The Hokage who had arrived before dawn in the hopes of dealing with the massive backlog of paperwork that littered his desk before lunchtime stared at the request that was on his desk. At first he believed it to be a joke. After a conversation with Danzo who was also an early bird since he had taken that old saw that Hashirama-sensei had half jokingly tried to pass off as wisdom seriously, he was convinced it wasn't.

"Why the hell not?" he said with an amused laugh as he granted Danzo's latest request in regards to Naruto's training.

&!&!&!&

Naruto awoke at dawn to find one of the ANBU guys that always hung around standing in his apartment. Being rather tired because he had waited until very late for his friend to get out of that surgery place, he rolled over and went back to sleep. If the Old Man wanted him, the ANBU guy could carry him. That's what they were paid for wasn't it?

Less than a minute later, the ANBU guy poked him awake again.

He rolled over and went back to sleep only to have the ANBU guy poke him again.

"What?" Naruto snapped angrily the third time it happened.

"Danzo-sama has ordered me to educate you in the art of cooking." the ANBU guy said.

"Can't it wait until later?" he asked as he tried to roll back over only to have his blanket snatched away by the sadistic ANBU guy.

"I was ordered to give you your first lesson before you left for the Academy." the ANBU guy said.

"Left for the Academy?" he asked.

"I was informed that the break was over, and that today was the start of a new term."

"WHAT? !" he yelled. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I would assume that they believed that you would be able to keep track of your own schedule." the ANBU guy said.

With a sigh and a growl, he got up out of bed and got ready for the day. The ANBU guy stood there and watched him dress, which he thought was very creepy.

"Now that you are ready, your first cooking lesson will begin." the ANBU guy said.

The ANBU guy then led him into the kitchen.

"We will now start on a traditional "Western Style" breakfast of pancakes." the ANBU guy said as he pulled out one of the books which had come with the neat cooking stuff his best friend had sent him.

"The recipe is here." the ANBU guy said as he opened the book to a certain page that was next to a picture of round brown things with butter and some brown liquid on them. "You will measure out the ingredients from the supplies I have provided."

He moved to the things that were on the counter even though he didn't even want to try the strange things that looked rather unappetizing to him. Nobody had been so nice as to come to his home to teach him things before. He would do his best, and hopefully the ANBU guy would want to come back and teach him more things.

He looked at the page that the recipe was on. He could only recognize a few of the characters on the page.

Using the solve what you know, and come back to the rest later method, he grabbed the two eggs he would need and proceeded to crack them open over the large bowl.

"You are doing this incorrectly." the ANBU guy said as he took the eggs from him.

"You start with this step here." the ANBU guy said as he pointed at something he couldn't read.

"What does it say?" he asked.

"Can you not read it?" the ANBU guy asked.

"No." he replied.

The ANBU guy closed the book with a sigh and a faint shake of his head before gathering up the ingredients for the "Pancakes".

"I will have to consult with Danzo-sama." the ANBU guy said before he hopped out the window and left.

Naruto barely restrained the tears that stung his eyes. That ANBU guy had been a jerk like almost everyone else.

&!&!&!&

Madara opened his eyes to find a nurse standing next to him.

"I'm glad you're awake Nakamura-san. It was touch and go there for a while, and we weren't sure you would make it." the nurse said. "Your little friend was worried about you, and waited for hours for you to get out of surgery. He said that he would be back to visit you as soon as you got out of the ICU."

He groaned. If he didn't have things he needed to accomplish, he'd be begging for death. Scratch that. He had that double of his, and that guy with that resurrection technique in his pocket. Let that little monster torture Tobi or whatever the hell that guy's name was now. He'd be getting his revenge, and his plans would be fulfilled anyways.

Death please take me now. he thought as the nurse set an orange hand-made card which was covered in orange glitter on the table next to his bed.

&!&!&!&

Meanwhile, back at the Tower: The Hokage chuckled as he signed off on reading lessons for Naruto.