Chapter 5

Narrator POV (I do not own Naruto)

Today was a real big day for the Village Hidden in the Leaves. An ambassador from Kumogakure was coming to the village as an envoy that very day, along with a couple of jonin as guards. The whole village was abuzz with excitement and anticipation, as they cleaned up the village and made it look as pristine and welcoming as possible. Even though it was real early in the morning, you could hear lots of villagers chatting.

Mothers dressed up their children in expensive kimonos and elegant dresses while fathers would prepare for the carnival, which would occur after the treaty had been signed. The whole village would celebrate, knowing that there was one less enemy out there.

However, there was a darker side to the preparations. The villagers were whispering to one another about the "Kyuubi Brat", about how he had gotten a lot more troublesome, and that he could ruin the whole event. Some even wanted to capture him and hold him prisoner until the treaty signing was over, but there were very many of them that supported the idea. Most of the villagers cursed Naruto in their heads, or muttered his name angrily as they went about their business. It didn't matter, though.

Naruto couldn't hear any of it.

(Hatake Estate)

Naruto, now six, indeed couldn't hear any of it. Not that he wanted to, anyways.

Naruto had grown a lot, both mentally and physically. His face was the same except his hair was longer and most of the baby-fat had been worked off from his face, leaving him with a visage that made him seem much older. His knowing eyes only added to the image. He had grown several inches and built his wiry little frame. He was stronger, faster, and smarter.

His fuinjutsu was at a solid Level 4, and he was working on the first stages of Level 5. His speed with seals was amazing, as was his skill with them. His chakra control was very good, but he had to train every day to keep it like that. His sword style was coming along very well, and he had already mastered the first kata of the Kyukyoku no Ken, and had started thinking about the second. So far, no ideas had popped up.

However, his wind manipulation was what had taken the biggest leap. He had accelerated his training with 500 clones a day, with plenty of advice from Kakashi, and a lot of theory reading. Now, his wind manipulation was at the point where even the greatest Kazekage would consider it impossible. With a wave of his hand, he could send massive tearing, cutting, or slamming gales of wind, depending on his choice. He could surround himself with wind chakra to enhance his speed, his defense, or his cutting power. The level of manipulation shown by Naruto was simply...Godlike.

But that didn't please Naruto. Naruto kept on training his wind manipulation, never satisfied. He often told Kakashi and Gai that he felt that there was a higher level of manipulation that he had yet to reach.

He had sort of recovered from all of the hatred he had received during his earlier years. For almost a whole year, he had cut all communications with people other than his senseis, his Jiji, and the Ichirakus. Naruto often called them over to chat or deliver some ramen.

As of now, he was doing some insane stretches that would make any man cringe. However, Naruto was able to perform it with the ease of a professional contortionist: the result of countless hours of hard training.

Naruto had grown so accustomed to his training that he sort of set his body on autopilot and let his mind wander. Now, he was thinking about Gai's other student, Lee.

Lee was a particularly outgoing and prideful character, but what really defined him was his burning determination to be a successful shinobi even with his disability. As Gai had explained to him, Lee had been born with a very underdeveloped and mangled chakra system, with almost all of his Tenketsu points being blocked off or destroyed. By some miracle, his main eight Tenketsu were completely intact, allowing him to use chakra in that region. However, he could not use chakra anywhere else on his body. It just wasn't there.

Naruto was truly inspired by Lee, and gave him the utmost respect. Lee was also an orphan and he was also discriminated for his disability, but Lee had somehow trained himself enough to catch the attention of Gai. To have impressed Gai was truly something else.

Lee also held great respect for Naruto, and always tried to help him. Lee would never think of insulting or undermining Naruto: one does not simply do that. The fact that Naruto had survived five years almost completely on his own had Lee amazed. Naruto was truly a saint.

Naruto came out of his thoughts and realized he was on the push-ups already. He was somewhere around the 500 mark, but had hardly broken a sweat. After training under Gai for about a year, his little frame had grown stronger and stronger. His bones were like steel and his muscles were like metal ropes.

Naruto was a machine. Although being small, cute, and childish, he was a machine, who had limitless stamina and untold strength.

After two hours of physical training, the heavily panting Naruto plopped to the ground, unsealed a water bottle from a tattoo on his wrist, and started drinking. He gulped for ten seconds straight and slammed it down, panting. He resealed the water bottle in his tattoo and took a minute to relax.

After his minute was up, he went back to training.

(Konohagakure no Sato)

The village was alight with banners, fireworks, and great bonfires. Men drank sake and chatted, Women ate dango and gossiped, and the children ran across the streets of Konoha, playing games at the various kiosks that had been set up. The entire village was celebrating: no one could possibly think of anything bad in such a merry environment...

But there were some who did.

Several of the village council members had been plotting the moment Naruto had been revealed as jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. To them, this was one of the biggest chances they had ever had. The village distracted by the festivities, most of the ninja guarding the borders of the village, and the Hokage's gaze on the ambassador; all of this let them make a clear path to Naruto.

The Shinobi Council had access to where the jinchuuriki was taking residence, and with some shared secrets, some hired ninja, and some bottles of sake, a plan was established. With Kakashi and Gai far away on guard duty, there would be no one to protect Naruto.

To add to it, the Civilian Council had managed to get hold of the Kumo ambassador, who coincidentally, hated Konoha, and was an extremely greedy and egotistic man. They had used a bit of money, a bit of secrets, and a bit of prodding to arrange a kidnapping. In exchange for creating a huge commotion, the Kumo ambassador had been given precise information on where the Hyuuga clan's heiress would be hidden. He had also been told when her guards had their dinner break and where to escape the village borders from.

Fugaku Uchiha of the Shinobi Council had given most of the information away, and had even offered to help in kidnapping the heiress. Fugaku was very spiteful towards the Hyuuga clan, and coincidentally, hated Naruto for his jinchuuriki status. Creating such a notorious plan with some civilians in order to give his enemies misery was something he would do.

No matter which way you put it, shit would hit the fan tonight.

The day had passed very quickly. It seemed to shift instantaneously from day to night. Now, vibrant firecrackers, glowing lanterns, roaring bonfires, and great fiery carnival dragons littered the streets and roofs of the village, making it look like a fire opal from above. Almost every single family was celebrating: some invited relatives and ate hearty home-made dinners; while some gathered friends and feasted at restaurants. Some people ate out in the cool night air, basking in the light of over 1,000 fires.

Naruto was sitting on the roof, enjoying the sights with a bag of rice cakes. From his vantage point, he could see the whole estate in front of him: the forest to his right, the clearing to his left, the training grounds in the middle, with more woodland behind it.

All of a sudden, he spotted a shadow flitting through the forest at his right. Thinking nothing about it, he continued munching his snacks. Just when he told himself it was nothing, the shadow moved into his vision again: this time, it was clearer. The figure looked like a large thing carrying a sack of rice. Naruto looked closer. His enhanced eyes focused and managed to make out the very slight gleam of piece of metal reflecting a bit of moonlight.

Naruto did a double-take and looked again. It was no illusion! The glint of metal was a forehead protector! Naruto made some quick calculations in his head.

"That can't be an ANBU, since they don't have forehead protectors; all of the Konoha ninja are busy partying or guarding; and no one can go through the forest without the permission of Kakashi-sensei! That has to be a Kumo-nin! But, what's that lump he's carrying? If it was supplies, he would transport it through the streets, or in a storage seal. So, it must be...!" Naruto thought to himself and slowly came upon the realization that he was witnessing a kidnapping.

Naruto shot to his feet, ready to chase after the kidnapper, only to stumble a bit when he realized that that must be a Kumo jonin, and he should ask his senseis for help. Naruto was torn between wasting precious time and calling for his sensei's help, or going after the kidnapper himself, all alone, with no back-up.

"Oh, screw it. Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei are probably drunk."

Naruto made his decision in one moment. He chose to chase the kidnapper by himself. There just wasn't enough time.

With that, Naruto dashed after the kidnapper, into the night.

The quick-footed intruder had crossed the entire Hatake estate by the time Naruto could get a good look at his face. He had dark skin and a cruel face with several scars. His head was practically hairless, with a black bandanna covering two-thirds of it. He had a grim smirk on his face as he dashed through trees.

Due to the way Naruto was trailing the Kumo-nin, he was above the kidnapper. Naruto followed him to the edge of the estate and then into a slightly less dense part of woodland. This was where Naruto made his first mistake.

Naruto jumped a particularly large gap between trees, allowing the moonlight to cast a shadow of him on the ground in front of the kidnapper. The kidnapper was clearly an experienced jounin, and immediately realized that there was a shinobi above him.

The kidnapper flung a handful of eight-pronged shuriken at Naruto, who was still in midair, unable to dodge. The shuriken ripped clean through a wooden log and soared into the air, far away.

The Kumo-nin got into a defensive stance, shielding the sack while scanning the trees around him. On his second sweep, he caught a flicker of movement from his right flank. He jumped up at the last moment, avoiding the large invisible blade of wind that was sent at him. It was only visible as a distortion in the air, and that was only when it cut through the trees to the kidnapper's left.

However, the attack had failed and Naruto had given away his position. The kidnapper went on the offensive.

Naruto frantically ran from the lightning bolts that were cast at him from the fingertips of the Kumo-nin. Even his wind couldn't protect him if he got hit...

But wait

Wind was stronger than lightning since air was a poor conductor of electricity of any sort. So, maybe his wind could protect him?

Naruto, being the impulsive and reckless kid he was, decided to try it out on the Kumo-nin. In the middle of a very serious and dangerous battle. No wonder people called him idiotic at times.

Naruto jumped to the left and stuck out his right hand. In a split second, a swirling mass of wind covered his hand. It expanded outwards and backwards, forming a cone-shaped barrier in front of him.

The Kumo-nin captalized on the fact that Naruto had halted. Aiming to end things quickly, he dropped the sack and ran through a couple of handseals, slamming his palms onto the earth. His hands became encased with lightning, which ran across the ground and formed a large wolf that screamed and sparkled with electricity as it shot towards the waiting jinchuuriki.

Naruto's eyes widened. He hadn't expected the ninja to use a stronger attack! Now he really had to make his barrier strong! The now-sweating Naruto just poured more chakra into his shield and hoped for the best.

The two techniques clashed with a horrible grinding-screeching sound. The lightning struggled to pierce through the chakra-enhanced wind, while the wind struggled to maintain its form under the pressure. However, after a couple of seconds, the elemental advantage of wind over lightning won out. The lightning beast dissipated into shreds of static and chakra, while the wind barrier remained strong.

The Kumo-nin's eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed in rage. His favorite technique had been shrugged off like nothing! Of course, it was quite understandable, being that wind had the elemental advantage over lightning, but still!

Naruto acted purely on instinct. His golden chakra chains burst out from his left hand and bound the Kumo-nin before he could do anything. Then, the chains snatched the sack away. While the Kumo-nin was in shock that an Uzumaki still existed, Naruto shot at his with his wind barrier in his right hand.

Something was different about it. The cone of wind had shrunk to the size of his arm and now howled with the fury of a thousand storms. The wind was pulsing and contracting, desperately trying to get free from the pressure. The pressure also made it very sharp, so sharp that it could give the Kusanagi blade a couple of scratches.

"Ugh...An Uzumaki!? I thought they were extinct...but who cares! I'll take them both to Raikage-sama! He will be grateful! I will be reward-! W-what is that!? Where is the Hyuuga girl? Oh shit!"

The last thoughts of the Kumo-nin echoed in his head just as the wind technique slammed into his chest and sunk through it like it like it was made of water. Blood sprayed out in a cone and covered Naruto in a thin layer of blood.

Naruto's eyes widened with shock and glazed over, his brain taking him back to his first kill(s). He had not fully recovered with the fact that he had killed people, and this occasion opened the wound again. Naruto managed to get his emotions under control with uncanny speed, but the damage was done.

The technique needed to be monitored constantly and kept in check with concentration. Naruto had faltered, and due to that, the technique had grown unstable. No matter how hard Naruto tried, the technique would not stabilize. It grew larger and wilder as it ripped through the body of the kidnapper.

Naruto decided it was too late and jumped back, and just in time too. A moment later, the technique exploded, shredding trees like paper and gouging a massive cone-shaped scar into the earth. The cone turned red with blood, making Naruto's stomach turn.

When the winds died down, it was quite the scene of destruction. For at least a hundred feet, there were no trees or grass: only a massive cone-shaped cut in the earth that went down several meters. There was absolutely no sign of the Kumo-nin, except for a couple stray bits of flesh, bone, and blood, as well as half of a Kumo headband.

Naruto gave a slow, long sigh. He picked up the sack and shot off through the trees. He would check who was inside later on, perhaps after he had a bit to eat. Oh, how he longed for his rice cakes.

The villagers had gathered a large group of a mix of shinobi, civilians, and Council members. Among them were Mebuki Haruno, a particularly hateful woman who made her daughter throw stones ay him; a bunch of rowdy Uchihas, who hated him for making their clan look bad; and a very nasty, very fat Civilian Council member. Leading them was none other than Fugaku Uchiha. He was accompanied by a couple of Hyuuga, who had surprisingly joined forces with their rival clan just for getting their revenge.

The mob cut through the empty streets with a trancelike silence. The only sound was the soft tapping of sandals treading on cobblestone. One more turn, and they would be in the Hatake Estate. They all stopped at the fence, gathering around and squeezing together like children viewing a museum exhibit.

Fugaku smirked. The revenge he so badly needed would be delivered this night.

"Stand back" Fugaku ordered the mob with a cruel, pitiless voice.

With a single handseal, Fugaku blew a mighty ball of red-white fire inot the fence, which only stood for a second before melting completely. The fireball continued on through the dark forest, burning a great scar through trees, and turning green grass into black earth. The procession continued into the forest, with only one intent.

To take their Revenge.

Naruto was nearing the house now, and it seemed that all of the light in the village had died out. It was about one or two o'clock in the morning. There was a stillness and a quiet that made someone peaceful yet lonely at the same time.

Suddenly, the silence was disturbed by the sounds of people shouting and walking. Naruto strained his ears to hear, but only got little snippets of the conversation: "He must be close...Move out...Search for him...We get our...Find the Kyuubi brat!"

Naruto's blood ran cold. There was a large amount of "haters" that were coming for him. Kakashi and Gai were most likely passed out or stoned. He was alone, with an unconscious person, and he was tired. The adrenaline rush that came with his first real battle had worn off, leaving him high and dry.

The voices were getting closer. He could hear several shouts of "Byakugan!", which meant that they had trackers. They came closer and closer, until...

The forest stood still as all of the voices quieted down immediately. One by one, all eyes were focused on him, each harboring a myriad of negative emotions. For just a moment, Naruto stood like a deer caught in the headlights, frozen there by shock. They all stood still, but not for long.

The mob began to take out weapons of every sort: knives, needles, ninja tools, staffs, spears, scalpels, swords, darts, fingernails, teeth, axes, harpoons, rocks, sticks, shards of glass, bottles, and even bananas. Evil smiles grew on the faces of every single one of them, as they toyed with their weapons.

Naruto didn't know what to do. He couldn't run from those ninjas; he couldn't call for help; he couldn't hide from them; he couldn't do anything.

Naruto slowly backed away, keeping the sack behind him. He took one step back, the mob took two steps forward. It was hopeless. In no time at all, they were upon him, screaming and shouting, swinging everything they had at him. Naruto curled up into a ball, the mental stress was too much for him. He braced himself for the inevitable pain that would soon come. Only, it didn't.

The attackers in front of the six-year-old were thrown back with immense force. Several snapped their necks by falling or hitting trees. They rest tumbled back to their group, nursing their wounds and glaring hatefully at the new obstacle in their path.

"Yosh! Don't worry, Naruto-kun! I am here to help!" Naruto looked up, hope blooming on his face. His savior was none other than Lee Rock! He looked ridiculous in his green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers, but the intense and serious look on his face made you think twice about underestimating the fierce seven-year-old. Naruto sighed in relief.

Help had arrived.

Fugaku had laughed at the green-wearing academy student. He wasn't laughing now. The kid was no joke. Lee would blur around at very high speeds, stop a bit to hit someone with a bone-crushing punch or kick, and then blur away again. Although the more powerful shinobi or the group could see him, the civilians, chuunins, and genins just saw a green blur.

Lee had committed himself, and was going all out. Every step was light as a feather and propelled him with crazy speed. Each blow was timed perfectly, so that he hardly had to stop his momentum in order to nail someone. His sheer strength was off the charts. What was Gai feeding him!? His attacks snapped necks, broke spines, fractured skulls, tore flesh, and much more. Despite the amount of blood he was drawing, he was so fast that the only place that had any of the red liquid on it were his bandaged hands.

After a few minuted of Lee kicking ass, the civilians, chuunin, and genin had been brutally killed. While Lee may hate killing for no reason, he didn't hate it when the ones he was killing Wanted to hurt his friends. The few Uchiha and Hyuuga, along with Fugaku, had simply stood by and watched the lesser of them be killed, not even caring to help or interfere.

Heartless.

When the remaining members of the mob attacked, Naruto stepped in. His arrival distracted the attackers. He had gotten over his shock and fear, and had already formed two of the wind cones, one on each hand. Behind him, a barrier had been constructed by his clones, with the bundle right in the center. Now there was a little girl's face poking out of the lip of the bag, watching with wide, pale eyes that threatened to spill tears.

Naruto and Lee looked at each other, nodded simultaneously, and charged, disappearing in blurs. From then on, it was pandemonium.

Punches and kicks were thrown, each scrapped to their very core, lacking any of the beauty or grace a fighting style would have. While the Hyuuga had some trouble keeping up, the Uchiha matched the two, move for move.

Ko Hyuuga was the first to fall. His death was swift, but not swift enough to escape the excruciating pain of being torn apart by a massive cone of wind blades. He disappeared into the explosion, screaming, and a few seconds later, the cone was painted a slight red. His fellow Hyuuga looked in shock at what had happened, and opened their mouths to shout out in rage or grief, only to be silenced by the completely emotionless look given by Naruto.

Glorp.

While the Hyuuga were still shocked, Lee came up behind the beefiest looking one and smashed the top of his head clean off with a punch. The crunch was quite satisfying. Though, Lee reflected, it was kinda gross to put your hand through brain matter.

Squelch

The idiotic Hyuugas were still shocked, gaping like fish when they should have been defending. A third one went down when Lee kicked at his head from the right, and Naruto kicked at his head from the left. The two opposing forces burst his head like a water balloon, only it sprayed watermelon pulp. But none of it touched the two kids; they flickered away in milliseconds.

The final Hyuuga was a pushover. After having the lifeblood of his three comrades splattered all over him, he was shaky and afraid. Naruto and Lee smelled his fear, and it smelled like chicken. They moved in for the kill, and-

Crack.

The man flopped lifelessly to the ground, his neck bent at a very sharp angle. Naruto pulled back his fist and flickered away, towards the Uchihas.

However, the Uchiha clansmen did not limit themselves to their taijutsu only. Three great fireballs were sent at the pair, who were easily tracked by the legendary eyes. The three fireballs converged on a point and merged in one gigantic sphere of red-white flames.

In a split second, it was upon Naruto and Lee, who were swallowed by the incoming firestorm. It boiled and roiled for a moment and then seemed to swell up. The Uchiha lost control over their technique as it exploded in a bright flash and then dissipated, revealing an unharmed Naruto and Lee, protected by both a fuinjutsu barrier technique and Naruto's wind barrier.

Fugaku growled at the failure of the collaboration technique, and quickly barked out some orders to his fellow clansmen. They all ran through handseals, and this time, three gigantic fire dragons shot out from their mouths, each one completely white with flames. This time, the techniques were in a single-file line.

Naruto didn't hesitate. He formed a wind cone in his right hand and charged it up in mere seconds. After using for less than an hour in real life battle, he had mastered it to a very high level. And that was without Shadow clones!

The swirling cone of wind grew and grew until it was a very wide dome-shaped thing the size of a house. Naruto willed the chakra-enhanced wind to form a long, narrow cone that stretched for twenty feet behind his hand. It was as narrow as Naruto himself, his height was the diameter of it. The tip of the cone was so sharp and condensed that it seemed to disappear into thin air, Lee had latched onto Naruto's back like a monkey and was holding on for dear life, since the winds were so intense in the cone.

The first fire dragon flew with considerable speed, but a bit slow due to the sheer size of it. It impacted the cone with a horrible roar. For a second, it seemed to gain power from the fast winds of the cone, but its dominance did not last long; it was sheared in half a split second afterwards.

The smoke was quickly cleared by the howling winds, revealing a second fire dragon roaring towards them. The same thing happened; the fire held up for a few seconds, convulsed, and was sliced and diced into smoke. However, the last dragon was nowhere to be seen.

Fugaku smirked.

The final dragon was the most powerful, having been created by the Uchiha clan head. Fugaku had directed his technique around the wind cone and behind them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. That moment had come.

Naruto's eyes widened, as did Lee's, but they had realized their mistake too late. The dragon roared towards them at short-range, blowing up a gigantic amount of forest and engulfing the two kids and everything in a 50-foot radius of them. The explosion was visible for miles and instantly awakened Kakashi and Gai from their drunken sleep. The little girl, who was still in the protective barrier, let her tears flow. The whole village of Konoha "oohed" and "aahed" at the large maelstrom of fire, thinking it to be some big firework.

But it wasn't.

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Please tell me how the chapter was, and give some suggestions if you want to.

Tell me if you guys want a bit more detail, or more character development, or more training, or more fighting, etc.

Please give your suggestions soon, so I can frame a chapter accordingly.

Thank you for reading.

P.S. Can you guys give some suggestions for the name of the wind cone/barrier technique? I'm drawing a blank on that one.