He had been happy at first, Jiji had allowed him early entry to the academy by a full two years instead of waiting till he was 8 like the rest of those who applied. He'd finally been given the chance to get started on his way to becoming a ninja and no one was going to stop him! ...or so he thought. First day in the academy he noticed those same glares from his teachers as he did the villagers who looked at him as though he was a diseased beggar, or with hatred he had come to know all too well. Sometimes those villagers followed up those glares with harsh words, abuse, sometimes even violence, but those didn't always last long. Though those got worse when he was kicked out of the orphanage at 5, something about a council ruling him as an official adult, therefore unable to stay in the orphanage, and thus having to live on the streets for a few months. He remembered just how steep his learning curve had to be over those first few weeks to learn what to look out for, ways to escape, where to get food, when to stay out of sight, and places he could find to sleep in peace.

It stayed that way until Jiji had found him on the streets, the look on the old man's face was clearly concerned, and asked why he was on the streets and why he hadn't come talk to him. Naruto told him he tried but the secretary woman always told him he had no time for him, and the orphanage people kicked him out over something the council said, but he asked if what they said was true, was he really an adult now? The emotions that played over the old hokage's face and eyes ranged from concern, to anger, to frustration, to calm, those his eyes he could tell were anything but calm, it reminded him of the time he'd seen some of the inuzuka dogs, they looked fine as they stood, but their eyes promised pain if you messed with them, and jiji had those same eyes. Jiji told him he'd take care of it and took him back to the hokage tower where he got to sleep in the side room of the hokage office, where the next day jiji said he got him an apartment and something where he got money every month for food and what not. He learned just as quickly as he did on the streets how to balance money and his needs to last a full month, though even that came up short, as he was unknowingly at the time paying double or more for sub par goods. But jiji told him that he'd be able to go to the academy the ext semester when he was six, he old had to wait until then and he'd been ecstatic over the news.

However as the now seven year old naruto new, it wasn't as enchanting as he'd thought it'd be. He was far behind the kids of the classroom, and he knew things were wrong, because when he asked questions like the other kids, he was punished to stand out in the hall, tests he knew he studied for were still failed, and he never got to participate in practicals like taijutsu or throwing weapons. The first year had been very rough because of this, trying to just keep up, sneaking into the library to read the few books he can on the subjects he can to try an catch up before being kicked out into the hall. He knew this wasn't right, and he was getting fed up with it, these people did not want him to become a ninja, he hated it, he hated the glares, the cruelty, the abuse and violence..the pain, the loneliness. Having had enough of it, he made his way to the hokage tower, where after meeting with the new secretary who replaced the one jiji used to have after jiji picked him up off the streets she too glared at him, but she didn't deny him entry. Once he got inside the office, he saw the familiar room he felt comfortable in and smiled at the old man behind the desk and stack of papers.

"Hello naruto, what can I do for you?" He smiled as he greeted his grandson in all but blood. Hiruzen was thankful for the break he had as it was anyway, the paper work was a never ending nightmare that hogged all his time and a pleasant distraction was just what he needed. Meeting and talking with naruto when he wasn't in trouble usually did the trick quite well. The boy was expressive with childish innocence and infinite curiosity to see and explore everything, despite how jaded and cynical he was forced to become to deal with the villagers who wronged him almost daily. The boy wore his khaki shorts and black shirt with the red spiral on the back in large format with a palm sized red spiral on the left breast of the chest, unknowingly the blonde haired blue eyed jinchuuriki always sported his personal clan symbol with how it was integrated into konoha's fashion unless custom designed to exclude it or clan clothing. He watched as Naruto jumped over the leather seat and plopped down comfortably on the seat in front of the desk, smiling as he relaxed. But then he noticed the stormy expression behind naruto's eyes and was now aware something was wrong.

"Jiji, can I talk with ya seriously, I got something that's been bothering me." He spoke, glancing around the room and the wizened hokage understood what he wanted, and a wave of his hand, his anbu guard left the room. Naruto always did have a sense of knowing when he was being watched, course he was aware of the times he'd been chased and beaten, so it was obvious he'd develop an instinct to avoid such problems, but he wondered if it was possible naruto might be a sensor, he knew that some uzumaki had such an ability, among others, such as kushina's chains, but that was something he'd intend to test later when he advanced in his shinobi studies. Once he gave his nod, naruto started from the beginning, telling about his time and experiences in the academy, to his own thoughts of how they were holding him back, and when hiruzen probed to see if he might be exaggerating, naruto went into very fine detail that he couldn't see as lying. Narrowing his eyes, he steeple'd his hands together, rest his lower face behind it as he clenched his teeth, so as to hide the expression he could not suppress from naruto.

This as honestly the first time naruto had ever come to him with complaints about his treatment, ever, but this also showed the gravity of how bad it was and what it meant to the blonde, they were sabotaging his education in the area he was adamant about being successful in, the one thing he was truly wanting and the instructors were undercutting him at every turn to try and crush him. The fact that naruto had held on for over a year despite knowing how bad it was spoke of his determination to try and move through it, but if it was as bad as he was saying, then things needed to change. With all the abuse and cruelty he suffered, naruto was entitled to so much more compensation in his hopes and desires yet this was all he was fighting for at the moment, and he'd be damned not to see him have it. But before he could speak, naruto spoke up once more and wha he said shocked him to the core.

"Jiji, I know people are gonna keep hating me and doing what they can to stop me or hurt me, so instead, do you think I can have all the books and everything I need so I can teach myself at home after school, that way at least I'm getting something?" He asked the wizened hokage, who now contemplated this offer. Hiruzen did see some of the emrit in this idea, if he had all the needed learning material at home, then he wouldn't be as stunted if he could actually learn on his own time. Plus it'd keep him off the streets and hopefully out of trouble...but that didn't take care of his progress in the academy nor of the punishment the teaching staff had coming to him. He was silent for the time being as mulled over multiple ideas and then finally he smirked behind the steeple'd hands, before leaning back into his chair.

"I think that is doable naruto, however if we do this I am going to require monthly evaluations of your progress in your studies, though those will be done by me or someone I trust, and the occasional tutor I assign for practical lessons. I'll be pulling you out of the school for the rest of the year so you can focus on training instead, and you'll be rejoining the academy to pick up where you left off. Agreed?" He spoke, and upon receiving natuo's vigorous nodding, he smiled and stood up. "Good, now wait here while I go get the materials you'll need so you can get started." He stated as he left the room, though a small handsign once he was in the hall directed naruto's anbu guard, a single anbu to watch over naruto while he was in the room alone, the anbu having heard everything since the room was not sealed with a privacy jutsu. This might be a little bit of a gamble, but the hokage was lookig at this as an opportunity, as much as it was beginning to repay the blonde for his constant sacrifice for the village. Naruto didn't deserve his treatment, so he was going to do for him as much as he could, in whatever subtle way he could, and that meant taking active control of policies and proceedings again, instead of allowing the council to handle it, workload or not, this was a ninja village, and it started with the academy ad what it teaches. For naruto though, he was going to be giving him more than just the basics, much more, but he had an idea on how to make naruto work for his education to prove how far he was willing to go.

Once alone, Naruto laid back in his comfy leather seat as he relished what was likely going to be his last time to sit in, or at least for a very long time. His mind was made up, while he was thankful for jiji, and the ichiraku family...that was it. He didn't have anyone else, and they all ran business and he couldn't spend his entire day with them. He was lonely and the hate...he was sick of it. That was why he was planning to run away, he'd find some place that appreciated him, he already had it planned out. But he had promised jiji he'd become an awesome ninja, and he meant it, but that didn't mean he'd be a konoha ninja, or through the academy, but he did want to make jiji proud, so he asked for what he needed. This way he can learn konoha's way to become a ninja and maybe one day come back and show jiji he truly could do it. Still... he was going to miss jiji and the ichiraku's, but three people out of an entire village that hated him...it wasn't enough. So he was adamant and preparing what he needed to make this work.

As he waited he looked around the room and noticed the vault off to the far side of the room, he remembered it, it'd been a year ago when he visited jiji and he was doing business in there. He was taking to him from the vault door, and the old man told him he was working on something from the big scroll, and he asked what was inside, only to learn it had the jutsu of the past hokage in it, and he asked of he could learn them, only to be told he had to be a hokage to read and learn the jutsu from the scroll. He was more motivaed to become hokage at the time, but now he realized that with the way peopled were, that likely wasn't going to happen. But now that he was thinking about it...if he could learn some of the hokage jutsu while he was gone and come back, maybe it'd help him become hokage even faster? The thought rooted in his head as he walked over to the vault an started messing with the combination, remembering it from the last time he'd been in here and saw jiji opening it. He didn't forget anything he saw, part of the reason why the beatings an glares got to him so badly, he couldn't forget them no matter what he tried. After the last combination was in, he opened the vault and stared inside, unaware of a hidden pair of eyes on him though un-moving despite their shock.

The anbu guarding him today realized more was going on than just what was presented, since viewing the boy from the shadows after the hokage left and instead of acting, weasel continued to observe, uzumaki was proving to be more and more interesting. The boy was clearly intelligent, if not by his pranks, then by how he kept up or approach certain things, not just experience, but by critical thought and forethought, though those could be lacking at times, it was there, the there was this recent development. Weasel watched as the blonde went into the vault with a pen and paper, and opened up the container box housing the forbidden scroll, he tensed, ready to intervene, but as he opened the scroll and read over it, he relaxed slightly, as he talked to himself, ad suddenly things started to fall into place as he mentioned how some of the jutsu would be awesome to learn and impress people when he came back, among other things. The emotions on his face,t he asking for learning materials, and those words, plus taking the chance despite the risk of being caught to learn powerful jutsu...he was leaving. And honestly, he couldn't blame the boy, the blue eyed boy was damn near universally hated by the entirety of konoha except for a few and no matter how upbeat, that environment just wasn't healthy, eventually you break, or leave it behind. And uzumaki was choosing to leave it all behind.

Well, not permanently if those words were any indication, he wanted to go somewhere he wasn't hated, and then come back when he could be a full fledged ninja he was betting. So despite the grave offense this way, he stayed hidden and watched as the uzumaki copied things from the forbidden scroll onto his notepad for later study and learning, spying such jutsu as the kage bunshin, weapon kage bunshin, and various other jutsu, though not really paying attention to what he was copying just getting it down on paper. Obviously he was aware of the risk, so he was going as fast as he could for the things he found interesting or of use.

Naruto could have kept going, but then he realized he was still in the vault and running out of time and if he was caught, there wasn't much he could do to talk his way out of trouble. So he finished up with the current jutsu he was copying, then double checked he had everything copied right before closing up the scroll, replacing it back to where it belonged and finally closing up the vault. He was nervous over what he did not, but no going back, stuffing the notepad into his back pocket, he waited for a while, looking around the office, remembering some of the days he'd spend the entire day in the office or a night. Thinking on it for a moment, there was something he always wanted to do now that he had the chance to do it.

Sarutobi was happily returning back to his office, quite proud of his idea and how it would play out. Naruto would potentially have all the education he could want for the next couple of years and more, and be quite adept by the time he'd leave the academy to graduate as a shinobi, and it'd be based off his own merit if he proved to be as studious as his father or as determined as his mother. The chance was his to see how far he could go, and he'd see it done, with the occasional helping hand to ensure he was on the right path. In his hand was a sturdy backpack filled with a number of scrolls, they were quite an investment to make in the blonde, but he had confidence naruto would show how wise of an investment it would be. Though as he walked into his office, he was amused to see naruto now in the leather chair, but his seat behind the desk, pointing at imaginary figures and giving out orders as though he were the hokage. It was entirely too amsuing an good natured that he couldn't help but not to smile and decided a little play was alright, as naruto made another order, hiruzen called out. "Hai hokage-same, will there be anything else?" He watched as naruto went off on anther order before reality caught up with him and he froze ompletely, words and body, before looking over to grandfatherly old man with a smile on his face. Naruto quickly jumped over the desk and took a eat in his leather chair, waiting as innocently as could be.

Hiruzen chuckled as he walked over to his desk sitting the backpack down. "Alright naruto, As agreed, I've gotten you the learning materials yu'll be needing, but I took the liberty to add more to what you'll be getting than just the basics, as I want to see how well you can progress with only minimal help but all the material you need outside of the academy and the monthly visits and practicals." He stated, taking out a scrll of the backpack and unraveling it from one end of the desk, to another, where on the scroll was multiple circles with kanji held inside and patterns in and around the circles, as well as empty squares besides some of the circles and other patterns. "These scrolls are sealing scrolls configured into storage scrolls, they are able to hold objects that are sealed into them, such as books,s crolls, supplies, even food, and so long as their internal space as dictated by the seal quality, the patterns ina nd around the storage seal, they can store a great number of things or a few very large things depending, the infomation for how much these storage seals holds is on the scrolls themselves. Now pay attention, Sealed inside these seals are the learning materials you'll need, from the beginning of the scroll is the basics of both academics and ninja skills and test materials in both. You'll start with the basics or beginning of the scroll as they are marked, and work your way through the material, then as you complete them, you'll do the tests provided and place them onto the square beside the storage seal they came from, where the seals inside the scroll will evaluate the test and determine your grades. If sufficient, you'll be allowed to take a comprehensive timed test in the same square over everything you learned, and score well before you can move onto the next storage seal for the next bout of learning learning material. Understood?" He asked the boy, though as he was looking at him, he could see he only caught about half of it, so he explained it again and allowed him to as questions this time before moving on.

"Good, now you have learned how to feel and use chakra by now despite your instructors correct?" and once he had his nod, he continued, though pulled naruto over, pulling off a different scroll, setting it down and open. "Good, now this here is a blank storage scroll, nothing is inside it right now, but, if we take say, a kunai, and placed it on the empty circle, then pushed chakra into it, watch what happens." He stated, and demonstrated the storage sealing and unseal, then taught naruto how to do it and had him demonstrate as well. "Now that's good, this is what you'll have to do for all your scrolls. I've included a number of blank storage scrolls for your personal use, take care of them and they'll be of great use to you. Now as for what I'v included in your scrolls for your learning, there is a list inside the backpack that details much of it, though not everything, some of it is a surprise that will remain as such until you can get to them, but you'll only get them if you show effort and progress in your learning which is up to you. But I have to insist you keep this a secret naruto, people wouldn't like it if they knew I was showing favortism, but you do deserve this, and being held back in the academy like you have is wrong, and I personally apologize for this, but know I will be correcting it soon naruto." He told the burdened boy, who's eyes were wide as dinner plates, then suddenly to find himself being hugged by said boy with a grip as though life itself were slipping away from him. He smiled at his surrogate grandson and ruffled his hair affectionately, the boy didn't deserve the hate, not by a long shot. However he still had work to do unfortunately, and he was going to have to work harder to meet his daily quota. "Now run along home naruto, go on and get started if you want, you'll be finishing your the rest of the week at the academy before I have you pulled so you can focus on your self study, alright?"

"You got it Jiji, Thank you thank you thank you! I promise to learn everything you gave me and then some, you'll see, by the time I become a shinobi, I'll be really strong, you just watch me! Later Jiji!" He shouted, but before he left, he looked at the stack of paperwork ad remembered something about the clone jutsu he copied. "Hey jiji, a while back I saw some of the ninja in the green vests training using bunshin that could actually hit things, rather than the bushin they showed us at the academy that goes away when you try to hit it and go through it. Wouldn't it be easier if there was a bunch of you like the bunshin those ninja used, since they can sign the papers too like you can?" He asked innocently, as he remembered the times he heard the old man complaining about paper, and he was being truthful of his words, just remembering the bunshin he copied down reminded him of that. Though the bewilder'd look n the hokage's face told him he had never thought to such a thing, and the frustration was clear as he scrunched his faced, pinching the bridge of his nose and cursed to himself under his breath, before forming a cross hand seal and several more hiruzens who started a divide and conquer on his paper work, before thanking him and sending him off with a grateful smile.

Oh yes, sarutobi was clearly expecting great results from naruto if he thought of this use for kage bunshin with just a passing observation fot he technique in use. Though he wondered where he saw it only after naruto was gone... though he left it alone as he tore into his paper with new vigor ready to get it done. With a solution t his paperwork problem, he could delegate more f his focus to other areas and devide up the remedial work to clones whil he handled important issues himself, and this would aid him in handling multiple issues at once. He chuckled evilly as he contemplated just how he was going to reclaim his village from the council that had been undermining his authority, and the first place to start was the academy. He drew up a new document that ordered, after the next week the slow removal and replacement of all current teaching staff, and new teaching staff becoming familiarized with a new long term curriculum that would match and exceed the old curriculum step for step. When the kyuubi attack happened, they lost a great number of shinobi, and the civilian council pushed forward lowering the stanards so they could pass civilians into shinobi ranks where their jounin sensei could pick u the slack and bring them up to speed so they could swell their ranks, this worked to a degree, but it got a number of civilian council children into the academy and into place of importance in shinobi business, while giving the cilivian cuncil a foothold in shinobi matters. Though the death toll of genin rose after that since the students weren't nearly as prepared as they should be, but with the lack of numbers it was a trade off. Now though, they needed quality, not quantity, because if another war broke out, it was likely they'd suffer heavy losses, so they needed genin to be of proper quality before graduating the academy.

Another point to this was now a routine assessment of all active duty ninja as well as annual assessments of all reserve ninja who were either partly retired or served in different functions of the village, such as the labor force, administrative positions, or other such roles instead of the active duty shinobi who regularly went on missions. The assessment of the active and reserve ninja would ensure that those that weren't up to par were given the chance to get back up as proper for their rank, or they'd be demoted to where their abilities qualified them to be. A little motivation would be a bonus on their next mission following the assessment, proportional to the rank of the mission they undertook. He was also taking a page from tsunade's book and requiring all ninja of the village to be qualified in first aid and field aid, while not the medic program his female student envisioned, it would at least ensure that they prevented genin deaths where possible, though he was offering a similar bonus as the assessment, to any ninja who undertook more extensive medical training, the bonus increasing for how far along they progress as a medic. Although some would raise the point where he'd be getting the funding for these things, he had the solution, since he'd be undercutting the civilian council in shinobi matters, he'd be instituting a village wide audit, with the help of T&I to help 'enforce' uniformity and completeness of the audit. In things grand in scale and scheme, currency does the talking, so follow where the ryo leads, and once the audit is complete, he'd likely turn up a number of illegal and illicit activities and be able to track them down, which could aid him in cleansing his council and serving to warn those either innocent, or at least not caught, that their lax kage is gone, and hiruzen was not going to be bowled over for their uses anymore. Yes, these and a great many things were changing, and while he was doing this for the betterment of konoha, naruto was the one who gave him the wake up call in regards to the most important piece of any village, It's children and their futures.

Naruto was making his way home, the sun was far to the side of the sky, where the blue was just starting to tint with faint of warmer colors indicating a fast approaching sun set. After having left the office, naruto was a bit conflicted, jiji had just done something amazing for him and he was second guessing his decision to leave, but if he stayed, could he really ensure all the hate that much longer? He wasn't paying attention to the looks and glares or the whispers as he walked as he thought his decision over. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on perspective, his decision was made for him as a painful impact with his temple knocked him to the ground and he was disoriented, everything was fuzzy and the side of his face felt warm. His eyes soon refocused, and from the side he'd been hit he saw other older kids, smirking at him down the street, all tossing up rocks in their hands. Looking down at his feet, he saw a similar rock, flecked with blood,a nd touching his face, he realized it was his own blood. Narrowing his eyes, he came to his decision immediately. No, he couldn't do this, he couldn't survive like this, if now the kids his own age were acting like the adults, who those around either were conveniently ignoring the scene or watched on with a smile. Yeah, he was done with this village, and as he got up, he booked it without much warning, despite his light-headedness and some tears, he just ran hard.

Weasel had looked on to the scene ad despite his own wishes to help the boy, the boy while legally an adult, was still a child and an civilian, just as the kids were, and he could not interfere with such matters, lest it come back on naruto thanks to the Civilian council. That council was the source of a lot of naruto's problems, while it wasn't able to be proven, they were the ones who had let it leak out that naruto contained the nine tails, Hiruzen had been content to allow naruto to fade into the background so he could enjoy as much of a childhood as he could. Hiruzen had only informed his council of naruto's status, and while it couldn't explicitly be proven, many knew it was their doing that naruto's status was leaked, because in all likeliness, they felt the village deserved an outlet for their grief, and their own ignorance of sealing and the boy's status, just cemented their own disposition towards the boy. Once the first assassination attempts had been foiled, the hokage realized the damage done and so his law had been instated, a law that saw weasel and others ending a number of lives because of it. The civilians had grown wise to it eventually, but there was the occasional brave soul every now and then who just had to test the waters again only to get dragged under when they went too far. Now though he followed the boy home to ensure he made it there, if he was indeed going to leave, it'd be tonight, so he had a few preparations of his own to make.

Once home, naruto threw his back pack to the bed and held his head that was still swimming, but already the pain was fading, leaving the headache that came after to stay a while longer before it too faded. He had no idea why he healed so fast, just that he did and he was thankful for it, otherwise he'd be in serious trouble over the years. But once he had his head in order, he went to the bathroom of his apartment and washed up, getting into clean clothes and tossing his blood stained shirt and pants to the floor, going back to his bedroom, where he pulled out his notepad...he wanted to start now, but if he was to leave, it'd have to be soon, he'd been planning it like this, otherwise he'd have to wait and he had prepared for it to happen tonight. Ever since he got this notion to run away, he'd been preparing, saving as much as he could from the last two months stipend and spending only when necessary, making due with the bare essentials and even forgoing ichiraku ramen with the rare treat only, and today because he receive'd this month's stipend yesterday, so he had money saved up. And now with the storage scrolls he had room to spare for all the things he wanted to bring but was going to have to leave behind before, and tonight, was something he had panned for to make his escape from the village, So with that, he got to work sealing all his food, clothes, as many containers of water and anything else he needed and wanted into one of the empty storage scrolls.

Weasel returned sometime later, and was thankful to see the boy was still there, and was making use of his storage scrolls to seal away things he needed and wanted, so he was indeed leaving toight and taking advantage of his new resource. Good. Weasel was actually quite supportive of this course of action, there was no telling when someone would finally get lucky and end up killing the boy, and the boy needed to be out of this hate filled environment, maybe if he did return, the people of this village would receive what they had coming. Weasel himself had gathered more gear and supplies, as his duty was to watch and guard the boy, not ensure he stayed in the village. He was a legal adult after all thanks to the council, and a civilian, he could leave the village, legally, whenever he wished, but because of his jinchuuriki status, most of his guard would bar him from leaving. So properly prepared to keep an eye and guard of the boy, he'd follow him out, maybe enough to see he got somewhere safely, before returning. He was sure he'd receive serious reprimand for allowing this to happen, but at leas this way, they could ensure he was safe, and even a possible eye on him for the future. This was what the boy needed, above all else, and he was supportive of it, because it could have easily as been his own little brother to be the jinchuuriki, who he'd been looking after and holding that night of the kyuubi attack. That was a humbling thought, especially to think of what all his little brother might have faced if he had instead been chosen rather than naruto.

Inside the apartment naruto had finished his packing and got himself geared up. He left a note for the hokage to find once he eventually came looking for him when he realized he wasn't around. Locking up, and out of habit sticking his keys into his pocket, he made his way through the village, sticking to alleys, cutting shortcuts where he could around buildings and construction areas, he stayed out of notice, having scoped this route previously for prank escape routes. His silent and unknown guard followed diligently, quite impressed with the boy's stealth, despite it was learned from experience rather than education. Naruto checked the time on his watch that he got from jiji, almost time. This was why it had to be tonight, because after a few more minutes, two ninja came from outside the gate laughing it up and chatting, heading to the bar. This week of the month, on this day, these two had guard duty, and as he noticed, they left their post 5 minutes before shift rotation so they didn't have to deal with the hassle of congestion of others signing in and out at the shift log where ever they did that, apparently they didn't care too much for security. And once they were out of sight and hearing range, naruto came out of the shadows and booked it with all the speed of escaping a violent beating imparted upon him, ducking into the woods rather than stay on the road and sticking to the woods.

Weasel had to admit, the kid was good, his instructors were blind by their biased to not realize the potential the boy had, he could have been a natural infiltrator and stealth operative, even as a seven year old he was patient and calculating to prepare and plan for his one chance to make his escape work. Perhaps he could do more than just watch and guard him on his excursion out of the village, perhaps much more. He followed effortlessly through the woods, despite his skill and potential, he was still just a seven year old, while he was an anbu, so he stayed his course through out the night. Naruto kept running for long hours with only short rests here and there, just to catch his breath, he didn't stop, not until he was well away from the village, before exhaustion was setting in, so he climbed a tree, pulled a scroll, and unsealed a few premade meals and ate hurriedly, before leaning back and falling asleep. Weasel watched and nodded to himself, waiting a half hour, before he approached and pulled out the scroll he identified as his supply scroll. Pulling out a few scrolls of his own that contained training knowledge tips and tricks, jutsu scrolls, mission supplies, extra sets of weapons and a spare anbu short sword he had, along with a note describing everything including a letter introducing himself and speaking of what he witnessed, as well as other things he wished to impart on the blonde. Lastly he unsealed his notebook and wrote down more jutsu for him, including some things restricted to anbu, but wrote down notes regarding all the jutsu he had and how he should proceed with his training, before sealing it all back into his scroll. Replacing the storage scroll back to his back pack, he retreated back to his high vantage point in another treat, and settled in for a power nap, he was a polyphasic sleeper after all.

Hours later, the sun was just rising and naruto had awoken with the sun's rays in his face. Yawing, he was at first confused, before he smiled brightly, remembering what he had just pulled off. "That's right..I'm finally away from the village..." He spoke aloud, feeling as if a weight was off his chest. Naruto took his time to eat a good breakfast before he stood and climbed down, getting ready for his day to keep going. He was still in konoha territory, so he had to keep going, best he could do was get to the next town and decide what to do from there, true he hadn't planned that far ahead, but he didn't know much abut outside of konoha, but he knew how to survive on the streets, he had money, and he could steal if he really had to. Just enough to find some place to settle and start learning and training... yeah didn't sound so well thought out now that he had to face it full force, but he was here now and had to deal with his decision, whatever happened, he was damn sure he'd be happier than in the village. So he got started on his way again, and kept going for the time being till he could get to the nearest town he had mapped out.

Back in the village, Hiruzen had stayed up the night getting all the documents needed to start his reforms and audit for the village, as well as clearing out his paperwork, all of it, including the daily required as well as the back logged paperwork. Despite his fatigue, looking at a clean desk free of stacks of paperwork was a blessing. Drinking his coffee, spiked with a powdered soldier pill to enhance the effect, he smiled as he got his secretary to bring in a breakfast while he cleaned in his office quarters. He was feeling good, better than he had in a long tie, taking control again, fully and with clear direction with where he wanted to go with it like he had when he was first anointed as the third hokage. Once cleansed, he returned to his desk, and soon later, his breakfast arrived, taking his breakfast, he passed the council copies of his reform and orders there in to her to be filed through the proper channels and executed immediately. His secretary had glanced them over before her eyes exploded in shock, and then took stok of his office, to find not a single stack of paperwork. Sh turned back to sarutobi, and smiled. "It's good to have you back sir." The woman spoke, bowing her had before she left.

"It's good to be back..." He spoke aloud to himself as he took his breakfast at his desk, planning to enjoy his breakfast before the council all but demanded for his presence once his new orders had been processed. They'd find a new hokage where they remembered the old man from the day previous. He chuckled as he made a new cup of spiked coffee, and prepped a pipe of tobacco for after his breakfast. Today was going to be a good day.

Naruto had made good distance and time, so he thought, and felt he was good for a good break to eat and rest, sure he was deep enough into the woods away from the road or ninja traffic to not be noticed. Taking a seat, he made himself a lunch and ate with gusto, before taking time to enjoy the forest. It was nice to be able to actually enjoy nature, rather than seek it for safety from violent pursuers. As he sat on a fallen tree for his seat, he took a deep breath and listened to the animals going about their day. Then he heard something, it was faint, but it wasn't any animal call he knew, it wasn't an animal at all now that he thought about it but rather...voices, and singing. Opening his eyes, he focused on the sound...he knew he needed to get to the next town, but the singing was enchanting and he was curious to who could sing such a such a song. Getting up from his seat, he started to edge hi way through the woods toward the source, he was confident he could avoid anyone who was singing but he just needed to see who was singing to satisfy his curiosity.

Weasel had stopped and ate as well, contemplating how he would approach the boy soon, his course of travel indicating he was going for the town closest to konoha. If he could approach him and help him, he might be able to better ensure his safety and settling in somewhere he can get what he needs, possibly with a contact outside the village. That is until naruto suddenly got up and started walking deeper into the forest, which confused him, he had stayed his course parallel to the road, but far enough to avoid contact with anyone. So why had he suddenly turned deeper into the woods? Did he intentionally stop here? No, not from the look on his face, something has caught his attention. But what?

Naruto continued to followed the singing, the closer he got the better he could hear it, but it was taking a long time to get closer. He knew he had good hearing, but damn, how far was this person...no, persons, people. He could tell now, it was more than one voice, they were taking turns singing the same song. Now he really wanted to know, so he sped up to a jog and kept his course, getting closer. It was a good twenty minutes more before it was much louder, and apparently the source. He looked at what looked like an old ruin in the cliff side, broken dull grey stone little around the area, reclaimed by nature. The singing voices were coming from inside. Creepy as it was, he was too enamored with the singing to pull away and needed to know, so much it was like it was pulling him in. So he followed the voice inside, carefully, sticking tot he walls as he explored the ruin.

Weasel was getting worried, he had no idea why naruto had come out this far, apparently to some old ruin, and ideas were coming to mind. Had he actually been instructed to come out here by someone else before hi escape? He had no idea, but he drew his short sword and dropped down from his tree, and followed naruto inside to the ruin, wondering what could have drawn naruto out here in the first place, unable to hear the singing.

Inside, Naruto could distinctly hear the singing now, and repeat it, silently mouthing the song in time with the singing voices. The song was soothing, and brought him some measure of peace. The halls of the ruin inside were in surprisingly god shape, though something was different. There was symbols on the walls that weren't kanji, katakana or any character that he recognized, but they seemed familiar in a way. The further he walked, the less sure of his decision he was becoming in coming in here. Suddenly the symbols started to glow, he jumped, looked around ready for whatever might come at him, but nothing. He was about to book when the female voice took over for singing, and new peace filled him. Letting out a breath, he followed deeper in to the singing, just to solve this mystery. His silent guard had also prepared for a threat, but when none came, he resumed his vigil of his young charge, blade at ready.

Naruto encountered no obstacles, but along the way he encountered a chest, and at his touch, it opened, inside lay a few things inside, but at the moment he just want to get this done, so he sealed them away for later inspection, and continued on. After a few minutes of walking, the hall was becoming better lit from a source further down the hall, and came upon a door to a chamber. Inside the chamber was large, very large, circular, and on the wall statues were seemed to be carved out of the wall. The status depicted beings of strange shape, people with wings, horns claws, even a woman with hair stretched out across her statue, a man turned beast, a man with one heavy articulate wing, another wielding some ind of horn like staff, and other, including a rough and the most humanly shaped man sunken into or rising out from a curiously shaped sword with fur on his shoulder. The singing was loudest here, and now a child's voice was singing, and it was inviting...but sad. But with no clear source of the singing, he spoke out. "Hello? Is there anyone here? I was just wanting to know who's singing." He spoke out tot he lit chamber, the light coming from a strange sphere at the top. The chamber went silent now, and now he was getting scared. His silent guard narrowed his eyes, what singing?

Naruto was seriously reconsidering his choice and was about to run when a voice called out to him. "You...can here singing?" The child voice called out to him from nowhere, scared, but naruto did nod and spoke he did. There was a silence that followed after it, before one of the statues, the one of the man with the single wing glowed and a figure took shape in front of it, the form of a pre-teen child wearing ripped long short, barefoot, and a purple hooded sleeveless vest, his skin quite dark, his face shadowed. He stepped forward, and smiled. "You can see me, right?" He asked and naruto nodded. Weasel who was watching from cover of the portal to the chamber, was mystified. He could see the child now as well, hear him, was this what naruto had heard before. He continued to watch. The boy looked naruto over a moment, his smile staying. "You are a curious one...a dreamer in this world, yet you have other dreamers resting within...two close to you, another two of great power, but polar to one another, but related...one has been dreaming from one life to the next and now dreams with you...the other has been dreaming since your birth but he is not natural to you. Yet there is a quality all your own..." He stated as he reached out, touching naruto's head, quickly redrawing his hand back. "...despite the pain forced on you." He finished, his smile ever present.

Naruto's eyes widen, much of what he was saying just didn't make sense, what did being a dreamer mean and the other dreamers? Weasel was alarmed, did the boy mean the kyuubi, he had to, the dreamer from his birth, but what about the other one? And the two close to him? But he could apparently read minds, or at least memories by touch and an instant. His body tensed as he readied to rush in and grab naruto, this wasn't good.

"Um...who are you? My name's Naruto Uzumaki...um, I like your vest-" He cut his own words before he said anything else stupid, he liked his vest, seriously? Scowling at his own mumbling and nervousness, he looked up at the boy to see he was still smiling.

"My name? Well, most just call me, or those like me, Fayth...but as far as my name... you can call me Bahamut. As far as my vest, would you like one?" He asked, his smile infectious, and naruto was calming down as he smiled too and nodded. The boy waved his hand, and material formed around naruto's body, before taking shape as a identical vest, but the golden wheel on the back rather than six spokes, it held nine.

Naruto looked over his new vest and smiled. "Thank you, it's perfect!" He cheered, now quite relaxed.

Bahamut smiled and nodded. "You're quite welcome...well, would you like to meet the others?" Naruto took a moment, before he nodded and bahamut turned, a more figures formed from the other statues. Several women, more men, all of varying looks to oen antoher, but all impressive. The man who was in sword looked the same, and they stepped forward. "Allow me to introduce them. Valefor, Ifrit, Ixion, Shiva, Anima, the magus sisters cindy mindy and sandy, yojimbo and his hound, and finally, Jecht. We are the fayth, well...most of us." Bahamut spoke, glancing at jecht who shrugged.

Naruto bowed respectfully, greeting them properly as jiji always told him he should when meeting new people. "I heard the singing when I was out in the woods. I was wondering who was singing so I came to find out. I'm sorry if I disturbed you...but what was that you were singing." He asked aloud, eyes wide to take in all he was seeing.

Several of the...fayth, smiled, others shook their heads in amusement, whiel some gave a nod, but none of them reacted negatively. "No offense taken, rather it's nice for someone to hear us. What you heard was our song, the Hymn of the Fayth, something we sing to soothe others and bring hope, but also to remember why we did what we did. It holds a lot of meaning to us ad those we associate with." one of the women spoke, she had fair skin and pale hair bound braids fixed with metal ornaments at the end. He was as beautiful as a perfect ice sculpture, but her smile and gaze was as warm as a mothers who was looking at her child, like he had seen when secretly watching other. Naruto felt uncomfortable under her gaze, never having experienced it before, she seemed to pick up on it as she spoke again. "You were running away from the village who scorned you correct young one?" She asked, and naruto nodded meekly.

The fayth looked to one another, silently conversing. A large dark skinned man with fiery red hair spoke up next. "We already have our chosen to end the dream to allow for rest." He stated, but it wasn't a harsh ton, merely a factual one, indifferent.

"That we may, but you feel it from him as do the rest of us. A quality about him that doesn't just come around, and no matter where he'd go there, he'd likely find comfort and care more than he'd receive here." Another woman spoke, she had light red hair and piercing eyes, with flowing garments that reminded naruto of something similar to a kimono, but they flowed as if they were wings about her person, catching air that made her movements look as if she were gliding.

"Another wouldn't hurt, besides, he has a strong connection to this world, he can always return." A man with a wild white mane spoke who carried a staff made out of curved, stripped horn apparently.

"All true" Bahamut began, though he turned to the ne called jecht. "What do you think, you're usually quite vocal." The boy of the group called out to the man, who seemed deep in thought.

The man regarded naruto for a while longer, before he stepped forward, and kneel'd before naruto. "Naruto... I have a boy, about your age...one day he's gonna have to do something he might not be ready to do, or want to do, but he won't have much choice n the matter, because either he does it and saves many many lives, or fails and many people will die, and it will continue again until the cycle ends. I'd rather be around long enough to see the cycle end, and my boy to do it, but he'll need help. Tell me naruto, if you could help a lot of people, save a lot of people. Would you?" He asked, looking at the boy's blue eyes, that reminded him so much of his own sons and yuna's own single blue eye.

Naruto looked at the man, he looked so...strong, yet his shoulders were like jiji's, like he was holding up boulders on his shoulders, despite the strength he seemed to have. Thinking it over, could he save people...after some thought, he came to a realization. Isn't that what a hokage does, like the fourth? And what the others said earlier, a place where he'd find care and comfort, and he could return here if he needed to. Taking a breath, he looked back up to jecht's eyes, he nodded. "I would. More than anything, I would rather help people, than hurt them." He spoke honestly and with determination not found in those his age, showing his maturity and determination. Jecht smiled, and ruffled the boy's hair.

The man looked at the others and nodded, who returned the gesture."Good lad." He sad as he stepped back, where bahamut stepped forward now.

"Naruto, would you like to go to a world different from your own? The people there are mostly united against a single threat, one that is indiscriminate, but sleeps for the time being. if you are willing to help the people of the world fight this threat, we can send you. While it sleeps, you can grow strong, when you are needed here, we can bring you back here and vice versa. This must be your choice, but we would be grateful, if you'd accept." He stated, with a smile.

Naruto was apprehensive, he looked conflicted. Weasel was as well, eh should have gotten naruto out of here before these beings came forward, even he could sense they were powerful, but he couldn't gauge their power, it didn't feel like chakra. Naruto took a breath, after some thought, he nodded. "I'll go." He spoke confidently of his decision, but nervous of the unknown it brings.

Jecht smirked. "Good on ya boy. Now listen. I'd ask ya if when ya meet my boy Tidus, ya try and help him out, but not to mention me. He's not all that happy with me, but f you see a man in red robes with a large sword named auron, ask him about the lat time I ever got drunk and the shoopuf I cut. As for tidus, if it comes down to it, ask about the jecht shot mark three, he'll get the gist of it. Don't be afraid to reach out to others kid, that's a strength you gt the others don't." He finished, and at naruto's confused glance, he waved it off. "You'll understand in time. Now, it's time to go." He finished as he waved over to the youngest looking of their group, who nodded and stretched out his hand.

"Indeed. The vest I gave you is special, it'll help. So take my hand and you can go." He stated, waiting for naruto to take it. Naruto looked at it tentatively, a little unsure, but he was reaching out for it.

Weasel despite his own caution recognized the point of no return. "Naruto! Don't!" He shouted as he raced into the room. Naruto's eyes widen as he turned his head to see the anbu, one he recognized, a guard of his like inu and neko. panicking, thinking he was here t take him back to the village, he lashed out and grabbed bahamut's hand. As soon as they touched, naruto and bahamut faded within a moment. Weasel cursed as he stopped and fell into a guard position. The others all looked at him with judging glances, before jecht just smirked.

"Just missed him boy. Sorry bout that, but I wouldn't worry too much. He'll be treated better there than he ever was here." He spoke with his rough baritone voice to the weasel masked boy. "Sides, it was all naruto's decision, Itachi." He voiced to the youth, who focused totally on him now.

"And just what is the name of this other place you speak of...and my name, how do you know it?" He spoke, directing his short sword for potential conflict with the man.

"A world named spira, and please lower your weapon, and dismiss your sharigan. They will serve you little here. We know of you the same we know of naruto. we dream, and dreams connect us. Now I'm sure you have question, but if my senses are correct, your leader is now aware naruto is no longer within the village and is looking for him. Bring your leader here and we shall explain to you both." The woman named shiva spoke, and to demonstrate her point on the futility of his action, he glided to and through itachi like a specter. the anbu was stunned, she was see through now, as were the rest of them. Sighing, he had to find out how to salvage the situation. But nodded and sheathed his short sword, dismissing his dojutsu. Realizing there really was nothing he culd do, he sighed and nodded, leaving. outside the ruins, he could feel anbu within the forest now, sweeping the area. Pulling a flare signal from his pouch, he shot it up into the air, signalling to the other anbu and his hokage of his location. Normally it was too obvious a sign to use for shinobi aside from emergencies, but this qualified.

Hours earlier back at the village, Hiruzen had just gotten out of a particularly vocal meeting of the entire council and elders, to say he had shaken the ground with his new orders would be like saying the kyuubi was just big. It was an understatement deserving a smack to the head. The shinobi council was quite pleased with his new orders, their children would be starting in the next semester, so they were relieved to know that the academy was finally stepping up it's game to reach the standards they had benefited from before. The civilian council on the other hand were outraged, the academy had been and still was their big stepping stone, then there was the assessment, that had been somewhat reasonable, but compounded with the academy it just gave them more to rage on. The first aid and field aid training, plus medic incentive, were alright, but the audit is where they really lost their shit. Several of the shinobi councilors had brought their camera's fully expecting this and got good pictures. The elder council was neutral, though hiruzen could tell they weren't happy with some of his decisions, especially danzo, he could already tell he was formulating plans with this new , when the civilian council argued and demanded, Hiruzen flooded the room with killer intent and silenced them. he reminded the civilian council that this was a shinobi village, and his word was law, also reminding his shinobi and elder council of this fact. their hokage was back. However he proposed that the next time the village needed a sacrifice, the civilian council was more than willing to offer up their child for the need, it's what they do for the village after all, train children to kill and be killed for the village. That shut the civilian council immediately, making each of them squirm under his gaze as he was calling them out, reminding them of the cold hard truth that was the life of a ninja.

His shinobi and elder council, while a bit disgruntled with the truth they were so thoroughly smacked with and harshly, it was a truth they knew well, but were happy to know their hokage was taking the reigns back again. Now with the council under his control and all listening, he relayed his orders in complete detail and mapped out a few future points to them, and then they moved on to other points of regular council meetings. While he relayed his orders to the could that they'd be initiating at the end of the week, T&I was already commencing with the audit even while the council was in check, going through his councilors first, to prevent them from covering their dirt as much as the council ended, he left the chambers feeling quite pleased, he needed that. Returning to his office, he produced a few clones who got started on the day's paperwork, and before he looked to to the clock. The academy would be letting out soon, maybe he could meet naruto and have a lunch with him. Nodding, he left his office for a walk to the academy, where he arrived, parents were already waiting for their children. They nodded to him, some having just left the council chambers. But when the children came out, he realized there was no mop of blonde hair among the crow. Asking one of the instructors, he learned the boy hadn't bee present today. Rolling his eyes, more likely he stayed up all night neck deep into his studies.

Making his way to naruto's apartment, his first clue something was off was he couldn't find the presence of an anbu around naruto's apartment...the next was that naruto's apartment itself was locked. A sinking feeling fell into his stomach, as he withdrew hi own set of keys from his robe and unlocked the door. Opening the door, he realized the apartment the barren aside from a few pieces of furniture, well, almost barren. From the hall he saw into the bathroom, where a somewhat bloody pair of clothes lay n the floor. Narrowing his eyes, he looked around, only to find a note on a table. Picking it up, he read it over, and all blood drained from his face. "Damn!" He shouted. Had naruto really been pushed that far, looking back to his blood stained clothes, he'd figured so. "Anbu!" Four anbu descended from no where. "Fan out and search for Naruto uzumaki, do not harm, do not capture, do not even approach him with hostility, simply locate him and bring me to him. Inu, use his scent o track him down. Now go!" He ordered and they moved out. Hiruzen sighed, now yesterday made sense...he wasn't doing that to keep up with the class, he was preparing to leave. It hurt knowing that was his inention all along, but his note listed everything in clear detail, his reasons why and that he had enough, even that nobody could legally stop him thanks to the civilian council making him a legal adult and still a civilian himself. that really set him off, yet again because of the civilian council hey screwed things up again...this was the last straw. Once his reforms were rolling, he was removing that damn council, in fact a thorough council assessment would be a good plausible excuse.

Soon his anbu alerted him to the trail leading out of the village and he shunshin'd away in swirl of leaves out of the village. Already on the trail through the woods, they were making good progress when a smoke flare in the distance caught their attention. That was an emergency signal their anbu used by the color. They shifted course immediately, and soon were n front of a cliff face that a ruin was built into, waiting there was weasel. Narrowing his eyes, Hiruzen approached the uchiha prodigy menacingly. "Weasel...as I recall you were naruto's guard yesterday, why are you out here now and where is young naruto." It was not a question, but an order.

"Lord hokage, apologies, but my orers were to watch and guard naruto, not prevent him from leaving the village. Orders I followed, not that I could legally stop naruto from leaving anyway." He stated, bowing his head, and sadly, hiruzen could not dismiss his actions, he was right, much to his own chagrin, but that still remained, where was naruto. "He...was inside, lord hokage. There is something, or rather someone you should see about that sir. It'll become clear." He spoke as he lead his hokage into the ruin, alone. Deeper into the ruin, Sarutobi was able to see for himself about this ruin and this someone itachi mentioned. Lead into the main chamber, no one was there, for a moment, he believed itachi may have had him fooled, but light emanated from the statues, all of them, and figures forms from them, stepping forward, though a boy among them stepped forward closest to the,, their apparent leader. "Lord hokage, May I present to you the Fayth of spira as they are called." Proceeding to introduce them individually. "Fayth, this is-"

"Hiruzen sarutobi, sandaime hokage of konohagakure no sato of fire country, two time holder of the office of hokage. A pleasure, though I understand you may be distressed with young Naruto's disappearance. However know this, his decision to leave was his own, fully informed and he left the village for reasons his own, there is after all, only so much a person can take before they break. He was lucky to recognize the time to leave before he did snap...there isn't much to imagine what might have happened if he did." Bahamut had instantly taken control of the conversation and laid down the foundation for all words to follow, killing most arguments that could result before they happened. The old man narrowed his eyes, gritting his teth, but he knew that this was not in his favor to win.

"Then if he is not here...where is he and is he safe?" He asked pointedly, sure thse beings were powerful, but he was confident of his own power. The beings were silent moment, before Bahamut took another step forward.

"First...let me tell you a story about sin..."

He didn't remember his pillow ever being so rough... in fact, it wasn't a pillow at all. Rousing from his slumber, the first thing he felt was intense heat, then rough, like sand, in fact it was sand. Opening his eyes, golden sand was under him as he got up and looked around. He still had everything he carried with him, including his new hooded vest. Pulling up the hood, he walked around and up a sandy hill, ow able to see the was sand as far as the eye could see. "Where am I?" Naruto called out.

Alright, new author and first story, A Naruto x Final Fantasy X crossover, over 10k words. tell me what ya think. I'm extremely new to all this so any help is appreciated.