Ta da! Words! Characters! Excitement! So, just so you guys know, the guy who previously plagiarized this story, recently did so AGAIN under a new profile. I have already taken it up with the admins and he has removed his plagiarized fic from the site. I will not be sharing this profile publicly, as I have found that he has taken to copying the works of other author's as well, and I do not wish to give him the traffic. If you, as a concerned author, would like to know the name of this disgusting individual, you may PM me about him.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own Marvel

The sound of metal slicing wood resounded as a dull thud, loud enough to cause the birds above to scatter, but not loud enough to attract attention from anyone outside the training field. And then it sounded again, and again, a rhythmic breaking of the silence. Tsume watched her new student as he attempted again to slice through the tree before him, but made very little process. Something was wrong. According to Hana, those claws of his could sink cleanly into solid concrete. She entertained the thought that maybe the wood was too soft, absorbing the force of the blows, but the blades should still cut through the wood more than they were. She knew of course what was really going on.

Every day of Naruto's young life, he had been called a monster, a demon. And each and every one of those days, Naruto had been adamant about convincing others he was just as much a person as they were. So what was he doing now...? Being trained to fight like an animal. And despite his burning fury and confusion, some part of him refused to release that animal, and just say 'to hell' with convincing the villagers of anything...she'd have to fix that. The tree before them began to creak as the many gashes began to add up, and the Inuzuka head watched as it crashed to the ground.

Naruto looked up to her with that mild irritation ever present in his eyes, this time marred with glimpses of hope. These were quickly dashed when she shook her head. "Not good enough." Naruto growled dangerously, and while her own instincts were telling her to put the challenger in his place, she was actually impressed at his attitude. Even if he couldn't admit it to himself, the boy had definitely become an animal. He still had a long way to go, but she could see he had it in him to become a real alpha in the future.

"You aren't focusing enough. You need to find that place between man and beast. That's where your true potential lies...and it is there that I plan to lead you." Dropping into her fighting stance, Tsume's appearance became far more feral than moments just previously. "Now then.."

Naruto looked at his claws, before settling into a stance of his own. "Between man and beast, huh?" Tsume nodded.

"A calm, quiet anger. A Tranquil Fury. That is where your true strength lies."

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Kanja sat, peacefully sipping tea. He took a deep breath, letting the aroma soak into his senses. A breeze blew through his slightly mussed hair as he sipped. The flavor was marred only by the taste of blood. Despite that, he forced himself to swallow. It help him remember. Remember why he was doing what he was doing. Why he needed to do what he was doing. Taking out a handkerchief, he wiped the blood from his face and hands, before gently draping the cloth over the crushed face of one of Orochimaru's sound ninja.

He stepped over the body carefully, letting only a tiny tremor betray his otherwise serene facade as he stepped to the hole that had been ripped through the thick, stone walls. He looked out at the demolished facility, at the bodies littering the ground. A pang of guilt coursed through him, but like the blood, he forced himself to look, taking deep breaths of the calming scent.

He jumped, spilling some of the precious brew, as a hand gripped his ankle. Looking down, he kicked the still living ninja off of him, the sound nin gasped for air, suffering from a collapsed lung. "You...bastard..." he spat out, trying to reach for a kunai. "You are...a...fucking demon!" Kanja let loose a sorrowful sigh, as he shook his head.

"I'm not," Kanja denied. "He is. He's the one who's responsible for everything. All of my research. All of the projects, the lives destroyed. But he's going to pay." The scientist smiled. "That's why Orochimaru sent you after me. He finally figured out that these projects. Project Evo, Heaven's Thunder, Weapon X...They aren't his weapons to wield."

"Why...does someone like you...need weapons?" the ninja snarled, blood beginning to seep from his nose and mouth. Kanja just looked out on the destruction with somber eyes as downed the rest of his tea, before tossing the cup over his shoulder.

"I don't. And neither does your boss. My goals for them are much more meaningful." Gathering what he could of his research papers, Kanja merely threw on his coat and departed the facility, leaving behind a witness who would not live to speak about any of it. Passing leisurely through the trees, Kanja made his way north. He had a Safe House there he could hide out in for a while. Orochimaru would be there in days, but the scientist only needed one to get back on his feet and disappear. He was very good at disappearing. It was staying gone that was the problem.

First things first, he needed to visit some of these other projects, before Hamachi got reassigned to them. Set them free like he did with Weapon X, Naruto. Heaven's Thunder likely would take ages to do anything with, unfortunately, given the nature of that particular experiment. But the numerous other projects out there could easily be swayed. Nobody could side with Orochimaru after the horrible things he ordered done to them. First stop, Project Mindbender.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto crept through the trees, claws extended, as he sniffed the air. The trick wasn't to decipher the scents all at once. Merely separate them into their individual smells and work from there. The musty tree bark. It had rained. The wet fur of animals. He attempted to use his heightened hearing, but his target was a much more highly trained shinobi, and could mask themselves far too easily. It didn't help that he was blindfolded.

There! He heard it. The sound of feet stepping down on wet grass, before he registered a claw swiping his face. Naruto lashed out with a roar, but hit nothing but air. The flesh healed easily, but it still stung for the few moments before then. "Damn it, Hana!" he shouted. A female laugh met his ear, and he took off in that direction. Slamming into a tree in the process. With a snarl, he slashed at the trunk. Unlike his previous exercises in the last few weeks, he cleaved through the entire tree in two strikes.

Naruto took a deep breath, reaching deep inside to try and tap into that rage he felt burning now, every moment of everyday since returning to the village. Instinctively, he dropped to all fours, his claws returning to their sheathed position within his forearms. Crouching low, he picked out the scent of his training partner in the grass beneath his feet. Taking off in the direction of that scent, he knew he had to hurry. He was being timed.

Hearing a creak of a branch, and knowing his time was running out, Naruto let loose a howl as in one mighty slash he cleaved through the nearest tree. Kicking the sliced tree down, he nabbed the circular pieces hurling one in the direction the sound came from, like a massive, blunt shuriken. Hana leapt, brushing several leaves along the way...leaves that Naruto heard. Taking the other piece, he threw it to where he was sure she would land, and his lips curled into a smirk as he heard the Inuzuka let out a pained grunt, as though the wind had been knocked from her lungs. He had likely hit her in the gut. He listened as the girl tumbled from the tree she was in.

Hana was actually surprised, and a little impressed. Naruto was improving by leaps and bounds. Sure, he continued to hesitate when it came to releasing his primal nature, but his time with the two Inuzuka women had allowed him to grow a bit more comfortable. When that chunk of wood slammed into her, it sent the air from her body, disorienting her enough to put her off balance and causing her to fall from the branch, falling on her back to the hard ground below.

Groaning, she tried to sit up, but was forced back to the ground, a foot pressing into her body to hold her. She opened her eyes as she heard the metallic 'snikt' sound she had come to know as Naruto's claws. She felt the tips of his claws tickle her neck and knew the training session was over. Sure enough, her mother appeared, a ringing alarm in her hand, and unlike her daughter, her canine companion stood loyal at her side. She was smiling brightly, pleased with her apprentice's progress.

"Very impressive," Tsume announced, as Naruto helped Hana off the ground. "I think it might be time to get you started on actual missions."

"Finally," Naruto replied, leaning against a tree. "Please tell me we don't have to go after that damn Tora the Cat? Sounds too annoying, and besides, why take the mission from Kiba's team?" Tsume snorted at the thought and Hana giggled slightly. She had chased after that demon cat enough times to know exactly what her little brother was going through, and was amused by his tales of Tora outmaneuvering them.

"Given your...condition..." Tsume began, clearing her throat when Naruto growled. "I've convinced the Hokage to allow you to take on C-rank missions through and including B-rank missions, and provided there are at least two jonin, you may come along on A-rank missions, pending the Hokage's approval." Naruto actually widened his eyes at that one.

"How did you get the old man to agree to that?" he asked, thinking that the Hokage would never let a genin on such advanced missions, no matter how strong or invulnerable they were. Tsune coughed a bit, rocking from her toes to her heels, and refused to make eye contact. Looking for all intents and purposes like a kid who did something naughty and got caught.

"Well, I knew he would never willingly agree," she said, smiling, rather ironically, like a cat who swallowed a canary. "So, I kind of let it...slip in the last council meeting about your progress." Hana, realizing what that meant, covered her mouth in amusement.

"Mom, you didn't..." she said. Tsume just nodded.

"The downside is that your enemies on the council now know you could be a threat. The upside is that your supporters on the council know you could be a threat to the enemies of Konoha. And it's the supporters who put pressure on the Hokage." Naruto snorted at this declaration.

"I have supporters on the council?" he asked, incredulously, almost amused at the very idea. Tsume nodded.

"Most of the shinobi council, and possibly the elders, but they're so old and irate it's hard to tell at all," she responded. Naruto actually seemed surprised by this. A bird cried out, causing the three to look at the flying animal. "Damn. We'll have to cut this session short. The Old man wants to see me." Reaching into a pouch on her hip, Tsume tossed some money over to student. "Head on over to the Ramen stand. I'll meet you over there when I'm finished. Won't take long." She didn't have to tell Naruto twice. He practically took off on all fours. Hana shook her head.

"I'd better be going too. Duty calls, and I have to make sure the Triplets are prepped for the mission." Tsume nodded in understanding. The two shared a look for a moment before they and Kuromaru vanished in a swirl of leaves.

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Naruto was onto his third bowl of Ramen when he caught a familiar scent. Sure enough, Kiba, as well as his team and sensei, Kurenai Yuhi, all entered the small stand, taking seats next to the single genin. Kiba took the spot directly next to his mother's student, clapping him on the back in greeting. "Figured you'd be in here," he said with a smirk. His companion, Akamaru poked out the front of his sweatshirt, yipping at Naruto to say hello.

"Tora again, huh?" he asked, having smelled the cat the instant the genin team walked in.

"Impressive." Kurenai pondered the blonde for what felt like the the hundredth time in so many days. When he wasn't training with the Inuzuka clan head or Hana, and if he wasn't at the Ramen stand, he was hanging around Kiba, and by extension, her team. "Your nose is definitely close to, if not at, Inuzuka levels." Naruto just rubbed the back of his head, before starting his fourth bowl.

"Yeah," groaned Kiba. "Kinda makes me wish I was on the Uchiha's team. Heard Team 7 got themselves a C-rank."

"We'll get higher ranked missions when we're deemed ready for them," Shino announced, the bug user quite and reserved as ever. Naruto smirked.

"You aren't already?" Kurenai raised a brow, but said nothing. The blushing Hyuuga heiress decided to speak instead.

"Um...Kurenai-sensei would rather we each learn how to use our abilities in tangent with one another before we really go outside the village," she stuttered. Naruto shrugged, before draining his broth.

"Well, I just got permission to start taking on C AND B-rank missions," the blond bragged. Kurenai froze, Hinata looked ready to feint. Shino, while definitely trying to hide it, was flabbergasted. And Kiba.

"Come on, Man!" he laughed. "I mean, sure, Mom and Hana have been helping you out. But you STILL were dead-last in the academy. You expect me to believe that you're gonna be allowed on high-ranked missions?"

"He probably doesn't. Doesn't mean it isn't true." Kiba froze at the voice, felt the hand of his mother on his shoulder. It took a moment for the team to feel the weight of what Tsume, who had just appeared using Shunshin, to sink in. When it did, Kurenai quickly stood.

"That's CRAZY!" she proclaimed. "He's only been training with you for a month. How can he possibly take on B-ranked missions?!" Tsume just smiled, motioning for the genjutsu specialist to sit back down.

"Oh, lighten up," she said, taking the final seat on Naruto's left. "Believe me, the kid can hold his own in a fight. Even if he can't, it doesn't matter." Now Kurenai's face was getting red.

"Doesn't matter?! He could get killed out there." Naruto just snorted, and that made Kurenai all the angrier. Kiba too, for that matter. "What, you think this is funny?" she demanded of the blonde. "You think you can gamble with your life there are no consequences?" She waited for an answer and only got a sigh. Before she could even utter an 'I thought so," her blood ran cold as with a sickening 'snikt' sound of metal on metal, three blades slid out of Naruto's clenched fist, right between his knuckles. Despite his training with the Inuzuka, the results of Naruto's kidnapping were largely kept on a need-to-know basis. Nobody on Team Kurenai knew of Naruto's abilities. But as he quickly sliced his other arm open, making sure to keep the blood away from the counter, the genin team was about to get a good look.

They watched with fascination and disgust as the flesh knitted itself back together. Tsume handed Naruto a cloth, and with a quick motion, the blood was wiped away, his arm appearing as though it had not been touched at all. "I'll manage." Tsume smiled at her apprentice, before sighing, her mind flashing back to her meeting with the Hokage. She rubbed her temples. Things were going to become more complicated in the near future. Far more complicated.

Chapter end.

I'm back. Things have been nuts, what with new jobs, and the ass who plagiarized my fic at the end of last year attempting to do so again under a new name. I'D LIKE TO NOTE that regardless of my update habits, nobody, NOBODY has the right to steal my work and claim it as your own, and nobody has the right to copy my stories, even giving me my credit, without my express permission to do so. If you do, I WILL find out, and I WILL have the admins on you.

Peace to all my Fans

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