(New 10/14/20) Warnings added to chapter one. Please review if you haven't seen them.

AN: Originally, I wasn't content with how the OC engaged the Root corps. I actually sidelined this story for a few wees because I couldn't figure out how to balance Naruto's interactions in the leaf either. For now, I guess I'm playing it by ear.

===Chapter 4===

The summer had come to be a rather busy one in deed, but at long last the storm brewing on the horizon seemed to lend itself to a calmer tomorrow.

A bout of disturbing behavior to the north-east relegated to formal request at the lighting shadow's request. The leader of the great cloud village deemed it high time a formal treaty was signed. As of late, the hidden cloud had seen it's seat of power tested against a similarly unfortunate attack, and while they were in now way as hard off as the leaf, they had been fending a lot of the pressure from the third shinobi war.

It was a battlefield the fire shadow was willing to see pacified. In a few months, a delegation would arrive, and much time would be spent securing passage there. With as much warning, The leaf would be on their toes up to the day the branch was extended. It would be a momentous occasion, to be sure, and in the mean time the fire shadow would make sure that Konoha were at it's best. Prepared for the worst, to boot.

A torrent of water sloshed out of the canopy. Truly, the return journey to Konoha had been an ordeal. Where the land lacked the ability to shed it's skin at a moment's notice, Pelting rains and fallen branches had proven more threatening than any armed shinobi could be.

Having failed to beat the worst of the storms, and fighting an enemy that grew in power by the day, The root corps had settled in for the long haul.

The headband was heavy with fate as much as it was shame. Treachery sat somewhere out there, waiting to be claimed, and the storm had only delayed the inevitable.

It had come with a precious victory, although it was buried in months of grueling effort. It had taken more than campfire stories to route the final exam. Far from it, the weight of the world had come down when the revolt started.

I played as a good soldier for the better part of a month. Long enough for the ones in charge to look me in the eye and mark me for attitude. I started spanning connections soon. I shared the camp with my longest held friend in the corps. He and I had been acquaintances since I first entered camp, and had vouched for me about as much as anyone could.

There was a tight circle of people who I felt secure around. I knew a lot of our division in the corps, but then I didn't know them as individuals so much as parts in the greater machine. A lot of them formed groups and had bonded over their lives in the corps. Some of them with a cohesion that Chunin commanders would bid for.

I gripped my arm to steady it. I knew them well enough to see we had lost many valued members of those circles. During the end, I managed to create a disturbance that interrupted part of the test and grounded a few of the captains around the base. I put up a bigger fight than they anticipated, and didn't go down when they really thought they had me, but before I got things out that far, a large portion of the trainees were sent out.

It was their graduation exam. Those who survived and made it back were shaken with blood on their hands. A shell of who they had been and scared by those who stayed behind.

The Root agents who returned found way more students without scars than they expected, and by the time the rest were done with me, a lot of damage was done between the post graduates. There was to be a repeat of the exam.

There wasn't, and we had the strength of numbers to show for just how strong that resolve was. There would be a lot of loose lips Danzo really wasn't prepared to deal with. By the time he forms any degree of countermeasure, the root corps would be forever changed.

I had prepared two birds worth of soup to ensure that much. It was a petty vengeance, but it was ours, and a sacrifice we would not vainly enable.

Glancing at the morning light cutting across the canopy, I furrowed my brow. It'd taken longer than I'd hoped. With this endeavor I was running far behind where I aimed to be.

I couldn't simply track them down and disable them from the inside. Waiting for things to reach their apex wasn't going to cut it either. I had a lot riding on the ability to get these crises to collaborate in the grand scheme of things. Novelty alone isn't going to cut it.

Then again, I guess it was too soon to tell. Saddled with the curse of an outcast, and a renegade, I suppose it's about time I started getting my own demons sorted. 'Hideous wind'

It had me worried more than It out to though, and I felt a bit of nostalgia. The grass on the other side is greener, but more so as it lies before you than a mere difference in value. Smiling as much inwardly as out, 'I guess it's time to see how much of this tide they share. With any luck and this one twist of fate, the winds will carry out change to the corners of the world.'

Supplementary notes

Seriously, what the heck. Three months to spur a bunch of spry kids? It took a mere week to put together the shakedown of a sannin. (Provided, three takes before I pull it off without crippling defeat.) Huh, you win some you lose some. Moving forward, I won't squander my routine so much. -Temporal sword flickering into life behind me-

Now where has that blond topped ball of raw energy gone off to?

Once, twice, Naruto glanced out the window. Studying his hand as though it were harboring a foreign concept to him. With the beginnings of breakfast set out before him, he finally felt a cheeky smile slink across his face. The storm had breathed its last, he could feel it.

To the outside eye, the chronically exuberant jinchuriki so calm spoke to either defeat or resignation. It was fair to say the news of going out would have achieved such a response normally, but the creeping smirk could have been as much a sign of madness. The boy wasn't exactly known for holding out.

Sure enough, when the boy broke the threshold of the apartment complex, it was like watching a predator zero in on the best suited mark. Not long after, diligence gave way to a fiery happiness that had all but evaporated in the last few months.

He wasn't off the hook yet. The Hokage wanted to see the boy become independent enough to live on his own. It was an eventuality, but it was never too soon to introduce the boy to the essentials. The supply run had been explained to him days in advance. He'd rarely been a part of the earlier commune, but Naruto could feel with every step he was drawing closer to his friends.

The isolation had done wonders for his temperament. For one store to the next, Naruto dedicated a surprising amount of attention to each station of import. Even he felt it was a bit out of place, but after spending so much time in a single building, there wasn't a corner on earth that was less important.

That didn't hold a candle to what was to be the campaign of the day. The moment he could hear their voices, Naruto felt each face he knew spring to mind. Flywheels spinning into motion as one intention after another lined up for the day ahead.

At first, his caretakers were worried that - following such extensive isolation - the blond would lose control of himself around other children. Fortunately, it was a fear unfounded. Where the boy clearly lost a number of social qualms, and reservations, he was as compassionate and sincere as he ever was. As a result, when it came to the end of the day, it was especially difficult to pry him away from the other kids. His enthusiasm was contagious, and it seemed he'd turned it into his weapon of choice.

That said, for all his engaging attitude that morning, once he was far enough away from 'the promised land' the boy was out like a light. Even with his boundless energy, he was still a child.

In the following week, Naruto Uzumaki became something truly feared. For all the horrors that could humble a child, he became nigh impossible to isolate. Children he encountered found themselves swept in by his charisma and goodwill. It wasn't that he was anyone's favorite, but he made every effort to befriend everyone, even those who thought to look down on him.

Warning against him and attempts to drive him out began to fail. Waves ripped apart by the reef he surrounded himself with. They ran out of credence to take away from, and reasons for those children to maintain a safe distance.

Naruto knew what it meant for a child to feel wanted, and he preyed on it, nurturing that feeling in others as it was his own lifeline. By the time the leaves began to turn, He was seldom alone in the peak hours. It was a source of great pride in his caretakers. Still, all that would change come his third birthday.

A blade of light flitted across the surface of the wood before the log split open with a snarl of glowing steam. The glint of metal receding to expose the left arm of my jacket.

It took all of five hours to be classified as a ronin. In all but name and rank, the master of the root corps bore an iron fist that put the whole of the training camps in it's shadow.

I kinda prefer it that way. If the guy had broken out a commendation, or requested an audience, I probably would have busted his collar bone. Danzo Shimura had fought through wars shoulder to shoulder with what would be the highest pressure office in the world. Not one defines his motives or means, but you don't take the war out of a warrior. What that man really wants, is to fight his way through that supreme pressure. Holding the torch for the next generation is the closest he can accomplish.

Part of me is looking forward to the day. Another part of me is already working up the clockwork to make it happen.

The heat from the fire began to rise upon the wind to meet me, and I panned out into the forest. I was far from content to abandon the world for a whim. The elemental nations could still be at each other's throats at the tip of a hat, and while some may have valid reasons, I won't leave local resolve to be the prize for some pocket war. The world is a big place, and I take pride in what the little players can do.

Sitting down to the wafting ashes, I slide my thumb across the surface of a medallion at my chest and bring it into view. Symbols and runes played across its surface as it responded to my energy. The aura of the dampening forest feeding through it and me, while the smoke burned a trail through the canopy.

The next storm was coming from the northeast, and I felt visions of the water front and spice routes. A steel grate slamming closed over an outflow pipe... I tucked the medallion into my coat and glanced up.

"I thought I told you not to follow me."

The forest was silent, save for the crackle of the fire. 10, 15, 20. The current pulsed across the medallion, and the pouch at my hip thrummed. Closing a fist over my wrist I bowled into the fire.

A purple mist poured into the clearing a second later. I could feel as much as smell the potent river venom. 1, 2, 3. Leaves crunched to the side and at the count of five, I thrust my hand toward the canopy.

The defense reaction of the trees to the gas was galvanised by my own chakra. Sage chakra pierced the veins around my lungs and all at once I felt starved for air. Noxious fumes poured down my airways, and clawed at my throat. The same gate makes quick work absorbing the venomous strain. The world pulsed as I glanced up and rose to confront the soldier.

"Twenty seconds before your reaction time slows. Another fourty and you won't keep up with even a genin."

'Honestly, five months ago, I might have bought that.' I lifted a bandanna to cover my mouth and conceal my breathing pattern, while furiously moving my hand through my cloak, flinching periodically as I second guessed imaginary positions.

"You should have been more careful. After all the damage you caused, a fire is an act of suicide. If you hadn't been so blatant, perhaps you would have had time to escape."

'This guy sounds like a younger version of Orochimaru got rejected by a crush. As little sense as that makes, I guess my first move is gonna determine how he leads this dance.' That said, I wasn't about to entertain some pre-teen kid. I shifted my right arm forward and met my hand over my wrist again.

A kunai dug deep into the jacket over my ribcage. And he nearly bowled me over the log I was resting on. He fought to get me into a strangle hold when he found something was wrong.

"Let go, or freeze to death." Two blades the size of pocket knives cut my jacket like creeping sharks. For warning or the apparent danger the guy jumped back, but I brought my fist down on the log for good measure.

The fallen tree shattered with the sound of glass, Every ounce of day and firelight routed across its surface for an instant. A silverish armor appearing beneath the tatters of the windbreaker, encapsulating my torso.

Shards showed white with frost where my palm had crushed the deceased bow. The shinobi shifted his stance warily, but he was just as soon back for a second round.

Die hard as he is, I'm not killing this idiot. That said, A fireball colliding with his chest trailed by black snow kept him at bay a few seconds longer the second time. A blade of light around six inches long projected from my arm. It wouldn't stop a kunai, but the blade certainly wouldn't survive to make the cut, "Danzo will have his turn. He may not have to wait long either. Do not ever make this mistake, I will not be killed."

"You sure about that?" It was nonchalant, but the explosive note trailing behind the throwing knife set a mood i think he'd be okay with.

"Shi-"

The explosion wrecked any trace of a camp, and cored a length of forest three feet behind me. That did it for my armor.

"You would be mocking me if you knew how long it would take to replace that. Assuming you aren't already laughing inside that iron shell of a heart." 'Damn, I really need to figure out that switch. Selvia can't take hits like that.' Fortunately, the blast was effectively routed. A substantial tan around my ears, but nothing physically detrimental. That said, the aura of poison and forest chakra was obliterated from my person, "But I guess I can't send you back without your fair share of bruises." 'I actually need my fair share of speed to make that happen.' "Hmm, to match pace… nah."

The loyal soldier was assessing his progress when the limb next to him was torn from its host. A blast of air stuck him from over the shoulder just before he could form a block. He flipped across the canopy before regaining enough control to navigate atop yet another branch, "Fast. How has…"

"Water." My face was around six inches ahead of his own. His kunai cut the air between us as we both split off.

'He never inhaled the poison at all. Those movements, he's skilled. How much did this jonin uncover in all those months at the camp?'

"If need be, I can carry you back to the leaf, but I won't make any promises on who they use to get you functional again. Alternatively, you walk home on your own. I don't want to mess you up worse than I have to, but I'm not pulling a punch where I do."

A shadow rose up behind me, "It's usually the brazen one who dies last. That way no one notices it's over." To be fair, I was not anticipating a clone from that close.

The blade swept over my shoulder and deep into the torso, but by then I already had two knife hands poised at his sides from behind, "Have a taste of your own medicine jerk."

The guy flipped back and skidded along the limb of yet another tree, his gaze ever leaving mind for a moment. Still, his vision when spotty and he had to adjust his balance as a vile sensation erupted around his torso.

Violet aura shrouded my hands. There wasn't much left, but the forest and my body remembered well the method of attack, "Aerofoil, Tailwind. It takes me a bit of extra time to do so, but the moment I can identify your technique, and how it's managed, I can take it over. It extends to poisons and exotic techniques too. Don't get me wrong, I know poisons are a sick tactic, and they're not my style, but your body knows how to handle them, and the stakes…" I nodded towards him, "In case something goes wrong. I can be a damn convincing masseuse."

He staggered as his liver and kidneys ran the list of any number of cascading failures. Twice he regained composure, only to be haunted by symptoms of his own poison. Ripping back the sleeve of his uniform the guy lunged forward.

"Sorry. I draw the line when you try something like blowing yourself up." The tree two down from the two of us rattled as one of it's limbs exploded, "Reverse partial substitution."

The Root shinobi's eyes widened at his bare forearm. Jaring his head forward as he reached for his weapons pouch. He had half a mind to run the guy through the jaw, right there. The feeling stayed, and he felt the lip of his weapon pouch waiting for the blade to slip past his fingertips.

"Aaand nerve attack. Sorry. Between the liver shot and this last one, you're not gonna be on the duty roster for a week."

After practically prying his soles from the tree, and in the end resolving to just torching his shoes, I began the trek back to the leaf, "Damn. If this keeps up, It'll take all month just to get there." Readying myself for the long hall, I kept my focus steady by plotting out my next two targets, "I won't miss, and I won't make it easy for you this time, senpai."

AN: Uhh… Wow, that suddenly turned into the next lengthy chapter. I'll keep working into the next one, but I guess this ends the hiatus now. Happy surfing everyone, and may the hollows debut be on your side.