Shinobi no Kami

Chapter 1

"Normal speech."

'Normal thought.'

"Jutsu."

"Demon speech/translations."

'Demon thought.'

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked with saddened eyes at the young by sat on the hospital bed. The boy himself was young, barely five years old, yet he had cold and indifferent eyes that did not belong to a child of his age. The boy had shaggy blonde hair, slightly tanned skin, shining cerulean blue eyes and three whisker marks on each cheek. His name; Naruto Uzumaki, on of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

Naruto was no normal child, not only because he is the last known Uzumaki and the son of the Yondaime Hokage. But because he is the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi no Yoko. The strongest of Bijū (Tailed Beasts). A creature of such great power that it could reduce mountains to rubble and cause tsunamis with a single flick of its tail. And yet, this boy was the single thing stopping this creature from laying waste to Konohagakure.

One would expect the inhabitants of this village to praise the child for been a hero, for holding this creature at bay.

The do not.

Ever since the child was born on October 10th, he had foolishly told the Civilian and Shinobi council of what the boy held. Instead of seeing the child as a hero. They hated him. The Shinobi clans ignored his existence, while the civilian council had sent in total thirty assassins after the boy. Ten of which had nearly succeeded had it not been the timely intervention of the ANBU and the medics. Then there was the fact that every October 10th, a group of drunken civilians and shinobi would hunt down and attack the boy.

This night was no different. While a child would normally spend their birthday surrounded by family and enjoying the day to its fullest. Naruto had instead barricaded himself inside his apartment away from the mob of villagers outside. It had done nothing as they got inside and began to beat him.

The ANBU team that had been placed to protect the boy from such attacks had not intervened.

Thankfully, one ANBU operative intervened. Naruto's single most protective ANBU, Inu. This ANBU operative was also known as Kakashi Hatake, the Yondaime Hokage's only living student. Kakashi had always looked up to Minato as a father after his real father's suicide, so it was only natural that he would look at Naruto as a little brother.

Sensing someone appear behind him, he knew exactly who it was.

"How is he Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked. Hiruzen spared the ANBU a look and saw that he had forgone his mask.

"We can thank the boys tenant for his current survival." Kakashi winced and Hiruzen knew that the young man must have felt guilty for his inability. "Do not blame yourself Kakashi-kun. You did all you could." He placed a hand on the man's shoulder to calm his trembling body.

"It's not fair." Kakashi finally said after calming down. "It's not fair. Naruto never asked for the Kyuubi to be sealed inside of him, nor would Minato-sensei put the Kyuubi inside of his own son unless there was no other choice. And yet, the villagers praise Minato-sensei as a saviour, but nearly kill his son!"

"Life is not fair, Kakashi-kun. We must accept that." Hiruzen said. "Now, I believe it's time we say hello to young Naruto." Kakashi nodded his head and the two entered.

As soon as the door opened, Naruto's head look towards his two new visitors and smiled upon seeing them. It was heart-warming to see such an innocent ad happy smile displayed on the face of a boy who suffered so much.

"Hello Naruto-kun." The Sandaime greeted.

"Hello Jiji." Naruto replied before he looked towards Kakashi. "Hello Kakashi-nii." Despite his earlier anger, Kakashi smiled at the greeting he received. It released him from some of the guilt he felt at not been able to save Naruto in time.

"Hello Otouto." If anything, the boys smile grew wider at what Kakashi called him.

"How are you feeling?" Hiruzen asked, Naruto's smile dimmed and became slightly strained.

"I'm fine Jiji!" Naruto said boisterously. To any other person, it might have seem convincing. However, Kakashi and Hiruzen were the two top shinobi's that Konoha had to offer so they easily picked on the sadness been hidden away.

"It's okay Otouto. You can tell us how you really feel." Kakashi stood beside Naruto and placed a hand on the boys shoulder. Instantly he felt how skinny the young Uzumaki was and had to restrain himself from getting angry. By the way that Hiruzen looked at him, the elderly Kage must have known what Kakashi was angry about.

Naruto's smile dropped after Kakashi's words and was replaced by a look of sadness and dejectedness. It was unsettling to see.

"I don't get it, why they hate me. It hurts so much, and yet." Naruto's voice was low and quiet. "I can't hate them. I want too, I really want too. But no matter how much I try, I can't."

"Don't hate them Naruto-kun. Pity them." Naruto looked up towards the Sandaime in shock. "Hate will forever cloud your judgement. It will stop you from being who you should be." Hesitantly, Naruto nodded his head.

"I'll try Jiji." Hiruzen smiled.

"That's all I can ask." He stood up from the chair he was sat on. "Now, we will leave you to rest." Naruto nodded his head and laid down on the bed once more.

The two shinobi disappeared in a quick Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) and appeared in the Hokage office. There was a few moments of silence as Hiruzen sat on the chair behind his desk and Kakashi placed his dog mask back on.

"Did you ID any of the attackers?" Kakashi nodded his head and placed a scroll on the desk. Hiruzen reached forward and took hold of the scroll and began reading through it. Once he had done he placed the scroll back on the table. "I want them taken to Ibiki for questioning." Kakashi nodded his head before disappearing in a Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique). "You can come out now Jiraiya-kun."

There was a flicker in the corner of the room and it revealed a slightly aged man with spiky white hair pulled back into a ponytail with a wart on the side of his nose. He had a green, short shirt kimono and matching pants under which he wore a mesh armour that was revealed at his wrists and ankles. He wore handguards, a black belt, traditional Japanese sandals and a red haori with two yellow circles on it.

"How do you keep on finding me?!" Jiraiya exclaimed causing the Sandaime too chuckle in amusment.

"How much do you know Jiraiya?" He asked and Jiraiya became serious. His eyes becoming colder and more serious, once again he was forced to remember that despite his childishness, Jiraiya was a true shinobi.

"Everything. The assassinations, the beatings." Jiraiya paused, allowing himself to gain control of his anger. "Why didn't you call for me sensei?" There was a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Konoha needed you to keep track of the spy network." Hiruzen explained. Jiraiya snarled and slammed his fist on the table. Behind him, the Sandaime's ANBU guard appeared around Jiraiya, their swords drawn and pointed at Jiraiya's valuable organs.

"Bullshit!" They disappeared back into the shadows from a single hand gesture from the Hokage as Hiruzen stared into Jiraiya's anger filled gaze. "He is my godson and it is my duty to look after him!"

"I know, I know. But Konoha needed you watching her enemies." Jiraiya stood back up, calmer than he was before, but still brimming with anger. "Today however, I believe that Naruto should be raised outside of the village." Hope filled Jiraiya, perhaps he could finally raise his Godson.

"Does that mean?"

"Yes. You can raise Naruto-kun, train him, and make him the best damn shinobi that this world has ever seen." Hiruzen said and Jiraiya nodded his head smiling brightly while he did so. "He's in room nine."

"Thanks sensei." He said sincerely before disappearing with a Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique). Hiruzen looked at the position where Jiraiya once stood. Already he could feel a change in the air, Naruto would play a large part in the future to come.

-X- Line Break -X-

It had been an hour since he arrived at the hospital. Naruto had been asleep the entire time and Jiraiya for the first time in a while, got to see how much Naruto resembled his father, but he could still see parts of Kushina in him. It made him smile brightly at the thought of raising the child of the two people he considered his children.

Outside the sun was just beginning to raise as morning began to come around. However, a groan from the hospital bed stopped him from doing so. Looking up he saw, Naruto rubbing his eyes to help wake them up, while looking around.

Once Naruto's gaze settled on Jiraiya, at regarded him curiously, but in a guarded fashion.

"Hello." Naruto started, his voice was just as guarded as his eyes.

"Hi." Jiraiya stood up and immediately took note of how his godson tensed in preparation of an attack. He would have found it impressive as not many Genin or Chūnin had instincts like that, but it was his five year old godson had instincts that were only gained by been constantly attacked. "I'm Jiraiya." He decided to forgo his usual intro, knowing that doing so wasn't very smart at this time.

"Who?" Jiraiya would have found that insulting however, Naruto wasn't the academy and therefore wouldn't have learnt about Konoha's history of legendary shinobi.

"Jiraiya of the three Sannin. I'm one of Konoha's top shinobi." He took great joy in watching Naruto's eyes alight with joy.

"Really!" Naruto exclaimed. "How strong are you...?" There were multiple questions that were asked to him in rapid fire. "Wait; why are you here to see me?" There was something in his voice that Jiraiya didn't like; dejectedness.

"Well, this might come as a shock to you. But, I'm your godfather." There was a few moments of tense silence, in which Naruto stared at his newly revealed godfather in shock.

"You're…my godfather." He said hesitantly and Jiraiya nodded his head.

"Yes, I'm really sorry for not been here to raise." Naruto simply sat there staring at him. "I wanted to raise you, but after the Kyuubi attacked Konoha we were in a weak position. I'm Konoha's spymaster and I had to watch what our enemies were doing. However, I've been allowed to finally to take you as my apprentice and truly be the godfather you need."

Once again silence reigned.

"You mean it." Naruto asked hopefully.

"I mean it kid." Jiraiya reassured and both shared a smile. "The doctors said that you will be allowed to leave today, I'm going to get some stuff then sign you out and then were going to leave Konoha for a while." Nodding his head happily, Naruto watched his godfather leave before giving a shout of joy once he had left.

-X- Line Break -X-

After collecting Naruto from the hospital, Jiraiya and his godson had quickly moved through the town before any of the civilians woke up. They then headed over to a shop called 'Higurashi's Weapon Shop.' Naruto had never come here as he had been constantly kicked out of shops before and had not wanted to be kicked out of another one.

Entering the shop, Naruto looked around at the multitude of weapons lining the walls. Spears, axes, swords, kunai, shuriken and mutliple other different weapons.

Jiraiya watched him with a smile before turning to the large and muscular figure that had just entered from the backdoor.

"Hello Jiraiya-sama." The man said.

"Hello Tatsuhiko, how's business?" Jiraiya studied the man, despite having developing a friendship of sorts, that wouldn't stop him from killing the man if he so much as looked at his godson in a way he didn't like.

"Business is good. Is that?" Jiraiya nodded his head stiffly, something which Tatsuhiko took note of. "Don't worry. I've got nothing against the kid, been working with too many kunai and scrolls to know the difference between the two." Jiraiya nodded his head. "So what can I do for you?"

"Need a hundred chakra conducting kunai and shuriken."

"Well you're in luck." Tatsuhiko picked up a box and placed it on the counter. He turned it around and opened it up revealing the required amount of kunai and shuriken. "Just made these last week."

"Tatsuhiko old friend. You are a godsend." Tatsuhiko chucked in amusment. "How much is that?"

"Ten thousand ryo." Nodding his head Jiraiya handed over the required amount of money.

"Clothes still in the back?" Tatsuhiko nodded his head and Jiraiya walked over to his godson. "Hey Naruto." Showing his godson the box, he allowed Naruto to take it. He watched the boy look at him in awe and happiness. "Go on then. Open it." Naruto did just that and opened the box revealing.

"Wow." He hugged Jiraiya in thank and while shocked, Jiraiya returned the hug. "Thank you."

"You want to be Hokage don't you?" Naruto nodded his head. "Well, if you're gonna be Hokage you're going to need these." Naruto once again nodded his head. "Now, let's get you some clothes."

With that, the two walked towards the clothes section and bought Naruto around four pairs of the same clothes. Black shinobi sandals, ANBU pants, a grey, long-sleeved hoodie with a full body mesh armour. Overall, the shopping trip cost him around twenty thousand ryo, but seeing his godson smiling made it worth it.

-X- Line Break -X-

Kakashi watched Naruto leave with Jiraiya for god knows how long. While it was saddening to watch, he knew that it was for the best and he also knew that he would see Naruto again. Whether it be in Konoha or on a mission.

Turning back towards the village, he looked at the civilians that were completely oblivious to what had happened. Kakashi knew that if the civilians and shinobi had known, they would have celebrated. Clenching his fists, Kakashi vowed to himself to always be there to protect Naruto.

With that in mind he walked towards Training Ground 10 where he knew Maito Gai, his self-proclaimed rival would be training himself into the ground. He had calmed down in his training over the past weeks, it was about time he made up for lost time and then surpassed his previous level of strength.

-X- Line Break -X-

Hiruzen sighed in anger as the paperwork miraculously multiplied before his very eyes. He really hated the seal he had placed there within his first year of been Hokage. Sure, it decreased the amount of stuff on his desk, but just as you thought you were nearly done, the seal would automatically release more paper until you were done. It had its pros and cons.

Hearing the door to his office open he saw his old teammate, Danzo Shimura walk into the room. His cane tapping against the ground. It had been a safety precaution the two had created to know if there was an imposter.

"What is this I hear about the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki leaving the village?" Danzo asked, his voice calm and quiet.

"I have decided that after the last attack on his person, his godfather, his legal guardian should be given custody of him." Hiruzen stressed the word 'legal' to show Danzo he had no sway here. "Besides, I thought you would be happy. Naruto is getting the training he needs to become a powerful asset to the village, while been able to walk in the light. He will become a figurehead for the village to follow."

"The village hates him. They will not follow him." Danzo countered.

"Not yet they won't. Naruto will come back for the Chūnin exams and there I shall reveal his heritage. The village will forget what he holds and see him for the person he is."

"And if not everyone does?" Hiruzen's eyes became cold and indifferent, a small amount of his Killing Intent was released.

"Then I trust you to persuade, and silence those that do not if need be." Danzo nodded his head, happy to see that the Shinobi no Kami (The God of Shinobi) had replaced his grandfatherly teammate once more.

"It shall be done, Hiruzen." Bowing as much as his 'damaged' body would allow him, Danzo left the room.

'It seems you leaving, Naruto-kun. May be what Konoha needs to become a symbol of power once more.' Hiruzen thought.

-X- Line Break -X-

A week went by rather quickly in Naruto's opinion. They had done nothing but travelling, but during the time they would rest, Naruto would try and unlock his chakra. So far Naruto had managed to draw out a bit of his chakra, which according to Jiraiya was very impressive for a child his age as most children descending from Shinobi clans didn't get this far till they around three months had gone by.

"Are we there yet?" Naruto whined. Jiraiya, who walked alongside him simply shook his head in amusment.

"Nearly. In five, four, three, two and one." He outstretched the digits on his raised left hand before slowly lowering the number of digits until none remained. "Here we are." They exited out into a large clearing. Avery large clearing. At least ten acres of land.

Right on the north of the clearing was a large pond, easily covering two acres of land. Going into it from the cliff behind it was a waterfall. A few metres away was a small wooden hut, it was nothing special but it would suffice for the two of them. Everything else was just grassy flatland.

"Awesome!" Naruto shouted out in glee before rushing out into the clearing with a wide smile on his face. Jiraiya watched his godson for a few moments, happy to see the young boy had forgotten his previous trauma. After that he turned around and placed his hand on the ground, channelling some chakra into it he watched as multiple seals stretching out of the area glowed blue. Nodding his head he walked back towards the centre of the clearing to where his godson was laying on the ground looking at the sky.

"Do you like it?" Jiraiya asked while placing his scroll on the ground.

"Like it, I love it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I'm glad. This is gonna be your home for a few years." Clapping his hands together, Jiraiya sat down in front of Naruto who had also sat up to stare at his sensei. "So we're gonna continue working on unlocking your chakra. Once that's done I'll teach you a jutsu."

"Really, what jutsu Jiraiya-sensei?" Both had agreed that revealing himself as Jiraiya's godson would be detrimental if any enemy shinobi found out.

"A jutsu that I believe only you could fully master, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)." Jiraiya smiled when he saw Naruto brimming with excitement. Looks like he had a way to properly motivate Naruto when the boy wasn't into doing something.

"Cool! Come on then Jiraiya-sensei, I want to learn that jutsu." With that Naruto willed himself to calm down, crossing his legs and placing his hand into the ram seal. Closing his eyes he breathed in and out deeply. He searched deep inside of his very being and only ever found darkness. Reaching further inside of him he found himself staring at a blue flame of complete chakra.

For a few moments nothing happened, before slowly it spread throughout his entire body. He felt a sense of weightlessness as chakra ran through his body.

"I did it!" Jiraiya laughed along with Naruto.

"Well done." He congratulated and Naruto beamed up at him. Standing up, He stared at the young Uzumaki who was staring at him inquisitively. "Now it's time to teach you the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique).It only requires on hand seal and that's this." He crossed his fingers over each other. "Then simply channel your chakra and imagine a clone appear next to you."

Nodding his head, Naruto placed his fingers in the exact same position as Jiraiya did.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" He shouted and there was a single poof of smoke. Once it subsided, it revealed an exact replica of Naruto. Both shared a glance before grinning identical grins. Jiraiya felt pride swell in him. It took him three hours to create even a single clone, but Naruto did it on his first try.

"Very good Naruto." The clone disappeared leaving only the original stood there. "Just remember that if you summon too many, be careful on how many you dispel at a time. That's because when it dispels, anything they learned, you learn." The Uzumaki grinned wider and nodded his head in agreement.

"So what we doing now Jiraiya-sensei?"

"Well, I'm gonna teach you tree climbing and then tomorrow we'll make some clones and I'll make sure you have it down."

"I can already climb trees Jiraiya-sensei." The elderly shinobi smirked before walking towards a tree, Naruto following behind him. However, once he reached the tree Jiraiya continued to walk up it. When he reached the top, Jiraiya turned around and stared at the awe filled gaze of his young apprentice. Walking down the tree, he stood before Naruto with a grin.

"Can you climb them like that?" He asked and only received a slow shake of his head which made him chuckle in amusement. "To do this, all you need to do is channel chakra to your feet to help you stick to the surface. Here." He chucked a kunai at Naruto's feet. "Use that to mark your progress."

Picking up the kunai, Naruto ran at the tree as fast as he could and channelled chakra to his feet. As soon as his right foot collided with the bark, it exploded sending him flying backwards.

Thankfully, Jiraiya caught him before he could land painfully against the ground.

"You channelled too much chakra into your feet. Try not to channel as much into your feet next time." Jiraiya advised. Nodding his head, Naruto charged at the tree once more. This time however, he manage to get three steps up the tree before slipping.

Landing on the ground with a grunt, he glared at Jiraiya who had burst out laughing at his failure.

"Shut up!" He shouted earning more laughter as a result. Getting to his feet, Naruto charged at the tree again, and like the previous two times he fell. This time however, he managed to mark the tree with his kunai. Giving a shout of accomplishment, Naruto did it again. Behind him, Jiraiya looked on proudly as his godson began to make gradual progress. It was slow, but he had no doubt that by the end of the day he would get halfway up the tree if not higher.

-X- Line Break -X-

Shisui Uchiha gave a sigh as he sheathed his Tantō after finishing his nights training session. Normally he would be accompanied by Itachi, his best friend and brother in all but blood. However, Itachi was currently attending a meeting with his father, Fugaku the Head of the Uchiha clan.

Just as he was about to deactivate his Sharingan (Copy Wheel Eye) he noticed a slight movement in a bush nearby. That was odd, there was wind and nothing else moved. Expanding his senses with chakra he immediately noticed that there was someone hiding there. They were very well hidden, but he was an ANBU, the elite of Konoha and therefore he could easily pick out the signs of someone hiding.

"You can come out now, I know you're there." Shisui called out.

There was a few moments of silence before a young boy, no older than nine. It was a shock to him to see someone so young had such skill in stealth. It was obvious the boy was trained extensively in the Shinobi Arts.

"Hi, are you lost?" He asked, though he had tensed in preparation from an assault made by the young boy. The boy himself noticed this and also tensed in preparation. "Not much of a talker, huh?" He questioned once more upon seeing the young boy not speaking. "At least tell me more your name. Mines Shisui Uchiha."

"Kimimaro Kaguya." The now named Kimimaro's voice was distinctly monotonous.

"Mind telling me why you're here?" Once again the boy did not reply, but his silence spoke more than he ever could. It was obvious Kimimaro was here to kill him. "Did Kiri send you, you don't wear their headband signifying your allegiance to them?"

"I don't work for those Kiri scum!" The boy said with a surprising amount of venom in his voice.

"Then who do you work for?" Shisui questioned further.

"My master told me to tell you 'that the snake hides in waiting until the correct moment to strike presents itself.' Prepare yourself, Shisui Uchiha." With that, Kimimaro shot forwards at great speeds.

Surprised by the speed that Kimimaro moved at, Shisui barely had enough time to leap backwards to avoid the bone sword that appeared from Kimimaro's wrist. His eyes widened in shock and Shisui rolled along the ground before using a quick Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to put some distance between the two of them.

'Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse)!' Shisui thought in shock. 'This fight just got a whole lot more difficult.' Kimimaro and Shisui stared at each other before the young Kaguya charged forward. Ready for the boy this time, Shisui ran through some hand seals quickly before taking a deep breath. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)!"From Shisui's mouth a five large balls made entirely of fire shot towards the charging Kimimaro.

The young Kaguya reacted quickly and jumped through a small gap between three of them, his clothes slightly burnt as a result.

As soon as he landed he only saw Shisui form the tiger seal.

"Katon: Karyū Endan (Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)!"He felt heat building up behind him. Just as he looked behind him, he saw a large flaming dragon rise up and charge towards him. Jumping to the side Kimimaro dodged the attack and it caused the ground beneath his feet to become alight with flames. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique)!"

Looking towards his target, he saw three Shuriken multiply into three hundred.

"Yanagi no Mai (Dance of the Willow)!" Bones sprouted from his palms, elbows, knees and shoulders then he spun around madly. Each of the shuriken that came at him were parried and knocked into other shuriken. For a seconds the only sound that reverberated through the training ground was the sound of bone and metal colliding with each other.

Through it all, Shisui thought of a plan to help him defeat the Kaguya.

'This is not looking good. He's fast, durable, agile and there seems to be no limit to the areas in which he can create those bone weapons of his.' Seething at the way this was beginning to turn out. 'That and the fact I have barely a fifth of my chakra left. Dammit, the onetime I don't bring any solider pills and Itachi has a meeting is the onetime I get attacked. Looks like I'll have to call Itachi and stall for time.' Channelling chakra into his ANBU seal, he waited.

Kimimaro landed on the ground and charged straight towards Shisui who met his charge head on.

Shisui blocked the left hand bone blade, before ducking under the right hand one. A quick Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)later and Shisui appeared behind Kimimaro. His blade cut through the air and then cut into Kimimaro's neck. To his surprise however, the blade didn't cut into the boy's neck like he had hoped. Instead it colliding with something very dense and hard.

Quickly placing his foot on the Kaguya's back he pushed off and flipped into the air and caught a glimpse of what he assumed to be an armour of bone underneath Kimimaro's skin.

Landing on the ground, Shisui charged forward taking advantage of the boy's current position of been off-balance and lashed out with a roundhouse kick. He then followed up with spinning hook kick to his temple.

Skidding across the ground, Kimimaro got to his feet quickly before hunching over in pain as a fist collided with his stomach. However, his ribcage burst from his body and locked the ANBU shinobi's fist in place. Smirking, Kimimaro punched Shisui in the face causing him to stumble backwards.

Using this, he allowed the power of his Orochimaru's no Juinjutsu (Orochimaru's Cursed Seal Technique) to run through his body and cover his body in lines. Raising up to his full height, he regarded Shisui with an indifferent but slightly confident gaze.

'What the hell is that?' Shisui thought in shock. Whatever it was, Shisui knew that this fight wasn't going to be as equal as it was before this.

'To force me to use the first level of Orochimaru's no Juinjutsu (Orochimaru's Cursed Seal Technique), you are truly skilled, Shisui Uchiha.' Kimimaro praised mentally. 'However, Orochimaru-sama has asked me to kill you. He cured me of my disease and I shall forever be loyal to him, for that reason I will not, cannot fail him.'

"Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)." He whispered before disappearing and reappearing behind the Kaguya boy in hopes of repeating his earlier movement. This time however, the blade was stopped by a blade made of bones.

"The same attack won't work a second time round." Kimimaro said simply before performing a flawless spinning hook kick that Shisui only just managed to avoid due to his Sharingan predicting the attack. Landing on the ground, he went for a low sweep that the Kaguya managed to jump over.

The two young shinobi put some distance between one another.

'Come on Itachi, where the hell are you?!' The Uchiha raged mentally. 'Shit! I'm running low on chakra and I might have to rely on Susanoo soon with the way things are going.' Clenching his fists, Shisui charged forward, his Sharingan spinning hypnotically, Kimimaro met his charge and the two met in a clash of bone and steel.

-X- Line Break -X-

Itachi rushed through the trees as quickly as his legs could possibly take him. Five minutes ago he had received an ANBU distress call from Shisui. He had quickly rushed from his house, leaving his parents unaware of what had caused him to leave in such a hurry.

Just as he leapt from one branch he felt a fluctuation of chakra before he heard.

"Fūtōn: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)!" A large amount of wind collided with his body launching him from the air and straight towards the next tree. Drawing a kunai from his pouch he stabbed it into a tree and used it to slow him down before dropping to the ground.

Standing up to his full height, he waited calmly as five shinobi, each Chūnin level in terms of strength. Despite his calm façade, he was in fact frustrated because someone out there was causing his brother in all but blood lots of trouble. Enough to call for help, he couldn't remember a time when Shisui had called for help.

'Just wait for me a bit longer Shisui. I will be there soon.' Itachi thought. "You are in my way. I will give you the chance to move before I go through you." Itachi said monotonously. The five enemy shinobi shared a glance before staring at him with confidence.

"You think you can beat us." The one in the sneered. "There are five of us and only one of you."

"Numbers count for nothing in the Shinobi world." Itachi replied before the man that spoke drop to the ground unconscious with drool hanging from his mouth.

"Shit! Genjutsu, don't look at his eyes." One claimed as he closed his eyes and jumped backwards. Two others followed his lead but another was already stood completely still.

Appearing behind the man with a kunai in hand, he stabbed the kunai into his neck. 'Magen: Jubaku Satsu (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death).' Itachi thought before turning to the remaining three shinobi. "Come."

Two did so and stabbed him in the stomach however, Itachi exploded consuming the two in flames.

"Gah!" One shouted as he jumped out of the flames clutching the stump that used to be his right hand. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, but we can't lose here."

"You lost the moment you got in my way Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique)!"From the flames, hundreds of shuriken flew forwards and only the injured shinobi managed to leap out of the way in time. However, he took his eyes off his surroundings to instead watch as his comrade get riddled with shuriken. In doing so he didn't see the flash of silver until he saw Itachi land on the trunk behind his comrade. Slowly his head fell from his shoulders and landed separately to his body on the ground.

'I'm coming Shisui, just hold on.'

-X- Line Break -X-

Leaping backwards he avoided a fist from Kimimaro that was surrounded by spiked bones. Sometime during the fight, Kimimaro had sprouted bones on both his forearms and made the Kaguya's already formidable Taijutsu, even more dangerous.

He had long since lost his Tantō and was forced to constantly dodge Kimimaro's strikes. However, in this time he had managed to regain some of his chakra, enough to use Susanoo, but he didn't have enough chakra to use a Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique),or his chakra sensing abilities. This gave him a very steep disadvantage and was forced to use small bursts of chakra to avoid Kimimaro's attacks.

He was also forced to use his other senses to figure out where his help was. He knew from the sounds of combat that the ANBU who had received his distress call were been held up by other enemy shinobi.

Leaping backwards he avoided another jab and just as he landed in a crouch position, five ANBU shinobi appeared around him. Their Katana or Tantō drawn and each of them in their Kenjutsu stances. Smiling, Shisui rose to his feet and released a deep breath.

"About time you guys got here." Shisui replied jokingly with a smile on his face.

"We were held up by multiple missing ninja." Hawk answered gaining a nod of the head from Shisui.

"How did they even get in?"

"Crane has taken one of them to Ibiki. We will know who they work for soon." Kimimaro stood where he was calmly. Slowly dropping to his knees, it looked like he was surrendering. Shisui and the ANBU watched as he placed his hand on the ground.

"Shit! Ju-Gah!" Hawk shouted as they felt a huge influx of chakra from Kimimaro. Shisui just barely managed to get out of the way as the entire training ground sprouted huge bones that pierced through the bodies of the ANBU shinobi. He watched Kimimaro slowly rise to his feet and say one thing.

"Sawarbi no Mai (Dance of the Seedling Fern)." Then Kimimaro began to change even further.

He had a tail with four large bones sprouting from his back, his skin became dark in colour. Under his eyes were two black curved like markings and the same were his eyebrows used to be.

'What the hell is that?!' Shisui thought in shock. 'Whatever it is, his chakra just became more vile and disgusting, but it also became much larger. Dammit, if I can only get hold of one of the soldier pills in Hawk's or the others pouch.' Tensing his muscles he shot forward only for Kimimaro to appear in front of him, appearing from the bone directly in front of him.

"Tessenka no Mai: Hana (Dance of the Clematis: Flower)." His entire left hand was encased in a drill like weapon made entirely of bone. It was raised and pointed straight at him and due to his previous jump, he was unable to move out of the way and instead found himself impaled by the bone weapon.

With a scream of pain, Shisui lashed out with a kick to Kimimaro's stomach putting some distance between him and his opponent.

Landing on his back he clutched his stomach. Shakily, he raised his left hand and looked at the large hole in his stomach. It was bleeding heavily, he knew he wasn't going to last much longer unless he applied some medical chakra to the wound.

Looking up, he saw Kimimaro jumping towards him intent on finishing him off. Knowing that he didn't have the strength to move, he allowed his eyes to evolve even further, to the Mangekyo Sharingan (Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye). Channelling all his chakra into his eyes he shouted. "Susanoo!"

From his body, a large green warrior figure formed around him protectively. In the centre of his chest was a single glowing red tomoe.

Kimimaro slammed his drill weapon into the chest of the Susanoo, it forced the warrior like figure to be pushed backwards. The Kaguya had to quickly leap backwards as one of Susanoo's arms went to swat him away. Once he landed on the ground, Kimimaro moved his right hand around till it rested on his back.

"Tessenka no Mai: Tsuru (Dance of the Clematis: Vine)." The man's entire vertebrae was ripped from his body and formed a long sword.

Shisui raised his right arm which held a drill lance, fire formed into vortex. With a roar, Shisui thrust his right hand forward. Kimimaro stood tensed and waiting as the drill came closer and closer.

-X- Line Break -X-

Itachi saw the top of Shisui's Susanoo's and he knew that whoever was fighting Shisui had made his friend desperate. There was a loud explosion followed by a large plume of smoke and Itachi knew that he needed to get there quickly. Channelling chakra into his legs he pushed his body to the limit.

The sun was rising up into the air as morning was coming round. He needed to get there quickly.

-X- Line Break -X-

When Jiraiya woke up the next day he found that Naruto was already practising the tree climbing exercise. To his shock he found that Naruto was running from the top to the bottom as fast as he could. Last night when they had finished, Naruto had only been able to run just over half of the tree, now he could run the entire thing repeatedly.

"Oi, Naruto. Come down here." Jiraiya shouted as he walked towards the tree. Naruto quickly ran towards him and stopped before him. He had a huge smile on his face and once again was filled with envy of Naruto's stamina. Truly the boy's limitless stamina would be one thing that made Naruto a dangerous shinobi to face. If he couldn't defeat you in pure skill, but he could defeat them in a battle of attrition.

"Did you see that? I managed to do it Jiraiya-sensei." He said excitedly.

"I did Naruto, I'm proud of you." If anything, the Uzumaki's smile grew wider. "How long have you been out here?" Naruto adopted confused look.

"It was only just getting light." Naruto said much to his shock. Judging by the position of the sun, he would say it's around nine in the morning. That meant he had been out here for around three hours.

"That's impressive Naruto. Now, before we begin working again let's get something to eat." Nodding his head, Naruto and Jiraiya had a quick but healthy and nutritional breakfast before walking out into the centre of the flatland.

"So what we gonna do today sensei?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Well, I want you to make as many clones as you can." Nodding his head, Naruto crossed his fingers together and channelled as much chakra as he could.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" He shouted and there were mutliple poofs of smoke and when it subsided there were at least a hundred copies of Naruto. Shaking his head in amazement Jiraiya gave a proud smile.

'Amazing. Makes me wonder how much chakra he really has.' Jiraiya thought. Four copies himself appeared in a cloud of smoke. Each of the clones took a group of twenty-five of Naruto's clones and took them to different areas in the clearing. "So what we're going to do is start with a few exercises. So, you better get running around the clearing." Naruto quickly did so and began running around the clearing. Jiraiya was following behind him. Around three-quarter of the way round the clearing, Naruto began to slow down but Jiraiya would throw a kunai at his feet forcing him to increase his speed once more.

Coming to a stop, Naruto collapsed to his knees breathing heavily. Despite his large amount of stamina, he was only five years old.

"We're not done yet Naruto. Now give me fifty push ups, fifty sit ups and fifty squats." Naruto panted and glared at Jiraiya before pushing himself into a kneeling position.

"Can't I rest for a minute?" Jiraiya shook his head.

"You want to be the best shinobi in the Elemental Nations? You want to be Hokage?" Jiraiya questioned giving a nod of his head. "Then get to it." Groaning he began to do the exercises.

Over with the first Jiraiya clone, he was having them continue the tree climbing exercises until they could do it without conscious thought or much effort. With the second clone, he was beginning to teach the water walking exercise to Naruto's clones. With the third he was teaching leaf balancing exercise and with the fourth he was making sure that Naruto's clones could use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) without hand seals or speaking.

All the while, Jiraiya watched his new apprentice/godson train with a proud smile on his face.

-X- Line Break -X-

Breathing deeply, Shisui stood inside the safety of his Susanoo as he waited for the smoke to clear. Once it did, he found his body freeze in shock. That was because Kimimaro was completely unharmed, his Susanoo drill weapon had been knocked to the side. The Kaguya's spine weapon was wrapped around it like a whip.

'How, I put three quarters of my remaining chakra into that strike, even though I hardly have any no one should be able to stop that!' Growling angrily, Shisui channelled his remaining chakra into one final attack. If this didn't work, he would be without Susanoo and completely open to an attack. "Susanoo: Tsukumo (He with the ability to help by all means: Ninety-Nine)!"

The ribcage opened revealing his Susanoo's chest. From it a barrage of light, green-coloured chakra needles were launched at great speeds towards Kimimaro. Once again smoke rose up into that air as a result was launched into the air.

Dropping to his knees as his Susanoo receded into nothing, Shisui waited for the smoke to clear again.

"Teshi Sendan (Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets)!" Gasping in shock as multiple tiny projectiles were flying towards him. Unable to move he took each of the bullets and he felt one pierce his lungs.

Kimimaro moved forward calmly and self-assured in his victory. However, before he could reach the downed form of Shisui, Itachi appeared in front of him. His eyes were indifferent, giving away nothing about his thoughts and feelings. The tomoes of his Sharingan swirled around his pupil hypnotically.

Kimimaro looked down at the floor avoiding eye contact with the Uchiha.

'I had not expected Itachi Uchiha to deal with the missing ninja that Orochimaru-sama had hired so quickly. It seems our Intel on his abilities is lacking.' Raising his eyes slightly, he looked at the bleeding form of Shisui. 'None the less, it seems my mission was a success. Shisui will die long before he gets to the hospital and he has lost far too much blood. Even if he does survive, he will be handicapped severely. However, I could probably match Itachi if I had not wasted half of my chakra fighting Shisui. Not only that but I can sense multiple Jōnin-level shinobi moving towards our position. A tactical retreat is in order.'

Itachi watched with narrowed eyes as Kimimaro disappeared with a quick Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique). Once he was sure that the Kaguya had disappeared from his senses he turned to face his dying friend.

"Hey Itachi." Shisui smiled, but it was an ugly sight as his teeth were stained red with blood. "Took you long enough." Itachi allowed a rare smile, Shisui was the only person who could ever make him smile.

"Save your breath. I'm going to get you some help." Shisui simply shook his head in disagreement.

"No, I won't make it in time. I need you to do something for me." Itachi nodded his head, his eyes slightly glistening at seeing his best and only friend dying before him. "Take my eyes, give them to Naruto-kun. Telling him I'm sorry for breaking my promise."

Flashback.

"Hey, Itachi-nii, Shisui-nii." The two ANBU shinobi in question stopped their training to see Naruto running towards them. Shisui smiled brightly.

"Hello, there little man." Shisui bent down and high-fived Naruto. "What brings you here?"

"He's come to say goodbye to those close to him before we go." A voice said from behind them all. Shisui and Itachi turned around to see Jiraiya stood there.

"Jiraiya-sama." The two shinobi bowed to him as a sign of respect to the legendary shinobi.

"Meh, no need for honorifics. You two have looked after Naruto when I couldn't, you've more than earned the right to call me just Jiraiya." The two shinobi nodded their head as thanks.

"Hey, I'm still here remember!" Naruto shouted indignantly causing the three older men to chuckle in amusment, which in turn caused him to pout.

"Sorry." Shisui said. "So how come your going with Jiraiya?"

"He's gonna teach me! I'm gonna become so strong that I'll be able to beat you both!" Itachi smiled, while Shisui laughed boisterously.

"I'll hold you too that, Naruto-kun." Itachi replied to Naruto's boasting.

"I'll tell you what little man. When you get back I will be the first to meet you and then we'll go and have that spar. If you impress me I'll teach you every jutsu I know." Shisui said.

"You promise?" Naruto asked.

"It's a promise of a lifetime." Shisui confirmed and then Naruto hugged him tightly. Chuckling, Shisui returned the hug.

"I'll miss you, Shisui-nii, Itachi-nii." Naruto whispered. Naruto pulled away revealing a few tears streaming down his face.

"God little man, you're making me cry." Shisui said, and his eyes were slightly watery. "Don't mind this miserable git, he will miss you despite what he might say or look like." Naruto nodded his head.

"Come on Naruto, we got a go." Nodding his head rapidly, Naruto left with Jiraiya.

Flashback end.

Itachi nodded his head and shakily reached forward and plucked out his friend's eyes. It tore at his heart when he heard Shisui scream in pain, but he continued to do so. Once it was done, Itachi sealed the eyes away, while Shisui moved himself into a seated position. Itachi went forward to push him back down, but Shisui stopped him.

"No, help me stand up." Hesitantly, Itachi nodded his head and helped stand Shisui up. The older Uchiha had to lean dependently on the younger Uchiha. "I need you to kill me, I want it to be by your hand. It'll help you unlock the next stage of the Sharingan. Please."

"I will do." Pulling a kunai from his pouch, Itachi thrust it through Shisui's ribcage and pierced his heart. The dying Uchiha gasped in pain as blood spilled out from his mouth. Not once did his smile disappear. Gently, Itachi placed him on the ground and watched his friends breathing slow down. His Sharingan slowly changed into three spiralling curves around the purple.

'Looks like I'm going to see you sooner than I expected, Tou-san, Kaa-chan, Obito-nii.' Smiling as the faces of his deceased family passed through his mind, he released his last breath.

Clenching his fist, Itachi raced back to Konoha with Shisui on his back. Intent on finding out who sent the child that killed his best friend.

-X- Line Break -X-

Hiruzen looked at the missing ninja currently sat in one of the interrogation rooms. The man was bloodied and beaten after the interrogation he had suffered at the hands of Konoha's greatest interrogation specialist, Ibiki Morino.

Itachi appeared beside the aged Hokage without any sound.

"What did you find out, Hokage-sama?" Itachi asked. Sparing the young ANBU a glance, he could see the desire for revenge. Despite his love for the village, Itachi was still an Uchiha and carried the Curse of Hatred.

"It seems my old student, Orochimaru was the one who organised this." Nodding his head stiffly, Itachi looked at the man with his Sharingan glowing ominously.

"Hokage-sama." The Sandaime looked towards Itachi to see him on his knees before him. "Before Shisui died, he told me to take his eyes and give them to Naruto-kun as a gift. I would like permission to give them to Naruto-kun like Shisui asked." Hiruzen hummed in thought before nodding his head.

"Go. They're location is…" He whispered the remaining part so that no one would know where Jiraiya and Naruto were currently located.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Itachi used a quick Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) and disappeared. Turning to Ibiki, he gave him the signal to kill the missing ninja, Ibiki nodded his head and entered the room quickly. He didn't need to hear the ninja speak to know he was begging for his life. Ibiki paid the man no heed and slit his throat before leaving.

-X- Line Break -X-

A week had gone by since Naruto and Jiraiya had begun training and in that time progression had been quite quick, having also built up a routine. Every morning they would wake up and review what they had learned the previous day to see how far he could get. After that they would have breakfast and Jiraiya would think on what, Naruto's training would consist of for the day.

So far Naruto had completed the tree climbing exercise and the leaf balancing exercise, the two easiest chakra control exercises. Not only that, but Naruto had managed to learn how to use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) without hand seals and had doubled the amount of clones he could create.

Currently, Naruto had finished his daily run, which had increased too three times round the training ground. Now, he was currently performing his exercises which had were now a hundred of each exercise. He had fifty clones perfecting water walking, while the three other groups were doing a different exercise. The group that had once been doing leaf balancing exercise, were now doing kunai balancing.

As for the group that had been doing tree walking, they were now learning and mastering the Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion), while the final group were learning to use kunai and shuriken. So far he could hit three out of ten for the shuriken and four out of ten for the kunai.

"Done!" Naruto exclaimed with a thin shine of sweat covering his body.

"Looks like we're going to have to up your exercises because you're not as tired as I'd hoped." Naruto simply grinned brightly. 'Kids stamina and the Kyuubi healing him gives him a huge advantage. You really are gonna go far.' He thought with pride. "Show me your stance."

Naruto sunk into simple fighting stance. Side on with his left leg at the front and his right foot at the back. His right hand was raised up to his chin with his left hand bent downwards so his hand was near his left hip.

Moving forwards, Jiraiya pulled Naruto's left elbow out some more while also widening the gap between his legs.

Looking towards the edge of the clearing, he formed a Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) that looked over Naruto's training in the Todorokiryuu (Roaring Dragon) style, a style designed by the Uzumaki clan. It implemented both grappling, elbows, knees, defensive, offensive and counter-offensive techniques. It was one of the most dangerous fighting styles to ever exist in the Elemental Nations.

As he walked towards the edge of the Fuinjutsu barrier he set up, he placed his hand on the ground and two seals glowed blue. Slowly the area in front of him shimmered revealing Itachi Uchiha.

"Come on in." Itachi did so. "So what brings you here Itachi?"

"A week ago, an unknown Kaguya clan member working for Orochimaru infiltrated Konoha and killed Shisui." Jiraiya looked towards the original Naruto to see him currently been corrected on his next move in the Todorokiryuu (Roaring Dragon) fighting style.

"I see. Is that everything you need?" Itachi shook his head and unsealed a small jar filled with water. Inside of them were two eyes, two Sharingan eyes. "Are those?

"Yes, Shisui gave me his eyes before he died. His wish was for Naruto to have them." Jiraiya gave a strained smile.

"Thank you for giving me these." Itachi nodded his head before leaving. Looking down at the eyes, he then moved towards his apprentice. Releasing a deep sigh, Jiraiya walked towards Naruto and dispelled his clone.

"Who was that Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked while repeating his kata.

"That was Itachi." Naruto stopped what he was doing and looked towards his sensei.

"Itachi-nii? What did he want?"

"He came to tell me that an enemy shinobi infiltrated Konoha and killed someone." Naruto looked a bit downtrodden, but not entirely heartbroken. "Naruto, this is going to be hard for you, but the shinobi that died was Shisui." There was a few moments of silence where the young Uzumaki said nothing before he bowed his head. His hands clenched into fists tightly. "Itachi also gave me these." He held out the jar with Shisui's Sharingan eyes inside of them and Naruto took hold of them.

"They're Shisui's, aren't they?" Jiraiya nodded his head.

"Yea, he wanted you to have them." Naruto looked up at Jiraiya with tears in his eyes.

"Who? Who killed him?" Naruto whispered once more.

"If I tell you, promise me that you won't get revenge." Naruto glared at him and Jiraiya knew exactly what he was thinking. "I know the feeling Naruto, the desire to kill the person that killed someone close to you. But that's what shinobi have been doing to each other for years."

"I don't care." Naruto said quietly.

"You should!" Jiraiya nearly shouted. "Me, the Hokage, your father we all wanted to bring peace to the shinobi world. If you only trained for the sole purpose of revenge you would be turning your back on everything we worked for, everything your father worked for." Naruto bowed his head and Jiraiya mentally baited himself for forgetting that Naruto didn't know of his heritage.

However, it seemed to have worked as Naruto didn't seem as dead set on revenge as he was before.

"Shisui wouldn't want you to do so either." Naruto didn't say anything just turned and disappeared inside the house.

'God dammit Orochimaru, you just had to do this.' Hopefully Naruto would make the right decision.

-X- Line Break -X-

Naruto hugged the jar that had Shisui's eyes inside close to his chest. They were the only thing that remained of one of his older brother figures. Slowly he allowed his mind to play over what his godfather had said to him.

Clenching his fists tightly, Naruto stood up from his position on the sofa and walked out of the door with his mind set on what he planned to do.

When he opened the door, he found Jiraiya waiting for him.

"I've made up my mind." Jiraiya studied him for a few moments. "I want you to train me harder than you did before." Jiraiya crossed his arms over his chest and stared straight at him.

"And what do you plan to do with the power you gain?"

"I want to become so strong that no one will dare hurt those I care about. And if someone did, I want to be strong enough that I can protect them." Jiraiya nodded his head.

"Then you better get ready Naruto. You thought it was difficult before, it's about to get much harder." Naruto nodded his head.

-X- Line Break -X-

He didn't know where he was. The last thing he remembered was placing Shisui's eyes on his bedside table before crying himself to sleep. Now here he was, in a sewer. The water around him was up to his ankles, but it seemed to be made of entirely of chakra.

Following the path he came across a very large cage, made entirely of red bars. Moving forwards he looked closer into the dark abyss that was the cage.

"Come closer ningen." A demonic voice sounded from behind the cage. With it, Naruto watched two eyes appear. Each were blood red with a black reptilian pupil. More of the mysterious revealed itself until Naruto found himself staring at a large orange fox with rabbit ears and nine swishing tails.

Naruto slowly stepped forward but he quickly stopped just as a claw stopped a mere hairs width away from his face.

"Next time you won't be so lucky." The beast taunted.

"Y-you're the K-Kyuubi." Naruto stuttered. The Kyuubi grinned savagely.

"I am ningen." The Kyuubi confirmed.

"Why are you here, the Yondaime killed you?" The Kyuubi snorted and laid his head down on his front paws.

"I wasn't killed, no human could kill me so he sealed me away inside of you by your Yondaime Hokage." It informed him. "You're what you call a Jinchuuriki."

"A human sacrifice?" Naruto repeated in questioning.

"That's what it means, yes. Leave ningen, I have no care for your presence." Naruto stared at the Kyuubi with curiosity. "I said leave, ningen!" The Kyuubi roared but Naruto continued to stare at him. "What are you staring at?"

"What would happen to you if I died?"

"If you died, I would die. Despite him being only human, the Yondaime was skilled in Fuinjutsu." The Kyuubi looked especially disgruntled by this fact. "You better not die ningen, I refuse to die."

"Then help me." Naruto spoke up gaining a puzzled look from the Kyuubi.

"Help you?" The Kyuubi repeated.

"Yea. I don't want to die, you don't want to die. So we help each other." The Kyuubi sneered.

"I refuse to work with someone as weak as you." Naruto clenched his fists. "But you make a good point. Get stronger ningen. Then I'll consider working with you." Naruto unclenched his fist and then smiled brightly. Happy that his suggestion hadn't been shot down.

With that, Naruto left his mind. Intent on becoming strong enough to work alongside with the Kyuubi. With its power, he could do anything.

A/N: So this is my second attempt at a Naruto story. Hope you enjoyed. Now I know it was Danzo's ROOT that killed Shisui however, in this story it was Orochimaru because Danzo is going to work with Hiruzen and not against him. Also I've healed Kimimaro because he will play a much larger role in this story than he did before so I've made him stronger as well. In terms of strength, he is about equal if not a tiny bit weaker than Itachi.

As for Naruto, he may seem like a prodigy but he isn't. Naruto in a way is a prodigy, but like Lee, he is a prodigy of hard work. Naruto had the determination to accomplish his goals, he had the stamina to train for hours on end as hard as he wants, the healing factor to heal any injuries he suffered, the chakra to summon thousands of shadow clones that would allow him to do months, if not years' worth of training in a single day. That alone, would make Naruto extremely powerful, add that with the Sharingan gives him the ability to become a godlike shinobi.