The Ghost Amongst the Leaves

by A.Black.Stag

The sealing ritual was messy. Rushed and desperate, the Fourth Hokage inadvertently sent the Kyuubi into the void, and instead sealed within his firstborn something else entirely. The ragged, gaping tear the Shinigami had ripped open in the realm of the living had been devoured, consumed by the Five-Point Seal… and fused into the very essence of an infantile child.

3. Chapter 2, A Black Dawn II

Chapter 2,
A Black Dawn, II

---

Land of Fire, Capital City, Fire Lord's Palace

Uncomfortable.

That was the perfect word to describe exactly how Naruto felt right now. The notion only strengthened as he politely slipped away from a nobleman that was trying to fob his daughter off onto him, despite the fact he was at least half a decade younger than her.

Apparently, walking in tow as the lone entourage of probably the most renowned of the five Kage was something of a statement. Many had taken him, much to Naruto's chagrin, for the old man's assistant, or god forbid, apprentice.

'Lone' entourage... he scoffed quietly under his breath. Yeah, sure. The thought passed through his mind, even as he directed a subtle glance up towards the rafters.

Striding above on one of the large wooden beams that supported the grand ceiling, a Jackdaw-masked ANBU trailed Naruto lazily. The slim man offered him a friendly two-fingered wave, and Naruto restrained the urge to flip him off.

A serving girl passed by, and the familiar scent of melted caramel and daffodils invaded his nostrils. Almost instinctually, Naruto cracked his knuckle at a slightly awkward angle, bringing on a sharp spike of a pain through the joint. The genjutsu fell, and he watched as the kindly serving girl faded away, revealing instead a Weasel-masked ANBU who was sliding around through the crowds with an unmatched grace.

He caught her gaze for a split second, and his fingers flashed in standard ANBU code.

Abnormalities?

Her eyes flashed blood red from behind her mask for but a split second before they returned to normal. She didn't reply immediately, instead, her eyes fell to the left-most pouch on Naruto's hip.

The ashen-haired ANBU felt an embarrassed heat crawl up the back of his neck, however he schooled his features well.

He could almost see the accusing stare behind her mask, even as her head shook in reply with the barest of movements.

Coughing lightly, Naruto walked away from her and resumed stalking after the Hokage, who seemed strangely at ease flitting through the crowds. The crafty old shinobi had the uncanny ability to subvert the attention of those he deemed 'less important', whilst somehow ensnaring the wealthy and the influential in his presence.

To Naruto, who was desperately trying to keep up lest someone stab the old man whilst his bodyguard got lost, it was almost maddening. There were so many people hiding behind a veneer of wealth and politeness, using it like a shield.

It would set any shinobi on edge, let alone a Black ANBU.

Naruto lamented the fact that he didn't even have his own mask to hide behind. The old man had forbidden it. Likely at my own damned expense. The young ANBU restrained his urge to sneer at the man's insufferable antics. He was instead forced to hide behind a transformation technique, bearing northern features and darker hair to compliment his paler complexion.

Apparently, the old Kage had seen the environment fit to 'assess' his non-combative abilities.

Naruto knew better, this was but another of the many… hijinxes, the Hokage had pulled so far.

From the moment they had walked out of Konoha's gates, the Sandaime had toyed with him much like a kitten does with a ball of yarn.

From being sent on a wild goosechase in finding a specifically shaped leaf, to stealing a noblewoman's panties, Naruto had decided that the old man was clinically insane…

The two other ANBU that were his teammates as the Hokage's protection detail had of course found it within their hearts to consider it a new norm.

There was a sudden tap against his shoulder, and Naruto turned as he was broken from his irritated musings. The dashing smile on his falsified face faltered upon seeing the subtly tickled features of his Kage. Brow rising in slight confusion, Naruto chanced a glance in front and found the Hokage he had been tailing still chattering away.

What the… oh, shadow clones.

"Have you accomplished your assigned directive?" The tone was grandfatherly, but the amused gleam in the old shinobi's eye was wicked.

The words had the snowy-haired ANBU inhaling subtly in an effort to maintain his composure. As discreetly as he could, Naruto reached into his left-most hip pouch and produced a freshly plucked pair of panties, in all their dainty pink glory.

The old man's eyes lit up with a perverse glow, and he gave his embarrassed subordinate a proud smile. "Textbook, as always." He nodded in apparent satisfaction. "Keep it close on your person at all times, I know of near mythic artefacts that couldn't even hope to rival such a divine trinket."

Naruto's eyes widened as he hastily jammed the scandalous piece of fabric away as a 'serving girl' passed by. "Are you-" He paused, biting down hard on his lip as the Hokage's brow rose ominously. "As you say, Hokage-sama."

"Good, very good."

Naruto ignored the old man, and instead stole a quick glance through the crowd at the nobleman he had escaped from just moments ago. The merchant lord was now bantering away with someone else, oblivious as his admittedly gorgeous daughter shuffled behind him awkwardly, thighs pressed rather tightly together. Her face was flushed a beetroot red as her eyes scanned the floor, desperately searching for what sat innocently in Naruto's pocket.

Embarrassed, and pitying the poor girl whom had been smiling winningly at him but a minute earlier, the Black ANBU quickly tore his gaze away. "I think I'd rather be back having my ass handed to me by Jaguar…" He mumbled under his breath.

Sarutobi perked a brow at this, "Not a soul would share the same sentiment as you. That old fossil even gets on my nerves." He glanced sidelong at his bodyguard as they stepped from the Daimyo's ballroom and further into the castle itself. "Unless you enjoy his company? He didn't get, ahem… 'frisky' did he?"

Naruto blinked, a brow rising in a query, before his lip curled up in disgust as he finally grasped the insinuation. "That's a negative, sir." He said demurely, put off by the horrendously unattractive notion. "The grandmaster's contempt for the concept of modesty was plain, however he refrained from the acts you speak of." He continued quietly, "-even though I understand that it was common practice in your era." The little retort slipped out despite himself, and Naruto bit down on his lip with a fanged canine as he winced, waiting for the reprisal.

However, the Hokage merely squinted at him, before making a show of looking away pointedly and stepping a pace to the side to put some distance between them. "If you say so…"

It was childish. It was just a childish ploy at teasing that would not in a million years faze the enigmatic persona that was a Black ANBU.

Yet somehow, Naruto's brow still twitched despite this.

The old man was frighteningly good at pushing his buttons. It was to be expected, having over half a century to perfect the irritating art form, however the monkey Kage's approach towards it blew Jaguar's own attempts to unsettle Naruto out of the water.

It's a completely different style of approach. He reasoned. Jaguar was a nightmare, employing the use of a slow, mounting terror that toyed at the mind and sapped at the senses. It was a psychological roller coaster that never climaxed, putting the victim in a perpetual state of unease.

It was something Naruto was quite familiar with. Terror, danger, and pain were old friends hiding in the corner of every room. They didn't unsettle him anymore, not when he had seen their true faces.

The Hokage however... the Hokage was just a hypocritical, lecherous, old coot.

An S-ranked hypocritical, lecherous old coot that is renowned across the lands as the 'God of Shinobi.'

The conflicting disharmony of the thought was baffling enough by itself. It was not something he had been trained to deal with, and the Hokage was pouncing on that weakness like a starved animal.

Now he had two old farts trying to royally mess with him. A dead one in one world, and one that he wasn't able to get back at without being perfidious in the other.

Whose baby did I kick in my past life to deserve this?

Idly, he registered Weasel's form stepping into stride on the other side of the Hokage, just as Jackdaw dropped down from above next to Naruto.

"I've never been more impressed in my life, Nix." The slim man's smooth voice was halfway between a laugh and being genuinely in awe.

Naruto resigned himself to his fate as the Hokage grunted sportingly in agreement and a very familiar cold chill patted the top of his head. As if that wasn't enough, he could feel a crimson gaze boring into the side of his head even as he shook it. "Shut up."

Jackdaw snickered as he unclipped his weapons pouch and jingled it in front of Naruto. "I'll give you my best kunai for it."

"Your squad leader gave you an order." The curt statement cut through the air like a knife, despite the soft voice itself.

Naruto restrained the urge to kiss the Weasel-masked ANBU, and instead silently breathed a prayer of thanks in her direction.

"Follow it, and shut up."

I hope you still like poki. I'm going to drown you in it for this.

Sulking to himself, Jackdaw put away his kunai pouch and sighed. Seeing that no one was paying his woes any mind, he sighed again, except much louder.

Naruto's eye twitched.

What kind of crackpot team did the Hokage put together for this?

He stewed silently as they weaved through the grandiose hallways and stepped through multiple checkpoints on the way to the royal family's quarters. At some point, the Hokage dismissed the two ancillary ANBU, ordering them to remain unseen.

Naruto watched them leave, barely even able to track Weasel. He quickly lost her altogether as she layered a genjutsu over her form.

His mind fell to his current squad, and the Hokage's bizarre decision to anoint him as the acting leader. Despite this, the two had voiced no complaints. It was expected, of course. They were ANBU.

Weasel 1-4, long-ranged assault, age fifteen, A-ranked jōnin of ANBU platoon 'Alpha' attached to squadron four… It had come as a surprise when the familiar ANBU had appeared in the Hokage's office. He hadn't seen her for five years… I wonder if she even recognises me.

He had read her file, as expected of a squad leader however temporary that may be. He had not been disappointed.

Her credentials were nothing short of incredible.

She was a prodigy, in all senses of the word. It was expected of course, considering that the name behind the mask was somewhat notorious. Names and faces were not as sacred to the ANBU as they were to the Black ANBU, and very few could claim not to know who was behind the weasel mask.

There was a curious 'black spot' in her service record, which he had learned from Jaguar most likely indicated Black Ops movement.

Black operations were typically void the usual assignment protocols, and were issued directly by the Hokage. No record of the mission taking place would ever be officially submitted to the archives, let alone made public. Almost all of the Black ANBU's missions during their years of active service were considered as such.

What was curious to Naruto, was that the black spot in Weasel's file took place during the Uchiha civil war…

The war, if one could call it that, had begun and ended in a single night. Weasel's implications were palpable to him, especially considering her association to the clan. She must have acted as the Hokage's chess piece during that night three years ago… it's pretty obvious which side the old man chose, considering the other one was exterminated by its own kinsmen.

The thought was tremendously intriguing, however also tremendously nerve-biting. Classified information was classified for a reason, and his assumptions were becoming dangerous to make.

Putting Weasel out of his mind abruptly before his inquisitive mind lead him even further down the rabbit hole, Naruto instead shifted his attention to Jackdaw.

Jackdaw 3-1, supplementary defensive specialist, age nineteen, B-ranked chūnin of ANBU platoon 'Charlie' attached to squadron one. The man was something of an anomaly, and the Hokage's choice in choosing him for his personal guard was an abstract one. Jackdaw's record was nothing special, comprised of mainly border patrols and skirmishes.

At first glance… that was.

Black spots littered the individual's file like pockmarks. The cover-ups and forged alibis had been masterfully done. Naruto barely would have caught it if it weren't for Jaguar and his paranoid teachings.

The man himself was a royal headache, however his secrets and abilities were anathemas that had the ashen-haired Black ANBU's interest piqued something fierce.

His musings came to abrupt halt as the Hokage stopped. Naruto snapped back to focus, noticing that they had halted in the middle of a rather lavish hallway. He frowned for a moment, his gaze scanning his surroundings.

Something was off, he felt like he had just stepped into a spiderweb, or-

His train of thought cut off brusquely as his eyes fell on the paintings on either side of the hallway.

He glanced at the one on his left, which was a masterful, and most likely exuberantly expensive display of Fire country scenery.

He glanced at the right, and sniffed lightly in mild derision.

They were duplicates.

Well, that's just sloppy…

Flexing his fingers, he sent a flash of chakra through his body and broke the genjutsu over his form. As an added precaution, he flared several more times and bit down in his lip with a sharp canine to break any secondary, or god forbid, tertiary layers.

The endless hallway in front of him fell away with a shimmer, revealing a large, bronze set of double doors. The added precautions the Black ANBU took broke through the secondary layer, revealing the formidable looking shinobi that was stood guard outside said door.

He was a tall man, draped from head to toe in flowing black and red fabric that bore the look of Eastern origin. An opaque black turban that left his features obscured covered his head and face. Naruto wagered that the turban bore the same properties of his own ANBU mask.

It would be rather strange if it didn't, and the man was just walking around blind…

A large club of some sort sat on the foreign shinobi's back to finish the ensemble. It was a simple looking thing seemingly fashioned from the branch of a large tree. However, Naruto had long since learned his lesson when it came to disrespecting the chosen weapons of others.

Memories of Jaguar beating him near to death with a live fish when he had struggled to perfect water walking on the open ocean came to mind.

His reverie was cut off as his nostrils twitched. Inhaling gently through the nose, Naruto followed the scent of strawberries and tulips and turned his head up to gaze into the shadows of the hallway above them. It took a moment, but he was finally able to pick out the obscured form of a kunoichi perched in the shadows cast by the chandelier above.

A moment passed as Naruto just stared at her, before she suddenly dropped down into a soundless crouch. She stood, folding her arms in annoyance as she glared at the Black ANBU that broken both layers of her Genjutsu and picked her out from hiding.

Both wore white sashes across their hips, revealing themselves as members of the twelve guardians. These were the Royal family's personal shinobi bodyguards.

The newcomer was… attractive, to say the least.

But that's the point, isn't it?

This was her speciality, he assumed. To wrap the noose around the necks of those who liked to think with their second head.

He wondered how she dealt with her targets after they were ensnared… he saw no visible weapons, although the finger-length pieces of jewellery that ended in rather sharp claws on both forefingers could likely open up a throat or two.

The Hokage stepped forwards, breaking the stare-down between the Black ANBU and the kunoichi. He stepped past the woman and extended a small note of sorts to the large easterner.

The kunoichi's eyes fell back to Naruto as she appraised him in turn with catlike eyes. Naruto languidly pulled his gaze away from her, having finished his own assessment. She seemed to take it as a challenge, if the sudden, offended glint in her eye meant anything.

Ever so slightly, she shifted…

-and the kimono she was wearing fell open the barest amount.

The Black ANBU's gaze flickered for but a second.

I should offer her the knickers in my pocket. She seems to have misplaced hers. He pondered lazily.

He blinked.

Wait… what?

His eyes flicked towards her again, and pointedly looked away rather quickly as he feigned a cough into his fist. The female guardian's eyes gleamed in amused victory.

Her satisfied smirk branded itself into Naruto's memory, along with other things, as the Hokage suddenly pulled him through the doors that had been thrown open at some point.

It took all of the training Jaguar had rammed into his skull to clear his mind of distractions.

They stepped through without a word, emerging into what could only be described as the personal quarters of a king, or an emperor.

The room was large, at least the size of one of the smaller training grounds in Konoha, and stacked with bookshelves, gaudy furniture and expensive décor. Fireplaces roared on both sides of the room, casting a flickering, auburn glow across the polished wooden floors. In the middle, sat on a cushion and sipping from a saucer of what was likely tea, sat the Daimyo.

Fire Lord Date Masurūga, the White Stag of Hi no Kuni.

The man was lean with reasonably toned layers of muscle, for a civilian, adorning his slight figure that could be seen through the near sheer gown he was wearing. His facial features were decidedly aristocratic with a tapered, strong jawline, a clean-shaven face, piercing brown eyes, and stark grey-white hair that fell all the way down his hips. He looked to be somewhere in his late forties, and as wizened as the age dictated as he glanced up, a small smile on his face as he regarded the newcomers.

"Hiruzen-dono, please sit with me, I have not seen you in many moons."

The Hokage approached the Fire Lord, a grandfatherly smile on his face. "Indeed, alas, the world keeps moving forwards while us old dogs are still stuck in the mud." He gestured to Naruto, who remained a respectful distance away, eyeing up the guardian shinobi that was sat high in the rafters, 'hidden.' "I would like you to meet my personal bodyguard, Uzumaki Naruto."

The sudden announcement had Naruto glancing at his Kage in surprise. However, the sardonic glint of amusement he had been expecting in the old man's eye was absent. Instead, they were hard, and grave.

This was no annoying prank. This was a calculated decision made by a Kage.

The ashen-haired ANBU spared a second glance to the figure perched above, frowning, but eventually stepped forwards at his Kage's behest, falling to a knee and bowing his head in deference as the Fire Lord stood to observe him. The flowery robes and fabricated features vanished in a blur as he dispelled his henge, revealing his ashen hair and Black ANBU attire.

"At ease, young one."

The ANBU rose, hands immediately fastening behind his back as he bore the Daimyo's scrutiny with a perfected grace. When one has endured the predatory glare of Jaguar 2-1 for half a decade, the inquisitive appraisal of a nobleman was comparably a farce.

No matter just how noble said nobleman may be.

The Daimyo analysed the boy from head to toe, taking in the brilliantly cold blue eyes, the silvery white hair and the toned musculature underneath the bodysuit, before pursing his lips. "Scary." The man commented playfully.

Naruto didn't reply as he dipped his head in acknowledgement. His features were porcelain. The Daimyo grinned.

"How many summers have you seen, mighty bodyguard of the Hokage?" He asked with an amused smile.

Naruto ignored the jibe, as expected of him, and turned his head to meet the Daimyo's eyes unrelentingly. "Ten, Daimyo-sama." His voice was mechanical, as crisp as it could get without the aid of the synthesiser seal system in his mask.

The Daimyo nodded, holding the eye-contact effortlessly. "Rather young to be charged with protecting the most important figure in your village, in my opinion." He stated, "What do you think?" He asked, as if discussing the weather.

Naruto bit back the urge to shrug lackadaisically. "Respectfully, I think I shall do whatever is necessary to see my task completed regardless of my age, Daimyo-sama." He replied.

The Fire Lord pursed his lips, before nodding sagely. He turned back to Hiruzen and perked a brow, "A real soldier you have by your side here, you've trained him well." He commended, before gesturing to the tea set. "Tea, Hiruzen-dono?"

"Please."

Naruto stepped back, content to fade away into the shadows of the room before the Daimyo suddenly snapped his fingers. "Have you been trained in the etiquette of tea-making, young Naruto?" He asked suddenly.

The ANBU frowned minutely, preparing to reply when the Hokage suddenly grunted. "No he hasn't, but I am sure he is eager to learn."

"Indeed, come child; let me show you."

Blinking owlishly, the ANBU stepped forwards. His form slinking out of the shadows as he approached, and at the Daimyo's behest, knelt beside the man. There were people in the lands that would pay coin in amounts that would boggle the mind for such an honour.

Naruto was just… apprehensive. Understandably, this was a little out of his jurisdiction.

He began the process, his fingers deft as he carefully brewed the tea leaves. Every now and then the Daimyo would break from his conversation with the Hokage, to lean over and whisper some sort of advice or correction in etiquette or otherwise, but he managed rather well overall.

Eventually, he poured two measures into the saucers provided, and stepped back; his task finished. Absently, he realised his brow was just the faintest bit damp with sweat. Why was that so intimidating? He had been making tea for god's sake.

Both the Daimyo and the Hokage took a leisurely sample, unaware of his inner vamping. The Hokage grumbled, and the Daimyo smiled genuinely.

"-Not sweet enough."

"-Perfect."

The two men glanced at each other, before the Daimyo shook his head in exasperation. "Are you not supposed to watch your figure as a Shinobi?" He chided, before turning to Naruto. "Do not mind him. An exemplary effort, Naruto-kun."

The ashen-haired ANBU bowed, "My deepest gratitude, Daimyo-sama." Filing away the attached suffix to his name with some curiosity.

"I think that will be all, Naruto-kun." The Daimyo gestured to the door that led to the blossom garden outside. "Perhaps you could go for a walk outside? Be sure to pay a visit to the stone rivers, I raked them myself this morning."

Naruto nodded, acknowledging the dismissal and after sharing a split second glance with his Hokage who approved with a small nod, he promptly exited the way he had been directed.

---

The Hokage watched the boy leave, his gaze growing solemn as the door closed shut behind him. He turned an eye back to Masurūga, "What do you think?"

The Daimyo hummed as he sipped at his tea, milling the question around for a moment. "I quite like the boy." He smiled genially for a moment, as if he was reminiscing, before shaking his head and becoming thoughtful once more. "He possesses that quiet sort of strength most tend to misjudge or overlook, but yes, he is very detached." He cocked a brow at the Kage. "I thought you were against creating such… 'weapons', as you shinobi say?" He asked, his tone curious.

Hiruzen frowned, the lines in his aged face drawing tighter. "I did not have much of a choice, he is quite high profile… it's just that the world doesn't know it yet."

"Son of the Yellow Flash? Yes, I would expect such a title to draw attention when it comes to light."

Hiruzen let out a slow breath, blinking away the memories of a pair of giant eyes, flashing scarlet and filled with rage, hatred and bloodlust. "Amongst other things." He murmured softly. Ignoring the Daimyo's inquisitive look, he shook his head. "Why have you called for me, Masurūga-dono? This was quite sudden."

The levity seemed to leech from the Daimyo's shoulders as he placed his cup down and stood with a sigh. "My judgement has rather softened, as of late. Perhaps my age is making me lax, but the statement stands nevertheless." The Fire Lord turned. Slow, soft strides led him to a glass cabinet, within which sat a glorious suit of decorated, although battle-scarred, white armour. A great, horned helm set with the face of a demonic deer or stag leered back at the Daimyo. "Tell me, Hiruzen. If we must come to blows with the land of Wind, how would Konoha fair?"

The Hokage's eyes widened as he stood slowly. "That is a rather loaded question, Masurūga-dono."

"I understand, but humour me if you would, old friend." The Daimyo's face was like iron, his brown eyes that had been full of mirth and sparking with curiosity just moments before had dimmed into a steeled point.

The Hokage frowned, he had seen that look before. Nothing conciliatory ever came from such a look. Regardless, he put his wizened mind to use. "Their hidden village is untouchable." He stated finally, and at Masurūga's surprised glance, he shrugged indifferently. "From an attrition based standpoint, assaulting Sunagakure would be tantamount to suicide. Our forces would eventually win yes, but the attrition we would suffer would negate any sort of triumph. It is why, even though they are the weakest village in all military, political, and economical standings, they are still a powerhouse. It is simply not worth the cost and even if it was, we would be weak enough for any of the other villages to crush us in the aftermath." He explained.

The Daimyo nodded, as if he had spent many a night pondering the same exact thing. "And of their Daimyo? How would we fair against his standing army?" he asked, running a hand over the enamelled, bejewelled Nodachi that was placed next to the suit of armour. The blade was old, the metal worn and the intricate leather handle stained dark with years of blood and sweat. Even still, the edge was still keen enough to split hairs.

He knew because he cleaned and polished it every morning.

The old Kage grunted softly, "The relations between the Wind Daimyo and his hidden village is not one of amicable concord. They will not reinforce each other, not without great reason." Hiruzen shrugged. "That said, the war would be bloody, and savage; but quick." Hiruzen stated callously. "Hi no Kuni will come out on top with only minimal to moderate casualties, the Fire court is simply too well funded and connected to lose."

Masurūga nodded again, before sighing. "I ask this, old friend, because I possess in my hands something that would likely sour the tongues of both the Kazekage, and the Wind Daimyo. Furthermore, I do not wish to wash my hands of it for both moral, and strategic reasons." He turned to Hiruzen, his eyes worn. "You have heard the rumours of the Wind Lord, yes? A monstrous tyrant of a ruler, or so they say. Many a noble had fled from his court…"+

The Hokage nodded grimly, "I have heard, yes. But they are only rumours."

The doors to the Daimyo's quarters opened at that moment, admitting two women; one far younger than the other.

"Rumours they are not, Hokage-sama. I assure you…" The female voice was delicate, and lilted with a rolling accent that was pleasant to the ears.

Hiruzen frowned at Masurūga, but the man was no longer paying attention and was instead staring deep into the eyes of the demonic buck that adorned his helm. The Hokage turned, and inhaled deeply at the sight that greeted him, the muscles in his jaw tightening.

He was gazing upon a young woman, barely into her early-teens. Flowing, gorgeous silks that flaunted her assets wrapped around her form. Her skin was the soft colour of honey, and the lower half of her face was covered by a transparent silk kheffiyeh, or veil, as per the tradition of Kaze no Kuni's female nobility.

On her head, rest a circlet embossed with emeralds and diamonds.

The Hokage had never met her, but it was a shinobi's business to know things. This was undoubtedly Sanada Aiko.

Daughter to the Wind Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni.

Hiruzen shifted his gaze to the side, and saw none other than a dead woman standing beside the princess protectively. Her name had long since been scratched from the bingo books as an A-ranked Kunoichi of Suna.

Pakura, of the Scorch Release.

The onset of a headache began to spring to life in the Hokage's skull as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh for goodness sake…"

---

Naruto was bored.

He had been standing outside for what felt an hour, but in reality had only been roughly half the time. He hadn't moved five paces from the doors to the garden, content to simply wait the powerful old men out.

It was strange how power worked, especially considering how different it was displayed in regards to the two leaders in the room behind him…

One could level a city in a day by invoking the ungodly wrath of the elements.

The other could simply raise it again before the morning came…

Naruto snorted softly in mild amusement. That might be a bit of an exaggeration. He spent a moment trying to refine the quote, before eventually disregarding it entirely. Philosophy wasn't exactly his forte.

Another thirty minutes of idling passed, before he eventually came to the conclusion that they weren't going to be done any time soon.

Sighing, the ANBU took off, stepping over the masterfully made bridge that passed over a gurgling creak that one could have just walked over. He shook his head at the frivolous eccentricities of nobility. Why does that specific plank of wood have to be inlaid with gold? It doesn't even look good…

Putting the odd choices of décor behind him, Naruto reached up, adjusting the fuma shuriken in between his shoulders when the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly rose.

He felt eyes on him, and not the eyes from that female guardian that had never stopped tailing him since the hallway. These eyes were bold and inquisitive, not even trying to hide its staring.

He glanced around, and over by one of the blossom trees in the far corner of the garden, he found a girl watching him. Older than he by several years, and dressed in nightclothes that probably far outstripped his pay check.

She was resting on her side across a large bench, a book splayed out open in front of her that she had abandoned for more… intriguing matters. She didn't stop staring, even when she had been caught out.

Slightly perturbed, Naruto began to turn away.

He caught the sight of her making a motion with a hand to someone he couldn't see before he looked away, heading down the rivers of carefully aligned stones and pebbles that the Daimyo, true to his word, had arranged this morning.

He was growing tired of this place. People were hard to deal with when you weren't supposed to kill them...

The thought made him pause. God... I sound like Jaguar. He shivered uncomfortably.

Something blurred in front of him to block his path, and Naruto reacted instinctively, his body engaging into autopilot before his brain could catch up. The fuma shuriken came whirring from his back, the giant three pronged weapon spinning like a buzzsaw in his hand as his chakra flooded the expensive, conductive metal.

The individual that had jumped in front of him realised their mistake as they reared up, two kunai that they had drawn from somewhere raised in a cross-block. It may have worked against a conventional weapon, but against the whirring fuma shuriken, the stranger found their kunai ripped from their hands as the hooked blades latched onto and flung them away like insignificant chips of wood.

The female guardian from earlier instinctively reared back, giving up an arm to sacrifice to the infamously awkward, but terrifying, weapon bearing down on her as she readied a substitution-

The menacing buzz of the fuma came to an abrupt halt.

"Well, this is awkward." Naruto cleared his throat lightly as he stepped back and stowed his monstrous weapon. He struggled somewhat to meet her eyes after her... showing earlier, wary of his composure slipping if he did so. Instead he just looked at her nose. "My apologies."

The female guardian lowered her arm, a rather scathing sneer marring her attractive features as she regarded the boy that had been about to take her arm off at the elbow. She raised her hands, and flashed through a series of signs with delicate fingers.

"Your Lady requests your presence, ANBU-sama."

Naruto frowned, civilian sign language? His frosted eyes scanned her face, and it was only now that he took the time to truly analyse her did he see the faint markings of what looked to be a rather grotesque scar tissue spreading from the edges of her lips up to her cheeks. The makeup she wore did a phenomenal job in covering it up.

Apparently, someone had filleted this woman.

Absently his nose twitched, riffling slightly with a strange, almost sickly sweet scent that he couldn't quite place his finger on. It made him feel somewhat nauseous as he cleared his now itchy throat.

Shaking the unease off, he jerked his head back in question towards where the young woman had been located. "You mean her?"

Her fingers flashed again. "The Princess, yes."

Naruto's brows rose slightly, "She's the what now? Oh boy…" At the woman's stare that lingered on the border of irritated and amused, he shook his head with a sigh and turned back around. His form faded away like ash in the wind as he utilised Jaguar's infamous body flicker variant.

He reappeared ten feet from the noblewoman, his form seemingly assembling from cinders.

The Princess looked up, inhaling a little sharply in surprise before quickly regaining her composure. She sat up, leaning on one hand as Naruto folded his own hands behind his back. His frozen blue gaze locked onto her own hazel eyes.

He looked the very picture of a perfect shinobi.

She seemed to appraise him for a moment, before the corner of her lip quirked up.

I amuse her, apparently.

"Oh goodness, aren't you adorable?" She gushed, a delighted smile spreading across frankly exquisite features.

…or not. Or does that still count as a form of amusement?

"What is your name, shinobi-san?" Her voice suddenly went soft, like spring water flowing through a creek. It almost caught the boy off guard.

Nevertheless, he inclined his head. "I am designated as Operative Nix, princess." He cleared his throat again, frowning as his tongue tingled slightly in his mouth.

She perked a perfectly groomed brow, "What is your real name, shinobi-san?" A faint smile played at her lips. "I can already see your cute little face, after all. It cannot hurt to know your name, can it?"

The ANBU paused for a moment, before suddenly realising that he hadn't reapplied his transformation...

Damned moron. Blinking slowly in exasperation, Naruto shrugged. "I suppose it can't."

The princess beamed at him, waiting patiently. After a while, she cocked her head to the side curiously. "Well?"

"Yes?"

Naruto restrained the urge to laugh as she pouted at him. "Are you going to tell me?"

"Depends, is that an order?" He rather regretted the words the moment they left his mouth as her eyes lit up in devious intrigue.

"Oh?" She smiled innocently. "Would you be forced to follow it if I said it was?"

"Perhaps."

He watched her chew on her pink lips, half-smiling and half-glaring at him playfully. She seemed to be quite enjoying the exchange.

The notion almost made him blanch as he suddenly realised what he was doing.

What the hell was wrong with him? This was the Princess of the Land of Fire.

"It's an order then!"

His snarky boredom wiped clean with the startled revelation, Naruto bowed his head immediately. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, my lady." The dry amusement in his voice was gone, replaced instead by a level, almost fabricated monotone.

The princess' smile faded at his tone. A look of regret passed over her features for but a split second. "I saw that you came to the capital alongside Hokage-sama."

"You are correct, princess."

Her previous slip up was not repeated. If she was put off the by the now robotic answers, she did well in hiding it.

"I saw you in the ballroom too." She smirked now, a mischievous thing that was a little too knowing for the ANBU's liking. "Not a fan of high-society, Naruto?"

His eyes began to roll, before he caught himself and simply shook his head. "It is not my place."

She sat up a little, leaning forwards towards him. "Did it grate on you?"

Naruto swallowed nervously at the loaded question, wetting his now incredibly dry throat. Was she doing this on purpose? "The experience was far from the worst I've had."

A satisfied, predatory smirk played at her lips. "That's not what I asked."

Yeah, she's doing it on purpose…

He sighed inwardly. He could just lie…

He sighed again, this time out loud. "Yes." At her gesture to explain, he shrugged in defeat. "The frivolous, two-faced nature of your world sits uneasily with me. I much prefer the definitive, 'kill or be killed' nuances of my world."

He didn't know quite what to expect, but an amused giggle was not amongst his expectations. He had more or less just insulted the princess' entire lifestyle.

"I understand completely, I feel the same sometimes." She revealed, her tone sinking into a whisper as if she was disposing of some scandalous secret.

In a way, she was.

"-but is it not in a shinobi's nature to be sneaky and devious themselves?"

The curious question threw Naruto for a moment, before his brows furrowed slightly. "It is." He admitted. "I suppose my feelings come across as somewhat hypocritical now."

She smiled easily at him, scooting a little closer along the bench. "At first glance, perhaps." At Naruto's unvoiced question, she mimicked his shrug from earlier. How she made it look inherently elegant, he hadn't a clue. "Whilst the principles are the same, the motives and the forms are completely different. It must feel quite strange to you, being so familiar and yet unfamiliar with an environment."

Naruto's brow perked up in surprise despite himself, and he regarded the young depiction of royalty before him in a new light. She was definitely a cut above the fools he'd had the displeasure of witnessing earlier in the night.

Not bad, princess…

The Black ANBU nodded courteously, but made no other response. Eventually, he shuffled his shoulders, growing restless. He felt supremely uncomfortable standing in her presence, knowing just how insignificant he was in comparison.

He was just a monster. He had been born staring into the eyes of ghosts, and if he fulfilled expectations, would die creating thousands more.

She was the daughter of a man who ruled an entire country, her future was a polar opposite to his.

"How may I serve you, princess?"

Whatever her reply was, it went in one ear and out the other as a fetid chill ran down his spine. The tips of the garden leaves began to frost over, and the princess subconsciously pulled her bare legs closer to her form, not immediately noticing the drop in temperature.

It was a warning.

His eyes darted to the side, above, below. He saw nothing, ignoring the Princess completely now, he turned around slowly, his arctic gaze raking over the Fire Lord's gardens. Again, he saw nothing.

Clicking his tongue lightly in annoyance, his eyes flashed as he peered into the realm of the dead. Ghost was stood before him, pointing at the sloping, grandiose roofs of the main keep.

"Unknown variables, no headbands, no identifying gear."

Naruto followed his gaze, and immediately his back foot shifted slightly as his body innately prepared itself. A figure, swathed in blacks, greys and mottled greens, was perched on the very top of the keep and watching over the gardens. Naruto could make out the handle of a sword jutting from behind the individual's right shoulder.

"-Naruto?"

His eyes flashed, returning to reality as he tilted his head to the side. "I think you should call your guardian and head back inside, princess."

She reeled back ever so slightly, confusion evident on her face. However, yet again she showed why she was the daughter of the infamous White Stag. Nodding after a brief moment of thought, she stood and scooped up her reading material.

"Kizuki-san, I think there's something wrong."

…

Naruto let out a slow sigh that morphed into a slightly irritated cough as the air caught in his scratchy throat. Composing himself as best he could, his hands rose into the shadow clone seal.

"Kizuki-san?" Her tone had grown quiet. Naruto highly doubted that there was ever a time that a guardian shinobi did not respond immediately.

His head tilted back, the words 'Stay behind me' on his lips, when he caught the flash of steel arcing down behind the Princess.

His form exploded forwards in a scatter of sparks and cinders as he pushed his body flicker to its limits. He could almost feel the individual cells in his body screaming out in pain as he reappeared.

Lightning energy crackling up and down his arms, the Black ANBU vaulted over the princess with a single acrobatic hop. One hand reached down to snatch the kunai that had been aimed at her lower spine out of the air, while the other slipped the black mask from his belt and snapped it crisply onto his face all before his feet touched the ground.

He immediately rose up, his form gliding back around the startled princess like a wraith as he blocked the sword strike aimed at her head with his arm-guards. Again, like the kunai placement, the blade had been turned to the side so it would strike with the flat instead, signifying another non-lethal attack.

He pushed on the sword grinding against his armguards roughly, shoving the aggressor back before deft fingers slipped a shuriken from his pouch and flicked it towards the assassin in a two-fingered throw.

The swordsman deflected it cleanly, swiping it from the air with a false-edge parry. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the faint trail of lightning chakra that lagged along behind the trajectory of the spinning piece of metal.

The assassin yelped in shock, literally, as the small burst of electricity in the shuriken travelled down the length of his sword and into his hands. The dense cluster of nerves in the fingers spasmed, and the man's guard was forced into a lapse for but a moment.

In that moment, a kunai thudded into his skull.

Naruto didn't waste a moment as the princess screamed, both at the gruesome display and to alert anyone nearby. The ANBU didn't know if the latter was on purpose, but he was eternally grateful for it regardless as he dropped a smoke tag on the ground below his feet and detonated.

Immediately, a cloud of smoke spread in a thirty-foot radius around them both, shrouding them in an inky blackness.

The Black ANBU crouched down, idly registering the filters in his mask activating as it sifted away the smoke in the air for him. The princess behind him didn't possess such a luxury as the pervasive substance entered her lungs, resulting in gulping coughs.

There's no way Jackdaw or Weasel could miss this… they must be occupied elsewhere.

He ignored the princess clutching at him desperately, taking the moment of clarity to instead shift his sight back into the ethereal realm. "How many more?" He asked the darkness around him quietly.

"Two. Maybe… probably." Came the ghostly answer.

He registered the information with an annoyed frown just as the smokescreen was blown away with a wave of air, revealing both Naruto and the princess once again.

A figure was stood before him, looming over the corpse of her fallen comrade that was now burnt to a crisp. Naruto narrowed his eyes at that. They needed at least a body for identification. If they were burning their fallen, then he needed to take one alive.

He sucked in a deep breath, before quickly taking another one. Was the air thinning? Or was his breathing laboured ever so slightly for some reason?

Naruto was forced to abandon the thought as he suddenly ducked, slipping underneath the ninjato that cleaved apart the air above his head. His hands sifted together before he spread them out, drawing out the tendrils of electricity like glue before clapping them back together.

Lightning Release: Storm Giant's Thunderclap

The brutal cascade of force and lightning ripped through the air, heading for the oncoming Kunoichi who had thought to utilise her companion's attack as a distraction. Naruto swore that he heard her heart skip a beat in surprise as she jumped, arcing over the technique in a somersault.

She didn't escape untouched, evident as she landed a few feet before him and stumbled, her smoking left ankle buckling slightly before she lunged forwards with her own blade.

Naruto was already backpedalling, evading the second strike from the first attacker while pushing the princess backwards with a hand as he forced the female aggressor to overextend.

Gritting his teeth, the boy shoved the princess even further away from him as he whipped the fuma shuriken from his back, the blades rapidly beginning to whirr up as he used it to fend off the first assailant, who he could now see was a lean male individual. He caught sight of the female jumping back and bringing her hands together, her fingers beginning to blur through seals.

Cursing under his breath, the ashen-haired shinobi lashed out with a spinning double kick to the male's chest, shoving him back more than hurting him before moving to engage the fire user before she finished whatever it was she was doing.

He got perhaps halfway to her, before a rather ominous shadow fell above her form.

Naruto paused as the Kunoichi glanced up, and promptly dove forwards out of the way with a startled scream as a hunk of wood almost larger than her own body came slamming down onto the earth, sending clouds of dust reeling up and shaking the ground minutely.

The Black ANBU watched as the guardian, the one shrouded in black fabric from head to toe, joined the fray with a vigour. He stamped into the frenzy like a wild bull, wielding his giant club in a strange mix between brute strength and fluid dexterity.

There was a momentary stutter in the combat as both attackers glanced at the guardian in what looked to be surprise. "What are you doin-" the Katon user began before she was cut off by a whipping frenzy of flowing strikes from the large foreigner.

"Protect the princess, little soldier." Came the guardian's thickly accented order as he glanced at Naruto. Another heavy slam of his club left it stuck in the ground, and the guardian paid it no heed as he left it there and engaged in a furious bout of taijutsu with the rapidly panicking kunoichi. "I will handle this one." He finished the statement as he suddenly whirled around mid-fight, a long sliver of black cloth flying from his wrapped up hands hand to wrap around the handle of his club. The fabric seemed to come to life, animating itself as it yanked the club from the ground and reeled it back to its master's hand.

Naruto couldn't watch any further as he leaned back almost a complete ninety degrees to avoid a slash that would have bisected him from thorax down. He launched back up and scattered a handful of shuriken towards his opponent, along with the much larger fuma shuriken before leaping on top of the stone bench that the princess had once been sat upon.

His opponent let out a startled cry as his sword was nearly flung from his hands as he deflected the giant spinning wheel of death away, allowing the shuriken to bite painfully into his torso.

Naruto grinned behind his mask as his hands flashed together into the dragon seal, and electricity began to form in between his hands. Man I love that stupid thing!

The energy continued charging in his hands as he evaded along the bench, stepping and dancing across the surface of the stone as he expertly dodged the sword that was furiously trying to hack him to pieces.

The assailant, growing tired of the game suddenly swung his sword in a large arc, wind-chakra ripping through the air as his other hand formed a single-handed seal.

Wind Release: Galecutter!

As his sword twirled in his grip, dozens of near invisible little slivers of air burst from the edge, all hurtling towards Naruto who suddenly flickered away to the princess' side. The poor girl was curled up in a ball as far back towards the edge of the gardens as she could get, watching the combat with wide eyes.

The blades of wind all turned on a dime to follow him.

One hand still rippling with electrical energy, Naruto broke the dragon seal to grab the princess roughly by the arm… and hurl her fully into the wind technique, watching uncaringly as she screamed in fear and shock, and then again in pain as the tiny ripples of wind slashed apart her body into a mutilated mess of meat and bone.

The ghastly screams forced the combat to a grinding halt as both assassins and the one guardian all froze in abject shock. Capitalising on the lull, Naruto suddenly pivoted to turn side-face and reared back, his back foot sliding in the dirt as he stabilised himself as if to throw something. The hand that was still crackling with the pure white electricity tightened, clenching down as a spear of lightning formed in his grip.

The ANBU then took a step forwards and hurled the javelin of electrical energy at the airborne, mangled corpse of the princess.

The lightning spear left his fingers with a sizzling crack, hurtling through the air to shear through the still airborne princess' stomach. It seared its way through her body before boring out through her back and losing all coherent form. The energy didn't dissipate however, and the loose wave of electricity surged forwards and slammed into the bewildered assassin that was stood behind her.

Naruto straightened up as the body of the Fire Lord's daughter popped, dispersing with a plume of smoke. The assassin behind wasn't quite as lucky as he spasmed violently, his fingers and limbs curling uncontrollably before finally crumpling to the floor in a smoking heap, unconscious.

The guardian shinobi recovered the fastest, shooting out a hand that let slip a flurry of black cloth that quickly coiled around the female assassin, tangling her up and restraining her form. Her sword fell with a clatter to the ground as the large figure strode up to the bound woman and, to Naruto's surprise, twisted her head around with a sharp 'snap!'

Spitting distastefully, the large man scanned the place thoroughly before moving towards Naruto. His foot rose as he passed the unconscious, smoking form of the Naruto's latest work and the ANBU raised a hand in a futile effort.

"Wait!-"

'Squelch!'

Naruto recoiled slightly as the incapacitated assassin's head exploded from the brutal curb stomp, the ichor and chunks splattering the gorgeous green grass a horrible shade of pink and red.

The boy barely had a moment to take the sight in before the large guardian rounded on him. His club, which was still being hefted by the single strand of black cloth, hovered menacingly behind him. "The princess little warrior, where is she?"

Pushing away his distaste, Naruto nodded towards the castle, about to answer before a wash of feedback hit his brain. Blinking, he shook his head and pointed in the vague direction of the capital city. "My clones swapped places with her the moment my smoke went off and took her into the restaurant district of city, the castle seemed compromised." He replied quickly.

The club lowered, fastening itself to the guardian's back once more. "It is." He replied flatly. "A good decision, I must go to her now." He commended. The guardian turned, about to leave before his head turned to regard the boy. "You should attend to your Hokage, little warrior. There is conflict in the Fire Lord's chamb-" He paused, watching as the Black ANBU simply vanished in a cascade of ash and cinder.

Naruto was already gone.

---

Moments previously…

The elderly, and now completely irritated Hokage refrained a sigh as he shook his head for the fifth time. "I cannot grant such a request."

Masurūga clicked his teeth, "Hiruzen, old friend, I cannot house the prince-"

"And you think my own neck more resistant to the guillotine's blade than yours? If you will not shelter these two, than what makes you think I will?"

The Fire Lord frowned, the expression dangerous on his face. "You mistake me, Hiruzen. I would shelter them, if I could. Konoha is the hidden village of Hi no Kuni, hidden, Hiruzen. This is a blasted castle that houses, and entertains hundreds of nobles both foreign and not that would happily expose them for some meagre profit." His tone was level and calm, as it always was, but his disposition was betrayed by the noise his tea cup made as he set it down with just a tad too much force. "Why will you not aid me, old friend?"

The elderly Kage supressed another sigh, "I've been playing this game for many a year, and you are nearly half a century old. Your attempt at puppy-dog-eyes reminds me of a crippled bear with a lazy eye, Masurūga." The Fire Lord leaned back, looking away as petulantly as he could without demeaning himself.

"If I may-" The ex-Suna Kunoichi, Pakura, managed before she was suitably silenced by the Hokage's glare. As elderly as he was, the man was not renowned as the God of Shinobi for no reason.

Wrinkling his nose in distaste, the Kage shrugged. "What are you hoping to gain from this, Masurūga? The death of the Wind Lord and his heirs, so that you may reveal the princess and snag an alliance? A bargaining chip? A-"

"-A semblance of my humanity." The Fire Lord interrupted, his tone deathly still.

The Hokage frowned, but ceased his tirade. "I do not understand."

Masurūga chuckled, though it was without mirth. "Is that true? How many terrible things have we done with our power in the pursuit of the 'Greater Good', Hiruzen? Things we convinced ourselves were necessary, needed to be done, things that had no other outcome?" He asked quietly. He pointed to the armour in the display case. "You see how clean that armour is? How polished it may be?" The Fire Lord laughed, "-it's filthy, layered with rot. Gaze into the threads and you will see rivers of blood, stare into the polished metal and you will see the souls of thousands staring back in the reflection." He stood at this moment. "I may not have swung the sword that killed those I take responsibility for, but I did give the order, and gave it I did countless times."

The Hokage said nothing to refute this. He too, knew that uttering the word was equal to swinging the blade yourself.

"You lie to me when you say you do not understand, old friend. Reconciliation and regret is what separates men like us from villains. I will not let them-" he gestured to the two women, both watching on uncomfortably, "-crawl back to their inevitable suffering, because it is within my power to do so; and it is within yours too, no matter how much threat it may place on the both of us."

The Hokage didn't reply at first, he simply sat nursing his tea and mulling the speech over.

It was a good speech. If he had been a civilian.

Shinobi did not operate on feelings, nor did they weigh their morals against reason-

Pale, ice blue eyes flashed in Hiruzen's mind and he was reminded of his hypocrisy regarding that sentiment.

If only that notion held true for him… Perhaps Jaguar was indeed correct. Perhaps he had grown weak.

He was offered no more time to ponder the thought as a dull 'bang!' sounded out from the gardens. The fatigue in his face vanished, the lines tightened, the muscles coiled and the chakra flared.

A seasoned veteran of war in his own right, Masurūga stiffened in response as Pakura shot to her feet. Two blurs shot to land protectively beside the Hokage as Weasel and Jackdaw responded immediately.

"A rather impressive sales pitch, Masurūga-dono, but it seems we must cut this discussion a little short." With that, the Hokage blurred through a series of seals, old fingers moving fast enough to warp the air. The catatonic pressure of his chakra exerting itself on the room filtered through the air, almost forcing the Wind Princess to her knees before the elderly Kage suddenly reared his head upwards and spat a dragon-sized belch of flame into the rafters above.

Almost immediately, the flame flowing from his mouth morphed into pure air as it pushed the raging fire up into a swirling inferno as the God of Shinobi let loose with the seemingly unearthly combination techniques he was famous for.

The individuals who had just breached through the roof descended in time to catch the monstrous technique head-on. Charred corpses dropped from the ceiling, smoking and steaming, but the Hokage paid them no mind as he stepped back and sunk into a protective stance in front of the princess.

Slipping down from the ceiling, a guardian shinobi dropped like a cat in front of the Hokage. However, the ensemble faded as the henge was dispelled, revealing a slim figure garbed in simple grey robes. The bloodstained white guardian sash was torn off and thrown roughly to the floor, its usefulness now negated.

Two blurs shot to the Fire Lord's side as the nobleman drew the worn Nodachi from its scabbard by his armour stand, his once genial, noble face now narrowed into a thunderous scowl. They landed in a crouch protectively around him, drawing their respective weapons. Hiruzen recognised the flowing black and red fabrics of the club-wielding guardian from before, and vaguely recognised the dual tanto wielding Kunoichi beside him from the bingo books. These were real guardians, apparently.

Immediately, the duo launched into motion, deflecting kunai, shuriken and jutsu as the room exploded into action.

Sizzles and screams rang out from behind the Hokage as the infamous Scorch release went to work. The Sandaime ignored it, and instead popped the old bones in his shoulders loose as a myriad of non-descript enemies landed all around him.

"Where are the rest of your guard?" The old Kage shouted, doffing his billowing Kage robes and revealing the dark leather, plate, and mesh bodysuit he wore beneath.

The Fire Lord grunted, deflecting a stray shuriken with a quick partial draw of his nodachi. His movements were somewhat rusty, although still effective. The blade clicked back into its sheath as Masurūga shrugged. "If they aren't here, then they are either defending my family or dead." He called out calmly. Stepping in front of his guardian donned in cloth, he nodded to the gardens.

"M'beki-san, see that my daughter and the Hokage's young soldier is safe, please."

The club wielding easterner nodded, and disappeared in a swirl of fabric, leaving the Fire lord and his single guardian stranded on one side of the room.

Locking eyes with the Hokage, the Fire Lord smiled grimly. "I hope your skills are polished, old friend."

The Hokage snorted softly, and his eyes changed.

Gone was the kind visage and the glassy expression in his eyes. His body posture seemed to almost inflate as the slumbering nightmare within the old man awoke. Its old and greying bloodstained muzzle riffling at the scent of fresh meat.

The air rippled and quaked as a horrible, pressurised flood of killing intent began to saturate the room.

The grandfatherly Hokage was gone…

…and the God of Shinobi had arrived in his stead.

A freezing cold chill entered the room, accompanied by the crackling of static energy as a smaller figure, clad in a military bodysuit and bearing a foreboding black mask dropped into the midst of the fray, hovering like wraith around the Hokage and completing the ANBU trifecta.

The figure in the grey seemed to lose quickly steam, re-evaluating the situation.

However, the words for retreat never made it out of his mouth…

---

"Are you injured, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto received a rather bored look in response. Reddening slightly, he nodded. It was a requirement to make sure, but in all honesty, that entire sequence had been quite the farce.

The enemy had been incredibly disorganised and underwhelming in their strength. The only anomaly of note had been the grey-garbed shinobi that had taken the disguise of one of the guardians.

Finding the man's corpse splayed out on the ground, his grey robes singed to a smouldering crisp, Naruto conceded a miniscule nod. He had been skilled enough to take out a guardian at some point and replace them, and he had been surprisingly quick on his feet.

It was unfortunate for him that Weasel's genjutsu was far, far quicker.

The poor man had been running from the 'Hokage', only to run headfirst into the Hokage…

Against three ANBU, a Kage, and one guardian that quickly turned into half a dozen as the others made to protect their lord… well, the outcome had been sealed in stone.

There was the shuffling of feet, and Naruto looked up to find the Daimyo approaching him quickly, flanked by three guardians that shadowed him expertly. He saw the Daimyo jerk his head towards the gardens, and two of them vanished in blurs of movement.

"Na-" He began, before his eyes fell on the blank, black mask. "-ANBU-san," he amended "-did you see my daughter in the gardens?"

Naruto's respect for the man climbed higher, and he nodded as he bowed. "Yes Daimyo-sama, I had clones escort her away from the conflict when she and I were ambushed, the guardian with the club and I finished off the opposition before he left to retrieve her." He glanced up, "He made contact with and recovered her highness just moments after the battle here ended."

The relief on the Daimyo's face was immediate, and his shoulders slumped as he smiled at the young ANBU. "Heavens…" He massaged his heart wearily. "You are a credit to your Kage and village, little protector."

Naruto only inclined his head respectfully, before moving to stand by his Hokage's side.

Jackdaw immediately began ribbing him with his elbow. "See? See! They are a symbol of good luck!" His finger jabbed at Naruto's pouch. "The Hokage really knows what he's talking about, huh?"

"Stop being such a weirdo!" The Black ANBU half whispered, half hissed at the eccentric shinobi.

"You're the one with some poor girl's panties in his pocke- ouch!" The man was abruptly silenced as Naruto studiously kicked him in the shin.

The commotion drew the attention of the Hokage, who offered them both withering glare not unlike a teacher scolding a couple of rowdy students.

Both ANBU straightened immediately, bowing their heads in apology. Naruto swore he heard the smallest of sighs slip from Weasel's lips.

Jackdaw leaned over, his eyes stuck on the Hokage's back just in case the old man turned around suddenly. "You almost got us in trouble!"

"Shut up."

"No you shut- wait… Is that an order?"

Ignoring the lunatic with a faintly twitching eye, Naruto instead shifted his attention to the other occupants within the large room.

The Daimyo had begun snapping out orders, summoning guards to flood the room and sending guardians off to double check on his family and guests.

A formidable looking kunoichi that was neither guardian nor leaf stood protectively over a rather striking, tan-skinned girl that looked a few years older than himself. Ash that had once been living men and women littered the ground by their feet. The kunoichi's work, Naruto guessed.

What are they doing here? He wond-

'Smack!'

Hissing from the sharp slap to the back of his head, he glanced up to his Kage who was eyeing him with an irritated look.

"Pay attention you buffoon, I don't find enjoyment in repeating myself."

The boy flushed as Jackdaw snickered at him and Weasel looked away pointedly. Several eyes turned to him, including the Daimyo's as he finally finished speaking to his subordinates. Oops…

"Apologies, Hokage-sama."

The old Kage merely sighed as he gestured to one of the deceased attackers. "I said: what do you make of this?"

The Fire Lord approached, his eyes on Naruto as he beckoned the two strange women over. All around them, palace guards and samurai began to secure the room zealously. He waited for a moment, not wanting to interrupt the Daimyo.

Jackdaw nudged him again, and Naruto abruptly realised that the man was waiting for his answer.

Starting slightly, he bumbled over his reply. "It uhh, this was a… an attack on the Daimyo's palace."

Both the Daimyo and the strange kunoichi raised a brow as Sarutobi's eyes narrowed dangerously. Both his teammates just looked at him. Gulping, the rookie ANBU gestured to the gardens as he hurriedly extrapolated. "The assault was two pronged, a smaller force seeking to non-lethally neutralise the princess while a diversion force attempted to keep the Kage and the majority of the guardians pre-occupied." The faces around him twisted into thought as his Hokage grunted.

"Non-lethal you say?"

"All attacks against the princess lacked any lethal elements. It seemed that capture was a priority."

The Daimyo's brown eyes hardened slightly as he regarded the young, ashen-haired shinobi. "They must not have been counting on you being present."

Naruto nodded, before a thought suddenly struck him. Glancing at the Daimyo, he bowed his head apologetically. "Daimyo-sama, one of your guardians is either incapacitated or dead in the gardens. She did not answer when the princess called for her."

The Fire Lord seemed to grow solemn for a moment. "Her death shall be mourne-"

Whatever he was saying, it was cut off as a figure suddenly flickered to his side, the white sash signifying him as a guardian. "My lord, Kizuki-san is nowhere to be seen and-"

The Daimyo interrupted the man with a raised hand as he glanced at Naruto, "Yes, the ANBU said that she may have been killed, search the area for her bod-"

He was cut off again as the guardian shook his head vehemently. "My lord! The palace guards in the gardens have been found murdered and discarded out of sight long before the attack-"

A worm of unease wiggled into Naruto's mind.

"-suffocated to death, their throats were found swollen and congested-"

The unease magnified as he remembered the awful, albeit strangely intoxicating scent that had permeated the garden after his encounter with the female guardian. His throat had felt somewhat scratchy afterwards, hadn't it? It still felt a little raw, now that he thought about it.

"-traces of illusory chakra and lethal fumes hang in the air, genjutsu and poison, Daimyo-sama!"

The hackles rose fully as Naruto's head pieced together the red strings.

Genjutsu… his mind wound back to when he had thrown off the pretty guardian's illusions.

Poison… the guardian's scent, the irritation in his throat… it was too perfect.

Unbidden, Jaguar's words flashed through his head from the last conversation they'd had together.

'At ease, recruit. Your toxicity resistance would make poisoning you a hassle I would rather not deal with.'

The memory ran through Naruto's head, and not a moment later did he suddenly recoil as a wave of nausea struck him, his hand rose to clasp his aching head as he stumbled back slightly. A sudden onset of memories, ending with his skull being smashed into mince by a giant club had him understandably disoriented.

A firm hand fell on his shoulder as the now grim-faced Hokage held him steady, his eyes tired as he seemed to grasp the situation almost immediately.

Naruto's eyes widened behind his mask as the memories from his dispelled clones assaulted him. A sinking feeling rattled through his stomach as he dragged his gaze up from the floor, to meet the Fire Lord's confused eyes.

"Daimyo-sama… you've been betrayed."

---

Elsewhere…

The groaning sound of large wheels rotating on wooden axels, followed by the clopping of hooves and the rumbling of a carriage filled the air.

Red, near orange eyes glanced about the inside of the carriage lazily. The owner of said eyes clicked his tongue loudly as he kicked up his booted feet, letting them rest on the rather expensive looking, polished wooden table.

A small grin spread over cavalier, tanned features as he felt the nobleman on the other end of it tighten slightly in response. He began shaking his foot, letting the little bells that hung from his waist and around his ankles jingle merrily in doing so.

The happy little sounds continued their songs for about ten seconds before-

"Shinobi-san, could you please kindly refrain?"

There was no response, asides from the jangling of bells; and as the incensed figure opened his mouth to speak again, the noises suddenly stopped.

Grin in full-throttle, he leaned back in his chair and rest his hands behind his head, staring down at the other man all the while with dangerous eyes. "Well, since you asked so nicely." He sneered, his tone a strange mixture of condescending garishness and brash charm.

The noble scowled, attempting to speak once more before the other figure suddenly drew his weapon and let it rest on the table with a soft 'thunk.'

It was a ghastly looking thing, a long length of chain attached to what would belong on the head of a flanged mace. The dull steel was stained a dark brown in places, evidence of its gruesome use.

"I'll remind you though, gramps. I ain't a ninja." The eyes of flame and brimstone levelled a deadlock stare at the nobleman.

A moment passed, and the two samurai standing protectively behind the nobleman tensed uncomfortably, their grips on their sheathed blades tightening. The carriage was very large, but it was still a horse drawn carriage, their swords would be at a severe disadvantage in the enclosed space.

"…of course, my apologies."

Letting their grips slacken, the two warriors let out the sodden breath they had been holding in.

Another long, uncomfortable moment passed.

"Flying the fire Daimyo's flag ain't a bad play, but we would have been better off on foot."

A disdainful sniff echoed through the interior in response. "And leave myself flapping in the wind whilst you and the two guardians disappear with the princess? I do not think so." He shook his head vehemently. "Besides, no one will come looking. As that large savage outside said, the girl was simply handed to him and he himself had dispatched of the 'clones' or 'duplicates', or whatever they were. For all the Daimyo knows, his two loyal guardians were killed and the princess was taken by bannerless shinobi."

"I coulda just went in there and stole the little whore myself, ya know?" He drawled lazily, his eyes drifting to the bound and gagged figure beside the nobleman. He watched as the older man's hand ran down her pale, milky thigh that was revealed by the flowing nightgown she had been captured in. Her terrified shivering seemed to only embolden her captor.

The firelight in the nearby candles suddenly flickered, displaying more of the nobleman at the far end of the table. The flames revealed a diplomat, or aristocrat of some sort it seemed, his robes matching that of those worn by members of the Fire court.

The man simply shook his head in response to the fiery-eyed individual's statement as his hand ceased its roaming, for now. "I did not expect the Wind daimyo to send you when I made to him my proposal. You are somewhat-" The nobleman paused as the other man growled softly in warning. "-ahh, notorious. Your presence would have surely implicated the Land of Wind."

A dissatisfied scoff rang out through the air.

"Besides, we only just received word of the Hokage's sudden arrival."

The red-eyed figure snorted softly, before spitting on the polished floor. "I could take the old man."

A brow rose in response, "Along with his personal guard, and the twelve guardian shinobi?" the noble pressed, his tone admonishing.

The red-eyed figure merely shrugged, "Don't ya mean 'ten' guardian shinobi?"

A chuckle met his query. "I did indeed, my mistake." His eyes drifted off to the side, locking onto the rather beautiful woman who occupied the right side of the table. She sat regally, sipping leisurely at her tea as she listened to the conversation.

If she felt the princess' betrayed gaze glaring desperately at her from beside the Fire court official, she didn't deign to acknowledge it.

She did however look up as a bloody pair of eyes began to strip her down with its maddening leer.

The lounging young man eyed her thoughtfully, before an infuriating smirk split his features and he let out a low whistle of mock admiration. "Phew, a true kunoichi ain't ya? Must be tough work, going around stabbing people in the back for some pocket change, eh?"

Thin brows narrowed dangerously in response.

His smirk widened, "No wonder someone butchered your pretty little face, that tongue of yours probably got you in and out of all sorts of trouble before ya lost it, am I right?"

The silence around the table was deafening, broken only by the sound of metal on ceramic as the oriental jewellery that adorned the former guardian's fingers tapped against the saucer.

"They're probably gonna put a bounty on your head for this, a big one." The tinkling of bells started again as he began to twiddle his booted feet once more. "Between you and me, I'll probably swing by to collect your thoroughly used ass from the Wind Daimyo's bedchambers when they do." He shot her a wink, "When he's grown bored of you, of course."

Almost immediately the carriage began to flood with killing intent.

The ringing of steel echoed through the small space as the startled samurai drew their swords, followed by the Fire court noble's panicked pleas for peace. A foul smelling, thick haze of smoke began to fill the carriage as the tapping on the tea saucer began to grow louder and louder, making the non-shinobi wince in pain as the volume just kept climbing

Laughing to himself as the room took to chaos, the red-eyed figure grabbed hold of his flail and withdrew his feet from the tabl-

The carriage came to a halt.

It was abrupt, enough to send the pot of tea hurtling on to the floor and scatter the various ceramic cups on the table.

There was no other sound, aside from the panicked shuffling of the two samurai guards and the quiet whimpering of the Daimyo's daughter.

The smoke began to fade away as the traitorous guardian dispelled her genjutsu, and with it, the maddening tapping vanished from the ears of all present. All eyes turned to the flail-wielding individual, who rose from his seat warily and padded to the carriage door.

Something was off. There was a retinue of thirty samurai out there, along with at least a dozen shinobi, one of which being an ex-guardian.

Why was it so quiet?

His hand reached for the door…

-and all hell broke loose.

---

Earlier…

White, deathly eyes as cold as the barren wastes of the moon raked over the populace below as the ANBU that owned them watched on with a languid mien. He had been up on the palace's highest spire for perhaps the better part of ten minutes, watching, waiting.

It was all he was permitted to do.

He watched as a figure down in the sprawling city leapt across rooftops, cutting a rather impressive pace as they made for the palace. It was a little too far for him to make the figure out, but it was likely one of the guardians that had been sent on the manhunt for the traitors.

The ANBU felt his jaw tighten as his mind lingered on the word. There was no way he could have known, and yet…

I just handed her to him, silver platter and all. His mind pulled up unwanted memories, of a neck snapping grotesquely and a head being stomped into paste, and his jaw tightened even more. That explains why he went out of his way to kill them.

Whatever attempt this was on the Fire Lord, it was clear that it was a ramshackle operation, carried out by subpar shinobi that were ill-informed. They had not expected the arrival of the Hokage and his bodyguards, and should have backed off the moment a legendary S-rank walked through the door.

It was only by the bite of snakes were they successful.

Two of the Daimyo's own former protectors singlehandedly managed to carry the operation to a triumph; and with no prisoners to interrogate, there were no loose strings with which one could use to bring them to heel.

And through it all, the capital city slept.

It was interesting, how little the populace knew of what intrigue occurred in the palace. They were unaware of the plots, conspiracies, and now even direct assassination/kidnapping attempts that befell the court.

He snorted softly, attempts or successes?

The castle had lost fifteen posted guards and four guardian shinobi, two of which were assassinated in cold-blood, and two of which whom had likely been the driving force behind said assassinations.

The 'assassins' had lost twenty of their own. Three had fallen to Naruto in the gardens, and the rest in the Fire Lord's chambers.

Not like it was any consolation. They were the diversions, missing nin cherry-picked from all over with no real affiliation to shoulder the blame. They were meant to tossed away like rubbish.

Twenty pieces of rubbish, in exchange for the daughter of Hi no Kuni's Daimyo.

If one was to really try and crunch the numbers, the attackers did also managed to kill all the expensive koi fish in the gardens as well by dumping a guard's body into the water.

Twenty pieces of rubbish, in exchange for the daughter of Hi no Kuni's Daimyo… and a bunch of fish.

"What're you mumbling about over here?"

The ashen-haired shinobi turned a wispy white eye onto the spectre that materialised beside him, before shrugging. "Dead fishies…" he muttered distractedly.

If the ghost had a face, he was sure that a raised brow would be directed his way right now. "Ah, of course… a perfectly reasonable line of thinking for the current situation, you aren't at all completely insane, no-"

"-Mhmm, d'you find anything interesting?" He interrupted, before Ghost tumbled down into one of his pointless tirades.

"Nope!" The spectre replied cheerfully. "Ya fudged it. Caveman with big stick took girl and went stompy-bye-bye." He mocked.

Naruto sighed, if Ghost couldn't find the remaining assassin, then he himself had no chance. The spectre's perception was sharper than his by leagues, dead or alive.

"Saw a little sprite wandering around though, might be worth a shot asking nicely."

It took a second for the sentence to click. "Sprite, as in a ghost…?"

"Yeah, as in ghost. You deaf or something?"

"A ghost of one of the dead assassins?"

"Nooo, a ghost of the one of the dead fishies..." The spectre replied sardonically.

Naruto blinked, before slapping a hand to his face in irritation and fading away, his form sifting into bits of cinder.

"Now what- oi! Wow, not even a goodbye huh?"

He ignored the petulant ghost, his eyes flashing white as he flickered across the grounds of the palace in scatters of ash, searching.

Finally, he found what he was looking for down by the gardens outside of Masurūga's chambers, where the assailants had made their attempts on the Princess.

There, milling around listlessly, floating like a wisp of something unreal was a fragment of humanity. It was almost beautiful. He had seen them before sometimes wandering Konoha's streets aimlessly in the dead of night. He had always avoided them as a child.

However, he could talk to Ghost, so maybe he could…

The notion ran through his mind, before the full realisation of what he was looking hit him like a freight train. This was a sight reserved for the Shinigami, the reaper, the god of death…not Uzumaki Naruto.

The revelation chilled him, yet nevertheless, he pushed on.

He was barely ten feet away, watching the little mote of energy wander around the scene of its death. It was weaving in amongst the flowers of Masurūga's garden lazily. "Can you hear me?" He whispered. A chill settled around him as he felt Ghost appear beside him.

He stepped closer. He had seen the dead before, had seen the families frozen in time in the run down, dilapidated ruins that dotted Konoha. He had seen remnants of ages past in his training with Jaguar during their many trips out of the village. However, they were like paintings… frozen… gone.

Whatever this was, it was fresh. It was alive but well…not.

"Hello?" He tried again, shuffling forwards, muscles tensed for anything to go awry.

It was barely a foot away now, and Naruto could almost see the strands of fate twisted into the mote of life in front of him. For but a fleeting moment, he was overcome with a frighteningly potent fit of hunger, before it vanished.

Startled Naruto watched as his hand reached out of its own volition, slowly, tentative. He struggled against it, flaring his chakra in case it was some cheap illusi-

His fingers brushed against the eerily glowing orb…

…and it seeped into him, like water into cloth.

Suddenly regaining control over his own body, Naruto recoiled, hopping backwards as a cold shock struck his arm. He stared at his hand in disbelief as an ethereal frost began to coat the tips of his gloved fingers.

Ghost stepped up beside him, his featureless face locked onto Naruto's own.

"What did you just do?" The spectre's usual, nonchalant demeanour had vanished. Its voice was deathly low.

Naruto turned slowly to meet his gaze, dread settling in as the wind began to blow. The cold gales ripped through the air, seemingly centred on him and him alone. Memories began to fill his head, ones that did not belong to him in the slightest.

"I…" he began, before his voice locked up in his throat. The temperature had dropped, well below freezing.

Naruto spun slowly, casting his frigid white gaze across the gardens. His feet carried him by the small pond that sat stagnant by the bench the princess had been lounging on not even an hour ago. His eyes shifted down to the water's reflection, and he barely restrained a scream as he stumbled back, falling onto his rear as he scrabbled backwards in the grass.

His chest heaving, Naruto scrambled back up to the water's surface, his eyes scouring his reflection…

Only the foreboding blank face of black ceramic glared back at him.

He jumped as a soft hand suddenly gripped at his shoulder, and a flash flood of white electricity streamed down his body like dozens of crackling, hair-thin snakes as he whirled around.

His racing heart began to slow, his muscles slackening as the painted face of a weasel watched him curiously.

Weasel just stared at him for a moment, before glancing at the pond behind him. Red eyes flashed from behind her mask, and she finally looked back at him. "Are you… Is something the matter?"

Thankful that his mask was obscuring his features, Naruto shook his head immediately, perhaps a little too quickly as his jostled mind began to ache slightly. "I'm fine."

She stared for a second longer, most definitely disbelieving but unsure of what to say. Eventually, she nodded. "As you say."

Get a grip, idiot. Sucking in a breath, Naruto straightened up and offered her a more neutral glance. "Has any progress been made?"

Weasel shook her head slowly in a negative, subconsciously rubbing her bare arms as she noted the horribly cold atmosphere in the gardens. "Negative, however the Hokage has further orders. We are to reconvene and lend our efforts to the search."

"Understood."

Weasel offered him another curious glance, before vanishing in a small plume of smoke.

Naruto let loose the breath he had been holding, idly noticing that it came out like a miniature blizzard that frosted over the inside of his mask. His mind was unsettlingly still, as if it was having trouble processing. He lurched forwards, his form shifting forwards in a body flicker as he left the gardens.

Yet the image was burned in his head, of what he had seen when he peered into the water's surface.

He had looked into his reflection…

…and the man he had killed had looked back.

---

Authors Notes: Hey there.

First of all, I'd love to thank everyone for their incredible responses and kind words. The traction this thing has gotten has had me quite literally floored.

Questions/Review Response:

Wicked A: Is category 5 boss Summon level or is it like the great sages?
Forgive me for not writing out all of your questions, for I can't quite answer them as they may be answered within the story itself at some point in time. However, for this one, I can say that Category Fives would fit in the realm of boss summons. Now the reason I decided not to use the phrase 'boss summon' is because I found it quite… boorish. Not all summons have large families or empires of mini-me's like the toads do. I don't doubt that there might be a giant, solitary scorpion out in the sands of Wind Country that could rival the size and power of say Gamabunta himself. With a world this large and expansive… why couldn't there be?

Therefore, the nice, simple, logistical category system it is. From 1-5, with five being 'boss summon' territory.

OllyOllyOxycontin: Thank fucking god. I thought for sure you were about to have Hiruzen takes him out and put him into the academy. I would've been absolutely heart broken.
Hah, yeah not bloody likely. I've read that sort of start enough times that I would probably be applicable for capital punishment should I be guilty of adding one more to the masses. In addition, the academy just seems like a farce anyway… people graduate out of it at all fucking ages, from the age of four to twelve, who cares just slap a headband on 'em. I'm not a fan of the academy in general, to be perfectly honest. It seems far too flexible and whimsical for my tastes.

Now not to say stories are automatically bad should they start in any sort of way or contain a certain trope. I'm personally an advocate of good storytelling. Should a writer be skilled enough to pull it off, there is no point hating it just out of principle. That's just incredibly childish. That said, there are 'some' things that are inexcusable…

Banjo the Fox: Excellently done first chapter, very enjoyabe. -Prologue
And done, fuck that. -chapter 1
I'm both incredulous and impressed that you went from thoroughly entertained, to dropping the story in one chapter. Sad to see you go, although I can't deny that it is kind of funny in a wonky sort of way. Colour me curious, but where did I manage to turn you off so bad?

As you can see, this quarantine really does have me reading every review.
So toss a coin to your witcher, and send some more my way eh?

Ahh fuck it, have another cheeky excerpt below. I might make these a thing, Jaguar is always fun to write.

---

Lessons with Jaguar, #2

The darkness around him was indecipherable.

The silence, intangible.

The lack of scents, incomprehensible.

The glowing yellow eyes of Jaguar 2-1 staring at him from the shadows in the far corner of the room was all Naruto had to focus on as he struggled not to slouch in exhaustion. The blood that was pooling around his feet, drooling from the various cuts and slashes across his body was making it hard to not slip.

The yellow eyes vanished and Naruto spun, adrenalin flooding his veins as his small fingers reached out and just barely clasped around the edges of the kunai that had come flying at him from the darkness. The boy winced, feeling sick to his stomach as he let the blade fall from his bleeding fingers.

'Clink!'

It fell, bouncing across the floor and disappearing into the hundreds of other kunai that surrounded him.

A soft grunt echoed through the room. "Good." There was a pause. "At ease."

Restraining the anguished cry, the masked boy fell to his knees with a dull thud. His minced hands reached for the floor, splashing into the blood as he struggled not to fall flat on his face.

There was a flash of light, and Naruto looked up to see Jaguar stood with a torch in his hand. Eyes locked on his student, the man slowly began to walk around the edges of the large, underground room, lighting each of the wall sconces as he went.

He had lit three before he finally spoke. "Did you know that I have the chakra levels of a genin?" He asked, almost as if he was discussing the weather.

Naruto's head whipped up, exhaustion momentarily forgotten as he stared at his mentor.

How the hell was that possible? He had read the man's mission reports, written in Jaguar's own hand. Every single mission, most of them conducted during war, had been the stuff of legend. Jaguar had even let him read the ones that reported how he had snuffed out S-ranked shinobi like candles in the wind. How could he have done any of it with a genin's reserves?

There was a faint crackling of embers as Jaguar lit the fourth torch. "My pitiful chakra levels allowed me to become undetectable to the eyes of sensors. For all intents and purposes, to them I was invisible."

That… that was but a small advantage in the face of a colossal disadvantage.

"However, I could not fight for long. I could not use any powerful jutsu, or genjutsu. Even taijutsu was an uphill battle, since I could only fuel my muscles with chakra for so long before I run out of it."

Naruto shook his head. It had to be a lie.

The fifth torch came alight with a roar. "Even still, I became a Black ANBU. I became that which even Kage feared."

His throat dry, his mouth bloodied and his lips cracked, Naruto still couldn't resist taking the bait. "How?" he asked.

Jaguar lit the sixth torch. "Well, I found a rather simple solution to it all, of course." Somehow, for some reason, Naruto knew that there was a smile beneath that mask. "If I couldn't outlast my opponent, then I would not bother in trying to." He paused for a second, perhaps for dramatic effect. "I would just butcher them very, very, quickly."

Naruto rocked back on his knees, confused.

Jaguar chuckled. It was a low, thrumming sound that rattled around the room. "I recognised my faults, and turned them into strengths that stood unmatched." He lit the seventh torch. "I mastered D and C rank ninjutsu, perfecting them to a point that none could mimic and used them against shinobi that could bathe entire villages in water and flame. I even created a new hand-to-hand combat style, one that focused not on flashy gimmicks or flowing combinations; but brutalising and lethal strikes, each one capable of ending the fight should it land cleanly."

The final torch was lit, and Jaguar tossed his own to the ground. He strode forwards several paces, and reaching into one of the pouches lining his waist, he withdrew a scroll. "Speaking of which…"

Realising that his momentary grace period was now up, the boy dragged himself to his feet. His wounds that had somehow ceased bleeding in the short amount of time began to weep once more with the movement.

He was forced to ignore them as Jaguar spoke, the snarling visage of his mask burning into Naruto's eyes. "It's a simple style, but rather unique. You have one hour to read and understand it." And with that, he tossed the scroll to his student before abruptly vanishing into a sombre scatter of ash and dust.

Blinking, Naruto glanced down to the scroll in his hands, and the title stamped in bold red that sealed it shut.

"Restricted by order of the Sandaime Hokage - Forbidden Technique(s): The Black Paw Procedure"

Naruto found his curiosity piqued, before he suddenly realised with a jolt how thick the scroll was.

…and he only had one hour to get through it all.

---

Jutsu/Techniques:

- Black Paw Procedure - Taijutsu, Offensive, A-rank
A combat style created by Black ANBU Operative 0013, Designation: Jaguar 2-1. The Black Paw Procedure is a series of techniques created with the intent of brutalising one's opponent, resulting in their death or incapacitation in the least amount of time elapsed.

A warped, mutated amalgamation of Strong Fist, boxing, and grappling, the style focuses heavily on infrequently erratic and inhumanely lethal strikes. Every action is minimalistic in order to preserve as much energy as possibly until the time comes to act. Created for the express purpose of obliterating one's opponent as quickly as possible without care for one's own personal wellbeing, it bypasses the flowing nature of combat.

Making use of abrupt, unanticipated bouts of explosive power, a Black Paw fighter invades the opponent's attacks, striking in tandem with their opponent in order to guarantee a landed hit as both fighters are forced to commit to their actions. This is where the physical requirements come into play, forcing the fighter to prioritise durability, strength and speed in order to employ such barbaric tactics and come out superior. Mainly making use of punches, elbows and knees, the style also incorporates the ripping and tearing of flesh using fingers. In claustrophobic environments or against opponents lacking in physical capabilities, dangerous submission holds and grapples to twist, jerk, rip, crush and tear come into play.

- Shadow Clone Technique - Kinjutsu, Supplementary, B-rank
A dangerous and versatile jutsu create by the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju. The technique forms corporeal versions of the user. Chakra is evenly split between clone and user, allowing the resulting clone to perform any ninjutsu or genjutsu the original knows with ample resources to spare unlike other cloning techniques.

The clones also possess incredible levels of self-awareness, carrying a larger portion of their original's speed, strength and intelligence over all other clone techniques. They are capable of dispelling themselves at will and all recollections upon destruction are sent back to the original in the form of memories. Whilst Konohagakure's corporeal 'smoke clones' are widely recognised, the knowledge of its transmittal memory functions are a jealously guarded, long-standing S-ranked secret.

This is because clones are heavily relied upon during periods of war as wholly expendable, risk-free scouts and or assassins. Its creation and strategic use in information gathering has led to many of the Leaf's legendary victories.

Heavily restricted to jōnin and above as it requires a very large amount of chakra to perform with little to no training required, making it dangerous to those with who cannot supply the needed fuel. All individual's capable of using the technique are recorded and sworn to secrecy.

- Wind Release: Galecutter - Ninjutsu, Offensive, B-rank
Originating from the south-east, the Galecutter technique was formed to supplement Kenjutsu users and grant them a means of attacking at range. The technique works by rapidly grinding wind chakra against the blades edge and sending forwards slices of propelled air, almost like shrapnel. The technique can be held at the cost of the user's mobility, allowing the wind blades to be controlled at will.