A/N:Um, I think I'm going to do a one-year time skip just because I don't really have any idea on what to write other than missions, and I mean I'm obviously going to continue to write them but I just figured that I should start thinking about a way I'm going write out the next couple of years
I don't really think I'm going to start making movements on Satsuki and Naruto's relationship until maybe like the wave arc or something so yeahhh. (When they are 12 or so)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
"Normal Talking"
'Normal Thinking'
"Biju/Summon/Jutsu Talking"
'Biju/Summon/Jutsu Thinking'
-1 Year Later-
Naruto was currently 9 years of age, standing at a height of 5 feet, still dressed in the same outfit he had worn the day he got his headband.
It had been one year since Naruto had taken his first mission, and in that time he had only done more and gotten stronger.
His mission record with Kakashi was quite amazing for a genin, completing 36 C-ranks, 22 B-ranks, and 8 A-ranks. Though initially, the A ranks were simply an upgrade from a B or C rank that went bad, though still an A rank nonetheless.
During this one year, his skill went to that of a mid-level jounin, though someone like Kakashi was still far ahead of him in terms of skill.
Naruto had been trying to find a way to use the lightning dragons without wasting so much chakra. His goal was to draw natural lightning from thunder clouds during a storm to supplement the power and use chakra to guide the Jutsu. It essentially took almost no chakra to use, but the prep time took quite a bit. In the absence of a storm or something similar, the user would have to create the storm themselves via Katon.
Naruto was having trouble creating the storm, due to the lack of knowledge on fire Jutsu, as well as the absence of the affinity. But despite that he was determined, this Jutsu would most likely be an S-rank, considering his lightning dragons were already An A-ranked Jutsu. The destructive power of this version was almost ten-fold in regards to his lightning dragon.
Despite using most of his free time on that Jutsu, he was still working on the Hiraishin and had been making ample progress. Naruto had deciphered two of the four seals on it and was halfway through the third. Using shadow clones was quite the kicker for Naruto, using them to study fuinjutsu at his apartment while doing his physical training elsewhere.
Anyway, currently, we find our blonde protagonist at the training ground speaking with Kakashi.
"So I'm basically going into a foreign country alone, doing an exam, with a high possibility of death alone," Naruto stated, stressing the word alone
Kakashi waved his hand nonchalantly while reading his porn. Yes porn, Naruto had realized what Mikoto said about him being a closet perv was true. Although the man really didn't try to hide it…
"Ehhh, you'll be fine, you could do it alone, but of course you have a team as well." Kakashi waved off, his eyes still glued to the book. Naruto wondered just what was so great about it.
"So where am I even going?" He asked.
"Well I don't know where the exams are being held this time, though last time it was Suna, so either us or Taki," Kakashi answered
Before Naruto could speak Kakashi interrupted, "Though before we can even think about the exams we have a mission,"
"What rank?" Naruto asked.
"Hmm, well this mission is quite difficult, it's an A-rank with the possibility of it being an S-rank. We are to leave tomorrow out to the western portion of Kusa…" Kakashi responded, making Naruto nod.
"I don't like Kusa ever since that giant thing." Naruto shivered
"Maa Maa, if you're still scared of bugs you should think about academy teaching," Kakashi said, laughing slightly.
Naruto gained a tick mark, "Hey! I'd like to see you taking a piss outside in the middle of the night, and then having a giant centipede come from the ground you're peeing on and try to eat you!" Naruto shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.
Kakashi just waved it off; still laughing.
Naruto just slumped and started brooding.
After about a minute or so Naruto broke the ice, "So what are the mission details?" Naruto asked
Kakashi snapped his book shut and turned towards the blonde. "We are to deliver an important set of documents to the leader of Kusa, the problem is that a bunch of Ame nin are most likely going to pursue us in an attempt to take it," Kakashi answered.
Naruto got confused, "So then why is it A-rank?" He asked
Kakashi's eyes hardened, "Because that mission is merely a cover-up, the real goal is to...assassinate the leader of Kusa." Kakashi informed
Naruto's eyes went wide, "Why would we do that! Kusa is neutral, wouldn't that be a transgression that could spark a war." Naruto hissed.
Kakashi nodded, "While war is a problem indeed, the leader of Kusa has already started 'transgressions', he attempted to assassinate a higher up in Hi no Kuni."
"Attempted?" Naruto asked
"Yes attempted, it was covered up to avoid a national incident," Kakashi answered
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "If we killed the leader wouldn't we start a national incident."
"If we kill him, it wouldn't matter anyway, considering we have all the proof we need to end his life, but seeing as we didn't do anything yet, it doesn't matter anyway." Kakashi smirked, "Not to mention, who in their right mind would launch an attack on one of the great five,"
"What about the political backlash, what happens if we do get caught?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi 'Hmm'd' In thought, "Well, what would you say if Konoha wasn't indirectly involved," Kakashi responded.
Naruto widened his eyes while going through several different scenarios in his head
"Knowing that the Ame-nin might attempt to steal the scroll from us, we can say they tampered with it without us knowing and then the blame would shift to Ame, if we get caught that is…" Naruto muttered in surprise.
Kakashi smiled at the boy's ingenuity, "Precisely Naruto, this is probably the dirtiest mission you have ever done so far, normally one like this wouldn't even be a remote thought for a genin." Kakashi said
Naruto smirked, "Probably because I'm that awesome." Naruto said only to get bopped on the head.
"Idiot, don't let this get to your head," Kakashi scolded.
Naruto smirked inwardly, "I'm sorry Kakashi-senpai, did you say something?" Naruto asked, feigning innocence.
Kakashi face-faulted and cried anime tears at having his own saying get used against him.
Naruto snickered at the silver-haired jounin.
Naruto's laughter slowly died down and Kakashi decided to speak up, "Well I suggest getting ready, this mission will be harder than any other ones you've done so far." Kakashi suggested
"When do we leave?"
"Hmm, we still have to report to the Hokage, so I'd say at about 2 am tomorrow," Kakashi responded
"So besides the mission, when is the exam?" Naruto mentioned getting Kakashi to go into a thinking position.
"Hmm, I think in around 3 weeks to a month, though when the time comes you have to be placed on a temporary team, seeing as you're alone. Though I'm pretty sure you could do it yourself…" Kakashi answered.
Naruto nodded in affirmation, but posed another question, "Who will be my teammates?"
"I have a comrade that has a genin team missing one person, so I'll call in a favor," Kakashi said, getting a look from the blonde, "And no they will not know of your status." He said getting a nod of thanks from Naruto, and after a couple of minutes, started walking to the other end of the training ground.
"Kakashi-senpai! Can you shoot a couple of fireballs into the sky for me!" Naruto shouted from a distance.
Kakashi just sighed, "He might as well just call me sensei at this point," Kakashi mumbled before going through hand signs and exhaling a giant fireball in the sky.
Naruto silently thanked him.
Seeing the clouds form, as it started raining, Naruto held out his hand, and balls of lightning started to form around him and ball up to the sky in a circular fashion, still holding out his hand towards the sky. A beam of lightning struck it, enveloping his hand in a small ball of condensed lightning.
Kakashi looked onwards with wide eyes, 'He's...Controlling it! That looks almost like my Chidori!' Kakashi thought, keeping his eyes glued to Naruto.
Naruto's hand, after being enveloped by lightning, put his hand up, shooting the lightning back up, creating a humongous dragon. Dragon was a rough term for it, it looked like a hybrid between several animals, but still looked quite similar to a dragon, Kakashi thought.
Naruto's hand twitched slightly, before he lost complete control, the dragon exploding high in the sky. A loud thundering boom echoed throughout the training ground before everything went white, it was such a blinding explosion, Kakashi thought if he didn't close his eyes he would have gone blind himself.
After about ten seconds of a thundering explosion, Kakashi opened his eyes. He saw Naruto kneeling on the ground huffing in exhaustion; Kakashi ran over to him quickly.
"I...Lost...Control of...It." Naruto huffed out.
Kakashi sighed in mild relief, it seemed that it was only a case of slight chakra exhaustion.
He quickly propped Naruto up and sat him upright against a tree, waiting for him to catch his breath.
After about five minutes Naruto caught his breath.
"That jutsu isn't supposed to cost so much chakra," Naruto stated, still panting slightly
Kakashi merely nodded, "What the hell was that anyway?" Kakashi asked
Naruto just smirked, "That was an attempt at making my lightning dragon stronger while making it cost a lot less chakra." Naruto answered.
"Then why did you lose so much chakra when it destabilized?" Kakashi pressed.
Naruto sighed, "If I direct it wrong the Jutsu has the potential to backfire and take my chakra instead of the clouds' natural energy."(Not Sage Energy) Naruto answered.
Kakashi just 'Hmmd' in response.
"Well try to avoid using that jutsu around people, that could definitely obliterate them into nothing if used correctly…" Kakashi stated.
Naruto just snorted, "Of course it would, I made it to get rid of small armies." Naruto said with a huff. 'And for that masked bastard…' He inwardly snarled.
Kakashi just waved it off, "Just try to avoid over-exerting yourself." He said before walking off.
Naruto nodded and sat there for a couple of minutes before he continued to train, another side project he was currently working on was the lightning shunshin in conjunction with his sword, he was essentially done with it. Although it wasn't necessarily a shunshin, it was a charge of lightning chakra in his feet that would upon release, make him travel faster than normal chakra jumps by tenfold.
Naruto had read something on his father's notes about Nidaime-sama using the Hiraishin in conjunction with his sword, he called it 'Hiraishingiri' (Flying Thunder God Slash). Naruto was trying something similar.
Naruto stood in the center of the clearing and charged his feet with lightning chakra, he unsheathed his sword and took a small deep breath.
He opened his eyes and pivoted his foot slightly before vanishing 30 meters in front of him instantly, he pivoted his foot again and vanished another 30 meters to right this time, after one last pivot he appeared in his original spot. Each spot he appeared in left a small trail of lightning chakra.
By the end of the sequence, he was panting slightly, "Man...That really takes a lot out of me," Naruto said out loud
"I think I might call it Shunpo (Flash Step)(1)," Naruto said.
After that he continued to train in utilizing the Shunpo to its full extent, using a sword in conjunction with it. Though he found that his cutting power from the sword didn't carry the same momentum he did, and would take lots of strength to cut through things. Though he essentially fixed this problem by merely adding wind chakra to his blade.
After about two hours of ruthlessly spamming the Shunpo, Naruto decided to head out.
Going to the Uchiha compound was on his agenda at the moment and quite possibly the only thing to do at the time being.
Naruto decided to walk there, seeing as he hadn't been around the village in quite a bit.
As he was walking through the streets he noticed that the civilians weren't really glaring at him, it was almost as if they didn't recognize him.
Some of the shinobi though were looking at him in slight respect, they must have seen his mission record, Naruto mused.
Deciding to speed things up he used his chakra to propel himself atop a roof and make jumps towards the Uchiha compound.
Arriving at the gates he slowed down, sighing to himself he still could not get the visions of blood and death out of his mind from that night.
Naruto couldn't understand why Mikoto would want to continue to live in such a place after events like that occurred. If such a place that gave constant pain continued to exist, why not just get rid of it? Naruto shook his head at those thoughts as he arrived at the front door.
Opening it he walked straight in, and no one was there? "Huh that's weird, there's usually always someone here…" Naruto trailed off as he walked through the house.
Opening the sliding door to the back he saw Satsuki training in the Uchiha taijutsu style.
"Yo!" Naruto said loudly, getting her to stop.
Satsuki looked up from the post she was hitting to Naruto waving at her.
Smiling to herself she walked up to Naruto and gave him a hug, surprising him slightly.
Naruto had a tinge of red on his face; not that anyone could see it though. After she released the hug, Naruto shuffled awkwardly.
"What was that for?" He asked, awkwardly shuffling his feet.
She just smiled, "That was for helping me out the other day before you disappeared for a week," she said, her voice taking an annoyed tone at the last part.
Naruto walked up to her and flicked her forehead, "I have missions you know, it's just to you it seems like I disappear…" He retorted while she nursed her head before gaining a small tick mark.
"Hey! what was that for you blonde idiot!" She shouted angrily.
Naruto looked at her before waving his hand, "Maa maa, no need to get all worked up Uchiha-hime," Naruto teased.
She was about to hit him but 'Uchiha-hime'. "Don't call me that…" She muttered with a small blush.
Naruto chuckled softly, "Well anyways since you guys always get grumpy whenever I decide to leave without telling you, I leave for a mission tomorrow." Naruto said.
Satsuki gained a sad look and muttered something incoherent, making Naruto raise an eyebrow.
"What was that?"
"I said why do you have to do missions?" She mumbled
"Hmm, well I am a Shinobi. And as such, I am required to take missions given to me by the Hokage."
She gained a confused look, "So we're bound to our village simply because we wear a headband?"
"Well essentially, although it's a much deeper meaning." He responded.
"What, what is the purpose then? Why are we shinobi…"
Naruto thought about it for a second, before he recalled a conversation with Itachi.
-Flashback 2 Years Ago-
Naruto and Itachi were at the edge of a lake and had finished training that day, as they sat in silence, Naruto poised a question.
"Hey Itachi, what is the purpose of a Shinobi?" Naruto asked.
Itachi looked at the blonde in an unreadable expression, making the latter feel like he asked something stupid, though that thought was taken out as soon as Itachi started to speak.
"Well, a Shinobi's purpose…Our duty as shinobi stems from our village as well as our own individual views. Shinobi exist to protect those who can't protect themselves, even at the cost of our lives. To be a shinobi means to protect from the shadows, to not seek any sort of glory or fame. But to keep the village safe from those who wish to bring harm to it, to preserve the innocence of those who have it. Self-sacrifice is the duty of a shinobi, one who can forsake any ideal, hope, emotions, and even your life, that is a true shinobi…" Itachi said.
Naruto's eyes went wide and looked down at his hands. 'To protect the village, even at the cost of my life…' He thought
-Flashback End-
Naruto looked off into the distance, reminiscing of his days with Itachi.
"I still don't know the answer myself… But you live for the village and everyone in it. Self-sacrifice is the duty of a shinobi, to stand by our village's will to the very end. At least that's what they'll tell you." Naruto told her.
Before she could respond, Naruto spoke again, "Though my ideals differ from the village, I still continue to remain loyal to the old man, not out of duty; but because of bonds. The people I've met and the friends I've made give me a reason to fight, a reason to exist, so for me to betray the village or become un-loyal would be like spitting on their graves…"
By the end of the explanation, Satsuki had her head down with wide eyes. 'Bonds…Is that why he fights? Is that why he's so strong…' She thought.
Naruto saw the shocked look in her eyes but didn't comment on it.
"Anyways," His voice snapped her out of her thoughts, "I have to get going we leave early in the morning and this mission is a high priority," He said
'There is definitely something wrong with it though, no mission of this caliber would be given to a genin and jounin, though Kakashi-senpai is an ex-Anbu captain. I still have doubts about it' Naruto thought with a weary expression on his face.
He snapped out of his thoughts to see Satsuki looking at him with a pout on her face and arms crossed.
Naruto sighed, "When I get back, I can help you out with shurikenjutsu." 'If I get back,' He said in an afterthought.
Her mood seemed to reverse and she gained a bright smile.
Naruto couldn't help but smile himself, waving goodbye as he vanished in a shower of sparks, making Satsuki sigh.
'I wish he would stay longer…'
-Next Day, 1:45 am-
Naruto had awakened to a blaring alarm and slammed his hand into it in annoyance.
Getting in his usual outfit he checked all of his gear, sealing his sword onto his wrist he vanished in a regular shunshin.
Appearing in front of the Konoha gate he sat under a tree and waited. About 10 minutes later Kakashi appeared, though he was wearing all black without his flak jacket.
"Are you ready?" Naruto heard Kakashi ask.
Naruto nodded and they both vanished into the trees with the documents in hand.
Jumping through the trees Naruto couldn't help but ask a question, "Is this a trap?" He asked bluntly.
Kakashi's step faltered for a second; that gave Naruto all the answers he needed.
"What the hell are they thinking!" Naruto hissed quietly. "Why would they send us to die?!"
Kakashi just sighed, "This isn't necessarily a suicide mission, despite our objective. The scroll we carry is filled with explosive tags, they could easily see through that. This mission has a high chance of failure but not death…The reason I think it's a trap is because the Ame-nin most likely already know we are delivering it…"
Naruto's face turned grim, "So the moment we cross Kusa's borders, we're in enemy territory…" Naruto whispered.
Kakashi, having heard him nodded.
They continued to jump through the trees in silence, after about 4 hours they decided to take a break.
"We're almost at Kusa's border, stay alert," Kakashi warned.
Naruto nodded, after 10 minutes they both got up and continued jumping.
After about an hour they had crossed into Kusa from Hi no Kuni, Naruto was about to continue on but felt a disturbance in his chakra, and he started to get sleepy.
'Genjutsu!'
"Kai," Naruto muttered softly.
As his senses returned, he and Kakashi were surrounded by 15 Ame-nin.
"Damnit, I thought we would make it further," Naruto muttered.
A man with green hair, a standard Ame headband/Jounin vest, held a confident smirk and pointed out towards them both.
"Well well well, I was certainly not expecting the Copy-nin as an opponent, but no worries you cannot defeat me anyway!" The man confidently said before pulling out a hilt of a sword?
The man put chakra into it and a yellow beam of pure lightning chakra flew out of the hilt.
Naruto and Kakashi's eyes went wide 'The Raijin no Ken!' They thought in unison.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes though when he fully saw the man's face, "Aoi Rokusho, I now understand what an ancient Konoha relic is doing in the hands of Ame-nin." Kakashi sneered.
Aoi simply smirked, "Then you know that with this sword… I am invincible!" He shouted as he charged Kakashi.
"Naruto take the rest! I'll take care of Aoi!" Kakashi ordered.
Naruto nodded, getting in his stance.
-Naruto vs 14 Ame nin-
Naruto got in stance and viewed his opponents, each holding a stance of confidence. 'They each bear a chunin vest of Ame,' He thought
"Haha! He sent a brat to deal with us! How pitiful!" A man shouted arrogantly.
Naruto narrowed his eyes and unsealed his sword, "A brat that will send you straight to hell." Naruto said as the others snarled and charged him.
Naruto took a deep breath, charging his feet with lightning chakra, '3,2,1…Shunpo!' Naruto released the charge as his sword flared with wind chakra.
The rain ninja could only watch as the boy disappeared and reappeared in front of each and every one of them, delivering a killing blow each time.
"You stupid brat!" A man roared and tried to predict where Naruto would show up, only to feel a blade protrude through his left lung, a feeling of several needles destroying his insides.
His eyes rolled back as he promptly died…
Naruto analyzed his surroundings and saw that there were only two left. Naruto lifted up his headband; activating the Sharingan and putting them both under a genjutsu that would make them sleep.
Sighing to himself as he pulled down his headband, 'I shouldn't have had to use that on such trash.'
He tensed as he felt somebody appeared behind him, he turned around to see an annoyed Kakashi holding the hilt of the Raijin no Ken.
Naruto smiled under his mask, "What's got the great Kakashi all riled up?" Naruto asked, smirking as Kakashi gave him a small glare.
"Nothing. His monologue was really annoying…" Kakashi said as Naruto facepalmed.
-Five Minutes Earlier-
"Sending that brat against 14 chunin is quite suicidal, Hatake," Aoi said arrogantly.
Kakashi eye-smiled, "I think sending him was...Overkill." Aoi snarled as he charged Kakashi.
'Staying at a range would be the best option here, seeing as he was a mere academy teacher back in the leaf, this shouldn't be too difficult.' Kakashi thought as he jumped back, throwing lightning-charged kunai at the Raijin no Ken making Aoi swipe them out of his way.
'Not even the copy nin can defeat me,' Aoi thought, 'No matter what, this sword makes me invincible anyway!'
One kunai though had an explosive note attached to it making Aoi jump over it, seeing as Aoi was still in the air Kakashi started making hand signs...
Molding chakra for a fire jutsu; Kakashi blew out a huge fireball at the still airborne Aoi, the latter simply smirking.
Aoi swung his blade in an overhead slash as the fireball connected with it, splitting the attack in half!
'So it seems the legends of that blade are true,' Kakashi thought grimly, he was going to have to finish this quickly.
Before Aoi landed Kakashi secretly made a shadow clone, sending it underground.
As Aoi landed he smirked at Kakashi, "See Kakashi, not even you the great 'Copy nin' can defeat me! As long as I wield this sword no one can!" He shouted mockingly, not noticing the pair of hands sneaking beneath his feet.
"I wonder about that," Kakashi replied.
Aoi was about to charge him again but found he wasn't able to move! Aoi was then swept beneath the ground, leaving only his head above.
"To think you blabbered so much about being so unbeatable, that you let yourself be beaten by a mere D-rank jutsu," Kakashi said, shaking his head.
Aoi snarled but he couldn't do anything.
"Well I do have a friend that seeks your punishment, remember Ibiki, Aoi?" Kakashi asked, making Aoi's eyes widen in fear.
But before he could do anything a chop to the back of his neck rendered him unconscious.
Kakashi took his body out of the hole and sealed it.
'So unbelievably annoying.' He thought before walking towards Naruto's location.
-Present Time-
"So what on your end?" Kakashi asked, seeing bodies trailed everywhere, yet there was little blood.
"I killed 12 of them and kept two alive…" Naruto responded briefly.
Kakashi nodded, "Alright, dispose of the remaining bodies, seal the other two and place them somewhere where Kusa would find them, and get ready to move out." Kakashi ordered.
After about 15 minutes they headed out towards Kusagakure.
"Kakashi-senpai, what's the plan once we reach Kusa?" Naruto asked.
"Well…I'd like to scout it out before we do anything rash, so I'll have you check patrol times, and see how many they send to the front gate. Not to mention the intervals between each person," Kakashi responded.
Naruto nodded, "So what should we do when we give them the scroll?"
Kakashi thought about it for a second before responding, "Seal the documents into your arm, they're going to want to check us, but if you seal it in that tiny storage scroll on your arm they won't have any idea, but with that creates a new problem," Kakashi started, making sure Naruto was following along, seeing that he was continued,
"We will need a decoy scroll to verify our reasons, but as soon as we hand that scroll over we need to swap it with the explosive one, without anyone noticing," Kakashi explained, making Naruto nod.
They continued their onward trek towards Kusa for around 3 hours until they arrived at the front gate, or what seemed to be the front gate.
But before they approached it they both vanished on a high vantage point that scouts out half the village.
-16 Hours Later-
'So they put three different people in charge every 8 hours, but there are 2-minute intervals in between each shift change… It makes them quite vulnerable.' Naruto observed.
Naruto vanished in a blur of speed and headed towards Kakashi's location.
Arriving, Naruto spoke, "They have a shift change every 8 hours, leaving for two minutes each change. We could easily sneak in and do it that way," Naruto whispered.
"That we could. But should we get caught, we would either have to kill everyone who saw us, which I personally don't want to. Or we simply hand the scroll to the guard and have him kill off his leader," Kakashi said.
"But-" Naruto was cut off as Kakashi looked at the boy.
"But nothing, the guard will likely die alongside his leader, leaving no evidence. Should we sneak in instead, we risk getting caught? And I know you don't want that kind of blood on your hands at the moment!" Kakashi whispered harshly, making the blonde flinch ever so slightly.
So with that plan in mind, they both jump towards the gates, Kakashi taking the lead with Naruto following in tow.
"Halt! What is your purpose here, Konoha Nin?" A man stated, he was wearing black anbu style pants, a grey shirt with the sleeves rolled up to below his shoulder, and to top it off a grey flak jacket with a Kusa headband tied to his forehead.
Kakashi signaled to Naruto behind his back, "We have documents for your leader to look over." Kakashi said, looking at Naruto.
Naruto nodded and took out the scroll, throwing it to the Kusa nin, though nobody noticed a small glow of red under his headband.
They took the scroll and saw that it had the Hokages seal of approval on it, pocketing it he nodded.
"Very well, we will be back with a response in a moment," The man said after a moment, using a shunshin(Body Flicker) to leave the premises.
Kakashi nudged Naruto, making the latter look at him.
'Are you sure that was the right one?' Kakashi asked using Anbu hand signs.
Naruto nodded, 'Yes I used a small undetectable Genjutsu on the scroll with my Sharingan, the one without the tags is still in my sealing dimension.'
Kakashi smirked under his mask, 'That boy never ceases to amaze me with his quick thinking…' He thought.
BOOM
A huge explosion occurred in the center of Kusa, making Naruto and Kakashi disappear, while the rest ran around like headless chickens.
Naruto reappeared on top of a tree and formed a henged Kage Bushin to see if their target was eliminated. He looked back to see if anyone was following him. He was about to leave but saw someone with red hair out of the corner of his eye.
'Mom?!' He thought, taking a closer look towards the red-haired female.
'No, she died the night of the attack I thought,' Naruto said in thought, though he wasn't completely sure. He looked closer at the girl, 'Besides mom is definitely not my age…'
He disregarded it and ran off to rendezvous back with Kakashi, not noticing the red-haired girl staring at his previous position.
'Konoha Shinobi? Maybe I should follow them, I don't like it here anyways…' The girl thought, running after them.
-Back With Kakashi and Naruto-
Naruto arrived and spotted Kakashi on a tree branch, looking rather impatient.
"Report!" Kakashi barked.
Naruto raised an eyebrow but spoke nonetheless, "My Kage Bushin found no trace of the leader, the entire village is in disarray, no one saw us give the scroll due to there only being one guard. I don't think anyone followed us either, at least shinobi that is." Naruto reported, the last part being that red-haired girl he saw running out.
"What's got you so riled up?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi sighed and motioned Naruto to follow him. After about a minute of walking, Kakashi pointed at a mask on the ground that was completely blank.
"A henged Root member came to me, pretending they were you…" Kakashi said
Naruto's hand clenched unconsciously, and an irked expression appeared on his masked face.
"Why the hell is Danzo involved.." He snarled quietly
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the boy's knowledge of that but kept it to himself, "I have no clue but, whatever it is, it can't be good…" Kakashi responded.
After about thirty seconds Kakashi signaled Naruto to start traveling back, leaving in a synchronized blur. The red-haired girl arrived just as they left.
"Damnit, I just caught up." The girl said panting, as she continued to run.
As she left a few cloaked individuals appeared from the trees wearing a blank mask.
"Follow the girl, she is most likely trailing Hatake and the Jinchuriki," An emotionless voice ordered the three other people.
The others nodded and burst in a pure flash of speed into the trees, leaving no trace behind.
-Kusa Borders-
Both Naruto and Kakashi had successfully crossed the borders and were now entering Hi no Kuni in hopes of completing the mission.
Jumping from branch to branch they both looked at each other and nodded, hopping down into a small clearing they set up a small area to rest hoping to get a few winks as they both were relatively tired.
"I'll take the first watch," Naruto said, getting Kakashi to nod at the blonde genin. Seeing as it was still dark out, Naruto decided to jump on the tree to get a better look at the sky.
As he gazed at the stars many thoughts were flowing through his head.
'Just what am I meant to do, what is my goal…' He thought as he reached his hand out to the sky, grabbing something nonexistent. He thought back to everything that happened, everyone, he had met, and even lost…He had since becoming a shinobi, taken many lives. But he could still remember each and every face of the ones he killed.
Like a drug, the images could not escape his mind. He had asked Kakashi about it before, and how the silver-haired jounin dealt with it. Kakashi told him that "No matter what obstacle, no matter what threat, a shinobi endures. Because if we lose it, who the hell will find it."
That had struck a chord within himself, leaving him to think of all the things he has had to face since he was born, but each time he got back up and became more determined.
Naruto's thoughts were plagued by many good memories of his time with Shisui, Itachi, Kakashi, Satsuki, And even the old man. But the bad memories were a constant reminder of what needed to be done.
Root
Danzo
Madara
And even his own village.
It wasn't the village that was the problem, no. It was the people inside it, the civilians. While he had simply remained indifferent to all of them, Naruto could not understand why the hell they felt the need to pester him with so much hate.
Naruto had, after all, become a shinobi to protect the village, and even before that, he was the container of the fox. He was holding it at bay, not them, and all he got in return was hate, deep resentment, and even torture.
He shook his head, the civilians were about as ignorant as toddlers. They had no clue about what a life like that is…
He then thought to Madara, the man who took almost everything from him, it left a bitter frown on his face.
'No. Madara, while he is a problem, his death isn't my goal but merely an obstacle that seems to be a constant in my life… A reminder… that I need to get stronger to prevent anything like my parents' death, or the Uchihas demise…'
Naruto let out a sigh, "Just what the hell am I supposed to do…" He mumbled softly.
He observed his surroundings and saw that the moon was falling; the sun taking its place in the vast sky, the stars disappearing, white fluffy clouds making their spot known as the blue sky slowly took over the dark starry sky.
"It's daytime already…" He muttered, jumping down to alert Kakashi.
Though as he jumped down he saw Kakashi was already awake and looking somewhat expectantly at Naruto.
"It's about time, I've been waiting for you for the past hour," Kakashi grumbled.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head, an eye smile etched on his face, "Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the path of life," He replied sheepishly.
Kakashi resisted the urge to facepalm, sometimes the blondes' antics were worse than his own.
They were about to head out before a red blur appeared in front of them. Kakashi and Naruto took a good look at the person in front of them, a female with crimson red hair, ruby-red eyes, a pair of dark brown capris pants, her top reminiscent of her pants a long-sleeved brown shirt, and to top it off she looked exhausted and disheveled.
"Leaf…Nin…Please…Help…" She panted out, but as she did several kunai flew at Kakashi and Naruto.
Both effortlessly blocked them, but looked onwards with narrowed eyes.
4 figures jumped out of the trees with blank masks each in a guarded stance.
"Kakashi Hatake, hand over the Jinchuriki, and we will allow you to leave here alive." The leader said in his monotone voice.
Kakashi hardened his eyes, "I'm afraid that won't be possible, I will not let Danzo get his hands on Naruto." He declared, the grip on his kunai intensifying.
The Root Anbu didn't say anything, but simply unsheathed their standard tanto and charged the duo.
"Naruto-." Kakashi started but was interrupted by a blast of chakra coming from Naruto.
Naruto lifted his headband and glared murderously at the 4 Root members, "I understand Kakashi-senpai, but…This is my fight!" He whispered angrily.
Kakashi sighed, "Don't be an idiot," He finished off as Naruto had vanished in several flash steps.
Naruto looked onwards at the 4 and unsealed his sword and muttered something under his breath as he charged four times the lightning chakra in feet than normal.
"Shunpo: Furaingusurasshu(Flash-Step: Flying Slash)," Naruto muttered.
Naruto's body disappeared leaving several after images in his place. Naruto re-appeared a few meters behind the four, at first Kakashi thought nothing had happened, but that thought vanished the moment a shower of blood sprayed from the throats of two of the Root Anbu.
'He seems angry…' Kakashi thought, 'Flying Slash he called it…'
Kakashi looked at Naruto again and saw the boy weaving hand signs, ending at monkey, and to Kakashi's surprise lightning cackled all over his chokuto as the boy charged the remaining Root.
Meanwhile, the redhead watched the entire encounter in shock, 'He's my age and is effortlessly taking down those guys…' she thought in awe of the boy in front of her.
Naruto looked at the back of two Root and charged them, his Sharingan spinning ominously.
After their momentary surprise, the Root Anbu turned around and one paired Naruto's chokuto, and they began a fierce battle of Kenjutsu.
Kakashi felt it was time to step in, he vanished in a quick burst of speed and appeared behind the lone Root member and poised a kunai at his heart preparing to stab him.
As Kakashi stabbed through him though, the kunai phased straight through him and the man turned around and grabbed Kakashi's wrist.
A dark chuckle came out of the man's throat.
"You will find that I am much different from Danzo's lapdogs, Hatake." The Root agent laughed, it sounded like he was taunting him…
Kakashi looked up at the man and narrowed his eyes, but before he could do anything the man let out a small chuckle and swirled away.
"Just who was that…" He said to himself.
Kakashi looked over at Naruto to see him still fighting the Root member.
Naruto dodged a swipe at his throat and countered with a diagonal slash to the enemy's torso. The man simply paired the slash and the two held in a lock.
Naruto smirked a little, before he dropped his sword out of his right hand, ducking down so the man would lose balance; which he did, but before the man could recompose himself, Naruto grabbed his chokuto with his left hand, holding it in a reverse grip and quickly slashed the throat of his enemy, ending the fight.
Naruto looked down at the Root member as his body went up in flames, due to a suicide seal every Anbu was required to have. He flicked the blood off of his sword before resealing it and regrouping with Kakashi, who looked quite confused.
"Kakashi, status?" Naruto asked, looking at the silver-haired jounin in front of him.
'He wasn't Root, but just who was he…' Kakashi thought trepidatiously.
"Mine escaped, though he didn't seem to be Root, that man was simply taunting me…" Kakashi said, causing Naruto to narrow his eyes.
"What were his abilities?" Naruto asked carefully.
"He didn't show much; he simply laughed and swirled away in a small vortex," Kakashi informed.
Naruto clenched his fist and barely refrained a growl, "Why does he always find his way in my life, why would he even associate with Danzo." Naruto snarled quietly.
Although Naruto's voice was barely above a whisper, Kakashi heard him clear as day, "Who was he? Do you know him?" Kakashi asked
Naruto thought about it for a second, whether he should tell Kakashi or not. He decided against it and just settled for a 'No', making Kakashi narrow his eyes, but the latter held his tongue as Naruto saw something out of the corner of his eye.
"You, come out now. What is your business with us?" Naruto asked harshly, making the girl shudder in anxiety.
The redhead did as she was told and walked out from behind the tree, Naruto looked at her form in slight surprise, "What is your name?" Naruto questioned.
"Karin, Karin Uzumaki," Karin stated
Kakashi's eyes bulged; if someone looked at him, one might think his eyes would fall out, 'A-a-a living Uzumaki, but I thought Naruto was the last one…' Kakashi thought in shock.
While Kakashi was going through his own shock, Naruto looked catatonic. He just couldn't believe it! Here there was another Uzumaki, his blood. His family. 'Just what the hell…'
"U-U-Uzumaki...How could this be?" Kakashi stuttered out, making Naruto snap out of his stupor.
Karin nodded, although she was rather confused. What did the surname Uzumaki have to do with anything? She was just an orphan, well after her mother died, her last name had no correlation to anything? And why were they both looking at her like they had just seen a ghost? Many questions were flowing through the redhead's mind, but before she could ask any of them, the blonde had come up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched slightly at the touch, but Naruto gave an eye-smile to assure her that he meant no harm.
Naruto didn't know what to say, on one hand, she was most likely family, but on the other what the hell was he supposed to say 'Oh hey Karin, I might be one of your only living relatives at the moment. Why don't you come back to Konoha and stay with me' no that would not work.
"Well Karin, why did you seek us?" Naruto asked in a much kinder voice.
Karin rubbed her right arm slightly and let out a sigh, "Well, my mother had passed away a couple of years ago from something that they didn't tell me about, and after her initial passing, the village leader, Zosui forced me to constantly heal all the injured Kusa shinobi that came in from a mission or something," She started off, but seeing the confused looks on the both of their faces made her elaborate, "My chakra or something like that, whenever someone bites into my flesh, they get healed and their chakra rejuvenates…"
Kakashi and Naruto looked disgusted at that development, why the hell would they use her in such a gross and unruly way, it sickened both of them to no end.
"Anyways, I don't like it there, but through the panic, I found a way out. Seeing as you guys were there, I had hoped to find a place in Konoha." She finished shyly.
Naruto and Kakashi nodded, though Naruto was still thinking about the endless possibilities of Madara's appearance. What was his goal, why was he at seemingly every corner of his life? Though it made a lot of sense now.
Naruto thought about every event that played out through this mission, safe to say that not everything went according to plan, but it still worked out mostly. The topic of Danzo and Madara was still lingering like a parasite in the back of his mind. Though Naruto's mind was twisting and turning trying to figure out what Madara was doing in Kusa, with Danzo of all people.
Though his eyes snapped open as he connected the dots, 'Danzo was there for her abilities and blood, I can only assume Madara was there for the same intention. But why didn't he just take her…' He thought, 'But the Root said they were here for me…Shit! I can never figure them out!' Naruto raged in his mind.
After a couple seconds of silence, Naruto looked at Kakashi for asking a silent question.
'What should we do?'
Kakashi sighed, "Well seeing as we can't just send you back to Kusa, you will come to Konoha with us to speak with the Hokage about your endeavors." he said lazily.
Naruto rolled his eyes, "Well I'm going to meditate, there is something I need to check…" Naruto commented cryptically.
He didn't wait for Kakashi to respond and simply walked away from the duo.
Naruto sat down in a cross-legged position and closed his eyes.
After about 5 minutes he felt that similar tug on his chakra, he opened his eyes to find the same disgusting sewer as always.
Naruto walked through the murky wet halls of his mindscape looking for that evil, malevolent chakra.
After what seemed like hours he came across the familiar bars of the seal, though there was nothing behind them…
"Kurama!" He called out into the cage.
"." Nothing, no response at all. It seemed like the fox had vanished from the seal but he knew better.
He kept looking and calling out the sentient fox, but after a while with seemingly no avail, he gave up and exited his mindscape.
"I can't talk to you, not until I can fully see the person you are. Indra, your small presence within him, is slowly manifesting. And if this continues, I'm afraid he will become both of your reincarnations, thus creating the Nidaime Rikudo Sennin…"
"Though the old man spoke of a prophecy about a blue-eyed human, who would lead the world into peace, it could be you Naruto, I can't tell yet…" Kurama thought.
The fox couldn't tell what type the boy was, not yet. If he was correct the boy would either be the harbinger of peace, or the God of War, the destroyer of earth….
—
-Unknown Location-
"Soon, Soon I will have you under my control…Uzumaki Naruto, your little life playing ninja will come to an end." A voice said in the dark, letting out a small chuckle.
"When I have control of your beast, Konoha shall relish in my lead…"
—
-Konoha, Front Gates-
The trio of both ninja and civilian had been traveling for around a day and a half, they barely spoke other than the occasional order from Kakashi.
Naruto had still not informed Karin of his connection to her, he wasn't quite sure how it would play out. Not to mention he didn't want her to freak out or something; most of the time simply keeping to himself.
As they walked through the gates, Naruto looked towards Kakashi, and they both Shunshin'd to the Hokage tower, the former holding Karin's shoulder.
-Hokage Office-
Naruto knocked on the door, hearing a 'come in' on the other side, the trio walked in.
Karin gulped upon seeing a man in the formal silk Hokage robes, though as she got a closer look, she realized that under those robes was simply an old caring man, offering a gentle smile to the three of them.
"Kakashi-kun, Naruto-kun, I take it everything went well…" Hiruzen said.
Kakashi nodded, albeit hesitantly, "Well everything went ok until…" Kakashi went on to explain everything that happened, and by the end of it, the Hokage had a somewhat tired expression on his face.
"So Danzo has finally made a move, I suspected something like that might happen, although you said something about a man who wasn't associated with Danzo, who was dressing as a Root Anbu?"
Kakashi nodded and explained his encounter with the man, although short the Hokage knew exactly who he was dealing with. Hiruzen looked towards Naruto for confirmation, the blonde nodded in affirmation.
"That is troubling indeed, to think he keeps popping up, I wonder what he was doing this time…" Hiruzen mumbled, though no one heard him.
After around a minute of silence, the Hokage looked towards the red-haired occupant and smiled softly, "You must be Uzumaki Karin," Hiruzen stated, getting a nod from the redhead.
"I assume you seek refuge in Konoha…" The Hokage said.
Karin nodded timidly, "If it's not too much trouble…"
The Hokage gained a small smile, "Naruto, I have a new assignment for you…" Naruto looked at the older man in an annoyed fashion.
"No." Naruto defiantly replied.
Hiruzen smirked, "You know, disobeying a direct order from your Kage is considered treason,"
Naruto let out an audible groan, "Fine…What do you want me to do…"
"Well how about giving young Karin here hospitality until we find a suitable place for her to live…" The Hokage said.
Kakashi snickered under his breath at the look the blonde was giving the Hokage.
"You stupid old geezer, you're doing this on purpose…" Naruto muttered under his breath.
"Is that all Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked.
"No not quite," Hiruzen looked towards Karin, "Could you please wait outside until I finish speaking with these two?" Hiruzen asked/ordered politely, gaining a nod from the redhead.
The Hokage silently ordered his Anbu out as well, making both Kakashi and Naruto's posture shift from lazy to serious.
Hiruzen made a few hand signs and slammed his hand on the desk, Naruto recognized it as a silencing seal.
Hiruzen looked towards Naruto; almost apologetically.
"Naruto-kun, I know you plan to take the chunin exams in a few weeks," Naruto nodded, not seeing where this was going. The Hokage saw his confused look and decided to elaborate.
"My student Jiraiya, has a spy network and has been working day in and out, getting information for the village. Recently he has discovered some troubling things. My other student and nuke-nin, Orochimaru, is planning something. He seeks the Sharingan, he had tried to steal Itachi's eyes and failed, so we can only assume that-" He was cut off as Naruto spoke.
"That he is now after Satsuki," Naruto finished, although he still didn't see where this was going.
An unasked question went through both Kakashi and Naruto's heads, 'Just what the hell was Itachi Uchiha doing with Orochimaru of all people?'
"Yes, Jiraiya and I have made many conclusions as to what his intentions are, but nothing good can come out of it. Which is why I need you both to keep an eye on Satsuki Uchiha, no matter what Orochimaru cannot get his hands on the Sharingan." Hiruzen finished.
Naruto was still confused, "I still don't understand, what does this have to do with me taking the chunin exams, I can still protect her as a chunin…" Naruto stated.
"Correct, but wouldn't it help if you were on her team as a genin as well?" Hiruzen said, making Naruto sigh in annoyance. (A/N: Cliche right…*laughs nervously*)
"Look, just think of it as your mission to chunin, If all goes well you can even take the exams with her. If it lasts that long, I have half the mind to promote you to jounin." The Hokage explained, making Naruto nod, although hesitantly.
"Don't look so downtrodden, I already give you missions to that of a chunin. Plus seeing your relationship with the girl I had thought this would be much easier for you to accept." Hiruzen said.
Naruto thought about it and simply nodded though, he was inwardly irked at the thought of not being able to take the exams.
"Don't worry too much about it Naruto, besides I'll be your team sensei," Kakashi spoke, making Naruto indignantly point at Kakashi while looking at the Hokage.
"Ugh, Of course! You might as well make him my roommate, seeing as I'm going to spend the rest of my merry life with this lazy pervert!" Naruto declared, waving his arms comically.
"Hey, I'm not that bad. Plus I can even teach you a few things." Kakashi offered, making Naruto scoff at the notion.
"As if! You'd probably be nose deep into that porn of yours the moment you try to 'teach' me something," Naruto stated, making Kakashi cry anime tears.
"Don't insult Icha Icha!" Kakashi retorted.
Hiruzen smiled at the antics of the two, they never made his job boring.
"Well now that we have cleared this up, Naruto, when Satsuki Uchiha graduates I will have you on her team as well as Kakashi. In the meantime why don't you tend to our Uzumaki guest…" Hiruzen suggested.
Naruto nodded and walked out of the door leaving Kakashi and Hiruzen alone.
"Kakashi, I wanted to ask, just how strong is Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked.
Kakashi thought about it for a second, "Well he's far stronger than I was at his age, in a few years' time he will even surpass me. I doubt anyone his age can hold a candle to him… I'd estimate he is around the level of a high jounin." Kakashi surmised.
The Hokage smiled, "I also heard he had been creating several jutsu," He said.
Kakashi nodded, a faint smile under his masked face, "That boy is a ninjutsu prodigy, he created those lightning dragons when he was 8, and now is working on one that has ten times the destructive power, I saw it," Kakashi started, "He formed a ball of lightning in his hand and made natural lightning fly into the clouds, he created a massive dragon that id estimate to be the size of the Hokage monument, though he can't control it yet. But still, it's extremely impressive to even think of that kind of Jutsu, something even I doubt I could do…" Kakashi informed Hiruzen, pride flowing out of the former's voice.
Hiruzen was smiling in pride as well, 'Minato, it seems your son is working well. In a few years, I might have found the perfect candidate for the role of Godaime…' Thought Hiruzen.
"Good, you're dismissed Kakashi."
Kakashi nodded and exited the room, making Hiruzen de-activate the seals and call in the Anbu again.
-With Naruto & Karin-
As soon as Naruto walked out of the Hokage's office, he went to the lobby to find Karin.
He arrived but saw her sleeping on one of the chairs. She was probably tired, he mused. Carefully, he picked her up and held her bridle style, not wanting to wake her up.
Walking out of the building, he carefully jumped from rooftop to rooftop; heading towards his apartment.
As he arrived he couldn't help but feel content, he had family, some reason to make it through the mission other than simply getting paid or feeling like he had reached what his father had wanted.
As he sat her down, he brushed a hand through his hair, and looked out the window, he couldn't help but sigh at the sight of the starry sky; had he really been up for that long?
'Well I should probably get to sleep, tomorrow is going to be interesting…' He thought before going to the couch and falling asleep.
-Next Day-
An annoyed groan erupted from the throat of Naruto as he awakened. The bright rays of sun shining through his curtains, all but glared directly on his face.
He got up and stretched his limbs, hearing a few pops and cracks made him sigh in content.
He went to his room to check on Karin, seeing that she was still asleep he walked into the kitchen to start making breakfast. An assortment of fruit, as well as fried eggs and rice, not to mention the fried meat.
By the time he was finished a sleepy-looking Karin entered the kitchen; drooling slightly.
"What's that good smell…" She muttered as she walked in.
"Good morning…" Naruto spoke in slight amusement.
"Oh, good morning Naruto-san…" She mumbled.
Karin took a look around and was confused by her surroundings, one moment she was in the waiting lobby outside the Hokage's office, the next she was in an apartment.
"Where am I exactly?" She asked politely, her sleepiness starting to wear off.
Naruto laughed awkwardly, "Well see, you kind of fell asleep in the lobby, so I took you to my apartment…Seeing as you were going to stay here anyways…" He answered, rubbing the back of his head.
She nodded absently, not the least bit concerned. She then eyed the food hungrily. Naruto seemed to notice her gaze and smiled under his mask.
"Go ahead, there's more than enough." He said.
Karin happily nodded and dug in eagerly, making the blonde sweatdrop. 'Eh, I think I'll just leave that to her…' He thought.
"Well, I'm going to head out. I need to do a couple of things today, I'll be back in a few. Don't do anything stupid." Naruto told her.
Karin simply nodded while still eating.
Naruto went to his room to get dressed in suitable clothes for the day, as he was still wearing his clothes from the previous day.
He put on a pair of black pants that ended in the middle of his shins, a mesh shirt, and a black jacket with white three white stripes that traveled from the shoulder down to the end of the sleeve on each side.
Tying kunai pouches on each side of his leg via bandages, and putting on black shinobi sandals that went up past his shin, right below the knee.
He put his face mask back on and tied his headband to his forehead, placing a small part of it over his right eye.
Naruto nodded to himself and vanished in a lightning shunshin.
-Uchiha Compound-
Naruto reappeared on the outside of the gates in front of the compound.
Walking through them, he couldn't help the involuntary shiver as he gazed upon the buildings, Still stained with the blood and death of the clan.
Shaking his head he ran towards the main house; that being the clan heads. Walking up to the door, he was pleasantly surprised to see the door swing open.
Satsuki was heading to the training ground to practice Katon Ninjutsu, as she ran out of the door, she was very surprised to slam into something.
She looked up to see a masked face, with blonde flowing hair staring down at her, amused.
"Naruto! You're back!" She stated, voice leaking with happiness.
Naruto nodded, holding out his hand. She grabbed it and he pulled her up.
"Where were you off to?" Naruto asked, "You seemed to be in quite the rush," He added.
She looked somewhat sheepish at the accusation, "Well I was just going to train…"
"Well, since I got back I suppose I can help you out now…" He commented.
Satsuki nodded happily and dragged him to the training ground.
-8 Hours Later-
Satsuki sat on the ground panting in exhaustion, she looked over to the other end to see the blonde calmy standing without a drop of sweat or dirt on him.
They had been sparring for hours, Naruto pointing out the flaws in her stance, as well as helping her with chakra control exercises. By the end of it, she was extremely exhausted.
She tried to stand but her legs gave out, closing her eyes, she hit something; though it wasn't the ground.
She opened her eyes to see Naruto couched in front of her, holding her in a piggyback position.
She blushed at the initiative but she couldn't move, "You know, I can walk by myself." She huffed in embarrassment.
Naruto looked at her amused, "Yeah, is that so." He mumbled sarcastically.
She nodded with a scowl, "I'm an Uchiha. I don't need help! Especially from you.." She muttered childishly.
"Oh, so I should just put you back on the ground and let you crawl home." Naruto chirped.
She just huffed and didn't say anything, relaxing on his back. Naruto just smiled, 'She still has a long way to go…'
As they were walking home, Naruto spoke, "You did good, your skill is that of at least genin." Naruto commented.
Satsuki nodded in appreciation, Naruto couldn't see it, but she looked somewhat downtrodden.
"Yeah but you didn't even break a sweat, you're not tired at all." She muttered under her breath.
Naruto heard her though, "You're far better than most people your age…" Naruto reassured her.
"Not you!" She retorted.
'So that's what this is about,' Naruto laughed, "I've been training since I was five, it would be unbefitting of me to not be skilled." He said.
Satsuki widened her eyes, 'Since he was five! Why though…'
"Why?" She asked
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Why what?" He questioned.
"Why did you start training that early?" She asked, making him stop.
Naruto wondered if he should tell her, but decided against it. He couldn't say a word of it, the Hokage had told him to not tell anyone without his permission.
"I don't know…I just did," He answered
She narrowed her eyes, Satsuki knew he was hiding something, she wanted to know…
"You're lying…" She accused him.
Naruto's step almost faltered.
"Why are you hiding things from me, you're my best friend…" She muttered quietly.
'Best friend?' Naruto thought with a frown. 'She's right but I can't tell her…'
Naruto eye-smiled, "Sorry Satsuki, maybe some other time, ok."
She widened her eyes at the statement, Satsuki started trembling slightly, with tears forming in her eyes. She saw a visage of Itachi appear right in front of them.
Naruto seemed to notice her discomfort, "Hey are you alright?" He asked softly.
She didn't respond, but she continued to tremble in her place, clinging to him tighter.
Naruto winced, 'What did I do this time…' He thought regretfully.
Naruto continued to walk towards her house, still confused as ever. He assumed she was asleep, so he intended to simply drop her off.
As he arrived, Naruto opened the door and walked up the stairs, not noticing a pair of onyx eyes looking at him curiously.
He set Satsuki on her bed and walked towards the door to leave. Though before he could walk off a hand snatched his wrist, making him stop in his tracks.
Naruto turned around to see Satsuki, "Just stay…please." She said, her voice finishing into a whisper.
Naruto shrugged and pulled over a chair and sat next to her bed; her hand still gripping his wrist tightly.
"What's the matter?" Naruto asked quietly.
She didn't know how to respond, on one hand, he was so nice and kind to her, but Naruto was exactly like him. She didn't hate Naruto or Itachi, but there were just so many unknowns about that night. She wanted to know exactly why Itachi had done it, and she would not stop until she knew.
"It's just…You remind me of Itachi." She whispered, hoping Naruto wouldn't hear her.
Though it was quite the opposite, Naruto had her clearly.
He froze on the spot, she was slightly worried when he didn't respond.
He slowly got up and removed her hand from his, and…Left.
He didn't say a word whatsoever, he just simply left.
She wanted to yell out his name but decided against it. Satsuki just sat there staring at the empty seat in front of her, tears unconsciously falling out of her eyes…
-With Naruto-
As soon as he walked out, he let out an annoyed sigh. Thinking about Itachi had made him furious, not just because of Itachi, but because of the events surrounding him.
The Massacre.
Naruto had attempted to bury all memories of that event out of his mind, but one way or another they still came back.
As traumatizing as that event was, it still could not top Madaras final words to him.
-Flashback, Uchiha Massacre-
'Such a strong will, you remind me of the Yondaime Hokage, right before I extracted the Nine-Tails from his wife,' Madara taunted with a sinister laugh. "I can only hope that you won't lose your way, otherwise you will have to watch over and over again as I kill everyone you find precious Namikaze Naruto."
Naruto snarled at the man, "I will kill you before that ever happens!" He growled slowly.
Madara laughed at the declaration, "Such confidence! My if you continue to do that, you just might…In fact," His voice went into a whisper.
"Do it, fear me, hate me, detest me with every fiber of your being. But remember, if you fail to get stronger, you will watch as I kill everyone you've ever loved. Everything up to this point has been my doing, Killing your parents, killing all these blasted kinsmen of mine, and many other things I'm sure you would love to know. Now," His voice going back to normal, "If you fail to kill me, I will not only kill everyone you love, but I will extract that foul beast from inside you, just as I did your mother." He taunted.
Naruto could only glare at the man in front of him, before a harsh kick to the jaw knocked him out.
'Pfft, that brat… I should just take the Nine-Tails now. But Nagato's not fully linked with the Gedo Mazo yet,' Madara thought with a clenched fist.
-Flashback End-
Despite being merely threats, Naruto knew better than to take that man lightly, considering everything he had done.
Naruto's hand clenched on his pants, he hated that man to no end, and soon enough, he would kill him.
Not out of revenge, but justice. That man had made it his personal mission to attack the village once and kill not only his parents, but thousands of others simply for the fox. And once again, teamed up with Itachi to get rid of the Uchiha clan.
Naruto would kill him, so that no one had to suffer Madaras ill will any longer…
"Hello!"
Naruto snapped out of his thoughts to see an irate Karin. He hadn't known that he was home…
"What?" He questioned.
She barely refrained from hitting him on the head, "I have been trying to talk to you for like the past five minutes! And all you've done is glare at the wall!" She shouted.
Naruto fixed his lazy gaze on her, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"
She growled and stomped off towards the room.
Naruto chuckled to himself, it was easy to anger her.
Naruto looked out the window to see the sun setting; leaving an orange and purple sky, the clouds stretched across it like a pool of cotton. It was the evening.
Naruto decided to work on Fuinjutsu for the remainder of his day, hoping to finish the third seal of Time.
He was so close, he understood the theory behind it fully, he just needed to decipher it and make his own seal from scratch…
He had decoded the first two seals and had yet to decipher the third, the process was not an easy task. Re-creating a space-time nin/fuinjutsu was seemingly impossible for anyone, not to mention he was only nine…
Seeing the light fade in the room he sighed to himself; it was getting late, getting up from the chair he rolled his scrolls back up and placed them back in his desk.
Going over to the couch he didn't register how tired he was until he fell asleep…
-1 Hour Later-
Naruto was still completely asleep though if someone was to walk in and take a good look at him; his body was laced in sweat, and he was breathing heavily.
-Inside His Mind-
Naruto was walking down a concrete path; Sakura trees fencing off the path leaving a narrow walkway.
Each step he took felt heavier each time, he looked ahead to see a fork in the path. A choice.
Naruto looked to the left path and saw a dark ugly forest, that gave an eerie feeling and spurred a slight dread in the pit of his stomach. Looking to his right, he saw all his friends and family, new and old.
Shisui
Itachi
Satsuki
Mikoto
Karin
Hiruzen
Kakashi
His Father
And even that damn fox
Yet despite seeing the joy and happiness radiating off of that side of the path, Naruto walked down the left.
As he went through the forest, he came across a dock; an endless sea of murky water around it. Looking down he saw a reflection; that wasn't his own.
It was a man older than him; around his mid-twenties, he wore a white high collared cloak, with black tomoes framing it. The man had wild yet smooth brown hair tied into a ponytail, his eyes were coal-black with a purple hue under them; on the skin. His face protruded indifference, yet there was almost a scowl on it.
Suddenly the man grabbed Naruto's collar and dragged him below the surface.
It was then Naruto saw everything…His memories.
A life as Indra Ōtsutsuki…
Everyone he met and Everything he had ever done.
Suddenly a hand gripped his ankle pulling him further beneath the water, more and more hands continued to grab his legs, hands, arms, and whatever limb that was available.
Naruto looked down and saw hundreds of dead, mutilated corpses glaring at him murderously, Naruto flinched and tried to look back up only to see black.
-Outside-
Naruto's eyes snapped open and gripped the blanket tightly, he looked outside to see that it was almost morning.
His panting receded, and he calmed down.
'I thought that those dreams had stopped, just who the fuck was that…' He thought.
'Indra Ōtsutsuki, who are you…' Naruto hadn't fully remembered everything; the only thing that seemed to stay was the man's name.
Meanwhile, a certain fox was mentally sweating, 'That was too close… Why and how the fuck did that happen! He wasn't supposed to-!'The Fox stopped his mental rambling when a thought overcame him.
'To think that adding that accursed dojutsu to his body would be the cause of this… I hadn't expected Asura's chakra to react so fluently. It's like the two were meant to be.' The fox let out an annoyed growl.
'That's why the brat is able to activate and deactivate that thing. Because the separate chakras; despite their differences, merged the cells of the two together, making it seem like they were in one entity all together…' Kurama, despite being an ancient entity with knowledge of thousands of years, could not believe he hadn't figured it out sooner.
He should've known the moment that brat was born that Asura's chakra resided within him…And when that blasted Sharingan came into play. 'Ugh!' The fox grunted in aggravation.
Kurama decided to take a nap, this information was extremely taxing on his great mind…
-Back with Naruto-
He shook his head and decided to get up and do a morning workout which included several laps around the village, hundreds of push-ups/sit-ups, and an hour of meditation.
As he arrived home he saw Karin sitting on the couch, looking expectantly at him; Naruto rubbed his ears, he could already sense the ear full he was about to receive.
"Ever since I arrived here you're barely home, so, me being curious; I decided to roam around the village to find info on you," Karin stated, making the blonde narrow his eyes.
"Well, what did you find out?" He asked.
"Well, on one hand, some higher-level ninja praised you for your skill on the field," That surprised Naruto a bit, praise to him was unusual, "And I also figured out your entire name, Uzumaki Naruto…"
This time Naruto didn't react, he simply walked over to the window and stared blankly at the ongoing travel within the village.
"Well?" She asked.
Naruto continued to look outside before letting out a sigh, "To be honest, it wasn't my intention to keep things like that from you, but to understand my point of view that would be difficult to explain," He started
"The bonds of a family never existed within me, I was born alone and stayed alone. Of course, I made friends but…They're either dead or gone…" Karin winced at the blunt statement. "But when I found you, I didn't know what to do…To think there was family even if we are distant, still family…" He said.
Karin was at a relative loss for words and couldn't quite fathom how he stayed calm throughout that entire conversation, reopening old wounds was not easy; let alone telling someone who you've only known a few days so much about you…
"I'm sorry," He finished. Karin barely registered it, but still heard it nonetheless.
"Sorry? For what?" She asked, confused as to why he was apologizing.
Naruto looked at her in surprise, but quickly eye-smiled, "Eh, nothing. Don't think about it too much…"
"Ok…" She trailed off, leaving them in an awkward silence.
Clearing her throat rather abruptly, "Well now that I have your attention, unlike yesterday, when I was filling out my Konoha registration form, I decided to join the academy," Karin stated.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Why is that?" He questioned curiously.
"Well…When I saw you fighting those masked guys, all I did was sit to the side and watch…" Karin started, her fist slowly clenching, "I don't want to feel like that again, I don't want to be helpless." She finished with determination flowing through her eyes like fire.
Naruto on the outside remained neutral, though if you looked closely you could see the slight upward twitch on his lips; under his masked face.
'I think you might just be my third teammate…' He thought.
"Well that is a good goal, feel free to ask if you need anything…" Naruto said, and walked into his room.
'Indra Otsutsuki, who and what are you. Eyes like that of the Uchiha, yet you don't share the same last name…'
Naruto vanished in a shunshin, and reappeared at his father's estate; hoping to find any info on the man in his dream.
Normally he wouldn't go out of his way to find something simply because of a dream, but it felt all too real to not look into…
As Naruto was browsing through every single note his father had, a giant chakra construct was peering through the bars looking through the eyes of its host.
'Pfft, that brat thinks he will find something related to Indra in that Minato-brats notes. The only place you can even find information on the old man and his children have been long lost for centuries.' Kurama snorted inside his head.
After several hours of searching through each and every single note his father made; even using Kage Bushins, he did not find a single thing about Indra Otsutsuki.
'I would ask Kurama, but that lazy bastard has been sleeping for like a year and a half!' He raged inwardly.
Naruto walked out of his father's estate at around 4 o'clock pm, he made his way to the training ground.
He finished at around 9 pm, dead tired. The only thing he could think about was his mission, to protect Uchiha Satsuki from Orochimaru…
—-
A/N: GAHHH! This literally took me for fucking ever to finish, the amount of times I deleted and redid this chapter is unbelievable, in the end, I chose something retarded and just went with it lol.
I'm quite sorry for not uploading for a month, I've been busy with work and school, I'm extremely invested in graphic design as well, well more like the VFX side of it. Anyway sorry about the late update, I've been
busy/lazy, whatevs.
That little dream part I included was based on a dream that I had a week ago, minus the whole Indra part lol. But still pretty creepy right?
I really enjoy writing, but I don't want to make it seem like a chore so ya know…
Thanks for reading!