Hello, people… and not-people? Is that even a thing? I know of the ones identifying themselves as attack helicopters? Do we consider them to be "people"?

Anyhow, enough of my nonsense.

Welcome to my first piece of literature. Though probably filled with mistakes and holes that I couldn't find by myself, I still hope that you will be able to read it. I've had this idea for a while now and just now worked up the courage to actually write it out.

I have several other story ideas for the Naruto franchise, and I might write those up as well, but that won't be for a while.

The title of the story will make sense after a while, I promise.

It is partly some kind of a prologue, and partly the start of the first arc, that being the reason for Naruto wanting to be so strong and him starting the academy and stuff.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Review if you want, that would be a great help as well, but please keep it civil and constructive.

I'd also like to have a Beta-reader, because, like I said, there are probably a load of holes and mistakes that I failed to spot.

Enjoy!

Cheers,

LethalBlades

Edit: I have seen the review of the one named "Kid Jaws", and I have to agree, even though I intended for Naruto to sound much older, like MUCH older, but I modified the way Naruto speaks a little bit anyway, making him seem less like an old man and more like a smart 12 year old. I hope it is a little better now.

Naruto: Sharpshooter

Chapter 1. How it all started.

A blonde child, about six years of age, sat in his room at the orphanage, bored out of his mind. The caretakers hadn't let him out of his room today, saying that he should entertain himself. Normally he didn't mind, as he had books that Jiji always brought him, but he had read all of them already, thinking that he would be able to play outside today and receive more books tomorrow when the old man visited again. Now he was just sitting on his bed, staring at the wall.

He wanted to go outside and have fun! Then again, no one seemed to like him very much. At least, the adults seemed to dislike him. The kids just copied their parents or caretakers. He didn't mind very much, everyone was entitled to their opinion, but that did mean that there was usually no-one to play with. Loneliness was one of the things he learned to deal with though.

Reading had been able to occupy his mind, and most of the time he could be found in his room, reading one book or the other. He enjoyed all types of books, from adventure novels to math books he liked all of it, and it showed. He didn't have the mind of an average kid. He was highly intelligent and creative, solving advanced, for a six year old, math questions pretty easily and reading books aimed at teenagers. The Hokage, who was supplying the books, had noticed this of course, and proceeded to give him more material.

His flourishing mind didn't have the solution for boredom though, so he continued his wall-staring, waiting for something to happen.

He got what he wished, as not even a few seconds later the door to his room opened, his "caretaker" coming through it. "Caretaker-Sama, can I go outside now?" The caretaker looked down on the child, a glare on the man's face. He reminded Naruto of the illustration he saw in one of his books, it was of something called a gnome if he remembered correctly. The man was really short at five feet, standing only about a foot taller than the boy, and he was a bit bent at the waist, not being able to stand up straight due to old age. The old man had never been very kind to him, so he was used to the glare.

"Yes you will, but there will be a little twist…" The man said as he grabbed the blonde haired kid by his arm and dragged him to the orphanage entrance violently, almost dislocating the arm in question. Once there he looked the kid in the eye and shouted at him "I have put up with you long enough! You will be able to go outside, but you will never set a foot in this building again you piece of shit demon!" After his little rant, he literally threw Naruto out of the door and slammed the door behind him, glaring at him through the window.

Naruto was devastated. What was that about? Why couldn't he come back? He looked at the old man behind the window, sadness filling his being before he took off, not wanting to see this place for a long time to come.

Break

Naruto ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the place where Jiji said he could go to find him, the tower in the middle of the village. He had walked these streets before, so he knew to avoid the hotspots of the market and the business district, taking a route through the park and around the ninja academy grounds before finally arriving at the tower.

The door was quickly opened, revealing a big hall containing hundreds of people. He was kind of intimidated by the amount of people, but he was too focused on going to Jiji that he quickly lost the intimidation factor and started making his way to the stairs at the back of the hall, which should lead up to his office if he remembered correctly.

Weaving through the legs of the countless people, he finally made it through, though he had gotten a few shoves along the way from hateful people. Making his way up the stairs, he saw the door with 'Hokage' on it, which was what he was looking for. What he also spotted though, was his next obstacle, which was the secretary, who seemed to hate him as well, the indicator being the scathing glare she was sending him.

"What are you doing here demon?" She asked, getting up from behind her desk and looking down on him. She was about to give him a shove so he would "accidentally" fall down the stairs, but he was saved when the door to the office opened, revealing the Hokage in all of his glory. "What is going on here? I sensed Naruto-Kun and I told you to let him in at any time."

He looked at the situation and saw what his secretary was about to do, and he became enraged. "You are fired from today. Pack your stuff and I never want you in here again." He said in an eerily calm way, his face said otherwise though. After he said that to her, his face became happy again though, as he looked at Naruto. "Now, Naruto-Kun, come in so we can talk."

Ushering the boy in and closing the door behind them, glaring at the now fired secretary, he pointed to the chair in front of his desk for Naruto to sit on before taking a seat himself. "So, how are you doing my boy?" The man asked as he picked up his pipe and lit it, smoke rising out of it in no time.

"Actually, Jiji, not so good. I think that the caretaker doesn't want me to come back anymore..." Naruto started his story, telling the old Hokage everything about what had transpired that morning. Hiruzen almost blew his top, barely able to restrain himself from going to kill the old decrepit bastard that dared throwing out the son of his best friend. Given that the man, or the boy in question, didn't know that, but that didn't make it any better. He was stopped though, by the look Naruto had on his face. It was quite peaceful given the circumstances. "Jiji, even though I don't like that I don't have anywhere to live now, I don't blame that man for what he did. There is a reason for why these people hate me, even though I don't know what that is. I see the fear and hate in that man's eyes when he talked to me. Every one else looks at me like that. The kids look like they don't know why though. You don't get that look for no reason, so I forgive them, I really do."

The old man had tears in his eyes from how forgiving this child, just six years old, was. He looked at him, and could see the intelligence and wisdom in his eyes. The deep blue pools displayed it clearly. He had decided, he was going to tell him about his burden. "Naruto, I want to tell you something, and I want you to listen to me carefully, ok?" The blond in question nodded his head, putting his full focus on the village leader.

"Ok then, you might not like this, but I think you deserve to know this now. Well, you see, I know the reason why they hate or dislike you so much. Naruto, do you know about the attack on the village by the Kyuubi six and a half years ago?" Receiving a nod, he continued. "The books you read explained that it started attacking the village and that the fourth Hokage killed the beast in the end, yes?" Once again a nod. "Well, that is not entirely true. You know that chakra is the life energy of the body, created from yin and yang. That was in one of the books I gave you. Now, what you have to understand is that the Kyuubi is a chakra construct. Its body is made entirely from chakra pretty much. This means that you cannot kill it, only disperse it before it returns to its normal form a few years later, or it has to be sealed."

He could see that the boy had already started to figure it out, so he waited for a moment. Naruto's mind was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out where to old man was going with this. When he heard the word sealed, all of his thoughts clicked into place. "It's sealed into me, isn't it?" He asked with dread in his voice.

While proud that the boy had figured that out, the Hokage still didn't like this conversation. "Yes. Now, that does not make you the demon, but that means that you have it in you, and that you are saving the village every day that you are alive. The fourth Hokage also believed that you could wield the power to change the world someday." He finished his explanation, carefully watching the myriad of emotions going over Naruto's face. Sadness, anger, happiness, relief and lastly acceptance which stayed. The boy looked so old to the Hokage. Too old for his actual age, if that made any sense. He walked around the desk and kneeled next to Naruto, looking him straight in the eye.

"Now that you know what is going on... You see, I had problems with placing you in orphanages, and this one was the only one that would take you, and that is now shot, so… How would you like to live in your own apartment?"

Break

Paperwork was done quickly, and not even 3 hours later Naruto was looking at the building he would own. Yes, he would own the entirety of the small apartment building on the outskirts of town. It had been empty for almost five years now, so it was marked for demolition, but that made it perfect for someone like Naruto. Away from the general populace, he would be able to go outside without getting harassed or attacked, and he could even play around. There would be minimal threat, and that was great. Of course, it was abandoned for a reason, which was a few damages to the structure, but that was easily fixed with a certain ANBU using the Mokuton to place extra support beams.

Of course there would also be the ANBU guard, who would act as caretakers of sorts and take care of any threats that did appear. They would also help him with his daily things like shopping, laundry, cleaning and that kind of stuff until he was able to take care of himself. The Hokage already had some people in mind, and they would most likely jump at the chance as they normally did the life or death missions, and they all generally liked Naruto, which was always a plus.

He would have one of them stay with Naruto, which would be their extra "resting day" as they always had one weekday off, and the rest of it would be mission days. This way he still had some of his best ninja on missions, and he also had Naruto protected at all times. This was the best plan he ever came up with, even though he said so himself.

Being pulled from his musings by the little blond boy, Hiruzen looked at him and could see the anxiousness in his eyes. He put a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder and started walking towards the slightly run down stairs of the building. It had four apartments in it, as well as a basement for each one, accessible through a door in the back of the complex. He guided Naruto to the first apartment on the first floor and opened the door, ushering the boy inside.

Having entered the apartment, they seemed to be in a hallway, three doors apparent as well as a drawer and a coatrack. Curiously opening the first door, the blond six year old looked inside and found a bedroom, complete with closet drawers and a bookcase, as well as a bed and a nightstand with a lamp. His eyes almost teared up at the sight of the comfortable bed instead of the lumpy old thing, the pristine bookcase and the closet with actual doors in it.

Closing the first door while making a mental note to check it later, Naruto went into the second door completely opposite of the bedroom, and found the bathroom was situated in here. There was a bath with a shower head above it, a sink and a few cupboards. He was definitely taking a shower as soon as possible, as he knew he hadn't had one in a while. Stupid caretaker.

Last but not least, Naruto went on to the end of the hall, pressing the handle on the last door, opening it carefully, setting a step inside as he inspected the last room in the house. It was the living room, quite obviously, with a kitchen attached. He saw a comfortable looking black leather couch in the living part with a coffee table as well as a lounging chair on which he was going to spend a lot of hours reading. In the corners of the room stood more bookcases, clearly requested there by the old Hokage who knew he liked to read. The kitchen had all of the needed appliances, nothing that impressive to be honest. Though, he did like the black marble countertop, which was really nice.

He turned to his old grandfather figure, tears in his eyes as he hugged the old monkey, said man comforting him as he lead them to the couch which they both sat on. When Naruto was done crying in happiness, Sarutobi started to explain what was going to happen from now on. "Now that you have your own apartment building, you can modify it as you wish, as you own it now. I would suggest making training areas and such in the other apartments or the basement even, as you want to become a ninja, but that is for later when you are actually able to and have a need for it. For now though, I will introduce the ANBU who will be guarding you."

He stood up and snapped his fingers, making an ANBU with a cheetah mask appear at his feet, kneeling. "Cheetah, I want you to get me ANBU Squad 2 please." Nodding at the order, the operative left as fast as he could, which made him disappear from Naruto's vision. "That was so cool Jiji! Can I be as fast as him?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious. The old man chuckled, amused by the child's curiosity. "Sure you can, Naruto. You just need to apply yourself to your training and then you will be able to do anything." Naruto's hopeful eyes warmed his heart.

Before anything else could be said, six swirls of leaves appeared in the center of the room, revealing six ANBU operatives. "Well Naruto, it seems that your new caretakers have arrived." Sarutobi said as he stood up, signaling to the ANBU to stand at rest. "Naruto, I introduce you to ANBU Squad 2, members being Bird," he pointed at a man of about 5 foot 11 inches with short black messy hair and a bird mask. He seemed to stare Naruto into his soul before relenting and saying a quiet "hello". It creeped the six year old out like nothing else, but he didn't get to dwell on it as the Hokage moved on with the introductions.

"Boar" This time he gestured to one of the biggest men Naruto had ever seen, standing at a tall 6 foot 4 inches, the man sported millimetered brown hair and huge muscles which looked like they were made of steel. Boar looked at Naruto for a moment before stepping up and stretching out his hand for Naruto to take. "Hello little one, we will get along fine." He stated as the blond shook his hand. The giant of a man seemed nice, but he would see if his assumptions were correct.

"This lovely lady is Cat" A woman with long blonde hair waved at him, standing at a short 5 foot 7 inches she was a petite woman, but she looked strong. "Nice to meet you Naruto-Kun" the blond waved at her awkwardly, kind of surprised with her friendliness. He also got a weird feeling about her, like she was going to jump him when she got the chance.

"Then we have the ever mischievous Rat" The Hokage sighed a little. The woman in question stood at around a height of about 5 foot 9 inches, and her shoulder length black hair framed the Rat mask nicely. Naruto could swear that the woman was grinning behind her mask, but there was no way to tell.

"The green haired one is Mantis." The man stood a significant amount shorter than the rest of the squad, clocking in at about 5 feet 6 inches, had short green hair, and honestly looked like a wimp to Naruto. He wouldn't judge the guy though, as he was in ANBU after all. They were supposed to be the best in the village!

"And lastly there is Sloth" The Hokage ended. The man in question stood at a small 5 foot 7 inches, and looked like he would fall over any minute. On his head a mop of short spiky brown hair was present. Sloth looked extremely bored, and greeted him with a very uninterested wave and a "Yo" before looking out of the window, making the Hokage sigh at his laziness. The way the man was standing made it look like you could throw him off balance easily, but Naruto had a strong feeling this wasn't the case at all.

"Now, I presume you all heard what I said to young Naruto-Kun here?" The Hokage asked, getting all "Yes Sir!" in return. "Good. You five will be rotating per day, one operative of your squad watches over young Naruto per day, the rest performing missions, unless it is your off day of course. This also means that one person will have to watch over him twice per week-"

"I will volunteer Hokage-Sama!" came a sudden outburst from Boar, followed by a quick apology. Hiruzen was dumbfounded. Never had this man been so eager to take on a mission that didn't involve fighting a strong ninja. "Well, if you insist Boar, I will let you have two days a week. Now, moving on, you lot will be taking care of Naruto-kun here, schedule being: Monday: Boar, Tuesday: Bird, Wednesday: Rat, Thursday: Sloth, Friday: Cat, Saturday: Boar, and on Sunday he will be with Mantis before cycling back to Boar on Monday. Is that clear?" Getting all nods from the ANBU squad, he returned to Naruto.

"Is that an acceptable arrangement young Naruto-Kun?" The Hokage asked the blond. All Naruto could do was nod as he was speechless. These people were strong protectors of the village; would it really be ok for them to watch him? He decided to voice his thoughts, and got a chuckle from Sarutobi in return. "Of course it is my boy. Now, I will have to leave because I still have paperwork to complete and a new secretary to find, so since it is Monday today, Boar will be the one staying while the rest of you are dismissed." With that, the man disappeared in a swirl of leaves, the rest of the ANBU squad saying their farewells as well before departing, leaving Boar and Naruto alone.

After awkwardly standing around in the living room, Naruto finally found the courage to ask something. "So, what should we do, Boar-San?"

Time skip: A year and a half

A year had quickly passed by, and Naruto's life had improved by leaps and bounds. No longer was he a short and slightly malnourished little boy that just read books in his room at the orphanage all day. The ANBU had really helped to get his life on track. Eating right and occasionally playing outside with the ANBU members had improved his physique a little and made him taller as well.

What he still enjoyed the most though, was reading. And reading he did, burning through a book every few days, he had filled two bookcases with books and was halfway into the third one. The ANBU were all impressed by the way Naruto seemed to absorb knowledge at an incredible rate.

Each ANBU member had taught him a valuable lesson as well.

Bird had taught him to always think critically and analyze everything you see or hear. To never take things at face value but to think before accepting it as the truth. The team leader had played many games with him concerning things like that, and had had many conversations with him. The man had been extremely surprised at the blond's intellect and ingenuity at the start, but now he was used to it. The man had earned the Nii-san title after a few months, and the man took it in stride.

Boar had taught him to always be strong, but that when you are among loved ones that you can loosen up. He explained to Naruto that he was normally not this soft, and that Naruto had brought out the best in the man. This had made the little boy tear up a little, but he didn't cry. He was a strong young man after all. The burly man had turned out to be a bit of a father figure to Naruto, the man giving him life advice from time to time. Sure, the others did that as well, but Boar and Naruto just had a special connection. Not that Naruto would call him father, his title being Boar-nii, but it sure felt that way.

Cat had taught him to be kind to people, but to be fierce to your enemies, as well as general etiquette. She had taken the boy to the park numerous times, and had introduced him to other kids. Of course, more often than not the parents would take their kids away from them, but he had still made some acquaintances at least. He didn't want to call them friends, as he didn't hang out with them regularly though they talked sometimes. It had been healing for him after the incident at the orphanage as well as the general public opinion on him.

Rat had taught him to have fun every once in a while, also introducing him to pranks. With his intelligence and creativity he had even out-pranked the black haired woman multiple times. It had lightened his mood considerably, and it also helped with when he tried to make friends with Cat. He had been generally moody, but now he was overall pretty happy and made witty jokes from time to time. Rat-nee had been a huge influence, hence the suffix was brought into her name fairly quickly. Rat expected him to be an expert trap maker when he grew up.

Sloth had taught Naruto to relax every once in a while, as life was too short and if you stressed out you'd never enjoy it. While the blond child never really stressed over anything in particular, he still considered it valuable life advice. You can't know what happens in the future after all. Some days they would just lounge around and do nothing, leaving all the work to Cat who came in the day after. Cat would always shout at him, and he would just stand there looking bored. It was kind of hilarious to Naruto.

Finally, Mantis taught him to be disciplined. Routine would focus your mind and make it sharper, readying it for what was going to happen that day. Set clear goals, and find out a system to work with so that you can reach it. A problem arises? Don't get emotional and think of the best way to solve it. Calm your mind and think. It was very calming, and has helped the boy solve many problems logically and efficiently.

All in all, they had been of great influence to the young Uzumaki, and it showed. He was smarter than ever, asking the right questions and making the right decisions, having fun and relaxing while also studying diligently and thoroughly. He was emotional when he needed to be but an expert in hiding his distress when the situation called for it. He would think logically when a problem arose and work around it like it wasn't even there.

The ANBU had noticed the changes, seeing as day by day he would take all of their more dominant traits and meld them into one personality. It was interesting to them, seeing the change.

The Hokage had noticed it too, but he was fine with it. It had made the kid a better person in his opinion.

Break

Today was Naruto's eighth birthday, and the ANBU members all had a surprise for him. All of them had shown up at the same time, and a little while later the Hokage had shown up as well. Seeing that everyone was there, Boar decided to say what the plan was. "Naruto, we have decided between the six of us that we will all take our masks off for you today. That is, with the permission of Hokage-Sama."

Naruto had to think about this. Why did they want to do it now all of a sudden? It was his birthday today, but it wasn't an occasion to reveal something this… monumental… all of a sudden. Ok, maybe he was overthinking it a little, but why not? In the end, he decided to just agree to it. "I would love to meet you all face to face. I know that I met you all already, but this will be a lot different I think." The Hokage nodded at that and turned to the ANBU. "You have my permission, given that Naruto doesn't tell anyone about your identity." Getting a nod from the blond eight year old, Boar mentioned for his squad to start revealing themselves one by one.

First was Mantis, who was the furthest from the left from Naruto's position. He grabbed his mask and pulled it from his face, revealing green eyes and a smooth face with a small nose. You could see that he was still young. "Hey, Naruto. Akagi Atsuhiro's the name. Make sure you don't tell anyone though." He gave Naruto a pointed look, causing the blond to roll his eyes. "Yes... Atsuhiro-nii? That sounds weird. Can I just call you Mantis-nii? Much easier.. Anyway, I won't tell anyone, I promise." Getting a nod from the green haired man, Naruto turned his head to look at the next person, which was Cat.

Pulling off her mask revealed a beautiful face with sparkling orange eyes. Naruto estimated her age to be in the early twenties. Her face had a little bit of a regal look to it. She smiled at the young man, giving him a small wave. "Hello, Naruto-Kun, my name is Hamasaki Manami, pleased to meet you." Once again Naruto rolled his eyes. "I have already known you for a year and a half Nee-san." His fellow blonde giggled at his response, making Naruto smile in return, before looking at the next person expectantly.

Next was Bird, who didn't hesitate to take his mask off and peer his blue eyes into Naruto's, creeping the little boy out. His staring was interrupted though, as Rat punched his arm lightly. "Knock it off Bird; you did that already when you met him the first time." Bird smirked at that. "I know, I still like to do that though, creeps people out. Anyhow, name's Aozora Kaiji. Sorry for creeping you out, I normally do that to new recruits in the ANBU to scare them." Waving it off, Naruto looked at the next person expectantly.

Rat slowly moved her hand to her mask, gripping the edges slowly and slowly taking it off, revealing a pair of big grey eyes peering over the top of the mask before she revealed the rest of her face. She had a pretty face, the only thing out of the ordinary being a long, thin scar along her cheek. "'Sup Naruto. Name is Akiba Sachiko, and don't you forget it!" She said, sticking out her tongue and raising her arm with her hand in a peace sign. Naruto chuckled a little at her introduction, expecting something like this from her.

The next person was Sloth, but he was staring out of the window thinking of other things, so Sachiko had to poke him in the ribs to make him pay attention. "It's your turn lazy ass." Naruto wondered how a person could look so detached from the world as Sloth lazily reached for his mask and pulled it off, revealing half-lidded green eyes and a face that resembled a… sloth… as weird as that sounded. It was slightly round with a bit of a round nose, and his mouth was half opened. It was kind of disturbing to look at, really. "Yo… Moriya Heiwa is what they call me." He said with a small wave before putting his hand back in his pocket. Naruto sighed at him, but wasn't really bothered as this was what he was always like.

Now it was the turn to Boar, the last of the bunch. He grabbed his mask and took it off, revealing hard black eyes and a strong jawline with a couple of scars here and there. It made him look extremely cool as well as experienced to Naruto. "Yamauchi Kento. What do you think Naruto?" asked the man in his normal gruff voice, though there was a hint of happiness in it that wasn't there at the start.

Naruto looked at all of their faces and smiled, causing all of them to smile back. "I think you are the coolest people ever, and I'm honored to know all of your faces. I really am." He said as he stood up and shook the hands of the men while giving the women a hug. "And while I also appreciate knowing your names, I think I am going to keep calling you by your masks. I like it that way, and I won't accidentally mess up and call you by your names in public." He said sheepishly, which got a laugh out of everyone.

The ANBU members saw no harm in that, so they all nodded. The Hokage had been silently watching all of this with a smile on his face, just now deciding to interject. "Now that that is over, who wants cake?"

Time skip: One year later

It was a cold autumn evening, rain poured from the heavens and a strong, cold wind blew around the discolored leaves that had fallen from the trees. Scarcely a few people could be seen scurrying along the streets, going home or elsewhere, but certainly in a hurry to have a roof over their head.

One person didn't seem to have this need though. A young blonde boy, couldn't be older than nine or so years, sat on a bench, soaked from the rain. He seemed to be crying, silently sobbing as he mumbled something incomprehensible. A cloaked person appeared beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto-Kun, what are you doing out here? You should be inside!" The figure could be heard saying.

The kid looked up at the bird-masked figure, his eyes widening slightly before he launched himself at them, surprising them quite a bit. "Bird!" He cried out while sobbing into the man's chest. The animal masked man could only hold the child awkwardly as he cried his eyes out. "We should go inside and you can tell me what the matter, ok?" He said as he picked up the child. He had his suspicions, but he would let the boy say it.

Naruto nodded softly as he was picked up, slightly shaking from the cold. "You're so cold, you're shivering! Good god kid, why did you go outside! Anyway, hold on so we can go to my house." He instructed as he positioned his hand in a half-ram sign, vanishing without a trace.

They reappeared inside a room. The room seemed to be inside an apartment, the floor, walls and ceiling furnished with wood, a table standing along the walls under the window, which looked out over the village of Konoha. A kitchen was next to it while a couch and coffee table were at the other side of the "living room". Bird set Naruto down on the couch before disappearing into a door, returning with towels, clothes and a blanket.

He proceeded to take the blonde's clothes off, giving him the fresh, warm ones, and wrapped the blanket around him. He quickly stopped shivering and only a few sniffles could be heard from time to time. "Now kid, tell me what happened." Bird said as he moved to the kitchen to make tea.

Naruto seemed to get a little depressed for a second before answering. "This morning Cat came to my house saying she had a message. She sat me down and we had tea, having a little small talk, you know? But then she seemed really sad for some reason, and… She told me Boar was killed in action…" He had to use all of his willpower to keep in his tears while saying that, but he managed.

He should have seen it coming. Bird knew about the death of Boar, hell, he was there when boar died. The squad had been sent on an assassination mission, the target being a corrupt businessman who had been bribing people to get what he wanted. Konoha had gotten wind of that, and there they were. They had even thought that it was overkill to go in with the five of them, Sloth not being there because it was his turn to guard Naruto.

They had gone there, and Boar had volunteered to go in and do the job, since it was only one guy. That turned out to be a mistake, as he was assaulted by 3 High-A ranked missing ninja. They had tried to save Boar when they saw him get launched through the window, but they had been too late. He was stabbed through the heart before they knew it. They had dispatched of the enemy quick enough, but they had been too late to save Boar.

They had known that Boar had been Naruto's favorite out of all of them. How couldn't they? The two were practically father and son when they were together, and both had talked almost non-stop about the other, with Naruto constantly asking when Boar would come around again.

Sighing heavily, Bird took the tea he prepared and went over to the couch, sitting down and giving Naruto his tea. He set his own cup down and faced the child. "You know, Naruto, I am sad that Boar died, too. But, what I also know is that the ninja life is dangerous, and that we could die at any moment. You know how he died? He died to protect us, his comrades and the village. I respect him a lot for that. It is the ultimate death for us ANBU, you know? Dying so that our comrades may live another day to help the tree that is Konoha thrive. You know what that is called? The Will of Fire." He placed his hand on Naruto's chest, right on his heart. "And you have it too. I can feel it. One day, you will be the one to protect the tree and make it flourish. Hopefully not by dying, but by being strong and striking down our enemies."

A chance could be seen in the crystal blue eyes of the blonde. A fire being lit by the power of Bird's words. Boar had been a father to him, and he would honor the man by fueling his Will of Fire and gain the power to protect the village that Boar loved so much. He was a smart kid though; some would compare him to the Nara minus the laziness, so he knew that he couldn't do that without the proper guidance. Sure, he had entered the academy last summer, but that would not be enough to reach his goals. "Bird-nii, thank you for that, I really needed it. I want to be strong like Boar and defend the village with my own Will of Fire now, but I can't do that by myself, or with the academy's teaching. I don't know why, but it feels like it's too easy, and that it doesn't make me strong er at all." He looked Bird straight in the eyes, looking directly into his soul. "Would you and the others help me with that?"

Chapter End

There. Your torture has finally passed.

Next chapter will probably be up over the next couple of days. Don't quote me on that though, I am generally a very busy and active person, so I might just get distracted or swamped get with work.

Future chapters will be longer as well, I just wanted to get the "Intro" part over with.

Now, please leave a review, ask questions through PM and all that…

Cheers,

LethalBlades