AN: Not much to say here. Check your PMs on the desktop site, sometimes I reply to reviews. Enjoy.

I don't own Naruto.

"You promised!"

Blue eyes remained dejectedly fixed onto the ground below, unable to meet the angry brown ones of the younger boy in front of him. Besides him, his two teammates shifted uneasily, a small frown on their faces.

"I'm sorry."

Taro clenched his fists, tears welling up in his eyes once more. "You said I could count on you! It's all your fault!" He shouted at the blond making him flinch subtly. "Grandpa's gone now!"

Yuna's lips curled down in discontent as she stepped in front of the blond Jinchūriki, almost protectively. "Don't talk to Naruto like that. It's not his fault."

Tomoda raised both of his hands in an attempt to placate the upset duo in front of him. "Why don't we all just take a breather and think things through carefully."

Naruto looked at his teammate's back in surprise. He hadn't expected anyone to jump to his defense. The little boy sniffled, and his father Sakana sighed and placed a hand on top of his son's head. "I apologize, Shinobi-san. Taro doesn't mean any of that, it's just the grief talking."

Of course, that was understandable. Even now, the sadness in the man's eyes and posture were clearly evident. Regardless if the old war veteran wasn't all there, he was still their dear family member.

Mamoru had quickly been taken to the hospital and handed over to the medic nin, though the autopsy just confirmed what they already knew. There was no coming back from it, the rope had already cut off all of his blood supply going to his head and his windpipe had been crushed. Sakana had chosen to take the body with him, choosing to bury him in their family graveyard. And now here they stood, in front of their newly repaired fishing shack an hour after the body had been found.

"I thank you for finding my father." The fisherman said once his son had retreated back into their home. He kneeled in front of the whiskered boy who was still frowning, eyes lost and fixed on the ground. "Please don't blame yourself for this." Naruto looked up at the man. "Taro feels that way now, but those feelings will pass. He'll come around eventually."

Naruto nodded slowly but said nothing. Glancing down at his three Genin, Tomoda cleared his throat and nodded at Sakana. "My condolences, Tokita-san. We will be on our way now."

They made their way back to the village in silence. Moral was low, not that he was expecting much else. 'Anyway, it's better that they experience death here in the safety of their village than in some unknown territory surrounded by enemies.'

Everyone had been affected, though from all of them, Naruto seemed to have taken it the hardest. Not only from finding the body, but also due to his promise to Taro. It was easier on the Jōnin though. While what had happened was terrible, he was used to death. He'd been a Shinobi for 11 years after all. But his team? This was their first experience with it, and would definitely not be the last.

"So guys," He said, drawing the attention of the Genin. "What do you say we go grab a bite to eat?" It was a pathetic attempt to bring up everyone's mood, but anything would be better than this awful silence.

His three students stared up at him. No one replied, but the ever-stoic Sho nodded his head once, arms crossed over his body. He had been the first out of the three to recover from the shock.

"Sorry, I'll pass." Came the small voice of Naruto. The other members turned to him, a concerned expression on their faces as they watched the little blond stuff his hands in his pockets and walk off in another direction.

Sho opened his mouth to call out to him, but a hand landing on his shoulder made him stop short. The earth user turned towards his teacher; an eyebrow raised questioningly. Tomoda just shook his head with a grim expression on his face.

—

He hadn't managed to keep his promise.

Dull eyes stared at the ground below him. The normally lively atmosphere of the streets of Konoha seemed so dark and hollow now. The people chattering about, the children playing outside of shops, they had all turned into faceless grey figures.

Was it really his fault? Even if he hadn't made that promise, old man Mamoru still would have died. But making that promise had given Taro hope. It had given him hope.

But it was that same hope that now made him feel so shattered. That same hope that now made Taro feel betrayed, cheated. It was almost as if making that promise had made things infinitely worse.

What was the point of a promise if you couldn't even keep it? What was the point of it if it could be broken so easily?

He knew that promises weren't magical. If you made some impossible promise, then the only person you had to blame once it failed was yourself. He knew this, deep down. But making that promise had made him feel like he could do the impossible.

But he'd been forced to face the harsh reality. Promises could be broken. Promises would be broken. Just because he made one didn't mean that he could do the impossible. After all, he was no one. Just a weak little Genin.

"Ah, Naruto! Your usual order?" The boy looked up, noticing that his feet had carried him to Ichiraku's. Teuchi was grinning down at him with his usual smile that would have been contagious any other time. Naruto nodded and took a seat at the far-right end, grateful at Teuchi for not saying anything about his lack of enthusiasm.

What did this mean for his promise to Kyuubi? He'd given himself an impossible task during his haste to help the bijuu. He didn't know where the Shinigami mask was. He didn't know where to begin looking. He didn't even know what he would do once he found it. Was this another promise that he wouldn't be able to keep?

He barely noticed the bowl that was placed in front of him, the world around him having morphed into cacophony of sounds and motions he could barely register. The more he thought about this, the more it felt like he was slipping into a deep pit of despair.

What about all the other Bijuu? All the Other Jinchūriki? He'd made a promise to himself that he would find them, that he would free them!

"…!"

Learning their names, gaining the right to use Kyuubi's, meeting his father, uniting the world? Was that all just a faraway dream? An unobtainable ambition that had no hope to be achieved?

"H…y!"

What was he thinking? All of these goals…Meeting the Bijuu, learning Ninshu, bringing the nations together, there was no way he could do all of that.

He was a nobody.

"Hey!"

"Choji, let it go man."

"No way, he's letting his ramen go cold. Hey, are you gonna eat that?"

The blond snapped out of his reverie and, just like that, colour and motion returned to the real world. Blinking rapidly, he looked to his left to see two kids about his age a few seats across from his. One was a pudgy kid with brown hair and red swirls on his cheeks. Next to him, the one that was sitting two seats to his left, was a boy with a head shaped like a pineapple with his hair being tied in a spiky ponytail. Both boys were looking at him, though the bigger of the two kids seemed much more interested in him than the skinnier kid.

"…Huh?"

The Akimichi pointed his chopsticks at the bowl in front of him. "Your ramen. Are you gonna finish it?"

Naruto looked down at the ramen in front of him with unfocused eyes before turning back towards the other kid.

"No."

"Then can I?"

The Uzumaki said nothing but slid the bowl over to the pineapple haired kid regardless, who sighed and passed the bowl on to the other kid next to him.

"Yeah, free ramen! Thanks!"

Naruto didn't pay attention to the happenings next to him, once again becoming lost in his own thoughts and staring blankly at the counter top. The hungry kid didn't seem to even notice it, but the one sitting next to him definitely did.

—

What a strange guy. He and his best friend Choji had stopped by at Ichiraku's today, a ramen place that they went to sometimes for their delicious noodles. Now, Shikamaru wasn't as big of an eater as his friend was, but he definitely could enjoy good food whenever the opportunity presented itself.

However, not long after they started eating and Shikamaru was just finishing his bow, -with Choji finishing his third-, he noticed a blond boy with whisker marks make his way inside the stall like a zombie that had just risen from his grave.

He was definitely weird. Surprisingly, he was wearing a Konoha headband even though he appeared to be their age. Even weirder, he didn't look like he was noticing anything that was going on around him. It was like he was there, but not there at the same time. He barely moved when the bowl was served to him, and he barely moved when his friend had been calling out to him for an entire minute.

"Huh?"

Ah, so Choji had finally gotten his attention. But even though the blond could clearly hear him, it felt like talking to him was like attempting to talk to Ino about anything that wasn't related to Sasuke and flowers. He didn't seem to be a bad person though, since he did give his bowl over to Choji.

But even after that, he just reverted back to staring at nothing. Those eyes were unsettling. Those eyes didn't belong on a kid. Where had he seen those eyes before?

Oh, that's right. He'd seen them on his dad.

—

"Oi."

For the second time within the span of 5 minutes, Naruto's declining train of thought was interrupted once more by an annoying kid that just could not leave him alone. Glancing next to him, he saw the pineapple haired boy sending him a weird look, an eyebrow raised in mild curiosity at him.

"Are you okay?"

That took him by surprise. No one outside of his team and the older people he was close with ever cared about how he felt, and he could count them on his fingers and still have some left over. Maybe that boy wasn't as annoying as he'd initially thought.

"Yeah."

The lazy looking kid nodded and after a few awkward seconds with only the slurping sounds of Choji eating his ramen filling in the silence, decided to introduce himself.

"I'm Shikamaru."

Naruto sent him a confused stare, not sure whether or not to offer his name as well. Not that there was much to fear anyway, he was a Shinobi and could protect himself. Still, the years of scavenging, stealing and surviving had taught him to be cautious about everything.

"Naruto." He finally said with clear hesitation. The pineapple-haired nodded and turned back towards his friend, resuming his previous conversation with him. It was after a few more minutes that he addressed the blond Jinchūriki again.

"I've seen that look before." He said, surprising the Uzumaki. "I heard it's good to talk about it." A careless shrug. "You're welcome to talk if you want."

Shikamaru said no more and diverted his attention elsewhere, leaving Naruto to ponder that statement for a while. Was this really okay? He didn't know that kid. Hell, he didn't know if that kid would even understand his dilemma. The only other person he usually talked about his problems to was Kakashi.

But in the end, what did he have to lose?

It took him a while to muster up the courage to speak up again. During that time, Shikamaru's friend had finished his third bowl and had opened up a packet of barbeque chips. He seemed all too happy to just sit there and munch on them for a while.

"I…" He said slowly, making the lazy kid turn back to him. "I broke a promise."

"A promise?" Shikamaru placed his chin on his open hand and stared up at the ceiling in boredom. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, so did I. I said to my troublesome mother that I would fold the laundry tonight and I forgot to." He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm gonna be in a lot of trouble tonight. Man, that's troublesome."

Naruto stared at him in disbelief. That…Was not helpful to him. At all. Those two problems were on entirely different spectrums. Still, he found himself questioning him further against his own will.

"What do you do? When you can't keep a promise, I mean."

"Hmm." Brown eyes came back down to meet his. "I just try harder next time I guess."

Try harder? Was it really that simple?

No amount of 'trying harder' could have saved Mamoru, but that didn't mean that he couldn't try his best to keep the other promises that he'd made, right? It all seemed so daunting right now, but if he just gave up without even trying, what would that make him?

A coward?

Uzumaki Naruto was not a coward!

This revelation was like a slap in the face. Who knew that an academy student that looked even younger than him would have had the answer to this nightmare?

Naruto's lips twitched up slightly into a small smile as he scratched at his hair in frustration. "Heheh…Can't believe I've been acting so stupid, ya know…Thanks Shikamaru."

'Ya know?' The Nara decided to ignore that strange verbal tick and shrugged back in response. "Sure…" He watched as the weird whiskered boy rose from his feet, toss a few coins onto the counter and run off in some unknown direction.

Choji peeked from behind Shikamaru to look at the retreating blond, still noisily munching his chips. "What was that about Shikamaru? You never try harder."

Shikamaru turned towards his friend and placed his index finger against his lips. "Shhh."

"Hmm." Sho hummed with a raised eyebrow. "And you sure you're alright?"

"I'm telling you, yes, I'm fine now." It was quite funny to see his stoic teammate break out of character and fuss about his two juniors, as rare as that was. His team had been pretty worried about him when he'd left them three days ago. They'd all been affected, but Naruto had taken it the worst out of all three of them. Thankfully, they'd had the entire weekend to gather their thoughts and recuperate.

"Well, I'm glad that you're feeling better now, Naruto." Tomoda looked at his three students. "All of you. Death will be something that you have to deal with more and more as you progress through the ranks. I'm proud of you all for overcoming this."

A fleeting smile appeared on Yuna's face, though it disappeared so fast that the members of team 5 had to wonder if it had even been there in the first place. "Are we going to do another D-rank today, sensei?"

"Actually, no." Tomoda smiled at the three wide-eyed and hopeful looks that he received. "We've completed the required number of D-rank missions, so today we can take our first C-rank."

"FINALLY!" Many villagers nearby jumped in surprise at the blond's loud outburst. His teammates were also both rejoicing in their own little way, with Yuna's small smile and Sho's crossed arm and satisfied grunt. This was a pretty big moment; they had been doing these hellish D-ranks for nearly three months by now.

Tomoda chuckled as Naruto eagerly bounced around him. "What do you think the C-rank is gonna be sensei? Are we gonna protect a noble? Save a princess? Free a country!?" He knew it was a pretty naïve thought, but one could always dream…

"I very much doubt that, shrimp." Naruto bristled at the shot to his height. "C-ranks are usually basic errands and escorts missions, and no, only merchants and peasants. Nobles are A-rank and over."

"Man…" The Jinchūriki kicked at a pebble dejectedly. "Oh well, at least it won't be some lame chore."

—

A bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of his forehead and over his whiskered cheek. Man, he forgot how scary the old man Hokage could be sometimes.

"Don't think that I didn't hear about the latest mission reports, team 5." Drawled out Hiruzen Sarutobi, a slight edge to his voice.

"We don't know what you're talking about old m—Uh, Hokage-sama."

The fire shadow stood up and began to pace around the room, reading off a scroll in his hands. "Disturbance of peace. Misconduct. Damaged properties. Attempted murder of a noble pet." Hiruzen stared up at the nervous Genin in front of him. "Have you anything to say for yourself?"

Naruto gulped nervously as his team remained quiet. The Hokage frowned and sat back down behind his desk. "You used explosives to scare poor Tora into a trap. That is highly dangerous and unacceptable."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"It was Naruto's idea."

"What!?" Said blond exclaimed.

"Agreed, entirely his fault."

Naruto deadpanned at his teammates. "Not cool guys."

"Naruto." Hiruzen levelled a warning stare towards him. "I know you are about to go on your first C-rank right now, but trust that you will be punished for this once you return."

The Uzumaki visibly deflated at that. "Yes Hokage-sama."

"Now." Hiruzen's frown suddenly vanished and was replaced by a kind smile as he looked at the other members of team Tomoda. "I believe you were about to pick your mission?"

—

"So what's the mission sensei?"

Tomoda chuckled and opened up his scroll. "Settle down, Naruto. We are going to Hacho village. A group of bandits have been pillaging and killing people, and as such merchants are too afraid to come to the village. Our job is to drive them away." He looked over towards his team. "Peacefully or forcefully."

So…This was finally happening? This would be the first time where he and his team's life would actually be on the line. This was the moment that they had all been training for.

"I'll give you half an hour to get ready. We will meet at the gates by 8:30am sharp. Don't be late."

Naruto turned towards his teammates with a nervous smile as their teacher disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Our first C-rank, this is exciting." He said making Sho nod in agreement.

"It will be good to get out of the village for once."

Yuna walked off towards her house and spoke over her shoulder." Make sure to pack properly. See you in half an hour."

—

"Quit fidgeting, Naruto."

"I can't help it sensei, we're finally on our first real mission! It's really exciting!"

Yuna couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face at her teammate's enthusiasm. "You're gonna waste all of your energy if you keep going on like that."

Currently, the quartet was travelling at ninja-speed through the thick trees that made up the forest around Konoha. Hacho village was on the borders of fire country, so unfortunately it would take them a little while to get there.

And it did take them a few hours. After travelling until noon, checking in at the village entrance and showing off all the legal documents needed, they were soon escorted to the leader of the village, an old man named Disonasu.

Disonasu was an elderly with yellow eyes, a grey beard and dark brown eyebrows, though it was hard to tell under the thick brown head cloth that fit with his jacket and pants. The old man had told them that the bandits had been camping out 2 kilometres away from the village towards the east and would probably be coming back soon. Hacho village, being comprised primarily of civilians, could do little to defend themselves against the bandits.

So now, team 5 was surveying the bandit camp a few distance away, hidden by the shrubbery of the trees they were perched upon. Even though they wanted to resolve the matter peacefully first, they wanted to know the layout of the place in case things went awry. The only entrance to the left seemed to be very poorly guarded, the only one there was a bandit that looked to have fallen asleep on a chair. The entire camp though wasn't very populated, there was at most, 4 or 5 people in the place.

"Before we go in, there's something I'd like to say to you all."

The tone in their teacher's voice made the three Genin pause and look at their sensei. Never before had they heard him sound as serious as he was being right now. He was usually a laid-back and easy-going guy.

"We are Shinobi of the hidden leaf. Remember where we come from. We are not barbarians and will not attack if the situation does not call for it." His eyes moved from one student to another. "With that being said, these bandits are scum and rarely listen to reason. Be prepared, chances are that you will have to take lives today."

Each student seemed to be a little shaken by this. Of course, they knew they would have to take a life eventually, but knowing one thing and actually acting upon it were vastly different. No amount of preparing and studying would change how they feel during the act.

"When you are fighting someone, and when you are about to take their life, you may feel sadness for them. Pity, empathy. You will freeze up and second-guess yourself. A single second can decide the outcome of an entire battle. Close your heart to it. On your journey as a Shinobi, you will face against all matter of ninja. Some will be cruel and sadistic, some will be kind hearted and will only be doing their jobs."

Taking a deep breath, he continued, closing his eyes as the Genin listened to him intently and hung onto his every word. "In the end, this is our job. And no matter who they are, if they stand against our village then they stand against you as well. Close your heart to their desperation. Close your heart to their suffering. Do not allow yourself to feel for them. They will not feel for you."

Tomoda stood up and dusted his pants, his three students slowly following his example. Looking back towards the bandit camp, Naruto took in a shaky breath of air and attempted to calm his nerves.

No going back now.

—

"Tanjo! A bunch o' ninja freaks are at the gate! They said they wanna talk to tha leader!"

"Huh!?" Tanjo, quickly stood up from his chair and rushed over to his window. "You fool, gather the others!"

Tanjo hurried over to the entrance of the camp, bloodshot eyes wide open in fury as the rest of his men gathered around behind him, each wielding their own personal choice of weapon.

"Go away ninja, we don't want you 'ere!" The thug leader yelled as he clutched his rusty sword tighter to his body. The men behind him yelled in agreement, and team 5 could smell the alcohol on their breath from where they were standing.

Tomoda stepped forward. "Now hold on, we just want to talk."

"We got nothin' to say to ya!"

The fire-user sighed. "We are under orders to have you evacuate from this area and return all of your stolen goods to the village. If you can do so, then you will be brought to trial with no death penalty. Refusal to comply will result in your imminent termination."

One of the thugs turned towards his friends. "He said imi-whuh?"

Tanjo grit his teeth and turned towards his henchmen. "Shut up you idiot!" The crazy leader faced team 5 once more and took a threatening step forward while swinging his sword around. "And you! You better leave now 'else there'll be trouble!"

Tomoda shook his head in pity and inclined his head to look at his team from the corner of his eye. "I will take the leader. You three, take the 4 others. They're only civilians so they will be easy pickings. Remember what I told you."

The three children looked at each other and nodded before each splitting off in their own direction. Tanjo yelled out incoherently in anger and turned towards the three kids that were now behind him only to be intercepted by Tomoda.

"You're facing me right now."

—

"Oi, who d'ya think yer are punk?"

Sho frowned and crossed his arms as he faced off against his two enemies. He was the only one of his teammates to have gotten two opponents instead of one, but that didn't really matter to him. It's not like they posed much of a threat anyway.

"I apologize. This is just business." The earth user seemed to vanish from the untrained eyes of the two bandits and reappeared in front of one of them. His arms became darker, and his fist descended brutally on the top of the right bandit's cranium, killing him instantly.

Close your heart to their desperation.

"W-What the!?" The left bandit screamed in surprise and rushed at Sho, hoping to catch him off-guard while his back was turned. Unfortunately for him, he was used to fighting the blond menace in his team that was annoyingly fast and sneaky. Spinning around, Sho easily diverted the bat swing away from him and planted his fist in the guy's sternum, making him spit up blood. His eyes rolled up and he lost consciousness, his body limply falling to the floor.

Sho's hands began to shake slightly as he watched the two downed bodies, one dead and one unconscious. Closing his hands into fists and taking a deep breath, he retrieved a kunai from his pouch and moved forward to finish the job.

—

Swish

Swish

Yuna hopped away from yet another failed attempt to behead her. The bandit that she was facing off against was wearing a red bandana, missing half of his teeth and was clumsily swinging around a chipped naginata.

Putting some distance between her and her enemy, she interlaced her fingers into the horse sign. The man in front of him froze in place, eyes going wide. His breathing picked and he raised the naginata in his hands, slowly flipping it around and drove the pointed end into his own throat.

Close your heart to their suffering.

The girl watched with an unreadable expression on her face as he came to and choked on his own blood, desperately grasping at his neck before he crumpled to the ground. Standing still for a few seconds, she walked over to the corpse and kneeled down next to it, closing his eyelids regretfully.

—

"Cheh, I get the shorty?" The thug complained, though the cruel grin on his face showed that he was not at all upset about it. Raising his mace, he let out a cry and charged forward.

Wind-style: Soaring fist. Clenching his fist, Naruto thrust it forward and let a compact ball of air fly from his hand. The shot impacted into the thug's stomach, who cried out in surprise and was knocked onto his butt, his mace clattering on the ground behind him. The whiskered boy pulled out his tanto from its sheath and flashed forward through the use of a shunshin.

His face, that's what drew his attention the most. Twisted in pain, forever stuck in this expression of horror. Something white poking out of his pocket drew his attention. He reached inside and pulled out a small slip of paper.

It was a photograph. That same man, grinning broadly as a small girl hung off his arm. They both looked so happy…

This man was a father.

What would this girl think when he wouldn't be coming home?

The tip of his blade stopped short a centimeter from the man's forehead, and the thug fell back in surprise as he crawled away a few paces.

Did this guy have friends?

Did this guy have a family?

Who was he to take him away from them? Who was he to decide who lived and who died?

The thug trembled in fear as the blond slowly walked towards him. Getting onto his knees, he clasped his hands together as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes.

"P-Please! I was just following orders! Please spare me!"

Was he really expected to kill someone begging for their life?

Were Shinobi truly so rotten?

Naruto remained still, indecision swimming in his eyes. Looking upon the terrified man's face, he let his blade hang limply in his hand.

"What's your name?"

The thug looked confused but quickly answered. "O-Onugara."

Naruto frowned, debating on his next course of action. What should he do?

"If I let you go," Onugara perked up at that, hope shining on his face. "Do you promise to live honestly? And to not kill or pillage anymore?"

"Y-Yes, I promise! I swear it on my life!"

The blond sheathed his tanto and began walking back to his team. "Then get out of here before I change my mind."

Onugara scrambled to his feet and ran to the exit as if the devil was on his tail.

—

The three Genin met back near the center of the base. When they arrived, they saw Tomoda looking none the worse for wear and Tanjo on the ground with a stab wound on his neck. The fire user turned towards his students upon hearing their footsteps and smiled at them.

"How are you all feeling?"

His team remained silent, as was expected. He didn't really count on them being right as rain after doing the deeds. Honestly, he had been the same when his teacher made him go through the same thing. He could have handled all the bandits by himself with no problem and shield them from doing this, but he couldn't do that. It was a necessity that had to happen, and he wanted his students to go through it as early as possible. And they had.

All save for his youngest.

"Naruto." Naruto turned his head towards him in acknowledgement, though he couldn't bring himself to look him in the eyes. "You let your enemy go." The blond nodded. "Why?"

The boy nervously chewed on his lip. "I couldn't." He looked down and stared at the ground. "He was begging for mercy. He's still a human being sensei. And he promised to become a good person."

"Promises are hollow." Shot back Tomoda in a stern voice making the blond wince. "His life was on the line; he would have promised anything. What stops him from continuing his life as a criminal? What stops him from continuing to steal and murder?"

"We're Shinobi. We steal. We cheat, we lie, we murder! How are we any different?"

Tomoda frowned at his words. "How can you say something like that?" He shook his head in disappointment as his teammates watched on helplessly. "We live in a monarchy. We do all of those things to protect the people and the village we love. It's necessary. We get our hands dirty so that the ones back at home remain clean. These people? They fight for themselves." Tomoda turned his back on him. "The sooner you learn that, the better."

The sooner you learn that the better. Kakashi had said those words to him before. Well, Dog had.

Why did the world have to be so damn complicated?

"Let's get going." He began to walk away and his students quickly caught up to him. "We have a long way back home and we won't make it back before nightfall. We will have to stop by Tonika village and check in an inn on the way there.

Thank god. None of the Genin wanted to camp out tonight.

—

Bang bang bang!

"Sho! Hurry up with the damn shower!"

Tomoda nervously peeked over his newspaper as the sole female member of team 5 banged onto the bathroom door in a fit of anger. Naruto just kept nibbling at his sandwich, doing his best attempt to ignore the happenings a few meters away.

"I swear if you don't come out in the next 2 minutes then I'm busting that door down!"

"Is that really necessary?" Complained Sho from inside the bathroom.

"Man, women are scary…"

"What was that sensei?"

"Nothing!"

—

"Well, I'm heading out. Gonna look around the area a bit."

The hotel they'd rented out was fairly small, strictly serving to let them spend the night within a safe environment. The room comprised of two single beds and two futons, with a small sofa next to window. Attached to it was the tiniest kitchen you've ever seen, and a bathroom with no bathtub, much to Yuna's secret displeasure. The three kids had showered after today's event and were now all hanging out in their own way. Yuna was on the sofa, reading a thick looking book. Sho was next to his futon on the floor and was doing his push-ups, and Naruto was just lying on his bed, his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling.

All three Genin looked up at their sensei from their position in the bedroom/living room. Naruto raised an eyebrow but didn't question it.

"Okay sensei."

As Tomoda walked out of the inn, Naruto turned towards the other male member of his team. "Hey Sho, I've been meaning to ask you."

The earth user had finished his sets a few minutes ago and was now taking small sips from his water bottle. "What is it?"

"You know that weird earth technique you use? The one that makes you tougher?" The boy looked away at that, and Yuna glanced up from her book at the sudden choice of topic. "I've never seen anything like that before. Where'd you learn that?"

Sho didn't reply for a while making the blond frown and awkwardly scratch the back of his head.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me, I was just cu-"

"No, no. It's fine. We're teammates, so I should tell you."

Naruto watched as his friend closed his eyes and took a deep breath, almost as if to mentally prepare himself. He'd never seen him like that before. Whatever it was, it was probably something pretty big.

"I learned it from my father." Sho opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "My father was…Obsessed with this man called Kakuzu. So much so that he devoted his entire life to learn all about him. Kakuzu was supposedly alive during the time of the Shodaime. He fought the first Hokage and actually survived. That alone granted him the stature of S-rank. And my father, he was fascinated by his immortality."

"Immortality? Is that even possible?"

Sho turned towards Yuna and shrugged. "I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised. I was never interested in that type of stuff, so I didn't listen much. The only thing I remember is that he had a special power that let him stay alive."

He took another breath. "Anyway, my father would always look into info about Kakuzu. He knew everything about him; What techniques he used, what he did on a day to day basis, hell he even knew what type of food he preferred. But if there was one thing that everybody knew about him, it was his lust for money."

Naruto shared an apprehensive look with Yuna. Why did he have a feeling that this story didn't have a happy ending?

"Kakuzu would always take the highest bounties. And so, to be able to one day meet him, he began to commit crimes across the nations in an attempt to get a high price on his head. It almost felt like his humanity was leaving him. To him, there was only his goal."

Sho raised his hand and thoughtfully stared at the tanned complexity of his skin.

"I hail from Takigakure. Though when father began his descent into madness, mother took me with her and ran from the village. I was six at the time, and patrolling Konoha Shinobi eventually found us.

Two years later, father showed up again. He'd disguised himself as a merchant and somehow infiltrated the village and tracked us…Well, me, down. He managed to copy one of the jutsu that Kakuzu used. Kakuzu is…An expert when it comes to each element. He's even created his own destructive techniques. Though, his deadliest ability is the earth one which he uses to steal people's hearts."

Naruto blanched and unconsciously pulled the blanket further up his body.

"I've never heard of such a thing. What's it called?" Questioned Yuna from her spot. Sho shook his head in return.

I don't remember. Kakuzu had a second earth technique…The iron skin." The boy saw recognition on his teammate's faces and nodded in affirmation. "You already know what that does. Father figured out the mechanics behind that jutsu…But he had pretty pathetic chakra reserves, so he couldn't use it. I on the other hand, was given my mother's reserves. He is an earth user, but he couldn't use that jutsu. So, he taught it to me. And used me as a guinea pig to find the weaknesses of the move.

Eventually, when he'd learned enough, he brought me with him on a trip. I didn't know where we were going at the time, but it became clear after a few weeks. Kakuzu had found us. He was after my father's bounty.

Father didn't stand a chance. He did manage to surprise him and stab him in the heart, but Kakuzu didn't even seemed bothered by it. And then…"

"And then?" Prodded Yuna.

"And then, father was ripped apart piece by piece, and those things swallowed his heart."

After that, all was quiet within the small room. What could they possibly say to this story? That they were sorry?

"How did you survive?" Yuna asked suddenly. "If he's so strong, how are you still here?"

Sho stared down at his lap. "I…Don't think he even noticed me there. It's like it wasn't worth his time to even look at me." He clenched his fists tightly and shook his head. "I don't care about revenge. I just want to be able to forget him. But I can't, he's always there whenever I close my eyes."

It was strange to see Sho look so vulnerable. He'd always been so level-headed, in control of his emotions. But Naruto knew from experience that he wasn't looking for someone to pity him.

"Thanks for telling us, Sho." The blond said. "I know it must've not been easy."

The earth user just shrugged and brought his bottle up for more water. "What about you guys. What's your deal?"

The question startled the two. Sho never asked those types of question. How surprising, turns out opening up to people made you feel more comfortable around them.

"Not much to me, honestly." The girl muttered as she flipped a page of her book. "My mother died as a Shinobi after I was born. I still see my father sometimes, but pretty rarely. Now I live with my aunt."

Naruto sent her an inquisitive look. "Wait, why isn't your dad taking care of you?"

"Because he's a coward." She replied bluntly, making the Jinchūriki wince. "What about you, Fishcake?"

"Me?"

'My father is the fourth Hokage, my mother is a member of a dead clan, my godfather is one of the legendary Sannin and I hold the strongest tailed beast inside of my stomach, yet I still somehow lived by myself for 9 years.'

"Ah, nothing of interest."

"Jiraiya-kun, what a pleasant surprise. And I see you still haven't learned how to use doors."

The toad Sannin gave his teacher a grin as he closed the window behind him. "Doors are outdated, sensei. And that secretary of yours is too much of a hassle. This is much easier."

Hiruzen sighed and shook his head. "To what do I owe the pleasure, dear student of mine?"

Jiraiya sprawled himself on a chair opposite to his teacher's desk, a leg casually over the arm rest and his arms crossed across his chest. "You wouldn't believe the trip I've had. I'm telling you, travelling from Mizu to here is a hell of a trip."

"I'd thought you would have ridden on top of one those summons of yours?"

"Yeah, and my legs are killing me."

The Sandaime deadpanned at the Sannin and diverted his attention back to his paperwork. They'd been through this song and dance too many times before. If Jiraiya didn't want to talk yet, then nothing would make him talk. He'd talk when he was ready.

"I saw Minato's brat on my way here."

Well that was certainly worth his attention.

"You saw Naruto-kun? Did you speak with him?"

A rare frown was present on the Sannin's face. "Nah, he didn't see me. But I did see a headband on his forehead. A bit young, don't you think? What is he, ten?"

"Nine." Corrected the aged Kage. "And graduated when he was eight." Jiraiya's frown deepened. "Now don't look at me like that, it was his wish. Kakashi has taken him under his wing for the past few years and we've quickly concluded that Naruto-kun is a prodigy, much like how his father was at his age. And not only that, but he also seems to possess Kushina's unique ability."

The hermit's eyebrows raised in surprise. "The chains? That's a surprise." He rubbed his chin in thought and the room soon descended into silence once more. Though it was short lived, because Jiraiya's next words would shake the old man to his core.

"Orochimaru left the Akatsuki."

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Tomoda brought a finger to his lips and motioned for them to stay put. They had left Tonika village about half an hour ago and would soon be stepping foot within Konoha territory.

Slowly stalking forward, the fire user kept his guard up and disappeared from the Genin's line of view through the bushes.

His eyes snapped to the ground, noticing something long slithering there. A vine? No, more like…

'Oh, it's just a snake.'

—

Where the hell was he?

A bead of sweat trailed down his temple in nervousness as he and his team remained on guard, warily looking around for potential danger.

"Shouldn't sensei be back by now?" Whispered Naruto to his teammates.

Sho frowned and tightened his grip around his kunai. "I'm not liking this. Let's go check it out."

The trio moved forward and cautiously followed after their sensei, stepping through the shrubbery and vines.

"Sensei!" The blond heard his female teammate yell out in panic and run on ahead, though he didn't know why from his position; he was at the back of the line. But it soon became clear once he'd caught up.

Tomoda was on the ground.

"W-What?" Naruto quickly joined his teammates as they gathered around their sensei and Sho placed his finger against Tomoda's neck, eyes wide and tanned skin an unhealthy pale colour.

"There's…There's no pulse." Checking the body over, the only thing he could see out of place were two puncture wounds on the nape of his neck.

"Kukukuku…What do we have here?"

"Sakura, honey! You're gonna be late for the academy!"

"Coming mom!"

She'd been standing in front of the mirror for nearly 10 minutes by now, trying in vain to arrange her long pink hair into neat bangs. Huffing in frustration, she gave up halfway and pushed them to the side, using a green clip to keep it out of her eyes.

Quickly glancing at her clock, she calculated that she had about 10 more minutes before class started. Opening her door and rushing downstairs, she waved to her parents and hurried outside, where her friend and rival was waiting for her, arms crossed and left foot impatiently tapping onto the ground.

"About time, forehead. Did you have trouble fitting your huge head through your dress?"

"Shut it Ino-pig!" She yelled back and walked faster in an attempt to get rid of her. Unfortunately, she easily caught up with a teasing smirk on her face.

"Did you see where Sasuke-kun was sitting yesterday? He was next to me! After all these years he's finally starting to notice me!"

"Yes Ino, you told me this ten times already yesterday. And the only reason he sat next to you was because it was the only seat left!"

"Hmph, you're just jealous."

Sakura growled, a tick mark appearing above her brow. "Jealous of what? Your pig-nose?"

The two girls butted heads as sparks flew between their eyes. They glared at each other for a few more seconds before separating and began walking side by side at a normal pace.

"Have you studied for the test today?" Ino asked her friend, who grinned at her in response.

"Of course, I'm gonna ace it and you'll be left in my dust once again."

"Grr, why you!"

"…o….dy… ..r….ct..d… ..n.. st…..ge ….ay…."

…Where was he?

"…eal c…nt…r…d ever… a….em…t. ….Thr…e….pr….ngs…"

He felt tired…So weak and tired…

"…Cu…r…nt se…..l w….. …ot be su….f..i…nt"

Couldn't he just go back to sleep? The real world was just…So tiring. And he was having such a pleasant dream…

"T…at is unf…n…te. N…w va…ri…ons w…l ne…. to be ex…l…..red.

Why was the real world so loud?

"His b…ain act…v…ty is un…su…l …ough con…idering his sta…us, it is n…t that o…t …f the or…in…ry."

All the noise around him was getting louder, and as he began to feel himself becoming more and more aware, the noise became more and more clear.

"What do you mean by unusual?"

"Take the chemical imbalance within his brain for instance. His dopamine and serotonin output are very low, but his cortisol levels are highly persistent, suggesting a stressful and unhappy life. It's a quite common behaviour within Jinchūrikis."

"Kukuku, interesting. This might make things much easier."

"Ngh…"

The two other occupants of the room turned their attention towards him, and Naruto attempted to open his eyes to view his surroundings, but his vision was too blurry and woozy to be able to perceive anything.

"Finally awake, Naruto-kun?" A sickly voice said a few paces away from him. Slow, measured steps could be heard approaching, echoing, growing closer and closer until it stopped right beside him. Struggling to open his eyes once more, he could hazily discern long silky black hair and pale skin.

A rush of jumbled memories suddenly came back to him. He'd seen that man before…

Where was his team?

"There's…There's no pulse."

Tomoda-sensei is dead?

"Kukukuku…What do we have here?"

This man had killed him.

"Crap! Snap out of it!"

He could barely remember what had happened after that…

"Naruto, grab my hand! Hurry!"

What had this man done to his team?

"You irritating little pests…"

Was his team dead as well…?

No…He couldn't accept that!

'Kyuubi…Help me!'

He received no reply, but the familiar burning rush of the nine tail's chakra began to course through his pathways.

"Hm. His brain signals are going haywire again."

The creepy guy smirked and watched the bound struggling blond. "There's nothing to fear."

His eyes turned slitted and red and his whisker marks thickened. But before anything else could happen, seals scribbled all over his torso began to glow blue and forced the vile chakra back into the seal, making him scream in agony.

It hurt! It hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before. It hurt more than Kakashi's training sessions. It hurt more than Kyuubi's chakra. It hurt more than anything he thought could be possible.

Where was his team? Where was old man Hokage? Where was Kakashi?

"Hush now, Naruto-kun, everything is alright." The man chuckled again and leaned over to inspect the seals on his stomach.

'Somebody help me…'

AN: The speech Tomoda gave was inspired by a speech in God of War.

New story drawing on my deviantart. Go look up Yogamii there.

Please review, thanks.