Over the years, Naruto began learning more about other things from Itachi, such as genjutsu and the Blitz Kick taijutsu. Over, time Naruto became proficient in all his subjects, from kenjutsu to puppetry to origami. He discovered his ninjutsu affinities were wind, fire, and lightning. He had learned several other techniques as well, including several doppleganger techniques, and some invented by Itachi.. The only subject he was still struggling with was history. Naruto got every question wrong. For example:
Name the Three Great Shinobi of the Leaf.
Answer: Orochimaru, Itachi, Zetsu?
Name the five great shinobi villages.
Answer: Takigakure, Uzioshigakure, Kusagakure, Otogakure, and Amegakure?
As you can see, Naruto completely failed all his tests and got a zero. Except for one time. His answers were so stupid, that he somehow got -5%.
But, in all other subjects, Naruto was acing them. Thus, the Akatsuki decided he was ready for a mission. An S-rank mission.
"Okay, Naruto." said Pain. "You have a mission."
"Really?" asked Naruto, grinning. He had been pestering Pain for years for a mission, but all of them were too hard.
"It's S-rank, so be careful. You are going to invade Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) and assassinate Gato, a tyrant who is destroying the lives of people there." Pain snarled.
"Why is it S-rank?" asked Naruto.
It was Kisame who spoke this time. "There are several nukenin hired by Gato. And one of them is a member of Kiri no Shinobi Gatana Shichinin Shu (Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist). Raiga Kurosuki, wielder of the twin blades Kiba.
"Thus, we have given you a partner. He will observe you on your mission. It is….drumroll please."
Everyone at the table began drumming the table loudly.
"….Zetsu!"
"But WTF, Zetsu can't fight!" screamed Naruto, horrified.
"Yeah, that's why I'm sending him." said Pain. "He's good at infiltration/spying.
"Yeah, bitch." said Zetsu.
"Ok, let's go!" screamed Naruto.
Jeez, why does this kid go from horrified to excited in five seconds? thought Itachi.
Zetsu and Naruto set off to Nami no Kuni, unaware of the criminal they would meet there.
After a week of travels, Naruto and Zetsu came upon an onsen, and saw a dangerous criminal with white spiky hair peeking at bathing women. The man was chuckling to himself, as he wrote in a book.
"Zetsu", whispered Naruto. "Isn't that the book, Sasori was reading? Icha Icha?"
"Yup. Stop that perverted criminal."
"Excuse me." said Naruto.
The man turned around, and Naruto finished his hand seals. "Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu). He turned into a super sexy naked woman, and the author of Icha Icha fainted from a really big nosebleed.
"If I'm not mistaken, that's Jiraiya the Toad Sage of the Sannin." said Zetsu. "Let's rob him."
"Goddamn pervert." muttered Naruto, as he took a bunch of Jiraiya's scrolls.
Zetsu split into two, and White Zetsu took the scrolls back to Mt. Akatsuki, their secret hideout. Somehow no one realised that was where they where living, despite the obvious name.
Pain looked through the scrolls White Zetsu had gotten from Jiraiya. They were useful: Hiraishin scroll, Rasengan scroll, toad summoning scroll, Konoha's patrol routes, and most importantly, a copy of the next Icha Icha, which Sasori stole immediately.
"YES!" he and his puppets screamed.
Naruto went into Wave, pretending to be an orphan, which wasn't hard, since technically he was an orphan. He knew the Akatsuki had taken him after his parents died, but he didn't hold any grudges. The Akatsuki, no matter how evil they thought themselves, had taken good care of him.
Pushing away the thoughts, Naruto walked towards Gato's mansion, and saw how evil Gato was. Poor orphans ran around in the streets, so thin you could see their bones. A man was beating a woman, and no one gave a fuck.
"It's because of Gato." and old man whispered to him. "He destroyed our once prosperous country."
Naruto turned and asked the man the first thing that came to his mind. "What's your name?"
"My name is Tazuna. I am a bridge builder. Nami no Kuni was a very powerful nation at one time, for we held one of the strongest hidden ninja villages. Uzuioshigakure, the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools."
Naruto looked at Tazuna quizzically, and the old man continued. "The village had one of the four great clans of the ninja world. The Uzumaki. They were feared for their badass sealing techniques. In fact, ninja were so scared of them, that it took three great shinobi nations to defeat them. Iwa, Suna, Kiri teamed up on them, and so many ninja died. That's why Kiri and Suna are so weak today."
Naruto walked away contemplating what he had learned. He had never known he was part of the strongest clans. He was so focused, that he didn't notice the gray-haired man who was hiding a Sharingan behind a leaf forehead protector.
Naruto quickly slit the necks of the two sentries at the front with his kunai. They both fell to the floor, but Naruto was already gone.
Bajoto was 19 when he had come into Gato's bodyguard entourage. He was still nineteen, but had been promoted to Gato's elite bodyguard. His soldiers were supposed to be the strongest. So he was a little surprised when a random blonde twelve-year old started beating the shit out of his soldiers.
"Defensive formation." he yelled.
Immediately, the soldiers surrounded Bajoto and the door to Gato's room. With a sigh, the kid vanished, and reappeared behind Bajoto, and stabbed him in the back. Bajoto howled in pain, and his soldiers turned around, and tried to stab the kid, who exploded in a blast of smoke. Then most of the soldiers got stabbed in the back with katana, from a bunch of clones.
Naruto teleported into Gato's room, and saw the fatso sleeping in bed. Rage filled Naruto, as he lifted his katana, and tried to stab Gato. But, he shunshined out of the way, as lightning hit where he was before.
"Hello Uzumaki." hissed Raiga Kurosuki.