Disclaimer – I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 2

Six years later – Madara's hideout

Naruto had undergone a rigorous training regimen which was difficult even for him, with all his stamina. First, he had to endure physical training for a year to toughen up his body. He wore gravity seals at such a high level that even Guy and Lee would have trouble moving with them on. The next year was spent on mastering Shadow clones and chakra control. With his shadow clones, he could complete a thousand years' worth of training in one year. Next came elemental manipulation. Before this, Madara had injected some of his blood into Naruto. The Kyubi dutifully ingrained it into his DNA, thus giving him Madara's Sharingan and Mangekeyo Sharingan. He swapped his eyes with Madara's thus giving the eternal Mangekeyo Sharingan. His primary affinities were wind, earth and water. He and his clones worked day and night to control these three elements. After they were mastered, Madara showed him many jutsu which he would copy and then spent days to master. Soon, he was also dabbling at lightning and fire. Soon he had a jutsu repertoire that could compare to 'Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye'. Madara went ahead and taught Naruto all of his signature jutsus. He also brought him to an adequate level in genjutsu without Sharingan. The last two years were spent in improving and mastering taijutsu and fuujutsu. Naruto had been reading up on fuujutsu since the beginning. Zetsu had managed to retrieve the Uzumaki's lost chest, which contained scrolls on fuujutsu and several special swords wielded by the Uzumaki. He had mastered the art of sealing and fuujutsu from other sources. The two years were spent in raising his level to that of a Uzumaki legend. His taijutsu improved rapidly and he was arguably even better than Guy.

Madara and Naruto were standing in front of each other. Only one year was left. Madara intended to teach him everything about Mangekeyo Sharingan and the Rinnegan. Madara had only had the Rinnegan for a very short amount of time. But Naruto was showing exceptional skill in using it. Zetsu had, with the help of some of Naruto's blood, retrieved his father's jutsu scrolls, which Naruto had to learn within a year. Thus began their last year together.

To complete the training within time, Naruto created two thousand clones. He ordered twenty of them to sleep – for he had himself never slept since that first day. He always asked some of his clones to sleep. Whenever he was feeling tired, he would dispel one of them, and be rejuvenated. He asked five hundred of them to practice Hirashin. He asked two hundred each to add elemental manipulation to his already mastered Rasengan. He asked the rest of them to divide into seven groups and practice the six paths of the Rinnegan and the powers of Mangekeyo Sharingan.

Madara looked on as his protégé was meditating and collecting nature energy. He was trying to master the Sage mode. Kurama, for that was the Kyuubi's name, had become like a brother to him. They would often chat in his mind. Kurama had grown to respect his host for he understood the reasons for the way demons were and was willing to be his friend. He had let Naruto access all of his chakra, and he was able to hold a Tailed Beast Transformation for twenty minutes. He had also offered Naruto the summoning contract for foxes and demon foxes on his eleventh birthday. Naruto had thanked Kurama a hundred times and accepted it. He was even able to summon Kurama, in any form he wished, from a cute chibi fox to all his glory. He was now trying to become a Fox Sage, and was well on the way to it. Madara was thinking of the long way Naruto had covered in such a short amount of time. Without his Sage Mode and Kurama's power, he was about two-thirds of Madara's power at his peak, which is saying a lot. With all his capabilities, he matched Madara at his peak, even surpassed him. Naruto had shown signs of possessing Mokuton. Whenever he was happy, little saplings would rise from the ground. He intended to start his training on Mokuton soon.

At the end of the day, when all his clones had been dispelled except for a couple of whom were sleeping, Madara went up to Naruto. "You have made quite good progress. I have observed signs of you possessing the Mokuton. You seem to be the second person ever after Hashirama to possess it. I want you to devote some time training in it. With it you will truly be unstoppable."

Naruto just gave a curt node. "Hai, Madara-sensei." With it, he created a couple of hundred clones. Assigning a few to sleep, he put some to work on the Mokuton techniques, and the rest divided into small groups to practice katas, every jutsu he had learnt and the intricacies of fuujutsu. This training regimen went on for six months. He had finally mastered Hirashin, added each element to the Rasengan, and increased his already overflowing jutsu repertoire. He had also shown exceptional skill in Mokuton techniques. He had mastered the six paths of the Rinnegan and the different powers of Mangekeyo Sharingan. His Susano was complete – it glowed an ethereal white, giving off a sense of purity and innocence.

Madara was pleased at his choice of apprentice. He seemed to soak everything like a sponge. He had never seen another one with so much potential. The only thing Naruto lacked was battle experience in the real world. But he would soon get that – the only question was if he would ever be challenged to use his full power. Madara mused that it was unlikely. Shinobi had grown weak since his and Hashirama's times. They were nothing more than samurais capable of doing flashy jutsus. As such, it was nigh unlikely that Naruto would ever find a capable rival. The last six months were upon them. Madara began Naruto's training in kenjutsu. Being not a natural in it, Madara had to rely on the Uzumaki swords and the scrolls pertaining to them. But soon, Naruto was showing exceptional skill in it too. This went on for the better part of the six months.

The last month was quiet. Madara knew not much of his time was left. Naruto had to master and practice what all he had learned for these seven years. He had truly grown strong. Madara had kept his word. Naruto was trained for free – nothing was asked in return. He had offered to let Madara back to his youth – for the Rinnegan reigned supreme over life and death. But Madara had said something which Naruto took to his heart. He had said, "When mortal beings are at their death's door, we should open it and greet Death happily. Immortality is but a fantasy. Being immortal, you lose the purpose of life. There is always time to do something, so why do it now? You never accomplish anything. Therefore, these ministrations must be left to Kami and Yami. I have lived a long life. I have performed many sins. I hope by training you, I have managed to cut the losses to this world. Remember what I told you of the Akatsuki. Remember Obito. Remember Nagato Uzumaki. These people, hated and spurned, not unlike yourself, never had your will to forgive. That's why they are what they are today. I hope you'll do the world good."

For the first time in seven years, he slept. He slept for two days. It was unnatural. Zetsu brought frequent reports on Konoha. It seemed all was well. White Zetsu had kept up the guise of the village idiot, failing two times. Naruto was to return to the village after the genin graduation day. He had decided to tell the Hokage the truth. Madara had told him the truth about the Uchiha Massacre. He wouldn't let Sasuke be deviated. He would tell his the truth – show him that he still had two brothers.

Finally, it was the last day. Naruto cried like he had never before. He had come to care about Madara like he was his father. He had decided to take up the name of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. He kept his hair long and styled it like Madara. He seemed to be a smaller Madara with blond hair, blue eyes and whisker marks. Madara finally died that day. He had asked Naruto to separate his eyes from his body and keep them safe. No one knew when he might need an extra pair for himself or anyone else. He sealed everything from his clothes, Madara's scrolls, his father's scrolls, sealing equipment and the Uzumaki chest with some food. He couldn't sleep that night. He left the clones to that duty. He just couldn't wait to show how awesome he had become. But he would follow his sensei's works. Deception was paramount. He would only show skills as was necessary.