Hey,

Hope everyone is doing well.

A blonde-haired boy, about 5 years of age was standing alone in a park. He looked at the other kids playing on the other side, nobody would come talk to him as their parents had told them that he was a bad boy.

He walked to a tree and sat beneath it. He retrieved a thread he had found near the trash can, tied it into a loop and took it in his palms, maybe if he could make the designs with it like some of the other kids maybe he could show them that he wasn't a bad boy.

He pulled out his forefinger from the loop and tried to copy what Kiriko used to do at the orphanage. But no matter what he did he couldn't make the diamond shape like she had.

*Giggle*

The boy turned to see a pink haired girl around his age giggle at his failed attempts. Embarrassed at his failures the boy looked away.

"You are doing it wrong," the girl spoke as she came near him, "didn't your mama tell you how to do it?"

"I don't have a mama…" the boy spoke, looking at his feet.

"Oh," the girl's smile fell as she came near him, "Then I'll tell you what my mama told me, Ok?"

"…you'll teach me?" the boy smiled as the girl nodded.

They started playing cat's cradle, then they played tag and soon enough it was evening.

"This was fun!" the boy spoke, "Hey, wanna be friends?"

The girl smiled, her first day in the park and she had already made a friend.

"Okayyy…" she spoke, "I'm Haruno Sakura."

"Uzumaki Naruto," the boy replied enthusiastically. Soon the pair separated as Sakura's mother came to pick her up and left hurriedly with her daughter in her arms.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto spoke wistfully as saw his young self wave goodbye to his first friend.

Behind him another figure came to light, tapping his cane on the ground as he walked.

"This is a memory," Danzo spoke, "…it is your past."

Naruto looked down as Jiji spoke. Soon the background started collapsing and it was day again. A young Naruto was seen walking around the park with a big smile painted on his face. He sat on the bench and played with the thread, as if waiting for someone.

A bob of pink hair was seen walking into the park again as Naruto and Danzo watched.

The boy ran over intent to greet his friend. He had so much fun yesterday and wanted to play again.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" the boy spoke as he raised his hand and waved to her, but instead of returning the greeting she just shot him a fearful look and scurried away to where the other kids were playing.

The young Naruto tried many times, but everytime he went over to the other kids they just stopped playing and stared at him until he left. Even Sakura-chan refused to play with him.

In the evening as the kids separated the boy finally was able to talk to Sakura-chan as she waited alone by the swings.

"Sakura-chan!" he spoke as he came near her, but she refused to even look at him.

"Its me!" the boy spoke, "Naruto! Your friend!"

The girl flinched a bit as he spoke.

"I…," Sakura fidgeted, "Mama told me you are a bad boy, and I shouldn't talk to bad boys or be friends with them. So please…"

"But Sakura-chan," Naruto wailed, he didn't want to lose his first friend, "I'm not-"

"Sakura," a stern voice spoke as both kids turned to see her mom come to pick her up, "Let's go."

She shot a pointed look at Naruto before leaving with her daughter.

Young Naruto just looked down at the ground, tears falling from his eyes.

He had lost his friend.

Naruto shot forward to try and hug his younger self, only to pass through everything.

"Remember, it is a memory," Danzo spoke, "It is history, it cannot be changed, only accepted…and with acceptance it will teach you valuable lessons for the future."

Naruto looked at his young self. After that day he had not been allowed to go to the park anymore. He had only met Sakura thereafter at the academy, and by then she had been so different. He had tried to talk to her and be friends again, but she had just kept going after Sasuke.

He had then heard that she wanted to date Sasuke, so they could be close. That was when he had decided to ask her on a date, maybe if they went on this 'date' thing then they could be friends again. Sakura-chan had yelled at him when he asked, but atleast she talked to him; unlike the other girls at the academy who just looked at him with cold eyes like the villagers before walking away.

But Naruto had learnt to never give up, so he kept asking her whenever he could. She had to say yes sometime.

"It seems that this memory is what has laid down your fascination for this girl," Danzo spoke, "It is natural afterall, someone who is as alone as you were would seek any company he could get."

"But…" Naruto tried to speak, his throat felt dry, "Sakura-chan…I can't give up…"

"…and till when will you not give up?" Danzo asked, "If in a few years Uchiha Sasuke were to accept her invitations, what would you do?"

Naruto looked down.

"Would you still pursue her, even if she was promised to someone else?" Danzo asked, "If she was married to someone she desired, and was bearing his children…would you still pursue her? Would you force her to break her husband's trust? What will you do?"

"But…" Naruto shook as he tried to form words, all his life he had one dream – to beat Sasuke-teme, show Sakura-chan how awesome he was and become the Hokage. It was all one dream, the mere notion that something out of that would never happen was earth-shattering.

"Is that what you would order her to do as the Hokage?" Danzo asked, "To be with you against her own wishes? Is that the kind of Hokage you want to be?"

"I DON'T KNOW DAMMIT!" Naruto screamed, "I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BEAT THE TEME, GO OUT WITH SAKURA-CHAN AND TAKE THE HAT FROM JIJI! IT'S SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! AND I'LL NEVER GIVE UP BEFORE IT DOES!"

Naruto fell to his knees as his rant ended, getting it out felt oddly good.

"What you have stated," Danzo spoke, "Is not a singular goal, but three distinct ones which are not dependent on each other in the slightest."

Naruto looked up.

"Defeating Uchiha-san does not mean that the girl would like you, or that you would qualify for the position of Hokage," Danzo spoke, "She might desire him for things beyond his shinobi-skills, things which you might never possess simply because you are not the object of her fascination. As for your other goals, there are far stronger shinobi than the Uchiha within the village itself; if anything you would need to be stronger than all of them if you wish to attain the position."

Naruto gulped, Jiji was actually making sense.

"You must accept people change with time," Danzo spoke, "The girl on your team today is not the same Sakura Haruno from your memory. She is older, she wants different things in her life than she wanted when she was younger. You must accept this, as chasing after the past to recreate it only brings pain."

"But…" Naruto's voice was small, almost pleading.

"It is like how a person grows up," Danzo spoke, "You require different clothes as your body changes and becomes big. Your fighting style changes when you obtain new techniques," Danzo paused, "I myself had to completely change my style of fighting as a shinobi when I lost my eye and my arm. I did not give up on being a shinobi, but became a different one than I was when I had both my arms and my eyes. I started taking up more administrative work than before and reduced my field missions. Tell me, does that make you think of me as a coward?"

"…no," Naruto spoke. If anything, he thought it made Jiji awesome that he could keep going no matter what.

"Similarly, accepting change does not make you one," Danzo spoke, "Accept that she acknowledged you at one point of time, but she no longer does anymore…because no matter what you try, the girl that played with you 7 years ago is never going to come back."

Naruto stood still.

"Also, being with someone specific cannot, and rather should never be a goal," Danzo spoke, it was the time to strike "The other person may or may not desire it, it is far too subjective in nature to be desired. Also, if tomorrow Haruno-san decides to quit being a shinobi and declares that she wants someone who is not a ninja, will you quit the program just in order to be with her?"

"No," Naruto spoke, surprised at how fast he had said it himself. Being a ninja was what he was, nothing came before it.

"Then it defines your priorities," Danzo spoke, "You want to be a ninja foremost, so all your efforts must be concentrated in that direction. Nothing comes before it, especially relationships which can drain both your energy and time."

Naruto looked on as Jiji spoke.

"Perhaps this is enough for today," Danzo spoke, he tapped his cane on the ground a few times as the world around them distorted. Soon enough they were back in the ROOT base.

"Mind walking technique release," Fuu spoke, "Naruto, take some rest before your evening training."

Naruto nodded dumbly before leaving in a haze. A ROOT Operative brought a glass of water for Danzo.

Danzo let out the breath he had been holding, using the Sharingan to peek into the boy's mind had proven to be quite draining.

"Mental penetration was about 15%," Fuu spoke.

Danzo nodded, he had been hoping to get atleast 20% initially, but it seemed that his old body could only take as much.

Nevertheless, the mission was successful. Danzo had now gained access to the inner parts of the boy's brain, all that was left was to slowly weaken his other self by walking the boy through some of his more painful memories. Danzo had accompanied the boy to ensure that he would not give in to them and in the process somehow release the Fox. It was slow tedious work, but would ultimately give the boy much greater control over the Fox without the interference of his other self.

…and Danzo's guidance would ensure his unquestioned loyalty. Within his mind, Danzo would create the perfect soldier. Moving through the memories would make the boy far more vulnerable, and that was the time to mold him perfectly.

It would take time, but Danzo had learnt to be patient.

Afterall, he had managed to atleast achieve one thing today. The boy would no longer be playing at what Hatake wanted him to. Danzo had little doubt that after today the boy would only remain a formal part of his team, afterall what Danzo did state was the actual truth, if slightly distorted.

He was meant to be a soldier, a weapon that struck fear into their enemies; not an emotional wreck like the preceding teams that the current team 7 was modelled after,

…

Naruto sat on the dining table as his clones served him lunch. Kakashi-sensei had given them a week off and Jiji had told him it was the best time to work on his mind…or something.

He had been expecting to do more meditation and stuff, but Naruto had certainly not expected…that. One moment he, Jiji and Fuu-sensei were sitting in a room, and then suddenly him and Jiji were at a park he vaguely remembered.

To Naruto, the dream he had screamed at Jiji had been one he felt he always had. It was to always be this way, it was what pushed him out of his bed and let him smile when he slept at night.

After today, he found himself questing it a bit.

He had wanted to be with Sakura because he wanted his friend back.

He had wanted to beat Sasuke because the jerk had everything he had ever wanted.

He wanted to be a ninja because he wanted to be acknowledged. He wanted to be the Hokage so that he could show everyone that looked down on him that he wasn't just some punk.

But of it all, being a shinobi was what gave him a purpose. It made him what he was, it made him Naruto Uzumaki.

It was like Jiji said, Sakura-chan wasn't a small girl who wanted to be friends with him when no one else did. She was now a ninja herself and wanted to be with Sasuke-teme, not with him.

Naruto accepted it.

Sasuke-teme wasn't the best guy around. Kakashi-sensei had shown them hands down how much better he was than all of them put together, and from what Jiji made him read there were 5 other villages in the world that could rival the hidden leaf, all teeming with strong Shinobi who could probably kick the teme's ass back and forth with little effort.

Beating Sasuke wouldn't mean he was the best.

Naruto accepted it.

The world was a big place, and there were all kinds of people to meet and techniques to learn.

With that Naruto relaxed and started eating. Getting better at cooking meant that the food he was eating was much better tasting than the crap he ate when he started, so he would enjoy it.

Afterall he had to train again in 2 hours, and it was Ginko-sensei's turn today evening.

…

(2 weeks later)

Naruto sighed as his team presented Tora at the missions desk for the second time this week. Training with Jiji and all was cool now that Ginko-sensei sometimes got serious in their bi-weekly spars, but doing such chores for missions was getting boring pretty fast.

Plus, he had to do the crappy stuff by himself too just to get spending money. If nothing then Naruto atleast wanted a higher ranked mission just for the pay. He wanted to buy himself a cool sword like Kagebo kept around, but from what the blacksmith outside the village told him it was going to be pricey.

"Well," Hokage-jiji spoke, "It seems that Team 7 could use another mission as you are done so early today, let's see we have babysitting the Counsellor's grandson, helping his wife with shopping, cleaning the kennels at the pound…"

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi spoke, "I believe that this team can handle a C-rank mission."

"You sure Kakashi?" Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his eyebrows, "Its barely been 3 months since they are out of the academy."

Truthfully Kakashi didn't know himself, from what he knew Sasuke was ready, maybe Sakura as well…he wasn't really sure about Naruto though.

From what he had understood in his initial assessments, Sasuke was a talented but withdrawn individual who was deeply afflicted with trauma - much like how he had himself been in his younger years.

Sakura was like Rin, the talented but hopelessly smitten girl always chasing after the cool guy in the team.

Logically it should have meant that Naruto would be like Obito, the blithering but endearing idiot that held the team together, either by constantly engaging Kakashi through his challenges for spars, or constantly trying to woo Rin by his declarations of love. In the end it had been Obito that had truly kept them all together. Naruto's performance in the bell test indicated many similarities, and it had reminded Kakashi of many old memories.

But…he wasn't. Kakashi had observed that Naruto had become steadily distancing himself from the team since some time now. He had since some time stopped asking Sakura for dates, maybe stepping out of the game for some time after a harsh rejection. His relationship with Sasuke on the other hand was almost nonexistent.

He still worked well with them, having reduced his complaints about team formations to a minimum, but this variable was offsetting the team a bit too much.

Kakashi had assessed that the team would have developed, Naruto and Sasuke could be rivals – even with the apparent gap in their abilities and connect in a way that could perhaps develop into a friendship. Sakura, as talented as she was, would find a place for herself and perhaps one day, when they had moved past their psychological traumas maybe she would succeed in moving the wall that was Sasuke Uchiha.

But nothing of that sort had happened. Team meetings these days were generally strained, and missions were completed in near silence. The blonde would leave as soon as he dismissed them, presumably heading for ramen as Kakashi had once seen him do. Sakura would still try to invite Sasuke for an outing, but he rebuffed his attempts just as he always had, or simply ignored her unless it was for a team exercise.

The team was working well together now though, their efficiency had increased quite a bit but they weren't growing on each other as Kakashi had hoped they would.

Perhaps a change of pace from the regular days would work. This team really needed to pull itself together.

"Yes Hokage-sama," Kakashi spoke, "A routine C-rank would work quite well."

"Alright," Hiruzen obliged, "We have a consignment of goods which are being delivered to Genkai and ahead towards water country. Protect the stock until it reaches the exchange port and return to the village. Shouldn't take more than 2 weeks."

"We accept it Hokage-sama," Kakashi spoke as he pocketed the scroll and turned to his charges, "The caravan leaves tomorrow morning, pack enough for 2 weeks worth of travel and waterproof gear as well. We will meet tomorrow at the gate at 7 in the morning."

…

(Naruto's House)

Naruto returned to his house and blew a strand of hay out of his hair. Ever since the mission with Kenta many farmers near the village had started asking for him specifically in their requests and he had been swamped with work.

Not that Naruto minded it, he didn't get really tired as his clones did most of the work; and from what he read using the technique like that would make his coils grow. Plus he got a lot of extra cash in his hands too, maybe after this mission he'd even have Karoki-san make him a nice sword.

He made a few clones again before going near the cupboard, it was time for training. Hopefully he'd atleast get to make a different Kanji today.

…

(Underground)

"…Genkai?" Danzo asked as Naruto nodded.

"We're leaving tomorrow," Naruto spoke, "It'll take about 2 weeks, that's what Kakashi-sensei said."

"Very well," Danzo spoke, this was not entirely unexpected, "take the scroll on the left, it should cover your instructions for this time."

"Got it," Naruto spoke, "Anything else Jiji?"

"No, you are dismissed," Danzo spoke, "Remember, do not draw attention with the skills you have been taught."

Naruto gave him a mock salute before leaving.

Alone in his room Danzo let a frown creep onto is features, generally C-ranks, even the routine ones within Fire Country or its immediate vicinity were generally reserved for Genin teams with atleast 6 months of experience. The only exception being that the Jounin-sensei himself recommended it.

Did Hatake suspect something?

'…not likely,' Danzo thought, he had yet to mold the boy outwardly in any manner. Nothing that he had been taught should raise suspicion. The boy himself bore no signs of training aside from the developing muscles and bone density, something anyone could develop with a bit of proper instruction.

There was no need to worry…yet.

He just had to keep a close watch on everything.

…

(Evening: Naruto's House)

Naruto found himself fidgeting despite having downed 2 cups of tea.

He was excited-ttebayo! It was his first time going out of the village like this, sure he occasionally went to the nearby farming areas recently to help out, but this was new. He'd be going far out there, maybe he'd meet someone cool or pickup a new technique…the possibilities were endless.

He soon realized that he was unable to sleep, and therefore decided to take a walk. He got out of his house, creating 3 clones to look after the place and prepare for tomorrow as he jumped out of the window into the night.

…

(Night: Near the Uchiha District)

Naruto jumped around as he noticed that he was near the Uchiha District.

Should he pay the teme a visit…nah.

However, still curious about the place he got down from the tree and looked at the gate.

From what Jiji made him read, the Uchiha clan had been one of the 2 founding clans that actually made this village alongwith the Senju. The Senju had slowly diminished, and the Uchiha had been going about pretty well…until a few years ago when suddenly one of them had gone nuts and killed every ninja within the clan.

That nutjob had been Itachi Uchiha – Sasuke's brother.

Therefore now the clan was composed only of kids and a few women that maybe managed everything. Sasuke was called as the 'last Uchiha' because firstly he was the only surviving member of the head family and secondly he was the only pure blooded Uchiha and therefore the only one in there who could awaken the 'Sharingan' he had read about. It was apparently a freaky eye jutsu that would let the teme naturally track movements, see through Genjutsu and even copy techniques from his opponents. It sounded like a pretty cool thing.

From what Jiji told him, this Sharingan was Bloodline limit, and it was recessive in nature. The chances of it being passed down to kids became even lower if the husband/wife was an outsider. Therefore the teme was really important, it was through him that the village hoped to regain the Sharingan.

It was all really complicated, but Fuu-sensei had made sure he read everything, even with the difficult words.

Naruto had been quite saddened when he had learnt about Sasuke, and had tried to approach him and talk…only to be rebuffed everytime. Naruto had known better than to directly ignite conversation by mentioning anything about Itachi or his family, so things had stayed as they were.

He just hoped that Sasuke found someone, like he had found Danzo-Jiji.

Someone the teme could trust…

Naruto had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice he had bumped into someone.

"Ah," Naruto spoke, turning his head, "I'm sorry."

He saw a girl, a little older than him on the ground, the contents of the bags she was holding were strewn everywhere.

…

Kagome had been walking back home, her hands filled with the supplies required for the next day when she felt as if she had collided with a wall. Tired as she was after an exhausting day of doing menial chores for the women of the Uchiha clan, she fell down, the groceries she was carrying strewn around her.

"I'm so sorry!" she heard a blonde haired boy speak as he offered her his hand, she took it reluctantly and stood up and dusted herself. If any of the clanswomen were to catch her like this, she would probably be yelled at.

Done with her dusting she was about to start picking up her things before she felt the boy tug at her shoulder.

"Let me help," he spoke as 2 more boys exactly like him appeared as if out of thin air and started picking up everything and packing it back into the bags.

It was the first time someone had been so nice to her. Let alone a shinobi.

"Do you live nearby?" the boy asked as she nodded, "Great," he spoke, "I'll drop it off at your house."

She fervently moved her head to deny, coming back late was one thing but if someone found out that she was offloading her work onto a ninja of the village she would without doubt be punished.

"Eh?" the boy looked, "I really don't mind, plus I feel bad about bumping into you too. How about you just take it as my apology?"

There wasn't much she could do if he put it that way, so she relented. The boy gestured as his copies even took the bag in her hand and began to walk.

"…by the way," he spoke, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage at your service."

Kagome for her part fidgeted before retrieving a piece of paper from her satchel and showed it to the boy.

"Kagome," he read before looking at her oddly.

She raised her hand and pointed to her lips, and then flipped the palm and hoped that he got what she was trying to say.

"You can't speak?" He asked, his eyes widening.

She nodded.

"Oh," he spoke, "…where do you live?"

She gestured him to follow, they took a roundabout road to the Uchiha District and stopped before what Naruto assumed was a storage room. He kept the bags back in there, his actions however caught the attention of a woman who was walking nearby.

"Oi Kagome!," the woman shouted, "Why the hack are you so late?!"

Naruto frowned, but kept quiet.

"…and who's the boy? Do you not remember what I told you about fooling around with men like a harlot?! Have you forgotten your place?!"

This was the time Naruto decided to step in, he didn't know what a harlot was but knew that it wasn't a nice thing from the way the woman spoke. It didn't help that Kagome had fallen down during the woman's rant and looked anything but happy.

"Pardon me ma'am," Naruto spoke, he tried to speak like Danzo-Jiji did, "I bumped into her and she fell down, it was my fault so I decided to help her carry her bags. I'm sorry if I caused any problems."

The woman turned to him and narrowed her eyes, it was then that his clones came back and the light from his forehead protector shone under the moon.

The woman suddenly took a step back as she realized who the boy was.

What was the idiotic girl doing with the Kyuubi-brat inside of the compound?

She wanted to kick him out this instant…but the boy was a Shinobi and Sasuke-sama's teammate, she knew that her days would only get worse if she even lifted a finger against him.

"Please see to it that nothing of this sort happens again Shinobi-san," she spoke and turned on her heels, "You're not excused from your morning duties Kagome, go back to your quarters right now."

With that she was gone.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the woman, he kinda understood why people treated him because of the Fox…but what did this poor girl do to get treated like that?

He then turned to Kagome who had gotten up and dusting her gown again. Taking a closer look at her now Naruto could see that it wasn't of a very good quality and seemed pretty worn.

Who was she?

Kagome came near Naruto and bowed her head, she held out the slip on which she had written 'Sorry' to him before trying to run back to her quarters.

'Trying' being the key word, as Naruto held her in place.

"You okay Kagome?" Naruto spoke, "That mean lady wasn't nice, you should have totally kicked her ass."

Kagome couldn't help but giggle at the boy's simple-minded response.

"…anyways," Naruto spoke, "I'll walk you home."

Kagome nodded and started walking, but her satchel came loose and some of her stuff fell to the ground. She started picking up her things but noticed something.

Her brooch…was broken.

It had been one of her meager possessions, one that she had brought by saving small amounts from the meager wages that the clan afforded her.

…and now it was broken.

Before she knew it, tears sprung from her eyes.

Naruto looked at Kagome and noticed what she was looking at, was that plastic flower that important to her? Was it like the Vase he got from the little girl at the farm?

He gently put a hand on her shoulder and helped her up and made a clone to pick up her stuff. She then led him to a tin shed, which he assumed was her house and waved her hand, as if to say goodbye and went inside.

Naruto felt that he needed to help her, but he didn't know anything except her name, and given his reputation staying would only increase her troubles.

With that he leapt off and ran back home, but the episode left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Who was this girl? Why was the lady so mean to her? Was she also an Uchiha?

…and what was that he felt when she started crying? Was it chakra?

Maybe he'd ask Jiji tomorrow morning? He always seemed to know about everything.

…

(Next Morning)

"That will be enough," Fuu spoke.

Naruto meanwhile pulled back his chakra from the surroundings, this sensory stuff was hard.

Naruto panted a bit, since he was to leave with his team today Fuu-sensei had let him off a bit early.

Before going back home he decided to talk to Jiji about yesterday.

…

"…Kagome in the Uchiha compound?" Danzo asked, the boy nodded in response.

"Yeah," Naruto spoke, "Do you know anything about her Jiji."

"Unfortunately I do not," Danzo spoke, "But why the curiosity?"

"Well," Naruto spoke, he knew he had to make a good case 'as a shinobi' before Jiji if he wanted to justify himself "I was kinda taking a walk outside when I bumped into her, then a lady was super mean to her and she started crying. That was when I felt something…off about her."

That piqued Danzo's curiosity.

"Can you describe what you felt?" Danzo asked.

"I don't know," Naruto rubbed his head, "I mean I can't say for sure it was chakra, but it was something for sure. It just felt a bit off, I can't really say what exactly though."

Danzo looked at the boy and contemplated his words. The boy in front of him was a roughshod in the shinobi arts, he was barely passable and had little talent in many areas as far as the Shinobi Arts were concerned.

…but there were things about him which no one could question, his natural instincts were at par with that of the apex predators in the animal kingdom and his sensory ability was not something to be sneezed at either.

"Very well then," Danzo spoke, "I shall look in it."

Could she be another weapon the Uchiha had planned to use during the coup?

Or was he panicking out of nothing?

Anyways he would find out.

…

Naruto got back to his house and opened the trapdoor. He had asked Jiji about how Surume-sensei and other could walk on walls, but he was told that his control was too off to try something like that yet.

In the end…a lot of things came down to chakra control. He had once asked Fuu-sensei why that was so important, and had been really surprised when he was told everything.

Apparently not having enough control didn't mean that he'd just get tired. A technique, as Fuu-sensei told him had 2 major parts, building up the chakra in the body and then using it for the technique. Hand signs were used for both these things, and chakra control was what helped with it.

Without proper control, with more complex techniques he'd either not build enough chakra to power the technique, or he could just build too much and it would explode within him if he didn't have everything down properly. He could concentrate too much chakra in one part of his body and make it go 'boom' in a very painful way, or he could lose balance and a technique could explode in his face. The only reason he had been able to use the Shadow Clone Technique without much problem was because the technique was:

Similar to the regular Clone Technique which he had spent months practicing, and therefore came to him easily; and

Because the technique took so much chakra that overloading it was next to impossible. At the worst he'd just get a dead clone that wouldn't really blow up at his face.

The risks only increased with the 'elemental techniques' he had read about. He could put too much chakra into a fire technique and cook his throat, drown himself by filling his lungs with water, skewer his windpipe with wind or zap himself with lighting. Earth was still safe, but he could very well turn everything around him into quicksand and drown inside if no one was around to pull him out, or his body would get so stiff and heavy that he'd be unable to move for hours.

It didn't help that Fuu-sensei had said that getting the control at the level of his classmates would only be tougher for him because of the Fox. He was told that having 2 chakras inside of one body by itself would create an imbalance, something which made it very difficult to gain control of chakra.

But to Naruto, it didn't matter. It just meant he had to work twice as hard as others to get better at the chakra control stuff.

Only if he had someone like Fuu-sensei in the academy. He'd have done all the stupid leaf and kunai-balancing exercises if it meant he could learn the cool stuff later.

It didn't matter much anyways now.

Maybe he could find someway to make the lame techniques he knew cooler?

…

(The Village Gate)

Naruto arrived 5 minutes before the assigned time to see that Sakura and Sasuke were already standing by the side. The Caravans were being loaded by a few merchants, and as usual Kakashi-sensei was nowhere to be seen.

Naruto just went to the side and opened the book Fuu-sensei gave him. He was supposed to inscribe all the Kanji with the pen on the trip and do a lot of boring math too.

This sucked.

Atleast Kakashi-sensei was only half an hour late this time, and he actually had a good excuse this time about getting necessary clearances for the mission.

With that the team hit the road.

'This is gonna be exciting,' Naruto thought.

…

Kakashi arrived at the gate to a familiar scene: Sasuke was sulking by the side, Sakura hovering near him and Naruto frowning into a book about 10 feet away from them.

Curious about what the blonde kept reading Kakashi decided to take a look, surprisingly it had turned out to be basic algebra.

Atleast the kid knew where he was lacking.

Perhaps with this mission he would see a change in team dynamics.

"Alright team," Kakashi spoke, "Take the extended Manji formation around the caravan. We're leaving in 15 minutes."

…

Sakura frowned a bit as Sasuke took the farthest position from her when they embarked upon a small ship in a river port near the village. Things were not going as she had planned.

She had worked hard, toiling away day and night to ensure that she got the perfect marks in every written exam. She knew that Hinata had been far better than her in Taijutsu, but Sakura absorbed knowledge much faster than anyone else and had been able to snag the title of 'Top Kunoichi' in her graduating class.

She had hoped that it would make Sasuke-kun notice her, afterall if she could show him that she was better than all other stupid girls in the class then he would go out with her.

When she had been placed on the same team as her crush, her happiness knew no bounds. Enduring the idiot was a small price to pay for being on the same team as Sasuke Uchiha.

The boy was everything a girl could ask for - he was smart, talented, a prodigy in the arts of Shinobi and he was handsome to boot – a complete package.

Placing on his team should have meant they would be closer than they would have at the academy. She could finally talk to him alone, away from the other stupid girls at the academy. They would work as a team, they could perhaps spend some alone time when Kakashi-sensei or Naruto weren't around. Eventually she could break Sasuke-kun out of his shell of shyness and maybe he would agree to atleast share a meal with her.

All her dreams had shattered on the day of the stupid bell test. Instead of actually showing Sasuke how skilled she was, she had just ended up being embarrassed at not being able to do anything. Then the idiot Naruto kept interfering whenever she tried to talk to Sasuke alone.

There was this one time when she thought she had her chance, and the idiot interfered again.

Sakura had made sure he heard it from her – She was not interested in him and would never be.

The idiot seemed to have gotten a clue these days and stayed away doing stuff they had done way back in the academy.

With that, she had hoped that her efforts would be fruitful, but nothing of that sort happened. Sasuke-kun was just as withdrawn as before and her requests for dates fell on deaf ears.

What made it worse was that she could no longer vent her frustrations in the usual way i.e. by punching Naruto.

Ironically, what should have been a blessing for her had just made her life a bit harder than before. Throughout the academy the idiot had been, begrudgingly, a bright spot – always making one-sided declarations of love and asking her out on dates. Though she never admitted it, it made her feel as if she was worth something. Plus no one ever said anything even if she hit him, he generally did things to deserve it himself and it relieved her of all the stress she felt whenever Sasuke rejected her.

Now that he was gone, she felt…lonely. Her group of friends from the academy had dispersed long ago, all the girls making their love for Sasuke known and taking their respective oaths as rivals for his love. None of them even talked to each other after that.

The feeling only increased day by day. Her team never fell into the patterns of camaraderie that she had heard from other Shinobi, they rarely trained or ate together, they never talked during missions and as soon as Kakashi-sensei dismissed them the boys would walk away like they didn't even know each other.

Perhaps this mission would change something, she could be with Sasuke-kun when he was not annoyed at having to do menial chores. Maybe she could show him a new Genjutsu she was working on…the possibilities were endless.

…

"Alright, we're getting near the inland basin, we'll be near the city in half an hour," the Captain of the small ship spoke as Sasuke observed the deck hands adjust the sails. Over the horizon he could see a host of multi storeyed structures indicating that they were getting near the Port City of Genkai.

'This mission is a disappointment,' Sasuke thought as he stood on the deck. Getting out of the village he had hoped to test himself against enemy ninja…or atleast bandit or pirates to see how far he had gotten in terms of strength.

How farther he needed to go to catch up him…

He hoped that the journey in the open sea would be more engaging, and that he could atleast get a chance to test himself.

Hope everyone liked it.

With respect to the Uchiha Clan Massacre, I never really brought it. I mean sure you got traitors in your midst planning a Coup, you try to reason with them, and if it fails you eliminate them. But considering the amount of importance given to the 'Sharingan,' I find it highly unlikely that anyone would order for the entire clan to be eliminated. I mean a clan has got to have so many people, ninjas, retired ninjas, people who handle clan affairs, merchants, women, kids and old people who can't even move. There have got to be people even within the clan who never knew what the top brass was planning, and killing off kids who could potentially awaken the Sharingan sounds like pure madness, something no rational person would ever order.

Thanks a lot for reading my rant.

Anyways, review if you like it or even if you don't.

See ya!