Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything affiliated with Naruto.

A/N: Many have asked me to add FemNibi to the harem, but my beta suggested to add Anko for some reason, but I trust her. So it will be Naruto/FemKyu/Yugito/Anko. Yugito will also be Naruto's age instead of 28. Enjoy chapter two of Art of the Senbon.

Art of the Senbon

Team Selection With a Twist

He opens his eyes again, noticing the blood red walls of his mindscape surrounding his figure. He pushes himself up and faces the cage and sees the empty darkness of the cage. There is no house, no rabbits, no green grass, and no Kyuubi. He lifts his hand and notices the size difference. With his hand he begins to search himself over and he notices that he is in his old body.

"I'm in my older body here. Probably has something to do with my mental age and that I'm from the future…" Naruto muses as a figure appears in the abyss.

"Who dare disturbs the slumber of the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune?" a deep voice says from the abyss. Naruto rolls his eyes, remembering the first time was just like this.

'That answers that, apparently Kyuubi didn't follow me.'

Kyuubi looks down to find a man that looks similar to the man who sealed her on that fateful night, but something tells her that isn't the same person.

"I am your container, your host, your Jinchuriki."

"LIES! My container is much younger, you look like the man who sealed me in here!" Kyuubi snarls, baring her teeth and using her blood red eyes to intimidate the man. It didn't work.

'This man, he does not fear me. This has happened only once before...'

Naruto smirks and gives her a mock bow, "It is nice to meet you Lady Kyuubi."

6 Years Later

'It's exactly the same…' Naruto observes as his blue eyes scan the room. His eyes land on past friends and enemies and he can't help but let past memories wash over him as they play in his mind again.

His eyes then land on his former and current teacher, Umino Iruka. He smiles as the memories wash over him again of the good times he has shared with the scarred Chunin. He allows himself a small smile before the bell rings again, indicating the start of class. Iruka clears his throat and then begins his lectures, something about chakra control and Naruto tunes him out, already remembering all the times Iruka has lectured him in the past. The school day slowly goes by, the only excitement being a small taijutsu tournament towards the end of the school day.

"Okay everybody outside! We're going to have a taijutsu tournament!" Iruka shouts, filing everybody out of the classroom and into the large field next to the school.

The field is rather small, but big enough for people to move around and run about. White lines mark the boundaries and a small circle in the middle indicate the starting point for both fighters. Naruto walks outside with his hands in the pockets of his orange jumpsuit (GAH! I HATE THAT THING!) and he moves to catch up with the group as Iruka begins to explain the rules of the tournament.

After a few matches, Iruka calls, "Naruto vs. Sasuke. Come up and get ready." Both competitors walk up and take up fighting stances. Sasuke moves into the Uchiha style Taijutsu while Naruto drops into a loose stance, hands open and splaying to the side. It really isn't a style as Naruto didn't really need a style to defeat Sasuke.

"I want this fight clean you two. No jutsu involved and this will end once I deem it or one of you are unable to continue. Now get ready and BEGIN!" Irukas shouts as he hops back to give the two room.

When Iruka moves, Sasuke begins to talk, putting down on Naruto, "You will lose dobe. Get ready for the beating of your life."

The only reply he gets is a loud yawn and a tick forms on Sasuke's head as he rushes his opponent, his left fist cocked back ready to hit the blond. Naruto quirks an eyebrow at the incoming fist as he shifts his head to the left, letting his fist fly by his right ear. With the other arm, Sasuke tries to put a fist into Naruto's stomach but he sidesteps to the side and it passes by harmlessly. He moves into the rotation and throws a sweep which Naruto jumps over only to see another fist going at him. In the middle of the air, he bends his neck backwards and it soars past his head as he drops to the ground a few feet away without a scratch.

With a cry of outrage, Sasuke rushes him again and throws a left hook, following it into a right hook kick which Naruto catches in mid air. Sasuke jumps off his left leg, swinging it towards Naruto's face in a roundhouse kick as Naruto drops his right leg. Naruto ducks and moves into a sweep and Sasuke falls to the ground, hard. A moment later, Naruto is on top of Sasuke, his fist cocked back, ready to give Sasuke a mind blowing punch when Iruka grabs Naruto's fist and pulls him back.

"The fight is over. Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka shouts and Naruto nods, walking off as the panting Uchiha gets back up. Sasuke's fangirls shout in outrage and rush to Sasuke's side as they send glares into the back of Naruto's head.

With an angry look, Sasuke begins to form hand seals and ends up with tiger and shouts, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball)."

With a heave of his chest, he spits out a glob of fire in the shape of a medium sized ball and it heads straight for the back of Naruto's head. Iruka begins to yell at Naruto and Naruto turns around to find the ball speeding towards him and he rolls his eyes before it impacts him. A wall of water rises around him and it absorbs the flame, shocking everyone including Iruka. The water disappears and reveals nothing behind it and everybody begins to look around and they finally see Naruto behind Sasuke, a silver senbon coated with a water substance at SAsuke's neck.

Naruto hisses into Sasuke's ear, "Don't do that again. You might not like what I would do if you do."

Everybody hears his voice and it sends chills down their spines, even the Chunin present. "Do you understand me Sasuke-kun?" Naruto asks, emphasizing the honorific at the end. Sasuke dumbly nods and Naruto lets go before he stalks off and walks back into the classroom. Naruto's eyes flash angrily and it is not lost on Iruka as he has seen the same expression before on people who have survived wars and tragedy.

Finally recovering from his shock, Iruka calls for everybody to go to the classroom where he will announce their homework. Once everyone is inside, he asks everybody for a detailed description of their fight due in two days. As they leave, Iruka stops Naruto and asks him to come over to the desk.

"Yes Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asks politely as he adopts and innocent look while mentally cursing much to the amusement of Kyuubi.

"Good one Kit," Kyuubi says mentally.

"Oh shut it Kyuu-chan," Naruto mentally berates and Kyuubi chuckles before she recedes back into Naruto's mind.

"Naruto, your fight today was excellent. But I'm also concerned as to why you didn't just finish him off at the beginning, but let him get the upper hand for a bit," Iruka asks.

"It's simple Iruka-sensei. Sasuke is well known as the last Uchiha and many people coddle him and he has a superiority complex a mile high," Iruka can't argue with that, "I wanted to beat him at my own leisure. I allowed him to think that he had the upper hand until the end and I capitalized on a mistake. It's simple. Anything else Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka sighs at the incredibly vague answer, but pushes forward with a second question, "How did you do that water jutsu? I know that jutsu is a higher than a D-rank jutsu Naruto," Iruka asks and another string of mental curses makes Kyuubi laugh again.

"I have my secrets Iruka. Deception is the best tool a ninja has in his arsenal. If we can lure our enemies into a false-sense of security, we can pick him off when they underestimate our skills," Naruto says, justifying his reason with a well known fact of the ninja.

Iruka knows Naruto is avoiding the question, but he can't find any statement to reject his rebuttal and Iruka sighs again. Naruto begins to pack his bag and asks, "Anything else Iruka-sensei?"

"You may go Naruto," Naruto nods and walks out of the school. Iruka sighs before he disappears from the school in a shunshin and reappears in side the Hokage's office where he finds the Hokage reading his beloved Icha Icha Paradise.

Sarutobi puts the book away and smiles at the school teacher and takes a puff of his pipe, "Ah, Iruka-kun. What brings you here today? Is it Naruto again?"

"Yes Hokage-sama, but he has been acting weird lately. He is usually happy-go lucky as a child, but for the past few years, I have seen him go from that to a quiet boy. He is usually by himself, but I can never find out where he goes nowadays. I'm worried about him Hokage-sama. Today, he threatened Sasuke Uchiha after Sasuke used a fire jutsu on Naruto who blocked it with his own water jutsu. A jutsu that I don't even know Hokage-sama! How can that be?" Iruka says, and a concerned look appears on the Hokage's face.

"I have noticed the same Iruka. I haven't seen Naruto much, but the few times I've seen him, he is usually quiet and withdrawn. Sometimes I miss his pranks, but I'm afraid I don't know what could have caused this change. It may have been the villagers, but Naruto seemed to have wanted their attention, not shun them," the Hokage says as he shakes his head.

"Also, I saw his eyes today. They were the eyes of a veteran that has survived wars. It didn't belong on his face Hokage-sama!" Iruka exclaims as he buries his head into his hands.

"What do you mean?" the Hokage asks as he puts away his pipes and steeples his hands.

"When he had the silver senbon needle at Sasuke's throat, his eyes hardened and dulled and his voice was chilling. The eyes and voice of a military veteran Hokage-sama!" Iruka says, baffled.

The Hokage contemplates the new development before he snaps his fingers and speaks silently to an ANBU that materializes into view next to him. The ANBU disappears before he turns back to Iruka, "I will have somebody tail him and see what he is doing. I will talk to him tomorrow to see what is wrong."

"Thank you Hokage-sama," Iruka says and he disappears in a shunshin. The Hokage sits back and closes his eyes and takes a puff of his pipe as he puts it back in his mouth.

"I'm getting too old for this," the Hokage says as Mitarashi Anko appears in his office.

"Hey Old Man! What do you need me for?" Anko asks and the Hokage smiles at Anko's cheery voice.

"Ah, Anko-chan. I need you for a B-rank intelligence gathering mission. This is an unusual case and I need you to tail one Uzumaki Naruto and figure out what he is doing in his spare time. He has been acting strangely," the Hokage says as he passes Anko the file on Naruto.

"Why me?" Anko asks as she skims through Naruto's file.

"You have the most similar past to him. You can sympathize with him if needed. I will pay you a B-rank salary plus the payment for an A-rank mission for this. This will be a week long mission and report in every three days," the Hoakge says.

"Ugh, playing babysitter. Fun," Anko grumbles and the Hokage laughs.

"Please Anko-chan, do it for an old man," the Hokage says. Anko smiles at one of the two people who look at her as a person. She nods and disappears with the file and the Hokage pulls out the orange book and begins to read, the occasional giggle escaping his mouth.

***

Anko hops through the trees towards her home away from home inside the Forest of Death. She likes this place due to the fact that not many people venture into its depths and not many people can disturb her in her sanctuary. As she hops through the trees, she notices the small noises of the forest, allowing it to soothe her as she hops towards her home in the middle of the Forest.

As she heads more towards the middle of the forest, she begins to here small shouts of something to her left and she decides to check it out. When she comes upon the scene, she finds the boy she is paid to trail going through a set of katas with a blue bladed katana that sparkles different shades of blue in the light striking through the canopy of the forest. She observes him as he goes through the different movements and the next thing she knows, a salvo of silver senbon needles embed themselves into the tree where she is observing him from.

"Mitarashi-san. I don't take kindly to people who spy on others," Naruto says without turning his back.

Anko quirks an eyebrow before she hops down to the floor and walks up to him, "How'd you know I was there gaki?"

Naruto turns around gave her a knowing smile and he wags his fingers back and forth, "Nuh uh, that's my secret. So, why would the great Mitarashi Anko, former of apprentice of Orochimaru, the Snake Mistress, want to spy on the vessel of the Kyuubi, the pariah and bane of the village?"

Anko quirks an eyebrow and wonders how a boy that isn't even out of the academy knows her by her name in the bingo books. "How do you know who I am?"

Naruto gives her a deadpan look and says, "Secret."

Anko rolls her eyes before she takes a seat and watches him run through the katas with his sword again. It is beautifully crafted, much like her former sensei's Kusanagi. "Hey you! How'd you get the sword?"

Naruto looks at her and then the sword and he smiles and says, "Secret."

Anko develops a tick on her forehead and she mentally swears if he says it again, she is going to hurt him… and hurt him bad. As she watches him, she notices his graceful movements that are much more than what an academy student can handle. They are the movements of a veteran shinobi and his movements are precise and clean.

Time passes on and Anko watches his training, occasionally asking a question here and there and she is thankful that he gives her an answer instead of the secret bullshit he sprouted before. Night soon falls and they depart, Anko a little more knowledgeable of the village pariah.

***

The next day, Naruto awakens to knocking at the door and he finds Anko there with a bag of dango. He quirks an eyebrow before he moves to the side to let her in. She walks in and sets the food on the counter top while she inspects the rest of his apartment and then settles down to eat.

"Why are you here Mitarashi-san?" Naruto asks as he pulls out a carton of milk.

Anko gives him the evil eye before she says, "It's Anko, not Mitarashi-san, not Anko-san, just Anko."

"You still haven't answered my question. Why are you here?" Naruto asks as he takes a pull directly from the carton.

She finishes chewing the dango in her mouth before she answers, "The Hokage wants to see you before class. I also wanted to talk to you."

Naruto begins to cook some sausage and eggs and he says, "Okay, and why would you want to talk to me?"

"Well, you're like me."

"How so?"

"Well, we had crappy childhoods. Both orphans. Hated by the village. I wondered if you want to talk about it," Anko says while taking a pull from her bottle of tea.

Naruto smiles at the wall and says, "I thank you for the gesture. I assure you I'm fine. Do you want anything?" He dumps some eggs and sausage into a plate and sets it on the counter where he begins to dig in.

She watches as he wolfs down the food, occasionally stealing a sausage from his plate. He gives her the evil eye and he finishes a couple of minutes later and walks into the bedroom. Dressing quickly, he pulls on a simple red Tee-shirt with a blue spiral and tan cargo shorts.

"You ready?" Naruto nods and Anko grabs onto him and they both disappear in a leaf shunshin.

***

The Hokage looks up from his paperwork to find Anko and Naruto there standing in front of him. He takes a puff from his pipe before his mouth moves upward in a smile.

"Hello Naruto-kun. Thank you Anko-chan. You are dismissed," Anko nods and walks out the door, whistling a small tune.

Naruto gives a small smile, "She's one of a kind."

"Indeed."

"So Ojiji, what do you want to talk to me about?" Naruto asks as he takes a seat on the couch on the side of the room.

"It's been too long since we last talked Naruto-kun. How are you?" the Hokage asks, fishing for any type of information he can get.

"I'm fine. I can't say that the attitude of the villagers have improved, but I'm fine. Now, let's talk about Anko spying on me eh?" Naruto says, giving the Hokage a devilish smirk.

The Hokage's eyes snap open wide and he says, "How do you know about that?"

Naruto smiles and says, "Don't worry about how I know, but tell me why you have her spying on me."

The Hokage is caught between a rock and a hard place as he struggles to formulate a lie on the spot, but he fails miserably. He decides to go with the truth and confront the situation head on, "To be honest with you Naruto-kun, I'm worried about you."

Naruto quirks an eyebrow and tentatively asks, "Why?"

"You haven't been acting yourself. Iruka has noticed how quiet you have become and I'm worried that you are bottling the emotions within yourself," the Hokage says honestly.

Naruto smiles at his concern before he says, "I assure you I'm fine. You can say that I've grown up Ojiji. Besides, I have something to show you."

Naruto walks over to the Hokage and puts two fingers on the old man's forehead and they both slump over the desk as they delve back into the realms of their minds and begin to cycle through Naruto's memories.

***

4 Hours later

"So let me get this straight. Kyuubi is a female, there is going to be an invasion at the next Chunin exams led by Orochimaru under the guise of the Kazekage, I died during the fighting when he summoned the Shodai and the Nidaime, there is a group called the Akatsuki that recruited Itachi from the massacre and is composed of 9 S-rank missing-nin, Sasuke defects, and Madara Uchiha is still alive? And the biggest one is, you were a 30 year old SS-rank missing-nin that killed Madara and the Shinigami sent you back to fix it?" the Hokage says, running out of breath at the end.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it in a nutshell," Naruto says, shrugging his shoulders as the Hokage regains his breath.

"It's weird viewing your own death," the Hokage says out loud.

Naruto chuckles, "Indeed. Now, the invasion won't happen for a couple of months, but it in inevitable. For now, all we do is let things go until two weeks before the final. We will inform people then, but now is too early as that information can be leaked."

The Hokage nods, "We pretend we are in the dark until almost the day of and then we do our thing then?"

"Exactly."

"I want a plan by the end of the second part of the Chunin exam. We will tweak it the two weeks before the meeting. I am going to let the ANBU captain know about this," the Hokage says as he snaps his fingers. "You may go, but stop by my office more often Naruto-kun."

Naruto nods and walks out the door, leaving the Hokage to his own thoughts about everything he had just seen.

"I am too old for this."

***

Day of the Genin Exam

Naruto watches as everybody runs around holding their headbands and waving them wildly. He sits alone on the swing, waiting for Mizuki to come and offer him the chance becoming a genin. A few minutes later, the silver haired Chunin walks up to him, a smile on his face. Naruto can clearly see the displeasure through it and he inwardly groans at doing this again.

Mizuki stops in front of him and bends over to Naruto's height, "Hello Naruto-kun."

Naruto looks up with the sad face he has practiced with and meekly says, "Oh… Hello Mizuki-sensei."

"You okay Naruto-kun?" Mizuki says, putting his hands on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto looks up and gives a sniff before he says, "I failed Mizuki-sensei…"

Mizuki smiles before he grips Naruto's shoulder, making him look up, "What if I tell you that you could become a genin if you did something for me?"

Naruto looks up, faking enthusiasm at the information, "What? What?"

Mizuki smirks, knowing he has him, "All I need you to do is to get the Forbidden Scroll in the Hokage's office and meet me in the forest in East Konoha. If you do it successfully, I will make you a genin. Is that okay?"

Naruto fakes a wide smile before he says, "Okay Mizuki-sensei. I'll get it for you. Then I'm going to be a genin!" Naruto does a fist pump and Mizuki smiles and walks away, leaving Naruto to glare at his back.

"Well, I'll get a scroll for you, just not the Forbidden scroll," he says, as he hops off towards the Hokage's office to inform him of Mizuki's plans.

***

Naruto is sitting in the designated spot, waiting for Mizuki to show up.

'3… 2… 1... now!' and right on cue, Mizuki shows up, a giant shuriken on his back. He looks over and finds Naruto sitting there with the scroll in his lap.

"Toss it over Naruto-kun," Mizuki says. Naruto tosses the scroll over, which is actually henged to be a shadow clone of Naruto.

When Mizuki catches it, the scroll explodes and a Naruto hits Mizuki in the face, sending him into a tree 10 feet away. When the dust clears, Mizuki groggily stands up, blood dribbling out the side of his mouth. His left arm is twisted while he walks in a limp. A scowl is on his face at being tricked by a mere genin as he pulls the giant shuriken off his back.

He tosses it at Naruto, the whistling of the wind alerting him of its presence. His hand reaches out and prepares to catch it, but at the last second, he feels skin on his hand and notices Iruka in front of him, a pained look on his face as he falls to the ground, the fuuma shuriken embedded in his back.

Naruto kneels down, checking Iruka's pulse and Iruka coughs out, "Naruto, get out of here. I'll hold him off."

'Damn it Iruka.'

Naruto stands back up, ignoring Iruka's command as he forms the handseal for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A horde of Naruto's appear in the trees above Mizuki and Mizuki's eyes open wide in fear as he faces the real Naruto who's eyes are the flaming red of the Sharingan. With a snarl, all the Naruto's pull out 5 senbon needles, all coated in a paralyzing poison.

"This is for Iruka-sensei! Ike!" Naruto shouts as all the Naruto's release their senbons. At least 100 senbons stick into Mizuki's body as he cries out in pain and drops the fake scroll to the ground. Naruto lets his Sharingan fade and turns back to Iruka who has an amazed look on his face.

Naruto smiles and pulls out the giant fuuma shuriken before his hands glow green, converting the chakra in his hands to healing chakra. Iruka watches in amazement as Naruto fixes him up. Naruto adopts a stern face before he whispers, "None of this gets out Iruka-sensei."

Iruka nods before a smile appears on his face and he pulls off his headband, "Naruto, close yours eyes."

"Why?"

"Just do it," Iruka says and Naruto does as he is told. The next thing he knows, Iruka's forehead protector is wrapped around Naruto's forehead. Naruto smiles before giving Iruka a hug.

"Come on, we can celebrate after we get the scroll back. Ramen?" Naruto nods as the ANBU show up along with the Hokage who nods at Naruto. Naruto nods and throws the blank scroll over.

"Thank you Naruto-kun. Stop by my office tomorrow and I'll give you a B-rank pay for the mission you put out here tonight. Now, go get some ramen and get to sleep, team selections are tomorrow and you might find them interesting," the Hokage says and Naruto quirks an eyebrow before he disappears with Iruka.

***

Naruto walks in with his forehead protector wrapped around his forehead snugly as people stare at him. He ditched the orange jumpsuit in favor of his old look. Sasuke, seeing the dobe decides to shout, "Hey dobe, didn't you fail? Only people who passed are supposed to be here."

Naruto rolls his eyes and points to his forehead, "Isn't this proof enough that I passed?"

"For all we know, you could've stolen it," a girl with pink hair shouts.

"Quite down," Iruka shouts as he walks into the room. Iruka sends a glare at the pink haired girl, "Naruto did not steal his forehead protector. I gave it to him after he did a mission for me. Now settle down and listen for your names."

"…Team 7 consists of Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura and your sensei is Hatake Kakashi," the pink haired girl squeals, the boy scowls, and Naruto quirks an eyebrow, 'That's different. I assume that's what the Hokage meant.'

"Team 8 consists of Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzaka Kiba. Your sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai. Team 9 is still in rotation from last year. Team 10 is Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. Your sensei is Sarutobi Asuma," Iruka says as he finishes the team list.

Naruto cocks an eyebrow and raises his hand, "Iruka-sensei! What about me?"

Sasuke smirks and shouts, "Ha, looks like the dobe doesn't even get a team."

Iruka glares at Sasuke before turning to Naruto with a smile, "Well Naruto, somebody has chosen you to be their apprentice."

Naruto quirks an eyebrow, "Who?"

The glass by the window breaks and in jumps Mitarashi Anko, her purple hair spiking upwards as her smile turns upwards into a wicked smile. Naruto facepalms before he looks at Anko who is smiling at him, "Hey Naruto!"

Iruka sweatdrops before he continues, "You will train apart from team 8, but when missions come around, you will work with team 8. Now, go have lunch. Your sensei will be here after to pick you up."

"Come on Naruto, let's go," Anko shouts as she hops out the window. Naruto merely quirks an eyebrow before he follows Anko out the window.

A/N: Not much interaction with Kyuubi yet and not much on senbons, but that will come later. I'll get more into that in the coming chapter. Hope you enjoyed and remember to R&R.