Brat of the Lightning Blond and Duck-Faced Demons (Gash Bell

[Cosmic Average]

Chapter One

Minato was filled with regret. He knew he had to seal at least half of the Kyuubi into his own son to counter the threat posed by the Masked Man. He also knew that doing so would condemn the child to a life with the embodiment of hatred and rage locked within him. He knew he had no choice, but still, even as the Death God slowly pulled at his soul, did he wish for some other way, begged, pleaded, prayed, for a different method that would allow his son to oppose the power and might of the Masked Man.

The Death God heard Minato's desperate prayer and responded accordingly. Instantly the Kyuubi was ripped from the mortal plain and swallowed entirely by the Death God.

'No!' Minato though upon witnessing this. 'Now how can Naruto fight the Masked Man?!

---

Meanwhile, in a far distant world, both unknown to and unknowing of the Shinobi World, a small, blond child named Gash stood proudly before a conservatively dressed teenage boy called Kiyo. He smiled gladly up at his friend, his partner, his bookmaster.

"We did it, Kiyo! We won the battle to be the king!"

Kiyo smiled in kind at his tiny friend, his feelings a mixture of relief, pride, and sadness. Relief and pride that he and Gash had won. Sadness because he knew that know was the last the last time he'd ever see Gash again. The last battle had been fought and won and now it was time to for Gash to return to the Demon World in kingly triumph.

Kiyo placed his hand on the blond child's head and ruffled his hair. "We did, Gash. We did."

"Congratulations, Gash Bell! You have done well, winning through this battle of 100 Demon Children! you are now the Demon World King! Partner, Kiyo Takamine, thank you for fighting with him to the end. And deep apologies for the inconvenience to the Human World. At this time, all the damage done to people, things, and parts of nature caused by this Demon Battle will be returned to this previous state. Now then, Demon World King Gash Bell's partner, Kyo, you have a final choice to make.

"If you've had pain from fighting alongside Gash, your memories of Gash may be erased and as compensation, you will be given any fortune you desire. On the other hand, if you wish to keep your memories of Gash, you may not have any such fortune.

"What shall you do?"

Gash's red spellbook was floating before the duo, aglow with whatever force that powered the tournament now speaking through the tome.

"I will leave my memories of Gash in my heart. I already have a 'fortune' in my heart..."

The voice from the book continued. "Congratulations, Kiyo! The fortune you've chosen will certainly make the path of your life from here glow golden. In hard times and sad times, that fortune will support your heart.

"The time of separation is at hand. Have you both prepared your hearts?"

Gash smiled, his heart swollen with pride at Kiyo's decision. "Kiyo..."

"We won't cry. We've already had our farewells."

Gash bowed to Kiyo and disappeared in a golden glow.

---

Gash was pulled from the Human World into the space between worlds. He felt himself propelled to the Demon World, but some other power was pulling him in an entirely different and new direction. 'Almost there,' Gash thought. 'I can sense Demons in this direction!' Gash willed himself to return to the Demon World. He redoubled his efforts and began to feel himself break into the Demon World. He was so close he could now sense Kanchome! He groped forward, struggling, trying with every part of his being to reach the duck-billed demon.

"Gash!" He heard Kanchome shout. Their hands met, Gash grasping Kanchome's wrist. Unfortunately for the two demons, the outside force that had been drawing Gash away now intensified and ripped them from their world and out to a new world of shinobi and tailed beasts.

---

Minato, weak and dying from the Death God Sealing Jutsu, could only watch as what appeared to be two strange children burst from the Death God’s mouth and were sealed inside his infant son. A seal resembling an old-fashioned door lock briefly flashed on the newborn’s chest before fading away.

“What?” Was all Minato could ask before the Death God finished removing Minato’s soul.

---

Six-year-old Naruto was having a very bad day. He’d just been kicked out of the orphanage—again—and was currently fleeing from ninja. He didn’t even know why the ninja was chasing him—this time—though he could probably make a few, or more accurately, several, guesses if he put his mind to it. “Can this day get any worse?!” As if in answer, three more ninjas dropped down from the rooftops, blocking the alley he was currently fleeing through. “Great.”

‘Hey, voices! Little help here? Whatever these guys want can’t be good—do you wanna spend the rest of this week with me washing bird poo off of the Hokage monument?’ Naruto directed his thoughts to the back of his mind.

A quickly whispered exchange was followed by a boy’s shout. ‘Rauzaraku!’

Naruto’s body was surrounded by a rainbow-colored, body-hugging aura. The six-year-old could feel strength and speed permeate his small frame.

“Alright! I’m Naruto Uzumaki and I’m outta here! Nyah-nyah!” With that, the child leapt out of the alley and onto a nearby building and began bounding over buildings at breakneck speeds, moving over eight, nine, a dozen buildings per leap. The rainbow glow shut off mid-leap. Naruto maintained his momentum and found that he couldn’t halt himself without the enhanced strength as he landed and tumbled on a rooftop. His pinwheeling body went over the roof’s edge.

As Naruto feel to the ground, the boy’s voice rang out in Naruto’s mind once again. ‘Rauzaraku!’ The rainbow aura returned right before Naruto impacted the ground. Naruto grinned enormously at the lack of any pain or damage from the fall and swiftly resumed his journey over the rooftops until he found himself at his favorite spot: the top of the Hokage Monument, specifically the stone carving of the Fourth Hokage’s head. Naruto gazed out at Konoha spread before him.

“Ahem.” A familiar voice spoke from behind Naruto.

“Old Man?”

“I see you’ve managed to avoid the ninja I dispatched to find you.”

“Yeah… I was kinda having a cruddy day. Kinda having a really cruddy day. Didn’t wanna mess with today. The lady at the orphanage kicked me out! Can you believe that?! Just for some prank that I didn’t even do! I was framed!” Naruto’s voice took on a slight whine.

The Hokage joined Naruto at the edge of the monument and looked out at the village. “Some days, Naruto, are worse than others. I know that the orphanage is not an ideal place for you.” Sarutobi Hiruzen politically didn’t mention that the orphanage director came directly to the Hokage while crying tears of rage over ‘little prank,’ which involved a stolen explosive tag, a toilet, and subsequent black flow thereof.

“Which is actually why I sent those ninja to retrieve you, Naruto. How would you like your own apartment?”

“What? Really? Yeah!” The pint-sized pipsqueak let out a squeak.

“And another thing to brighten your day: would you like to enroll in the Ninja Academy’s upcoming semester?”

“Yes! Yes! That’s even better than my own place, Old Man! Thank you! Thank you!” Naruto began jumping up and down in happiness, the importance of his earlier frustrations fading away quickly.

The Hokage paused to watch Naruto before saying, “See? Even the worst day can turn around.” The Hokage smiled beatifically before shunshinning away in a cloud of leaves and mist.

Naruto was so caught up in his celebrations that he only noticed Sarutobi was gone a few minutes after the fact.

“Old Man? Ah, geez, I completely forgot to ask him about the voices!” Naruto threw his arms in the air, annoyed at his own forgetfulness. “Guess I’ll have to figure this out all by myself. Think, think, think…”

Naruto sat down on the stone head to concentrate. He hummed and hawed, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. He let out a startled yelp and bolted to his feet.

He was no longer on the monument. He wasn’t even in Konoha. His surroundings had been replaced by an endless expanse of blue tile and almost clear blue skies. A few clouds drifted through the sky and a slight cool breeze rippled his clothes.

“H-hello?”

“Behind you.”

Naruto whipped around and found himself looking at a younger blond boy wearing what seemed to be a green dress standing beside the strangest child he’d ever seen, stranger than even that weird dogboy Naruto sometimes saw at the park. The strange child had a duckbill, a hair-style that resembled a ducktail, and wore yellow shoes and white-pajamas with a green symbol on the front that vaguely resembled a frog’s face. They were standing in front of what might have been some variety of large control panel or mechanism with large, flat view screens hovering over the mechanism. Two books, one yellow, the other red, sat on the control panel.

Naruto took a step back and waved his hands defensively. “Woah, woah, hold just a minute. Where am I? How did you bring me here? Who and what are you?”

“I’m Gash!” The blond boy said, stepping forward.

The duck-faced child took a candybar out of his pajamas and said, “I’m Kanchome.” Then he began eating.

“I’m not sure where we are. We can sometimes see you in that TV when you look in the mirror. We think it might be, um, kinda showing what you see, maybe. With your eyes, I mean.” The blond child looked embarrassed and coughed slightly, glancing down at the floor.

“And we can hear you when you think!” The duckboy said while spraying crumbs from his duckbill.

“Eh? If those things show what I’m seeing, then why aren’t you guys up there now?”

Gash scrunched up his face as he tried to puzzle this out. Several seconds passed before he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Dunno.”

“And how come you don’t know where we are? How’d you get here?”

Kanchome walked over to the monitors as Gash answered. “We woke up here a couple days ago. Before that I was headed back to home. We haven’t been able to figure out how to leave yet.”

“You’ve been stuck here days and now I’m stuck here too?!” Naruto’s jaw dropped and his hands shot up to either side of his face.

“Unuu.”

Kanchome continued to munch away at his candy before he said, “There’s a bird on the TV.”

“So?” Naruto replied, looking up at the monitor. A bird was indeed now hopping around on the ground.

“It wasn’t there before.”

“And?!” Naruto’s mood was returning to frustration.

“I think it’s a live shot.”

“What does that even mean?” Naruto shouted in exasperation.

“If it’s showing what your eyes can see, then that means your real eyes are someplace else.” Kanchome started eating more candy.

“I still don’t get it.” Naruto looked confused. So did Gash, who had a look of supreme concentration on his face.

“Maybe you’re not really here. Maybe the real you is still on those stone heads.”

“What?” Naruto and Gash spoke in unison.

“Try closing your eyes and imaging yourself back there.”

“Okay…” After Naruto did as Kanchome suggested, he opened his eyes to find himself back in Konoha. ‘Thanks, guys!’ He thought to the back of his head. ‘So you’re really real? And you’re the guys who have been giving me superpowers with that rainbow glow? Why would you do that?’

There was a pause before Naruto got an answer. ‘Um… Remember that lighting in the boy’s room? That caused the explosion that… Um… Kinda got you kicked out?’

‘That was you?!’

‘It was us. Well, me.’ Gash sounded more than a bit flustered. ‘We were trying to get out and I finally tried to use my spellbook, but you shot out the lightning when I called out the spell.’

‘And that’s why you used the rainbow glow spell thingy to let me get away from the orphanage director?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Tell you guys what… I’ll try to find a way to rescue you guys from wherever you are if you promise to help me become a great ninja with super powers.’

‘Mmm… Okay, I guess.’ Gash was a bit doubtful, but agreed.

‘Alright, but for now, I gotta find my new apartment. It’s gonna be dark soon…’

[Cosmic Average]

*Double Post, Please Delete*

[Cosmic Average]

Chapter Two

Several weeks went by quickly. In that time, Naruto got to know Gash and Kanchome better. They were apparently some sort of “demon” and had just finished a fighting tournament to decide who would be king of their world, with Gash coming out as the winner. Their recollection ended there, before resuming in the blue-tiled world. They still couldn’t figure out the connection with Naruto.

All this was on Naruto’s mind as he headed to his first day at the Ninja Academy. He couldn’t want to get his Leaf forehead protector.

‘Kiyo, the smartest hero in the world, said that you should always try to make a good impression!’ Gash offered helpfully.

Kanchome provided his own advice. ‘And Folgore said that people like a man with a brilliant smile. Be nice to everyone! Be a hippo, Naruto!’

Naruto considered this and a smile lit up his has face as he walked into what would be his classroom for the next six years. He spied the dogboy from the park and approached him with his hand held out.

“I’m Naruto Uzumaki!”

Kiba took the offered hand and shook it. “Kiba. Future Hokage. You’d make a good side-kick.” The dogboy smiled, showing off his oversized canines.

“Well, I gotta met the other classmates.” Naruto said while slowly backing away.

‘He’s his own best friend!’ Gash supplied helpfully.

The next student Naruto approached was a raven-haired boy wearing a navy blue jacket, the back of which was emblazoned with a stylized fan. Naruto smiled at him. In response, the boy enthusiastically said, “I’m Sasuke Uchiha and I want to become a most excellent shinobi, like my brother Itachi!”

Naruto considered this. The other boys had great goals. What could he say that would let him make a good impression?

‘Tell him you want to become a strong ninja so that you can protect your friends!’

‘Yeah!’ Naruto thought back to Kanchome. ‘If I do that, they’ll be sure to remember me and recognize me for my greatness!’ It wasn’t even a falsehood; Naruto wanted to protect his new friends Gash and Kanchome by helping them return home.

“I’m Narutu Uzumaki and I want to become strong so that I can protect my friends!”

“Wow, Naruto, that’s really cool!” Sasuke smiled genuinely. “Wanna sit next to each other?”

“Yeah, that would be beyond awesome.”

The two boys sat together and listened to their chunin instructor. While it was mostly an introduction, the instructor did go over the basics that the students could practice at home after class.

Sasuke whispered to Naruto. “Wanna come to my house and practice some of that? We can both become strong!”

“Alright!”

‘We wanna practice, too!’ Gash and Kanchome said at the same time.

‘How can you train with us? You’re wherever you are and I can’t bring Sasuke with me when I go to wherever that is!’

‘We can use our spells to help you!’ Gash whined. ‘Please, let us help!’

‘I guess that could work…’ Naruto mulled it over. That rainbow power would really impress his new friend. And who knew what other powers he could get? Gash had the rainbow and lightning powers, what did Kanchome bring? The more Naruto thought it over, the more he liked the idea.

Naruto turned to Sasuke and whispered, “Can you keep a secret?”

“What kinda secret?”

“I’ll let you know when we start training.”

“Well, okay…”

The chunin instructor, being a shinobi, of course overheard the two boys talking. The light-gray haired instructor marched over.

“Boys, I know that you know that you’re not supposed to each other while I’m teaching because, well, otherwise you wouldn’t be whispering so secretly to each other.” The instructor theatrically placed his hand on his forehead. “Now, can I continue the lesson on throwing kunai or do you need detention?”

Both boys straightened up immediately, stared straight forward, and apologized vehemently.

“Good, good. Now, the proper holding technique is…” The instructor droned on as he returned to the blackboard.

---

After class, Naruto walked Sasuke home. Naruto was stunned when they arrived at the outer gates of the Uchiha compound.

‘He lives in a mansion!’ Gash shouted inside of Naruto’s head.

“You live here?!” Naruto was shocked and surprised.

“Yeah?” Sasuke was confused. Having never known anything else, Sasuke couldn’t understand Naruto’s reaction. To him, growing up in the Uchiha district, surrounded by friends and relatives, was perfectly normal. Naruto, in contrast, was an orphan who lived alone in a civilian apartment building. Or nearly alone—he did have two voices in his head from whom he had zero privacy.

“It’s so, so weird!”

“It’s not weird!” Sasuke shoved Naruto. Naruto returned the shove.

“Alright, alright, not weird, but…” Naruto trailed off, unsure of how to put it.

‘Rich? Fancy? Cool?’ Kanchome supplied helpfully.

“Yeah, those.”

“Those what?” Sasuke said, oblivious to Kanchome’s comments.

“Those buildings are super fancy!” Naruto said, saving face.

The gate guards admitted the two boys after Sasuke explained Naruto’s presence.

“Come on, I wanna show you to my house! Race you!”

“How can we race when I don’t even know where I’m supposed to run?”

“I know, right?” Sasuke said while thumbing his nose at Naruto and running off.

Naruto ran after him. Their ‘race’ eventually lead them to a large manor in the heart of the Uchiha district, where they were greeted by a woman folding laundry in the front entry room.

“Mom! My first day at Ninja Academy was great! It was the best day ever! We learned how to throw knives and ninja stars and I made a friend! He’s name’s Naruto!”

“Naruto… Uzumaki?”

A surprised Naruto answered in the affirmative. “How’d ya know?”

Sasuke’s mother, Mikoto, barely reacted. As a former kunoichi, Mikoto was well schooled in controlling her features. She could project any number of seemingly legitimate emotions, all while hiding her true thoughts and feelings. In this particular instance, shock was quickly followed by scheming. How would a friendship between a son of the Uchiha clan head and the nine-tails jinchuriki affect the planned coup? They could orchestrate the brat’s death to prevent Konoha from using the boy as a weapon against the Uchiha or perhaps lure him to the Uchiha compound on the night of the coup to hold him hostage in the event things didn’t go as planned. Or perhaps they could unseal the nine-tails on the other side of the village during the coup as a distraction. Or almost anything else, really. She would have to discuss the issue with her husband.

“Ah, your antics at the orphanage have been the subject of the council meeting a few times, I’m afraid. You won’t get my little Sasuke into trouble with your pranks, correct?” The warning tone in her voice was severe.

Naruto, afraid of losing his new friend, quickly responded. “No! No more pranks! I’ll never prank again!”

“That’s nice, dear.” Mikoto smiled sweetly. “Would you boys like some snacks? I have some sweet, sticky rice balls!”

Another first for Naruto—receiving a sweet treat from a friend’s mother. Naruto decided he liked it. It made him feel warm and welcome, something he usually only felt when visiting the Old Man.

‘Those treats look delicious! I wish I had could have some…’ Kanchome’s whine was followed by the sound of munching candy.

‘Geeze, how much candy does he have?”

After scarfing down the candied rice balls, Naruto stood and bowed. “Thank you, Mrs. Uchiha! Those tasted really good!”

Mikoto smiled warmly at Naruto and winked at Naruto. “If you’re going to be Sasuke’s friend, then you can call me Auntie Mikoto. The reason those tasted so good is because they were made with love.” Said the woman who had once gone undercover as a fiancée to assassinate a minor noble and in the process ended up wiping out the entire family.

“Me and Naruto are gonna go train! We’re gonna get so good that even Itachi will be jealous of our skills!”

“That’s an admirable goal!” Mikoto clapped her hands together. “You boys be careful. I can’t wait to see how good you get.”

And with that, the boys rushed out, yelling out hurried goodbyes as they went. They ran into a large copse of trees. Within was a clearing where an array of bulls-eye style round targets were set up. Sasuke walked over to a rack at the outer edge of the clearing that held shuriken and kunai.

“Itachi said I shouldn’t touch this stuff until I was in the Academy. And guess what? We’re in the Academy.” Sasuke’s voice rose in triumphant as he began snatching up the weapons, nearly cutting off his fingers on the sharpened metal. “Ouch! I bet I can hit more targets than you!”

“Nuh-uh!” Naruto shouted in defiance. “I’m gonna become the strongest ninja ever! I can’t let some wooden targets get in my way!” Naruto now had several times the number of weapons Sasuke had in his hands.

The two boys took aim and began hurling the weapons with all the strength their diminutive frames could muster. The results were predictable. Of all the weapons thrown, only a few managed to actually strike the targets. And of those, none managed to actually embed themselves in the wood, instead, bouncing off where the flat of the blade or the kunais’ pommel struck the boards.

The ensuing awkward pause was broken by Naruto. “I think we might be doing it wrong.”

‘That teacher at your school said you’re supposed to hold the knife by the blade when you throw it and you’re not supposed to throw it as hard as you can. Also, you’re supposed to swing your arm sideways, not up and down.’ Gash sounded smug.

‘Shiow off.’ Naruto thought back grumpily.

The boys were quiet as they re-gathered the weapons, focused intently on what they were doing wrong and how to improve. Naruto took a kunai in hand and concentrated on Gash’s advice. He held the kunai by its blade, took a deep breath, and made a sideways sweeping gesture with his arm, and then released the point blade at a point he judged best. The blade flew straight, striking the outer ring of the bulls-eye Naruto had targeted with a loud ‘thunk’ and staying in place.

“Wow!” Sasuke said and began imitating Naruto’s technique. After nearly an hour of practice, the boys could manage to hit the target more often than not.

“Woo! That’s some hard work.” Sasuke said while rubbing his shoulder. Sasuke’s face suddenly lit up. “Oh yeah! You were gonna tell me a secret!” Sasuke leaned in conspiratorially.

“Ah man! Totally forgot about that!”

‘Well,’ Naruto thought. ‘You guys sure you wanna do this?’

‘Yeah! We wanna train, too! Plus, it’ll be fun. Rauzaraku!’

Naruto began to glow a rainbow of colors. “Hey Sasuke! Watch this!” Naruto leapt 75 feet into the air, grabbing onto a tree limb, swinging around to land on his feet atop the branch. He waved down to Sasuke. “I got superpowers!”

‘Good job, Naruto! Now it’s my turn. Dima Buruku!’

Instantly, eight rainbow colored copies of Naruto appeared on the tree branch. This startled Naruto so much that he lost his footing and fell. The clones reacted as one, shoving off the tree to give them the extra speed necessary to shoot past the free-falling original, land on the ground, form into a circle and clasp their hands together, forming a make-shift net, catching Naruto. The shaken Naruto slid from his clone’s arms and righted himself. The rainbow glow faded from him and the clones.

‘Did you see that, Gash?!’ Kanchome shouted excitedly. ‘The clones had your Rauzaraku glow!’

‘Interesting. Very interesting.’ Gash pretended he knew what Kanchome meant. ‘And what does this mean?’

It means my super clones can be super DUPER clones!’

‘Hey! You’re right, Kanchome!’

“Wow, Naruto! Can you teach me how to do that?” Sasuke asked excitedly.

“Geez, don’t do that again!” Naruto shouted.

“Don’t ask you to… Teach me?” Sasuke sounded a bit sullen and a bit let down.

“No, no, I didn’t mean you.”

“You were talking to the clones? You didn’t… Want them to catch you?”

“No, I meant—“

“Oh, you didn’t want them to show up so close to you on the tree branch! I gotcha. So does that mean you’ll teach me how to turn rainbow colored and make clones, too?”

Naruto felt a bit deflated at Sasuke’s question. He’d wanted to show off to his new friend, but now he’d have to disappoint him. “I’m sorry, Sasuke. I wish I could, I really, really do, but this is something that only I can do.” Naruto looked down at the ground.

“Ah, it’s okay, Naruto.” Sasuke, still chipper, said. “Wanna train taijutsu? Itachi taught some stuff I can show you.”

‘What can these clones do?’ Naruto thought to Kanchome and Gash.

‘They’re like you, but super fast, super strong, and super tough!’

‘How long do they last?’

Kanchome thought. He didn’t really know. Folgore, his bookmaster, would usually end the spell after combat or training. The clones would also disintegrate after taking enough damage.

‘They disappear when I end the spell, I guess.’ Kanchome said tentatively.

‘And they’ll do what I say?’

‘Yeah, but you gotta have feeling behind your commands…’

‘Alright.’

“I’ve got an idea, Sasuke. We can practice on the clones! We can hit them and kick them as much as we like!”

“Really? That’ll be super helpful.”

“Okay, you clones! Me and Sasuke are gonna spar against you! You’ll mostly be blocking and dodging and only occasionally hitting back, lightly.” Naruto pointed at two clones. You and you will be our sparring partners. The other guys will search the woods for any kunai and shuriken we mighta lost earlier.”

Naruto and Sasuke squared off against the clones in two one-on-one matches. Naruto found that getting a hit on much faster clone was a challenge and when he did manage to connect, didn’t cause much damage. On the other hand, it did seem like good practice. Naruto glanced over at his friend, who seemed to be having a similar experience.

The two boys fought against the clones until the sun began to set and Naruto had to leave.

“I had a lot of fun today, Naruto. I promise to keep your superpowers a secret. See you tomorrow!”

Sasuke enthusiastically waved goodbye, arm stretched high in the air, swinging back and forth as Naruto headed home. Unnoticed by either boy, Itachi watched from the treetops.

[Cosmic Average]

Chapter Three

What have you learned from your observations?" Fugaku, dressed in a formal Kimono dourly asked his oldest son.

"The Nine-tails host is at an expected level for his age and training. His taijutsu and kenjutsu are inferior to Sasuke's, though that does not say much. I have not observed any ninjutsu or genjutsu from the container or any usage or manifestation of the Kyuubi's chakra. The host does not appeare aware he houses a demon within himself." Itachi gave his report professionally, eyes forward, voice detached. "He lacks knowledge."

"Tell me, has the Hokage assigned other Anbu to tail and watch over the host?"

"Yes. They break off their vigil once he enters our district and resume when he leaves."

"Excellent intel, Itach. Excellent, useful intel."

Itachi, sensing the dismissal, shunshinned away. He had given his father a 'report' on Naruto crafted by the Hokage himself. The Hokage had seemed concerned when Itachi reported that Fugaku had ordered Itachi to spy on the Academy Studwent. Sarutobi had seemed worried when Itachi informed him that Naruto appeared to be using the power of the Nine-tails at will and had seemed distressed when Itachi told him that Naruto was most likely communication with his demonic tenant: Naruto would occasionally appear to hold a one-sided conversation with himself, shouting answers to unaksed questions or giving voice to inquiries and tilting his head as if listening to some internal reply.

The Hokage's response to these troubling revelations was to give the Uchiha clanhead a faulty report and continue a closer examination of the Uzumaki boy. Now the twelve-year old Uchiha's new objective was to head to Sasuke and Naruto's regular training ground and introduce himself.

The two academy students were sparring with one of Naruto's clonse. The clone was faster, stronger, and more durable than the students, so this offered the six-year-olds' experience in battling a strong opponent together as a team. Itachi watched from the trees.

Sasuke threw a spread of shuriken while Naruto threw a volley above the clone's head. The clone dodged Sasuke's shurikens while twisting around in mid-air to bat away Naruto's projectiles with a kunai. While the clone fell back to the ground, Sasuke darted forward, kunai in hand. Naruto rolled to the side to avoid Sasuke's shuriken and sprang forward to attack the falling clone as well. Naruto's kunai stab was parried by the clone, but Sasuke's kick to the small of its back was not. The clone spun around with its elbow out, hoping to elbow Sasuke in the face. Naruto used this opening to stab his clone's exposed chest. It quickly disintegrated after taking the fatal wound, crumbling to ash.

"Very impressive," Itachi said after dropping down from his hiding place in the trees.

"You saw that?!" Naruto was aghast. He knew he should have posted his clones as guards to alert them to any Uchiha who might want to use the training grounds.

"Before these eyes--" Itachi began before he was cut off by a running hug from Sasuke.

“Big Brother! Now you can train with us!” Sasuke glanced over at Naruto. “Whenever I ask him to train me, he usually just says ‘some other time’ and pokes me in the forehead!”

“This guy’s Itachi?”

“Yeah! He’s the strongest guy in the whole ninja world! He’s even stronger than dad and he’s one of the Hokage’s bodyguards and-“

“That’s enough, Sasuke. My name is Itachi Uchiha. And yours?”

“Uzumaki. Naruto Uzumaki, future strongest shinobi. Future kind Hokage.”

“Kind Hokage?”

“Yeah, I got a friend that told me a ruler shouldn’t just be strong, but kind as well.”

Itachi pried Sasuke’s arms from his body. “A kind Hokage… Want an interesting concept. Would that friend be the one who taught you that clone technique?”

“Crap! I mean, no. That’s just, you know, just something I can do.”

“Naruto has superpowers!” Sasuke chirped in.

“May I see your clone technique up close?”

‘What do you think, guys? Should we show him Kanchome’s clone power?’

‘Hmm…. Ask him if he knows anything about sealing. Maybe if he does, he can help us get out of here! After all, you promised you’d help us if we helped you.’

‘Yeah, what Gash said. If he teaches us about sealing and can help us escape, then we can show him Dima Buruku.’

“Hey Itachi, I’ll show you my clone technique if you tell us what you know about seals and stuff like that.”

A normal civilian wouldn’t have noticed the pause or if he had, wouldn’t have ascribed any meaning to the hesitation. Itachi, on the other hand, was an elite jounin shinobi. That slight pause, coupled with Naruto’s request, was more than enough to make Itach extraordinarily wary. He made a mental note to inform the Hokage as soon as possible.

“Seals, as in hand seals?”

“No, no, seals like sealing stuff.”

“Ah, I’m afraid not.” Itachi had no intention of teaching the jinchuuriki, who was obviously communication with the Kyuubi anything related to sealing, especially when the request seemed to have been prompted by said demon.

‘Ah, man…. I guess he doesn’t know anything,’ Gash said.

‘Can we still show him Kanchome’s clones? He’s Sasuke’s brother, afterall. He not gonna blab if we ask him to keep it secret. Plus, he might train me and Sasuke if he thinks we’re cool enough!’

‘Well, okay. Dima Buruku!’

Eight Naruto’s appeared. Itachi activated his sharingan to better observe Naruto and as a precautionary measure—he was dealing with a host of the nine-tails who had an unknown amount of control over its power. What he saw left him confused and in need of answers.

Naruto’s clone technique evidently didn’t require any handseals. Nor was there a surge of chakra or really any of the effects associated with clones—no reshaping of nearby elements into clones or the smoke clouds of shadow clones. It almost seemed like the normal bunshin technique, but with solid clones. His sharingan showed that they were essentially identical to Naruto. This power only somewhat resembled ninjutsu.

“What’s with the eyes?”

“It’s the sharingan, our clan’s bloodline limit.” Sasuke gave a quick breakdown of the sharingan and bloodline limits.

“So that means you’re a mutant?”

“Nuh-uh!”

Itachi walked up to one of the clones and patted it on its head. He slammed his knee forward, hard, into the clone’s stomach. It doubled over in pain and began coughing. ‘Interesting,’ Itach thought, nothing the difference between Naruto’s clones and shadowclones.

Naruto cringed at the sudden, unexpected violence. ‘Maybe Sasuke and his brother aren’t really alike.’

“Narutu-kun,” Itachi said, “Would you like to train with me? Sasuke can come as well.”

“Why ‘as well’?” Sasuke pouted.

Itachi demonstrated some basic taijutsu moves and gave advice on how to best throw a weapon at an opponent. Sasuke and Naruto mimicked Itachi’s moves, each boy hoping to impress the older shinobi. Finally, Itachi said, “Very well. You both have adequate skills for your age. If you wish, we can continue this in two days where I will show you a chakra control exercise known as treewalking.”

“Yeah!” “We do!” The six-year-olds shouted in unison.

---

Itachi crouched before the Hokage.

“And you believe the Kyuubi had Naruto ask about sealing techniques?” Sarutobi turned looked at the setting sun through his office window. He stood beside his desk which he lightly leaned against, supporting himself with his left hand.

“Yes,” Itachi intoned.

The Hokage stood quietly in place for several minutes before taking a deep breath.

“Troubling.” He lit a pipe and began smoking. “I’ll need to send for a trusted seal master, but it may be some time before he arrives. Continue close contact observation of Naruto, please. We don’t want to be caught unaware of anything that might be... Problematic.” The Hokage’s voice took on a hint of steel.

“Yes,” the twelve-year-old said again, almost mechanically. While he spoke, his thought turned to his younger brother. Sasuke had a genuine friendship with Narut—from his observations he knew the two had a close bond. If Naruto proved to be a significant problem for the village, Itachi knew that the ‘solution’ might cause Sasuke a great deal of grief.

The Hokage failed to notice Itachi’s inner turmoil as he continued. “And your other assignment?”

“The clan elders still feel their current path is the correct one. They believe your surreptitious, conciliatory efforts to re-engage the village with the clan are nothing more than placating theater. They have no wish for their freedom to be contingent on another’s whims and false assurances. Current beliefs are that previous revocations of rights and privileges can and will occur again, unless the Uchiha are in a position of power and leverage. They will not be satisfied with anything less than a concrete and permanent seat of power.”

“I see.” The Hokage had no easy solutions to any of the crises facing him. Council politics tied his hands. He could not make an overt effort to appease the Uchiha and even if he could, it certainly didn’t seem as if they’d accept any way. Any offers would seem false—after all, previous reforms to integrate the Uchiha into the village were rolled back under his Hokageship despite his express wishes otherwise. He desperately needed more time. “Dismissed.”

Itachi shunshinned into the night, plagued by thoughts of betraying his brother and his clan.

---

The weeks went by quickly, following a general pattern for Sasuke and Naruto. Academy, then afternoon snacks made by Mikoto, and finished out with training with Itachi. Of course, the formula wasn’t always identical, such as when Itachi took the two younger boys boar-hunting, armed with bows and arrows. On a differnet break in their daily schedule, the boys learned the henge technique.

At the Academy, their chunin instructor demonstrated the ninjutsu. The silver-haired shinobi slowly performed the handseals, calling out each seal before shouting ‘henge!’ He transformed into a duplicate of the Hokage.

‘Hey! I can do that!’ Kanchome excitedly shouted in Naruto’s head.

‘Really? Wanna try it?’

‘Sure thing! Just stand up, Naruto. The first spell, Poruku!’

The stand Naruto abruptly transformed into a tall, long-haired blond man wearing red leather pants, alligator skin books, and a white dress shirt with two red hearts positioned on either side of Naruto’s chest.

“Eh?! I look like a clown!”

“You just noticed? Oh, you mean the henge! Well, yes, yes, you do.” The instructor hurled a blackboard eraser at Naruto. “Now sit down!”

‘Folgore’s not a clown!’ Kanchome said grumpily as Naruto returned to normal.

‘Use that power again!’

‘Nuh-uh! Not until you say Folgore’s the coolest guy in the world!’

‘Fine. That guy’s the coolest person in the world, whoever he is.’

‘Eh, be that way. Think about what you want to transform into.’ Naruto pictured someone in his mind. ‘Poruku!’

Seated next to Sasuke, Naruto flickered and transformed into an exact duplicate of…. Sasuke. Sasuke gasped and Naruto brushed his hair back. “Pretty cool, eh? Guess I’m the awesomest shinobi in class now!”

Sasuke covered his mouth to keep from laughing. “You sure are… Sasuke!” He grinned enormously. “You’re so handsome… Sasuke! You’re at the top of the class… Sasuke!”

Naruto looked somewhat miffed. “Okay, okay, that’s enough.” He leaned in close to Sasuke and whispered. “But think of what we can do with this! We can use it to sneak into places like… Bars! And, and…. Other places graduate ninjas go! Like real ninja missions!”

Sasuke scrunched up his face. “I don’t know, Naruto…”

Seeing his friend’s reaction made Naruto back off his suddenly thought up, big, bold plan, just a bit. “Okay, but still, we gotta use this after class to see how people treat us when we’re adults. We can transform into pretty ladies!”

“Pretty ladies?! Bleh! No way! I’m gonna be a big guy, not a lady!”

“I, uh… I was just kidding!”

After class, the two boys practiced the henge technique in a wooded area near the local playground, despite Gash’s insistence that Naruto should go down the playground slide because it would be fun.

Sasuke, after some amount of effort, was able to transform himself into a man in civilian attire, with looks halfway between his brother Itachi and his father Fugaku. Naruto, on the other hand, was having a great deal of difficulty with the actual jutsu.

He had decided that since Gash and Kanchome were eventually going to return to their home in the Demon World, he should learn how to perform jutsu on his own. And besides which, Naruto thought it would be hilarious to use the henge to perform a prank at school using the henge, ‘accidentally get caught’ by an instructor, and then drop henge to reveal a Naruto transformed by Kanchome’s power into one of their classmates, preferably the dogboy. Unfortunately, Naruto was proving to be less than fantastic at the jutsu.

He tried to henge into the dogboy. Instead he came out looking like a Naruto wearing a wig and fake teeth. Naruto tried again, but this time he came out looking like a short, blond version of Kiba. Naruto dropped down to the ground and sat crosslegged, folded his arms across his chest, and grunted. “Man, this is harder than it looks!”

Sasuke was confused at this display. “But you did it in class so easily!”

Naruto looked around warily, then motioned for Sasuke to come closer. Naruto whispered, “I used my superpowers. Here, watch.” Naruto transformed into a duplicate of Sasuke’s henge. This time, Sasuke noticed that Naruto didn’t use any handseals, just like when Naruto used his rainbow-aura power or his clone power. Naruto whispered again, “I got another secret, but this one’s even more secret than the last, okay?”

Sasuke, sensing the change in Naruto’s demeanor, nodded somberly. Naruto closed his eyes, swallowed hard, and said in a rush, “The superpowers aren’t my own they belong to two boys living in a world covered with blue bathroom tiles and we’re trying to figure out how to get them back to their homeworld. I can hear their voices in my head when they talk. Also, I can visit them when I meditate.” Now that he said it out loud, he wasn’t certain if Sasuke would think he was lying or just crazy.

Sasuke, a trusting six-year-old who lived in a world of ninja magic that allowed a user to transform into any object they wanted, could walk on trees or water, or blast fire from their mouths, took it in stride and simply shrugged.

“Is that why you sometimes talk to yourself? You’re really talking to space aliens?” Awe crept into Sasuke’s voice.

“Aliens?! What about aliens?”

“You said you were trying to get them back to their homeworld—“

“Oh, no, no, back to the Demon World. Gash is gonna be crowned the Demon World King.”

“Demons?”

“Yeah.”

“How’d they get there?”

“Dunno.”

“And you’re trying to get them home?”

“How?”

“Dunno yet.”

Sasuke thought for a bit. Then he got up and walked back and forth while thinking. Finally, he said, “That’s a lot to think about.”

In Naruto’s head, Gash said, ‘Maybe he’d feel better if you guys went down the slide.’

Wanting things to return to normal, Naruto quickly agreed—anything had to be better than the awkward silence that followed his confession.

“Wanna try out the playground equipment? I bet I can swing higher than you!”

A small smile crept slowly on to Sasuke’s face before it took off running into a full blown grin. “Yeah right! I bet you can’t even beat me in a race to the playground!”

Sasuke jumped up and began sprinting, Naruto close on his tail. When they arrived at the playground area in a tie, they immediately began yelling and laughing as they used the slide and swings. Which is how the parents of the other children found them: two adult twins chasing each other around the children’s playground laughing madly.

[Cosmic Average]

Chapter Four


The beginning of that weekend found Naruto attempting to meditate on his messy, unmade bed. Attempting, because he couldn’t calm himself over the ecstatic excitement he felt at not only being free from school for two days or the fact that it was his 7th birthday, but because he was going to experience a new first: spending the night at Sasuke’s home.

Naruto wanted to impress his friend, so he asked Gash and Kanchome for any advice on what the two academy students could do for fun. After a whispered conference between the two demons, they told Naruto they could teach him something ‘cool,’ if he visited them in the blue-tiled world. Naruto closed his eyes once again. When he reopened them, he found himself standing before Gash and Kanchome.

“We’re gonna teach you the lyrics to the ‘Very Melon’ song!”

“A song? This isn’t gonna be like that ‘Chichi wo Moge’ song you guys taught me, is it? I got in trouble when I did that one at the Academy…”

“Nah, this one isn’t as good,” Kanchome said, a little defensively.

“Catch my heart! Very Melon!” Gash began singing. Despite his trepidation, Naruto found himself following along with the tune, even imitating Gash’s dance moves.

After that, Naruto packed two lunches, made with suggestions from Gash and Kanchome. The result of the disparate tastes were two boxed lunches containing ramen, yellowtail, and candy. Somewhat satisfied with the result, Naruto set off for the Uchiha district.

Along the way, he was trailed by a discreet Anbu. The Hokage had stressed the importance of keeping a close watch on Naruto, especially since Seal Master Jiraiya was due to arrive in Konohoa very soon. When Naruto arrived at the gates to the Uchiha district, the Anbu cut off pursuit, trusting in Itachi to continue observing the jinchuuriki.

As Naruto made his way through the district, his eagerness and excitement at being able to have a sleep over with Sasuke couldn’t stop him from noticing the tension that seemed to emanate from the Uchiha clansmen. To Naruto, the foreboding feeling was similar to what he experienced when he was shunned by the villagers. Naruto’s spirits were a bit dampened by the time Naruto was greeted by Mikoto at Sasuke’s home.

“Auntie, why is everyone acting so weird?”

“What do you mean, Naruto-kun?” Mikoto knew what Naruto was referencing. There was indeed an ominous feeling of dread permeating the atmosphere. Whether it was due solely to the impending coup or the discovery of Shisui’s suicide note or some combination of the two, Mikoto could not say. Of course, even if she knew, she certainly wouldn’t tell Naruto.

“I dunno…. Just, you know, people are acting kinda different. Guess it’s not important.” Naruto paused. “Oh yeah! Today’s my birthday! I’m seven!”

“Seven! Wow, that’s great, Naruto! Looks like you’re catching up to Sasuke,” she said with a wink.

“Say, where is Sasuke?”

“Playing in his room.”

Naruto went to find his friend, calling out that he had a surprise for Sasuke as he went. He found Sasuke in his room, studying a textbook.

“I’ve got some stuff for you.” Naruto spread the boxed lunches out on Sasuke’s bed and opened them. “One’s mine and one’s yours.”

Sasuke looked over the boxes. While not the most tradition of lunches, or the most visually appealing, Sasuke was touched that his friend would go through the effort of making a meal for him. “Looks pretty good, Naruto.”

The two boy began eating, but were soon interrupted by the sounds of a loud argument outside. They ran to the front entryway to investigate. When they arrived, they found Itachi kowtowing to three Uchiha. A kunai had been stabbed into a nearby wall.

“What do you think’s going on?” Naruto was not only posing the question to Sasuke, but also to his unseen friends as well. Sasuke remained quiet.

‘Itachi’s apologizing to those guys because… He stabbed… The wall?’ Gash tried to puzzle out was presently occurring, without much luck.

“Nothing that should interest you, Naruto-kun.” Mikoto had approached the boys without being noticed. Beneath her sweet tone here was a hint of a dark coldness in her voice that Naruto was accustomed to hearing from her. Which just piqued Naruto’s curiosity even further. Clearly, whatever was happening with Itachi and those Uchiha in the street was somehow linked to the odd behavior of the Uchiha clansmen.

“Okay, Auntie,” Naruto replied as Itachi entered the manor. Itachi was rocked and a bit flustered, his hair disheveled. He made a beeline for Naruto.

“The Hokage needs to see you in his office, immediately.” The strained sentence did not invite conversation, but Naruto wanted to ask even so. Itachi averted his eveys from the younger boy.

“What was that kowtowing thing about?”

Itachi’s reply was terse and distant. “A misunderstanding.”

Mikoto coughed. “I think it would be best if you left for your meeting with the Hokage, Naruto.”

Naruto sighed. He’d only just arrived, hadn’t even finished his lunch, and now had to halfway across Konoha to the Hokage Tower. He’d always used to enjoy his visits with the Old Man, but not he just wanted to put it off so that he could spend more time with Sasuke. Could this day get any worse?

Because he wanted to get back to the Uchiha manor quickly, Naruto double-timed it and sound found himself at the Hokage’s Tower where was directed to the Old Man’s office.

In the center of the office a seal had been chalked on the floor, surrounded by an array of candles. He took a few tentative steps into the office and meekly asked if anyone was there. The door shut behind him. Naruto, already on edge, jumped, shouted, and twirled around. He found himself facing a large man with a huge mane of white, dressed in a red vest, and sporting a forehead protector marked not by the leaf symbol, the word ‘oil.’ Beside him stood the much smaller Hiruzen. Both had unreadable expressions.

“Naruto…” Hiruzen began, unsure of how to continue. Finally, he decided to introduce Jiraiya and then gradually explain the hermit’s presence and the sealing array. He started again.

“Naruto, this is Jiraiya, my former student and sensei to the Fourth Hokage. Sarutobi thought it best to hold off on mentioning that Jiraiya was also a sealing master. “Jiraiya, this is Naruto Uzumaki, the boy I told you about.”

Jiraiya, meanwhile was busy casting a subtle genjutsu on the boy, in an effort to calm the child. If the brat really was using the Kyuubi’s power and could in fact communicate with it, then he didn’t want the maddened beast breaking loose and rampaging throughout the village when it realized he was there to strengthen Minato’s seal.

Jiraiya, his genjutsu finished, determined his wacky, flamboyant toad-sage person would further put the boy at ease. After all, why be cautious around an inept fool?

“I am Mount Myoboku-Gama’s Holy Master Sennin, also known as the Toad Sennin! I have cried tears of blood in my journey here to see the great Narutu Uzumaki!” Jiraiy gesticulated widely and grinned at Naruto, playing up the buffoon angle.

“You think I’m… Great?” Naruto looked back and forth between Jiraiya and the Hokage.

“Well sure, Naruto! The Hokage was so excited about how strong you’re becoming that he wrote to me immediately. Said you were something that I just had to see. Shoot, he told me you were able to out run chunin-level ninja before you even entered the Academy! Now, why don’t you let us in on how you managed that.”

Naruto was so startled at this sudden, unexpected praise that his thought train derailed, blurting out a thoughtless reply, “Oh, you know… I’m just… Super fast?”

“Wow! You gotta be superfast to outrun those chunin without any training. Of course, that’s not the only thing the Hokage told me about. He told me that some people saw you training in the Uchiha district. According to them, you were able to make copies of yourself! That’s amazing, Naruto! How did you do it?”

Again, the abrupt question left no time for Naruto to gather his thoughts or formulate a plausible explanation. “I.. Uh.. Somebody told me how?”

“Oh? And who would that be?” Despite the tranquilizing effects of Jiraiya’s genjutsu, Naruto was growing suspicious. The questions seemed almost like accusations. And there was something terrible insincere about the man. If he and the Hokage were in fact happy over his strength, why didn’t the Hokage share in Jiraiya’s jovial attitude?

In fact, the Hokage’s mood deeply contrasted Jiraiya’s. Rather than jubilation, he seemed to be ill at ease and distant to the point that he wouldn’t even meet Naruto’s eyes.

Naruto took a half-stumbling step back. When he did, Jiraiya’s expression of happy curiosity switched to one of grim determination. The large man slammed forward, grabbing Naruto by the jaw, lifting the boy and slamming him back to the ground in one smooth attack. Naruto could hear Gash and Kanchome scream out concern for him, but it was far too late.


Jiraiya mumbled an apology to Minato and carried the unconscious Naruto to the sealing array, removing Naruto’s shirt in the process. After placing the boy in the center of the array, he placed his hands on the boy’s stomach, where they began to glow. Soon the glow spread to Naruto’s chest. Gradually, it took on the shape of a deadbolt’s keyhole. The glow faded, but the keyhole remained, its appearance almost that of an inked tattoo.

“Interesting.” Jiraiya leaned in close to examine the seal. “I’ve never seen a seal like this or anything close to it. It looks nothing like the Uzumaki Seals.” Jiraiya muttered. Louder, he said, “The Fourth taught you this jutsu. Your thoughts?”

Sarutobi’s eyes widened when he saw the seal. It certainly didn’t resemble the seal he had learned from Minato. Did the Fourth change the jutsu or was something else at work? If so, what were the ramifications? Was this the reason behind Naruto’s apparent ability to use the Nine-tails’ chakra so freely? Sarutobi gave voice to his most immediate concern, “If we don’t understand the underlying mechanism of the seal, can we still modify or strengthen it?”

The toad hermit considered, then nodded somberly. “We can place a new seal atop this odd one. That should put the Kyuubi to sleep, stopping it and its chakra from influencing the boy.” Jiraiya peered down at the boy who so greatly resembled his departed student. “And when he’s older, we’ll alter the seal so that he can learn to use the Kyuubi’s power… Under our guidance. I’m certain Minato sealed the tailed beast into his own son for a reason.”

“I just hope Naruto will understand and forgive us. According to the reports, and from what we saw here today, the Kyuubi was trying to ingratiate itself with Naruto to facilitate its release.”

“Another oddity. Then again, the Nine-tails previous hosts were aware that a destructive monster had been sealed inside their bodies and thus subterfuge wouldn’t have worked. Naruto, meanwhile…”

The Hokage and the Hermit went to work, setting up the new seal. Once finished Naruto was transferred to the Konoha hospital for further observation.

---

Naruto groggily came to, head pounding, in an unfamiliar room. The lights were far too bright.

‘Where am I?’ He thought to the back of his mind. He didn’t receive an answer. ‘Gash? Kanchome?’ Naruto had grown accustomed to the demons’ warm presence within his mind. Now Naruto only felt a cold absence. It was then that Naruto noticed the Hokage standing by the window, watching him.

“Old Man?” Naruto sat up in the hospital bed.

The Hokage approached Naruto and asked him how he was doing.

“Old Man,” Naruto said again, tears forming in the corners of his blue eyes. “Where did that big guy go? Did you save me from him?”

Sarutobi looked down at the small child and felt a mix of pity and guilt. Tears were now slowly sliding unheeded down Naruto’s cheeks. Sarutobi took a deep breath.

“Did you know, Naruto, that you’re a hero?”

The blond child opened his mouth to reply, but only a hitching sob came out. The boy shook his head.

“It’s true, Naruto.” The Hokage continued. “Seven years ago, the village faced a grave danger. The threat was so great that only the Fourth Hokage could face it.” The Hokage paused and looked Naruto over. “And even then, he could only stop the threat by great sacrifice. Sacrifice not only of himself, but of you as well, Naruto.”

Naruto was under great distress and couldn’t fully concentrate on what the Old Man was saying. He had tried calling out to his friends in his mind once more, but still didn’t receive any sort of reply. His heart felt empty. He closed his crying eyes and focused inward.

When he reopened them, he found himself in a new location. Rather than the blue-tiled world, he was instead in a poorly lit, flooded tunnel. Cold water sloshed around his knees. It was too much for the boy. He began running while desperately calling out his friends’ names.

His frenzied search took him through a labyrinth of brachiating corridors. After what felt like a panicked eternity, he found himself before a massive gate composed of widely-spaced vertical iron bars.

Naruto gasped. Through the iron bars he could the blue-tiled world. What was more, he could see Gash and Kanchome lying unconscious on the ground blue tiles.

Naruto tried to run between the bars. The space was wide and tall enough to accommodate his slight body, but his momentum was halted when he slammed into the gap between the bars. The image of the blue-tiled world rippled.

Naruto beat his fists against the barrier. He kicked. He screamed. He made no progress. He fell to his knees, pressed his head against the bars, and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Naruto?” The Hokage was shaking his shoulder.

“Why can’t they hear me? Why don’t they wake up?” Questions asked between choked sobs.

The Hokage withdrew his hand. “What do you mean, Naruto? Who can’t hear you?”

“My... My friends.” The small boy balled up his fists and placed them on the sides of his head.

“As I said, Naruto, great sacrifices were required to save Konoha. The Fourth Hokage gave his life to seal away an unstoppable evil.” The Hokage took a deep breath. “We should have told you before. It would have avoided your current pain and fear. I’m sorry, Naruto, but the Hokage sealed the evil demon into your body.”

Naruto’s red-rimmed eyes looked up at the Hokage in confusion and exhaustion. “I’m… There’s evil inside me? That’s why my friends can’t hear me?”

Sarutobi continued his explanation. “We strengthened the Fourth’s seal, cutting off the demon’s ability to cloud your mind with lies—“

Comprehension came to Naruto and with it rage. “My friends aren’t evil! You’re the liar!”

“Naruto, please understand! When you’re older—“

“Get away from me!” Naruto shoved past the Hokge and ran to the room door. Sarutobi hesitated.

He could easily stop the boy, but was that the best course of action? The boy had already been traumatized by Jiraiya, so how would getting overpowered and restrained against his will again affect him? Surely he’d never trust the Hokage again. Before the Hokage could reach a decision, Naruto had left.

Naruto ran through Konoha. He felt betrayed. He loved the Old Man. He trusted him. How could the Old Man do this to him? Lie to him? Why? It was too overwhelming for the child. He wanted, needed someone to console him, comfort him, protect him. He ran without direction.

Naruto found himself once more before a gate. ‘Sasuke,’ Naruto thought. The sun was beginning to set as Naruto entered the Uchiha district. He made his way through the compound and stood slumped before Sasuke’s home, fear and worry over how Sasuke would react to him in his current state preventing him from knocking. Naruto’s breathing quickened. Soon, it felt like he wasn’t getting any air at all. He collapsed to his knees on the wooden entrance with an audible thud, drawing the residents’ attention. Sasuke answered the door.

“Hello?”

“Sas… Sasuke.”

“Naruto!” Sasuked rushed to help his friend to his feet. “What happened to you?”

Naruto’s response was to fall into his friend’s arms and begin weeping. Sasuke, uncertain of what to do, hugged Naruto back, supporting his blond friend’s weight. Eventually Naruto’s crying turned to choked sobs and finally to silence. Sasuke patted his friend on the back.

“Do you… Would you like to come inside?” Naruto nodded in reply.

Sasuke lead Naruto by the hand to his room. There, Naruto explained what happened to him, as he saw it. Once finished, Naruto, emotionally drained and physically exhausted lied back on Sasuke’s bed and slept. Sasuke tucked his friend into bed, rolled out a mat beside the bed, and also went to sleep.

Neither boy noticed Mikoto listening through the door.

[Cosmic Average]

Chapter Five


The following weeks found the previously boisterous Naruto quiet and withdrawn. In his courses, he didn’t volunteer answers directly unless called upon. Nor did he interact much with the other children, save for Sasuke. Naruto accompanied the Uchiha boy everywhere; the two were inseparable.

Naruto’s daily routine had now changed. Each morning, immediately after waking up, found him before the iron gates within his mind, checkin on Gash and Kanchome, while pleading for their forgiveness. Despite his apologies, the boys remained still on the ground.

After their lessons at the Academy, Naruto and Sasuke were joined by Naruto at their daily tea time. Rather than merely serve the snacks and return to the kitchen to clean, now Mikoto stayed behind to engage Naruto in hypotheticals and conversation as they ate.

“And how was the Academy today, Naruto-kun?”

“Fine.”

“Just fine? Did you learn anything exciting?” To better gain Naruto’s trust, Mikoto tried to coax a longer response as she refilled his tea.

Naruto looked down at his plate and shook his head while mumbling, “I dunno.”

Mikoto glanced over at Sasuke, silently imploring him to begin a discussion to draw Naruto into a conversation. “And what about you, Sasuke?”

“Huh? Oh! The instructors taught us how to make a bunshin. A bunshin is kinda like—“ Sasuke suddenly covered his mouth mid-sentence, before he finish his explanation.

Naruto slowly looked up from his plate, where he had been idly poking his food with his chopsticks. “Like a friend we used to know. He could make solid clones.” Naruto’s voice took on a quaver as he finished his explanation.

“Your frieed sounds like a splendidly powerful person!” Mikoto’s expression transformed to one of concern. She leaned close to Naruto. “But why do you say, ‘used to know’? Did something happen to your friend?”

Naruto delicately and deliberately placed his chopsticks on the table and looked down. “He thought… He trusted in his friend’s promise to save him. His friend didn’t.”

Mikoto sighed outwardly. Inwardly, her predatory instincts honed in on his vulnerability. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Naruto. I suppose in this ninja world, sometimes promises are lies.” She gently placed her hand over Naruto’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. “But was it really your friend’s fault? Didn’t he do everything in his power to help his friend? What happened?”

“He did!” Naruto said defensively, then his voice softened. “But… It wasn’t enough. He was tricked and lied to by someone he loved.”

“Oh, sweetheart, that’s just terrible!” Mikoto moved her hand to Naruto’s shoulder. “You need to be very careful about whom you love and trust. Sometimes those people that you think you love and love you back are actually working against you. Those sorts of people are entirely unworthy of your loyalty. You shouldn’t honor or respect someone who would betray you for their own gain, as if you were nothing more than a disposable tool and not the wonderful person I know you are, Naruto-kun.” She pulled Naruto close to her and hugged him. “I’ll never betray you.”

Naruto returned the hug. “Thank you, Auntie.”

“Now it’s time for you boys to show me what you learned at the Academy today.”

The two boys once more treaded to their preferred training spot, but now with Mikoto in tow. Naruto, still terribly affected by the loss of his friends, didn’t entirely focus on his sparring bout with Sasuke and failed to beat or draw with the other boy. After he’d been knocked down, Mikoto walked over and offered him a hand-up.

“You did well, Naruto.”

“But I lost.”

“That’s okay. Even though you didn’t win, you still demonstrated good form and improvement. Would you like it if I showed you some of my own moves?”

“Sure.”

For the next few hours, the two boys mimicked Mikoto’s movements on grappling, striking, and legwork. After giving the boys pointers, Mikoto out her change purse and gave Sasuke some coins. “Why don’t you go to the market inside the village and get some drinks for yourself and Naruto?”

Sasuke, confused by the degree of attentiveness Mikoto was showing Naruto on this particular day, shrugged his shoulders. There was something unusual going on. It was clear his mother wanted to his best friend alone. “Um, what do you want to drink? I think they have Calpis Water…”

“That’ll be fine, dear.” Mikoto responded to her son with her eyes fixed on Naruto. Naruto nodded in agreement and Sasuke set off as the sun began to set.

After Sasuke left, Mikoto circled around Naruto and began rubbing his shoulders and said, “Do you remember what I said earlier about being betrayed by those you love? You’re about to receive a very intimate lesson on that subject.” Mikoto’s expression, under the light right could have been mistaken for a grin. For a boy with a sharingan, it was an agonized grimace of anger and suffering. “Sasuke should be out of the district by now. You can come down, Itachi.”

The thirteen-year-old Uchiha dropped down from the trees. “How long have you known?”

Mikoto’s grip on Naruto’s shoulders tightened. “How long have I known that you’ve betrayed your clan, your family, your own mother, you mean?” Mikoto held a kunai above and behind Naruto’s head. “Don’t move, Itachi.”

Itachi stopped walking forward. His mother held Naruto hostage. His initial plan had been to stop the coup by any means necessary precisely so that villagers like Naruto wouldn’t be caught up in war.

“By the way, Sasuke’s exiting the training grounds was a signal for several clansmen to converge on this location.” As Mikoto spoke, the Uchiha clansmen dropped down around Itachi, a weighted razor-wire net held between them. Itachi collapsed beneath the weighted net. Mikoto knew her son wouldn’t have tried to stop the coup alone. “Who are your co-conspirators?”

Itachi stared up at his mother. “I’ve already killed father.” As Mikoto gasped and involuntarily took a step back, Itachi’s Magekyo Sharingan flared to life. And with his Mangekyo came his Susan’oo. The ribcage burst into existence, yanking the net from his clanmen’s hands, followed by the Susan’oo’s arms which lashed out and struck down his fellow Uchiha.

A bewildered Mikoto took another step back. Her husband, dead? Her son using a terrifying chakra construct to murder his own cousins? A surge of chakra ripped through her eyes, activating her sharingan. All the Uchiha clan wanted was to be free of persecution. Rather than accept the Uchiha as equals, the clan elders would instead prefer to turn her own son against her with orders to kill his own clansmen! Another surge of chakra coursed through her body, transforming her eyes into the Mangekyo and twisting her mind to madness and revenge.

The manifestation of the Susan’oo had drawn even more Uchiha who were now battling her son. She couldn’t watch; either her son would be killed or the clansmen, her family, would be struck down. Instead, she looked to Naruto.

The Hokage had murdered her husband and taken her son from her. She needed to avenge the dead and dying by killing the Hokage in turn. She couldn’t stop Itachi and even if she could, she would never be able to bring herself to killing her first born son.

Naruto was facing away from her, staring wide-eyed at the battle between Itachi and the clansmen. While Itachi was busy, Mikoto stuck Naruto in the back of the head with the pommel of her kunai, grabbed Naruto by the arm, and bounded through the trees.

The Uchiha district was burning. Apparently Itachi’s co-conspirators were now carrying out their murderous orders. As she leapt over the district gate, she saw that even the guards were dead. She looked away. Her younger sister had been on duty. Grim determination spurred her onward.

On her way to the Hokage Tower, she passed over the market. Sasuke saw his mother carrying an unconscious Naruto, dropped his purchase, and gave chase.

When she arrived at the Tower, the secretary demanded to know her purpose for barging in so suddenly without an appointment. Mikoto replied honestly by sinking a kunai into the secretary’s eye. She grabbed the corpse by its throat and hurled it through the Hokage’s office door. She jumped through the door, dragging Naruto alongside her.

The Hokage bit his thumb and slammed his hand on the desk, simultaneously summoning Enma in preparation for the coming battle and launching himself into the air, to land on the desktop. The dead woman on the floor told him everything he needed to know about Mikoto’s intentions. Then he noticed the knocked-out Naruto. He had to separate the boy from the Uchiha woman.

Enma, sensing his master’s unspoken command, transformed into his unbreakable staff form. The Hokage’s aim was true as the staff rapidly extended at Mikoto’s arm. She was forced to release her grip on Naruto to dodge. The Hokage swept the staff at the woman who jumped on top of the pole and ran down its length, kunai now in either hand. The Hokage threw his end of the staff upward, knocking Mikoto backward. Mikoto leapt sideways, throwing the kunai at Sarutobi as she formed the seals for a katon jutsu. The Hokage batter away the kunai and formed the seals for a suiton jutsu in response. The two blasts collided, creating an explosion of steam.

Mikoto landed on the wall and began running alongside the seam cloud to get a visual on the Hokage. The staff whipped back around, ripping along the wall after her. Its speed was far too great for her to dodge. As she watched the staff swing at her, she felt another surge of chakra. The staff slammed to a stop and hung in the air immobilized. Hiruzen let out a pained grunt of surprise at the sudden stop.

She stared at the staff. ‘Is this the power of my Mangekyo?’ She tried moving the staff with her eyes. The staff angled upwards. Hiruzen, still holding on to his end, was lifted off his feet. She rammed the staff through the Hokage’s window with Hiruzen still clinging to it, demolishing the wall.

Mikoto dropped back down to the floor and tried to will the staff back to her. Nothing occurred. ‘Perhaps it requires the object I’m moving to be within my eyesight.’ She thought. Experimentally, she glanced at the Hokage’s desk. It shot through the hole she created in the window. She grabbed Naruto and followed after.

Sarutobi had managed to land on his feet and create two shadow clones. The clones and the original were performing handseals for a boosted elemental attack. Mikoto, though, had expected this and held Naruto in front of her as a shield.

The Hokages broke off their jutsu. The two clones ran forward and outwards at angle from the original, forming a triangle with Mikoto in the center. She landed lightly on her feet.

Hiruzen tried once more to separate Mikoto and Naruto. He grabbed his staff and extended it at her at speed. Once more it stopped cold before her. Unfortunately for Hiruzen, it didn’t stop extending. Now he was once more lifted off his feet and thrown backward, before he could halt the staff’s extension.

The clones, meanwhile, had launched themselves at Mikoto. She glanced to her left while jumping backward. The clone was yanked off its feet and overshot the space Mikoto where had previously been standing, slamming into the other clone, dispelling bother.

She dashed forward at Hiruzen, who was getting to his feet. He pulled out several shuriken and was about to perform shuriken kage bunshin when he was launched upward at tremendous speed.

Mikoto angled her head to watch the Hokage. Then her eyes flicked downward as the Hokage was slammed headfirst into the ground at breakneck speed. Literally, as the sounds of splintering, shattering bones could be heard over the very loud thud. The Hokage’s staff vanished in a puff of smoke.

Mikoto took a wobbling half-step toward the crumpled corpse, fell to one knee, and began breathing hard. Her sharingan deactivated. Apparently her Mangekyo jutsu took an incredible toll on her body and chakra.

She decided she just needed a rest before returning to her district. With this Mangekyo power, Mikoto was confident she could now stop Itachi without killing him and take out his co-conspirators. As she thought about Itach, she heard his voice behind her. “I’m sorry.”

Then she felt it—a blade protruding from her chest. She gripped the sharp metal, cutting her hands in the process. She knew what Itachi’s presence signified. He’d finished his bloody work at the Uchiha district. Her clan was now dead. She coughed blood and slumped over, her breathing slowing to a stop.

Itachi shook the unconscious Naruto, sending a jolt of chakra through his body to wake him. The terrorized boy scream when he saw Mikoto with a sword through her body. Itachi shook Naruto again. The trembling boy looked up at Itachi.

The tomoe of Itachi’s sharking began to spin. “Listen to me, Naruto. I don’t have much time before the Anbu arrive. Yes, I killed her. She died protecting the Hokage, whom I also killed. Sleep now, but remember. And protect Sasuke…”

Naruto’s eyes rolled upward as he fell forward. Itachi caught Naruto and gently placed the boy on the ground. He had to hurry. He spared a glance around and leapt to the rooftops.

Mikoto let out a retching cough, spraying blood streaked with spittle. If her clan was dead… She began dragging herself to Naruto, sword still lodged in her body. Upon reaching the boy, her shaking hand lifted his shirt. She pressed her blood drenched hand on his stomach, smearing gore. She began undoing the seal. As she finished, her hand went slack and slid from Naruto’s stomach.

Shortly later, the Anbu finally arrived and began cordoning off the area, followed by Sasuke. When he saw his mother’s body and his unconscious friend, he dashed forward, pushing past the Anbu. He tried to cradle his mother’s head and his best friend while crying and screaming.

[Cosmic Average]

Chapter Six


Kakashi looked over his new trainee genin, lined up before him on the beach. When he had arrived, the two boys had been playing cards with the girl sitting a little off to the side, combing her hair. They seemed like an easy going bunch, which was a little odd, considering the two boys’ history.

Sakura had given fairly normal responses to his impromptu ‘get to know you’ session the day before, expressing an interest more of love than of ninjutsu. Sasuke said his dream for the future was to become strong enough to protect his friends. When he mentioned ‘friends,’ Sasuke had glanced at Naruto. His ambition to able to protext his friends was understandable in light of his mother’s well-known sacrifice in her attempt to save the Hokage. Of course, that she wasn’t successful explained his desire to become stronger. Naruto, on the other hand, had simply smiled, pressed his finger to his lips, and said that his dream was a secret, while winking.

Naruto hadn’t been what Kakashi would have expected from the son of his sensei. Naruto’s grades had been good, but not exceptional or even great. The boy hadn’t even made a fuss about being ordered to skip breakfast only to wait hours for him to arrive, seeming to take Kakashi’s explanation at face value. Nor did he react as Kakashi explained the consequences of the bell test, instead only smiling almost serenely back at Kaakshi, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. In contrast, Sakura looked worried Sasuke was staring eagerly at the two bells. It was clear what he had in mind—one bell for him and one for Naruto.

Sasuke tensed as he readied his attack, only for Naruto’s clone to grab Sasuke’s shoulder, pulling him to a shop. Kakashi arched his eyebrow. He hadn’t witnessed Naruto perform any handseals or even move. The clone had simply appeared instantly, in mid-motion, along with seven others, without any sort of preamble. Sasuke looked back at the real Naruto.

The two genin exchanged looks and Sasuke ran with four clones into the woods while Naruto jumped out onto the water. Naruto waterwalked away from the beach before dropping down into the ocean, completely submerged and hidden. The four remaining clones circled around Kakashi, assuming taijutsu stances.

“Guess you guys are to test out my taijutsu, hm?” Kakashi took out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise and began reading, as if to say the clones were utterly unworthy of his full attention. Kakashi hopped this show of disrespect would anger the clones, causing them to attack sloppily and without thinking. Instead, the clones wordlessly launched themselves at him in a simultaneous attack. They were surprisingly fast.

Kakashi tried to block one of the clone’s kicks with his free hand, only the kick’s trajectory to change midway through, flowing around Kakashi’s out stretched hand and striking his arm, knocking it to the side with significant force. Kakashi’s shocked reaction at the unexpected strength of the kick granted the clones a momentary opening. As the strong kicks and punches rained down, Kakashi tossed aside the book and went on the offensive. He’d have to give the fight his full focus.

He dodged backward, flipping over the clones, snagging one by the arm as he passed. When he landed, he swung the clones at one of its brethren. Rather than dispel, the clones tumbled out of the melee together. They immediately ran for the nearby treeline and began uprooting one of the great trees. As Kakashi concentrated on fighting, the clones swung the tree in a horizontal arc at him. Kakashi, having heard the commotion behind him, spun around and leapt upward at the last moment, allowing the tree to crash into the two clones left on the beach.

While Kakashi was in mid-air, two clones burst from their hiding places amongst the branches of the uprooted, still swinging, tree, followed by Sasuke who was held between the two other clones. Surprisingly, Sasuke had a three-tomei sharingan activated. Sasukes hands flew through the seals of a fire jutsu as he headed toward Kakashi. The first two clones to emerge from the tree tried to grab Kakshi, only for him to make use of them as a springboard, launching himself back and out of range of the blast of fire from Sasuke.

Kakashi decided now was the time to actually get serious. His hand went to his forehead protector. Before he could unveil his own sharingan, a tentacle snagged his wrist, yanking and twisting his arm, ratcheting Kakashi into a writhing ball of tentacles that extended from the water.

He grabbed a kunai with his uncaught hand and slashed futilely at the ensnaring tentacle, only to discover the cord was stronger than stell. More tentacles snaked forward and began wrapping around Kakashi’s free arm, chest, and legs. After Kakashi had been full restrained, Naruto rose from the depths.

Naruto was covered in tentacles. The vine-like appendages that held Kakashi extended from the sides of Naruto’s chest. Thicker living cables extended from Naruto’s legs, trailing down into the water, holding Naruto aloft. Naruto was still smiling that smile that was uniquely his. Kakashi could hear Sakura screaming on the ground far below.

“It looks like I underestimated you.” Naruto slammed Kakashi into the ground, knocking him out cold. Naruto descended to the ground near Kakashi, tentacles retracting into his body as he strode forward.

Sasuke approached and plucked the bells from Kakashi. His reassuring presence, to Saskura at least, calmed her, quieting her screams. If Sasuke was comfortable around Naruto, then perhaps Naruto’s tentacle-transformation wasn’t unusual. After all, Sasuke would know, since he and Naruto lived together in Naruto’s apartment. Even so, Sakura was cautious as she approached, working to ensure Sasuke was between her and the soaking wet Naruto.

She looked over Sasuke’s shoulder down at the unconscious Kakashi. An inner-part of her wanted to shout that Naruto had taken it much too far. A more prudent portion of her meekly asked, from behind Sasuke, “Don’t you think that might have been a little too much?”

Naruto checked the fallen jonin’s pulse. “Nah, he’s alive.” Naruto smiled at Sakura. She hadn’t expected him to be so calm after defeating a jonin in such a violent manner. Sakura was so taken aback at Naruto’s disarming demeanor that she was startled into almost forgetting her fear.

“That’s not what I meant. You could have killed him!”

“If I wanted to kill him, my tentacles would have been covered in spikes and thorns.”

“Those, um, appendages…. What were they?”

“Oh, just something that I can do. Like a bloodline limit.”

“Really?” Well, that explained it and Sasuke’s non-reaction to their appearance. The two boys were known to train inside the ruined Uchiha compound alone. They had undoubtedly practiced the combo maneuver she had just observed. She looked back at Kakashi. “What do we do now?”

“I’m hungry. Let’s have lunch.”

“I meant about Kakashi! We can’t just leave him like this.”

Naruto thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “You know, you’re exactly right.” The genin pulled a length of ninja-wire from one of the pouches of his bright yellow coat.

--

Kakashi was in pain. His head throbbed. His arms, legs, and joints ached. The last thing he could remember was being attacked by tentacles. They had wrapped around his wrists… In fact, he could still feel them all over. Panicked, his eye shot open.

He was sitting on the ground in a clearing within the forest. Dirt was between his toes and rocks pressed into his bare legs. He’d been stripped down to his underwear. They had even removed his mask, though his forehead protector still covered his sharingan. Ninja-wire twined around his body, tying his arms behind his back, one angled upwards at his shoulder blade, the other pressed against his waist. Wire was even coiled around each of his fingers, spreading them out from each other. Gingerly, he tested them out, slowly waggling his fingers. The wire shallowly bit into his flesh.

Positioned around him were eight Narutos, unfashionably dressed in yellow coats and navy blue pants. Seven of the Narutos were armed with staffs. The odd one out looked Kakashi over and then ran off.

A short time later, it returned, leading Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto, who carried Kakashi’s clothes. Kakashi tried to appear nonplussed as the gening scrutinized him. Naruto brushed past his clones.

“Did you know that you’re going to accept all three of us as genin, Kakashi?”

“Am I?”

“You are. You see, by listening to the sound of my voice, you’ve fallen under my power. Of course, just being in physical contact with me or even seeing me would cause you to fall under my sway.”

Kakashi tried to close his eye. Obviously this was genjutsu. He wondered when he’d fallen under it. Just now or at the beach? Was any of this real or was he standing back where all this began? His eye wouldn’t close. In fact, he couldn’t even look away from Naruto.

“As I said, you’re under my power. Right now, my power is telling your brain to not close your eye, to not look away, to pay attention to the sound of my voice. Now, look my friend Sasuke in the eyes.”

Sasuke stepped forward. The tomei of his sharingan began to spin. Kakashi was helpless to look away.

“My power is now telling you to accept us as your students. You will not send anyone back to the Academy. We performed in a way you found satisfactory and acceptable. You will not recall this conversation or the events that lead to it. Nothing will seem odd or out of place from this.” The clones began cutting the wires holding Kakashi in place. Naruto tossed Kakashi his clothes. “Now, get dressed and remember my instructions.”

“Wait.” Sasuke held up his hand. Naruto stopped, allowing Sasuke to continue. “Kakashi, you trust and like us enough to teach us any secret techniques you know. You want us to become stronger. Also, we will speak about that sharingan you have.”

Kakashi, in a trance, mechanically began putting on his clothes. Naruto turned to Sakura.

“Thank you,” she said. “But why did you make sure I was on the team?”

“Because of my secret dream. For it to succeed, I’m going to need friends and allies.”

“And you need my help?”

Naruto looked off into the distance. “Years ago, before there were villages, ninjas lived in roving bands, killing and being killed. Out of that chaos of constant war emerged a man who united rival clans into our own village. Others followed his example and formed the great ninja villages. Peace was achievable. What if we could create a change to the world just as drastic as what he did?”

Sakura wasn’t certain what Naruto wanted. He continued. “Now, it’s your turn, Sakura, for your memories… To be altered.”

She took a step back. “Why?”

“A very wise and kind woman once told me that I should be careful about the people I trust. The last time I let someone I didn’t trust see their power, my friends were sealed. I don’t trust you, Sakura, but I will. Now, listen to my voice….” Sakura couldn’t look away.

---

Kakashi shook his head. He must have zoned out, because he couldn’t quite remember what he’d been doing. Then looked at the genin lined up before him on the beach. ‘Ah, yes,’ he thought. ‘The first team to pass the bell test.’

The genin had performed admirably. They worked cohesively as a team, each member playing a part in their plan to steal the bells. More than that, during battle the genin had demonstrated care for each other’s well-being, guarding and protecting their team mates’ backs. They were everything he’d hoped for in a team—he cared for them already.

He really wanted to help them become stronger, not just as a squad, but individually as well. Sasuke was an Uchiha. Kakashi knew that he would have to show Sasuke his gifted sharingan and train the boy on the use of the blood line limit.

He dismissed his students, telling them to meet him at the training field tomorrow, then shook his head again. He really did have a splitting headache. He pinched the bridge of his nose and noticed that at some point he must have cut his hand, but for the life of him, he couldn’t recall how that happened.

--

OMAKE

“I was hoping you’d say that!” The blond teenager in a tank top and jean shorts jutted his hip to one side, slapped a hand on it, and stretched his arm skyward, palm flat. He began pumping his hips side-to-side and then did a spin. ‘I’m glad I have your power, Yopopo!’

Despite himself, Madara began imitating the movements. He side-stepped back and forth, hand firmly placed on his hip. The sealing-team began placing tags on his body as he gyrated. As he cried tears of rage, Madara regretted asking Naruto to show him his dance moves.

Raikage watched the spectacle. “What a ridiculous way to beat someone.”

[Cosmic Average]

Chapter Seven


By flickering candle light, Naruto read aloud the names he and Sasuke had achingly, mournfully, etched into the stone monument they had created to those who fell on the night of the Uchiha Massacre. As his came to an end, Naruto’s fingers traced the final name, Shissui Uchiha. Though that particular Uchiha hadn’t perished on the ill-fated night, the two friends had determined him to the first victim of Itachi.

Their determination had been precipitated by the discovery of the hidden, belowground room that now housed not only the obelisk to the dead, but a stone tablet decipherable only to those who possessed the Uchiha bloodline limit, the Sharingan. Fortunately for the duo, Sasuke had awakened his sharingan upon hearing of the role his brother played in his mother’s death and her doomed efforts to save the Hokage.

As Sasuke’s sharingan evolved through increasingly difficult training, more and more of the tablet could be translated, until eventually Sasuke’s sharingan progression came to a halt, with some inscriptions left untranslated. Perusing the clan archives revealed the requirements to attain the next stage involved Sasuke killing his best friend. Both boys, and the demons sealed within Naruto, agreed that was simply unacceptable.

Naruto poured three cups of tea. One for himself and one he carefully placed amidst the flowers adorning the base of the monument to the dead, for Mikoto. He took the third cup to Sasuke, who was training in a darkened portion of the expanded cavern they had dug out to allow them to practice their skills past few years away from prying eyes. Of course, Naruto had not been able to practice any Gash’s flashier, more destructive spells, like Baou.

Sasuke was dressed in a mottled, dark-charcoal garb that covered him entirely, save for his eyes. He was presently exercising his stealth skills by sneaking past Naruto’s clones, who were guarding a chest. Sasuke dropped down from the ceiling, landing lightly and soundlessly on padded feet and made his way to the locked trunk. Sasuke had opted to not make use of his clan’s famous eye techniques. Such practice would be put to use on future covert missions, to avoid identification.

When he was nearly at his goal, Naruto, who had been watching from afar, shouted, “Hey, Sasuke! Don’t get too sweaty! We gotta meet up with Pervert-sensei at the ramen stand. He’s got a new mission for us, remember?”

Sasuke removed his mask. “I’ve been meaning to ask… Why do you keep calling him ‘pervert-sensei’?” At the sound of Sasuke’s voice, the surprised clones whirled around.

“You remember when my clones distracted Kakashi during the survival training? He threw some nasty book at one of them, obviously hoping to corrupt it to his perverted ways. And I do mean nasty. Before I put it back in his pocket, I leafed through some of the pages. That paper was crunchy!”

“Ew.” Sasuke said, then much louder, “Ew. Ew!”

“I know! I had to wash my hands like a bajillion times after that!”

Sasuke made his way over to his friend and took the offered tea. Sasuke rested up and cooled down while slowly sipping the drink. The two headed not for the stairs that lead to the secret entrance in the main manor, but for a hidden exit that would take to a defunct Uchiha dojo. As they went, Naruto asked, “You got your game face on?”

“It’s not a game.”

“Isn’t it?” Naruto flashed Sasuke a sly, knowing grin.

--

Kakashi walked into the ramen stand, where the seemingly perpetually smiling Naruto was seated alongside Sakura and Sasuke. The blond genin waved his jonin-instructor over.

“Well, my cute little leafs, it looks like your weeding days are over. Are you kiddos ready for a real mission?”

Naruto held up a hand. “Wait, wait, just a minute. Before you say anything more, I gotta show you guys something super important.”

“Oh?” Kakashi was intrigued. He’d pegged Naruto as the type of kid who’d be eager to start a real ninja mission. Whatever had Naruto so excited that he’d interrupt Kakashi had to be spectacular.

“Yeah! I took the liberty of ordering a special treat for all of us before you arrived and here it comes!” Naruto clapped his hands together in joy.

The serving girl arrived carrying a tray that held four cups of hot milk and three bowls containing powdered chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon. Naruto grabbed one of the cups and began mixing ingredients. He took a few test sips, licked his lips, and drank deeply. His already wide grin managed to grow even wider.

“Ah! Delicious! I’ve wanted to try this drink out ever since I learned it existed! The recipe’s from a far away country. And I by far, I mean really, really far away.” Naruto looked expectantly at his comrades. They began mixing their own hot chocolate milk concoctions.

Kakashi eyed his cup. He’d wanted to cultivate the image of a cool, mysterious, aloof instructor. Pulling down his mask and exposing here-to unseen face to gulp down a child’s chocolate drink was the opposite of hip. He placed the cup back on the counter.

Sakura slammed her empty cup down alongside it. “Oh yeah! That was great, Naruto! What do you call it?”

“Hot cocoa. One of my friends gave me the recipe.”

“Will it make me stronger?”

Ignoring the odd question from Sakura, Kakashi cleared his throat. “Now that that is out of the way, how about your latest and greatest assignment? This mission is unlike your previous jobs. It requires interaction with a high-ranking client, delicately and diplomatically. The client is a civilian, so you need to be at your least threatening and on your best behavior when you meet her. She’s hired us to retrieve a valuable target and return him to her alive, unharmed, and in good condition.” Kakashi pulled a photograph from his pocket and placed it on the counter. “This is now your target.”

The genin gathered around and peered down. Naruto looked up, incredulous. “Who’s the client?”

Kakashi wasn’t expecting Naruto’s reaction when he told him. Naruto rubbed his chin and smiled broadly, eyes shining bright. “The Feudal Lord’s wife? This is gonna be great!”

As they exited the stand, Kakashi glanced back at the serving girl. “Aren’t you going to pay for the drinks, Naruto?”

The girl’s eyes seemed to lose focus just an instant before she said, “No charge for Naruto-jun. He’s always welcome here.” After Team Seven left, she shook her head, as if to clear it.

--

Naruto was ecstatic. If he could meet the Feudal Lord’s wife and eventually ingratiate himself to the daimyo himself, then he’d have a much greater chance of achieving his true goal. He was even giddy to explain the Feudal Lord to Kanchome and Gash.

“He’s the guy who runs the Fire Country. If we get in good with him, that opens up not just new avenues for getting you guys home, but also better missions, too! This is a perfect opportunity for us!”

First, though, they had to locate the cat, Tora. In pursuit of this objective, Kakashi had produced two additional photos of the pet, one for each genin. The genin were now canvasing the area, going door-to-door and asking passer-bys if they’d seen the animal recently. Naruto’s search lead him to the park.

Despite his excitement, Naruto resisted the urge to use the demons’ powers. He couldn’t permit himself to be detected; such a slip up had a high chance of his friends being sealed again. Such was his constant fear.

Naruto was left with only his more normal, or what passed for normal amongst ninja, methods to detect the animal. He sat down inside the park and allowed the sounds, sights, and scents to wash over him. He directed chakra to his ears and could hear the sighing whispers of leaves rustling against each other in the wind. He could hear the creak and sway of limbs and the patter of animal feet crawling, climbing, and walking across bark. He focused chakra to his nose and could smell the scents permeating the air. Out of that tangle of mixed aromas he found the singular signature he needed. His chakra found its way to his eyes, enhancing them and bringing clarity to color, focus to distance, and attention to movement. He stared where his other senses told him he had his best shot at the feline’s location, a nearby tree. Then he saw it, a large cat’s face peeking out from the lower branches.

Naruto got up, started walking, and quickened his pace to a full on sprint. When he was nearly to the tree he launched himself into the air, flying through the branches, snagging the animal as he went, landing neatly on the other side. And was promptly scratched by the enraged Tora.

“Ai! Stupid cat!” Naruto dropped the creature and started nursing his cut hand. He looked around and chased after the little beast, still sucking on his hurt hand, following it into a shady grove. When he almost had the cat, Sasuke dropped down from the branches and deftly scooped Tora into a sack.

“Thanks for flushing him out for me.” Sasuke winked at Naruto. The irate cat began howling and hissing in equal measure. From the vigorous movement of the sack, the cat desperately wanted out. Sasuke had to hold the sack away from his body to avoid being clawed through the fabric.

Naruto noticed the cat’s state. “Does your sharingan work on animals? I’m not sure we can deliver the angry thing in that condition. The client might think we were torturing the ugly, mean beast. “

“I’m not really sure. We could try, I guess. Then again, I don’t want to reach in and grab it… I prefer keeping all my fingers intact. Can’t Kanchome’s power make it hold still?”

“Nah, I asked him. He said it only works on people. An animal’s brain isn’t complex enough to understand the signals. Remember when I tried to get that dog to let me ride it? That’s why it didn’t work.”

The cat’s yowling had lessened to long, petulant meows. Naruto and Sasuke meet each other’s gaze. They looked around. When they were satisfied no one else was around, Sasuke’s sharingan activated, swirling to life. Naruto positioned himself over the bag and nodded at Sasuke.

Sasuke opened the sack. The cat, seeing a path to freedom, leapt through the opening, only to be caught by Naruto. Naruto pointed the cat at Sasuke’s face. The cat instantly stiffened, then went limp, closed its eyes, and began purring.

“Good job, good job. High-fives all around. Here, you carry the stinking thing.”

Sasuke put away the sack and cradled the sleeping cat in his arms. The two boys walked across the village, chatting excitedly about possible bonus rewards from the Feudal Lord. When they arrived at their destination, Naruto knocked on the manor door.

A corpulent woman overly done up in makeup answered the door. Her eyes widened when she spied her napping pet. “Tora! Mommy has missed you! Are you hurt anywhere, precious? Oh, you poor, poor thing!” The woman lifted the animal from Sasuke’s arms and began showering it in kisses. The cat stirred, met her eyes, and went back to sleep. She turned to the genin.

“I am Madam Shijimi.” She looked the two boys up and down and sniffed. “You really should get that would bandaged.”

“Ah, this? Yeah, I just got it rescuing little Tora from a big, mean dog. It was worth it, too, to save the cute little guy. He’s a very special kitty, Madam. My name’s Naruto.” Naruto smiled endearingly up at the daimyo’s wife, then visibly winced, and grabbed his hand.

“My goodness! Well, if you were injured saving Tora, then it’s my duty to have you treated. Come inside, come inside!” The genin followed Shijimi inside the manor where, to the irritation of Naruto, a bevy of servants bustled about. Shijimi beckoned to one carrying a pillow, who took charge of Tora. The she ordered another maid to bandage Naruto’s wound.

“You have a beautiful home, Madam.”

“This cozy cottage? It’s only a vacation home. My husband’s still at our main residence, performing his duties. I only ever visit when the stresses grow to be too much.”

Naruto surveyed the manor. What she called ‘cozy’ could easily fit his entire apartment in the front entrance hall alone. From what he could see, the home was resplendent in high-class furnishings, decorations, and furniture. He thought back to the bare orphanage. Naruto really wanted to use Kanchome’s power, but didn’t dare with so many potential witnesses. He could only use it so often before Kanchome had to rest. Multiple, successive uses were impossible. Instead, he said, “Oh, that’s too bad. I really wanted to meet the Feudal Lord. To make a good impression, you know. “ Naruto winked conspiratorially at Shimijimi. “You’ll put in a good word for us, won’t you? It’ll really help us get the good missions.”

“Of course! I’ll send word to the Hokage right away.” She directed her attention to Sasuke. “And who’s this nice, quiet young man?”

Sasuke took his hint to step up. “Sasuke Uchiha, Madam.” He bowed at the waist.

“So polite! Uchiha…. I should have known. You poor child. I heard what happened. Yes, I ‘ll definitely put in a good word not only to the Hokage, but my husband as well.”

Knowing that was their cue to leave, the two boys walked out.

--

Kakashi wasn’t certain how the boys had accomplished it, but they must have taken his advice to heart because the entire team had received summons to the Hokage’s office for commendations on their recent good work. Naruto had begged off, citing his need to have his wound cleaned and treated in the local hospital. Now that Kakashi considered it, Naruto had asked to be excused for every appointment with the Hokage. Kakashi wondered about the aversion. Was Naruto intimated by the Hokage? The man was physically imposing, with a mane of wild white hair.

After the death of the Third, the now Fifth Hokage had gone on a mission to find a suitable replacement Hokage. All prospects had turned down the offer and couldn’t be persuaded otherwise, no matter how much he pleaded. With no other choice, the white-haired nin had reluctantly taken on the mantle and responsibility.

Now the Hokage’s responsibility required him to congratulate the genin and assign them ‘a mission more befitting their superb skill-level’ as the note from the daimyo’s wife instructed. He looked at the assembled team before him and arched an eyebrow at Naruto’s once-again absence, but made no issue of it. He could obviously guess the reason behind Naruto’s hesitancy to meet with him again.

“Well, Kakashi, it does look you have an excellent team. Your first real client has nothing but praise for their performance and the mission’s resolution. In fact, the client was so adamant about how well your genin handled themselves that we’ve decided they’re ready for a tougher challenge! This new mission will take them outside Konoha!”

“Yes!” Sakura shouted. “Now I can learn techniques from outside Konoha! I can’t wait to become stronger.”

“Yes, yes, we’ll use the mission as a chance to train.” Kakashi grasped the folder Jiraiya offered, which contained details for the mission. The team started to leave, but Jiraiya held Kakashi back as the genin filed out. Kakashi quizzically met the Fifth Hokage’s eyes. “Is there something I need to know about this mission?”

“The mission’s a standard, low-risk escort. Some drunk wants to be babysat on his walk home. The only problem you’ll have with him is making sure he doesn’t fall over and hurt himself. Just get the fool home where he can continue drinking himself to death.” Jiraiya walked over to his desk and pulled out several tags. “No, I wanted to discuss Naruto. You’ll be away from the village, away from my support.” Jiraiya handed the tags to Kakashi. “In the event the kid uses the Kyuubi’s power, you’ll have to place these on him. I’ve designed them to suppress his power.”

Kakashi nodded, pocketed the tags, and headed for the door. The Hokage offered some parting advice. “Keep a close eye on him.”

--

Naruto was once again waiting in a hospital room, but this time, he was calm enough to meditate. He entered the internal world of his mindscape. Much had changed since his first visit. With the knowledge that the blue-tile world was not real came the realization that it could be altered. The two demons changed their world to suit their moods. Currently it was a garden within a field of flowers, hemmed in by decorative trees.

What hadn’t changed was the demons’ physical appearance. Regardless of the years, they still appeared as they did when Naruto first met them. Where he had once been eye-to-eye with the two, now they only reached mid-chest on him. The two were doing flips and somersaults.

“What are you guys doing?”

“Mental gymnastics!”

“Ugh.” Naruto groaned at Kanchome’s reply.

On the view screen, which had been morphed into a tall glass plane framed by wrought iron, a nurse came into view. She started talking to Naruto about the cat scratch. She continued her work without receiving a reply. She gently lifted Naruto’s unresisting hand in her own, which began to glow green. The boys watched in rapt fascination as the wound closed shut, skin knitting together.

Despite Kanchome’s amazing bodily transformation and illusion powers and Gash’s great lighting and body strengthening spells, neither demon possessed an ability to heal wounds to Naruto or anyone else. The instead had to rely on dodging, evasion, and Gash’s easily circumvented shield to deal with the threat of injury to Naruto’s body. If Naruto could learn a healing technique, then that would greatly improve their chances.

Kanchome was the first to speak up. “That’s kinda like what our friend Tia can do. Her power really came in handy.”

Gash gazed downward. “I really miss her. I miss all my friends.”

“I know and so do I.”

Naruto considered ninjutsu used to heal. “That power…. I think that’s a better use of ninjutsu than just using it to kill. If every ninja could heal each other… We’d use ninjutsu not to push each other away, but to form connections. Yes, we need to learn that jutsu.”

[Cosmic Average]

Chapter Eight -- Improvement

As he got to know him, Naruto couldn’t help but begin to like Kakashi. While escorting the civilian along one of the many beaches, Kakashi had scooped up a flat rock and began patiently showing Sasuke how to skip a stone, yet again displaying fondness for the young genin. He cheered on Sakura for her efforts to handstand-walk along the path, encouraging her to become stronger. And this is why Naruto was conflicted.

Would Kakashi care for and like the genin as much if he and Sasuke hadn’t made ‘adjustments’ to the jonin? Then again, did it truly matter if Kakashi’s friendliness was due to Naruto’s interference or Kakashi’s own innate personality? What mattered, surely, was how Kakashi acted now. Even so, Naruto couldn’t shake his unease.

Had he truly made a positive change in Kakashi? Part of him wanted to know Kakashi as he would have been, to earn the jonin’s trust and respect by his own merits. Did he truly have the right to alter people’s hearts? Then again, did he have the right not to, when he could improve people, make them kinder, better? After all, wasn’t that his ultimate plant, to change the ninja world by uniting the villages and setting them to a common purpose?

He’d bound Sakura to his cause by setting her on the path to greater strength. Naruto knew that he would inevitably need strong allies when he revealed himself, and his true cause, the whole world would align itself against him. Was that fair to Sakura, to decide her fate with no input from her? He knew that without his intervention, she certainly wouldn’t be so committed to training. And the irony of fighting for a world free of war, without conflict or prejudice or betrayal, to battle against those he hoped to save was not lost on him. Was that truly the right way to go about it? Doubt about his course crept into his heart.

He needed time to think, away from Kakashi and Sakura. He shouted over to Kakashi. “Hey, boss! Is it okay if I scout ahead with Sasuke?”

Kakashi shrugged. “Sure. Stay on this path and head through the woods.” He pulled out his well-worn book. ”But don’t get too far ahead.”

A troubled Naruto started jogging while Sasuke took to the trees, watching over his friend from the high-ground. If either boy noticed anything amiss, they’d signal the other with bird calls; a hawk’s cry from Sasuke and a duck call from Naruto.

Naruto was so engrossed in his internal debate that he failed to notice the puddle in the middle of the path. In a spray of dirty water, two wildly dressed men rapidly breached the puddle, swift clawed gauntlets slicing upward, barely missing Naruto’s face as he desperately scrambled backward to avoid the deadly attack.

“Ka-caw! I mean, ‘quaaack!’” Naruto was forced back as the rogue ninja raced forward, batting aside a hail of shuriken from the trees, a bladed chain held loosely between them. Naruto skidded to a stop and tossed smoke bombs to the ground as he leapt in-between the trees lining the trail. The genin ducked and weaved through the thicket, chased by the excited missing nin.

To them, a small, fleeing genin was far more than enough to stoke their already high bloodlust. They were keen, eager, to move in for the kill, to see flesh split and blood to fountain, to get their exhilarating killer’s high. In such a state, they were unprepared for a tentacle to burst from Naruto’s shoulder, snag onto a tree trunk and sling Naruto around in a circle, like a bolo’s weight. Nor could they have expected a stream of lightning to lash out at them as Naruto swung around to face them, mouth open wide.

The lead shinobi foolishly put his gauntleted hands to block the attack. The yellow lightning grazed the claws, sending currents of electricity cascading through his body, causing screaming spasms, and arced along the bladed chain to his brother, who was similarly affected. Both men dropped as if cut down, twitching and smoking.

Naruto drew near them as Sasuke dropped down. “That was smart of you to use their chain against them.”

“I actually didn’t even notice it. That was totally by accident!”

“What do we do with them now?”

“Tie ‘em up, I guess.”

“Okay…” Sasuke paused and scratched the back of his head as he said, “We can take their weapons and armor, but, uh, let’s not, you know, do what we did with Kakashi. That was kinda weird.” Gash and Kanchome cheered their agreement with Sasuke in the back of Naruto’s mind.

The boys began removing armaments, placing them aside to divide up later. Naruto patted one of the unconscious ninjas on the cheek. “I gotta thank these guys. I was feeling kinda bad, but kicking butt has totally fixed it. Still kinda on the fence about some stuff, but at least I feel better.” Naruto held up on the clawed gauntlets. “You think I’d look cool in this? I’d get rid of the chain, of course…”

Sasuke glanced at the gauntlet. “Careful. Could be poisoned. It’s too big for you.”

“Yeah, but I could get it resized at whatever town we’re going to. So, what do you think? Cool or not cool?”

“Well, if you’re going for the crazed killer look, you got it. If you’re asking for fashion advice, then ditch the gauntlets and lose that yellow jacket.”

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. “As if. Look at you. Cargo shorts. Pfft.” Naruto winked at Sasuke. The two friends hauled the defeated shinobi to the side of the trail and tied them to a tree. When Kakashi arrived at the scene with Sakura and the civilian, Naruto was holding up the de-chained gauntlet, examining it closely.

“Oh? What’s this?” Kakashi said, angling his head at the still out cold ninja.

“Dunno. They didn’t really say much when I was beating them up. I mean besides, ‘Argh! Ahhh!’ and ‘We were fools to stand against the great and might Naruto! Also, he’s really handsome!’ Sadly, they didn’t give me their names.”

The civilian stumbled forward and slurred, “Jus’ shum bandits.” The alcohol in his bottle sloshed as he helped himself to a generous portion of his refreshment.

Kakashi surveyed the area. There was a slight hint of ozone in the air and burn marks on the tied-up shinobi, but other signs of physical trauma. His genin seemed to be unharmed and in good spirits. He made note of all this for his report to the Hokage.

The ozone and electrical burn marks suggested a lightning jutsu. Kakashi wanted to ask which boy had performed the jutsu, but he’d been cautioned against pressing Naruto too hard. They boy apparently reacted poor to such approaches. An easier path was to test their chakra nature-types to find out who used the lightning jutsu.

Kakashi walked over to the rogue shinobi. “Well, well. What do we do with you?” Kakashi decided now was a change to gauge his students’ reactions. Louder, he said, “I guess the easiest thing would be to cut your throats.” He was particularly interested in Naruto’s response.

The boy didn’t disappoint Kakashi. Naruto dropped the gauntlet and faced Kakashi. “Eh? Wouldn’t it be easier to… Hmm… Arrest them? Killing them seems kinda drastic, you know?” Sakura took that chance to snag up the gauntlet and scurry away, ogling it.

“Easier on them, maybe. “ Kakashi bit his thumb and slapped the ground, summoning a large dog. “Kids, gather ‘round. This is a summoned animal. A dog, for the blond genins among us who are a bit challenged. If a ninja has a summoning contract, he can have summons to carry out his bidding. Right now I just want to send word to Ibiki that we have prisoners awaiting transfer at this location.” The dog, who wore a Konoha forehead protector as a collar, saluted and trotted off.

“That was kinda cool. How do you get a ‘summoning contract’? Does it have to be dogs?” Naruto was excited. He liked animals, aside from a particularly fat and ugly cat named Tora. Animals were loyal and wouldn’t betray you.

“What’s wrong with dogs?” Kakashi feigned pouting and then warmed up as he explained the mechanics and requirements behind summoning.

--

The team’s arrive in the Land of Waves was met by a thick blanket of humid mist. Under the cover of mist, Naruto whispered to Sasuke. “What did that old drunk say his name was?”

Gash, Kanchome, and Sasuke all deadpanned, “Tazuna,” in unison.

“Oh yeah! Hey, Tazuna! Why’s it called the Land of Waves when it’s so foggy? Shouldn’t it be called the Land of Fog?”

Naruto’s question was answered by a deep, dark laughter, echoing and reverberating throughout the mist, seemingly coming from all directions, its origin impossible to locate. “Ha-ha-haa…. You’re a funny brat. It’s mist, not fog. And if you called this country the Land of Mist, I’m sure a certain village would take offense at the comparison to this toilet.”

“Zabuza?! Be on your guard! This nin is a master of silent killing! He can strike from anywhere, without warning.” Kakashi slid his forehead protector up, exposing his sharingan. This was bad. His genin weren’t strong enough to face and opponent at the level of the Demon Zabuza. The former Bloodmist assassin could cut down any of his students and retreat without alerting the others. He had to find some way to clear away the mist to save the lives of his students.

“I saw what your punks did to the Demon Brothers earlier. Idiots got too eager for the kill and got themselves beat. Don’t worry about ‘em, though. I finished ‘em off for you.” The voice paused and chuckled. “You should thank me—I coulda wiped out the two little genin pukes then, but thought that might spook you into high-tailing it with my target. So I ran on ahead and set this trap for you. This way you can all die together.”

Kakashi was forced to interrupt his handseals to throw himself clear of a monstrously huge blade that narrowly missed cutting him in two. The sword swing was immediately followed up with a kunai that Kakashi had to parry in mid-dodge. The knocked away Kunai exploded, sending metal fragmented shards in all directions, sending sizzling hot metal pieces slicing into and embedding themselves in Kakashi’s legs and upraised, blocking arms. As Kakashi was flung backwards by the explosion, he noticed a secondary effect of the explosive tag—for the barest of moments, the mist was pushed aside, allowing a flitting glimpse his assailant headed toward Sasuke.

Sasuke leapt over Zabuza’s blade mid-swing and threw kunai at the missing nin’s strained arm muscles. The kunai stabbed into the flesh, only for Zabuza to rupture and disperse as a falling mass of water. The genin was still in the middle of his leap when Zabuza rushed past, snagging Sasuke out of the air by the back of the boy’s neck, dragging the Uchiha to the lake.

“Water Prison!” The jutsu announcement marked the fast-forming globe of water around Sasuke. “Looks like I have a hostage. How about a trade? Give me the bridge-builder and I’ll give you the kid. Don’t and he drowns.” Of course, Zabuza had zero intention of fulfilling his end of the bargain and doubted if the Leaf ninja would even agree to the trade. No, his true intention was to fling the brat’s body at Kakashi and then bum rush the undoubtedly shocked into inaction genin and slaughter them and the civilian target.

“Sasuke!” Naruto screamed. Fear stabbed through the genin’s body. He felt the pit of his stomach collapse into bile. Rivers of jagged ice coursed through his veins. He would do anything to save his friend. His body began to tremble violently. He knew he desperately had to get Sasuke away from the missing nin.

‘Naruto!’ Kanchome shouted in urgent, rapid tones, near panic. ‘We don’t have much time. See how he’s kept his hand the water bubble? I think he has to do that to keep Sasuke trapped. If we separate them…’

‘Gash! Please, please, I have to—I need to save Sasuke. Please, oh please, I don’t care what—we need a spell to get that freak away from Sasuke. Anything, please!’ Naruto begged one of his most trusted friends. At that moment, he didn’t care if was exposed and sealed or even killed. All he cared about was saving Sasuke. What was the point of a world of peace if his friend wasn’t there to enjoy it?

Aloud, Naruto said, “Stop! Stop! We’ll do it!” On unsteady feet, he took a shambling half-step forward. Distantly he could hear Gash scream out the spell, ‘Bao.’ He opened his mouth wide.

Kakashi had finally recovered and regained his wind. He felt his skin begin to prickle. The hairs on his arms stood up, followed by those on his head. A powerful, hot wind started to blow, driving out the mist. Crackles and snarls of electricity leapt skyward from the ground, accompanied by the bitter stench of ozone. The ground began to shake and heave as a brilliant yellow light began to shine. He turned toward it and saw its source to be Naruto. The boy’s mouth was gaping open, emitting the golden glow at Zabuza. As he stared at Naruto, a lightning dragon exploded into existence from the blond genin’s mouth and towered over the land, scattering the clouds outward in all directions, and hung there suspended, hovering above like some immense and wrathful god. His hands dropped uselessly to his sides. He gasped. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath. His mind reeled. ‘At least I know who used the lightning jutsu now.’

Zabuza stared up in mind-shattering horror at the lightning dragon. The seer enormity of it… His mind couldn’t grasp it, comprehend it, had to reject it as false. A lightning beast that dwarfed mountains springing into existence was impossible. His last thought was that it had to be a genjutsu. He brought his hands together, ending the water-prison jutsu and inadvertently releasing Sasuke, who ran to Naruto, completely forgotten by Zabuza. As the dragon crashed down behind Sasuke, jaws stretched open, Zabuza desperately shrieked, “Kai! Kai!”

The dragon rocketed skyward, its prey caught between two gargantuan teeth. On its upward, the dragon slammed its jaws shut, electrifying and broiling Zabuza’s body. Massive currents of electricy arced through Zabuza’s body, bursting flesh and bone. At the apex of its flight, the dragon roared in triumph and exploded cataclysmically, obliterating the meager remainder of Zabuza’s corpse. Nothing of Zabuza would ever be found.

Sasuke watched the explosion in awe and knew the ensuing shockwave would be nothing but devastating. “Sakura! Kakashi! To Naruto! We need a shield, Naruto!” Sasuke had by now gotten to Naruto and was shaking his friend by the shoulders.

‘Rashield!’ Gash screamed. ‘Rashield! Zagurzem!’ The electrical shield formed before Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi, Sakura, and Tazuna arrived and dove behind it just as the concussive shockwave battered the ground.The overwhelming force was enough to fracture the strengthened shield. Sasuke tackled Naruto and tried to protect his friend’s body with his own. Naruto flipped the two over, pinning Sasuke beneath him before transforming into a stone dome to protect his friends and Tazuna.

The shockwave struck a huge area, ripping trees from the ground and stripping them of branches. Haku, who had watched the battle while hidden within those trees was blown through the air and smacked headlong into flying debris, shattering his mask. As he was tossed about, the boy quickly became disoriented. Eventually he was knocked hard enough into a tree trunk to lose consciousness. Haku would later be found by Tsunami, face up in large puddle, still unconscious. The caring mother took the boy back to her home and nursed him to health.

Kakashi squeezed his eyes shut and took a ragged breath. The shockwave was over. He couldn’t allow Naruto to run rampant with the Kyuubi’s power like this. It was far too much for any shinobi, let alone a twelve-year-old genin. The destruction he’d just witnessed…. He couldn’t permit it. Jiraiya had been right. Kakashi liked the kid, but he had a duty to do.

Naruto ended the transformation and felt drained. He hadn’t expected that amount of power. They’d never used Bao before. How could this have happened?

From within Naruto, Gash offered an apologetic explanation. “I’m sorry, Naruto…. It was like I couldn’t stop putting heart-energy into Bao! Something was forcing it out of me.”

Naruto measured the damage. Trees were now kindling. The lake had been blasted and water flooded the beach where they stood. Naruto was knee-deep in the flood. Naruto looked further out when he was slammed from behind. Kakashi had slapped a sealing tag onto Naruto’s back.

‘Naruto…’ Kanchome sounded far away and half-asleep. ‘What’s happening… Hard to see…’

Naruto ripped the tag from his back and stared down at it. It was remarkably similar to the one Jiraiya had once applied to the his stomach. Naruto’s eyes narrowed. “This is…. You. Just—just—just.. Like the others.” Anguish and hurt and anger filled Naruto at the betrayal.

The sealing tag in Naruto’s hand burst into flames and crumbled to ash. The air grew stifling hot. The splintered trees and broken stumps ignited into orange flames. Kakashi could hear a howling roar and the sky was filled with rolling waves of fire. The blistering, brick-oven heat evaporated the surrounding water. Kakashi’s uniform, previously soaked through, was now bone-dry.

As the ground quickly heated, the dirt dried and great fissures split the land. From deep within the earth, lava welled up and spilled out. Kakashi tried to speak, but found the now superheated air impossible to breath. He ripped his mask off and clawed at his throat, dropping to the ground. Naruto stood seething, waist-deep in a pool of molten-rock.

‘Naruto!’ Dreamlike, Naruto heard Gash’s voice from a far distant world, beyond the roar of the flames. He couldn’t stop. If he did, he’d lose them again. He’d lose everything. Without their power, without his power, how could he protect Sasuke and bring peace to the world? ‘Peace?! Look around you! Is this the peace you want?!’

Naruto looked around at the fiery ruins of the world. Not only was Kakashi unable to breath the air, but Sakura, Tazuna, and even Sasuke struggled to inhale the harsh air. Sasuke…

“I didn’t mean…” Shin Poruku came to an end.

Kakashi gulped down great lungfuls of air and splashed his face with muddy water. His clothes were once more wet. ‘Was all that an illusion? None of it real?’

A tendril slowly emerged from the water behind Kakashi and wrapped around the jonin’s waist, hoisting him into the air. Kakashi saw that the tentacle was connected to Naruto’s shoulder. The boy spoke, eyes downcast. “I’m sorry… I almost forgot my mission’s true purpose. I was supposed to make the world better and unite everyone. I realize now that I was right in making you better, but I didn’t go far enough, Kakashi. Don’t worry. You’ll be a good, loyal teacher soon enough.”

Kakashi slapped a sealing tag on the tentacle, disintegrating it. He landed on the ground in splash. “Naruto, you’re insane.” Kakashi readied himself for battle.