The Pathless Sage

A/R: Okay okay okay, put those sharp objects away, there is no need to maim me. I know the last update was short, even by my standards. Not to mention that cliffhanger, bet that got some of you on edge :P. I might try not get caught up into making another evil cliffhanger so I can actually do some justice to you guys and actually write a longer chapter. I think one is overdue.

On with the story!

Naruto's mind froze, literally froze. No throught went through him for a while, he just silently stood there with the Seals still active on his hands. He couldn't comprehend what someone along the lines of members of Akatsuki would be doing here. Almost as soon as his mind froze, however, his mind started going into overdrive.

All his senses suddenly sharpen, his eyes started consuming Chakra, but in turn, his vision got a lot better. He seemed to be able to see the Chakra in the two relaxed figures on his couch, and he was scared. Their Chakra signatures were massive.

"What the hell are they doing here? Well, I can't do much other than Seal away their Chakra and hope for the best, there is little hope for me to fight and win against such opponents." Naruto thought, keeping his calm despite being scared out of his mind.

Slowly and silently creeping towards the two limp forms on his couch, he did what he could to keep himself safe at that moment in time. Pumping all the Chakra he could into the Seals, so they would hold fast for a long time and resist a high Chakra output, he tapped both the men on their heads and pulled out his Nodachi from its sheath.

"Wake up," holding the Nodachi over both of their torso, he shook them awake one by one , "Who are you and what business do you have at my residence?"

Itachi turned around, paying no heed to the blade which pointed somewhere between his upper chest and the lower part of his throat. Coal black met sapphire blue as Itachi tried to put Naruto in a Genjutsu with his Mangekyo Sharingan.

A shocked expression flitted momentarily across his face, before his face returned to the old stoic mask. Kisame was watching the exchange with a bored look, still trying to figure out just why he couldn't channel any Chakra through his body.

"Uzumaki-san, please lower your blade and sit with us. We have much to discuss," Itachi's voice was a lot lower than he thought it would be, seeing as the man had less than masculine features, by his opinion. He was expecting something higher and more feminine.

Walking around the couch, and sheathing his Nodachi, he decided to sit on the ragged armchair across from the criminals, all the while keeping a careful eye on both of them.

"Itachi-san, can I kill him?" Kisame asked, much to Naruto's fear and Itachi's ire.

"No, Kisame, I will not allow you to kill the boy," this relieved Naruto somewhat, until Itachi turned to him, "Tell me Uzumaki-san, why are we not capable of using Chakra at this moment?"

"I placed a Seal on both of your heads. There is no point in struggling, though there are very limited places where I can place that Seal, I happen to have had access to the one that is usually the most effective," Naruto replied. He was going to ask more of the pair, but he was under the impression that talking out of line would get him nowhere good. It never did.

"Please, don't be afraid. We are only here to talk to you. You will find that our proposition would be highly beneficial to you, especially seeing the Doujutsu you seem be in possession of," at this, Naruto's face turned confused, "Judging by your expression, I take it you are unaware of your Bloodline?"

"Oh, so that's what the Scroll meant." Naruto breathed, not daring to speak too loud. As time wore on, he was becoming more and more scared. He wasn't used to being in the presence of such dangerous people, people that may or may not be hostile.

"Please relax, we bear no ill intentions towards you," the corners of Itachi's lips pulled up a bit, which Naruto took to be his attempt at a comforting smile. "Seeing as you have such a powerful Bloodline, I would like the opportunity to train you."

Now, Naruto was no fool. Had he really been the idiot that he was pretending to be in front of the Village, he would have jumped at the possibility of being trained by someone remotely as strong as Itachi. However, idiotic he was not.

"Why are you doing this?" When Itachi opened his mouth to answer, Naruto held up his hand and continued, "Don't tell me it is due to the Bloodline. I am no fool Itachi Uchiha, and only a fool would take help from a shinobi as powerful as you, knowing that you might have hostile intentions."

"I assure you, I have no hostile intentions towards you," when Naruto didn't respond and only looked at Kisame, Itachi tried to defend his partner, "Neither does Kisame as I'm sure, his earlier comment was only him being normal. He rather enjoys bloodshed." Naruto cringed for a mere moment.

"It still doesn't explain why you want to train me. If you really did want to train me just because I possess this Bloodline, then pray tell, what are you doing in my house?"

"What do you mean?" Itachi could see him getting suspicious. "It's true I hold no ill intentions, but even still, this boy is sharp for a child that is still in the Academy."

"Please, like I said, I'm no fool. Judging by your reaction after seeing my eyes, I can only think that you only found out about my Bloodline after meeting me in person, which still leaves the question, why are you in the premises of my residence?" Where did the boy learn to talk like that, and why was his mind so sharp? "Besides, I can tell by your attire that you are members of Akatsuki. If I know one thing about Akatsuki, it's that they are not friendly. Especially the two of you, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki."

Itachi's eyes widened. He was expecting the boy to know his name, seeing as they were from the same Village, but for him to know Kisame's full name? Where was this boy getting his information from?

"I was expecting you to know my name, since we are originally from the same Village, but how do you know about Kisame?"

Naruto only rolled his eyes, criminal or not, it was really comfortable talking to them. Talking to Itachi was like talking to the older brother that he never had.

"Itachi Uchiha, currently aged 15, graduated from the Academy at the age of 7, became a Chunin at the age of 10, and by the time you were 13, you were an ANBU Captain. The third known person to have awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, but due it's use, you are now nigh blind. You killed your entire Clan a few years back, with the exception of your younger brother Sasuke, and ran away from the Village and became a missing-nin," all through this, Itachi's eyes became wider and wider, "While you told your brother to hate you after torturing him through the use of Tsukuyomi, and left him for dead, you really loved your brother from the bottom of your heart, and still do, I assume. Though you told him that you killed your Clan in order to test the extent of your abilities, you really did it to stop the coup that your father and the senior Clan members were planning."

"Itachi-san, is this-" Kisame started, only to be interrupted by a thoroughly irritated Itachi.

"Be quiet for a second Kisame," slowly, Itachi turned to Naruto, "How do you know all of this, and who gave you this information?"

Naruto decided to ignore the outburst from the otherwise calm man, and continue with his barrage of information, "Though the Hokage was unaware, you were under the orders of Danzo Shimura. You were given a choice between dying with your Clan, while the Village took damages in order to completely annihilate the Uchiha Clan, or you simply killed the Uchiha yourself and saved your little brother, who was innocent, but becoming a missing-nin in the process. You, being the traumatised pacifist you were, obviously chose the second option for the betterment of the Village," he looked into Itachi's eyes, daring him to contradict, "While this was happening, you met up with Madara Uchiha, who would have attacked the Village, but you pacified him through offering to eliminate the Uchiha Clan for his revenge. Did I get any of that wrong?"

Itachi only gaped for a few minutes. As calm and collected as he usually was, he had no idea how to react to this insolent child that seemed to be able to pick apart his greatest secrets with the greatest of ease. Finally, finding his voice, he muttered: "How do you know all of this?"

"Simple. Being hated and tortured by the Village as I grew up, I was forced to become far more mature than my age allowed. Since I was always hunted by the Village, sometimes even by high ranking tracking ninja, I had to quickly learn to become stealthy," Naruto replied.

"That still doesn't explain how you know all of this about me," Itachi was showing minor signs of shock. He was honestly baffled by this kid.

"I also stalked the streets at the time. Seeing as I was homeless and lived on the streets, I would usually go from place to place in an attempt to find whatever food I could," Itachi only nodded, still not understanding where information gathering came into this, "One particular day, I had found a rather decent meal for my standards at the time and I was quite full. I happened to have found the meal in one of the trashcans in the Uchiha compound and coincidentally overheard your father's plans about the coup. So naturally, curious boy as I was at the time, I decided to tail the most powerful Uchiha I could think of."

Itachi looked at him like he was crazy. "You tailed me for three days without me noticing anything? Impossible. You may have learnt some stealth, but staying hidden from me for that long is laughable," Itachi sounded calm for someone so full of rage and turmoil.

"If there is one this I learnt about stealth, it's that the best way to hide is in plain sight. I transformed myself into a fly and hid in your hair for three whole days," Kisame looked skeptical while Itachi's face finally morphed into one of understanding. "It was hard going without food and water for three days, but that's only for a normal person. It was a piece of cake for me."

"So that fly was you. I always thought that it was too persistent to be a normal fly, but I never acted upon the notion. I was quite tense due to the circumstances at the time," Itachi got up and gave him a pat on the head, before sitting back down. "You are quite well informed about me considering you are still in the Academy."

"So you have no information on me?" Kisame whined, he almost sounded like a petulent child.

"Nothing on you Kisame Hoshigaki, other than the fact that you are an SS ranked missing-nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist, were formerly one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and are the weilder of Sadanaga, a Chakra consuming blade that looks more like a barbarian's club. You are also famed to have Chakra reserves comparable to that of the Nibi, the Two Tailed Beast." Naruto droned.

"Wow, for someone that says you don't have any information on me, you sure know a lot," Kisame muttered, disappointed that he wasn't as unknown to the blonde library as he once thought, "Tell me kid, where did you get the dirt on me?"

"A Bingo Book I found in a trashcan once, I still have it. It was one of the ones that included all the known criminals with all the known information on them, going from D rank all the way up to SS. I can only think it was for someone from ANBU Black Ops or an elite Jounin."

"Explains things," Itachi rejoined the conversation. "So, are you ready to accept my reasoning?"

"Right now? No. You still haven't told me why you are in my house."

Itachi let out a tired sigh. "Well, you were right. We were formerly members of Akatsuki, though the reason for us being here is that we have since left the organisation. The man that was running everything calls himself a God, and expects all of us to kneel to him. We are powerful ninja, all of us, and that doesn't sit well with us. So we decided to leave."

"Explains why you are here at the most. Why do you want to train me?" Naruto asked, his ever suspicious glare in place.

At this point in time, Itachi had resigned himself. "This boy is too smart, way too smart to be the Dobe of the Academy. There is something missing in the picture, but one thing is clear; this kid is way smarter and stronger than he lets on."

"The Akatsuki are planning on gathering the Bijuu and essentially take over the world. The two of us leaving puts a kink in their plans, but it's only bad enough to delay them. For us to truly counter them and stop their plans, we are planning on training you up to our level so they can't get their 'Godly' paws on you," Kisame said simply. Naruto nodded.

"Okay, for now, I will leave the Seals on you. I am going to go take a shower, get changed and head out," both of his guests looked confused. "You two are coming with me. I have an appointment with the Hokage in about half an hour now."

"Wait, are you trying to hand us in or something?" Kisame almost shouted.

"Kisame-san, please keep your voice down. I plan on doing no such things, the Hokage is an understanding man, and I don't plan on harboring SS ranked criminals in my house without his knowledge or approval," he paused for a second, "Though, if what you say is correct, there is no reason as to why you should be taken in. From what I know about the Hokage, he should have no problems with you living with me and as far as I am aware, he should be willing to take Kisame-san into are shinobi system, and re-instate Itachi-san in his former position."

"We shall see, but keep in mind we don't plan on getting discovered," Itachi tried to play the peacemaker, as always.

"Sure!" With that, Naruto was off to take his shower.

-TT-

"Remind me why we are like this." Kisame said, trying his best to keep his voice even and his sword from mauling the brat in front of him.

He was currectly disguised as a 14 year old boy with long, red hair and bright, silver eyes. He was wearing the traditional 'Kill me now' orange that was usually worn by the Uzumaki boy. His clothing, however, consisted of more plain tracksuit bottoms and a shirt, rather than a jumpsuit. At least that was a relief.

Itachi was faring better off than his partner, but not by much. He was disguised as a 13 year old girl, short, brown hair and soft hazel eyes. What annoyed him most was the bright bubblegum pink jacket he was wearing, and the yellow skirt that was brighter still. One of these days, he was going to turn the blonde into a stain in the sidewalk.

"Because you didn't want to get noticed, so I decided to disguise you in the attire that I thought most appropriate," he slowly headed out the front door, "You guys coming?"

Needless to say, both of the SS rank missing-nin were fuming at the 10 year old Academy student.

A/R: Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Sorry for leaving it at such an awkward place. I could have written more, but I decided to stop for now. I was getting tired of writing and me not writing a chapter in one sitting turns out very, very bad. The next chapter will start with the Hokage meeting scene, include some training and Academy time for Naruto and the Genin-turned-Academy-students.

2.6k, not counting the notes, while this is the longest Pathless chapter I have written so far, it is by no means the longest chapter I have ever written. I hope you enjoyed the longer chapter though, but I find it hard to keep the flow in anything longer than this and I'm started to get tired from sitting in one position.

Thank you to all those that reviewed so far. All I can say is that I really enjoy reading your reviews, and though I can't reply to them directly due to some circumstances making them too much of a bother, I try to reply to the more interesting ones indirectly in the Author Rants. It only takes half a minute to review and you don't even need an account, so please be so kind and leave a review.

=*=*=Personal Opinion Rant=*=*=

Okay, I know in most Manga, the people near the end of the series are way stronger than at the beginning, but I still hate this in Naruto and it strikes me as an error.

Madara is resurrected by Kabuto, utterly beats the shit out of all five Kage at the same time and is hardly even fazed. He cuts down mountains and changes the landscape like it's easy as sleeping.

That isn't my problem, my problem is this. Near the beginning of the Manga, if you remember, Orochimaru's Hidden Sound Village and the Hidden Sand Village decided to attack Hidden Leaf Village. During that time, Orochimaru fought Sarutobi. What I fail to understand is why was Hashirama so damn weak, that even Sarutobi owned his ass, along with Tobirama, even though Hashirama is meant to be stronger than Madara? How is it that when Hashirama seemed to be tossing out some of his best Jutsu, the building they were on failed to even collapse? Forget mountains, he couldn't destroy a building.

So this is my problem: WTF? Why is Hashirama weaker as an Edo Tensei summon than Madara when Madara was supposed to be weaker in life?

=*=*=Personal Opinion Rant End=*=*=

If you read the rant though you didn't wish to, please remember you were given ample notice from the very beginning. If you did read it wilfully, please be so kind and answer my question.