Naruto: Uchiha no Densetsu

Chapter 14: Kuro Shi

Once Itachi finished accounting the details of his team's mission, he stood quietly in his place, awaiting further orders from the Hokage.

"And you're certain you were told that it was the Tsuchikage who had authorized an attack on your unit?" Minato asked impassively, to get the facts straight. Based on the details provided by Itachi, it certainly added further backbone to the information he received from his sensei. His face portrayed the disbelief as even he hadn't expected Ohnoki to make a move against Konoha so soon. Similar thoughts were racing through the minds of Shikaku as well as Tsunade.

"Minato, we have to start building medical outpost or assign a medical ninja at all of our Patrol outposts near the borders of Hi no Kuni. Considering the stunt which Ohnoki pulled, I wouldn't be surprised if he has more of his shinobi scouting our borders which we don't already know of. And if fighting does ensue on the borders, a medical ninja or a team will be helpful in saving the lives." Tsunade advised wisely. The dreadful memories from the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars were still fresh in her mind. Had Konoha accepted her suggestion to form a medical unit in those times, maybe… maybe her brother, Nawaki and lover, Dan could still be alive. Tsunade sighed as she realized that there's point in bringing those memories up at this point. Minato glanced towards the Slug Sannin and nodded his head approvingly. He understood what the woman meant and felt. He had heard from his sensei about the loss Tsunade had gone through.

"You don't need to worry Tsunade-sama. I will let you choose which personnel would be best suited to send to the borders. Although, sending a team to each outpost would be difficult right now. I believe, one medical ninja per outpost seems more plausible currently. We can't send inexperienced shinobi to the frontlines so soon." Minato replied, easing Tsunade's worries. A few minutes later, both Itachi and Tsunade left the Hokage's office to get back to their work. Minato glanced towards Shikaku who had been awfully quiet since the arrival of Itachi.

"What's your opinion, Shikaku?" Minato asked curiously.

"I assume, you came to the same conclusion?" asked the Nara Clan head calmly. Making a single hand seal, Minato activated the privacy seals in the room.

"Hai. Even though I'm certain that Itachi isn't telling us false news, it's a bit hard to believe that Ohnoki took such a direct approach, all by himself. If he is already amassing his shinobi near the borders of Takigakure, Kiba no Kuni and Kusagakure, it doesn't do him any good to attack a single Konoha Anbu team in the Land of Birds. Moreover, Anbu missions are strictly confidential and if Ohnoki had knowledge of such information, there is only one thing I can assume. We have a…" Minato voiced his thoughts.

"We have a traitor or a spy among our ranks." Shikaku concluded. Minato gave a slight nod as he too had the same thought in his mind.

"I have a feeling that Danzo is colluding with the Tsuchikage to bring down Konoha. It's not beneath him to do so. When Sarutobi-sama disbanded the Root, he also made Danzo hand over the root shinobi under his command. At least, that's what Danzo made him believe. Those shinobi were then reinstated into the regular Anbu forces. And there's no telling how many of them are still secretly working for Danzo." Minato stated as he walked behind his chair and towards the window. As he looked over the village, he had a bad feeling building up within himself. He knew there was a storm coming and Konoha could very fall, if they are not well prepared. Despite having several powerful shinobi in their village, if caught off guard, there's no telling what could happen.

"Then the possibility of Danzo working with Orochimaru is also very plausible. Considering how both Orochimaru and Danzo fled the village on accounts of treason, its not very fetched." Shikaku stated.

"I was thinking along the same lines. But, there are too many factors in play right now. Danzo was an elder in the village and a veteran shinobi who had access to several highly classified information. He knows the village in and out. Whereas Orochimaru, despite the type of shinobi he's become, is very resourceful and tactful. If there is a scenario where the two are working together, we need to start looking for Orochimaru soon. I'm certain we'll find some sort of connection between the two." Minato explained. Shikaku nodded after listening to the Hokage's sound judgement.

"How do you wish to proceed?" Shikaku questioned with seriousness etched on his scarred face. Those who didn't know the man personally may see it as rather odd for Shikaku have such urgency in his behavior. There may not be an imminent threat to Konoha as such but given the time the possibility for a war between the Earth and Fire Nation seemed more plausible if the events unfolded the way they have been. And both Minato and Shikaku understood that clearly.

"Shikaku, I want you, Yamato and Ibiki to personally lead the investigation to search for the spy or traitor within the Anbu division. Word of this matter must not reach to anyone else. While I won't be taking any militaristic measures against Ohnoki right now, we can't let his actions go unpunished. In the upcoming Jounin meeting, I will make it clear to our shinobi to kill any Iwagakure shinobi on sight, if they are found trespassing on Hi no Kuni's land. I will also ask Jiraiya-sensei to gather more intel regarding Iwagakure's movements around Takigakure, Kusagakure and Kiba no Kuni. Other than that, we'll just have to wait and see what actions are taken by them. While they are busy with that, I will try looking into Orochimaru myself." Minato replied gravely. As he noticed the sun illuminating the village in it's warm glow, he wished if Konoha could remain this picturesque forever. Sadly, it was just a fleeting thought.

"You should rest, Minato. I heard from Mikoto that you haven't been at home lately. You will tire yourself out if you keep working continuously." Shikaku said out concern, as he gave his friend a small smile. Looking back at his friend, Minato's shoulders slumped a little as he realized he hadn't stepped in his house for the past four days.

"I look that bad huh?" sighed Minato tiredly. It was a tiring job indeed. The mountains of paperwork, the meetings with officials, the important decisions he generally must make… being a Hokage seemed much simpler to him before he took the position.

"You can leave some of the work to me at times. I'm your advisor… it's my job to help you after all. And it would be rather troublesome, if our Hokage dies because of stress." Shikaku remarked with his ever-present bored expression. Minato chuckled on hearing that and felt a tad bit lighter.

"I will take that under consideration…" Minato joked as he proceeded to sit in his chair. Despite the current predicament they were in, he couldn't wait to go home and speak to Naruto about his experience on his first mission. He was a father after all and any it was natural for him to be worried about his son. Soon enough Shikaku bid his farewell and left to talk with Ibiki and Yamato regarding the sensitive matter at hand.

Namikaze Compound

It was still early morning, so when Naruto entered the house, he made it a point to be quiet when walking upstairs to his room. Having slept last night for a while, he didn't consider sleeping among his priorities right now. He had already placed all his Anbu gear back at the headquarters and was now clothed in a grey t-shirt, black Anbu pants along with a black kimono on top of it. As he walked to his room, he passed by Mikoto's bedroom and noticed it was slightly cracked open. Glancing through the door for a brief second, a small smile formed on his face as he saw her sleeping form. It made him truly glad to see that his aunt was contently asleep. She was the closest figure he had to a mother. The members of the Anbu, regardless of the village, are expected to always work in the shadows and thus mistakes on the field are never tolerated. Due to such reasons, every prospective member is made to go through an intensive training program to make them familiarize with the strict methods followed. And, since he had to go through all the protocols in a short period of time, he rarely got any time to come home.

Deciding to leave her be, he quietly proceeded to his own room. Soon as he entered, Naruto fell on his bed, enjoying the warmth and softness it provided. It was certainly much better than the rock-hard mattresses that he was given to sleep on, in the Anbu headquarters. Putting his arms below his head, he rested comfortably as his mind wandered off to the events that he witnessed during his mission. It had pained his heart to see the dead corpses of hundreds of shinobi in Amegakure. Despite his young age, he understood what death and love meant. At times, he cursed his own ability to feel other people's emotions to some extent. Having to know and understand such intricate things often tired his young mind. Even with all the power he possessed, Naruto understood that he alone couldn't solve everything. His level of power wasn't enough. He needed to become stronger. From his past experiences, however brief they were, he learned that the shinobi world respected and feared power. If he could augment his power more, the blond had little doubt that there wasn't anything he couldn't do. Moreover, the large chakra signatures he had felt while crossing the Land of Rain were certainly disturbing. Some of the chakra he had sensed from there were downright repulsive. Sitting upright, he sighed as his mind went into overdrive. Shaking such thoughts off his mind, he decided to go train for a while. It wouldn't do him any good to sit around ideally and dwell on such matters.

A few moments later, Naruto now sat cross legged in a meditative pose in the training ground behind the main house of the Namikaze compound. As the seconds gradually ticked, he began hovering over the ground by manipulating the gravity around himself. In the past few months, he barely had any luck in discovering much about the rinnegan. The only abilities he seemed to know of yet was the gravity manipulation, chakra absorption technique and the ability to summon various animals. There was so much about his two doujutsu that he still didn't understand. Even after reading the contents of the stone tablet in the Naka shrine, he hadn't gotten any far. Once he reached a height of fifteen meters above the ground, he stopped as a thin layer of chakra covered his body. Subsequently, he began extending his sensory abilities in all directions to try and further his range, since his senses only extended up to a radius of thirty-five miles. His troubled mind calmed down relatively as he began feeling the life force around himself. It was truly beautiful. He remained like that for the next twenty minutes or so when he abruptly fell on the ground.

"Ow… ow…" cursed Naruto as he nursed his head. Standing up and dusting the little dirt that was on his shirt, he stretched his arms to relieve himself of the slight soreness he felt in his arm.

'Seems like, I still can't maintain it for too long.' Thought the blond dejectedly. However, a few seconds later, his eyes widened ever so slightly when an arbitrary thought crossed his mind. He had never tried to manipulate more than one element at a single time. He wondered if he could try adding the gravity manipulation to any of his jutsus or rather on himself. Upon closing his eyes, he manipulated the gravity around himself to make himself lighter. He smirked as he could barely feel any weight on himself. Even the gravity seals that Jiraiya had placed on him years earlier did not seem to affect him at all. Arching forward slightly, he pushed off from the spot in a blur, creating several cracks on the ground. Although his smirk soon faded when he found himself crash into the wall that stood right in front of him.

'Well, did not expect that to happen…' mused the blond, rather annoyingly as he once again picked himself from the ground.

"Well, what do you expect? You only awakened the rinnegan a few months ago. It's a power unlike anything else. It would certainly take you a good while to a hang of it's abilities." Kurama snickered. It was amusing for the fox to see Naruto struggle with something finally. For an entity who had lived for over two millennia, even he had never come across someone who was so tuned with chakra. He was certain given some time, his host would far surpass the legends such as Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha and perhaps the Rikudo Sennin too. But, at the same time, it alarmed Kurama at how fast Naruto's power increasing. Naruto's own chakra levels would soon surpass his own.

'Yeah… yeah. Laugh it up while you can.' Naruto huffed. Yet, he felt a little giddy at the prospect of doing something new. He then began wondering if he could try manipulating two or more elements together, to create sub-elements. He had read about several jutsus that combined two or more elements together. The most prominent being the Mokuton in the Land of Fire, which combined Suiton and Doton natured chakra. Though, it might be near impossible for him replicate kekkei genkai jutsus, he mused it was worth a try. Even the thought of using senjutsu chakra in conjugation with his normal jutsus or using senjutsu chakra solely with yin and yang manipulation crossed his mind. But he was also aware that to accomplish such feats he would need years more of practice despite having stupendous chakra control. A smirk framed his face as he realized he knew just the way through which he could get decades worth of training done in relatively five or six years. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard someone's footsteps approaching him. Turning around, he was mildly surprised to see Sasuke standing behind him in his training gear, which consisted of dark blue pants, black shinobi sandals and a dark gray colored t-shirt with the Uchiha Clan symbol on the back.

"Oh, it's you…" Naruto commented with a rather bored expression.

"So, when did you get back? And what was that thing you were trying to do?" Sasuke asked as calmly as he could. But, seeing the blond hover in midair and the speed with which he saw Naruto move had piqued his interest highly. He wondered if it had anything to do with that right eye of his. When he asked the Hokage about Naruto's newly awakened power, he was just told that it's a unique doujutsu which can only be awakened by those who are a direct descendent of the fabled Rikudo Sennin. The fact had left Sasuke dumbfounded but he found himself to accept the fact that his fellow clansman was special.

"Huh? I'm surprised as to how much you have changed, Sasuke." Naruto replied with a smile. He could read the Uchiha in front of him like an open book and it warmed him that Sasuke had taken his advice.

"Well, I have been training myself to the ground everyday while you were gone. I have become much stronger." Sasuke stated with air of superiority. Naruto chuckled on seeing that some habits of his hadn't changed at all. He thought about asking him regarding Hinata and the others but stopped himself. He didn't even know if she still thought about him and honestly that thought scared him. But, he reassured himself that staying away from them was the best choice for now.

"So, do you want to train together? I don't have any missions for a few days and we both could improve greatly…" Naruto asked his fellow Uchiha. He hadn't trained with him all that much, but he could feel how much Sasuke had grown since their last spar in the academy. Sasuke simply smirked and settled into his taijutsu stance.

Two years later

An uneasy silence had reigned over the Elemental Nations in the past two years. The only noticeable event that transpired within that period was the start of a civil war in Mizu no Kuni that was initiated by Yagura, the Yondaime Mizukage. Apparently, the peace loving Mizukage suddenly began butchering people who possessed a Kekkei Genkai. The news that travelled around the Elemental Nations was that Yagura began viewing people with Kekkei Genkai as impure and thus began cleansing Mizu no Kuni of their dirt. Fighting against the Mizukage and his loyalists were a large group of resistance which was led by Mei Terumi, an elite jounin of Kirigakure.

Kumogakure despite having little to no interaction with any of the other four major villages only looked to increase their military power while Iwagakure who once looked to amass several of their shinobi in Kusagakure and near the borders of Takigakure had greatly dwindled their forces in those areas. While Kusagakure was now officially a part of Tsuchi no Kuni, there were only a handful of Iwa shinobi in that village now. Sunagakure, who were financially troubled in the past due to having less missions had a new treaty agreement with Konohagakure. According to the agreement between the two nations, ten percent of the A-Rank or higher-class missions given to Konoha would be handed to Sunagakure in exchange for setting up new trade routes within the Wind Nation and five percent of the profit Kaze no Kuni earned through the sale of Gold Dust produced by the Yondaime Kazekage.

Currently, in the Konoha Academy, Kakashi and Kurenai stood at distance under the shade of a tree as they oversaw several students practicing their elemental manipulation. Over the past two years, all the students were made to go through the most basic exercises in elemental manipulation. Based on their chakra nature, the student would either try to burn, damp, crumble, wrinkle or cut the leaf in half. While most of the students had understood the concept behind the exercise and even learnt to execute it perfectly, there were still some students who lacked adequate chakra control to complete the exercise properly. While it wasn't necessary for a shinobi to use elemental ninjutsu, it was viewed customary for one to at least have the basic manipulation of their chakra natures mastered.

"How did your mission go last week, Kurenai?" Kakashi asked casually while his eyes remained glued to the small book on his hand. Ever since Iwagakure's attack on team Ro Han, Konoha had increased Hi no Kuni's border security by having a team of five jounin weekly scout the surrounding border near Kusagakure, Takigakure and the Kiba no Kuni for any threats.

"It was the same as last month's. No Iwagakure shinobi were spotted. Just a few shinobi from Takigakure, Sunagakure and several other minor villages who were crossing over for business. If everything goes on smoothly for the next three or four months, I believe the stress will be slightly relieved. It has been over a year and a half since Iwa shinobi made any irregular movements." Kurenai replied with sigh. It had been really tiring for her to go on missions so frequently. Along with her added task of teaching the students in the academy and even some children from major clans, she rarely got any time for herself or with Asuma. It had only been a few months she since she started dating her jounin, but she was extremely content with him.

"I know what you mean… it was surprising to know that Iwagakure did not make any further move against us. I was sure that we would lunge into another war. However, I don't think the Tsuchikage simply backed off without a reason…" Kakashi stated speculatively. But he didn't think much on the topic as his eyes fell on Sasuke who was talking to Hinata. He was visibly pleased with the improvements that all the students had shown the last few years, but he doubted if most of them could handle the extremities of a war between two nations. Despite having more skill than regular academy students, none of them had come across the horrors of a fight apart from Hinata and Sakura. Kurenai who had become silent for a while followed the masked ninja's gaze towards Sasuke and Hinata.

"Hmm… I wonder what those two might be talking about. Sasuke rarely ever talks to anyone other than Hinata or Sakura." Kurenai said with mild curiosity. Although, she might appear to have a cold attitude towards many, she did enjoy the occasional banter and gossip with her friends.

"I doubt its anything what you're thinking." Kakashi replied with a raised eyebrow. He was amused by the fact that Kurenai might think along those lines. But he was aware how close the Hyuga girl was to Naruto. He had only spoken to the budding kunoichi a couple of times and he had to admit Hinata would look a complete stunner in a few years.

'Jiraiya-sama would never leave those two alone if anything like that happens…' thought Kakashi with a perverted giggle. Suddenly he found himself ducking, as his eyes travelled to Kurenai and from the looks of her he wondered if she somehow read his mind.

"You damn pervert… And you accuse me of saying such things. One day I would love to burn that Icha-Icha books of yours. I don't understand why men reach such smut." Kurenai seethed with narrowed eyes.

"Hey… hey… Calm down would you… look everyone is looking at you." Kakashi commented with an amused chuckle. Upon quickly noticing that several students were now staring at her, she had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. She sent a glare towards her fellow jounin for putting her in such a position. Meanwhile, Kakashi still hadn't moved his lone eye from his book. Kurenai just huffed slightly turned to look the other way, pretending to ignore everything that had happened just now.

"Man, this is such a drag. I'd rather be laying down somewhere under the sun." Shikamaru expressed his thoughts with a lazy yawn. He was holding two leaves in each of his hand which showed signs of burn. Slumping down on the ground he once again yawned lazily and kept his arms on the ground behind himself for support. Following his lead, several of students rested on the ground after keeping at the elemental manipulation for almost two hours now.

"I just don't get it why the Hokage had to increase the graduation age just to give us more training. It just seems like a bother. I'd rather be training in my clan's jutsu…" Kiba yelled scratching his hair. Choji seemed to agree with the ninken user as he gave a slight nod. Despite having learnt the basic manipulation for his chakra nature, everyone was made to the same exercises repeatedly. And the fact that he hadn't eaten anything in over two hours was beginning to make him feel extremely hungry. He never really could think straight on an empty stomach.

"There could be a number of reasons for such measures. The one which makes the most sense to me is that Hokage-sama wants the new generation of shinobi to be prepared for something in the future." Shino added tactfully. Like many others he too had wondered about the Hokage's decision and upon inquiring with his father who was rather close to the Yondaime, that was the only conclusion he could come upon. Also, it would make sense that they did not have the clear picture because, a most of the vital information is only given to chunin or higher-class shinobi.

Sasuke, Hinata and Sakura who were sitting a little farther away from Shikamaru, Kiba and Shino had overheard their conversation. While Sasuke knew to some extent regarding the reason behind their extraneous training, he knew it wasn't his place to reveal anything. He suspected Hinata might know a little, but he wasn't too sure about Sakura. While the girl was smart and somewhat better than most kunoichi, she did not seem mentally strong. At least that's what he thought. But tried never to judge the girl just on her appearances.

"Idiots… They are just wasting their time talking about that. We will not be told of anything until we become genin anyway." Sasuke stated calmly.

"Well, not everyone is as smart as you Sasuke-kun!" retorted the pink haired girl. She giggled lightly on seeing Sasuke grunt but did not push him any further. Hinata sighed seeing the mood between her two friends. She was content with how things were progressing in her life. But still she could never feel complete. She knew the reason of course, but always suppressed any thoughts or feelings about him. She had come to terms with the fact that whatever relation she had with him in the past would never be the same if she did ever see him again. She just didn't know how soon it would be that she'd see her.

"Hey, who do you think our sensei will be? We have already been assigned our teams and only two years are left for us to graduate." Chirped Sakura. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the girl excited behavior.

"Well, it wouldn't really matter. I have heard Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai and Gai are all considered powerful shinobi. So long as we get strong, that's all that matters." Sasuke replied. After his frequent training sessions with Naruto, he could feel that he had grown immensely whether be it his physical strength or his chakra. He had even learned a few Katon jutsus from Itachi and some Raiton ones from Naruto. But the most prominent improvement was his sharingan. He could now use it for long periods of time without tiring himself and the drain on his chakra felt negligible. Moreover, he wanted to get strong enough to kill Danzo. The hatred he felt inside himself for that man had only increased since that night.

"You're no fun, Sasuke-kun. You don't have to seem angry all the time…" Sakura joked. Sasuke merely avoided the statement and got up to get back to training. After about four hours, when the academy had ended for the day, Mizuki walked into the classroom Iruka was sitting in and handed him a file.

"Hokage-sama has sent this file that contains the information about the location of the next training exercises the students will be taken to." He said lazily. Iruka eagerly took the file and quickly scanned through the contents.

"Thanks, Mizuki. I was waiting for this." Replied Iruka kindly.

One week Later

A shinobi dressed in black full sleeved jumper and black gloves with grey flack jacket over it jumped from the branch of one tree to another without giving himself a break. His blond hair flapped slightly every time he jumped. Currently, the washi masked Anbu was on his way to check out a small town bordering near the Land of Hot Springs. There were reports which stated the appearance of several hostile Kirigakure shinobi who supported the Yondaime Mizukage. Apparently, the Kiri shinobi had been terrorizing the people of the town by stealing their resources, money and even blowing up parts of the town if the people refused. Since the town had little to no ninja populace, they had hastily sent out a request to Konoha for aid. His orders were to eliminate all the people responsible for creating this mess and bring their heads back to Konoha as proof of success. Even with the mask on, one could say that the blond had a serious look on his face.

As he quickly began covering more ground, his mind drifted back to the past two years. He was saddened when he heard that Shisui retired from the Anbu and now held the rank of an elite jounin within the village. Konoha had also stabilized itself from the attempted coup de tat over two years ago and had a fair amount of well trained shinobi on the field. It certainly wouldn't bode well for the village or Hi no Kuni if Konoha began declining missions. From what he had heard from Shisui, he was mainly helping out Mikoto in political affairs and with the duties of Uchiha Clan head. There were honestly way too much paperwork. Even apart from that, Shisui and Itachi rarely stayed in the village due to the number of high ranking missions they were assigned.

Despite team Ro losing a valuable member, they had completed all their assigned mission with a hundred percent success. However, there were instances where individual members of the team were sent to get the job done discreetly. In the past two years, Naruto had grown tremendously, both in terms of power and height. Due to the intense training that Naruto always immersed himself in, his body had grown to a good height of five feet and even developed lean muscles. He was glad that he wasn't the shortest member in his team anymore. He was frankly tired of all the midget jokes that many in the Anbu cracked. Despite all the banter, everyone in the Anbu had come to respect him for his own power rather than just viewing him as the Hokage's son. He didn't really mind it all that much, but there were times when he found himself irked at that. But, it wasn't something that he couldn't handle.

After a few more hours of travelling, he came upon a hill from where he could overlook the small town. From what he had roughly heard, the town comprised of several multi floored building for businesses, residential houses and a few parks for children here and there. But looking at it now, he was surprised to see that at least half the town seemed destroyed with rubble from the broken-down buildings scattered all around. He assumed that those were from explosion tags since ninja wouldn't need to use excessive force against civilians. Crouching down, he touched the ground with one of his fingers and then stood up.

"Should be easy enough. These Kiri shinobi seem to be few in numbers." Naruto said to himself as he thought of a quick plan to kill all of them. He then proceeded to jump from atop the hill and made it straight towards the location of the Yagura Loyalists. He quickly ran towards the town and jumped over the wall surrounding it discreetly. Taking to the rooftops for added cover, he made his way towards the tallest building in the middle of the town. As his eyes now laid on the building, he found himself appreciating the beauty of the building. The building was four stories tall and demonstrated a shoin style which stated it belonged to an aristocrat. He also had to admit he was relatively impressed with how the Kiri shinobi were handling the people in this town. It was a little after two in the noon and the people in the street went about their daily business as it were a normal day. He then realized that the shinobi must have casted a genjutsu over the population to make them look the other way. Considering that only about a couple hundred lived in this town, it was certainly possible. A few seconds later he was now standing on the rooftop of building where his targets were.

'So, all it took was six shinobi to capture a small town of civilians.' Naruto thought with a sigh. He had lost count of how many such missions he had already come to. Over the past two years, he had protected and assassinated numerous ministers, shinobi, business man all for the sake of Konoha. There were times when he wondered if what he was doing was right or not. People have different idea behind the term peace or freedom. While to some it may seem that he's protecting his home, to the others he was just a butcher. These Kiri shinobi might not be here in this town right now, if there wasn't a civil war going in Mizu no Kuni. There wouldn't be animosity between Iwagakure or Konohagakure or between any other for that if not for the past three shinobi wars. Eventually, even the notion whether shinobi should exist or not crossed his mind. But he never thought about the matter deeper. He was born a shinobi and he doubted if he could give up what he is. Despite all the countless conundrums that always plagued his mind, he knew he would do anything to see his precious home safe.

Deciding to take the direct route, Naruto landed a strong punch on the floor, causing it break and fall on to the floor. He could hear the shinobi inside regaining their senses upon the untimely collapse of the roof and get into position to apprehend the perpetrator. As the dust from the rubble settled down, Naruto jumped into the middle of the group who were too shocked to see a young boy.

"What the hell is this? A kid?" yelled a tall brown-haired man. He wore dark blue pants, white shirt and a light gray jacket on top. But probably the most prominent feature about the man were the large talisman that hung from his ears. He had his katana gripped in his hand tightly, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"Konoha must have grown weak if they have young kids in the Anbu now." stated another man tauntingly with an average build. He had light blue hair and a large scar under his left eye which reached till his chin. Seeing as how everyone had taken a step back, Naruto assumed this man was the apparent leader of this group.

"I really don't have time for people like you…" Naruto said under his breath with a sigh. Soon as the man took another step forward, Naruto lunged towards the blue haired man in the blink of an eye and severed his head and his body fell onto the ground limply. Another shinobi wearing a mask over his face ran through hand seals quickly, the moment he saw the blond-haired kid go towards his friend.

"Suiton: Suihou no Jutsu" said the man as he spit a powerful beam of boiling water towards the enemy. The other members of the group quickly got behind their masked comrade as the jutsu collided with the Anbu. The masked shinobi smirked knowing that at such close distance, it would impossible for the shinobi to dodge and would end up dead. However, everyone's eyes widened dramatically when they saw the blond kid standing in his spot unharmed.

"He… he is absorbing the chakra in that jutsu into himself!" spoke an aged black-haired man baffled at the scene before him. Never in his entire shinobi career had he seen someone with such an ability.

"Such a pitiful jutsu." Naruto remarked flatly. He could have finished off everyone before they even knew it, but he wanted to see how strong these people were. He too had heard the news of the civil war that started in Mizu no Kuni. While he certainly didn't share the same views as the Yondaime Mizukage, he was a little interested as to what sort of shinobi worked under the men. And he had little doubt that the Mizukage would send weak shinobi to another nation.

Seeing as how the blond was simply standing his ground, one of them fired several kunai towards Naruto who deftly dodged each one of them with little effort. He then proceeded to take out his own kunai and with unbelievable speed threw it back at him, killing the man instantly. However, Naruto quickly had to jump back to avoid a sword swing aimed at his neck.

"Amaterasu." Naruto whispered as the man who attacked him with the sword became ablaze with black flames. The shinobi screamed in pain as slowly the flesh began melting off his body. Upon seeing the horrid sight, the other three shinobi fearfully took a step backward as they realized who the blond kid was. The rumors a shinobi killing off his targets with inextinguishable black flames had reached to every corner of the Elemental Nations within the last year.

"Ku… Kuro Shi (Black Death)" Whispered the blue haired as the gravity of the situation finally fell upon him. The other shinobi glanced at their comrade as sweat began forming on the side of their faces. They too had heard about the Kuro Shi of Konoha and if the rumors of his strength were anywhere near correct, they knew this was a fight they could not win.

"Oh… you know of me then." Naruto stated impassively while the look on his face was borderline boredom. Taking the momentary lapse of concentration from the three shinobi, Naruto gripped his chokuto again firmly and dispatched all three of them. Shaking the blood off his chokuto, he sheathed in back on his waist. Taking out a sealing scroll from his waist pouch, he sealed all six of the heads within the seal and then proceeded to jump onto the rooftop.

'Time to remove everyone from the genjutsu.' Naruto thought as a large wave of chakra pulsed off him which blanketed the entire town. Immediately the people were jerked off what they were doing and began looking at each other frantically. One of the civilians noticed the Konoha Anbu on top of the building and yelled with a large smile on his face.

"Look, Konoha has sent help! We are saved!" Noticing that everyone was back to normal, Naruto shunshined from the building to outside the town. He never really liked being the center of attention. Deciding to get done with the mission, he turned around and began making his way back to Konoha.

Meanwhile in Amegakure

In a dark underground cave, stood three people and six astral figures. All these people were S-Rank missing ninja from various villages. Despite having conflicting personalities and aspirations, they were huddled together here to receive their latest order from their leader. The only common attribute among all of them was the high collared black cloaks with red clouds, which was worn by all. Another figure with a spiral orange mask stood a little above who looked at the six astral figures with a bored expression behind his mask.

"We have collected enough resources for the commencement of our plan. Now, I want each one of you head out and look for your respected targets. Your only task is to find and observe the jinchuriki until further orders. We are still not ready to seal the bijuu within the statue yet. However, if you are to find the target isolated, only then must each team go for the capture." stated an orange haired man authoritatively with several black piercings around his nose and ears. Even in the darkness his silver colored rippling eyes glowed brightly, emphasizing the power held by the man.

"So, it finally starts. It should be fun." Smirked a man with a distinctive shark like appearance. He had a very tall and muscular physique with pale and light blue skin. He had small, round white eyes and sharp triangular teeth with three sets of curved facial marking under his eyes, which looked akin to gills. His forehead adorned the symbol of Kirigakure with a slash mark across it, signifying his defection from the village. He also wore a ring on his left ring finger which had the kanji for south.

"It's about time, yeah! I am getting bored with collecting these pesky bounties!" yelled another man confidently with long blond hair, half of which was tied in a ponytail with the rest hanging down freely.

"You all have been given your targets. Now, leave to look for the jinchuriki immediately." Ordered the orange haired man.

"Hai, Pain-sama." Everyone in the group nodded their head in accordance before seemingly disappear from the cave. The man called Pain glanced upward before the orange masked ninja jumped down and walked towards him.

"Madara, what do you want?" asked Pain, coldly.

"We need to talk about the Kyubi jinchuriki…"

Author Notes- Well, in about four chapters or so, the academy students will finally graduate and from there on forth, the story will start featuring more. I know it may seem odd for Iwagakure to wait for so long, but I promise to make the fight between Iwagakure and Konoha worth the wait. There will be some twists to the story too. Also, some people raised the issue of the age where Minato is Madara's son and Tsunade is Hashirama's grandaugther. However, in one of the earlier chapters I did specify that Tsunade was Hashirama's daughter instead of grandaughter. Also, in the anime/manga, Hiruzen had Asuma when he was around 40 years. Similarly, Minato was born when Madara turned around that age, while Hashirama simply had a daughter earlier in his life. Naruto and those from his class during his time at the academy are 12 years old now.

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Until next time!