Shattered Demon I: Oni Seppan

Chapter 3: Ambush

"Alright, that's all for today." Iruka said, glancing at all of the different kids in his class. "Don't forget, the Genin exams are tomorrow, so be prepared. Otherwise, you're dismissed."

There was a loud cheer, as all of the kids began to file out. There was a lot of talking as they left. Some were nervous, while others were confident in there abilities. All of the fangirls were yelling about how they would pass and get on Sasuke's team, and how he'd pass with flying colors. And then…there was Naruto.

Naruto had grown over the past five years. He was always wearing a neon orange jumpsuit, with a pair goggles on his head. He'd become Konoha's prankster, and a nuisance to all those who he'd pranked. Most of the time he wasn't even in class, and when he was, he was a troublemaker. He'd always leave by the nearest window, telling of the different people who he needed to prank that day. But one of his weaknesses was that he couldn't pull off any of the Academy jutsu's. Despite all of this, he constantly shouted about how he'd become Hokage, and make them respect him for him.

Iruka sighed. Naruto was headed towards the window, as always. "Naruto, what are you going to do today? You do know what we're doing for the testing tomorrow, right?"

Naruto grinned a fox-like grin, and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Iruka-sensei, I've got a busy schedule today. Someone threatened Ichiraku again, and Teuchi asked me to report it to Hokage-jiji."

Iruka nodded. Ichiraku was the only place that would willingly feed Naruto unpoisoned food, and that ticked off some people. In their minds, they were only helping to strengthen the Kyuubi for its return.

It sickened him how short-sighted they were. After all this time, couldn't they see that Naruto couldn't be anything other than a boy? He silently hoped that Naruto would be able to become Hokage, just to prove them wrong.

"Well Naruto, be careful. You know how some people can be." Iruka said, glancing at the window that Naruto was hanging out of. Naruto grinned at him.

"Don't worry Iruka-sensei! I'm almost done with something that will make things easier for myself." Naruto grinned, and then looked at a clock on the opposite wall. "Oh, crap I'm going to be late! Bye Iruka-sensei!"

"Naruto - " Iruka cried out, only to realize that Naruto had already dropped from the window. Iruka ran to the window, watching Naruto run away. Iruka stared after him for a moment before sighing. "Be careful."

"Careful Iruka, sounds like you're getting attached."

Iruka turned to the person, a small smile on his face. "Hello Mizuki."

Mizuki grinned, and slapped Iruka on the shoulder. "Iruka, how's Naruto been doing? I'm sure that under your, help, he's getting along."

Iruka sighed. "Well, his control sucks, and I can never seem to find him whenever he's training. Of course, that's only when he's not pranking. He's very easy to catch, for me at least."

Mizuki nodded. It was common knowledge that Iruka was the only person who seemed able to catch Naruto. Which was exactly why Mizuki was there now.

"Iruka, the other Chunnin chose me to find you to give you a proposition." Iruka glanced over as Mizuki continued on. "We're planning on getting the demon while he sleeps tonight, before he can be protected as a Genin. We don't want to take any chances, and need you if he gets away."

Iruka looked startled. They were planning to do something like that to Naruto, and wanted him to help? He knew only one way to answer that.

"I'll do it." Iruka said, glancing down.

Mizuki grinned. "Good, we'll pick you up at seven."

Iruka just nodded as Mizuki left. Once he knew he was gone, Iruka quickly left the room. He'd have to get ready, or bad things could happen to those Naruto, and he couldn't bare it if something happened. He'd just have to get him to safety when he got out of the fires. And if he didn't…he quickly pushed that thought out of his mind, he didn't want to deal with that consequence.

x X x

As Naruto jumped over the houses, he felt a little chill run down his spine. He quickly shrugged it off. He was close to the Hokage's tower, and needed to focus on that for now.

Naruto ran up the stairs, ignoring the glares he was getting from the Chunnin he passed. He'd outsmarted so many Chunnin, he was a little surprised that they'd gotten as far as they had. Who, in their right mind, followed an 'enemy' into an area he'd chosen and prepared?

"Hokage-jiji! Hokage-jiji, I have something to tell you!" Naruto yelled as he approached the Hokage's door. He'd long learned to warn whoever was in the room he was coming before barging in.

As he walked in, he was surprised to find that Sarutobi was hurriedly trying to hide something. It was all in vain, as Naruto saw the cover, and gave him a skeptical look. "Really Hokage-jiji, Icha Icha Paradise? Are you really willing to sink that low?"

"Oh shut up." Sarutobi said, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes. "Not everyone here is as anti-pervert as you are. In fact, it's almost encouraged by most of the male populace."

Naruto sighed. "When I see the author of those books, I'll make sure to kick his balls in."

Sarutobi gave a quick chuckle. Naruto had always seemed to be like that, after he met several of the anti-pervert women of Konoha. They'd taken to him, as he wasn't a pervert, yet, and therefore good to be taught. Sarutobi then remembered something. "Naruto, what was it that you had to tell me?"

Naruto scratched his head for a moment, before snapping his fingers. "Now I remember! Ichiraku was threatened again. This time, they said that if they didn't listen to their demands, they'd try to take out their business."

Sarutobi sighed. "They are the only people who you and I can trust with your well-being, so it's obvious that they wouldn't want you to gain confidence." Sarutobi quickly leaned forward and stared into Naruto's eyes. "Can you tell me how many Anbu are hiding here?"

Naruto nodded. "Eight. Two are hiding in the walls, four outside the window, one behind your chair, and one is above the door."

With a small grumble, the Anbu dropped out of their hiding places. Sarutobi smirked. "You got it exactly right again, and without glancing around this time."

Naruto nodded. "You know that I've been practicing. If I didn't, then my new style would be worthless. Besides, just sensing Anbu is difficult."

"Thank you for the compliment, but the fact that you can still sense us is a mark on our pride." A dog masked Anbu said, glancing away. It was obvious that he didn't like the fact that they, the elite, had once again been found out by a young boy.

"Oh give the boy a break, he's been practicing chakra sensing for years now. Honestly though, sensing is much easier than trying to mask your chakra." A bird masked Anbu said. By the voice alone, one could easily guess that she was a female. Of course, that was for non-perverts.

"Oh come on, you're just saying that because you like him." A monkey masked Anbu said, poking fun at her.

Naruto gave a small laugh, bringing all of the attention back to him. "I'm sorry, it's just that when you are relaxed like this, I have a hard time remembering that you're the elite. It reminds me how human you are." He then gave a small smile, which had mixed results.

For the men, they just gave a more relaxed feeling. For the girls, they went somewhat gaga over him, shouting about how cute he was when he smiled like that as they knocked him to the floor. This of course, brought laughs from the men, who were enjoying the torture that Naruto was enduring. This went on for several moments until Sarutobi finally managed to bring their attention back to him.

"Crow, Dog, Monkey, and Horse, I want you to pick some people out to watch Ichiraku. The next time their threatened, we need to know who they are, and who they're with." The four Anbu nodded, and Sarutobi pulled out a file. Seeing the file, Naruto began to walk out. "Naruto, I think you'd better hear this next part."

Naruto slowly turned around. He'd rarely been allowed to hear pieces of information, and quickly put himself on edge. "What is it, Jiji?"

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes. Naruto only dropped the 'Hokage' part, when he was giving his full attention. And he had every reason to be serious. "Monkey and Crow were on a recent recon mission, and found several groups of Chunnin gathering. They are planning on killing you, today."

Naruto nodded. He'd been threatened before, and so it wasn't all that surprising that there was another attempt being made. Naruto glanced over at the Hokage. "I don't need Anbu, I just need to find a safe place to stay. Of course, my training grounds would easily do for that."

Sarutobi nodded. He'd never seen Naruto's training grounds, but he did know that if he didn't no one else would. It could be perfect, if he wasn't followed. "You do know that all the Chunnin are going to be watching you, from the time you leave the building, to the time you get there."

Naruto grinned. "If they try to follow me, they'd better be ready to be in a world of pain. I've got traps set all throughout the forest, so anyone following me would probably get hurt. Now, if they were to watch for Anbu, they might catch me."

Sarutobi's eyes widened. "You don't mean…"

Naruto nodded. "I'll go out as Anbu, while someone else will leave as me. They will lead them in another direction, while I head towards my training grounds. And if you were to set up some sort of ambush, you could catch the people trying to hurt me."

Sarutobi nearly slapped his head. He'd thought of the idea as well, but there were obvious dangers. If someone saw through the Henge, they could easily catch him. And according to Academy records, Naruto couldn't pull off the Henge to save his life. Of course, none of them were good friends of his.

"Henge!" Naruto and another Anbu called out, quickly swapping places with each other. They were perfect replications of each other.

Sarutobi stood up. "Rat, get a team to follow Ram to the ambush point. Naruto, don't come out till morning, understand?"

"Hai!" Naruto and Rat called out, both running out the window, while 'Naruto' walked out the normal way.

When 'Naruto' got out, he quickly sensed the Chunnin following him. A small grin crossed his face. "Catch me, if you can."

x X x

Iruka glanced around. "What am I doing here?"

Mizuki glanced back at him. "Don't worry, in a few moments, the demon will be gone."

Iruka sighed. "But is it really right? I mean, he'd just a boy."

Mizuki growled at Iruka, pointing the torch he was holding towards Iruka's face. "Don't tell me you've gotten attached to him. After all, you do remember what he is, and who he's killed?"

Iruka winced. Mizuki had been using that same line over and over that night. It almost made it hurt more from bringing up those painful memories. He shook his head. He was almost to far in to get out, and he honestly knew that the Chunnin wouldn't ever look at him the same when they found out what he'd planned.

"There he is!" Mizuki whispered excitedly.

Iruka glanced down. Naruto had run out into the middle of the forest, and was glancing around. As he looked on, he could only watch as Naruto looked directly at him. His breath caught. He was afraid of what could happen if Naruto had seen him, and there was was, looking directly at him. He was close to exploding, when Naruto finally glanced away. But the feeling stayed.

"Mizuki, I'm out." Iruka said, hopping back into another tree.

"What!?" Mizuki whispered as loudly as he dare. Did Iruka just say what he thought he'd said? "We need you!"

"I know, but I just can't do it anymore. I'm out" Iruka said, quickly jumping away.

Mizuki's eyes narrowed. No one was allowed to just leave. He quickly pulled out a giant shuriken from off his back. He was going to make sure that Iruka couldn't tell anyone.

Just as he was about to throw it, a firm hand appeared on his hand. Mizuki glanced back angrily, only to find himself looking directly at a member of Anbu. "What…?" Was all he got out before the Anbu chopped the back of his neck, knocking him out.

"It's an ambush!" Another Chunnin cried out, and chaos erupted in the forest.

Several of the more experienced Chunnin pulled off some Katon jutsu's. As there wasn't a water supply nearby, it would make it harder to put them out. Two of the Anbu flashed through some seals, and slammed their hands on the ground. A large wall of earth rose up, blocking the Katon techniques. At the same time, 'Naruto' had dropped his Henge, and joined in the fight. Even though they weren't using lethal force, the Anbu group's ambush had broken enough ground to begin scattering them.

Having finally realized that they were seriously outmatched, a few of the smarter Chunnin ran off. Those that stayed behind, didn't stand up for more than a moment or two. The Anbu forces glanced around. At least a quarter of Konoha's Chunnin forces were scattered through the clearing, with several others scattering themselves. They wouldn't be able to prove anything, about anyone.

Of course, those who were there, might just rat out those who weren't there. And for those who wouldn't crack that easily, would be sent to more, experienced, interrogators. And knowing some of the Chunnin themselves, several of the Anbu felt a little sorry for the poor guys. Ibiki and Anko were going to have a field day.

x X x

Naruto glanced around. He really didn't have to, as he'd already checked the area for intruders, but it was always good to give the place a once over. The surrounding area was normal, a thick, endless forest. But the area for his training grounds was much more extraordinary. It was a large waterfall, that seemed to crash endlessly down into the small stream. It was behind this waterfall, that his training grounds started.

Carefully maneuvering behind the waterfall, Naruto found himself in the familiar settings of a cave. Quickly moving to the back of the cave, he bit his thumb and rubbed some blood on a seal as he passed it. As it began to glow, several others followed suite, and reveled a large door. Naruto moved up to the door, and placed a little more blood on the door, and waited. After a moment, it slowly creaked open.

Naruto rushed into the door, and down a flight of stairs. Within moments, he was in a long tunnel network, that seemed to extend miles underground. Naruto glanced around, before heading off to the dojo.

Inside the dojo, there wasn't really much to look at when you first walked in. But once you unlocked the seals, there was a huge amount of different equipment, ranging from simple close combat weapons, to elaborate training puppets. These puppet were what Naruto immediately headed for.

He'd been working underground for the past four years, after spending a year underground building the tunnels, and obtaining supplies. This was one of the only places where he could truly relax, and take off the mask he was constantly wearing. Even in front of the Hokage, he rarely showed his true self, relying more on what people already knew.

Slowly but surely, he took off that mask. Underneath it all, he almost the complete opposite of what he acted. He was much more calm, and collected. His eyes lost their 'idiot' look, and took on one of a wary creature. He took off his orange jumpsuit, and changed into some training clothes. They were really simple, as he didn't want restricted movement. Rather than wear orange, he wore a black gi. It was one of the simpler clothing's he'd wear, but it would do for the warm-ups.

Walking over to the puppets, he pushed some chakra into one of the seals on the wall. Almost instantly, they all sprung to life, and started over towards him. Naruto reached up, and pulled his goggles down. The goggle had only one purpose in his training: to block his vision. When he'd first gotten them, he'd taken a black spray paint, and sprayed it on the lenses to block his vision. He'd long learned not to trust his sense of sight, and took to sensing viva the ears, and through chakra sensing.

After a moment of waking up, one of the puppets swung its arm and slammed Naruto into a nearby wall. Naruto didn't bother to do anything, as he flew straight into the wall. After a couple of seconds, Naruto hopped out of the hole. He twisted his back a little, and checked where he'd been hit on his body. "I reacted instantly. And note to self; getting hit into a wall is a good way to wake up."

As he finished speaking, several of the puppets began to launch their arms at him at high speeds. Once again, Naruto took the hits, as he was ploughed into the wall again. Naruto glanced up from behind a wall of puppet arms. That was new…good, the seal is changing their movements around.

Naruto let a small smirk escape him. "Well, I guess it's time for a counterattack." He shoved against the wall, giving himself a little more wiggle room, and jumped out of the hole. The puppets watched him get out of the hole, and those who hadn't shot their arms rushed towards him, while the rest reeled in their arms.

Unfortunately for one of them, they weren't fast enough. Naruto jumped down, landing straight on the rope to its arm. As it tried to pull it back, Naruto picked up the rope and gave it a sharp tug. As it wasn't able to expect it, the puppet was pulled off its feet, and into the air. Naruto quickly moved into his own attack, as he twirled the puppet around. Several of the puppets noticed the flying puppet, and moved to a better place to attack, but most of the others weren't so lucky.

The flying puppet slammed into most of the other puppets reeling in their arms. As Naruto felt the puppet hit, he released it and moved on towards the other, advancing puppets. The first one he approached quickly began a barrage of hits, trying in vain to hit him. Naruto just dodged and rolled around, 'looking' for an opening. But even as he did so, he kept track of the other puppets.

As one of them tried to pull a sneak attack from behind him, Naruto pulled himself around and roundhouse kicked it in the back of the knee. There was a loud pop, as he dislocated its knee. Even as it collapsed, Naruto had used his previous momentum, and reversed it, aiming another kick for the previous puppets shoulder. It connected with a loud crack. Naruto winced, he hadn't wanted to break the puppet's head. He just shrugged and moved onto the next opponent.

Within several minutes, he had defeated the small group of puppets. Slowly, Naruto lifted the goggles to the top of his head. The damage wasn't as bad as he'd thought, just three or four puppets were somewhat damaged, while the remaining fourteen were in pretty decent conditions. Naruto sighed, and walked out of the room. "That's enough of that for now." He said, to no one in particular.

Naruto slowly moved into another room, surveying the different weapon seals. With a small smile, he walked over to the nearest one. "Well then, let's get started then."

A/N: Thank you to all of you who have currently reviewed. Now, I need you all to help me with something...who should Naruto be paired with?! The poll starts, now!

Thank you for reading my story. I'll take anything you give me, and use it to better myself. So please, review.