Chapter Eight: Itachi Uchiha

"Hello…" Naruto exclaimed loudly, then brought his voice down as he registered the unknown man. "…Old Man…?

"Who is this, Old Man?" Naruto asked, while looking at the dark clad teenager in suspicion.

"This Naruto, is Itachi of the Uchiha clan." he told the blond. "He's also one of my most promising and loyal chunin. He was just promoted this month." he added with a warm smile.

'Hopefully he isn't a arrogant ass like the rest of his clan.' Naruto thought. "Hello, My name is Naruto Uzumaki, a pleasure to meet you." he forced a smile, as he bowed.

"Hello Uzumaki-san, I am Itachi Uchiha. I've heard great things from you." replied Itachi in a monotonic voice.

'Great, does he have any emotions…' he thought.

"Well, Naruto, can you wait outside, me and Itachi need to finish this meeting." he asked the blonde across from him in a authoritative yet gentle tone. The blond quickly nodded, and exited the office. "Now Itachi, where were we…?" asked the Hokage before his face set into a serious posture. His hands together under his chin.

Outside the room

'Grr… what are they talking about! It can't be that important…' thought Naruto. He decided to eavesdrop on the Hokage. He leaned his ear on the door to hear better.

"…It seems the Uchiha clan are going to start a coup d'etat in three years. The adults of the clan are stepping up training regulations for their kin. They are also starting a year earlier. I have also noticed that my Father, Fugaku has been rather… distant in the last two years." a voice that sounded like Itachi.

"…This is important information indeed. The Uchiha's seemed to have been shunned ever since the attack of the Kyuubi, as both your father and mother were absent during the attack." Sarutobi said, "Itachi, this is going to be an S-rank mission, in the next three years, obtain any information on this subject, and if possible, try and persuade the clan that this isn't the right way." Sarutobi finished.

"…Hai, Hokage-sama!" said Itachi, as he paced towards the door.

Naruto, hearing the footsteps, quicky dashed towards the small couch in the lobby. Right when he got there, the doors opened, revealing Itachi. "Uzumaki-san, I know that you were listening in, so please tell me, how much did you hear…" Itachi said in a monotonic voice, his Sharingan activated.

Naruto gulped. 'If I lie, what good would that do me, he knew I was listening since I left, and If I tell the truth, what would happen?' Sighing, "I heard everything… and I'm extremely sorry!" he said in a rushed tone.

Itachi sighed, "Uzumaki-san, follow me back into the office, we'll discuss the punishment later…" said the stoic Uchiha.

"H-hai." was all that Naruto could say before following the black clad man.

"Naruto, I'm guessing you know what is happening, correct?" said the Third, as the boy nodded shortly after. "Now because you've never let me down, I will allow you to know this secret, however if you tell anyone, and I mean ANYONE, I will have to give you the proper punishment!" said the Third in a extremely serious voice, with his voice raised. With that, Naruto just responded with a weak 'hai' and a nod. Sarutobi's face softened and a small smile graced his lips. "Now then, Naruto, I want you to get to know Itachi better, you guys are going to be the only ones other then me knowing this piece of information, so you must work together."

"With no disrespect, but how will me and Uzumaki-san work together, as he does not have any possible way of gathering information?" Itachi asked, a eyebrow raised, which was easily noticed on the normally stoic Uchiha's face.

"Itachi, this is a S-ranked secret, that nobody else knows other then me and him…" Sarutobi said, "Naruto, show him."

"Hai!" Naruto responded as he channeled chakra into his eyes. His normal vibrant blues swirled into a crimson, as three tomoes surrounded the pupil.

'The Sharingan! Impossible!' thought Itachi, a shocked look on his face. "Bu-but how! How does he have the Sharingan. He isn't documented as a Uchiha…" he asked the Third.

"Itachi, his last name Uzumaki is purely a cover name. His father didn't want his son to grow up into the Uchiha clan, and wanted to live a normal life. He gave me the request to change his last name to Uzumaki, instead of Uchiha or Namikaze." answered the Uchiha.

"Nami… Namikaze?" responded Itachi, then he analyzed Naruto, and saw the similarities right away. "I can't.. I can't believe it is so obvious…"

"That is true, Itachi. Now, I think Naruto has some things to ask, and I think it's time for you to get home." said Sarutobi towards Itachi, as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Now Naruto, what is it you would like to know?" asked the Third.

"Old man…" Naruto started then paused, "I want… to learn fuuinjutsu…" he bluntly stated.

'He wants to follow in his fathers footsteps, huh? I have no right denying that, I can give him scrolls from his father, and help train him better when he gets older.' Sarutobi thought. Then sighed. "Naruto, I'll be right back, please wait here." with that, he disappeared with a poof.

"I have to learn that." muttered Naruto. Meanwhile, Sarutobi was looking through a large storage area. He went up to a large metal locker, with multiple doors. He scanned through the names that were embedded onto the nametags.

'Hmm… where is it…' thought the Hokage, "There it is!" he whispered. He opened up the small door with the word "Namikaze." Searching through the confinement, a multitude of scrolls that were found there. He decided to give him the basics before the rest. 'Who knows what he might do, he might try the harder ones first…" mused Sarutobi. Grabbing two scrolls that were labeled "Storage Scroll" and "Explosive Tag," and Shunshin'ed back into the room, scaring the boy the second time that week.

"Naruto, here you go." he handed Naruto the two scrolls, "I want you to master these before I hand you more advanced ones. Oh, and take this, enough papers to last you a year." he finished, handing him another scroll labeled paper.

"Old Man…" he ran over to his grandfather figure, and hugged his leg again for the second time that week. "You have no idea how much *sniff* this means to me…" Naruto finished sobbing.

"You are welcome Naruto, you deserve so much more. Blasted council however won't allow any of that to happen. Now, I want you to get going, I have a meeting today…" said Sarutobi, a little hesitant. 'I'm too old for this shit…' he thought once again. With that, Sarutobi returned to his nemesis, paperwork. The pile seemed to have doubled since he started the meeting with Itachi. 'One day, one day paperwork, I will conquer you!' he mentally yelled at his enemy.

Walking outside the tower, he took a sharp left, and walked into a small shop, known as the "Shinobi Express," and it was the shop the old man recommended him. He looked around the store, absorbing the sight. On the left side of the store, dozens of swords, ranging from katana's to wakizashi's and Chokutos. In the front of the shop, in which the clerk was located. A glass exhibition counter held up the register, containing items of high value. Ornate weapons, as well as expensive equipment. Behind the clerk were the basic tools of a shinobi.

Kunai of different sizes, along with shuriken with different numbers of points. Explosive tags, and other pieces of paper with intricate designs. Smoke bombs of different colours, ranging from white to dark violet. Basic shinobi clothes along with arm and leg bracers. On the right of the shop, included different battle armours, and a lot of them. Other basic necessities were also there. 'This is a good looking place, and I haven't been kicked out yet, that's good so far.' thought Naruto.

"Hey kid, are you going to stand there all day? Or are you going to buy something?" said the clerk behind the counter, somewhat annoyed that the boy wasn't buying anything.

"Huh?… oh, sorry, I was just examining the shop, and thinking of what I am going to buy." replied the blonde. 'What I need is something a good shinobi would wear.' he thought, taking a look at the basic attire in the front of the shop. 'That's good, now I'm going to need some arm and leg weights for now, to help improve my body strength.' looking around, he found none, 'Guess I gotta ask the man, I have no need for kunai or shuriken, so I don't need that.' taking a glance at the left side of the shop, 'I should by a bladed weapon…' concluded Naruto, 'What type of sword should I get… hmm… wakizashi would be perfect, as I am still quite small.'

Grabbing a sword from the wall. The sword was short, about two feet, a dark grey blade, with a dragon curving from the hilt to about two inches from the tip featuring a head. A crimson red hilt, adorned with a golden dragon tail. 'This is perfect.' thought Naruto. Bringing up the sword to the counter. "Mr. -"

"Taki Horushi, to you." he finished for the blond, in a polite voice.

"Horushi-san, I would like to buy this sword, along with a three sets of that…" he said pointing behind him at the black and grey outfit. "…Along with some weights." said Naruto as he finished.

Taking a look at the boy, he thought, 'No older then 5, and he's already thinking of becoming a ninja. Hmm… at least he would take the occupation very seriously, unlike some.' he finished. "Hmm… the sword is about 5,000 ryo, the clothes are about 750 ryo, while the weights would be about 1,000 ryo. Do ya' wanna proceed?" he asked.

Naruto nodded, as he snaked his hand into his pocket, and taking out his money. He had 10,000 ryo with him, he took 7,000 ryo out and gave him the money. "Keep the change." he said as he watched Taki check the money.

Now satisfied, he handed him the merchandise, "Thank you for shopping at Shinobi Express, come again!" he said excitedly.

"Of course I'll come back, you're the only store that serves me, and thank you again." he responded as he walked outside the door, ready to go home with his wakizashi attached to his side.

"What a strange kid…" mused Taki.

The walk home was very uneventful, other then the glares of hatred directed towards him. When he got into the apartment, he grabbed a piece of paper, and decided to write down his training schedule.

"…Now, lets get it started." he grinned happily.

Techniques/Jutsu

Shunshin no Jutsu: The Shunshin no Jutsu is a high-speed movement technique, which allows the user to move distances ranging from short to long at an almost untraceable speed. This technique is often followed by smoke to disguise the users movement. The technique works by temporarily revitalizing the body, then move at extreme speeds. The chakra usages depends entirely on the distance traveling. There are also many variations on this jutsu, and it depends on the village they originate from. They include the Suna-Shunshin, the Kiri-Shunshin, the Mizu-Shunshin and the Konoha-Shunshin