A/N: This story has been inspired by my recent infatuation for the Akatsuki. Also, this story is RATED FOR GRAPHIC VIOLENCE AND EXCESSIVE USE OF THE F WORD (along with others). IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT, DON'T READ.

Standard Disclaimers for Entire Story:

Naruto (and all other respective, phantasmagorical characters) don't belong to me. I only use the bubbling blond to turn him into a kick-ass killer because Kishimoto wouldn't do it for me.

I also don't own any of the artists/bands whose song titles and lyrics I will be using. (Note I may tweak or switch around the words a little)

Chapter 1 : Give It All

Break through the undertow, your hand I can't seem to find.
It's time to come to our senses , up from the dirt.
Today I offer myself to this.
I'm living for my dying wish.
I give it all, now there's a reason...there's a reason to give it all...
To give it all...

"Where the FUCK did pervy sage go?!" Naruto sourly swore to himself, using a curse he usually never does, as he sat on the window seal and starred out into the bustling city that was fully alive with a festival. He was feeling oddly unhappy today with the toad sage blowing him off for the black haired bimbo.

He leaned against the window frame lazily as he subconsciously looked at the people walking past. His eyes focused on a small family of a mother, father, and a ten year old son. The boy tripped on a stray rock in the road suddenly and fell, only to be cuddled by his mother two seconds later as he cried his heart out, his father patting his head to try and further comfort him and stop his wails.

For some reason, this usually heartfelt picture…made Naruto utterly sick to his stomach. Who was there for HIM when he'd fallen down so many times, abused so many times, FAILED so many times? Until Iruka, when he'd started acknowledging Naruto when he was nine, there was NO ONE. All those years of isolation…and for some reason, all that pain and hurt was finally starting to crack that mask of the happy dope that he'd worked so hard to put on.

Ripping his eyes from the picture perfect family scene, he jumped back into the room, his stomach continuing to flip as if he wanted to puke. Was there anyone, ANYONE, else who had really cared for him? Sure, Iruka…and there was the third…but he was dead. He held no more value rather then a few memories. Then there was Jiraiya, his new 'sensei.' All he gives a damn about are boobs and ass, not about my development. He'd probably be happier if I LEFT. Naruto continued to think darkly to himself, his face now starting to contort in anger.

Lastly, what about the rest of his 'Team 7'? Naruto almost scoffed at the idea of them actually caring at all for him. All Kakashi cared about was Sasuke and his precious orange books. Sakura beat him to a pulp everyday even though he was continually nice to her. And Sasuke, sure, he could understand that he was hurt from losing all that he had, but that didn't mean he had to be an intensely emo B.U.B. every second of his life. Naruto had gone through worse…yet he still wore the mask of happiness…

His eyes suddenly started to tingle as tears began to form. What was his purpose in life? Was there anyone he really wanted to protect? He didn't have a family…no one was his friend…

"Kukukuku…finally realizing the truth, I see?" A deep rumbling voice said from some unknown place, making Naruto jump up from the bed, his unshed tears disappearing back into his eyes.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked aloud, grabbing a kunai from his pouch on the bed and trying to control his slight shaking.

"Oh, you won't need that against me, unless you want to stab yourself, that is." The feral voice continued to say before breaking into another dark peal of laughter, Naruto noticing that the voice was coming from inside of him, inside his head.

"Wait…fox?" Naruto asked timidly as he dropped his kunai, the metal making a few clinks against the wood before finally settling.

"Finally, I see that maybe you DO have a brain among all that hair. And I prefer to be called KYUUBI by the way." The meticulous voice said nonchalantly as if they were talking about the weather.

"How…when…" Naruto struggled to say as he sat down on the bed, his mental stress now affecting his physical being.

"I've always been here, Kit. Hearing and seeing whatever you do behind these bars. But only now, because of your sudden feelings of hate and despair, was I able to sneak even more into your brain so that now I can talk to you. Whenever I want, I may add." The powerful nine-tails explained as Naruto starred at the white wall of the room, unable to say anything back.

"So, you've just noticed that your life is royally fucked up…what are you going to do about it?" Kyuubi asked, a growl hidden underneath the words.

"I…I don't know…" Naruto choked as he felt the stinging sensation start in his eyes again.

"Don't start this shit again, SUCK IT UP!" Kyuubi snapped, making Naruto rapidly blink his eyes to rid himself of the pain-filled droplets, once again retreating into his eyes.

"But-"

"NO! You should be thankful of the position you're in. With my raw chakra power, you can accomplish so much, more then anyone else in history. More then anyone's even DREAMED about. Yet you choose to dwell on what OTHERS think of you. Fuck them. Think of what YOU want for one goddamn second."

"I…I…" Naruto struggled to say. A day ago, he would have said, in a heartbeat, that he'd wanted acceptance, love. Yet, now as he looked back and tried to imagine the future, he found himself only feeling hopelessness and forlornness. What was the point of becoming Hokage if they didn't even accept him…? As much as he regretted to throw away his dream for so long…he finally realized that the village hidden in the leaves would never fully accept him. What was the point in trying to protect and better people who outright rejected you?

"I want to make myself better." He stated vaguely as he stood up, looking down at his juvenile, un-scarred hands.

"How do you want to be better?" The Kyuubi asked, his voice seeming to be like one out of Naruto's nightmares.

"I want…power." He continued to exclaim vaguely as his hands clenched into fists, so tight that his nails starting digging into his skin and his knuckles turned a bright white, a twisted grin now on the young nin's face.

"Now…how are you going to do that…?" The Kyuubi asked with a sense of what Naruto could only guess was amusement.

But before he could respond, a knocking was heard on the door, jumping Naruto out of his conversation with the Kyuubi.

"Coming…" Naruto grumbled in annoyance, wondering for a second if it was the pervy sage back from his 'date'.

But when he opened the doors, only to gaze up to see two gloomy figures at his doorstep, he suddenly felt a new emotion. One he'd never felt before.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked as he looked into the red sharingan eyes, suddenly not the least bit scared.

The red eyes blinked, silently wondering how this boy wasn't unconscious or paralyzed already from him starring directly into his eyes.

"Naruto, I'm protecting us against his eyes, but you better hurry the hell up. It's exhausting my chakra because of his own power and can only do it five more minutes since I used a lot of chakra to already leak into your head." The Kyuubi said in his head, a hint of frustration laced in the words.

/"Thanks Kyuubi."/ Naruto replied back in his head, eyes still attached to Itachi's.

"Well, doesn't he have some spunk. Can I cut his legs off?" Kisame asked as he reached behind for his ever-present sword, a sadistic grin on his face.

"No…" Itachi said slowly and quietly, eyes still locked with Naruto's.

"I'll ask again, who the fuck are you and what the fuck do you want?!" Naruto growled in their faces, not caring if he was about three feet shorter then them and no doubt less much powerful. But now with the Kyuubi more open and connected with him…he felt like NO ONE could touch him.

"We're the Akatsuki." Itachi said as he blinked his eyes, his sharingan disappearing as he'd used up too much of his energy spontaneously trying to take over Naruto.

"Yeah? And what the fuck does that mean?" Naruto said, suddenly finding that the word 'fuck' seemed like the best thing ever and had to be said in every sentence.

"Learn respect bozu!" Kisame hissed as he snarled, his shark teeth gleaming as if trying to intimidate Naruto.

"Why don't YOU learn respect before I cut you up into sushi?" Naruto questioned back as he bared his own sharp teeth, his long canines grazing against his bottom lip.

"Come with us." Itachi said as he stretched an arm in front of Kisame so that he didn't jump Naruto. For some reason, Itachi felt that this boy was worth more then just the tailed beast sealed inside of him.

"Why should I?" Naruto asked nonchalantly as he looked down at his hands, which he noticed his fingernail piercing were already healed up.

"I'm guessing you want power." Itachi said with a straight face, although mentally he was smirking in triumph as he saw a glimmer in Naruto's cerulean eyes.

"Of coarse, everyone wants it." Naruto said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame.

"Come, and we'll give it to you. That, or I kill you here and now." Itachi said; his sharingan activated again.

Naruto glanced down at his shinobi slippers, suddenly replaying back what he had thought not five minutes ago with the demon sealed inside of him.

"Wasn't this what you were waiting for Kit?" Kyuubi asked from inside his head, the giant fox smirking at this golden opportunity.

"What the hell. Sure." Naruto said as he walked in between the two taller males, closing the door behind him.

He lingered on letting go of the copper knob, feeling like if he closed this door he was shutting off his old life, and once he let go, there was no turning back. With a sneer, he retracted his hand as if he was touching hot metal. Why was he having second thoughts? There was no question in his mind now as he took a few steps away from the door to a new darker, sinister life.

"Don't you want anything from your room for the long trip?" Kisame asked, trying to act a little civil since he'd gotten Itachi's approval.

Naruto choked out a bitter laugh as he turned around to face the two again, his face contorted in ungodly dark amusement, making him seem much older then twelve.

"Everything and everyone from before is gone and dead to me." Naruto snorted, concreting his thoughts into words for the other two rouge ninja.

Without another word, Itachi lead the way with Naruto behind him, Kisame taking up the rear.

When Jiraiya arrived not thirty seconds later, he desperately looked around for his new pupil, feeling the deepest despair when he couldn't find the young blond anywhere. As he entered the room, the unconscious girl lay unheeded on one of the beds, he grabbed the kunai from the ground, clenching it tightly in his hand as he could feel the faintm, unique chakra signature of Naruto.

"I'm sorry Yondaime…I've failed you." He whispered as he continued to stay crouched, not even reacting as he heard Sasuke demand in a shrill yell where Itachi was.

When Jiraiya would return to Kohana with Tsubame, news would quickly spread of Naruto's capture, and so his presumed death. No memory gravestone would be put up and no funeral would be held…his name wouldn't be written on the stone memorial for fallen heroes of Konohagakure…and except for a few select people, no one would miss him…

X - X - X

"Why have you called us all here Itachi?"

Currently, all the ten Akatsuki members were using astral projection, called by Itachi who had told them it was urgent. Naruto stood in between Itachi and Kisame, the only three whole bodies in the dark cave, far away from any village. Naruto had kept up a tough shell for the few days that they'd been traveling, not showing any emotion, but now, seeing all these powerful beings, his self-assurance was shot as his slightly shaking hands suggested.

"Do not worry, Kit. They're not really here, and if either of the two who are here try and jump you, I've got it covered." Kyuubi reassured, his dark voice sounding oddly father like, as if he was protecting Naruto as a son.

/"I can always count on you…thanks."/ Naruto commented back in his head. It'd taken a little for Naruto to get used to someone always being in his thoughts, but he soon learned that Kyuubi wasn't judgmental at all and, for the most part, agreed to whatever Naruto thought was best. Kyuubi had put it simply that he was the brawn and Naruto was the brains, no matter how small it is, the tailed beast had added with a growl of amusement. Kyuubi was actually much wiser, but had thought to himself that it would be better for Naruto to make his own decisions, especially since it was his own body on the line.

"I have found one of the tailed beast containers." Itachi said as he pushed Naruto forward, right into the middle where all the members could study him.

"He seems weak." Pein said with a shake of his head.

"Fuckin' pussy." Hidan added as he tilted his head to the right to examine Naruto, revealing his long line of grim stitches to connect his head that had been recently cut off.

"What is he, ten?" Deidara said with a chuckle, amused at his own half joke.

"Tobi likes him. Tobi thinks he's a good boy like Tobi." Tobi said, lightly bouncing in place as he said his opinion, his happy attitude making Naruto raise an eyebrow. Was this orange masked freak really a world-class criminal?

"So…what about this boy? What's the point?" Konan asked, her eyes sparkling as she examined Naruto, making the young nin feel an out of place surge of pride at an older woman eyeing him.

"He has potential. I can see it with my eyes. He's in equal, maybe even in more despair, to that of my brother. But he's just noticed this well of depression and anger, and more importantly, he can actually harness it to control the Kyuubi monster." Itachi explained in a placid face that was half hidden by his high collar.

"So what. We're just going to kill him." Kakuzu said, his own face hidden by his tight black mask.

"NO!" Naruto yelled, catching all the attention from the members.

"What did you say you little mother fucker?!" Hidan swore again, wishing he wasn't a hologram so that he could stab the boy and use him in one of his rituals, even if his blood was probably unworthy to his supreme god.

"I…" Naruto broke off, not knowing what to say for a second before continuing, "I would be more useful to you guys if I was alive." He said, balling his hand into fists.

"True, the Kyuubi has great power, but I can wield it, and that's even greater power. Take me as your apprentice, teach me, and you won't regret it. And if I'm not worthy…you can take my life and my demon." Naruto said strongly, meaning every word without a second of hesitation, the nine-tailed demon inside him laughing at his attempt to have a manly speech.

"This is such a fuckin jo-" Hidan began with a sadistic smirk, but was quickly interrupted and silenced by one simple word.

"Sure."

All other nine heads switched over to Pein who was nodding his head in understanding.

"Are you sure about this Pein?" Konan asked in a curious voice. She was indeed interested in this boy, she, along with everyone else she had no doubt, could tell that the boy had huge untapped reserves of chakra that, with a little practice, could be easily under his disposal.

"I've just been thinking about the future…what happens if some of us, in a very unlikely but not impossible chance, die? There haven't been any good recruitments lately. We need to get ready, when necessary, for the second generation of Akatsuki." Pein said, letting his eyes filter to Tobi for a second, breathing a hidden sigh of relief as he noticed he was bobbing his head up and down in agreement.

"But know this Itachi…" Pein broke off as he glared at the stone cold Uchiha, "if this ends horribly, it will be YOUR responsibility."

Itachi looked back emotionlessly before glancing down at Naruto who was looking up at him, a determined expression on his face.

"If he's considered, even the slightest bit, unfit Leader…" He said before closing his eyes, opening them to reveal his deadly sharingan yet again, "I will kill him myself."

Naruto suppressed a shiver and choose to glare back just as hard, letting a little of Kyuubi's chakra leak in, making his cerulean eyes turn a blazing orange and his body to lightly glow red.

"You won't regret it." Naruto announced as he smirked, his long canines shimmering in the seeming-less darkness.

And so began the training of Uzumaki Naruto to be one of the Akatsuki…

X - X - X 5 years later… X - X - X

"Wake up fox-boy!"

A seventeen year old Naruto groaned as he rolled over in his bed, opening his mouth for a brief second to growl at whoever it was who woke him up to go do something very rude, before covering his head with a pillow.

"I SAID, get up bozu!" Kisame exclaimed as he brought down his sword onto Naruto's bare arm that was above the sheets to hold the pillow on his head in place.

"FUCK!" Naruto hissed as he jumped out of bed, cradling his torn arm, the dripping blood starting to drastically stain the bed.

"Itachi's waiting." Kisame said with a smirk before leaving his room, closing the shoji door quietly as if nothing had happened.

"Fish-bait bastard." Naruto growled as he looked at his wounded arm for a second before focusing the slightest fraction of his chakra to his arm, the wound healing up in the blink of an eye, not even the slightest scratch left. He casually gave it a few licks, a habit he'd learned from Kyuubi, before getting up from his now bloody bed.

He groggily went into the small bathroom, splashing water onto his face before looking at himself in the mirror. These past five years had, literally, been a living hell for him. His first year he'd been with Itachi and Kisame, learning metal strength from the Uchiha and physical stamina and strength from the giant sword-wielder. He then went to Pein and Konan, followed by Deidara and Sasori, and then Hidan and Kakuzu (where he learned to bare a LOT of stabbing), staying one year with each partnership. In his final year, he went with Tobi for six months, and then Zetsu for the other part of the half-year. He'd finally just returned yesterday to Itachi and Kisame and Naruto, even though they hid it almost perfectly, could tell they were surprised at his development. Being with each pair allowed him to learn all their techniques, or the ones he COULD learn. During those crazy years, he'd learned so much, more then he'd ever hoped to imagine. One thing, though, he could have done without was the punishment. Because he was such an outcast, if he didn't get a jutsu the first time, he was severely beaten and, if not for the Kyuubi's great healing ability, he would have been dead a hundreds times over. He growled as he remembered how Hidan used any excuse, no matter how small, to make him feel severe physical pain.

But, in hindsight, he couldn't have asked for a better blessing as to joining this world domination obsessed group of outcast villains. He'd become so much stronger then he would have if he'd stayed in Konoha. He bitterly chuckled to himself as he finally realized and understood why Sasuke wanted power. It just felt…so damn good.

He snapped himself out of his reminiscent memories as he looked at his face in the mirror again. Truth be told, he hadn't seen his face in three years and it was weird to see himself now. His hair had nicely grown out, barely brushing against his shoulders near the base of his neck and bangs hanging in his eyes, partially hiding them. Yet most of the blond locks still stuck up in a nice, messy way, the added length not even a problem to it's spiky stability. His eyes were still its bright cerulean eyes, except how they used to glimmer with happiness, they now glimmered only in anger and dark amusement. He had a thin face with fairly defined cheekbones, his whisker marks slightly more defined as over the years he and Kyuubi blended more and more. His height, which he found intensely embarrassing when he'd started, had finally caught up to as he was just about six foot two, two thirds of it being his long, thin legs. Blinking, he finally realized that he was probably considered very…he struggled for a few seconds before finding the right word…metrosexual by girls his age, the thought causing him to actually openly laugh, but made sure not to laugh too loud as to wake Kyuubi who was still sleeping.

Finally, taking all he could from his older appearance, he threw on a black shirt and black pants accompanied by black shinobi sandals, very contrary to old his orange jumpsuit that seemed so naïve and childish now. He chuckled a few times again as he remembered how Itachi had burned it as soon as he'd jointed the organization.

Lastly, he took his forehead protector, the distinctive line through the leaf symbol that he'd done himself (with his own claw) after his first meeting also, and pocketed it so not to draw unwanted attention. He grabbed his straw hat and flipped it on his head, the small bell ringing softly before the sound drifted away, the paper strands covering his face.

He slide open the shoji doors again before walking down the hotel hallway and then proceeding down the stairs to the front doors where Itachi and Kisame were waiting.

"Took you long enough, bozu." Kisame snorted, eying his healed arm with a frown.

"I wonder when you'll stop calling me that. I AM pretty close to you." Naruto snapped back as he noticed he was only about a foot and a half shorter then him, but smirked inwardly at how the fish-man seemed disappointed that his wound was already healed. Kisame sneered before starting to walk after Itachi who had started walking a few second ago.

"So…where are we going?" Naruto questioned as he couldn't help but look around the town they were in, glaring at a young boy between the paper sheets who was looking at him oddly from afar, causing the youth to run away with scared eyes.

"We are having another meeting." Kisame answered, knowing Itachi wasn't going to talk unless it was absolutely necessary.

"For what?" Naruto asked nonchalantly, himself not liking to talk much anymore, but knew he should know everything that was happening.

"Why do you think?" Kisame as his lip curled back to reveal his triangular like teeth in what Naruto could only guess was a disparaging smile.

Naruto smirked right back, finding the answer was himself. They were having a meeting to talk about what to do next with him.

After about two hours of walking, Itachi finally lead them off the road where they started running at a beyond break neck speed, Naruto loving the feeling of the air running through his hair and clothes as he jumped from branch to branch on all fours, easily outrunning both Itachi and Kisame to one of their secret lairs that he'd smelled with his unnaturally acute nose.

In less then a minute after Naruto arrived at the cave, both Kisame and Itachi appeared, Naruto smart enough to wait for both of them to enter before him in a show of respect. Kisame intentionally shoved Naruto as he entered, causing Naruto to roll his eyes, knowing not to take his immature lure before following after, taking off his straw hat as the bell jingled again.

A few minutes more, and he was again in a cave full of all holograms with the exception of him, Itachi, and Kisame. Naruto held down a groan as this seemed eerily familiar as to his first meeting, his hand rubbing against the cool metal of his forehead protector in his pocket.

"I'm sure you're all aware that Naruto's five year plan has finally ended. We must decide what will happen to him next." Pein naturally started, as he was the leader; not wanting to waste more time then necessary.

"Kill him." Hidan said with a smirk thrown towards Naruto, who chose not to react and just stand there with his hands crossed behind his back and eyes closed, knowing that he had no say in this matter.

"As much as I hate admitting this, but we shouldn't throw him away…at least, not yet." Deidara said, Naruto cracking an eye open to stare at the blond headed nin, inwardly noting he needed to give him a gift…something to deal with art…

"I agree, he's too valuable now to destroy." Blue haired Konan added, giving a wink towards Naruto's way, making him lightly smirk. Not at her action, but at the way Pein suddenly tensed.

"Tobi thinks he's a good boy, just like I fist said, Naruto is a good boy like Tobi!" The orange masked ADHD member added, clapping his hands happily.

/"Tobi, you're such a dork…"/ Naruto thought as he inwardly blanched, making sure that no matter what anyone said he would keep a straight face.

"I agree." Kyuubi growled his consent groggily, obviously having just woken up.

/"I see you're finally up, sunshine."/ Naruto joked as he half-heartedly heard Sasori say his simple affirmation that Naruto should not be put away just yet.

"Shut up and listen. This is important, it's about your future."

/"I don't need them. I'm sticking around to just learn all their jutsus and then I'm gone."/ Naruto laughed back to Kyuubi although his face seemed placid on the outside.

"Arrogant bastard."

/"Damn right."/

"So it's agreed…that we won't kill Naruto as of right now. Now, onto more important issues dealing with other tailed beast containers." Pein said, his unique eyes scanning everyone in front of him.

Naruto couldn't help but let his hands twitch, surprised at this statement. He'd known that the Akatsuki were far beyond simple assassinations and espionage acts like they used to do, but what did they want with the other tailed beasts?

"As everyone knows, we're actually two years behind schedule. Very bad." Pein continued to explain, making Naruto start to feel his hands twitch more. How long had he not known about this?!

"We already have three of the nine, but we will be needing all of them to complete our goal."

"Leader-sama." Naruto objected, raising his hand as he made sure to stop the unwanted jerking.

"Yes, Naruto." Pein said, irked that he was interrupting him.

"Does that mean that I will be sacrificed as well?" He asked, careful to keep his voice even.

"Yes, that is one of the main reasons as to why we allowed you to stay in the first place, and now not to kill you just yet."

"I see, thank you." Naruto said as he starred down at his black shinobi slippers that were barely visible in the ominous darkness of the cave.

"Kit, listen, this is important for reference." Kyuubi snapped him out of his own musings, making him lift his blond head to start listening to the conversation again.

"Our next target will be the four-tailed beast in Iwagakure. Konan and I will take care of this, as it is the one that's assigned to us. Make sure to be on high alert in the next few days as you will be summoned for the sealing. That is all for today…" he drifted off as he noticed Naruto had raised his hand yet again.

"What is it Naruto?" Pein practically growled, wanting this to be over so he and Konan could start tracking and attacking the four-tailed demon.

"Is…is there any way to redeem myself and not be sacrificed?" Naruto asked with orange eyes, Kyuubi feeding into his determination.

"Why do you want to do this Kit?"

/"I don't want to be fucking sacrificed, do you want to be sealed away to use at their disposal?"/

"Kukuku…ah, you are SO naïve about my power, just as all these dickheads are…but later, Pein is about to talk."

"Something to join, and at your age...highly unlikely, practically impossible. And even if you're strong, you'd most likely be more useful in your Kyuubi being joined with the other tailed beasts…" Pein said in a thoughtful voice, half his face covered in his collar as he glanced down at the moist rock floor to think.

Naruto hung his head, starting to feel a sinking feeling until…

"But, there is one thing that you could do that would make you a member, or at the least, worthy to become one, like Tobi is right now. It'd make you considered more worthy of being sacrificed."

At hearing this, Naruto snapped his head open, his eyes now entirely alite with orange fire.

"You can kill Orochimaru, get back that ring that rightfully belongs to us. And when you get that ring…you may then rightfully wear it." Pein said, as the others stiffened in the room. Catching Orochimaru, who had been a betrayer to them, had been priority number one for many years, and yet now it was being handed over to a newbie?!

Yet no one chose to talk back, too scarred of Pein's power, as he was their rightful leader. And he didn't get there by being kind or lenient…

"I am honored with this duty." Naruto said as he bowed deeply, letting a smirk filter across his face as his head was down, before straightening again with a face of unequivocalness.

"You will be given a cloak, and your nail-polish shall be orange." Pein instructed, meaning the orders to be directed at Itachi and Kisame. Naruto would have laughed out loud (loudly) at the nail-polish color issue if he didn't know Pein was being completely serious…which he was.

"If there is no further questions, we may all leave. But know this, all of you. If you find any trace of Orochimaru, do not hesitate to investigate and kill him. And Naruto…" Pein broke off as his eyes focused on the lanky teen, "…if someone finds Orochimaru before you, your chance to join will be lost and you will, no doubt, be sacrificed."

Naruto nodded his head stiffly, a feeling of adrenaline already pumping through his blood at the chance to prove himself. Not to the members, he didn't give a shit what they thought of him, but to what he could prove to himself. He remembered bitterly how Orochimaru had made him into something close to a play-toy way back when in the Chunin Exams while in the forest of death. And Naruto held grudges. Yet they never lasted more then a few days as, all his past enemies had learned, he killed them quickly after confrontation. Yet Orochimaru had been a snake in yet another way, sneaking out of his head until now. But no more. This snake was about to get his head cut off…and Naruto was going to be the fuckin' one to do it if he had any pride at all, which he actually knew he had in as much an amount as Kyuubi had chakra.

The members soon dispersed, leaving Naruto alone again with Kisame and Itachi, one of them still looking at where Pein had been while the other intensely glared at Naruto.

"I can't believe a little bozu-piece-of-shit like you is getting this chance. All you've done is cling to everyone and suck off of their talent." Kisame said through his teeth that seemed more like razors to Naruto.

"You don't believe in me, strumpet shark?" Naruto asked in fake-hurt voice, Kyuubi howling with laughter from the inside as, he saw through Naruto's eyes, the blue skinned nin had no idea what Naruto had just insulted him as.

"We're wasting time." Itachi said quietly as he looked up to Naruto with his ever-present sharingan eyes. Naruto couldn't help but let his lip twitch into the slightest of a leer as he finally noticed he was taller then the psycho-killer. He had long ago been jaded from the pain and power of his kekkei-genkai, it now holding nothing even close to fear on him.

Without another word, Itachi walked to a separate part of the cave, opening it to reveal quite a few of the same, identical long black with red clouds coats. Naruto's eyes glimmered in amusement at the sight. When he'd began with Itachi and Kisame, he'd always looked at those jackets and childishly wished he could try one on, seeming to have the idea that I'd give him more power.

Yet when Itachi handed him the article of clothing, he smirked on the inside. Even though it seemed trivial to others, this seemed like a big step for him. He's said earlier that he only wanted to have their jutsus, which in reality, was only half the truth. His other goal, that still seemed a little hazy, was to take over the organization and place him on top. But that was still much later into the future.

He was brought back to earth when he saw Itachi lean down to pick up a fairly small box, opening it to reveal numerous colors of nail polish. Naruto held down a scoff and looked around at the array of colors before spotting a rusty orange and roughly grabbing it, causing the other glass bottles to lightly jingle together.

Not soon after, Naruto was outside of the cave, Itachi and Kisame in front of him. Itachi did a simple nod, Naruto giving a deep bow in return, before jumping off into the forest. Kisame, on the other hand, favored to use his favorite hand sign of the middle finger before leaping off, and so not seeing Naruto do it right back at him.

"Finally, I thought I'd never get any alone time." He said aloud after a few minutes, knowing that the two older shinobi wouldn't be able to hear him anymore.

"When you think about it, you haven't had any time alone in over five years." Kyuubi corrected.

"Especially with you popping in and out of my thoughts." Naruto joked and he inspected the container of nail polish more carefully. For world-class criminals, they sometimes seemed like a bunch of fags to him.

"I can't wait for you to paint you nails." Kyuubi practically purred as he saw the bottle of orange paint.

"Shut up, we need to get down to business." Naruto said as he put the small bottle into one of the numerous pocket holders in the jacket.

"What do you suppose we do?" Kyuubi asked lazily, Naruto imagining him laying on his back behind the bars in his sewer like mind.

"We need coverage to find out where Orochimaru's lair is…so I need to split up." Naruto concluded as he started doing various hand signs so fast that it wouldn't have been visible to the naked eye.

In a puff of smoke, now nine identical Naruto stood in a circle starring at each other, their long coats ruffling with the slight wind. The true Naruto smirked at his doubles, knowing that this technique was fairly flawless. He had actually thought of the idea when he'd seen Pein's six different bodies while he was training with the leader, inspiring him to make his own way to split his body apart. It was fairly simple, as all he did was first create doppelgangers like he used to do so long ago. He then split his soul into nine even parts, keeping a little bit more for his true self. But what made the clones so powerful was, along with separating Naruto's own powers and knowledge, he'd perfected how to separate the Kyuubi's powers as well. So now these each held one tail of the mighty beast to use at their disposal, making them easily stronger then any Jounin or ANBU. But what was unique to the true Naruto was that he was the only one who had the true Kyuubi in his mind talking to him and still had most of Kyuubi's power. This was essential in controlling the other eight because, like his own personality, it was likely one would go a-wall since they had their own free thinking and then power to back it up. With Naruto still being stronger, it stirred fear into them so that they didn't rebel.

"Men!" the true Naruto said as he walked in the middle of the circle, all the others standing up as straight and tall as possible, hands stiff at their sides.

"I want you to scout, two for each principal shinobi territory. One and two for stone, three and four for mist and fog, five and six for sand, and seven and eight for cloud. Leave the fire area to me." He said, moving his eyes to look at each single-minded clone "And if you find something that's even remotely related to Orochimaru, send me a mental message. As always, do whatever it takes." He finished his short orders, motioning for them to go, as they did all at once with a blast of chakra.

"I'm glad you created that. Makes information gathering much less tedious." Kyuubi remarked before yawning. Although he didn't show it, it slightly strained him to have his power separated and so drawn out, making the fox feel the slightest tinge of vulnerability.

"Hey, the hardest part is actually left for us." Naruto snorted, slightly annoyed at how lazy the fox was being when he had another great opportunity to grasp, not questioning why the fox was so tired.

"Have fun with that Kit. I'm going back to sleep." The demon told before another beastly yawn was heard in Naruto's mind that was followed by nothing but silence.

"So all I have to do is keep a constant supervision on all of the clones, and then search the most likely place myself. And the place where Orochimaru would have the most ties is Kohana of coarse." Naruto said out loud as he jumped into the forest, rather to say it then think it as it might wake Kyuubi.

"This is going to be such a pain." Naruto groaned, not much after his sprint had started (even though his spot was 200 miles away), as he starred down into the bustling city of Kohana from the top of a high tree.

"I guess since I used a jutsu derived from Pein…I'll use the next one from his partner Konan." Naruto thought with a smirk. He quickly did numerous hand signs with ease until another puff of smoke erupted.

With this jutsu, very similar to how Konan could turn and multiply herself with paper, he made his body as thin (or even more) as paper. This allowed him to be practically invisible at the right angle, and no place was without his entering if it had the slightest crack. Plus his body was now virtually weightless, this aspect being what he wanted right now.

He stretched out his 2-D body and let the wind catch him, slowly but surely getting closer to being above Kohana. From this bird's eye view, he could tell that the village was fairly prosperous. But he didn't linger long on the sightseeing as the Hokage building (where he truly wanted to be) was easily in sight and range. With his hands so thin, it was impossible to create any hand signs to change, and didn't want to release the jutsu or else he would fall and create a commotion (the last thing he wanted). But thankfully he was used to this jutsu and so adjusted his body like a sail until he drifted onto the Hokage building's roof.

With a little difficulty, he managed to shakily stand up and move towards the door, slipping through the slight crack. Once he was inside, he released the jutsu and his body popped back into the usual 3-D proportions. A few seconds after that one was released, with his now formed hands, he did even more hand signs, this time the jutsu was targeted at invisibility.

It actually wasn't invisibility, but being able to reflect the light that would hit him and so reveal him. Once he finished the long line of hand signs, he looked down at his feet to notice it start to slowly creeping up until it engulfed his entire body. Now in his stealthy state, he started to quietly walk down the stairs and then hallways, making sure not to bump into anyone. Finally, he arrived at the Hokage's room. Waiting until a woman with short black hair opened the door, he snuck in just before she closed the door. Naruto slowly walked to one of the corners of the room, where it was dark and so there was less light to reflect.

"Hokage-sama, here's more paperwork for you to do." The black haired woman said with a sigh as she dropped her heavy load on the wide wooden desk that was already piled high with paper.

"Thank you Shizune, you may go now." The young woman said behind the desk, her low pigtails swinging as she shook her head in anger, or frustration? Naruto didn't really know, and didn't really care.

The now identified Shizune made a leave for the door, but stopped as she suddenly looked down where Naruto's feet would be and then looking up, as if almost seeing him. A sudden pang of dread filled Naruto's stomach, but when Shizune started laughing, it was replaced with intense confusion and slight irritation.

"Come on Tonton, nothing's there." Shizune said as her gaze went down to Naruto's feet again. He looked down himself and held down a gag as he saw a small pig at his feet, smelling him with his sensitive nose. In his hurry, he'd accidentally let the tiniest of his smell drift out. Immediately double checking anything that would give him away, he only found the slightest crack in his scent. Closing it up in a hurry, he was glad that the wide windows were open so it would blow away his scent.

"I said come ON." Shizune groaned as she approached Naruto and the pig, scooping up the pig in her arms before leaving, the door giving a slight click and silencing the squealing of the pig's protests.

Naruto had gone into the office at around four, and it was now eleven. He would usually be able to hold this jutsu for a week, while doing other things, easily, but since his and Kyuubi's powers were fractioned off earlier this morning, he was feeling a little strained.

Finally, the blond Hokage started drifting off, her head banging against the wooden desk as she started losing consciousness from the immense work. In the next half an hour, she finally left the office in drowsiness, thinking to herself that she would take some time to sleep on her bed (as she usually fell asleep on the paperwork).

Waiting until in it was twelve, Naruto released the jutsu with a sigh of relief. He didn't waste a second as he leaped to a door where he knew all the information of Konoha, and many other villages, was held. He quickly picked the lock with his claw like nail (another enhancement with merging more with Kyuubi) and darted into the darkness, closing the door with the faintest of a creak.

He looked around in the dark, already having the ability of perfect night vision, and briskly started looking at the filling letters, looking for 'O' so he could look up Orochimaru. Within a minute, he was at the filing cabinet and had silently opened the metal drawer. Filling through the many manila folders with thin fingers, making sure his claws didn't snag anything, he finally arrived at Orochimaru which was conveniently marked with a red tag, which he could only guess was identifying him as a top-enemy shinobi.

He ripped it out and unzipped his black coat, slipping the folder into another pocket as he'd done with the nail polish. He was about to leave, seeming as he had nothing else to do, but found as he took a step closer to the door, his eye caught the letter 'N' on the file cabinet that was next to the 'O' one. He stopped his walking, thinking of his own name, before whirling around, his long bangs doing nothing to hide the spark that was suddenly set off in his cerulean eyes.

Quickly sauntering over to one of the cabinets in the back, he approached the one he desired. The one that held everything under 'U'. He soundlessly opened this file cabinet drawers and it didn't take him long, again, until he found his own last name. He pulled out the folder and opened it, only to find the face of a beautiful orange haired kunoichi who was being held by, if he remembered right, the Fourth Hokage.

He was about to put it back, but suddenly noticed how he resembled the Hokage so much, especially at his current age. Deciding against his better judgment, he slid this one into his jacket. He looked down and found the folder behind the one he'd just pocketed had 'Uzumaki' on it too. Taking this one out, he opened it to see a picture of him in his youthful age of 12, face-paint and all. With a groan at his old immaturity, he glided this one into his long coat again before walking towards the door for the second time.

Pressing his ear to the door to make sure no one was in the room again (he could tell if they were breathing) while checking for chakra output too, he opened it before closing it again when he'd decided the coast was clear. He let his hand dwindle on the knob for a little, thinking of how he hadn't placed dummy folders so that he wouldn't be suspicious of anything. But he smirked, deciding to be bold yet again, and decided to leave it be. Let them try find out on their own. He hadn't left a trace this entire time except for the slightest scent that was blown away long ago.

Jumping out of the still wide open windows into the pitch darkness, he starting to jump from roof to roof without making the slightest of sound. He was only barely, or more like none at all, visible black blur through the night that no one would see.

Without any trouble getting through the large village, he stopped on the outside wall, allowing himself to take a double take at his home that he'd once held so dear to him. He snorted as he remembered he would have died for this rotten hell that he used to think was a sanctuary, but was really just a wasteland full of judgmental people.

Sickened with himself that he'd spent more time then necessary starring into the village, he jumped out back into the forest where it felt more like home. The darkness became like a blanket the feel over him and allowed him, to feel what he thought was, peace.

X - X - X

"Ah, it's so-o nice waking up by myself and not to fish-breath or any other psycho." Naruto said with a sigh as he looked up at the sky, it now a gentle blue, Naruto guessing it to be around ten or eleven. He had dozed off at about four in the morning in a tall field of grass, the long stalks now balmy blowing in the wind.

"He was so shocked when he saw how much I'd grown I think he suppressed his surprise with envy." Naruto laughed, remembering Kisame's variously expressions, especially when he'd called him a shark tramp and he'd had no idea what he'd meant.

"Stop that laughing, it's woken me up." Kyuubi growled inside Naruto's head. Naruto sighed as he realized he'd laughed on the inside instead of the outside. He guessed after five years of the no-talking-or-emotion-on-the-outside-unless-asked-to-do-so policy that every person of the organization (except Tobi) had ordered had given him the habit of holding everything in.

"Oh please, you've been asleep for almost an entire day now." Naruto said out loud, liking it better when he outwardly spoke to Kyuubi then when he inwardly thought to the fox.

"That's only because the jutsu is…slightly hard on my own chakra levels. And you doing all the fancy jutsus yesterday didn't help at ALL."

Naruto hinted on the slight hiss, instead of a growl, on his voice and knew that he was being serious and not joking around like he usually did.

"Well you should have told me before, I'd have been more careful." Naruto said aloud, looking up as eight sparrows flew by in a small flock in search of a better field of grass seeds.

"So are we going to do anything else rather than pointlessly using up all our chakra?" The nine-tails continued to hiss, Naruto's hinted apology doing nothing to cool down his pissed off state.

"No…we're going to read the folders I stole, see if my splits (clones) have found anything valuable, and regroup." Naruto answered as he started his morning stretches, sighing as his back cracked in nine simultaneous pops.

"If you're trying to make me feel better it's not helping…" The Kyuubi growled, making Naruto grin. No more hissing.

"Who said if was?" Naruto snorted as he jumped into and up a two hundred foot tree, allowing him, as he sat on the top, to see for miles on end.

Sneaking a hand into his large overcoat, he rested his hands onto the first of the folders on the stack, which was the one on himself.

"Lets see what they say about me…" Naruto said with a hint of curiosity, as he could tell Kyuubi was also intrigued.

Naruto's perfectly sharp eyes scanned the various papers for anything that sounded important. Grades at the school…Team 7…number of missions he'd done…failed Chûnin Exams…presumed death with capture form the Akaktsuki. He snorted, the few papers on his overall history giving him nothing important and so sorted them into the back. The next page, though, caught his eye as it held his heritage and family tree. He ignored the top half and focused on the last bracket where the names Minato Namikaze ('The Forth Hokage', or Yondaime, below it in parentheses) and Kushina Uzumaki were, a line from both connecting with Naruto's own name. At the sight of the name of one of the folders he'd taken, his eyebrow slightly rose. But when he saw that he was the son of the legendary Hokage, his eyes widened and his other eyebrow shot up to be with the other.

"So you finally found out that the Fourth is you father. Hallelujah." Kyuubi said nonchalantly in his head.

"You knew?!" Naruto snarled, angry in how he shared everything with Kyuubi and yet the demon rarely shared anything of his own history or knowledge to Naruto.

"Of course, he was the bastard who sealed me in you anyway. He actually had the spin to ask me to take care of you." Kyuubi replied with a smart-aleck aura.

"Well…fuck you fox." Naruto said without any real emotion, his anger already passing at the sound of the fox acting like his guardian, which was entirely true as he thought it over. If not for the fox…he didn't want to even think about it.

"Yeah, yeah, same to you Kit." The Kyuubi replied, inwardly smirking behind the cage bars at Naruto's now mixed emotions.

"So are you going to open the other two?" Kyuubi growled a few minutes later, Naruto having zoned out and blankly starring at his family tree, noticing how all the members were from Kohana except for his father's father (his grandfather) and his mother, whose village nationality was not listed.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said automatically, slapping the folder closed, putting it back before taking out the one of his supposed mother.

"Ah, yes, I remember her." Kyuubi hissed as he looked through Naruto's eyes at the picture of the happy young couple, her belly big with Naruto.

"You knew her too?" Naruto asked exasperatedly as he looked over the other two papers in the folder. Rather then her physical exams during her pregnancy and her short history at the village, as she'd wondered into Kohana from a place unknown and lived lazily (not really a citizen) before meeting the Fourth and marrying him, thus becoming a citizen of the leaf village, she had nothing else on her.

"Yes, yes. Actually, I didn't specifically know her as an individual extremely well, more like an acquaintance, but I knew her fucktarded, pathetic excuse of a village." Kyuubi continued to bristle. Naruto blinked as he realized he'd never heard the fox, even close, to how angry he was right now. It was so enormous that his dark chakra was accidentally seeping into Naruto's body, making his eyes turn a fiery orange and his body lightly glow with red chakra yet again.

"Kyuubi, get a hold of yourself." Naruto ordered calmly, making sure to keep his voice even as to not express how he was apprehensive on when Kyuubi got mad. The last time he remembered was in the first year of training, when he was thirteen, and had gotten overly frustrated and angry at Itachi that he'd allowed too much of Kyuubi into him and he'd blacked out and had awoken with Kisame threatening to cut his head off with his sword at his thin neck. Both of the rouge-ninja never told him what had happened to this day.

"If you'd gone through what they did, or more like tired to do, with me you'd be just as angry as me. The wounds are still fresh, if you know what I mean." Kyuubi finally replied after a few minutes of silence, Naruto sighing as his voice was even and not full of bloodlust, yet Naruto could still tell it was thick with emotion.

"Oh, well that-" But Naruto cut himself off as he heard a ding in his head, putting a few fingers to his temple.

"Too bad, Kyuubi, but one of my splits, number two, has contacted me. Your story will have to wait." Naruto said quickly, inwardly a little disappointed. He was hoping in not only learning about more of himself, but also of Kyuubi's past which he always thought would be full of adventure and advice.

/"What is it?"/ Naruto answered in telepathy to his split self.

/"Leader, I've found a lead in this town on the edge of the stone territory. They said that Orochimaru was just here about a month ago and was supposedly heading to his lair in his own village Hidden in the Sound."/ The facet of Naruto said in an instructing voice, full of obedience.

/"Well done."/ Naruto said as he cut off their connection and flipped on his straw hat, the paper hangings lightly blowing in the wind.

"Whatever happened to relaxing?" Kyuubi half-heartedly growled, flipping over onto his back to stare at the dripping ceilings in his prison.

"We can do that AFTER we kill the snake-homo." Naruto said as he closed his eyes and stood up on the branch, bringing his hands together. He found the location of the second clone, finding it too far away to run to quickly. Groaning, he knew he had to do his other way of transportation with the clones. After a long series of hand signs, he suddenly felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. In a split second, he was standing on new ground, feeling the full power of all his chakra and also the happy purr of Kyuubi in the back of his mind at having all his tails back to him. What he'd just done, to over simplify it, was move his soul and physical body into that of the second Naruto clone while at the same time dispersing all of the other seven parts that were no longer necessary.

"Not only does that use up ten percent of my own chakra, it always makes me slightly sick." Naruto groaned as he slouched against the trunk of a tree where he could see the village that his facet had told him about.

"I can't believe you're blowing me off…ungracious brat…" Naruto heard Kyuubi mutter under his breath, Naruto already imagining him with his lip curled back as he heard a snarl of annoyance.

"Relax Kyuubi, this won't take long." Naruto said with a smirk of arrogance, dropping to the forest floor without a sound, not even disturbing a rabbit that was nibbling on grass less than three meters away.

Naruto leaned down so that his nose was practically touching the grass, closing his eyes to concentrate on the array of scents that assaulted his sensitive nose. Finally, after about a half an hour of filtering through all the scents, he picked up the disgustingly familiar scent of Orochimaru, which just stunk of snakes and evil. Yet when he focused on his vile scent, he also found that (if he remembered correctly) Sasuke's scent was mingled in as well. There was a third male's scent that seemed eerily familiar too, but he couldn't place it just yet. Grinning like a fool who had won the lottery, he sped off after the three scents, knowing that they couldn't be over two hundred miles away, which would only take him less then three or four hours.

/"Kyuubi, feel free to tell me that story of yours."/ Naruto thought as he ran, knowing that if he talked the wind would steal his voice.

"You've lost the opportunity brat. Another time." The still irked spirit answered before giving off an aura that clearly stated leave-me-alone-or-die.

Naruto sighed, knowing a great opportunity had been sacrificed for the sake of another, before continuing on in his leaps across the vast forest.

X - X - X

It didn't take Naruto long, as he'd thought, to catch up to the small traveling group of three, all wearing long hooded cloaks as to hide their faces and bodies. Yet Naruto could tell it was them…his nose NEVER failed him. Yet he held down the urge to pounce on them. He knew that one part was to kill Orochimaru, but the other was to get the ring, and that meant that he needed them to go to their lair, and so was allowing them to lead him right to it.

On the third day of traveling, Naruto was starting to get irritated for two reasons. One, because he hadn't slept for this entire time and two, because they could have been there already if the three weren't going at, what seemed to Naruto, to be an extremely sluggish pace.

But finally as sunset started painting the sky on that third day, the small traveling group entered what seemed to be the entryway to an underground mansion. Smirking in his victory, he waited until it was well into the dark night before entering. Being extremely careful as he approached and stopped at the snake embroidered entryway, he starred down into the hall that lead him underground, yet looked more like a black abyss then anything else.

Yet Naruto had lost the emotion of fear long ago. So, without a moment of vacillation, he leapt into the darkness, allowing his already adjusted eyes to lead him the way. Still following his nose, he stayed on the trail of the three shinobi. At seeing the numerous jail like cells along the way, it spiked his curiosity as to what they were being used for. It also irked him that this wasn't really much of a challenge as no one had noticed him from his chakra masking and that there were no guards to beat up.

Finally, he came to a place where the scents ended, making him silently smirk in satisfaction. Grimacing as the door creaked when he opened it, he slipped into a pitch black room. He glanced around at the multiple shelves lined with jars that held everything from the human body, he finally allowed his hands to focus on what seemed like a mummified hand. But it wasn't the hand he was interested in, but the ring that was positioned on the pinkie finger.

Quickly looking around the room to check for any traps, he advanced towards the ring, not even his cloak making a sound. Resisting the urge to snort at the decayed human part, he used his long nails to wedge the ring off the crusty finger, almost sneering when the finger accidentally feel off right as he took the ring from the tip. Without a second glance, he strode back to the doorway. But as he closed it and turned around, he was almost surprised to find a dark figure approaching.

"What do we have here…?" It asked in amusement. Naruto furrowed his brows as he saw the figure arrange their large glasses that somehow flashed in the darkness.

"I think all we have here is a pussy." Naruto stated back as he pointed at the cloaked figure, sensing in satisfaction how it tensed.

"No. I believe all we have right here is a poor thief who couldn't complete even half of his mission." The person replied in a superior tone, as if talking to Naruto was like talking to an eight year old.

Naruto finally realized who it was at the odd tone. The person who had helped his old team in the forest of death in the Chûnin Exams…Kabuto. Just as he thought that, the hood was flown back and Naruto's guess was correct.

"Just old Kabuto. And here I was hoping that you'd be Orochimaru…or at least Sasuke." Naruto sighed in annoyance, feeling as if he'd been drastically let down.

"How do you know me? Who are you?" Kabuto growled, making Naruto realize how he'd MUCH rather hear Kyuubi growl then this fake imposter.

"Someone from you past." Naruto said vaguely as he discarded his straw hat and descended on the older shinobi, making Kabuto flip back in defense.

Naruto didn't waste time in letting some of the Kyuubi's power seep through, giving him the advantage to his strength while allowing Kyuubi to have the amusement of fighting on his own through his chakra that encircled the blond. Naruto would usually like to play with his opponents, but in this case, he just wanted to get this over with a s quickly as possible.

Kabuto activated his own glowing blue hands, making drastic attempts to touch Naruto and so disturb his chakra flow. Yet Naruto never gave him that opportunity. Close combat was something that Naruto excelled at, and Kabuto wasn't going to be the one to bring him down. With a solid kick from Naruto, Kabuto was flung on the hard stone wall, coughing up blood as he felt some of his ribs had been broken from the chakra enhanced kick.

"It's all over Kabuto." Naruto said with satisfaction as Kabuto tried to heal his broken chest.

"What are you talking about? My healing abilities are second to none." Kabuto barked in arrogance, wiping a trail of blood from his mouth as he shakily stood.

"You just don't understand. With that kick I sent some of my demon's chakra into you. I'm used to it's darkness because I've lived with it my entire life, but if it enters someone else, like you right now, it slowly and painfully eats you from the inside out." Naruto said with a growl of amusement.

Kabuto's eyes widened as he suddenly doubled over, this time puking a large amount of blood.

"What…what chakra is this?" He struggled to say as darkness, not from the outside, started to overcome his sight.

Naruto smirked and unzipped his jacket so that his bottom half of his face was now visible, his trademark whiskers visible even in the darkness.

"N-Naruto?!" Kabuto continued to struggle to say through wheezing breathes.

"Feel grateful." Naruto said as cracked his knuckles menacingly, his long nails painfully sharp. Kabuto didn't have a chance to reply before Naruto lunged forward, surrounding his nails with Kyuubi's chakra, and so easily severing the medical-nin's head from his body.

He watched as the head rolled a few feet before stopping, Kabuto's eyes still wide in surprise, pain, and fear. Without even a trace of emotion on Naruto's own face, he zipped up his long jacket and continued on his way to the exit, picking up his hat as he went.

When he felt the cool breeze caress his face through the paper slips when he finally reached the surface, he snorted in distain. He had been taught in the organization that stealth and creating as little commotion as possible was always the objective, yet Naruto always loved a good battle and being severely outnumbered. To put it simply, he loved strutting his stuff and showing off.

Purposely allowing a little of his chakra aura to slip out, he jumped out into the forest. After a minute of running, he closed off his chakra again so that they couldn't follow him for too long. Going for another two hours of running, he finally stopped as he saw a small cave hidden by a willow's low leaves and thick roots.

Almost entirly exhausted, he crawled into the little hole in the ground, not even noticing the thick cover of moss on the cave floor that made it seem like he was sleeping in a bed.

/"Kyuubi…?"/ Naruto called out in his brain drowsily.

"Yes Kit?" Kyuubi asked back. He had known to keep quiet during this entire mission, knowing from previous experiences that it was bad when he interfered as it distracted Naruto. To tell the truth, he didn't really mind watching from the sidelines right now since it was mostly all irrelevant and pointless to the demon fox.

/"Can you stay up and watch for enemies?"/ Naruto said, having a rare favor to ask of the powerful nine-tails.

"Sleep." Kyuubi rumbled deeply, making Naruto sigh in relief.

Naruto allowed himself to reminisce for a second on how fast the wheels of his life were turning, and found it utterly exciting. His eyelids now feeling like the heaviest things in the world, his blue eyes were shut off from the world as he started to doze off.

"Sweet dreams." The Kyuubi joked at the last minute.

Naruto would have scoffed in amusement, if he hadn't already been fast asleep.

Glossary/Notes:

B.U.B. - stands for 'broody uncommunicative bastard.'

ADHD – stands for 'attention deficit hyperactive disorder'

Bozu - squirt, little kid

Shoji - sliding paper doors

Iwagakure - Village Hidden Among the Rocks

A/N: First off, THANK YOU very much for reading my story and I hope that it was at least a little interesting as I'm trying something that I haven't really seen in this fandom yet. Have questions? Ask them in a review and I'll be sure to answer them as best as I can. Rather then that...take what you will from this story and feedback of any kind is appreciated.