Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, go figure.

Posted: 9/25/08

A/N: First off, I want to thank you all for your great reviews. It's uplifting to know that others enjoy my writing and I'm not just some crazy ranting to myself in a story that no one else can identify with or enjoy.

I also got some great recommendations concerning "marketing" the story. Some of you may have noticed that I changed the summary a bit – it now says quite plainly that this is an Akatsuki fic – and I took Pain out of the character listing. When I first posted the story I naively thought that the Naruto + Pain listing wouldn't scare readers off. At the time I was a bit concerned, but didn't give in to my misgivings. Looking back I too am guilty of opening a seemingly interesting story and immediately X-ing it thanks to a m/m character listing. I'm a hypocrite, what can I say?

Another concern I got was in regards to Naruto's characterization and his interactions with others. If you don't think they're entirely believable then I'm right there with you. I did my best to make Naruto seem childish yet not so inept that a guy like Pain wouldn't put up with him. Frankly I could spend tens of thousands of words describing Naruto's evolution and growth as a person as well as his training and interactions with others, but you probably would be bored to tears reading it and I frankly don't care to write it. This isn't a child!Naruto fic by any means – though he does start as a child. Chapters 4 & 5 are meant to show glimpses of Naruto's time growing up so that you as a reader aren't simply handed a super-cool ultra-powerful Naruto who leapt from ignorant child to monster ninja in a single chapter. I'm doing the best I can to give you insights into Naruto's character without wasting time on filler fluff. As an avid reader of fanfiction I personally prefer a moving plot to a large amount of wasted time spent building relationships – especially ones that are supplementary to the overall plotline.

I'm trying my best to show you what Naruto is like instead of telling you. It's not perfect, but it's the best I've got.

Naruto is eight now, so the childishness is pretty much at an end. Sure it's not realistic but it fits in fine with what we know of the Naruto universe. Kakashi was a chuunin at age six, after all.

Here's chapter 5, enjoy!

Chapter Title: Gimme Three Steps by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

"Haha! Knew your luck couldn't hold out forever, kid. Two pair, kings and tens."

"I've got aces and fours."

The large man's expression fell in an instant as the assembly burst out in uproarious laughter. "You've got to be fuckin' shittin' me."

The small form of an eight-year-old boy leaned forward to pull his winnings of loose bills and unopened packs of cigarettes into the considerable pile already stacked before him.

"Why'd we ever let this brat start playing with us, anyways?"

The answer came from a wiry man seated to the left of the speaker. "Because you thought he'd be an easy mark, dumbass."

"I swear, that kid has the devil's luck."

Naruto grinned behind a black cloth mask as he looked up from his winnings. "Something like that."

A darkly clothed figure approached the group from the opposite side of the small campfire burning brightly nearby. The dancing flames of the fire kept the area surrounding the flat stump that the five card players were gathered around brightly lit. "Oh, damn. You guys still letting Tiger take you to town every time you have a mission? I thought you lot were smarter than that."

"Tiger? I thought the brat was Kitten?"

"Hehe, not since he tore that poor chuunin limb from limb." The newcomer turned to the sandy-haired man who had asked the question from over his shoulder as he gathered his cards for the next hand. "You didn't hear about that, Aizawa?"

The man – Aizawa – grunted. "Just got back from a two week mission up north yesterday morning. Now I'm going out again. No rest for the wicked, eh?"

"You can go cry to Lord Pain if you're so put out. See how that goes for ya." The smirk that accompanied that statement receded as the dark man continued. "Anyways, some pyro rookie was flinging explosive tags all over the damn place. Tiger over there ran up and tore him apart like nothin'."

"Just a leg and an arm." Naruto didn't like them blowing everything out of proportion. The man hadn't been paying attention to his surrounding – content to cause as much mayhem as possible – and paid the price for his carelessness.

"Oh, just an arm and a leg was it? Did you cut them off or what?"

The man standing over the card game spoke again. "Nah, nothing so nice. Kid shredded the poor bastard. He looked like hamburger afterwards."

"Damn. Kitty's got claws, eh?"

Naruto placed two cards from his gloved hands down on the stump before him as his turn to draw came. "You have no idea." The words were mumbled more to himself than anything, but the rest of the players shifted uneasily as they caught his mutterings.

"Say Tiger, what are you going to do with all those smokes you won anyway? You seem a bit young to have a use for 'em. Your mama'd probably give you a good spanking if she found you smoking at your age."

Naruto gave a small chuckle. "If I was lucky. You guys use them as currency in these games so I will too. I'll sell them later on if I can't lose them."

"Just remember, your luck can't last forever, brat. It's called karma."

"And who says I haven't already had my share of bad luck?" That kept the players quiet for a long minute.

A figure landed beside the campfire causing the assembly to look up quickly. "Game's over, gentlemen. I have our orders from Lord Pain."

The cards and winnings were quickly pocketed or sealed away, the lone observer wandered off, and the newcomer appraised his squad. "We're to hit a supply depot tomorrow morning, early. We'll be running all night. Stay awake. Stay aware."

The answer came simultaneously from all five ninjas. "Yes sir, captain."

Then they were gone.

Naruto's sleepy gaze met the slitted blue orbs of his reflection as it did every morning. The mirror had been a rather recent addition to the cave's washroom – added only a year before - and had only been acquired after no small amount of panic from the blond child. The boy had been justifiably concerned when only a few months after the activation of his seal Pain and Konan had begun sending him an inordinate number of puzzled and concerned looks.

Then came the daily examinations of his seal.

At first Naruto was content to write these oddities off to his imagination, but when he had started growing claws – hard, long, and sharp – where his fingernails and toenails had once resided he decided that it was time to take a more proactive approach to determining his current status.

It hadn't actually taken too long to convince his minders to provide a mirror that he could use. Konan had procured one almost immediately – presumably one that she and Pain had been hording all to themselves somewhere. They did have an uncanny knack for looking immaculate in their black cloaks despite living in a cave with no running water.

Naruto had been justifiably upset when he first examined himself. He certainly looked a bit demonic with the now incredibly thick scars on his cheeks that ran back to his ears, long, sharp fangs that hung over his bottom lip - which he had been studiously ignoring up to that point - and slightly pointed ears which were thankfully covered by his messy hair.

Strangest of all were Naruto's eyes. They had maintained their trademark blue color but the pupils had stretched vertically, just like a fox's. As a result, Naruto found that he had almost perfect night vision and that his eyes could quickly adjust to rapidly changing levels of light – an ability that came in incredibly handy on the battlefield with exploding tags and fire jutsus being tossed about like confetti. The skin at the edges of Naruto's eyelids had also darkened to a near-black hue giving him the appearance of wearing eyeliner at all times.

After the initial panic of seeing his new visage and assurances from Pain that the seal was acting normally and that the changes were simply a result of the Kyuubi's chakra being drawn on at such a young age, Naruto found that he actually liked the new look he sported. It made him unique and fearsome – two qualities that he admired in a shinobi like Pain.

Naruto decided that he would do nothing to downplay the changes and even grew his spiky hair down to his shoulder blades in order to look even more "wild." He was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, after all. It was part of who he was and Naruto quickly assimilated that fact into his identity as a ninja. If he was to be the strongest ninja ever, he had to look the part.

Now if only he could convince Pain to let him out without covering everything up. Ever since Naruto had started missions with Pain's forces he had been forced to hide as much of his physical appearance as possible. He wore gloves and close-toed shinobi sandals – which were incredibly uncomfortable on him - to hide his claws, a dark cloth mask to hide his whisker scars and fangs, and even a long bandanna to keep his unruly hair mostly covered and controlled.

He understood the need to keep his appearance hidden, of course. Such unique characteristics would raise interesting questions among both Pain's and Hanzou's men. So many people couldn't keep a secret no matter what was tried, and Pain certainly didn't want news of Naruto's presence in Rain to get back to old Sarutobi.

Naruto didn't particularly want that either. He was content to train and gain experience under Pain's and Konan's expert tutelage. He owed the two so much that the least he could do was help them achieve their goal of freeing Rain. They were the closest things he had to a family, after all.

Content with his appearance, Naruto left the washroom and made his way to Pain's study. He had been told the night before to get plenty of sleep because he was to be assigned a special mission today. His footsteps were light and almost noiseless, yet Naruto had still never been able to approach the room without being heard long before he reached the door.

He was a bit surprised when he heard familiar voices emanating from the study. Pain nearly always kept the door closed and sealed against sound penetration, especially during conversations with "outsiders." Naruto could only assume that Pain had wanted him to overhear this conversation for one reason or another.

"… finally put his plans in motion?" The high, melodious tone was Konan's.

"Yes, the Uchiha clan is now reduced to three…" This was Zetsu. Naruto hadn't heard him come around in some time. By the fact that he'd stopped talking so abruptly Naruto could only assume that his presence had been detected by the strange man - thing. He kept walking towards the study and knocked softly at the partially open door.

"Enter." Naruto walked in to find that Pain, Konan, and Zetsu were all present and standing before the battered desk.

Pain turned away from the door and back to the odd man. "Now that Itachi is a missing nin he can be placed in the field full time. I'll have him paired with Kisame. Hopefully their personalities will rub off on one another… or cancel out."

Zetsu stared at Naruto for a bit, which did nothing to set the boy at ease. The black and white man was obviously put out by the fact that Pain didn't seem to care to keep Naruto out of their conversation.

"Hello again, Zetsu." The man ignored him.

Konan sent Naruto a slightly apologetic glance before speaking again. "Why did Madara not tell us this himself?"

Zetsu appraised the woman for a moment before his lighter side answered. "Apparently he is helping Itachi recover from the battle and sent me in his stead."

Pain decided to take control of the conversation once again. Naruto had learned quickly that the man didn't like to mince words with his "associates." "If Madara can keep Itachi under control then he will be an excellent addition to our organization."

"Still, it is a shame that we lost Orochimaru because of the boy."

"Orochimaru never intended to stay with us long. He simply took advantage of our offer in order to get close to young Itachi. The man was far too arrogant and self-centered to follow our rules. Were it not for the fact that he poses no threat to us I would have destroyed him for his treachery myself. His time will come soon enough."

"He has been busy these last two years."

"And no doubt he will remain so now that he is content with his so-called immortality. I imagine he will set his sights on Konoha once again."

"Madara will not want us to interfere."

"I have more important things to concern myself with than Orochimaru's games. My own plans are nearing fruition."

"Very well. I will take my leave then." Zetsu paused for a moment before shifting his sight to the stone floor and then back to Pain.

Pain raised an eyebrow and then a finger, pointing behind the assembly. "The door is there."

Zetsu spared one last glance at the expressionless face of Pain before turning and walking through the wooden portal. Naruto thought he caught the strange figure mumbling to himself under his breath.

Once the man was gone Naruto let loose a barking laugh. Zetsu always made a habit of popping in and out unexpectedly. Apparently Naruto wasn't the only one who had found it rather rude and annoying.

A small smile graced Pain's face. "The wonder of seals." He leaned back on his desk and turned his full attention to Naruto. "I'm going to give you your first solo mission. You've been out of the country on small group assignments, but this will be very different from what you've been tasked in the past."

Naruto straightened at that. He'd been bugging Pain to give him a solo mission ever since his training period had ended and he'd begun taking missions.

"What have you learned of Akatsuki?"

Naruto silently cursed the bastard who decided to build a ninja village in one of the world's tallest mountain ranges. It wasn't that he couldn't handle the steep and rocky environment. He just wasn't used to it. The unstable paths and cool weather were nothing like Ame or even Konoha. It was windy, chilly, and all around uncomfortable. Naruto couldn't wait to be out of here.

His target was alone on a rocky terrace at the top of a long, stone stairway that led up from the base of the mountain. She sat cross-legged on the ground with her eyes closed. She seemed to be meditating, completely unperturbed by the small gusts of wind that whipped her long platinum-blond hair about her head. She was rather small – being only a couple of years older than Naruto himself – and wore simple black shinobi pants and a long-sleeved cream-colored shirt.

On the surface Naruto's mission was laughably simple while at the same time remarkably delicate. He could think of about six thousand ways to screw up – not a few of which would result in his untimely death.

He had to talk to a girl.

This girl, actually. The problem arose from the fact that Naruto had only talked to two members of the female species at any length in his life: Konan and Ayame – the ramen shop owner's daughter back in Konoha. Konan didn't count. She was more of a mother / big sister / evil overlord of chakra control figure to Naruto. He hadn't seen Ayame since the day that Konan had taken him away from the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

The light-skinned girl before him was a ninja, though - or something like that - so he supposed he would treat her like he would another ninja. Without the sarcastic comments. Or cursing. He could usually keep the swearing under control, despite the beginnings of a rather severe bad habit forming from all the time spent with Pain's men. He'd have to keep working on that.

Not now. Later.

But still, cut back on the cursing.

Okay. Now that that was settled he just had to decide how to approach her. She didn't seem too aware of her surroundings, but that was just one of the side effects of meditation, he supposed. Perhaps the direct approach was in order. He was here to talk to her, after all.

He landed only ten feet in front of her and quirked a small grin when she started and jumped to her feet, looking around frantically for any sign of attack while crouching low to the ground. She remained tense as her gaze finally fell on Naruto, who imagined he looked a bit frightful without any of his normal coverings on. Today he wore only his typical dark gray ninja pants and shirt.

"Hello. Nice day, don't you think?" He was terrible at breaking the ice, he concluded. A bit embarrassed at the horrible line, he reached back with is right arm and rubbed the back of his head through his wild mane of hair while not failing to notice the young girl tense up at the innocent movement. She had a decent amount of training already then. That or she just expected him to hit her.

"Who are you?" Her voice was cautious and a little confused, and for the first time Naruto noticed that her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, as though she had been crying.

"Ah, sorry. My name's Naruto. Pleased to meet ya!" He took a step forward and extended a wickedly clawed hand, which only caused the girl to flinch and take a step back. "It's a bit frightening, huh? Sorry about that."

She shook her head to regain what little composure she had. "What do you want?"

"I came to talk to you, Yugito."

"Me? How did you know I was here? How do you know my name? Are you a spy sent to kill me?"

Naruto raised his clawed hands above his head in a placating gesture. "I guess you could call me a spy, but I definitely wasn't sent here to kill you. I just came to talk."

Yugito's reddened eyes bore into his own. "About what?"

"Are you alright Yugito?" This question seemed to throw her off a bit. "You look like you've been crying." She turned her head towards the ground in shame before remembering her situation and looking up at him again.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

The girl was starting to get angry. "I said I'm fine. Now what do you want?"

"What's wrong?"

Now she was practically snarling, her tears forgotten. "Not that you'd understand anything about it, but I was training. Now tell me what you want before I kill you!"

"The Two-Tailed Cat isn't very good company, huh?"

The somewhat fearsome visage the girl had adopted melted away abruptly only to be replaced by a look of fear. "How do you know about it? Who are you really?"

Naruto discretely took a step forward while the girl was distraught. "Just a kid who wants to know if you like what you're doing. What you're going to do…" He paused for a moment before feigning curiosity. "Why are you up here anyways?" He already knew why she was on this mountain – Unraikyo – and nearly half a day's travel outside of the Village Hidden in the Clouds - but he'd rather hear it from Yugito herself.

Yugito was looking more and more unsure of herself as the conversation drew on. "My master lives here most of the year. It's quiet…" She shook her head once again. "What do you want from me?"

"Are you happy?" The question once again caught the young girl off guard.

"Wh-what?"

"I asked if you were happy. Are you happy, knowing that you're training to become a weapon for the Raikage? Knowing that the most they'll ever see you as is the cage for the Nibi? They're training you to become a monster in battle. Right here, right now." Naruto took another small step towards the girl. "Does that thought make you happy?"

Yugito was losing whatever was left of her composure. Still crouched low, she reached into the kunai pouch on her back and withdrew one of the sharp weapons, holding onto it as though it were a lifeline. "I'm going to be a great Kumo kunoichi. Killer Bee is helping me." She shook her head again in distress. "I don't want to hear it! I don't know you. You're probably here to make me defect! You're trespassing. I'll kill you!"

But before she had even finished her rant Naruto had jumped into action. The distance between them was only seven feet, and he closed the gap in a fraction of a second.

Naruto was never one for real subtlety when it came to words. He probably could have avoided having it come to blows, but Naruto was a boy of action, and action he took.

Drawing his fist back, he drove it – hard - into the girl's stomach just below the rib cage. She dropped like a rock and grasped her battered abdomen, kunai all but forgotten on the ground next to her. Naruto didn't waste any time as the girl gasped for breath. Flipping her unceremoniously onto her back with his foot, he straddled the poor girl's chest and dropped his bottom onto her heaving stomach – right on top of her hands.

The air knocked out of her a second time and her hands now trapped underneath the body of her assailant, Yugito could do nothing but gasp for air as the small, feral child leaned forward over her form and grasped her exposed throat with one of his clawed hands.

"Killer Bee is helping you to become a tool of the Raikage. Did you think that you'd be like him? Allowed to do what you wish, to go where you wish? Did you think you'd be respected for anything other than the power of your bijuu?" He saw the fear in her eyes, and for a moment, he pitied her helplessness. "You are not the Raikage's brother. You are his weapon. Who do you think put the Nibi within you, and why?" She struggled desperately but Naruto simply shifted his weight and tightened his hold on her pale neck. "To them you are nothing but a weapon of war. They care nothing for you. That's why they brought you here to gain control over the Nibi. So long as you can wield the bijuu's power for them they will be content to allow you to live – to maintain some semblance of freedom."

Naruto inhaled loudly and deliberately. "If that's all you want in your life, then by all means ignore my words, but for now, listen."

The girl was tearing up again. She knew she could do nothing at this point to dislodge the little demon boy sitting on her belly without risking him tearing her throat out.

So she listened.

"Years from now, when you are grown, you will have to make a choice. Will you continue to sacrifice your very existence to appease those who see you as a prized pawn, or will you break free and become your own woman? Will you be controlled or will you forge your own future?" He leaned down over her, his lips next to her left ear. "Will you be a great monster, or a great kunoichi?"

Naruto liked this. He felt powerful. He also felt a bit ashamed at having stripped the defenses from this girl who was just like him.

Still, he had a mission to accomplish, and he needed his words to sink in.

He could maim her. That would certainly leave an impression. It was a bit crude though, and a bit cruel. He didn't particularly want to be remembered as cruel. As he hovered only a few inches above her frightened, tearful face, he came up with a better plan. He leaned down and put a big, wet, and sloppy kiss right on her lips.

He knew this action would be horrifying enough to make sure she remembered him and his words.

God knows he was plenty horrified by it.

But now it was time to leave. He leaned back, giving her some room and spent a moment observing her shocked and confused face before speaking one last time. "When that day comes, ask yourself if you are happy. Your life depends on it."

He slowly started to stand, but thought better of it and slammed his fist into her stomach again for good measure. It wouldn't do for her to stab him in the back. He began walking away, being sure to confirm that the girl was still lying on the hard, smooth stone in shock. Hopefully she'd remember when the time came.

Intruder. One. White. Northeast. Fast!

One of his shadow clones had dispelled. Naruto only had enough time to leap out of the way before a projectile embedded itself nearly six inches into the hard stone where he had been standing – arcs of electricity still dancing around the blade.

Naruto frowned. He already knew quite a lot about his assailant just from the small bits of information he had gleaned in the last two seconds.

First, the newcomer hadn't attacked his shadow clone directly. He had bypassed it - forcing the clone to dispel itself - which meant that the man knew the abilities of the shadow clone and how to spot them, which also meant that he had probably seen more than one despite Naruto's best efforts to keep them hidden.

Second, the man was incredibly fast. Far faster than Naruto, in his eight-year-old body, could ever hope to match.

Third, he was lightning chakra natured, which is what had allowed him to electrically charge the short sword that had been thrown at Naruto.

Fourth, the short sword he had thrown was an extremely rare and powerful weapon made with chakra steel. While a ninja with lightning natured chakra could channel their electricity through any metal object, the fact that the sword had retained its charge even after being released meant that it could absorb the chakra nature of its user. Not just anybody could obtain such a weapon. The newcomer was a somebody.

Naruto was in deep shit, and he knew it. The light patter of feet hitting the ground behind him – near where he had left Yugito gasping for air – only served to confirm how badly he had messed up. He had meant to be gone by now.

He didn't even have to turn around to know who was standing behind him. Still, it wouldn't be very prudent to ignore his attacker.

Killer Bee wore sunglasses. He also wore seven swords in a specially made sheath on his back – one of which was now missing. His chest was adorned with the standard tight white flak jacket popular among Kumo jounin. His arms were bare, showing off his well-muscled, ebony biceps. Unlike his peers, he wore a long white scarf and two odd, long tassels that hung from his uniform.

He was the Raikage's younger brother, the second strongest ninja in Kumo, and by all accounts the strongest jinchuuriki in the world.

Naruto had to figure out how we was going to survive the day, and quickly. Any wide-area jutsu wouldn't do anything but scratch this man – resiliency ran in his blood and was only augmented by the bijuu within him. The young boy was outclassed in every way.

"Did you have something to say to Yugito?"

Naruto remained tense, still trying to think of a way out of this mess. "We already finished our conversation."

The man's head turned slightly to observe his young charge as she slowly and painfully rolled onto her knees, not even attempting to stand. Having confirmed that she was relatively unharmed, he focused his attention on Naruto. "You're trespassing."

"I know."

"Cheeky brat. Don't you know that I'm going to kill you?"

"I really wish you wouldn't."

Killer Bee cocked his head to the side. "How old are you?"

Naruto considered the question for a moment. "Eight."

The large man smiled. "It's a good number. A good year to die."

"I'd really rather live to be nine."

The dark-skinned man continued to appraise Naruto. "That's an interesting look you have."

"I know."

Naruto was ready. Forming the hand seals for the shadow clone jutsu, two copies appeared at his sides and let loose with as many shurikens as they could muster. Killer Bee rolled quickly and easily out of the way as even more shurikens flew towards him from the rocky heights around the terrace. Naruto's shadow clone sentries had arrived.

He dove backwards and pushed chakra to his clawed right hand as he grasped the hilt of the still crackling sword embedded in the ground.

Killer Bee seemed to pause for a split second in his dodging as he witnessed the lightning recede from the blade. The boy was wind-natured. He quickly resumed his acrobatic rolling in order to keep well ahead of the continuous shuriken barrage.

Naruto became alarmed when he realized that the large man was slowly moving closer and closer to him even despite his clones' best efforts to keep the two separated. Killer Bee was a monster in close combat. If he got near enough then Naruto was dead. He had to make his move right now.

At a signal his shadow clones let loose with the rest of their weapons in one massive barrage, forcing the dark-skinned jinchuuriki to jump off of the ground in a short, fast leap to Naruto's right. Naruto forced as much wind chakra as he could into Killer Bee's short sword as he pulled it back. And he prayed.

Naruto had never used a chakra blade before and wasn't quite sure of the dynamics. On top of this, he was only just becoming proficient with wind manipulation – he still had a long way to go before he achieved mastery. He needed the blade to move fast and true, so he packed the wind chakra around and through the blade, added a spin, and let fly.

All three of the jinchuuriki were shocked when a loud crack rang through the mountains and the sword leaped from Naruto's hand at incredible speed. The boy had lead the older jinchuuriki's movement as he leapt through the air in the hopes of catching him in the chest with the thrown sword, but he hadn't realized just how fast he could throw the chakra blade. It tore through Killer Bee's left bicep sending blood and flesh spraying from the wound.

The man hissed in pain as he landed unsteadily and rolled to avoid a small brace of shurikens. When he looked up once more, his target was nowhere to be found. It took a few moments before he had confirmed that both the boy and his clones were gone. He stood easily despite the gaping wound in his arm and walked back over to Yugito, who sat breathlessly on the hard ground.

"Son of a bitch." Despite the fact that the flesh of his arm was already knitting itself back together, Killer Bee was not happy. "Did that brat tell you his name?"

Yugito looked up sheepishly at her master. "Um, Naruto I think."

The large man's head snapped around at that.

"Shit."

Naruto loved playing poker.

It wasn't about the money. After all, what would he spend it on?

He liked the challenge.

To Naruto, playing poker was like being a ninja without the risk of bodily harm. Each player was given a set of tools - which the opponent was completely unaware of - with which to do battle. The object of the game was to defeat your opponent or force him to retreat through deception and calculated risk.

Unlike other games of strategy, poker allowed a player to cut his losses and run from the battle. Each hand was like a skirmish in a war, and every good ninja knew when to save his skin and run. Games like chess and go started the two opponents on equal footing with only their wits to guide them. But ninja weren't created equal. Even the smartest ninja would fall to a strong opponent if the gaps between their levels of skill and power were too large.

There was no retreat in those games. You either lost or you won. It was easy to find yourself in an untenable position, and then the game was over.

Poker allowed the player to pick his battles – just like a good ninja did. It was a lesson that Naruto was glad he had remembered just two days ago in Lightning Country.

Naruto's love of poker had brought him to Otafuku Gai in Fire Country for the day. He figured he would cut through the forests of his early childhood – keeping well clear of Konoha, of course – instead of trudging back into the gloomy weather of Rain Country on his way southwest to the Village Hidden in the Sand.

He was currently playing in the high roller's backroom of a rather large casino - which was a bit strange by everyone else's estimation. Eight-year-olds were not often seen at this table, but Naruto had forked over the money that he had accumulated from scalping his fellow Rain rebels, foraging through the belongings of ninjas he'd slain, and turning in bounties on missing ninjas that he'd collected on his few trips outside of Rain Country. The old bastards at the table had grinned at what they thought would be an easy payday. They were regretting it now.

"How the hell does the creepy brat keep winning?"

Naruto didn't particularly appreciate being called creepy, though he supposed their comments were justified. He had once again donned all of his usual coverings so as not to alarm any of the players with his appearance. His eyes probably unnerved them. That was good for him though - most players didn't play as well when they were nervous or skittish.

He glanced down at the large stack of chips before him and smiled. It had been a very good day so far.

The game was interrupted when a thin, middle-aged man ran into the room rather dramatically. Naruto figured that it was a friend of one of the players. "You'll never guess who just walked in!"

"Keep it down Yoichi, we're in the middle of a hand." Yep, the newcomer must be an acquaintance of the squat, bald man who was about to bluff all of his money away to Naruto.

"The Legendary Sucker's here!" That drew the attention of the man.

"You're kidding."

"No, she just walked in and she's headed back here!" A number of wicked grins passed around the table before the bald man made his large bet.

Naruto called almost immediately, earning a loud grumble from his opponent. "Well, that's it for me then." As he raked in his winnings his statement was met with shock and surprise.

"You do know that the Legendary Sucker always dumps money when she comes around here, right? You could make a whole lot more."

"That's alright. I figure I'll let you old folks recover from the pounding I gave you." His wide grin was visible even through the dark cloth of the mask he wore. "Besides, it's getting to be my bedtime." That got a few chuckles. Naruto always found it best to leave a game on a high note, especially after he took all of the money.

As Naruto was racking his chips, the door to the backroom swung open to admit a young woman with long, light blond hair tied into pigtails followed by another young woman with short black hair holding a… pig. Naruto did a double take upon seeing the blond woman. No way was she really that young, or her breasts that huge. Wasn't she supposed to be forty-something?

Naruto knew who the "Legendary Sucker" was, of course. The famous Sannin of Konoha had a reputation as the greatest ninja healer in the world and – more recently – the worst high-stakes gambler in Fire Country. She was actually the reason he was leaving. He wasn't sure how close her ties were with Konoha these days, but her background as a medical ninja would certainly lead her to question Naruto's strange getup. She most certainly had known his father and knew of Naruto himself.

He wasn't taking any chances.

"My seat's free, I was just getting up." Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him as she took in his appearance. She'd never seen a kid back here before, nor had she seen one so strange. "I'll leave these old farts to you. They seem real eager to part with their money today."

There were some grumbles and some chuckles at that. "No one's as lucky as you, kid."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head endearingly. "Sure, sure. Good luck with these guys, lady."

Moments later he was out the door with a set of chocolate-brown eyes boring into the back of his head.

He wasn't sure he was going to like the desert any better than the mountains, but he'd find out soon enough.

Naruto did not like the desert.

At all. Especially considering that Pain ordered him to cover himself up thoroughly when he traveled.

He had killed a guard in order to gain entry into the Village Hidden in the Sand – there was no other way around it. The massive shield wall was constantly observed for any enemies trying to scale it in order to enter the city, and the narrow gorge that led through the wall was heavily guarded as well.

He'd settled for sprinting up the massive wall in the dead of night and ordering a shadow clone to stick a kunai in the lone guard's temple to silence him. Then he'd jumped down the other side and checked into a hotel room.

No one would trace a dead guard to an eight-year-old boy, after all.

He awoke early the next morning thanks to the dry, oppressive heat that began to permeate his room the instant the sun rose above the shield wall.

Time to find his target.

Pain had warned Naruto that Sabaku no Gaara was a bit unstable thanks to his seal and the nature of the One-Tailed Tanuki. Naruto was pretty sure he'd never met anyone who was "unstable" before, so when he found the red-haired boy on the outskirts of the village playing with sand and mumbling to himself under his breath, Naruto was understandably cautious.

There were two types of jinchuuriki in the world: powerful tools and rejects. Naruto knew right away which type he was, and Pain had never tried to dissuade him of this notion. Naruto was a tool, but he was also a part of Pain and Konan's dysfunctional family. Naruto was perfectly fine with that. He was treated like a person, a subordinate, and a friend. Ninjas were tools of their masters, and to Naruto - so long as they liked their masters - there was nothing wrong with that.

What Naruto was looking at now wasn't a good tool – it was a reject.

Naruto didn't have any patience for rejects. Sure it wasn't fair that jinchuuriki got stuck with a raw deal in life, but to give in to the whisperings and ravings of the bijuu was – in Naruto's mind – a horrible failing.

It was weak.

Jinchuuriki were expected – chosen – to be greater than the bijuus they held at bay. If a jinchuuriki could not do the one thing asked of him above all else then he was a disgrace, plain and simple.

Sabaku no Gaara was a disgrace. Sabaku no Gaara was a failure.

Still, Naruto had a job to do and a mission to complete. He would deliver his message and be gone – hopefully never to return to this God-forsaken place.

He approached cautiously from Gaara's front, wary of startling the lunatic. "Hey there!"

The redheaded boy didn't seem to notice him at first, but at Naruto's call he looked up to meet the blond's eyes – the only part of his body that was readily visible. Naruto was too close to Suna to remove his coverings as he had in Lightning Country.

Naruto got his first good look at the Ichibi's jinchuuriki and did not like what he saw. The boy's jinchuuriki markings had manifested themselves around his eyes, giving him the raccoon-like appearance typical of the tanuki. It made him look a bit out of it. Even more disturbing was the red kanji for "love" carved into the boy's forehead. Had he done that himself?

Damn. The kid was even crazier than Naruto had feared.

"Go away." Gaara's eyes darted back and forth as though expecting attack at any moment. He probably did, actually. Pain had mentioned that Gaara's own father, the Fourth Kazekage, had ordered him assassinated on multiple occasions.

"I just want to talk to you for a minute."

"I said go away. Mother is resting."

"Uh, mother? There's no one here but you and me, bud."

"When mother wakes up, she's always hungry." Naruto wasn't even sure if the kid was talking to him or just rambling to himself at this point.

He took a few cautious steps forward. It was hard to hold a conversation from thirty feet apart. "And what does she like to eat when she wakes up?" He figured he'd go for appeasement just to get the crazy boy to settle down and listen – though Naruto wasn't sure how much good his speech would do. Unless the kid got his head screwed on right in the next few years he'd be just another casualty of Akatsuki.

Gaara's teal eyes met Naruto's cerulean blue for a moment. "Mother likes blood."

Okay. This guy was absolutely fucking crazy. With no small amount of horror Naruto realized that Gaara's "mother" must actually be the Ichibi. Now that was messed up. "Well, be that as it may, I have a message to give you and your, um… mother."

Naruto couldn't believe he had just said that.

A slight rustling of sand was the only indication he received that an attack was incoming. He jumped to the side just as the massive form of a hand made entirely out of sand crashed to the ground where Naruto had been standing.

Fucker was trying to kill him.

"Mother wants your blood."

Naruto snarled. "Well tell her she can't have it." He'd have to take a more direct approach. The only problem was that this close to the city he couldn't use any of his larger jutsus without drawing unwanted attention. He'd have to get a bit creative.

He threw a group of shuriken at the deranged boy but was discouraged when the sand surrounded the redhead in a makeshift shield. What was worse was that Gaara didn't even seem to be paying attention to Naruto's attempted attacks. The sand seemed to protect him on its own. Naruto created two shadow clones and the three surrounded the redhead. Together they threw even more shuriken. Sure enough, the sand wrapped around Gaara and took the blows from the blond's projectiles.

Okay. So he had to get past the sand.

Signaling his two clones, he sprinted forward to draw the attention of the Ichibi's vessel while the clones rushed in from behind. Naruto was faster than Gaara's sand, but just barely. As he and his clones weaved in and out of the earthy defense he saw his clones land blow after blow on Gaara's arms and legs with their kunai. Finally content with their effort, he jumped back from his prey even as his clones did the same.

The satisfied grin on his face melted as his clones shook their heads at him dejectedly and dispelled.

What in the hell?

As Naruto gained his clones' memories he immediately came across the problem – their kunais couldn't pierce Gaara's skin. Or more accurately, they couldn't pierce what was covering his skin. The little shit had sand caked all over his body!

Making two more clones Naruto decided he'd just have to aim for unprotected locations. The clones charged in once again to draw the sand away and give Naruto a clear path to his target – a target that he had just now realized hadn't moved a single inch since the start of their fight. Did the kid really rely so heavily on his sand?

That was a mistake that Naruto was keen to take advantage of. While Gaara's sand was distracted, Naruto charged in at top speed, slamming his knee into Gaara's exposed stomach and throwing him backwards onto the ground.

Damn, but that hurt! The kid weighed over two hundred pounds with all that sand on. No wonder he couldn't move much.

Not wasting time, Naruto pulled out a kunai and positioned its tip just an inch above Gaara's left eye. "Enough of this bullshit! You move again and I'll cut out your goddamn eye. I just came here to talk but apparently you aren't capable of conversa…"

Naruto had assumed that the boy pinned below him would possess a self-preservation instinct, but apparently he relied on his bijuu's to take care of both of them. Without warning Naruto was swept off of the redhead's chest and hurled bodily across the dry, rocky ground. He hadn't been prepared for that. Stupid.

Now he was angry. What the hell was wrong with this kid? If Naruto had any expectation that he would be resisted like that then Sabaku no Gaara would be down an eye right now.

Then it hit him.

If the sand protects him automatically then who's to say the kid has ever been hurt? Of course he wouldn't fold to a threat of physical pain or dismemberment if he had no basis to compare such an injury to.

Well, Naruto would just have to change that. Time to give this bastard a lesson in pain.

Naruto's remaining clones had been dispelled by now, so he created two more. His strategy had worked well so far, and because Gaara didn't seem to be a strategic fighter Naruto didn't see any reason to change his plan of attack. The crazy jinchuuriki had obviously relied on the powers of his bijuu for far too long.

The blond boy charged in once again – this time adding wind chakra to his hand. The Blade of Wind jutsu was the only seal-less technique he could use, but it would serve his purposes here – to cut through that obnoxious sand armor of Gaara's. Naruto's clones were destroyed more quickly this time, and he wondered if perhaps his opponent was learning his attacks or if the bijuu itself was adapting to his style.

No matter. He'd made it through once again. Naruto's attack cut deep into the redhead's shoulder causing blood to ooze and mix with his sandy protection. The blond winced – he didn't really want to know what sand in an open wound felt like.

Naruto was brought out of his musings by Gaara's insane screaming. It wasn't that bad. Then again, it pretty much confirmed Naruto's suspicion that the Sand jinchuuriki had never experienced any kind of intense pain before.

He approached the madly screaming boy slowly. He had no intention of getting close to him again.

"How's that feel you freaking psycho? Now listen up. The next time I fucking tell you I'll cut your eyeball out I really will do it." Gaara was still on the ground screaming and clutching at his shoulder – no doubt aggravating the injury. "Are you even listening to me?"

He got no response. "Shut the hell up!" That grabbed the boy's attention, whose screaming was reduced to whimpers. "Get your damn bijuu under control or you'll be dead a few years down the line. Enough of this crazy shit. Do you want to be a monster or a ninja?" Naruto was fairly sure that nothing he was saying was getting through to the boy.

He left.

Naruto supposed he'd have to chalk this one up as a failure despite his best efforts. The nut-job just wasn't salvageable. Oh well, at least he'd won some money and stolen a kiss. The trip hadn't turned out all bad.

Naruto crouched down behind the thick trunk of a leafy tree trying to get a good look at the main road of the small village he was observing. It was Naruto's first mission as a vice-captain and he didn't want to screw it up.

There were eight of them there today – two squads of four. The Captain had taken his squad into the trees above the road a good fifty feet to Naruto's right. Naruto and his three subordinates had the low ground and were spread out parallel to the roadway.

The mission was simple – attack the Ame ninja storage depot located in this small town and empty of it of any valuables while destroying the leftovers.

The blond boy had been on similar missions throughout Rain Country over the past months, and one thing above all always bothered him yet always remained the same.

It was the poverty.

Rain Country was pockmarked with small towns such as this one, and all of them were ramshackle and poor. The people were even worse off. Nearly all of their raids took place at night - when the residents of the towns were indoors - but on the few occasions where Naruto caught a glimpse of them he had not liked what he saw. These people were starving to death, and it was all because of Hanzou.

The sad truth of Rain Country was that it couldn't maintain a ninja village the size of the Village Hidden in the Rain – and Amegakure was very large. Despite this, Hanzou had built the city in the middle of a desolate floodplain and insisted on keeping it large, powerful, and battle ready. The civilians and ninjas of Ame couldn't possibly grow enough food for themselves, so Hanzou's men taxed and stole from the outlying villages in order to keep Ame afloat. While the ninjas of Rain Country thrived, the common workers – farmers, artisans, and others – suffered under the tyranny of Hanzou's rule.

Rain Country had no daimyo because before Hanzou, no one thought that the floodplains of Ame were worth unifying into a country. Its residents lived quiet lives in small villages and largely were ignored by the ninja clans – and later villages – who battled across the wet wasteland at the center of the ninja world.

Then came Hanzou. In Rain Country Hanzou was law. Before Pain, no one had thought to stand up to the Salamander. The man had built Ame where he had for a reason, and that reason was that no one could defeat him in Rain Country.

No one.

He built his city at the end of the First Secret World War and took the country under his iron fist, daring any and all to oppose him there.

And many had. But none had defeated him.

Yet.

The country was in turmoil thanks to Hanzou's single-mindedness, and Pain was out to stop him. Naruto could sympathize with that.

The blond scanned the seemingly empty town with unequalled vision - his gaze cutting through the dark and the rain thanks to the changes Kyuubi had wrought. They had to make sure that there were no Ame ninjas on patrol here. Ame had begun randomly sending squads to confront Pain's men soon after the raids had started, but so far had been generally unsuccessful.

This town had a rather large supply depot in it despite its small size, and Naruto expected there to be at least a few guards to deal with. Because an extra patrol could tip the advantage in the enemy's favor, they had to be sure that no such patrol was here.

Everything seemed quiet, and that was a good sign. Naruto just had to wait for the captain to give the go ahead and his team would sweep into the town to provide a distraction for the Ame guards while the Captain snuck in behind them.

The signal didn't come.

Two Ame ninja landed in the roadway, their backs turned slightly away from both teams' positions. Apparently they hadn't been noticed.

The two ninja conversed with one another too quietly to be heard over the constant patter of rain – oblivious to the eight men watching them intently.

Naruto took a moment to observe them – amused at how unmindful they were of their imminent demise. They both wore their hair long down their backs – one with black and the other with silver-gray. Both wore the standard cream-colored flak jackets of the Ame ninja and re-breathers over their faces – though the one worn by the silver-haired man was substantially larger. Naruto figured that it was an older model. While the black-haired ninja wore his Ame headband proudly on his forehead, the other sported a thick faceplate that protected not only his forehead but extended down both sides of his face to meet his re-breather. It looked rather archaic to Naruto, who wondered why the man was sporting such odd and dated equipment. A short, forest-green cape that reached just below the man's waist finished off the strange look.

The two men finished their conversation and the dark-haired ninja disappeared in a show of chakra-enhanced speed. The remaining one – Naruto could only suppose that he was older – paused and surveyed the empty village street, oblivious to any danger.

Naruto was a bit surprised at how foolish the ninja was to remain behind alone in such a situation, but would gladly accept an easy kill. His captain apparently agreed.

Naruto grinned behind his cloth mask as the form of his captain leapt silently from his camouflaged perch in the trees and sprinted deftly towards the lone Ame ninja from the poor man's blind spot. The Captain would make sure it was over quickly.

He was almost at his target now – who was still oblivious to his peril – and had drawn a kunai with which to end the lone man's life. Naruto watched with pride as his commanding officer drew within five paces of the man and readied his strike to the Ame ninja's neck. The man had still not shown any indication that he had any inkling of his fate…

Which Naruto suddenly realized was incredibly odd.

In that moment his stomach plummeted and the instincts that he had learned to trust screamed out in horror. Even a ninja of low chuunin rank would have sensed the Captain's approach – would have given some indication that he anticipated an attack.

The gray man hadn't even twitched.

The Captain lunged, and Naruto watched in disbelief as the lone ninja stepped inside the Captain's guard at impossible speed and stiff-armed him in the face, causing the Captain's head to roll on his shoulders.

It didn't seem that bad at first – as if the Captain had only been performing an exercise to loosen his neck and shoulders. Naruto would have thought his commander to be fine were it not for the sickening crack that rang through the rain and the muffled thud that resounded as his body fell lifelessly to the damp ground.

Naruto was frozen in shock. He'd killed plenty of oblivious ninjas in the last year – slitting their throats and severing their spines without any resistance on their parts – but he'd never seen a ninja take a life so effortlessly as this man had. Not even Pain and Konan killed with such ease.

The gray ninja stared at the body for a moment before flashing through hand seals with the speed of a true master. Lightning arced off of his body and into the ground before Naruto felt a small jolt in his feet. The shuffling of his men nearby told him that they had felt it as well.

Not good.

"And then there were seven." The voice was deep and crisp, yet with just the right amount of inflection as to promise untold pain and suffering. Simply hearing it sent chills down Naruto's spine and caused him to break out in a cold sweat.

It was the voice of death, and it was here for him.

Time to act. Naruto gave the signal for full retreat just as the grove of trees where the Captain's squad had hidden exploded in a storm of boiling sap and burning splinters. It took a moment for Naruto's mind to inform him that a massive lightning strike had obliterated three more of his comrades.

Naruto formed seals quickly. Thirty shadow clones burst into existence around him, not bothering to seek cover. They were a distraction – nothing else. He turned to the three men behind him, who were still too stunned to take action.

"Go. Get out of here, now. I'll meet you at the rendezvous point."

"Sir, that's…"

"I know! Now run!" He didn't bother to keep his voice down any longer. It would be a miracle if he survived this, but he'd be damned if he let his entire squad die on his first mission as a leader.

"Noble of you, but…" Naruto turned back to the man – to the monster – to Hanzou – as he felt the rain stop. But it hadn't stopped. It was being sucked up to an ever-growing sphere above the legendary ninja's head, guided by his two arms raised skyward. "Futile."

A sickening cracking sound permeated the battlefield. Naruto looked on in horror as the massive ball of water started freezing and emitting the horrible noise. Large spikes of ice as thick as Naruto's legs grew in all directions from the watery mass and only continued growing. Soon all was ice, and if he threw it at them…

Naruto fled, leaving only his shadow clones behind. They would stall the jutsu as long as possible. Naruto only made it twenty feet before the wind picked up to incredible levels. His clones were no doubt making liberal use of the Great Breakthrough technique to try to push back Hanzou's frigid monstrosity.

It was all in vain. The apocalyptic din of shattering ice told Naruto that the makeshift spears were on their way despite his clones' best efforts. Naruto twisted in mid-leap and created two more clones before the three of them flashed through seals as quickly as possible. The Cyclone Blow technique was not nearly as large or destructive as the Great Breakthrough, but by creating a focused wind tunnel effect it was ideal for launching – or diverting – projectiles through the air. It was an act of desperation, but it worked.

Sort of.

Naruto watched in stunned fascination as the ice spears tore through the trees like a marble through tissue paper. As they impacted the trees and ground below they shattered outwards into smaller and smaller ice shards that tore through everything in their path. The blond's trinity of jutsus had prevented any of the larger spears from impaling the boy, but as the ice passed by on his sides and slammed into the surrounding trees Naruto was set upon by thousands and thousands of ice and wood splinters coming at him from all directions.

He barely had time to cover his eyes before he was turned into a veritable pincushion from the onslaught. His clones dispersed in the storm of debris and Naruto fell from his elevated position on top of what used to be a tree to the splinter-laden ground below.

Naruto couldn't remember ever being in this much pain. It seemed as though every inch of him was cut, impaled, and rubbed raw all at once. Wincing horribly he reached up to his mouth with his right arm and tore away his mask in time to cough up a substantial amount of blood. Apparently that fall hadn't agreed with his insides too well.

He painfully dragged his body to lean against the mangled stump of what used to be a tree. Kyuubi could heal this with enough time.

He hoped.

The slow, deliberate crunching of footfalls on the littered ground reminded Naruto that he didn't have time. The reaper was already here.

"I wasn't aware that that cowardly rebel had begun using children to commit his acts of terrorism. He's sunk even lower in my estimation than I had believed possible."

Naruto slowly forced himself to look into the eyes of his vanquisher – horrible, black eyes – before coughing pitifully once again.

"If it's any consolation before you die, you might be pleased to know that your friends managed to escape. It's a feat not many can claim – to survive a battle with me without my consent. And it's all thanks to you, little one." Hanzou bent down and grasped Naruto's chin firmly, forcing him to maintain eye contact. "Who are you, that can use so much chakra at such a young age? That the criminal Pain sends you out to do his bidding?"

Naruto took offense at that. If Pain was a criminal then that meant that Naruto was one as well, and that just didn't sit well with the boy. "Pain is a h-hero. Y-you are the c-criminal."

Hanzou released his hold on Naruto's chin and stood to his full height, silently appraising the battered child before him. "I've tortured and killed dozens upon dozens of rebel 'heroes,' yet not one of them has called their master anything other than Lord Pain. They speak of him as some sort of god. It's disgusting. You are the first to simply call him Pain." The man's dark orbs darted around the littered ground before he bent down and grasped a particularly sharp wooden shard. "A simple coincidence?" He stood. "I think not."

Naruto wasn't really sure what the man was going to do with the piece of wood nor was he too keen on finding out. "I don't have anything to tell you." The Kyuubi was doing good work and Naruto could already speak evenly once again. He only hoped that the older man wouldn't notice his rapid healing and take action.

Hanzou stared hard at the piece of wood for a moment before bending down and ramming it deep into Naruto's left shoulder. The blond gasped at the pain in his shoulder but firmly clamped down on his tongue to keep from yelling out. "Tell me," he twisted the wooden spike, "who you," another twist, "are." He ripped the wood out painfully, finally eliciting a yelp from the boy.

Naruto clenched his fists painfully, his clawed fingers digging into his palms even through the leather gloves he wore. Steeling himself despite the thick tears that rolled out of his eyes, he looked into the black, soulless pools of Hanzou. "No."

Hanzou dropped the bloodied wood and stood again, taking a step back to observe the strange boy with a calculating glare. After a moment he stepped forward and ripped the black bandana off of Naruto's head. "Now I know you."

Naruto was taken aback by the strange actions. "What?"

The man stayed silent as he stared Naruto up and down. Unlike Pain's piercing glance, Hanzou's was predatory – as though he was sizing up his next meal. "I always remember the eyes of the men and women I fight in battle." He spoke slowly and deliberately, his cold voice rolling off of his tongue as he went. "The eyes always give the measure of a true warrior. The windows to the soul – truer words were never spoken. And for a warrior this fact is doubly true. It took me a moment to remember because the last time I saw your eyes they weren't so very feral. Eyes that sparkled with life yet bore such cold defiance." He leaned in next to Naruto's ear, as though sharing some childish secret.

"Namikaze. That's who you are." Naruto's eyes widened like saucers. How had he known?

"Who would have thought that I would find both the son of the Yellow Flash and Hiruzen's lost pet out here tonight?" If it were possible, Naruto's eyes widened even more.

Hanzou looked affronted at Naruto's reaction. "You thought I didn't notice you healing right before my eyes? Your massive chakra, your fangs, your whiskers, your eyes – it all screams jinchuuriki - though I've never seen one so feral as you are." His eyes narrowed momentarily. "It's a shame I have to kill you. Hiruzen will be so disappointed, I'm sure."

Time to go.

Naruto's body was almost completely healed by now – shoulder aside. He wrenched his hands into a cross-shaped seal and drew as much of his chakra as he could in an instant. He'd very rarely used the Mass Shadow Clone technique. Creating so many clones at once generally meant that they were inadequate for fighting, but right now Naruto wasn't planning on fighting anyone - let alone the most famous ninja in the world.

Hanzou's hands flashed out and immediately destroyed six clones within his reach before slamming the heel of his right foot into Naruto's chest. The force of the blow was so great that the stump behind Naruto disintegrated into wet sawdust – but Naruto's body was nowhere to be found.

"That was a quick replacement. Well done." Hanzou turned his gaze to the hundreds upon hundreds of clones surrounding him. "You healed much faster than I expected – much faster than any jinchuuriki I have ever seen. Then again, the Kyuubi is truly the mightiest bijuu of them all. It seems I've miscalculated." He stayed silent for a moment before his brows knit together in mock contemplation.

"Do you know what happens when this many shadow clones are dispelled all at once?" The clones responded by sending one another confused glances. "No?"

Salamander Hanzou's eyes narrowed in what the clones could only assume was a sinister grin. "Neither do I."

Naruto gasped and crumpled to the ground as he was assaulted by hundreds of memories of a blinding white flash and the smell of ozone. He was left panting on a tree branch as he was racked by a horrible migraine.

"All of them… at once… with one jutsu?" How was that possible?

He shook his head. It didn't matter. He had to reach the rendezvous point and get back to Pain. He had to let him know how he had failed – how Hanzou had learned his identity.

Naruto ran for hours through the night despite the horrible aches emanating from every part of his body – especially his abused shoulder. It wasn't until the first rays of sunlight had peeked over the eastern horizon that he had stopped. It wasn't until then that he had realized that he was surrounded.

"Naruto."

The boy slumped to the ground in exhaustion. "Thank God."

"Your squad returned nearly two hours ago. They said that you stayed behind to fight Hanzou."

Naruto knew he was in trouble. Pain had always told him to value his life over the mission. He was no good to the man dead. "There was no other way to escape. He killed Captain Hirata's squad in seconds. I didn't think we'd survive."

"And you wouldn't have if you had fled. You would have certainly been routed and destroyed one by one. You made the correct decision."

Naruto continued to struggle trying to catch his breath. "No one ever told me he had a Bloodline Limit."

That drew Pain's undivided attention. "He doesn't. What did you see?"

"Ice. He made a huge amount of ice lances and tore down half the forest with them."

"Ah. No, that isn't the ice element. It's simply one way that he manipulates water. Instead of mixing the water and wind elements like the ice users do, Hanzou uses his great affinity for the water element to manipulate the water's freezing point."

"Ninjas can do that?"

"If you have as much power and control as Hanzou does, then yes."

"I think I need to start training harder. At this rate I'll never catch up."

"Keep that thought for when you wake up again. For now you need to rest and recover. Not many people can survive an encounter with Hanzou without his consent."

"He recognized me. He said I was Namikaze – that I had the same eyes as my father. He knows I'm a jinchuuriki."

Pain stood silently for a moment. "Hanzou isn't one to brag about his failures. I think he'll keep your secret safe simply because you escaped with your life when he had intended to kill you. It's the part of his nature that most likely led him to want you dead in the first place."

"His nature?"

Pain turned to Naruto and offered a small smile. "Hanzou has only been driven from the battlefield once in his life. It's no surprise that he recognized you when the image of your father still haunts him to this day."

A/N: Sarutobi Hiruzen - 3rd Hokage, for those of you who haven't seen the 3rd databook yet.

I hope that's enough action for those of you who wanted a bit more. How was Hanzou? He wasn't given any real characterization to speak of or much of a back-story in the manga. He's the first real villain this story offers, so I tried to make him somewhat epic. Hanzou holds an important place in the shinobi world in my mind, so mention of him will be popping up from time to time even after he's dead and buried.

About Naruto's appearance: Yes I know it's horribly cliché, but I just couldn't help myself. So many stories have Naruto taking on demonic characteristics and getting all angsty. This isn't going to be one of those fics. I also won't be falling into the trap that many writers do and give Naruto interesting qualities only to forget he has them and never bring them up again. I intend to make Naruto's odd appearance a big part of who he is and how he is perceived.

Finally, and very importantly – Pairings! I've had questions from readers about this and as of this chapter I see no point in holding out any longer. This story will be a Naruto/Yugito pairing. Databook readers were probably confused while reading this chapter. I'm going to take an AU twist on this and de-age her a bit. Databook 3 says that Yugito is 29 – that's only a year younger than Kakashi. I was surprised to find she was that old, frankly. That also means that she has 13 years on canon Naruto – not too great for a romantic pairing. Thankfully, through the magic of fanfiction we will shrink dear Yugito by eleven years. She now has 2 years on Naruto. Expect to see Yugito again about seven years (story time) and 100k words down the road. I know, don't hold your breath, right?

Now that Pain is out of the picture on the character listing, I had planned to add Yugito instead. Guess what? No dice. Yugito isn't an option as of right now. Way to go! They have some random character named Yoshino (who I don't even recall) but no Yugito. Shameful.

As always, reviews are appreciated. That goes double for constructive criticism. You can blame this early chapter on the lack of decent fics that got updated this last week.

Next Chapter: Here Comes The Sun by the Beatles. If you haven't figured it out yet, these chapter titles do have some significance. If you want to try to guess what's going on in the next installment, I suggest you listen to the music. They're all good songs, I swear!