Summary: He finally managed to kill the bastard who made him into a weapon. He thought he could now feel true freedom, but he discovered something that changed everything. How will he handle his new situation? This is the story of Naruto Namikaze, the Irregular.

"Speech."

'Think.'

Jutsu/Technique

Flashback/Events of the Past

Warning: English isn't my first language.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

The sun was strong over the land of fire. The sunshine made every living being in the land of fire happy and let them spend quality time outside. The sun lit up a certain forest where a certain blond-haired Shinobi was running through with two females over his shoulders.

Naruto Namikaze had already been running for the last 20 hours without any rest. He knew he needed to get away from Konoha as far as possible. Thanks to his extreme training and his results during the last ten years, running for 20 hours straight without any form of rest was possible. He didn't stop to drink, to eat, or even to rest his legs.

He used one of the many things he discovered himself during his training in Root. The one thing that made it even possible to fight on equal terms against other Shinobi with chakra. Without chakra, you are basically only a "human". Superhuman abilities that were only possible through chakra weren't possible without chakra.

Naruto could use the chakra of the Kyūbi, but this would expose him, and he didn't want that. So he searched and searched for an alternative that would give him a chance to survive even without using chakra at all. Even those who couldn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu had chakra in their body to enhance their punches, speed, and other physical activities during a fight. He heard of someone named Rock Lee who couldn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. It was true that he trained his body to strengthen him, but in the end, he learned a forbidden Jutsu named the Hachimon (Eight Gates). It was a jutsu that made it possible to enhance the chakra output the user could use. Normally, a Shinobi could only use about 20% of its chakra because otherwise, the Shinobi would suffer injuries like bone breaking, muscle fissures, or even trauma.

So, even someone who specialized in Taijutsu used chakra. Naruto couldn't do this. He had to find something else. So when he fortunately came across a concept from an ancient scroll that he found in a temple, he saw a possibility.

The ancient scroll described the life of warriors who used special breathing techniques to enhance their physical abilities to superhuman levels. They even combined those breathing techniques with Kenjutsu (Sword Techniques) to enhance their swordsmanship.

The most fundamental thing someone had to learn was the so-called Zen Shūchū no kokyū (Total Concentration Breathing). It was an ancient breathing technique that involved expanding one's lungs to intake as much air as possible, accelerating one's blood flow and heartbeat while increasing one's inner body temperature, resulting in one's bones and muscles becoming more excited.

Using Total Concentration Breathing essentially enhanced the user's physical traits and capabilities while remaining human. Such traits included superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, endurance, and the mental abilities needed to keep up with their superhuman bodies, such as a faster thought process and reaction time. This was Naruto's secret to be able to fight on equal terms with other Shinobi of high ranks.

But it was very hard to learn this ancient breathing technique. Naruto only had a little part of the theory from the technique in the scroll. He had to experiment with how he achieved the right technique. The first time he did the right breathing, he felt like he would die. It was unbelievable how much stress his body was under when he inhaled so much oxygen. The amount of oxygen Naruto inhaled was nothing he ever inhaled before. A normal inhale of air was a little drop of water compared to the amount of air Naruto inhaled through the ancient breathing technique.

His heart almost burst the first time it got this overload of oxygen. Naruto's ears felt like they would explode. Everything inside his body was aching like shit. But Naruto already felt it in this single moment. He felt how his body was different than before. So much more capable than before.

He promised himself he would succeed in mastering this ancient breathing technique. However, the biggest problem came up when he mastered how to use this ancient breathing technique during a punch. He could only use the breathing technique for a few seconds before he would return to his normal breathing. It was enough for a punch combo or a little dash, but nothing more.

In the ancient scroll, a state was described that let the user stay in this breathing technique forever. To make it simple, Naruto needed to learn how to use the ancient breathing technique 24/7 without ever stooping. It had to become his normal breathing, and boy, was this a long and hard way. But after months of training and meditation, he managed to learn the Zen Shūchū Jōchū (Total Concentration: Constant).

He did the impossible and managed to use the total concentration breathing 24/7, or in other words he managed to make the total concentration breathing his normal breathing. There was an immense difference in strength, speed, and stamina between someone who could maintain Total Concentration Breathing at all times and someone who could not. By doing it every minute of the day, one's physical fitness drastically improves. Since he used this breathing technique all the time, his physical abilities improved over time, even when he did nothing. The longer Naruto was alive, the more his physical abilities would improve just because Naruto was in a constant state of total concentration breathing. Even when he would never train again, he would still become stronger every day a little bit even when it would not be noticeable at first.

At a more advanced level, Total Concentration Breathing was also capable of slowing down the circulation of poison in the bloodstream and even clotting wounds from severe injuries. By focusing on every inch of the body and raising the accuracy of one's breathing, one could spread their sensitivity throughout one's body and detect and even heal hidden internal wounds they may have.

This ancient breathing technique was really the best thing Naruto could ever find and learn. This was the reason he could survive this long even when he didn't use chakra like others.

'I should be close,' thought Naruto while he ran through the forest. He became slower when he finally saw his destination in the distance. He saw a rock formation where he set up one of his hideouts. It didn't take him long before he was staying before a rock wall. A tiny opening was visible in the rock wall, and with both women over his shoulders, he slipped through somehow. It became dark around Naruto, but it didn't bother him. He walked about 200 meters before he would come to a dead end. At least, that would think most. Naruto kicked against a certain rock, letting light shine into the dark passage. The rock Naruto kicked away was about the size of an adult male human. Naruto went through the revealed opening and was now standing in a large room that was clearly made by a human.

The floor, the walls, and the ceiling were all decorated with special rocks that shined in the dark. So even when no sunlight came into this room, the otherwise dark room was completely lit up by those special rocks. They looked like diamonds on the ceiling. A single large bed was standing in one corner of the large room. Naruto placed the mother-daughter duo on the bed and turned away from them. He went to a stone table where multiple scrolls and books lay. He sat on a stone that was before the stone table and opened a scroll. He took ink and a brush to write something down on the scroll. His hand was moving swiftly with perfect precision. The characters were drawn in no time. Naruto rolled the scroll up and placed her on a bookshelf he built with some wood he got from the trees in the forest.

He cracked his neck and went to check on the mother-daughter duo. Both were still unconscious, even when Naruto's fast running shook their body during the 20 hours. Naruto pulled his hood from his cloak back and shook his head. He felt how a tight spot in his neck cracked. He sighed in satisfaction and took a futon from the corner of the room. Even when he wasn't tired yet and could still stay away for quite some time, he would do himself a favor with some well-deserved sleep.

Naruto lay down and fell asleep almost immediately.

Naruto didn't know how long he had slept, but when he opened his eyes, everything was as if it had been before he had slept. The mother-daughter duo were on the large bed, and everything else was also in the same spot. Naruto sighed and stood up, rolling up the futon and standing it in the corner again.

He checked on both women and after he was sure both were okay, he exited the hideout. He needed something to eat. He had water inside his hideout, but food was another matter. He also needed to clear his head. When he stepped out of the little passage into the forest, he could see that it was night.

'I guess I slept at least 12 hours,' thought Naruto. When he came to his hideout, it was in the middle of the day, but now it was in the middle of the night. He walked to a tree and leaned against it. He sighed deeply and thought, 'What am I doing here?'

He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do now. He freed a former Jinchūriki and the current Jinchūriki from the Kyūbi. He did one of the dumbest things he could do. With those two around, he could never begin his quiet and normal life—something he always wanted.

What should he do when one of the two wakes up? He didn't think this through. This entire situation was his own doing, and he couldn't curse enough his own stupidity. He was never good at talking to other people. A trait he never really trained since he never talked more than four sentences with another person. The person he talked the most with was Danzo, and only when he reported about a finished mission, for example.

Well… it could be said he did it out of the situation he was in back in Konoha. 'Whatever…,' thought Naruto. He would deal with it like always – with a direct approach. He would tell both what the situation was and what happened. He wouldn't tell them directly who he was, but he would tell them how they ended up in the current situation. If the mother-daughter duo wanted to go back to Konoha once they woke up, they could do it. Whatever it may be, Naruto would let the duo go. He even hoped both would simply want to walk away from him.

He took on the responsibility of taking care of both of them the moment he decided to take both with him. They could also want to settle down in another country… whatever it may be, he would say okay.

But for now… he was hungry. He decided that it was time to get something to eat. He had medicine and other essential things in his hideout, but food wasn't in it.

Naruto ran into the forest with the intention of hunting an animal. A deer would be good since it would bring him enough food for a few days. This way, he could stay inside his hideout and watch over the two women he brought with him.

Naruto drew his sword out of the deer's head and grabbed it with his free hand. His hand burst into flames while he drew his hand along the blade to remove the blood and clean it with the flames. He shook his hand a little to extinguish the flames around his hand before he sheathed his blade again on his back.

Naruto had a certain reputation in the Shinobi world. No one knew his real identity, but he was pretty well known in the Shinobi world. Once for his incredible speed and secondly for his ability to set his body on fire. He had two names; one was Kuro Senkō (Black Flash) because of his black clothing and the speed he used, and the other was Genson Rengoku (Living Purgatory) because of his ability to become a living flame.

Naruto gained control over his body like never before through his breathing technique. In addition to the usual boosts he got from his total concentration breathing, he could also control his heartbeat, the temperature of his skin, and other things. Metabolism and other things could also be changed to whatever Naruto wanted. Naruto could raise his body temperature to ignite the oil in his skin and set himself on fire. This way, he could create fire even when he had no normal chakra like other Shinobi. He called this ability Ninpō: Hibōshi (Ninja Art: Fire Monk).

He couldn't use this technique for too long since he would burn himself if he used Hibōshi for too long. Setting himself on fire without any form of protection, like a thin layer of chakra, for example, was dangerous for the user. But it was pretty effective and would damage most enemies. For example, Naruto could grab the enemy and set himself on fire, burning the enemy in the process. He even used this technique to slice off the arm of an enemy with his bare hands. His hand was on fire, and the temperature of his hand was so high that he could slice through an arm like butter. But this was something he couldn't do repeatedly since he raised the temperature of his skin at this moment to such an extent that he would damage himself badly if he didn't turn the technique off after the single attack. Using this high temperature for a few seconds during his attack wasn't a problem, but more than that would damage Naruto himself.

All this changed, of course, when he used the chakra of the Kyūbi (Nine Tails) with his Ninpō: Hibōshi. When he used the chakra of the Kyūbi to protect himself, he could keep his technique active without deactivating it since the chakra of the Kyūbi was protecting his skin.

Naruto wanted to grab the deer to bring it to his hideout but stopped. He was crouching before the deer when he said, "Come out. I know you are there." Naruto was in full monture. He had his Anbu mask on, his Anbu equipment, and the black hooded cloak. It was a habit that he always masked his appearance like this or to hide it. No one knew of his blonde hair, and he wanted it to stay like that.

He exhaled a large amount of hot air at the same moment in the form of a little collum of fire. This was an effective method to lower his body temperature again after he raised the temperature to ignite his hand.

Naruto didn't look behind him when he heard someone walking toward him. He stood up and stood with his back to the person who was now standing 4 meters away from him. "It's been a while, Naruto," said a female voice.

Naruto grabbed his Anbu mask and removed it before turning around. He looked into two crimson eyes with three tomoe in them. This was the only person who was still alive who knew of his existence. This person was also in Root for a while before the woman before him became a missing ninja.

"It certainly has, Izumi," said Naruto.

Izumi Uchiha had a stoic expression like always. Naruto was probably one of 4 still living people who knew the entire story behind Izumi's betrayal. He knew everything because he looked through countless documents when he had the chance while he was still in root. He came across a secret file one year after Izumi almost massacred her entire clan where everything stood. Naruto didn't feel anything when he read it. It didn't have anything to do with him, so he ignored this information.

Izumi was a beautiful young woman. She had black eyes, under which were long, pronounced tear-troughs. She had jet-black hair that was pulled back in a low ponytail, and her face was framed with center-parted bangs that extended to her chin; the ponytail and bangs grew longer over the years.

She wore the standard Akatsuki cloak and a slashed Konoha forehead protector to symbolize her broken ties with the village. The cloak's high collar would obscure her ponytail. She would sometimes unbutton her cloak to mid-chest and rest her left arm there rather than on the sleeve. Under her cloak, she wore clothes similar to the rest of Akatsuki: mesh armor with navy accents under an identical T-shirt with a simple white belt around the waist and dark blue pants. On her right ring finger was her Akatsuki ring, which was red and bore the kanji for "vermilion" (朱, shu). She wore light blue nail polish on her fingers and toes and a necklace that had three silver rings with red gems inside them.

Before she did her secret mission and let her little sister stay alive, she was known as the hope of the Uchiha clan. She was a genius only once in a generation. She learned the Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fireball Jutsu) the first time she saw the hand signs from her father. But her great talent also brought her many responsibilities. She graduated from the academy in just four months. But it was clear how famous she was. She was one of the most infamous Kunoichi at the time.

"What do you want?" asked Naruto. He didn't bother to look away from her Sharingan. Even if Izumi tried to use a Genjutsu on Naruto, it wouldn't work in the first place. In his chakra network wasn't flowing a single drop of chakra. Only when he used the chakra of the Kyūbi would chakra flow through his network. But when he didn't use the chakra, it was safely stored inside the seal on his stomach.

His emotionless eyes stared into the Sharingan of the infamous S-rank Kunoichi from Konoha. "I wondered why you are away from Konoha. Something must have happened when I can't see the seal from Danzo on your tongue," said Izumi.

"I destroyed root," said Naruto casually while placing his Anbu mask back on his face, turning around, and lifting the deer off the ground.

Izumi's eyes widened for a short moment before becoming stoic again. She stared at Naruto, analyzing his body language. She knew he wanted to kill Danzo since he was the one who made Naruto into a weapon. But that he actually managed to accomplish this was… impressive, and at only 14 years old.

"If that was all, I go," said Naruto. He walked away with the deer over his right shoulder, ready to be cooked when he would come to his hideout. Of course, he would cook the deer outside, but it didn't matter right now.

He simply wanted to walk away and not get into something here with Izumi. He knew her story and met her four times after she became a missing ninja. They fought at first, but after Naruto revealed he had no intention of fighting her because he knew her story, she stopped, and both became… Naruto didn't know what they became after this meeting.

He would say acquaintances, but he wasn't sure. They wouldn't fight. They would talk about a few things before they would say goodbye to each other. Naruto did one thing for Izumi, and this was telling her how her little sister was doing. Since he watched Kasumi Uzumaki a few times on Danzo's orders, he could also look after Satsuki Uchiha.

"Before we depart, could you tell me how my little sister is doing?" asked Izumi. It was only a coincidence that she met Naruto here. She noticed the absence of Danzo's seal on Naruto's tongue the moment he looked at her without his mask on.

"Like always. She doesn't have any friends because you told her that hatred is the only thing she needs. She is arrogant, cold, and useless when it comes to teamwork. So everything like usual," said Naruto.

Izumi didn't react to the harsh words. She knew Naruto was only telling her his opinion without any mercy. He never got any form of mercy from anyone to this point. Not from Danzo, not from his "comrades" in root or his enemies. Naruto never showed mercy in every situation in his life.

"I see," said Izumi.

"I will see you again, Izumi. Most likely sooner than I wish," said Naruto before walking away. He knew he would have to fight her in the near future. When Akatsuki finds his half-sister, himself, or Kushina Uzumaki, then all three of them will be targets of Akatsuki. He knew this.

This was probably the last moment Izumi and Naruto could walk away without fighting each other. Izumi looked at Naruto's retreating form, remaining silent. Her stoic expression never wavered until she had to raise her hand to catch something Naruto threw toward her.

"The bastard had hundreds of those things, but I guess you are only interested in this one," said Naruto while walking away.

Izumi was holding a glass container with a single sharingan eye in it. "Don't make me regret doing this," said Naruto. Those were his last words before he stomped the ground and vanished into thin air, using Soru (Shave).

Izumi closed her eyes and held the container to her face. 'Shisui… I can't say that I did everything like you wished me to do,' thought Izumi. She stored the container with Shisui's eye inside her cloak before she turned around and opened her eyes. 'But I will protect my last remaining family member. Even if this is the last thing I will do.'

She remembered all the conversations with Naruto and the things she decided after them. Naruto most likely didn't know, but he had a way with his words in certain moments that made people question everything they did to that point. Izumi was normally someone who could manipulate people perfectly with her speeches, but Naruto managed to make Izumi speechless more than once.

Just when she remembered the last quote that Naruto said to her before both departed.

Naruto was holding his katana in his right hand and an enemy Shinobi in the air with his free hand. He broke the Shinobi's neck and threw the corpse into a river before turning toward Izumi. Both had just infiltrated a camp of Iwa Shinobi who threatened Konoha's safety. It was just a fortunate event that Izumi was in the environment and saw Naruto infiltrating a Shinobi outpost from Iwa Shinobi.

"I already told you my opinion on this matter, Izumi," said Naruto, sheathing his Katana on his back. "If I had just a single family member in this world, I would do anything to protect my family. You may think that the village is like a giant family, but I don't think so. If I had the choice, I would always choose my family over everything else."

"Day in and day out, there is discrimination in the village. If now between kids or adults. No matter the age group. There will always be people who are bastards who love to harm others. There will always be people who would do anything for more power or fame. The world is a cruel place, and only idiots think otherwise. The Shinobi world is like this, and it will not change until there is a threat so great that the world won't have a choice but to work together. Otherwise, there would never be a chance for understanding between enemies," said Naruto.

He walked past Izumi and said, "But I don't need to tell you this. You know exactly how cruel and rotten this world is. But to answer your question directly, I would have sided with your family. The village would always be my second choice if I had been born into the Uchiha clan like you." Naruto vanished after that, and Izumi closed her Sharingan eyes, letting Naruto's words sink in.

Izumi remembered everything clearly, and after she heard it, she couldn't help but question if she really did the right thing. Maybe there would have been a way to save everyone. Maybe she should have convinced her father and the clan that there was no hope of winning and that they should leave the village and establish somewhere else, a hidden village where the Uchiha clan could have survived and lived.

But this was all in the past now. She turned around and began to dissolve into countless crows. But she still thought back to what could have happened. 'I wonder…'

Naruto was sitting outside the cave, throwing a piece of wood into the fire he had created a few minutes before. The deer was lying behind him on the ground, already prepared to cook it over the fire. He built a structure over the fire where he could hang the meat of the deer to let it cook slowly to the right state.

He looked at the yellow-red flame and thought about his next steps. Before he set up the fire, he checked the mother-daughter duo. So far, both didn't wake up. He wasn't sure why both hadn't woken up yet since both were physically fine. Kushina Uzumaki was a special case in which he could understand why she wouldn't wake up directly since she had been in a tank full of unknown liquid for 12 years or more.

Her body was maybe fine, but that didn't mean her mind was okay. It could be that her mind was broken beyond repair, and she would never wake up again, but he would have to wait and see when it came to Kushina Uzumaki.

Kasumi Uzumaki was another matter. He guessed he would need to enter her mind once more and see if he could somehow fix her broken mind. Her mind was completely broken from the experience of almost being rapped and shortly afterward being controlled and influenced by the Kyūbi (Nine Tails).

He knew how much the hatred of the chakra of the Kyūbi could influence a person. He had all the experiences already when he learned to control the chakra of the Kyūbi in the hellish training under the tyrant who held him in chains for ten years.

There would also be the fact that Kasumi had the real Kyūbi inside her, and the hatred from him was even stronger than what Naruto had to deal with when he learned how to control the chakra of the Kyūbi.

Nonetheless, he would look into it later. He looked up to the sky, thinking about the destination he would go to. It all depended on how the women in his hideout would react to the situation. When they would want to go back, he would simply vanish and settle down in a little village in the middle of nowhere. Somewhere where no Shinobi comes and peace reigns.

But if they would stay with Naruto, he would first need to find a place from where he could begin to make his new base of operation. Having the mother-daughter duo at his side would attract many enemies, and he would need to fight many.

But first of all… the deer behind him won't cook itself. Naruto stood up and made plans in his head while hanging the meat of the deer over the fire. He would need to visit some spies he knew in the near future to know what the five great nations were planning.