I don't want to spoil you guys with super quick updates all the time, but I felt the need to get some more momentum while I had some free time. Anyways, one thing I wanted to add about the romance in this story, it will be a small harem, but there will be dominant females within in. I'm sure most of you can assume who the main contenders are already. Also to reply to what HoroSeishin said about Sasuke, yeah I actually do enjoy his character to a certain extent and I try not to bash him if I can avoid it. As far as Sakura goes, I just never got in to her at all, because she never had anything that made her unique or cool. Not only that but she's a whiny bitch. I'm sorry if anyone disagrees with me on that matter, but it's just my opinion. Anyways on to the chapter, I hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter 3: Mastery and Pain

A black cloaked man with red clouds stalked his latest target for Akatsuki. The man wore a Konoha headband with a slash through it symbolizing that he was a missing nin. The dark-haired man had a deadly look on his face as his red eyes traced the footprints of the Jinchuuriki. Strangely though he followed it all the way to some waterfall and then the trail simply vanishes…Itachi was frustrated the trail went blank after all the trouble he went through to get the kyuubi container out of the city undetected. 'Something's different about this one…almost like it knew we were following it,' he thought to himself as he stared at the rather ordinary waterfall splitting two ways.

A second man walks up behind Itachi with an eager face for good news. The Uchiha simply states, "He just disappeared…not even my Sharingan can find any trace of his escape or any kind of concealment." The second man was known as Kisame, one of the former seven swordsmen of the mist. The man spoke up in a carefree way, "Ah don't worry about it Itachi-sama we'll find the kid somewhere in this country…maybe that was a shadow clone."

Itachi looked completely unconvinced, "This one isn't like the others Kisame…he's cunning. I had heard tales of the Kyuubi's mastery in deception. The fox isn't like the other tailed beasts, it is patient and scheming…indomitable. It is impossible to control the fox…somehow it must have be aiding Naruto." The shark man gave Itachi a surprised look, "Seems strange the Biju is helping its container…the rest of them tried to dominate their Jinchuuriki's mind." Itachi glanced at him briefly answering him, "Well besides the seal the 4th Hokage placed on him, there are other reasons why that might happen…none of them are good. Obviously, Naruto has something beneficial to the Kyuubi in the long run." Kisame shrugged in confusion not fully aware of what Itachi meant. "The Jinchuuriki is the 4th Hokage's son and most likely inherited the bloodline of the Namikaze.(Not sure if it's an actually bloodline, but for this story it is Kthxbai) The Flying Thunder God Technique" Kisame sighed in frustration, "Another yellow flash…with the Kyuubi inside him? Great… this kid will be tough to catch if he can teleport, let alone take down."

Itachi narrowed his gaze into a distant glare, "He's also the last surviving member of the Uzumaki clan, and that is also problematic; they were wiped out for a reason." Kisame thought out loud for a moment, "Never heard of the Uzumaki Clan before." Itachi replied blankly, "I never had either until I started reviewing confidential secrets in black ops when I was in Anbu. They were from Whirlpool Country. Which is now known as the land of waves.(A/N No clue about it, so just roll with my version) The clan had two bloodlines…one was unnatural longevity. They have inhuman stamina and chakra capabilities making them dangerous during long fights." Kisame smiled at the mention of inhuman chakra. "The other bloodline was a very dangerous seal placed on every member giving them the ability to do something known as chakra weaving. The seal would kill any normal person without the super stamina and chakra the clan possessed. To top off the danger they posed, they were also masters of fuinjutsu. (Sealing)

Kisame began pacing as Itachi sat down on a nearby rock distant in thought. "So Itachi-sama what the hell is chakra weaving?" The Uchiha looked over at him silent for few moments, "I'm not sure to be honest, but I hear it allowed them to combine elemental jutsu as well as infuse their own bodies with certain elements. Naturally, it was too powerful to leave unchecked, so Kiri, Iwa, and Kumo decided to join forces to take it out. Anbu black ops from Konoha helped whirlpool, but it got overwhelmed and the clan wiped out. The dirt was swept was under the rug after that and nobody even remembers the clan unless they either knew a member or worked for Anbu."

Kisame started laughing, "Ok so let me get this straight…This kid is the last surviving member of two powerful clans, he is the Kyuubi's container, and he the Yellow Flash's son?" Itachi sighed as he nodded his head. "How the hell could this get worse? Next thing you know he'll magically spawn a Rinnegan. (Sick Irony for you Kisame LOL) Why the fuck did we volunteer for the nine-tails then? If that kid discovers his bloodlines he won't be easy to capture like the others." Itachi stared at the streaming river tuning out Kisame's ranting, 'Maybe, something good could come of this…maybe he could be the one to kill him…' Kisame stared awkwardly at Itachi shocked to see the man showing a hint of doubt as he gazed at the ground. 'Itachi-sama seems…distressed by something; now that's a sight to see.' Without another word Itachi stood up and glanced over at the waterfalls.

"Let's go back to Wave…he must have gone there for a reason," Kisame suggested. Itachi nodded at him and the pair continued on their way. The Uchiha looked back and wondered just how Naruto had eluded him, 'Why did we have to volunteer for the smart Jinchuuriki…that fox must be helping him hide somehow. Madara won't like this setback at all.'

Meanwhile back in Konoha, a certain purple haired Kunoichi was sitting at her favorite Dango restaurant with her fellow Jounin friends. This wonderful circle of friends included Kakashi, Yamato, Kurenai, Asuma, Shikaku, and Inoichi. The group was sitting at a back table in the restaurant discussing the events of the Valley of the End battle leading up to Naruto's disappearance. Anko remained surprisingly quiet thinking about Naruto as the conversation went on. Our favorite silver haired Jounin spoke up, "I found it impressive that he defeated Sasuke despite his lack of training." A few nods followed this statement until Shikaku spoke up, "He was receiving training from Lord Jiraiya, so it doesn't seem that strange to me." Yamato shook his head for a moment adding, "Not as much as you would think, Jiraiya is always busy."

"I hear he mastered a jutsu developed by the 4th Hokage," Kurenai stated. A surprising nod of agreement came from Kakashi, "Yes, I found it very inspirational that my sensei's son mastered the Rasengan his father created." Yamato's eyes shot wide at his comment shocked Kakashi would openly state that well kept secret. The entire group had looks of confusion and disbelief on their faces. Inoichi bluntly retorted, "There's no way…are you saying Naruto is the 4th's son?" Anko's daydreaming snapped back to the conversation intrigued by the juicy information flying around. Asuma laughed out loud, "I knew it!" Everyone awkwardly stared at him for his random outburst. He looked at them all for a minute before asking, "What? What's with the stares…you guys seriously didn't notice the resemblance?"

Kurenai skeptically replied, "The 4th Hokage was the best Ninja leaf has ever had…kind of hard to imagine Naruto as his son." Yamato interjected, "You haven't seen him lately Kurenai-san…he's powerful for a genin." Anko decided to spice up the conversation a bit, "He's a deviant sexplosion waiting to happen…If he looks anything like his father when he grows older then you might want to stake your claim now, before I do!" Everyone at the table visibly tensed at the thought of Anko trying to seduce Naruto. "Anyways…it's so obvious he's the 4th's son…have you people looked at their hair? Or the eyes?" Shikaku mentioned trying to break the awkard silence that followed Anko's comment.

Asuma smiled at the mental comparison, "I knew it! Ha, and you guys couldn't figure that out on your own?" Inoichi scowled at him, "Well I had thought about it once, but Ino told me he was the dead last academy student and I figured there was no way." Kakashi changed the subject as he went into his more serious tone, "I heard from Sakura that their fight was devastating. It tore up the Valley of the End. She said it could have resembled the fight between Madara and the Shodai Hokage." Shikaku inquired curiously, "Do elaborate on what she said…I've heard different stories from the elders and the Hokage." The group all stared at Kakashi awaiting an answer he sighed heavily, "Her story is actually correct except for the part about Naruto trying to kill Sasuke…not any logic in that. Why would be bring the Uchiha back then?"

Yamato hung his head dejectedly, "So it's true…he used the Kyuubi's chakra to defeat Sasuke's cursed seal?" Kakashi nodded. Odd looks graced the features of the other jounin present. Asuma had a distressed look at the mention of Kyuubi's chakra. "How is that even possible? Doesn't that seal on him prevent it?" Yamato answered much to everyone's surprise, "His seal was designed to allow him to use the Kyuubi's powers. Minato wanted his son to at least get something out of bearing the burden of being a Jinchuuriki. Since the Kyuubi is vastly more powerful and intelligent compared to the other Biju the seal isn't perfect and he had fail safes in place just in case he reached 8 tails. He also taught me how to reseal him should the necessity ever arise."

"Wow…" the group said in unison. Even Kakashi was surprised by this information. "Strange how nobody can keep a secret in a village full of ninja," out of nowhere a blond haired woman walked into the restaurant and pulled up a chair. "Hokage-sama, we were just…" Yamato was cut off by Tsunade, "So you guys having a slumber party in here or what?" Anko laughed as the Hokage continued, "Now can somebody explain to me what was wrong with Naruto when he brought back Sasuke?"

"That was kind of out of the blue," Asuma mentioned. The Hokage was awaiting an answer and finally Kakashi replied, "I am not sure Hokage-sama, but I know something was different about him because he had this distant look on his face." Kurenai looked at Tsunade asking cautiously, "Do you know about Naruto's family?" The older woman glared at her before answering, "Yes I do, his father was a hero…and so is he." Kurenai frowned clearly not satisfied with the answer, "I mean his ancestry, relatives, mother?"

The group stared at the Hokage eagerly awaiting a response. Unfortunately for them, his mother was one of the best guarded secrets in all of Konoha, "That's classified…and if you guys keep openly discussing classified information then you might end up spending a few days with Ibiki down in interrogation and torture." The group all shuddered at the thought of hanging out with the sick masochist and sadist that was Ibiki.

"Has there been any news from Anbu or the hunter squads sent after Naruto?" Asuma asked. Tsunade thought for a moment and answered, "Yes there was one lead…it went all the way to Wave Country, but then it disappears. There is also a few people in the northeastern villages who said they saw a blonde haired boy quickly passing through their town. Right now that could only mean three things: One, he escaped his kidnapper and is on the run, two, it was just some other blonde kid, and three…" Tsunade trailed off with a painful look on her face she tried to finish the sentence but couldn't as she felt a lump in her throat. Kakashi finished for her, "Three, he went rogue and is now a missing nin."

Shocked faces met the statement. "He left his Hitae-ite though…and he disappears the night before the council had accused him of attempted execution of Sasuke," Shikaku stated the obvious clearly upsetting Tsunade more. Suddenly as if he had been summoned, Sasuke walked in the restaurant and sees the large gathering of older shinobi. 'Hmm, I wonder what that's all about?' he thought to himself as he walked over to the Hokage as if he wanted something. Tsunade turned to meet his cold distracted gaze.

"Is there something you needed Sasuke?" The boy stood silent for a moment. "I was wondering if I could check Naruto's apartment…and if you could find a way to get these Anbu from breathing down my neck every time I take a piss." Tsunade thought for a moment about his request. It wasn't unreasonable to let him see Naruto's apartment, but she had no choice in the matter pertaining to his curfew and his night time house arrest. "You did just try and leave Konoha, Sasuke, nobody is letting you out of their sight until you regain some trust and prestige. As for the Apartment thing, I don't mind; just let me know what you discover." The Uchiha nodded and left without even greeting the jounin present."

"That student of yours sure seems odd Kakashi-kun," Kurenai remarked. Inoichi nodded in agreement, "Yeah he seems awfully obsessed with somebody who just kicked his ass…I thought he and Naruto hated each other." Kakashi just stared at Sasuke's back as the boy left the restaurant, "No…They were good friends, and their rival personalities complemented each other well." The others merely waved it off without another thought. "I wonder why he wants to see Naruto's apartment," Anko asked puzzled by the Uchiha. Tsunade answered promptly, "He's looking for clues most likely."

Sasuke was about half a block down the street before a thought crossed his mind, 'If he did leave, he would leave me clues…this headband is one of them; he's trying to tell me something.' He noticed the strange look he was getting from the citizens he passed by. They were staring…always staring. Being the last Uchiha was something he had to live up to, or be doomed to forsaking his clan's name forever. His mind lingered on the thought of Itachi capturing Naruto, but he had doubts that it was the whole story. 'Maybe he finally realized the truth…him and I are both victims to the atrocities of this corrupted village.

The raven haired boy made his way down several back roads and finally found Naruto's apartment. He jumped up the stairs and went to the end door, 'Strange how nobody else lives in this building.' As he made his way to the door, he saw it busted open and sighed. 'Looks like Anbu, or the hunters scoured the place for ways to track him.' He walked inside and saw the entire living room ripped to shreds. He stared at it rather shocked. Besides the destruction of the room he noticed one thing in particular the bothered him, 'That picture frame is shattered…somebody must have thrown it. I wonder if Naruto did.'

Sasuke walked over to the shattered frame and picked up the picture of his team and stared at it for a minute. 'You left didn't you Naruto?' he thought to himself piecing together in his mind what could have happened. He put the picture down and started walking away, 'This place is stripped of anything that could possibly lead to him. Wait…is that a book?" Sasuke noticed a book on the ground and picked it up. "Rikudo Sennin," he read out loud interested in why Naruto would have a book like this. He flipped open to a place with a book marker. He read the lines of the page, "The immortal soul is written in a storm of blood as the truth unravels once again. Seduced by the taint of darkness the power surging in his heart is born of pain. The darkness that rained upon his life will be reborn from his wrath, destroying all in its path. As the world goes black, the glow of his eyes will shine eternally. They witnessed the rebirth of life and delivered the retribution of death…blinded by pain and suffering, but awakened to the true nature of the world."

The raven haired Uchiha stared at the book disturbed to find Naruto had been reading the strange contents. 'This is some heavy shit right here…I can't let the others find out or they'll assume the worst,' Sasuke took a moment to try and understand the meaning of the passage, 'The darkness that rained upon his life will be reborn from his wrath. That means Vengeance…' He stared at the book for a moment longer before deciding what to do with it. 'I must keep it, maybe some kind of hidden message will lead me to where Naruto has gone,' the Uchiha thought as he carefully hid the book praying no Anbu were watching. He left the apartment and headed home so he could study the book more in privacy.

Back in the Fox Den, Naruto had been going through rigorous jutsu mastering over the past few weeks as he deciphered scrolls and practiced techniques with his shadow clones. Every night he was haunted by dreams of the evil cloaked man, who by this point he had come to realize was himself, or what he could become. The corruption power promised was doing sick things to his subconscious mind…adding to the fact Kyuubi was part of it didn't make it any easier to resist. So far he had discovered a wide variety of elemental jutsus and studied the important ones. Still though even with all the scrolls that the fox had somehow acquired, the boy couldn't be quenched of his thirst for knowledge by simple elemental jutsus…no, he needed something terrible. 'Is there anything besides all of these jutsus? Some kind of super technique would help in case the guys who were hot on my ass decide to show up when I leave?'

"I have no clue what's on those stupid pieces of paper, I only know where they are all from. I do remember that the ones with the spiral on them are Whirlpool village scrolls…it was a nice village before burning to the ground HAHAHAHAHA," the fox laughed maniacally. 'You really are one sick fuck Kyuubi…' Naruto criticized. The giant fox snarled in response, "They were a bunch of peace-lovers who squandered their power…they had it coming if you ask me. It's like I keep telling you time and time again, 'Only the strong survive…those who can't exploit their superiorities over others are fools who will all die.'"

Naruto walked over to a stack of scrolls with spirals on them and opened one up, "Chakra weaving? What the hell?" He began to frantically read over the scrolls in an attempt to decipher what it was. He finally found what he had been looking for, though he wasn't expecting the contents. "Uzumaki Clan Seal…a seal placed upon the young members of the Uzumaki clan that possess the inherited bloodline of longevity and massive chakra. The seal allows the clan member to forge chakra and combine elemental jutsus. It can temporarily infuse one with the elements allowing them advantages in stealth, defense, and amplifies elemental jutsus…holy shit Kyuubi why didn't you mention this before?"

"Chakra weaving is a unique technique only the Uzumaki Clan could do. The reason for that is because it requires massive amounts of chakra and the clan seal which allowed the user to manually manifest their chakra in different forms. So say for example you combine a fire jutsu with a wind jutsu, you could devastate people with burning wind…Ah it's such a beautiful technique, only made better by infusing weapons with multiple elements."

'I'm part of the Uzumaki clan…so I could weave chakra as well right?' the orange haired boy asked. "Yes…but there is a downside to your reasoning…I have no clue how they did the seals. You might be able to find clues at the ruins of Uzushiogakure (Village Hidden among the whirling tides).

'Where is Whirlpool country exactly?' the Jinkchuuriki asked. The demon fox was silent for a moment before finally answering, "Whirlpool Country is currently known as Wave country ever since the Uzumaki Clan was wiped out." The boy held his head in shame, 'Who wiped them out?' the fox laughed in his head delighting in the future consequences the villages would face. "Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo all led an integrated assault on them out of desperate fear of the growing power the clan had. If it had been a part of one of the so called great five shinobi nations then it might have survived."

'How is it that you know so much Kyuubi? I mean about ninja and politics and what not.' Kyuubi didn't answer him at first but finally broke the silence, "I have been around for a long time, and tend to be in the right place at the right time to know about everything that goes on in my territory." Naruto accepted his answer and proceeded to finish examining the Uzumaki scrolls. 'Hmmm, it says here that the seal can only be learned at the Temple of Whirling Tides…apparently they were big on tradition.'

"You know there is something else I thought you should know too…about your Rinnegan. It is not just an amped up version of the Sharingan, but also serves other purposes…It gives you power over life and death, with it you can resurrect people and dominate their wills through the paths of pain. This would allow you to control multiple bodies."

'That's all a bit too deep for me Kyuubi…' The fox sighed as he elaborated further, "You can kill powerful foes and raise them to serve you. Bestowing a gift of pain upon them allows you to implant your will into them giving you the power to control their actions. However, when you don't directly control them they can retain their own minds but do as you order unquestionably."

'Shit no wonder people are terrified of the Rinnegan…how do I bestow the gift of pain?' a laugh could be heard echoing in his mind, "By becoming pain and sharing it with those who have earned of the gift…you'll know what to do when the time comes." 'You and your fucking riddles are killing me damn fox…'

Naruto fell to the ground and gazed at the sky relaxing as his shadow clones ran around him busy working through scrolls, practicing taijutsu, or working on building him a semi decent living space with the junk the packrat fox had laying all over the area. After finishing with their specified tasks he simply dispelled them. After a while he felt an insane amount of exhaustion wash over him as he faded into unconsciousness.

The dream was different, the same man, except this time the man was destroying Kumogakure (cloud village) The Raikage jumped in front of him to stop the destruction, and yelled, "Hiraishin" (Sparking Electric Needle) A bolt of lightning flashed from the raining sky and hit the Raikage's arm as he charged a super powered bolt at the man.

It flew at the man with incredible speed but stopped short, "Shinra Tensei." (Divine Judgement…I think). Suddenly the projectile bolt of lightning soaked into an invisible shield that surrounded the man and then it reflected back at the Raikage threefold who could only watch in horror as he felt the burning sting of electricity hit him. His body twitched wildly as he tried to stand up. The cloaked man with the Rinnegan spoke to the injured Raikage, "Your power wanes old man, and soon your death shall only further compliment the undeniable truth…that you are all nothing before me."

The Raikage coughed up blood as he looked into the ringed purple eyes full of anger. "You're just some kind of sick freak…the nations will never surrender to you. *cough* rivers of blood won't bring you peace or dominance. I'll be a martyr for standing against you…they'll speak my name for centuries to come." The cloaked man smiled and responded appropriately, "Your name shall be stricken from history as I paint the ashes of your village with your blood. A storm is coming…MY STORM, and when it arrives it shall erase every pathetic ideal you hold dear to your heart."

The Raikage looked horrified as he stared at the man. The cloaked man paced back and forth turning his back to the defeated Kage. "You're power obsessed monster…I only wish I could be there to see you fall." The cloaked man turned around and closed-hand backfisted him in the face knocking him to the ground with tremendous force. "Another 'Hero' falls," he mocked as he went through several handseals and his hands charged with different elements, one fire and the other wind. He swirled them together in a harmonic rhythm as the two were both surrounded by a vortex of fire. The rain came down faster and lightning was striking the vortex adding to its devastating force. The defeated Kage cried out in horror as the cloaked man grabbed his neck and pulled him close, "Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional."

The vortex spiraled closer together and finally sucked the Raikage in the burning gale winds that tore him to pieces. The man began to laugh as fiery hurricane destroyed everything in its path. It flew at Naruto and the outline of a dragon leapt out from it at him and swallowed him whole.

A/N Well that's it for this chapter, I consider this an important part of the story, because it shows the developing changes going through his mind as his sense of morality is being twisted. In his current situation, Naruto is constantly hearing the Kyuubi's dark thoughts mixed with his own dreams of eternal glory and mass destruction. I know some of you are probably looking forward to the female action, but fear not for they will come in time…Savoring the moment it happens will be worth it. I hope you guys liked the dream as well. Anyways there you go. Next chapter should be up soon, a week at the latest. A quick sneak peek at next chapter, Naruto heads to Wave and shit gets real.