Naruto stood in a private burial ground. Two headstones were present. Those emotionless white eyes stared at the names that rested on the stones. Sakumo Hatake and Mikasa Hyuuga, his parents. He was off duty today.
He and his team were to rest until the chunin exams began. He wore his signature white kimono that had an eagle design spread out across the back. He had on black pants as well. He did not enjoy wearing the anbu armor. He didn't hang out with anyone other than his squad besides Kakashi.
But who knew where his brother was at? He activated his Byakugan and pierced his gaze through the ground and locked eyes with the lifeless bodies of his parents. There was nothing there. No chakra, no life, just nothing. To a normal person, hell to pretty much anyone, this would be disturbing. But Naruto was far from normal.
He was always fascinated with death and the idea of the afterlife. No, he was not emo or suicidal, it just intrigued him how you could be alive and at your strongest one day, then the next day be reduced to a lifeless corpse. He felt as if death meant freedom from life but at the same time, it meant that you'd just be a memory. It angered him how both of his parents were gone and mostly forgotten by the world even after all they did.
His father, The White Fang said to be stronger than all three of the legendary Sannin combined, hero of the 2nd Shinobi War, was simply reduced to an afterthought. His mother, a respected kunoichi in her own right. But she mostly served the main house of the Hyuuga.
Never questioned authority, always did what was asked of her but still ended up being killed for wanting to be happy. Yes, he knew about the circumstances surrounding mothers death and it plagued his mind for years. His clan was evil, the main branch for conducting the act.
He found solace in the fact that the man who killed his mother was long dead now. Used as a sacrifice in the place of his cowardly brother. It sucked because both brother's were his uncles. But he himself was not satisfied. The clan would go around flaunting arrogance and superiority over everyone else. Not even the Uchiha clan were this bad. They acted as if they were noble, as if they were all high and mighty but the fact is that they were corrupt. And he would not be associated with such.
He vanished in a flock of black and white feathers. Reappearing at training ground 9, he quickly created a shadow clone and drew is sword. The clone followed suit and they both closed their eyes. "Byuakugan!" they said in unison and deashed towards each other.
There were fluid, fast and precise sword strikes from both of them. He was simply testing his kenjutsu skills to see if they were still up to par. While also testing his eyes. He never knew how to properly use them as he was not trained by a master. He then decided to crank it up a notch. He channeled wind into the blade and began picking up speed.
The slices were becoming too difficult for the clone to negate so the clone shot out a stream of lightning that forced the original to jump back. "I said kenjutsu only" he reminded the clone. The clone simply dashed at him once again but this time putting up a much better showing.
He still ended up defeating the clone and started to heal the cuts that were tattered on his body until they were nearly invisible. 'The fox had it's' he mused. Oh how the precious 4th Hokage sealed the kyubi into his 4 year old body 13 years ago. With no regard for his safety or well being. The man died after the sealing, along with his wife who was stabbed with the claws of the beast. A gruesome scene that the barely conscious 4 year old would never forget.
"What are you doing here?" Came a voice behind Naruto. He turned his head and set his gaze on a boy he was all too familiar with. "Neji" he said in a neutral tone. While Neji was a stuck up prick, he couldn't blame him. Naruto saw himself in the teen. He was cursed with a seal just as he was and had his parent taken from him at a young age. He just cursed the fact that his father was the reason for his mother dying.
He was the only one in the clan that Naruto tolerated. "I wanted to train to see if my kenjutsu were still up to par" he answered honestly. "This is my team training grounds and they wouldn't take too kindly to you using them without permission" he said. Naruto rolled his eyes and picked up the chakra sword. He then turned back to the boy.
"I suppose you're entering the chunin exams?" he asked. "In fact I am. My team did not participate in last years exams, as my sensei said we were not prepared but this year it is different" he replied. Naruto nodded in acceptance. "What is your goal in life Neji?" Naruto asked suddenly. Neji raised an eyebrow at the older teen in question.
"Why do you care to know such meaningless things?" "How would it be considered meaningless?" Naruto replied. "Because you are no longer apart of the clan" he said without hesitation. Naruto bit his lip at the answer. "Fair point" he replied. He then started to walk away as he made it to the end of the clearing but was still in hearing range and spoke.
"There shall come a day when birds shall be free... and people will see."
He then disappeared in a murder of feathers. Neji thought about what he said for a moment. That's when someone else decided to show up. She had on a pink traditional style Japanese blouse with 2 buns in her head. "Hey Neji, Gai-Sensei and Lee aren't here yet?" she asked. "No I'm afraid not Tenten, I just arrived myself not too long ago" he replied.
"Well what were you thinking about?" " It matters none." He said dismissing the topic. "We should prepare for Gai-sensei and Lee. I assume they'll be just as annoying if not more" he said. She chuckled at that and nodded in agreement. "Sure" she said.
In the Hidden Rain, a man could be seen standing atop of a tall building. The man radiated dominance. He had orange hair and purple, metallic eyes. He was wearing a black cloak with red clouds. Soft footsteps were heard approaching. He did not need to turn around to see who it was. "Nagato, Madara wants to speak with you" she said. "Konan, if he wants to speak with me, he knows where to find me" he said.
She nodded. "Are you sure it's okay to trust him?" she asked. He turned to her, face still emotionless as he spoke. "I do not believe he is Madara for one second but I trust his ideals. We have the same goal and that's all that matters."
She was not so convinced but chose to not voice her opinion. A swirling vortex then appeared right before them and out walked a man with an orange mask with the same black robes the duo were wearing. "Konan, leave us to discuss private matters" Nagato said. "But Nagato-" "Konan" he said. She sighed but gave one final look to the two men and walked out of the dark room.
"What do you want Madara?" Nagato asked the man. "Now that's no way to greet your partner" The man said. "Have you located the 9 tails?" Nagato asked, ignoring the previous comment. "Indeed I have, he is inside Konoha but he is also powerful" Madara replied. "That means nothing. His power pales in comparison to that of a God" Nagato replied.
The masked man just shook his head. Nagato's arrogance would be his down fall. "I will have Zetsu observe him to see if we can find anything else on him" he said. "Very well. When will we begin searching for Jinchuriki?" Nagato asked.
"In all due time, there's some things we still need to work out. We cannot cooperate if there's no trust" he said. Nagato narrowed his eyes at the man. Madara chuckled. "I've been around a long time, a lot longer than you and it's quite insulting to think that you could could hide your true feelings toward me" he said.
"Make no mistake, I was not hiding anything from you. I do not trust you and you have not given me any reason to" Nagato replied. "Hm well that's unfortunate. It would be in your best interests if you did." "Is that a threat?" Nagato asked tensing up. "I don't make threats Nagato, you should know that" he said as he swirled out of view.
Nagato started at the spot where the man just disappeared from with a frown. 'That just made things a lot harder' he thought.
The following day
In Konoha at the Hyuuga compound, Hiashi was in a meeting with the elders once again. "Hiashi, the boy has become too powerful for our liking. It would be in our best interests to have him under our control. He is technically a Hyuuga after all" an elder said. "Do you think he'd come willingly after discovering what we did to his mother?" he replied. "It matters not. He should be thankful that we didn't brand him with the seal or kill him as well."
"I agree" another elder said. "He also possesses the Kyubi. If we were to get him under our control and train him, we could rule Konoha with an iron fist." "You people are simple minded. He is an anbu. Have you forgotten that we banished him from the clan and took the Hyuuga name away from him?" Hiashi questioned.
"We could always use Lady Hinata. She's a fine young woman. If she were to bare his child, we could gain his support and another powerful shinobi for the future" someone suggested. That seemed to have everyone's attention and they turned their attention to the clan head. His face was stern but it looked as if he was thinking over the situation. "Very well, this is for the benefit of the clan. We will gain the support and power of the Jinchuriki and slowly start to take control of Konoha" he said.
With that being said, the meeting ended. What they didn't notice was that an eagle sat perched up on a tree just outside the window. It dispersed shortly after.
Hiashi sat in his chair with an unreadable expression. He had just called for his eldest daughter and his nephew. There was a knock at the door and he allowed them to enter. Hinata was a beautiful young woman. Her dark blue hair and lavender white eyes were quite the sight to see. She was the clan heir and one of the most promising Hyuuga in the making.
They both bowed in unison and sat in front of him. "You summoned us father?" she asked. He nodded. "I'm aware that you have relations with Naruto Hatake Neji. Would you be so kind to inform us about him" he more or less demanded.
The Hyuuga teens face remained passive but he nodded. "Although he is very secretive about his personal life, I will tell you what I know."
Naruto sat with Kakashi at the dango stand. The older Hatake simply just red his orange book without a care in the world. "You know, people are going to get the wrong idea of you if you keep reading that smut in public" he commented. Kakashi just flipped a page and peeked over his book with an eye smile.
"Since when did you care about my image Naru-Chan?" Naruto growled at him. "I hate you" he said. "I love you too Naruto" Kakashi replied.
"There's a mission Team-Ro has been assigned to" he said. "Discussing Anbu missions out in the open is against the law, I'm assuming you sealed off the area" Kakashi said. "Already taken care of" he replied. The older man nodded as Naruto continued.
"Suna is sending their jinchuriki and as you know, he's not right in the head. I'm confident that Sasuke can handle himself if he were to face him but I'm not sure about Sai and Sakura."
"Hmm that's interesting. I guess I'll increase their training regiments but you've yet to explain the mission" Kakashi said. Pale white eyes just gazed at the man in front of him with annoyance. "It's not that difficult to figure out. You were our captain. I'm sure you still know of everything that goes on in Anbu."
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But what do you need me for?" "The Sandaime expects something else is up. I'm asking you to keep an eye out for anything as well."
"Fine, I'll let you know if I find out anything." Naruto nodded and stood up and was about to leave but Kakashi spoke. "You've been quite distant lately. Even for your standards. Is there something else I should know?" he asked. Naruto just shook his head and dispersed in a murder of feathers. "There you are my eternal rival! How about another challenge!" an exuberant voice said. Kakashi sighed.
A few weeks later, villages from all over came to Konoha with the intentions of becoming chunin, among others. Currently a small boy with a blue scarf was being chased by a girl with long pink hair and emerald green eyes. He wasn't looking where he was going and bumped into someone. He was quickly grabbed by the collar of his shirt and pulled to eye level with someone. That someone had a black body suit on and wore face paint.
If it weren't for the serious situation at hand, he would've busted out laughing. "Let me go you clown!" he said kicking his feet. "Let him go" Sakura said finally catching up to the boy. "No, this brat needs to be taught a lesson" the teen said. "Kankuro, you're going to cause a scene here" a feminine voice said.
A teenage girl was next to him. She had sandy blonde hair tied into 4 ponytails. She also had teal blue eyes. She carried a giant fan on her back and looked older than the boy. "Temari don't worry. I'll make it quick" he said and raised his fist to pummel the kid.
His fist was caught mid swing by someone. He looked and saw that it was an anbu with silver hair. His pale white eyes looked passively as he gazed at the seen before him. "Now, now you can't punch the Hokage's grandson. It would bring unwanted attention to your village and you would no doubt be punished" he said in a nonchalant manner.
"The brat started it" Kankuro replied. The anbu chuckled and took the small boy out of the grasp of the older. "Nonetheless, you retaliating over something as small as this begs the question. What would happen if Konoha was to retaliate?" That question caused the foreign duo to get tense up.
Naruto saw this and turned to the girl. "Would you mind in controlling whatever that is?" he said pointed towards Kankuro. She bit back a chuckle but jumped when a swirl of sand appeared before them. Out came a rather short boy with red hair and the same colored eyes as her. But what he lacked in height was more than made up with the power he was radiating. Naruto didn't look fazed one bit, he only looked on in curiosity.
"G-Garra" the duo said in unison. "Kankuro, Temari you both are an embarrassment to the village" he said. They flinched and he turned to the anbu. "You are strong but mother says to stay away from you" he said. Naruto looked towards the frightened duo in question but they were too scared to speak. "What are foreign shinobi doing here anyway?" Sakura asked.
"Did you not know that the chunnin exams were set to take place in 4 days?" Temari asked. Sakura shook her head in embarrassment and the trio turned to walk away but not before Gaara spoke. "You, what's your name?" He asked looking toward the anbu. "Well I'm not at liberty to tell you my real name so you can call me Ghost" he replied.
The trio left with Temari sneaking one last glance at the mysterious anbu. After they left he turned to the boy and Sakura. "Konohamaru you have to be more careful of your surroundings" he reminded the boy. "H-how do you know my name?" he asked. "You are the Hokage's grandson" he said in a deadpan expression. The boy blushed and ran away but not before thanking the anbu.
He then turned to the pink haired girl and sensed that she had a question by the look of her face. "Yes?" he asked. "You look a lot like Kakashi sensei, are you related to him or something?" she asked. "He didn't tell you about me? How rude of him" Naruto said. "I'm his younger brother. But I cannot disclose my name. Just ask him about me if you want" Naruto shrugged as he poofed out of existence.
Sakura left and went to meet up with her team. She needed to ask her sensei some questions.
Naruto appeared in the Hokage's office in a kneeling position. "Report" The man said. Naruto then relayed the events that just transpired and the Hokage sighed.
"Very well, continue to observe them and report anything else." Naruto nodded and stood up but that's when Hiashi Hyuuga chose to walk in. Naruto chose to remain silent. Hiashi bowed to Hiruzen and glanced at Naruto but said nothing. "Hokage-Sama, could you excuse the anbu? I'd like to speak privately" he asked. Hiruzen nodded and dismissed Naruto.
Once Naruto left, he saw Hinata. He did not want to speak with her, or be anywhere near her. But it seems fate wasn't on his side. "Naruto-Kun, fancy seeing you here" she said as she walked up to him. "You aren't permitted to use my real name again I'm on duty Hinata" he said warning the girl.
She shrugged it off as she continued. "Will you be watching me participate in the chunin exams. It would please me to have one of the strongest clansmen cheer me on" she said with a smile. "Well for one I'm not apart of your clan and technically I never was. And secondly, I will be there but not to watch you. I have more important matters to take care of."
She pressed her body against his arm and tried to remove his mask. "Your words wound me Naruto. Your even cold for an anbu" she said. He swiftly removed her hand and freed himself from her grasp. "You're pretty bad at acting you know. You could care less about me or what I do. But I do pity you. I wouldn't wish being a puppet on my worst enemy" he said as he walked away.
She thought about what he said for a moment before huffing and taking a seat.
The following day, Naruto was alone in a training ground going through his katas. He was half assing his training though, in reality he was just bored. The exams were in 3 days and nothing out of the ordinary has happened yet.
He felt as if he was being watched and activated his byakugan and found the same Suna kunoichi from yesterday observing him. He saw this as a way of getting more information so he just continued to practice.
About 5 minutes later, he stopped and noticed she was still there. With shocking speed, he pulled out a kunai with an explosion tag on it and threw it in her direction. She quickly jumped away as the tree exploded. She landed not too far away from him and drew her fan, preparing to attack him. "You know, considering you were spying on me without my permission, an anbu no less, I find it funny that you were surprised that I retaliated."
"I was not spying on you and it was out of reflex" she said. He raised an eyebrow behind the mask. "If you say so. So what can I do for you?" he asked. "How about a spar?" she asked. He tilted his head to the side. "Why would I want to spar with you? I gain nothing" he said. Her eye twitched. "Do not underestimate me Anbu-San, I assure you that I'm not just any old genin" she challenged.
He sighed. This could help him gauge her combat skills so it would be useful. "Fine. What are your rules?"
"No going all out, taijutsu and ninjutsu are allowed" she said. He nodded. That was acceptable. "How about a wager?" he asked. She looked at him curiously as he continued. "Since I know I'm most likely to win, I'll only use my sword and no ninjutsu. And if you can land one hit on me, you can ask me whatever you want and I have to answer with complete honesty and vice versa" he said.
She thought over the terms. Either the anbu was very confident or very arrogant but this was her chance to find out more about him so she took it. "Very well. Now shall we?" she asked. He nodded and unsheathed his chakra sword. "Now I am a busy man so would you please not waste my time" he said.
She simply dashed towards him