Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise nor do I make any money off of my work. This is done entirely for fun.

Hi everyone. I am going to start by saying that as of this time, this story is discontinued. I am posting everything that I have finished if anyone wants to read it but it is not really a finished chapter. I want to apologize to everyone that was waiting for me to post more content but when I started writing I didn't really plan out any plot and I ran out of things to add. If anyone wants to use this as a basis for a story, feel free. Just make sure to send me a message with the name of your story in it.

Once again, Sorry.

_A Kumo Ninja_

Naruto was in a good mood. C was out on another mission so Naruto had decided to see what Yugito was doing. As it turned out, Yugito's sensei had also been given a mission so the two decided to have a rest day together.

Naruto laughed as he approached his front door. 'We'll have to take more days to just have fun.' he decided. He hadn't been this relaxed in quite some time.

Naruto opened his door and began to move inside. He only had one foot in the room before he froze. He had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach that he associated with danger. He had developed this danger sense in the back alleys of Konoha, where it had saved his life a few times.

He had only felt that feeling a few times since he had come to Kumo and he wasn't sure why he was feeling it now. What he was sure of was that his danger sense was almost never wrong.

He scanned his apartment for a moment but didn't find anything that would explain his feeling. He frowned as he thought about his options. He could ignore the feeling, decide it was a false alarm and continue on with his day. But even as the option crossed his mind he discarded it.

It was better to be safe than to get stabbed in the back he decided. Decision made, Naruto realized that he had been standing in the doorway for to long. He pursed his lips and spoke as if angry at himself.

"Damn, I forgot to get my book from Mabui-nee-chan. I hope she's home now."

Naruto then turned around, closed his door and began to cross the hallway to Mabui's door. The sense of danger hadn't faded reinforcing Naruto's decision to get help. He reached Mabui's door and gave a knock, desperately hoping that she would actually be home.

He nervously counted the seconds until he heard he move towards the door. When the door opened, he gave Mabui a huge smile and ducked inside.

She blinked as she watched him push the door closed. He took an extra moment to lock the door behind him which increased the alarm she was feeling at his behavior.

"Naruto-kun?" she questioned.

He turned to her and let out a sigh of relief.

"Mabui-nee-chan! I'm so glad you're home. I just got back and I've been getting a weird feeling since I opened my door. I wanted to ask you to look at my apartment to see what's wrong."

She blinked in surprise but nodded her head. Naruto was probably imagining things, but it wouldn't take long to glance around and set his mind at ease. She went to reply but was interrupted by a man's voice just outside her door.

"Damn, I knew that letting you go would be a problem."

She had only a moments notice before a sword was slammed through her front door at the spot where Naruto was standing. Luckily for them both, Mabui was a jonin and a moment was all she needed.

Moving so fast she disappeared from Naruto's vision, she reached out, grabbed Naruto and jumped back, landing in the middle of the room. The man outside, realizing that he hadn't hit anything, made two quick cuts separating the door from its hinges. He kicked forward and knocked the door down, revealing a masked man wearing black from head to toe holding a sword in a ready position. Naruto only got a second to look at him before he jumped backwards as Mabui completed a set of hand signs.

"Lightning release: Lightning needle storm jutsu!"

A spray of tiny lightning bolts flashed across the room before blowing through the recently vacated doorway. Mabui began another set of hand signs but was stopped when she heard the window behind her crack.

Twisting around, she noticed a dark shape coming at the window causing her to again grab Naruto and jump back, this time into her bedroom. The window exploded inward as another two masked figures dropped through.

Mabui, realizing that these people were back-up for their original assailant slammed her bedroom door shut and hit a seal resting next to the light switch. The seal flashed blue as chakra was pushed into it before spreading out to cover the room.

Safe for the moment, Mabui rushed to her bedside table to retrieve a pouch of kunai. She turned towards her closet, drew a pair of kunai and tossed the bag to Naruto. Naruto was so startled by the sudden throw that he almost dropped them. He fumbled with the pouch for a second until he got a firm grip before he looked up.

In that time, Mabui had opened her closet and pulled out a sheathed katana. Slipping the kunai into the sleeves of her shirt, she drew the sword, revealing a simple but deadly looking blade. Tossing the sheathe to the side, Mabui faced the door and took up a ready position, waiting for the would-be assassin's to break down the admittedly weak seals she had on her bedroom door.

Without looking away from the door, Mabui began to speak to Naruto in an urgent tone.

"Naruto." she snapped, getting his attention. "I need you to get out of here and to contact some ANBU. I cut a hole in the floor of my closet that will give you access to the crawl space between the floor and the ceiling."

Naruto went to object but a loud bang coming the door cut off his protests before they were voiced.

"I know you want to help but you aren't ready for battle. The best way you can help is by getting other shinobi here as quickly as possible. I'm an experienced jonin, I can hold here them until help arrives."

Naruto bit his lip in indecision before nodding his head. Mabui was a jonin so she could look after herself. And as much as he hated to admit it, she was right, everyone here was much faster than him and could beat him easily. Seeing the nod out of the corner of her eye, Mabui gave him a few last minute instructions.

"Use the back alleys to get to the Raikage's tower, trust no one until you speak to the Raikage personally, we don't know who else is in on this. Use the kunai only as a last resort, if there is trouble try to run first."

Naruto nodded his understanding and, clutching the kunai pouch to his chest, scurried to Mabui's closet. He quickly found the escape route and crawled inside.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. She had not been lying when she said that she could take care of herself but she was still extremely nervous. Three against one odds were never good, especially when facing opponents of unknown skill.

"Good luck, Naruto-kun." she whispered to herself. The door to her bedroom shook one last time and the seal keeping it closed flickered and died. Mabui cast all her doubts from her mind with the ease of long practice as a shinobi, they would only slow her down.

_Break _

Naruto reached the back door in record time and raced outside. He rushed into the now familiar back alleys of Kumo and began flying down the twisting streets heading to the Raikage's tower.

A moment later he was forced to stop when another masked man dropped down in front of him. Naruto's throat dries up as he realized that something had gone wrong. Mabui hadn't stopped all the attackers. His thoughts were confirmed a moment later when the man began to speak.

"Damn brat. You're way more trouble than I had originally thought. You were supposed to just go home and die in your sleep."

Naruto gulped as he remembered the feeling of danger in his apartment. If he hadn't listened to it, he would really have died. The man continued ranting to himself allowing Naruto time to begin making a plan to escape.

"Now my three best men are stuck fighting a jonin and I have to get involved personally. All for some kid with some weird pet bird. Pathetic!"

Deciding that any action was better than doing nothing, Naruto began to make hand signs.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Fence Jutsu." He whispered.

The assassin paused for a moment as he tried to figure out what Naruto had done. When nothing happened he broke into a deep, scorn filled laugh.

"Stupid child. You really expect me to believe that someone so young knows how to use chakra!? How stupid do you think I am!?"

He moved forward once more, quickly and confidently until he was just a few steps away from Naruto. Then he ran into the trap Naruto had just set.

As the leading edge of his sword passed through the lightning barrier technique lightning sparked along the pipes used to contain the jutsu. The lightning flashed through the air and into the sword, before flowing down the blade and into the assassin's hands.

The lightning was not especially dangerous, just a quick shock meant to surprise the target and to get them to turn back. The assassin, however, had not been expecting any jutsu, and dropped his sword from the shock. As a professional assassin in a world of shinobi, he was able to grab his sword again before it even hit the ground, but that moment of surprise was all Naruto needed.

Naruto grabbed a pair of kunai from the pouch Mabui had handed him and threw them at the assassin. He then dropped to the ground and crawled through a small gap in the wall next to him.

The assassin was easily able to deflect the thrown kunai but doing so allowed Naruto to escape. Grimacing at how complicated the entire hit had become, the man set out to explore the maze that Naruto had hidden in. After all, he was an assassin with an impeccable record, no child would be allowed to end that.

_Break _

Naruto grimaced as he took in the situation that he found himself in. He had used all of the kunai that Mabui had given him, throwing them one by one at the assassin to buy him more time, and was trapped in a dead end alley.

He had been trying to avoid this outcome for a little more than ten minutes but his opponent was incredibly skilled while he was still in training. Said opponent was currently standing at the only entrance to the dead end alley showing that the chase was at an end.

The assassin was bruised and covered in mortar dust, remnants from times that Naruto had worked to collapse loose walls or ledges on him. He was also missing his mask, a near miss from a particularly well thrown kunai barrage, revealing a snarling face. The assassin began moving down the alley, moving slowly and carefully to avoid any traps Naruto might have placed.

Naruto took this time to once again look for an escape route. There were no gaps in the walls for him to duck through and the walls were much to high to climb on his own. He might have been able to manage it if he used the utilities pipes that ran along the alley walls as hand holds but he doubted that the assassin would give him time to do so.

Gathering his courage, Naruto rushed at the assassin, hoping to slide passed him to escape. The assassin however was keeping a close eye on Naruto and saw the attempt coming. He lashed out with his sword in a broad sweep, slicing through the alley walls as if they were made of straw, not metal and brick.

Seeing the attack coming, Naruto leapt backwards, barely dodging the attack. The assassin moved forward, an evil grin on his face. Behind him, the steam escaping from cut pipes formed a shifting white wall that showed Naruto just how little chance of escape he had.

Again and again, Naruto rushed at the assassin, and again and again he was driven off by the flashing blade. Naruto briefly hoped that all the buildings losing heat and water at the same time would cause a shinobi to investigate, but that hope died as he realized any reinforcements would be unprepared to fight an assassin and might even be working with this guy.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as he slipped in a puddle of water that had formed from the cut pipes. Collapsing on his back, Naruto hurriedly pushed himself backwards, not even trying to get up. He was stopped a moment later however by the assassin's blade poking at his stomach. Turning panicked eyes upwards, Naruto realized that the assassin had run forward upon seeing Naruto slip and that he no longer had any time to escape.

"Any last words, brat?" the assassin growled.

Naruto gulped as he realized that he was really going to die. After everything he had been through, despite all the training he had done, he was going to die here, soaking wet, in a puddle in the middle of a back alley far from his friends. He opened his mouth to say something, although he was not quite sure what he wanted to say, when a thought caught in his mind.

He was in a puddle in the village of Kumogakure, and so was the assassin. Throwing all his hope into one insane gamble, Naruto grinned at the assassin.

"Ya, I got some last words. But You're not going to hear them today!" Naruto claimed.

Then he grabbed all the chakra the he could handle, twisted it until it became lightning and pushed it out of his body and into the puddle around him. The lightning spread through the water and the two bodies sitting in it. Naruto, just grabbed the lightning that tried moving through his body and forced it back around, just like he did in lightning transformation training. The assassin however, had no such training, and was forced to let the lightning do what it wanted.

The assassin's muscles locked up and he stood ramrod straight as the lightning arced through him. Here and there the lightning arced out of his body to touch the metal around him, leaving behind burns on both sides. Naruto grimaced but kept creating lightning and forcing it out. He knew that if he stopped for even a moment, the assassin would kill him. No more games or underestimating him.

Naruto had no idea how long they were in that alley, him sitting on his ass, soaking in a puddle, and generating lightning, while his enemy stood locked in place by the thousands of volts that danced through his body. To him, it was as if time had stopped and they were frozen in a single moment that stretched on forever. Finally, however, Naruto allowed the moment to end.

He stopped generating lightning and allowed the remaining lightning to ground itself in the alley floor. The assassin collapsed, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, as the lightning left his body. Wearily, Naruto picked himself up and examined his enemy.

The assassin was lying face down in a puddle of water, covered in electrical burns, and not breathing. Naruto frowned as he tried to figure out what to do next. He knew that the assassin could be faking his condition, especially because he didn't know how long the man had been electrocuted, but he also knew that he had to check.

After a moment, a lesson that Mabui had taught him came back to him.

Taking a deep breath, and drawing all his determination together, Naruto reached down to his ankle and drew his last, and first, kunai. The kunai was the same one that the Konoha gate guard had given him and the one that he had used to take his first life. He kept it with him always, as a reminder of the realities of the life he chose to live, and as a promise, that he would live his life.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto raised his arm, and threw the kunai. Naruto had been training his shurikenjutsu with Yugito for years and so a throw from one stationary target to another stationary target over the distance of five feet was easy. The kunai arced, almost lazily though the air before finding a home in the back of the assassin's neck.

Naruto was still standing there, his mind almost blank as he struggled to figure out what he should do next, when Mabui and a pair of ANBU dropped down next to him.

_Break _

A slammed his first into his desk as Kenji and Mabui entered his office.

"Well?" he demanded.

Mabui was the one to reply.

"We found Naruto-kun in the back alleys, half a mile from here. It looks like the leader of the assassin's hung back and chased Naruto when I fought his men."

"Damn." A cursed. "How did he survive?"

Mabui spoke up to fill in the details.

"From what we got from Naruto-kun, he used various tricks to trap the man and electrocute him."

A nodded his head in appreciation. The assassins were skilled, around what he would expect from a Chunin, although not quite there because they hadn't used chakra, so the leader had to have been stronger. It was good that his future shinobi would be strong.

"Did you get any information from the assassins?"

Kenji spoke up for the first time since he entered the room.

"Unfortunately, the only one to survive fighting Mabui-san died in the operating room before he could be questioned. Luckily, however, it doesn't appear that the men knew about his status as a jinchuriki."

"Explain." ordered A.

"Of course, Raikage-sama. What I mean to say is that none of the men appeared to be able to handle a bijuu. They were fairly competent assassins but they didn't use any nin-, tai-, gen- or fuinjutsu. In fact, they appeared to be under the assumption that Naruto-san couldn't even use chakra."

A frowned in thought. "If they weren't after him because he's a jinchuriki or even a shinobi in training, why did they want to kill him."

Kenji gave his best guess. "According to Naruto-san, the leader made a throw away comment about some 'weird pet bird'. I believe he was targeted because of his connection to Lyth-san."

A slammed a fist into his desk again, causing a long crack to appear down the center of it.

"Kami damn it. It doesn't really matter why the assassins are after him, there are more than enough reasons. What matters is making sure this can't happen again."

Kenji nodded his head. "I've already got my men looking into how the assassins got into Kumo. We've been plugging leaks since we caught the spy but it looks like we've got more work to do."

Mabui spoke up with an idea. "While it's a good idea to increase security, I think it is impossible to completely prevent spies or assassins from getting in."

"Oh," questioned the Raikage. "and what do you suggest?"

"First we need to move Naruto-kun's apartment. The assassins were waiting in it for him to come home. Then we need some shinobi to keep an eye on him. If I hadn't been home, he would probably have died."

The Raikage shook his head grimly. "I agree that we need to move his apartment but it is impossible for him to have a protective detail, we just don't have enough people to manage it unless we cut back on missions or defense, something I refuse to do."

Both Mabui and A fell silent as they considered the problem. Finally, it was Kenji who broke the silence.

"What if we increase Naruto-san's training? He is training to become a shinobi, so with a little more work he can at least hold off any attackers who sneak through. Combine that with moving him into another apartment and maybe an emergency signal of some kind that will attract ANBU attention and he should be fine."

A nodded his head slowly. The kid had managed to kill a fairly strong assassin with next to no offensive jutsu and if all else failed, he was a jinchuriki.

"Alright, that's what we'll do. Mabui-san, tell C-san to lift my ban on offensive ninjutsu. Also tell him that he has the next four months off to dedicate to training Naruto-san."

Mabui nodded her head in acknowledgment of his order. "I'll also enroll Naruto-san in the coming academy term, that will help when I need C for missions once more."

Kenji spoke up in objection.

"Raikage-sama, If we include Naruto-san in he academy class two years early we will be telling everyone that he is important. His greatest advantage right now is his anonymity."

A frowned before coming up with an answer.

"Then we'll make a class of eight year olds for him to be in. We'll tell everyone that we are testing a new academy model to see if we can lower the academy age. If they make it, they can graduate in two years, if they don't, we'll fold them into the regular classes and they graduate in four. Then he won't stand out and he'll still get the training he needs."

When Kenji nodded his head in agreement, A settled back in his chair. Now then, I think it's time that we talk about security."

Mabui quickly left the room as Kenji began another report.

_ Scene Break _

Naruto was sitting in his new apartment, just across the hall from his old one, when he heard a knock on his door. Remembering his recent attack, Naruto drew a kunai as cautiously approached the door. He glanced at a hidden peek-hole that Mabui had helped him set up before relaxing.

Putting the kunai away, Naruto opened the door and greeted the man on the other side.

"Hi C-sensei, how have you been?"

"Good." the man replied, "I hear that you've been in some trouble though."

Naruto's face fell a little as he remembered his fight with the assassin.

"I guess you could say that."

Feeling bad that he had brought the mood down, C reached out a roughed up Naruto's hair as he stepped inside. He gently closed the door behind him, no point in letting the news get out.

"I also heard that you did really well for someone so young, the ANBU were really impressed."

"Really?" questioned Naruto excitedly.

"Definitely." answered C, "In fact, you impressed enough people that you get to go to the academy in six months."

Naruto just stood there and blinked for a moment, "What?"

C nodded his head in a false serious manner.

"Oh yah, you got people thinking that ten was kinda late to start at the academy so they are starting up a test class to see if we can start training earlier. Your name was first on the list."

Naruto started vibrating as he struggled to keep his enthusiasm inside.

"Oh Kami, this is amazing. I get to be a shinobi two years early. Oh Kami."

C laughed and nudged Naruto.

"I think it's alright to relax a little, for celebrations at the very least."

Naruto nodded and began jumping up and down.

"Oh yah!" he cheered causing C to laugh.

It took C another five minutes to get Naruto to calm down.

"If you thought that was great just wait until you hear what I have to say next."

Naruto stared up excitedly at C but got no response. Naruto began to get annoyed.

"Well? What do you have to say next?"

Laughing again C moved to the couch motioning for Naruto to follow.

"Because you're starting the academy soon, I managed to take some time off to help you get ready. I don't have to do any missions for the next four months."

Naruto jumped out of his seat in excitement.

"Really? Wow!"

C nodded again becoming a little more serious.

"Yes, I'm going to spend the next four months getting you ready for the academy, and we're going to start with offensive ninjutsu."

Seeing how serious C was caused Naruto to calm down a little.

"Thank you C-sensei. For taking the time to train me and for teaching me some attacks. When I was getting stalked by that assassin I was completely helpless." Naruto shuddered as he remembered the desperate game of hide-and-seek he had played.

C ruffled Naruto's hair again.

"I think that you showed that assassin just how helpless you really were."

They sat for a moment in silence as they considered their thoughts. Naruto was the first to break the silence.

"I have a lot to work on, don't I"

C nodded. "Yah, you do. Luckily, however, you have two years at a minimum before you become a genin. Even then, you don't have to be perfect. You still have time."

Naruto nodded as a look filled with determination crossed his face.

"Alright, I'll work as hard as I can to get ready."

C smiled as he looked at Naruto. 'That's going to be the next generation.' he thought to himself. 'If even one-quarter of them are like him, Kumo will be in good hands.'

"Alright Naruto-kun, I don't want to overload you by giving you too much to do before the academy starts so we'll stick mostly with what you're already doing."

Naruto began listing the skills he was learning to make sure that he knew what was going to happen.

"Stealth, Chakra control, geography, anatomy, traps, poisons, and nature transformation?"

C nodded. "We'll pull back on the theoretical stuff a little, you'll have plenty of time for that in the academy. My goal is for you to learn at least three offensive jutsu and for you to be able to do the water walking exercise, if not to have it mastered."

Naruto nodded his head. He paused as an idea came to mind.

"I think it's time for me to learn water elemental transformation."

C tilted his head in a way that Naruto had come to learn to mean that he wanted an explanation.

"It's like you said a few years ago, mastery techniques is important but learning a lot of techniques is too. I'm at the point that it could take years for me to advance in lightning elemental transformation. While I will still work on it in my spare time, water elemental transformation will be better for me right now."

C slowly nodded his head. "I can see that I guess. If you work hard, you can probably be done with the basic exercise by the time the academy starts." Nodding to himself, C continued in a more firm voice.

"Alright, I'll let you know the first step. You have to be able to move from one cup into another three feet away using only your chakra."

Naruto frowned as he absorbed his lesson.

"Um, are you sure about that C-sensei?"

"Of course I am! That's the first step in water elemental transformation."

Naruto shook his head in confusion. "But I can already do that." he said.

C blinked. "Really?"

Naruto nodded. "I got bored a year ago when it was snowing and you were on a mission. I was just playing around and. " He trailed of before shrugging his shoulders. "Just look."

Reaching out a hand, Naruto began to focus on his sink faucet. He reached out hi chakra and gave a now familiar tug. A moment later, water came streaming out and arced across the room. Naruto grinned a little as he made the water dance between his hands, before he sent it back into the sink.

Relaxing his chakra, Naruto felt the water slip down the drain. From the moment he pulled the water from the faucet to the moment he let it go, the water had been clearly defined and not one drop had fallen anywhere that he had not wanted it to. Turning to look at C, Naruto gave a huge grin.

"See?"

C nodded his head dumbly. "I see. Um. I can give you the other technique we know but I don't think its going to help much."

Naruto frowned. "Really? Why not?"

C shook his head slowly. "Because Darui-san completed the second step and I don't think he could do what you just did."

Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Huh. Well what is the second step anyway."

C shrugged. "You go to a river and divert its flow. You have to do it until the river digs into the ground and makes a new bend."

"Really? That seems dumb. I mean, with lightning transformation there were a whole lot of different steps, but with water its just two that make you move it around a little."

C shrugged. "Like I said before, each country has its specialties and strengths. If you were in Mizu no Kuni then there probably would be more steps."

Naruto frowned. "Well I think that's stupid. I'm going to make up my own steps so that I'm stronger than any shinobi from Mizu."

C smirked at Naruto. "Really?" he questioned. "And just how are you going to do that?"

Naruto decided that C was dismissing him and got angry.

"When is was doing all those exercises with lightning, I realized that they were really just the same thing over and over again. Some exercises were about making the element quickly and without hand signs, others were about controlling the element, and the rest were about increasing power. I just need to do the same thing."

C blinked as he thought through Naruto's reasoning. "Huh. I never though about it before but your right."

Naruto nodded his head sharply and calmed down a little.

"I know I'm right. Never count me out because if I say something, then I'm going to do it."

C realized that he had drifted away from his reason for coming over. Reaching out he ruffled Naruto's hair and smiled.

"I wouldn't dream of not believing in you. Now, however, its time for training. I think we're going to start with a water release. Maybe water release: Wild Water Wave. It's a c-ranked technique that creates blast of water that varies in size and strength based on chakra and experience. At the very least you'll be able to use it like you did with the cut pipes and the assassin.

Naruto put all his thoughts to the side as he focused on learning his first offensive jutsu.

_ Scene Break _

A forgotten room in a forgotten base, Konohagakure

Danzo cursed under his breath as a root agent appeared in front of him.

"What is it?"

The root agent kneeled and gave his report.

"The assassins you sent to Kumo have missed their report date. We are forced to assume that they were captured or killed on the job."

Danzo gestured for his agent to continue. He didn't really care if they were captured or killed, they didn't have enough information to incriminate him. What he did care about was if they had finished the mission.

"Getting information from Kumo is difficult without permanent agents but we questioned some of the merchants that do trade there. They report that apart from an increase in security, everything remains the same. We have concluded that either the assassins failed or the Raikage is covering up the incident well enough that it hasn't leaked to anyone."

This information caused Danzo to grimace. He knew just how difficult it was to keep a secret, especially in a hidden village. The complete lack of reaction to the news meant that the boy bonded to the chakra eagle was alive and well.

"Why did I pick assassins who don't use chakra? A root agent wouldn't have failed."

The root agent quickly answered Danzo's question.

"You decided that chance that the assassin would be captured and recognized was too high to use root agents. The assassin group was picked due to their lack of chakra use, making them harder to detect by shinobi and giving them a higher chance of mission success."

"Idiot." snapped Danzo. "That was a rhetorical question. I know why I used the assassins I did."

"Yes Danzo-sama, forgive me." the man hastily replied.

Danzo sighed and contemplated the reports that he had been reading before his agent had interrupted him. Finally, after a silent five minutes, he looked up.

"We can't risk any more assassination attempts. After our spy was captured and the assassins killed it wouldn't take much more for Kumo to put together that we were behind it. We're still to weak to risk a war."

The root agent remained silent, knowing that he shouldn't speak after his mess up with the rhetorical question.

"Tell the Kumo teams to focus on getting another spy in place. All information is to be forwarded to me. When the boy becomes a shinobi more opportunities will present themselves."

"As you command, Danzo-sama."

The root agent went to leave the room but paused at Danzo's final command.

"Make sure to report to the training room after giving out my orders. Tell the group leader than you need retraining."

The agent gave another "Yes, Danzo-sama." before leaving. Danzo fished out the file he had on his newest source of frustration. It was surprisingly sparse, containing only a basic description of the boy and a few details he had gotten before his spy had been captured.

Danzo frowned at how the boy was thwarting him even here, before putting the file aside. He couldn't let this child become an obsession, no matter how frustrating he was. After all, he had an organization to run and a village to protect.

_ Scene Break _

Naruto tried to calm his nerves as he approached the Kumogakure Academy building. He had been training with C for around two years but this was different. At the academy he would have to deal with dozens of other children and he didn't know what to do.

He was pulled from his spiral of self-doubt when someone called his name. Lifting his head and looking around, Naruto quickly noticed Yugito making her way towards him.

"Hi, Naruto-kun. Are you looking forward to starting class today?"

Naruto tried to hide his discomfort as he answered. "Definitely." Unfortunately for him, Yugito had known him for quite a while and could always tell when he was lying.

"Really?" she questioned. "Because it looks like your going to be sick."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I'm fine. I'm just a little nervous about not knowing anyone here."

Yugito peered at Naruto closely, as if trying to spot him lying again. After a moment she nodded her head, clearly satisfied that he had told the truth that time. Yugito then gave Naruto a massive smile.

"Well you don't have to worry about that. I'm going to be there!"

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Really!? I thought you said that your sensei wouldn't put you into the program."

Yugito nodded her head. "Ya, but sensei changed her mind a month ago. I think that Raikage-sama made her let me go."

"A month ago!? Why didn't you tell me?"

Yugito gave a small laugh. "I wanted to surprise you. I thought you would be happy to see me suddenly show up."

Naruto quickly nodded his head, afraid that he would offend her if he didn't.

"I am happy to see you, Yugito-chan. I just wish that you had told me. I've been worried for weeks now and knowing that you're going to be there would have helped a lot."

Yugito gave Naruto a quick hug as an apology. Yugito had noticed that hugs tended to calm Naruto down fairly quickly. "Sorry Naruto-kun. I hadn't realized that you were so worried."

Naruto hugged Yugito back to show that he had accepted her apology. The two had started hugging as apologizes fairly quickly after they became friends. He wasn't sure why but they always made him feel better. "It's alright. At least you're here now."

Breaking apart, the two children glanced at a nearby clock. Noticing that they had spent too long outside, they hurried towards the school building.

Naruto and Yugito quickly found their way to their classroom. They carefully selected the last two seats in the back corner of the room. Then they settled in and began to look around. The first thing they noticed was that the classroom looked remarkably ordinary.

There were thirty desks, each labeled with a number, facing another desk, which Naruto assumed was the sensei's, at the front of the room. Naruto was sitting in a desk labeled twenty-nine while Yugito was siting in desk thirty. Hanging on the wall behind the presumed sensei's desk was a large black board.

The second thing that they noticed was that they were being watched. Yugito gave Naruto a subtle hand signal which he knew meant cover left. The two jinchuriki had come up with a set of hand signals that they used when training together.

Correctly interpreting Yugito's order to mean that he should search the left side of the room, Naruto tried his best to find the person watching them without giving away the fact that he knew he was being watched.

It took Naruto two minutes of searching before he finally located a presence hidden in the corner of the room. Naruto caught Yugito's attention and gave her their sign for enemy spotted, then rolled his head to the side to indicate where.

Yugito gave Naruto their sign for understood before giving him the enemy spotted sign back and subtly indicating the other corner. After Naruto acknowledged the signal, he began planning what he would do if the 'enemies' really were enemies.

He had just figured out his third contingency plan when the 'enemies' revealed themselves. The person that had been in the left side of the room was a tanned young woman with long black hair. The person on the right side of the room was a tall, heavily muscled man with a thick, gray beard and no hair on the rest of his head. Both people were wearing Kumo flak jackets and had a Kumo hitai-ate on their forehead.

The two people crossed the room to stand at the front of the room. Then the man began to speak.

"You are here as a test to see if we can lower the age of admission to the academy. As part of the test, if we, at any point, think that you are unready or unable to keep up with a shinobi life style, you will be dropped from this class."

The woman continued that thought. "As such, seats one, three, five, six, fourteen, nineteen and twenty-one please leave the classroom. You are welcome to try again when you reach the normal academy age."

The woman's proclamation caused a storm of protest from those selected. The protest was quickly silenced as the children were hit by a quick blast of killing intent.

"The people I singled out failed their first test as potential shinobi. My partner and I weren't working very hard to hide ourselves but you didn't even notice us. If we had been enemy shinobi, you would be dead."

A young boy, who Naruto noticed was sitting in seat three, spoke up.

"But aren't we in the academy to learn how to do all those shinobi things? Why should we fail for not being taught shinobi skills before coming to the academy?"

The man answered his question. "The key words my partner said were the we weren't really trying to hide. Most civilians should have noticed our presence, even if they couldn't actually find us. You weren't most civilians. If you think it's not fair, look around you. Twenty-one of your classmates, children the same age as you, noticed that they were being watched."

The sharp rebuke caused the boy to shut up. Those kicked out of the program grumbled a little more but eventually left. Once the door closed again, the two instructors addressed the remaining students. The man spoke first.

"Now that that's out of the way, my name is Noburo Izumi and I am a chunin of Kumogakure. I will usually teach you in the mornings, from now until lunch."

The woman spoke up next. "My name is Teruyo Ibu and I am a jonin of Kumogakure. I will take up teaching you from lunch until dismissal. As this is the first day, we will both be with you for the entire day. Don't get used to it."

Noburo continued with their introduction. "My job is to teach you the theoretical side of being a shinobi. That means I will be teaching you about subjects like math, science, chakra, and how they apply to shinobi."

Teruyo spoke up as Noburo finished his statement. "And I will be teaching you the practical side of being a shinobi. That means I will be teaching you subjects like ninjutsu, genjutsu, shurikenjutsu, and kenjutsu. I will also give practical lessons on certain subjects that Noburo-san will teach."

Noburo spoke up again. "Any questions?" he paused a moment before continuing. "No? Good." The children with their hands up dropped them with a groan.

Noburo continued with an obviously false obliviousness. "As it is the morning of the first day we will be doing a lesson on one of the one of the most important tools a shinobi can have. Can anyone guess what I mean?"

A few children raised there hands. After a moment Naruto did as well. Teruyo began picking people to answer.

"Kunai?"

"No."

Your team?"

"While that is an important resource for any shinobi that's not what we are looking for."

Finally she picked Naruto. He thought or another second before replying with a simple and definitive. "Chakra."

Noburo nodded his head. "That was what we were looking for. Yes, chakra. Chakra is one of the most important tools a shinobi can have. But what exactly is chakra?"

This time Naruto kept his hand down. It wouldn't be wise to reveal all his skills and knowledge on the first day after all.

_Break _

Naruto and Yugito made their way to the field the academy used as a training ground. They had finished their lunch early and wanted to scout out the training ground for any surprises. As the moved they talked about their first half of the day.

"What did you think about Noburo-sensei, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shrugged. "He seems alright. I need to spend more time around him to be sure. His lectures are boring though."

Yugito shook her head. "It was only one lecture and it was on a subject you already know. You can't say his lectures are boring yet."

Naruto raised a single eye brow in response. "Really? You didn't think his lecture was boring?"

Yugito rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, a habit she picked up from spending so much time with Naruto. "Nah, I thought his lecture was dead-boring. I'm just saying though, you have to give it more time."

Naruto shook his head but didn't say anything because they arrived at the training field. The field was nothing special, just a fenced off, flattened chunk of rock a few miles away from the academy. In one corner, that was clearly a storage area, sat a set of kunai and shuriken targets mixed with a set of straw-filled dummies.

Naruto shook his head in disappointment. After spending so much time on the chunin and jonin training grounds with C, he was not impressed. Even their secret garden that they maintained made a better training ground than this. By his side, Yugito made a ram hand seal.

"Genjutsu Release." she whispered.

When nothing happened, Yugito lowered her hands and shook her head sadly.

"Really?" she questioned "This is what we have to work with?"

Naruto shook his head as well. "Damn."

The two disappointed shinobi-in-training continued staring until their classmates began to arrive. They then joined up with the group assembling at the center of the training ground.

"Listen up!" Teruyo called as the last of the children showed up. "This is training ground four-hundred one. It's not much, but it's what we have. Every day after lunch, we will meet here for practical lessons in being a shinobi. That means you will be learning how to exercise, practicing the skills Noburo-san teaches you, working with ninjutsu and genjutsu, and learning kenjutsu and shurikenjutsu."

Yugito raised her hand. "What about taijutsu?"

Teruyo nodded her head in appreciation. "A good question. Keep those up and you'll go far in your shinobi career. As for the answer, well, we don't really teach that here."

Anticipating Yugito's next question, Teruyo continued with an explanation. "At the academy, we have two years to turn civilians into shinobi. There are too many important skills you need to learn and we son't have much time so we have to cut down or skip a lot if you want to be half-way decent at anything. Unfortunately, taijutsu is one of those things."

Noburo picked up the explanation. "It was decided that it took much less time to make someone dangerous with a weapon than it did with their fists. As such, we only teach a few basic taijutsu moves for you to use in an emergency. We leave the rest to your jonin-sensei or self-study."

Teruyo nodded her head in agreement. "The first rule of taijutsu that we teach here is get a weapon in your hand as fast as you can. We even spend your first year at the academy teaching you how to use a variety of weapons, both normal and improvised, so you can use kenjutsu or shurikenjutsu wherever you are."

Teruyo suddenly clapped her hands causing a few children to jump in surprise. "We are getting off-topic. Today, we are going to evaluate your physical abilities. We will push you to your very limit so that we can figure out where you need to improve." She gave the children a sadistic grin. "To start with, you'll do push-ups. I'll tell you when to stop."

_ Scene Break _

A sat in his office, staring grimly at his desk and the reports held on it. The entire village had been hit with a sudden plague and over sixty percent of its citizens were sick. Symptoms so far included a blue tongue and green urine but it had only been documented for a little over a day and everyone was waiting for it to get worse.

The plague was a complete mystery. It was sudden and fast moving, didn't appear on any medical tests and no one knew what was carrying it. The fact that the plague was so different from regular diseases made it likely that it was man-made. And a man-made plague unleashed in Kumo was enemy action.

A didn't know who had targeted Kumo, or how they had passed through the upgraded security measures that he had implemented but he would find out. And then, he would make them pay.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hesitant knock on his office door. He had told Mabui that he was not to be disturbed unless there was progress on the plague. He had also told her to just send anyone with a progress report through so he didn't know why she had bothered to knock.

He frowned but called out for her to enter. The door opened and Mabui entered followed by a nervous looking Naruto and Yugito.

"Raikage-sama, Naruto-kun and Yugito-chan claimed that they had information on the plague. I thought that you would like to talk with them as soon as possible."

A nodded his head. "Ah yes, you two. I should have known that you would be involved in this mess. You seem to always end up in the right, or wrong, place at the right time." The two children flinched causing A to narrow his eyes. "What information did you have for me?"

Naruto glanced at Yugito, biting his lower lip in apprehension. She looked back at him, not doing anything either, causing Naruto to start.

"We know who caused the incident and how it was caused."

A raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? You know who caused the plague? Who was it then?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably and began to answer.

"Um, you know, it was, uh, us?"

A blinked as he processed that statement. Then he leaned forward and asked in a dangerous voice. "You?"

"It was supposed to be a joke." Yugito blurted out. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"Explain." A commanded.

Having finally spoken, Yugito started the story.

"A while back, Naruto-kun and I started stealth training together. We wanted a someone to search for us so Naruto came up with this idea."

As Yugito trailed off, Naruto picked up the explanation. "I thought that pranks were very close to missions that we would take as a shinobi and would be good training. We tried it out and found out that it actually was good training but we got too good for civilians to catch and weren't ready to start pranking shinobi so we decided to do a really big prank."

_Flash Back_

Naruto yawned as he leaned back against the tree the children had grown in their private garden. He was interrupted by a call from Yugito.

"Naruto-kun!"

"Yugito-chan!" he called back. A moment later, Yugito sat down next to Naruto.

_End Flash Back_