Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It is owned by Kishimoto Masashi and published by Jump Comics.

Warning: This story is rated T for violence, language and potential sexual situations.

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"Character speech"

'Character thoughts'

"Demon or large summon speech or jutsu name announced"

'Demon or large summon thoughts or jutsu name thought'

XXXXX

Path of Hatred

Chapter 3 – The Measure of a Man

XXXXX

A shout was heard throughout Konoha. "WHAT?! YONDAIME HOKAGE-SAMA'S TEACHER WAS A PERVERT?!"

Both Ebisu and the Sandaime winced at the volume. "Not so loud," Sandaime called out, "my old ears can't take it."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, it's just that… well… why are so many good shinobi perverts? Was Yondaime a pervert?"

"Naruto, I don't think –"

Ebisu was cut-off by Sandaime. "It's quite alright. No, to my knowledge, Yondaime was not a pervert. It was quite amusing really since he was somewhat of a heart-throb and yet he did not date very often."

Before Naruto even realized what he was saying, he asked, "Yondaime wasn't a stuck-up bastard like Sasuke, was he? Because I wouldn't have respect for him anymore if he was."

Ebisu choked on his own breath; the old Hokage merely chuckled. "No, Yondaime-dono wasn't a 'stuck-up bastard' as you put it. He was the type of man who valued everyone in Konoha. The sealing jutsu he used to seal the Kyuubi inside of you not only claimed his life, but his afterlife as well." The old man paused, allowing the depth of the words to seek in. Even now the Yondaime was suffering through eternal damnation, a heavy price to pay just to seal something. "That was the extent to which Yondaime was willing to go to protect this village."

Naruto hung his head a bit. The Hokage was hitting frighteningly close to the question seeded in the back of Naruto's mind. Naruto chose to voice these thoughts. In a rare, quiet tone he asked, "But why did he choose me? What am I, chopped liver? Couldn't he have left me with something, anything? I-I never had anything, no family, no inheritance, nothing. Why did he choose me of all people as the jinchuuriki," Naruto emphasized with venom, "of that stupid fox?"

Ebisu eyed his leader curiously; this was a question that many jounin had asked. They all knew that Naruto was supposed to be thought of as a hero – that was Yondaime's dying request – but if this were true, what did the Yondaime leave for Naruto to have? Certainly their leader was not all talk; just thinking those thoughts was a damnable offense in the eyes of many. Babies do not grow on trees and they do not mysteriously appear, especially not in ninja villages, yet Naruto's past was shrouded in mystery. No one had stepped forward to claim Naruto and no one knew where he came from. These seeds of doubt left credence for rumors to spread of the Yondaime sealing the Kyuubi into a human form, though any shinobi adept in the sealing arts knew better. Still, merely knowing better was not enough.

The old man sighed and pulled down a bit on the brim of his hat; he was not comfortable with discussing this issue, but Naruto had a right to know at least some of the truth. "Naruto, there were special circumstances that you met. I'm afraid that I cannot divulge everything to you at this point in time, but I can tell you some of it. Two of the conditions for choosing a container for the Kyuubi were that the individual needed to be a newborn and the individual needed to have a large amount of chakra so that the overflow from the seal into your body would have as small an effect on you as possible. Essentially, the seal has to continually leak some of Kyuubi's chakra into you; otherwise Kyuubi would be able to build up enough chakra on the other side to break the seal apart. This overflow relieves the pressure on the seal and having a large body of chakra to call your own essentially dilutes the influence Kyuubi could have on you."

'I see,' Ebisu thought as he pushed up his glasses. 'Truly that seal is amazing. From what Sandaime-sama has said, it seems that if the Kyuubi were to attempt to build up a large mass of chakra, the seal would cause a great amount of it to spill into Naruto and ultimately the Kyuubi would run out of chakra before the seal could be torn down.' Ebisu had to restrain himself from whistling uncharacteristically. 'That seal is even more powerful than I imagined – it reacts to the circumstances as if it were alive!'

Naruto, meanwhile, scratched the side of his head with a finger. "I didn't really understand all that, but basically you're saying that Yondaime chose me because I would be harder than anyone else for the Kyuubi to possess, right?"

"Essentially, yes," the man confirmed. "As for your other question about what he left you, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you. Your living expenses even right now are subsidized by the funds that Yondaime-dono left in your name. That is why you have never had to pay rent or utilities." Naruto scratched his head sheepishly; he had assumed that those bills were just covered by the standard orphan's fund or even from Sandaime himself; after all, the old Hokage had always been extra nice to him. "By the time you become a chuunin or turn sixteen, which ever comes first, the remainder of the fund will be turned over to you. That fund includes all of Yondaime-dono's liquid assets – meaning money – as well as several scrolls left in your name. Nobody knows what any of those scrolls contain. However, I can leave you this…"

Sandaime reached down into a drawer of his desk, producing a small scroll, which he tossed over to Naruto. Unrolling the scroll, Naruto read aloud. "Dear Naruto, since you have been given this scroll, you already know of what I did. Please understand that I had to do it. Forgive me. Hopefully, the rest of the inheritance that I have passed on to you will make its way into your hands, but just in case, smear some blood across this seal." Naruto bit on his thumb and then smeared over a circular shaped seal. Out popped a wad of cash. By no means did this "inheritance" make Naruto rich, but it was more than enough to cover Naruto's meager expenses for a number of months. For someone like Naruto, who hardly ever had any money it was like 'free ramen for a whole year!'

"Thanks old man!" Naruto grinned. Life was feeling just a little bit better already.

Ebisu was too caught up mentally counting the money to catch Naruto's disrespectful remark. 'Interesting, Yondaime-sama left Naruto just about the right amount to leave this village and start up a new life as a civilian elsewhere. Granted, he didn't take into account inflation…'

Sandaime's thoughts were along similar lines. 'It's not much, but the Yondaime never was a very wealthy man. He lived in a small condo much like Naruto's apartment until he got this job, and then he was able to sell his condo and move in here where the Hokage has free housing available. By the end of his life, he could afford to live well, but he started with nothing, just like Naruto.' Indeed, Naruto reminded the aged Hokage of his now deceased successor in many ways. This, perhaps along with feelings of guilt, would be Naruto's only shot – and perhaps even Konoha's as well – of having a Sannin take another apprentice. With Orochimaru turned traitor and Tsunade unable to move on from her past, Jiraiya was Sandaime's only hope lest his legacy end with a bunch of delinquents. It was in Naruto's generation that Sandaime would place his trust, and above all others, Naruto himself.

With a sorrowful heart, the Sandaime realized that Naruto – that seemingly happy boy whose eyes glowed with pride and joy at the thought of his hero actually leaving his possessions to Naruto – had been placed with yet more weight on his shoulders. 'I only hope that this added burden is not too much to bear.' Even now, sadness and a newfound anger could be found, if one were looking close enough, in the depths of Naruto's eyes.

"Ahem," the Sandaime coughed into his hand garnering the attention of the other two occupants of the room. "While I'm glad to be of service Naruto, this meeting has dragged on too long and I have…" the Sandaime looked over at the pile of papers seated neatly on his desk before shivering, "some paperwork that needs to be taken care of. You'll have to leave tomorrow morning if you plan to make the book signing. I'll be assigning this as a C-ranked mission to bring Jiraiya back to Konoha. Until then, you'll be relieved of the responsibilities that come with being placed on Team Seven. Dismissed and may good luck be with you."

Naruto grinned at the aged man. "I'll bring back the pervert. You can count on it ojii-sama!"

Ebisu looked peeved at Naruto's informality, but the Hokage's chuckling dismissed those feelings. Ebisu raised an eyebrow. As kind as the old Hokage was, he was still a great shinobi whose mere presence demanded respect. The old man simply replied, "That's the first time he's called me ojii-sama. Coming from Naruto, that's a great sign of respect."

Ebisu merely shook his head, a small grin making its way to his face. He had hoped to train Naruto in etiquette but perhaps that was something Naruto would never learn. More importantly, until Naruto earned respect as a competent shinobi, etiquette would never get him anywhere, not with the people from Konoha and most certainly not with foreign dignitaries who cared about titles alone. It was in those regards that Ebisu dismissed that train of thought entirely.

No, there was one more important thing Ebisu would need to assist Naruto in his training. 'Now where to start,' Ebisu thought grimly. "Hokage-sama, I have read that a jinchuuriki can utilize the power of their biju by 'resonating with it.' If so, then wouldn't that mean that to use 'it's' power Naruto would have to experience feelings of deep hatred?"

Sandaime stood up from his desk and walked over towards the window, looking down on his great village. He placed his smoking pipe in his mouth and inhaled deeply, taking the time to puff out smoke in a shape that vaguely resembled the "Konoha Leaf Mark" before pulling it out to speak. "In a way, yes. All the biju are spirits that embody forces of this world that are a natural part of living things. Of these beasts, the one most shrouded in mystery is the Kyuubi, who throughout history has been known to awaken and destroy things on a whim before mysteriously disappearing again. Few have ever actually met the Kyuubi and survived, and fewer still have actually spoken with it. One of those people was none other than Uchiha Madara and according to what little he left behind about his experiences with the Kyuubi, it abides by these principles just as the other biju do."

The Sandaime took a pause, glancing back at Ebisu. "The Kyuubi is known as the beast of calamity and it wreaks havoc upon any who stand in its wake."

XXXXX

All the evidence left that the sun had fallen was the pink illumination of the evening sky when Naruto entered Ichiraku's for the second time in the day.

"Oi, ossan (old man)," Naruto called, "miso ramen please!"

Ayame looked at her visitor and dropped the bowl of ramen she was clearing off the table stand. It shattered on the ground. "N-Naruto?"

"In the flesh," he replied back with a grin.

She blushed. This was not the same Naruto who left their stand this morning. The Naruto they had seen earlier looked tired and depressed; the word "dreary" should not have been one to describe Naruto and yet it was. The Naruto they had seen earlier sported a neon orange jumpsuit, apparel meant to attract attention despite his ninja life. And most importantly, the Naruto they had seen earlier needed someone to catch him as he fell.

This Naruto radiated the confidence of the old Naruto, the one that the old ramen chef Teuchi and his daughter Ayame had known before that fateful mission to Wave, yet without the childish desire to be the center of attention. And, for once, he actually looked handsome, despite green not being his best color.

"You look different," she commented.

He grinned cheekily. "I feel different."

She tilted her head questioningly. "What happened to you?"

"Got a new sensei and a new mission," he cryptically replied. He had heard once that girls like an enigma. Granted, he felt that he was one before… 'Seriously, an orange wearing ninja? What's not mysterious about that?'

She arched an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically as he made a bid towards his favorite stool. "But green?"

Teuchi had been vying for his chance to see what was going on since the moment the conversation had started. Now he simply couldn't resist. Ignoring the boiling pot of ramen for a second, he peered over his shoulder towards Naruto. "Green? What happened to you, get a girlfriend or something?"

Naruto sputtered. There was no way, just no way, that he would sellout and wear green just for some girl, not even "Sakura-chan" – especially not now.

"A girlfriend? I'm going to be jealous," Ayame said with a fake pout. Deep within her mirth filled eyes, something flashed that made Naruto feel like he was being examined under a microscope. Somehow, his reply to her statement mattered, as if it was a measure of how much a man he was.

This challenge was new to him; girls would usually measure him the moment they saw him. Usually, it was with a sneer, on occasion it was with pity, and when he was younger it sometimes was with the same look a girl would give her favorite teddy bear – a piece of property kept because it was "kawaii (cute)." Then of course there was Hinata, who would sometimes strangely sneak glances his way when she thought he wasn't looking. He was not retarded, he knew she did it – though not nearly to the extent he should have known – but he could not figure out why. However, since she blushed at just about any sort of attention, he came to the conclusion that she was a weird, timid girl who was uncomfortable with him not because adults were, but because he was her exact opposite and it embarrassed her. He was not far from the truth as she was embarrassed because of her thoughts of getting his attention, which she sought because he was her opposite, and considering those traits – specifically Naruto's loud and brash assertiveness – desirable, she saw Naruto himself as desirable.

But what Naruto craved was not a look of pity, nor did he crave to be looked at like a favorite teddy bear or even be observed from afar. In truth, he did not even desire Sasuke's position, where the brooding raven-haired child would be eyed like a piece of meat. He wanted someone, anyone, to see him as just him, measuring him by his own genuine qualities. He had dreamed that Sakura would see him this way and she would become his girlfriend. He had dreamed that other people would see him this way and they would become friends to him, brothers and sisters.

But here and now, Ayame – someone he took for granted as the cute girl who would treat humanly as she served him ramen – was giving him that chance. For Naruto, the game was on. He grinned.

"You know," he said in what he thought was his most hip and cool tone, "green may not be my best color, but it's what I'll be forced to wear when I earn my chuunin vest. I might as well get used to it."

Ayame giggled and then she and Teuchi broke out into outright laughter. Naruto's smile almost faltered, but the laughter was contagious. He realized they were not laughing at him, but at his put-on act of coolness. It was something Sasuke might do and the girls would swoon all over him for it, but it just wasn't a Naruto thing to do – Naruto's attempts at being cool were desperate pleas for attention as if he were waving a giant sign saying "I'm here, look at me."

"Th-that… that made my day." Ayame wiped the tears from her eyes, her voice wavering as it threatened to break out into laughter yet again. "Oh man…" she started before realizing that she was standing over a broken bowl still. "Oh… oh shoot. I've got to clean this up."

Naruto held up his hand gesturing for her to stop. "Watch this! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique… surely you guys know that by now)!"

Two identical clones of Naruto phased into existence next to him and right away went to work cleaning up the pieces of ceramic from the broken bowl. Ayame blinked at the clones, real, carbon copies of Naruto doing her work for her. Experimentally, she flicked one of them on the forehead.

"Ow!" Ayame nearly jumped back as the clone rubbed its head and glared at her. The other clone glared at the first. "Idiot, don't spoil our chances!"

Ayame blinked again and turned her head to Naruto who, in this rare moment, looked ready to shrink back into a corner as he held a hand to cover his face. From beneath it Ayame could see the crimson blush of his cheeks.

Naruto's eyes caught Ayame's and his blush redoubled under her scrutinizing gaze. He was half expecting her to smash him over the head, call him a pervert and then throw him out of the ramen stand. Instead, she merely smiled, and as if the clones had never said anything asked, "That's a neat trick, can you teach it to me?"

Naruto blinked for a moment, caught off-guard by the sudden question. "I-I guess. I mean, uhm, it's a forbidden technique, and you'll have to learn all about chakra first, but, uh, yeah, I could teach you. I mean, uhm, if that's what you want."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat as she opened her mouth. "I'd love that."

Relief flooded through Naruto. He was accepted. She wanted to spend time with him. It was not a date, but it was something, and something is just what Naruto was lacking.

For a moment, the world seemed lost to Naruto as he contemplated what this meant. It was the first time he could ever remember having a friendly get together with someone he could count as a friend and perhaps more. Whether that "and more" was in a sisterly way or a romantic way he had not decided, but what he did know was the feeling of all his last thoughts of Sakura blasting out the window. He was not a single man on the prowl, but he was not a man obligated to live and die for one girl – or at least not that one girl as he imagined he would someday be married to someone he would live and die for. He could not remember how or why he obligated himself to Sakura in that way, but at some point he had, and now those feelings were gone.

XXX Flashback XXX

"I'm serious," she breathed out, a blush now adorning her cheeks. Shyly, she tilted her head down somewhat, looking up into his eyes from underneath, a magic sparkle of hope and dirty innocence glistening from within them. "I would do anything." Her shoulders drew in, hinting at her poorly veiled insecurity yet giving her a cuter image all the same. "Because I like you…"

As she leaned in for a kiss, Naruto's mouth hung somewhat open and his eyes were as wide as saucers, a slight blush adorning his cheeks as he realized, 'I finally understand why I like her… in a way, she's like me.'

XXX End Flashback XXX

He realized that his old feelings for Sakura were no different than what she felt for Sasuke. Above all else, those feelings were empty. It was a crush and nothing about it was real except for how empty it was. Naruto realized that Sasuke's thoughts of revenge were no different. 'After Sasuke kills his brother, then what? There's nothing left. After Sakura gets Sasuke, then what? She worships him and either she will be forced to realize his humanity or she will live an empty life praying to a mortal god.'

His feelings for Ayame were nothing like that. Sure, he did fancy her – she was beautiful! But what mattered was that she saw him for who he was and acknowledged him, desiring his companionship and whether it was as a brother, a lover, or simply a friend, he was ecstatic that someone from his generation, even if she were older, would see him for who he was and seek his attention.

His blush renewed just in time for the old ramen chef to put a steaming hot ramen bowl at his place. "Ramen's on!"

Both he and Ayame looked at it and blinked, caught off guard by the sudden intrusion in their respective thoughts, Naruto sorting out his feelings for her and her wondering what shinobi training entailed and if Naruto would get in trouble for revealing village secrets to her. Despite the prevalence of trained shinobi within the village, civilians were kept rather oblivious of not only what shinobi training entailed, but of what shinobi were capable of as well.

However, being chefs by training, there was one aspect of shinobi life that the Ichiraku's knew more about than Naruto: dieting. Staring down at his ramen bowl, Naruto was reminded of the nutritional information Kakashi had left in his scroll. Unfortunately, Kakashi had only left Naruto with a basic food pyramid and information about what food groups Naruto should eat from at what times of day, caloric intake, vitamin and nutrient intake, and foods that should be avoided entirely. While Kakashi assumed Naruto's knowledge about most things was extremely limited, in this rare instance Kakashi had overestimated Naruto's ability. This amounted to an important question about what various food groups actually entailed: "Hey, uhm, ossan, do noodles count as a vegetable?"

The old man gaped at Naruto, silently begging for this to be a joke. Ayame was doing her best impression of a fish. "Wh-what?" The older girl tried to remind herself that Naruto lived alone, but she could not help but feel disbelief. "Naruto, noodles aren't a vegetable. What have you been eating all these years?"

Naruto's face reddened, a nervous smile gracing his lips. "I, uhm, I eat ramen I guess."

Teuchi barely restrained himself from saying "Duh!" Why else would someone eat at a ramen stand? "We know that, but what else do you eat?"

Naruto glanced between Teuchi and Ayame. Ramen had seemed like a perfectly healthy meal before. Now that he thought about it, he realized that he was the only person who ate ramen with that much regularity, but at least it was cheap – not that Naruto was that broke, but he traded quality of food for quantity; he always felt so damn hungry, though for the first time it occurred to him that 'I'm eating for two.'

Indeed, Naruto ate enough on a regular basis to make anybody else morbidly obese. This was a consequence of his stamina, partially given to him by the fox. Physical energy requires ATP, the chemical that transports energy for metabolism on a cellular level. ATP of course requires food intake. To produce such a substantial amount of chakra, Naruto's body required high levels of ATP and thus large quantities of food.

Of course, Naruto did not understand anything about biology – or for that matter sealing – but what Naruto did know was that he had a tenant leasing space in his belly and somehow, because of this, he required more food than normal people, a disconcerting thought.

Instinctively, Naruto's right hand shot behind his head, rubbing the bottom of his hairline. "I, uhm, eat ramen and cereal. And I drink a little milk. That's about it, really…"

The two Ichiraku's looked at each other and exchanged grimaces. Of course they knew that Naruto loved ramen, but to eat nothing else?

Perhaps a gentle push was in order. Ayame grinned innocently. "Well no wonder you're so short if all you eat is ramen."

Naruto gawked at her. 'Did she just make fun of my height?'

She walked up next to him and held her hand out. "See? I'm still a whole head taller than you." She held her hand over Naruto's head at her height.

Naruto frowned. Of course he knew he was short, but it was a bit of a sore point that most people would not only look down on him metaphorically, but physically as well. An idea came to mind.

Ayame gasped as Naruto jumped, flipping himself in midair and applying chakra to his feet. Naruto flashed a foxy grin at the palpable shock on her face. She had of course seen all the ninja jump across rooftops, but never had she seen someone just hang there on a ceiling. She had not even realized that her hands instinctively made their way to her heart, now beating fast in surprise.

Playfully, he told her, "Now I'm a head higher than you! How's the air down there?" She grinned and giggled, and pretty soon she and Naruto were outright laughing together.

As Naruto's laughter died down, he yet again rubbed the back of his head. Startling Ayame, he flipped down grabbing a pair of chopsticks mid-flip before landing perfectly on his stool. Naruto smiled and dug into his food with a cry of "Itadakimasu!"

For the first time, Ayame truly saw the man that Naruto was. To her, he was always a "cute kid," but despite the clumsiness he showed in his day-to-day life, she truly saw for the first time that he was more than just a child playing ninja; he was a competent and surprisingly powerful warrior. This was the man who he was becoming. This was the man who he was. And most importantly, he was not all smoke and mirrors – he was the real deal and he would climb to unfathomable heights.

XXXXX

The moonlight bathed the Village Hidden in the Leaves with an eerily peaceful quality. The aged village leader stood on the roof of the Hokage Tower, observing the Hokage Monument in this life. He noted that while the Yondaime's silhouette always looked incredibly serious – very different from the way the man actually was – now he seemed to be downright scowling as if unhappy of the fate befallen upon his legacy.

A figure jumped in behind the Hokage, who stood unmoving, his robe flapping in the sudden gust of wind this new person carried. "You're late as usual Kakashi. Someday your tardiness will cost you."

The man shrugged, merely pulling out a little orange book from his kunai pouch. "You called for me?"

The old man sighed, disappointed in the cycloptic jounin. His ears faintly caught the sound of snickering from the shadows of the rooftop, undoubtedly one of his hidden ANBU guardsmen finding a cheap laugh at Hatake Kakashi's expense. Sarutobi, the man praised as the greatest of all shinobi, turned to face his late successor's protégé. "I've sent Naruto on a mission outside this village. Until he returns, his duties as a part of Team Seven will be suspended. I trust you understand that this means no more C-rank missions for awhile."

Kakashi nodded absent-mindedly. "If I may ask, what kind of mission is it?"

Kakashi's eyes lifted from his book, gazing into the Sandaime's own. "A retrieval mission. I've asked Naruto to bring back my student Jiraiya."

Most would have been caught by surprise by the implications of that statement; most were not Kakashi. Again he nodded absent-mindedly. "Naruto is number one at surprising people and he's greatly determined. If anyone can do it, it's Naruto. Is that all?"

The Hokage sighed again, not amused by the disrespectfulness of reading a perverted novel in his presence, even if he himself was a staunch reader of the same series. Kakashi could only get away with these kinds of things since he was the prodigal Sharingan-wielding student of the Yondaime. Still, Sarutobi wished now that he had taken a more active role in Kakashi's development; the scarecrow look-alike easily possessed the shinobi ability to become a Hokage, but he lacked the drive or interest, immersing himself in his past woes and the pleasures of pornography. "Yes, that is all."

Kakashi nodded and took off. Sandaime watched his retreating form. 'Kakashi… what Minato would think of you now… he is only number one at surprising you because you allow yourself to be taken by surprise rather than taking the time to understand him.'

XXXXX

As dawn spread her fingertips of rose, the sun's first light found Ebisu resting his back against the village gate studying a map and brochures, all of which concerned Jiraiya's book signing.

Two figures approached, both dressed in blue and green garb. The younger was a blond haired youth instantaneously recognizable as the one and only Kyuubi jinchuuriki; the elder was a chuunin, if the flak jacket was of any indication, and had a scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. Ebisu recognized the man as Umino Iruka, one of the instructors from the academy.

Shortly after leaving the Hokage's office, Ebisu had studied Naruto's file in great detail. Every prank, every incident and every problem concerning Naruto was in there. The disdain most people of Konoha shared for Naruto was obvious, but towards the end of the record, one name stood out as someone who genuinely cared for the demon vessel: Umino Iruka.

Iruka had more right to hate Naruto than almost anyone else. Not only did Iruka have to deal with the underlying pain of being reminded of that fateful night he lost his parents all those years ago on a daily basis, but also by the time Naruto had found his way into Iruka's classroom, the young jinchuuriki had developed a penchant for causing trouble. Indeed, Naruto's desire for attention was so strong that he had begun a pranking spree where each progressive prank was more and more serious. While none of the pranks were particularly hurtful, it was clear that had Naruto continued down that path, the pranks would have been.

In Iruka Naruto had found a kindred soul and a father figure. This fact was evident from Naruto's posture and excited chatter. And if the emotions of happiness mixed with concern on Iruka's face were genuine, then Iruka returned those feelings.

Ebisu tucked away his map and brochures into a travel pack. It was fairly small, but for an experienced shinobi, it was a lot to carry. Usually, an experienced shinobi stores objects in scrolls via sealing. Particularly large items or objects that otherwise could not be stored within a scroll could be retrieved by way of a summoning scroll that would summon the object from a different location rather than from actually within the scroll. Naruto, however, had no background in seals. By carrying a travel pack of his own with a tent, a change of clothes, some rations, and some advanced reading material about seals – mainly kept for the purpose of trying to understand a seal as powerful as the Shikki Fuujin (Corpse Spirit Sealing Technique), though Ebisu found himself struggling with just the concepts, let alone the design – Ebisu could teach Naruto basic tricks used by gennin and rookie chuunin when going out on missions. Throwing his pack behind his back, Ebisu pushed up his sunglasses, prepared to begin this journey that Ebisu had no doubt would be adventuresome… if for no other reason than Jiraiya's habits.

Iruka approached Ebisu and held out his hand. A warm smile was splayed across Iruka's face, though Ebisu had the distinct feeling that he was being evaluated. A smile caught his lips; indeed, a good teacher could be disarming even while proctoring an examination, though, this was not often the goal.

"Umino Iruka," the chuunin introduced. "Naruto told me that you are going to be training him, Ebisu-senpai. I've heard good things about you – a special jounin with the title of 'elite teacher' is rare to find. I have also heard you trained several people who are now a part of the ANBU and are considered potential candidates for the title of Godaime Hokage if they continue developing over the next few years."

If anything, Ebisu's smile grew, curling into a bit of a smirk. 'He has done his homework I see. Perhaps someday he will earn the title of "elite teacher" himself. Though, I don't think any of my past students will make Hokage. They lack the potential of Naruto or even Konohamaru.' Stealing a quick glance at Naruto, Ebisu replied to Iruka, "That is indeed true, but I have even higher hopes for my current students."

An embarrassedly happy grin stretched across Naruto's face. Finally, in the form of a sensei, he found yet another source of acknowledgement.

XXXXX

"'CHA! WHERE IS HE?! I'LL KILL HIM!"

Sasuke winced at the girl's shriek of fury. Could she not ever shut up? Did she not realize that she was preventing him from thinking about the training scroll Kakashi gave him? Did she not realize that he needed power to kill Itachi?

Sakura was oblivious to all these thoughts. In her eyes, Sasuke could do no wrong. In her eyes, true love should prevail. That was why she was in a particularly terrible mood on this day; Sasuke did not make great conversation piece. To her, he seemed worse than usual. The reality was that Naruto usually distracted her just enough so that she was deluded into thinking that her time with Sasuke was well spent. Unfortunately, with Naruto leaving on a training mission, Sakura now had to spend three hours conversing with someone about as animated as a rock, and even she could see that it was going nowhere. 'Cha! That Kakashi-sensei, I'll kill him! And Naruto too! How dare he show up late!'

Finally, the one-eyed jounin chose to reveal himself. "Ohayo," he called with a sheepish grin – of course he had heard her yelling and for once she was actually producing killer intent.

Jumping to attention, she pointed at him shrieking, "YOU'RE LATE!" Both Kakashi and Sasuke winced; yet again, she did not notice. "AND WHERE'S NARUTO? HOW DARE THAT IDIOT SKIP OUT ON US?!"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, borrowing Naruto's patented embarrassed gesture. "Maa, Sakura, Naruto's not coming today." He held up a finger as if he was a professor rattling off a point during a lecture. He figured it was the best way to get Sakura to respond positively. "He was assigned a mission by the Hokage."

Before Sakura could even reply – and try to reply she did until she realized that her precious wanted to speak – Sasuke said something for the first time this morning aside from "Hn" or "Get off me."

"What kind of mission?" From Sasuke's tone, several conflicting emotions were betrayed: curiosity, jealousy, and even, very faintly, concern.

Still in his "lecture mode," Kakashi replied, "A retrieval mission. Probably D-rank."

"EH?" Again Sakura shouted, "What's so special about him that he has to go on this mission without us?"

A little threateningly Kakashi replied, "Because the person he is retrieving relates to his heritage." Naruto may have been Kakashi's least favorite student, but it was entirely because Kakashi could not relate to Naruto that he felt this way. As a teacher, he was still proud and even somewhat protective. Furthermore, Naruto was a comrade and he did not at all like that Sakura seemed to have forgotten his first lesson so easily. Somehow, Kakashi got the feeling that without Naruto around, things would get distinctly worse.

XXXXX

"Eh? Why have we stopped here?"

Ebisu dropped his pack. "Training."

Naruto tossed his pack down as well. "Eh? But why here?"

Ebisu eyed the younger man. "You said yourself your basics are a mess, right? You're going to practice the next level of chakra control." Not even ten meters away was a small stream. Ebisu strode purposefully towards it. Without a second thought, he walked out on the stream as if it were just ordinary dry land. "Water walking."

Naruto gaped. It seemed so unreal to him. Naruto's mind wandered back to his mission in Wave Country; as if a light bulb had gone off in his brain, Naruto's eyes flashed in recognition – now that he thought about it, he clearly remembered Kakashi and Zabuza fighting on a lake.

Naruto's expression shifted into a smile and his eyes burned with determination. "Alright!" With a yell he charged out towards the stream…

…Only to give a startled yelp as he fell in the water. Ebisu grimaced; this would take some work.

XXXXX

Over the next two days, Kakashi felt that his team's dynamic was slipping. Without Naruto to take out her frustrations on, Sakura's stress levels were through the roof. Additionally, it was clear to Kakashi that Sasuke actually enjoyed the little competitions he would have with Naruto. Without that, Sasuke felt like he was being paid to be a custodian rather than a shinobi. Worse yet, Sasuke recognized that these useless missions were distracting him from his goal and there was nothing to be gained out of them. Supposedly, this training would help bolster the teamwork of Team Seven, but Sakura's idea of teamwork was pining over him for romantic attention rather than working with him as a kunoichi. She was weak; at least Naruto had stamina.

'Naruto, I hope you'll be back soon,' Kakashi thought. 'I'm not sure how much longer I can take this headache.'

Meanwhile, in Tanzaku City, a blond haired blue eyed shinobi sneezed.

XXXXX

AN: This chapter was originally to be named "Crouching Ninja, Hidden Pervert." Unfortunately, I didn't get around to introducing Jiraiya just yet. So, now you know the chapter title for the next chapter.

This chapter, like the last, is a stepping-stone towards more important events. Naruto is slowly evolving into the man he must become. At this point in time, from the bottom of his heart he still wants acceptance, and that is why he's not very dark yet, but he will not at any point in this story join any evil organizations, so don't expect that. His changes are gradual. So far, he's still very canon, just more subdued.

"As dawn spread her fingertips of rose" is an allusion to Homer's Iliad.

I really, REALLY hope that the Naruto/Ayame moment came out okay. I was debating at first how much I should include, because I definitely don't want to rush the relationship. I started planning to wait until Naruto came back with Jiraiya in tow before anything truly interesting would happen, but as I was writing the scene it just kept going and going. Ultimately, I settled for the notion that Naruto views Ayame is a very attractive and very nice person, but because she is older than him and a civilian he feels she is out of reach (the civilian aspect of that being a lack of common ground for him to connect with her on). Obviously, he does like her, but she doesn't quite view him like that yet, but the seeds of thoughts along those lines have been planted in her.

FINALLY, Naruto's parents have been revealed in canon! However, I won't reveal their identities yet in my story. I'm going to hold those cards for later, waiting to see if there is a deeper connection between Pein and Naruto's heritage.

Now, allow me to be serious for a second: please do not post major spoilers in your reviews for this story. I read the new canon chapter every Friday (chapters are released on Thursdays and scanned and translated usually early Friday mornings), so you don't have to "remind" me of anything. If you really DO feel obligated, then send me a PM, not a review. It's different for Naruto of the Sharingan, which features spoilers through the most recent chapter of the manga in each successive chapter I release.

About Path of Revenge: I've gotten more feedback about it. It seems that people have problems with it because they feel like a Naruto who derives power from hatred would simply kill Sasuke. Naruto will have reasons for bringing Sasuke back alive. This will be a large part of why Naruto will be pissed when Sasuke leaves… Sasuke will do something that destroys Naruto's motivation to not kill Sasuke. That's a major hint, but I'll probably release chapter 1 of Revenge about the same time I end Hatred.

For those who STILL worry about it being too Sasuke-centric, my only comments are to wait until you see it before passing judgment. Don't tune it out without giving it a chance.

Also, POLL TIME!

Ayame's canon age is 4 years older than Naruto's. I feel awkward having them "do anything" in this story if I maintain that age gap as is. Maybe if he was 17 and she was 21, but 13 and 17?!?! Uh…

I mean, in some stories, I'll go with older/younger pairings, but usually there will be special circumstances. Besides that, I'm really striving to make this as realistic a divergence from canon as possible, so your choices are:

1.) Keep the age gap at 4 years, don't have them do anything beyond hand holding until Path of Revenge.

2.) Shrink the age gap down to 2 years. This would make her 15 and him 13. This is much more manageable.

Either way, there are NO lemons in this story. In fact, this whole series will probably be rated T.

Also, a teaser on a new fic; it's a romantic adventure/humor story called Naruto's Seven Deadly Wives. I'm working on it with drag-eart and LD 1449. Naruto will find his muse in the form of the seven deadly sins. If you read my profile, you may have an idea about what the project entails, but some significant changes were made. Just a fair warning, it will contain mature themes and almost definitely be M rated. Here's the official summary:

Mortality... it is a disgusting notion Kyuubi discovers, and as such he promises that he will not allow himself to fade quietly into the pages of history...