Naruto stood before Hokage with a questioning look in his eye, "you need something, Jiji?"
"After much deliberation, I've decided you don't have to hide your identity anymore. Most of the ninja know or suspect you're a ninja!" he hands him a new headband that isn't a bandana.
"You sure I thought I'd have to wait longer?"
"Your skills have improved leaps and bounds since you first joined the anbu. Currently, your skills are low, jonin. I have complete confidence you can look after yourself if someone has a problem," Hiruzen said with a proud smirk mirrored by Naruto.
"Sweet, I no longer have to hide!" he said, punching the air with excitement.
"but you will still carry the rank of chunin for the time being," he added.
"What are Kukiko and Deidara ranks outside of anbu?"
"Chunin, same as you. I gave them their vest just before you came in."
"Ok, if there's anything else, I'll be leaving now." he pulled down his mask, wearing his new headband as he left.
"I can only imagine the public response when they see Naruto not only with a headband showing off his spikey blonde hair and vest?" Tenzo spoke as he landed beside the Hokage.
"If they have a problem, I'm sure Naruto can handle it. He is not the same boy who left the academy three and a half years ago."
"Be prepared for all the complaints in the following weeks!"
"I know. I've pushed this off long enough," he responded.
Naruto casually walks through the village, showing off his headband and vest without a care in the world.
Little did he know he would learn a new jutsu today.
Earlier that day, team seven had just finished a mission watching after Konohamaru and his friends.
Konohamaru mentioned he wanted Naruto to hang out with.
Kakashi, Sai, and Sasuke had amused expressions. Still, Sasukra, the naive young girl, went on a mini-rant about how horrible Naruto was when he was still at the academy.
Kakashi and Sai had ticked-off expressions slightly, and Sasuke gave her the eye.
She didn't notice, as Konohamaru and his friends were furious.
The few times they spent with Naruto were actually fun, they showed him their progress, and he gave some advice.
And, of course, played ninja, Naruto had to play by the rules, but enough about that.
Right now, they are preparing a prank on the girl. Their weapon is red paint.
They had everything prepared. All that's left to do is wait.
Kakashi and his squad are walking toward the Hokage to get another mission.
Little did they know Konohamaru and his friends were waiting for them to show up.
Coincidentally, Naruto took a walk taking note of all the villager's reactions to his headband and vest.
Of course, many were quick to call him out as a liar and faking his claims of being a ninja.
Some villagers reported him to various ninja. Some confronted Naruto, not believing his claim.
But all those doubts were put to rest when several anbu came forward confirming Naruto's words that he is, in fact, a ninja of Konoha.
He continued on his way. He had no idea Kakashi's team was near.
"Konohamaru, they're nearby!" Moegi informed
"Sweet, this should teach that girl to not bad mouth the boss."
"Just filled the balloon with red paint," Udon informed
"At your places, everybody."
They were hiding on the outside of a fence of the many allies that criss-cross the village.
They were at an intersection. One ally had Kakashi teams, and the other was Naruto.
The three academy students saw Kakashi's team but failed to notice Naruto.
"FIRE NOW!" Konoharmau shouts.
Just as he said those words, Naruto turned the corner to run into Kakashi and his squad.
He didn't have time to dwell as a balloon hit the top of Naruto's head, turning his proud blonde hair straight red.
The three genin struggles to hold in their laughter.
"Crud, we hit Naruto by mistake!" Konohamaru declares.
Hearing this, Naruto's rage reached new heights as he glares at the three academy students.
Konohamatru and his friends decided now is an excellent time to run.
"Get back here, you little!" Suddenly chains presumably made of chakra shoots out of his body.
He didn't pay any mind to them chasing after the three.
The three genins look to Kakashi only to see him down in a crouched position as what looks to be fear in his one eye.
"No, Kushina, we didn't forget Rin's birthday. You have to believe us, please!" he said aloud as he rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet.
They were beside themselves as the usually silent calculating Kakashi was quivering in fear at a presumed memory.
They were quick to let it go since it must have been pretty bad for him to be in this state.
He wasn't alone; various ninja in the shadows from the fourth Hokage time all shared his pain.
Even the Hiruzen was shaking in fear when he saw this through the crystal ball.
He was watching Konohamaru preparing his prank.
And since Naruto was running full speed across the village with those chains, even more ninja quivered in fear.
Long after her death, Kushina Uzumaki, the fourth Hokage wife, still left a mark on this village.
They played cat and mouse for about half an hour before Naruto caught up to the three academy students.
He corned them against the mountainside, cracking his knuckles as he glared at them.
"Mind explaining why you covered me in red pain" His voice is dripping with murderous intent.
"W-we're sorry, Naruto, we weren't aiming at you. It's the Sakura girl, her team was watching after us, and we mentioned you. She made a few snide comments about you," the three took turns saying.
Naruto took a deep inhale before exhaling, calming down some. "If that's the case, I'll let it go. Just make sure your aim is right next time!" he said with a smirk.
It was at this time Naruto noticed the chain sticking out of his body.
They all were about 25-30 feet in length, Minato still in his mind, told him about these chains and how to dispel them.
Later that day, he met up with Hiruzen after washing the red paint out of his hair with the three academy students right behind him.
They couldn't face the Hokage. Fear was prevalent in their eyes.
"Well, Naruto looks like you inherited your mother's Kekkei Genkai!"
"Little birdy filled me in" he tapped his head. Hiruzen knew what he meant.
"Sooooo, what was all the older shinobi's reaction to these chains of mine," he said with a sheepish grin.
"Well, The few that remember….." Naruto walked over to hear what the Hokage had to say.
He was struggling to hold in his laughter, and words from his father confirmed Hiruzen's observations.
Strangely or not, Minato was actually reminiscing in the memory of his wife when he saw those chains. Kurama cringed at the sight of them.
After three days, not only from the complaint Hiruzen got when news of Naruto ninja status most of the shinobi.
But those who still remember Kushina had processed the revelation her legacy is alive and well.
The one most affected by this is Kakashi. Obviously, his students asked about the chains, but he refused to answer them.
They are sitting at a tea shop waiting for lunch before they do another D-rank mission,
They were mainly discussing to Sakura the revelation Naruto is a ninja,
He told them what they needed to know. Sakura still has trouble believing Naruto is a ninja, a chunin on top of that.
Sai wasn't surprised, and Sasuke was lightly fazed at first but came to grips since Naruto has been a ninja longer than he has.
It was a logical conclusion since he, out of the blue, left the academy a few years back.
"Kakashi Sensei, how did Naruto get so strong?" Sakura asked.
"He trained every day for months, increasing his skills bit by bit," was the cyclopes response.
"Who trained him?" she countered
"Me!" was all he said, leaving the three genin silent. "Well, I drilled the basics into him and sparred on occasion. The rest he did on his own."
He gave them a few moments to process this information.
"Well, are you ready for our next mission?" they nodded in response.
Naruto was passing by when he saw Kakashi and his team at the tea shop.
A word from his father is he was Kakashi's sensei when he was his age.
Naruto pulled out some paper writing a small message before walking up to the group.
"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Kakashi asked.
"Nothing just wanted to give you this" he hands him a note before leaving the group.
"Ok then," he waved him off, followed up by his squad.
He carefully read the message he gave him, meet me at my house tonight, was what it said.
He knew Naruto wouldn't ask him over without reason, and his team was gonna do another D-rank mission.
The mission in question was finding the feudal lord's wife's pet cat.
It was a simple mission to do, and afterward, Kakashi called it a day.
Following up on Naruto's request headed to his apartment, he knocks once only for the door to open, revealing the blond chunin.
"You needed me, Naruto?"
"Yes, sit down. I have something important to show you" Kakashi follows him to his couch.
He held out his fist "bump your chakra to mine!" he was a bit reluctant, knowing Naruto's relationship with Kurama but complied with his request.
One second he was in Naruto's living room. The next, he was in a flooded sewer with Kurama eyeing him down with an amused expression.
Naruto stood beside Kurama, mirroring his expression before pointing behind him.
Kakashi turns around only to go wide-eyed before he stood his sensei, Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage himself.
"Been a while, Kakashi!" He waved to him.
"S-sensei!" That was all he could say as he stood before his old master.
"Yep, it's me, your sensei, and the fourth Hokage!" He said, not knowing how to continue from this point forward.
"How are you here? You should be dead after the attack!"
"Well…" Naruto added.
They went into the tail of how and why Naruto was summoned and made a deal with the death god.
For being brave enough and actually pulling it off, he can keep his fathers soul for however long he needs.
And from what they discussed, that could be a long time.
"If you ever want to talk, you know where I'll be, Kakashi," he said with a proud smile after seeing how far he's come since his supposed death.
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Naruto!"
"No problem, Kakashi senpai!" Kakashi left Naruto to head home.
Naruto looks at his calendar. It will be four months before the chunin exams begin.
He wonders if any of his peers will be skilled enough to make it through.
He bears witnesses to what they entail from the few times they were in Konoha.
The next one will be in Konoha, which leads him to question if the Raikage will show up.
He wants to show off his progress with his lightning release.
But that will have to wait for later.
Naruto needs to get his rest. His vacation time from Anbu is over now.
The following day Naruto and his group were given a standard B-rank mission.
Checking the borders to see if there is any activity.
It would take two weeks to complete their section. Fortunately, it is a relatively easy mission for them.
Naruto used his downtime to work on this new clone jutsu concerning Kurama.
He had the basic idea down, it has a high cost, but benefits could easily allow him to fight on two fronts.
The downside is he would have to sacrifice half his chakra to make sure the clone is resilient enough to take a licking in combat.
They are on the last day of the job. It was late out, so they made camp on a large tree.
They stayed high in the branches if an enemy passed through, hoping to get a cheap shot of them.
While Kukiko was sleeping, Deidara stayed up doing sleep deprivation training.
Naruto is working on his jutsu, "any luck Naruto?" His friend asked.
"Yes, but it's proving difficult!"
"What has been your progress so far!"
"Well, I'm about to test it out!"
"This I got to see!"
"Ok, then."
With his father's help, he did a few hand signs for a chakra transfer but ended with the shadow clone jutsu hand sign.
"Tailed beast clone!" His body glowed red with chakra before the chakra in question separates from him, forming a rough clone of Naruto.
His anbu gear was yellow and red in color, followed up with red hair.
"So, how is it on your end, Kurama?"
Using his natural voice, Kurama responds, "it feels weird being part of you but separates at the same time." That was his response.
A closer look at his Visages reveals his eyes are familiar red with slits.
"Looks fine to me!" Deidara added.
"True, it's the mental strain it takes to maintain it we have to work on." Was Naruto's response followed by a nod from Kurama.
"Well, at least you know it works."
"That is true. To be honest, I'm surprised it worked at all."
Kurama quickly dispelled his clone as Naruto's body absorbed the chakra.
"Now I'm curious what happens if he is dispelled from a distance?"
"Besides the mental strain, I've effectively lost all that chakra if it isn't absorbed like you just saw."
"Talk about high-risk, high reward."
"You can say that again. Well, I'm calling it a night," he said with a yawn.
"Sleep well," was all Deidara said as Naruto fell asleep.
Deidara stayed up all night as a form of training. He also took this time to think up any new jutsu.
When morning finally came, they gathered their stuff before heading back to the village.
Naruto gave his report to the Hokage before calling it a day.
One week later
Hiruzen got word from Pakkun about the C-rank mission Kakashi's team took.
It concerned him too much. He couldn't live with himself if this genin died doing a mission above their skill set.
Naruto walked in looking for a new mission to do when Hiruzen's mind hatched an idea.
Another opportunity for Naruto to form a bond with the genin of this village.
"Ah, Kitsune, you came just in time. I got word from Kakashi a C-rank mission just went up a grade."
"What do you mean!" He said with concern in his voice.
"Are you familiar with the demon brothers from Kiri?"
"Yeah, I refreshed myself with the bingo book the other day. Why?"
"It seems Kakashi's team had a run-in with them escorting the master bridge builder. I would like you to join them on this mission as an insurance policy given their genin."
Naruto didn't say a word for a solid minute. "ok."
"Good, you leave at once hour since it will take time to get to the land of waves at a leisurely pace."
"Hai," and he was off.
After getting his things together, he headed to the land of waves in his anbu gear.
He made it to the cost in a couple of hours, thanks to his anbu training.
Then he walked across the water with complete silence.
As a master of stealth and Infiltration, this is child's play for him.
It didn't take long for him to reach the shores of the land of waves, with a bridge to his side pointing the way.
Using another trick he learned from Kurama, his sapphire blue eyes turn straight red with slits.
He wouldn't call this a dojutsu, but it was close. It increased his perception of the area around him.
The little thing became clear to him as well, boosting his ability to sense chakra signatures.
He's met with a thick fog laced with chakra.
He could sense three tiny chakra signatures along with two large ones close to each other.
He carefully approached the group, not wanting to be detected.
It was around this time he sensed another signature hiding in the tree line.
Whoever it is, is doing a good job concealing their present.
He directed him only because of his skills and His enhanced perception, thanks to Kurama chakra.
He created a single shadow clone to keep an eye on the signature.
He found his spot in a tree within the forest edge of a small clearing.
After taking a closer look, Kakashi is facing off against...Zabuza Momochi.
"Oh boy, I hope Kakashi senpai can handle this guy."
Naruto uses every trick in the book to stay hidden, including the other witnesses to this fight.
A few seconds later, Kakashi unleashed a water vortex jutsu.
Only to slam Zabuza against a tree, suddenly two senbon pierced his neck.
Naruto just received his clone's memories of this fight's other spectator.
Suddenly the spectator revealed itself before taking Zabuza's body with him.
He informed Kakashi's team, he's a tracker ninja of Kiri.
But Naruto knew better. Whoever this person is isn't a tracker ninja.
As soon as Kakashi gets to his feet, he keels over.
Naruto let out a sigh at Kakashi's recklessness from using a jutsu like water vortex in conjunction with his Sharingan.
He jumps from his hiding place, landing before the genin.
He walks over to Kakashi, hoisting him up over his shoulder, "I never would of guess Zabuza would push you that hard even with the Sharingan!" He said in an exhausted tone.
Before he can even take the first step, a genin spoke up.
"Um, Mr. Anbu, sir, what are you doing here. I'm glad you're here to help us get home." She would have continued but was interrupted.
"Sakura, after dealing with the demon brothers, I sent word to the Hokage. He presumably sent agent Kitsune as backup?"
"Summoning jutsu," Naruto said as a small toad appeared before them. "Send word to the Hokage I met up with the Kakashi team!" the toad croaks in response before disappearing into a cloud of smoke.
"You are correct, Kakashi senpai."
Looking at the bridge builder. "Which way are we heading?."
"Follow me," he said, taking charge of their group.
After 20 minutes of walking, they made it to the bridge builder's home.
Naruto carefully laid him down on the sleeping mat to recuperate.
Naruto didn't need to look. The three genins were looking him up and down.
"You better ask your questions now instead of later!" He stated.
They couldn't think of a response to his statement.
A thought came to Sakura, "Kakashi sensei, who's that boy that left with Zabuza!"
"He would be a tracker ninja from Kiri."
He went on to explain what their task is for the respective villages.
"He's not a tracker ninja," Naruto interjected. Ticking off Sakura slightly before dawning a curious expression matched by her squadmates.
"I was afraid of that," Kakashi added.
"Kakashi sensei, what do you mean?"
With a sigh, "Zabuza is still alive" silence was all he got in response.
"Pardon me, Mr. Anbu, but what makes you so sure!"
"As a member of Konoha's Anbu force, I'm well versed in who and what they are. Not to mention I've had a few runs in with them in the past."
He walks over to a window, opening it, "While all of you get settled In, I'm going to do some recon of the region." fortunately for Naruto, the land of waves isn't very big.
"Stay hidden. The fewer people who know about you, the better!"
"Do you even need to ask!" he said with a chuckle.
"Just making sure," he retorted as Naruto jumped out the window.
"Kakashi sensei, who is the boy anyway? He can't be any older than us?"
"Sorry, but that is a need-to-know basis," was his simple response as he laid down.
Naruto spent a good five hours staying in the shadows scouting every nook and cranny.
He took notes of any area that caught his interest.
He concluded that Gato's base is on the mainland based on his recon and Tazuna's words.
With the setting sun. He called it a day.
When he met up with the others, they were having dinner. So he didn't go inside.
"Tsunami, just leave Kitsune's meals outside."
"Are you sure Kakashi? he can come inside to eat."
"I'm sure knowing his training, he'll probably stay outside while he's here." The jonin reasoned.
"Ok then," she took a meal, placing it in the dock before heading inside.
She goes outside 20 minutes later and sees an empty plate.
She picks it up to place it with the rest of the dirty dishes.
While Kakashi and his team are resting up for the night in Tazuna's home, Naruto is perched upon a nearby tree.
He slipped his way in the following morning, sitting beside Kakashi, getting the other eyes in him.
Kakashi trades glances at Naruto only to nod, getting the three genin attention.
"What Kitsune is about to do is Major secret. The only reason you're learning his identity is that it will only get harder to keep hidden as the mission continues!"
They sit there with bated breath wondering who this small anbu person is.
Naruto takes a deep inhale before exhaling before removing his mask, revealing his face to the three genins.
Sai was unfazed, obviously being part of Danzo Root's agent. Sasuke's eye went wide at this before going back to normal.
Sakura was the most surprised of them all by her jaw hitting the floor.
Only to realize all the nasty things she said about him, slowly, the color drained away from her face.
The three male ninjas tried to hide their amusement at Sakura's reaction.
Naruto slipped his mask back on, wanting to change the subject.
"So kakashi senpai, what's next on the agenda?"
"Hmm, I may be down, but I can still train them." he glances over to him.
"A kakashi sensei, how can you still train us in your condition?"
Natsu walks over, hoisting him up before getting some crutches for him.
"Follow me!" Naruto was quick to withdraw from the site.
They followed him to a clearing in the forest with massive trees around them.
Naruto landed before them, wondering what Kakashi had up his sleeve for them.
"Today, you're going to climb a tree...without using your hands!" two of the three had questioning looks in their eyes.
Kakashi looks to Naruto, who nods in response.
"To climb a tree with only your feet, you gather chakra to the bottom of your feet."
Naruto gathered his chakra before walking up a tree before hanging upside down from a branch.
He pulls out three kunai throwing each to genin.
Kakashi picks up where Naruto left off with this exercise going into the chakra control exercise principle.
"Naruto, if you don't mind, I'm going to head back and rest up?"
"No problem here," he said, swinging to the top side of the tree branch before sitting down.
For the remainder of the day, the three genin practice the tree-climbing exercise.
To no surprise, Sai mastered this exercise by the end of the day.
He wasn't alone. Sakura finished alongside him, leaving the lone Uchiha by himself.
He, of course, had an annoyed expression being left in the dust by his teammates.
The whole time Naruto never lifted his gaze on him.
He continued a few more times before calling it a day. Unfortunately for him, he was so worn out that Naruto had to carry him home.
Just in time, since dinner was ready for them, he carefully set him down before getting his plate.
He eats in comfortable silence before putting his dirty dishes in the sink.
"Thank you for the meal, Tsunami," he bows to her before heading outside.
"Kakashi sensei, how long has Naruto been in the anbu?" Sakura asked.
"Hmm, little over two years," he informed, causing two of the genin to go wide-eyed.
hope you enjoyed
I'm be watching the anime to see what changed need to be made from canon
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