Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"Welcome to Konohagakure, Shinren-sama," said a tall man with spiky silver hair to a man at least ten years his senior, "My name is Kakashi Hatake and I'll be your escort to the Hokage Tower."

Shinren was a tall man. He moved with grace and despite having just finished a long journey by carriage to Konoha, he did not seem even slightly tired. Kakashi bowed respectfully and it was returned by the other man just as smoothly

As expected of the leader of Takigakure.

Shinren had arrived with a small caravan of assorted goods native to Kawa no Kuni, the country his village was located in. Preserved fish, herbs and fruits that were only found in the fertile land that the water-rich Land of Rivers could produce.

Shinren turned to the small group of shinobi and traders that had accompanied him on the trip. There were a few other chunin and jounin from Konoha that were on hand to help them as Shinren spoke to a lanky man with blue hair.

"Ikado, ensure that our people follow our escorts and prepare for tonight's festival, " said Shinren drawing a nod from the other man, "We're celebrating our long alliance with Konoha. It would be remiss of us to not obey the rules set by our hosts."

"I understand, Shinren-sama," said Ikado as he bowed low before turning back to their delegation. Shinren turned away and together with Kakashi they began to make their way to the tower.

The road they were currently on was the traders' road and was very wide and filled with people. Of course, precautions had been made to ensure a safe passage and the crowds were forced to give the two men a wide berth by squads of Anbu and the Uchiha police force.

The smells and sounds of excited chatter assaulted their senses as they walked in something of an awkward silence. Kakashi was not one for pleasantries and so he decided to go with the tried and true method of remaining silent.

If Shinren really wanted to speak to him, then he could. If not, then that was also fine. Kakashi itched to take out his book and carry on from where he left off, but that was perhaps not the best move in front of a world leader.

The road they were on required them to take a few turns and cross a couple of others while they advanced towards the Tower. The winding roads were designed by Tobirama Senju and Madara Uchiha when designing Konoha.

Their reasoning had been that should any army invade Konoha then they shouldn't be able to have an easy time of reaching the Hokage tower which was the nucleus of all shinobi activities.

To a resident of Konoha, these streets were simple to navigate, but an invading army would have a considerably harder time traversing the roads. This would force them to the rooftops, but even then too many shinobi on the roofs would cause a bottleneck.

It was a simple plan, but that was often the best of plans. They had far more elaborate countermeasures for spies who leaked their layout and Kakashi only knew of some of them due to his status as an Anbu captain.

The sound of screaming up ahead drew Kakashi from his thoughts and he looked up at the source of the commotion. Perhaps thirty feet away from them, a cloud of green smoke was rapidly expanding.

Kakashi channelled chakra to his nose and he prepared a wind jutsu as he tried to figure out what the cloud was. It turned out to be a false alarm as a putrid smell invaded Kakashi's nose before he stopped channelling chakra.

Stink bombs. Homemade judging by how the stench seemed to waver and how quickly the cloud was dissipating. The unfortunate people caught in the range of the 'attack' were practically green in the face and some were looked about ready to void their stomachs.

Kakashi raised his hand to halt Shinren, an unnecessary action as the man had already stopped. Kakashi was about to speak when a flash of yellow bounced into his vision. A small boy tried to weave in between the two men, but all he succeeded in was falling back onto the floor.

"Ow," said the boy before he looked up and Kakashi was thrown as he stared into blindingly blue eyes, "Hey! You guys were in my way!"

Naruto Uzumaki. Kyuubi jinchuuriki and someone with supremely bad timing.

"You should watch where you're going," said Kakashi as he pulled the boy to his feet, "This is the leader of Taki. You should apologise. "

Naruto forgot his anger as he looked over Shinren. He was clearly curious about something, but for the life of him, Kakashi could not begin to guess what.

"It's not a problem, Hatake-san," said Shinren a smile spreading across his face, "He's just a young boy. I'm sure you can relate to being young and clumsy."

Well, Kakashi actually couldn't, but that was neither here nor there. It was a good thing that Shinren was not as egotistical as some other village leaders turned out to be.

"Wait," said Naruto as he looked at Shinren, "You're a villager leader? Like the old man Hokage? But you're like waaaaaaay younger than him and you seem–"

"There he is!" shouted a young boy maybe three years older than Naruto as he pointed at the kid in front of them. Kakashi realised the man must have been caught in the cloud and he held back a chuckle as he realised the man was an Inuzuka.

An enhanced sense of smell and stink bombs were apparently a bad combo. Who would have thought?

"I gotta run!" said Naruto as he rose to his feet and took off. A group of maybe four kids chased after him and Kakashi only had to look up to the rooftops before an Anbu trailed behind the group.

Naruto would be fine. At most, the crowd would only give him a dressing down or make him wash their clothes of the stench. He was a bit of an outcast, but no one was stupid enough to outright attack the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

You couldn't be too careful, though. Itachi was more than strong enough to keep Naruto safe in case things got dicey. Those kids didn't know anything about Naruto, but no one liked being in the epicentre of a stink cloud.

Kakashi turned to Shinren who was still turned in the direction Naruto had gone off in, "Shall we?"

Shinren snapped out of his daze and nodded at Kakashi, "Your village is...lively."

That was not how Kakashi would describe what had just happened, but maybe that's why he stuck to missions. Diplomacy was too much of a chore sometimes.

Naruto smirked from his perch on a roof. Gin and his goons were walking from street to street trying to figure out where he was. They looked in every direction, but up. No wonder he got those stink bombs on them so easily.

Those bastards didn't even it see coming. Idiots.

Naruto's grand plan to get some revenge on the warehouse district bullies paid off. There was some collateral damage, but only the ones who got pegged with the bombs would still stink even by tomorrow.

That's what they got for nabbing his bag. Naruto had been on his way to the stores when they jumped him and stole his bag. It was an old thing given to him by the matron to hold some of his stuff once he had been given his clothes.

The matron of the orphanage was a nice enough lady. She was overworked and seemed tired, but she had enough time for them all. If it weren't for her, Naruto wouldn't have known how to cook or clean or read or...well anything really.

His apartment was just past the warehouse district in a nice part of Konoha. It was not as nice as where those jounin lived or the clans, but it was alright. The nicest thing about his apartment was that he was never bothered by anyone.

After so much time sharing beds and pillows and showers, it was nice to have space to himself. It was also a bit lonely. This pulling pranks thing was great, though. Maybe–

The sound of feet shuffling next to him drew Naruto's attention. He didn't even look behind him as he made to jump off the roof. Unfortunately, he wasn't getting off that easily and he felt a hand grasp the back of his shirt.

Naruto turned and he saw a mask with weird patterns on it. The person had short, black hair and Naruto could practically feel the man's disapproval. It reminded him of the time Matron had caught him sneaking into the pantry for an extra ramen packet.

"What you did was wrong," he said and Naruto lifted his hands as he practically shouted a reply.

"They deserved it!" shouted Naruto his arms flailing wildly, "I don't bother them, but they won't leave me alone! If they had been nicer then I wouldn't have pranked them!"

"Do you think they will stop now that they know you are responsible?"

It was a good question. Gin had seen Naruto and they would all probably lining up to have a crack at him. Naruto was only six. Gin was almost ten years old and he had like a million friends.

There was no way Gin wasn't going to go for some revenge.

"Next time," said the man (or boy? He sounded kinda young to Naruto), "You should be smarter. Do you want to be a shinobi?"

"Yes! I want to be the best! Just like the old man!" said Naruto as he nodded excitedly. He would be able to travel the world, make new friends and become someone important!

Why wouldn't he want to be a shinobi?

"If you want to be the best then you must work hard, " said the boy-man as he picked up Naruto, "Remember power is useless without working hard and you must be smarter than your opponent. Climbing the walls was clever, but if you had not been caught you would have been able to start getting ready for the festival."

"How can I be strong without jutsu?" said Naruto as he allowed the boy-man to carry him as they began making towards his apartment, "The old man said I'm not ready."

They skipped over the heads of various citizens before soon they were at the top floor of Lotus Apartments – Naruto's flat. The boy(man?) put him down and he looked down at Naruto the sun shining on his mask.

"Make your own jutsu. The best things in life are unique."

There was a gust of wind and Naruto was alone outside his door. The shinobi had been a bit weird and stiff, but he was right. Naruto was going to be in the academy in two years, but he did not have time to waste.

Gin and all the other punks in the Warehouse district would only get stronger and that was bad news for Naruto. Especially after today. That stink wouldn't go out for days.

Naruto felt sweat begin to pool under his armpits and he took a sniff before jerking back harshly. Okay, maybe a shower wasn't a bad idea. He had been so excited while making the stink bombs he had forgotten to shower today.

That wouldn't do. Especially since there was a festival tonight. The old man had given some cash and a snow-white kimono. Apparently, orange wasn't an option.

The festival was only going to start in a couple of hours, though, so he was going to take a small nap. Who knew running around and climbing onto a roof took so much energy?

"My lord," said Ikado as he knelt in front of Shinren in their allocated room, "This would be tantamount to our treatment of Kakuzu. All this for some boy–"

"He is not some boy," said Shinren a wisp of anger on his voice, "Our village's sensory jutsu is second to none. Just like how I know the Hokage is going to be here with Hatake in five minutes."

"Even if you're right," said Ikado keeping his voice neutral, "Stealing a jinchuuriki is a declaration of war. We cannot beat Konoha."

"We do not need Konoha," said Shinren, "Iwa has been insistent on an alliance. One that is more favourable than our current one with Konoha. They offer jutsu and shinobi training, how could I refuse?"

"It is done," said Shinren as he cut off a reply from Ikado, "We take the jinchuuriki and seal the Kyūbi into another child. With the Kyuubi and the Nanabi, we will be a superpower in all, but name. You have your orders, now go. Our other shinobi will cause a distraction. He's guarded by ANBU, make sure your approach is subtle."

"Your word is my will, Shinren-sama."

Ikado was about to leave, but he was held back by his leader. Ikado watched in confusion as Shinren reached into his pocket only to gasp as he saw a vial of clear water.

"The Hero's Water will ensure you are not caught," said Shinren as he handed the vial over, "Suppress your chakra and use the Sekaikan to avoid contact with patrols. Should it go well they will not know he's gone until the morning."

"You have your orders, Ikado. Your village is relying on you. Recruit as many men as you need and understand that capture is not an option."

Festivals were cool.

The food was great. Music at every corner. Plus, there were a ton of games. Darts, koi fishing and even this weird stacking game with rings. Naruto had so much fun and ate so much that he did not notice the time fly.

It was only as he was ushered out a makeshift dango bar that he realised how late it was. The crisp night air bit at his face and Naruto wished he had spent the last of his money on a scarf instead of a toad wallet.

Actually, the wallet was still cool.

The festival was winding down and Naruto wandered back towards his apartment. The bigwigs of Konoha and Taki were apparently at some exclusive event that Naruto had been chased away from by the guards.

That wasn't fair. He saw kids his age in there! Why were they so special? There was a chocolate fountain in there! Life sucked sometimes.

Naruto was walking through the Warehouse district when a loud explosion drew his attention. He turned in the direction and he was surprised to see a large pillar of fire extend into the air.

It was in the direction of one their smaller gates and Naruto wondered if they were under attack. Naruto looked up to the sky and sure enough, various shinobi began to hop on the rooftops. They were black blues flying across a starry night.

Naruto knew things were bad. Usually, there were never so many shinobi at once. Naruto simply decided to run all the way to his apartment. It was in the opposite direction of the explosion and he was sure he would be okay.

Naruto made it to the door of his apartment when another loud explosion rocked the village. This time in another direction. Naruto scrambled to open his door and just as he got the door open, a third and final explosion went off.

"That was by the main gate," Naruto realised he tried to slam his door shut, but he got the fright of his life when a foot was jammed into the gap.

Naruto strained to close the door, but it was like trying to dodge the rain. The door was forced open and moonlight bled into the room. Naruto tried to run into his apartment, but he ended up tripping and knocking over a side table with some dishes on it as he fell onto the ground.

Naruto turned to the door and the intruder's frame was shadowed by the night sky. Naruto felt genuine fear as he saw there was a sack in the man's hand. Naruto began to back up even as his hands were cut deeply by the shards of the dishes that had shattered.

"Sorry, boy," said the man as he held up two fingers with his free hand, "This will be over soon. Now sleep."

Naruto heard the man whisper something under his breath before white feathers began to fall in front of him. Naruto felt like sleeping and despite the panic eating away at him, he fell asleep even as the shadow approached him.

There was something wrong. Hiruzen knew this from the beginning. It was the first time danger had been so close to Konoha's front gate. The past wars had always been in other countries and they had very rarely bled into Hi no Kuni.

Kakashi dropped down next to him in his Anbu gear. They were on a roof watching as shinobi worked to extinguish the fires spreading across the forest. The fire and explosion was chakra-based which resulted in a whiteout for the Barrier team.

Those were not their only trackers, however. Inuzuka, Aburame and Hyūga. The tracking teams were spread across the forest while an emergency evacuation to the Hokage monument was being controlled by Chunin and Genin.

"Report," said Hiruzen as he took in a deep breath.

"My summons have reported nothing so far," said Kakashi, "They've found corpses further in the forest, but they were blown to pieces. Some of our people got caught in the mix. No survivors."

"A suicide mission?"

"Only if caught, sir," said Kakashi and he looked up to his leader whose face was stern, "The tower is safe and none of the clans has reported anything we should be wary of. The same goes for all our facilities. They might not have gotten whatever they came here for."

"What did they want?" it was a question that Hiruzen knew he wouldn't receive an answer for. Not yet. There were so many more.

Who was responsible? Kumo? They hadn't even spoken to Konoha since the end of the last war. Suna? They lacked the manpower to go the distance with Konoha in a war of any sort. They were far too reliant on Hi no Kuni for natural resources.

Kiri was definitely out of the question so that left only one possibility.

"Iwa," said Hiruzen, "They're still reeling from Minato's assault even now, but I would not put it past Onoki. The wounds of war never truly heal."

It still did not feel quite right. Even someone as bitter as Onoki would not be so bold as to–

"Hokage-sama, Taichou," said a voice as an Anbu joined them on the roof.

Hiruzen recognised Itachi Uchiha almost immediately as he dropped to a knee in front of the two men, "I was overseeing evacuation in the north-west sector of the village when I found Naruto Uzumaki's apartment to have signs of a struggle."

Naruto.

Hiruzen felt a pit form in his stomach. How could he forget about Naruto? The boy was only six, but his value was untold. If Konoha lost their jinchuuriki then a war would not be far behind.

"Inu," said Hiruzen causing Kakashi to straighten up, "You and Tori will pursue Naruto's assailant. Priority is recovering Uzumaki. Seek to capture whoever was foolish enough to do this. Kill if necessary."

"Go."

There were two bursts of wind as the two Anbu shot off in the direction that Hiruzen presumed Naruto's abductor had taken. Whoever it was had caused a commotion in the opposite direction and now his shinobi were headed everywhere, but the right direction.

The fires were still spreading and Hiruzen was needed in case of any surprise attacks. Once they handled this situation, Hiruzen would strike out with his full might.

Naruto woke up and all he knew was darkness. He was bundled into a tight space and for the life of him, he could not even wiggle his legs. This was not good.

"Hey! Let me out, you bastard! Where the hell are you taking me?"

It seemed whoever had taken him was not entertaining any of his protests and Naruto continued to scream even as he felt like he was attached to a speeding cart.

His kidnapper was fast and Naruto tried not to panic as he realised that this man probably had something to do with the explosions. It could be ages until someone realised where they had gone.

Naruto continued to scream all the while and after a long while his assailant seemed to reach his breaking point. The man stopped and he pulled Naruto out of the sack. Naruto landed in a heap on the ground and immediately he tried to take off into the woods.

Sharp pain in his legs stopped him in his tracks, however, and Naruto fell to the ground. He turned back and through the tears in his eyes, he saw a shuriken embedded in his calf.

The man walked to him slowly as he began to go through handseals at a slow rate, "You are a pest, jinchuuriki. Let me go for something a bit more...permanent. "

Naruto tried to move. He really did, but he was just in too much pain. In the end, he closed his eyes and he just prayed for a miracle. Naruto felt something begin to buzz underneath his skin before it suddenly escaped him in a violent burst.

Ikado paused in his seals as blue energy exploded outwards from the jinchuuriki before the boy collapsed utterly exhausted. He knew it was dangerous to remain here now.

The Sekaikan had allowed him to avoid the majority of patrols and they were almost at the Kusa border. Konoha shinobi would not be able to follow him unless they wanted to draw the ire of Kusa. If all went well, Taki would steer clear of any suspicion.

Ikado picked up the boy and was about to jump up into the trees when he picked up two fast approaching shinobi. Their speed would mean they would soon be upon him. No doubt they were tracking him.

Ikado channelled chakra to his legs before taking to the trees. His speed was almost twice as fast as before. The range of the Sekaikan had extended with his

One of the chakra signatures was familiar. It took only a few seconds to realise where he had sensed the signature before.

"Kakashi," said Ikado as he let out a breath. Kakashi's reputation was well-known throughout the world. He was one of the generational talents Konoha seemed to produce regularly.

His official ranking was A-rank, but that was pure rubbish. Perhaps other countries did not wish to acknowledge yet another S-rank worthy Shinobi from Konoha. Ikado himself was A-rank and he knew he had no chance whatsoever of beating the son of the White Fang.

Let alone Kakashi with backup.

Ikado reached into his pocket and drew out a vial of water. It would cost him some years, but he would die anyway if he were caught by Konoha's Silver Wolf. Ikado drank the Hero's Water and he felt his chakra triple in strength.

That would hopefully be enough to get deep into Kusa no Kuni before circling back into Kawa no Kuni and back to Taki. He would have to rest eventually, but for now, he had a mission to finish.

Naruto opened his eyes and this time at least he wasn't in a bag. Instead, he was tied up with rope inside a cave. Sunlight bled into the cave entrance telling Naruto that he had been out for more than just a couple of hours. By Naruto's guess, it was early in the morning.

If he had been in the village he wouldn't have woken up for a few more hours at least.

Naruto looked around the cave and he felt anger bubble inside him as he saw the face of his kidnapper. He was asleep and Naruto hated how comfortable the man seemed.

The ropes were digging into Naruto's skin and his body felt like he had been chewed up and spat out. Naruto tried to wiggle free of the ropes, but all he ended up achieving was falling onto his side.

He landed with a thump and stars swam through his vision as he bumped his head on a rock. If Naruto were strong enough or not tied, he would have thrown that rock as far away as possible.

Things seemed to go from bad to worse for Naruto as his assailant woke up from the noise. He seemed to be extremely worn out and yet he still managed to move without much fuss. He packed up his stuff before picking Naruto up again.

"Let's go, jinchuuriki," said the man as he picked up Naruto who was squirming all over the place.

"Who are you?" Naruto's voice was loud and made the shinobi flinch from the volume, "What do you want from me? Also, my name isn't Jin-whatever! It's Naruto Uzumaki!"

"My name is Ikado," said the man, "I want what's inside you and I don't care what your name is."

He wanted what was inside of him? This guy was weird besides Naruto didn't need to use the bath–

Ikado seemed to pause as his head jerked in a random direction. They were now outside the cave and Naruto was surprised by how hot and humid the air was. The sun was beating down on them and judging by the lack of trees, they weren't close to Konoha. Naruto began to realise just how bad his situation was as he was hauled away.

"Help! Someone–"

The rest of Naruto's words were lost to the wind as he was carried off by Ikado. They were running through tall grass before they came to a river. To Naruto's surprise, Ikado instead of going through the river he ran on the fricking water.

Naruto was feeling panic bubble up within him at this stage and he tried his best to wriggle free. No matter what he did, nothing was working. The ropes were too tight.

That wouldn't stop Naruto though.

Naruto kept pushing against the restraints. The rope wouldn't budge. Naruto was weak. If that Princess Gale in that one movie could do it why couldn't he? Everyone had chakra, right? So it should be easy for him to break free.

Naruto tried to focus on his chakra. The Princess Gale movie had all the kids in the orphanage trying to use their chakra. Matron, or Shina-baasan, had said that you had to focus inside you to use your chakra.

Apparently, she used to be a shinobi back in the day.

Naruto shook his head as he focused on the task ahead. Chakra. Focus. Inside. Chakra. Focus. Inside. Slowly, Naruto felt something warm dance across his skin. It started barely noticeable before it quickly became burning hot.

Ikado swore and Naruto thought he had finally unlocked his chakra. As it turned out, the warm feeling was not his chakra. Ikado had slowed down completely and Naruto lifted his head from where he was slung over Ikado's shoulder.

Oh, so that's what it was.

Fire. Like a lot of fire. They were surrounded by a ring of fire and Naruto had no clue how that had even happened. They were the only two around for miles and there was no way Ikado was cool enough to do this.

"Ikado Jurono," said a voice and Naruto turned to see two of those masked ninjas that were always around Konoha rise up from the ground.

"Give us the boy now and surrender," said the man with silver hair and what looked like a dog mask, "Any more resistance will result in a harsher retaliation against your village."

Naruto felt his world spin as Ikado positioned him as a meat-shield. There was something cold against Naruto's neck and he glanced down only to jerk back slightly when he realised it was a kunai.

"Take one more step and you lose the Kyuubi," said Ikado causing Kakashi and Itachi to glance at each other.

Naruto, on the other hand, was confused. The Kyuubi? Wasn't that the giant fox that killed the last Hokage? Shina-baasan didn't like to speak about it whenever he asked about it. Was it because of him?

Was he the Kyuubi?

"This is your last warning, Ikado," said Kakashi as he took a step forward, "Your village will suffer even more if you make the wrong move."

Ikado's eyes flashed rapidly between Kakashi and Itachi before he decided on a course of action. He lifted his kunai and was about to gut the jinchuuriki when his arm was suddenly grabbed by something.

Ikado looked up at the Anbu only to see them fade away like a mirage. He turned to who was holding his arm and he stared into the black and red of Kakashi's Sharingan sealing his fate.

"You will forever be known as the man who killed Taki," said Kakashi his lone Sharingan eye swirling like petals on a river.

Ikado became aware of the fact that the other Anbu had already retrieved Naruto. It had to have been Genjutsu. It was probably cast once he had taken out his kunai.

"I hope this was worth it," said Kakashi his casual tone somehow managing to create a ball of fear within Ikado. Kakashi's grip tightened causing Ikado to drop his kunai.

The Anbu's Sharingan picked up speed and he heard the man's voice grow a bit of an edge as he said the last words Ikado would hear from him

"Raiton: Bakurai!"

Jutsu List:

Ninpou: Sekaikan (Ninja Art: Outlook On The World)

A sensory jutsu developed by Takigakure shinobi and only available to Taki's upper echelons of shinobi. At it's highest levels, it can even determine whether one is a jinchuuriki. Said to be based on a lost Uzumaki jutsu. B-rank.

Raiton: Bakurai (Lightning Release: Depth Charge)

After enveloping themselves with lightning chakra, the user can inflict damage to the opponent by either touching or emanating a powerful bolt of electricity from any part of their body.

Takigakure – Hidden Waterfall

Kawa no Kuni – Land of Rivers

Kusa

Author Notes:

Hello, guys! This is the spiritual rewrite of Rising Above. This is long overdue guys. I'm really sorry it took this long, but it's finally out. Please tell me what you guys think.

Anyways, I'm not as green a writer as before so I think I can manage to carry this story on. I have some really great ideas and as you can tell it is quite different from Rising Above.

Hopefully, you'll stay though and to all the people coming over, I'm sorry it took this long and here's to a new story that I swear on Alvaro Morata and Marcos Llorente will finish. If you know, you know.

I have three works in progress including this one. Ascendants and Dauntless will take priority. Herald is more of a fun project and so the updates will be a lot slower there now. Once a month if I can squeeze it. Sorry to any of you that enjoy it

It's only the beginning, but please tell me what you think. I was thinking of going on further, but that felt like a good enough ending point for the first chapter.

Also, as usual, tell me what ships, thoughts or whatever questions you may have. My PM lines are always open so feel free to ask me something if you feel need the privacy.