Chapter 2

4 ½ Years Later…

Today was the graduation exam for Konoha's next set of potential genin, all the clan heirs were shoe-ins for the next generation of shinobi, seeing as they are all but chunin in strength. Sasuke Uchiha and Natsumi Uzumaki-Namikaze were competing for the title of Rookie of the Year, as both were now equivalent to Tokubetsu Jounin in strength, but were kept behind so they could forge ties to the other clan heirs.

Naruto had become just as his parents had predicted, an average shinobi who found even the academy taijutsu hard, a style purposefully developed for civilian bodies. He performed well in the basic three, finding the Kawarimi no jutsu somewhat hard due to its chakra requirements. On the other hand Naruto kept his genjutsu abilities secret, he was actually at Chunin level with said skill but could not advance further because of his low chakra levels.

This meant that Naruto was ignored by pretty much everyone as they passed over him, as if he was invisible to them all.

As such, Naruto was able to quietly advance his fuuinjutsu skills with no one any wiser; 6 months after their eighth birthday, Naruto had mastered the first 10 levels of basic fuuinjutsu, it took him another year for him to advance through the next 10 levels of Uzumaki fuuinjutsu, a feat completely unheard of. It took Naruto mere weeks to learn things it took fuuinjutsu geniuses years or even decades to comprehend and so for the final 3 years Naruto had been advancing through the True Uzumaki levels and was currently at level 7, proficient enough to confidently graft the abilities of others onto his own DNA.

But Naruto was now able to do many other things with fuuinjutsu as well, he understood the intricacies of the Shiki Fūjin and how the contract between God and mortal was formed, he had decoded the Yondaime's Hiraishin, fully comprehending how it worked after he had gotten his hand on one of Minato's kunai. Naruto could twist an individual's mind, breaking it completely as a form of torture; his seals had genjutsu on them which if applied to someone directly, trapped them in an cycle of genjutsu which was exceedingly hard to break out of unless they were strong enough or had a companion to remove the seal. Jinchuuriki seals were mere child's play, only the amount of chakra necessary to create them prevented him from using them.

Today would be the first trial, he would gain the vitality he so rightfully deserved as a member of the Uzumaki clan and hence he was inside an abandoned house in the red-light district. No one had used it in years, partly due to Naruto using it as a test for his genjutsu seals, obscuring the place for the view of the public, partly because shinobi never came this way to spot it.

The place was covered with seals, small seals overlaid by larger seals, seals flowing and connecting them all together, all written painstakingly in Naruto's blood, a requirement for this type of fuuinjutsu.

In the centre of a spiral indicative of Uzumaki fuuinjutsu which held secrets that none but the True Uzumaki knew, sat Naruto who had a bowl of his mother's blood in his hands, which he had obtained when one of the many spars between his 'parents' got out of hand, resulting in injuries for both of them.

As Naruto began to drink the blood from the bowl, a grimace on his face, he simultaneously activated the fuuinjutsu arrangement beneath him, which began the process of extracting the desired genes from Kushina's blood, Uzumaki vitality and her chakra chains.

The pain he felt was indescribable, all-encompassing and insanity inducing. The scrolls had warned that he may go mad because of the pain that the transfer induced upon the user of this fuuinjutsu because it would change aspects of his body's DNA, thus changing its structure in but a few moments when it should be done over years.

After writhing on the floor for what felt like eons, the pain finally subsided, Naruto decided to lay there for a bit longer, just breathing and relaxing from his now pain free mind.

Getting up, Naruto found that his body already felt stronger, more energetic, he found that his chakra levels had skyrocketed, pushing Jounin level simply because his mother's chakra was that potent. Knowing that at least one aspect of his experiment had worked, Naruto decided to see if he had also gained the chakra chains of his mother. Searching inside himself and willing his chakra to assume the form he desired, Naruto felt a pulling sensation at his back, where a single, thin chakra chain emerged, it was obvious that he would have to practice the technique.

"But it worked, it worked! I can finally make serious headway with all of my plans. First to gain the speed of the Yondaime, then to use the blood I have obtained over the years to grant myself an unnaturally strong affinity for each of the elements, after this I can use the blood of Tsunade to give myself perfect chakra control and maybe even gain access to the famed Senju body.

"After this I will begin my bloodline experiments, attempting to merge multiple bloodlines together, advancing my other abilities in the meantime to see if said skills will give me any insight into this problem, or if they will allow my body to contain multiple bloodlines. "

As Naruto had found out, all the True Uzumaki who had tried to grant themselves two bloodlines fell into insanity immediately after starting the process. Their bodies quickly decomposing afterwards as two bloodlines in one body just weren't compatible for some reason.

Naruto had collected enough blood from his sister, Sasuke and Hinata Hyuuga over the years from academy battles between them and various others that he hoped to combine them using different methods before finding out which method was perfect, then grafting the blood onto himself, even his sister's due to the chakra of the Kyuubi prevalent inside it.

"A few years should have passed while I graft all these abilities on myself, having also practiced with them, then I shall have further advanced in my experiments to allow for multiple bloodlines. In addition, I should have advanced my fuuinjutsu to a level 8, allowing me to use dead skin as a medium to get DNA from and thus gain abilities from it, such as the Shodaime's Mokuton. That along with the Byakugan and Sharingan should make me into a shinobi the likes of which has never been seen with only the Rikudou Sennin himself being greater."

Having reiterated and confirmed his long-term plans to himself, the prodigal Uzumaki then raced out of the warehouse, relishing in his ability to move so fast with his new body, where once could only run for short periods, now he could run freely.

Making a beeline for Training Ground 23, Naruto immediately began practicing the taijutsu he had so greatly desired to use for all these years, learning all of the theory and more. He would practice until late into the day, on a high after performing a successful experiment, never feeling any drain upon his body due to its high vitality. No one would notice anyway, Naruto had hidden himself so well that his 'family' never noticed when he came or went anywhere, so long as he arrived for supper he was fine.

Once the day had grown old, Naruto was about to head back home when he heard fighting nearby, wondering at who would still be clashing at this hour, Naruto headed towards the noise, using his stealth skills to remain undetected.

He came to an unexpected sight, Mizuki Touji; an academy teacher of his was standing over the bleeding and unconscious form of Iruka Umino, another teacher of the same class. Mizuki had cuts lined across his body, there was a deep gash along his right arm. On the same side his shoulder appears to have been burned quite badly through the use of a Katon jutsu.

Mizuki had a large scroll on his back which Naruto recognised as that of the Scrolls of Seals, quickly analysing the situation he figured out that Mizuki was trying to steal the scroll as Iruka was far too loyal from how passionate the man always was. Naruto saw this as an opportunity he couldn't miss, to take out Mizuki and copy the Scroll of Seals, granting him access to all the forbidden kinjutsu that resided within it.

Quickly approaching Mizuki from behind, Naruto got close enough to use several small scale genjutsu enhanced by a seal which increased the potency of the illusions, trapping Mizuki and allowing Naruto to sneak up to the man and kill him with kunai in hand. Having ensured the Chunin's death Naruto stood still in shock as he thought about what he had done and how easy it had been. Sure the Chunin was tired from his fight with Iruka, but surely the man would have noticed his presence nearby. For many years Naruto had hardened himself to the realities of the shinobi world, safe in his knowledge that he knew he would have to kill one day, but there was a profound difference in readying himself for it and experiencing it.

At first he felt horror towards himself, how could he be so callous as to just kill another person? Then he felt the guilt, despite being a traitor the man was still another human, a former comrade of Konoha, perhaps he deserved another chance? The moment he thought of chances however Naruto thought of himself and how no one had ever even given him a first chance, let alone a second. The walls Naruto had built around himself as a child as he was shunned by his family, classmates and Konoha itself re-established themselves, a frost settled in blue eyes, a heart grew colder and his brain rationalised the situation before him. Why should he care for them when they had never cared for him? His one true passion, his one true desire was to make his ancestors, the True Uzumaki, proud of him and to do this he would pursue any avenues to complete their goals, to finish their research into the nature of bloodlines and the origin of shinobi.

Dismissing the body before him Naruto took some spare sealing equipment that he had sealed within his pockets and used a fuuinjutsu technique to copy all the information across from the Scroll of Seals to his own scrolls. He cursed himself as he felt his hands shake whilst he created the necessary seals, forced to start again as he sent a stroke of his brush too far.

After Naruto had finished copying the techniques, he made it look as though Iruka had used a kunai attached to string in order to strike Mizuki from behind; a fuuinjutsu formula placed on Iruka to slightly alter his memories and Naruto had covered his tracks. He fled the area and made his way back home, intent on studying the scroll and learning the many secrets contained within, ignoring the single voice within him that spoke out towards his family. After this day, Naruto never heard, or never allowed himself to hear, that single, solitary voice again.


The Next Day…

'This is incredible, no wonder these techniques were all hidden here, they could change the very nature of warfare as shinobi know it!'

Naruto had studied the scroll throughout the night, finding many techniques that he knew could be put to use at a later date, but of imminent importance was the Kage Bunshin no jutsu, a technique that created corporeal clones which would grant all their memories to their creator when dispelled.

Forget about many years of building up his abilities, he could now do it in months, skyrocketing his capabilities and advancing his plans by years.

Even better was that said training could begin today as the betrayal of Mizuki and the damage Iruka had sustained meant that graduation was pushed back by a fortnight as all shinobi were investigated for any signs of betrayal. He knew this because Minato had said so within his office, a place where Naruto had one of his many fuuinjutsu seals which combined a listening seal with that of a modified Mujin Meisai, a personal technique of the Nidaime Tsuchikage, completely erasing both the physical form and chakra of said seal, which was tiny in the first place.

So Naruto quickly had breakfast, setting out in the morning to Training Ground 23 which mostly remained unused, likely because the area had no special features to make it enticing for the higher ranked shinobi and it was too far away from the village to make it useful for rookie genin.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Three clones appeared; Naruto felt a thrill every time he was able to use so much chakra with so little effort.

He separated the clones so that one would practice genjutsu, one would practice chakra control and one would practice fuuinjutsu. Naruto himself would be engaging in physical conditioning, taijutsu and finally using his mother's chakra chains.

Exactly one week after obtaining his mother's abilities, Naruto did the same for his father, drawing up the same seals which allowed him to acquire abilities from Kushina; Naruto activated them once more, again feeling the excruciating pain of having his DNA re-written to grant his body the capacity to become the fastest if he trained hard enough. The same was done again just before graduation day with Maito Gai's blood from a 'youthful spar' he had with his 'eternal rival' which became messy very quickly, allowing Naruto to collect blood from the two.

This would all contribute to his taijutsu training, which was advancing quickly with these new attributes to factor alongside his own talent for hard work. However Naruto found a side effect in that their chakra added onto Kushina's, pushing his reserves to Elite Jounin level, allowing Naruto to create more clones, some were even used to practice his natural fledgling affinity for Fuuton jutsu, although Naruto would soon have affinities for all of the elements. The combination of the three bloods and Kakashi's soon to be grafted would grant him powerful affinities for all of the elements.

On the other hand Naruto had to try triply hard in maintaining any sort of chakra control, thankfully Minato and Kakashi's chakras came with an innate feeling of control, which he began to use to tame Kushina's and Gai's more wild chakra initially through the use of the tree climbing and water walking techniques. Soon he was forced to advance onto more complex chakra control techniques, such things involved running up a waterfall, balancing a kunai on his finger and then spinning said kunai on his finger as he balanced it. Even with these techniques, Naruto had not yet reached the most advanced level of chakra control, the ones reserved for those with an innate ability for control or in order to perform the higher level medical techniques.


The day of graduation

Naruto found the sensei of his class, Iruka, waiting for him when he arrived at the academy as everyone knew that Naruto always got to class at a ridiculously early time, what they didn't know was that he was reviewing information from his various listening seals around Konoha. Such a practice kept him informed on exactly what was happening within the village, he knew what was happening all over Konoha and as any shinobi knew, information was vital as a lack of it was fatal.

Iruka just handed him a message, only saying how proud he was of Naruto for graduating in a very bland voice which just went to show how much the man actually cared for him. Naruto read the message, his countenance turning stormy very quickly.

'How dare he, how DARE HE! That little fool, believing me to be so weak and fragile that I won't be able to cope with "the demanding pace that a Jounin-sensei would set" so he's sent me to the reserve forces where all the dead drops who are never going anywhere are made to sit and twiddle their thumbs in the hopes that something goes wrong and they can be sent out to act as cannon fodder. Minato Namikaze you are a BASTARD!'

The reserve forces were mainly for the old or partially incapacitated shinobi who were not fit for active duty but were still willing to defend the village. However there was a small component there made up of those who were considered weak enough that they wouldn't make anything more than a below average Chunin, hence the village didn't waste resources to train them.

It was here that Naruto had been delegated to spend his time from now on; the Hokage probably didn't want to face his talentless son being on a Genin team which would be scrutinised by others. This was both good in that Naruto had extra time to train, bad in that Naruto wouldn't get the chance to regularly exit the village when the teams started doing C-ranks and just plain insulting to him.

But orders were orders so the blonde (official) Genin made his way to the leader of the reserve forces, a seasoned veteran from the second and third shinobi world wars. As Naruto finally arrived at the bunker where said reserves were located, Naruto found an old man waiting for him who had more scars than he was comfortable with, one such scar passing right through his eye, blinding it; as well as having half of his left leg missing.

The old man was dressed in traditional ANBU gear; everything was tight leaving no wind resistance. Despite his infirmity, the man still had the stance of a professional killer, he had the aura of one as well, subtly intimidating, his killing instinct restrained just below the surface.

"So you're the new recruit eh?" The man had a deep, gravelly tone, most likely something to do with the long scar across the man's throat.

The old man noticed his gaze and smirked mirthlessly, "Like it, an Iwa Jounin caused that one in the third war, only just survived it. You'll eventually pick up some over the years, but first you have to survive just like all the others in here have. No one cares about us, not the newbies who see us as outdated, not our famed leader the Yondaime who sees us as too cruel and unkind, ravaged and partially unhinged by the horrors of the war, nor the elders, who see us as pawns for their little games to defend the village."

The blonde was surprised by the speech, agreeing with it but not expecting to find a single shinobi who would speak out against the beloved Yondaime.

"Surprised boy? Don't be, I'm too old and bitter to care anymore, what more could be done, my family and friends are dead, I'm half blind with half a leg missing, what else can you do? Most folk here respect the Yondaime, especially after he sealed the Kyuubi, but I don't give two shits about the man, he's too airy fairy with his head stuck in the clouds about a dream world of peace he envisions.

"I'm gonna make sure you are fit to go out there and show everyone that we're not losers or deadbeats, even if I'm a veteran Chunin with some Jounin capabilities now, I can still train someone to be the same and teach everyone that we can still fight!"

"I'll do it." Naruto was never a person of many words unless speaking to himself, otherwise he was very short with others, almost emotionless in his speech patterns.

"Good, meet me here tomorrow to see some of the others and meet a few people who will become your new teammates. I will be your sensei, but I must warn you that we don't spoon feed around here, we are mainly self-sufficient." With that the old man began to walk away.

"What's your name sensei?"

"You may call me Kage, as all the others do."

Naruto wondered why the man would have the name 'shadow' but knew he would get nothing from the man. He decided to introduce himself instead.

"My name is Naruto." The man nodded, walking away and leaving the rejected son of the Hokage to himself to decide what to do with his day.


Author's Notes

I'm going to try for a weekly update each Saturday/Sunday, hopefully I can make the deadline each week but I give no guarantees. There's some action in the next chapter, but it's gonna be slow for a couple more before we get to the real action section of the story, so I hope you can bear with me until then. Until next week then, Ja ne!