I HAVE... ... ... RETURNED

That's right I'm not dead. I know, I can't believe it either. I would normally apologize for the time this took to write but several people have been constantly sending me PM's complaining about my lack of updates. To them I have this to say...

I HAVE A LIFE!

I do other things beside read and write all day.

Also don't complain about this one being short and rather dull. The next chapter will be pretty much all action. I promise.

Enough of that though...

It's time for...

Review Replies!

Krazyfanfiction1: As always thank you and I shall. Starting (or restarting) now.

Asurau: I'm glad you think so.

RandomWriter21: Unfortunately you wont see anything on your list in this chapter. You will eventually though.

DarkRift6709: I agree the fight between Naruto and Hidan should be very entertaining to say the least.

Twisted Pxl: I will admit they aren't my favorite characters, but I did what I did for better reasons than that.

snikpmot1994: No insanity was the correct term.

GokuSS400: Finally someone mentions my Kurama bits! I was starting to think no one liked them!

alucard the crimson fucker: Again im not apologizing for the update time. I do love your name though. Are you on Twitter?

Enough of that! Time for plot!

Please enjoy the product of my Hawaiian Punch and Brownie induced hallucinations!

Disclaimer: Turns out you cant trade a soul for legal rights. I no longer own my soul.

In the underworld mountains were not an unusual sight. In truth mountains were the most common form of topography. That's not to say that all of them are the same of course. Some were short and round, worn away by eons of wind and weather, others stood like great pyramids over surrounding flatlands, and still others stood like great walls of stone fangs.

On one of these fang like mountains stood a rather peculiar fortress, even by underworld standards. Most engineers would build a fortress into the mountain as a way of making sure one side was always secure. Whoever, or whatever designed this fortress was obviously not normal. Rather than leaning into the mountain side the fort stuck out away from the mountain like a sore thumb.

The keep itself was just as strange as its positioning. It was comprised of five square levels, each offset from the one below it creating a series of triangular courtyards. At the top stood a single spear like tower with a lit beacon at the top.

On this particular day a cloaked figure rode up to the barred gates.

"Halt! State your business here stranger!" A guard wearing grey armor shouted down from atop the wall.

The voice retorted in a dry raspy voice from beneath the cloak he wore. "Your Lady is expecting me. She and I have important business to discuss."

"Very well. Stay where you are while we check with the mistress. Try anything, and you will die, no matter what your business is." One guard called down to the cloaked rider.

The rider chuckled under his breath. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Some minutes later the gates opened and the rider rode through. As he rode through the various courtyards and inner gates of the fortress he mentally assessed the number of troops and their positions out of habit. He had to admit that even with his level of skill entering undetected would be incredibly difficult.

Reaching the towers base the cloaked figure dismounted and entered. After ten minutes of continuous stair climbing he reached the top of the tower and was confronted by a single nondescript wooden door. The figure composed himself before softly knocking.

"You may enter." A feminine voice replied.

The figure opened the door and entered a large study. Against one wall was a large wing-backed leather chair behind an equally large wooden desk covered in papers. In the center of the room was a small wooden table with three chairs arranged to face the desk. Leaning over said table was a woman peering intently at what appeared to be a large map.

"My Lady I have arrived with the information you requested." The figure said quietly.

The woman looked up revealing her smoldering golden eyes. A thin smile graced her bloodless lips. "Ah, good. I assume that you were successful and that your contacts possessed our info?"

The figure removed his hood revealing a bald man of dark skin with a number of scars crisscrossing his face. "I was only partially successful Lady Caal, my contacts only knew some of what we were after." From with his cloak he produced a small packet of papers and placed them on the table.

The Lady of the Gangrel growled quietly before calmly standing and moving behind her desk. She sat in her chair and folded her hands before her face before nodding slightly. "Very well. What have you brought me Da'Muin?"

Da'Muin spoke quickly and concisely in his dry raspy voice. "My source indicate that the king summoned Poenari a few miles outside a large town locally known as Konohagakure no Sato, or 'The Village Hidden in the Leaves. According to other sources a number of the Blackswords accompanied him though we are unsure of the exact number."

Lady Aryah raised a hand to halt his speech for a moment. "How far outside the village?'

Da'Muin checked his papers. "Approximately nine miles."

"Would this distance allow us to attack without the village noticing?" Lady Caal asked.

"Possibly but not likely. Were this any other village I would say yes but the warriors of this realm are rather paranoid. I would expect their patrols to extend at least double the distance." Da'Muin replied.

"Hmmm… What about an infiltration?" Aryah commented.

The male thought for a moment before looking at his papers again. "I believe that would fail. We don't know how many Blackswords are present nor how many locals could be around at any given time. Beyond that neither the Malkavian Wire-Weaver nor the LeSambre Black Dragon have been seen since the King vanished. It is likely they accompanied him."

Lady Caal sighed deeply. "Very well, continue with your report."

"My contacts indicate that any attempt to attack the village would be an even worse idea than assaulting the fortress directly. While our warriors are skilled the 'shinobi' of Konoha are just as good and we would be fighting them on their own turf."

"Could we beat them?"

"Yes, but with heavy losses."

"Leaving us exposed to Level 0."

"The Malkavian representatives assure me that the countermeasures will be effective."

Aryah snorted in distaste. "Those quacks say a lot of things. I'm not basing my plans of an unknown. What else do we know?"

"Konoha has a great many enemies but few are willing to move openly against the village. Apparently of the five major military powers Konoha is the strongest."

"Does the village have any weak points?"

"None that are currently known."

"Anything else?"

"A list of those who are considered enemies of Konoha. But otherwise no. The village is surprisingly good at keeping its secrets."

Lady Aryah sat and thought for a moment. "So the only way to get to the King is through Konoha, correct?"

"Yes."

"But we lack the military might to defeat them ourselves."

"Yes."

She stared at him for a moment or two. "Well then that means we have to find a good source of cannon fodder. I'm assuming you have one in mind already."

Da'Muin smiled like a madman as he withdrew a picture from the folder a placed it upon the desk.

Aryah picked up the picture and looked at the man in it. He was a thin and pale man with long black hair and reptilian eyes. "And who is this?"

Da'Muin smiled in his mad way. "That my Lady, is Orochimaru…"

Hiruzen Sarutobi could be called a great many things, the professor, the Kami no Shinobi, the Third Hokage, or the mighty monkey as his friends sometimes call him. You could call him anyone of these things and you'd be calling him be his name. He was all of these things and more. He was a survivor of all three shinobi wars, master of the arts of politics and power. He was many, many things.

However at the moment only one word could be properly used to describe him, annoyed.

It should be noted however that the fact that he was only annoyed is a great example of exactly why he deserved all the titles he had. If he were anyone else he probably would've gone completely apeshit crazy by this point. However thanks to his impeccable self-control and copious amounts of tobacco he kept his cool. However even with all of that he was quickly losing patience with the three people standing on the other side of his desk.

The three in question were the so-called esteemed elders of Konoha, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Danzo Shimura. Like the Sandaime all three had survived all of the ninja wars and had had all been part of his squad at one point. Due to their experience in all things ninja Hiruzen looked to them for second opinions from time to time. Unfortunately due to their positions and interactions with the Hokage they had come to believe that they and their opinions were indispensable.

Currently they were trying to convince their old friend to allow Sasuke Uchiha to become a genin despite failing Kakashi's bell test. Hiruzen thought it a little strange that Danzo was actually supporting the idea. The old war hawk had always distrusted the Uchiha, so to see him actively supporting one was a bit of a shocker.

"Sarutobi, we must keep the Uchiha within Konoha. The sharingan is simply too powerful of a weapon to allow any of our enemies to get their hands on it." Homura said as the three began wrapping up their discussion.

"You must realize that boy has only his revenge in mind. If we cannot provide him with the tools to reach his goal he will go to someone who will." Koharu finished.

Homura added, "The boy may be a brat, but he's a valuable brat. We need to do all we can to keep him here and loyal."

Sarutobi grunted as he took a deep pull from his pipe. He looked at the last person in the room. "What's your take on this Danzo? It's unlike you to support an Uchiha."

Danzo huffed. "Don't mistake this for a change in heart Sarutobi, I don't trust any Uchiha and I never will. However I will admit that the sharingan is a powerful weapon, far too powerful for any of our enemies to be allowed to possess it. If we cannot have it we must make sure no one can."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting we eliminate the boy?"

"If we cannot control him, yes." Danzo replied.

Homura and Koharu looked horrified.

Koharu voiced her thoughts first. "You can't be serious Hiruzen! That boy is the only chance we have of keeping the sharingan in this village, and you're talking about executing him! I would expect this sort of thing from Danzo but not you!"

The Hokage steepled his hands and looked at his old friends from the shadow of his hat. "First off it's 'Hokage' to you. Secondly, I have to admit that Danzo is correct in this instance. The sharingan is too powerful for us to simply allow the boy to leave. At the same I cannot allow him to join our forces if he cannot act properly. I will do whatever is necessary to protect this village and those who live within it. If that means executing the last Uchiha then I will do it." He sighed. "That said I'd rather it not come to that. If you want to see the Uchiha as a shinobi of Konoha you have one month to find him a team and a sensei who will work with him. That's all I will say on this matter. You're dismissed."

The three elders bowed slightly before filing out the door. As the door shut behind them the old warrior turned his chair to stare out at the village he had protected for so long.

'These are the moments when I truly hate this job. Sometimes I feel as if I do more evil than good. I'm getting far too old and far too tired for this kind of shit, but there is no one ready to bear this burden just yet.' The old leader mused as he puffed on his pipe.

Thankfully his dark thoughts were disturbed by the buzzing of the intercom.

"Lord Hokage, Jonin Hatake and genin Tepes are here to see you." The secretary announced.

A small smile graced the Hokage's weathered face. "Very good. Please send them in."

The great oak doors to the office opened slightly allowing the shinobi to enter. As usual Kakashi had his nose buried in his ever present book. Naruto on the other hand simply looked confused. Thus it was no great surprise when Naruto spoke first.

"What the heck is going on old ma- I mean Lord Hokage?" Naruto blurted

Sarutobi chuckled a bit. "I don't mind you calling me what I am Naruto. Just don't do it in front of everybody."

Naruto nodded. "Oh, thanks. Just don't tell my dad I said that, I'd get in a lot of trouble. Still, where are the others?"

A nearly imperceptible smirk appeared on the Hokage's weathered visage. "There are no others Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura did not pass your sensei's test whereas you did. Thus you are here and they are not."

Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit. "That was a team test though, so if two members of the team failed wouldn't the whole team fail?"

Sarutobi's smirk grew more pronounced as he raised a finger to interrupt. "You are quite correct. Team 7 did indeed fail the Team test so this year there is no Team 7. However Jonin Hatake was so impressed by your skills during the test that he has requested that you become his apprentice."

Naruto was silent for a few moments as he thought about what he was just told. "Alright, so what's the real story?"

The Hokage's eyebrow shot up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Naruto's eyes hardened and his posture straightened. In an instant Naruto the excitable genin was gone and the prince of vampires appeared. "Don't lie to me old man. I learned more than just how to fight from my father. No decision made by those in power is ever as simple as it looks. The apprenticeship thing was just what you told the council to keep them quiet. I want the real reason."

The smirk erupted into a cold smile. "Though I'm glad that you understand the realities of leadership it also saddens me to know that you how dark the world is. In any case, I placed you and Kakashi on a team by yourselves because of your request Naruto."

This time it was Naruto's turn to raise an eyebrow.

The old man tilted his head so that his hat shadowed his eyes once more. "You told me that you would be a shinobi only if you were under my direct command. If you were on any normal team you would be under the command of that mission's client. Thus I am making you two an ANBU squad under my direct command."

Kakashi smirked under his mask as he put his book back into his equipment pouch. "It's good to see that 'the Professor' can still live up to his name."

Said 'Professor' glared at the jonin. "That had better not have been a joke about my age Kakashi. If it was I know of a certain cat…"

Kakashi paled and quickly brought up his hands defensively.

Sarutobi nodded before returning his attention to Naruto. "As your first assignment you are to spend the next week training both your teamwork and yourselves. Kakashi I want you back to full strength and Naruto to be at mid-chunin by the end of the mission. When your mission time is complete you are to return for your next assignment. Understood?"

Both shinobi nodded in the affirmative.

The Hokage then handed them each a slip of paper with a complex design. "These are seal keys to training area 52. There is a cabin on the premise fully stocked with supplies."

"Thank you Lord Hokage." Naruto said with a light bow.

The old warrior just smiled and waved them off.

Just over an hour and a half later the two silver haired shinobi found themselves in training ground 52, which looked almost exactly the same as training ground 7 but without the memorial stone. Well that, and the seal barrier around it. But that was only there because this ground was normally used by ANBU units.

Kakashi turned to Naruto with an intense look in his visible eye. "Alright Naruto, before we start our training, you and I need to have a serious talk."

"Our training? Why the heck do you need to train? You trounced me!" Naruto asked.

Kakashi sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Because honestly I'm nowhere near as strong as I was a few years ago. During my fight with you I had to push myself to fight you, a genin." Naruto gained an insulted expression. "Granted you're probably closer to chunin but still. It showed me just how far I've fallen since my ANBU days."

Naruto was still scowling a bit. "So you were holding back?"

"Not intentionally, but yeah." Kakashi replied honestly.

Naruto's expression quickly went from anger to fear. "Whatever you do, I beg you, don't let my father know you were holding back."

Kakashi sounded a bit surprised. "I take it he didn't take your defeat well?"

Naruto just nodded mutely.

(Flashback)

Naruto passed through the front gate of his home with his head hung low with shame. When Seras came to greet her son his dejected look almost broke her unbeating heart.

Thick lines of crimson trailed from his eyes to his jawline and from there onto his clothes. He was crying blood.

Seras ran to her son in a burst of speed and in a display of strength carried him from the front hall all the way to his room near the top of the keep. Or rather that's what the maternal part of her wanted to do.

She wanted to comfort her son, but she knew his pride as both a prince and as a teen wouldn't let him accept such things. In the end she hugged him tightly and gave him a kerchief to wipe away his crimson tears before letting him go on his way.

In truth he wasn't crying from sadness. No, his tears came from a combination of rage at his loss to Kakashi, and fear of his father's reaction to that loss. Neither Alucard nor Vladimir Tepes were known to be highly forgiving of failure.

So he stood outside the door to the throne room and steeled himself the best he could for the reaction he knew was coming.

Shoving the huge doors to the throne room wide open Naruto strode in to meet his father with his head held high. On the outside he looked and acted exactly as his station demanded, cold, uncaring, and just a bit arrogant. On the inside though he was a nervous wreck, he was beyond terrified of his father's reaction. But he kept his fear in check and went down on one knee before his king.

"How went the fight Naruto?" Vladimir asked in a deceptively calm voice.

The silver haired prince suddenly lost the ability to speak and could only swallow nervously as his father stared down at him.

"Were you victorious over your foe?" The king asked with a venomous undertone.

Naruto swallowed once more. Summoning all of his considerable courage he spoke the words he so desperately wished he didn't have to say.

"N-no father. I was d-defeated."

The older vampire said nothing for a few moments as he continued to stare. "What sort of technique were you defeated by?"

Naruto blinked. "W-what do you mean?"

The counts brow furrowed as his eyes sharpened. "What kind of technique were you defeated by? Sword, jutsu, what form of technique defeated you?"

Naruto thought for a moment before replying in a quiet tone as he lowered his eyes to the floor. "I was not defeated by any technique father. The man simply outfought me."

Silence reigned for a few moments.

"You were, outfought?" Vladimir asked incredulously.

Naruto simply nodded his head but said nothing.

Suddenly the air became thick and heavy like a heavy woolen blanket had been draped over his entire body.

"You allowed yourself to be defeated in single combat by a human!?" the king hissed. His rage palpable.

Once more Naruto could only nod.

The king's rage suddenly and violently exploded, black demonic energy began rolling off him in waves. "You allowed yourself to be defeated by a human who did not even use a special technique!? How dare you consider yourself a night lord! You're a disgrace to my blood!"

Naruto attempted to defend himself against his fathers rage. "Father, I did all I could bu-"

"I don't care what you did or did not do! You were defeated!" With a snarl he reined in his anger. "Leave me, until I call for you once more."

Nodding quickly Naruto all but ran out the doors. He managed to get them closed just as his father roared to the heavens and released his rage once more. The massive doors did little to hide the sounds of destruction coming from the other side.

Even though part of him screamed at him to run far away, Naruto remained standing outside the doors. A half hour passed before the sounds of destruction ceased. Another ten minutes ticked by before Vladimir's voiced called.

The results of the king's rage were everywhere. To the side of the throne was a pile of twisted metal, the remains of several exquisite candelabras. The benches meant for quests lay against the walls in piles of splinters. Other bits of detritus also lay strewn about giving the room the look of a disaster zone.

Once more the king stared at Naruto from his throne, his eyes somehow cold despite their glowing red color.

"There will not be a repetition of this failure. Is that clear?" Vladimir growled.

Naruto nodded silently.

"Then get out of my sight."

(Flashback End)

Kakashi's visible eye took in Naruto's defeated expression.

"That's putting it mildly." Naruto said with a bit of a quaver to his voice.

Kakashi just nodded and looked at the setting sun. As this last part of the orb slipped beneath the horizon the jonin saw Naruto shiver out of the corner of his eye.

"What's it like?" the cyclops asked suddenly.

Naruto looked at his sensei with a bit of confusion.

Kakashi smirked a bit. "Oh come on don't play stupid. You know what I'm talking about."

Naruto huffed. "It's… different."

"That it? How underwhelming."

Naruto snorted. "Normally I don't feel any different than I did before. But other times, other times I'm scared."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "And what does the prince of vampires have to fear?"

"My father for the most part. He saved my life, and for that I'm thankful. I don't want to disappoint him. Even so he's pushing me to become something I'm not really sure I'm ready to be."

And what is it he wants you to be?

Naruto paused for a moment in thought. "He has very specific ideas on what the ideal vampire should be. I want to show him that I'm deserving of what he's done for me, but I don't want to become another version of him."

Kakashi nodded in understanding and said no more. The two silver haired shinobi stood silent for a few minutes just looking at the sky. Eventually the jonin sighed and straightened up out of his normal slouch.

"Well that's enough talking for me. How about a spar to shake off these dark thoughts?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile.

Naruto snorted in amusement but shifted his muscles in preparation. "And pray tell, how is a spar going to help this situation?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm not really sure myself. But I've always heard that-"

The jonin suddenly attacked swinging a previously concealed kunai towards his younger partner only for it to be intercepted by Crimson Moon's black metal haft.

"-Warriors communicate best with their fists." The jonin finished with a smile.

The younger combatant raised an eyebrow. "I think I've heard of that saying somewhere." As he spoke he fired his weapon spinning his scythe and forcing his opponent back. "However I think that it should be noted that you are using a kunai."

Kakashi attacked again with a series of thrusts keeping Naruto on the defense. "Eh, you're using a scythe, so what's your point? Besides,-"he struck out with his foot causing Naruto to leap back. "It's the thought that counts. And I want to see what you can do at night."

The young prince just rolled his eyes as he rushed his sensei.

To his surprise rather than leaping back Kakashi crouched and drew a second kunai. Naruto frowned in confusion but attacked anyway. A flurry of slashes, spins, and stabs appeared around the jonin, yet none of the attacks connected. Each strike was either blocked at the last instant by a kunai or dodged by a hairs breadth.

After a second or two of this a snap rang out as one of Kakashis kunais finally broke.

Seeing an opportunity Naruto attacked with increased vigor. But when Kakashi produced another kunai Naruto was thrown off. For a brief instant the jonin caught the head of Crimson Moon between his knives giving him the opportunity to mule kick Naruto in the chest.

As the young vampire flew back Kakashi took his chance and performed a few hand seals before rearing back his head. "Katon: Goukyaku!"

Bouncing off a tree Naruto dodged the rolling ball of fire. Only to have his sensei's heel intercept his face. The prince rolled across the ground for a moment before springing back to his feet and forming a few seals of his own.

"Onipou: Goka"

Another fireball roared across the training ground. Kakashi simply smirked a bit and weaved a few more handsigns in response.

"Doton: Doryuheki"

Naruto's fireball crashed against the wall of hardened earth that suddenly erupted from the ground in front of Kakashi.

Rolling to the side Kakashi brought one hand to his mouth.

"Suiton: Teppodama!"

Three melon sized water bullets went flying at Naruto at high speed. Using his vampiric speed though Naruto was easily able to evade them. As he did his hand blurred into motion.

"Onipou: Kazeshini!"

Swinging his scythe wildly Naruto created a web of deadly winds and launched them at his wily opponent. The jonin tried to dodge, but the blades of wind were too many and one slashed him across the chest. As a smirk began to cross Naruto's face 'Kakashi' erupted in a cloud of smoke revealing a heavily scarred log.

A whistle of displaced air was all the warning the young prince got as Kakashi appeared behind him, kunai already in motion. Naruto ducked and spun on one foot slamming his scythes counter-weight into the jonin's side.

The older shinobi just grunted and wrapped his arm around the weapons haft before yanking on it pulling Naruto directly into another powerful kick. The whiplash from the jonin's kick caused Naruto to release his hold on his weapon and go flying back once more.

And just like last time Kakashi took the moment of reprieve to use a jutsu.

"Katon: Housenka!"

Naruto skidded to a halt only to look up and be confronted be a swarm of small fireballs. Twisting and turning he attempted to dodge each and every one. When the barrage ended he emerged from the dust with part of his coat scorched but the rest of him untouched.

Kakashi called out to his opponent. "Oh come on now, this can't be it! What else you got to show me Naruto?" he taunted.

Naruto snarled and seemed to punch the air in front of him. A small ripple in the grass rushed towards the jonin. When it reached him the cyclops was thrown of his feet by the sudden impact.

A quick acrobatic flip landed the experienced warrior back on his feet just in time for Naruto to appear before him arm extended. The jonin batted the attack aside with his forearm but was unable to stop the following haymaker from plowing into his ribs.

In response the jonin spun with the strike and drove an elbow into the side of Naruto's head. Unable to effectively counter the attack Naruto fell to the ground. The moment his arms touch dirt though he pushed himself into a handstand and spun his legs in a circle driving Kakashi back long enough for him to regain his stance.

When he looked up at his opponent he found the cyclopean jonin standing with one hand on his chin in a thinking pose.

"Well, that was certainly enlightening." Kakashi said with an eye smile. "I think that's enough for today."

The clearing was silent for a minute.

"What!?" Naruto shouted.

"Not so loud there Naruto. Some of us do like our hearing, you know?" Kakashi remarked with a teasing tone.

"What do you mean that's enough? Our fights not over yet!" Naruto exclaimed.

"And why not?" Kakashi asked tilting his head.

"No one won!"

Now Kakashi seemed genuinely confused. "So?"

"The fights not over until somebody wins!" Naruto stated like it was perfectly obvious.

"Ah, I see." Kakashi said with a nod. "Well then it's a good thing this was a spar and not an actual fight then isn't it?"

"What's the difference?" Naruto huffed. "A fight is a fight, no matter what you call it."

The older shinobi sighed and shook his head. He turned to Naruto with a serious expression. "Look Naruto, not all fights have to have a winner and a loser. Spars aren't supposed to be about that. A spar is just a different kind of learning experience. I don't know how spars work where you were, but around here, a spar is just a friendly test of skill."

"Fine, whatever." Naruto grumbled as he walked over to his weapon.

Once his scythe was securely folded up and attached to its holster Naruto walked over to his sensei as the jonin leaned against a tree.

Naruto sat down and leaned against another tree facing his new sensei. "So what did you learn?" he blurted.

Kakashi turned and looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you said this was supposed to be a learning experience. So what did you learn?" Naruto responded.

The jonin looked up at the darkening sky for a moment before replying. "Well, I now know that after dark you are one hell of a fighter. You could beat most of the chunins I know. Even so, against someone like me your odds of victor are pretty slim."

Naruto inhaled to make a retort but Kakashi beat him to the punch.

"Now I'm not saying this to be mean, it's just that you are what I would consider a focus fighter." Kakashi said slightly defensively.

"A what?"

The cyclops scratched the back of his neck as he replied. "It means that you are very good in a few things, but you lack tactical flexibility. Your skills with that scythe are nothing to sneeze at, but if someone knows how to fight and beat a weapon like that, you're out of luck. The same thing could be said of your, spells, if your opponent isn't expecting them they would be a nasty surprise. That said, most jonin are capable of using a wide variety of jutsu, canceling out your own arsenal. With me so far?"

Naruto scowled but nodded. He didn't like how Kakashi was pretty much saying all his abilities were useless but at the same time he knew it was necessary to know these things.

"Good because that was the good news." Kakashi stated flatly. "During that fight I found two glaring weaknesses. First off, you are fast, incredibly so, but your moves are to direct. You never seem to use your speed to outflank your opponent. You just rush in and hack away. Trying that against an experienced enemy is a great way to get yourself killed. Secondly, you are far too reliant on your scythe in melee combat. Take it away and you go from a high chunin to a high genin at best."

"Are you saying I'm weak?" Naruto growled.

"Without your weapon, yes you are." Kakashi replied unfazed by Naruto's tone. "From what I saw, your taijutsu relies on speed and power to take down your opponent in a single blow before they have a chance to retaliate. You have the speed, but you lack the raw physical strength to make it truly effective. This combined with the fact that your style has a very weak defense means that, for the moment, without your weapon you aren't that much of a threat."

Naruto was seething!

'How dare he say that!' Naruto ranted internally. 'I am not weak!'

'Compared to him, yes you are kit.' Kurama commented from within.

'And what makes him stronger than me?'

'Experience, kit, experience. That guy is a seasoned warrior, you can see it in his eyes. He's fought who knows how many enemies and emerged victorious each time. He knows what he's talking about. He has seen it before.' The fox replied. 'Remember, he's trying to help you.'

'Fine.'

Naruto calmed himself down before speaking his mind. "So if I have all these problems what do you suggest I do about them?"

The silver haired jonin smiled. "I'll show you. We've got one week to make ourselves as strong as we can, and I intend to complete this assignment with flying colors."

Naruto let out a resigned sigh before looking at his sensei. "Alright then, what do we do first?"

The jonins eye curved into a smile. "We train till we drop of course!"

At the end of the week the two silver headed shinobi stood before the Hokage in less than stellar condition. Naruto's coat was all but shredded, his boots crumpled and torn, his shirt was ripped and soiled and his pants had effectively become shorts. Kakashi wasn't in much better shape. His normally gravity defying silver hair lay limp and disheveled, his flak jacket was riddled with holes and tears, his sandals were missing and his pants were in the same category as Naruto's. They were not anywhere near pretty.

The Hokage stared at them and their state of attire for a moment. "I have seen long term reconnaissance teams report back looking better than you two. What did you do to yourselves?"

Naruto replied with a smirk. "We trained till we dropped, got up and then did it again."

The Sandaime just blinked and slowly shook his head. "I said train, not try and kill yourselves."

Kakashi shrugged. "It worked didn't it?"

Sarutobi looked up at the jonin. "I don't know, did it?"

The cyclops eye-smiled. "I believe it did."

"Very well then Kakashi I'll trust your judgement on this matter. You two are free for the rest of the day. Go home get some rest and report back here at nine o'clock this evening for your next mission. Understood?" The Hokage said with a small smile.

The two shinobi nodded and exited the room.

Once out of the tower Naruto all but sprinted home. Since there had been no coffin in the cabin in training area 52 he had been force to go a whole week without sleep. Though sleep was technically not necessary as he was undead his mind still needed the time to reboot, so while his body wasn't tired, mentally he was exhausted. Even as he ran he could feel his mind slowing down.

Reaching home he shot through the halls and rooms like a bullet. Reaching his room he quite literally ripped off what remained of his clothes since they were ruined anyway, and leapt into his coffin slamming the lid shut. Within a few minutes the exhausted boy was deep within the death sleep.

What felt to be a few minutes later, light assaulted the prince's tired eyes. Groaning he reached up to try and close the lid only to find that someone was holding it open. Slowly but surely Naruto cracked open his eyes to see his mother standing over him with one hand on the lid and the other on her waist.

"Mom? Close the lid I'm trying to sleep." He mumbled.

Seras crossed her arms as she looked at her son. "You've been sleeping for almost fourteen hours. Besides don't you have a meeting with the Hokage at nine?"

Naruto buried his head under a pillow as a mumbled, "Yeah," escaped his lips.

"Well then, I feel it is my duty as your mother to inform you that you are an hour late to that meeting." Seras stated with a tone of annoyance.

Naruto sat up almost instantaneously.

"What!" He shouted as he shot out of his coffin toward his closet. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier!?"

Seras watched calmly as her son went tearing through his wardrobe looking for something appropriate to wear. "I didn't know where you were. I didn't really think that you would sleep for as long as you did."

"This should've been the first place you looked!" Naruto responded as he pulled on a pair of black canvas slacks.

"I'll be sure to remember that for future reference."

"Please do! I don't really want to get in trouble with the old man!" Naruto stated as he pulled out a short black jacket.

Throwing the jacket over his shoulder Naruto snatched his scythe from its rack and proceeded to run all the way back to the Hokage's tower.

Entering the office he found himself alone with the Sandaime.

"Am I late?" Naruto said worriedly as he glanced around the room.

Sarutobi looked up from the small orange book he held and smiled. "Not at all Naruto, in fact you are a bit early."

Naruto blinked a few times. "But, you said to be here an hour ago. How am I early?"

The old man chuckled. "That was indeed what I said. In truth I meant for you to be here at around eleven. Kakashi tends to be around two hours late for mission briefings. So I tell him to show up two hours before I actually want him."

"Does he hate being on time or something?" Naruto asked.

Once more the old man chuckled. "No, it's just a habit he's picked up over the years. It's a bit annoying at times but compared to some of the other shinobi running around, he's fine."

Naruto just sighed and sat down across from the aged leader. "So what do we do in the meantime?"

Sarutobi opened a drawer and pulled a board out and placed it on the table. "Do you play Go?"

Around an hour later Kakashi arrived to find his leader angrily puffing away on his pipe while Naruto laughed.

Kakashi blinked for a moment. "Did I miss something important?"

The Hokage turned to Kakashi and glared at him. "Did you teach our young friend here to play Go during your week?"

"No… Why?" the jonin replied a bit startled.

"He just beat me four games in a row and yet he claims to have no idea how to play!" The old man huffed angrily.

"Ah, you're just being a sore loser!" Naruto declared with a smile.

The Hokage grumbled a bit before clearing his throat. "Enough of this. I have an assignment for you two to get your feet wet with."

"What's the mission?" Kakashi asked.

"Elimination." The aged leader stated coldly.

"The target?" the jonin asked.

"A bandit group we believe to contain some low level nuke-nin. I've not bothered with them as they haven't done anything to affect us. However their last raid hit a shipment of weapons from tetsu."

Naruto tilted his head. "Why are you sending us?"

"Deploying an ANBU team would be a gross misapplication of resources, the oinin have other targets to hunt, and no one is paying for the mission."

Kakashi spoke up before Naruto could ask another question. "We'll take it."

Sarutobi smiled and placed three objects on the desk. Two ANBU masks and the mission scroll. "All other relevant details are in that scroll. Kakashi you are being reactivated as Inu. Naruto you are Itachi. You are dismissed."

The two younger shinobi donned their masks and exited the room.

Once alone the old warrior turned to look out over the village. 'Show me how much of a demon you have become Naruto!'

What will happen on Naruto's first mission?

What will happen to Sasuke?

Do we care about the answer to the second question?

All of the questions and more may be answered in the next installment!

Stay tuned!