UNTAMED

Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, jutsus or anything. All I own is this story (or plot, whatever works for you), all the OCs I am about to introduce (if any) and the original jutsus and seals I am definitely going to use (if you want you can use them, just PM me before that and give the credit. Before you ask, yes I am a bit selfish like that).

KYU-CHAN- TALKING

KYU-CHAN- THINKING

BIJUDAMA- DEMON/SUMMONS TALKING

BIJUDAMA- DEMON/SUMMONS THINKING

CHAPTER 3: A CURSE AND BLESSINGS PART 1

[SIX MONTHS LATER NARUTO AGE 7]

It has been two years since Naruto started his training. In these two years, he became very strong boy for his age. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime hokage of Konohagakure no Sato and the mighty Bijuu Kyuubi no Yoko, Naruto's mother figure has been training him in taijutsu, ninjutsu, bojutsu, kenjutsu, seal making and various other shinobi arts. Naruto excelled them and then some.

In these two years, many things changed. His anger towards Sarutobi is almost gone and he has again started to accept him a little. He still hasn't called him jiji, but Hiruzen is hopeful that he would be called by that endearing name eventually.

Kyuubi became practically Naruto's mother in these past two years. Not only that, he now calls her Kaa-san. However, now there is another tenant living inside of him, his biological mother, Kushina Uzumaki. Now every night when he sleeps, he goes into his mindscape to get his daily dose of cuddles from both of his mothers. It might sound strange, but that is true. He is the only one in the entire elemental nations who has two mothers, though none of them are able to come to the physical world, both of them loves him unconditionally. He truly was the luckiest person alive. Whenever he thinks about his seventh birthday, he just remembers how he met with his biological mother. His kyu-chan or Kaa-san gave him the best gift for his birthday ever, hands down.

[FLASH BACK]

On the eve of Naruto's seventh birthday Kyuubi told Naruto that she was going to do something with his chakra. When Naruto asked what it is she didn't answered him. Kyuubi slowly started to force her yokai in Naruto's system and told Naruto to brace himself, as it will hurt a little. That was the understatement of the decade. It was so painful that Naruto passed out from the pain. A couple of hours later when he woke up, Kyuubi told him to come to his mindscape as she has a surprise for him.

Whenever Naruto visited the mindscape, he would spend his time learning something new about shinobi skills or something related to it. After that, he would snuggle to Kyuubi and they would talk about whatever came to their mind, mostly about her past and Naruto's parents. Kyuubi found it very cute and sweet of him as whenever Naruto snuggles to her, she feels like Naruto's real mother. How she wished that it could be true. She had no idea how soon she was going to get her wish.

When Naruto came to his mindscape, he saw his kyu-chan talking to another woman. That woman was also very beautiful with long flowing red hair. She and kyu-chan could pass practically as sisters. When he came closer to them, Kyuubi told that woman to look behind her. When she did and saw him, she became rigid as a board. She was not the only one, as Naruto was stunned to silence in utter disbelief.

Why? Because at that moment, he saw his mother for the very first time in his short but painful life. After a few moments, he found himself in his mother's arms. Joy, anger, sadness, sorrow all these emotions mixed into one, he didn't knew what he should do so he did what came to his mind first. He cried, he cried his heart out to the heavens clinging to his mother without any indication of ever letting her go again.

Kushina was not faring well. She never thought that she would see her son again. Both her and Minato sealed a little of their chakra and life force in Naruto while sealing Kurai but not even in a thousand years she thought that it would work. So imagine her surprise when she suddenly found herself standing in front of the cage of Kurai in Naruto's mindscape. She asked Kurai what was happening, how Naruto was, and if the Sandaime was still alive and if the villagers were treating Naruto with respect that he deserves. Kurai didn't said anything except that she has to wait a little bit before getting any answers from her.

After composing herself and soothing Naruto a little bit, they began to explain Naruto's life. Kushina found it hard to believe that all this time Naruto was not respected and seen as a hero as the Sandaime had promised, but he was beaten to a bloody pulp whenever the civilians felt like it and most of the time the ANBU guards did nothing. She became furious when she learned that for a whole year Naruto lived in the streets and ate anything he got from the trash. His life in the orphanage was not happy either, if anything, it was worse. She wanted to take revenge on Konoha for what they did.

Only when they told Kushina about their plan to leave the village to bring back Uzushio she calmed down a little. Then the three of them spent three hours in the mindscape and made plans how to defect the village, what to learn, what are the qualities he should look for in his allies and so on. After that, they snuggled together and went to sleep. From then on both Kyuubi and Kushina spent their time by teaching Naruto all that they could. When not training, Naruto searched for potential allies. When Kushina heard about Tenten, she said that she could be a potential ally in the future but for now not to tell her anything and just keep training with her.

After that, Kyuubi told them that she forced some of her yokai and Naruto's chakra and fused it with Kushina's free chakra, thus giving her a form. By no means, she is going to stay with them forever but she is not going to vanish only after her first visit.

When asked how much time she has, Kyuubi answered that according to her calculations she has a little over five years. If she can harmonize her chakra with Naruto's chakra then it is possible that she can last as long as a decade. After that, her chakra will merge with him. That will give Naruto all of her abilities. It made none of them happy, but the original plan was that Kushina would be able to visit Naruto only once when he is much older than now, so they were happy in that regard at least. From then on Kushina started to work in harmonizing her chakra with Naruto's own. She said that she was not there for him when he was little, but she will be damned if that ever happened again. Kushina was also interested in seeing her grandchildren as well, she simply refused to be left out in the fun in spoiling them to heart's content, though that was going to happen in the distant future.

Kushina also did something that made Kurai squeal in delight. She made Naruto call her kaa-san, while she wanted to be called kaa-chan. She was very adamant about it. To her, Kurai did all the hard work a mother does for her children and thus should be known as Naruto's mother as well, just like her. She also officially selected Kurai as Naruto's godmother. Naruto could finally boast that he is the first human who is adopted by a biju as well. Not just a biju, by the strongest of them all, mighty Kyuubi. He might not be able to boast about it now, but later he definitely will.

[FLASHBACK END]

Naruto truly deserves the title of genius he was given by his senseis. Still, being a kid of seven years old and only training day in and day out can become really boring. To make his time bearable Naruto resorted to pranks. And boy, is he a genius when it comes to plan and execute his pranks. When Kushina encouraged Naruto for pranks and said that it could increase his trap making skills, he doubled his efforts, although Kyuubi said that Kushina herself was a troublemaker when she was younger. Both of Naruto's mother said that he should wear something that will get him noticed easily and force him to increase his stealth. After that, he started wearing bright neon 'KILL ME' orange. Even after that, others had trouble finding him when he really wanted to hide. A prank, which became legendary among Konoha shinobi and made him a target in the eyes of ANBU as a future recruit was and still is the talk of the town.

What he did was very simple and at the same time very complex as well. He switched the ANBU masks with painted masks he had already prepared beforehand. The part, which baffles everyone, is the fact that he never went within fifty feet of any ANBU on that day. The ANBU division had started their day like any other. They had their equipments checked and then they set out to work. When they got into their posts, even then their masks were intact. Suddenly the looks of amusement they got from the villagers alerted them that something was wrong, but they ignored it at first. And that was their mistake.

Within one hour flat, Naruto had switched their masks with his specially prepared masks, and none was the wiser. No one would have doubted him if he could just hold his laughter for a little bit longer. After the ANBU realized what happened, it was a village wide chase and run. After about one and half hour of running, he was finally caught and brought to the hokage office. After hearing everything Hiruzen was amused to no end and ordered them to wear that mask as punishment for being caught off guard by a mere child. They accepted the punishment in exchange for the information on how Naruto did that. When he got permission from hokage to tell the truth he said, "I used kawarimi between the mask you had and the mask I had prepared. Hokage sama told me how the matriarch of the Uchiha clan can do the same and many more with this simple technique of kawarimi and thus known as 'The kami no kawarimi'. I wanted to do the same so I practiced with it until I could do that without hand seals. When I got that down, I simply used it in real world to test its usefulness and I have to say, it is a very handy jutsu when used properly."

It was no secret to the higher-ups in the ANBU about his parent's identity and that the Sandaime was training him, so they were happy to see the tyke stir some trouble. However, to see how a simple jutsu like kawarimi can do when mastered only one or two aspects of its versatile usability to this level was humbling, exciting and terrifying at the same time. This prank got him the title of "Prankster King from Hell" by the shinobi populace of Konoha who were accepting of him.

One of the ANBU decided to speak, "Naruto, if you promise to not prank on ANBU, I will give you a jutsu and tell you other various uses of the kawarimi. What do you say, is this acceptable to you?"

Naruto was excited to say the least. Everyone knew he was a sucker when it came to new jutsu; they used it in the past to get away from him or to occupy him when he started to pester them, which gave him a lot of low powered (but cool, in Naruto's opinion at least) jutsus. "Really? What jutsu am I going to learn? What does it do? How to use it? Ne ne tell me Inu nii-san." He started firing question after question at the ANBU in front of him. A female ANBU with cat mask started to laugh at his antics. "Easy there tiger, calm yourself or you are going to blow your head from all this excitement."

Then looking at Inu she said, "Inu senpai, I think you should tell him or he is going to pester you till you keep your end of the bargain."

Kakashi or Inu as he is known as an ANBU shrugged and said, "I will but I need hokage sama's permission first to teach him this jutsu. I want to teach him the shadow clone technique." All who were present in the room were startled at this. Shadow clone is no child's play as it is a jonin level kinjutsu for its extreme chakra cost. So teaching this kind of jutsu to a mere child was a lot of stretch as this can damage the users chakra coil and can even kill the user if not used properly and carefully.

Hiruzen was the only one who was calm by Kakashi's proclamation. He calmly asked, "Are you sure about this Inu? You know it's a kinjutsu for a reason."

Kakashi nodded his head with confidence and said, "I know hokage sama. But you know very well whose child he is as well I. So you tell me when was the last time you saw an Uzumaki die out of chakra exhaustion. If he was anyone else, I would never even think about teaching him this jutsu." Hiruzen satisfied with his subordinates' answer, nodded and gave permission to teach Naruto this jutsu.

[TWO HOURS LATER]

Naruto was hard at work trying to master the shadow clone for last two hours straight. And the way it looks, he will have it mastered within the hour if he can keep it up. Kakashi looked proudly at Naruto. He reminds Kakashi so much of his late sensei and his loving wife. Minato sensei and Kushina sensei was like his second parents, which makes Naruto his little brother in a sense. When Hiruzen informed him that he is now permitted to meet Naruto, as he is aware of his parent's identity he was the happiest since forever. After his sensei died, he kept himself only to his work. He completely detached himself from the rest of the world.

The problem was gaining trust from Naruto. It took a long time for them and a few other members of ANBU to gain his trust. His cheerfulness, happiness and ability to be always curious are a source of joy and amusement for the elderly hokage and the ANBU. Before he came in, the ANBU was like a jail, but now it is like coming home after a long mission. His attitude and cheerfulness made him an important member to all the ANBU. A few of the ANBU took it upon themselves to train him in the shinobi arts when the hokage was busy.

Neko taught him about kenjutsu, as she was a student of his mother and a kenjutsu master as well. Kakashi was a natural when it came to ninjutsu. A few others did a lot of training with him. They found that training Naruto is the best way to get themselves trained as well. It was fun and with Naruto's natural out-of-the-box thinking, they learned how to use normal overly used simple techniques in many different ways that can become a game changer. It was no secret that Naruto has a gift when it came to strategies and trap making. They also learned to expect the unexpected from Naruto, he is simply that much unpredictable.

While training with him, they never taught him anything reckless or too dangerous, just the basics, but in the hands of a master prankster, even the most harmless techniques could be lethal. He proved this point many times during his pranks in the past, which in turn made the ANBU very good at finding traps and disarming them.

But, nothing lasts forever; Hiruzen knew that. He was afraid what the council and elders might do to get their hands on Naruto. His old teammates and Danzo are really getting on his nerves. He is afraid they might do something that would endanger Naruto and to an extent, Konoha as well. He remembered what happened in the last council meeting.

[FLASHBACK]

Finally after a long time Hiruzen was having a good day, reading his type of literature written by his favorite student Jiraiya. When he was training the sannins, Orochimaru was his favorite, but if he knew Jiraiya would be able to write stuff like that and Orochimaru will betray the village the way he did, then he would have been Hiruzen's favorite, hands down.

He really wished days like this would come more often, but he knew it was too much to ask for, sadly. He was enjoying his little down time while smoking his pipe and reading Icha-Icha: Personal Secretary, newest in the market and best one yet. It is the first one in the series with a very good plot with the usual Jiraiya style steaminess. Days like this are few and far between. He wished that days like that would never end.

Just then, his secretary walked in. "Hokage sama, the council has called for a meeting in the council hall. They said it was very important, and told you to be there within fifteen minutes." Hiruzen frowned at this, as only he can call for a meeting, his advisers can do that only on wartime. He knew each and every time they called for a meeting, it was to inform him about some stupid things. Though, he had to admit last two meetings had been interesting, to him at least. They complaint that Naruto vandalized some of their property. When asked, they didn't have any proof to their claim. He warned them to not say something like that if they lacked proof.

He thought that he should just get over with whatever stupid excuse they have this time. When he walked in the council chamber, the shinobi council and the civilian council were arguing hard about something. He calmly walked into the room as room fell silent. After taking his seat, cleared his throat and addressed his council, "Alright councilmen settle down. Before the session begins, I would like to remind you that only I have the right to call for a meeting, so do not do that in the future. Am I understood? ...good, now what is the reason for calling this meeting?"

Homura, one of Hiruzen's teammate stood up and said, "We apologize hokage sama, but the matter is very serious as it concerns the village security and its position as the strongest of the five great nations." Hiruzen simply raised his hand and said, "If you have again called this meeting to preach about how Naruto pranked one of you, then this meeting is adjourns right now as I see no reason to continue this facade, because all of us are aware of the fact why you want to do that. So if you have anything important by shinobi standard and not to preach about how the boy should have been killed the moment he was born, then I believe the meeting is now closed." He was about to rise from his seat as he had no interest in hearing about their complaints. He had heard and said enough to last the rest of his life.

But before he could rise, Homura again stopped him and said, "It is indeed concerns our young jinchuriki, but not in the way you think. He is seven years old now isn't it Hokage sama? He is of the age where his shinobi training should begin. I mean we could not just let him roam free; he is our weapon after all. Plus, this year many heirs from different clans are going to attend the academy. It is indeed very prudent that naruto attends the academy to get acquainted with them, as he will serve them in the future." They could see the look in Hiruzen's eye. It was no secret that he holds Naruto in high regards, like his surrogate grandson. However, what can he do when the whole council is against him? He is one man after all. Hokage or not, no one can face whole council alone when they are unified.

Koharu, Hiruzen's other teammate continued, "As you know, the brat is seven years old and is eligible to enter the academy. It is time that we invest in him to make him strong so that he could become the perfect weapon he is meant to be. A weak weapon is no use to us after all." Hiruzen was furious at their lack of respect for the son of his successor. However, he is powerless before this council. He was desperate for a way to stop them from getting their hands on Naruto. He knew if they got their hands on him, they would only train him the bare minimum, and send him off to suicide missions. Fortunately, for him, the civilian council first time since their creation and maybe for the last time as well, gave him an idea.

A fat businessman rose from his seat and said that it is not a good idea to train the brat. His reasons were laughable but understandable, from his point of view at least. He said if the Kyuubi got strong, he might finish what he started all those years ago.

Hiruzen though corrected him saying that Naruto is not the Kyuubi, but still his thoughts have some merit. As if he is trained then there is high chance that he will be exposed to Kyuubi's dark natured chakra, which will not bode well for Konoha. Therefore, he overruled shinobi council's idea of training Naruto.

Though the meeting ended that day, he saw the looks in the elder's eyes. The look of pure rage and anger building in them, rage building for being denied to get their hands on Naruto so that they could train him and send him off to suicide missions in hope of getting him killed, and then taking over his fortune and jutsu left behind by his parents.

The only problem was, no matter how much they tried they just couldn't locate his fortune. It was as if his entire fortune just vanished in thin air. At first, they thought that the old hokage fooled them and gave all the property to that vile creature, but later they found that the fourth himself withdrew all of his money from the bank, but never deposited it again. And as far as they knew, all the jutsu created by him and that whore he called his wife are locked away in his estate. To this day, they are in the dark where all that property went.

[FLASHBACK END]

That day, Hiruzen finally accepted that no matter what he did, Naruto would never be safe inside of Konoha. If he truly wants to give Naruto a chance to have a happy, free life then he has to send him out of Konoha.

Life is such a mystery, Hiruzen sighed. Just last year he was thinking that Naruto would want to leave the village, and now he is thinking of sending Naruto out of the village to keep him safe. Hiruzen was searching for just an excuse to elope Naruto from the eyes of the council just for a little time and train him harder than ever to give him chance at living his life. He noticed the look in Naruto's eyes when he trains and is in fact aware of his thinking of defecting the village. Hiruzen had known it from the very first day he started training Naruto. He is very hurt that a boy of Naruto's age will think something like that, but frankly, he could not find any fault in the child's thinking.

However, as he is at this moment, he will stand no chance in the real world. For that, he will need skills, experience, strength and friends and allies. People he could depend on, people he could trust to watch his back.

Right now, he could do nothing for other things, but he can train him to make him strong. He will do that for now.

"Okay Naruto you got the jutsu down, all you have to do now is perfect it so that you do not waste any chakra." Kakashi's voice broke him out of his dark thoughts about Naruto's safety. He saw Naruto had created ten shadow clones perfectly, but he is tired from all the chakra that was wasted while perfecting this jutsu. He fell to the ground face first, exhausted and unconscious.

Kakashi picked him up and went to his apartment and tucked him in his bed. He was very proud of his little brother. The way he trained, the look of concentration on his face, that determination, and that happy and idiotic smile on his face after he mastered his technique was just like his sensei. Truly, this fire-headed tyke is Minato sensei and Kushina sensei's son in every way that matters.

[UNKNOWN LOCATION]

The council meeting was an utter waste of time. Homura, Koharu and Danzo were unable to convince Hiruzen that the brat must be trained in shinobi arts. It was prudent if they wanted to hold their position as strongest of great five nations. But that old fool, he supported the civilians and denied Konoha the prosperity it deserves as the ruler of the entire elemental nations.

The three advisers were hard at coming up with a plan to get the brat under their thumbs where he belongs. Koharu said, "That fool, the way he is ruling Konoha he will destroy our position as the strongest. He doesn't even want to look at it. The brat is a jinchuriki, a weapon with immense power. If he is trained, he will be our trump card. He can win all the wars for us single-handed. But no, that old buffoon has to look high and moral."

Danzo knew his old friend and was prepared for it. However, he had hoped that finally that old-timer rival of his would make a right decision this time. But no, he still held onto his ideals desperately. However, this is not the first time that fool has denied their wishes, and definitely not the first time they have gone behind his back to get what they want.

Danzo addressed his fellow conspirators. "I know we had hoped that our friend will see things our way for this once, but he did not. We cannot duel on that. Konoha deserves to be the ruler of the elemental nations and it will be. I will deploy a few of my best operatives to watch over the brat and abduct him. After he is properly conditioned, I will train him personally. My son is of the same age as well. I will train both of them personally. However, I believe that our young jinchuriki is not untrained."

Every shinobi had heard the rumor of Naruto's pranks on the village. However, the last prank on the ANBU had picked their interest the most, or rather his method of execution of his prank, kawarimi. Where most of the shinobi were sceptical at this, the elders were not. It is not impossible to learn to do this simple jutsu.

That is an academy level jutsu. This tells that Naruto is no stranger to the use of chakra. He may even have at least some skills. Maybe someone was training him all this time, hiding from the view. To what end though, no one knows. However, it is a theory only, as he could have picked it up on one of the training grounds. It is no secret after all that he is very fond of wandering around the village. Still, this will speed up the process of teaching him once he is conditioned properly.

After discussing about how to acquire Naruto without rousing any suspicion, and about his training procedure, they ended their meeting.

[FEW DAYS LATER]

Naruto was wandering around the village. He had no training scheduled for this whole week and he was getting bored. The hokage and the ANBU said it is equally important to rest properly as well. If your body is continuously pushed beyond its limit without the needed time to cope with it, then it will not make him strong, on the contrary, it will only hinder his performance. So now here he was, wandering around the village receiving glares from the populace and returning them while walking at a leisurely pace. He saw the Ichiraku's sign and decided to head there. He has not eaten any ramen for at least for a month. He had developed a very strong liking to this food. But being trained and guided from the beginning has stopped him from devouring this dish at every chance he got.

Entering the bar, he sat on a stool and announced his presence in his usual way. "Hey old man your favorite customer is back for more of the godly dish you make called ramen. Hurry up I am hungry." Teuchi came at the front of the shop while drying his hands on his apron. "Hey Naruto, how are doing? Haven't seen you in a while. Busy training?" Teuchi asked in a kind manner. It was no secret that he holds Naruto very fondly and in a very high regard.

"Yep. Inu and hokage sama have been teaching me a lot of new things. Inu even taught me a new jutsu. Though that jutsu took a lot out of me; I actually passed out from exhaustion." Naruto said the last part with an embarrassed voice.

While they were talking, Ayame walked in with a bag of groceries. Ayame became Naruto's sister figure. She guided him, scolded him, pampered him, spoilt him and yet kept him on the line. She was perfectly balancing his time between having fun and training. The best part about her is that she helped many times with Naruto's pranks by buying him stuffs, helping him to plan his prank, giving him the layout of the shops that refused to sell him and she actually gave him some awesome prank idea. She said that by practicing his skill like this he would know how to plan, what to keep in mind while on a mission and many things.

Ayame, seeing Naruto greeted him, "Hey Naruto, how are you? I have not seen you in a while. Training hard as usual?" Naruto looked at her and smiled, "Hi Ayame nee-chan. Hai, I have been training for this whole time. But a few days ago after learning a new jutsu, I passed out. So, Inu san and hokage sama kinda gave me this whole week to myself. They said not to train for first two days and after that only light training. I finished my training for the day and now I am bored out of my mind and I still have to wait for two more days. Will you help me in a new prank nee-chan? Please..." Naruto asked in a hopeful voice. His nee-chan is amazing when it comes to planning.

But unfortunately, today he will not be doing any pranks. "Sorry otouto, from today I am going to help tou-san in his business." Looking at Naruto's dejected face she felt sad. "I have an idea Naruto, why don't you join us in the kitchen? I can teach you a few simple but healthy and tasty easy-to-cook dishes. It would be fun." Looking at his doubtful face Ayame decided to give him a real life value of cooking. "Naruto you might think cooking is not a good skill to have, but if you learn how to cook it might just save your life someday. You know, when you will go in a mission, you might not have anything to eat, but if you know how to cook, all you have to do is just catch some fish or catch some games from nearby stream or jungle and you will have freshly cooked healthy and tasty food. Plus believe me when I say this, cooking is actually very fun."

After that, Naruto gave in and started his training under Ayame and Teuchi as a chef. He was not trying to learn anything flashy. He was only interested in simple, small time-consuming healthy foods and salads. Teuchi and Ayame had plenty of those kinds of recipes. Naruto came back the next day and the next to learn more about cooking and spend some time with his surrogate family.

Unknown to any of them, few figures clad in dark cloth with plain white mask were keeping an eye on them. These were the root ANBU under Danzo's command, who were sent to gauge Naruto's skill and abduct him. They have been at it for last couple of days. And in these two days, they have seen Naruto train in taijutsu and a few simple ninjutsu. Though it was very simple for them, but doing them without any proper training was still a feat.

When they reported their findings to Danzo that man was flying sky high. He could not just believe that a child this young without any trainer could do things like that. He had no doubt about that if Naruto is properly trained, in the battlefield he would be a formidable enemy or a very reliable ally to have. However, Danzo wanted him as his personal weapon, not as an ally.

[EVENING]

Naruto learned a few simple dishes to make in last three days. It was easy, tasty, and very healthy. The best part of the day was he had loads and loads of fun learning how to cook. Who knew cooking could be this much fun? He promised to Ayame and Teuchi to come back again and learn to cook more from them when he got some more time to himself. It was the last day of his probation and from tomorrow, he can go back to training.

Just when he left the shop, six figures started to follow him from the dark. They were looking for an ambush point in a secluded area where they will first gauge his skill and then abduct him, as per Danzo's order.

When they were crossing a rundown apartment, they saw their chance. They jumped from the roof and landed around Naruto. Naruto did not understood what was going on, so he tried to sidestep them and tried to go on his way, but the ROOT ANBU pushed him back.

Naruto, angry and pissed at this, demanded an apology from them, but they just simply stared at him. After a few moment of staring, they demanded that he should come with them. Otherwise, they will have no choice but to kill him.

Not to be put down with threats like that, Naruto challenged them. The first ROOT charged at him from the front. He only used taijutsu, but still his skill was way above for Naruto. Naruto got into his own stance and waited for the perfect moment and then suddenly used a snap kick in his opponent's chest. His normally increased strength combined with his training knocked out his first opponent in only one single hit and broke at least four of his ribs.

The rest ROOT members understood that Naruto was holding back in his training, probably to fool others if they were spying on him. They got serious and charged at him from two sides this time. Naruto ducked and rolled under the first attack that came from his right side and ended in a crouch. Then he punched hard in the groin of the second attacker and chopped him in the back of his head. Then he vaulted over the first attacker and launched a butterfly kick, which knocked him out. Within moments, two were down.

Naruto evaded an attack from fourth attacker by jumping backwards, but one ROOT attacked him from behind. He chopped Naruto at the back of his head hard, which made him very dizzy. If it was anyone else, he had no doubt they would lose consciousness. He just got back up and punched the ROOT in his face, which broke his jaw and knocked him out. After only starting to fight, he took out four of the ROOT members. The last two members understood that Naruto is much more trained than any of them thought. They knew the if they don't go all out the mission will fail.

No matter how much you train someone, without experience they will fall. So when the last two of the ROOT attacked him in tandem, there was nothing that Naruto could do. He lost the fight but not easily.

Once he was down, the ROOT operatives slung him on their shoulder and started to move towards their hideout. They were impressed by Naruto's skill what they have seen so far. His use of taijutsu and his movements were precise. He didn't waste any movement. He was able to knock out four of their own members, which is very impressive for a boy his age, though none of them used their full power. They knew very well that their target has some very good skills regarding taijutsu and some very good skill in ninjutsu from what they have seen from is training. It was only experience that he lacked, but that could be easily fixed with some training and some small training missions. Plus, his attitude and will to never back down from a fight even when he is out-numbered means whatever the situation is he would not hold back. It is a trait lord Danzo wishes to see in every ROOT member.

[MINDSCAPE]

As soon as Naruto lost his consciousness, Kyuubi pulled him in his mindscape. Once there, she told him that these shinobi are from a different division called ROOT. Even his father was a bit wary about them for their peculiar character or rather for the lack of it. She told Naruto that he is not strong enough at this moment to face them alone and come victorious when they are serious. He has only one choice, and that is to use her yokai.

Naruto knew if he used kyu-chan's yokai, the village would feel the pressure from it. That also meant that the hokage would feel it as well and will bring reinforcement with him to get him out of trouble. So all he has to do once starting to use the yokai is just last long enough and wait for help to arrive. Though he knew, it was going to be a lot harder than he is thinking. He has to control his emotions along with his movement so that he doesn't waste any move. His objective is to only buy time and wait for the help to arrive and live long enough.

Once prepared, he gave Kyuubi a small nod and braced himself for the inevitable pain that was going to follow, and after only a second, it came like a wraith.

[REAL WORLD]

With a piercing scream, Naruto came crashing back to reality. Opening his eyes, he saw a red fiery chakra shroud has covered his entire body. He looked facinatedly as his nails lengthened, his vision became much clearer and his canines lengthened as well. Unknown to him, one chakra tail emerged from the bottom of his spine. After releasing a mighty scream at the offenders, he attacked them.

Danzo was a man who wanted to do everything his way. To him shinobi are nothing but a weapon, and thus they should have no emotion. So he created a secret ANBU division known as ROOT. Hiruzen knew this, and at first, he was glad about it. He still saw the merit in it but Danzo's training methods, especially his conditioning process is what bothered him. Shinobis are weapons yes, but they are also humans too but Danzo never understood this simple fact. His training is nothing but brutal that only jonin level shinobi could complete. He never understood that the reason Konoha is the strongest of the great five nations because they never start a fight intentionally and attack only to defend their home, their loved ones. These feelings are what made Konoha's shinobi truly feared. Because once their loved ones are threatened, they stopped at nothing and destroyed their enemies.

However, Danzo's training or emotional conditioning is taking away their gift and in turn making them incapable of being the best that they could be. 'The will of fire' is not just a phrase once said by the Shodaime, it's the way of life of a Konoha shinobi, their will to do anything to protect and defend their loved ones. Danzo never understood this, Hiruzen did and that's the reason Nidaime chose him as his successor.

However, human mind is very complicated in nature and no matter what, no one, no training and conditioning can suppress its feeling; all it needs is the right stimuli. The Kyuubi's evil yokai was that stimuli for those ROOT ANBU members. When the red chakra started to cover the fire-heads body, they were startled but as that power started to rise little by little, they started to feel again. The first emotion they felt first time in over four years is fear. Too bad, because this is going to be their last as well.

[HOKAGE TOWER]

Hiruzen was doing his normal routine as a hokage he was doing for last thirty years, paperwork. He was thinking about a way to keep Naruto safe from the clutches of the elders in his council. That's when he felt it. The power of the Kyuubi's evil chakra was washing over him like waves. The only good thing is it is not as powerful as when he felt it last time.

He immediately called his personal ANBU guards and left the office in search for Naruto. It did not take too much time, as it is impossible to miss the red blob of chakra moving around.

He along with his guards when found Naruto he was fighting the remaining ROOT agents. Without waiting anymore, Hiruzen jumped into the fight and easily dealt with them. But now came the hard part, he have to calm down the fire-head or he can easily destroy the whole village.

However, when Naruto saw him he smiled at him weakly as the chakra shroud started to fade. When he neared the boy, he heard him calling 'jiji' once and after that Naruto lost consciousness. Hiruzen ordered his guards to take the offenders into custody as he took Naruto to the hospital.

[TWO DAYS LATER]

It was two days since the kidnapping attempt at Naruto and he still has to wake up. Like last time Hiruzen is anxious and impatient about Naruto's health. He just could not help himself, this boy has barely started his life and already so many people are after him. He truly started to fear for his safety. Another thing, which is eating at him, is the identity of Naruto's attackers. They had taken two attackers as a prisoner to be interrogated, but that scoundrels had committed suicide before he could be even delivered to the T&I department. Other four knocked out agents woke up, but the pressure Kyuubi's yokai killed them. Therefore, all they have right now is Naruto's statement and for that, he has to be awake.

He knew what was taking him so long, Kyuubi's powerful yokai is not a child's play after all, and as such has a very serious cost to it. He will need time to regain his health before he could resume his training. He was only afraid that if Naruto remembers it, he would ask him about which he does not need right now.

He looked at the bed where Naruto was when he heard groaning. When he saw Naruto was waking up, he asked, "How are you Naruto?"

"What hit me? My heads hurting..." Naruto answered. He knew that Sandaime was afraid if he remembers anything from his fight. He understood, it would be too troublesome to deal with right now and he didn't want that, so he chose to hold back that information. "...other than that I am fine. Thanks for helping me Hokage sama."

"Don't mention it my boy. I am happy that they were not able to hurt you Naruto. Do you know who were they?" Sandaime asked.

"I don't know Hokage sama. I was going home when they suddenly jumped in front of me. I tried to walk away but they pushed me back. When I demanded an answer out of them, they didn't. Moreover, they demanded that I should go with them or they will have no choice but to kill me." Naruto said.

Hiruzen got a thoughtful look on his face, just for a second. Then suddenly he looked ready to kill. He knew that the elders would try to get Naruto under their thumb, but not this early. Hiruzen realized, they were desperate, but for what he had no idea. Whatever it is it does not bode well for Naruto or Konoha. He understood that Danzo had deployed his ROOT agents to abduct Naruto. He understood that any chance of giving Naruto the future that he wanted was now forever out of his reach. He had to send Naruto out of Konoha just to keep him alive. However, before that he has to make sure that Naruto is strong enough to survive in those conditions.

Without the knowledge how to protect himself, Naruto won't even survive a day out of Konoha. He remembered that Minato and Kushina used to train in the forest of death to improve their awareness and in survival tactics in hostile territory. They had a hut there to live. If he wants to train Naruto in survival training than what better place to do so in the Forest of Death!

Now he has to prepare for Naruto's departure and an alibi, which he already has thought of so that no one can trace him before he wants to be found. He told Naruto to rest for now and said that he is going to his home to pack his things and then he will take him into hiding.

Naruto knew the enemies had already targeted his life once and they will do so again if they got the chance. Thus, he said nothing and only nodded his head in acceptance. He did not knew where the hokage was taking him but it has to be one of Konoha's most guarded secret, given that he is the jinchuriki of Kyuubi and the son of the fourth.

Three days later, he was standing outside of the 'forest of death' or training ground 44. He heard from the hokage that his parents used to come here for their survival training. They even had a hut built in there. Naruto and the elderly hokage both were carrying few scrolls with them; it is filled to brim with Naruto's necessities, food, meat, spices, cloths, his entire library both known and unknown to the hokage and what not. Naruto knew that a chapter just ended for him and a new one started. With that thought in mind, they both stepped into the 'Forest of Death'.

A.N- ahh! Finally another chapter done and with this chapter the beginning arc is done as well. From next chapter the 'allies' arc will begin. So brace yourselves. Read, enjoy, and please REVIEW. Otherwise I won't be able to improve my writing. constructive criticism is welcome. ask away any question you might have, I will try my best to answer them. bye bye!