Have you noticed that the most subtle shedders of blood have almost invariably been most civilised men...?

-Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The day her funeral was held, Asuma was not in attendance.

The Hokage, not knowing how to approach his bull-headed son, had been sitting in his office with his head in his hands, praying to whatever deity was out there that both Rin and his grandson—it was definitely a boy, the various doctors had told him—would both survive. He hoped God would hear him, but he wasn't depending on it. "Hope for the best and plan for the worst," he always said. This was no different.

So, he sat, thought, and prayed until a boar-masked ANBU quietly entered his office.

Sarutobi didn't even lift his head.

"Hokage-sama," the ANBU—a female—spoke, "I have the completed reports here with me."

"Leave them. I'll read them later."

"Yes, sir." But she made no attempt to leave.

"Something else?" his tired voice asked. Even when mourning, he was the leader of this village and had a job to do.

"During the preliminary interrogations of the surviving missing-nins, a...particular name came up."

He didn't like the wary and ill-at-ease way she said that. "What name?" 'What else could possibly go wrong now?'

"It was Orochimaru, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi finally lifted his head, and his eyes filled with horror. "What?"

"Several of the prisoners mentioned him by name. And the enemy known as Dragon had a...curse seal."

The hands he had once rested his head on slammed down onto the desk in front of him.

Boar jumped and winced behind her mask. "S-sir?"

The Hokage's voice was unusually calm when he answered with eyes closed. "You are dismissed."

She gulped, muttered a hasty "yes, sir" and high-tailed it out of there.

However, even as she walked out the door, a certain Jounin was walking in. Asuma took one, unsympathetic look at his father before he tossed a scroll on his desk and walked out again. Hiruzen, teeth clenched in fury at his youngest son's extremely rude behavior and the other situation that had just dropped into his lap, swung his left hand out and flung the piles of paper to the floor. Asuma was the reason Satomi had died—no, he had to be fair; she had made her own choices, but his ignorance and arrogance were nearly out of control and had definitely contributed. And he...he was the one who'd let the traitor Orochimaru live all those months ago and was therefore responsible for everything else.

He needed a break. He needed a six-year vacation away from the insanity before he, too, went insane. But he couldn't; he still had a 'job,' his mind sneered, to do. It would only end when he either retired again (unlikely) or died in office (highly likely). So, rather than explode...further...he angrily snatched the scroll his son had practically thrown at him and opened it up.

'So, you choose to run, do you? Very well, Asuma,' Sarutobi thought as he finished reading and then grabbed a pen and signed his name at the bottom, but not before adding a stipulation of his own to the contract. It looked like his son had solved one problem for him: the issue of his punishment.

Asuma might have been joining the Twelve Guardians, but for the three years the contract required, he would never be able to step foot in Konoha again. Effective at noon tomorrow, the Hokage's remaining son was essentially banished and assigned a three-year-long babysitting mission.

And it was all on the Fire Daimyo's payroll.

So, at 5:00 the next evening, when Satomi's funeral took place, Asuma Sarutobi, team leader and Hokage's son, was nowhere to be found.

He wouldn't be for three years, and he never once asked about his team before leaving.


December 30, 9:00 p.m.

Sarutobi restlessly paced in front of the doors leading to the operation room where his grandson—he'd already decided on the name Konohamaru—was being delivered. He'd been told that the most dangerous months were over; after three months had passed without incident, the doctors had told him that it was very likely both Rin and the infant would survive just fine. Her body had adjusted to the sudden and rather intrusive strain placed upon it and the tiny baby had accepted the surrogate's chakra signature. Everything was going fine for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Jiji, c'am dowwwn," a young voice sitting on a chair to the right of the hall said.

Hiruzen blinked and looked at the boy before nodding and sitting beside him. "Sorry if I worried you, Naru-chan. I just can't seem to relax."

The blonde three-year-old nodded as a surprisingly intelligent light came into his eyes. "'e's you' gwan'son,"

The Sandaime smiled at the amazing perceptiveness and said, "Yes, he is, and we'll be able to meet him in just a few minutes."

Once again, Naruto nodded. "'e's scare' o' da lights...I think," he muttered.

Before the village leader could ask what the child had meant, he heard footsteps rushing towards them from the opposite end of the hall.

"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi announced, as though it were unusual, "but that red-headed nurse at the register wouldn't leave me alone. She kept asking me out on dates and suggesting...things." He quickly trailed off when he saw Naruto sitting there and staring at him with big, blue eyes wide with curiosity.

"Wha' she want?"

The Hokage shot his Jounin a dirty glare.

Kakashi answered hurriedly. "Er, she wanted to, uh, play a board game, but I had to keep telling her I had somewhere important to be."

"'choo could'a played late-uh."

"Ahem!" Sarutobi coughed pointedly.

"Um, she, er, cheats at them...?"

The Third rolled his eyes, but Naruto nodded. "No play wi' cheat-uhs. Dey mean."

Sarutobi smirked. "You're absolutely right, Naru-chan, although that does make me wonder just how Kakashi knows that she cheats..."

The Jounin choked. "H-hokage-sama! I-"

However, before the masked man could defend himself properly against the outrageous insinuations of his boss, a doctor with a small, wrapped bundle came out of the operating room. She grinned widely at the men (and ignored the boy) standing before her as she congratulated the Hokage on his new grandson and leered at Kakashi, as though asking him when she could expect him to produce one of his own.

Not anytime soon, if the flat stare he gave her in return were any indication.

But Sarutobi noticed that his irritation died away swiftly when he looked at little Konohamaru now resting in his grandfather's arms. Instead of his usual, half-asleep attitude, the Jounin's expression actually softened.

It was Naruto who actually had the brains to ask, "How's Win?"

The doctor didn't react.

Kakashi's one visible eye narrowed. "I believe he asked you a question, Miss," he said with his words laced with a bit of a threat.

"Oh? I must not have heard." With that, she turned around and began walking away, until...

"Doctor."

She stopped dead in her tracks. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Turn around."

She turned.

"Answer Naruto's question. Now."

The woman didn't even attempt to hide her sneer. "Sorry. Like I said, I must not have heard it."

Hiruzen's eyebrow shot up to his hairline. "You would dare defy a direct order, kunoichi?"

She refused to answer him.

"Fine." He had ways of dealing with this. "Lion," he called out to the ANBU he'd stationed to protect Rin months ago.

The ANBU appeared and knelt at his commander's feet. "How may I serve you, Hokage-sama?"

"Take this...lady...to my office. She is not allowed to leave until I say otherwise."

"Yes, sir!" And just like that, the Lion-masked ANBU snatched up the suddenly pale and shaking lady and vanished.

Naruto hadn't said a word.

It infuriated Sarutobi that, even on such a joyous occasion, people couldn't look past their own noses to see how much they were harming an innocent child who wasn't even old enough to read. And this time, it had been one of his own soldiers who had deliberately and pointedly defied his orders. Had it not occurred to her that such a thing was grounds for immediate execution? Or that his hands itched at the very thought of strangling her himself? She truly was an idiot, and Hiruzen would thoroughly enjoy teaching her the error of her ways.

But for now, he had a quiet three-year-old to attend to.

He sat down in the chair next to the blonde. "Naru-chan? Would you like to hold Konohamaru?"

The boy didn't look at him or even blink, as far as the Hokage could tell.

"Naruto?"

"Was weally da-hk," he finally whispered.

"What was dark?"

"See was."

"She was? What do you m-"

But Kakashi interrupted his gentle interrogation. "Naruto, don't worry about her. She's just like the nurse who cheats at board games. Remember when you told me that I should stay away from people like that?"

Naruto turned wide, confused eyes towards the Jounin.

"Do you?" he prompted.

The boy nodded.

"That's why she was dark. People like that you need to stay away from, ok? Because they're mean just like her."

A light of understanding came into the bright blue eyes as the child finally relaxed again. "'k," he said, and that was that.

Sarutobi thought it would be wise to save whatever questions he had for later. This was supposed to be a celebration, not a funeral. "Now, Naru-chan, would you like to hold my grandson?"

Naruto looked at him with eagerness and nodded quickly. "Yeah!"

"Ok, climb in my lap, then, so I can help you hold onto him."

The blonde three-year-old eagerly shifted over to the old man's lap, and the Hokage gently put his arms around the boy and situated the baby in his arms so that they were both holding him. Konohamaru opened his eyes and looked straight at Naruto with sleepy, rather grumpy-looking eyes.

"Hi, dere, Ko. 'M Nawuto. 'Choo sleep bett-uh now?"

Konohamaru stared for a moment more and then, with a yawn, went right back to sleep. The Hokage chuckled. But he had to ask something: "Naruto, what do you mean?"

"Huh?"

"You asked if he was sleeping better. What did you mean?"

"Well-"

But once again, Kakashi interrupted. "Ah, Hokage-sama, we should really go check on Rin and take the little guy back to her. Knowing her, she'll be worried sick he's not where she can see."

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes dangerously. There was something going on here and he knew it. The desperate look on Kakashi's face said it all. He opened his mouth to demand answers from the Jounin, but it was that look that stopped him. What was going on?

"Please, Hokage-sama," Kakashi muttered, "don't."

Hiruzen slowly nodded. He'd leave it alone for now, but he would find out later.

The Hokage shook his head and turned back to the two boys in his arms. Both, he noticed, were asleep. How could he interrupt that? Instead, he looked at the Copy-nin and motioned with his arms.

"W-what? You want me to-"

Sarutobi glared.

"Ok, ok...geez..." The Jounin then bent down and gently plucked the baby from the boy's grasp and cradled him to his chest.

The Hokage got up next, doing his best not to wake up his own burden, and both moved toward the operating room where Rin was waiting.

They entered the room to find nurses bustling about as they cleaned and removed several machines and brought more in while a pale figure rested on the lone bed. Her eyes were closed, wet tendrils of brown hair were clinging to her forehead, and the purple tribal markings on her cheeks were faint, having been nearly washed away in the sweat. It was Rin, and she was in a state of exhaustion-induced sleep.

As they stepped farther into the room, a body bumped into their little group. "Oh! Excuse me! I'm so sorry, Hokage-sama! I didn't notice you coming in!" the nurse (a male) said in a bit of a panic.

He smiled. "It's no problem. We're just here to check on Rin. How is she?"

"Um, she's...doing rather well, considering..." the nurse drifted off.

"Considering the whole situation?" Hiruzen prompted.

"Yes, sir. That plus her comparatively young age, the opposing natures-"

"Opposing natures?" Kakahi interrupted.

The man shrugged helplessly. "I really don't know much about it, sirs, except to say that sometimes the baby and mother's chakra natures are opposites. It can really wreak havoc on her system—morning sickness gets worse, jutsu use is all but impossible...basically, it causes much greater strain. But like I said, I don't know much myself, being just a nurse and all. Doctor Yakushi can tell you more."

Both shinobi nodded thoughtfully. Sarutobi noted that he'd have to get more information later and asked, "So, Rin's going to be just fine, then?"

"We think so. There's no way to tell for sure until a few tests have been done, but it looks as though she'll make a full recovery."

"When will she wake up?"

"We gave he some medication, so it'll probably be another hour or two. It's hard to tell with you ninja; you recover a lot faster than we do, but that's what Doctor Yakushi was saying. Anyway, we're about to move her to a recovery room, if that's alright with you, sir..."

The Hokage eyed the woman—teenager, really—lying unconscious on the bed thoughtfully. "Hmm. Alright, thank you. You may return to your work."

Obligingly, the nurse immediately left them to their own devices as another nurse (a female, this time) dragged in a different bed behind her. The Jounin and the old man watched as the various hospital staff members lowered the railings on both beds and gently—ever so gently—transferred the brunette to the new mattress. Then, she was rolled out of the room with her visitors following and Naruto muttering something about "Wamen" in his sleep.

Sarutobi wondered whether he was referring to ramen or...well, he had been spending a lot of time with Kakashi lately; it was just as possible that he'd mispronounced "women." Though he disapproved on moral grounds, the pipe-smoking, Icha Icha reader would be a hypocrite to speak against it, so he kept his mouth shut.

But he did glare at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye as they walked into Rin's new room.

Kakashi just blinked innocently. "What?"

Sarutobi grumbled.

And then, Kakashi shrugged, jostling the tiny bundle in his arms.

At that, baby Konohamaru woke up and began crying. And judging by the decibels, his grandson was not going to be one of those quiet, easygoing children...ever. And he looked even grumpier than before, if such a thing were possible. Thankfully, the baby was crying in Kakashi's ear, so Sarutobi figured he could live with the discomfort for the moment.

Until Naruto woke up, as well. "Jiji...?" he murmured sleepily.

"Shhh. It's ok, Naru-chan. Konohamaru's just giving Kakashi a piece of his mind."

"...Ko's mad at Kaka?"

The Hokage stilled for a moment and quickly glanced at his Jounin.

Kakashi had tensed and gone rather still. The baby was still crying, however.

Hiruzen smirked. "Yes, Naruto, Ko's mad at...Kaka."

The famous ninja practically choked behind his mask and opened his mouth to make a comment when a voice from the hospital bed spoke.

"Kakashi, if you don't hand me my son right this very moment, I'll castrate you with a rusted spoon."

"R-rin?"

But it seemed Rin wasn't finished with her threat. "And then I'll barbecue the removed items before your eyes and serve them to your dogs."

The world-renowned Copy-nin gulped. "Right." Wisely, he quickly moved to her bedside and very carefully handed his former teammate her foster son.

"Win?" a tiny voice asked.

The Hokage looked down at the boy who was now squirming out of his hold. "'Win'?" He allowed the three-year-old his freedom and stared at her. "Does he know you?"

He got his answer when the hyperactive child practically rant to the bed, climbed up, and—surprisingly gently—hugged both her and Konohamaru. "Winny!" he cried happily.

To his left, Sarutobi noted Kakashi muttering about her having the best nickname, and the aged man had to agree; "Winny" was far better than "Old Man" or...what he called Kakashi. He wondered if Ibiki had one equally embarrassing...

"Hey," he whispered to the silver-haired man standing beside him as they watched Rin and the three-year-old tickle Kono's stomach.

"Hmm?"

"What's Morino's name?"

"...Last I checked, it was Ibiki..."

"No, not that one—what does Naru-chan call him?"

At that, a peculiar gleam lit up the Copy-nin's one visible eye. "Ikki."

A snort very nearly escaped the esteemed Hokage's mouth. "So, I'm old, he's gross, you're-"

"Don't even," Kakashi warned.

"-and she's the main character of a beloved children's book."*

"The world is a cruel, cruel place, Hokage-sama."

"Yes, and I dare say he will grow up to be rather popular with the ladies."

The Jounin sighed. "Yup."

"...Aging sucks."

As he watched his old teammate hold the blonde boy next to her as she started nursing the baby, Kakashi said that, in that moment, he completely agreed.


Naruto stared in amazement at the newborn in front of him. This must've been the little person who'd been keeping Winny awake! He stared at Kono as the teenager in front of him began breastfeeding the grumpy infant and wondered why his blue stuff was calm now when it had been swirly just hours before. And it was really low, too. Where'd it all go? Maybe if he asked, they'd tell him.

"Winny?"

"Hmm?" she murmured back, distracted by her surrogate son's feeding.

"Where da b'oo stuff go?"

She blinked in confusion. "'Blue stuff'?"

He nodded.

"What blue stuff?"

"Is wight dere-" he said as he pointed towards Ko's heart, "-an' was all swirly, bu' now's gone." Naruto wondered why his words were making Kaka look scared. Jiji looked like he was...what had Ikki called it?...like he was "cur-ee-ous." Win just looked confused.

"Naruto," Kaka started, "stop-"

But Old Man wouldn't let him finish. (Naruto thought Jiji looked "sus-fish-ous-lee" at Kaka, but why would he do that?) "No, by all means, Naru-chan, please explain."

Naruto blinked. "Is b'oo. B'oo stuff. Jiji an' Kaka got lots. Kono little." He shrugged. "Is b'oo." They were the adults; shouldn't they know what it was?

Jiji's mouth dropped open—Naruto giggled; Old Man looked funny!—before he turned to Kaka and said something about "chadra."

"Wha's 'chadra'?" he asked.

"Chakra," Winny corrected in a whisper. "You're seeing...chakra?"

Once again, Naruto was confused. "Um..."

Jiji tugged Kaka's sleeve and dragged him outside of the room.

Naruto shrugged. He'd seen weirder things. Instead, he put his hand on Ko's head and messed up the little bit of hair he found. Even Jiji had more than that! "Ko...you kinda bald."

He had no idea why Winny started laughing.


"Kakashi! What was that in there?"

But Kakashi didn't want to answer. Instead, he hung his head slightly, knowing that this man could easily kill him with a single blow. He was A-ranked, which was great, considering the fact that he wasn't even 18, but it was a long ways away from S-ranked. It served to remind the Jounin that he really needed to train more. He kind of liked living, after all.

"Answer me, Hatake!"

"I can't, Hokage-sama."

"Oh? And why not?"

"Because," he said as a strange pain in his chest made him wince, "I don't want him to become a weapon. He...he's too young." Kakashi couldn't help but think that he had been too young, too. "Please, sir, there are just some things you shouldn't ask. Trust Ibiki and me; we're just trying to keep him safe for a little while longer."

The Hokage growled. "I understand that, Kakashi. Despite what you think, I want what's best for the brat, too. But we signed contracts, and if certain parties find out that we've kept this hidden, he will be taken away and made into a weapon. We don't have a choice but to hold up our end of the deal!"

The Copy-nin was frustrated. "Would at least mind telling me what this deal is?"

Sarutobi rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I can't show you here. Meet me in my office in an hour. Right now—could this day possibly get any worse?-I just want to spend some more time with the family I have left. You...for right now, I think you need to go."

Kakashi felt like he'd been punched in the gut, but he Body Flickered away as ordered with one thought in mind: Find Ibiki. They needed to act fast.

The interrogator was, of course, busy with his job when the Jounin found him. He watched from a viewing room as his friend asked a strange man some questions. The stranger, of course, refused to talk, but Ibiki was known in every nation for a reason.

"You know," he said conversationally, "we could just put you back in the Dark Room. Would you like that? You'd have lots of time to be quiet then. Just think of all the sleep you could catch up on!"

The man started shivering, and with good reason. The Dark Room had been developed by the First Hokage's wife as the first fully-sealed torture chamber ever created. There was none to match it in the world. It was a room with no light, no sound, and no smell whatsoever; if the prisoner even farted, the seals detected it and removed both the noise and stench without the enemy ever being aware. And sleep offered no reprieve; a specialized genjutsu made sure the person would experience nothing but the most horrifying nightmares.

Kakashi had heard of men and women who had broken within minutes of being shoved in that room. This man that Ibiki was interrogating had good reason to fear, though it sounded like he'd already been in there once. "Must be a tough one," he thought.

The prisoner sweated at the threat but stubbornly refused to talk. Ibiki smiled as though delighted before snapping his fingers and having two ANBU drag the man out of the room. Kakashi immediately walked in, and his friend turned to him in surprise.

"Kakashi? What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk..."

"Fine. We'll head to my office."

His office, as it turned out, was rather spartan in appearance. A metal desk sat in a corner with a chair that only looked mildly comfortable, no pictures in sight, and filing cabinets lining the walls. Everything was gray, black, and forest green—the most boring color choices he could possibly have chosen, in Kakashi's opinion.

"Take a seat."

"...Where?"

"There's a stool behind the door. Use it."

The Copy-nin wanted to complain about the world's most uncomfortable chair, but he kept his mouth shut. He had more important things on his mind, after all.

"You wanted to talk, so speak."

Ten minutes and a very aggravated interrogation specialist later, Ibiki had the story. "Great, Kakashi. Just great. I leave him with you for the day and this is what happens." He wearily rubbed his forehead and turned his chair away from his friend.

"Well, what can we do?"

"'Do'? What do you mean, 'what can we do?'"

"How do we stop it?"

The harsh bark of laughter made him go cold. "We don't, Kakashi."

"Then, what-"

Ibiki turned towards him harshly. "Nothing! There's nothing we can do now! He's the HOKAGE! He can't simply pretend he doesn't know—that it didn't happen right in front of him! If he doesn't follow through with his agreements, did you know that it is entirely possible for him to be accused of treason?"

"Impossible! He's the Hokage!"

"Yes, and as Hokage, there are rules that even he has to follow!"

"LIKE WHAT?" Kakashi shouted.

"He is held to whatever he signs his name; he must uphold and follow the laws he creates or that his predecessors created. He is not required to tell his advisors everything; however, he also cannot simply break agreements. The Hokage would need the backing of two-thirds of the Clan Heads in a situation like this, and we both know he's not going to get it. They hate him, Kakashi. They hate Naruto and aren't about to lift a finger to help him."

"But he's-"

"The leader of every ninja in Konoha, and Naruto's not a ninja. Right now, he's still a civilian, and that's why the Hokage had to pull just about every string he had to get this deal in the first place. He didn't have custody over her; the 'lady,'" he snorted with contempt, "at the orphanage did, and it took actual bribes to shut her up and a compromise to get Danzo to back off."

Kakashi was silent. All he could do was wonder what his beloved village had become. Was this what his sensei had died for—to watch his only child be used like a political bargaining chip with the stakes being his life and sanity?

"As long as he wasn't aware, no one could claim he'd violated the agreement. The two of us would probably have gotten no more than a slap on the wrist, since we're so important to the village and all. Sarutobi-sama's different; Danzo's been after that hat for decades. They'd replace him if they had actual proof of 'treason.' Who knows what he'd do to Naru-chan then..."

"Then, this deal..."

"Go talk to the Hokage about it. We still have options about how to train him, but..."

Kakashi understood and Flickered away. The belief that he had utterly failed his dead teacher would likely give him nightmares for years to come, and the document his leader showed him did not help matters.

Subject: Naruto Uzumaki

Status: Civilian orphan, aged 2, born 97 A.F. Oct. 10

Parents/Guardians: Ai Fujimoto, director of Konohagakure's orphanage

Issue: Placement of one Naruto Uzumaki in Danzo Shimura's custody

In exchange for new housing for the orphans, Director Fijimoto agrees to delay the custody proceedings. In exchange for withdrawing his application as possible custodian, Shimura is to be granted one ANBU training area for his sole use without restrictions as well as three new trainees. Also, Uzumaki is to given over to ANBU for training purposes once said child's chakra activates, or before age seven.

The whole thing was signed by the orphanage director, Danzo, and, most importantly, the Hokage himself. Perhaps it wasn't quite as legally binding as most would think. Perhaps it couldn't be considered proof of any so-called treason. But the fact of the matter was that he had signed it. Anything signed by the Hokage's hand was law. Violating it meant violating the law, and that was considered treason, no matter how minor. And Danzo would be just the type to capitalize on it and "enhance" it to suit his purposes.

Ibiki was right; there was nothing they could do.

It was time for Naruto's childhood to end and his days as a trained killer to begin.


*Kaka is, essentially, Caca, which refers to poop. And Winny...ever heard of Winnie the Pooh?

I hope you all liked this chapter. I really wanted to do a few things with it.

1. I wanted to make sure that Asuma comes across as a cocky, immature kid who means well but can't seem to get his head out of his other end. He's not a bad guy and doesn't even realize he's being a jerk—just like most people who are jerks—much less what has happened. He's caught up in feeling sorry for himself and bitter about his life. Asuma is a teenager; he's allowed to have a little angst.

2. I wanted Konohamaru to be born. Really, he may not be a central character by any means, but he's still interesting. And then, there's Rin herself. She still has a purpose, so I couldn't just kill her off...yet.

3. I wanted this chapter to end on a dark note with Naruto essentially being ripped from his childhood in a cold and, above all, calculating manner. It's politics, pure and simple, where the welfare of an innocent boy is pushed aside for the supposedly greater good. However, there is no pathetic Civilian Council that overrides the Hokage, blah blah blah. There are advisors, who also have no power to override the Hokage. That doesn't mean they can't make life extremely difficult for him, though, and if they bring their issues to the Daimyo and the clan leaders, it is very possible that they could get him overthrown. No one wants a Hokage who won't follow his own rules, after all. (Loose cannon, anyone?)

4. I wanted to emphasize that THERE IS NO CIVILIAN COUNCIL! There is going to be no village bashing, per se. There will be numerous bitter, dangerous individuals, but there will be very few who ever act on those feelings. They will ignore him, snub him, and even belittle him, but outright attack they will not. So, there's no civilian council breathing down anybody's neck. However, there are the clan heads. They can take a vote to repeal laws if necessary. Call it a system of checks and balances: the advisors bring needed changes to the Hokage's attention, he makes the laws, and the clan heads repeal those that are outdated or just plain stupid. Personally, I like it.


Now, just a few things I wanted to say: I don't care how many reviews this gets. Review or don't review; I really don't give a crap. That's not to say I don't care if you enjoy it, because I do. I want everyone who reads this to like it. But it won't devastate me if you don't. I'm writing it because I like it and what to see it through. That being said, I'm making a little bet with myself.

I bet that if I add the words "ANBU Naruto" to my story's summary, the number of people reading this will jump through the roof. I'm thinking a 20% increase.

The stakes: Twenty-dollars spending spree if I win, one hour of cleaning if I lose. *Shrugs* I'm poor, or else I'd have made it $200. And I don't really like cleaning.

I'll do this after the next chapter.