Hey all, sorry about the really long wait for this chapter, things have been really hectic as of late and I had to put a lot of things on hold to deal with things, I've found less and less time and motivation as of late to write but I'm going to try to get back to it, I have the ideas set for the next fifteen chapters of this fiction and it's going to be changing a lot from the original version but it will only be for the better, look forward to more chapters coming in the future

Chapter 3

It was the next morning in a large open space training ground that both Naruto and Anko stood eagerly in front of Yūgao for their first joint training session, both were ready to get started on things as they both smirked in anticipation.

Yūgao just grinned inwardly to herself seeing them, 'We'll see how long those grins of theirs last', she thought before speaking, "Alright then, seeing as we're just starting off and this training is originally meant for you Naruto we'll kick things off by gauging your skill level, so I know where I need to start at for your training," she explained to which they both nodded, "And the best way to do that is for us to have a spar, it will let me see what your capable of, so when you're ready" she said as she shifted her stance slightly widening the gap between her feet to move easier.

Naruto nodded as Anko stepped back and he moved forward with speed, his first swing was wide a right hook going for Yūgao, he moved with speed that had Yūgao curious as she easily evaded the wide swing, Naruto countered by using the miss as momentum to try to go for a heal swing as he lowered himself, Yūgao simply caught his foot before pulling him forward throwing him off balance.

Naruto quickly corrected himself with a roll before going right back to it throwing himself at Yūgao with an uppercut who simply tilted her head back dodging the swing before grabbing Naruto by his underarm and elbow and pulling him over her head and slamming him to the ground not with force just with his own weight enough to make him grunt in discomfort on hitting the ground.

Naruto was about to pull himself back up to go again before Yūgao held up her hand, "That's enough Naruto, I've seen more than enough of… whatever that was supposed to be" she said a little bit of amusement in her tone as Naruto got up wincing slightly.

"That was… interesting, for the lack of a better term. Your speed and reaction times are good, and you can clearly think on your feet," Yūgao praised with a small smirk, before sighing, "Your form, however, leaves much to be desired, I didn't see one correct Kata in there from the Basic fist style that the academy teaches, you were more like a brawler swinging at anything and everything, while you would have no doubt had the speed to hit most your own age without the proper form your attacks will lack power and you'll look ridiculous while doing it, didn't any of the academy teachers even attempt to try to rectify your mistakes?" she asked in curiosity.

Naruto shook his head, "No, this is how I've always fought, the Sensei just showed us the stances and then went around the others correcting theirs but just left me, I tried to copy exactly what I saw but it just didn't feel natural to me"

Yūgao nodded, "The basic fist style is just meant to teach academy students the basics of fighting, it's not meant to be a style used through your whole shinobi career, it's one of the easier styles to learn that's why it's taught to students when they first start the academy" she explained before shaking her head, "Ok that'll be the first thing we have to fix, then after I'm sure you've got the kata's correct we'll see about finding you a Taijutsu style of your own that feels more natural, perhaps there's some in your clan scrolls that you can learn from" she said as Naruto smirked with excitement before she held up her hand, "But that comes later, the first thing you're going to be doing is learning the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, it will be key to your training"

Naruto nodded understanding and eager to get started, when Anko came over, "What about me Yūgao-nee, what will I be learning, you and Hokage-Sama talked about it after Naruto-Kun and I left yesterday didn't you?" Anko asked.

Yūgao nodded, "We did," she said before frowning, "I originally wanted to push what you had already been learning in the academy and expand on that, but after you two left yesterday Hokage-Sama gave me this" she said as she reached into her side pouch and took out a scroll with a purple sash around it with a black snake emblem on the rims, Anko stiffened seeing it as he eyes grew cold which Yūgao couldn't miss, "You recognise it?"

Anko nodded, "It's one of his scrolls," she said with pure venom in her voice

Yūgao nodded, "It is, it was found among the possessions he left in the village, he likely didn't have time to collect before he had to escape the village," she explained as Anko glared hatefully at the scroll, "Inside is an assortment of other scrolls detailing his Snake Jutsus and techniques, all those pertaining to the snake contract that you also signed", Anko's eyes went wide hearing that, "Hokage-Sama gave me this in hopes that you would consider learning the techniques in it, as the last snake user in the village, you're the only one these techniques will be of use to," Yūgao said as her voice grew softer, "Anko-chan, I won't force you to learn these. I know how much you hate him and learning his techniques would be the last thing you'd want to do, there are other techniques you can learn you don't have to…" Yūgao started to say only to stop when Anko shook her head.

"No…" Anko spoke as her fists clenched, "I don't want to learn them, but I know that they're not him they're just techniques of his, learning them would just be another reminder of him, like this damn mark on my neck," she said as her fists shook, "But the difference is, with these I'll be able to use them, and once I find him I'll be able to use them on him to make him pay, I don't like the idea of learning them but they're what I'm going to need if I have any hope of facing him" Anko said slowly as her fists stopped shaking, and she looked up at Yūgao, "I'll learn them"

Yūgao smiled sadly at Anko and nodded as Naruto put his hand on Anko's shoulder to try and give her some comfort, Anko just looked to Naruto and smiled sadly in thanks.

Scene break- Hokage tower

On the top floor of the Hokage tower, multiple Chūnin instructors were arriving in the meeting room after being summoned, unsure for the reason behind being called there other than what they had been told by the ANBU who had collected them. Which was only that the Hokage wanted to speak with all Chūnin academy instructors.

As the last instructor gathered into the room the door out to the hallway was closed by the two ANBU standing outside it, the closing sounded almost ominous as the doors clicked shut.

As they did another door on the far side of the room opened and the Hokage walked into the room, the upper half of his ageing face shadowed by his Hokage hat as he walked in and made his way to the front of the room, his hands clasped behind his back as he did so.

The Chūnin instructors waited patiently for Hiruzen to take his position and turn to them. Several moments passed and still, he did not speak as the tension began to fill the room, before it finally snapped when Hiruzen spoke.

"Do any of you know why I have called you here today?" he asked his voice lower than any of them have ever heard him, the chill it gave off made each Chūnin stiffen with fear as no one spoke.

"No one? What a shame. I would have hoped that at least one of you would have even the slightest idea, as to why I find myself so displeased… no, utterly disgusted with each and every one of you in this room," Hiruzen said his voice remaining low but his words and Sakki chilling every Chūnin in his presence as they each felt like death was washing over them, "I suppose an explanation is in order as to why I am so wroth with each and every one of you." Hiruzen spoke as he finally looked up at them and they all gulped in unison seeing the rage in the elderly Hokage's eyes, he was incensed, and they were in trouble.

"Each and every one of you was charged with a single important task when you started the academy, one task above all others. Train each and every child in your charge, and prepare them for the challenges of being a shinobi," Hiruzen said as he glared from Chūnin to Chūnin, "and each and every one of you here, have failed that task and disobeyed your orders blatantly. I should have each and every one of you executed for what you have done!" Hiruzen yelled out in his rage.

Each Chūnin's eyes widened hearing the accusations from their leader, and one quickly stepped forward, "Hokage-Sama, how have we failed, we teach every day at the academy, doing as we are charged, surely you…" the Chūnin was about to continue but was silenced by a blast of Sakki more potent than before that dropped him to his knees his and every other Chūnin's eyes wide with fear as the Sakki poured off Hiruzen Sarutobi as his anger reached its peak.

"Do you think me blind?" Hiruzen yelled his words filling the room as each Chūnin trembled, "Do you think I am so foolish to not see what you, what each of you, are doing!" Hiruzen spoke as the air rippled, "I know what has been going on each and every day in the academy for the past six-plus year, the utter abuse of authority each of you have shown towards students under your care, excusing select students from lessons, sabotaging students tests, scrutinizing their honest efforts in class and setting them up to fail! I would have thought that you all learned, those of you who were there when the last head of the academy was dealt with for such abuse of his given authority! But apparently, each of you has forgotten your place and need to be reminded! This is my village, that is my academy, and those are my future shinobi whose lives you are risking by sabotaging their education and it stops now!"

With a snap of his fingers Hiruzen summoned two ANBU to his left and right, Taka and Kuma stood to attention awaiting further orders as Hiruzen continued his rant, "From now on, each and every class will be watched by two ANBU black ops, and they will be under direct orders should they see any abuse of authority or any behaviour that indicated you are not fulfilling your orders or endangering one of your students futures by not training them properly or at all as I have so ordered, your lives will be forfeit and you will be executed by them on the spot for disobeying orders and treason against the village by trying to undermine its future shinobi forces, and make no mistake that is exactly what you are doing when you attempt to sabotage a student, by not training them correctly you endanger not only them when they leave the academy but their teammates as well, for it is them that has to pick up the slack that may get them killed by doing so,"

As Hiruzen was speaking two Chūnin at the back of the room were whispering to each other and Hiruzen distinctly overheard them, "Great. How are we meant to sabotage the Demon brat now?"

Hearing that Hiruzen's Sakki flared to its peak as he pointed toward the Chūnin and snapped his finger as both Taka and Kuma disappeared in shunshins and re-appeared behind the stupid Chūnin and before the man could react he had a tanto through his heart a split second before a second tanto removed his head from his body, which hit the floor with a thud making many of the Chūnin looked on wide-eyed before both ANBU returned to their Hokage's side the same way they left.

"Understand this and understand this well all of you, there's is no demon in this village, does none of you remember your Fūinjutsu training in storage seals, for the same principle, applies to what happened twelve years ago, the student is the container not the beast within him, you would do well to remember that or this I guarantee that this will not be the last death on the subject, I suggest you all retake your Fūinjutsu studies to remind yourself on that fact" Hiruzen glared as he clenched his fists trying to reign in his Sakki as he spoke, "It is because of your stupidity that we are here now, we are only as strong as our weakest shinobi, should one fall the risk to the rest of the force is weakened and the enemy can exploit that, it is your job as instructors to make sure they are trained so that doesn't happen. Am I understood!" getting a round of "Hai! Hokage-Sama!" in response from the group of Chūnin.

Hiruzen finished with another snap of his fingers and Taka and Kuma disappeared into two shunshin being dismissed by their Hokage.

Narrowing his eyes on his Chūnin Hiruzen continued, "Now, there are more issues that require my attention to do with the academy and its teachings," Hiruzen said as his gaze swept over each instructor anew, "while the graduation rate has been high in the past, the number of students actually being accepted at Genin level by their Jōnin-sensei are not even half that number, and it is ultimately them that can pass students who meet their standards, and over half of them don't, if this continues with in the next number of years our shinobi forces are going to suffer for it and the village will be all that more venerable," Hiruzen said as he watched the expressions on each of the Chūnin's faces, most of them were shocked, some looked fearful that was exactly what Hiruzen wanted, "in order to counteract this, I've decided that a complete redraft of the academies curriculum is in order, to reassess what is being taught to the students, I have already looked over the class scheduling and the individual lesson plans, and I can see that while it gives a good foundation, if taught well, it does not however instruct on the more advanced aspects and subjects that a shinobi might need to be aware of, as such on top of reassessing the current curriculum I have determined that new elective classes will be offered to students in their last four years at the academy to prepare them and offer them a wider range of skills for when they graduate, each student will be required to choose a minimum of three of the elective courses so as to make sure they have some advanced knowledge. The elective classes will range from, Fūinjutsu, Kenjutsu, Bōjutsu, advanced Taijutsu, advanced chakra control, advanced Genjutsu, basic Elemental Jutsu C rank, Medical Ninjutsu and Interrogation and torture methodology."

Hiruzen watched each Chūnin as he listed off the course subjects for the new academy classes that he was planning to implement as soon as classes started up again, he could see the thoughtful looks that many of them had, as well as some looks of concern that they had, likely they were worried that they'd have trouble teaching the core subjects to the students with these new elective classes on top of that, cutting their class time even more.

"I can see some of you are concerned, likely about the strain on time that these new electives will cause due to the increase in classes in the same number of hours, this has also come to my mind, because of that the academy closing time will be prolonged by two hours for the three of the elective years and three and a half hours for the final year, with a third half hour meal break before the final hour to allow for the increase in classes offered, parents and students will be informed about this when the notifications are sent out, at the same time that students in their final four years are sent out their lists to choose their elective subjects for their remaining years in the academy, something that means none of you will be leaving here until the new schedules and class times are ready" Hiruzen said as he glared over each Chūnin as if daring them to say differently, none of them did, as one thing was secured in each of their minds, that Hiruzen Sarutobi was not a man to be trifled with and that he was no longer going to put up with shinobi being lax any longer, he was the Hokage and he was going to fix his village one way or another, starting with his future shinobi forces.

Scene break- training grounds

Both Anko and Naruto lay on the grounds of the training grounds panting heavily, exhausted after three hours of the most difficult training they have ever undergone, but neither could deny how beneficial it was and how the results were going to be of even more benefit in the future.

For Naruto he had finally managed to get the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu down, though the training was mentally and physically draining, he knew that what the Bunshins mean was that his training was going to be going at a new faster pace than before.

While Anko had been steadily focusing on the Hebi Kawarimi no Jutsu and Hebi Bunshin that relied on her utilizing the Hebi summoning contract to summon enough her snakes and place them under a Henge to look like her till hit by an attack, the technique required multiple Jutsus to be used in unison which was the more draining, but ultimately rewarding as she could command her snakes to attack her enemies once the Henge broke, something that would catch many off-guard.

Yūgao looked down on them both with a smirk seeing her two charges exhausted after just such a short while, she knew she wouldn't have to work them too hard to wipe the smirks off their faces, but if they thought they were done, they were about to be sadly disappointed.

"Alright you two, that's enough resting, on your feet," Yūgao commanded as she crossed her arms under her bust, "It's time to continue your training, and there's a lot to make up for now, Naruto I want you to make half as many Kage Bunshin's as you can, we're going to make as much use out of them as we can for today because you're Fūinjutsu lessons with Hokage-Sama start tomorrow, and you'll still need chakra of your own for your physical training. I'll task them after I see how many you can make"

Naruto and Anko started to get to their feet still winded partly as Naruto nodded seeming to get his second wind, "Hai, Yūgao-sensei," he replied before forming the single hand sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" he called out as the entire area behind him seemed to engulf in smoke at once before fading away revealing a miniature army of Naruto's with the original at the front taking a few deep breaths before straightening up looking like it was nothing, "three hundred Kage Bunshin awaiting your order Yūgao-sensei" he replied and both Yūgao's and Anko's mouths dropped.

"T-three hundred…" Yūgao sounded in shock, "Naruto I told you to make half, of your limit, not the full amount?"

Naruto blinked, "But Yūgao-sensei I did, I only used half of my reserves, or at least I think I did, I don't really feel the drain any more" he explained looking a little confused.

The pair of them looked at him like he was insane, while Yūgao's mind was running a mile a minute at the possibilities, 'if this is half of what is reserves are capable of at this age, and he hasn't even begun his chakra control exercises yet, just how many Kage Bunshin will he be able to make by this time tomorrow if his control improves by as much as I think it will' she thought as she tried to process the math for a moment before shaking her head out of the thoughts to focus on the three hundred and one blonds looking at her for directions.

"Alright then it this is what I have to work with, I want ten of you to head to the library, there you will spit, five will head into the public section and start reading books on topics relevant to civilians, laws, customs, traditions, history, geography, stuff like that which will be necessary for you to know later, the other five will head into the shinobi section and will begin researching different topics, two I would recommend are chakra control and chakra nature for a start, the others may look for further topics that catch your eye, make more Kage Bunshin's while there to research other subjects if necessary, but don't completely fill the building" Yūgao instructed.

Naruto frowned, "Um Yūgao-sensei, the last time I tried to get into the library the attending librarian threw me out, saying I wasn't allowed in there"

Yūgao scowled, "I see, well we'll have to rectify that in a couple of weeks once your classes start up again, but for now just send them in under different Henges to avoid any confrontations with her, same with any Kage Bunshin's made while there so that she doesn't suspect" Yūgao recommended getting nods from ten of the Bunshin as they each were covered in plumes of smoke before clearing again revealing ten random civilian boys as they all headed off towards the library to fulfil their orders.

With a satisfactory nod from Yūgao she cleared her throat, "Ok then," before looking to the others, "I need one hundred of you all to head over to the tree line and pick a tree each, you'll all be working on tree walking, a form of chakra control that involves sending your chakra to the bottom of your feet so you stick to the tree and walk up its body, so head over now and you'll have one of my own Kage Bunshin coming over in a minute to get you all started on it"

Getting multiple nods in response a large number of Bunshin started heading over to a large concentration of trees as ordered.

Yūgao made her own hand sign as they left and three of her own Kage Bunshin appeared to her left, and one started off towards the tree walking group, "alright, now another one hundred of you will head off with these two Bunshin of mine, you'll be in two groups of fifty, one group working on your Basic fist kata's and the other will begin in learning the fundamental basics involved with all Kenjutsu styles so that you'll be ready to begin your own Kenjutsu training once your Kaa-san's sword has been repaired"

Getting nods the large Bunshin group moved off leaving just the three originals and the last ninety of Naruto Kage Bunshin and Yūgao paused for a moment to think before nodding, "Now, ten of you are going to being returning to the apartment under Henge, so as not to draw attention you yourselves, and begin looking through your clan scroll, I understand the contents of it are rather important, so take your time, but unlike your library counterparts don't be making more of yourselves to read too far ahead, you have to understand everything in there before moving on, that is your clan's legacy, it should be learned slowly and properly, not rushed"

Ten Bunshin nodded and after quick Henges they all left to return to the apartment to begin reading the contents of the Uzumaki clan scroll as Yūgao turned to the last group of Bunshin.

"And now for you eighty. You'll all be working on your clan bloodline, I want you all to divide into groups of twenty and choose a weapon form to begin to create with your bloodline, start off simple, and build up, once you've got the form down and solid in less than ten seconds, start building on the style, all the time improving the speed of your constructions, from what I understand your Kaa-san was able to embed Fūinjutsu arrays into her chains for different effects and to do so at high speed, I believe this will make an excellent start on you heading down the same path if your able to create highly detailed constructions with speed as well as accuracy, and once you've got them made, work on making them last, the longer you can use them the move of use they will be in a fight" Yūgao ordered as the Bunshin's looked excited at the training they had been given as they all quickly headed off to get started leaving the three originals behind.

Watching the last of the Bunshin move off to start the training Naruto looked to Yūgao, "Yūgao-sensei, would I be able to start learning my Tou-san's Jutsus today, I looked over the scrolls before coming this morning, he laid out all the steps of the Rasengan so it's easy to follow, I was wanting to learn the basics of Fūinjutsu with Jiji before I attempted his other technique"

Yūgao paused in thought as she considered it, "Hmm, perhaps, what are the steps you have to learn?" she asked slightly curious.

"Rotation, power and control," Naruto listed off on his fingers, "the first requires me to pop a balloon filled with water, by using my chakra to spin the water inside the balloon as the rotation training, the second is the same except with empty rubber balls accept I have to build up the power by a lot in order to pop the rubber balls with nothing inside, and then the third is about form and control using just plain balloons, I have to fill them with chakra and make the chakra take the shape of a sphere in the palm of my hand and compress it so that it doesn't pop the balloon"

Yūgao nodded slightly, "I see, yes I think beginning your training with the Rasengan might prove to be a good idea at this stage as while those sound simple to most, I can guarantee they will take some time to learn and combine them to perfect the technique," Yūgao reasoned, "Send a Henged Kage Bunshin to get as many water balloons, rubber balls and plain balloons as it can, when it comes back I want you to make a hundred and fifty Bunshin and divide them up into groups of fifty, each group will take a stage and will work on it till they get it down perfect, while you will be starting your physical exercise which the Kage Bunshin can't help you with, which you can start once you've got the clones made, I think a warm-up of two hundred push-ups before the same number of laps around the training field will do for a start" she said seeing Naruto's expression go from one of excitement to one of dread and terror from hearing his warm up.

Anko giggled to herself seeing Naruto's look of fear, her fatigue from her previous training long forgotten, looked you Yūgao, "What about me Yūgao-nee-sensei, what will you have me doing?"

Yūgao smirked, "since you don't have Kage Bunshin to rely on for your training like the blond chakra reserve over here, you need to focus on your chakra control, for now, to make what reserves you do have count, so you can go and join the hundred Naruto's currently working on the tree climbing exercise, just see my Bunshin for the complete explanation before you start and make sure not to overexert your reserves, training is going to be going on all day, and I don't want you fainting from overexerting your chakra before we're finished"

"Hai" Anko called as she sprinted in the direction the Bunshin had headed off to.

Yūgao rounded on Naruto as his new Kage Bunshin ran off to the shops to complete his orders and Naruto turned to a smiling Yūgao and gulped seeing her grin, one thing he was sure of, he was going to be sore by the end of this next training.

Time skip- Hokage's office

Hiruzen Sarutobi collapsed on the sofa in his office utterly spent as he wiped his brow with a towel, as three of his pre-made Kage Bunshin hustled around the room with paperwork and files, as another two worked behind his desk signing forms and checking documents, which they had been doing all day while the original now lay exhausted on the sofa after a long days training while his Kage Bunshin took care of his other duties.

He had gotten his memories back from his first Bunshin half an hour ago when he had finally let the Chūnin instructors go after they had spent the better part of eight hours planning and scheduling the new class time tables for the final four years of the academy, as well as working overtime to have the paperwork filed and having the notices sent out to all academy students as well as the elective classes forms sent to the final four year groups so they could be filled in before classes resumed and they could finalise individual time tables when they got them back.

The multiple Kage Bunshins had been a lifesaver in his office work, they had cleared up the majority of it in the first five hours working together as they had, and what new ones came in they were soon on top of, they actually had time to spare to begin on working on the other problems that Hiruzen was planning on tackling.

The village laws, he was planning to pull all the powers of the seat of the Hokage once had back, but where lost between the time Minato died and he retook his position, by the civilian council, he could see many laws that they had passed under his nose, that was something he was planning to rectify shortly, and if everything went to plan he should have his power back into in a few weeks, but he wasn't counting on it because he knew that the civilians wouldn't give up what little power they'd tasted without a fight, and it was one that he was planning to give them.

His clones were currently looking for loopholes in the laws that he could exploit in order for him to retake his power by force, currently there was only one they had been able to find and it was a long shot that it might work but if it did it would be a closer, as there was no doubt a few civilian councillors fell under what he needed them to for it to work, all that he needed after the face was the clan heads to vote along with him to overturn rulings and return the power to him, the long shot was making sure he had the majority votes when the time came.

Hiruzen scowled when he thought of how corrupt the council had become in latent years, or had it always been that corrupt, ever since it had been founded by the Nidaime when he had taken his place a Hokage after the Shodaime had passed, Hiruzen had thought it was a wise idea to give the people a voice, up until then it had only been the clans that had a voice as they were the largest groups of the population and thus could speak for the overall majority of the populous at the time. But not Hiruzen could see that it had been corrupt because of that reason, the clans were already prosperous and had power which their clans gave them, but the civilians were just normal everyday people, the power and the opportunity that the council position gave them made them greedy and they abused the power to better themselves and their families under the guise of bettering the village, and they used that power not just for those purposes but to harm those who they considered inferior, like Naruto.

Hiruzen's scowl morphed into a frown as he thought of the young blond as he realised just how badly he had failed him over the years, he had tried to protect him, to give him some semblance of a normal childhood but he should have known better from the start of it all, Naruto would have never had a normal childhood in this village one way or the other, even if he had revealed who his parents were all those years ago when Naruto was presented to the council, he would have been even worse than the last Uchiha was because of it pampered to the point of being a spoiled, arrogant, brat, but part of him wondered if that would have been better than what he was now. He still recalled the coldness in Naruto's voice that evening in the days before, it was one that shouldn't have been used by someone of his age, the village truly had been hell for the blond. And its civilians had ignored the last wishes of its Hokage, for Naruto to be treated as a saviour for holding back the Kyūbi, that was sealed within him, it was that fact above all others that solidified Hiruzen's stance on the matter in his mind. The village had wronged the legacy of one of its heroes, his chosen successor, and if Naruto wanted to take revenge on the village for all the pain it had dealt him in the past, then he was right to do so, and Hiruzen would help him to teach the idiots of this village a hard-earned lesson that had been due for a long time, even if that meant burning Konoha figuratively to the ground, only then could it rise again from its ashes and be reborn with through the will of fire, it would be difficult but it would be right.

Hiruzen rubbed his eyes about to get up to start aiding his Bunshin in clearing up the last of the documents and work that needed seeing to, but before he could an ANBU in an Inu (Dog) mask appeared in a kneeling position in front of him.

"Hokage-Sama," the ANBU said humbly, "a council meeting has been called by the civilian side and you have been summoned to attend"

Hiruzen looked at the ABNU for a moment as his words registered and his lips set thinly as he suppressed his rage at the scene in front of him, "I see, very well, tell them I shall attend momentarily, you are dismissed" he spoke his irritation hidden in his calm tone.

The ANBU nodded before disappearing in windless shunshin as Hiruzen stood up and released a calming breath to control his anger, so was this how far the council's arrogance extended, that they would dare to command his ANBU black ops, and summon him to a council meeting in his building in his village.

It was clear to him now that he had let things get this far out of hand and that things needed to be set straight, he made a mental note to himself to address the ANBU problem later that night, apparently there were some misunderstandings as to who they answer to, with the younger units at least or that was what he hoped, but he would address the main core of the problem and see to it the council realised he would not bend to their commands anymore and let their misdeeds slip by unnoticed and unpunished any more. But first things first, he was going to go for a shower and a fresh set of robes, he had just spent the majority of the day training and he stunk to high heaven, the council could wait till he was good and ready to attend it would piss them off and that wasn't a problem in his books, as far as he was concerned it made them more prone to anger and slip-ups that he'd be able to use to his advantage, he could have always sent a Kage Bunshin to attend instead, but he wanted to savour this meeting personally, it all worked out in his favour, one way or the other.

Time skip- half an hour later- council chambers

When Hiruzen finally did enter the council chambers he was greeted by a wall of yelling and raised voices, coming from the civilian side of the council chambers.

The room was cylinder shaped, with two curved tables on either side of the room.

On one side there was the civilian councillors, the more prestigious of the civilians representing the shops, businesses, banks, farms, families, restaurants, services and public facilities of the village, towards the end of the desk nearer to the Hokage's seat sat the elder council made up of three members to serve as the Hokage's immediate council in times of war it consisted of:

Homura Mitokado, a former teammate of Hiruzen's and member of the now dissolved team Tobirama; His short hair now grey and receding showing his ageing lines on his forehead more and more each day. Hit lower jaw now covered by a short grey beard and his frown ever constant, his eyes always half closed passed his jade green glasses.

Koharu Utatane, another former teammate of Hiruzens and the last member of the now-dissolved team Tobirama; her grey hair pulled back in two buns with a golden needle going through them like a Dango stick, on the thinker end hangs two wind chime like objects and on the thicker end was three ruby coloured spheres. Her age clearly showing on her face as she has taken to squinting over the years.

Both of which wore similar long kimonos in similar grey, brown and black colour schemes, each held closed by a grey Obi and a pale white sash.

The third member of the elder council was Danzō Shimura, an old friend to Hiruzen, though the two have very different views concerning the village's future, he also serves as the Hokage's military advisor in wartime. Though he had the appearance of a frail old man, any experienced shinobi could tell differently by sensing his chakra. He normally walked with a cane and half his face was covered in bandages extending over his right eye, he also has an X-shaped scar on his chin ever since he was young, his attire consisting of a white shirt and black robe covering from his right shoulder to his left hip and down to his feet, with a purple sash tied around his waist.

On the other side are the clan heads: First from the Hokage's chair is Shikaku Nara, Nara clan head and one of the previous members of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio; he had two scars on the right side of his face which were probably his most noticeable feature. He has dark hair tied up into a spiky ponytail, dark eyes as well as a goatee. His ears were also pierced. Like many of the clan heads, he was an active shinobi and as so wore clothing of that of a shinobi, Shikaku wore a meshed shirt underneath his flak jacket, a deer skin coat over that and hand guards. He has a genius level intelligence, but he's an extremely lazy one, so he tried to get as much sleep when he could.

Next was Inoichi Yamanaka head of the Yamanaka clan and one of the previous members of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio, he was also a valued member of the torture and intelligence division and the Hokage's right-hand man as Shikaku was his left; Inoichi was also a shinobi, he had long ash blond hair reaching into his back, which he wore spiky on top and ending in a long ponytail, blue-green eyes and strong facial features, which included a well-defined jaw line, wearing the standard flak jacket over a black outfit, complete with hand-guards, forehead protector and a sleeveless red haori.

Then was Chōza Akimichi the final member of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio; he is a tall, plump man with long, spiky red hair and purple markings on his cheeks, wearing a samurai like outfit, which entails a black suit completed with armour that has the kanji for "food" on it. With the addition of a rope belt, hand-guards, and instead of a forehead protector he wears a hachimaki tied around his head, as most chefs do as one of the thinks Akimichi were known for was their restaurants, he also wore a pair of silver, hooped earrings.

Next came Tsume Inuzuka and currently the only female clan head among the clans, but she was not someone you would want to mess with, she has an animalistic look. She has long, spiky, untamed brown hair, vertical slit-like pupils, elongated canine teeth and nails. She also has the clan fang markings on her cheeks as well as markings over her eyes and a dark shade of purple lipstick. She wears the standard outfit of a Konoha shinobi consisting of flak jacket and a black suit underneath with the sleeves rolled up and bandages around her legs.

After her, was the more stoic face of Hiashi Hyūga, Hyūga clan head, he has long, dark-brown hair, and featureless white eyes like all members of his clan, who wield the Byakugan. He wore very traditional, loose-fitting robes with a long-sleeved, brown haori.

And then finally came Shibi Aburame, head of the Aburame clan, like all members of his clan, has his eyes obscured by dark glasses which feature a single tassel hanging down from one-side. He has very spiky short black hair and a moustache and wore a high collared outfit.

Ignoring the yelling from the civilians Hiruzen proceeded to walk into the room heading for his chair, the cries of outrage and demands of what took him so long, washed over him as he proceeded forward.

Taking a side glance to the clan head side of the room he could see various expressions on most of them, as expected most looked irritated but he suspected not with him, though there were some curious looks being given his way, from both Inoichi and Shikaku, both were men of high intelligence, and he suspected they had taken an interest in his lack of interest in the civilians yelling and knew something was coming, they were right.

Taking his seat Hiruzen released a wave of Sakki hitting the entire room making all go silent as the fear of death wafted over them all for a split second before as quick as it came it vanished making some wonder if they had even felt it at all, but it was that split second that allowed Hiruzen to clear his throat after putting the attention solely on him as it was meant to be in these meetings.

"Now then," Hiruzen said as all eyes fell on him, "before we get started there are something that need to be set straight, first and foremost, no one in this room has the right to give command to any of my ANBU black ops, if they are guarding this chamber that is their purpose, those are their orders, no one but I, or their commanding officer, have the right to change that, they are no one's messengers, speaking of which who was it who had the audacity to do such and had the gall to send one of my ANBU to summon me, like a mongrel pup, to this meeting of my council when I didn't sanction it even being called!" Hiruzen spoke as his voice turned into a yell as his eyes swept over the civilian side of the room seeing them look at him with fear, "well, I'm waiting?" he asked again as one man, in particular, seemed to gulp as he found his spine and balls before standing up.

"Hokage-sama I thought it would be easiest to send one of the ANBU to get you for this meeting, it was an emergency meeting called which is within the civilian councillors charter to call should the need arise" the man responded his voice growing more confident with each word.

Hiruzen glared at him, "While you are indeed correct that calling an emergency meeting is within the civilian councils power to do so, it is only done so when the reason for the meeting is brought before the current Hokage, me, beforehand so that I can determine if a meeting is necessary for the topic or if a simple announcement needs to be made to clear the confusion up. You do not, however, have the right to go over my power and send out the summons for the meeting to occur, just as you do not have the right to use my ANBU as messengers, they are highly trained soldiers and assassins, not children to be sent on errands!" he yelled as the man seemed to whittle under his gaze and sit down with a gulp, "Now what is this so-called reason for this emergency meeting, if I determine it to be worthwhile we shall continue, if not I shall clear it up and we can all leave to get on with our days, rather than wasting time further" Hiruzen said his tone and volume now lowered to that of an irritated growl.

At his words, another of the civilian council members stood up and Hiruzen scowled at the sight of her, Mebuki Haruno, one of the most vocal members of the civilian side. She was a fair-skinned woman with shoulder-length, pink hair with a single bang, which falls down into her face. She also had green eyes and wore a white qipao dress with three red circular designs at the bottom of the front of her dress as well as the back. Underneath the dress, she wears pink ¾-length pants along with brown sandals.

Out of all the civilian side she had been the one that Hiruzen had never taken a liking to, the woman was a banshee, how she had ever been a shinobi in his village was beyond him, he was just glad she had retired after five years of service, having been unable to rise past the rank of Genin which was the whole reason behind her ever becoming a shinobi in the first place.

It was no secret that Mebuki wanted power, and position above what the civilian side of the council would give her, and the fastest way to do that as well as elevate her family was to have them declared a shinobi clan, it would elevate her family's status as well as move her up in power and give her a seat on the clan's side of the council, but in order for a family to elevate their status to a shinobi clan, two generations of a family must have served as shinobi and they must have at least one active family member at the rank of Chūnin or higher, this was one of the laws that the civilians had slipped through twelve years before and one that he was debating on getting rid of or modifying to better serve the village, Kami knows they needed more shinobi and that law might have just encouraged more to go down that path.

"Hokage-sama, the civilian council called this meeting, due to announcement letters that all parents with children in the shinobi academy received, detailing that there were changes being implemented to the final four year groups educational criteria, increased class times and extra course being made available, and those with children in those final four years were send extra documents listing the new courses and a notification that each student must pick a minimum of three to add to their class schedules before classes resume after the break," Mebuki stated as she indicated to the very documents on the table in front of her and others at the table, "we of the civilian council want to know why we weren't consulted about these changes before they were implemented, when they involve our children and their future"

Hiruzen scowled hearing that as he clenched his fists, "And pray tell Councilor Haruno, why would you or any civilian councilor be consulted in matters such as these, that retains to a shinobi academy, in a shinobi village, training future shinobi for my village, such decisions, responsibilities and controls rest solely with the Hokage of the village, something which you are not civilian councillor Haruno" Hiruzen stated clearly putting his point across.

"But they are our children, we should have a say in any changes to their education, as it retains to their future," another civilian stood up to argue.

Hiruzen glared at him, "and you have had that choice presented to you, or rather your children have on the subject or subjects they wish to add to their future education"

"But we were never informed beforehand about these choices ever happening," Mebuki started up again, "as members of this council we…" she started to argue only for Hiruzen to cut her off.

"Have absolutely no powers over shinobi matters whatsoever!" Hiruzen raged shutting her up before she could get started, "as I have already dictated to you, all shinobi matters and decisions rest solely with the Hokage seat, and I have decided that these changes needed to be implemented to better prepare my future shinobi, they may be your children but the second they signed up for the academy they became academy students set on the path to becoming future Konoha shinobi, and the decisions of how they are taught at the academy are mine to make how I see fit not anyone else's." Hiruzen stately firmly, "the graduating numbers from the academy have been high in the past, but those who actually pass their Jōnin-senseis tests to progress to Genin rank are less than half of that, so in order to better prepare them I decided that more specialized classes in the academy would better aid them in this, as it was my decision to make. The fact of the matter stands at this, if you want your children to become shinobi then you will adhere to any decisions made for students of the academy or you will quickly find your sons and daughter removed from the academy immediately without a chance of resubmission, is that clear!"

Mebuki looked like she wanted to argue against his words but his final statement of removing children from the academy without any chance of being resubmitted had made her hold her tongue, she could not afford for her daughter to be removed due to her own ability not to hold her tongue at the right moment, if she was then her plans for a clan seat in her future and shinobi clan status for her family would go up in flames before she could even file the motion for assentation.

Watching from his seat, Danzō watched on intrigued by the new approached Hiruzen was taking, intrigued by how he had seemed to have grown a backbone overnight, his Root operatives had informed him that the Kyūbi container had been brought to the Hokage's office after a particularly brutal beating, not two evenings prior, the old war hawk could tell that something must have happened in that meeting, but with the ANBU constantly watching the Hokage office and house he hasn't been able to get anyone in there to report the comings and goings, and ever since Root was officially disbanded four years ago on the Hokage's authority he's had to be more discrete about matters.

One of the civilian councillors stands up, "And just where will the funding be coming from to pay for all these extra classes and lessons at the academy?" he asked clearly not liking they weren't being given any say in this matter.

Hiruzen scowled, "Where all the others classes get their funding, from the taxes and percentages taken from shinobi done missions, that's what the funds are meant for, to protect and better the village and what is more important than this village's future security from its shinobi forces."

Hiruzen could see the difference completely down the middle of the room at his words, the clan heads were all in agreement with his decisions and were nodding their heads in acceptance and approval, while the civilians were scowling and clenching their fists at not being consulted on any of the decisions, 'well that's just too bad, this is a shinobi village, my village and if I have my say a lot of you will be learning that the hard way in the next few weeks' Hiruzen thought to himself before standing up, "Now, as there's is no further agenda for this meeting as the apparent emergency was never that, I hereby call this meeting to a close, and let me give a small warning for future events, should anyone decided to call a meeting behind my back again without bringing matters they wish to bring forward to me first, I will consider it an act of treason, and usurpation, against, and of, the Hokage's power, for make no mistake that is exactly what this is" he said before rounding on the civilian who ordered his ANBU previously, "and if you ever think of summoning me again like some mongrel pup, I will see you hanging off the village walls by your hamstrings, am I understood!" he finished blasting the man with concentrated Sakki making him pale before collapsing on the ground in fright as Hiruzen walked out of the room leaving a clear message in his wake, the Hokage was back and he was pissed.

Training ground

Naruto collapsed on the training ground for the second time that day, but this time it was for a whole other reason besides exhaustion, as he gripped his head feeling the migraine brought on by the information overload from too many of his Kage Bunshin dispelling and sending all their memories to him at once.

"Ow, my head feels like someones just took a lead pipe to it" Naruto groaned clutching his head as he tried to sort through his memories as they came to him.

Yūgao shook her head at the scene, "well I suspect that that's the only downside to using Kage Bunshin for training, once you've collected yourself we'll spar to see how your training has improved your skills so far"

Naruto nodded as he started to collect his thoughts the last of them filtering in from the clones in the training field and the ones doing the chakra tree climbing exercise, he felt their experience grow on him as his migraine slowly started to ebb away and he took a final breath to steady himself as he looked to see Yūgao waiting for him.

Seeing he was ready Yūgao signalled with a nod and fell into a stance, body turned slightly, left foot forward arms up, fists tight, muscles free ready to move.

Naruto followed into the same stance as he took one last breath before he made his move, fainting right he moved in close going for a left uppercut, but Yūgao blocked it, Naruto quickly countered by bringing his right knee up to try and catch her in the abdomen, she countered with the same, he swung wide with a right haymaker it was blocked as well.

Yūgao swung out with a left elbow Naruto ducked under it and tried to sweep Yūgao's legs out from under her, she evaded by moving back and Naruto pressed his advantage rising up with another left uppercut it was blocked and he followed with a right elbow, only for it to be caught and before he could move again he was spun around and found his legs swept out from under him and his front slammed to the ground his arm held in a vice grip behind his back as he left out a pained grunt from the impact.

Yūgao smiled approvingly, "very impressive, your Taijutsu has improved greatly, those fifty Bunshin's time was well spent on learning the kata's and movements, your form was near flawless"

Naruto smirked under her praise, "I'm not done yet" he said before he managed to get his knee below him and he ducked in the direction his arm was twisted pushing up at the same time, nearly driving the back of his head into Yūgao's chin as she moved away avoiding the head butt as Naruto pulled out of her grasp his now free hand moving to the Bokuto on his back pulling it from its holder as he turned to face her taking the wooden weapon in hand.

Yūgao smirked as she put her hand to the seal on her wrist and letting out a small poof of smoke drew forth her own Bokuto, "so it would seem" she said as she took her's in both hands and quickly moved it to intercept a downward strike from Naruto who was quick to attack.

Pushing up she forced Naruto back a step and moved to press her advantage with a horizontal strike, which Naruto blocked expertly before pushing upward catching Yūgao's Bokuto body with the guard of his own pushing her weapon up as he moved in to close the gap using his size to his advantage to try to limit her swing, she quickly lowered her weapon blocking the attack launched at her midsection and with a quick reverse of her grip that was too fast for Naruto to follow has his weapon clattering to the ground before he could react and the wooden edge of what would be the blade of Yūgao's Bokuto to his throat.

Yūgao gave a mischievous smirk seeing Naruto frown losing for a second time and let out a small laugh to try and lighten the mood, "And that looks like my win again, very good for someone who's technically only been training in Kenjutsu for seven hours and only a day, the speed in your strikes was impressive and you used your size well to try and throw me off, and it would have worked if I had been anyone else"

Naruto shook his head, "yeah, though technically I've had those seven hours fifty times over, that's over three hundred and fifty hours of practice" he said as he took up his Bokuto again slotting it back in place.

"So," Yūgao argued, "I've had well over ten thousand hours of practice, don't think this is something you can just pick up in a day, no matter how many times you go through it with Kage Bunshin, this will take time"

Naruto nodded, "I know, I'll just have to get stronger"

Yūgao nodded as well in approval, "well if it helps, with your speed and the training you put in, I'd say you're at least up to Genin level now, while you were a strong civilian before, your training today has helped you a lot, and you can only keep growing, especially when your Kage Bunshin get back from the library, I can only imagine what they've been reading up on"

Naruto nodded as he walked over to the boxes filled with water balloons picking one up, "yeah but at least for now…" he said as he held the water balloon gently before it burst in his hand spraying water over it and the ground, "I've got the first stage of this down flat, just stages two and three to go"

Yūgao nodded impressed, "well that just means tomorrow those twenty clones can be divided between the other two steps to help you get them down, hopefully it won't take so long, but if I remember correctly the Yondaime took three years to create that technique, it's impressive you got the first step down in a day"

Naruto grinned, "yeah, but then I guess Tou-san couldn't use Kage Bunshin as much I can, he'd have got it down a lot faster, I just wish they didn't give me such a head…" Naruto started to say before his eyes widened as he clutched his head again going down, "Ow, son of a mother, that hurt, ow" he said as Yūgao smirked stifling a giggle at him.

"Sounds like that's the library group done for the day, so learn anything good?" she asked watching Naruto as he gripped his head still in pain.

Naruto groaned, "Give me a minute, and stop giggling, this isn't funny"

Yūgao shook her head, "well I guess that depends on your perspective of the situation." She reasoned as she watched him while returning her Bokuto to her wrist seal.

Naruto groaned as he slowly reviewed the memories and blinked a few times as the last of them cleared up after a few minutes, "um, that's interesting?"

Yūgao tilted her head, "what's interesting, what scrolls did they read?"

Naruto shook his head, "no it's not that, apparently, I've made a new friend…" he said as he thought back to his memories.

Flashback- Library- Henged Bunshins

The ten Kage Bunshin entered into the library a few minutes apart, the first group headed off to the local shelves with the civilian scrolls and books, while the second entered Henged as different shinobi as they headed for the shinobi section.

One of the civilian Bunshin headed up to the second floor area to check the shelves to look for more information that would be shinobi related, as he was going up the step ladder to get to one of the higher shelves he heard a loud crash from the other row across, sliding down the sides of the ladder he quickly went to check it out,

Rounding the corner he blinked for a second seeing a large pile of books and scrolls that seemed to have fell from the higher shelves, after a couple of second he registered what he was actually seeing, there was a foot sticking out from beneath the pile and an elbow elsewhere, and he heard a muffled, "Help me" coming from the pile, someone was trapped underneath it all.

Moving quickly the Bunshin started to "dig" the person out from beneath the number of large books and scrolls they were buried under, after several minutes they were finally out.

The Bunshin was trying to catch its breath after the unexpected exercise while the person who it'd dug out was bowing to him over and over again, "thank you, thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you, I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble, I'm really grateful for your help" the person said over and over so fast the Bunshin barely had time to register it.

Catching his breath the Bunshin was finally able to get a good look at the person it'd dug out from under all the books and scrolls.

She, had light blond hair that was tied back in a ponytail but that was extremely frayed and messy with strands of hair sticking out everywhere, she was wearing a dark brown qipao dress that was shorter than usual with a pair of darker knee length shorts and a white knee-length coat over it all, though he couldn't see her eyes given the thick glasses she was wearing.

"I'm so sorry for all of this, I was just trying to get at one of the scrolls on the top when I pulled the wrong one and tried to put it back only for it all to come crashing down, I'm so sorry" the apologizes over and over.

The Bunshin chuckled, "It's alright, I'm happy to help" he said holding his hand out, "my name's Genji, what's yours?" he asked giving a fake name not sure if he should give his real one under a Henge and as a Kage Bunshin.

The girl bowed a final time before taking his hand with a small smile, "My name's Shiho, I'm the new assistant librarian here, I only just started work last week as a part-timer after I left the academy last year, it's to help my chances about being accepted into the cryptography unit when I apply in six weeks, it's the only branch of the shinobi forces that accept civilians, I kind of flunked the last year of the academy when I couldn't hack the physical stuff"

The Bunshin smiled, "well it certainly is a lofty goal, and I'm sure you're exam scores must be high if your trying to get in there," he reasoned knowing something about the unit from his own studies, it was the unit responsible for code and message deciphering, the people in the unit were apparently extremely smart and knowledgeable about that sort of stuff but Naruto had never thought to really look into it for himself.

Shiho blushed slightly, "it's not really that impressive, it's sort of my only option left after I flunked out, I don't have the mentality for anything else, I can't stand blood so volunteering at the hospital is out, I never liked bugs or working with plants, and I could never torture someone as they do in the intelligence gather department, so with my scores cryptography is all I've got left, but it really was my first choice, I probably would have gone with it from the beginning, it's just something about the symbols and calculations behind it all that just makes it come alive for me, it was the subject in the final year of the academy that I just fell in love with, but at the same time I couldn't do anything else that involved getting physical, I was a complete laughing stock in my academy classes"

The Bunshin crossed his arms, "So? What's wrong with that?" he reasoned, "you've got something you're good at aren't you, something your passionate about, who cares about that other stuff as long as your able to do something and you love doing it who cares about the rest, you'll stick to it and be better at it than anyone else, hell I bet in a couple of years you'll be running that division"

Shiho blush deepened at his praise, "I-I could never do that, I don't have the skills or the knowledge, besides you've only just met me how would you even know if I'm any good to be saying stuff like that about me" she said trying to avoid looking at him embarrassed now.

The Bunshin smirked, "well it's just something I'm good at I guess, I can always tell if someone's a good person, and I can tell that about you, and I just know you'll be great" he said giving her a smile which caused her blush to deepen again.

Shiho was blushing so deeply it looked like she was about to turn into a tomato in her embarrassment, never had she been talked to this way before by anyone, he was so kind and talked so sweetly to her, people tended to just void her given how she was they didn't think she was worth their time, and only came to her when they needed something, help with assignments that involved a lot of note or facts, or if they had questions, and even then no one had ever complimented her like this, it was all just so new.

Shaking her head she quickly tried to get her mind focused, she'd been blushing for over half a minute, he was probably thinking she was weird now, she had to say something, talk to him.

"So, um is there anything I can help you with, it is my job, and I kind of owe you for digging me out from there" Shiho smiled still embarrassed slightly from that incident.

The Bunshin chuckled, "actually now that you mentioned it, I'm looking for anything that would be remotely relevant to a shinobi's career, my sensei dumped me here and told me to pick as many topics as I could and just start reading, not that I mind" he smiled.

Shiho giggled, "sure I think I know a couple of sections that could help you out, follow me and I'll show you" she said leading him out of the row and along the railing area looking over the lower section, only to pause as they looked down on the first floor seeing nearly every table seat occupied with someone, "oh wow," Shiho said in astonishment, "I don't think I've ever seen the library this full before, even before I started working here."

The Bunshin chuckled as they continued on part of him wondering just how many of those occupying seats down there weren't Henged Bunshins like him, something told him there weren't likely to be that many.

Flashback end

As Naruto finished talking, Anko had rejoined them listening in to the last bits of the story, smirking slightly, though exhausted from her training.

Just as the story finished an ANBU in a purple striped Tori (Bird) mask arrived in a shunshin looking directly at Yūgao, "Neko-san, Hokage-sama has called a meeting of all ANBU members currently in the village, we are to report to HQ within the hour for a mandatory meeting, I have been told to tell you to pass this on to our newest member as he is also to attend tonight as well" the ANBU spoke in a monotone voice.

Yūgao nodded, "thank you, Tori, I'll see that he joins us, we'll be there shortly."

With a nod the ANBU disappeared once more in a shunshin to continue out its objectives, as Anko sighed, "Sounds like training's over for today then?" she half stated, half asked looking at Yūgao who nodded.

"yes, and it looks like we have your welcome to ANBU to attend," Yūgao said looking to Naruto, "we'd better get back to the apartments to get you kitted out to be presented to the other members"

"Hai," Naruto said with a nod, trying to hide his nervousness as they all started to walk back to the apartments.

Scene break

Walking back into his apartment after splitting from Anko and Yūgao to get ready for the meeting, Naruto walked into his room to get his ANBU mask only to find it along with a storage scroll on his bed with an attached note on it.

Lifting the note Naruto recognized the Hokage's handwriting.

"Naruto-Kun

You'll find your ANBU uniform plus five sets of spars, and two sets of ANBU regulation equipment sealed into the scroll this note is on. Wear one set of each with your ANBU mask when attending the meeting tonight.

You will find that I have taken the liberty of applying some unique Fūinjutsu to your mask, aside from the chakra sticking array that comes as standard for all masks to keep them on without the need for wrapping. Your mask is equipped with a build in Henge array that is designed to change the hair colour of the wearer when worn, I have it set as the same shade of red as your Kaa-chan, Kushina, I thought you would appreciate that particular colour as you have your Tou-san's blond already.

You will be getting your ANBU mark tonight when you are presented to all ANBU currently in the village and not away on missions, your face will not be revealed as you are assigned directly under myself and only I and those I chose will know your identity, it is safer this way for now.

See you soon

Jiji"

Naruto smiled as he quickly started to change out of his clothes and pulled on one of the sets of ANBU gear, a set of black ANBU pants with shin bindings and black shinobi boots, a grey flak jacket with a black undershirt and two arm guards.

With his gear on him, he slotted his weapons into place, two hidden kunai under both arm guards, and the standard hip pouch.

Turning to the mirror in his room with his mask in hand Naruto looked at it as he raised it up to his face and place it on, he felt the chakra arrays connecting as the mask secured itself to his face, and he felt a small amount of chakra go into the second array as he watched as his blond hair faded from blond to red from roots to tips.

And just like that, ANBU operative code name Kitsune was ready to make his debut appearance.