Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto there would be a whole lot more explosions… Lots more…He heh…Boom.

A/N after the chapter but for now enjoy.

Chapter One

Shattered

Rooftop near the Hokage Monument

It was late at night when the figure adjusted his seat on the rooftop. He took a long look at the Hokage Monument before raising his jug of sake in a toast to the face of the Yondaime. As Grave wiped his chin he smiled up at the face of his dead friend.

"It's been awhile... Gaki."

Grave had been drinking for most of the day but was by no means drunk. His kind had notoriously strong constitutions but even he could hold his liquor better than most of them. He had the distinct honor of drinking two of the Legendary Sannin under the table without so much as a hiccup. He took another pull from his jug as he remembered two more of his friends from Konoha. This particular brand of sake had been introduced to him by Tsunade herself and was very much like Konoha. It was very much like any other kind of sake but it had a fire to it that burned as it went down, and it was this fire that made it so much better in his eyes

He smiled as he looked up at the monument once again remembering the first time he had seen Konoha's 'Will of Fire' in a certain blond.

Flashback

Late at night, in a clearing deep within the forests of Konoha, a young man was breathing heavily. His clothing was dirty and tattered, a testament to his intense training. He suddenly turned to the edge of the clearing and spoke, "You know it's impolite to spy on someone without their permission." He was answered by a short laugh as a figure walked into the clearing. He grinned at the blond before answering.

"Is that so? Well isn't it equally rude to accuse someone of something when you have no proof gaki?"

The blond tensed for a moment before he retorted, "Gaki? Fool, I am Namikaze Minato. Chunin of the Hidden Leaf, known far and wide as Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja..."

After he said this the blond rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"... At least I will be if I ever get this stupid jutsu perfected."

At this the stranger arched an eyebrow.

"'Perfected'? What's so hard about a simple shunshin no jutsu?" The blond shook his head before correcting him.

"It's not shunshin, it's even better. What I am making will allow me to instantly teleport wherever I want with perfect accuracy..." Minato scowled before continuing, "... that is if I can ever get it right."

The stranger looked at him curiously. "Why are you working yourself to death over this?" He asked. "It seems like a little much for a new version of a tried and true jutsu if you ask me." He sat down and leaned his back against a nearby tree, he then motioned for Minato to do the same.

Minato chose his words carefully as he sat down opposite the man, his eyes locked on the ground before him. After a few moments he started.

"My family was killed when I was twelve... I am the last of the Namikaze clan."

The man tilted his head wondering why Minato was mentioning this.

"...I ... I felt so alone... so... sad. When ever I return from a mission or a battle I see that same loneliness and sadness in the faces of all those who have been orphaned in this war." He looked up at the man with determination in his eyes.

"What I want is to make that sadness, that loneliness disappear. I want to end this war so no one else has to endure the pain of being the last of their family." He stared at his clenched fists before continuing, "This jutsu will allow me to do just that."

The man looked at Minato for a few moments before standing up. He walked over to the chunin and held out his hand to him. Minato looked at him questioningly.

"Come on, I'll help you out a bit..." The man smiled, "After all two heads are better than one, maybe I can help fix this super jutsu of yours."

Minato smiled before taking the offered hand, "Thank you, by the way what's your name?"

The man looked up at the full moon before answering.

"The name's... Getsu."

End Flashback

It had taken them almost a week, but they had finally perfected the jutsu. They realized early on that the main problem with the jutsu was that you had very little control over where you were actually arriving. Like a lighting bolt, the path you traveled as well as where you landed was very unpredictable, as was evidenced one time when Minato accidentally landed in the women's hotsprings. Eventually they decided that the only way to control the lightning's path was with a lightning rod. The result of this epiphany was seal formula that attracted anyone that traveled using this jutsu in a form of reverse summoning. It was then that the legendary Hiraishin no Jutsu was perfected.

Grave looked down at the tri-pronged kunai he held in his hand as he remembered the last time he spoke with his friend.

Flashback

Namikaze Minato was in his office when his friend arrived, in his arms he held a small blond boy that was sleeping soundly as the man rocked him back and forth. Grave watched the two before speaking up.

"So that's him huh?"

Minato started at the sudden noise before seeing his friend, he nodded hesitantly before setting the baby down in a nearby crib that was ringed with candles. He looked down at the boy sadly before speaking. "He has my hair..."

Grave gave a slight grin, "Yeah he does... poor kid."

As Minato gave a small chuckle Grave looked around the room before looking back at his friend. The man was oddly sad for someone whose wife just gave birth to his first born son. It was then that Grave realized something. He walked over to the Yondaime's side a put a hand gently on his shoulder.

"Minato... where is Kushina?"

Minato swallowed the lump in his throat as he spoke, "She... She refused to leave... said that a medic nin's place is where there are wounded... she was barely able to keep Kakashi's heart beating before..." The man wiped away the tears that were running down his face before looking down at his son and continuing, "She named him Naruto..."

He gave a sad grin, it was then that Grave noticed a spiral shaped seal inked onto the infant's navel. His eyes wide with recognition he turned to the Yondaime, "You're actually going to go through with it?"

The young Hokage nodded, "It's the only way."

Grave scowled before forcing his friend to look at him. "Listen to me Minato, there has to be another way. I could unseal it and be back here in a day and a half if I push myself to the breaking point."

The blond shook his head as he made his way to his desk. "By the time you get back Konoha will be a smoking ruin." As he reached into one of the drawers before turning to his friend. "This is the only way..." he sad softly.

Grave stared at the ceiling for a few moments in contemplation before speaking. "You do know that this jutsu of yours will require you to actually be in physical contact with the fox for it to work right?" He turned to face the blond. "Kyuubi isn't going to sit around while you do this." Minato nodded wearily, "I'll need about two minutes."

Grave nodded as he took in this information. After a few moments he straightened up and looked at his friend. "Well between me and Gamabunta we should manage that long."

Minato stared at his friend in shock, "You mean?" Grave nodded, "Ten years ago I swore that I would help you protect your village and I intend to keep that promise."

The blond smiled gratefully as he made his way over to the dark haired man and handed him a scroll. Grave arched his eyebrow at the scroll.

"Every jutsu that I have ever created is on that scroll. I want you to promise me that when you think he is ready you'll to teach Naruto all of them."

Grave grinned, "Trying to con me into another promise Minato?"

The blond smiled, "It's the last one that I'll ever ask you for."

The swordsman snorted at his friend's poor attempt at humor before nodding. He turned to look out the window at the distant form of the demon fox before speaking.

"I promise..."

He turned back to his friend with a look of unwavering determination on his face.

"...that your son will surpass you."

End Flashback

Grave looked at his friends face one more time before standing up and draining the last of the sake from his jug.

It was time for him to keep his promise.

Mitarashi-Uzumaki Residence

Naruto was halfway under his bed when Anko found him.

"Naruto what are you doing?"

The young blond pulled himself out from under the bed and held up nine tags. "I can't find one of the explosive tags we grabbed of that shopkeeper last week."

Anko allowed herself a small grin at the memory of that particular incident.

The shopkeeper in question had refused to sell to Naruto on the basis that it was his right to refuse service. When the blond had attempted to argue with him he had tried to strike Naruto. The ANBU had found the shopkeep, an hour later, hog tied and hanging from the ceiling. He had been gagged with a small wad of bills and a note saying that should cover some of what had been taken.

Anko shook her head before speaking, "Well hurry up and find it. It's almost midnight and if we want to spend the entire day away from the village then we need to get going, okay?"

The blond gave an grunt before he continued searching.

"If you hurry then maybe I'll teach you a cool jutsu."

The blond perked up at the obvious bribe and began his search with a renewed vigor.

As she turned, Anko shrugged at the cold chill she felt despite the thick chunin vest that she wore. Although she kept her tone light the truth was she was starting to get a little anxious. In the past years the villagers had made a point to wreck Naruto's apartment on his birthday in the hopes that they might actually catch and kill the 'demon child' in one of their little raids. Although the ANBU that were usually assigned to Naruto headed of the mob before any real damage was done, Anko didn't want to spend any longer than was necessary in the village.

Anko smiled as her otouto attacked a pile of clothes in the corner of the room in his attempt to locate the wayward tag. "Leave it to Naruto to lose a high powered explosive. Most nin would be panicking right about now." She thought as she walked back into the main room to pack up another cup of instant ramen in their food bag.

Exterior of the Apartment

Mizuki stood vigilant on the roof, watching for any sign that they had been spotted. Below him his comrades began to rig the door with a breaching tag. The tag itself was a work of art that had originally been designed by the Yondaime during the war.

The tag consisted of couple different parts; first were a series of thin scroll like tags that were stretched between six different points on the door. The strips were focused explosive tags that would send their full power in only the direction they were faced. Next was a small scale explosive tag that would detonate after the explosive strips, sending the remains of the door into the room.

The Yondaime had come up with it when Konoha began storming Iwagakure strongholds. Some of the doors had been built to withstand even the most powerful of katon jutsus. When faced with this dilemma, Minato did what he did best, he improvised. Because of the effectiveness of the tag, it had been made a standard part of the of the field kit for assault missions.

Mizuki saw one of the team signal that the tag was ready and allowed himself a malicious grin.

"How fitting," he thought. "One of the Yondaime's many contributions will help finish what he started six years ago."

Below him the nin at the door activated the tag's five second delay and readied his kunai...

Interior

As Anko set the last of the bags she heard a faint sound coming from the other side of the door. Anko turned just in time to see the door detonate in a flash of light and a deafening roar. The explosion lifted her of her feet and threw her at the far wall which gave slightly as she hit. Her head swam as she looked up at what had once been their front door. She watched with muted interest as four masked men slowly made their way in through the opening.

"Are they enemy nin? If so then where are the ANBU?" Anko thought to herself, but as she caught a glimpse of a konoha hitae-ate she felt a cold chill run down her spine. "Konoha... We are being attacked by our own people?!" She saw one of them turn to the others and bark out an order but because of the ringing in her ears she couldn't hear what it was. She looked at the three that had moved to search the room and saw that they all wore chunin vests while the one standing and watching them wore the vest of a chunin commander. "Standard four man cell... what the hell is going on?"

She tried to stand up but her motions caught the attention of one of the nin. As she rose to her knees she felt a gloved hand close around her throat and lift her up. When she opened her eyes she was looking at the masked face of one of the intruders. The man scrutinized her for a few moments before speaking.

"Where is the demon?"

Anko sneered at the man before spitting in his face. As he began to tremble in anger she noticed with a detached interest that there was a lot of blood mixed in with her spit. "Damn... must have bitten my tongue." She was brought out of her reverie when the nin that had her by the throat growled and pulled out one of his kunai. He held it above his head for a moment before bringing it down. Anko let out a strangled cry and when she felt pain blossom in her left arm, she looked down and saw that the chunin had buried the weapon nearly up to the hilt just below her shoulder. The man then threw her across the room where she landed in a heap beside the couch.

As Anko tried to push past the pain she heard one of the chunin come into the room from Naruto's bedroom. The chunin gave Anko a dark look before turning to the commander and speaking.

"The demon isn't here."

At this Anko felt her spirits soar briefly. "He must have gotten away," she thought hopefully, but what the commander said next dashed those hopes. "That's impossible. We sealed every entrance except the front door. It would take a seal master to break them and the demon hasn't that kind of power with that body he's hiding in."

It was then Anko noticed something partially hidden by the couch by her left arm. She turned and saw something that brought a small grin to her face. There underneath the couch was Naruto's missing explosive tag. She shot the attackers a quick glance before grabbing for the tag, and as she began to prepare the tag she saw something that made her eyes widen in shock.

Naruto felt his blood boil as he watched the intruders throw his sister across the room but before he could throw himself at them he heard the strange voice again.

".don't kit!!!"

He didn't know where it was coming from, it sounded as though it was coming from across a great distance, but it had been it that had told him to hide when the front door had exploded. He shook his head before focusing on the enemy that had invaded his home. "I can go crazy later right now I have to help Nee-chan."

"...wait..."

Naruto gritted his teeth in irritation, "Wait for what?"

It was then that one of the chunin walked over to Anko, when he reached for her she threw a sloppy punch at his face that he easily blocked. The nin twisted her arm until he was behind her, he then leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. Naruto couldn't hear what was said but from Anko's expression it was probably a good thing. He then pushed her forward so that they were surrounding her with their weapons drawn. As they continued to question her, Naruto saw her throw a quick glance at his hiding spot before returning her gaze to the ground in front of her. His attention was brought to her hands when she began to make a series of gestures that he almost missed but recognized as some hand signals that she had taught him.

Prepare. Smoke. Wait for Signal.

Naruto realized after a moment that she must have done something to the enemy chunin earlier. After a brief hesitation he allowed the henge around his hand to drop and signaled his acknowledgment.

Don't screw up.

Anko smiled inwardly at Naruto's reply, just like her otouto to make a joke at a time like this. She turned her attention back to the enemy, because she could no longer think of them as fellow Konoha nin if she and her otouto were going to survive, and prepared herself. She steeled herself and with her good arm signaled a single word.

NOW.

Anko immediately threw herself towards between the nearest of the nins while beginning a series of one handed seals before calling out her jutsu name.

"Jibaku Fuda: Kassei!"

In an instant the explosive tag that she had planted on one of the nins detonated and shredded the unsuspecting shinobi. The three remaining ninjas stared at the smoking remains of their comrade and because of this they entirely missed it when a rather ugly lamp in the corner was suddenly changed into a certain blond.

"Take this you jerks!!!"

The intruders turned just in time to have a total of four smoke bombs detonate in their faces. In less than a second the apartment was filled with a dense cloud of smoke that had completely obscured their vision.

By the time that the smoke cleared they were alone in the apartment.

The 'Demon' had escaped.

Outside the Apartment

Mizuki waited patiently for his comrades to finish their mission. True, he had chosen not to participate in the actual death of the demon, but his role was important nonetheless. It had been thanks to his efforts that they even had the opportunity to make the attack. It was due to his effort that the ANBU squads that were usually assigned to watch over the hellspawn and his sister were appropriately distracted. At that moment they, and the majority of all of the ANBU in Konoha, were on the otherside of the village investigating the sightings of a number of A ranked missing nin.

Mizuki shook his head at the need for the deception but it was necessary. It had been apparent from the start that the demon had the Hokage and many of the ANBU under his thrall, after all it was the only explanation as to why the Hokage would go to such lengths to protect the creature or why the ANBU would even agree to do so.

The platinum haired nin was brought out of his musing by a sudden explosion that sounded from the apartment. He frowned as he heard a shout from inside.

"We agreed to not use explosives after they breached the door. The ANBU may have been alerted by the breaching charge we don't need to give them any reason to hurry."

It was then that he saw two figures rush out of the smoke that had been pouring out of the doorway. In a flash of blond he recognized them as the very pair that they were after. It appeared that the blond was unharmed, however, his adoptive sister seemed to be badly injured.

"What happened?" Mizuki wondered, he quickly made a note of which way the two were headed before he jumped down to check on the team. When they came out he immediately saw that one of them was missing.

"Where is Gisei?"

The leader of the group sneered and answered, "He's dead, the damn snake bitch killed him."

At this, Mizuki gritted his teeth in anger before pointing towards the Hokage tower.

"The two of them were heading that way, go after them and I'll take care of this."

He immediately started fishing through his kunai pouch, when he pulled out his hand he held a number of incendiary tags in it.

"We can't let anyone know what has happened until we have killed the demon."

The other three nin nodded their agreement and took to the roof tops. The leader stopped and turned towards Mizuki.

"Burn Gisei's body as well. We can't let the Demon Lovers know who was involved."

He then took off leaving Mizuki to carry out his chosen task.

The Streets of Konoha

In an alley not far from their apartment, the two figures of Naruto and Anko where hunched over trying to catch their breath. Anko was at the entrance of the alley with her kunai at the ready to strike anyone who entered, her heart was racing as her thoughts were occupied.

They aren't following us...

Have we lost them already...

Why haven't the ANBU responded yet...

Can we make it to the Hokage...

Suddenly from behind her she heard a soft crunch of broken glass being stepped on. She immediately turned with her kunai ready to strike to see...

A startled Naruto holding a roll of bandages out for her. At the sight of her confusion he pointed towards her arm which still had the kunai buried in it.

With a pained grin she took the roll from him before she wrenched the kunai out her arm and began dressing the wound. As she wrapped her arm, she kept an eye on her otouto, who had turned his gaze downward to the ground in front of him, on his face was a look of contemplation. As she finished with her wound she began to turn towards the street when she was stopped by Naruto calling out for her attention.

"Anko... What am I missing?"

She felt a chill run up her spine as she answered him, "What are you talking about Naruto?"

The boy's normally cheerful voice was devoid of emotion as he spoke, "Every time I ask you or Hokage-jiji about why everyone hated us so much, you would always tell me that it was because nobody trusted you after what the hebi-teme did."

The blond shook his head as he continued, "But that never seemed like it was the right answer. Even before you became my neechan they were always mean to me. They would always tell the other kids not to play with me, or that I was a troublemaker."

At this point tears were streaming down the blond's face and his voice began to grow louder.

"Why do they hate me?"

"Why do they call me a demon?"

"Why?"

"Why?"

"WHY???"

He was interrupted when Anko reached down and enveloped him in a tight hug. Ignoring the pain she was causing her wounded arm she held the boy tight.

"They are ignorant fools who wouldn't listen to the hero of our village," she whispered softly into his ear. She slowly drew back form him and looked him in the eyes.

"I swear to you otouto, when we get out of this me and the Hokage will tell you everything. Okay?"

The blond wiped the tears from his eyes before nodding. "Okay Neechan."

The teenaged kunoichi smiled began to return her attention to her arm. But before she could finish dressing her wound she caught the sound of voices coming from the street.

There in the middle of the street, searching every shadow, were their pursuers. Before they turned her way she ducked back into the alley.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked oblivious to the danger that they were in, "Why do you look so...mrpgh!!!"

He was cut off by his sister who had clamped her hand down on his mouth.

"Quiet!!!"

As her brother tried to remove the hand from his mouth, Anko's mind was racing. There was no way that they would be able to make it to the Hokage Tower now. With their enemy so close, they would be caught well before they reached the tower if they attempted to run. She then looked at Naruto, who had stopped struggling and had begun glaring at her, and slowly a plan began to form in her head. She removed her hand from his mouth, but before he could say a word she cut him off.

"Naruto... Do you know how to get to the ANBU headquarters from here?"

The blond tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah, it's about half a mile west of here."

Anko nodded, "Good, now I want you to wait until we're out of sight then head straight for the ANBU, understand?"

"What?"

She gave him a said smile.

"I promised you a cool jutsu didn't I?"

She stepped away from him and then brought her hands up in a cross shaped seal.

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

In an instant a puff of smoke appeared next to her to reveal a perfect copy. After a second the bunshin made another seal and was enveloped in smoke. When the smoke cleared it revealed a perfect copy of Naruto.

The blond stared at his copy in shock before rounding on his sister, "Anko what are you doing?"

The teenager gave her brother a serious look.

"Naruto, I'm going to lead them away from here. When I do I need you to run."

"But what if they catch you?"

"Just get to the ANBU and tell them what happened alright?"

Naruto felt his eyes begin to well up with tears.

"Anko... Why?"

She smiled before reaching out and ruffling his hair.

"It's like that geezer at Ichiraku's said, your my precious person Naruto..."

She then stood and made her way to the entrance of the alley.

"... and I will do everything in my power to protect you."

With one final smile she and her Naruto clone ran out into the street. Within second one of the enemy nin had spotted them and alerted the others and they began to give chase. After a few moments the street was once again empty save for one small boy who began weeping for his sister.

Near the Uzumaki-Mitarashi Residence

Grave slowly made his way down the streets in the direction of his soon to be student's apartment. Granted, most of him wanted to wait until morning so that the majority of the alcohol in his system could be purged, but he had been told by Sarutobi about the two siblings' plan and was hoping to catch them before they left.

He also didn't want to lose his nerve.

"How in the hell am I going to explain all of this to him?" he thought idly as ran his hand over his unshaven face. It occurred to him that if he was going to take on Naruto as a student he would have to explain a few things. His parents, the Kyuubi, and the Sandaime's law...

He gave a sigh as he walked.

He was not looking forward to this.

It was then the wind picked up a breeze came from the front, on reflex he took a whiff of the air. He immediately stood stock still his eyes widening. The breeze had brought with it a familiar set of scents, ones that he had encountered a number of times during the war. The sharp smell that came with the use of a breaching tag, the smell of smoke and fire, and the smell of...

Blood...

His instincts taking over Grave took of at full speed, his hand already at his blade's hilt, his mind saying a silent prayer.

"Please let me be wrong."

When he turned the corner he found himself facing the burning ruin of an apartment.

Naruto's apartment.

He stared at the apartment in shock, a single thought running through his head.

"What happened here?"

Shaking his head, he closed his eyes and began to sniffing the air. Within seconds he caught Naruto's scent leading away from the burning ruin, with him was another scent that he recognized as that of his adoptive sister and four others.

After taking a moment to get his bearings he took off in pursuit, a single thought running through his mind.

"I will not fail you again Minato."

A/N After an 8 month hiatus I have finally returned to the fanfic scene. I would like to thank all fo you for being so damn patient with me in getting this chapter out. It is not my intention to make you all wait this long for the next chapter.

And now an announcement.

I have, as you have noticed, edited chapter one for a few things that I missed the first time around, and to change the Fourth's name. As of one of the more recent chapters of the manga, The Yondaime's real name is Namikaze Minato. I am going with this name because it sounds cool and in the long run it doesn't really change my story any.

And with that I leave you with a simple request.

Read and Review.

The Heretic Commands It!!!