"Kyuubi talking"

'Kyuubi Thinking'

"Regular Talking"

'Regular Thinking'

I Do Not Own Naruto or Assassins Creed

Naruto: The New Beginning

Early morning sunlight peaked through the windows of Natsuki's window as she awoke to the sounds of singing birds. 'What a beautiful day,' she thought, smiling happily as she started her morning routine. It had been several days since her conversation with the Kyuubi no Yoko and the information revealed had been far more than either Taka or the Hokage had expected, and the thought of the Akatsuki or anyone really, possessing the power of natural energy and demonic energy combined was absolutely terrifying! It had both elders pushing her and the other two assassins even harder! Almost every waking moment was devoted to training, pushing them past their recently discovered physical limits and bringing them to even greater heights! But even she needed her breaks and that's where these peaceful mornings came in. Nothing but relaxing silence…

A knock interrupted her thoughts as Taka spoke from outside her door. "Natsuki, when you are finished, please meet me and the others outside in the garden."

"Hai!"

Some minutes later the teacher and students were seated outside in the courtyard garden. It was a beautiful scene, filled with lush grass, vibrant cherry blossoms, black pebble stones, and a trickling stream that ended at a pond inhabited with koi fish. This relaxing garden was one Naruto and her frequently spent time in during their occasional breaks. However, today it would serve a different purpose.

"Now, today you will all learn an integral part of the Assassin's repertoire. We live in the era of shinobi, where impossible feats are performed daily. Superior as we may be in conventional combat our training in chakra compared to the ninja's practice of chakra is not so good and it has since given our enemies the advantage." Taka then fixed his disciples with a stern gaze. "Remember this, Naruto, Natsuki, Neji. The assassins are not invincible. We are mortal like any other man or woman and our powers, while great, can be overcome."

They all nodded seriously waiting for their master to continue.

"Our disadvantage has forced the assassins to adapt. We could use chakra, but part of our strength lies in using techniques and abilities relatively unknown to the public and their prevailing military systems. This naturally limits our choices considerably, but we did eventually find our way," Taka said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Tell me Natsuki, what do you know about chakra?"

"I know chakra is made of the combination of the physical and spiritual energies within us. And that every person has their own elemental affinity."

"A basic answer, but correct in essence. Now, tell me this: Are there other sources of chakra besides what we produce inside our bodies?"

"Uhm, aren't the biju made out of chakra?"

"Yes, they are. In fact, all demons are simply corporeal masses of yoki, which is the technical term for demonic chakra. Their brand of energy is different from human chakra. It is much more volatile and potent, and it also possesses the unique quality of being tangible. Now, can you think of anything else?"

She paused at this. Clearly, the mentor was implying that another source of energy existed in their world but… what was it?

"The Kyūbi mentioned something about the energy of the world. Uhm… natural energy I think." She said.

"Correct!" Taka said proudly. "Yes, like yoki, it is an extremely powerful source of energy and can strengthen the user's body and techniques to frightening degrees. However, there is one aspect of harnessing natural chakra that has proven invaluable to the assassins in this era of shinobi… Stealth."

Seeing the confused looks on the apprentices' faces, Taka explained. "As you know, every human needs chakra to survive. As such, those adept at sensing chakra can easily locate the most skilled of Assassins. Obviously, this puts us at a severe disadvantage. We also know that the Akatsuki currently have several powerful shinobi among their ranks, many of them being S-ranked missing-nin. If you wish to defeat them, mastering your skills in stealth is essential! This is where natural chakra comes in."

"Today, there are only a handful of shinobi who utilize natural energy. They are generally taught how to enter a powerful state known as sage mode by whatever animal summons they happen to have a contract with and are judged worthy. Hashirama Senju was a man that was known to be able to do this without a summon but I think that would have to do with his wood release ability making him closer to nature. I believe Naruto will have the easiest time with this if my theory is correct." He said and got an excited grin for the young man.

"Now, sage mode is a state that balances a user's spiritual and physical energies with natural energy. The result is the empowerment of the user's abilities and they essentially become one with nature. This means that their chakra presence literally becomes indistinguishable from the environment, rendering them invisible to sensors! Discretion is paramount in our profession, and it is due to this power that we can walk the streets of any shinobi village undetected! We are seen, yet at the same time, unseen!"

"That is amazing." Naruto said in awe at what he had been told from the master. Neji and Natsuki were thinking similar things as well and couldn't even speak at all.

"This is why all Assassins practice the art of harnessing natural energy! Not only did it serve to give us the titles as masters of stealth against the shinobi but it also gave us a physical boost in combat. In addition, all of the secret assassin techniques are powered by natural energy instead of regular chakra, making it impossible for most shinobi to copy our techniques." Taka then fixed his gleaming eyes on them, almost mesmerizing them with the passion in his words. "Learning this art has now become an integral part of our training… It is one of our pillars of strength and it would be very important to learn to harness the energy of the world!"

"H-H-Hai!" They responded together still in awe at the words they were told.

"Actually the Kyuubi said that I won't be able to use it because with him the mixing of all the energies would be too unstable." Natsuki spoke up a bit depressed at missing out on such a good skill for her.

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense. Well, I suppose you will still be extremely good at stealth in the first part at least.

Smiling proudly, the elderly Assassin looked at the others, "now, first thing's first. If you want to absorb and use natural energy, you must first be able to sense it. This will take weeks, if not months to learn as you need to be completely still." He said before elaborating more. "Let me explain. From a worldly viewpoint, nature is always still and only moves when subjected to outside forces like wind, animals and things of that sort. Animals like us, on the other hand, are never still. Every breath we take moves our body. Every beat of our heart is movement. Our thoughts trigger minute reactions all over our body! To be perfectly still is to learn how to counter our unconscious movements and clear our mind. That is exceedingly difficult, in fact, immobility is perhaps the most difficult thing an animal could ever attempt to do and it just so happen to be a requirement toward learning how to use natural energy."

"Uhm… Okay…" While Neji got the gist of it, he really didn't understand everything Taka had just said but Naruto had and inwardly chuckled at him.

The Master Assassin merely chuckled. "We'll discuss it more later. For now, I want you to actually try sensing natural energy. First, place your hands on mine and I will absorb and channel some natural energy into you so that you'll know what to look for when trying to sense it. I will also be controlling it as well so that it does not adversely affect you."

"Hai."

Silence ensued for a small time and at first, nothing happened. "Taka-sen-?" Then it happened. All of a sudden, an indescribable sensation washed over them. It was unlike anything they had ever felt before. It felt so primal… so connected… they could hear the slightest sounds around them, smell the faintest scents, and even see their reflections off a cricket's compound eyes. And their bodies had never felt so strong before.

"Awesome." Naruto exclaimed, marveling at the power that coursed through his body. "This is amazing!"

A wry smile spread across Taka's face. "Yes… Harnessing the energy of nature does make one's body stronger in every way. But remember what I said. Even when using natural energy, we are not invincible."

Naruto and Neji just nodded as they still felt the feeling of nature around them and it soon ended when Taka brought stopped the energy. "Now, try to feel the natural energy flowing around you. I taught you how to meditate so now, simply do it without moving and reach out with your senses."

'He makes it sound so easy…' They thought with deadpan stares at him. Nevertheless, they did as asked and promptly settled down in a meditative position.

Naruto first focused on his breathing, making sure each breath was even, smooth, and had minimized movement. It wasn't easy, but after about five minutes, he was relatively still. Next, he attempted to clear his mind but this proved to be the more difficult task. For someone who was naturally a bit hyperactive, trying to stay still and silent his active mind was borderline impossible! Just the slightest noise was enough to distract him like… Hm? What was that? It sounded like a cricket-

WHACK!

"ITAI!" Naruto cried, clutching his head in pain and glaring at the offending cane in his mentor's hand while Neji also stirred as well and was treated to the same thing. "What was that for Taka-sensei?"

"You moved."

"What?! No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did. A cricket chirped twenty-two feet to my left and your ear twitched at the sound."

He decided that he wouldn't argue with the mentor for this and got back to work. "Now try again!"

WHACK!

"ITAI!"

"You moved again! What did I just say?!" He said with a bit of mock anger, this time aimed at Neji.

"Again!"

"But-!"

"Again!"

…

WHACK!

"ITAI!"

It was an early morning within the Assassin's Compound, two years later with Taka being able to somehow hide his approaching death from his students. At least that was what he thought as they all could tell that the man was dieing and while they were incredibly sad they knew that they wanted to improve and be made assassins before he passed away.

Taka was seated outside with a cup of tea in-hand, critically observing his disciples' form as they maneuvered through an obstacle course. At this point Naruto was now 15 years old, Neji was 14 years old, and Natsuki was 13 years old. Neji had been put on a team of ninja under the tutelage of a man named Maito Guy and they had been a team for one year as a genin but he was ultimately an assassin before anything.

It was now almost time for Natsuki and Naruto to become genin and be placed on a team as well and after all their years of training their skills had grown by leaps and bounds. Their knowledge was ever expanding and Naruto was a master of all aspects of an assassin with Natsuki and Neji not far behind him. Due to the importance of the wood release bloodline, Naruto was also tasked to master that with what little scrolls the Hokage had and some help from another ANBU that was trusted by him to teach him it. Taka knew that under the guidelines of the Brotherhood, they all could now be formally inducted into their ranks as real assassins and he also knew that his time was just about up and Naruto would be made the new Mentor. But, was he ready for that?

The elderly Master Assassin knew that it wasn't right to have such doubts and that he had made a wise choice for the next Mentor "Naruto, Natsuki, Neji, it is time," he finally said.

The Assassins-in-training immediately stopped their exercises with eyes widened in shock. "Sensei, a-are you saying…?" Naruto asked in surprise and a bit of horror, knowing that the old man was close to death.

"Yes, I am. You are ready to fully enter the Brotherhood." Taka responded with pride while giving Naruto some new robes, "see me at the Hokage Monument later tonight."

"H-Hai!" They all replied while Naruto saw his new robes and his eyes and so did Neji's and Natsuki's. The new robes were completely black, signalling him as the next Grandmaster of the Assassin's Brotherhood.

Some time later, Taka was found patiently waiting for his disciples beside a cackling fire that had been set up with a pair of tongs inside of it with the end a red color from the heat.

Behind him appeared the three new assassins with the only one that was different was Naruto. Instead of his spotless white robes he now wore pitch black robes and the cape he wore was black as well but everything else was the same.

"What are the core tenants of the creed?" Taka asked them calmly.

"Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent, hide in plain sight, and never compromise the Brotherhood." They spoke clearly and softly all together.

Taka looked on in complete pride at them and some sadness as he knew he would not make it to the next day. Congratulations, you passed all of the tests that I have given you and have progressed quickly. Now come here and allow me to carry out the last part of the induction."

"Where other men blindly follow the truth,

Remember, nothing is true.

Where other men are limited by morality or law,

Remember, everything is permitted.

We work in the dark to serve the light.

We are assassins."

Taka said to them seriously and saw that they all understood. "Now as a final act of commitment to the Brotherhood, present your ring finger so you may be branded as one of us."

Taking out the tongs from the fire he walked up and branded a small assassin symbol into the skin of their ring fingers.

Taka nodded approvingly. "Excellent. "Now, do you understand the position that you are in?" He asked specially to Naruto. "I'm sure you have all seen it by now but I will not make it another day, I can feel it." The new assassins lowered their heads at this. "Naruto is now the Grandmaster of the Assassin's Brotherhood and will now hold full responsibility to our creed and its regrowth. It will take many more assassins to fully defeat the Templars, or the Akatsuki as they are now called. You will need more members."

"I understand, Taka-sensei!" Naruto said while the others nodded as well. "I will induct more members and train them in our ways. I swear it." He said passionately.

"In training, you have proven yourselves eager to learn the pillars of our Creed. In this ceremony, you have shown your understanding of the meaning behind it. Welcome Naruto Uzumaki, Natsuki Uzumaki, Neji Hyuga to the Assassin Order! Welcome to the Brotherhood!" Then the elderly Master Assassin gazed into his ex-disciples' eyes "You've made me proud… very proud."

"Now complete the induction ceremony and perform your leap of faith." Taka said and watched as the three fearlessly jumped from the high monument and landed in a bay of hay.

The next day was pretty tough on the three newly branded assassins as just like Taka had said he passed away that night due to old age and sickness. They were all sad but they knew it was to be expected with the elderly. Naruto and Natsuki were now headed over to the Hokage's office to get a team as Neji already had one and was with them now.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat quietly in his office, smoking a pipe of tobacco as he studied the topmost file in a stack of classified documents. With a flourish, he signed the paper, placed the document in the outgoing tray, and looked up to see a newly minted Assassin Grandmaster and another assassin suddenly standing before him. A proud smile spread across the elderly shinobi's lips, even as he discreetly dismissed his hidden guards.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, Natsuki-chan." Sarutobi said, taking in their appearance. "I see that you have been given the title of the next Grandmaster after the passing of Taka. I'm sorry for the loss, he was a good friend of mine in the time he spent here." He said sadly as they both nodded in thanks.

The young grandmaster smiled proudly and a bit sadly under his mask and hood before bowing respectfully. "Hokage-sama. I was informed that you were to tell me something about our place in the village.

"Hai. We have some things to discuss." He said,"your integration into our shinobi forces and the privileges you gain under your title are: you have the right to refuse and/or abort any missions if, and only if, they cause a direct conflict with the Assassin Brotherhood and its principles. You will be given a rank but will not have to take orders if it goes against your creed. You will be able to increase your rank as well just like a ninja would. You are also granted indefinite leave without worry of repercussions. However, it is still highly advised that you inform me and your teacher first before any departures and not just for official reasons." He said to him getting nods in return.

"Also while you are not required to report to me, I believe that the sharing of any information regarding the Akatsuki, especially if it involves enemy agents within the village, would be beneficial to both parties. After all, I do not wish to detain and execute you for unlawful murder without evidence or forewarning to protect you. Remember, just because you are an Assassin does not exempt you from this country's laws. Lastly as you are the last person to have the wood release bloodline and the last known male of the Uzumaki clan you are able to take the CRA law as well, meaning you can take multiple wives, you don't have to but it wouldn't be against the rules for you to do so. Now, do you understand the terms that I have put forth, Naruto Uzumaki, Grandmaster of the Assassin Brotherhood?" Hiruzen said as he ended his speech with an amused tone as he could feel the anger radiating off Natsuki and the shock off of Naruto.

"I do, Hokage-sama. As an assassin, I am forbidden from affiliating myself with any one village, but I will forever fight to preserve this country and its people's peace. I will have to think about the multiple wives thing as well." He said with an awkward smile as he noticed Natsuki's anger skyrocket.

"Excellent… Then I welcome you, Naruto Uzumaki and Natsuki Uzumaki, to the shinobi forces of Konoha!" Sarutobi said with a smile. "I already have a sensei in mind for you and Natsuki but the year has not yet ended so you will be joining them until the end which is only a month or two.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." They said and got the needed information and left to their class room.

"Are you serious right now!" Natsuki yelled out as soon as they left the Hokage's office. "You are not going to have multiple wives are you, ya pervert."

"Why does it matter to you? Besides I have to recreate the Uzumaki Clan and I could spread the wood release." He said to her as he thought about reviving the clan.

"I don't want you to have more than one wife. I want to-" She yelled but stopped herself before she went to far and blushed. It was too bad that Naruto caught on to what she was saying. He had also been having feelings for Natsuki as well but never thought that she would like him back.

"Are you saying what I think your saying?" Naruto question while looking at her and seeing her look away from him. "You wanted to be with me?"

"Shu-shut up idiot." She said but suddenly hugged him tightly stopping their roof top running. "I have liked you ever since we first met. Ever since you helped me and then you brought me into the order and save me. How could I not fall for you." She said softly while burying her head into his shoulder in embarrassment.

"Wow, I never thought you would ever return my feelings for you, but I still want to revive the clan. I promise that I will treat all of you equally if you'll allow that." He said softly not seeing her eyes widen or her blush deepen at him returning her feelings. She was over joyed at that but she was still a bit miffed that he would still be taking more than one wife.

"If you swear that you will love us all equally then I guess that it won't be so bad. I want the clan to be rebuilt also you know, but I'm first. Do you understand." She said menacingly even while blushing which dulled the effects a bit but he nodded anyway. "Good. Now let's get to this class already."

They then began running on the roof tops again leaving Naruto alone to this thoughts.

"Alright class, settle down." Iruka, the chunin teacher of the class Naruto and Natsuki were about to report it said. "Now I know the course is almost over but-" He began but was cut off when two people entered the class room. One heavily armored boy that was also well armed and a less armored girl next to him, both with hoods on while the male had a red face mask so you couldn't see any of his face under the hood.

"Are you Iruka?" The boy asked while ignoring the girls who blushed brightly at seeing an even more mysterious boy than Sasuke.

"Yes." Iruka responded, "what can I do for you?"

Naruto went up and gave him the slip of paper he was handed by the Hokage and waited for the man to read it. The class just watched the boy who the girls all seemed immediately enamored with while the boy's scoffed at him and decided to watch Iruka.

Iruka however was stunned at what he was reading. Two new students would be joining his class this late by the Hokage's law. 'I wonder who they are to get such a privilege.' He thought while nodding his head. "Alright class, these are going to be your new students for the rest of the year."

The kids in the class were stunned at these people coming into the class so late. Just as they were about to yell out the boy stepped forward. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki." he said and sighed a bit as the girls all had hearts in their eyes but he did focus on a pink haired girl who seemed curious and hesitant. He thought she was very beautiful but Natsuki saw this and elbowed him in the side in anger as even if she said she was alright with it she didn't know if she was completely ready yet.

"And I'm Natsuki Uzumaki." She said and the guys didn't really pay too much attention to her as they were still stunned that they could skip the entire academy and still get in for the ending tests.

"What?! How come these two can just waltz in here like they own the place and just skip everything we had to do." A kid with a dog on his head whined to the teacher.

"It was the Hokage's orders, Kiba." Iruka said, "you two can sit wherever you want."

Just when it looked like Kiba would complain again a voice interrupted him. "Quiet Kiba-baka. If the Hokage said so you have to listen." The pink haired girl said as she eyed the boy. She was always trying to get Sasuke but he never returned her feelings anyways and now she was curious about this Naruto Uzumaki. "I'm Sakura Haruno, it's nice to meet you." She said to him as he came up the rows.

"Nice to meet you Sakura. May we sit next to you?" He asked as he could tell she was really smart and he thought that they may need to catch up in the class.

"She blushed a light pink and nodded a bit meekly while he chuckled at her cute look for a second. Natsuki decided not to completely explode until she knew the girl so they also exchanged greetings and she found she was not so bad.

The class went on for a while and Naruto had gotten more curious about the pink haired girl Sakura. She was very nice and was also very cute looking. She also gave them all the names of the kids in the class and described the jutsus that were required to pass the class with as they haven't really studied them too much. He could tell that Natsuki was eying him the whole time and must have thought that he had a crush on the girl as she glared at him a bit but she seemed to move on later in the class and made a decent friendship with the girl.

He could tell the girl wasn't very good at the physical things but that interested him a bit as he could tell she was becoming more serious since they started to talk. Maybe he could bring her into the Brotherhood. After all, her not knowing anything about fighting would allow him to start from scratch and not have to shake any bad habits of her style.

For Sakura she was having a tough time focusing on the lesson completely as she was having weird feelings for the hooded boy next to her. She could see his beautiful blue eyes but only glimpses of them and she was extremely curious about what his face looked like too. What she did know was that his voice was like honey to her and it made her feel all warm inside when he talked to her. Not to mention the fact that he complimented her quiet often, something that really didn't happen to her much as she was made fun of as a kid.

These next few months would proved to be very interesting for her as she just couldn't get enough of the boy next to her. She just had to watch the girl who was dressed similarly to him just with white and not black. She didn't want to be out done after all and if that meant training physically from now on then that is what she would do.

Chapter End

Alright, I know that I pretty much completely changed Sakura but I still feel that I made some good points in there somewhere. So I think she will join the pairing and the Brotherhood also, probably the healer.

And if anyone could draw out what Naruto looks like for me that would be amazing. The description is the same as the last chapter except the robe is now black.