He couldn't imagine this situation in his wildest dreams. He was stuck in a crucible of emotions that were pounding away at his soul. His own feelings of passion for Karin. The hatred that she was sending through him. The twist of fate that was playing before him. They say life flashes before your eyes before you die but all he saw was an end to a pattern called "life".
he hated to admit it but predicting it wasn't helping either. The difference between expectation and reality is experience and oh how it hurts to inhale only to find nothing filling your lungs. He was half grateful when she pierced the lungs and he was physically forced to breathe.

She screamed with every fiber of her being as her chains rushed at the masked man. Even though she had a hole in her chest, the drive to save her baby pushed her to create a hundred chains to hunt the man down.
said man was beyond startled by a mother's drive and that moment of weakness was all a calm but deadly father needed to seal him away.

"What…the hell?" he whispered as he felt his knees tremble with weakness. Seeing his beloved root and all his years of work fall like flies had taken a toll but not as much as seeing this.

Hiruzen was barely alive with a seal mark on his stomach that was similar to the seal mark on the infant, but smaller.
Minato and his wife were dead to say the least. they both had a hole the size of a small window in their torso.
it was easy to guess what caused the injury but what had transpired? He would have to wait. Right now, he had to save his teammate and his Hokage's legacy.

The first thing he asked when he woke up was Naruto's whereabouts. Danzo assured him that he was safe in the hospital.

"Well well. Don't trust your own roots with this one?"

"No…" he whispered as he looked down. "I've realized how limited a tool's power is."

"So you've changed."

"Yes." He said with determination this time. "I will build a stronger root."

'…not what I had in mind.'

"What happened, Hiruzen? How did Minato and Kushina die? And why do you have that seal?"

"The sealing ritual was interrupted. Kushina tried to hold back the fox and Minato tried to seal it in his son, Naruto." He paused at the name for a moment. "I was there when it was happening. The masked man who was controlling the Kyuubi appeared and he was…invincible."

"What?"

"All my attacks passed right through him like he was a ghost. I couldn't stop him."

"So…" he rubbed his chin as he put two and two together.

"So instead of splitting the fox and sealing it in himself and Naruto, he had to seal all of it in Naruto. I'm glad he survived but…we need to watch him for any changes."

"And the masked man?"

"Minato was faster and stronger of course." He said with the pride of a mentor. "but…not good enough. He only managed to land a single strike on him. That gave him enough to know what to do…he sealed him in me."

His gaze fell to Hiruzen's stomach as his fingers stopped rubbing his stubble.

"What will you do now?"

"Retire of course."

There was a long moment of silence.

"What will you do now?" he repeated the question, ignoring reality.

"I'm going to retire, take a grand vacation and live as long as possible before I die and release him. By then, I'm hoping Naruto will be all grown and able to defend himself from him. I don't think years and years of solitude will treat his mentality kindly and he'll be looking for revenge."

It was sound. No way through it.

"Okay…who will take your place?" he asked as he shifted in his seat.

"That is not up to me. I can only suggest. It will be up to the council to decide that."

"I see…"

"Oh and Danzo."

"Hmm?"

"Good luck. I hope you make a better army, capable of inheriting the will of fire to protect us."

He grunted as he made his way out of the room.

"The council has decided. As neither Jiraya nor Tsunade are willing to take Sarutobi Hiruzen's place, Danzo Shimura is the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure."

He wasted no time in repairing his beloved village and revising The Root. He decided to disband what remained and turned them into his personal guard. It was time to act true to the word and build them from the roots. From then on, he would attend the academies personally in his little free time and every year, he would teach one class of star students personally.
If he was to build strong people, he would have to keep their drive. Their will…he hated to admit it but Hiruzen was right about that.
First things first though. He created an orphanage in Minato's name for the children who suffered from the Kyuubi's attack. What better place to start? And what better place to place the man's son in and keep an eye on him, raising him from behind the curtains?

He first suggested it when Naruto was seven. He watched how they played tag and the team that followed Naruto always won. He liked what he saw. A cool head that was capable of guiding the team to victory through any means…meaning he had no problem tripping the opponents and letting the teammates take care of the rest.

After his initiation and experiencing loss of a loved one, Danzo could not stop smiling at the sight of him. He had become everything the man ever wanted in root. Mature. Strong. best of all, foreseeing.
It was time to get practical and insert him into society.

'So…this is what Torune called the most peculiar class yet?' he thought as he looked at his new students.

"Alright. You are class twenty-seven. I will take attendance now. Haruno Sakura."

"Present, Hokage-Sama."

"You will address me as Sensei from now on. Uzumaki Naruto."

"Present, Hokage-Sensei." He said with a knowing grin. The chalk went flying for his head but he dodged it and it hit the boy behind him.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

He growled under his breath as he rubbed his forehead.

"Present."

"Hyuuga Hinata."

"P-Present."

"Aburame Shino."

"Present"

"Hmm…TenTen, Lee and Neji."

"Present."

"Why is it stated that you three are older than the rest?"

"We failed a year on purpose, Hokage-Sensei." The Hyuuga responded.

'Ugh…' he rubbed his eyes. 'Dammit Naruto, now the name's stuck on me.'

Said boy was smiling nonchalantly. Indeed. He had never before seen an eleven-year-old smile so innocently and manage to hide something so...strange.
He could guess why they failed themselves so he saw no point in delving further into the matter.

"Everyone's present then. Let's start with an evaluation first."

Training Field Twenty-seven

"You will split into two groups and try to defeat him." He said as he pointed at the masked ANBU.

"Begin." He said without a care in the world as he sat down and poured himself a cup of tea. He flipped the pages over as he drank his tea.

"What are you doing and why are you not assisting your teammates?"

"just gathering info." He said as he flipped a page back.

*Thwack*

"What? You didn't say anything about how we accomplish the mission."

"I enjoy expressing my frustration." He said as he sipped the tea.

He didn't really expect them to split up. The classes never did. If they ever did, he'd just walk away because they didn't know the most basic principle of teamwork.
The team of seven tried desperately to land a blow on the ANBU but they failed…of course.
after ten minutes of observation, he stood up with that familiar and terrifying smile.

"Game on…" he whispered and the smile disappeared.
"Alright my dear dear team. Regroup."
no one listened…of course. He had to make a point so he jumped between Lee and the ANBU, kicking both in the gut and driving them away.
"I said regroup, Lee-san. Isn't that the best of part of a team? Going back to each other?" he said with a wink as he walked away. The rest of them acquiesced to his demand. They had tried everything else so why not?

"Okay let's see…uh…I'll be needing Lee, Neji and Sasuke. You three are going in first. Do your worst." He said as he patted Neji on the back. He didn't let it show but he enjoyed the growl he drew out of him.
"backup will arrive shortly."

"Okay team two…uh…Sakura, TenTen and Hinata. I want you to back them up. Sakura with Sasuke. Hinata with your sensitive cousin and Tenten with your…" he paused as he looked at Lee. "with Godlybrows. I want you to attack with your teammates. When they push him back, be sure to strike from the back. Don't let him breathe. Don't tire yourselves out either. There's no time limit so I want to drag this out. Go."

The second group was much more willing to head into action when they left.

"Why did you not explain anything to the boys, Uzumaki-san?"

"Why bother? Two of'em looked cocky so I'll prove myself by doing not by talking."

"Hmm…you are very capable."

"And you are very creepy. I like your tone but I see the potential in you nonetheless. You're a creeper."

"I do not enjoy-"

"yeah whatever." He cut him short as he watched his teammates in action. Sasuke and Neji were reluctant in working with the girls but Lee seemed to have no problem adapting. It was either due to his age or a lack of ego. he liked that in him. he might get along with him.

"And what will I do?"

"Do you have any paralyzing or sedating or…uh…any disabling insects?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Plant some on me."

"Eh?"

He was not expecting that. He expected him to say something like "go in there when he's tired and knock him out" but he clearly had something else in mind.

"Come on. I need to prove my worth to the team and so do you. Two hands make more sound than one, right?"

"is that really the reason?

"no i just hate seeing you hurt so i'm going to do the dangerous thing." he said sarcastically.

"…You are very creepy, Naruto-kun."

'Ugh…' he rubbed his eyes "somehow, it hurts more when I hear it from someone like you."

'or was he kidding?'

After noticing a lack of grace in the ANBU's movement, he rushed in. he even yelled like an idiot. He reached his goal nonetheless. The ANBU planted a fist deep in his gut…of course.
As he had expected, the ANBU had been warned about him and wasted no time in trying to knock him out.

"Hah…you're so easy." He whispered as the ANBU fainted.

Shino approached the sleeping ANBU and gathered his bugs. After a few moments of staring, he shook Naruto's hand.

'that's one.' He thought as the girls and lee approached him.

"way to go Naruto-kun."

"Well Done Naruto-Kun! Your Youth Has Guided Us To Victory!"

'I'm…not going to tolerate that.' He thought with a smile that Lee would soon recognize as fearsome.

It became an unwritten rule afterwards. That Naruto would lead and the rest would follow. He had his problems with Neji and Sasuke but he'd solve those too.

One day, he found Neji alone, meditating in field twenty-seven.

"Greetings, Naruto-kun."

He said nothing as he narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin. Sensing Naruto's hostile intention, he stood up and activated his Byakugan.

"Are you here for a spar?"

Every man is made up of his beliefs. Know the beliefs and you know the person. Simple math. to him anyway. He could care less about details such as emotions and tragedies. He ran a hand through his hair as he walked towards the Hyuuga in stance.

"What do you believe in, Hyuuga Neji?"

"Hmph. I believe that you are a fool." He said before appearing behind Naruto, his fingers on his spine.

"Oh really?" an intimidating voice behind him whispered as he felt a cold blade on his own spine. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke and left the two in an awkward situation.

"What do you believe in, Hyuuga? Power? Fame? Religion?"

"I believe in destiny."

He narrowed his eyes at that. Taking the blade back and putting it in its holster, he walked around him in circles.

"Destiny? As in…we're all in one set course and we have no escape?"

"Yes. Just as it is your destiny to lose to me…and just as it was my destiny to be in the branch." He said as he took his forehead protector off. "but I assume you already knew since the day you read the files."

He stopped in front of the Hyuuga and spared him no glance. His mouth was curved in a downward line, showing his disgust.

"You know, I thought that you'd be worth more as a top student but with this…I'm not holding back."

He took a black leather glove out of his pocket and wore it on his left hand.

"Oh and for your information, this glove has iron knuckles to help me parry and punch at the same time. Don't say it wasn't destiny or some shit like that."

"How Dare You?!" he yelled as he sent a palm towards Naruto's face. he was outraged at his words. he appeared out of nowhere and spat on his beliefs. it was unacceptable.
Eyes wide and full of determination, he sent his own right fist flying towards the palm. Needless to say, both arms fell limp. One was paralyzed and the other was dislocated.

"Mine will recover in minutes but what about you, Hyuuga? How does your destiny look now?"

The pain was waking him out of his raging stupor. he was beginning to question the blonde's motives.

"W…what do you want? Why are you doing this?"

"I want to crush your belief, Little boy. I want to break you and rebuild you as a stronger man." He said with a low voice, full of joy and anticipation.

"W…why?"

"Because weakness only breeds pain and you are WEAK!"

*Thwack*

He proceeded to go out of his usual boundaries and beat the Hyuuga senseless. It was easy to aim for the weak parts of the human body. He learned the best spots when he was being tortured and oh how he enjoyed aiming for them.

"Stop!"

"Why?! Wasn't it my destiny to fall before you?"

"What about my destiny?"

"Hah. YOUR destiny? Who do you think YOU are, Neji?"

He stared at him dumbfounded. What was he saying?

"you are nothing but your actions, Hyuuga Neji. What you do defines who you are. It's not that you were chosen by some luck of draw that determines what you turn out to be. We're all born in the middle. We don't begin at the start. We begin at the middle…and you my precious precious teammate, have lost sight of the greatest gift we have over other animals." He growled as he raised his fist.
"the gift of choice."

*Thwack*

Needless to say, after coming out of the hospital, he was in a brighter mood…of course. Not that it mattered to Naruto. All he wanted was his obedience. If solving his crisis was the way to get it, he was more than happy to oblige. Success was all that mattered to him.

Having the majority was enough for him. Sasuke would have to come around. One way or another. Neji's assistance was priceless to him and his tactics so it was a necessity to have him but the same could not be said for the Uchiha. He was strong, he gave him that, but he could already accomplish enough with what he had. The Uchiha would be left for a later time. If only he knew the consequence of that decision.

"I mean he's not the friendliest person in the world. Why were you so in love with him that you nearly beat Naruto to death?"

She remembered the hyuuga's simple question as his warm blood reached down the cold blade and soaked her sleeves.

"At first, I felt free."

He was right. He was completely right. She felt free…but only at first. Now that he had stopped breathing, she just realized what she had done and to whom.

She remembered the way he'd rest his head on his palm and look at her chow down the ramen. He didn't notice but she too was staring back at him. Just as he was memorizing her facial features, she too was looking at his face. Sometimes, she enjoyed the slight movements of his face. It meant he was happy but some habit was keeping him from expressing it. her heart would beat with joy when she thought that merely looking at her face brought a hidden smile to Naruto's face.

Then she remembered the dream. In the dream, he had pierced her though. She felt everything. The blade's coldness. The pain in her heart. It was unbearable. Was that how he felt? Was that how she had made him feel when she plunged the blade deep into him and stuck it out the other side?

One thing burned through her mind as she let go of the blade and let him fall like a log.

"Why?..."

"Because the person you killed is a strong believer of fate." Said the stern voice behind him.