CHAPTER 1

TITLE: Hard Knocks


Pain was everywhere, all at once. It was all he knew. Even if he cared to know anything else, the choice and the power to do so, was somehow beyond him.

Everything felt suspended, floating aimlessly in nothingness. There was no floor beneath his feet, and no sense of up or down. He hardly felt any sense of anything at all. All he felt was pain, covering and permeating his body all the way down to his bones.

Jagged lines that covered his body lit up like lava, burning into his flesh. But instead of destroying the tissue, it lingered, spreading outwards from the jagged lines forcibly engrained on his skin, forcing the rivulets of pure agony to open up, and flow freely through his body.

The pain throbbed and radiated like a fire, and the heat swelled in his chest as the pain swirled and shifted, turning into something else inside him.

He felt angry.

He recognized it now, the heat in his chest, along with the feel of his own heartbeat as the pace of the inner percussion in his chest quickened its pace. He felt the rage, but more so the confusion, then fear, then panic as he tried to free himself from his imprisoned state.

"N-Naruto..."

He heard the sound clear as day, the sound of a familiar voice calling his name coming from directly behind him. He tried to turn his head, open his eyes, do anything, but it felt like control over his own body was stolen from him. In the myriad of emotions and raw, empty nothingness, he was trapped in a swirl of darkness and torment that he didn't recognize.

"Naruto!" A second voice yelled, his tone furious and authoritative. Naruto felt his stomach drop as the second voice, far more familiar, and all too painful to hear called out, now directly in front of him.

He felt the fear intensify, and then the pain followed, hovering dangerously close to his young and feeble body's threshold for pain.

He felt constricted, like the darkness was surrounding him, crushing him like a vice. And then he heard it...

A roar so terrible, so loud and terrifying that if he were able to move, he'd collapse to the floor in blind terror. The sound was deep and guttural, like it came from a very old and powerful thing, too mighty and terrible for a feeble boy like him to know of. More powerful and horrifying than anything in existence.

It sounded far away, but as soon as the long roar had fallen silent, he began to feel the outer wisps of a gentle wind tug at his hair. It grew in strength over the period of a few seconds, lapping at his clothing and rushing in his ears.

It took a few seconds for Naruto to recognize its magnitude, as the strength of the wind grew stronger and stronger, louder and louder, with no end to the increase in power in sight. Naruto began to realize, even without his ability to see, that whatever 'thing' made that roar, was the same creature that was the cause of the storm.

He could feel it, feel its power, its earth shattering rage. It was never ending, and felt utterly unstoppable, with a tinge of a sort of, grandiosity that reminded him of a monsoon. Like a terrible force of nature, more easily endured than stopped, or even challenged.

After a few more seconds of hearing and feeling wind, along with the stench of ozone, and the distinct sticky, wet feeling of a fog, he heard the roar again.

It sounded as if the sound came from directly behind his head. He could feel the vibration in his chest thrum from the raw power of the whirlwind of annihilation behind him. He knew the instant it reached him, he would die.

At this point, it was a comforting thought.

He felt the pain and fear intensify again, this time pushing far past his threshold. It felt as if the daggers were being slowly dragged through the flesh of his stomach and chest.

This time he could move, but only to open his mouth to scream. But before he could, he opened his eyes, and saw a leaf emblazoned on a metal headband, then blood dripped from whatever was behind the headband.

He could smell the thick, sweet scent of death and decay, like a waft of hot steamy air, the putrid smell permeated through everything, corrupting everything it touched.

It hovered in front of him, and Naruto quivered as the headband floated upwards, revealing a desiccated, skeletal face that wore the headband on its decaying forehead.

It stared at him with empty eye sockets, and it dragged its festering, decomposed arm to lay a single hand up to rest on Naruto's shoulder, "N-Naruto-kun..."

It mouthed more words, vainly still trying to speak, the flaked skin peeling, it's lips quivering as the ruined flesh refused to obey.

Naruto felt as his eyes began to tear up, the fear too much for him to handle, all the sound faded out, the sound of his heartbeat drowning everything else out.

Then the face leaned in, and screamed.

And then so did he.


Naruto sat up straight in his bed, breathing hard as sweat beaded on every inch of his exposed upper body. He woke suddenly, the scream still fresh on his lips as the sound echoed off the confined walls of his bedroom in his meager apartment.

He sat there, panting harshly as the final image from his nightmare was etched in his vision. As he started to calm down, he stared ahead at blandness of his empty, albeit messy bedroom, but all he could see was that headband. That face, partially decomposed and falling apart, whispering his name...

He felt his stomach churn and Naruto turned to face the side of his bed, vomiting last nights instant ramen into the bin he kept next to his bed. The sour bile tumbled past his lips, spilling noisily into the cheap plastic bin.

Even after the contents of his stomach were long since messily deposited in the trash can, Naruto heaved painfully, the smell of death and rotting flesh still in his nostrils even after all this time.

Even after three years, his memories tortured him. Haunting his steps, cursing him, attacking him. Using his past like a club to his head, pounding his spirit into submission.

He curled over the bin, his small form panting roughly as he tried to take his mind off his nightmare. He focused on the details of his room, anything to anchor himself to this spot. To the real world.

He looked closely at the edge of his messy room, his waking mind beginning to differentiate between the outline of terrifying figures in the night, and the messy pile of dirty laundry he left the previous day. The scary visions of red, and black faded slowly, his eyes adjusting to the gloom of the early morning. Slowly replaced by the cramped, but otherwise calm image of his room. The evident lack of danger lit by the moon's dull hue of the cerulean dawn.

His breathing slowed, and he could hear his heartbeat fade slowly from his eardrums as he began to make sense of his feelings.

He shook his head, shakily rising up from the floor, walking over to the bathroom, taking the bin with him. He disposed of the contents of the bin, then turned to the sink, splashing his face with water, cleaning himself up while he was there.

Naruto walked back to his bed, laying back down, surrounding himself with warm blankets. He felt tired, but his mind was fully awake.

He lay on the bed, calmer now, but feeling more tired than he felt when he went to bed the previous day.

His body felt heavy, like he just went went twelve rounds with some kind of huge, clawed monster, and lost. Badly.

He felt defeated, even though he'd never actually fought, taken out before he even had a chance to put up a fight.

The blonde academy student clutched at the blankets beneath him, gripping the sheets as hard as he could, "Screw this..." He muttered lowly.

Naruto flung the covers from his body, ripping off his PJ's as he scrounged the ground for his orange and black hoodie and matching cargo pants.

He slipped them on quickly, feeling the soft fabric of his shirt slide roughly over the tender scarring on his chest and back.

He finished preparing quickly, tripping over discarded blankets and old clothes to finally find what he was looking for. He finished tying his boot strings, and before he could take even a second to think about what he was doing, he ran out the door.

He headed south, feeling the cool morning air on his still damp skin and hair, only concerned for his one destination...


Uchiha Sasuke considered himself somewhat of a sensible individual.

Perhaps not when compared to civilians, or others that might not understand the life of a shinobi, but reasonably sensible when compared to the average Konoha ninja.

Because he was different from them. After all, he was an Uchiha.

Uchiha Sasuke, the heir of a dead clan, the brother of a traitor, and an avenger.

For him, as well as the rest his family, that was their life. As Uchiha they bonded over blood and violence. Cherished power and victory, rewarded strength and punished weakness. For them it was normal.

For them, that was enough to bring them together.

But spending time with his family wasn't an option anymore. They were taken from him, and Sasuke spent every waking moment trying to make that right, somehow.

He thought that was sensible enough. At least, it made sense to him.

While the other academy students were more focused on absorbing the basics, via their daily lectures and doing class work. While others spent time with their families and enjoyed the luxuries that childhood could offer, sasuke trained, worked and bled every day, just go gain as much strength as he could.

Which brought him to today, waking up before everyone else, just to train until every inch of his body ached.

He got up, brushed his teeth, got dressed, and was ready for his morning training he had always done before it was time to leave for class.

He stared at his reflection in the mirror, the mirror showing him staring blankly at himself, in this empty house.

Once upon a time, he would get up, greet his father, his mother… His brother… and prepare for his day, while everyone else prepared for theirs.

His father would be enjoying his coffee, his mother would be preparing breakfast, and he would be sitting patiently at the table for his mother's delicious food.

But now those days were over, and Sasuke spent every waking minute of every day preparing to make his brother pay for his crimes.

There, perfectly sensible.

But today something was happening that was causing a deviation in his morning routine. Something that had been happening for every couple of days a couple of times before.

A deviation in the form of a persistent tap echoing from his bedroom window, likely thrown by one, very, very annoying classmate of his.

A constant pain in Sasuke's side for around a month now, Naruto was likely currently throwing rocks at his window, trying desperately to gain his attention with the pebbles from the ground below.

In the past he tried to ignore him, more than once leaving discreetly out the back door to escape the blonde nuisance. But always when he came back, he was annoyed to discover a scratched up window, and a pile of pebbles at his window and front door. Evidence that despite his departure, the harassment continued even in his absence, causing a fair amount of damage from his reckless and asinine behavior.

So there he stood, brushing his teeth in him his bathroom, trying hard to block out the rhythmic, constant impacts of rocks at his bedroom window. Knowing that if Naruto saw him leave, he would probably follow him, and leave his house alone at least.

Sasuke could feel a headache forming as the sound of rocks hitting his window continued, on loop.

He brought his hands to his head, massaging his headache by rubbing his temples, and despite himself, he couldn't help wonder what the hell the reason could be for accosting him for so long.

It was then that he realized that he was stuck at an impasse. Even if he could get him to follow and then break the trail, not only would that not stop his appearances at the crack of dawn, but he would also only meet him at the academy anyway.

Sasuke sighed, figuring that he might as well find out what he wants.

As he finished brushing his teeth, he finally opened his window, snatching another pebble out of the air as he confronted the intruder, "What!?" He yelled.

The sudden appearance and outburst startled naruto, but instead of the cocky response he was expecting, he just gawked at the uchiha, dropping the pebble that was about to be thrown.

To his credit, he was quick to recover, angrily pointing at him as he yelled far too loudly, "Fight me Sasuke-teme!"

Sasuke stared down at Naruto's grotesquely orange form, and was unimpressed to say the least. But, being sensible, he weighed his options.

If he said no, he was likely to continue his barrage on his windows until he tired himself out, and although he was patient, he definitely had his limits to the special brand of annoyance that Uzumaki Naruto had to offer.

He could always report him or get him in trouble, but knowing that naruto was the one that the whole village watched get chased down by ANBU for hours, that route was almost undoubtedly more trouble than it first appeared.

As Sasuke stared at the loud idiot in the scarce lighting, he began to notice little details that differed from how he normally appeared.

He looked like shit for one. Besides the standard awful orange cargo pants, and the black and orange jacket he wore every single day, there was a pallor to Naruto's skin that Sasuke originally blamed on the dark, misty early morning light.

But the longer he stared, the more sure he was that Naruto certainly looked ill. Surprising, since Sasuke had yet to see Naruto sick even once, but stranger things did happen.

He also saw how scratches and scuff marks dotted his abhorrent clothing, and a fine sheen of sweat coated his visible flesh told him that Naruto probably just finished his own training.

Despite himself, he felt a certain amount of renewed respect for the blonde for having a training schedule earlier than his.

And that respect died in a hole somewhere as soon as he noticed that the rocks he had been throwing were from his mother's rock garden. Once ordered and, at least to him, quite beautiful. Now with missing gaps in the polished, hand chosen stones.

They remained untouched since her demise out of respect for her. Until now at least.

He felt the immediate surge of anger, and steadily dragged himself back to a level of calm so he could properly dispose of his uninvited guest.

So he just pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed, "If I agree to spar you will you leave me in peace, and stop messing with the rocks from my mother's rock garden?" He said slowly.

Naruto's mouth opened to shout a certainly crude reply, but the blonde froze instead, his eyes lowering to confirm the fact that he was indeed right, smack damn in the middle of what once was probably a very organized, and ascetically pleasing rock garden. Now, although still pretty, now with random patches taken out after Naruto's repeated visits.

Naruto hastily moved to the left by a few feet, clearing the garden and standing safely on the cobblestone road.

After a moment of silence, Naruto growled in anger and shook a clenched fist at the Uchiha, "If by 'in peace' you mean 'in pieces' after I kick your ass then sure thing Dattebayo!"

Naruto seemed rather impressed with himself for that little comment, smirking to himself as he continued to stare at him.

Sasuke said nothing for a very long time, determined not to give him any credit whatsoever for his 'quick' recovery.

He gave a long sigh and walked away from the window to finish brushing his teeth. After he was done, he fully dressed in his usual blue and black gear, and proceeded down the steps to his front door. He opened it to reveal naruto, still appearing tired, but determined, with his hand clenched into fists at his sides.

"S-So, where are we gonna do this?" Naruto asked. Uncertain now that he was finally inside the Uchiha's home. Sasuke rolled his eyes, gesturing wordlessly to the interior of his house, and walking towards his father's old dojo. Apparently seeing where he was going, Sasuke felt air rush past him and saw Naruto hastily enter the room, looking around at the various ninja tools his father had littered around on display racks. Naruto reached for a sword on display when sasuke slapped his hands away, "Hands off. This is my Father's old room, don't touch anything." Naruto held his hand in anger at first, but upon mentioning the room's old inhabitant, Naruto's face dropped into what Sasuke belatedly realized was shame, they moved on, into the sparring room he and his father used when he was young to teach him the fundamentals of the Uchiha interceptor style.

Sasuke shook his head, ridding himself of the sudden sentimental memories, realizing that he hadn't actually been in this room for a long time. Before,, entering this room might have filled Sasuke with a sense of respectful reverence, but after the death of most of his clan, it was just another empty room.

And now he was using it to convince his classmate to leave him alone in his own house. Sasuke didn't care to think of what his family would've thought at that, but it made him feel a little bit better to know that his mother would've probably laughed out loud.

Sasuke walked along the edge of the sparing zone until he was opposite his opponent, sizing him up in his head. He didn't see any need to prepare, he was fairly certain that he was going to win. The last time they fought was a long time ago, and ended in less than a split second, with his fist hovering over his face.

But then again, that was several years ago, and although the class dunce couldn't possible have caught up to him in that amount of time.

Sasuke stopped his pacing, facing naruto, who stood directly in front of him, perched over, almost looking like he was about to run a race. His face was ecstatic, with a hint of mania coloring the excitement in his face. Sasuke, unperturbed, sounded the start of the match, "Whenever you're ready dead last."

With that last taunt, Naruto shot forward trying to take the uchiha down by his legs, but Sasuke simply sidestepped, sending out a leg at Naruto's knee to send the Uzumaki flying out the ring and on his belly, his limbs outstretched. If they were fighting at the academy, the instructor would've likely called the match in favor of Sasuke. But they weren't at the academy, and Naruto was certainly not in the sort of mood to obey those kind of rules right now.

Naruto launched himself up from the floor and ran at the Uchiha again, this time keeping his feet under him, slowing down as he encroached. Sasuke squared up this time, launching punches and kicks at an angle, keeping with the interceptor style of aiming for weak points in an effort of trying to force a mistake out of his opponent. Naruto tried to dodge and block where he could, but his speed was no match for Sasuke's. After a brief exchange, a punch caught the Uzumaki in the throat. Naruto turned away to cough and wheeze after the hit, and Sasuke capitalized by deciding to end the match with a quick jab to the temple.

Sasuke shot out his left to hit Naruto, but the Uzumaki kept turning, turning the spin into a kick that took the Uchiha off guard. Sasuke managed to block, but Sasuke winced at the strength of the kick.

'Damn, sloppy.' He admonished himself. Sasuke recovered quickly, and grabbed the offending limb, delivering a quick jab to Naruto's knee, causing him to shout out in pain. Naruto tried to pull the limb back, but Sasuke pulled harder, causing Naruto to fall backwards. Sasuke quickly took advantage and rushed in, pinning naruto to the floor.

Sasuke got into a position for an arm-bar, but Naruto reacted quickly, waiting for Sasuke to get within reach, and then slamming his head into Sasuke's. Dazed, Sasuke reeled back for a split second, rolling backwards to land on his feet, giving Naruto time to get up. Shaky on his feet, Naruto went on to the offensive, launching sweeping punches and kicks that were easy for him to dodge. He danced backwards, avoiding Naruto's sloppy taijutsu, and coming in when he saw gaps to deliver heavy, punishing blows to Naruto's head and body.

After delivering one especially sloppy roundhouse, Sasuke whipped his leg around, aiming his kick directly into Naruto kidney, knocking the blonde over. Naruto landed hard on his side, and Sasuke dove behind him, hooking his arm around his neck, putting naruto in a headlock. Naruto struggled and kicked, but eventually ran out of energy and slowed to a standstill. Sasuke waited for the inevitable tap, and waited, and waited, until he saw the blonde turn blue from lack of oxygen.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and let Naruto go. The blonde sputtered, choked and wheezed on the floor, as Sasuke got up to stand at the doorway.

Sasuke scoffed, 'He'll be fine.'

He stared at the blonde pick himself up, and felt a tinge of guilt seeing Naruto struggle on the ground. He didn't know too much about the dead last in his academy classroom, but he have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not know what people said about him.

A prankster, a demon, a good-for-nothing hooligan, pick one and you'd be hard pressed to find someone in Konoha to disagree with you. But it was also just as hard; if not more so; to find someone who'd tell you why the blond had so much bad blood with the people of this village, even though there was nothing cohesive to connect it to.

Sasuke watched naruto pull himself from the ground. No shame, or embarrassment on his face at all, noting like what he'd expect from all the other people he'd sparred with.

Sasuke widened his eyes as his gaze zeroed in on Naruto's face, searching for something he knew was coming.

'There!' He thought. On Naruto's face, for a split second, was the twisted, furious look that he expected to see on anyone else's face but Naruto's. He thought, no, he knew he saw the distinct red color bleed into the Uzumaki's sickeningly bright blue eyes. And it was moments like these he felt a sudden and intense desire for his clan's bloodline. To fully see and memorize moments as fleeting as these.

In that moment, Sasuke saw the purest form of rage, patient, volatile, and also somewhat insidious. It was a look that he likened to how he felt about, him, with a hint of an old forgotten memory of that night. A memory he wished he could forget.

Surprisingly, he knew the feeling, without even knowing what exactly made the Uzumaki feels such anger, he understood. The The anger, along with a tinge of despair and helplessness reminded him of something familiar. Like the intense stare of someone fighting, suffering, not for the sake of power alone, but for a purpose.

And then in the blink of an eye, it was gone. Naruto blearily looked to Sasuke, and instead of the intense anger he saw not one second ago, there was the petulant, mulish expression sasuke likened to that of a child when something hadn't gone their way.

Sometimes it was hard to accept that they were even the same age, let alone in the same class.

But despite himself, something in the blonde intrigued him, despite the fact that the allure was always wiped away the second Naruto opened his mouth.

He and Naruto weren't friends, and they likely never would be, so it wasn't really his place to ask something that was probably personal.

After a long second of silent staring, Naruto eventually got up, and limped-walked to the door. Not even sparing a parting glance as he left the Uchiha's residence. He had the good manners to close the door, probably heading home to clean himself up before class.

Sasuke watched him through the window as he slowly limped away, wondering if somehow, Naruto experienced the same thing, or at least something similar, as him.

Sasuke's eyes softened, his gaze fixed on the weird boy's retreating form, 'I hope not...' He thought.

And, feeling surprised, he realized he meant that.

He really, really did.


The ominous light blue glow emanating from his desk lit up the room in the dark overcast of the early morning. Sarutobi Hiruzen might normally find himself in bed at this hour, but he ended up working through the night on that cruelly endless paperwork.

He stared into the crystal ball, he manipulated its edges, twisting and turning the visible perspective until he found what he was looking for.

The glowing orb showed him a young boy trudging, almost limping down the road. The bright blue eyes of the boy looked intense, almost as if haunted. His hair was a mess, and his clothes were covered in marks and scuffs.

"Another Nightmare Hokage-sama." Said a voice behind him.

Hiruzen nodded sadly, his eyebrows furrowed with worry, "It appears your worry was not unfounded Ms. Masako."

A form stepped out of the shadows, stepping right behind the Sandaime, peering over his shoulder to look at the crystal ball.

She frowned, "I had hoped I was wrong."

He glanced over at the Chunin instructor, watching as he face became a facsimile of his own, the worry on her face as plain as day.

"Merely a sparring session with the young Uchiha. ANBU are tailing him now, he's not in any danger." He said, trying to placate her worry.

Masako Rei briefly turned to him, looking dubious, barley sparing him a glance before turning her eyes back to the crystal ball.

After a moment of watching him she sighed, "I'll talk to him at the academy."

Hiruzen turned to regard the young teacher. Finding a replacement for Iruka was a nearly impossible task. The boy, no. The man was irreplaceable, and yet the students. Some in particular, needed guidance. Proper guidance, and not just any chunin would do.

He nodded to her, and she bowed, taking her leave. Walking quietly out of the room Hardly making a sound, even to his veteran ears.

'Impressive.' He remarked to himself. But then he shouldn't have been surprised.

He did send the best after all.


The sound of his unsteady footsteps scraping against the dirt road was the only sound that greeted Naruto as he slowly headed down the road towards his apartment.

Sounds like the wildlife around him awaking from their slumber drifted in, and out of his awareness, as he makes his way across the village, dull pain throbbing from his leg and face, ebbing, then shooting up his leg with every step.

It was then that Naruto realized it was probably a mistake to challenge Sasuke after his training rather than before.

'But it's not my fault that that arrogant bastard chose (today) as the day he'd finally spar me...' Naruto thought. He'd been coming over for weeks, first knocking on his door, eventually escalating to throwing rocks when he got fed up with the Uchiha's lack of an answer.

Naruto winced as he remembered the encounter, recalling the moment when Sasuke asked him to stop defacing his dead mother's rock garden. Not one of his finest moments he'd admit, but its not like he could've known about that. Its not like Uchiha Sasuke was entirely open about his brutally massacred family.

Naruto shook his head, instantly regretting the movement as a new wave of pain made his neck and back throb in pain. He let out a groan at the movement, making an effort to stiffen his back to prevent movement.

The pain was beginning to fade now. Too slowly if you asked him, but he could feel the soothing, familiar heat settle over his body, slowly healing his injuries.

He continued walking, eventually coming off the road to the Uchiha district, and into the marketplace. He looked around at the empty expanse, seeing the closed shops and stands feeling a little bit lonely, but also comforted at the image of the closed shops and empty streets.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, scowling at the abnormally empty streets, 'No people to glare at me all the time. It may be cold as hell and pretty lonely, but at least it's quiet.'

It was a double edged sword though, the quiet was pretty relaxing, but it also opened the floodgates for Naruto's true enemy.

His own mind, and the dark betraying thoughts that came with it.

He did his best to focus on what was in front of him, moving deliberately, and steadily forward. His feet shuffling orderly towards his apartment, towards the sleep his body desperately needed with an urgency similar to his lungs' need for oxygen.

But it wasn't enough to deter the mixed, and caustic feelings swirling in his gut. He felt a swell of anger flow through him like a tide of hot magma, the emotion making him more and more irritated, but also strengthening the chakra that healed him.

He growled as the control over his mind wavered, he knew he shouldn't have lost to sasuke. He was stronger than that, better than that. He'd worked hard enough, and long enough to at least stand a chance, he'd just gotten lucky.

With the anger came a renewed sense of energy, and he lengthened his stride, putting more effort into his steps as the rage empowered him. He sighed as a warm, jagged spike of energy filled him quickly. Feeling relief at the rapidly healing stiff muscles and sore joints. Feeling the sour emotions empower him, the anger of a loss, and the regret of not knocking Sasuke the fuck out the second the fight started.

'It's like he always says, 'Let anger fuel your battles, and sweeten your victories.' He thought, knowing exactly what the cruel old bastard was going to say…

Suddenly Naruto felt another presence in his mind awaken, 'Speak of the devil...'

"Your loss was unfortunately inevitable. But even so, your display was truly disgraceful."

Naruto clenched his fists, forcing his feet to walk even faster, 'Not now you stupid old fox.' He huffed, trying desperately to outrun the voice.

There was a pause, and Naruto hoped in vain that maybe the voice was going to indulge his request, "You're not as strong as you should be, not even close."

The young blonde gritted his teeth, feeling his face heat up, the embarrassment welling up inside him, "Well if someone would help me get stronger, I guess I would've won huh?" Naruto ground out.

"Soon Naruto, but it's still too soon. You are young. Weak. You have much at my disposal already, if you had merely used it against that wretched Uchiha-"

Naruto's irritated groan cut him off, "Then (you) would've won against him. Or at least (us), but not me. What's the point of getting stronger if I'm just going to depend on you all the time?"

The fox gave a short huff at that, "True enough, but if we are not meant to work together, then what is the point in you using my chakra?"

Naruto forced his weak and sore limbs to (move), "Why can't you just...I don't know, use your chakra to make me stronger like you said? That 'infusing thing..."

"You are too weak and feeble. And much too young. If I gave you my chakra now-"

"Goddammit, I KNOW!" Naruto shouted out loud, cutting off the fox's warning.

The voice was silent for a while, and while it lasted, Naruto was grateful for the silence. Unfortunately, it came back, "Stupid boy, If you knew, why did you ask?"

Naruto growled in anger, and the Voice laughed at him.

"Soon enough, you will be strong enough to do whatever you please. You could beat that disgusting Uchiha to an ugly red pulp whenever you like. But now is the time for training and preparation."

Naruto nodded stiffly, feeling the anger drain his emotions more and more.

"While I do really enjoy putting your inadequacies on display, I believe you have some company…"

He felt the heat fade, leaving him as cold and empty as the cold, wet street before him.

He stopped and took a moment to sigh as he looked up. Already missing the silence, knowing that it would be a while before he heard it again as he stared at the tall ANBU standing over him.

She was tall, even for a grown up. And he recognized the intricate purple and black patterns that decorated her mask with her namesake, A long beak emblazoned on her mask.

He stared at the ANBU that Kyuubi often quite affectionately, called, 'The Nagging Hummingbird'. Probably a reference to her almost suspicious amount of appearances. Her actual name was Tori. Or at least, her codename was, and she was the most recent ANBU assigned to watch him by the Hokage.

He'd had a couple of ANBU come to watch over him the last few years, and he knew of only two that deliberately made time to speak with him, or otherwise make themselves known.

The first was apparently a rookie, and made a point to appear if only to tell him how much he didn't care about him, and how if harm ever did come to him, he'd be content to let him die rather than save him.

Tori was his replacement, the former lasting less than a day after his assignment. Naruto had guessed that Tori had something to do with it, although he had no Idea why.

The 'nagging' part of Kyuubi's description of her was also pretty on the nose. Not only with her appearing to him very often, but also acting as somewhat of a babysitter.

Not that he ever really needed one...

Her daily tasks seemed to include spying on him, and following him wherever he went. The ANBU stared for a long moment, the only sound in the empty marketplace was the soft sounds of crickets in the early morning.

For a moment, Naruto wondered if the ANBU was ever going to speak until finally, the tall intimidating presence broke the silence.

"So, how did it go?" The ANBU said. The tone was monotonous as usual, but there was a hint of sarcasm there that almost made him forget the reality of the sparring match's outcome.

Almost...

Naruto's already bad mood was rapidly approaching 'pissed the fuck off' territory, and he chose to say nothing, marching angrily past the ANBU and back on the road to his apartment.

'One of these days I'm gonna beat that prissy bastard, just you wait dattebayo!' He thought fiercely.

He sped up a little more as he headed closer and closer to his apartment, and his soft, warm bed. The ANBU followed behind him, deathly silent, and Naruto had to look back a few times to double check to see if she was still following.

Unfortunately, contrary to her training making her deathly silent, she always was, which probably meant that the ANBU still needed something from him. They normally only stayed with him when they needed something. And it was almost never the other way around.

He smirked as he decided to wait her out until she spoke up, and eventually she seemed to get sick of the silence and finally spoke, "The Hokage wishes to see you after class."

Naruto stopped, he froze mid-step and stood still on the road, staring straight ahead. He felt the cold fear seep in from his feet to his head. He looked up and saw the path wind to the right where he knew it was only a short jog up to the lower income apartment housing where he knew his was. All he wanted to do was run there, collapse behind the door, and sleep until it was time for class.

The very thought of meeting the old man again after so long chilled him to the bone. He was certain he was still furious with him. There was no doubt. He wouldn't be surprised if there were a thousand ANBU waiting for him there, waiting to take him away where he'd never be seen again.

All dreams of getting stronger, becoming Hokage, all gone in an instant.

"...Naruto?"

He flinched, and flinched again when he noticed the ANBU crouching in front of him now, barely a foot away, inspecting him. He felt his neck and cheeks flush in embarrassment and he stepped backwards, distancing himself from her.

The ANBU rose smoothly, saying nothing, still waiting for an answer.

Naruto felt his heart pound, and was about to ask if he could refuse when he heard the familiar growl grow in volume at the back of his mind.

He felt the alien heat and anger fill the core of his being, as well as the sudden vertigo that came from being forcibly dragged to the seal on his stomach.

For an instant, there was the same kind of black emptiness that would greet him as he slept, then there was the organic, pungent stench of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's warm breath as the great fox growled fiercely in his face. Twin suns in the form of the nine tailed fox's glowing red eyes bared down on him, and suddenly the thin rusty bars felt as insignificant and insufficient as threads of silk bending to the whims of a raging storm.

"Pathetic." The Kyuubi spat, venom dripping from the single word.

His acerbic tone made Naruto's panic spike, "What did I-?"

The Kyuubi's face scrunched up in disgust, "Silence." The fox growled.

Naruto obeyed, albeit begrudgingly, as he stared back as the fox stared him down.

There was something instinctually terrifying about the nine tailed fox's gaze, like his body knew that he was prey to the creature that currently stared at him through the bars. Eternally angry, but always looking like he desperately wanted a nap.

Which, to be fair, he probably did.

You'd figure after living with the fox in his mind he'd get used to him. And while he supposed that it was partially true, the fox's stare always had a way of making him very uneasy.

He tried not to let it bother him, attempting to stand tall in the face of the menacing form of the gargantuan fox, but something told him that if he could see himself right now, he would know that he was failing miserably.

The fox searched for something in Naruto, and apparently satisfied with what he found, he nodded minutely, and his scowl went back to normal.

Nevertheless, the fox continued to stare, "It's not what you did, its what you are not doing."

The blond scratched his head, now thoroughly lost, "But I'm not doing anything."

The fox sighed again, deeper this time, and spoke again, more angrily this time, "I know that you dense brat. I am asking you why a jinchurriki, a boy made a monster, is quaking in his boots the second he hears that he is going to meet with a decrepit old man."

An old feeling of indignation rises in his heart in defense of a man Naruto once considered A surrogate grandfather, but a memory flashes in his mind that stops the outburst before it comes.

A memory of his old teacher Iruka, then pain, darkness and the stink of dried blood.

Naruto shakes his head violently, "He's not just an old man..."

Naruto looks up to the fox, his eyes pleading and helpless, "...He can hurt us." He says quietly.

"The Hokage is supposed the strongest guy in the whole village! What am I supposed to do if he decides to hurt us like—?" The young blonde cut himself off, staring off into the corner of the cage, knowing that even though he didn't allow himself to finish, they both knew what he meant.

The fox stared at Naruto as he hummed in thought, the vibration feeling like a miniature earthquake to him.

He seemed to mull this over and eventually he lowered himself to the floor of his prison. Growling softly as he lay his massive body and head on the floor.

"To your credit, the old man certainly is a problem..." The fox waved a hand dismissively. "...But not one to worry about right now, the old man cares about you in some, strange, deluded way. So I doubt he will harm you or me for now. Just trust in me, and in yourself, and you will be fine."

Naruto nodded slowly, his countenance skeptical and wary as he does. The fox sees this and sits up straighter, "Naruto, come past the bars." Naruto looks up and obeys, walking past the old boundary without question. He walks forward until he stands only a foot away from the gargantuan paw of the nine tailed fox.

The Kyuubi stooped downwards, letting his head dangle in front of his body so that his nose was barely a hairs breadth away from Naruto.

"What have I taught you?" The question is asked so gently he wonders how it came from the demon fox, nevertheless, he answers dutifully.

"Don't trust anyone." He chirped brightly.

"..Anyone but..."

Naruto nodded excitedly, smiling a bit, "Anyone but you."

The Kyuubi nods his head , "So, trust me, and you'll be fine."

Naruto nodded again, smiling widely at his humongous orange guardian. Kyuubi smirked, "Now answer the silly girl in the mask."

And in an instant, Naruto's perspective of looking into the glowing red eyes of the kyuubi no kitsune vanished, replaced by the plain, unmoving mask of the ANBU known as Tori.

Naruto reeled at the sudden change the sense of vertigo almost overwhelming him, until his body suddenly reminded of his injured leg, the cold, and the exhaustion hanging over him like a storm-cloud.

Naruto blinked, almost having forgotten the question that was asked of him, but ultimately he remembered, and then fear came back, dulled only by the conversation with his ornery, and temperamental mentor.

Naruto takes a deep breath in, then out, and fixes the ANBU with a look that conveys the exhaustion he currently felt, "I'm assuming that I don't really have a choice do I?"

"On the contrary, Lord Hokage instructed me to tell you that the date is completely up to you, so if you choose to postpone—"

"I do!" Naruto interjected fiercely. The ANBU didnt flinch at the sudden noise, she only stood there, staring at him.

Naruto continued his walk, with the ANBU trailing behind him, silent as a shadow. It was one of the things he really hated about these ANBU types, it was really hard not to jump at every sound they made. It nearly always came out of nowhere, and it was surely going to give him a heart attack one day.

After a few more moments of silent travel the ANBU pipes up again, "You need to work on your speed." Naruto falters, and would've faceplanted if not for the ANBU grabbing his shoulder to keep him from falling.

'Just like that...'

With a sigh, he calmed himself as he turned to the ANBU, "What makes you say something like that?"

Tori turned to him, "I watched your fight."

Naruto said nothing, not necessarily surprised, more so a little caught off guard by her blunt way of telling him.

Tori was Naruto's favorite ANBU that watched him by far. Not like that said too much, since he only had the chance to talk with a few ANBU in his short life. But if he had to name the reason, it was probably because of how blunt she was.

There weren't many hoops to jump through, no games or questions with no right answers.

Just how he liked it, simple, just like him.

So Naruto was much more comfortable talking with the ANBU as they walked. As they talked, naruto felt his leg gradually heal, and he was able to walk mostly without a limp as they grew closer to his apartment. They walked up the stair to reach his door, naruto was about to turn the knob to enter when Tori spoke up again.

"I could show you some drills if you want."

Naruto's eyes lit up in excitement, and almost agreed immediately, when the fox's words echoed in his mind.

'Don't trust anyone.'

The offer was tempting, extremely so actually. None of the instructors ever really showed him how to do anything, every taijustu stance and tip, every ninjutsu, nearly all the hand signs and stuff like that he taught himself.

Naruto remembered the long hours spent practicing in his apartment. The arguments he had with his old teachers when he tried to ask for instruction. The punishments he endured just for asking a question.

He felt his hands fall to his sides, 'Kyuubi said not to trust anyone, but I'm not trusting her, she's just gonna show me some cool stuff that'll let me beat Sasuke…' Naruto thought hard on his tenants words, letting his hands clench at his sides.

"Maybe…" He settled for, and Naruto could feel the frustration build again, like he was doing something stupid, something he knew was the wrong thing to do. Naruto hated feeling stupid, and something about the way he was doing this felt off.

Naruto didn't give the ANBU time to give an answer, opening the door quickly and rushing inside.

"Don't overslee-"

The door slammed in the kunoichi's face, which he definitely knew was going to bite him in the ass later, but the healed cuts and injuries definitely came at a price, and Naruto held his back to the door for a moment, before sliding down to the ground. Exhaustion fully setting in as he sat.

He rubbed his face with his hands, getting the distinct feeling that he had yet to make one good decision today.

Again.

He let his hands drop, and for an instant, he saw a flash of red and orange, and a brief echo of fear passed through him. It was like ripples in still water, and his body shuddered as the memory went by in his mind.

And then he was alone. The sudden feeling was gone as soon as it came, and Naruto was left empty, feeling as if he was all alone in the world. He felt tears prickle his eyes, and he shook his head violently, trying desperately to make them go away.

He felt the tears form anyway though, first out of deep frustration, and then despair. He wiped his eyes hard, reminding himself of his promise.

'No. No more crying, it doesn't fucking help anything, or anyone.' He thought fiercely, meaning every word.

He waited a while, and the feelings passed eventually, leaving behind the deep ache of exhaustion in their wake. He seriously considered the merits and consequences of falling asleep right there and then, but the alluring look of his angelically, perfectly white, and soft looking bed won him over.

He lurched upwards, and stayed on his feet just long enough to flop bonelessly to the bed. It didn't matter that he probably smelled awful, looked like shit, and was in his full outfit, but the bed was soft, and he was so, so tired.

That was all that mattered as he let the world melt away into darkness.


Naruto heard the sound of alarm beeping, and lazily thrust a hand out of the warmth and comfort of his bed sheets to silence the terrible contraption. His eyes blinking open to see the clock's time.

0600

It was about time for him to get up, but he definitely prepped his things to go for days like this, so he should be good to go. His breakfast was probably packaged in the fridge, his towel, his change of clothes… Everything was prepped and ready to go.

And after all, even on a normal day, he'd be getting up in about 10 minutes, so he easily had about 30.

So he closed his eyes again, enjoying the healing warmth and comfort of his bed, then he opened his eyes to check the time again.

0649

...Well shit.


Tori heard the clamor about 10 minutes before the academy was supposed to start. A large crash followed immediately by the rustling of clothes, books and other items followed by a torrential storm of curses.

She sighed, getting up from her chair, closing her book and putting it away in a secret pouch under her uniform. She walked smoothly over to the refrigerator and pulled out naruto's lunch, having prepared the night before. She made some alterations she believed were necessary, removing the (4) extra ramen containers for some nutritional fruits and vegetables.

A split second after placing the brown paper bag on the table, the door to his bedroom burst open, Naruto tumbled out in a storm made of sheets of paper, and miscellaneous pieces of clothing and dust.

Her years of ANBU training and conditioning just barley gave her the strength she needed to keep herself from laughing, and she chose instead to adopt a stern expression behind her mask just to be certain a stray giggle wouldn't escape.

Naruto gazed up embarrassed for a moment, before getting up to continue his rush for supplies and books.

Tori shook her head, "You know eventually I'm going to have to stop endorsing these early training sessions if you're just going to be late for class."

Naruto murmured a barely coherent apology, focusing his energy on finding the rest of the items he needs for the academy.

Tori sighed, figuring that this conversation was better for later.

As he moved she could see bandages and wrapping underneath his clothes, obviously from the hasty and lousy application, was done himself. She narrowed her eyes, noticing the healed scratches and cuts from his match with sasuke, another issue to be brought up later she supposed.

Naruto yelled out in relief finding his kunai holster the had been lodged underneath a chair in his rush to get ready attaching it quickly, rushing to put on his boots on his way out the door.

"Shit! Rei-sensei is gonna kill me!"

Tori rolled her eyes behind her mask, "Language, and no she won't. It is likely you'll be punished accordingly but it would be treason for her to murder you."

Naruto shook his head, "No Tori-chan, you don't understand. She really hates tardiness, she once kicked a kid out of the academy for being late like twice! And this way past my second time. I'm totally dead!"

He took that moment to rush out the door, yelling a hurried, "Bye Tori!", on his way out the door.

The ANBU glanced at the clock on the wall, '46 seconds, impressive…'

Tori's praise soon curdled into irritation when she noticed the absolute disaster that the apartment had been reduced to, as well as the still remaining brown bag she left out for him to see.

Tori stepped to the side to get a better look at the room, spying sheets of paper covering the room, some graded, and some not.

Tori felt a vein throb underneath her mask, 'So in summary, not only do I have to deal with the huge mess of miscellaneous objects he made in his hurry, he also left the door open, and missed his lunch, and his homework…'

Tori heaved a huge sigh, regretting her existence for a solid minute before grabbing the bag with just a tad more force than strictly necessary, and vaulting out the window.


Naruto ran at top speed, dust trailing behind him along with scraps of paper from the unorganized bundle of notebooks and textbooks he held loosely in his arms.

'Shit shit shit shit shit!'

'Stop with the theatrics, the Hokage wouldn't allow you to be kicked out from the academy, so quit your whining.'

Naruto just ran harder, feeling his legs burn with exertion as he sent a hasty thought to the cranky fox, 'And just what am I supposed to do if I stay? Even if I'm not expelled, you know how she is!'

'Now that, I cannot help you with. I will send any chakra needed to heal any injuries you receive.'

'Well thanks a hell of a lot for that!'


Masako Rei prepped her classroom for the day with a gentle smile on her face, and a joyous feeling in her heart. She glanced at the schedule for the day, and noted the need for extra kunai for the target practice section. She looked up, seeing at this point, most of the students had already arrived, neatly ordered in rows, quiet as church mice. Just as she expected of final year academy students. She smiled widely in satisfaction at seeing the young ninja and kunoichi hopefuls acting as such. She opened her mouth to welcome the class.

"Good-"

The door burst open with a loud boom, obliterating the well maintained silence Rei had up until now maintained, and simultaneously turning every head to the panting blonde in the doorway. He stood leaning on the doorway, catching his breath for a moment before bowing deeply, letting the bag on his back forward, dumping the contents of his hastily closed book bag in the process.

Rei sighed out the reminder of her greeting, "- morning..." And gestured to the young uzumaki, pointing at him, and then to the class.

"Very... Nice, of you to join us Naruto-kun." The teacher declared. She almost said, 'wise', hinting at the possible repurcussions she'd threatened since she first took over this class. But she decided to be nice today. She and Naruto needed to have a talk, and it would'nt help to begin their conversation with punishment.

She looked him up and down, 'He looks like he's been punished enough anyhow.'

Naruto flinched at her words and bowed deeply, "S-Sorry, Rei-Sensei..." He quickly gathered his things as quick as he could, speedily walking to his seat.

"Oh, and Naruto-kun?"

Naruto flinched again, turning around to see a brown paper bag held in between the brunette kunoichi's fingers.

Rei's smile widened a bit, "I was told to deliver this to one Uzumaki Naruto, so during lunch period. So come and meet me at said time to earn it back."

'No punishments, but a little bit of teasing never hurt anyone. He still was late after all. Can't let that slide, or ill give off the impression that tardiness results in only a slap on the wrist. Better to give off the impression that he will be punished at a later date.'

Naruto flinched for a third time, but nodded quickly and headed back to his desk. A small voice cooing a taunting, "Oooooh..." rang out, but was cut short by a severe look from Rei, as he stared down the Inuzuka boy who spoke out. There was no laughter or jeering of any kind, only a tense anticipation of a worse fate befalling the next one that spoke out.

Once Naruto was settled back into his seat, Rei turned back to the board, and started the lesson.

"First topic, treaties and allegiances between the great shinobi villages in the second shinobi war..."

Naruto sunk into his chair as he sat, the morning's sprint from his apartment sapping a fair bit of energy from him. He was nowhere near exhausted, but it wasn't a great start to what was supposed to be just a normal day.

Naruto sighed, 'And now I'm gonna be in trouble after all that effort to not be late!'

That was he got for actually caring about school. It always tended to bite him in the ass.

Naruto shook his head, figuring it was better to be the good boy for today to avoid getting in any more trouble. So he pulled out a pen and paper and tried really hard to make it look like he was writing notes, and definitely not drawing a picture of him as a badass jounin with a thousand powerful jutsu and a huge sword.

As began 'writing', Naruto couldn't help but notice a certain spiky haired Nara already fast asleep, breathing with a certain silent, practiced ease.

He envied the sneaky bastard, but knew that either Tori or Rei would definitely eviscerate him if he got caught sleeping in class. So he resigned himself to merely waiting out the horribly boring lecture, to meet his inevitably painful punishment with at least some of his dignity.

Naruto took a deep breath in, then out, doing his best to sit through the class, when he felt a soft object hit his cheek then fall to his desk. He looked down and saw the eraser from a pencil on his desk, then looked to the left and saw his blonde female classmate, a devious smirk on her lips.

Ino sat lazily, leaning forwards on her desk, a hand on her cheek as she stared at him with her pale blue orbs stared at him with a bored expression. Naruto sighed again, and consciously turned his head forwards, doing his best to not push his luck with his strict teacher today of all days.

Naruto did his best to whisper as low as he could, as to not attract the ire of his teacher for the second time in just as many minutes.

"Not now Ino, trying really hard not to get in trouble today." He whispered, keeping his teeth clamped shut to avoid Rei spotting him talking during class.

"Oh Naruto-kun..." Ino purred. "If you hadn't already noticed, you haven't been doing all that well in that department."

Naruto rolled his eyes, still not turning his head, "Yeah, I know. While normally I'm all for paying attention to literally anything else, I just want to make it to lunch right now. We can talk later."

Ino groaned, "But today is like the worst day you could've chosen to be boring like this, we've been learning about international politics and history stuff all week. I'm tapped out on this stuff."

"Glad to know that you've been paying some attention at least."

At the front of the class, their sensei stared at Ino, an unimpressed frown on her face. There's no giggling, no mocking at all, only silence as Ino scratches the back of her head, laughing nervously.

"Hehe, sorry sensei."

Rei stares at her for a moment longer before returning to the lesson, while Naruto flashes her the best, 'I-told-yo-so' smirk he can manage. Ino follows naruto's lead and doesn't turn to look at him, but she certainly doesn't look amused.

'Serves her right for trying to get me in trouble like that.' Naruto though smugly. Today might've not been his brightest so far, but at least he could count that as a win.

Naruto turned his attention back to the impossibly boring lesson and sighed, 'Small victories I guess. Just another day in the wonderful life of Uzumaki Naruto.'


On the other side of the village, a man some once called the 'God of Shinobi' stood deathly still in front of a wide window, gazing over the large and expansive village of Konohagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the leaves. The man stood dressed in the familiar Hokage robes, a long flowing white robe, along with a dark red inner garment, bound with more white cloth.

Eventually, the old man broke from his still reprieve and reached into his cloak to retrieve his old pipe and some tobacco.

Sarutobi Hiruzen picked out some of his best tobacco today, and he stuffed it excitedly into his pipe, channeling just smidge of chakra into his hand, using a small fire technique to light it.

This tobacco was called Kōryo, a gift he received from the clan hidden in the grass some time ago. It's rare and aged to perfection, giving a sweet and smoky taste, while still maintaining a bitter note that made this particular herb his favorite to smoke.

While most men would save such a gift for special, cheerful or joyous occasions, Hiruzen saved this one for times when deep thought was required. His favorite vice was perfect for helping to think of alternate strategies and the consequences of failure to help him reach the wisest decisions.

The last time he brought out his favorite tobacco was almost four years ago when the integrity of his village's power and infrastructure was put at risk as the result of a splinter cell operation within the village.

As the conflicting emotions from the memory hit him, he took a deep drag in, letting the warm smoke warm his cold insides as the details from that sad day came to him, running through his mind like the smoke that filled his lungs. Hiruzen still wasn't sure that he made the right call, but sometimes there is no 'right call'. Only the best one can manage.

Although it was quite hard to imagine that his decision had been the right one, especially when the consequences of such action seemed so apparent now.

Hiruzen felt a presence approach him in his office, silent, and well trained. He would have felt concern or fear from such an approach if he didn't recognize the person that appearing to be sneaking up on him.

The form kneeled before the desk, speaking in a flat tone,"Hokage-sama, shinobi registration number 9173682, codename 'Tori' reporting as ordered sir."

Hiruzen took another long drag from his pipe, 'Perfectly on time, as usual.'

Hiruzen turned slightly to see Tori, one of his more higher ranking ANBU, one who specializes in espionage, assassination, interrogation and public relations.

Hardly a second after her appearance, the doors to the room opened, and in walked Shimura Danzo in all his glory. Head of the shinobi council, and confidante to the Hokage.

Danzo walked slowly, his cane pounding rhythmically on the soft carpet as he strode purposefully into his office. Hiruzen nodded at the sight of his old friend, and turned around to sit down at his desk.

He extends a wrinkled hand to his old friend, "Ah Danzo-san, thank you for coming."

Danzo snorted at his old friend, "You have no need to thank me. Attending meetings such as this is only proper for a council seat member."

Danzo walks over to the chair directly to the left of the ANBU and sits down, saying nothing more. Merely squinting at his old teammate in a way that reminded him of his old sensei, Tobirama Senju.

'Ah, if only you were here sensei, maybe you would know what to make of this mess I've made.'

Hiruzen removed the pipe from his lips exhaling a large plume of smoke from the side of his mouth, "Are either of you aware of why I asked for your presence today?"

Tori rose, snapping to attention, but said nothing, while the renown war hawk of Konoha responded with gusto, "Of course, we are here to decide the course of history, and our village, by deciding the fate of Uzumaki Naruto."


A/N- Betas requested. Hope you enjoyed the story so far. This'll be a LONG one lol.