Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Ok, so I couldn't wait to put out a new fic but I have decided to put one out there because I have had this one in my head for just as long as the first. I don't own Naruto or any of the characters only what I make and my OC. So allow me to get on with the show…..err…. I mean story…yeah story… and off we GO!

The Blind Wolf

"Normal Speech"

_ "Thinking"_

** "Demonic/Angry/Omnipotent"**

Chapter 1: The Betrayal and The Decision

"SASUKE!" screams an enraged blonde child no older than thirteen.

"NARUTO!" shouts an equally angered obsidian haired youth of the same age.

And then an explosion rips through the air that would put a hundred exploding notes to shame.

**BOOOOOM!**

* * *

We now find a torn, beaten, bloodied, and nearly dead body of the hero of our story slowly drifting down stream luckily face up. _"Why?"_ questions the blonde. _"Why is it no matter how hard I train I can never seem to beat him without the foxes chakra? Is it because I am too weak, is it because haven't trained enough, or is it because I just couldn't stop holding back?"_ Yes, yes, he was holding back even with the fox fighting for control he would not yield. But the "reward" he had received was nothing but a fist covered in lightning chakra slamming into his chest. He was lucky, another inch and he would have pierced his heart, another centimeter and he would have been paralyzed from the chest down.

But that is were the "miracle" in this tale happens. You see due to the close exposure of lightning to his spinal column it was, in a way, able to "rewrite" certain aspects of our temporarily blonde friend. The first noticeable change is the rapidly change in his hair color now instead of a sun kissed blonde it is starting to grow paler and paler till it looks like drifting snow. The next is that his eyes have gone paler as well but stopping at a brilliant sky blue. Lastly his hearing and smelling have been enhanced to the point that it would seem he could hear as far as the Byakugan can see and smell ten times as far as any Inuzuka.

On the banks of the stream we see a shadowed figure cast a life preserver towards the white haired child and managing to get it around his torso, with that done he starts to pull him in.

* * *

_"Huh where the heck am I?"_ wonders Naruto. _"I thought I was dead that time for sure. So what happened?"_ thinks the confounded kid. "Ah, I see your awake." Says a voice he doesn't recognize. It was at that point his sense came back to him, which resulted in him feeling like a mountain was dropped on him. He tried getting up but was gently pushed down by the stranger while saying "Easy there you just healed from that wound that was in you chest."

"Alright, alright, just tell me who you are mister…" he says trailing off the end for the mystery man to introduce himself.

"Ah, how rude of me, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Shisai" reveals the now named Shisai.

"Alright Shisai, thanks for helping me out there, now if you could just point me in the nearest direction of Konoha I'll be on my way." he says but then he noticed something off, he still couldn't see the man despite turning in his direction.

In fact he couldn't even see anything _"What the hell is going on!? Why can't I see anything!?"_ thinks a panicking Naruto.

As if he had heard his very thought Shisai begins by saying "Hmm, don't worry young one, you seem to have lost your sight, but don't worry you seem to be able to detect were I was without it, hmm, very interesting indeed." states the calm Shisai. But Naruto couldn't help but panic as he heard that he lost his sight. "WHAT!?" exclaims the hyper child. "What do you mean I lost my sight!?" he shouts at a lower level.

"What I mean baka, is that you lost your sight plain and simple, although you seem to have gained some benefits with from the loss as well." says Shisai as he ponders what they could be.

"Tell me, what do you hear young one, at this moment in time?" he wonders.

"Huh?" was Narutos smart reply.

_ "*Sigh* I get the feeling this child will be the death of me."_ thinks Shisai. "Just try and listen as much as you can, okay?" he says getting a slow nod from the boy.

With that Naruto focuses on only hearing and blocked out all other senses. Suddenly he starts to hear the wind moving first then the leaves fluttering and so on and so forth until he hears a sound that is familiar but he can't quite place it.

_Th-thump, th-thump_

He keeps listening to the strange yet familiar drum like beat.

_ Th-thump, th-thump_

And just like that realization slowly creeps up on him.

_Th-thump, th-thump_

"I-I heard your heart beat!" exclaims a surprised Naruto. And clearly as surprised the man himself only lets out an interested "hmm".

"Alright then, what can you smell?" he asks getting another confused look.

"*Sigh* Baka, just use your nose like you did with your ears." Clarified Shisai.

"Oh~!" says a sheepish Naruto.

And like before he blocked everything out until only his sense of smell. This time though he started to smell different things such as an elk fifty feet behind him and little to the left. "Huh? How did I know that?" asked a once again confused blonde.

"How did you know what?"

"Like, how did I know there was an elk fifty feet behind me and a little to the left?" And for what is starting to become common to Naruto he made another "hmm" sound as he thought this over.

"Well it not only seems that your hearing and smelling is enhanced but your sense of location and direction too." answers Shisai.

"You know, you never introduced yourself yet young one, and I don't think you would prefer if I keep calling you that now will you?" questioningly states the man.

"Huh? Oh yeah I guess I kind of forgot about that didn't I? Well my name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki!" exclaims the blonde.

"Haha! I'm sure with that enthusiasm you would be a great ninja would you not?" asks Shisai. But in reply all he got was some mumbling from the white haired youth.

"Huh? What was that Naruto?"

"I said it's not like anyone cares if I'm a ninja or not, people will still rather ignore me than notice me." says a somber Naruto earning another "hmm" from the man in front of him.

"Well Naruto, how about I give you a proposition, eh?" questions Shisai.

"What are you talking about old man?" questions Naruto.

"What I am talking about is if you would like to be my student." states the man to a very surprised Naruto.

"N-nani?"

"Did I stutter? Last I checked I didn't do that."

"But why me?" asks Naruto who gets a sympathetic look I response.

"Why? The more important question would be why not? So far you have displayed skills that would take more than a couple decades to acquire. Not to mention your enthusiasm and energy, it's practically limitless." says Shisai who calmly lists off all of Narutos traits and skills shown. "Also you and your tenant would be harder for this Akatsuki to find if your you were to come training with me." he says further shocking Naruto, but not by the fact he knows of the kyuubi, but the fact that he is being hunted by some sort of organization.

"NANI!? What do you mean I'm being hunted!?" questioningly exclaims the jinchuriki.

"*Sigh* You should really learn to curb that energy of yours before it get's yourself killed one day. Anyways, what I mean is exactly that, you are being hunted for the very thing that is sealed in you." came the calm reply. "Regardless, do you accept my offer or no? And don't worry if you say no I'll simply return you to your village."

After he says this Naruto thought over the deal that was presented to him. "_If I accept I could learn what this man has to offer. But then again there is the possibility he doesn't know much. AAAAHH! Why is this so hard? I mean I got people back at ho-I mean Konoha, right? I mean does anyone actually care for me back there, yeah, but how much?"_ Then as if like a boulder he realized something. Where were his teammates? Shouldn't they have found him by now? Then like before he remembers something before he drifted down the river, something that would easily help him in deciding whether to go or stay in Konoha.

**_Flashback no Jutsu!_**

A broken Naruto is just staring to drift down the river when he sees his sensei coming to "help".

"You know, looking at you now only brings me one regret." says his sensei, Kakashi Hatake.

_"Nani? What is he doing? Shouldn't he be trying to bring me back to Konoha?"_ thinks the blonde.

"And that one regret is that I didn't get to do this myself." Kakashi replies in his usual lazy drawl.

At that Narutos eyes would have shot wide open if he didn't feel so tired.

"Now you will be just a corpse in this river." continues the lazy shinobi.

As he turns to walk away he almost thought he saw the body move with a slight twitch but put it off as a trick of the light. But in the world of ninjas you should never just assume things are a trick of the light, for it could be your biggest, if not most fatal, mistake.

_**Flashback no Jutsu-Kai!**_

With that Naruto slowly gets into a kneeling position and with all the formal training he has, which is surprisingly a lot, bows and gives his answer to Shisai.

"I, Naruto Uzumaki, would like to humbly accept your offer of being your student." he says earning a visible display of shock, not that Naruto could tell at this moment of time, at the how calm this b-no man has just become in a matter of seconds.

But after getting over his shock smiles before saying. "Well Naruto, I, Shisai, The Wolf Monk, Wielder of the legendary blade Urufufangu, declare you as my student." responds the revealed swordsman.

"N-Nani? Your the Wolf Monk!? But I remember reading somewhere you died in the third great shinobi world war!" Yes, surprisingly, Naruto reads! But as the blind teenager hears a soft chuckle he quickly grew confused. Why was this supposedly dead man, laughing?

"Yes, I suppose I am dead to the world of ninjas but I am not dead to the world itself as nature seems to accept my existence. But no, in reality I am not dead, merely just not involved in the current affairs of society." answers the swordsman.

After getting over the feeling that this might be a ghost he begins to understand that with this person he would surely become one of the most powerful shinobi in existence, if not _THE _most powerful. And so with that a grin that seems to be made of a hundred suns spread across his face showing the world that despite all that he has been through that his will and soul cannot nor will not be destroyed. Soon they had departed the forests of Konoha to begin a journey that would eventual not just shake the world, but the very heavens themselves.

…And scene!

Authors Notes: Well here is my second story "The Blind Wolf". Now as for the reason of why I had Kakashi act that way. One it is mainly there so that way there will be conflict between Naruto and him in the future and no there won't be any heavy bashing on his character before the conflict to no bashing after. And two I wanted to know if I would be any good at bashing, but please note it will not be a regular thing, so please give me your opinion. Lastly I would like it if you would please leave a review if you can because I would like to read your opinion and suggestions as to how to improve this story. Until next chapter, Bye!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello and welcome to the second induction of The Blind Wolf! Now while this may have been a quick update I am going to do this for every new story, Which incase you haven't guessed it is to not only have one chapter out, but TWO! So now, incase I've forgotten something, LETS BEGIN!

The Blind Wolf

Chapter 2: The Angel and The Wolf

It has been approximately four years after Naruto started his training with Shisai, four years after the betrayal of his sensei, four years after he decided to leave the leaf, and only one year after his masters death. Yes, while on their journey Shisai had contracted a disease the likes of which Tsunade would have trouble curing on time. But during the time he contracted the illness to the day he died he had helped Naruto become someone that would never doubt themselves and always find happiness in the simple things in life, and when the time came for him to pass on he had given Naruto a couple of parting gifts.

_**Flashback no Jutsu!**_

" Naruto." Shisai weakly yet calmly calls his student.

"Yeah old man?" responds a torn Naruto.

"Come now….don't be so down boy, this….has been a long time coming" says Shisai trying to sooth the boys mind.

"But how can I calm down when you're going to die any moment!" replies snow haired teen.

"Because I….taught you better than that….that's why." answers Shisai as calmly as ever.

"I know old man it's just that you shouldn't have go like this!" says a slightly angry Naruto, but not at the swordsman, but at the unfairness of the situation.

"*Cough* You know as well as I do….that either way I would have died….before we got anywhere near a hospital, but don't worry my boy you'll move on eventually" As Naruto was about to say something, but he perceives Shisais hand moving in a motion to stop him through his hearing of air displacement despite how impossible it seems. At this the old swordsman smiles knowing that the boy in front of him would be impossible to sneak upon. "As I was saying….you'll move on but that doesn't mean I want you to forget, now I would like to….give you something boy."

"But old man, I ca-" says Naruto before being interrupted by said old man.

"Now don't get all….chivalrous on me now boy….just accept the gifts and don't complain *cough, cough* either, you got that?" he says earning a nod in understanding. "Good, now….the first gift is this summoning scroll….it will allow you the ability to summon the wolf clan….should you pass" he says handing the scroll to receiver. "Second, I'm giving you my scroll that contains my wealth that I collected over the years" he says handing over another, smaller, scroll with the kanji for money on it. "And lastly….I, Shisai, The Wolf Monk….wielder of Urufufangu….and proud teacher of you, Naruto Uzumaki….declare you the new wielder….of the legendary blade Urufufangu as well as the new wolf of the Elemental Nations….The Blind Wolf." says Shisai as he slowly hands Naruto said blade, whose eyes widened at what was being presented to him.

"But Shisai, I ca-" again he was silenced when he noticed the hand.

"Calm yourself Naruto….You more than even me when I was in my prime….deserve the right to carry on the legacy of the wolf…. Not to mention you have far surpassed me in general in the ways of….in the ways of the sword. So please, mago, just accept." he says getting another wide eyed look from the boy he viewed as a grandson for being labeled as such.

"I-I accept, sofu." Naruto says while returning the affectionate title with his own making the old man smile widely before a string of coughing came from him.

"S-sofu!" nearly shouts a worried Naruto.

"Don't….worry mago….it's simply….my time….running out….so please….don't mourn….my passing….for it's just….that, my passing….on to a….new life." and with those final words he lets go.

_**Flashback no Jutsu-Kai!**_

After a couple seconds of processing the fact Shisai died, Naruto got up and went outside to make a grave for the second person he called a grandfather. Before he left he set up a small shrine at the foot of the grave with a flat stone having the likeness of a wolf in monk like clothes.

Ever since that day Naruto has gone around the Elemental Nations doing what he thought best, which was the usual freeing prisoners of bandit camps, killing said bandits and freeing small or large villages of tyrants even occasionally risking going into Hi no Kuni. As he traveled doing the things previously stated he had let the nations know of his title as the Blind Wolf.

As of right now, he is simply setting up his camp in the woods while listening to his surroundings within the immediate half mile or so while the rest of his focus was on starting the fire.

* * *

Meanwhile we find a shadowed figure moving through the trees while being followed by three others.

If one were to look closer you see the first figure appeared to be more feminine but their figure was mostly covered by a black trench coat covered in red clouds. This was the Akatsukis only female member, Konan. As she was moving through the forest at high speeds only one thought was going through her head at this moment. _"Damn it! I let my guard down for half a second and they place this chakra siphon &amp; suppression seal on me and now I can't use my chakra! How the hell did I get in this situation to begin with!?" _thought an exhausted bluenette. But while she was busy thinking she had misplaced her foot on the next tree sending her tumbling to the ground. She would have gone splat if it wasn't a pair of strong arms ensuring she survived the fall.

As he gently sets her down on her feet she gets a good look at her apparent savior. He was tall that was for sure with his height nearing an even six foot. She also noticed the dark blue samurai like armor but noticed it seemed to more mobile than one, then came the acknowledgement of the blindfold over his eyes preventing her from seeing the sky that laid underneath. Next came the hair, it was long, just a little bit past his shoulders, and snow white. Then she finally noticed the sword which looked to be as long as he was tall; Its sheath was black with silver linings and caps, the tsuba, or guard, which had the appearance of two wolves encircling each other with a diamond for each eye looking outward, then the handle had a black leather cover with a white wooden interior and also ended with a silver cap with a small silver chain at the end. As she was examining her savior she failed to notice he was asking if she was ok.

"Huh? Oh, yes I am fine." she says getting back into her stoic self.

"Good, good. Now would you mine answering why it seem you fell from the sky?" he asks only to receive an answers from the other three people he heard land on a upper branch behind him.

"Oh it was just a simple misstep mister, after all she has been running quite a bit, must have wore herself out." says the one in the middle that is apparently the leader.

"Now if you would be willing to hand her over we will be on our way." continues the leader thinking he could just simply walk away like nothing happened. But as he said this Konans heartbeat went up a little, which unintentionally told the stranger that this man was lying, not that he didn't already know but merely affirming his suspicion.

"I'm afraid that I can't let you do that." calmly states the stranger surprising Konan and making the leader grow a confused look.

"And why can't you do it?" asks the leader.

"It's the simple fact that she was running from you, and not with you, also there is the fact that I was able to here you four for quite a bit of time now, allowing me to hear you not so discreet way of saying what you were going to do when you caught her." he replies to the leaders growing anger.

"Well then if your not going to give us the woman we'll have to take her by force!" with that said all three of the pursuers launched themselves at the stranger. As they were moving closer Konan grew a worried for the man that was willing to help her. At the same time the stranger didn't move, soon they were twenty feet from him and getting closer, he still didn't move, ten feet, not even a twitch to show he was going to get out of the way, five feet, not a single step to dodge the incoming attack, two feet, and the he struck, at a speed that even a fully matured sharingan would barely notice, he unsheathed his sword and in a quarter of a second was back in place. All three pursuers slowed down walking right past him then merely standing still until a stray breeze came and pushed the upper halves of their bodies away from the lower haves, no screams came from them, no gurgle came from their mouths as they choked on blood, but most strange of all is that no blood came from the wound. If one were to take a closer look you would notice that wound was cauterized to prevent aforementioned blood from escaping. Again Konan was so entranced by the sight before her she didn't notice the apparent swordsman asking if she was okay again. Quickly putting on her stoic façade she replies with a simple yes.

"Well then, If your okay, why do you seem out of breath?" questions man in front of her causing her to gain a quick look of surprise. "Oh don't be surprised." he calmly starts. "I am able to tell practically anything that is happening within two miles of this place from the situation that just occurred down to a simple lady bug crawling on your arm." At that she quickly looks to see that he was right and that lady bug was on her arm. After she shook the harmless bug off she began to wonder who this man was until his appearance finally registers in her mind.

"You're the Blind Wolf aren't you?" asks Konan.

"Yep, sure am. Now if you don't mind me asking what is your name?" he answers and asks in the same sentence.

"My name is Konan" she answers getting a slow nod from the man.

"Now if you don't mind me asking what is your name?" questions the bluenette. "I mean all I know is that you go the moniker of The Blind Wolf." she reasoned.

"Hm, you know it's been a long time since I told anyone my name, but then again no one really asked." ponders the stranger. "But anyway my name is Naruto Uzumaki." he replies with a smile that seemed to make Konan want to collapse due to weak knees. But as she heard the name her eyes widened beyond belief. _"This is the kyuubi container! But I thought he was dead!? How could he be alive after all this time!?" _and as the questions keep rolling through her head she come to one, admittedly not immediate, conclusion. _"Nagato has got to know about this." _But as she was about to thank him and leave she remembered she had her chakra siphoned a suppressed.

Noticing her growing worry he decides to allay her fears. "Don't worry I am sure you be able to get home safely." he says calmly getting a sigh of frustration from woman.

"It's not that, it's that I have this irritating chakra suppression seal on me that I can't seem to take off." states a slightly miffed Konan finally showing some emotion, even if it was annoyance at the seal. At hearing that her chakra was sealed off, he grew a curious look. While he was training with Shisai he didn't just learn swordsmanship but also learned how to deactivate a seal, since he couldn't see and thus couldn't tell if he was doing the right thing on paper he decided to learn how to feel for the chakra in one and learn how to deactivate them.

"Would you mind showing me were this seal is I may be able to remove it for you." calmly states the swordsman. At that Konan grew cautious as to either let seal be or let the akatsukis target help. Finally she relented and allowed him to see the seal. But as he looked at her she raised an eye brow in question.

"Why are just standing there aren't you going to remove the seal?" she asks only to get a reply that made her feel a little sheepish.

"I would remove the seal, but as you can see for yourself I am going to need you to guide me to the seal since I can only perceive three dimensional objects but not what may be written on them." he answers in a calm and collected voice.

With a small embarrassed blush she gently guides his had to the seal which unfortunately landed just above her chest. Once finally registering were the seal was her blush intensified while also thanking Kami that he couldn't see. Alas, while he couldn't see her blush he could sense her discomfort.

"Don't worry if my hand strays from the seal I give you full permission to punch me into next week, Okay?" he says getting her blush increase to the point Hinata would feel jealous. But when his hand touched the seal she was suddenly over come with the weird sensation of being embraced by a form of protection the likes she only felt when she was with Yahiko all those years ago. To her it seemed to last an eternity that was to short as when he pulled his hand back only a couple of minutes had gone by.

"There all done you should feel your chakra returning to you slowly, but don't worry it'll come back you in full at about a weeks time. Now sense you are still tired after your escape why don't you go to sleep in the tent over there, okay?" he says getting a nod in response before she thinks that he didn't notice. But as she opened her mouth to let him know he put his hand up as if expecting her to says something.

"Don't, did you forget that I could perceive three dimensional motion?" he says as a rhetorical question.

At that the blush reappeared making Naruto smile at noticing how he was able to get a response. Again she felt like collapsing after seeing that smile, but why was she feeling this way? Why was she experiencing this feeling? But for now those questions would have to wait as her eyes started to feel heavy. With that she went to the tent not even noticing it was the only one there and promptly feel asleep.

…And Scene!

Authors Notes: Hello readers! Thank you for reading my second chapter of "The Blind Wolf" now if you don't mind I would like say that after this I will sadly have to put my writing on hold for about a week and a half to ensure that my poll for "Master of the Gates" will be dealt with. But as of right now NO ONE is voting! So I kindly ask of you if you read my first fic and want to help with what pairing I should go with please vote! And for those who haven't I would like it if you read the fic first before any voting is done, please and thank you. Until next time, Bye!

(3/6/14) Okay, So after viewing the reviews so far, I understand that the original chapter two wasn't up to your expectations but hey that is what I'm here for, to make the chapters I messed up better with your help, the readers. By leaving a review you'll help make this story better then what it could be with me just going on and writing it myself. So thank you for making this a better story.


	3. Chapter 3

Alright I am just going to skip the meaningless banter for the end of each chapter from now on. So with that out of the way, you know the drill!

The Blind Wolf

Chapter 3: The Leaf and The Wait

"ABOLUTELY NOT!" came the enraged shout in the middle of a village that is known to the world as Konoha-gakure.

The source of the shout was none other than the current Godaime Hokage, Tsunade Senju, and one of the legendary sannin. As for the reason of her outburst, they were currently cowering in sheer fright of the possible chance she would kill them, the civilian council. Which knowing their leader, was a easily possible, after all she could, and would, lift this building and smash it on all of their heads if she wanted to.

"B-but Tsunade-sama" begins one of the councilman but after a quick glare from her was all it took for him to make the wisest decision today, shutting up. After getting herself under control she decided to "properly" address the situation. 

"So _esteemed_ council members, why would you want me to send out an ANBU squad to retrieve someone, that as of right now, is only rumor and speculation for the umpteenth time this month let alone this year." she said giving the council members the right to respond while idly noting the absence of a certain old fossil of an elder named Danzo.

"B-because, Tsunade-sama, we have reliable sources stating they have seen this 'Blind Wolf' in the forests of Hi no Kuni." began one member only to receive an 'Oh really' look from their leader.

"Also if this rumors are to be believed then this man can be a great asset to the village, as well as giving us our own line of swordsmen should we be able to get him to join our forces. You know as well as we do that the wielder of _that _sword is nobody to laugh at, not to mention the sword itself is quite powerful in its own right." stated another member getting a tired sigh from the Hokage.

"And yet, There isn't any real proof that this person exists at all, and what makes you think he would want to join any village, let alone ours, anyway. The "wolf" of the Elemental Nations has been known to have no known affiliation to any village or person, and I think he intends it to stay that way. And don't even think of try thinking of sending my troops behind my back just to end up empty handed, this meeting is over. Dismissed." states the last Senju.

After the last of the civilian council had left she had decided to call for the Shinobi/Kunoichi council to discuss the up and goings of the recent affairs dealing with her ninjas.

As Tsunade was in her meeting we find eleven individuals in an old stand eating ramen and if one were to look at the sign you would be able to make out the word "Ichiraku" as the apparent restaurants name.

"So did you guys hear anything about this blind wolf guy?" asks one of the individuals, whom had two red fang like markings on each cheek and wearing a fur jacket, while having a feral look to him, this persons name is Kiba Inuzuka

"Huh? What are you talking about Kiba?" questions the person sitting next to him.

"What I mean, Ino, is that there is apparently this person going around in the nations calling himself the "Blind Wolf"" responds Kiba. Ino Yamanaka is a fairly attractive girl with platinum blonde hair and baby blue pupiless eyes, and wearing a purple top and purple battle skirt with fishnet underneath.

"Oh yeah! I heard about him before, something about how he is some kind of tough guy that goes out of his way to do what he thinks is right." says Ino in remembrance of the rumor.

"So what's so special about this guy? Its not like he really exists, right?" asks one of the other people in the stand. This person had a rotund yet muscular build long spiky brown hair and swirl marks on his cheeks like the fangs on Kibas face. His name is Choji Akamichi.

"You obviously haven't heard of him then Choji, Otherwise you wouldn't ask what makes him special." replies Ino. "And for your information, what makes him so special is that as stated he is blind." she says but before anyone could make a remark she continued. "And because of that I heard his sense have been enhanced beyond measure. Some people say he can hear just as far as the Byakugan can see." recites Ino from one of her "sources" of gossip, earning a scoff from one of said Byakugan users.

This person had long brown hair like Choji with the exception of it being flat and straight.

He had pupiless white eyes and if one were to look under the headband you would see and strange seal placed on his forehead. This is Neji Hyuuga, the prodigy of both main and branch houses of the Hyuuga clan.

"You got something to say Neji?" says the gossip queen of Konoha getting nothing in response.

"Well I also heard that this person is a better tracker than an Inuzuka." casually states Ayame who had come to give Choji his tenth serving, which causes Kiba to snap his head in her direction in disbelief. She is the daughter of the stands owner with fair brown hair and solid black eyes.

"Nani? What are you talking about Ayame? No one can track better than an Inuzuka!" arrogantly boasts the feral boy.

"Well it's just what I heard from the traveling merchants that come into town every now and then." replies the waitress.

"I heard that he was in the forest of Hi no Kuni recently from a merchant that also says he saw him." says a monotonic voice coming from a person with short spiky brown hair round sunglasses and a high collar trench coat. This is Shino Aburame, one of Kiba's teammates.

Now this caught everyone's attention. It's not everyday you hear that the subject of their conversation was relatively nearby. But the one person interest this caught the most was a pale teenage boy with plain short black hair wearing a grey shirt that exposed his midriff and standard grey shinobi pants. This was Sai, an underground agent apart of a thought to be disbanded organization, ROOT. With the information of a highly skilled person being in their borders he would set out to tell his leader, Danzo Shimura. But before he could do anything he would have to ditch his teammate, Sakura Haruno.

Sakura was of average height with unnatural pink hair and jade green eyes. She wore a red sleeveless shirt with a circle in the middle and dark green skin tight shorts. Another fact about her is she was the apprentice of one the legendary Sannin, Tsunade Senju herself.

But as they were about to ask Shino how he knew they heard a shout, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!".

"I guess the Hokage didn't agree with someone." bluntly stated Kiba.

"No duh, what gave it away?" sarcastically states a teenage girl, whom had her hair in two buns, a white Chinese style combat dress with red trimmings and brown shinobi pants and sandals. Her name is Tenten, no known last name. She was one of Neji's old teammates when they where gennin.

"Tenten! There is no need to be so un-youthful towards Kiba-san!" shouts the person sitting right next to her. He was a tad taller than the average person, having a bowl cut hair style, and wearing a jonin vest overtop a green full body spandex and standard shinobi sandals. This is none other than Konoha's second Green Beast and apprentice of Maito Gai, Konoha's first Green Beast. He was Tenten's _other_ teammate during her gennin days.

"Lee! Inside voice!" was the reply he got from Ino.

"*Sigh* Troublesome." Sighing at their antics was a tall teenage boy, having his hair put into the imitation of a pineapple, eyes that caught every detail, despite their lazy appearance, wearing a standard jonin flak jacket with fishnet underneath

"What was that you lazy ass!" shouted Ino, and it continued on with one person shouting at the other.

And yet during all this only one decided not to talk/shout instead of eating. She was of average height, had indigo colored hair and pail lavender eyes, wearing a heavy coat that did little to hide her developed figure. Currently the only thing that was going through her was of someone that she had admired from afar but had never been confident enough to express her feelings. _"Naruto-kun…" _this was the most likely thing she would be thinking about whenever she had ramen at the Ichiraku's, mainly due to the fact it was the subject of her thoughts favorite food.

When she had heard that Naruto had "died" at the valley of the end she refused to believe it and waited for him to return. Nearly two hours later and no sign of the unpredictable blonde, it was at that point her sensei, Kurenai Yuuhi, had come to find her student. Of course when she heard the news she knew Hinata would be devastated, and so she went to find her only to end up at the gate that the rescue squad returned from. As she tried to convince her to come back into the village walls she noticed the tears that were forming in her student's eyes. At that she got down so she could give her a supporting hug, which led to Hinata letting out heart breaking sobs and cries of how it wasn't fair.

Eventually she did go home but ignored everyone on her way to her room, even ignoring her little sister and father, making even them worried for her. The next day she was found training outside with a fierceness and determination that shocked everyone in the Hyuuga household. When she was told to fight her sister like every other day by her father, which ended up with her being labeled as a worthless shinobi, something changed. When Hanabi went in to attack thinking it would be an easy win as always, she was instantly launched back from a powerful strike to her midsection. As she regained her thoughts she was soon being hit with precise, pinpoint, strikes that led to the common feeling of her tenketsu being closed off temporarily. Her mind was a whirl of confusion, with one question rising above the rest of her thoughts, who was this? Clearly this wasn't her older sister, she didn't have the _heart_ to hurt her _family_. When she turned on her Byakugan trying to see through the gen-jutsu she was met with further confusion as there wasn't any illusion. But if this wasn't an illusion, then what? Her thoughts were cut short however when her head was forcefully slammed into the ground, knocking her unconscious.

After the fight was over she turned to look at her _gaping _fathers mouth. Yes, the Hyuuga Clan Head, was gawking at the display shown by what he thought to be a failure. When he went to actually _praise_ his oldest daughter, he found that she was no were to be found at all in the compound.

It was then that Hinata the shy, stuttering mess, had shown capable she really was. She had trained nonstop for the four years that had passed, eventually becoming tied in skill with her cousin Neji, surprising even him at the skill displayed when she had challenged him to a fight. Let's just say they both ended up having to stay in the hospital for a good week or two after that.

Her reminiscing was cut short though when she noticed someone waving a hand in front of her face. She blinked and asked with the ever so smart, "Huh?"

"Gee Hinata, you zoned out there for a good ten minutes." worriedly stated Choji.

"O-oh, Sorry, I was just thinking about something. That was all." she quietly answers, after making sure not to stutter. While she may have gotten stronger in battle and in showing the _Hyuuga_ image, she would revert a little to her old self when she was alone with her friends.

"Really? What were you thinking about?" asked the nosiest of her friends.

"Ino!" came the curt shout of her name from Sakura.

"Hehe…sorry?" she said as if it were a question, only to receive a glare in response.

"It's alright Sakura-san, I was just thinking about Naruto-kun." hurriedly spoke Hinata trying to defuse the situation, but only got silence in response. At that she realized her mistake, but was to late to do anything. She looked around to see everyone with downtrodden looks and sour expressions. Despite what they showed each of them were impacted greatly by the news of Naruto's "death". They at first didn't believe it like Hinata did at first, but it only took them a few more minutes to realize that it was true. To them Naruto was the one person you wouldn't expect to get killed in the mission after he showed him how strong he became after training under Jiraiya, another member of the Sannin.

As they eventually got over the sudden mention of their "dead" friend they continued to eat in silence, completely forgetting about the precious subject of the "wolf".

Meanwhile in a forest miles away from Konoha, Konan woke up to the smell of cooked venison. As she crawled out of the tent without making a sound, putting her senses on full alert, she slowly looked around the area trying to discern where she was. It was then that she remembered what had occurred the previous night, flashes of a man placing a seal tag on her, some one catching her, three bodies cut in half, and the man that had saved her from ending up…she didn't even finish the thought of what would happen.

Soon the aroma of finely cook meat drew her to the center of the camp where she found her savior/host cooking with his back facing her.

"Good morning Konan-san." he calmly states, making her almost jump imperceptibly. How did he know she was there despite not making any sound? Then she remembered that his hearing is so acute that he can her the displacement of air from someone moving, be it running to simple walking.

"Good morning Uzumaki-san" she greets with her usual monotonous tone while sitting don on the other side of the fire.

"Please just Naruto is fine. I never was one for formality." he says while checking on the meat only slightly acknowledging the fact that his "guest" was eyeing him.

"I take it you slept well, hmm?" he asks while gesturing his head in her direction, only to get a nod of agreement.

"Yes I did." was the short reply to his question.

"Well we will be leaving soon for the next village, after you had your breakfast that is." he says making her raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"We?"

"Yes, we. Unless you think you can handle yourself with the amount of chakra you have, then by all means, go ahead. I on the other hand will be moving on." he says as got up to pack his stuff, leaving Konan to eat her breakfast.

"_He is right. Unless I want to risk my life with the pitiful amount of chakra I have right now then I would be stupid not to travel with him for the moment. At least I will be able to learn more of his skills and why he is still alive." _This is what's going through her head after she saw him pack up the single tent, and realizing that he must've slept without a tent after letting her sleep in the only one he had. _"He only has one tent? Then where did he sleep last night?"_ After doing a scan of the surrounding areas she found nothing as to indicate that he slept at all, if any. This would just have to be left alone since it wasn't all that important.

After having eaten her breakfast and seeing Naruto just about to leave she decided that she couldn't risk leaving in her current condition. At least he wasn't as eccentric as the other members of Akatsuki, she really needed a break from dealing with that madness anyway.

It was when she had stayed with him that gave Naruto her answer as to either leave or stay with him. They walked their way to the main road and when she thought that he was about to head to the Leaf she was ready to bolt, she did not want to go anywhere near there because unlike the other members of the Akatsuki she knows that they aren't pushovers. The only person that could and would attack Konoha and _win_ would be Akatsuki's leader Nagato, or Pein as he likes to call himself.

But when he turned the other direction she breathed a silent sigh of relief that somehow either escaped his hearing, not likely, or he just didn't bother to comment on it. Either way they were _not_ heading to Konoha, thank Kami.

It was when they were walking on the road that she further examined the sword that was being held on the left side of his waist. She noticed that along the scabbard that upon its length was kanji, some of the kanji that was present were the ones that meant honor, fearless, ferocity, unyielding, and one that really caught her attention was the one that stood for sleepless. Why would he carve the kanji for sleepless onto the scabbard? Again this was something that she would push aside as unimportant.

She was evidently to focused on the scabbard that she didn't even register they were in a small village that sold just the necessities to live. And yet they seemed just fine, as if they didn't care for the expensive luxuries that others of high status had. It was as if that as long as they had lived to see the next day then there was always a reason to be happy.

As her temporary traveling partner went into a store she took the time to inspect the sign. That sign read "Honorable Swordsman" and after pondering why he would be entering this particular store she walked through the entrance. And when she did she was impressed with the wide variety of weapons and armor pieces. Getting herself back on track she spotted Naruto talking to whom she presumed to be the owner.

He was tall, she would give him that, just not as tall as Naruto, he had a scar that started at his right temple and curved around his right eye and ended along his jaw line. He had short brown hair, almost appearing bald, a sharp nose, angular jaw structure, thin lips, and lastly small narrowed round eyes, giving off the appearance that he was constantly squinting. She also noticed that while he may have been muscular he gave off the feeling of a brawler rather than a shinobi or samurai. When she was walking towards them she was able to hear what they were saying.

"So can you tell me if you have one or not?" asked the white haired swordsman.

"Yeah, just let me check in the back real quick and I'll get right back." was the answer before he disappeared into the back of the store.

"Hello Konan-san." was the slightly unexpected greeting.

"How did you know it was me?" came her question of curiosity in true monotonous style.

"Well with my hearing I also have an enhance way of keeping track of where someone is whether they stop or keep moving I can tell you where they are at." came the honest reply making her raise a delicate eyebrow.

But before she could continue the conversation the man from earlier came in carrying a large box, not large enough to put a person in but still quite large.

"Alright, her yah go. That will be two thousand ryo." he says holding his hand out for the payment receiving a coin purse filled with the exact amount. With that he bid them a good day and the blind man took the box in one arm like it was nothing and headed to the exit.

Curiosity began to swell within her being and as much as she wanted to deny it she wanted to know what was in the box. Before she could ask though he stopped at the front of a hotel while asking for two rooms.

"I'm sorry sir but the only room we have is one with a two person bed. We might have a two bedroom apartment available, but you would have to check in later." answered the receptionist, an average looking woman with brown hair and brown eyes.

"It's alright, I wont be needing a bed much anyway so you can give us the one bedroom apartment." he replied kindly, while the statement itself made the receptionist quirk an eyebrow she nonetheless got the keys to the apartment and handed them over to the man, who handed her a pouch with exact change. After the transaction he walked over to Konan while presenting the keys to her and saying, "Why don't you go to the apartment and recover some more, I'll be getting some supplies for the trip ahead."

Before she could even come up with a rebuttal he was gone, with the keys in her hands. Slightly miffed at how he had just ditched her she calmed herself and went to the apartment.

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A.N.: Woohoo! Third chapter finished! This was taking me _forever_ to figure out how I wanted it to go! But even still I felt like it could've had more to it. Don't worry though, the next chapter will be started on immediately after this has been posted.

Before I go I would like to explain a few facts about the scabbard for Urufufangu. The reason there is kanji on it is that with each new owner the scabbard would imprint the kanji that described its new owner, and as it would lead you to believe, it doesn't need to be just one. And with the end of that, as usual, Bye!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Agents of Ne and The Akatsuki

_**Outside the Hotel-Naruto**_

Naruto had just gotten back from walking around aimlessly in the town and so far nothing seemed to set of any warning bells in his head. He managed to get a good feel for the area and determined the possibility of whether him and his compatriot would need to escape. He may be one of the best there is when it comes to ken-jutsu, but even he will admit he can't fight and protect at the same time.

He idly directed his focus to the box he was carrying that he bought from that blacksmith. Inside it contained his newest set of armor that was more to his liking than the one he currently has. The armor was designed like the current one, meaning it was built to allow agility, flexibility, and speed rather than support power and strength. The main difference though was that it covered more of his body so as to defend himself from the rare attacks that make it past his awareness and sword. Its color scheme was also changed to more of a silver-blue than the dark blue of the current one. This one also came with a metal mask of the same color that would cover the lower half of his face while also having the likeness of fangs placed where his mouth is. Add that with his blindfold people will be able to know who he is without _knowing_ who he is by recognizing his face. Despite the other changes that occurred his whiskers were still recognizable even with the faded look they gained from the lack of the Kyuubi's chakra.

The reason for the lack of the Biju's chakra being present is because Naruto had found a way to stop it from entering his pathways all together. This led to the fading of the whisker marks and will continue till they vanish for good.

At that thought though his mind went back to his coincidental meeting with Konan. She was probably the only person, alive that is, that knew who he was. Why he told her his name even he didn't know, it was as if it was on instinct that he told her. When he did though he sensed the surprise and slight confusion that overcame her. Now that brought up some questions in his mind since he was certain that he never met this woman before.

He would've voiced his questions if he hadn't noticed that Konan was starting to tire. After telling her that she could have the tent and made sure that she was asleep he went into the forest to get some training in. You see, ever since the incident with Sasuke he has yet to gain a restful nights sleep in the past four years. But it isn't really because he was stabbed by his "best friend" with a hand covered in lightning. Well, not directly anyway, because there was a seal that was placed on him that had blocked out and sealed away certain memories. Said memories included things the like that even Hell itself would call cruel.

The methods of which the villagers tortured him included things like branding him with all kinds of derogative names and insults to even breaking his bones repeatedly. The other types of actions of misplaced hatred included being burned, whipped, stabbed, and, only during the kyuubi festival, being crucified in their sick belief that he was the kyuubi itself.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg as some would say.

These memories that resurfaced had caused him to have nightmares-scratch that, night _terrors_ when ever he attempted to go to sleep. Over the course of four years he started to gain similar rings that surrounded Gaara's eyes and only seem to get worse.

And while you may wonder why he doesn't just enter his mindscape as a way to avoid the night terrors and sleep is that while his body may gain some form of rest his mind would not.

When he was just outside of his hotel room he stopped all of his thoughts on what he went over and focused on cleaning himself and getting ready for the day to come. Walking in he headed straight to the bathroom to take a shower to clean himself from his vigorous training.

_**Hotel Room-Konan**_

It was six forty five in the morning and, for once, Konan did not want to get out of bed. Why, you ask? Simply put, she has not slept in a bed more comfortable in all her life as when she was on missions she had to sleep in a camp, even in Amegakure the beds there were stiff and had the occasional spring bursting from its confines. Yeah, not really the most comfortable of places to sleep.

Eventually she had to get up due to the rays of sunlight breaking through the invisible barrier known as the window. Slowly she got out of bed clad in only her undergarments, which were a non see-through black. Making her way to the bathroom to get her morning shower in it was when she was in the bathroom she came to the sight that made her blush a _deep_ crimson red. What she saw though would've gotten the exact same response from any straight woman.

What she saw was Naruto, who had just gotten out of the shower that she planned on using, standing stock still, in the buff. She only had the chance to roam her eyes over his chiseled and heavily scarred chest, before he quickly went back into the shower, hiding behind the curtains that separated the two.

"Konan-san, if you do not mind, would you please wait outside while I change?" he soon asked, his voice barely holding back the tone of embarrassment that almost escaped. Konan only turned around in an about face and walked out.

When she was out of the bathroom she quickly went to expelling the not so clean thoughts that came to mind. Eventually she got herself back under controlled and her face was now the beautiful pale alabaster complexion. She then directed her thoughts back to what she saw, or more specifically, his scars. While they were immeasurable in number she was able to see that some actually spelt something, the most prominent being "demon", "die", "murderer", and "devil spawn." And those were the only ones she could see on his _front_ with a brief _glance_. She was certain that if she was given time she could've found more than what she would've liked to see.

It was at that she realized how her thoughts regarding the swordsman changed and pushed them aside and away from the forefront of her mind. She had to stay focused on the goals of the Akatsuki, of Pein. If she started to develop a sense of pity or anything of the like that would only make her job hurt more and more difficult. You see, Konan isn't like the other members of the Akatsuki, even Pein, their leader, as she can be considered to be the most kind hearted out of the nine members. She always tried to avoid violence when she could, and in some cases, she did, but the whole situation with the biju and their jinchuriki will leave her with no choice but to use violence as they would most likely not come willingly.

Hearing the door to the bathroom open she saw Naruto walk out wearing his usual wardrobe, minus the armor and the cloth that wrapped around his eyes. When she saw that the cloth was missing she was able to get a good look at what his eyes looked like. And the moment she met his unknowing gaze she mentally swore that it was like looking into the sky itself as they were the brightest sky blue she has, or ever will, see. Then she took idle notice of how there seemed to be rings that surrounded his eyes and thought back to the time she saw the kanji for sleepless on the scabbard of his katana. It only took her a moment to realize that she was still only in her underwear, gained a small blush, and quickly walked to the bathroom to take her shower.

_**Thirty Minutes Later**_

After Konan was done with her shower she came out, fully clothed mind you, to the sight of Naruto in his new armor. To say that she was slightly awed by the sight would be understandable, this is Naruto after all. Starting at his feet she saw that instead of the usual way of covering the whole foot the armor covered each individual toe with claws at the end of said toes. Then she saw the armor that covered the torso, the sleek look it had, and the moon cycles on the upper torso. His shoulders were covered in a horse-crab like pauldron that had a wolf paw adorning its side and ended just before the elbow. The forearms were covered completely in metal with the . The back of his hands and fingers had a smooth, segmented, piece of that alluringly silver-blue metal and ended with his fingers having the same clawed appearance as his feet. Finally she saw that he was wearing a mask that depicted the likes of a fang filled grin that sent a small chill down her spine.

Snapping herself out of her own observation she also saw that he was wearing his blindfold once more. Oddly she felt a little disappointed that she didn't get to see his eyes once more, but she squashed the feeling with in a second of its showing up. She wasn't here to admire him, she was here to recover her chakra and possibly gain insight on the Akatsuki's target.

Fortunately for her she was drawn out of her thoughts from the white haired swordsman when he snapped his fingers in front of her face.

Blinking she looked over to her temporary companion and was about to ask what he wanted before he motioned to the door saying, "We should be going now, that is, unless you want to stay here for a moment."

"No, I'm fine. Let's go." was the answer that she gave him. Before they left however Konan saw Naruto grab a cloak of sorts that seemed worn and battered with a light brown color and put it on, part of it acted like a hood to cover his head. It only took her a moment to realize that it was to hide the armor that he wore underneath as it would attract unwanted attention. She wondered why didn't he just seal the armor and summon when he needed. Another moment she let it slide after realizing that it would still take some time to put the armor on.

When they left the hotel they were on the road once more heading to the border that separated Hi no Kuni and Amegakure. At least, that is where she thought he was heading. She soon realized that he wasn't heading there, but rather to the border that separated Amegakure and Kawa no Kuni, possibly heading to Kaze no Kuni. She kept her face impassive during most of the trip and Naruto hadn't bothered to make any attempt at conversation, which actually unnerved her a bit. Clearly this Naruto was nothing like the one that her organization had been hunting four years ago.

At least, not completely.

He was still talkative and as charismatic like reported, but he seemed guarded and distant for some reason. She learned of his late sensei, Shisai, the man who wielded the sword before him. She was surprised by how hellish his training was as not even Jiraiya's tor-training was that brutal. He did talk about the good times he had with him and how they developed a grandfather and grandson relationship. Just by talking about him she knew Naruto respected the man greatly and would beat a person black and blue if they insulted his memory.

She didn't really talk so much as listening though and that's what caused him to ask questions that required her to go in depth. One such question was what her childhood was like. She at first seemed hesitant but relented since she didn't want to seem suspicious. She told him of how she grew up with her parents raising her before the Second Shinobi World War took them from her. At that he was about to apologize for bringing up bad memories but she waved it off saying that she needed to tell someone besides Nagato.

When questioned about who Nagato was she only answered by saying he was a childhood friend of hers. He nodded in understanding and didn't press any further. It was when she asked him about his childhood did he seem to clam up a bit before he told her a heavily sugar-coated gist of his childhood. And while she may have read some of the reports about Naruto when he was younger none of them went into detail of what actually happened.

Now she knew that Naruto didn't just live a life of solitude while being ignored by almost everyone in the village. When he was growing up he was subjected to harsh beatings, verbal lashings, and when he wasn't he had to pay nearly five times the price for things that were _days_ past their expiration date. Then there was the fact that out of all the academy teachers, only one really tried to teach him anything.

While Konan may have known that he held the Kyuubi inside him since birth he shouldn't have been treated like that. That was something far worse tan she had _ever _been through growing up. She may have lost her parents in the Second Shinobi World War Naruto never had any. Just imagining how alone he must have felt almost made her break character. Almost.

All of a sudden, a thought popped into her head, _"Why do you care hm? It's not like you two could have any kind of relationship, after all, you'll just have to turn him in to Nagato eventually, now wont you? Right? If that doesn't convince you then remember what Nagato wants, to bring peace to the Elemental Nations! Who is worth more to you, one person you just met, or Nagato who you've known since your childhood?"_

She didn't know where that thought came from but she did agree with it, albeit reluctantly. After that she tried to lessen the amount of questions she asked him to lessen the feeling of being friends so it would be easier for her when she had to hunt him down. But a second after that another thought came to the forefront of her mind,_ "What about him? How do you think he will react when he knows that your apart of the group that is hunting him? Besides, after hearing about his past, do you honestly think you can just go ahead and do what Nagato wants you to do? Will you just add on to the pile of hurt and suffering he has gone through? Think about it."_

She didn't know what was going on inside her head, but she kept it from showing on her face. She would deal with these thoughts later and preferably alone. It was when she brought herself out of her musings that she saw that Naruto stopped and was on high alert. Alert for what, she didn't know.

And not even a second later they were surrounded by a dozen shinobi, ANBU from the looks of things. But on a second glance she noticed that their masks were all but blank, the exception being the small "Ne" that was placed on the forehead. At that she knew exactly who they were.

"Root." She whispered gaining the attention her compatriot.

"Root? Is that what they're called?" He asked only to get a nod in the affirmative.

She didn't want to, no, she couldn't deal with Root Shinobi in her condition. She was still recovering her chakra and didn't have enough to deal with one _regular _shinobi_,_ let alone a dozen! Adding in the fact that they're Root only made it worse. The one that was wearing a white cloak cast a quick glance at Konan before he settled his unseen sight on Naruto.

"Are you The Blind Wolf?" questioned the man and in that brief moment of speech sent a chill down Konan's spine at the same time. She may use emotionless façade paired with a monotonous voice but that was just her having her emotions in check. These people, these _things,_ they had absolutely no emotion at all, as if they were never introduced to the concept. This alone told her that they would not be swayed in their objective.

"And if I am? Then what?" then came the voice that she had come to know recently.

"You and your companion are to come with us back to Konoha, any resistance on your part will only delay the inevitable. With that in mind I suggest that you both come along peacefully." the leader answered.

"How about, no." and just like that Konan felt rather than saw the aggression grow from the Root agents.

"Then I guess we will bring you in by force. Get him." and with in a second half of the agents of Ne were on them. Naruto only needed half of that.

With practiced ease, he drew Urufufangu out and blocked the strike that came from the closest Root members tanto with the flat if the blade. The next one came at him from his left with an over hand and thus he put his left arm up to block the strike and the distinct crunch of bone was heard as it gave way to the durable metal. The third attack came from above as they came down with an axe kick. The fourth came at him from his right which he reciprocated by launching his right leg out and kicked them in the gut, throwing them fifty feet away. The fifth one came from behind, this one carrying a sword like the first one. Naruto retaliated with a scorpion kick that not only hit the man in the chest, but carried him with the kick and sent him at the first one and thus freeing himself for the sixth one.

The sixth one though came at him by erupting from the ground with a dangerously chakra enhanced upper-cut. Luckily, Naruto dodged with the sixth ones fist passing by with only an inch of space between his face and the attack. Kicking out with his left leg he sent this one forward, landing right at the feet of the leader.

After that Naruto got into a defensive stance with his sword positioned in front of him and his feet shoulder width apart, right foot in front of his left. It was also at that time that Konan was able to get a good look at the blade that was hidden to the world by the scabbard that shielded it from said world. It was a beautiful blade, it was as long as his body and looked as if it could cut anything. The blade itself was made of a beautiful white metal that seemed to have a subtle glow even in broad daylight. When she looked at the guard however she could've sworn she saw the wolves move a little as well as the diamond eyes glowing too.

"I will give you one chance, leave me and my friend alone and I will not be forced to end you right now." the seriousness in his voice was what drew her out of her musings of his sword back to reality. She noticed that the shinobi that he struck down were getting back up, albeit, on shaky legs.

The only response he got was the sudden displacement of air and the sound of a blade cutting through it. Quickly he put his blade above his head and blocked the tanto that came down with sparks flying as the collided. Naruto though was able to quickly push the attacker back seven feet before he simply vanished from his spot. No movement, no displacement of dirt, not even a twitch told them that he was going to disappear.

A split second later he was in front of the leader with the tip of his sword piercing the mask but just stopping when it touched the mans eye. No one moved, especially the leader, for they were trying to process on what just happened. One second he was standing still, the next he vanished, and another second he has his sword poking the eye of the lead Root member. He stayed like that for a good five seconds before the leader jumped back and readied himself by raising his tanto in an attempt to block any incoming attacks.

"I will only give you one more chance, let us pass, or you. Will. Die." and the absoluteness in his voice told everyone there that he very well would and could if they don't do as he says. Unfortunately for the Root operatives they weren't aloud to come back empty handed or they would be executed. So with that they attacked with their all attempting to bring him down, all twelve of them.

They didn't stand a chance.

The first one was taken down with a quick slash from Naruto that ended with a cut that started from their right should and ended at their left hip. They died with in seconds.

The next two came at him from both his left and right. Naruto simply held the sword out and spun at impossible speeds when they were only four feet away from him. They were both bisected at the waist, just like when he killed those men when he first met Konan. Then three came at him one in front, one behind, and one above. First he jumped up and passed the man coming down and spun around. It was when he was mid-spin that he remembered the first time that he learned and used this unique ken-jutsu.

_**Flashback no Jutsu!**_

Naruto was well into his second year of training with Shisai and he was currently in a spar with said old man. Call him what you want, but when it mattered the man could kick his ass seven ways to hell, chat with Satan, and do the same back. What really scared Naruto was that if he could do that _now,_ then what was he like in his prime? Now that is what kept Naruto from pulling a prank on him every day, that, and the fact that he was the first that actually trained and taught him anything besides Jiraiya. At that he seemed to get a little depressed. He never intended to leave his first real teacher, but, what Shisai was offering was even rarer than being trained by _all_ three Sannin at the same time.

"Come on Naruto! You have to focus or you'll never be able to do it!" came the voice of said old man. This only caused Naruto to grind his teeth together in aggravation as he was doing his all to focus. While he was attempting to focus Shisai kept attacking him with a common katana, Urufufangu nicely propped against a tree.

Naruto too had a common katana in his hands, but unlike Shisai who was merely attacking, he was trying to channel his chakra into it. This was not only to enhance the durability of the sword and its lethality, but the first step to learning one of the most powerful ken-jutsu skills passed down from "Wolf" to "Wolf".

"Naruto, you need to calm down! Relax, let it flow, don't force it! If you do you'll only get a nasty backfire!" Advised his sensei, then somewhere in the middle of the spar Shisai seemed to have noticed something.

"Where is your resolve boy! Where is your drive to learn and master this jutsu like you said? If you don't even give your all you will never learn to use this skill." With that Shisai's attacks became faster and stronger, never relenting, never leaving an opening.

At the same time with Naruto something just seemed to snap into place and brought forth an immeasurable amount of chakra into his katana. This time however he didn't force it, he just let it flow, as Shisai would say. At once a visible twister of chakra encompassed the blade making Shisai stop his assault in bewilderment. A second later the only thing that he could say was, "Oh sh-!" he didn't have time to finish his statement before Naruto let loose one of the most primal shouts he ever heard.

The devastation that followed was the complete leveling of the forest that _was_ behind him along with one of the splitting of a mountain. The next day people from a village nearby were having a panic attack when they saw the mountain was cleaved in two from top to bottom. No one knew how it happened, all that they knew was that it must have happened during the night and caused by some sort of monster. For what else could possibly do what has obviously happened?

_**Flashback no Jutsu-Kai!**_

"Tsukizan!"

And with the name announced a brilliant wave of silver chakra flew from the downward slash he made with the blade. While not nearly as destructive as his first one it did have a powerful sense of danger emanate from the attack. The three didn't have any time to scream as they were obliterated from the powerful attack leaving nothing behind, not even a spec of dust.

Before that happened though a certain Akatsuki member was silently thinking to herself about the current situation.

"_Damn it! Here he is fighting them, _alone_! And what can I do? Nothing! Until my chakra comes back I can't do anything!" _Were the annoyed thoughts of the only bluenette present.

It was when he released his devastating attack that she considered if he really needed help at all. After all, he was handling himself just fine, actually, better than fine since not even one of the Root members had managed to land a hit on him.

But there was still the feeling of wanting to help him, she just didn't know why. She just meet him a couple of days ago! So why would she be wanting to help him? That would have to be a question she would have to answer later as she felt the feeling of cool steel touch her neck along with her arms being grabbed in a hold to prevent her from punching her captor. She mentally berated her self for letting her guard down in the middle of a fight, this was just not her week.

Looking for her traveling companion she saw him land where his attack had left a decent crater. He still had his cloak on leaving the only thing visible was that metal face mask that showed a wolfish grin.

"I suggest you let her go, or your end will be much more severe." he said, and the tone he spoke in told her that he was dead serious.

"I don't think I will," At this Naruto took a step but stopped when he smelt fresh blood being drawn, "Since I have your friend here I think it would be best to stand down, don't you?" and not even waiting for an actual answer he continued, "Now you are going to come with us, without a fight mind you, and if you do so quietly your friend wont get hurt," at this he did wait for an answer and when he didn't he gestured to one of his comrades to get him.

As the one Root member moved to detain the swordsman, Naruto lashed out with a speed that the only one to see any kind of movement was Konan. But even then she could only see a small blur as one second his sword was by his side, then it seemed as if it phased right though the Root member in _less _then a second, then back into it's scabbard. The strange part was the Root member didn't seem to notice that he was attacked by the swordsman until he was a single step away. At that point he froze before simply falling back with his upper torso separating from the rest of his body as well as his arms being severed at the elbow.

The next thing anyone knew was that another Root member was sporting a sword through his chest that was gone as fast as it appeared. One decided to move while drawing out their tanto, which was subsequently cut in half as well as the mans arm with a growing patch of blood on his side. The other two were back to back forming hand signs for a combination jutsu the moment Naruto was gone in order to increase their chances of surviving. Unfortunately both of their heads were grabbed and were forcefully and painfully slammed right into each other. They both landed on the ground with blood leaking from their heads, pooling around their bodies.

As soon as they landed though Naruto was already beside the leader and removed Konan from his slack grip. The reason for the slack grip was that he was still processing what had happened and thus forgot about his captive. It was only a second though and with that he was barely able to dodge the incoming fist, which still managed to connect with his shoulder. This caused him to spin around like a spin top before crashing into a tree and slumping down a little.

At that Naruto started to walk towards him slowly drawing out Urufufangu. Seeing the his approaching form the last present Agent of Ne started to get to his feet in a last ditch effort to complete his mission. And within a second he launched himself right at the nigh untouchable person in front of him. He quickly brought out his tanto and with practiced ease he channeled his elemental affinity, which by the way is fire, into the blade to make it an even more deadly weapon. He was only a hairs breadth away when his hope of success was utterly shattered, just like his now useless sword.

While that was going on Naruto was preparing to use one of his _weaker_ ken-jutsu skills known to him as Sword Breaker. It was a ken-jutsu skill that only masters of the sword could perform as it would require incredible focus and precession. By taking the very tip of the blade and adding chakra into the blade in order to make it more durable. You would then bring the tip of said sword and match it with the tip of your opponents sword and watch as their weapons breaks apart, all the way down to the handle.

And when he did that he simply went ahead and severed the mans arm at his shoulder, spun around and severed the other arm at the shoulder as well. It happened so fast that the man never realized what happened, but at the time when he did he found a sword piercing his chest. The last few moments of his life were of him watching the sword glow a soft silver-white and knowing what it feels like to have one's chakra taken form you.

When there was no more chakra to be drained Naruto withdrew his sword from the pseudo-sheath before re-sheathing it into its rightful scabbard. Giving only one last "look" to the downed Root shinobi he made his way over to Konan. She simply gave him a blank, appraising, but blank look and waited for him to start walking. That was on the outside, on the inside was a completely different story as she was admittedly scared of her traveling companion/savior. To be capable of taking out a _dozen_ shinobi by oneself is already an impressive feat, but to do the same thing with _Root_ shinobi, considering how they were trained, that was something else.

It was at that moment she remembered a _small_ detail when dealing with the wielder of Urufufangu. _"The Wolf of the Elemental Nations, a warrior with no affiliation to any village or man. Capable of fighting all Seven Swordsmen of the Mist _at once_, and_ win_."_ With this thought brought to the forefront of her mind she realized that the Agents of Ne never stood a _shadow_ of a chance. The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were dangerous and extremely deadly shinobi and kunoichi in their own right, but together, with their unparalleled teamwork, they were war changers and world shakers. For one man to be able to take on all of them at the same time and win would require ungodly skills, and then some.

All the while she was simply staring at the back of said "Wolf" knowing that the Akatsuki would need all of it's top members, including Pein, to capture him. Speaking of which, she began to wonder what the Akatsuki were up to since her last mission to gather monetary resources for the organization.

_**Akatsuki Hideout-Kawa no Kuni-One Day Later**_

In a cave that housed a massive statue known only as the Gedo Mazo there were a total of eight shadowed figures. Each one were standing on a finger or thumb of the raised hands of the statue. The only thing that could be discerned from the shadowed figures were their eyes and certain features. One had purple eyes that held the most bloodlust out of all the figures present with some sort of pole or handle sticking over their right shoulder.

Another had a sickly green iris on a faded black for his sclera that held an insurmountable amount of greed. The next one only revealed the right eye that had a light shade of blue that contained an amount of hyperactive energy, as if waiting to cause something to go "Boom" every second. The ones after that were dead beady eyes that didn't reveal much about the person, only that they weren't really focused on anything in particular and the figure looked as if it were hunched over.

Following those were a hungering yellow, that, as described, wanted nothing more than to consume, be it either knowledge via infiltration or something along the, ahem, _human_ variety and two extra appendages that made him resemble a Venus flytrap. After that were eyes that everyone knew, and feared for some, all through out the Elemental Nations, the Sharingan, one of the three legendary do-jutsu capable of tracking nearly all movement and copying it with an eidetic like memory. The pair of eyes after that were ones that imitated the likeness of a shark with a small pupil and white surrounding it, and if one were to take a closer look they would see an innate amount of bloodlust, not like the first pair of eyes, but damn well close enough and they also had something large placed on their back as well that moved at different times.

Finally the last pair of eyes, now these, these were the eyes that were passed down to every new generation by story alone, eyes of a legend almost as old as the existence of chakra. These eyes were the rippled purplish grey eyes of the legendary Rinnegan, more specifically, the eyes of the Rikoudo Sennin. The only thing you could tell by looking into these eyes were that they held an incredible weight of guilt and pain that was only overcome by a hidden aspect of hate.

"This meeting is to discuss the sudden disappearance of one of our members, the one known to you as Konan." stated the figure with the Rinnegan eyes in a rough and static voice. Now this answered some of the questions that were present on most of the figures heads. They were wondering what happened to her as they have yet to see her show up.

"Oh yeah! I knew someone wasn't here!" others seemed to be oblivious to the lacking of her presence like blue eyed figure.

"Hmph, like I care, all I need to worry about is who I need to sacrifice to Lord Jashin next!" while the one with the blood lusting purple eyes didn't care in general.

"Do you know of where she was last seen or located?" asked the man with the Sharingan.

"Her last known location was somewhere in Hi no Kuni doing a mission in order to fund the Akatsuki." at this the man with the green on black eyes seemed to perk up at the word fund.

"If I may ask Leader-sama, why did you send her out on a mission to fund us and not me?" he asked in honest curiosity and a little annoyance that it wasn't him.

"Because, Kakazu, she is one of the few members that isn't as widely known as you and the others. So with this in mind she would make a better option so as to avoid suspicion. She would also have more maneuverability should she be attacked as she doesn't have to worry about a partner." answered the apparent leader, which also seemed to satisfy the man.

"So, what are we gonna do?" asked the man with shark eyes.

"As of now, only you and Itachi are the only ones in Hi no Kuni, so I expect you two to be searching for her, Kisame." at this both the men with the shark eyes, Kisame, and Sharingan, Itachi, nodded.

"As for the rest of you, keep a look out for Konan, but if you come across any of the Bijuu containers they become first priority, understand?" his question was only met with silence.

"Also, Zetsu," at this the man with the hungry yellow eyes faced the leader, "I want you to double your efforts on searching for the Kyuubi, it has been four years since it 'died' and it should've reappeared by now. And be sure that when you do you are come get me, Itachi, and Kisame before confronting it." he said with complete authority.

"Lastly, we are to be having a new member join us, he will be present in the next meeting as he has yet to arrive at a proper location to perform the necessary jutsu. And when he does, despite how tempting it is, don't threaten or underestimate him as it will prove to be quite…humiliating to do so." and with that the man with the Rinnegan eyes vanished leaving the other seven members to ponder on what to do about Konan and who this new member could be.

"Un, who do you think this new guy is? Any ideas Sasori?" at this the man with the lifeless beady eyes turned to the one with the energetic blue.

"Unfortunately I do not, Deidara. And before you ask, no, my spy-network wouldn't have known either since membership protocol with the Akatsuki isn't my concern." responded the beady eyed "man", now named Sasori.

"Un, don't act so high and mighty Sasori, it's just a simple question! Besides, I wasn't going to ask if your stupid spy network knew anything about the new guy, un!" Deidara responded in a heated voice when he heard the superiority in Sasori's voice.

"Oh? Then what the hell were you going to ask him you dumb-ass blonde?" now this surprisingly came from the same guy who apparently "didn't care." This only served to annoy Deidara as he does not like being called a "dumb-ass."

"Screw you Hidan! All you care about is sacrificing people to that fake as fuck god of yours, so why do you care about what I ask, un!" now this not only ticked off the man now known as Hidan, but rather pissed him off.

"What the fucking hell did you just say! If I ever meet you outside in the real world then you are as good as dead! Do you hear me you cunt! When I find you, your bitch of an excuse for 'art' will be the least of your worries!" This only started an ongoing tirade between the two that ended with the shouts of both Kakazu and Sasori.

"**Enough!**" and like that both Hidan and Deidara wisely shut up.

"Now if you two are done arguing, what was your question Deidara?"

"Oh yeah, like I was going to say," he paused, making sure that Hidan saw his glare, then continued, "I was going to ask if Sasori's spy network had any clues as to where Konan is?" After all, Sasori's spy network is everywhere and should be capable of quickly locating Konan, the only other spy network that rivals his would be the Gama-Sennin's.

Sasori could only blink before remembering a report from one of his contacts that seemed to have sighted a woman that resembled Konan. Perhaps that actually was her? But there was more to the report as they also recounted how there was a man that was clothed in an old looking cloak. At first he dismissed it as useless information since, but the man seemed to think it was worth some importance. Now he was somewhat glad he listened to the report.

"I believe that I do know of where Konan may be." this instantly caught both Itachi's and Kisame's attention as this could help finish their mission in finding the missing member.

"She was located somewhere near the west of Hi no Kuni in one of the villages heading in the general location of Kawa no Kuni." this seemed to relieve Itachi and satisfy Kisame a little since both where in the general area.

"But," That is, if Sasori didn't continue, "It seems that she is in the company of some stranger wearing a worn and tattered cloak. Not much else could be said about the person except that he is a man and is nearly as tall as you Kisame." While the fact that Konan wasn't alone surprised them they were certain that he wouldn't be any trouble. If he was then why has Konan not taken him out then?

Regardless they decided it was time to dismiss the jutsu that made it possible to be at the meeting. One by one they vanished until Zetsu was the only one present. And not even a moment later another figure appeared.

"It seems that little Konan-chan is missing huh Zetsu." said the new figure in a deep resonating voice.

"It appears so/**It appears so**." came the dual voice of the plant like figure known as Zetsu, one with a child like voice, the other an annoyed and more mature one.

"And she isn't alone either. Zetsu, I want you to follow Itachi and Kisame to where Konan is and find out exactly who this man is. If this man proves to be either a nuisance that would interrupt our plans down the road, eliminate him. If not, then take the appropriate measures that you believe would be best. But be sure not to reveal yourself, not even to Itachi or Kisame, until there is such a time where you are certain that you can perform either course of action." At this the only thing the plant like man did was merely nod his head in affirmative. And just when he was about to dismiss the jutsu he caught sight of the man holding his hand up, signaling that he still wanted to discuss something.

"Also, if you do happen to find the Kyuubi, I want you to delay the time it takes to get it the information to Pein and bring it to me directly instead." Now it would be understandable for Zetsu to be confused at this order, and when he was about to voice his thoughts the man continued.

"As for why, I want to make sure that it is indeed real and not some trap meant to capture one of the Akatsuki members." This seemed to placate the plant-man's confusion. Once more he was about to leave until the man talked again.

"Oh, and Zetsu, do remember where your loyalties lie, I wouldn't want to go through all the trouble of remaking you."

"Do not worry, my loyalties will always be with you," at this he made direct eye contact with shadowed figure, "Madara-sama." And with that, he vanished as well as the other man with an ominous and deadly red glow emanating from where their right eye is.

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A.N.:YOSH! Fourth chapter is DONE! First I would like to apologize to you readers for the _late _update of this fic. As with my previous update on MOTG I blame my ADD. That, and I just fucking GRADUATED! Now I just have to worry about college…T-T. Anyways I would like to say that since it seems this fic is to be the most popular out the three I have written I will allow one reader suggestion as to what they would like to see in this fic except the pairing. This will be a strictly Naruto x Konan pairing. As for those who have read my third fic, Broken Worlds Hope, a crossover with Naruto and Justice League, I will start on the third chapter for that as soon as possible. Again, I would like to apologize for the late update and will be focusing more on writing for you readers, and don't forget to review, they make me want to write my fics faster! So until next time, Bye!


	5. Not An Update

I would like to sincerely apologize to those who have been waiting patiently for any updates of my fics, but as of this moment, and as much as I hate to say it, I am discontinuing my fics till further notice. Once more, I am sincerely sorry for those who have waited patiently for my fics next update, but as of this moment, I just can't seem to find myself writing more fanfiction. But, for those who still wish to read any of my work, I have just gotten up on FictionPress and will sometime soon be posting an original story/tale of my own there eventually.


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