A/N: Hello guys. So, as promised, here is my new story 'Kid of the Hunt'. It will be a Naruto x Tsunade story, as I told you. Plus, unfortuneately, I won't make a schedule in which I update this story frequently, I'll do it basically whenever I feel like it. Anyways, welcome to 'Kid of the Hunt'.

"CHIDORI!!!!", a young boy with long, white hair, grey skin and red eyes screamed, standing next to a waterfall, letting his voice echo throughout a forest.

"Graaaagh!!!", another young boy with unruly blond hair, cerulean blue eyes and unique whisker marks on his cheeks yelled, being pierced by the black lightning torrent right through his chest, very close from directly hitting his heart.

The scene was a horrifying sight. The dark fighter stood with one arm through his enemy, and the other part holding his enemies' right shoulder, locking him in place, just waiting for the blonde to cry and beg him for mercy, or once again to beg him return to the village he just defected from: Konohagakure.

The Village Hidden in the Leaf, a place he despised. It was a pathetic piece of land, full of weaklings, crybabies and annoying banshees. The boy, a young Uchiha called Sasuke, got a very tempting offer from the leader of the Village Hidden in the Sound, Orochimaru. An offer to train him, give him the power he longs for and deserves, to be able to finally avenge his clan and wipe out the bane of his existence, Itachi Uchiha.

Of course though, the village and the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade Senju, had a problem with him leaving and sent out a group of ninja to retrieve him. Namely Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Neji, Rock Lee and Naruto. While the most ninja were distracted by the elite of Orochimaru, the Sound Four, Naruto followed Sasuke to the fated place they are now standing at: The Valley of the End. Between the stone eyes of the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and the first Uchiha, Madara, now two Genin stood, or rather one, while the other one was still lifted in the air by a now non-electrified hand.

Sasuke was surprised by the amount of power the supposed Dead Last had, especially after he formed a Rasengan and used Kyuubi's chakra, turning him into a fierce, animalistic warrior. Though still, the self-proclaimed avenger was in for the biggest surprise yet.

Naruto slowly lifted his gaze to look into the traitors' red Sharingan eyes, and much to the Uchiha's surprise, Naruto didn't cry, or begged for anything or just instantly died. No.

He smiled.

The only more suprising thing than that was the words that he muttered hoarsely.

"Thank you."

The warrior in his Curse Mark Second State was briefly speechless, but then answered.

"For what, dobe?"

"For ending my existence."

Even with a venomous seal poisoning his thoughts, the traitor was visibly surprised by his answer. The hyperactive idiot, with his eternally lasting, shit-eating grin, was grateful that somebody killed him? Said knucklehead interrupted his thoughts.

"I have finally fulfilled my purpose. Everyone back in Konoha made it very clear that I'm worth nothing. I'm not allowed to eat, to be trained, and certainly not to be liked, loved, or appreciated."

He then tilted his head a bit downwards, and coughed up a little load of blood, which landed on the floor. With his last ounce of power, he looked back into the avengers eyes, with tears forming in his eyes, and an even brighter, grateful smile on his face, while a free flowing line of blood left his mouth.

"I hate this village as much as it hates me, and I am finally able to let go. The only thing that makes me happier than to die, is knowing that you'll pass out from chakra exhaustion, and someone will drag you back to this hellhole. Congrats, you deserve each other. Everyone will be relieved. Kakashi has noone that expects to be trained every day, Sakura won't have me begging her for dates, and you won't have me standing in your way. You'll never have to endure the pranking demon dead last anymore, sorry for bothering you all with my existence."

His last words would be something the Uchiha would not forget, while Naruto looked deeper into his eyes, and placed his hand on the avengers' shoulder in an almost brotherly way. These words were:

"Thank you, Sasuke. Today, you turned the world into a truly happier place."

Not able to endure the sight any longer, especially seeing the severity of his gaping wound and his already deadly bloodloss, Sasuke pulled out his hand, letting Naruto fall backwards, straight down the waterfall.

This is the end

The last thing Naruto felt was the air running through his hair and the water splashing around him. After looking a last time into his rivals' eyes, he closed his peacefully.

Hold your breath and count to ten

Sasuke watched the lifeless body of his former teammate accelerate towards the lake at the bottom of the Valley of the End. He dropped to his legs, and clutched his hair.

Feel the earth move and then

Hear my heart burst again

His now aching red Sharingan eyes released a few tears, while he continued to watch the corpse of the blonde flow down together with the waterfall.

For this is the end

I've drowned and dreamed this moment

The body of the jinchuuriki, seemingly in a deep slumber, painted the water from the cascade red, coating him more and more in his own, now watery blood, until he landed into the lake with a resonating *splash* sound.

So overdue, I owe them

Swept away, I'm stolen

His body went down the lake without a single move. His mind was already blank, his senses dull. The only thing holding him barely alive was Kyuubi, but the struggle against water was almost pointless.

Let the sky fall, when it crumbles

We will stand tall, and face it all together

An unknown force dragged him into a little cave-like hole at the bottom of the lake. Meanwhile, Sasuke felt himself succumbing to the chakra exhaustion, and passed out, lying besides the torrent of water

Let the sky fall, when it crumbles

We will stand tall, and face it all together

At skyfall

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the forest nearby, a few minutes ago

"Come on, Pakkun, we have to go faster!", a grey-haired, masked man yelled, while running towards the direction his summon told him to go to.

"I'm going as fast as I can, Kakashi!", the dog summon yelled back.

Then, a terrifying noise filled the man's ears. Very faintly in the distance, he could hear the chirping sound of one thousand birds.

'No, Kami, please let me be on time. Please.', he thought while running even faster.

Then, he reached the place destined for the boys' encounter. Very easily, even through all the rain, he could spot the long, white hair of his former student. Running over to him, he saw it was the by Orochimaru's Cursed Seal deformed, and now unconscious body of Sasuke Uchiha.

"He seems to have nothing serious besides his chakra exhaustion, so he's just unconscious.", Kakashi muttered, checking the boy's body for any injury and feeling his pulse.

The Copy Ninja turned towards his summon, and saw his sad, downcast face. He knew what that meant, but he didn't want to believe it.

"Pakkun... where is he?"

"I can smell a strong scent of his blood, meaning he bled a lot. His trace... leads down the waterfall."

Kakashi immediately went to look down the waterfall, and saw the sickening pool of blood spreading into all directions of the lake and down the river.

Shunshining to the side of the lake, he looked into it, stuffing his face into the water. But besides a cloud of Naruto's blood, he couldn't find him.

His summon followed him, and spoke.

"Kakashi, I have no trace of him, and this blood is already a few minutes old, and it leads down the river. At this point, he died from bloodloss or drowned because of the rivers' pressure and speed, and his body is already out of our reach. I'm sorry."

Kakashi stood up, took the body of Sasuke, and walked back to Konoha, an empty gaze plastered on his face, while he dispelled his summon. Knowing that Sasuke was fine besides a few bruises, Kakashi was in no real rush to reach Konoha. He silently cried for the student that failed and now was placed on his shoulder, and the student he failed and was now already far away, his corpse unfound.

"I'm sorry sensei, I am a failure."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Konoha, a few days later

Noise, noise everywhere. That was the current situation in front of the Konoha gates. Everyone was loudly discussing about the three still missing ninja of the Leaf: Sasuke, Kakashi and Naruto. Though most concern was for the first two. Only a the remainders of the Konoha 11 and their senseis, the Konohamaru Corps., Iruka, Jiraiya, the Hokage and her friend Shizune talked about Naruto. Even though he annoyed them all, close to the point of insanity, he had a place in all their hearts.

Two days earlier, Lee, Neji, Chouji and Kiba were returned to the village. Kiba and Lee only had minor injuries, while Neji and Chouji both were in critical condition because of their intense fights, and Chouji especially for the use of the Akimichi Red Pill. Due to a medicine developed by Tsunade though, even he could survive and was currently able to recover in the hospital, along with the others.

"Guys look, someone is coming!", a bun-haired girl called Tenten yelled to everyone, quickly getting their attention to focus on the distant figure closing in.

After a while everyone noticed it was Kakashi. Immediately, everyone ran into his direction, noticing that he appereared to have all time in the world.

When they reached him, everyone's gaze went to the limp figure on Kakashi's shoulder. Their eyes, particularly of the Sannin, Ino and Sakura widenend in horror.

"That's...", Sakura began in a whisper.

"Sasuke-kun..", Ino finished in a similar quiet voice.

"Is he alright, Kakashi-sensei? It's only because of this Curse Mark he looks like that, right?", Sakura said in a desperate voice.

Kakashi did not even bother to answer her, to even look at her. His empty gaze just went straight forward, his legs carrying him to the hospital without a hurry.

"Yes, but you need to accept the mark before it can fully transform you. Whatever Sasuke did, he did it with his own free will.", Jiraiya explained to the group of now too silent civilians, the Konoha 11 and the other ninja.

"Kakashi, where's Naruto-kun?", the Hokage's assistant Shizune asked.

Hearing the name made Kakashi wince slightly, but he still walked forwards, whispering to himself.

"First Obito, now him."

Gai, Kurenai and Asuma immediately knew what that meant, and looked down onto the ground, closing their eyes in silent sympathy.

"Kakashi...", Tsunade repeated, but already had an idea what his silence and visible depression meant, though she did not want to believe it.

Kakashi gave the body of Sasuke to a few medics which then took off to the hospital. The civilians and other shinobi already went home, disgusted by the fact that Sasuke wasn't influenced, but actually intended to defect to a known enemy of Konoha on his own free will.

Kakashi briefly turned to the remaining Konoha 11, their senseis, Jiraiya, Iruka, the Hokage and her assistant, and shook his head, a clear message behind it.

"No, that can't be. Nii-san can't be dead!", Konohamaru cried while hugging his friends Moegi and Udon, which were crying as well.

Everyone was dead silent, not wanting to believe the news. Sakura felt sick and held her stomach protectively, with Ino doing the same thing. Tenten went to hug her sensei, who could only lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. Hinata burst out in silent tears, Iruka, Jiraiya and Shizune were all on the verge of tears as well, while Tsunade had no visible reaction at all.

Though on the inside, everyone besides Iruka, Hinata and Shizune felt truly devastated not only for his death, but also knowing how they treated him. The Jounin senseis never took him seriously, yet alone train him properly. Tenten, along with all of Konoha 11, even those in hospital, never really accepted him or his skills, besides Lee, who treated him as a rival, and Shikamaru, Shino and Choujj, who treated him neutrally, and Hinata, who was too shy to speak to him. Sakura, Ino and Tsunade always, whenever he went onto their nerves with a silly joke, asking for a date in Sakura's case, or in general begging for attention, punched him into his head and sent him flying into a random direction. Now though, everyone missed his foxy smile and loud voice.

'Sakura-chan, don't worry, I'll bring back Sasuke, whatever it takes. That's my promise of a lifetime, and I never go back on my word. That's my ninja way!'

"Whatever it takes... Why did you have to take that so seriously, idiot..." Sakura cried silently, while Ino went to her and hugged her for comfort.

'No, Naruto-kun.', Hinata thought in mute despair.

"Ino... tell your father to come to Sasuke's room in the prison part of the hospital tomorrow at 8 in the morning.", the Godaime Hokage ordered in a forced calm voice, masking her emotions.

"H-hai, Hokage-sama.", Ino choked out.

"Tsunade..." Jiraiya started, but was interrupted by her.

"You Jiraiya, go to him immediately. You have to counter his Curse Mark, and try to lock it away.", she ordered.

"But are you.."

"That's an order, Jiraiya!"

Nodding silently in defeat and sighing, Jiraiya went after the medics and Sasuke.

"Wait, Tsunade-sama...", Shizune said in hurried, and still sobbing voice.

But it was too late. In a swirl of leaves, she disappeared, leaving everyone behind to their thoughts. Then, for the first time, they heard Kakashi's voice.

"I would suggest everyone goes home and rests, preferably with a friend or with your parents. I will talk to the Hokage about a funeral for Naruto soon."

The word 'funeral' caused Ino, Sakura, Hinata and the Konohamaru Corps. to choke out a loud sob, nearly causing them to vomid. Kakashi then, too, left in a swirl of leaves.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hokage tower

If someone would now stand in front of the Hokage room, he or she would hear three noises: The sound of glass hitting something, sounds of gulping, and sounds of sniffing and sobbing. The Godaime Hokage engaged in her favourite activity, drinking sake like a black hole.

The sobbing woman already lost persons precious to her, she thought she had gotten used to that. Her lover and her brother already died, and she thought that made her strong. But now, the blonde hyperactive prankster, her reason to believe in the Will of Fire again, the reason she was sitting in this office, was gone, forever.

And what did she do? She wasn't strong enough to just accept it and proceed with her life. No, she barely even managed to escape the others without crying her eyes out. The moment she entered her office though, her water gates broke as much as she broke.

She looked at the picture on her table from the time she was retrieved by Naruto and Jiraiya. In the middle of Tsunade and Shizune, Naruto stood there with his painfully bright grin while making a 'peace symbol' with his hand, while Jiraiya openly watched her breasts.

"Why gaki, why did you have to leave me, your baa-chan?", she muttered to herself.

The first time without asking for permission, Shizune entered the office of the Hokage and went straight for Tsunade.

Immediately, she spun around in her chair to look outside her window, asking:

"What are you doing here Shizune? I have work to do and sake to drink.", she formulated with a few sniffs in between her words.

Worldlessly, Shizune walked over to her and turned back her chair, so that the surprised Hokage looked her in the watery but determined eyes.

And then, she hugged her. Hugged her as tightly as humanly possible.

"What-"

"Shut up, Tsunade."

That surprised her even more. Shizune never dared to be disrespectful to her, neither by just walking in nor, especially not, by talking to her like that. She interrupted her thoughts.

"I know you're hurt. You are as everybody else is. So stop trying to do this on your own, noone should endure something like this alone. You already did twice too often.", Shizune explained while crying her eyes out.

Tsunade struggled half-heartedly at first, but eventually hugged back and cried deep into Shizune's shoulder.

"Why? What did he ever do wrong? Why couldn't I die instead of him? An already broken soul in exchange for such a young and alive one."

"Don't say that Tsunade, he wouldn't want to hear you say something like that."

"But I miss him already, Shizune. He is the reason I even am here. He never became Hokage. He saved my life and he saved my existence, and I did nothing in return for him. I just miss him, Shizune."

"I know, Tsunade, I do, too."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Valley of the End

Kit, wake up. KIT!"

"Huh? Oh, it's you, Kurama. Wait, what happened? I thought I'm dead."

"Apparently, someone saved you and dragged you into an underground cave. Currently, both your saviour and I are healing you. You should wake up... right now."

And in that exact moment, he woke up, lying with his back on a stone ground, looking at the cave's wall.

"You mock me, Shinigami. I'm not even allowed to die now?"

"Your time has yet to come, young shinobi."

Following the voice, he saw the outline of a human looking figure, although everything of this person glowed in a light blue colour. He had long black hair, and wore a metal battle armor, coloured red and black. His face was covered in strange green marks.

"Who are you?"

"I am the protector of the temple ahead of you, the spirit of Hashirama Senju."

"Hashirama Senju? You mean the Shodaime Hokage?"

"Yes. When I was amongst the living, I built a hidden temple right here, at the Valley of the End. When the time comes, a descendant of a Hokage, or a Hokage himself should be sent out to find this temple with my knowledge in it."

"But I'm neither the Hokage, nor the descendent of a Hokage."

"Yes young one, you are. My spirit only comes to help one of those people. As far as I can read your bloodline, you're the son and therefore a descendant of the Yondaime Hokage and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki. I can see her bloodline in you, too."

"The... Yondaime is my father? The hero of Konoha is my father and noone bothered to tell me?", Naruto shouted angrily at the ghost in front of him.

"Yes, young shinobi. You are a descendant, and therefore have access to my temple. I can say that you have an unawakened bloodline ability, which is called 'Chakra Chains'. I can only tell you have it, though. How to activate and use them, though, I cannot tell. This will be your responsibility. Now, do you wish to accept the knowledge from this temple? I must warn you, ahead of you lies a path of work and pain, the techniques here are difficult and it takes a lifetime to perfect them. Do you understand?"

'Maybe this is a good idea. After that, I can go somewhere else, and maybe build up a new life. Far away from Konoha.'

"Yes, I understand, it's not like I have something to lose now anyways."

"Very well, follow me then.", Hashirama said, and turned towards the entrance of the temple.

"Wait a second, kit. I have something for you". Kyuubi said while spawning a scroll in front of Naruto.

"What's that?", Naruto said, picking it up.

"I-is that...?"

"Yes, kit, it is."

"Awesome, thanks a thousand times, Kurama! And wait a second."

"What is it, kit?"

"Whenever I use your chakra, my eyes turn red and slitted, right? So could you please give me enough chakra so my eyes stay like that permanently?"

"Very well, kit.", the Kyuubi said, while infusing Naruto with enough of his power to turn his eyes red and slitted. Since the amount of chakra needed was insignificant, the transformation was able to be held permanently.

"Thank you again, Kurama."

"Is something the matter? Are there any preparations you need to take?", the ghost asked the now red-eyed jinchuuriki.

"Go ahead, I only have one more thing to do." Naruto said, while Hashirama nodded, continuing to walk into the temple.

Naruto took off his forehead protector, remembering the day Iruka gave it to him. He had been so proud to have it given to him, but day after day, he felt more and more sick looking at the all to familiar sign. Taking a kunai, Naruto slashed through the hitai-ate, and put it on again, permanently signalizing his disconnection from his own personal hell.

A/N: So guys, hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new story. Reviews are always welcome!