AN: Hey, I'm back! With a new chapter! Only like, six months late! Sorry about that!

So what happened? Well, basically our village got a Christmas present in form of broadband, which we have been trying to get for roughly... twelve - fourteen years. And Holy Shit there's a lot of distractions on the internet when your internet can actually handle youtube (our old internet, Net1, would load one minute or so of the video, before loosing the connection and force you to reload the entire thing.) and similar sites, oh, and steam works as well.

Anyway, when I started trying to write again, near the end of January, I couldn't seem to do it. I Would start writing, write a page or two, read what I wrote, Delete it and try again. Or I would finish a sentence and suddenly draw a blank on how to start the next one, it was weird as hell! My mind would wander around, focusing on tons of shit I didn't want to think about at that time. On that note, I will probably start writing a second story, since a lot of the times my mind would wander it would latch onto some new idea. I will most likely never have more than two stories going at the same time, and my main story will Always be this one, unless I get so stuck with it that I'm forced to abandon it... I really hope that won't happen, since I have a general outline on what I want this story to do in the end. Anyway, hopefully being able to have a second, different story will allow my mind to wander back to this one and actually progress a bit faster.

Oh, and the fate of Sasuke is still in the balance! I should point out though, that alive or dead, he will have a very little impact on the story. If he dies, he dies and that will lead to a few changes. He lives, he will stay in the background, being mentioned every now and then but never really play a large part on the story as a whole. Akira, Fū and Anko will be my Sasuke. Instead of focusing on the bond between Naruto and Sasuke's whole Light vs Darkness thing, I will delve a bit further into those three characters instead.

Review Responses:

plums: I understand where you're coming from, as I have actually begun skimming through large parts of stories that follow to close to canon, only really reading their original bits. And I hope I won't disappoint you in the end. The reason we're seeing an unchanged team 7 is because, there's not really any team in the rookie 9 that would fit my story later on. So I just went with the one that complicates things the least, allowing me to keep the team interactions fairly similar and progress the story faster instead. Naruto's real team won't be created before he's a Chūnin.

A lot of the events in the story will have roots in canon, but will basically be there to show the difference between canon Naruto's values and my Naruto. This chapter will be a good indicator of what I mean.

Atsirk Enoh: Two thumbs up for more Anko lovers! Yay!

jwbones2000: Thank you :)

Agrond: She will be somewhere in the middle of the Akatsuki when they become an issue, so weaker than Itachi, Kisame, Konan, Pein and Tobito but stronger than Deidara, Sasori, Kakuzu and Hidan. Although both Deidara and Sasori might bring her down with them because of how their abilities work. I guess she's stronger than Zetsu as well, I can't really remember if he's shown any real combat ability or if he's just a pure spy. Also Naruto's Genin days will be fairly short. Hopefully.

Achilles: Sorry to hear that. If you intend to keep reading anyway I must warn you that Akira and Anko will be one of the main focuses in my story and will most likely show up a lot.

That's about it I guess, only one things left to do!

I do not own Naruto

First Blood

'It is official, being a ninja SUCKS!' Naruto thought as he watched Tora get crushed by Madam Shijimi, the Fire Daimyo's wife. It has been almost a month since Team 7 was formed, and they had done nothing but teamwork exercises and D-rank missions… Also called chores… Babysitting, painting fences, weed the gardens and CATCHING THE DAMN CAT! Don't get him wrong, he did feel sorry for the poor bastard, no one should have to suffer what she does… But after catching her almost Fourteen Times… Argh! Thank god for shadow clones, because being scratched in the face ONCE was enough. He glared at both Madam Shijimi and Tora when they walked out of the office.

Hiruzen had to suppress his laughter when he saw Naruto glaring at their client and her cat, it was always pure gold to see new Genins realize what their missions was composed of. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

Naruto turned to face the old man. He really couldn't stand these missions, no way, never… Why couldn't he just use his clones to do them? He still learned what they did, and he could use that time for something productive instead, like training! Or sleeping! Anything! He shook his head and focused on listening to what the Hokage was saying.

"Well, since you caught Tora so quickly, I suppose you got time to do another mission. Let's see… You can choose between babysitting an elder's grandson." Naruto felt his eyebrow start to twitch as the chores were listed. "Shopping in a nearby village." Maybe he should play a prank? He hadn't done one in forever, not since he made Genin. "You could help a farmer dig potatoes." Yes, a prank would be great! He had learned so many things that he could use! Clones and seals would be perfect for a large scale prank!

Crash

Boom

"TORA!" Madam Shijimi's voice could be heard through the door.

"Or catching Tora I suppose…" That's it! I'm going to prank the whole village until they are too paranoid to even sleep in their own beds!

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, the God of Shinobi felt as if something walked over his grave. Not many things scared him, he had led Konoha through two Shinobi world wars and come out alive, but when he looked up from his papers and saw the slightly insane gleam in Naruto's eyes he was terrified. He knew that look, he had seen it before, both on Kushina and Naruto. It meant they were planning a prank, and by the look of things… it was going to be huge, and Konoha might not survive the aftermath. He quickly tried to defuse the situation.

"On second thought, if Kakashi believes you are ready, I could offer you a relatively easy C-rank." He said, and the panicked tone of his voice was just your imagination… Really! Naruto's head turned towards Kakashi so fast he almost got a whiplash, and while more composed both Sasuke and Sakura looked hopeful as well.

Kakashi looked up from his book and blinked.

"Sorry, did you say something?" He said in an absent voice, making the Genin face fault. "Hmmm, Well, I'd rather not make myself a target for Naruto's pranks, I think they are ready for a C-rank." He said with an eye smile, cutting off any angry response from his team. The Hokage nodded.

"Very well." He said. "Tazuna, enter."

(Time skip until Tazuna's house… We've all read waaaay too many variations of this mission, the only difference here is Naruto using clones to scout, Naruto noticing the demon brothers and reporting it to Kakashi and slightly different tactics during Zabuzas fight)

Tazuna's House

Naruto was looking at a shōgi board trying to figure out his next move, absently listening to Kakashi explaining the role of a hunter-nin to Sakura and Sasuke. Akira had made sure he knew just what he was getting into, he had lost any notion on how ninjas were heroes that day, and that in more cases than not they died leaving nothing but a name scratched into the memorial stone and memories. He moved another piece to try and lure his clone into a trap as Kakashi finished his explanation and went back to sleep.

About an hour later Kakashi suddenly sat up with a concerned and calculating expression, drawing the attention from his students. When he didn't speak for some time Sakura opened her mouth.

"Umm, Kakashi-sensei?" She said, trying to gain his attention. Kakashi looked up from his thoughts with a serious expression on his face.

"Bad news, I think Zabuza might still be alive." He said in a grave voice. When he said that Sakura blanched and Sasuke seemed to realize something while Naruto simply frowned and seemed to be in deep thought as he looked down on his hands. Kakashi explained why he thought Zabuza was alive, how long they likely had and what they were going to do next. After the explanation Sakura and Sasuke left the room while Naruto stayed behind, still in deep thought. Kakashi noticed this and spoke up.

"Naruto? Did you pay attention to what I said?" He asked. Naruto stayed silent for a short while before he looked up and made eye contact with Kakashi.

"There's too many unknowns, dattebayo." He said in a serious tone making Kakashi raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi said in a curious tone. Naruto sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with a hand.

"There's too many unknowns, and too little time. This fake hunter-nin is obviously strong as he was able to disable Zabuza with such ease and precision, also none of us could sense him, he could be stronger than Zabuza himself. There's also the fact that for all we know they might have more backup other than the Demon Brothers." He explained in a serious voice. "One week will not get us to a level where we would be able to beat those odds, as not only would we need to make sure that Tazuna is secure, we would also need to defend the house in case they attempt to secure a hostage. We would have to make the one dealing with Zabuza's accomplice and the one defending the house at the very least strong enough to deal with an opponent of high chūnin ability to be somewhat safe. We simple don't have enough time." He finished. Kakashi just stared at his student for a while before sighing.

"I already know that… And I suppose you got something to add since you're bringing this up?" He said. He had a suspicion on what Naruto was planning, even if he was hoping he was wrong.

"… Our best option would be to kill Gatō…" Naruto said after a while. Kakashi stared down at his hands.

"I'm injured, and Zabuza's companion is of unknown skill but could probably defeat me right now. Since you know that… I assume you think you should be the one to do it…" He said without raising his head. It was too soon… Naruto had only been a Genin for a month, and now he was in a situation where their best option was sending Naruto out to KILL someone. It was too soon, but it was also their safest option right now… Their best chance to get back to Konoha alive… Kakashi raised his head and met Naruto's eyes.

"Can you do it?" He asked in a grave voice, and a small part of him wished the answer would be no. Naruto was silent for a short while as he went over what Akira had taught him and if he felt ready for this, he wasn't… Not really, but he didn't have a choice.

"The sheer number of clones I can use without trouble would make this an easy task, as it is next to impossible to defend a civilian against those numbers especially since they have no regard for their own safety…" He started before trailing of and looking at his hands. "Mentally… *Deep breath and exhale* Akira-nee-chan taught me how to suppress my emotions using adrenaline… It will allow me to come to terms with… what I'm going to do when I'm somewhat safe…" He finished weakly. He had been trained for this, Akira had warned him multiple times just What she was teaching him, What he was most likely to end up specializing in if he kept studying under her… But it hadn't felt this… real, before this moment.

Kakashi stared at his student as he made his decision. He gave a heavy sigh before taking on a commanding tone and speaking.

"Genin Uzumaki Naruto!" He said, his tone making Naruto straighten up and pay attention. "Your orders are to scout the island before reporting back to me. You have four hours! Further orders will be given once we have a grasp of the situation! Dismissed!"

"Understood!" Naruto said as he stood up and left the house. When the door closed behind him Kakashi sagged as he let out another sigh, thinking they were too young for this, he wanted them to stay innocent of the world they had stepped into for at least a while longer.

With Naruto

Naruto stood in a small clearing in the forests surrounding Tazuna's house. He quickly did several hand seals and soft whisper of "Tajū Karasu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" he created fifty ravens sitting on the ground and on the branches in the trees. All of them were staring at their creator, and with a nod and a mental command they all scattered and flew of in different directions. Naruto looked around for a good place to meditate and try and get his nerves under control before settling down to wait.

Almost four hours later, Tazuna's house

Kakashi along with Sakura and Sasuke sat together with Tazuna and Tsunami at the dinner table. A kid named Inari had left shortly before hand, stating that the ninja was going to die, how Gatō was going to kill them all. Kakashi had looked at the kid before averting his eyes and whispered too softly to be heard.

"I doubt you will have to worry about Gatō much longer, kid." In a sad voice. After that the mood was dampened by an uncomfortable silence. It didn't last long though before Tsunami spoke up.

"Where is the other boy? I haven't seen him since you got here." She asked. Kakashi briefly made eye contact with her before returning to his meal.

"I sent him out to scout the island." He said. "He will be fine, so don't worry." They continued eating before Kakashi noticed a raven sitting outside the window. Putting down his chopsticks Kakashi stood up and gave a nod towards Tsunami.

"I'm going to go and get some fresh air, the meal was truly delicious, Tsunami-san." He said with an eye smile before grabbing his crutches and hobbling towards the door.

The clearing

Naruto was sitting on the ground in the middle of the clearing, sifting through the memories of his clones with his eyes closed when he sensed Kakashi hobble into the clearing. Waiting until he got a bit closer he suddenly spoke up.

"Gatō is staying in a mansion in the eastern part of the island, he keeps a large number of thugs as guards, with two Samurai of slightly higher skill, most likely deserters, there were no signs of them being trained in the Land of Iron, meaning they cannot use Chakra." He began reporting. "The ninja does not stay in the same building, in fact the hideout I assume they are staying in is quite some distance away from the mansion, and I don't know if this is because the ninja don't trust Gatō or if it's Gatō that doesn't trust the ninja, I was unable to look inside the hideout as I did not wish to warn them that something was wrong. There is also a large band of bandits hidden in the forests behind the mansion." He finished his report. Kakashi digested the information before he made his decision.

"I see. Good work. Uzumaki Naruto, your next mission will be the elimination of Gatō, however, the problem is in the hired thugs and bandits…" Kakashi said causing Naruto to nod.

"I know. Gatō's death will most likely drive them to search for a new source of income, and it is almost guaranteed that they will either try and take over Gatō's company or turn on the citizens of Wave." He said with a grave voice. "I assume I'm going to have to deal with them as well?" Kakashi grimaced at that. Not only was Naruto going to have to make his first kill, it would most likely turn into a massacre. He just hoped that Naruto wouldn't break down because of what he was about to do.

"You're correct. However, Naruto." Kakashi said and made sure that Naruto was paying attention. "I want your main focus to be on getting back Alive. Do you understand me?" Naruto nodded making Kakashi relax slightly. "When do you intend to go through with your mission?" He asked.

"Tonight… The sooner the better, as it gives Zabuza less time to recover or for Gatō to hire additional ninja to protect him." Naruto said nervously fingering his daggers. Kakashi nodded sadly.

"Just remember, if something happens, focus on getting back alive." Kakashi said before turning and hobbling back towards the house.

Naruto took a deep breath before he slowly walked deeper into the forest and disappeared into the shadows.

Two hours before dawn outside Gatō's Mansion

Naruto was observing the men standing guard at the mansion doors, they were sleepy and unfocused, obviously believing that the villagers of Wave was to subdued to dare trying anything. Naruto had observed their patterns and tried to get a more precise count on the number of guards inside the mansion, and it would seem that there were roughly thirty guards spread throughout the building. The building itself was composed of two floors, the majority of the guards was sleeping in the servants quarters on the first floor. When it looked like one of the guards were about to nod off he brought his hands together in a cross shaped seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He whispered and several copies disappeared into the trees while he mentally counted the seconds. When his count reached five minutes he performed more seals, finishing with one hand near his chin and one over his head, both in a half Ram seal.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu." He whispered, and a thick mist started rising around him, drifting towards the mansion, the phenomenon repeating itself from several other points around the building. The mist grew thicker until Naruto could no longer be seen.

"And then it begins." A soft voice could be heard before everything grew silent.

The Mansion doors

Doku and Sogo were standing guard at the doors. Both were tired and bored, they didn't really understand Why they were standing guard, the villagers were to chicken to do anything anyway since that event with Kaiza. When the mist started rolling in Doku groaned.

"You got to be fucking kidding me. I hate being this close to the sea, damned mist…" He complained as he glared at the offending vapor. Sogo nodded in agreement.

"I know what you mean, also I don't like not being able to see anything. It makes me feel nervous." Sogo said as he was staring intently at the mist. Doku snorted.

"Bah! What's there to feel nervous?! The fuckers that live here are too damned scared to do shit!" Doku said in a confident tone. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about!" He said with a grin. "I just want my shift to end so I can have some fun with one of the girls inside! Right Sogo?" He laughed. After a short while without receiving an answer he frowned and started turning his head.

"Sogo?" Suddenly a sharp pain erupted, from the back to his chest. He looked down, seeing a sharp tip sticking out of the left side of his chest, piercing his heart. He opened his mouth to try and say something, but felt as is his lungs were paralyzed. He fell forward onto the ground, the last thing he saw before everything grew black was Sogo's blank eyes with a shocked expression on his face, lying on the ground right next to him.

Naruto stood looking on the two men he had just killed, a part of him being frozen in horror.

"Snap out of it brat!" A deep, booming voice snapped inside his head. Naruto jumped slightly and took a deep breath too steady himself. He then controlled his breathing like Akira had told him and forced his body to release more and more adrenalin until he could barely hear anything because of the loud pounding of his heart in his ears.

"That's better! I won't have you freeze the first time you actually do something interesting, you pathetic flesh bag." The voice said in a satisfied voice. Naruto mentally grunted before answering.

"I'm so glad you're entertained, oh great Kyūbi, lord of all Fuzzy Creatures." He sarcastically said. Naruto's relationship with Kyūbi was… Weird… In a way you could call them best of friends, they insulted each other every time Kyūbi actually was awake, however none of them really meant it or took offense to the insults. They had also taken to trying to persuade the other to view things from their perspective. It had been going on ever since Naruto got the seal that increased his reaction speed, but that is a story for another time.

Naruto created a clone to seal the bodies into a scroll before entering the mansion and slowly he began to make his way through the corridors, leaving no tracks except the blood stains were he had encountered a guard. Those who were sleeping in wait for their shift would never wake up. Once he had cleared the first floor Kyūbi suddenly spoke up.

"I sense a large amount of negative emotions just up ahead, and almost a dozen humans who seems to have given up hope." He said as he mentally pointed Naruto towards the room were the emotions came from. Naruto carefully made his way to the door and opened it silently. Inside he saw several large beds along the walls and twelve women huddled together in a corner, looking to be in their mid-teens to late twenties, one lying on a bed staring at the roof, looking like she was trying to pretend she didn't exist. There was two men laughing and joking with each other as one made his way towards the women in the corner. Looking at one specifically he spoke up.

"Huh, haven't seen you before, fresh meat I guess." He said with a grin, "I will enjoy this, you might to, or maybe not." He gave a dark laughter causing the woman who looked to be in her early twenties to whimper and try to retreat into the wall. The man reached out and grabbed her arm and started to drag her towards one of the beds while she was screaming and trying to break free. Suddenly a heavy thump was heard. The man started to turn his head to see what made the sound before something gripped his head. There was a sharp crack and suddenly he was looking straight into a pair of cold, blue eyes while everything grew dark.

Naruto was glaring at the corpse, Kyūbi had sent him a small burst of chakra when he snapped his neck and his head was now facing straight back instead of forward, having snapped so quickly there were visible tears on the neck. Naruto looked up to see the women staring at him in fear and in some cases hope. He stood there for a short while before he spoke up.

"I'm here to kill Gatō, the guards are almost all dead so you should be able to leave without trouble. If you want I can send some clones to protect you." He said while trying to make his voice sound kind and soothing, something that is very hard to do when your voice is being distorted by a breathing mask. There were several emotions visible on the women's faces, relief, happiness, disbelief, hope and still plenty of fear. One of the older women suddenly stood up.

"Everyone get dressed, we're leaving. Now!" She said as she started ushering the others to move. While they got moving Naruto moved to continue his mission, he saw the eyes of the woman on the bed who was staring at him with shocked disbelief, as if she couldn't understand he was really there. When he exited the room he heard Kyūbi growl.

"And you wonder WHY I don't like humans?" Kyūbi said with an angry voice. Naruto wasn't able to come up with a response to that.

As he entered the corridor and started moving towards Gatō's bedroom the door suddenly slung open.

"Yeah yeah, I got to take a piss." The clearly drunk man standing in the door hollered to someone inside before he started leaving the room. He suddenly froze and before shouting. "Hey! Where the fu-!" He was interrupted by a meaty thump when Naruto's kunai buried itself in his right eye. Naruto glanced back and saw the women as they left the room, a few of them looking terrified. The woman who had taken control urged them to get moving. Naruto turned his attention back to the door as he could already hear the curses and angry voices coming from the room together with rapid footsteps. He quickly reached the door in a burst of speed, slashing the throat of a surprised guard that appeared in the doorway. As the man clutched at his bleeding neck Naruto kicked him into the next person coming up, causing him to stumble. Before he could regain his balance three shuriken was lodged in his throat. Ignoring the two drowning in their own blood Naruto dashed into the room towards the two remaining guards.

Ducking under a clumsy swing with a sword he moved so the other couldn't attack him without hitting his friend and rushed in close while keeping near the ground. When the guard tried to stab him he hamstrung him and used the falling guard as cover to tackle the last man. When they crashed to the floor he stabbed him in the chest. Naruto stood up and with a flick of his wrist a kunai ended the struggle of the last guard. The entire encounter had barely taken a few seconds…

The room Naruto had entered was fairly empty except for the table and chairs near the middle and a TV. There were several sake bottles on the table, making it quite obvious that the guards didn't actually take their duty very seriously. Further inside the room there were a door and he could hear movement and shouted questions from the other side. It wasn't long before the door slammed open and revealed Gatō's personal guards, both with their swords at their side. (Just look up Zōri and Waraji.) They stared at the state of the room while trying to figure out what was.

"What the hell? It's just some brat!" Waraji shouted angrily as he glared at the unmoving Naruto. "Do you really think you will get away with this?!" Naruto just tilted his head slightly to the side without answering. Before the pissed off Waraji could say anything else another man showed up in the doorway.

"What's all the ruckus about?!" The man yelled before he noticed the dead men on the floor. Naruto took the chance to study the man as he stared on the dead bodies in a stunned silence. He was quite short, had grayish brown hair and was a bit overweight. The pajamas the man wore looked really expensive and gaudy. All things considered, it was easy to identify the man as Gatō, his target. As Gatō snapped out of his stupor and glared at Naruto, Naruto started to slowly walk towards the man and his bodyguards.

"Who the hell are you?!" Gatō shouted. When Naruto didn't react at all but just continued his slow walk towards them he straightened up and tried to look important. "Do you even have any idea who you're messing with here?" He said in an arrogant voice. No reaction. Gatō glared and the boy and made a hand gesture. "Very well, Zōri, Waraji. Kill him."

The two samurai grinned and put their hands on their swords.

"Do you hear that kid? We're going to kill you." Zōri said with a chuckle.

"And don't even think about putting us on the same level as the other trash." Waraji added in a cocky voice. "We used to be samurai, you won't stand a chance."

Naruto didn't respond, suddenly he seemed to blur because of the sudden increase in speed as he rushed the two swordsmen. They were shocked at the boys speed, and only reflexes gained by rigorous training allowed them to respond in time. Two flashes of steel could be seen, forcing Naruto to abandon his charge unless he wanted to be cut in half.

The two swordsmen grinned and started bragging about their skills with the swords which Naruto ignored. He would admit they were skilled, low to mid Genin most likely, and they covered each other's weaknesses perfectly. A lone ninja of similar skill would be hard pressed to win… Of course, Naruto is never alone.

A quick hand sign and a whispered Kage Bunshin and two dozen clones attacked the swordsmen. The clones was almost dancing around the swordsmen, darting in and out of range while leaving shallow cuts to create an opening, and while the swordsmen were skilled, it was not enough. Zōri overextended his reach, allowing one clone to hamstring him. As he fell screaming another darted forward and sliced his throat. The scream was cut short and his eyes widened as he tried to keep himself from bleeding to death with his hands in vain.

"Zōri! You bastard! I'm going to fuc-oomph!" Waraji shouted before being interrupted. Without his friend watching his back and his momentarily distraction a clone had rammed its shoulder into his stomach. The impact dispelled the clone but two more took its place and rammed their daggers into his chest on either side.

Gatō stood frozen as he stared as Waraji collapsed onto the floor. He couldn't believe this… this Child was able to kill both of his bodyguards. It just wasn't possible! He snapped out of his thoughts when the clones turned to smoke and disappeared and the boy started walking towards him. Backpedalling as fast as he could he raised his hands in a calming gesture in front of himself.

"N-now now. T-th-there's no need to get violent!" He stuttered out as he kept retreating. "I'm sure we can work something out!" His back hit the wall and he could feel the panic rising. "Wait! I can give you money! Power! Anything! You don't have to kill me!" He said in a panicked voice as his eyes were frantically trying to find a way out. The boy was getting closer and closer, ignoring all pleas for mercy. Ten meters… eight, five, three meters left. Gatō tried to force his way past the boy, and a grip of iron clamped onto his shoulder and slammed him back into the wall. The boy's face was only centimeters from his own now.

Naruto glared into the eyes of Gatō, wide with panic, and spoke in a low threatening voice, almost a growl.

"There is nothing you can do, nothing you can give, that can make me forgive you for what you have done to the people of this country." He said. Thinking back on the children his clones had seen starving in the streets, the mourning and hopeless people doing what they could to get by, and the women inside the mansion itself. He leaned in close to Gatō's ear and whispered. "Now die."

Gatō's eyes widened at the pain between his ribs. He opened his mouth to try to speak as Naruto stepped back, removing his dagger from his chest as he did so. No words came, he could feel blood gathering in his mouth and running down his chin as he slid to the floor.

Naruto watched as the light left Gatō's eyes. He then pulled out another scroll and sealed the corpse inside. Straightening up he saw the clone he created earlier to remove the dead having caught up with him and was now sealing Zōri and Waraji, leaving only the blood stains to reveal what had happened here. The clone walked up to him and looked at him questioningly. A quick hand sign later five more clones popped into existence.

"Go and bury the dead." The clones nodded their head at the simple command and left. Naruto made the same sign and created fifty clones more. "Seal anything of value, but don't take too long. You know where I will be waiting." Naruto said before moving out, leaving the clones to their job.

A clearing in the forest 30 minutes later

Naruto was walking in circles trying to clear his thoughts as he waited for the clone with the items from Gatō's mansion to arrive. The only thing left in the mansion was a letter carrying orders to the bandits to get rid of Zabuza and the payment that went along with it. It should be enough to keep Zabuza of his back.

'I've killed people.' That thought kept running through his head. No matter how much he rationalized his actions it didn't change that simple fact. He had killed. There was no going back. He Kyūbi snort in his head.

"And if you hadn't done it, those women would have suffered until their captors grew bored of them and either threw them away or killed them, and that is if they didn't find a way to end their lives before that, flesh bag." Kyūbi said in a tone more fitting to talking to a baby.

Naruto let out a sigh as he sank down onto the forest floor and stared up at the sky. The sun would rise soon. He knew that this was probably the best option, he just didn't have to like it. The whole operation hadn't even taken an hour. He stared at the stars trying to relax. He suddenly flinched slightly when he received a bunch of memories from a group of clones he had sent to take care of the bandit camp before even going to the mansion. The clones had managed to get anyone who was not in the camp by choice out of there and planted a large amount of explosive tags around the camp. It had been extremely easy to infiltrate the camp using Henge since there were no ninjas to sense the chakra used. He stood up with a sigh, at least he wouldn't have to watch them die, he just had to send a clone to set off the tags. He was so lost in thought that he almost missed when his clone arrived. The clone handed over a large scroll, however before it could dispel it was stopped by Naruto.

"Not yet. I want you to go to the bandit camp and set off the explosive tags." He said, after receiving a nod in conformation, he began making his way back to Tazuna's house, while the clone made its way to the bandit camp.

Thirty minutes later an explosion could be heard in the distance, sounding a bit like thunder. Naruto flinched, knowing he had just ended several more lives. He sped up, wanting to get back as soon as possible so the mission would be over.

Outside Tazuna's house later that morning

Naruto landed on the ground at the forest edge. He gave a weary sigh and ran a hand through his hair as he walked towards the house. He reached the door and could hear the kid, Inari? Yelling at his teammates when he opened it.

"-'RE STILL NO MATCH TO GATŌ'S MEN! NO MATTER WHAT GLORIOUS CLAIMS YOU MAKE OR HOW HARD YOU WORK, WHEN FACING THE STRONG, THE WEAK WILL ONLY END UP GETTING KILLED!" Inari shouted with tears streaming down his eyes. Naruto sadly shook his head, the kid must have given up.

"I guess its good luck for us that Gatō isn't one of the strong then, dattebayo." He said in a tired voice as he entered the kitchen. Everyone except Kakashi jumped at the sound of his voice. As he looked at his teammates ragged appearance, apparently Kakashi had trained them quite hard just in case, he idly registered Inari's saying something, something about suffering? He shook his head. 'Suffering? Five years ago I would have swapped places with you in a heartbeat, brat.' He thought with a sad chuckle. He looked up when Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Genin Uzumaki, report." Kakashi said in a commanding tone. Naruto straightened up.

"All parameters of the mission were a success and there were no complications, dattebayo." He said as he retrieved two scrolls from under his cloak and handed them to his teacher. "The smaller scroll contains the main objective while the larger scroll contains anything of value found in the mansion, about half seems to be stolen from Wave while the other half is the actual profit the company brought in." He hesitated a bit and took a deep breath before continuing. "The secondary objective, while a success, has not been cleaned." He finished, knowing that the camp was a mess, and could easily become the reason for some disease or another. Kakashi just nodded sadly.

"Good, and don't worry… I'll take care of cleaning up…" He said. 'It's the least I could do.' He thought sadly. "Other than that… How do you feel?" Naruto looked at his hand and clenched it, and then relaxed.

"I'm… Fine, I think." He said although he sounded a bit uncertain. "I'll need some time, dattebayo." He finished lamely causing Kakashi to nod.

"I'm here if you need to talk. But right now you should rest, it's been a long night." He said. Naruto gave a grateful nod and went upstairs so sleep.

Kakashi watched as Naruto walked up the stairs with a sad look in his eye. He sighed and turned to look at the people at the table instead. Most of them had curious looks in their eyes, except for Inari who looked a bit pissed at being ignored, and Sasuke who had deemed it unimportant. Kakashi returned to eating his breakfast as if nothing had happened. A short while later Tazuna coughed slightly to get his attention.

"I got to ask, what was that about? I thought you sent him to look around the island?" Tazuna said with a curious voice. Kakashi glanced at him before putting down his meal with a sigh.

"That would be your problem with Gatō being solved." Kakashi said sadly, causing Tazuna eyes to widen and Inari to glare at him instead.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tazuna asked bewildered, but you could detect a little bit of hope in his eyes.

Kakashi picked up the smaller scroll and grabbed a crutch and started hobbling towards the door after gesturing for Tazuna to follow him. He noticed that Sakura, Tsunami and even Inari followed him as well, but decided not to say anything. Once he was outside he unrolled the scroll on the ground and unsealed its content. The reactions to Gatō's dead body were varied.

Tazuna jaw dropped and the sake bottle he had retrieved somewhere fell out of his limp hand as he stared at their tormentor.

Tsunami let out a gasp and knelt down and grabbed Inari to pull him to her chest.

Inari was frozen in shock and disbelief as he stared at his father's murderer, the man who had made life for those living on the island hell for so long.

Sakura covered her mouth with her hands and ran off towards some bushes and threw up, unable to comprehend that her teammate had KILLED someone.

Kakashi just stood there looking at the dead body sadly as he took in the shock and fear still frozen on the man's face in death. He sighed before turning to Tazuna.

"That's what I mean." He said in a grave voice.

Upstairs with Naruto

Naruto laid out his futon and lay down without bothering to remove his clothes. He tried to sleep, but his thoughts wouldn't leave him alone long enough. He sighed and sat up. Seating himself in a meditating position he started to even the pace of his breathing. Focusing his chakra in a soothing manner in various parts of the body he entered a meditative state similar to sleep, he was fully aware of everything around him, he just didn't acknowledge it. It was nowhere near as good a real sleep, but it would have to do.

'I can't wait to get back home.' He thought as he tried to deal with the memories of his first kills.

AN: Had a lot of trouble writing this one, I hope it turned out okay.

Anyway, the reason I went with the standard Wave mission is to actually try and point on the differences between canon Naruto and my Naruto. My Naruto has no thoughts on being a hero, he knows what he's trained to do, what's he's expected to do and he knows his morals, what's he's willing to do and not do and what his consequences his actions can have. One example would be Waraji and Zōri. In canon Naruto let's them live, if you read on the Wiki, they stayed in Wave to get their revenge. It's entirely possible that they would have chosen to slaughter Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari for their revenge, they are just lucky that didn't happen. Other than that my Naruto will be mostly the same as canon, only with a much more mature and realistic mindset and the ability to be serious in certain situations.

The next chapter will have some Naruto dealing with his first kills but will mostly be a flashback to when Naruto met Kyūbi and shed some light on his role in my story.

The chapter after that I will bring Fū into the picture (I got bored of waiting).

As I said in the last chapter, Jutsu can be found at naruto . wikia . com

My own Jutsus:

Tajū Karasu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Multiple Raven Shadow Clone Technique. Same as the single variant with more birds.