The Ranger

By Sage of Eyes

Disclaimer 1: I don't own Naruto

A/N: yeah so if any of you guys have read my last fic 'The Saboteur' and was pretty pissed off at me for canceling it, well… meh*. It didn't even reach 20 reviews within 4 chapters and if I didn't announce at the end of the fourth chapter that it was canceled the fourth would've probably gotten only three or four reviews and not seven...

*search this word's meaning you'll find a lot of stuff…

…

The past and future is… bullshit. Live and think in the present.

-Uzumaki Naruto, Ranger of Fire.

…

Speaking "…and that's how my dog got my best friend's sister pregnant" Sage finished at the bar, more than a dozen bottles of vodka lay empty at his side.

Thoughts or mental speaking 'I don't know whether to worry about myself or that guy… since it made sense' were the consecutive thoughts of the bar patrons.

"Dammit I can't take this anymore!" a man screamed clawing at his face because of all the things that were wrong yet right in the story he just heard. Within second the man made the thirty-six hand signs for his technique.

Jutsu or techniques: Shiki Fuujin!

Empowered speech: "WHO DARES SUMMON THE SHINIGAMI!"

"Kill him!" The man yelled before collapsing in a heap as the Shinigami turned towards Sage.

Sage looked up lazily\drunkenly.

"L-look here Mr. Shinigami what'll it cost me to…uhhh… pay you off! Yeah that what I want to do… pay you off!

"YOUR SOUL!"

Sage searched his pockets.

"I have five bucks."

"DEAL!"

In a flash the bill disappeared and the man in a heap sobbed and wet his pants as his soul was eaten and with that the Shinigami left. Sage stared impassively at the still open portal of darkness before slapping a hundred on the bar top and jumping in.

Loud sounds: BOOM!

(This little short story\explanation thingy was inspired by Majin Hentai X who I hope will update his story already)

…

A boy in a mottled green cloak with a quiver and a bow streaked through a forest. Heavy hiking boots, though easily heard, left no trail as the boy ran through the forest. The boy's name is Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto ran through the forest disregarding everything that he passed. He breathed slowly and evenly even as he ran at speed that no six year-old should posses. His steps halted as a sudden whistling sound rang out. Naruto jerked his head to the left. The cloak's cowl moved enough for a strand of blond hair to get cut as an arrow whistled by and stuck itself upon a tree.

Smirking under his cowl Naruto leapt onto the three foot long arrow's end and used it to send himself onto a branch. He winced when he landed before leaping onto another branch. He mentally prayed that he didn't nick one of the seals on the arrow…

Halt would kill him if anything happened to one of the 'precious' longbow arrows.

He drew on his own bow once he was on the tallest branch of the tree. It was four feet in length, an inch taller than he currently was. The bow curved at the tips where the strings attached to better the range and draw strength. The bow was a standard ranger recurve bow that Halt had given him once he completed the 'standard' pre-ranger training. Naruto had no idea how why Halt called it 'standard' training. After all Halt was the only ranger in the entirety of the Elemental Nations and Naruto was, of course, Halt's apprentice. He had been since he had been kicked out of the Konoha orphanage at three and brought by his grandfather to Halt.

(Customary Flashback: Go!)

Three year old Naruto dressed in a plain white t-shirt, light-blue sweatpants and blue sandals clung to his 'grandfather' as they made their way through a dense forest. They had left Inu-kun a few hours ago in the forest boundary. Despite Inu-kun's protests his grandfather had thrown something orange at Inu-kun and said something like: just read this new Icha-Icha Inu, and his best friend was gone in a flash! He needed to learn how to make people like Inu-kun disappear like that… he didn't know why but he just needed to!

They had traveled for day with Inu-kun and he had the weirdest dreams when he slept while they traveled. Ones in which he was strapped to Inu-kun's back as they flew through the trees with his grandfather ahead in his special white robes and hat… hat.

He really wanted the cool hat. It was so cool… and pointy… and weirdly-shaped…

Naruto shook his head as he gripped his grandfather's robe tighter. It wasn't time to think about the hat! Naruto didn't know what time it was of course… but he knew it wasn't time to think about the hat!

"We're here Naruto-kun" whispered his grandfather. Naruto immediately looked up and was a bit put off at the sight of a small wooden cabin with a porch in the middle of a small clearing. He had expected something more…special.

"Eh! Sarutobi?" a man exclaimed from behind them, startling Naruto who quickly turned around but found nothing. "You're here already? I could've sworn you told me that you'll bring me an apprentice in six months!"

"That was six months ago Halt." his grandfather answered back dryly while Naruto looked for the voice.

"Naruto" Sarutobi smirked as Naruto continued to look for his old friend. "I would like for you to meet an old friend of mine… Halt resident ranger of the elemental nations."

"Hello."

"!" Naruto exclaimed and recoiled into his grandfather's arms. A man had appeared out of nowhere at his side clad in a weird cloak that seemed to meld with the forest.

Sarutobi let out a soft chuckle as Naruto clung to his midsection refusing to look at the 'scary' man. "Why don't you and Naruto take this inside, Halt? We don't want you're apprentice to get a cold, now, would we?"

(Inside Halt's Cabin)

The furnishings of the home were Spartan, to say the least. No pictures adorned the stone chimney's eaves and four hand carved chairs were set around a, similarly, hand carved table. An iron spit was set up inside the chimney with a simmering pot of stew cooking inside. After a goodbye from his grandfather Naruto was left with his 'master'.

"Listen kid" the man grunted as he piled stew on the two plates before putting one in front of the three year old "I'm not going to dress my training up. You'll get started tomorrow and you're gonna feel like shit the next day but we'll keep it up. I'll train you until you can do everything I can do and, if I can manage it, live the rest of my life in peace knowing that I've passed my skills on."

With that they ate in peace. Naruto briefly thought about feeling like 'shit' but decided to focus on the best food he's had since… well ever.

"Uuuummm," Naruto asked curiously after finishing his stew "mister?"

Halt raised an eyebrow he had a feeling he'd be doing that a lot more now… "What is it, kid?"

"What's your name? I didn't hear what Jiji called you…"

"You couldn't remember my name… even though he said it right there?"

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms "You distracted me!" the boy cried out in indignation "You appeared out of nowhere and there were so many different trees and grass and animals and…"

Halt let out a sigh. Great his student had attention problems. Whoopee for him.

The three year old cocked his head taking in the short grizzled man in front of him.

"You know what mister? You don't look very scary without your cloak!"

Halt twitched.

(Customary Flashback: End!)

Halt hadn't taken kindly to Naruto for calling him 'scary' for a few weeks but that all changed when he started training Naruto. The man knew what he did and he sure as hell wasn't gonna leave the world until he made sure another person could do everything he could.

The first year was conditioning for Naruto. Every day he did ten laps around the clearing every six hours, morning or night until he knew his new home like the back of his hand. Then every time he memorized each path Halt would show him another longer path to memorize/run on. By the second year Naruto had a healthy respect for the man since he was practically the most efficient man Naruto knew. The second year was the first time they celebrated Naruto's birthday and he was given… weights which he promptly chucked at his sensei and said he'd rather do twice the laps than put the 50 pound monstrosities on.

Needless to say after seeing the weights fly through his wall and make holes for new windows Halt could only agree with the glaring five-year old.

He was taught, weirdly enough, in his second year gymnastics by his new master who stated that he'll probably jumping around and killing assholes in no time if he got the hang of it.

The fact that he broke at least three bones the first time he tried his 'stupid' idea ,as said by Halt, when he tried, for the first time, to jump off an arrow onto a tree branch only served to fuel his desire to punch his 'master' in the face.

With all the respect that Halt was entitled to of course.

The third and current year was the real cake-taker though. After receiving a long-winded speech on responsibility in his actions and how a child had the same responsibilities as a man Halt gave Naruto his most prized possessions in a box comically marked as Standard Ranger Gear.

Even back then Naruto antagonized Halt on the fact that he and Halt were the only rangers despite Halts insistence that there will be more rangers in the future.

He received the microfilament recurve bow the most powerful bow a child can possess gave him enough power to puncture a man's ribs half a mile away with a regular arrow from the quiver as well as behead anyone stupid enough for him to reverse swing it at.

He received a quiver of arrows as well. The arrows were covered with seals that Halt had garnered over the years to make himself a match for any ninja. Force seals multiplied the force of the arrow enabling it to puncture anything besides the strongest of steel. Seals of strength and stability made sure each arrow were practically unbreakable since it gathered ambient chakra. The most important seal though was the acceleration seal which fed on the users own chakra. The acceleration seals when fed with chakra can turn a regular arrow into a blur of wood and metal. Each sealed arrow which normally goes at speeds of only 50 miles of per hour were accelerated to a speed at least three times and the more chakra fed into the arrow the faster it can go. The recovery seals on each arrow, which transmitted the locations to Halt and Naruto's visors, also fed on ambient chakra giving Halt and Naruto a definite advantage over their opponents since they didn't need to have a place in mind before using Body Flicker to where they want to go.

He received what Halt called a Chakra Visor made by the man himself. The orange and black glass visors held by a black band across the back of his head used an array of chakra detection seals and triangulation seals to keep any enemies in view despite mist or foliage. Every single ninja-level chakra source was pinpointed by the chakra detection seals and part of the black of the glasses moved to surround the location of the target in front of him courtesy of the triangulation seals.

He received a cloak much like his master's though it didn't give any protection it mottled into any background changing camouflage print in every environment.

For the snow or winter it was differing shades of gray.

For the pine forest where they lived it was differing shades of green.

For desert which he's only heard from his master as 'hell-on-earth' the cloak became differing shades of yellow.

For the sea which he's only heard from his master as 'hell itself' the cloak became differing shades of blue against the ocean.

The cloak folded inside of itself into a short abdomen reaching poncho to allow full mobility in case one needed it and since Naruto kept his two quivers inside the cloak he wore it poncho-style most of the time.

The second quiver was filled with The Standard Ranger Contingency Plan which was what made Halt dangerous enough to have ninja give him wide berth.

Arrow Blades. They were essentially sword blades four feet in length with a specialized handle. The small protrusions where the handles were usually attached to the sword were instead attached to specialized handles with nocks on the bottom and with no guards to allow them to be draw and released at terrifyingly fast speeds.

Each one of the blades had the same seals that a regular arrow had but one seal that made it much, much more deadly.

Controlled and shaped explosive seals lined the entirety of the blade as well as its handle. Even without the acceleration seals the blades were on a controlled flight because of the bonding seals it had with the visor. Should an enemy try to evade the flying blade the smaller explosive seals would explode to change its direction and should the arrow start to spin out of control it'll simply wait until it's pointed at the enemy in a single rotation and detonate one of the larger explosive tags to send itself flying at the correct direction. Should the blade's target escape the explosive tags would stop and allow the blades to fly until it falls an hour or two later or until it hits a boulder... or something else that can stop a blade flying at three hundred miles per hour.

The last item he received were the Gloves which covered his arms with a combination of steel on the hand and arm and leather on his wrist to insure that the razor sharp wire that Halt used as the string for the bow didn't cut him. The Glove also contained special seals on the tips which contained nearly infinite amounts of monofilament generated through chakra that he can use for sting for his bow or for silent assassination and close combat.

It was the best birthday Naruto ever had despite the fact it meant more training on his part to master the monofilament bow, the monofilament Gloves, the mid range arrows and the all-purpose Arrow Blades which could only be held without risk of dismemberment with the special counter seals on the gloves.

Naruto snapped out of his little flashback and he snapped his neck back as an arrow passed where his neck was a moment ago. He whirled around and with a burst of chakra activated the goggles.

Instantly the world which used to be a shade of orange became clear as day despite the night. Naruto mentally thanked the fact that Halt added the Night-Day conversion seal he theorized as he looked around to kick his master's ass bow nocked fully with a chakra charged training arrow.

"Chakra triangulation sensors activate…" Naruto whispered as he lined the bow and arrow with his sight.

Lines from the top of the visor blurred and contorted. Within a second several lines sprouted from the mask and made a hollow triangle around the nearest chakra source: Halt.

He whipped around until the arrow's nock was directly in front of the triangle. He pumped chakra to increase the arrow's speed, just as Halt taught him.

Suddenly there was a flash of pain and the arrow exploded, splinters and chunks of metal hit Naruto's thick cloak as the shockwave sent him flying off the 60 ft. high tree.

From the separate tree Halt's eyes widened as his visor flashed indicating a nearby chakra explosion.

And since he and Naruto were the only ones there...

"Shit!" Halt swore as he leapt from the tree quickly holstering the bow in the sheath attached to his back underneath his cloak. Sarutobi told him that the Kyuubi's chakra would fluctuate and cause irregularity in Naruto's chakra by giving off bursts of Yoki at odd intervals under high stress. That was why most Jinchuuriki weren't trained until they were 8 to insure that the Yoki wouldn't harm the Jinchuuriki's chakra coils. Halt had thought that channeling chakra wasn't stressful enough to activate the Yoki but it seems that he was wrong.

He arrived onto the tree where he heard the explosion to see his apprentice falling to the ground blood trailing from the falling form.

"Naruto!" Halt yelled He quickly shot out his arm sending five lines of monofilament towards his student. With no chakra running through the filament it wouldn't cut the boy only catch him.

He only hoped it would be fast enough to do so.

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto's eyes fluttered open and widened in shock once he glimpsed where he was.

In his room.

In Halt's cabin.

What the hell? Wasn't he in the forest?

Naruto scanned the room that Halt had given him so many years ago. A dresser and a plain bed were the only furniture present in the room save the rack where he placed his cloak and his weapons.

Which wasn't there.

What the hell?

Instead of his weapons rack some sort of concrete cell with gray, steel bars at the front the size of a dresser was present in the dark corner. He squinted, his eyes silently cursing his visor's disappearance, had it been present he would've just activated the night vision.

Wide red eyes suddenly shot open and Naruto yelped as he backed away. The cell began to shake violently and began to move towards Naruto with jerking movements. Suddenly two pale arms shot out and grabbed him and pressed him against the bars.

Naruto instinctively closed his eyes as he was crushed against the gate with surprising force. Suddenly warmth spread through his body as if warm water began to spread from the touch.

"Geez, kid, I fluctuate my Yoki once… and you manage to almost kill yourself… maybe that teacher of yours isn't as good as you think he is, eh?"

Naruto reddened. Whoever this was no one should insult Halt because of him!

"It wasn't his fault!" he yelled "I-I w-was surprised and my footing was off and I was…"

"Shush, child…" the voice said once again and he was pressed against the harder bars and his face reddened more when he began to feel something…soft across the bars.

He stood there pressed against the bars unsure of what to do. Was the being an enemy? If it was why was it making him feel goo- better? He meant better, not good. Better…

He was going to say better, dammit!

Suddenly the room rumbled and the dark cell suddenly shook making the pair of arms drop him. Chains from the corner where the cell used to be snapped out of the walls and interlaced at the front of the cell before yanking it back to the corner.

"Oh, it looks like you're waking up Naruto-kun…" the voice mumbled sadly as the room began to fill with white mist. Naruto waved his arm into the mist coalescing in front of him and was surprised to find it not affected by his movements.

He began to hear the familiar chirping of the birds in the nest outside the cabin and slowly he began to smell Halt's cooking in the morning eliciting a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth as he got a whiff of bacon. A sad giggle floated out from the cell as he hastily wiped his mouth. He opened his mouth to explain himself when, suddenly the mist came at him from all directions before scattering leaving nothing behind.

"Come back soon, Naruto-kun" the voice crooned sadly alone once again.

(Halt's Cabin)

Halt paced briskly in his living room clad in a long sleeved dark green linen shirt and similar pants. Over time Naruto had slowly turned the drab house into something more comfortable. With the help of his clones Naruto turned various hides of the animals that they had killed into rugs and leather which earned them a pretty penny when they sold it at the nearby town.

Halt sighed as he sat on his armchair made of leather, wood, and cotton which Naruto made him the year before for his birthday, once again with help from clones. When he had taught the kid the Shadow Clone Jutsu he didn't expect it to be at the level the kid had it at. Though he had enough chakra to make as much clones as Naruto did at the first try, 50, he wasn't able to make them move like Naruto did. Each and every single clone was perfect and obeyed orders instantly yet had enough knowledge to preserve its own life unless it was necessary to save their creator.

When Halt watched for the first time when Naruto conversed with his clones and practiced with them in mock firefights. The boy employed tactics beyond his age and slowly but surely he was sure that though they had no specialized roles the clones were slowly giving their creator more and more knowledge every day. He knew in his gut that Naruto was destined for greatness.

Naruto had, for all purposes, was the best chance for him to spread his legacy.

The legacy he had created as a child with a bow in the Second Great Ninja War as Silent Death.

The legacy that ended the lives of hundreds.

Naruto's door opened and he smiled at his apprentice as he made a beeline for the food. He would train his apprentice to do the same and end lives for the country that hires him.

Halt had no say whatsoever on Naruto's choice of clothing only the requirement that it must keep him warm from the elements without his cloak. Since the cloak covered and protected Naruto most of the time Halt was sure that his apprentice would merely adapt his own style of clothing, cotton pants, rubber soled sandals and a long sleeved shirt. Halt was, however, horribly, horribly, wrong.

Naruto's clothes were visible since he had left his cloak in his room. Knee-high zip up black boots worked as footwear. Black Chinese-Style pants were tucked into the boots with a bit of extra space at the knee to allow free range movement. At the hip Naruto wore a harness where he attached his two quivers. Armor weave damage-resistant white bandages covered Naruto's torso and special self repairing armor weave gray bondages covered their arms with the leather and steel gauntlets covering his forearms. A high necked white collar covered half Naruto's face with his visor hanging neatly at the front. The high necked collar connected to the white shoulder pad where Naruto holstered his bow which, like his quivers, was in his room. The shoulder pad was held by a white strap that went across Naruto's chest diagonally before connecting to a circle of grey steel on his side which another white strap was connected to the back.

He got up and walked to the table ruffling Naruto's long hair, the boy refused to cut it for some reason unknown to him, and sat opposite of his apprentice with his customary grim features.

His only hope that like him his apprentice would end lives to save many more just like he did.

…

After finishing their meal Halt waited for the inevitable. He doubted his apprentice who had the attention span of a squirrel on crack wouldn't ask what happened the previous night. But he would wait in comfort of course.

He poured himself a cup of coffee, the greatest invention of man, laced it generously with honey and took a sip as he sat opposite of apprentice.

Bliss.

His apprentice scowled at him but he merely smirked as he took another pull of the lifeblood. Long ago Naruto had asked if he could try the coffee and the ensuing chaos caused by the super-caffeinated hyperactive Jinchuuriki of could only be described as 'The Event' and both rangers firmly denounce any actions that happened during that day.

Naruto patiently waited for his master to finish his coffee. It was an unspoken rule between the two but questions were to be asked and answered after coffee was one of the base principles of the household. Halt with no coffee was an angry Halt.

An angry Halt equals more laps for Naruto.

With that Naruto took another piece of bacon and waited for Halt to finish his coffee. Naruto mused over his questions as he waited. What should he ask Halt? Should he ask about the cage or the girl?

He blushed heavily at the thought of going into detail about his 'experience' and immediately vowed to just ask about the cell. He noticed Halt's raised eyebrow, his master's version of a smile, and immediately tried to stifle the blush.

"So Naruto… would you care to explain why you're so put down?" Halt asked after swallowing his last sip of coffee. He would get some more after he sent Naruto off to train but for now he must persist without the lifeblood.

Naruto opened his mouth but found himself unable to talk so he closed it. He tried once more only to open and close him mouth again.

"…"

Halt shook his head though he had to stop himself from chuckling. He had genuinely thought that he would've only needed to guide Naruto to awareness of his demon but it seems like he was once again abandoned by Lady Luck to fend for himself.

Halt let out a small sigh as he poured himself a cup of coffee this was going to be a long talk…

"Naruto… what do you know about Bijuu?"

…

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Naruto's began to bleed profusely as the microfilament that cut through the glove and sliced the top off the finger clean off. Though it could withstand consecutive shots at intervals it wasn't able to repair itself fast enough to protect Naruto's hands as the boy shot arrow after arrow.

Within a second Naruto's hand healed. Naruto simply waited for another second for the glove to repair before resuming his shots. Oblivious to everything around him as he tried to digested his information.

He gripped an arrow from his quiver between his folded index and middle finger.

Jinchuuriki.

He placed the arrow at bow which he gripped at as hip. Carefully making sure the arrow's nock was situated with the string in between.

The term itself was a harsh joke. 'Human Sacrifice'?

He drew smoothly, one arm going up while the other drew the arrow back. The arrow's feather end tickled his cheek.

'Human Scapegoat' would be more appropriate.

He let go.

Thud.

Hours would pass before he stopped shooting.

…

Naruto sighed as the sun set letting his weary legs collapse after more than eight hours of standing and firing arrows. With a flick of his hand monofilament wire snapped from his gloves and wrapped around the arrows attached to the tree and with a yank they came free and within as second were back in their quiver. The conversation with Halt didn't exactly go as planned. He had wanted answers about the cell. After the explanation, though, he had almost had a mental breakdown since so many of his life's questions were answered. Why he wasn't able to have friends, why he wasn't able to walk outside without being met with harsh glares, why overall his life sucked… before he was handed over to Halt of course. Despite the way he acted he did NOT have the attention span and the intelligence of a hyperactive squirrel. He despite being only six-years old was quite perceptive. His Jiji had sent him to Halt to be kept safe from the village itself whether from politics, as Halt had told him about the Jinchuuriki's status as a Walking Weapon of Mass Destruction much like a Kage, or the villagers themselves. He owed his Jiji everything, just as much as he owed Halt his life.

There was a sudden rushing of leaves and he immediately sat up before getting hit in the face by his cloak sending him back onto the forest floor. He pulled his cloak of his face and leant up using his elbows as support.

'Yay,' he thought morosely as he saw Halt clad in his cloak, bow holstered at the back 'Halt's going to try to cheer me up.'

Halt threw Naruto a scroll which he caught with still lying down.

"What's this?" Naruto asked

"It's a storage scroll." Halt answered with a 'well duh' expression on his face "I thought you knew about storage scrolls already but since you have seem to have forgotten I will re-explain-"

"NO!" Naruto yelled, jumping upright as he did so, 'I will NEVER listen to a speech about seals, EVER, again!' "I-its fine I remember! I was just wondering what that is in it's all…"

"Supplies, of course," Halt answered with a quirked eyebrow "We're going on a trip."

Now it was Naruto's turn to quirk his eyebrow.

"Where?"

"Everywhere," Halt answered simply "so hurry up and get your arrows we have a lot of running to do."

…

A/N: I doubt this'll get updated unless it gets like twenty or so reviews (doubtful). It's just a one shot since the bow and arrow Naruto seems pretty badass with high velocity arrows blades seals and most of all, the greatest weapon ever conceived Monofilament wire.