Hey there.

Hope you guys enjoy this.

"I want Konoha's finest cheese bread."

With those words, Naruto had made his decision.

The decision in turn, sealed his fate.

"Ah," the shopkeeper spoke, "I'm afraid that its still in the oven, why don't you get to the back and get your pick from the oven?"

He opened a door and Naruto followed him into a hallway, the man took a turn and soon Naruto found himself in a dark room.

"Hey mister aren't we going to the ove-"

Suddenly darkness took over and Naruto's unconscious body fell on the floor. A figure materialised from the darkness and soon both him and Naruto were gone.

"Protocol Nine initiated," the shopkeeper spoke into a hidden mic in the room before he closed the door to the room and returned to his covert identity.

…

(Deep Underground)

"Protocol Nine initiated,"

For the first time in years Danzo allowed a small smile to grace his lips. His plan had worked perfectly, everyone had behaved exactly as their psychological profiles had indicated.

…and now Naruto Uzumaki had come to him.

Danzo got up from his seat and looked over to his subordinates, "Surume," he spoke, "Take a stock of Naruto Uzumaki's physical attributes, Fuu will take the psychological examination and Ginko will check his overall ability as a shinobi. I want a full status report by evening."

"Understood, Danzo-sama." 3 voices spoke in chorus before the speakers left the room to prepare for their tasks. Danzo himself sat down onto his seat as he waited for his newest project to be presented before him.

…

Naruto woke up a bit groggily, the last thing he remembered was walking with the baker before he suddenly went out. He tried to open his eyes, but found out that he was blindfolded, he tried to move his hands or get up but his hands and feet had been restrained as well.

'What the hell?' Naruto thought, 'Where am I? And where's the bread?'

"It seems that you have awoken," a familiar voice spoke.

"Yeah jiji," Naruto spoke, glad that his mouth wasn't covered, "Can you get me out of all this? I can't see anything."

"A necessary precaution," Danzo spoke, "Surume, release his restraints."

Soon enough Naruto was able to open his eyes, he was back in the room he had been the last time he met Danzo-jiji. The only difference being that instead of lying on the bed he was now sitting on a chair opposite to the old man.

'Sheesh, talk about a welcome.' Naruto thought, 'But I guess jiji doesn't want anyone to find us.'

"Naruto Uzumaki," Danzo spoke, "It seems you have made a decision."

Naruto straightened himself, "Yes Jiji, I want to be awesome like my mom, I want to know who my dad was and I want to be strong. So yes, I want to train under you."

"I see," Danzo spoke, "I appreciate your honesty Naruto-san, but before we start, I must tell you that my training is nothing like what has been taught to you in the academy or under you Jounin-sensei. My training is harsh and unkind, it will push you beyond the limits of your physical and mental capabilities. I demand complete obedience from you and also require you to absolute secrecy with respect to our training sessions."

"Keep this in mind," Danzo paused, "I can only train you once you agree to abide by these conditions, so tell me Naruto-san, do you agree?"

Naruto gulped as he felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck despite how cool the room was, he could tell that Jiji was being serious and that this would be like nothing he had ever experienced before.

'But isn't he the guy wo trained mom?' Naruto thought, 'Plus like I told Konohamaru, there are no shortcuts.'

"I understand," Naruto said, "Do your worst Jiji-ttebayo! I'll show you that I'm gonna be Hokage!"

'Perfect' Danzo thought, "Then you shall be in Surume's care for now. I will be testing your capabilities for today. Remember, you made an oath when you have agreed to train under me, you shall not question why you are being made to do what we tell you, and you will not lie to anything about what you have been asked."

Naruto nodded, Danzo then left the room and Surume instructed him to get on the bed.

…

After Jiji's speech Naruto had expected many things, he had been expected to be asked to fight against monster, he had expected to be run down to a level wherein he would collapse from fatigue.

But he had not expected to be poked and prodded with funny looking things for over an hour and asked questions about his food, how he trained, how much he trained and how long he slept hadn't been on his list.

Thereafter another guy had come in and started talking to him, and honestly it was the most nerve wracking talk Naruto had ever had. The guy had started out by asking him simple stuff, but soon enough it had started going to different things, he had been asked to write down difficult words which he was unable to do. Naruto had looked down in shame at his chicken-feet squiggles on the paper, but surprisingly the guy hadn't looked like he had been disappointed in him at all and had asked him why he had written it like that.

Naruto had never had anyone ask why he had been bad at the difficult looking stuff before, so he had just answered honestly.

"The words look like they're dancing, I'm just able to figure out a bit of the easy stuff." Naruto spoke.

"I see," Fuu spoke noting down the developments, "Perhaps you could explain this in a little more detail Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto beamed, nobody had ever believed him before!

Soon enough, with a few more slightly odd questions later Naruto was done and directed to another room wherein a big guy wearing an Armor was waiting for him.

This time Naruto was made to do the academy techniques, he was easily able to do the Kawarimi and the Henge…but the Bushin still evaded him.

"Naruto-san," Ginko spoke, "It seems as though you are pushing far too much chakra into the technique. Please lessen the amount of chakra and try again."

Naruto smiled a bit, though this guy looked scary he didn't look at him like he was a disappointment.

5 more tries later, still a dead looking clone appeared everytime the technique was done again.

"Naruto-san," Ginko spoke again, "Let us use a different approach, this time do not restrict the amount of clones you create."

Naruto nodded at him again and did the required hand seals…

…and the entire room filled with orange. Hundreds of clones filled every inch of the room as Naruto grinned at his success.

"I see," Ginko made a noting on his pad before turning to Naruto, "Please disperse the technique. We will now be testing your motor skills."

'Moto-what?' Naruto thought, but seemed to understand when the guy put down his pad and gestured Naruto to attack.

'I'm gonna show you how awesome I am-ttebayo!' Naruto thought as he leapt into battle.

…only to realise how horribly bad he was compared to an ANBU. Ginko-san, if that was his name, had proceeded to beat Naruto completely in almost every way imaginable. He asked Naruto to do simple things like throw a punch, a kick, come at him with full speed, throw a bunch of Kunai and Shuriken and other stuff other kids at the academy did. After each session he would walk to the edge of the room and make another note and come back.

What were these guys writing?

"Naruto-san," Ginko spoke, "Your appraisal is complete, please proceed to the last room. Danzo-sama awaits your presence."

Naruto nodded and went back to the same room. Danzo-jiji was sitting behind a table and had a serious look on his face.

"Uhh," Naruto spoke, "I'm done with all the stuff Jiji."

Naruto didn't really know what all that he did in the last few hours meant, but he had promised he would do exactly as Jiji told him.

…and Naruto Uzumaki never went back on his promise. Believe it!

"I see," Danzo spoke, "Please have a seat."

Naruto nodded and sat.

"You are still sleeping in the shop?" Danzo asked, Naruto simply nodded in return.

"Then," Danzo spoke as he took a paper and wrote something on it, "Tomorrow after you are done with your team sessions proceed to the Hokage tower again. You will ask for a D-rank mission on your own," Danzo paused as he handed over the paper to Naruto, "You shall take the mission for cleaning the Kuroki-estate, once you are done hand this over to the client and do as you are instructed."

Naruto nodded again as he accepted the paper.

'Proto-something 9' Naruto thought as he looked onto Danzo-jiji again. Pushing aside the thought he pocketed the paper.

"You will be escorted out in the same way you were called in," Danzo spoke, "Further instructions will be given after you complete your objective tomorrow."

Naruto nodded again, the last thing he saw was Jiji tapping his cane on the ground as darkness consumed him for the second time in the day.

…

(Evening)

"Man," Naruto spoke rubbing his head, he looked around to see he was currently on his team's training field, "I didn't even get any bread."

The food he had been given during the day had actually been good, but it certainly wasn't ramen by any standards.

'I atleast have enough for two bowls,' Naruto thought as he walked towards Ichiraku's. His day hadn't gone the way he thought it would, Jiji didn't teach him any cool jutsu or run him into the ground…

…but he trusted the old man. Despite everything Naruto had grown to trust him, afterall he was the only guy in the entire village who knew about Naruto's family and had told him about him.

Danzo-jiji had trusted him with the information…and so Naruto had also trusted Danzo.

Maybe he'd learn who his dad was? Considering his mom had been a Jonin maybe his old man was some cool shinobi too?

With those thoughts he walked off.

…

(Underground: Danzo's office)

"Report," Danzo spoke as he skimmed through the files his subordinates had prepared on the boy.

"Danzo-sama," Surume stepped forward, "Subject Naruto Uzumaki is both slightly underweight and lacking in height for someone his age. His chakra coils on the contrary are far more developed and comparable to many seasoned Jonin. His muscular structure is presently unbalanced, as his muscles are a bit more developed in some areas such as his chest, biceps and hamstrings, but most of the other muscle groups are stiff and comparatively underdeveloped. Additionally his muscles seem highly underdeveloped in comparison to his daily workout schedule – a problem that seems to stem from malnutrition due to constantly eating only ramen for sustenance and an unguided and highly muscle-damaging workout schedule. However overall muscle strength is high, and his leg muscles seem to be highly developed even with the lack of nutrition which is apparent."

Danzo nodded at her, Surume stepped back and Fuu took her position.

"Subject has a marked IQ of 76," Fuu spoke, "Further his ability with reading and writing seems to indicate that he has a mild to medium case of dyslexia – a possible reason as to why he is unable to read or write properly. His ability to act upon logic seems to be stifled and he seems to not have the ability to process emotions such as anger and hate – a possible indication of MPD-"

"-a multiple personality disorder?" Danzo spoke, this was certainly a surprise, "Elaborate Fuu."

"Uzumaki-san has been treated differently since many years," Fuu spoke, "Such behaviour in most cases would result in extreme and in many cases often violent reactions – especially from Jinchuriki as has been seen in the case of Sunagakure's weapon. However based on my questions Uzumaki-san was not able to recall many instances from his childhood, there seem to be multiple gaps in his memories. Given the fact that his mind has not been invaded with any mental techniques it seems that Uzumaki-san's psyche has likely fractured in the past few years and all his emotions which seem to resonate with 'negativity' according to the emotion chart are absorbed inside of a compartment in his brain. A defence mechanism which seems to have been created to retain his sanity, he does not seem to switchover to his 'other self' or having met him at any point of time. However the other psyche inside him seems to still pollute his brain given the fact that his mindscape has manifested as a sewer when he encountered the Kyuubi inside his body."

Danzo stood still as he absorbed the meaning of Fuu's report. It was worse than he had expected.

The shinobi profession by itself was not one which was known to lend itself to mental health given the highly gruelling missions one encountered as e progressed further and further into the field. Many shinobi often cracked under the constant pressure, and given that few took any form of emotional conditioning courses or even sought the help of psychiatrists sociopaths like Orochimaru were not uncommon across the continent.

…but with Naruto Uzumaki, this was a big concern. Emotional Control was a key facet of controlling the chakra of any Bijuu, as the Bijuu would push both its chakra and its will throughout the host whenever its chakra was drawn actively. Resisting the Bijuu's will was a key facet to controlling that power, as otherwise the Bijuu would keep its Host's mind busy with the flowing emotions to cloud the Host's judgment and then keep pushing its own chakra into the system to weaken the seal and attain freedom. Therefore if Naruto Uzumaki ever needed to be able to use the Kyuubi's power in battle, he would need to have a will harder than iron and a great modicum of control over his emotions.

Currently it seemed that Naruto's mind had dealt with the burden of overwhelming hate and anger in the only way it knew to keep Naruto's sanity intact – by sealing it away in a corner.

It was a rather novel solution in the short run, but likely to cause multiple problems in the long run.

Firstly a fractured psyche mean that Naruto was as such operating at a reduced brain capacity, thus a far lower than average IQ and an apparent inability to completely act in a logical manner.

Secondly it meant that any existing mental health condition would be more difficult to cure, as repairing or re-wiring just one part of the brain was going to be far more tedious if one had to constantly weave around the artificial seal Naruto's brain had created.

Thirdly, it would mean that the other psyche would, or likely already had developed its own persona and would continue to grow stronger inside his own brain; perhaps it could even form its own bond to the Yondaime's seal and leech off its chakra. In the end this would result in a battle inside Naruto's own brain, with the end result of either Naruto's current personality defeating his 'other' self and erasing it completely or the 'other' leeching off the Kyuubi's chakra to defeat the currently dominant persona and possibly setting the Kyuubi free.

While the first scenario was more pleasant, it would still leave him with lasting brain damage and Danzo was unwilling to take a chance which could set the set the strongest of the Tailed Beasts free.

'Perhaps it relates to the seal itself,' Danzo thought, 'As per the notes in Hiruzen's office Minato sealed only the yang half of the Fox's chakra inside the boy. Perhaps it is this fundamental imbalance which is keeping that other persona at bay…or abetting its creation…'

Danzo made a mental note to look into it later, he would personally oversee the seal's analysis. This was important, but Danzo needed to hear all the reports.

"Alright," Dazno spoke as he gestured to Ginko to speak.

"Naruto-san is fast for his age," Ginko spoke, "He is quick on his feet and has an unorthodox method of fighting and has excellent natural instincts. However all his physical advantages are offset by his roughshod method of fighting. There is little to no flow in how he fights, his attacks are off mark and his accuracy with weapons is below average – possibly a result of not practicing in the correct manner or practicing unsupervised. He has no habit of forming a strategy before any skirmish and over-relies on his ability as a tactician to come up with ideas while fighting. Other than that he has no variety in his attacks, his chakra control is barely low-genin level and he wastes a great amount of chakra in doing even the most simple techniques; lastly he is able to use the Shadow Clone Technique due to his vast reserves but the advantage seems to evade him as he uses his clones in battle and fights without any coordination or formation – the intelligence gathering potential of the technique is lost to him as his brain seems to simply block out any additional information his clones can provide him."

Danzo nodded at him and pondered over the information. The Shadow Clone was a technique created by the Nidaime Hokage specifically for one purpose – intelligence gathering. Shadow Clones, unlike illusionary clones or solid elemental clones were entities composed purely of chakra, which made then unique in many ways. The clones themselves retained brain function similar to that of the original and were capable of using chakra for ninjutsu, the chakra of the clone itself returned to the original once the clone dispersed and carried with it all the memories it had experienced during its existence – this coupled with the fact that its dispersal left no evidence except for a faint chakra trail made it nearly perfect for spying and information gathering.

Ofcourse with the advantages came the downsides as well. The technique itself was highly chakra consuming, the minimum threshold of chakra to create a single clone was by itself so high that even an average Jonin would find himself staggering after having created over 2 dozen of them; the chakra dispersal into the atmosphere upon a clone dispersing also kept on adding to the costs as barely a half of the clone's remaining chakra would return to the original upon dispersal – and even that was dependant upon close physical distance. Lastly the clones themselves were fragile and even the smallest of scratches would disperse them – making them less optimal than water or earth-clones in battle.

However despite its downsides it was an incredible technique, and Naruto's ability to create multiple clones could very well be utilised to accelerate his speed of learning and put him at par with those considered to be geniuses in the Shinobi world. The problem seemed to be that Naruto's brain was blocking the additional input from the clones, but it was something Danzo understood quite well.

The human brain was a truly wondrous thing, but as it is it took over 15 years to completely mature and reach its peak conditioning. Before it could grow completely it remained rather weak, and a major portion of it processing ability was consumed by formulating its own growth – a reason as to why it seemed to be blocking additional input from Naruto's clones in order to retain its optimal condition.

But then again, Naruto's regenerative ability was something his subconscious mind seemed to have ignored. While any other person at his age would go schizophrenic from the multiple inputs an under-grown brain would receive, Naruto's regenerative ability meant that any damage would be healed shortly after it was done. Theoretically this could even help the boy in growing his neurons and activating different parts of the brain.

Therefore, this subconscious block needed to be removed. But for now Danzo would restrict himself to just 5 clones to keep it safe.

There was no need to wait until the boy came of age to utilize this advantage.

Danzo let a small smirk creep onto his features he looked at the detailed reports on his desk. Naruto Uzumaki was a diamond in the rough, or could even be a piece of coal – Danzo did not know what would become of him.

Either ways, he had his uses.

Hope you liked this, see ya again!

PS Please review, it helps me to know that someone out there is reading what I write.