A/N Back again with another update folks! Wohoo! I've decided what to do concerning the nature of pairings and girls in general. So, this will be the plan: Naruto, in this story, will meet many different girls. Some will like him, he will like some of them. He will have some flings, enjoy life as it were, and then move on. I don't plan on making a harem, but Naruto will definitely experience different girls. Does that satisfy most of you?

Now, on with the show!

The Legacy Ascending

Targets

"Tomorrow you will eliminate them, permanently."

xXx

~ In Konoha – Naruto's apartment ~

It was getting late, and the new apartment complex on the outskirts of the residential area radiated light – at least, most windows were brightly lit. One apartment was conspicuously dark however. Inside, a blonde boy sat peering down at his desk. His only source of light – a strong overhead lamp – shone down at the files strewn about. Groaning to himself, the blonde held up a glass of sake and swished it gently before taking a sip.

There were people on his mind, some of them were buzzing in the back of his head. Like Sabakuu no Gaara and Hinata Hyuuga. Both of which were problems he would have to deal with later. They were not his main worry. The three Genin he had been tasked to eliminate were.

Zaku Abumi, Kin Tsuchi and Dosu Kinata. The only team from Oto, and he would have to 'remove', all of them. Naruto took another sip from the glass, it was a weak distillation. Not that he had expected very strong stuff from the minibar.

The order was to remove them from the exam, permanently. To that end, killing them had been strongly advised. Yet, for public reasons, the killing could not be overt or gruesome. Accidents were far more preferable, as Naruto would soon be revealed to be a Konoha Shinobi, and this task could potentially tarnish Konoha's reputation if handled poorly.

It was this new . . . obstacle . . . that was being picked apart in his mind.

A click emanated from farther back in the apartment, Naruto looked up in alert. Someone was coming inside.

"Brat, you here?" The voice came from the hallway.

Naruto relaxed a bit at the voice, but he approached it warily nonetheless.

"Why do you keep it so dark in here?" The voice of his teacher asked. The front door clicked close.

Naruto flicked on a light switch in the living room and looked at Jiraiya's illuminated figure standing in the hallway.

"You know I like it dark." Naruto responded, and lowered the glass of sake. He had been planning to throw it if someone other than Jiraiya had been standing in his hallway just then.

Jiraiya eyed the glass incredulously. "Were you planning to . . . throw sake at me?"

"Yes, followed by a fire technique to set you on fire." Naruto told him with a guilty smile. Fire had never been his forte, but setting a person doused in alcohol on fire was easily within his limits.

Jiraiya looked disturbed. "How could you even consider doing that?"

"What?" Naruto blinked, not comprehending.

"Wasting perfectly fine sake like that, you are no apprentice of mine." The toad sage looked at him contritely.

Naruto deadpanned. He gestured to the kitchen. "There's more in the minibar."

Jiraiya was inside his kitchen before he could snap his fingers, rummaging through the minibar. Naruto heard him squeal decidedly ladylike when he found a brand of rice wine he liked.

His renowned godfather came back into the living room chugging down a bottle.

Naruto stared at him, took a sip from his own glass, and continued staring. The man lowered the bottle and let out a loud sigh of satisfaction.

"Not too shabby!" He said and glanced down at the bottle appreciatively. The toad sage looked back up at Naruto.

"What? Don't look at me like that." The man told him and moved to take a seat in the couch.

"Sensei." Naruto began his sentence with that word, to make him realize he was serious. "When did you first begin to drink?"

As far as Naruto knew, the man had always been a sucker for the bottle. He might not be an alcoholic, but he wasn't far from it either. The man had an addiction, but Naruto had never truly raised that issue with him. Whenever he tried to talk about serious subjects like that, Jiraiya would always brush them off.

It was a shame, because Naruto wanted to help the man get his act together. His godfather always had time for him, Jiraiya had taught him so much of what he knew today and the man always helped Naruto with his problems. Even if it was just some complication about his latest Fuuinjutsu design.

But when it came to his own problems, his godfather clamped up. The man didn't want help from anyone. He was the type who preferred to suffer in solitude.

"Well, I was a lot older than you when I started." Jiraiya laughed at his own cleverness.

Naruto swished his own glass around and gave it a look, he would easily admit it tasted foul. "I'm just testing it out." He told Jiraiya. He kept the annoyance he felt from showing, as usual his godfather had avoided his question.

"I'll be the last person judging you for having a drink, Naruto." Jiraiya was surprisingly sober all of a sudden. He put down the bottle on the table and stretched in the couch. Naruto circled the table and sat down in the chair opposite Jiraiya, he decided not to push the issue anymore tonight. He could tell Jiraiya had something pressing to talk about.

"So, did you come just to raid my liquor or is there another reason for the sudden night-time visit?" Naruto asked him.

"This is hardly liquor, but yes. I come bringing advice." Jiraiya said in mock seriousness.

"Oohh, this ought to be good." Naruto emptied his glass in one swig and leaned back into his chair.

"Maybe not so much advice . . . more of a warning."

"The suspense is killing me." Naruto lamented sarcastically.

"Did I ever tell you about my teammate?" The question caught Naruto off guard.

"No . . . neither of them. You hate talking about them." Naruto replied. Like a great deal of many other things.

"Ah, I suppose that's right, but for very different reasons, mind you." Jiraiya reached for the bottle again. He took a small sip from it.

"Even back in my Genin days, Orochimaru was a prick. Always very selfish, and because of that he could be an ass. Let me be clear on this though, he was never a mean-spirited person. He wasn't a cruel man back then, and he very rarely got angry. Even so, because very little mattered to him beyond his own goals he was always hard to deal with as a teammate."

"That last line . . . it sounds a little bit like someone I know actually." Naruto frowned at some of the similarities between Sasuke and Orochimaru in his youth.

"I would keep an eye on that person if I were you." Jiraiya told him seriously, before taking a swig from the bottle. "In any case, I'm not here to unwrap my past with Orochimaru."

"But why is it such a touchy subject for you to begin with?" Jiraiya gave him a look that told him he was treading on thin ice.

Naruto began to amend himself quickly. "I mean, you said it yourself, he was a prick, hard to work with and generally unpleasant. I don't understand, if you disliked him-"

"Disliked him?" Jiraiya interrupted. "Orochimaru was like a brother to me, I loved him like a sibling."

Naruto gaped slightly and stared unabashedly at his godfather.

"Oh." He let out after a while, too gob smacked to formulate a proper reply.

"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago, he's beyond saving now." Jiraiya looked down in his lap, his mind going back.

"Last time I fought him, I had to go into sage mode." Jiraiya let out a sigh and shook his head. "That's when I knew there was no helping him anymore. The feel of his chakra . . . His presence was sickening. He's done unspeakable things to chase his ambition, it's warped him into something monstrous. I doubt there is any humanity left in him anymore."

"That . . . must have been terrible. I'm sorry." Naruto felt humbled. He felt his stomach churn uncomfortably, he was truly sorry for his godfather.

Jiraiya shifted himself on the coach. "Don't be, this is why I came today. In a perfect world I would get to kill the man myself, it would have been preferable. We live in no such world however, you might have to fight him someday."

Naruto frowned at his teacher. "Why?"

"Well, I think there's a high chance he will hate you on principle once he learns you exist, simply because he hated your father."

Naruto looked quizzically at Jiraiya. "What now?"

Jiraiya shrugged and gave a short elaboration. "Orochimaru and Minato were candidates for the position as the Yondaime Hokage, but we know who Sarutobi picked. Needless to say, Orochimaru hated Minato for it."

"I never knew that." Naruto muttered quietly. He knew there was a lot Jiraiya had never told him about. The man hated to talk about the past – Naruto suspected this had a lot to do with his drinking habits – which was why these revelations shook him so much.

Jiraiya waved a hand at him, as if to brush away the heavy atmosphere in the room. "That doesn't matter now kid. Keep your head in the game, you need to be ready if Orochimaru ever crosses path with you."

"Well, you knew him best, if someone could help me prepare, it would be you." Naruto tried not to dwell on the fact that he might have to fight one of the world's most famous Nukenin in the future. There was also a chance Orochimaru was in Konoha right now, hidden somewhere in plain sight and planning the destruction of the leaf.

Jiraiya gave a small satisfied smile. "Exactly, I know how he fights. I'll need to show you his tricks one day, but for now, how are your examination going?"

Naruto let out a breath and shook his head before answering. "I'm confident I'm the top performer so far. I managed to cheat and get some good results on the theory today."

"How did you cheat?" Jiraiya wondered.

"Kage Bunshin, I had some look for the test spot. They found the cabin and the chimney was the perfect hiding spot, I got to hear all the questions in advance and a plethora of different answers." Naruto explained. After that it had been easy, upon hearing Naruto's voice speaking inside the small cottage, the clone had left the cabin and dispersed itself from a safe distance.

"I got an assignment from Ibiki later on." He added after a while, almost as an afterthought.

Jiraiya looked at him with interest, he lifted an eyebrow to urge him on.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to discuss it with anyone, even you." Naruto smiled at his godfather.

"Like we give a fuck about that." Jiraiya murmured into his bottle, Naruto grinned at the man. He agreed wholeheartedly.

"I have to eliminate the Otogakure team. Tomorrow."

Jiraiya slowly put down the bottle and became introspective.

"What is it?" Naruto wanted to know.

"That's going to piss him off. Besides, Orochimaru could be masquerading as one of those Genin . . . That settles it. Follow me." All of a sudden Jiraiya was up and about.

". . . You think Orochimaru could be posing as a Genin from his own Hidden village? Doesn't that seem too simple to you?" Naruto frowned at the man. When Jiraiya merely grunted and walked into the hallway, Naruto followed him in bewilderment.

The toad sage Turned to look at Naruto, he already had a hand on the door handle.
"For once, don't pester me with a million questions. We're going out to a training ground. I've a lot of stuff to show you and not a lot of time to do it on."

Naruto caught himself opening his mouth, but he closed it reluctantly and grabbed a set of sandals.

This had better be good.

xXx

Our blonde Shinobi in training came back to his apartment three hours later. He shuffled inside and dragged himself into the bedroom, where he undressed and promptly feel asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Naruto estimated he began dreaming very quickly, but he had no clue when he crossed over the dream and entered the Eight Trigram Seal. In one moment he was dreaming up vague figures and demolishing them, in the next he was in the seal standing in front of the Kyuubi.

He had no memory of anything in-between.

"How the hell did you get in here?" The Kyuubi wrung his prone body around to get a look at him.

"I have no clue." Naruto murmured confusedly. "I went to bed exhausted . . . I think I was dreaming up until now."

"Huh . . . your mother used to end up here when she had nightmares." The Kyuubi smiled sadistically. "She would arrive out of nowhere, all teary eyed and afraid. Of course, she would take one look at me and turn white as a sheet before popping out again. I guess the nightmare was preferable."

Naruto ignored the flash of anger he felt at the jab against his mother.

"I don't think my mother feared you as much as you think she did." The young Uzumaki felt this was both the right thing to say, and the truth.

"I might have exaggerated a bit." The fox admitted without seeming to care much.

"I think you were." Naruto told him straight. "We're not enemies Kyuubi, there's no need to act like we are."

The Kyuubi rose up on all four and stared down at him with slitted eyes. "Do not presume too much, Uzumaki ravel. We may not be enemies, but we're certainly not allies."

Naruto kept silent for a short moment. While irritating, having his mother's clan referred to as ravel didn't inspire much anger. He'd never known any of them, and they were gone. He kept his cool with ease this time.

"Maybe not, but I'd still like to learn your name, I refuse to merely call you Kyuubi all the time."

The large fox promptly lost its menacing aura and actually blinked in surprise.

"What makes you think I have a name?"

Naruto snorted at the question. "Please, everyone has a name. What about the other tailed beasts out there? Don't you have names you call each other?"

"We do, but that is not yours to know." The Kyuubi told him.

"If you don't give me your name I will make one up for you right now." Naruto told him flatly.

". . ."

". . . You know, I like the name Spot."

". . . Fine. You may call me Kurama." This was let out in a defeated manner.

"Kurama."Naruto tasted the word. Huh, strange. That's actually a nice name, did not expect that.

"Now, would you leave? You interrupted a rather nice dream."

"Oh yeah, I bet your dreams are the best, were you running around trampling flowers, or people?" Naruto asked mockingly. As it turned out, that was entirely the wrong thing to say.

"Quiet!" A tangible wave of red devilish chakra emitted from Kurama as he shouted the one word. It roiled over the ground and reached Naruto before he had any time to react at all. The chakra didn't do anything to him physically, but it battered at his mind like a sledgehammer. It felt like he was standing in an ocean of red hot rage bubbling with malice and hatred.

Unprepared, the boy fell to his knees. His vision blurred into a red mist. Naruto, like everyone else, had of course been angry before. He'd been pissed off with his godfather's ridiculous habits on a dozen different occasions. Even so, he had only been livid with rage once. He'd teared a door of its hinges on accident that day.

This was worse than that. Ten times worse. A hundred times worse.

The rage he was feeling was so overpowering he could barely think. All he desired was destruction, to lay waste to everything around him and burn the world down. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small part of him wailed in protest, but it was drowned out.

Naruto rose to his feet, his hands jerking and spasming, his breath wheezing. Fright and terror moved up his spine, before that raw unadulterated rage overtook him again. He was going to kill that damn fox. Fuck him, he didn't need him. He would rip out his throat and dance in the blood shower. Why though? A thought in him pooled up.

"I'll kill him. . Crush . . Break . . Rip."Naruto stumbled in the red chakra pooling around him. Another stab of fright hit him, he felt scared again. He didn't even know why, he just wanted to crush something to feel better.

No! Exerting all of his willpower, Naruto funneled his own chakra through his system and used it to purge his body free from that dark influence. It hurt like a bitch, the red substance peeled off of him like a second skin. Small burns and blisters ran up and down his arms, they were on his face to he surmised.

Most of the red gunk evaporated, but some of it slithered back to Kurama, who stood watching him impassively.

"What the hell is wrong with you? What was that?" Naruto asked in outrage, but his voice was coarse and weak.

"That was my power . . . I lost control for a moment" Kurama seemed to regret himself, any trace of anger completely gone in him. "I'm surprised you were able to throw it off like you did, very few could have done something like that."

"Well, keep your damn power to yourself from now on, like I've said before, I don't need it!" Naruto told him angrily.

"You say that, even after having felt its potency first hand?" Kurama seemed oddly puzzled.

"Yes! That . . . Power, is not mine. I won't use it." Naruto stared back at the fox.

"Why? There was actual curiosity in his voice.

"Because what you have is not true power. However strong it may be, it's still cemented in hatred. There's so much rage in you . . . But, why are you so scared?" Naruto added that last bit questioningly.

"What now?" Kurama growled at him.

"That's the only other thing I felt from your chakra other than pure rage; fear. You're afraid of something, aren't you? That's what drives your hatred, right? I mean, you hold so much fear in your heart; it's almost as if you're afraid to be controlled."

At the time, Naruto was unaware of how close to home this hit Kurama.

"You dare . . ." The fox stood eerily still and eyed Naruto with real menace. Kurama always looked at the blonde boy like a cat would a mouse. Not a worthy meal, but prey nonetheless. Right now, however, the fox looked fierce and deadly and capable of all the things he'd done in the stories out there.

Feeling uncertain, Naruto opened his mouth to apologize. He would have to backtrack and start over, he had pushed too hard and too soon.

"If you say so much as another word about me I will tear you to shreds and oust you from this place. I will. But not before grinding your bones to dust, not before I have melted your essence down into goo. Not another word."

Naruto might have had a stubborn streak a mile wide, but he was not a complete fool. He gave a slow nod.

xXx

Despite the very late night and a sudden detour from dreamland and into The Eight Trigram seal, Naruto woke feeling passably refreshed – surprisingly enough. After a quick inspection in front of the bathroom mirrors he found no burns or irritated skin whatsoever, which was interesting. It would be prudent to test that further someday. Idly, Naruto caught himself wondering what would happen to him if he was somehow killed inside the seal.

Odds are you die on the outside as well. Kurama's voice rumbled in the back of his head. Naruto – who had been standing on one leg pulling a sock up his foot – jolted upright and almost fell on the slippery tiles.

Warn me next time damn it!

Warning you in your own mind would no doubt still give you a scare. Naruto was pretty sure the fox was mocking him.

A tiny prod would suffice. Naruto argued as he strapped himself up.

I might try that.

The trip to the Arena was wet, but the grey combat jacket repelled most of the rain. Despite the foggy weather Naruto used the Shunshin to quickly cover the distance to the Arena. He had made the same trip with the Shunshin twice before, and some bad visibility was not going to stop him today.

Naruto arrived at the center island of the Arena to see scores of Genin crowding around the large blackboard, he felt some small amount of apprehension rise in him. What if his performance yesterday had not been as good as he first thought? How much would it hurt him if he scored lower?

He made his way through the crowd. Rain pattered down on the blackboard, but the chalk didn't wash away or smear. Naruto had already guessed the administrators must have used something in order to make the chalk stick, otherwise any Genin could wipe out names left and right. This confirmed it.

A surprise was the actual size of the list. Of the two-hundred names from the first day, Naruto estimated a bit more than a quarter of them remained, but less than half. Seventy names perhaps. The first phase would be over either today or tomorrow, Naruto was sure of it.

Closer up, he was able to distinguish the letters and names at the top of the list.

Naruto - 50 points

Nii Yugito - 49 points

Hikaru - 48,5 points

Haruno Sakura - 47 points

Kurotsuchi - 46 points

Temari - 45,5 points

Fumihiro - 44 points

Hyuuga Hinata - 43,5 points

Sasuke Uchia - 42 points

Tenten - 42 points

Kin Tsuchi - 41,5 points

Naruto struggled to keep his smile to himself.

Something pressed at his consciousness, he had no way to describe it to anyone lacking the connection he and the fox had, but it felt as if Kurama had done the equivalent of mentally knocking on his door. Naruto opened up to the connection.

So, fifty points was the best possible score? Kurama's deep voice resonated through his mind.

Seems like it, yes. Then he frowned, the fact that Kurama had known to ask that question confirmed a suspicion.

When were you going to tell me you can actually see through my eyes?

I was checking how long it would take you to figure it out. Was the amused reply.

Of course you were. Naruto answered tonelessly and turned away from the blackboard. He moved up closer to the podium so he could hear Ibiki better. He found the Konoha rookies there, but he didn't get to say so much as 'hi' before Ibiki began talking.

"Welcome back, Genin! Today we're taking off the training wheels!" The Konoha proctor gestured to the side of the podium, and two men in flak jackets began to hand out objects to the crowd.

"Each of you will be given a badge. Keep it safe, it's important." Ibiki made a slight pause for emphasis. Naruto watched as the rookies in front of him mutely received a badge each. Each badge was in the shape of the universal fire symbol you could find in every Jutsu scroll from Konoha to Kiri.

Naruto took his silently when he was offered one. The metal felt heavy in his hand, the symbol itself had been made with a surprisingly good eye for detail - considering it was just a heavy prop.

"This test will last throughout most of the day, only those of you with three badges when time runs out gets to advance further. I'm sure you can figure out what this implies . . ."

A wave of restlessness shot through the crowd, whispers bubbled up immediately.

"I am not going to impose many limits on you today, but I have one. This island will remain a peace zone, no fighting will be allowed here. Once you have your badges, return here with all three. Other than that, you can do whatever you want. Use whatever weapons you like, take whatever alliance you can find, or try your luck as a lone wolf, either way, by tonight you will have to turn in three badges here with me in order to succeed. Good luck, we will begin now."

True to his word, the process of scattering every Genin around the arena began immediately. After every five minutes a batch of eight Genin were sent off the island in different directions. The field slowly emptied as the minutes stretched. Naruto took special note of the direction each Oto Genin wandered off into.

He hoped they would regroup somewhere out there. Not because it would make his job easier, but because it would look barbaric if he had to track down each of them and eliminate them in turn and order. Definitely not the image Konoha wanted, and while no one knew he was on team Konoha right now, that was going to change soon.

The next batch of Genin sent him and the rookies off into different directions. They had agreed to regroup somewhere between the forest zone and the desert zone, and they had even made it clear Naruto could come. He had declined graciously with a sarcastic bow and a small smile, saying he was flattered but heading somewhere else.

Which was nothing but the truth.

They had accepted that with no fuss, Shikimaru had looked relieved, and Hinata downright suspicious. He didn't blame either of them as they were right to be wary. He had been tasked to kill people after all.

xXx

~ Three hours later – Forest zone ~

Naruto watched the water running through his fingers turn dark. After a short moment had passed, he rose and stepped away from the stream. His hands were no longer smeared with blood. He would have shaken them dry, but the rain was steadily getting worse. Nothing was dry today.

Naruto peered around the small creek they were in. His . . . subordinate? prisoner? No, better to just use her name. Kin Tsuchi was lounging on a large oval rock right by the brook, dipping her fingers in the small current. Her long dark hair was splayed out against the rock. She didn't seem to mind the downpour at all.

The Otogakure kunoichi felt his gaze, and stared back at him with her one healthy eye. The other was so badly bruised it had closed up completely. Her left leg was useless, her right arm was useless. Really, she was a cripple at the moment, she had to be carried to get anywhere.

Which he intended to continue doing for a little while more.

The last few hours had been a battle between bad luck and good luck, Naruto was not sure which of the two was on top at the moment. It was a close thing. At the very start of the day, Naruto had kept a vain hope to follow in the tracks of the Oto Genin, that had quickly proved too difficult. There were just too many overlapping tracks heading in the same direction.

He had tried anyway.

Following one of these tracks, he had been ambushed by a pair of Genin hiding not too far into the desert zone. Not a bad ploy. Clever to get the drop on some of the lone Genin leaving the island. Unfortunately, they ambushed the wrong person. Naruto had left them on the shrubby ground, both sporting bruises and relieved of their badges.

Giving up the notion of tracking his targets, Naruto had sat down to draw a crude map of the arena in the dirt of the desert zone. From the center island he drew three lines, each one representing his targets. He was glad he had memorized their departure points now. If they were planning to team up again, it seemed natural that they would pick a point close to all three. Naruto laid down a few lines who went straight as a ruler, his Fuuinjutsu practice demanded exquisite brush control, and he was nearly as good with a pencil. Naruto drew a circle where all the lines intersected, this is where they want to meet up . . . if they're smart that is.

Naruto peered down at the map in uncertainty. It was a thin lead, he knew that, but he had nothing else to go on. He'd rather not comb through each and every nook of the arena in search of them.

On his search through the forest zone, Naruto once again stumbled into trouble. Quite literarily this time, as he had nearly killed himself when he walked into a small section of the forest smattered with an elaborate system of trip wires, spring traps and explosive tags. He had been inattentive and had foolishly walked on, a tiny 'click' had been his only warning.

The first trap had merely shoved him into the real danger. A complete web of traps all with the goal of maiming and mutilating a person as much as possible.

Raw, unfiltered reflexes saved his life. Naruto rolled, coiled into jumps and tumbled away with such an uncanny coordination he would have turned any gymnast green with jealousy. He came through the thicket pumping with adrenaline and perfectly unharmed.

Killed by a handful of traps, so goes the last Uzumaki. His pride hurt just thinking about it. He could hear Kurama roaring with laughter in the back of his head. When the trap makers came to investigate the explosions, he discovered there were four of them. Spurred on by their superior numbers, they had tried to take him down.

To give you the short end of it, Naruto left the thicket with four more badges.

When he reached the spot he had marked out for himself earlier, Naruto slowed down his pace and adapted a sneakier approach. He paused for a breath when he heard a quiet wailing up ahead. Someone was hurt, going by the pained moans. Naruto took to the trees and swiftly covered ground.

It was a girl, and although it could have been a trap, Naruto merely jumped off a branch and landed in front of the prone form.

She looked slightly older than him. Which said more than you might think, as Naruto was usually mistaken for a fourteen-year-old most of the time. That said, he had the dark-haired girl pegged as a fifteen-year-old. At a glance, Naruto could spot her worst injuries.

Her right arm was broken, and several injuries stood out on her face, but going by her gentle movements she was just as beat up beneath her clothes. Someone had cut the tendon that stretched over the Achilles in her left leg. That last bit had him frowning. Only cruel people did that sort of thing and left without leaving so much as a bandage.

Naruto bent down and rolled out a storage seal, he activated it and considered the items that popped out. He had never thought he would have found much use for the standard issue field supplies during the exam, but he was glad he'd brought it along anyways.

Naruto took a small container of soldier pills and laid it beside the painkillers, he grabbed a roll of adhesive bandage and a small flask of disinfectant. He gave the young woman a small pat on the shoulder and asked her if she could roll over a bit.

Something in his voice must have convinced her he was trying to help, because she did as he asked without question. She wheezed painfully at each motion. Naruto palmed her a handful of pills and set the water bottle in front of her.

"They're painkillers, swallow all of them." He told her and scooted over to work on her leg. Naruto cut away the cloth and poured the disinfectant over the wound just as she swallowed the pills. She didn't cry out, but there was sharp whizz of indrawn air.

"Who did this to you?" Naruto asked as he rolled bandages around her shin.

"M-my teammate." She sounded wretched.

Naruto nodded and continued working on the leg.

"T-thank you for helping me."

"Don't mention it. Your teammates were cruel if they did this. Let me guess, they wanted your badge, and you didn't cooperate?"

She gave him a weak nod, and that's when Naruto noticed a crucial detail. The symbol on her forehead protector was a note, representing sound. Realization set in sharply for him, she was Kin Tsuchi from Otogakure. He would have recognized her sooner, but her face was very different from the picture in her file. She sported a cut lip, two grape-sized bruises, and a partially closed eye that had trouble focusing.

He was patching up the target he had been tasked to kill.

Apart from a slight pause in his ministrations, Naruto continued as if nothing happened. He could hear a gleeful laughter faintly in the back of his head. Kurama was practically roaring with amusement.

"Do you know where your team were headed?" Naruto tried not to sound too eager to know this.

The girl, or Kin rather, didn't answer straight away. "They went up the hillside." She relented and pointed out the direction.

That's toward the mountain zone . . . Hardly even thinking about it, Naruto made a familiar hand sign and watched as two clones popped up around him. Wordlessly, both left at a run. Kin stared after the clones with a single dark eye.

"We ought to do something about that arm too." Naruto told her after having patched up her foot.

"Please, I can just lie here and wait, a Chunin is bound to find me soon. You've . . . You've done enough."

Naruto weighed his options. On one hand, he'd been assigned to eliminate her. To make sure beyond all doubt she would not become a problem later on, whether as a pawn of Orochimaru in the invasion, or as a spy in the exam. His superiors wanted her dead for these reasons.

On the other hand, the girl was effectively a cripple, she couldn't walk. She was no threat and wouldn't be one for a few weeks with those injuries, her time in the exam would be over after today. Simply killing her for things she may or may not do in the future didn't sit well with Naruto, not one bit. Then there were her teammates, they had beat her up and left her to wallow in misery.

Not a move that would inspire much loyalty in a girl. With the right approach . . . Maybe.

"Listen. You can barely crawl at the moment. I can't leave you like this. What if someone like Sabakuu no Gaara stumbles over you before any of the Chunin find you? He'd smile whilst squeezing the blood out of you like an overripe fruit."

Surprisingly, this didn't inspire much fear in the Oto girl.

"If you're not prepared to leave a few injured people in your wake you really shouldn't have taken this exam."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. "I already have left injured people behind me, and each and every one of them should be up and about by now, searching for a way to make a comeback. You on the other hand, can barely crawl, much less walk."

"Sooo . . use an explosion tag and make some noise, it should draw some of the Chunin towards me. I have some tags in my pocket." Her voice was less confident this time.

Naruto shook his head slowly. "That's a bad idea for the same reason, if someone dangerous is nearby, explosions would be like a beacon to them." Besides, I can't leave you with a Chunin.

"Then what do you want me to do?" She almost slurred at the last words. That would be the painkillers kicking in, she had taken them on an empty stomach apparently. There was a substantial chance she might pass out.

"Nothing. I'm going to carry you back to the center island, you will be safe there." He told her plainly.

She looked at him as if he had sprouted a second head.

"Wha? Wait, no, that can't work . . . how could you possibly . . . what if we run into someone?"

"That won't be a problem." He assured her.

She hesitated with her next words. "You won't have enough time left to get your badges . . ."

Naruto held out a hand and watched her reaction as he unsealed the badges he had taken earlier today. They clinked to the grass. Including his own, he had seven. Over twice the amount a person needed to pass. Her expression was priceless.

"Like I said . . ." Naruto drawled, unable to resist doing some showmanship. "That won't be a problem."

xXx

~ Back to the present ~

Naruto and Kin held each other's gaze for a while, she was the one who broke eye-contact. With a small sigh, the young Uzumaki stepped in front of her and sought her attention. He'd decided that for once, maybe a direct and completely honest approach might be the best one.

"Okay, here's the situation right now." Naruto told her when she wouldn't look at him. "We're just a couple minutes away from the no-fight zone. I'm inclined to take you there, but this is more complicated than you realize."

"How so?" She asked, her healthy eye tightened with suspicion.

"Konoha knows about your invasion, they know Orochimaru is here, they know he controls Otogakure, and they know your team work for him. The Sandaime is aware of all of this." Naruto stated this in an impassioned manner.

She stared at him like a gob smacked fish on land.

"My assignment for the day, was to kill you, Kin Tsuchi. You and your teammates, which I'm currently tracking down as we speak."

Now it looked like someone had ruthlessly stepped on said fish. Her eyes bulged in shock, had she been the type of girl to cower and shiver in fear, she would have done it by now. She didn't do that though.

"So why am I still alive?" She nearly bit off each word.

"Because I found the task unnecessary and distasteful." He told her with a tiny smile. "That does not mean you will live through the day. It depends on you."

"What do you want me to do?" She asked in an almost mechanical manner. Her eyes were glassy and uncaring. There was a sort of detached calmness in her he found unnerving. It was as if she'd been in situations like these many times before, and this was just the most recent event in which she was being coerced into something.

"The way I see it, you are far more valuable to Konoha alive." Naruto made a casual gesture with his palms turned up. "So, convert."

She snorted at him. "You certainly don't beat around the bush, at least tempt me with promises of power first."

"You won't need power, you will be with Konoha, and we always win." Naruto said this like it was an irrefutable fact. "We can protect you, but I doubt Orochimaru will care or even notice when you disappear from him."

". . . There's a ring of truth to that last bit." She muttered. "So, what would converting entail? Would I be locked up for years before you trusted me?"

Naruto gave this some honest thought.

"For a time, yes, but that would also depend on you. There are ways you could show us your loyalty, but you would be watched in the beginning, at the very least."

Kin nodded mutely, she had expected as much.

"In this case however, I'm willing to speak on your behalf. I have the Hokage's ear, and he listens to me. I can convince him to give you citizenship, a real life here."

"Just like that?" She was doubting him.

"Yes, just like that, once the exams are over of course." Once the invasion has been fought off. Was the underlined context.

She turned her head to look at him. "And if I refuse?"

"I'll kill you." Naruto lied smoothly and met her eyes.

He would knock her unconscious and hide her. Later, he would come back for her and take her to Jiraiya. He could probably have her smuggled halfway to Kumo within half a week.

She didn't consider the option for long. "Fine, I accept."

"Good. Beats being dead, right?" He smiled. She snorted at him.

"So . . ." He gave a slight cough and tried to turn his voice a bit more chipper. "Ready to play bridesmaid again?"

"Technically, it's not the bridesmaid you lift like that, but the bride." She corrected him.

"God, you're lame." He told her as he moved to pick her up. He was careful not to touch the crude makeshift sling he'd made for her broken arm. Thankfully, they traversed through the last of the forest region and across the river without running into anyone.

On the other side, Kin revealed something disturbing.

"They are looking for the Uchiha."

"What?" Naruto looked down at her, puzzled. Sasuke?

"The Sharingan boy. My team . . . My old teammates are going to kill him."

"But why?" He asked, not understanding it.

She shrugged. "Orochimaru-sama wants him dead, and you don't question that."

That makes no sense though . . . There must be a reason.

"Thank you for mentioning it . . . I'll make sure Ibiki knows you're being cooperative."

When he saw the first crooked statues appear, he knew they were almost back in the clearing. It didn't take long before a Chunin materialized before them.

"Are her wounds critical?" He asked him sharply.

Naruto tried to brush past him. "No, but she can't walk. Is Ibiki here somewhere? Any medic-nin?"

The Chunin stepped in front of him, a flat hand held up. "I will have her seen to, but I'm afraid you cannot accompany her further unless you want to retire from the exam."

That stopped Naruto, he still had things to do. But leaving Kin alive with Ibiki might be a very bad move. He could tell she was starting to stress, her body had become unnaturally stiff all of a sudden.

"Fine." Naruto acquiesced, and jostled Kin into the larger man's arms. She let out an involuntary groan of pain at the exchange. Before the man took off with her, Naruto grabbed her headband, twirled it over in his hand and roughly scraped his kunai over the symbol. It was the most open sign of defection a person could wear.

Naruto shoved the headband into her lap and closed her hand around it. The Chunin frowned at the action, but he remained silent.

Kin blinked with her one healthy eye.

"You're not with Oto anymore. Keep that headband close and make sure to show it to Ibiki. He won't touch you." Naruto tried to be reassuring.

"Thank you." she murmured thickly.

"Last advice, don't answer any questions, and if they take you away, tell them you will only talk to Naruto." He watched as the Chunin stepped back and turned away from him. Kin gave him a final look that had a lasting impact on him.

Now, it may have been the painkillers, or maybe her situation in Oto had been even worse than he had already assumed. But as she was carried away, Naruto saw a flash of warm gratitude stretch over hear injured face. A lonely tear slid down her cheek and was caught in an upturned lip.

Then she and the Chunin disappeared behind a skewed pillar.

If you want a reason for why Naruto eventually becomes the hero of this story, you need look no further.

xXx

~ Sasuke - Mountain zone ~

With blood stained fingers, Sasuke picked at the clothes of the prone figure in front of him. He only had a single badge, which brought his own tally up to exactly that. One badge. He'd lost his own badge earlier to a trio from Amegakure. He was rather ashamed of that performance, had they been less noble they would have killed him.

Either way, he was back to square one now. He needed two more badges in order to pass onto the next stage.

Not for the first time, Sasuke wondered if it had been completely wise to decline everyone's invitations to team up earlier. The competition today was proving itself to be a real challenge, and the handicap of doing it solo was starting to get to him.

The body beside him groaned. It was time to leave, before he recovered. Sasuke jumped onto one of the many, large rocks that protruded out of the landscape in the mountain zone. The heavy rainfall made things more slippery and difficult than it had to be, but the Uchiha skipped from rock to rock, covering ground at an even pace.

He spotted the two figures through the rain just as they spotted him.

The first figure wore a threadbare poncho with long sleeves, and a scarf with snakelike patterns running over it. His head was completely covered in bandages for some reason, except for his left eye. He had a hunched back, and it made him look smaller than his teammate, although he was probably the same height.

The other figure had the same snake scarf, but the similarities ended there. He had dark hair slicked with rain, and he wore a beige shirt with some black stripes and kanji written on it. Both were coming down the mountainside, heading directly towards him.

"Dosu, you think that's him?" The guy on the left said, his voice loud enough to carry through the din of water pelting down.

The guy with the inclined back shrugged and talked through his bandages. "Makes no difference Zaku, result's gonna be the same either way."

Sasuke didn't care to hear anymore. He felt he already had the situation pegged down. This was the sort of fight where it was either kill or be killed. The Uchiha channeled chakra to his feet and ran up a steep rock jutting out of the earth.

His opponents reacted immediately. Zaku aimed both arms at him and shot a nearly intangible wave of energy at him, the trajectory behind the shot was completely clear of rain. Sasuke kicked off the rock and dodged the attack completely, he flicked a handful of shuriken at the two in mid-air. I've got to get them separated.

Sasuke stumbled slightly on slick ground after the high jump, but quickly caught his balance and darted in-between the rock formations. He was about to cut a corner when a high-pitched sound on the other side of the rock gave him a tiny warning. An instant later, the large and solid stone beside him literarily exploded.

The only reason he survived was the Sharingan. His Doujutsu activated of its own accord and he was able to track the blast trajectory of the flying rocks. The largest slabs he managed to dive out of the way off, but the smaller splinters and pebbles hailed across his body.

Not paying the pain any attention, Sasuke pushed off the ground and scrambled to his feet. He heard a muffled 'thud' from behind and snapped his head around. The one called Zaku had jumped down amidst the wet rubble, he smiled imperiously at Sasuke.

"Any last words?" Dozu, the hunchbacked Genin wrapped in bandages, asked him calmly from an outcropping above him. Sasuke experienced a feeling of unease spring up his spine. So, they intended to kill him then.

"I'm not dying here, and if you come at me with the intent to kill, I won't hesitate in giving you the same treatment."

While Zaku laughed openly at him, Dozu merely snorted in contempt. He shrugged, saying: "Fair enough."

He then stepped over the edge he was standing on and kicked off the side off the rock. Sasuke's Sharingan telegraphed the attack, and he sidestepped with good margin. Or so he thought, but a familiar high-pitched sound was coming from Dozu. His long-sleeved poncho was torn from his right arm as he punched after the Uchiha. Sasuke did see the peculiar gauntlet stretching up his forearm, but it was too late by then.

The vertigo hit him first, and Sasuke tumbled to the ground like a doll who had just had its strings snipped off. The pain came just as he hit the ground, his head felt incredibly heavy and numb. The nausea kicked in last, but with a vengeance. Sasuke only barely managed to stop himself from dry-heaving.

"W-what the hell?" He groused from the ground.

"Don't try to get to up, it makes the nausea worse." Dozu warned him.

Sasuke fumbled on the wet ground like a newborn babe attempting to get up on his feet, his balance was completely shot. A growing feeling of dread rose in him and fought for dominance with his nausea. Neither managed to overcome the other.

"Geez, well, this was thoroughly disappointing, I didn't get to do anything." Zaku stepped up next to Dozu to study Sasuke.

"I use my gauntlet to attack with sound, Uchiha. And although you dodged perfectly, you were still close enough to have your inner ear shut down." Dozu took out a kunai with the ease of a butcher moving to dismember a pig.

Sasuke blinked away water and eyed the knife with trepidation, his constant worming made no difference. He felt completely helpless. Just like that time with Gaara. He resolved himself then. If he was going to get killed he might as well make it difficult. A close-up fireball technique ought to do it.

Dozu swivelled his only eye at him, and Sasuke, who had some experience from Kakashi and his single eye, knew the boy was smiling at him just then.

"Lie still and I won't make it painful, that's the least I can do, I'm ending a bloodline after all." Dozu kneeled down and moved to slit his throat. Sasuke clasped his hands together and molded the chakra. If his bloodline stopped here, then it was going to be by his hand.

Out of nowhere, a kunai buried itself into the head of Dozu. He looked surpised for half a moment, his eye wide and confused. Then he dropped the kunai and fell over Sasuke, unmistakably dead.

Sasuke canceled his technique and looked on in bewilderment.

Zaku let out a cry of panic at the sight of his dead comrade, but it was cut short when another kunai came out of nowhere and whizzed into his thigh. He stumbled and fell over too, clutching his leg. It looked like he was having cramps.

Sasuke had only ever seen such precise and powerful throws come from Itachi. Whoever had done this to the Oto Genin had incredible talent. Sasuke peered through the rain and at the looming stones around them, the attacker could be anywhere.

But the next time Sasuke glanced back at Zaku, there was someone standing above him. He had long, dark hair, wet with rain. He stood a head taller than Sasuke perhaps, and he was speaking to Zaku. It was difficult to hear the words through the rain.

"-have a use for you yet."

". . . -lied to us!"

"Yes, you were faster than . . ." Sasuke pushed Dozu off of him and stretched his ears in order to listen, who was this?

"-besides, I'll let you live, be grateful."

"You bastard!" Zaku cried out in anger.

"Where is the girl?" The strange person asked.

" . . .-left her."

"What?" Even Sasuke heard the menace in that one word, and he understood he still had to get away somehow. Even though it was slow, he rose to a kneeling position and fought the urge to vomit.

Stuttering and suddenly terrified, Zaku tried to explain something. But the long-haired man cut him off.

"Leave! I'll deal with you later." The man's voice was cold.

Zaku crawled the first little stretch, but then he clambered up and hobbled off into the rain. For a moment, the man stood still, and it allowed Sasuke to carefully stilt himself back on his feet. His balance was still not even close to being fully back, but he was able to stand.

Eerily, the man turned his head unnaturally to look at him, how he could twist his neck like that was a mystery to Sasuke. A terrible smile graced across his pale lips as he began to approach Sasuke.

"Toot, toot. Really now Sasuke, you disappoint me." His voice was louder now, easily heard through the rumbling rain.

With very few limited options available, Sasuke decided to try and talk to the man.

"Who are you?" He called out, he tried his best to look unruffled.

The man laughed at him, it was not a laughter that inspired any feelings of joy.

"Someone you desperately need if you're to accomplish your goals." The man came to a stop in front of Sasuke, his smile was condescending.

"Unable to even put up much of a fight against those two . . . and coming from the last scion of the Uchiha clan. How weak, don't you agree?" He smiled with sharp teeth.

Sasuke didn't know what to say.

"I am here to help you with that." Sasuke did not believe that for a second.

"Why?" He asked through gritted teeth, his dizziness made things hard to follow.

"Because I have a vested interest in you, let's just leave it at that for now." He smiled that terrifying smile again and stepped closer.

"This might hurt a bit . . ."

Sasuke tried to step away, but after two steps he lost his balance and fell into a grimy puddle. Sasuke stared in revulsion as the man's throat extended towards him, his sharp teeth looked more like fangs now. He reminded Sasuke of a snake.

For the second time that day, someone intervened on his behalf.

A grey figure flickered into existence between him and the strange snake-man, the Shunshin made no sound or smoke. Eyes wide with recognition, Sasuke stared in disbelief as Naruto moved his sword arm up diagonally and made a large cut in the retreating neck of the snake-man.

Stumbling back and hissing in pain, the snake-man looked at them with hateful eyes. His neck shrunk back in on itself until he regained the appearance of an ordinary man again. The cut over his throat was somehow gone, but Sasuke could not comprehend how.

"You!" The man wheezed at Naruto, who frowned.

"Yes. Me. What about it?" He asked. It was the first time Sasuke had heard Naruto's voice become that serious. He joked and laughed about Gaara trying to kill him, but he was dead-serious now. That set the situation into perspective.

Ignoring his shifting vertigo once more, Sasuke slowly forced himself back on his feet. The process was a lot easier this time.

"Don't play games with me, I knew who you were on the first day, Uzumaki Naruto, Son of the Yondaime Hokage."

Sasuke hardly believed what he was hearing at this point, the situation was turning surreal.

"Fair enough, Orochimaru." Naruto returned back.

Despite the ridiculous claim, Sasuke could not help but realizing it was probably true. Who else could extend their neck and throat like a snake, but a snake summoner?

"Ku ku ku. Well done, Namikaze boy, you're as bright as your father ever were. I'll make sure to end you now, lest you become a problem in the future."

A flash of lightning lit up in the sky, a few seconds later there was a loud bang of thunder. The rain hailed down like never before.

". . . A problem in the future?" The question was clearly rhetorical, and Orochimaru frowned at him.

"Whatever you were about to do to Sasuke, I stopped it, you won't get another chance at it. I'm not some distant problem in the future, Orochimaru. I'm a big fucking problem right now."

Orochimaru looked at Naruto with pale green eyes. "What wonderful confidence." He marveled. "I hope it lasts . . ."

Then, Orochimaru, S-ranked Nukenin and wanted criminal, charged forward with the intent to kill.

A/N Sorry! Soorrry! The cliffhanger is cruel I know, I know. But, please, the next chapter will make up for it, promise!

Anyways, leave a review if you like, I'll be seeing you on the next update.

-The Epic pen