He was bored.

Yamato was still on his mission, Sasuke was with his team working on D-ranks with Kakashi. This left the blonde with not many options.

What could he do to occupy himself? He could train some more but it was already past afternoon. There were only a few more hours of sunlight at best, plus it was always easier with someone else around. Naruto could find himself distracted at times when he was alone.

Whenever he walked through town, he usually took the back roads behind shops and houses and never the main. Too many people, too many emotions, looks, thoughts, some directed at him.

He understood why now.

"Naruto?"

He shivered, not recognizing the voice. Someone had bypassed his sensing. Naruto turned his head to the side to see a large man with a flowing white mane held back by a headband with a large metal plate that read 'Oil'. Two horns adorned the side of the metal plate and Naruto was reminded of an Oni mask.

Naruto nodded, not trusting himself to speak without a wavering voice to the stranger, so he waited… and waited.

The man never said anything, but his emotions were very telling.

"Stop looking at me like that," he said before turning back around and continuing on his way.

"Wait!"

He didn't, he left using a subterranean voyage jutsu to try and lose the weird man who seemed to know him.


"Sensei, what happened?"

Hiruzen knew this would happen, he honestly didn't expect Naruto to stick around when Jiraiya approached him. The Hokage had viewed the scene from his crystal ball and watched as Naruto looked like a deer who'd been spotted while grazing.

He bolted soon after. Jiraiya had just entered the village, making his first stop to check up on his studen't son.

Jiraiya always viewed himself as family to the Namikaze when he was younger, though after Minato's death, he had stayed away from the village and continued his work with hunting down his astray teammate. Jiraiya wasn't family to young Naruto on paper, but Hiruzen knows that Minato would have considered his sensei as such.

"You were supposed to be looking out for him!"

Here come the accusations. Hiruzen took his blame, mending his actions and persona around the failure. He only nodded to Jiraiya's irate expression while keeping his gaze on the man.

"What. Happened. Sensei?"

Hiruzen sighed, knowing what would come after he informed Jiraiya about his ex-teammates machinations. He would miss the forest for the trees.

The answer would only cause Jiraiya to leave the village, to return to his work of hunting for Orochimaru.


"Why is he here?" Naruto questioned his leader, "Why was he following me earlier?"

Hiruzen watched as Jiraiya kept trying to look over the child who was getting rather agitated and ancy. He wanted this to be over and done with, but Jiraiya seemed as if he was trying to decipher a code he'd found.

"Jiraiya here needs to check the integrity of your seal," he coughed into his hand to gain the man's attention.

"Never heard of me kid? The great Jiraiya from Mount My-"

"No."

Hiruzen did not chortle, no chuckles escaped him at his student's deflated ego.

"Can't win them all, huh?"

"Jiraiya, please," Hiruzen motioned.

"Right, right. Lift your shirt br- erhm, Naruto, so I can see the seal."

The boy shuffled around on his feet before looking towards Hiruzen, "Do… Do I have to? I don't want to show…"

Hiruzen nodded slowly, "He will make this quick, Naruto, then you'll be free to go."

He looked hesitant though he slowly brought his white tee up above his stomach. His student's face turned a particular shade of green, then quickly reddened with anger. His eyes were fixated on the scars and varying skin tones the boy wore now.

Hiruzen's features never changed.

The boy's chakra rose first, causing Jiraiya's features to morph. It appeared his student had already formulated his own hypothesis. Next was the Kyubi's, though far too weak and docile compared to Naruto's own.

This… did not bode well.


"He's taken chakra from the Kyubi, sensei! Who knows what the hell that twisted bastard is doing at this moment! We have to find him now, we have-"

"Jiraiya!"

His student was going through bouts of rage, fighting with himself as his anger boiled. Naruto left a short time ago, and his student could no longer school his emotions.

"Look at what he did to the kid!"

"And Naruto is trying his hardest to adapt, Jiraiya. We are fortunate that he did not return as a bloodthirsty sociopath. Orochimaru will pay the price, Jiraiya, flesh for flesh."

"Then let me go after him, I'll find the bastard and I'll rip-"

"No."

"What do you mean no?! Did you not see-"

"Do you think me blind, deaf and dumb? You've been searching for almost ten years now. Orochimaru will not let you find him if he desires to stay hidden, but he will seek out what escaped from him."


It was later in the evening when Sasuke finally arrived. Naruto had invited him in while Kashi was cooking and decided to watch shows with him until the food was ready.

"So you have a C-rank tomorrow?"

Sasuke nodded and squinted, "The client's an ass."

Naruto giggled, "What'd he do?"

His friend rolled his eyes, "He's a drunk who smells like a distillery. The guy seems shady."

Naruto bobbed his head in rapt attention, "So like, you're just escorting him back to Wave? Then what?"

The Uchiha shrugged, "Wait around on him to finish his stupid bridge."

He turned his attention back to the television, "Sounds like it'll be quiet at least."

"Boys! Food's ready!"

Naruto jumped from the couch as Sasuke walked steadily into the kitchen behind him. Kashi had already laid their plates on the table, grilled salmon with rice and veggies topped with a sweet sauce his brother promised was 'excellent'.

All three began eating as the sounds from the television played in the background. "This is really good, thanks Kashi," Naruto said after swallowing the first bite. He watched Sasuke nod, agreeing with him as the Uchiha ate his meal with gusto.

"Thanks, Naruto. I'm glad you two enjoy my cooking," Kashi said and Sasuke rolled his eyes, probably thinking that his sensei's ego was only growing from the praise.

"It's alright," Sasuke said.

"My, my! That's high praise from you Sasuke."

His friend grunted and Naruto giggled again.


He sat in a veritable grove, copious amounts of flora surrounding him on all sides. This was one of the areas on the far edges of Konoha, past the numerous training fields, that Naruto enjoyed spending his time. It was so easy to lose himself here, all of his worries and anxieties would be washed away by the tide of nature.

The intoxicating forces that permeated the world poked and bundled around his being, trying to find a way to the coordinate that had become a part of itself. Orochimaru had theorized Mokuton had an inherent property of absorbing natural energy, his lectures filling Naruto's head with advanced chakra studies that normal children should be incapable of comprehending.

But the snake was a perfectionist, and Naruto quickly learned, for if he didn't then he risked being put back into the cell again, the one that stripped him of his chakra and left him feeling cold and dead.

There were some things that he could not tell his sensei, or his brother. He knew he was still under suspicion, the ANBU guards that watched his every move were the confirmation. They didn't dare interrupt his training sessions or meditation, and he could tell most found themselves mystified by the glowing plant life that encompassed his little grove.

If any of them knew what dwells in the back of his mind, locked and shoved away, he suspects they'd never look at him the same again.

He was a freak of nature, an experiment that shouldn't have been allowed to live. He broke natural laws by simply existing, and he knew there would be no salvation from the curse.

This was what his kidnapper - he refused to call him master - wanted.

Part of him simply wanted to leave, just to grab everything he held dear and run. Where he would go was beyond him, but the further he moved, the less chance that Orochimaru would be able to finish his project. The man was always seeking greater heights, more power, because 'might was right in the world of Shinobi'.

That statement holds true, Naruto knows. Through all of his history lessons and unsavory facts about his home village, Naruto knows that those who hold all the power are the ones who decide the course of history.

But it all just felt so wrong. There was no such thing as 'peace' in the Shinobi world, for no matter who brings them together, eventually the cracks would form and the world would be at war once more. History was doomed to repeat itself and has. Villages formed from a multitude of clans to reap the benefits, backed by their own countries Daimyo. Once a minor village became too powerful, larger villages would begin picking sides and bring war to everyone's doorstep, his own village included.

It would never end. He knew that even if everyone somehow lost their chakra today and did not die, that tomorrow they would begin drafting a new arms race, this time through technology. It was already happening, the use of ninja tools was an example. Even without chakra, weapons would still be readily available, and the lack of the energy would do nothing to stop what seems to be ingrained into every one of his own species.

His ideals and perspectives had taken such a drastic turn after being captured, and he knew he would not be able to see the world any other way. No matter the outcome, eventually the peace that had been sought would crumble and fade without a reason to stay together.

His desire had become molded by these views, and to accomplish it he would have to garner more power. Naruto would need to seek what every other Shinobi in history sought, so he would damn himself to the pursuit in order to achieve his dream.

Naruto tilted his head upwards, casting his gaze to the night sky above, marveling at the wonders of creation.


"Again."

Naruto flared his chakra and directed it into the earth below. Wood began protruding from the dirt, its course was directed to where Yamato was standing.

He'd been at this for hours now after his sensei worked on control exercises with him. His progress was clear as day in front of him.

Multiple shattered pieces of wood were strewn about the training field with dust and debris as Yamato continued to break the techniques with nothing more than pure taijutsu strikes. They had steadily become more and more dense, harder to break and bend. His sensei attempted to strike the incoming attack but his hand only made it halfway through the earthy timber.

"Very good," his sensei said before extracting his hand. "That one was much more difficult. Did you memorize the composition from the scroll?"

Naruto bobbed his head excitedly. "Yeah! The records you collected were super helpful. I didn't know there were so many different types of trees in the world."

Yamato nodded, "Many. I had to use more pressure in the last strike than the previous. Did you mimic the proportions of a Buloke?"

He nodded once again, "The irontree! It's really tough, right?"

"It is," his sensei said as he channeled his own chakra, producing the timber much faster than Naruto himself could. "As you channel your chakra into the earth, you should be able to layer your Mokuton and control the composition inside the wood and out. Keep studying the scrolls and-"

A hawk hovered overhead, screeching in the air as it glided towards Yamato. Naruto watched as his sensei read a script of parchment that was attached to the bird's leg.

"Pack enough supplies for two weeks and meet me at the front gate," was all he said before flickering away with leaves in his wake.


His breathing was staggered, blood pooling into the palm of his hand from the various senbon wounds that riddled his body. His two teammates were faring no better than himself. Sakura was unconscious from a blow to the head, and Ami was currently engaged with the fake Oinin.

It had been suspicious right off the bat, Sasuke thought. Only a mere two hours outside the village and they were jumped by two rogue nin's. The 'Demon Brothers' his sensei had called them. Sasuke had taken one of them down with relative ease as Ami engaged the other while Sakura protected the client. Kakashi had returned at the last minute to prevent Ami from taking any serious wounds as he incopasitated the rogue with a chop to the neck.

He had sent a messenger hawk back to Konoha and they continued onwards.

It all went to hell.

He watched as the senbon user launched Ami towards the other side of the lake while Zabuza looked on, holding Kakashi in a water prison technique.

"Damnit!" Sasuke grunted, pushing himself up from the dirt to engage the slim figure once more.

"Stand down and you will not have to die," the nin said, readying more senbon in between their fingers.

Sasuke scowled, it couldn't end here. He had to get revenge, he had to avenge his clan. He couldn't rest until then, and he wanted to see-

No more time for thinking as the nin quickly appeared to his left. Sasuke ducked low for a sweep which they vaulted over, launching senbon and fuck he hated those needles.

"You can not win here, surrender."

He began molding his chakra as his hands were moving to prepare the Great Fireball jutsu, only to have his opponent enter within his guard. Sasuke abandoned the jutsu to quickly put space in between them, but the fake Oinin kept pressing their advantage.

Sasuke could see the nin slowing down slightly, even the actions of the others seemed to be in slow motion. His world became tinted in red, though he couldn't move in time, his body sluggish and bloodied.

He could only see in slow motion as the fake Oinin sped towards him, ice coating their flat hand as it moved to puncture his body.

Sasuke braced himself and hoped that the nin would be sloppy just once.

The air grew thick, and Sasuke noticed the Oinin had stopped their advance, peering off to the side. An ungodly amount of chakra was giving way, spreading through the lakeside and growing heavier.

Then the ground beneath in between both sides shattered and crumbled.


Yamato had engaged Zabuza who quickly released the water prison. The two rogues had fled after he and Naruto quite literally created a new addition to the current lakeside. He utilized his clones well, grabbing the incompasitated Genin and dragging them to safety before the Doton jutsu was unleashed.

"Thanks for the save," his senpai coughed, soaked to the bone from various suiton jutsu. "Let's go check on my students."

They approached the group and saw Naruto mending Sasuke's wounds. Yamato began watching incredulously as Naruto used his Mokuton chakra to create a version of Mystical Palm. The kid never mentioned that before.

"Naruto," he said and the kid looked at him before wincing.

"Oops, sorry. Wait, you didn't ask me about medical techniques."

"No," Yamato replied, shoulders slumping. "I asked for a full debrief."

"Sorry, sensei. I… don't like talking about that, but I will tell you."

He had moved onto Ami and his senpai's other student, Sakura, to check their status before turning his attention back to him. He held his hand, "Later, if you will, please."

"Well, let's get moving, shall we?"

His senpai fell to the ground afterwards.


"So, uh, Naruto?"

They had slept through the night at Tazuna's house after being introduced to his family. His daughter, Tsunami, and her son, Inari.

"Hmm."

Kashi was still unconscious, so it was up to Yamato to take command and issue a rotating guard. Sasuke was occupied with his shift.

"How do you know medical techniques?"

Because of the fact that if he didn't learn he would have been in more pain. Because Orochimaru demanded that he help keep patients alive during a procedure. Because others needed help. It was all drilled into his head over and over and -

"Classified."

The two girls looked at one another with the purple haired one shrugging.

"Sorry," she said afterwards. "Uhm, can you tell me why you're the only member of your team besides your sensei?"

Because they have the same chakra nature? They both possess Mokuton. The process behind the elemental combination is like breathing to them. He's a member of ANBU and not a traditional Jonin.

"Also classified. Sorry," he says with a wince. "I'm uh, I'm going to go check on Sasuke."

Why was this so hard?


AN: Got bored at work, so I decided to publish the next chapter. This one is a bit longer than the others.