Chapter One

"I never should have listened to you the first time!" A large man barked loudly with a snarl. He was a towering 6'2 with broad shoulders and white waist-length spiky hair tied back into a ponytail. Two long bangs framed the side of his square face hanging down past his chin. His dark eyes were as hard as steel as they looked down at his former master. Beneath each eye, sharp red lines ran down his face coming to an end just below his jawline in sharp points.

"Jiraiya, calm down." An older man said softly but firmly. He was standing straight unwavering under the larger man's gaze. He was in his traditional Hokage attire with dark red robes tied in the center with a white belt. A white cloak with long white sleeves reached just above his knees and a large diamond-shaped red and white hat. His face was worn with age, and his chin covered by a medium-length grey goatee.

"The perpetrators will be dealt with quickly and mercilessly." The older man said softly as he turned his eyes away from Jiraiya and onto the bed just a few paces away. Laying in the bed was a much younger boy. He was about eight years old with bright spiky blond hair. His round face was covered in deep blue and yellow bruises. His right eye was swollen shut, and his left was closed in sleep. Sitting next to the bed in silence was another man. He younger than the other two but much older than the boy in the bed.

"That's not enough," The man said softly. He had spiky silver hair that leaned over towards the left side of his head. A white and red ANBU mask was laid out on the boy's bed as the man held the young boy's hand. He was dressed in a sleeveless black shirt under a dark grey vest. He wore two long black gloves that ran up past his elbow with two grey arm guards strapped to his forearms.

"Kakashi is right," Jiraiya said as he turned to look at the boy. "We can't let something like this happen again. This attack is the worse one yet."

"I'll take him in Hokage-sama," Kakashi said softly. He was looking at the boy with his right dark grey eye. His left eye was closed. A thick scar ran down his face over his left eye down into a black face mask that entirely covered the bottom half of his face.

"You're too young, Kakashi," the Hokage replied gently. "You have your ANBU duties to attend to as well."

"I'm taking him, Hiruzen," Jiraiya said in a stern tone. "Like I wanted to from the beginning." Jiraiya's face was tight with anger as he looked down at the boy. "He is my godson; Minato entrusted his wellbeing to me, and so far, I've failed."

"We've had this discussion before, Jiraiya. Your duties and lifestyle aren't suited to raising a child." Hiruzen replied harshly.

"Then who!?" Jiraiya snapped at his former sensei. "Who will take the boy in and protect him? You? You let the orphanage kick him out, and he's been on his own since he was six! This isn't the first attack either it's just the worst one! Or at the very least the worst one I know about." Jiraiya turned and raised himself to his full height. "I love you like a father sensei, but you've failed the boy and his father. All three of us have. When he wakes up, I'll be taking him with me."

"I'd like to remind you that you are speaking to your Hokage, Jiraiya," Hiruzen said sharply, his eyes boring into Jiraiya's. The two titans stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. For a moment, Kakashi wondered if they'd start exchanging blows. Then he asked himself not for the first time which of them would win.

"Maybe you're right, Jiraiya," The Hokage finally said with a deep and heavy sigh. "I've tried to do my best for him. It hasn't been enough. Even though life on the road with you isn't ideal, it's better than this. Maybe a few years out of the village will calm the citizens and be best for everyone involved."

Jiraiya seemed to deflate a bit as the tension in the room melted away. Hiruzen smiled softly at Jiraiya before walking over towards the bed. He rested his hand gently on the boy's forehead, and tears welled up in his eyes. He reached up and tipped his hat forward to cover his face as he looked down at the beaten and battered child.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," he said softly as he gently rubbed the boy's head. "I expect he'll be ready to leave in a few days," Hiruzen said as he blinked away the tears and turned away. "I'll expect him back, of course, when he's old enough to be a genin."

Seven Years Later

A young man was sitting down cross-legged in a large open clearing. The sun was high in the sky, shining down through the opening in the foliage. He was dressed in a pair of dark pants and was shirtless. He was a bit pale and covered in lean muscle. His face was a bit round with three black marks on either cheek, a bit like whiskers. His arms were lying on top of his legs with his hands open and his palms facing up. The young man's breathing was deep and steady. Just above each of his palms were three leaves. The three leaves seemed to dance gently in an unseen wind. They were slowly winding around each other, spinning in different directions.

On the young man's abdomen was a black tattoo-like marking. From his navel, a dark line swirled around his stomach. Around the swirl were four distinctive markings on the top and bottom framing it. A slight breeze passed through the clearing, causing his spiky blond hair to rustle in the wind. His face twitched with concentration as the leaves seemed to falter for a moment.

"Working on your chakra control still, kid?" A deep voice asked from above. A large man with spiky white hair was squatting on a branch above the young man's head.

"Back from your perving already, Ero-sennin?" The boy responded with a slight smirk. Simultaneously the leaves in his right hand split apart while the leaves in his left collapsed with moisture.

"What did I say about calling me that Naruto," The man huffed as he leaped from the branch and landed beside the young man with a thud.

"I don't remember," Naruto grinned widely, his eyes shut, showing off slightly longer than normal canines. He hopped up to his feet quickly and let out a groan as he stretched.

"I just received word from the old man," Jiraiya said with a look of irritation. "We have to go meet up with your team now, not next week."

"How come?"

"I guess they've gotten themselves in a bit of trouble," Jiraiya said with a groan. "They were assigned a simple C-Rank escort mission, but it looks like it's evolved into an A-Rank protection mission. Just as my research was reaching its peak!" Jiraiya shouted the last part and closed his eyes in pain. "All that work for nothing!"

"Finally found a good spot outside that bathhouse?" Naruto asked with a smirk. "Did you see anything good?" The boy asked as a lecherous look came over his face.

"Yes!" Jiraiya exclaimed with a grin on his face. "There was this one woman with tits bigger than Tsunade's! But you'll have to wait until you're a bit older for any more detail," The man said with a booming laugh.

"Fine then!" Naruto barked back. "I won't tell you the best place to hide near the bathhouses in Konoha!"

"You treacherous little bastard! After all, I've done for you!" Jiraiya snapped back, shaking his fist at Naruto, who was grinning back.

"So, what kind of danger did my new team get themselves into?" Naruto asked as he moved over towards a large rock. Reaching down, he grabbed a thin long-sleeved black shirt with dark orange cuffs and pulled it on over his head.

"Well, according to the old man, some big-time missing-nin is after their client," Jiraiya said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Some guy named Zabuza," he shrugged and crossed his arms. "I looked him up in the bingo book. He seems pretty dangerous. Nothing Kakashi couldn't handle, though, if he were on his own. They think though he has a chunin level partner with him. The odds aren't great for him. He has to protect the client and two genins while dealing with two potentially dangerous enemies."

"Sounds fun," Naruto said with a sly smile as he picked up a dark orange haori with black trimming around the edges. Naruto threw it over his shoulders embroidered on the back of the haori was a black swirl in the center. "I want to fight him," he said with a grin as he ran his hand through his spiky blond hair.

"What? Zabuza?" Jiraiya asked, raising an eyebrow. "You'll lose," he shot back quickly as he crossed his arms. "You can't beat him; I doubt you could even make him break a sweat."

"Yeah, so? I still want to try." Naruto flicked his noes with his thumb. "It's time for me to see how strong I've gotten."

"Well, I'd say your probably good enough not to die right away." Jiraiya shrugged lifted his hands, "why not. I guess I'll be there if things get too serious."

"Great! Let's head out!" Naruto exclaimed as he straightened out his haori laced his fingers behind his head.

"Alright, you two," Kakashi said softly as he leaned against a tree, his one eye staring at his two students. No longer an ANBU operative, the jonin sensei was a bit older, and his face more weathered. He was dressed in the standard jonin garb. He had a dark green jonin vest over a long-sleeved black shirt. His forehead protector was pulled over his left eye. A face mask covered the lower half of his face from his nose down his neck, blending in with his shirt.

"The Hokage reported that our other teammate and his guardian would be here soon to assist us with the mission. In the meantime, I'm going to teach you both how to climb trees."

"Sensei?" Haruno Sakura said inquisitively. She was a petite young woman with long pink hair that went down to the middle of her back. She had large green eyes and delicate facial features. She was dressed in a dark red qipao dress with slits down the sides and tight dark green shorts.

"Just let him finish," Uchiha Sasuke said harshly as he glanced at her. Her face turned bright red with embarrassment, and she looked towards the ground. He was dressed simple pair of white shorts and a high collared blue shirt. His raven black hair was styled back with two dark bangs framing his sharp face.

"No need to be rude, Sasuke," Kakashi said, making eye contact with the young man. "Tree climbing is an important skill for any ninja to have. It's also an exceptional chakra control exercise. By mastering this technique, you can then take the principles of the chakra control exercises and apply them to other aspects of your ninja training." Kakashi said, ignoring Sakura's implied question.

Kakashi kicked himself off the tree and turned around. Channeling just the right amount of chakra into the bottom of his feet, he lifted a foot off the ground and placed it on the trunk. Slowly to prove his point, he walked up the tree with just his feet. He stopped at the base of a low-hanging branch and stepped onto it. He continued walking on it until he was directly beneath his students, who were both looking up at them in surprise. However, Sasuke was much better at covering it up than Sakura.

"Master this technique, and you will have greater chakra control than you do now. You'll be able to control the amount of chakra you put into your genjutsu and ninjutsu, ensuring you don't under or overpower them unnecessarily. For you, Sakura, this will mean not overusing your chakra when you have little to spare. Sasuke, this will help you conserve your chakra so you can fight longer and use more techniques since you won't be wasting excessive amounts of chakra."

With that, Kakashi cut the chakra to the soles of feet off and fell from the branch. With a quick flip, he landed on the soft ground beneath him a crouched position. "It'll also help you in the future when you may want to create original Jutsu. Chakra control will be a necessary part of shaping it. Direct the chakra to the soles of your feet and try to stick to the tree. Don't come back until you've mastered it." Kakashi straightened himself out and started to leave. "I'll be guarding Tazuna while you work on this." Kakashi walked away from his students, offering them a lazy wave as he disappeared into the trees.

Sakura watched as her sensei left and looked up at the tree he had just been standing on. She turned to look at Sasuke, who was staring down another tree intensely. She looked away quickly before she was caught. She still couldn't believe she'd been chosen to be on a team with Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke was easily the strongest genin in their graduating class and a genius. When she was younger, she had the biggest crush on him along with her best friend, Ino. She'd be lying to herself if she said she didn't still like Sasuke. In their competition for Saskue's affection, she and Ino had been so caught up in their rivalry that they had lost their friendship. Something that still upset her to this day, but she couldn't bring herself to fix the relationship.

"Well, I guess I'm going to give it a try," Sakura said softly, rubbing the back of her head shyly. Stepping forward, she channeled her chakra into the soles of her feet and stepped onto the tree. Stepping forward, she felt her grip start to slip on the tree and quickly adjusted, sending more chakra to her foot. As she steadied out, she began to climb slowly. She could see why Kakashi had said how important this exercise could be. Sakura was having to quickly and accurately adjust the flow of chakra to her feet. For someone with more chakra than her, this could be a challenging task to master. Too much, you'd probably blow yourself off the tree. Too little, you'd fall straight down.

Sakura climbed the tree slowly as she felt Sasuke's dark eyes bore into her back, and it made her slightly uncomfortable. Soon though, she got the feel of it and could tell exactly how much chakra she needed to stick to the tree and was able to regulate the chakra to her feet. Sakura climbed as high as she felt comfortable doing so. Once she found a thick enough branch, she moved her feet carefully to it, making sure not to over-adjust the amount of chakra she was using. Establishing a foothold, Sakura gently sat down on the branch and smiled widely.

Sakura looked down to see Sasuke staring at his tree intensely. Sakura deflated a bit at the lack of any kind acknowledgment from her teammate. Though really, she should have known better to expect him to say anything. Let alone anything kind. Sakura continued to watch, though, as Sasuke took a few steps back from the tree and took a running start.

'He's using too much chakra,' she thought to herself silently. Sakura watched as Sasuke ran up the tree, his momentum carrying him pretty high. With a small pop, the bark on the tree shattered and sent him flying back off of the tree. Sasuke landed onto the ground with a grunt and rolled into the fall. Sakura watched as he snapped back up onto his feet. He looked irritated for a brief second before it passed. Then ran towards the tree again.

'Still too much,' Sakura thought to herself as she watched Sasuke bolt up the tree. 'He isn't thinking it through.' Sasuke once again made it up to about the same point, and the bark splintered again, blasting him back. She watched as he fell and rolled into again and got right back on his feet.

"You're using too much chakra," Sakura said as Sasuke prepared to run at the tree again. She saw him hesitate just a moment before running at it. This time Sasuke ran up the tree, making it past his last two attempts. Then his foot slipped from the tree, and he started to fall. Sasuke was able to kick the tree into a backflip and land on his feet with a thud. "It might be better to go slow. You have to adjust your chakra as you go." Sakura called out.

"I didn't ask you, though, did I?" Sasuke bit back irritably. He threw her a sideways look and looked back at the tree.

'RUDE!' Sakura thought to herself as she glared at the boy. "I'm just trying to help." She snapped back, turning her face as it turned bright red. 'Why does he have to be so mean? I'm just trying to help.'

Sakura turned back and watched as Sasuke walked up to the tree-like she did before. 'Then he listens to me anyway!' This time Sasuke laid a foot on the tree softly and started to climb it slowly. He made it halfway up before the bark splintered, and he fell off the tree again. This time Sakura bit her tongue as he fell onto the ground with a thud.

This went on for about an hour or so with Sakura alternating between watching him and practicing her tree-climbing herself. Soon the sun was starting to set, and Sasuke still hadn't made it past the first branch on his tree. Sakura like Kakashi was standing on a branch upside down. Sakura cut the chakra to the soles of her feet off and dropped down towards the ground. She flipped in the air and landed with a small thud. She watched Sasuke run up the tree again, and just as he was about to fall, swipe the tree with a kunai marking his spot. It was something he had started doing a while ago, and Sakura didn't think it was helping.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but decided not to and turned to leave. She was tired and almost out of chakra.

"What am I doing wrong?" Sasuke asked softly through gritted teeth. Sasuke hated asking for help.

Sakura paused and turned around in surprise. She honestly never expected him to ask for help. 'I should just walk away. That would teach him!' She thought to herself before she sighed.

"You're not adjusting your chakra. Sometimes your using too much and then other times not enough. You need to constantly shift the amount of chakra in the soles of your feet until you find the right amount for the surface. Then just remember how much you used and use that amount." Sakura didn't bother to watch Sasuke keep trying and turned to leave for Tazuna's house.

"Sasuke not with you?" Kakashi asked as Sakura entered the house and slid off her sandals. Kakashi was sitting at the kitchen table reading his favorite book. Sakura glared at the book briefly before turning to look at him.

'What am I his keeper!?' She thought to herself, silently still angry at the way she had been treated.

"No, he's still trying to climb the tree," she said softly as she stepped into the small dining room. Sakura took the seat across from her sensei and let out a sigh.

"You just left him there?" Kakashi asked without looking up from the book. He flipped the page with his thumb and let his chin rest in his free hand.

"I tried to help him earlier…" Sakura trailed off, looking towards the kitchen letting herself trail off. 'And he bit my head off like an Asshole!'

"He can be difficult." Kakashi acknowledged looking up at Sakura with his one grey eye. "He's been through something difficult, though. He's put a lot things on his shoulders that don't need to be there." Kakashi smiled at her through his mask, causing his eye to squint a bit. "Naruto and Jiraiya-sama will be here tomorrow. I'm going to take you both out to guard Tazuna with me. You can both meet Naruto then."

"Naruto…Naruto…That name sounds familiar," Sakura said softly, rubbing her chin. 'Why does that name sound so familiar?'

"He was in your class very briefly back when you were both eight. It makes sense you don't remember him too much; it's been seven years." Kakashi said as he flipped another page in his book. "He was having a tough time in the village without parents, so a family friend took him in." 'He should be here now. It should have been me.' Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh as his eye stared blankly at the page, not reading anything.

"Jiraiya-sama…You mean the Toad Sage Jiraiya?!" Sakura asked as she finally recognized one of the names. "Wasn't he one of the Sandaime's students?"

"Yes, he was," Kakashi said as he kept looking at his book. "He's one of the strongest shinobi alive today. He's been offered the role of Hokage multiple times."

"Oh wow!" Sakura said as she looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Naruto must be pretty strong if he's been living with one of the Sannin."

"I'm expecting him to be much stronger than both of you, from what Jiraiya-sama reported," Kakashi said bluntly as his eye roamed over the page of his little orange book. Once again not taking anything in. 'I can't wait to see how he's grown, Minato-sensei.' Kakashi thought to himself. He smiled under his mask at the thought of seeing his sensei's son again.

"Sasuke won't like that," Sakura hummed softly just as the front door was opened.

"What won't I like?" Sasuke asked as he came into the home and kicked off his sandals. The sweat from earlier had dried, leaving a sticky sheen on his skin, and his clothes were covered in dirt. Sasuke stopped into the entrance to the dining room and stared intensely at Sakura. 'What is she going on about now? Talking about how weak I was today?'

"Kakashi-sensei was just saying our new teammate was raised by one of the Sannin," Sakura said softly, looking away. "He said he expected him to be stronger than both of us," she whispered the last part while looking away.

"We'll see," Sasuke said as he turned and started walking away. "I'm taking a bath." 'No way another genin is stronger than me…I can't let that happen.'

"Make sure you ask Tsunami-san first, Sasuke," Kakashi said softly without looking up. "We're guests here. Don't be rude."

"What do you know about the others on this team?" Naruto asked as he Jiraiya walked through the forest towards the Land of Waves.

"Not much, honestly," Jiraiya said, stroking his chin. "I know one of them is the Uchiha, and the other got the best grades in class. It looks like they're putting you on a pretty standard team."

"The last Uchiha, huh?" Naruto asked out loud. "I'm sure that will be a riot," he said sarcastically. Jiraiya had told him what happened to the Uchiha's a while ago. "What do you mean by a standard team?"

"Well, usually they group teams in specific ways. Usually, they put the ninja at the top of the class; overall, the one with the highest written grades, and the dead last loser on a team."

"Oh, that's great. I'm going to get straddled with a dead last loser?" Naruto asked, making a disgusted face. "I thought the Uchiha were prodigies."

"I'm pretty sure you're the dead last loser in this team, kid," Jiraiya said with a booming laugh.

"What! That ridiculous! There is no way either of them is stronger than me!" Naruto shouted, waving his hands in the air wildly. 'Fucking Konoha! I'm not even back, and the village is putting me down.'

"Technically, you never took the genin exam. The old man has faith that I've brought you up to snuff." Jiraiya shrugged, "I'm guessing you're stronger than the book worm, but the Uchiha…you never know with them.

"Why do I even need a team?" Naruto asked, lacing his fingers behind his head. "Why can't I just keep training with you until I'm good enough to be jonin."

"That's not how it works, kid. You're lucky the old man is letting you become a genin. You need to learn to work with a team. Otherwise, you're worthless as a ninja kid. One-on-one fights will be rare in this field."

"Didn't you train my father one on one, though?" Naruto asked a bit shortly like he always sounded when he brought his father up.

"Yeah, after he became a chunin. Once you do that, we'll see about doing some one-on-one training again. For now, though, Kakashi will be taking over for a bit."

Naruto didn't respond. He just kept walking. His eyes squinted in thought. It had been so long since he'd spent any time with anyone other than Jiraiya. It'd been even longer since he'd interacted with anyone his age. When he left the village seven years ago, everyone hated him. None of the kids would play with him, and if they did, it wasn't long before they didn't anymore. He knew why, of course. Naruto resisted the urge to place his hand on his stomach as he thought about it.

Jiraiya eventually told him about the Kyuubi when he was around nine. Naruto had been struggling with learning the Bunshin Jutsu. Jiraiya finally figured out that a large amount of chakra had been infused into him via the Kyuubi, making it nearly impossible to do the jutsu. So Jiraiya taught him the Kage Bunshin Jutsu, and that's when training really started. Using his clones, Naruto put all of their focus on chakra control while he worked on strengthening his body and taijutsu. When the clones dissipated, he would learn everything they did and gain their experience with chakra control. Naruto still had to practice what they learned on his actual body, but it was much easier and quicker than doing it on his own.

At first, Naruto hated the Kyuubi, but as time went on, Naruto realized that it wasn't the Kyuubi's fault everyone hated him. It was his father's. Jiraiya had told him about his father a year or so ago, and it had crushed him. His father had been the one to curse him with the Kyuubi. His father was the reason the village hated him. His father was the reason he'd been beaten and ignored and kicked out of the orphanage. His father was the reason he was in an orphanage.

Jiraiya said his father had wanted him to be seen as a hero…he should have known better. The youngest Hokage shouldn't have been so dumb that he thought the village wouldn't hate him. Naruto clenched his jaw and fought back a snarl.

Jiraiya's eyes drifted through the forest's trees and over the foliage. Sunlight was breaking through in small beams casting a dim light over the area. Despite the fact it was early summer, the high treetops forest kept them cool Jiraiya pulled a rolled-up map from one of his pockets and unfurled it. He hadn't been this way in a long time and needed to double-check how long it would take them to get there.

"We'll keep going for a few more hours and stop for the night," he grumbled as he rolled up the map. "Then we'll leave around dawn and head straight for the bridge. Kakashi and your team should be there by then, guarding the client. We'll meet up with them and start joining them on guard duty."

"Sounds good to me…Well, as good as it's going to get, I guess." Naruto shrugged as he cracked his neck. "It's been a while since I fought someone other than you. It should be fun at least." Naruto grinned widely. 'It'll be nice to see how far I've come.'

Sakura was lying on her futon in the sparse room she'd been given to stay in. Kakashi and Sasuke were sleeping in the living room down the hall. Her pale fingers were interlaced behind her head as she stared up at the dark ceiling—a bit of moonlight filtered in through the window casting large dark shadows over the room. The celling looked less like a celling and more like an amorphous dark blob shifting as the clouds passed over the moon.

"He was in your class very briefly back when you were both eight."

Sakura frowned as Kakashi's words echoed through her head. She'd been trying all night to remember but just couldn't. It would have been her and Sasuke's first year at the academy if they were all eight. Long before any of the real Ninja lessons started. It was mostly reading, math, and history for the first three years or so. Maybe that's why it was so hard to remember him. As far as she remembered, no one in their class dropped out before year four.

'Naruto…Naruto…Why does that name sound so familiar?' Sakura asked herself as she stared into the darkness. She felt a yawn creep up from her throat as she opened her mouth and let out a loud sigh. For some reason, every time she thought of that name, the only person she could picture was the blue-haired Hyuga Hinata. Sakura narrowed her eyes as a far-off memory floated to the surface of her subconscious as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Sensei, um, I was um wondering if anyone had heard f-from Naruto-kun." Sakura was standing a few paces behind on the last step in the classroom. Ino was chatting with a classmate as the rest of the class shuffled towards the door for the day. Their sensei a young man with tan skin and a thick scar over his nose that ran from cheek to cheek, was standing behind the desk. His brown hair was tied into a tight knot on the top of his head. He sighed and looked down at the young girl.

Hinata was a diminutive girl with dark blue hair cut into a short, neat bob. She wore an oversized hoodie with sleeves that reached past her hands. Though Sakura was only looking at her back, she knew the young girl had the white pupil-less eyes of all Hyuga.

"Hinata, I'll tell you the same thing I told you yesterday and the day before. Naruto has left Konoha. I don't know if or when he'll come back." Iruka said gently yet firmly. "Your father might know a bit more in this situation." Iruka offered the young girl a sympathetic smile and patted her on the head gently. "I'm sure Naruto would appreciate knowing someone cared enough to ask about him," The young sensei said as he looked away with a weird downcast expression Sakura couldn't pin down.

Sakura shifted in her futon and rolled onto her side tearing her eyes away from the ceiling. As they started to close, Sakura remembered that Hinata had asked about him almost every day for nearly two years. She wondered if the two had been friends before he left. She had never seen him or anyone with Hyuga heiress before.

'I guess she'll be glad to see him when we get back to Konoha…' Sakura thought to herself as her eyes finally closed; her mind started to drift off into the darkness as sleep finally overtook her.

Sasuke's eyes opened slowly in the darkness. He was lying on a cheap futon in the middle of the living room. He laid there silently and entirely still for what seemed like an eternity. Sasuke concentrated on extended his senses out around him. As he focused on hearing, all he could hear was the steady breathing of his sensei's breathing. Once he was sure Kakashi was asleep, he gently stood up and silently pulled on his dark blue shirt. The fabric fell gently over his head with a quiet rustle.

'No way is another genin surpassing me.' He thought to himself as he gently pulled up his shin guards over his feet. Sasuke clenched his teeth as he tightened his thigh pouch around his right leg. 'I'm already so weak compared to him when he was my age.' Sasuke grabbed his cloth-covered armguards and sandals and tiptoed out of the living room.

Sasuke gently slid open the main door and stepped outside into the cool early morning air. 'I was supposed to be getting stronger now that I've graduated. I thought the whole point of being a genin was to be trained by a jonin. All we've done since we've graduated is chase cats and climb trees.' Sasuke slid his sandals on and straightened out to pull his arm guards over his forearms. He tightened the dark blue straps on his arm guards and looked out into the darkness.

His jaw clenched as images of his clan compound flashed before his eyes. All around was the mutilated corpses of his clan's man. Blood flowed freely onto the grass, and the scent of copper filled the air as a slight breeze passed through the air. Screwing his eyes shut, he took a deep breath and released it slowly. Opening his eyes, all he could see was the large grassy clearing in front of the house and the forest in the background.

'I will not be passed…by this Naruto…or anyone.' Sasuke started to walk towards the woods. His dark eyes fixed stoically in front of him. 'I will get stronger, and I will kill him.'

Naruto inhaled the cool night air deeply, letting it fill his lungs. Just as it started to become too much and his lungs strained in protest, he let the air out slowly. He could still smell the smoldering fire several yards away back where they'd made camp. Naruto opened his eyes and looked up into the inky sky. Stars shined in the sky like tiny pinpricks in a dark cloth. The moon was bright but not full overhead, and the light was shining down on the water beneath his feet. Naruto could feel the chakra flowing into his feet.

Walking on water required a constant flow of chakra to the feet. Ready to react at a moment's notices. Anything like a shift in the wind or a large fish could disturb the surface of the water. Once the surface was disturbed, changes to the surface tension would ripple out over the whole water body. As a result of this, a ninja needed to change the amount of chakra flowing to their feet at a moment's notice.

Naruto had been practicing water walking for years at this point, and as a result, it was second nature to him. Very little could cause him to lose focus and fall into the water at this point. Naruto tried to do most of his training on a body of water whenever possible. Maintaining that constant flow of chakra subconsciously while working on his other chakra control exercises helped him focus on more than one thing at a time. While also having the benefit of making the other exercises harder, conditioning him to pull them off under extreme circumstances.

Naruto pulled his eyes from the stars and looked forward on the small lake he was standing on. Putting his hands together, he took a deep breath. As he inhaled, he could feel his chakra circulating throughout his body. Focusing on the chakra moving through his arms and hands, he started to mold it, willing it to change. Letting out the air Naruto snapped quickly, his left hand curling into a fist and pulling back to his side with his thumb facing up. Simultaneously his right arm and hand extended out. His palm was facing up forwards, and his fingers extended straight. A blast of unshaped wind chakra blasted from his palms. The body of water seemed to split in the path of the wind, being forced apart.

Quicker than most could see, Naruto snapped his hand back threw out his left fist, twisting his torso to follow. A second blast of wind left his fist and forced the water to separate again. With several quick snaps, Naruto threw another punch, blasting out more wind chakra to the left. With a final spin, Naruto placed his hands together and spun around. Making a cutting motion with his hands, the most significant amount of wind chakra yet burst forth, splitting the water and carving out a large chunk of the earth beneath.

Naruto let out a labored breath as the chakra in his feet fluctuated wildly as the water came crashing back together from all four directions causing waves to ripple across the surface. Sweat was covering his brow now as he tried to regain control of his breath. As the water calmed, Naruto stood straight and placed his hands together. Naruto took another deep breath, once again focusing on the chakra running through his arms and his hands.

Naruto exhaled as he pulled his hands apart slowly. He was pushing his molded chakra out through the palms. A stream of water floated between them very briefly before falling into the lake below him. Naruto took a shaky breath and slowly walked towards the shore of the lake. Once his foot reached solid ground, he let himself crumple into the tall grass. Panting, Naruto wiped his brow with a forearm before leaning back on his hands and staring up at the stars.

Creating an element from pure chakra was the highest form of nature and chakra control one could accomplish. It was even more challenging when the element wasn't your affinity. Naruto's affinity was for wind, and he had picked up working on water once he had gotten pretty good with wind. It would take an average person almost ten years to get to where he was with wind and water. He had been able to cut that time down with shadow clones. Naruto had only been working on water for a few months now.

Naruto let out a deep sigh and let his arms spread out to the side as he lowered his back and head to the ground. His deep blue eyes gazed into the night sky aimlessly as he laid in the grass. 'Konoha…' he thought to himself, pursing his lips.

"I don't want to go back there." Naruto barked at Jiraiya. The 13-year-old boy dropped down the ground and crossed his legs as he glared at his sensei. He and Jiraiya were somewhere in the Land of Tea researching for Jiraiya's book.

"You're not going back, tomorrow kid. I was saying, eventually, you're going to have to go back and join a genin team. Especially if you want to be a ninja." Jiraiya said roughly as he scribbled down on a piece of paper. "Yes…. yes perfect." He muttered to himself as he continued to scribble in his scroll.

"Why can't I just be the kind of ninja you are?" Naruto asked as he pulled a clump of grass up stubbornly.

"You can be if that's what you want." Jiraiya said offhandedly. "You're still going to have to become a genin first. It'll all starts there. Then when you're just as strong as the Hokage, you can do whatever you want, and they can't stop you." Jiraiya said with a shrug.

"Everyone hates me there," Naruto said dejectedly, looking away from his sensei and staring at the dirt.

Jiraiya stopped and looked back up at his student; with a small sigh, he set down his pen and crossed his arms. "The old man doesn't hate you," he said gently.

"Yeah, well, everyone else does… It's easy for you to say those things and tell me I have to go back." Naruto stopped and clenched his teeth. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, and a lump formed in his throat. Swallowing hard, he cleared his throat and held back the tears. "You never lived there with…with this thing inside of you." Naruto looked back at Jiraiya, his brow furrowed in anger. "I hate it there."

"I hate it there," Naruto muttered as he slowly got to his feet. Brushing his hands off on his pants, he resisted the urge to sigh. 'I'm different now. I'm stronger than I used to be,' he thought to himself.

'If any of them attack me now…I'll kill them.'

Naruto started to head back to the camp, following the scent of smoldering wood. He needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow he'd be in Wave Country, and he'd meet his team. He needed to get some rest.

A/N: This is the first chapter of something I've been toying with for a while now. It's an AU and all the charcters have been aged up to 15 (I've always found it unrealistic to imagine 11-year-olds talking like they do in the show and fighting to the death). I've finished writing the first six or so chapters, and I have the story all outlined. I'll try to upload twice a week or once a week.

Please leave a review and let me know what you think!