Fugaku was not a blind man. He was a ninja, more importantly he was an Uchiha. He could see, quite clearly, the changes in people, and the changes in his son. Sasuke had always been a smart boy, not a genius like his brother, and Fugaku often admitted had Itachi been normal or not born at all, would have been seen as a herald of the Uchiha clan. He was very talented…just not prodigious like his brother. At least, that had been the assumption he had made. But assumptions could be wrong, and an Uchiha had no shame in admitting his wrongness as long as he learned and made up from this mistake.

Sasuke was a genius….he just needed another, different type, of genius to bring about his own natural inherent talent. The Uzumaki boy was that genius. It was obvious whose son he was. That blond hair, those blue eyes, that intellect...even if his wife had not known Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato he would have known. Who did the Hokage think he was kidding? Only out of willful ignorance and denial would you not be able to connect the rather obvious clues…or perhaps lack thereof.

The boy had brought out the best in Sasuke, and it had changed him. Once his son had looked up at him in awe and reserved hope, but that seemed so distant now. Now his son looked at him in…not contempt, not fear…respect. Yes, in respect, and sudden understanding of the power he held. And yet, another understanding that soon, in a few short years, and indeed how short were those years, he would surpass the power of his father. The same look Itachi had given him around that age.

Fugaku watched as Naruto and Itachi stared at one another. Two birds of the same feather, two adults, for what else was he to call minds such as those, in the skins of children. His son Itachi watched on with interest, cold black eyes staring into sky blue pools. They were silent and their eyes roamed one another. Then suddenly, the Uzumaki boy smiled, and surprisingly his son did so in turn. Itachi hadn't smiled in years.

"I thank you, for inviting me to your home Fugaku-san."

"And I thank you, for receiving my Invitation. I hope you will find your meal delicious, I hope you will find my home adequate, I hope you will find my family pleasant and your time here enjoyable." Fugaku smiled. That was an old mantra, as old as Konoha itself, maybe even older.

The boy continued on. "Your home is wonderful. Your family far more then pleasant, and I am sure, your meal will be splendid."

"Good, good. Why don't you and Sasuke-kun go and wash up before we eat. When you return we will discuss what needs to be discussed. Do what needs to be done. By then my wife should be done. "

They were back a few minutes later, and once more the Uzumaki bowed. The meal before them was a simple one. Rice and steamed tuna, with lightly fried vegetables. He waited, as was tradition, for his guest to eat first. The boy waited as well, taking time to look at every piece of food, savor the smells, and then he smiled.

"A wonderful meal, Uchiha-sama," the blond turned to his wife, "My mouth waters at the thought of eating it." He picked up his chop sticks and slowly started to eat his meal. Fugaku followed, and afterwards his wife and children started to eat as well.

They ate in silence, and when they were done Mikoto began to pick up the plates. It was then that Fugaku decided to speak with the young blond.

"Uzumaki-san, tell me, what are your dreams?"

He stopped for a second, the boy looked at him, his blue eyes burrowing and seeking something in Fugaku before he responded.

"I want to protect my precious people. I want to become so strong that no one can touch them, I want to make them so strong that no one will even think about touching them. I want to protect Konoha and her people. I want to make my friends, and old man Hokage, proud." His voice started out strong, and stayed that way. Despite its small, high-pitched tone Fugaku could still easily tell how serious the boy took those goals.

"Those are admirable dreams, Naruto-kun." The voice was that of his son. Itachi had chosen to remain quite the entire dinner, and when he finally spoke, Fugaku could see his son's eyes peering at the Uzumaki. Their eyes locked, some deep understanding went between them, and suddenly Fugaku felt slightly lost. Set adrift at sea, an ocean of the unknown crashing down on him. His stomach wrenched. He looked at Sasuke, and he too held the same look.

"I hope you can achieve them."

"I/he will." Sasuke and Naruto spoke at the same time.

Fugaku felt lost. Something had happened here, but what? Commandeer between similar minds? A meeting of lost souls? He sighed in annoyance before casting a casual look at the clock.

"It seems it is getting rather late. Itachi, why don't you escort Naruto-kun home."

"Of course, father." His eldest son and time Naruto both stood.

"Can I go with you?"

"Alright, come along Sasuke."

Fugaku looked at his sons and the blond once more. as the three exited the room. His wife returned as they left.

"So?"

He looked at her and allowed himself a smile. "I like him, he's bound to go places. He was observing us, you know that? Judging us. I think he liked what he saw." he laughed. "He deemed us worthy of protection as one of his precious people. I couldn't understand it at first, Itachi noticed it, then Sasuke."

"Really?" His wife's voice was lightly jovial. "He wants to protect us? Maybe in the future, but now he's a child."

"That's the thing. For now he's a child, but the years are short and soon that child will be a man. What then?"

His wife was quiet for a moment. "Yes." He stood up and kissed her. "The future looks interesting."

"Are you crazy Shisui-senpai?"

"What would make you think that Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked at the massive ravine next to the training ground.

'Shisui-senpai and Jiraya-sensei have the same thinking process, Kami help me.' Naruto shook his head as he stood at the edge of a large and deep ravine next to the training ground. It looked truly menacing and he seriously believed was going to die if he slipped and fell from here.

"You know I'm still nine years old, right Shisui-senpai?"

"I'm not crazy Naruto-kun. Now that you're done with your conditioning, we are now training to use all the muscles you need to reach speeds you couldn't even dream of before. A major part of incorporating the shunshin into your fighting is the ability to feint and move in unpredictable patterns around an opponent. You need strong limbs able to latch on to most surfaces and bounce off in the same instant. So, in addition to your usual workouts, you will be climbing down to the bottom of this ravine and back up several times, not just facing up, but also facing left, right, and down at random intervals. You will need to get used to the effect gravity will have on your body from any direction. Now get your ass down there."

Naruto gulped and began slowly easing himself over the edge….and promptly yelped in surprise as he slipped off with no warning.

It was only by luck he managed to grab onto a thin ledge below him before he fell any farther into the 2 kilometer deep ravine.

"Oi! Are you trying to have me killed?!" he shouted out loud as he managed to pull himself up by just his fingers onto the ledge.

"Oh, and to master this level, you must be able to make it to the bottom and back up in under ten minutes each time, in whatever direction I tell you to face as you climb. We will keep this up until you can do it ten times in a row, then we'll move on to the next level."

"DAMN YOU!" was heard echoing from a lonely ravine in the middle of a forest outside Konohagakure.

One month later, same place

Naruto was resting on his backside at the top of the ravine, panting heavily. He thought it was impossible, but he managed to climb down to the bottom and back up in under ten minutes, in any direction he faced, more than ten times in a row. He had just established a new personal best of six minutes and twenty seconds.

"Did I say we'd be done with this? We only got you up to a passable enough level. You still need a lot more work to make this style fast and deadly. You only completed the first level, my kouhai"

Naruto groaned loudly.

"Naruto, let's have some fun. Try jumping as high as you can into those trees." Kurama commented

The blonde raised an eyebrow. He certainly did feel stronger and more agile, but did he really improve that much?

Only one way to find out.

He quickly got up and ran toward the treeline into the forest beyond. As he neared, he jumped as hard as he could, and was promptly shocked to find himself high in the air and zipping straight at a tree trunk. Instinctively, he twisted his body just in time to latch onto it lightly with all fours before instantly jumping off again toward another trunk. He repeated this several time, marveling at how easy it was to do this, before he finally grabbed on to a high tree branch and flipped under and up to land on it smoothly.

"See Naruto? Am I a great teacher or what?" Shisui boasted he flickered next to him.

Naruto ignored him.

Shisui's eyebrow twitched. "Ignoring me eh? Give me another repetition of the ravine exercise, right now!"

A small indigo-haired girl with pale eyes could be seen pushing through some bushes in the dense forest.

Hyuuga Hinata was slowly making her way toward the clearing where her friend Naruto was training, and she was carrying an oversized bento. She knew her friend was out there training again and that he wouldn't have any lunch with him as usual.

After that unfortunate incident with her first bento five months ago, she felt so responsible and guilty even with Naruto's reassurances. She then strove to improve her cooking as quickly as possible and, soon afterward, she was able to make decent meals. Hanabi now made requests for their lunches together and she enjoyed anything her older sister cooked so far.

Even their stoic father seemed to be visibly looking forward to whatever meal Hinata made these days now.

When she found out from Naruto that he was training out here, she decided to make a bento lunch for him once or twice every week. The first time she showed up in front of Naruto with the lunch, she was stunned when he immediately took the box and dug in.

Even though she knew she improved, she thought Naruto would be wary of her cooking after the last time, but he just ate it all without any hesitation. It was at that moment she became very happy and was nearly fainting from overjoy when he yelled 'It's so good!' to the entire world in the clearing.

Even now, her heart still raced whenever he smiled brightly at the sight of her approaching with lunch for him.

Shaking out of her thoughts, she saw she was getting close to the clearing, and decided to use her Byakugan to check if it was okay for her to get closer. After searching a little, she noticed Naruto standing at the edge of the ravine with her zoomed-in vision, he was around 400 meters away. She figured he was finished with that dangerous exercise. She always was apprehensive when she watched him training, thinking this could hurt or even kill him at any moment.

She frowned when she watched Naruto walk back up to the very edge of the ravine. Her eyes then widened in surprise as she gasped when Naruto suddenly jumped up into the air and seemed to be 'diving' into the ravine. Her body broke into a run before she even realized it and she was panting in panic as she burst onto the clearing, making a beeline for where Naruto jumped off. Somehow she held on to the bento she was holding through all of this.

As she was about to reach the ravine, she yelped in shock and fell back onto her backside when a yellow blur jumped up high into the air from the ravine. She craned her neck to see what it was and almost broke into tears of relief when she saw it was Naruto as he did an acrobatic flip in the air before landing gently on the ground facing away from her.

"Wow! I got to the bottom and back up here in less than 5 minutes! That's amazing!" he yelled loudly to no one in particular, not noticing that Hinata was still on her backside behind him staring at the jubilant blonde in shock. It was a few more long seconds before he finally smelled lavender in the air and knew that scent to be Hinata's shampoo.

He stopped celebrating and took a glance around to finally notice his friend sitting on the ground behind him in dumbfounded shock, her white eyes and light pink lips trembling. It took him a moment to understand exactly what could have happened. He assumed he probably scared her badly and hoped to play it off as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

He glanced into the trees and saw Shisui giving him the thumbs up before flickering away.

"Um…sorry?" he tried before a crying bluenette tackled him to the ground hard.

"Don't do that! That scared me to death!" she tried to angrily say, but she was just too relieved to see her friend all right. She let herself cry for a moment on Naruto's chest as he guiltily patted her on her back. She finally sat up, straddling his torso as he laid flat on the ground.

"What dangerous thing were you doing just now?!" she almost growled with a frown as she looked down at the still-sheepish Naruto. Hinata's usual stutter had all but disappeared in the time she spent with Naruto and her new friends. Now she would only stutter when she was extremely nervous.

To say her father was slightly ecstatic about Naruto's effects on Hinata would be to say Senju Tsunade had a slight gambling problem. Even if he didn't show it.

"Hehe, I climbed down to the bottom and back up in under five minutes! I can't believe how fast I did that!" Naruto exclaimed with an excited smile. Hinata had to smile at his attitude about all of this. She wondered just how much stronger he was going to be even just 5 years from now on.

One half of her liked, even found it very attractive, that he could be very powerful. The other half just dreaded it, since it would mean he'd likely attract attention from enemies. She feared for his safety in the future.

"Hinata-chan…?" Naruto's gentle voice broke the bluenette out of her thoughts. "Sorry, but if you don't mind, can you get off? I can't move." he tried to ask delicately. It took the Hyuuga heiress a second to realize she was still straddling her friend, and jumped off with a blush.

"S-s-sorry about that. I forgot." she mumbled in embarrassment, her stutter coming back briefly. Naruto simply defused any awkwardness when he got up and made a beeline for the bento sitting on the ground nearby. He then earnestly began eating his lunch, and Hinata joined in with a happy smile a moment later.

As she was eating her half of the lunch, she noticed that her friend seemed to be staring at her somewhat. She began to blush and wondered what he was thinking.

"Naruto-kun, is there a reason why y-you are staring at me?" she timidly asked as she stared down at her bento, too shy to meet Naruto's steady gaze. She heard him chuckle slightly and knew he was doing his usual sheepish gesture.

"Sorry about that, Hinata-chan. I've seen all the other female Hyuugas and you're the only one with short hair. I was just thinking how you'd look with long hair and I think it's easy to imagine you like that. You'd look great, I'm sure." Naruto said, thinking of the Hinata he met after returning from his training trip in the previous timeline.

Hinata's blush intensified as she wondered if he preferred long-haired girls. Truth be told, she thought about growing her hair out some and she now felt more reassured that Naruto could imagine her with a style like that.

"Ano…Father was saying he would like to see you and see how you're doing. Hanabi-chan has been asking the same, too. It's been a few weeks since you came by our place, so how about I make dinner and you come over tonight?" she offered. Naruto allowed his usual bright smile and nodded.

"Is there anything specific you'd like?" she inquired, wanting to make whatever Naruto was in the mood for. The blonde had to take a moment and think, before inspiration struck him. He barely managed to hide his mischievous smile as he made his request.

Hinata brightened up at the fact she would have an easy time making this dish and make it as delicious as she could, but she'd make sure.

"Are you sure, Naruto-kun? I could do something more complicated."

"That's what I'm in the mood for, Hinata-chan. I'm sure your family would absolutely love this too." Naruto assured, his lips almost twitching at what he was planning.

Later at the Hyuuga Main House

Hiashi's left eye twitched as he had on a very stony expression, trying not to betray his displeasure at this development to those around him. In front of him on the dining table sat a plate. It was a very simple entrée, and he was sure that Hinata cooked this very well with her developing but already excellent cooking skills. Everyone else at the table would eat this and call it great tasting; all except for him.

Hiashi's eye twitched again as he stared down at the abomination on the plate with barely restrained contempt. The entrée combined two things he disliked the most, cheese and eggs, into one to make a large and cheesy omelet with rice on the side. Naruto's eyes caught Hiashi's slight contempt for his dinner and had to hold back a smile. He'd enjoy watching this.

Hinata had just finished setting the plates down for Naruto and Hanabi sitting to Hiashi's left at the large table before she sat down between her father and Naruto. The blonde was chatting quietly with Hanabi about what she had began to learn in her recent lessons with the Gentle Fist.

Hiashi hated having to do this, but he would pretend that he forgot he ate earlier and was still feeling full. He hoped to get out of eating this…this abomination. Unfortunately for the Hyuuga clan head, Naruto seemed to have excellent timing.

"Oh…Hinata-chan, this looks so good! I can tell your dad's going to love this, and I bet he's really hungry too. I haven't seen him eat anything since I got here long ago," Naruto exclaimed innocently to Hinata's reddening face, though Hiashi swore he saw a ghost of a mischievous smirk on the boy's lips. His eye twitched again at the boy's rather 'convenient' statement. He wondered if the boy planned this.

It shouldn't have been possible though, since very few knew of his immense dislike for eggs and cheese.

Any thought of getting out of this disappeared when Hinata's expression slowly lit up with innocent expectation as she stared at her father.

He almost sighed in defeat as he gently clapped his hands together and annoucned 'Itadakimasu' to officially begin the dinner. The sisters and Naruto immediately dug in, and Hiashi was stalling for time as he slowly picked the chopsticks up. While Naruto ate, he was discreetly keeping an eye on Hiashi's face for his expressions.

Hiashi caught this and realization came to him as he frowned slightly at the boy who gave a barely visible grin.

"You little bastard…you took your time getting back at me for the incident with Hinata's first bento." He had to admit he wasn't expecting this and almost allowed a smirk at the boy's deviousness. He was caught in this with Hinata's expectant eyes boring into him for his approval and Naruto ready to cut any escape route off with his timely 'innocent' comments.

I'll have to graciously accept defeat. Hiashi determined as he slowly began to take his bites, making sure to nod his approval to Hinata. He was able to feel himself turn green underneath his stony demeanor and barely held his gag reflex back. It was a long and tortuous fifteen minutes, made worse by Naruto's hidden smirk that only Hiashi saw.

When it was done, the clan head sat very still…afraid to move lest he might do something unsightly in front of his daughters. It will not do to have them see their father in a less than stellar light.

Hinata and Hanabi were beginning to get concerned about their father's nonresponse to anything when Naruto decided to spare his host any further discomfort.

"Oi, how about we play a couple games in one of your rooms?" he suggested. Hiashi was relieved at the prankster's surprising kindness as the girls nodded. The kids then all got up to head into another room.

As soon as they left, Hiashi quickly stood and briskly walked to the nearest bathroom, almost knocking over a hallway table on the way.

Meanwhile

"How was the meeting, Itachi-kun?"

The Anbu kneeling on the floor of the Hokage's office reached up and removed his mask.

"Not good, Hokage-sama. The clan elders plan to eliminate you, and the youth follow them."

"But." He continued, "The main driving force was the Uchiha patriarch, my father. And it seems that he has had a change of heart. The Uchiha are now divided, the youth that believe that they alone can bring a better tomorrow for the clan, and the veterans who do not wish to spark the flames of conflict and battle once again."

"If what you say is true, then we will not have need for the operation." Hiruzen sighed in relief.

"I will send word to your father. For now, wait, wait and watch."

"Hai. Hokage-sama."

Danzo Shimura, listening from outside the door, gritted his teeth in anger.

Returning to root headquarters, he called to his agents.

"Gather the men. It seems that the previous plan has fallen through. We shall take control by force. Contact the snake, and prepare my weapons."

Danzo barked orders as he walked through the facility, hidden right under the village.

"I want preparations to be done within a month. I want our full force back here in Konoha, and I want traps and agents in every corner of the Uchiha district."

Grabbing his Naginata, he smirked evilly.

"I shall slaughter the red-eyed monkeys personally."