An: The next phase, Naruto has to discover who he truly is. I hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to ask any questions or make any suggestions in the comments
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Naruto's clones popped dropping Yamato and Sai. "Shit! that's not a good sign. We need to get back now." Yamato told Sai."Im in agreement with you but we need to patch our wounds first." "Right." They crawled to each, Yamato pulled out a scroll, unsealing salve and bandages, he handed out some to Sai. They bandaged each other. They each each pulled a chakra pill out of their pouches, swallowing them quickly, they got uo shakily leaning on trees to steady themselves. Yamato was breathing heavy, Sai had no outward expression but his legs were shaking showing his fatigue.Yamato felt anxiety for his remaining team members."Let's go." "Roger." They dashed at a slow pace back to the clearing where they encountered Guren, constantly scanning for any traps or enemies. The forest had quieted since the battle which increased Yamato's anxiety, just before entering the clearing they found Kusanagi buried into the trunk of a tree. Sai approached Kusanagi his body automatically sought to het closer as he reached out to grab its handle. A strange lust overcame him seeing the sword. He could take it right now for himself, it was a legendary blade, he knew what it could do. Danzo-sama shoved the knowledge of all legendary weapons into his brain. Then he remembered Danzo-sama, to be so selfish to want it for himself, how could he think like that? The sword should go to root. With it we can fix the corruption that has plagued the village. Where were these emotions coming from? Desire? Greed? A root nin does not give in to these yet his hand continued to inch closer.Sai's hand almost grabbed the blade when a tree root wrapped around his arm pulling him back away from the blade."Sai wait." Yamato said getting Sai to turn around with a blank face yet internally he was angry. More emotion, where was it all coming from? He kept feeling emotions that should have been trained out him. "Watch." Yamato manipulated the roots to extend around the sword, immediately the sword glowed a bright blue slicing the wood to pieces. Sai watched internally shocked. He should always be impassive, what happened to him? A memory of a team that welcomed him flashed through his brain yet he shook it away showing nothing externally. "We can't move it, let's go." They ran into the clearing to a devastating sight, Hana dead on the ground. Yamato let out a sad sigh at the sight, she was a promising Shinobi with a good head on her shoulders. To lose her was a devastating blow, He looked around at the marks of battle, he could identify the attacks Naruto used to try to win, the Kyuubi chakra lingered in the area. Yet he was still defeated. Guren was strong, there was no intel on her or her abilities. Orochimaru had hidden her well, but why here? She was ready for us, she took Naruto as well. Was this mission compromised from the start? Unfortunately it was worse than I thought. None of us were strong enough to fight an S class missing nin."Sai, send out your ink scouts. Try to find Guren or Naruto's location.""Understood. Beast Scroll: bats." Sai wrote on his scroll creating 10 ink bats that took off into the forest. The bats scattered in all directions searching. One bat took off into the sky flying 50 meters north, the bat saw a blur with a similar outfit to their enemy dashing through the forest with a unconscious person draped over their shoulder. The bat dove down to get a better glimpse. The bat followed for 5 kilometers until the person they were talking slowed down to show Guren with Naruto on her shoulder.Guren slowed down as she reached another sound base North of where the battle took place. The sound base was of a similar design leading underground. Orochimaru stood outside waiting as she approached. He took a look at her undamaged form, the Uzumaki draped over her shoulder and smirked. "Ah, my promised test subject has arrived." He said his tongue flicking the air in a manner similar to a snake. Guren dropped Naruto at his feet, took a knee bowing her head in submission. She felt immense pleasure and glee in accomplishing the mission her master had tasked her with. Orochimaru was the most beautiful person on this earth, someone everyone should dedicate their lives to serve. She would do anything to see his dreams come true. She squirmed as her face grew hot, he was so close, she wanted to look at him so bad but she did not deserve that honor unless he told her she could. He was her master, her God. "Guren, He spokevgetting her attention. Look at me." She looked up her cheeks flush with desire. Her eyes landed on his, shifted to roam his face, then locking eyes with him once more. "You've done well. With the Uzumaki firmly in my grasp I will use him to further my research. The Leaf was a fool to think I would uphold their agreement." The bat floated next to a tree relaying forming a connection to Sai who watched dispassionately. Orochimaru turned to stare directly at the bat, Sai almost stubbed back from fright as sweat dripped down his forehead from the intensity of his stare. "Danzo's pawn, I have him now, he will be of great use. Run back to the leaf." Orochimaru finished as Guren threw a crystal shuriken destroying the bat. Sai turned to Yamato, "Guren has brought Naruto to Orochimaru. I know where there base is but I suggest we retreat. We're injured and no match for either of them. " Yamato punched a tree in frustration. "Damn it! You're right, we hurry back. We'll need a strong team to pull him out. Time is of the essence." Yamato felt like a colossal failure. How could lose two promising chunin in one mission. It was bad enough that Hana was dead but he knew exactly what Orochimaru had in store for Naruto, he would cut him up, figure out how he works then experiment on him until he died. He failed Kakashi-senpai, this was his kohai that he should have taken care of properly. With a resigned sigh he gave the clearing one last look and gave Sai a nod.They turned jumping into the trees to dash back to the leaf. Later Orochimaru strapped an unconscious Naruto to a medical table. To Naruto's side where numerous medical tools ranging from scalpels to syringes with strange liquids. Orochimaru lifted up Naruto's shirt, the seal on his stomach was fully visible indicating chakra currently cycling through his body. Orochimaru inspected the seal with squinted eyes, tracing the different trigram seals, he went through a long chain of handseals ending in tiger, the seal spat out a yellow Lance at his face he dodged. He tried again going through a different sequence ending in bird, the seal glowed for a moment then shot two yellow balls that he smacked to dissipate. he eventually grew frustrated. "Damn that 4th Hokage, without Uzumaki fuuinjutsu to study I can not fully break this seal." Purple flames burned on his finger tips as he slammed his hand down on the seal. "Five elements seal!" An odd number seal appeared over it restricting the Kyuubi's chakra flow into his system. He grabbed a scalpel, making a long cut from Naruto's collarbone all the way to his heart. Naruto woke with a scream. Naruto felt intense pain, he woke up screaming at the burning from his exposed skin. His eyes focused on Orochimaru's face looming over him and he felt intense dread. Then he remembered Hana's dying form and he felt rage and despair. Pained gasps left his mouth as hot tears fell down his cheeks. Why her? Why her!? She was his friend, his confidant. She meant the world to him, now she was gone before they had any meaningful time together. He clenched his fists wanting to move, to die fighting this bastard but he realized his arms where restrained. He glared at Orochimaru as the tears fell faster. Hana, Hana, Hana! Orochimaru gazed down at him with a smirk chuckling in amusement."Crying from fear young Uzumaki? Give me the satisfaction, we are just beginning" He mocked. "Fuck you Orochimaru! You're toy killed her! I'll kill you both I swear!" Naruto raged shaking against the restraints. Orochimaru watched transfixed as the deep cut began to stitch itself together. Truly the Uzumaki's were a gifted clan. The way their bodies repaired themselves from wounds were a kekkei-genkai themselves. A gleeful smile grew on his face. Studying this boy would bring his abilities to new heights. The wound had stitched itself halfway closed when he grabbed the syringe filled with brown liquid with purple spots. He stabbed his heart ignoring his scream and injected the full syringe. Naruto's body began to shake as his body fought the intruding DNA. "The most magnificent part about you Uzumaki is your bodies ability to adapt to damage. The closer to death, the stronger you become." Orochimaru made another deep cut starting from the upper though down to his knee. He grabbed another syringe with the same liquid composition injecting it into his femoral artery. Ignoring Naruto thrashing around, blood leaked from his two cuts. Orochimaru cut deep into his other thigh exposing his other femoral, injecting another syringe directly into it. The cut towards his heart had healed, Orochimaru grabbed a notebook, jotting down notes as he studied his healing."Damn you Orochimaru! What did you inject me with!" Naruto screamed blood leaking out of his eyes, mouth, nose and ears. Orochimaru glanced at him as he gathered his things, "I've found a special clan, I intend to integrate them with my body but they've been fighting my reanimation jutsu, your special chakra will help me integrate them properly. Good bye, maybe you'll survive."Orochimaru left with his research materials, leaving Naruto alone seizuring. Naruto sat alone on a cold medical table. His body was burning, it felt like acid was running through his veins. He felt feint, weak and powerless. His eyes felt heavy, he didn't want to sleep, he was afraid he would never wake up. He had to pull through this, he had to find a way to survive. He had to bury Hana properly, she deserved that. Naruto felt tears build up just thinking about it. He clenched his fists steeling his resolve. He would survive, he will kill Guren, he will kill Orochimaru. "Ahhhhhh!" He screamed feeling his skin peeling. More blood poured out of his orifices. He spat blood to the side. "I will survive." "I will survive." Like a mantra he repeated it over and over to himself slowly centering his resolve. Hidden leaf a week laterYamato and Sai arrived at the the east gate of the Hidden Leaf. They bypassed the chunin at check-in, heading straight for the Hokage Tower. The remaining members of team Yamato dashed up the stairs, swerving through shinobi who stared at them in confusion. They stopped at a door on the opposite side of the hall of the Hokage's office..The plaque on the front read Nara Shikaku. "Why the Jounin commander?" Sai asked head tilted in confusion.."The leafs greatest asset was kidnapped by its greatest traitor. We'll need the commander's intellect when forming plans with Tsunade-sama. " Sai nodded in understanding. Yamato knocked on the door. "Enter." A gravelly voice stated firmly. They entered to Nara Shikaku going through mission reports. He looked up eying them for a moment as his brain rain cycled through all active missions. The mission, the specifics, team composition all came to him in a matter of moments. "Explain, what went wrong?" Yamato stepped forward. "Orochimaru has someone in his employ that we have no intel on. Shikaku focused intensely on Yamato, an S-rank Kunoichi capable of using crystal release." Shikaku looked alarmed but stayed quiet sensing he had more to say. "Orochimaru seemed to be waiting for her to return. I'm not sure why. Hana is also gone." Yamato finished solemnly. He had lost shinobi before but always older more prepared. It was tough not being in ANBU. Yamato scratched his ANBU tattoo on his arm absent mindedly.Shikaku let out a deep sigh, his face stiff and calculating. "Come with me." Yamato and Sai followed him as they walked towards the Hokage's office. Sai, would report everything to Danzo-sama. His lord's goal was to bind the Uzumaki to himself so that he would always fight for the leaf, sending him to Orochimaru allowed the traitor to use his cursed juinjutsu to prepare him to be bound to Danzo-sama. While necessary for the success of the village, Sai could started feeling again, he didn't understand it let alone how to turn it off. For a moment Sai thought of the first time he walked through this very same hallway with Hana and Naruto, the first time they met, the first time they became a team. Naruto was so naive then, he could not help but poke fun at his height, Hana was always so nice to him, always pushing him to open up more, to truly be apart of the team. The way they fought together in the Chunin Exams, the strength Naruto displayed protecting him from Guren, he looked down at his shaking hand. A small part of him could not express how much he missed them, but to make sure the roots of the leaf grew strong, He would sacrifice anyone or anything. He walked by Yamato's side trailing Shikaku slightly. Then tension in Yamato's body was visible at a glance but even Shikaku carried tension. Was Danzo-sama's plan the right one? Sai shook his head receiving a side glance from Yamato. Who is he to question Danzo-sama, he used his training to purge all emotions from himself.Shikaku knocked on the Hokage's door. A muffled enter was their reply. He opened the door to Tsunade's stern brown eyes staring into his soul. He shuffled in Yamato and Sai behind him. "Hokage-sama." They all said bowing. She nodded to them allowing them to relax as her eyes roamed the individuals before her. Identifying Yamato and Sai, her eyes narrowed dangerously drawing her own conclusions on why the other two members were missing. Something felt off ever since she read the mission scroll. Naruto and Hana were capable but they had never completed a mission of this caliber before, Danzo's pet was also included in the mission which raised numerous red flags but she had no choice but to allow them to go. Yet now two individuals of the team have returned without the two members in question and a part of her wanted to find the elders and kill them with her bare hands."We have a situation, Shikaku said, brow furrowed. Orochimaru has Naruto, Hana has been killed." Tsunade's fist struck like thunder from above, it came down tearing her desk in half, continuing until it slammed into the ground sending a quake shuddering through the village. Her eyes narrowed further turning into small slits making Yamato and Sai extremely nervous. She stood up flaring her chakra that caused cracks to appear in the office. "Tell me everything." She demanded One week later Orochimaru re-entered the lab where Naruto was strapped down. He walked to his desk situated against a wall on his patients left side. He set down his notebook. He walked to the surgical pan on wheels next to Naruto's bed. He set his sanitized medical tools down along with 4 syringes of a blue material with white spots. Naruto glared up at Orochimaru through labored breaths, his body had healed by then but Orochimaru noted the purple spots littered over his body as well as the blood cots slowly receding from his body. Orochimaru said nothing, he picked up the scalpel and made another incision deep over his collarbone until his heart was visible. He took the syringes and injected then directly into his heart one by one. Naruto screamed until his voice was raw and silent, his heart started to pump rapidly as small tears opened up on the left atrium. The cut across his chest hissed as steam wafting off it, the skin folded itself together healing three times as fast as the last time. Orochimaru watched fascinated as the Uzumaki's body underwent extreme growth from the pain and pressure he placed on his body. Sweat was accumulating all over his body, his silent screams turned into grimace-filled looks of pain. Orochimaru walked back to the desk, picked up his notebook and made detailed notes about his observations. Eventually the pain died down as his body regulated itself. The blotches dissapeared and his body became the proper temperature once again. Naruto felt odd, his chakra was denser yet more free. The 5 elements seal prevented him from manipulating it freely but he could passively sense every being in the base now. He clenched his fist trying to call upon his chakra, Orochimaru sensed it immediately placing a seal on his forehead that prevented his chakra from molding. "Kukuku, Does Naruto want to play?" Orochimaru mocked standing with amusement on his face. Naruto fought against the shackles, snarling in Orochimaru's face. "Damn you! I will get out!" "Sure, sure." Orochimaru pulled out a needle with a tube connected to a vial, he stuck it into Naruto's vein on his left arm, draining his blood. He popped out the first full vial, draining his blood into another. He pulled out the needle, setting it into a pan with sanitization liquid. He grabbed a device with 3 circular rings suspended around a thick cube. His placed both vials down, placed his palm close to the device, used his chakra to spin it. He grabbed the first vial, a microscope and placed the vial under the lense. "Hmmmm. Very interesting." Orochimaru hummed to himself as he identified the traits in the Uzumaki DNA needed to transfer the needed kekkei-genkai to himself. He grabbed another microscope slide with a different blood sample, grabs two droppers, one filled with a green liquid, he drops one drop onto the blood sample. Looking through the microscope he watches the blood sample bond with the green sample, it mutates for a while as the green dots merge with the red, but eventually they stop moving. Orochimaru smiles gleefully. He grabs a vial containing Naruto's blood, uses a long tube to extract some into a dropper. He drops one onto the microscope slide containing the amalgamation of the first slide. The new red blood and the previous amalgamation connect, the cells fight, the new blood added absorbs the green amalgamation, creating more stronger cells containing the blueprint of DNA carried in the green blood cells. Orochimaru sneers in envy, he picks up his notebook, jotting down his observations. Orochimaru walks over to stand at Naruto's beside, he summons a dozen of his poisonous snakes from his sleeve, their fangs jutting out menacingly. "Now the true pain begins, these are my most lethal snakes. They will inject enough poison in you to kill a dozen jounin each. Enjoy." Orochimaru smirked as the snakes lunged forward bitting veins all over his body to inject their poison. The green poison travels up Naruto's veins spreading to the entirety of his body, organs and brain.Orochimaru left the laboratory amidst the ear piercing screams Naruto let out. He walked down the hall, entering an open area that contained his throne. He took a seat, his mind calculating his future plans. He placed his chin in a palm contemplating Danzo's dumb plan to use him to manipulate Uzumaki. The old fool must have some contingency in place."Kabuto." A Grey haired shinobi wearing round glasses appeared beside him. "Yes Orochimaru-sama?""I have found my vessel. The Uzumaki boy contains a resilient body, that is capable of overpowering any foreign substance, than imprinting the blueprint into the boy's genonome as if it was always apart of his genetics." Orochimaru said in hunger as he salivated in anticipation of having that body as his own. "What about Sasuke and the sharingan?" "Sasuke-kun is still a viable back up body, the sharingan will still be mine, we will steal his eyes and genetic material to make an improved version of the sharingan.""I understand, should I go collect Sasuke?" "No, with the Kyuubi vessel in our hands the village will be on high alert. I want you to work on preparing my vessel. The next step is the genetic material we've synthesized from the Shizen clan." Kabuto bowed at the waist as he departed. Orochimaru watched him go with glee. Such a talented pawn. He knew eventually Kabuto would gain enough strength to think he could challenge him but until then he would continue to be a useful pawn. Danzo, the old fool was a joke still thinking he could be Hokage when he was losing loyal pawns he indoctrinated as children. How laughable. Orochimaru leaned back in his throne. He had secured his future. He would grow his future body's strength until the time came for him to take it as his own!Kabuto walked toward the laboratory with plans of his own. His steps echoed through the silent hidden bunker as his thoughts swirled. The potential in Naruto's DNA was astounding. For sometime now, he had been collecting Orochimaru's DNA from test subjects with failed curse marks. He had a plan to incorporate Orochimaru's DNA into his own to evolve into a higher being. Currently every test showed a complete failure. But If he could synthesize the correct genome modifier using Naruto's chakra as a base he could succeed. His thoughts were interrupted by intense screaming in the lab he was entering. Kabuto's eyes were glued on the blonde Uzumaki who had bitten off his tongue, chewed his bottom and top lips off in pain. They were healing extraordinarily fast right before his eyes. Steam wafted off of them as they hissed and closed. Naruto was breathing deeply, spasms of pain jolting his body constantly. He had one eye closed blood leaking from it. He was glaring harder than Kabuto had ever witnessed. Kabuto locked eyes with Naruto and felt goosebumps travel along his arms. The rage in that one gaze rivaled Orochimaru. "Fucking traitor." Naruto spat, blood landing on his chin. Kabuto smiled adjusting his glasses with two fingers. "Hello Naruto-kun, Today I'm going to inject some special DNA into you. if you survive you'll never be the same again." Kabuto pushed a small medical cart into the supply room, he gathered a scalpel and the genetic material of the Shizen clan stored into syringes.Kabuto pushed the cart back into Naruto's room, parking beside his bed. Naruto was exhausted, the experiments had taken their toll on him but the pain kept him from sleeping. "Naurto-kun, what I'm going to do is make a deep cut here and here, Kabuto grabbed a scalpel showing Naruto exactly where he was going to cut, along his diaphragm and shins. Then I'm going to inject this concoction into your bone marrow." He finished with a smile.Naruto never wanted to punch someone in the face so much before. This bastard was experimenting on him and wanted to run his mouth about how he was going to do it. Smug bastard. He took a calming breath as the pain continued to jolt up his nerves to his spine. Kabuto with a flourish made all the cuts quickly. He grabbed a needle, stuck a tube on the end and hooked it up to a vial. He put on gloves and pulled apart the tissue covering his shins. Kabuto held up the needle,concentrating he coated the needle in medical chakra. It glowed a deep green, he injected it, the needle sliding right into the bone marrow as the liquid slowly went through the tube. Kabuto took off his gloves, tossing them into a trash bin in the corner of the room. "Now what I just injected is going to hurt a lot, this experiment is to test the concoction we made using Kaguya kekkei-genkai DNA as our base. In our previous test subjects, their bones melted and they lost the ability to walk." Kabuto said smirking at a screaming Naruto who glared at him menacingly. "You'll be the first aahhhhh one argh I come for Kabutooooo!" Naruto yelled through gritted teeth. His legs felt like jelly, these experiments were weighing heavily on his body, he could feel his strength waning and he fought hard to hold on. Even with the Kyuubi cut off, he could feel it in the back of his mind, clawing, ramming, fighting, doing anything it could to push its chakra to him. A smirk came to Naruto's face at the thought, "you and I aren't so different after all." Then darkness hit him ad he passed out. Kabuto frowned at his patient. The Uzumaki passed out during the procedure. Orochimaru-sama would have his head if his host died during one of their procedures. He quickly hooked up an IV to his left arm, he pulled out bags of liquid, some clear, some green. He grabbed the clear tubes hanging from the bags, connected the tubes to a device that pumped the fluids into Naruto. Kabuto took another look at him and saw that his face had become pale, his hair had white streaks. He frowned further. He used the IV to draw a blood sample he stored I'm his pocket for later. He would have to monitor him until his color returned. Hidden leaf Village a month later Team 7 had gathered for a training session.Kakashi stood with his hands in pockets attempting to look aloof but failing. Sasuke and Sakura immediately took notice. Sasuke had a sinking feeling something was wrong but pushed tried to push it down, but was failing, the last time he had this feeling he saw his family being murdered. Shin was still training with family. They were suppose to reunite at the end of this week.Sakura was unsettled by how quiet her sensei was."Umm Kaka-sensei?" She spoke up arms behind her back, one foot tapping the ground behind her. Kakashi's eye refocused on his team, startled out of his thoughts. He was suppose to inform his team about what happened to Naruto and Hana, he looked at them and hesitated.They were both young, Sakura and to a point Sasuke were unfamiliar with the harshness of the shinobi world. Hokage-sama had removed the gag order, numerous teams of genin, chunin and Jounin would be entering the Land of Rice Paddies to gather information on Orochimaru's base, to discover where he held Naruto, Naruto.. just thinking about what he could be going through right now made him want to go to the memorial stone and repent for failing again. His gaze focused on Sakura who had started learning from Hana. A small bond had started forming between them and now it would never have the chance to grow further. "Sasuke, Sakura." Kakashi spoke in a serious voice, lacking any of the jovial mood they were use too. They both straightened up. An uncomfortable feeling settled on their shoulders. "Hana is dead and Naruto has been captured by Orochimaru." Sasuke felt his eyes widen in alarm. Orochimaru again, his arm flew to the tattoo on his collarbone. A legendary Sannin had captured his friend, that incredibly strong blond idiot. His fists clenched, the mark glowing red.it attempted to spread its influence with his turbulent emotions, but he shoved the mark back in its place. He felt anger like never before, all he wanted to do was smash in Orochimaru's face right now but he was still too weak. He remembered how outclassed he was during the battle in the forest of the death. Again he was still to weak to help the people he cared about. Sakura felt sad. Hana was so beautiful, kind, caring and willing to help her become stronger. Hana was the elder sister she always wanted. Hot tears fell down her green eyes but she did not make a sound. She was not a crybaby anymore! She was going to punch the shit out of that terrible Orochimaru! "When are going to look for him?" Sasuke blurted out, he was standing aggressively, demanding Kakashi take a mission to find Naruto. Sakura's tearful gaze widened as she turned from Sasuke to Kakashi. Kakashi could see the hope in her gaze. She didn't want to lose another friend. Sakura hugged herself as her tears continued to fall. "Naruto loved Hana, he never said it but we all could see it from the way he interacted with her. Now she's gone and he's all alone being experimented on by the same crazy person that left that mark on Sasuke-kun! We have to help him!" She finished with the strongest determined look Kakashi has ever seen from her. She stared unflinchingly into his eyes and He felt a smile creep onto his face. We will save you Naruto! Team 7 thought together.Elsewhere Asuma took a drag from his cigarette as he stood in front of the Nara residence door. The door opened and Mrs. Nara opened it. She wore an apron smudged with recent food stains. "Asuma-san? How can I help you?" She asked wiping her hands on her apron. Asuma bowed his head, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need to talk to your son." Yoshino stopped to scrutinize him for a moment. He smelled normal so he hasn't smoked today, his expression was serious, a rarity for him. Her trepidation rose but she buried it before it could be seen. She nodded once. "He's training, I'll go get him now." Asuma nodded back. A few moments later Shikamaru exited his house with his hands in his pockets. He trotted down the steps surprised to see Asuma there."Asuma-sensei, whats up? We dont have training for a few days." Shikamaru asked."Naruto's been captured by Orochimaru, squads of genin and chunin will be sent out soon to scout in the land of sound. You may end up leading one of those teams. I know he was your friend so I'm giving you a heads up." Shikamaru clenched his firsts a scowl on his face. "I see. I'll be ready sensei." Shikamaru turned around heading back inside to continue training. Shikamaru's face was etched with scary resolve. Naruto was someone that didn't hesitate to show him how important his life was. He would save him so Naruto could continue to pursue his dream to become Hokage. A month later hidden sound base. Orochimaru sat on his throne as Guren kneeled in front of him. "Guren, I have a new mission for you. Orochimaru tossed a picture she caught. That boy Is a descendent of the Yondaime Mizukage, he has the ability to pacify the Sanbi. Bring him to me at any cost." "Yes Orochimaru-sama." Guren replied, she stood up turned around and scowled at the approaching Kabuto as she headed out. Kabuto walked into Orochimaru's view smirking confidently, he pushed up his glasses with two fingers. "He's stable Orochimaru-sama, all the genes necessary have been trasfused into his body. He's a genetic wonder, we should take more blood samples, we might be able to synthesize his cellsfor later use." Orochimaru chuckled maliciously, his vessel was so close to being ready for him. Orochimaru thought about what he could become with the Uzumaki's strength, endurance, adaptable cells, he could synthesize kekkei-genkai for that body and learn every secret art. "Do it, the leaf Village will be coming soon. Prep him for transport. " "It shall be done my lord." Kabuto turned around heading back to the laboratory . Orochimaru hid it well but his body was beginning to break down. He would need to use his jutsu soon. As soon as Kabuto left he broke down into a coughing fit, blood splattering the ground around him. "Damn you Sarutobi!"Kabuto entered the lab to see a taller and more muscular Naruto awake and alert. "Good morning, Naruto-kun." Naruto barely glanced at him, he seemed to be deep In thought about something. Kabuto could feel his chakra, it had doubled in intensity since the last session. Such enormous chakra, he would be a danger to them soon if he were properly trained. He pulled out a bone diffusion tool, measuring each major bone he accounted growth upwards 150%.Using the IV he pulled a blood sample, he looked at the sample under the microscope. It was just as Orochimaru stated removed all the impurities from his system, but an imprint of the metabolic DNA of the infusion was left changing his DNA completely but keeping it purely his, simply fascinating! Kabuto's eyes glinted as he continued his observations. A large part of him wanted to continue to experiment on the Uzumaki, how far could they go? He could be just what they were looking for to perfect their eugenics research so Orochimaru's jutsu could transfer kekkei-genkai genkai!"Good job surviving." Kabuto said with a smirk. "Kabuto." Naruto said his name but there was something different in the intent that was lacking before. With a start he realized it was confidence, he tried and failed to stifle a chuckle at the realization. "When I leave, I hope you get in my way." Naruto said. Kabuto waved him off amused. He injected a sedative that was strong enough to put 7 jounin in a comatose state. Kabuto watched as Naruto fell unconscious, he took at his vitals to ensure he was stable. With his preparations done he headed back to Orochimaru who was preparing to leave with a scowl on his face. Earlier than they had discussed prior."Orochimaru-sama, what's wrong?"Orochimaru glanced at Kabuto for a moment, then continued his preparations. "Leader-sama, Orochimaru said mockingly, has called a meeting. The Akatsuki know of this base, I'm not strong enough to fight off a user of the Rinnegan in my current state we must leave immediately. " "Is my vessel ready for transport?" He continued. "Yes, I've administered the tranquilizers." "Good, I'll have the sound four fetch him. Grab the altered infusions in the lab. Well continue with more injections when we rea-." *BOOOOM* A giant webbed foot broke through the ceiling landing adjacent to the exit. Orochimaru scowled furiously. "That damn fool has tracked us! Grab the vessel! Get my notes and leave!" "What about your arms Orochimaru-sama!? If you fight in your condition it might not end we--" Orochimaru looked at Kabuto menacingly blasting him with the full might of his killing intent. Kabuto fell to his knees terrified by the hunger in his gaze. "Do as I told you or I will kill you myself!'Kabuto dashed away without saying anything else. He headed for the laboratory as the ceiling collapsed above forcing him to weave between falling rocks, walls and stalagmite. He reached the laboratory door, Kabuto reached for the door only for it to slam into him throwing him into the opposite wall. Kabuto stood up on shaky legs alarmed. Did the Konoha shinobi infiltrate the base already? Should he abandon Orochimaru's desires to save his life? He hesitated approaching the lab again when Naruto stepped through the door shirtless with his ninja pouches strapped to each side of him. A dark red chakra covered his entire body, there were three tails of red chakra coming out of his back and fox tails on his head. Naruto stuck out his hand, the red chakra responded sending out a chakra arm that pinned Kabuto to the wall. Naruto's red eyes stared death into Kabuto. "I have one question for you and then you can die."Kabuto smirked. "Oh so you think your strong because you can use the power of the monster sealed inside you? Please I'm on another level. "Naruto clenched his hand as the red chakra responded squeezing Kabuto who let out a grunt."Where's Guren?" Kabuto's eyes glinted at an opportunity to exploit his enemy. "Land of Water, off to kill another loved one just like Hana I presume." Hana, Naruto's eyes shifted down as thoughts of her ran through his head. Kabuto used the distraction to substitute with a rock. Naruto refocused immediately feeling the weight difference. His senses exploded, he dissapeared a big rasengan in his hand, "Rasengan!" He slammed it down hitting a hidden body that exploded into gore, he checked again, it wasn't Kabuto's, his signature was fleeing at a rapid pace until it was too far to track down.Naruto let out a deep sigh, he could feel Orochimaru fighting Jiraiya-sensei, he could feel his friends and numerous konoha shinobi fighting sound shinobi around the base. He desperately wanted to go back to them, he missed them, the trees, the smell of the village but he had to avenge Hana. She was his whole world and that bitch killed her like she was nothing.Kyuubi, do you know the way to the Land of Water?Naruto could feel the fox inside of him bristle at the question. What will do when you get there?Naruto narrowed his eyes as he dashed towards an exit from the base. The fight between the Sannin had reached a crescendo and he couldn't be here when Jiraiya came looking. His senses had magnified from the stress Orochimaru put on it. He twisted to the left dodging sensing a cave in that that hallened a few seconds later. His instincts felt things before they happened. It was unreal.Find Guren, kill Guren. It's as simple as that. Humans, you are all the same. You seek nothing but the death and destruction of others. Naruto reached the forest, he dispelled the cloak to hide his chakra signature. He let out a sigh at the foxes words. He wanted to refute them, he wanted to curse and tell him he was wrong yet here he was treehopping to the Land of Water in search of revenge. I can't say you're wrong, but there's so much more to us than the desire to kill. I loved Hana, I wish I had told her before she died. Now all I have left is the desire to avenge her. Will you help me give the one person who meant something to me peace In the pure realm? Fool, those in the pure realm are already at peace. Do not slack off boy, though I have given you my help, you have not earned my respect. Falter and I will take your body from you. Naruto felt Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura and numerous Konoha shinobi on his tail. For a moment the world stilled, It was weird, He could see two paths laid before him. If he continued at his current speed they would catch him before he entered the Hidden Hotwater Village. Another path led to a small village. His choice made, the world regained color, He molded his chakra, focused the chakra into his legs and blasted himself of a branch traveling three times as fast. Naruto jumped from branch to branch at high-speed, moving faster than he had ever moved. He smiled at the Fox's response. In some weird way, you understand my pain. Why else would you give me a warning about not staying true to myself?LEAVE!!!!!The fox opened its mouth roaring until the connection ceased. Naruto winced at the Force behind it, he slipped off a branch, twisted his body in mid air, grabbed another branch throwing himself forward until he recovered and continued to move to the border. Naruto reached the border of the Land of Hot Water, the chakra signals of the leaf shinobi slowed to a halt. This region had a Diamyo known for his strict policies on foreign shinobi, they would be unable to follow him into this country. Sighing in relief he headed toward where he sensed an abundance of small chakra pools gathered together about 40 kilometers away. A small village? I could use some clothes and a map.Naruto slowed his pace to conserve energy. Night had fallen, he continued to treehop until the forest ended for an open plain filled with hot springs. He ran accross the land senses sharp for any enemy shinobi. Naruto continued to run forgoing any rest, his body felt strange, it was stronger than before yet he felt lighter more agile, his stomach rumbled halting his thoughts. Naruto dug into one his pouches pulling out a ration bar that he quickly consumed. After running for two more days and two nights he reached the village. It was a small wooden structure with hot springs open to visitors and locals. Naruto walked toward the gate, there were two individuals seated at a desk in a booth. An old man an old woman both full of wrinkles and Grey hair. The old man was tall about 6 foot. With broad shoulders and thick hands, evicence of a man who had worked with his hands for years. while the women was around 5 foot, petite. Naruto approached them putting on a smile. "Hello, may I enter the village? I've been traveling for a while. Im curious about your hot springs and would like to visit them. "The old couple looked perplexed, exchanging a look, the old man frowned.
"Young man, it is far to dangerous to be traveling alone. Where are your par-."
Naruto cut off the old man
"They died befoe i was born. Lets leave it at that."
The old man opened his mouth to say something else when the old lady next to him slapped his leg.
"Hizu, can't you see the damage being alone has done. No more questions! She said sharply, Hizu let out a sigh at his wife's stubborness and kindness. You're welcome into the village Young man. What's your name?"
Naruto smiled at the older lady, relief swelled within him. "It's Naruto mam."
The old lady gave him a welcoming smile.
"Welcome to Attakai village Naruto, we are happy to have you."
Naruto bowed at the waist. "Thank you so much for your hospitality. Is there any odd jobs I can do to earn an income?"
"So polite! Hizu, talk to your friend about helping young Naruto with a job."
Hizu who had been paying close attention to Naruto relaxed at his politeness. He was wary of the boy at first, he came out of nowhere seeking entry into their small, peaceful village. He has to make sure they didn't allow anyone entry that could harm the village but his wife was right, he could see it as clear as day. The boy clearly had no one that truly took care of him, he did not know how to properly begin conversations, dress or address his elders. He was polite but lacking in common knowledge. Hizu felt for the young man.
Hizu with a moderate frown on his face from his internal musing had a question.
"Naruto, how old are you?"
Naruto took a moment to think about that.
"Uh Hizu-uh-san, what month is it?"
Hizu and his wife looked confused and alarmed.
"It's November Naruto-kun." Naruto looked very surprised by that. He had been missing for that long. His mission started in August and now It was November of the 14th year after the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi. His eyes widened, had he turned 14 without releasing it?
"It seems I'm 14. Uhh Hizu-uh-san."
Hizu gave Naruto a sad look.
Hizu's wife began to cry, Hizu wrapped a arm around her for comfort.
"Nade, the spare bedroom is still empty right?" Her watery eyes closed as a small smile grew on her face.
"Yes it is, I'll go prepare it right away." She got up walking into the village deaf to Naruto's protests.
Naruto turned to face Hizu, confusion on his whiskered face. "Hizu-san, I can not implore on you or your wife. It's ok, I am use to taking care of myself."
Hizu stood up walking in front of Naruto he bowed. "My wife and I can see the scars of living a life without anyone to help you grow as clear as day. Please allow us to help you!" Hizu continued to bow.
With a heavy sigh Naruto agreed. For once in his life just being him was enough. He did not have to become a great shinobi, all he had to do was be himself and this wonderful couple wanted to help him. As he followed Hizu into the village he forgot about the Leaf Village, he forgot about Orochimaru and the experiments conducted on him, he forgot about Guren and bis revenge. He even forgot about Hana and his pain of losing her. As Hizu introduced him to the other people of the village, took him to shops to buy new clothes, he wondered if this is what family is like.
One month later
"Naruto! Breakfast is ready!" A female voice reverberated in the walls of a small home. The trodding of feet followed.
"I'm coming Nade-san!" A young males voice shouted back. Naruto in a clean jacket, brown pants with a dark coat opened a sliding door slowly walking into the dining room. He sat cross-legged across from the elderly couple Hizu and Nade.
"Sleeping in again Naru-chan?" Nade asked sternly, the slight smile on her face betraying her. Naruto rubbed the back of his head chuckling sheepishly.
"Sorry, sorry!"
"What are you doing up late every night?" Hizu asked curiously scratching his long grey beard.
"Just studying! I want to learn all I can about the village."
They both smiled. Naruto felt bad lying to them but he had to continue training. It was apart of who he was. His body and chakra were completely different after he left Orochimaru's lab. He worked on chakra control every single day. Someday he could barely make a rasengan, others it grew so large he had trouble hiding the glow from the villagers. Naruto gazed at Hizu and Nade, they were just normal people untouched by the shinobi world yet they extended their hospitality and home to him a relative stranger. He could never express how grateful he was. A part of him wanted to stay here forever. He wasn't the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, he wasn't a leaf shinobi, he wasn't a boy confused about his Uzumaki heritage. He was just Naruto and it was nice, the longer he stayed in the village the more he wanted to just be Naruto.
Naruto, Hizu and Nade bowed at once.
"Itdakimasu." They dug in, Naruto scooped some steamed rice, fish and pickles on to his plate with his chopsticks.
"Aftef breakfast, we'll be heading to the rice fields. We have to prepare a few more areas for the March harvest."
Naruto let out a small cheer.
"Yes! I love working in the rice fields. Should I bring the hoe and seeding box for measuring the dimensions?"
Hizu had a proud look on his face that made Naruto blush a little bit. It's rare that someone looked at him like that.
"You'll be an excellent rice farmer in the future, of that I'm sure. "
They ate In comfortable silence, the sounds of plates clinking the only sound in the kitchen. Before long, they finished breakfast and headed out. Nade waved goodbye to both of them as they headed towards the farming outcrop of the village. Naruto waved to everyone person as they walked through the village following Hizu. The villagers waved back and it soothed Naruto's heart to be welcome as a normal person. He followed Hizu with a small smile.
They reached the rice fields, Hizu showing Naruto how to measure correctly. He showed him how to use mud as the area to plant seeds, how to soak them until gestation, how to plant them, soak the rice field and irrigate it properly. Even though Naruto had done this with the old man 4 times, he listened eagerly to make sure he did not miss any information.
A mile away overlooking the rice fields
A man with round eyes, dark hair, with markings on his eyes wearing a slashed Hidden Mist headband watched Naruto go through the planting process with a smirk on his face. He had a shinobi pouch tied to his left slide, a standard Mist outfit with a vest over it.
"Looks like the Akatsuki intel was correct. I've found the Kyuubi Jinchu
