Chapter 2: Dust to Dust.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of the great village of Konaha, the 'Professor' and "God of Shinobi,' sat within his office, a troubled frown upon his aged face, eyes distant and posture slumped. His thoughts were cast far from the room in which he sat, memories played and looped themselves in his minds eye, he was a man who had seen much, wars and battles, the rise and fall of empires, he bore it all with the stubbornness and pride born from a lifetime of fighting, death and loss. He stood as a beacon to those that served, those that died and those that hoped. Yet he grew frail, each day he rose, a new ache pervaded his withered bones, each hour another of his failures weighed upon his mind and each year the burden grew heavier, he was old, he was tired.

The village needed a leader.

Not one such as he, who despite his many years of life, a life in which he had sacrificed all that made it worth living, Konaha needed its Fifth Homage. One able to inspire the masses, to bring hope of a new dawn, Konaha needed to remain prosperous, he had not spent his entire life leading it simply so the next power could squander its granduoir, no, he knew but one able to take up the mantle of Homage, The only person who he could trust with the burden of the thousands of lives within the village. It was her blood, her destiny, her duty.

"There's no chance in hell I'm putting that hat on old man" Tsunade's eyes were narrowed, fists clenched and a bearing that sang with ill intent, and Hiruzen sighed, he knew convincing her would be a hurdle, one he was more than prepared to overcome.

"Come now Tsunade, can we simply discuss my offer in a rational manner?" The look within his eyes gave her pause, and she calmed herself, ten deep breaths later, her anger had abated, replaced with a caution a weariness that drove a knife into Hiruzen's heart, but he knew, there was no going back.

"Fine then" she huffed "Finish talking so I can say no and get this pointless conversation over with" She had flipped her hair over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes, Hiruzen knew he had only one shot at this. He decided the truth would serve him best.

"I am old Tsunade" She snorted and his ears caught the mumbled 'No shit' but he brushed it off and pressed on. "My time is drawing to a close, I have lived a long life, some might say that this is a privilege, although we both know that the sins of the past haunt our souls" Her eyes were pained, an expression of anger and understanding upon her face "Perhaps my sins outshine those of others, truly, I have lost count of the lives I have taken in service to the village, the families I have broken and the death warrants I have signed, I stand before you Tsunade, not as the Hokage or your sensie, but as your friend, and I beg of you, please, take this burden from my shoulders"

Her eyes were ablaze "And take it on myself? Have you gone senile old man? Why should I give this village any more than it has taken, why should I sacrifice what is left of my heart for a bunch of self righteous fools?" She was shouting now

"It is your duty." His reply was simple

"My duty" voice nary but a whisper, she stared into his eyes with the fires of hell burning in her own "I stayed in this village for you sensei, for my son, because I realized what a fool I'd been all those years, but don't for a moment think I do not realize what being the Hokage entails" she threw her arms wide "all of this? The peace we praise and heroes we worship, the houses we live in" Her voice lowered, he barely heard her next words "All built upon a mountain of corpses."

"That is simply the truth of this world Tsunade, we cannot live how we do if it were not so."

"Don't assume that I'm blind to that Sense, even if you consider it a necessary evil, that does not make it just"

"What then Tsunade? Am I to leave the village in the hands of Jiriaya? Or perhaps Danzo? We both Know what would become of your son if that is to come to pass"

Her hands clenched, stance aggressive "How dare you Threaten my-"

"I make no such threats Tsunade, I'm simply stating the most likely outcome if such a scenario were to arise."

Her expression was pensive, her intelligent mind churning "We would disappear, I would take him away-"

Once again, she was interrupted "And be hounded for the rest of your lives by Hunternin? You know as well as I that Danzo would never stop searching for you"

She was quiet now, pensive and considerate "Sensie, I just can't do it." Her eyes were clouded, lost " That hat has taken everyone I've ever loved from me." A hand came to rest upon her shoulder, Brown eyes stared deep into her own honey gold.

"They lost their lives fighting for their dreams Tsunade, Don't lose what little hope remains by drowning yourself in sorrow, rise, as you always have, and embody their hopes, their dreams, let them live on through you."

The conflict upon her faced warred with the anger and pain in her heart, she was obviously lost on what to do. "Think about it Tsunade, I did not expect an answer now, nor was this the only reason I am here today." Saying this, he slowly withdrew a folded parchment from his robes and cleared his throat.

'Pleasent tidings Hokage-dono.

I, Godaime Mizukage, cordially invite you, as well as any Genin teams that wish to enter, to the Chunnin exams that are to be held in one months time within the village of Mizugakiru. As a celebration to the end of the bloody civil war that you are no doubt aware of, I would like to broker trade between our villages, and the possibility of alliance between our powers, further information will be sent in the case of a positive response.

May your village remain prosperous.

Terumi Mei'

Wide eyed, Tsunade could not help but gape at the missive "The war is over?" She mumbled to herself, arms crossed.

"So it would seem" Hiruzen nodded "And we will be attending."

Her head snapped to him "You can't be serious old man, what if this is a trap?"

"I have it on good authority that it is not, the agents I sent to help the rebellion have been most helpful to their cause, after all"

A wane smile crossed her lips "That sounds just like you sensie" She chuckled "you were always a bleeding heart."

He smiled at her, true and heartfelt "Be that as it may, we have a long trip ahead of us, you better get packing"

she paused "What?"

Hiruzens lips thinned, "This is not simply an exam between two villages Tsunade, all five powers have been invited."

Her body went still "What, T-this is unprecedented, nothing like this has ever happened before. Does she truly want to risk her village after just winning a war by inviting five Kage to walk right in through the doors."

"Aaah" Hiruzen smiled "It seems that she is more intelligent then that, the event itself will be held on one of the smaller islands, far from the village itself, although she has assured me that accommodations will be made for civilians and nobles alike to come and witness the event."

She nodded, but a frown crossed her face a moment later "Sensie, I can't just leave my son alone, you know that."

"And that is why he will be coming with us"

The blank look he received in turn did nothing to hide her incredulity "Now I know you're senile old man."

"Me?" He chuckled "Surely you jest Tsunade "If I were to be senile after all, I would not have ordered Hatake Kakashi to come along to watch over your son, you are after all, to be my bodyguard." His smirk put his amusement on full display "And might I add, that's an order."

"Shit." She mumbled

"Indeed" Hiruzen Quipped.

He moved along the beaten path like a wraith, each step measured, calculated, face set in stone, eyes cast upon the void, purpose, destiny. Every movement the embodiment of fate and the universe itself, he was death, he was life.

He was seven years old.

Ha take Kakashi could not get over just how foreboding Tsunade-samas son was, they had arrived in the village two days ago, and in that time, Kakashi had come to realize a very disturbing fact Senju Naruto was a very strange child, there were many things that lead to this conclusion, small things that when added up became something far beyond a simple abnormality, the way he spoke for one, or even the way he carried himself, giving off the vibe of a fully trained shinobi instead of the young and innocent child he was supposed to be. But no, none of these things could truly match his eyes, casting his gaze toward his young charge, who was reading a book on physics of all things, it took him a while to realize, but those grey and stormy eyes themselves were not what led to his discomfort.

It was the intent behind them, a gaze that seemed to penetrate the soul, to peer into ones very existence, it was as if he stood before a god, being judged.

The boy, feeling eyes on him, turned his sights upon Kakashi "Might something be the matter, Hatake-san?" Kakashi nearly cringed when his eyes locked with the boys, so empty, so cold.

"Aha, well, I was just thinking that it's about time for the meeting to be over, what do you say about going and meeting up with your mother?"

The boy dragged his gaze away from Kakashi's own, and he almost sagged in relief. The child nodded once "I find that Satisfactory."

The Copy-nin nodded and swiftly stood 'Can the kid not just say yes?' He questioned himself.

It wasn't long before they met up with his mother, the Kage filing out of the hall where they had met, he very nearly tripped when his eyes caught sight of the newly instated mizukage 'Becoming a missing nin is bad Kakashi' He chided himself 'Even for a body like that' his eyes raked over her form before sliding away, not wanting to be caught.

He took in the forms of the others surrounding the entrance to the building, the two from Kumo, with muscles on their muscles cut an imposing figure, almost dwarfing the Hokage and Tschusikage, who surprisingly enough were talking amicably.

"Very well then" he heard Hiruzen say once he was in range, "I shall inform her that her expertise is needed" Kakashi's trained eyes caught the glance he sent Tsunade's way. How interesting.

The others had left at this point, moving with speeds even he found hard to follow, he did'nt even see the Riakage move, the man simply vanished ' what is it with all these muscle bound freaks and thier insane speed' he mused to himself, a green spandex suit appearing in his minds eye.

"Well now, if it is'nt the famed Copy ninja" Ohnoki spoke, his short stature and almost comical appearance did not fool Kakashi for a single second, this was a man who could end his life in a heartbeat, he refused to speak in this situation, so he simply bowed and handed the child to his mother.

"Explain to me again mother, why we are meeting the Kage of a rival village at this time of night, in the middle of nowhere?"

Tsunade sighed "Naruto-kun, for the last time, the Tchisukage is a prideful man, if anyone were to find out that he has asked me to take a look at his hip, well, it would'nt end very well for them."

"I see" Naruto said, in a tone that made it very obvious he did'nt "If that is the case, then why am I going along with you?"

Tsunade had begun to fuss with his hair, the almost uncontrollable mane he was beginning to grow reminded her greatly of the boys biological father, sometimes she still wondered if she had made the right choice, but looking at her son, her beautiful and wonderful angel, she could not help but believe that she had. Despite his oddities and quarks, he was perfect, and had she chosen another sample, he simply would not be who he was.

She sighed again "Put simply, the old coot is interested in you, once sensie told him you were my son, he insisted on meeting you."

"An old coot am I? Well then, I wonder what that makes you" The Kage had seemed to materialize from thin air, Naruto stiffened as his eyes shot over to him, while Tsunade just rolled her eyes, the old goat had most likely been using his sensie's, the second Tchisukag's famous invisibility technique.

He stood with his arms crossed, hovering a few feet above the ground, his granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, stood silently next to him, but a small cocky smirk was upon her lips.

Her eyes were locked onto her son.

It took a few minutes for his mother to diagnose the problem "Your medic nins are shit" She stated crassly.

Ohnoki almost growled at her, but she held up her hand to continue "Seriously, there are five minor fractures where the bone has obviously been healed by a Medic nin, just done so in such a shoddy way that I'm surprised they passed their exams.

Ohnoki cracked his knuckles, a dark look on his face, while his mother just shook her head.

"Is there anything you can do to help," surprisingly enough, it was the girl, Korotsuchi who spoke up.

His mother snorted "Girl, I'm not the greatest Medic alive for nothing.

It took her twenty minutes to fix the issues.

Ohnoki slowly flouted to the ground tenderly testing his weight upon his hips, before he sighed in relief, he nodded to his mother "I suppose it's just a matter of payment now, how much do you want?"

It was very Begrudgingly said, and Naruto noted that it almost pained him to do so.

"I'm not all that interested in money at this point" She began, casting her gaze upon her son, who started she would'nt would she? "Although Naruto here would love to see you perform one of your famed Dust Release techniques." She would! His eyes glimmered with excitement and gratitude.

The Tchisukage cast a searching glance over the young boy, before nodding once, Naruto's heart nearly sprang from his chest "On one condition though" He spoke while stoking his goatee.

"Within reason" His mother replied.

He nodded his head toward his granddaughter "Korotsuchi her gets restless pretty easily, and she needs a sparing partner, how about we meet here tomorrow at around ten and let them have a go at each other" He locked eyes with the boy for the first time, and Quickly wished he had not, a shiver went down his spine. Where had he seen those eyes before?

His mothers grin had turned feral, and Korotsuchi was nearly vibrating in excitement, she was only three years older than him, but she could tell he could put up a fight.

"Very well then" his mother replied.

Ohnoki nodded and turned, his hands flashed through seals at a blinding speed, Naruto's eyes never leaving them, he cupped his hands, and a few seconds later a cube formed within. It shot forward quickly, expanding and encompassing three whole trees, and its very edge touching another, a bright light began to emanate from the glowing ball in the epicenter, before it dimmed and the cube disappeared, leaving no trace of trees trees caught within the technique, and a perfectly smooth surface wher it had clipped the fourth.

He turned, pleased to see the amazed look upon the young boys face, and the obviously impressed Tsunade, he nodded, placed his hand on his grandaughters shoulder, and vanished.

It was three in the morning and Naruto sat upon the balcony of the hotel his was sharing with his mother, deep in thought his mind fixated upon the unique Kekkie Tota of the Third Tchisukage.

Fire, Earth and Wind, the three natures one needs to have in order to use the legendary techniques.

The three he was born with.

He had run through the hand seals multiple times.

The technique would not work.

He was missing something.

And so he thought, falling back on the books he had read, physics, chemistry, biology and chakra.

He ran through the hand seals once again.

Air, to create the shape of the technique and contain its power.

Fire, super condensed and blazing in the centre.

Earth, dust floating withing the cube itself.

A tiny cube formed between his cupped hands.

He focused and used all the control he had over his chakra, forming a tiny blade of wind within the very center of the blazing inferno, smaller, smaller. As sharp as he could mail it, he ground his chakra together.

The atom split.

The train reaction made the technique glow a bright incandescent white.

It dissipated. But the grin would not leave his face for days

Chapter end:

Yes, I realize that splitting an atom is completely impossible the way I described it being done. Uranium is bombarded with Neutrons and so forth. But anyway, hope you enjoyed.