

"Get him some food when he wakes up. After that, bring him to me"

Kakashi sighed in relief. He was about to thank the man, before the Nara held up a hand, telling him to wait.

"This doesn't mean he will be staying here, or that there won't be consequences. For you or him." Kakashi winced at that. "But I will hear the whole story before passing judgement. We owe the boy that much" Shikaku said. He was fully aware of how important the boy was, not to mention his burden. The Nara had tried once to adopt him, as had a few other clans, but they'd all been turned down. Besides, Yoshino would ever forgive him if he didn't help the child somehow, and that frying pan of hers fucking hurt.

So troublesome.


The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a concrete roof. Warily opening his eyes further, he found himself in what appeared to be a rather Spartan living room, quite large too. He groaned as he sat up. "What the hell, how did I get here? What happened to my wounds? Wait…Kakashi, I remember him getting to the clearing right after…" he stopped at that thought. He'd just killed three people. People. Not animals. He hadn't done it for food, so why…

"They were going to kill me" he mumbled to himself. Him or them right? If he hadn't, he wouldn't be alive right? Right?

Sighing, he stood up, stretching his muscles. He seemed to have healed quite well, there were only aches and pains left, nothing debilitating. He spied a door on the far side of the room. He couldn't sense anyone in the immediate vicinity, so why not have a look around. Stepping through, he found a hallway of the same, bland, solid concrete. There were small doors all along it, but he kept walking. It looked lived-in, but given the general appearance, he wasn't sure he wanted to meet the inhabitant/s. He came across a set of double doors. He could feel several presences beyond it, one was familiar.

"Kakashi" He smiled at that. Finally something familiar. He opened the doors, and was stopped in his tracks. Kakashi was there, yes, as was another man with black hair tied up in such a way that it looked like a pineapple. Weird. But it was the other four people in the room that really worried him. Black clothing, armour over their torso's and forearms, and some sort of sword strapped to their backs. And their masks, all shaped to look like some sort of animal. A cat, an Eagle, a Boar, and a Snake. And all of them were looking directly at him.

"Naruto"

Naruto looked at Kakashi, never more grateful for a distraction. He smiled warmly at the man.

"Hey Kakashi. Um, thanks for bringing me here. Who are all these people?" he asked cautiously. The pineapple man was watching him out of the corner of his eye. Was he in trouble or something? HE winced as he remembered the three chuunin. In trouble? He'd be lucky to live through this.

Kakashi sighed as he watched the child. A first kill wasn't an easy thing especially at such a young age. "Naruto, this is ANBU headquarters. This is Neko, Boar, Snake, and Eagle" he stated, gesturing to the masked figures, "And this is Skikaku Nara, ANBU Commander".

Naruto's eyes widened at that. Apart from Itachi, he'd only seen a handful of ANBU, they were usually speeding across the rooftops on a mission. But to meet a full squad, and the ANBU commander no less…

He bowed slightly to them in greeting. "A pleasure to meet you all, ANBU-sans, Nara-san". They seemed surprised that he was so polite. Most Eight year olds were loud and annoying, not polite and attentive. Since he'd stepped into the room, he hadn't stopped watching them.

At this point, Naruto noticed the door and window in the wall to the left. Walking up to it, he saw an operating suite, and several medic nins working on a patient. The man's armour was discarded to the side, a large gash through the left breast. That would have damaged a lung quite badly. "What happened?" he asked tentatively, unable to tear his eyes away from the medic nin, which looked to be tiring.

"We were on a mission. He was stabbed in the chest. We got him back here but…"

Much to Naruto's surprise, it was one of the masked ANBU that answered him, the Cat masked one. She-he thought it was a she anyway-looked worried, her purple hair matted against her armour. He turned back to the room. "They look tired, will he be ok?" he asked.

The boar masked ANBU snorted. "Of course they're tired, they've been working on for hours, their chakra is nearly depleted". Naruto hmmd at that. If all they needed was chakra…

"You can use mine, I have quite a bit" he said looking directly at the Boar masked ANBU. The man Snorted, he could feel from all four ANBU that they didn't believe him. The pineapple man however…

"Do you know how to channel chakra?"

Naruto started at the question. He looked at the Nara and nodded cautiously. The man looked at him for a moment, before motioning him to follow. Naruto followed him into the operating room. Immediately the smell of blood entered his nostrils. He nearly gagged. After all his hunting, and his three kills, he didn't think it would affect him this much. He was vaguely aware of the medics moving aside, when he caught sight of the man on the operating table. He had brown hair, matted from sweat, and his skin looked to be clammy. The skin around the wound looked… dead. Poison maybe?

He snapped his head up when he heard Shikaku calling him. "Naruto, I need you to hold on to Takeshi-san, here, and channel a steady stream of chakra into him. He will tell you whether to increase or decrease the flow. Are you ready?"

Naruto nodded, moving to place a hand on the medics shoulder. As he started channelling his chakra, he wondered why he was helping them. He hadn't really thought about it, he'd just offered. Perhaps because they'd helped him?

Immediately after he started channelling chakra, the medic's fading healing technique came back to life, glowing a bright green. He watched in amazement as the flesh stitched itself together, closing the wound. Even the medics seemed shocked. Next, they moved over the rest of his body, blocking off infection, and making sure the man would heal properly.

As they finished, the man's eyes fluttered open briefly, staring directly into Naruto's. He seemed shocked. It wasn't everyday one sees a child in an operating room. "Who…who are you?" he whispered out.

"I'm Naruto, who are you?" the boy replied.

The man's eyes widened briefly. Not just any child then. "I'm Gekko Hayate…and…thanks kid" he said, before he closed his eyes once more, and surrendered to exhaustion.

Naruto stared at him. "Has…has anyone actually thanked me before?" he thought to himself. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning away from the stunned faces of the medic nin, he found himself looking into the eyes of the ANBU Commander. "Kid, I don't know how you did it, but…thanks for helping him. I owe you one"

He nodded dumbly. He kills three people, and then saves one. And is thanked for it. What the hell was happening to the world.


On the other side of the glass, five people sighed in relief. They had nearly lost a dear friend today, and one of the best ANBU currently serving. They owed a lot to this kid.

To Naruto Uzumaki.


I hope you Enjoyed it. Please review, let me know how my writing is. And again, apologies for the long gap between updates.