Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

Italics means personal thoughts

"Hm... should I choose the red or green?" Naruto asked to himself. The blonde genin-to-be was in a clothing store shopping for his future attire. Naruto didn't think that genin should wear only masks and black. It probably would scare the clients.

"I think I will choose the red. Hey, clerk, I want four outfits of the red here! And make sure nothing but silk touches my upper body! I like to enjoy the feel." Naruto finished in a whisper with a strange grin on his face. The clerk was slightly freaked out. Not only was the Kyuubi kid buying all this stuff, he was acting weird doing it! The clerk wasn't having a good day.

Naruto chuckled as he made his way out of the store with his new purchases under his arm. It was so fun to creep out some people. Naruto made his way down the street looking for the next shop he wanted to enter. Spotting the seal shop, Naruto made his way in.

The seal shop was a relatively new place to Naruto. He had started coming ever since he had found the place six months ago. The owner was always glad to see him based on the fact that, though Naruto never bought anything, the boy pretty much sold them half of their stock. Almost all of the explosion tags and sealing scrolls were made by Naruto. The thing that pleased the owner the most was that Naruto sold them much cheaper than normal.

Naruto usually ended up selling most of his seals for a pittance of what they were actually worth. This was because of a couple of things. One was that he sold the store so much anyway that he was still making a decent profit. The other was that he didn't have to buy any of his materials, so he could sell it for only a $ 1 and still make a profit. Danzo-jiji was generous with the paper and ink. Naruto's having slight ownership of the store also helped him keep his price low. There was no point in basically stealing money from himself after all.

"Hello!" Shouted the gruff voice that was coming from the back of the store when Naruto came in. Naruto then spotted a head peaking out from under a counter. "Oh, if it isn't Naruto. How you doing my boy? I hope you brought some more seals. The last batch you brought is almost gone." Yomuru asked in a friendly tone. Naruto liked the man and had liked him ever since they met. Yomuru never looked down on him for housing the Fox. Instead, the man treated him like any other, which was a great thing to Naruto.

"I have them right here, Yomuru. I even brought a couple more this time in case something like this happens again." Naruto said while pulling out the storage scroll he kept his seals in. After placing blood on the appropriate seal, stacks of seals popped out from the scroll. Divided by type, there were a good number of both kinds of seals though there were more exploding tags because they always sold much faster. Naruto handed both stacks to the man behind the counter and received his money in return. It was a great business deal for both of them.

"Thank you, thank you. I must say that this shop would have already been dust in the wind if you hadn't shown up when you did, Naruto. Your cheap seals as well as buying partial ownership of the store have truly kept this place making a profit. I just hope that you have enough time to continue making all these seals when you become a genin in a couple of weeks." Yomuru finished with a big laugh. The man stood at 6 feet 4 inches, so almost everything he did could be considered big.

"Just helping out where I can, Yomuru. Well, I got a kid I got to beat up so see you later!" Naruto yelled out as he made his way from the shop. He saw Yomuru give him a wave as he was closing the door. Yep, Yomuru was a good man if a bit rough at times.

Naruto made his way to his apartment with money in his pocket. He had come to enjoy that feeling. Money sure helped him out in getting some things around the village. Though if he was being honest with himself, Danzo-jiji could have probably just gotten all he wanted for him, but Naruto didn't like to owe Danzo-jiji for everything in his life. It didn't seem right to bug the old man on pocket change.

Placing the purchases in his apartment and the money in his safe, Naruto headed back out to administer his weekly beating to the Uchiha. One year ago, Uchiha Sasuke had started challenging Naruto to fight once every week. Usually they were taijutsu only battles, but on occasion they would add ninjutsu into it. Naruto had so far come out with a perfect record. The only time he had almost lost was when Sasuke had used a jutsu that Naruto didn't know he had combined with a well-timed replacement.

It was a funny situation. Sasuke Uchiha, heir to the sharingan, and Naruto Uzumaki, orphan of Konoha, battling to show which one was the better fighter, and Naruto Uzumaki won every time. Naruto got a laugh out of it when he thought of it at least. He wasn't sure other people would think it was funny. Danzo-jiji might, and Fu-sensei definitely would.

Naruto made his way into an outlying training ground. It had quickly become their sparring site after that one chunin got mad at them for practicing on 'his' training ground since they were only Academy students. The man had to have anger issues.

Naruto's compensation for fighting with Sasuke was that they wouldn't have to spar against each other at the Academy. Sasuke pulled some strings with Mizuki to get that done. Naruto wasn't sure how exactly, but he really didn't mind. If he was seen beating on the number one Academy student all the time, too many questions would be asked. That was why for a whole year he never faced Sasuke in a spar at the Academy. This allowed everyone to forget just how good Naruto truly was. Everyone won.

Sasuke was already waiting for him when he arrived. In fact, he seemed kind of annoyed. Naruto was late though, so Sasuke had a legitimate reason to be annoyed. Naruto just shrugged it off and prepared himself for the match.

"Hn. Your late, Uzumaki. I had thought you had gotten scared." Sasuke said with an amused smirk. Normally there would have been a very arrogant tone to his voice, but Naruto had quickly knocked any arrogance out of him when it came to Naruto Uzumaki. Several slightly severe, beatings could do that to a person. "How about we both go all out this time. You know, like a last battle before we both become genin." The smirk widened.

Naruto, well, he burst out laughing. "Hahahaha, you want me to go all out! Good joke, Uchiha! How about I take it really easy on you and promise to not whip you and send you home crying." Naruto said with a smile on his face. Sasuke's mouth thinned at hearing his skills so downplayed.

"Are you trying to be funny, Uzumaki! I will beat you. That is a promise. I even have a surprise that I have been cultivating since our last fight." Sasuke said with anger in his voice. He really didn't take getting laughed at well.

"Oh, little Sasuke-chan has a secret jutsu to take on the big, bad Naruto?" Naruto asked with a

innocent voice. "Don't you remember the last spar we had? If I am remembering correctly, I kicked your ass so hard that you ended up in the hospital for a couple of days. Your fangirls were so sad to see you not at school." Sasuke shuddered at the mention of fangirls, but he went back to glaring when his fit passed.

Now many people who passed by that certain training ground when Sasuke and Naruto fought would believe that the two hated each other with great passion. This wasn't the exact truth however. Naruto was probably Sasuke's only friend, and Sasuke was one of the few friends Naruto had. They just had a weird way of showing it.

"Laugh at this, Uzumaki." Sasuke said while activating his sharingan. He had found out that he had activated it when he was going over the spar in the hospital. He had nothing else to do than think while there anyway. Sasuke had noticed that at the very end he was able to predict Naruto's punch if only the slightest. Once he got out of the hospital, he had used the remaining four days until their next spar to get used to it. The problem Sasuke found was that the sharingan bit deeply into his chakra reserves. That meant he could use it only for a minute total.

Naruto was slightly surprised that Sasuke had finally activated his bloodline. Looks like he was a little too intense in their last spar if it made Sasuke activate his sharingan. Whoops. Danzo-jiji might be a little mad at me about that one. He doesn't seem to like the Uchihas very much.

Naruto decided to proceed with the battle. He would just make Sasuke's new advantage useless. "Let's begin with your beating, Sasuke."

"Fine by me, let the better eyes win, Naruto." Sasuke said with a smirk. He then charged at the blonde.

"I think you meant, let the better ninja win, Sasuke. Everyone knows that the sharingan is just a hack." That seemed to piss the Uchiha off. Mission accomplished, Naruto thought. Seeing Sasuke run at him in a rage, Naruto calmly jumped into the trees surrounding the clearing they were in.

"Are you running away from me, Uzumaki! Come back here you coward!" Sasuke yelled enraged. He was not going to let anyone make fun of his eyes!

"Too simple, Uchiha. Now try this on for size." Naruto whispered. Flying through the hand-signs, Naruto muttered, "Kirigakure no Jutsu." Naruto made sure to knead a lot of chakra into in the jutsu. The more chakra, the thicker the mist. Naruto had found that he could make it even thicker if he used the same amount of chakra just with less coverage. That was why the mist was only concentrated in the clearing where Sasuke was at. The trees surrounding the clearing were clear of mist.

A huge bank of mist rolled into the training ground. "What the hell is this, Uzumaki!" Sasuke shouted in panic. He had never heard of anything like this before. He could barely see his own hand!

Naruto smiled in satisfaction. Danzo-jiji had outdone himself when he sent Naruto on a mission to learn an elemental jutsu. This jutsu worked so great in so many situations, and all he had to do to learn it was capture that one chunin.

Flashback 1 year ago (Naruto's 11):

"Naruto-kun, it has been annoying me that you only have wind jutsus in your arsenal. That is why I am assigning you a mission to learn a different elemental jutsu. You have two weeks to obtain and learn this jutsu. You better get going." Danzo-jiji said quite calmly. Naruto had no idea how he was able to be so calm because he thought panicking sounded so much better.

"You can't be saying what I think you are suggesting, Danzo-jiji." Naruto asked with trepidation. "The way you worded that made it sound awfully like you wanted me to leave Konoha to find a new jutsu, but I know that you wouldn't do anything like that. Right?" Naruto pleaded hopefully. His hopes were crushed at Danzo-jiji's next words however.

"You heard right, Naruto-kun. Your mission is to sneak into another country and either buy or steal an elemental jutsu that is not wind. You will bring it back to Konoha, and it will be added to Root's library. And make sure you don't bring back a jutsu that is already in the library. You have two weeks. Best hurry." Danzo-jiji said with no mercy.

Naruto groaned but hurriedly made his way through the underground tunnels that led out of the village. Now if I want a new jutsu, where should I go? Suna is out because most of their jutsus will be of the wind variety, and Danzo-jiji said not to get those. That leads Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo. Iwa is also out because if I am found there then I am guaranteed painful torture. Kiri and Kumo will at least try to ransom me before they deem me ready for torture... hopefully. Basically, it comes down to a lightning or water jutsu. Hmm. I guess I will go to Water Country because they are still not fully back up from the whole Civil War business. Decision decided, Naruto set forth to learn a new jutsu.

It took him three days before he found himself sufficiently lost somewhere in Water Country. Naruto had been aiming at finding an outpost that only had a couple of ninja stationed at it. He would then make it look like one of the ninjas had gone rouge. This would have allowed him to escape the country undetected. Unfortunately, all good plans come to an end. This one just ended a little sooner than hoped.

Naruto sighed as he tried to get his bearings. Mucking through swamps, mist, and water everywhere was not his idea of a good time. "Sure, it will be easier to go to Water Country. I think I will go to Water Country." Naruto muttered sarcastically. "What the hell was I thinking!" He exploded.

"Halt! Identify yourself or you will be slain!" Came an unknown voice from his right.

Sigh, this is just my day. Not only am I lost in this stupid mist, but now some idiot has 'found' me. At least the good side to this is that I can just use this dude to learn my jutsu. Slightly cheered up from this thought, Naruto slowly turned around with his hands out. He already had the perfect way out of the situation.

Naruto was surprised to see an older man with a kunai out. He was probably in his early forties with graying hair. He also had a Mist headband around his head. Naruto smiled; his luck was finally turning around.

"Hello there, Shinobi-san." Naruto said with a cultured air. Danzo-jiji taught all Root members how to take on any identity they could possibly need when in foreign countries. As you can see, I am quite lost. Can I get you to help me out of this mist?" Naruto asked with complete innocence.

Keine was very suspicious of the boy in front of him. He had been following the boy for the past thirty minutes, and while the boy didn't give any signal that he knew he was being followed, Keine couldn't shake the feeling that the boy was way too relaxed to be lost. He had even placed the mist around the boy to better confuse him. Keine had come to trust his instincts as they had never betrayed him before.

"Slowly come here with your hands up. If you make one wrong move, I will kill you. I will release you once I verify that you are a civilian." Keine said slowly. He was taking no chances.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the melodramatic performance the Mist ninja was putting on. The man should have just killed him without asking questions. Too bad for him. Naruto walked forward slowly until he was standing right in front of the ninja.

Naruto waited until the ninja moved closer to check him. Then when the man was right in front of him, Naruto swiftly channeled the slightest bit of the Kyuubi's chakra into his hands. This turned normal fingers into lethal claws. Striking out with great speed, Naruto easily severed the hand that was still holding a kunai.

"Yah! What the hell!" Yelled Keine. He couldn't believe it! He was staring down at his arm on the ground while his stump poured out blood. He looked at the boy in front of him that had just ruined his ninja career. He was going to wipe that damn smile of the bastard's face!

Too easy, thought Naruto. The old man was entirely too trusting for a ninja. Well time to interrogate him. Naruto walked closer to the shocked man, but he was surprised when the man ran at him with a kunai in his remaining hand. At least the man knows how to not give up easily.

Naruto quickly disarmed the man before using his claws to hamstring him. Naruto had to admit that his claws added a lot to his fighting style. All they took to activate was the slightest amount of the Fox's chakra channeled into his nails. Naruto had found that he had such control of lower amounts of the Kyuubi's chakra that he could channel it into certain sections of his body only. This meant that he could have fangs or claws without the whole chakra aura that lit him up to anybody near his location. Though he had never had to use his fangs in an actual combat setting, he figured that they could come in handy one day.

Naruto had also figured out other interesting uses for the Kyuubi's chakra. Little tricks of the trade as they were. The thing that disappointed him was that he could barely control four tails of the Kyuubi's chakra. Three tails and down were his to control, but the fourth tail added a whole new dimension to controlling the Fox's power. Naruto still tried on occasion to gain complete control over the fourth tail, but so far all his attempts had ended up with him going berserk after a couple of minutes.

After he had learned that he would need something special to gain control of over four tails, Naruto had set out to learn everything he could about using the first three tails. This exploration led to him being able to channel the Fox's chakra to specific parts of his body such as his nails or teeth. He had also been able to channel it into his muscles to give him great strength. Both of those uses did not require him to form a chakra shroud. Naruto was able to use a lot more subtlety without making a beacon to any sensor ninja around. One of the cooler aspects though of using the Fox's chakra shroud was that he could point his hands in one direction, and the chakra shroud would extend in that direction. Naruto still had slight problems in controlling the delicacy in his touches with the shroud, but it didn't really matter on a practical scale.

Keine was in total shock. Here some boy half his age had just totally destroyed him. Keine knew that he was about to die. I guess it has been a good life, he thought with a smile as he awaited the finishing blow. After a couple of seconds of waiting, Keine looked up to see where his killer was. If the boy is going to kill me, what was he waiting for?

Naruto smiled slightly as he saw the man waiting for the finishing blow. Too bad for him that he wasn't getting out of life that easily. Naruto went into action when the man lifted up his head to look around in confusion. Naruto quickly placed bandages around the man's severed arm and where he had cut through the thigh. It wouldn't keep the man alive much longer, but Naruto only needed a few minutes.

"Ok, we're going to play a little game." Naruto said in a menacing voice. All signs of the innocent kid were gone from him now. "You tell me what I want to know, and I simply kill you. You mess with me, and I drag out your last moments and make them seem like an eternity. Deal?" Naruto asked with complete seriousness. Danzo-jiji had actually beat into him seriousness when it came to questioning prisoners.

"Are you out of your mind! You actually think I am going to tell you anything?" Keine asked in disbelief. "I will never betray my village!" He shouted.

"Yes, yes I do. My name is Naruto Uzumaki by the way, and I only want one thing from you. What's your name?" Naruto asked as he began his interrogation.

Keine looked at the boy, Naruto, in complete confusion. Why did he care anything about names? Wouldn't he want to know all about Kiri's defenses and other related information? And what was up with the total change in topic.

"My name is Keine, chunin of Kiri." Keine finally decided to say. He knew that his name wasn't known anywhere. He was just an average chunin that had survived the wars. There were many other people just like him out there.

"Ah, thats a nice name, Mr. Keine. And a chunin you say? Pretty impressive." Naruto said with a smile. If Keine was paying better attention, he would have noticed there was no emotion in Naruto's voice. Unluckily for Keine, he was suffering from massive blood loss, so he just thought the kid was bipolar or something from switching to serious to cheerful. "Back to my question, I want you to teach me the Kirigakure no Jutsu. If you do, I will put you out of your misery."

This kid wants to learn a jutsu! Is that why he attacked me? That doesn't even make any sense! I am going to die just because one kid wanted to learn a jutsu? That is plain out wrong! Like hell is he getting the details from me. With his decision decided, Keine stayed mute.

"Not saying, eh. Well that is too bad... for you." Knowing that Keine wouldn't be talking until he convinced him, Naruto set to work on making the man talk. Slowly, where Keine could see every movement, Naruto moved his hands until they were on Keine's fingers. Naruto slowly moved the pinky back until he heard the 'Pop'. Seeing the pain on the man's face, Naruto was saddened that it had come to this. He really didn't like torture.

Naruto moved onto the other fingers. He had to stop a couple times to make sure the bindings weren't leaking too much blood, but that just helped him in the end by prolonging the pain. Naruto could tell the man was getting closer to delirium from blood loss and pain. Naruto decided to strike.

"So, the hand-signs and description of the Kirigakure no Jutsu please." Naruto stated.

Keine was in hell. First he gets his left arm chopped off, then he gets hamstrung on his right leg, and finally some little kid breaks all of his remaining fingers. All to get a stupid jutsu! Finally breaking down, Keine started sobbing from all the torment he had been put through. He just wanted the pain to end. All prior plans to stay mute passed from his mind in face of the pain and blood loss. He started explaining how to do the Kirigakure no Jutsu.

Naruto looked on with a stoic face. He really hated to break people. To see them plead for mercy or look at him in hatred made him feel evil. He knew Danzo-jiji considered it a vital tool for any ninja and the Konoha had its own department dedicated to torture and intelligence, but it still made him feel unclean when people he tortured looked at him like that.

Naruto carefully wrote down every word Keine said. He didn't want to do anything wrong when he tried out the jutsu. Once Keine finished telling him all he knew about the jutsu, Naruto slit his throat with a kunai. Picking up the body, Naruto turned toward the direction of Konoha. He knew that he would pass some kind of body of water on his way. He had passed enough when he was coming into Water Country after all.

Naruto found a lake after thirty minutes of running at full speed through the country. He water-walked into the middle of it before dropping his cargo. He had made sure to weigh it down with some rocks from the shoreline. Watching to make sure it sunk enough to make finding it difficult, Naruto swiftly made his way out of the country.

When he arrived near Konoha two days later, Naruto set up camp. He had a couple days to learn the jutsu before Danzo-jiji said he had to be back. Naruto had decided it would be better to learn it outside of Konoha because it was an area jutsu. He really didn't want to get discovered making large areas of mist by accident inside Konoha. He would gain some control of the technique before he decided to use it anywhere inside Konoha's walls.

Naruto spent the next couple days experimenting with the jutsu. He was able to get it down pretty easy even though water wasn't really his prime element like wind was. Naruto was glad that he didn't use it first in Konoha. The first time he got the jutsu right created a mist that extended for miles! There had been a little too much chakra in that one. Though it did show Naruto that if he ever needed to cover an entire town, it would be possible with that jutsu.

Flashback end.

Naruto could hear Sasuke stumbling around. It must have been so shaming to finally be able to activate his eyes, but find such a glaring weakness in them so soon. Meh, maybe it will help him later in life. Naruto slowly slipped into the mist to start his attack on Sasuke. He knew the clearing by heart from all the times he had faced Sasuke here, so he glided in dead silence to where he could hear Sasuke's breathing.

Naruto pulled out a couple of kunai and threw them. From the curse, Naruto knew that at least one of them connected. It was too bad that the user couldn't see anything either in the mist they created. Well any competent user of the hidden mist jutsu would at least learn how to work around that fact, and the ears and nose were prime examples of ways to do it. Naruto heard Sasuke trying to go to the right. Using his greater speed, Naruto appeared right in front of the Uchiha and delivered a punch to his gut. After the hit, Naruto blended back into the mist.

What the hell is this! He attacks me and I can't do anything! I can't even tell how far this mist extends, so even if I tried to escape, it might turn out pointless. Even with my sharingan, I am useless. I will never catch up with Itachi like this! Sasuke tried again to find the blonde, but he couldn't see anything through the jutsu that Naruto had used.

Naruto was having a good time. It seemed that Sasuke hadn't trained any of his senses to fight when under a handicap, so Naruto was finding it easy to attack him and then fade away. Naruto appeared behind Sasuke and swept his legs from under him. This caused the Uchiha to take a fall. Naruto delivered a powerful axe kick to his gut before fading into the mist again.

"Gah!" Sasuke croaked as blood flew from his mouth. He couldn't believe what was happening. He had never been this outclassed in any other spar in his life. Even his earlier spars against Naruto were never this bad. His sharingan was also pointless in the mist because the mist was laced with Naruto's chakra. This meant that the whole mist looked just the same to him. It was infuriating!

Sasuke got off the ground slowly. His movements were hindered from the blows he had taken. Naruto was holding little back in each blow he struck. Sasuke looked around trying to find the blonde once again. Not seeing anything, he took off in one direction as fast as he could. He was going to try to have something change.

Naruto listened with a smile as he heard Sasuke start running. It seemed that the Uchiha finally was going to try something different. He couldn't have that. Naruto quickly raced to intercept him with a kunai in hand. Steps before he could feel the mist ended, Naruto caught up with Sasuke. Taking the kunai, he made sure to be extra delicate in his attack. Running right behind Sasuke in silence, Naruto tripped him.

Sasuke fell to the ground in a heap. The next thing he knew was that there was a weight on his back and cold metal at his neck. He gulped before going completely still. Then he felt Naruto moving the kunai around on his neck. Blood soon followed.

Naruto was having fun. Destroying arrogance was a joy as he slowly cut all the way around on Sasuke's neck. He wanted to leave a lasting impression on the boy. The cutting would heal in a weak or so anyway.

"You give, Sasuke?" Naruto asked slowly. He was hoping the Uchiha would say no.

"I..." coughing sounds were made as Sasuke tried to force out the words he hated the most. "I give." He finally muttered.

Naruto was all smiles as he helped Sasuke up. It seemed that the Uchiha would be back in the hospital again if the way he was staggering around was any indication. Also the blood that still coated Sasuke's mouth could mean that there were internal injuries. Though there might be some awkward questions about the cuts on his neck, Naruto figured Sasuke would make up some excuse about shaving or something.

"Get off me!" Sasuke tried to shout as he shoved Naruto off of him. It sounded more like a croak though before he started coughing again.

"Hmm... you should probably go to the hospital. It seems that there might be some internal injuries. Sorry." Naruto said with an innocent smile before getting serious again. "You said you wanted a full on battle, so I gave you a pretty serious fight. I hope you enjoyed it. I don't think we will be fighting again for some time." Going back to his innocent smile, Naruto began walking away. "I hope you pass the genin exam." Naruto said over his shoulder as he walked away.

Sasuke was humiliated. How could he be that weak? Naruto had just destroyed him! It shouldn't have been possible for Naruto to beat him that bad. Though now that I think on it, I have barely even hurt him in our past battles. How could he be that strong? It doesn't make sense! I will get stronger though. Next time it will be different. Next time, I will win, Naruto Uzumaki! Sasuke then left the training ground headed towards the hospital.

Naruto walked away from the clearing in a good mood. He had to thank Danzo-jiji because, through his training, he was able to totally own the Rookie of the Year of his class. Who knew how strong he would be if it wasn't for Danzo-jiji. Maybe he should get Danzo-jiji a present. It might do the old man good to get something, Naruto mused. Who knows the last time Danzo-jiji got a present. Ha! Danzo-jiji getting a present. The very idea is hilarious. I am so getting him one. Now the question is what present...

Naruto continued down the road contemplating a good present. He wanted it to be something useful but also somewhat funny. Maybe a jutsu or something... Naruto really had no clue what the old man would like. He shrugged. He was sure a good idea would come to him in time.

1 Week Later.

"Naruto-kun, graduation is almost upon you. Two years ago, I gave you a challenge. Have you answered it?" Danzo asked his apprentice. They were currently located in the training ground under Root HQ, and Danzo was very curious to see if Naruto had actually developed any good jutsus. "If I am sufficiently satisfied with any jutsu you created, I will teach you a new clone technique that you have been begging to get for years." Danzo promised.

"That sounds great, Danzo-jiji." Naruto said with great thanks. He was very happy that Danzo-jiji would trust him enough to not only create new jutsu, but also teach him a jutsu that was sorely lacking from his arsenal. An actual clone jutsu would greatly help him because he still had trouble with the standard Bunshin. Naruto was slightly embarrassed about that.

"I must admit that I have developed two new jutsus." Naruto said while getting serious. He really hoped Danzo-jiji would be proud of him. Naruto personally thought his new jutsus were great. The ultimate jutsu in the assassin's art as he thought of them.

Naruto started his explanation, "I have taken the concept of the vacuum jutsus and taken them a step forward." He then walked a couple steps away from Danzo-jiji. "These techniques are assassination style techniques. The very basic one creates a bubble... well let me just show you." Naruto said sheepishly. He wanted everything to be just right when he showed Danzo-jiji how hard he trained to get these jutsu.

"Futon: Muko Baburu" (Wind Style: Void Bubble), Naruto called out. Flashing through the two hand-signs of bird and then dog, Naruto breathed in air before blowing a bubble on the exhale. He was so proud of his creation. Naruto was sure Danzo-jiji would be immensely proud of his achievement too.

Ok... he made a bubble, Danzo thought with a small sweat-drop. He wasn't sure just what Naruto-kun's jutsu was supposed to do, but so far he had to say that he wasn't impressed. All it seemed to be was a bubble that hung in the air. He would be disappointed if his apprentice's two year time period was spent on this and hanging in the air was all it did.

"Ok, Naruto-kun, what does your bubble do?" Danzo asked with curiosity. He knew that there had to be more than what he was seeing.

Naruto smiled. He was glad Danzo-jiji asked. Naruto figured most people would be completely unimpressed with the jutsu if they saw it for the first time. That was partly the reason he had created it the way he did. There was also the factor that it was the easiest to make if it appeared as a bubble.

"Just as the name implies, Danzo-jiji. Inside the bubble is void." Naruto said with a smile. He then continued his lecture. "The outer shell of the bubble has a continuous vacuum power that pulls everything from out of the bubble and moves it outside of it. This causes all the air to leave from the inside. This suction power also removes any of the gases from inside of the bubble. This means that if anyone is trapped inside the bubble then they will have no air to breathe." Danzo was intrigued by what he was hearing.

"Also the outside of the bubble is very solid." Naruto demonstrated this by knocking on it with his fist. "This allows the bubble to become a very effective trap. It also helps that the outside only hardens on my command via chakra. This allows me to make the bubble consume a target and then harden the surface to keep them in. I am also able to move the bubble, but it is not very fast." Naruto stated with a proud smile. Danzo allowed him the smile because his jutsu was very innovative. He could see a few problems with it, but they could be worked out later.

"Another cool feature of my void bubble is that fire attacks will not work on it, so if a fire user is trapped in there and they try to use a fire jutsu to get out, the attack will not have the air to burn. This results in likely suffocation because they will not have the time to think of another plan before they run out of breathe. I can also use this feature as a shielding mechanism by allowing the fire jutsu to pass into the void, and the void will snuff the fire out." Naruto concluded with pride.

Danzo had to admit to being impressed. His apprentice had taken a concept he had developed over many years, and then taken it to the next step. Danzo knew that his created jutsus, the vacuum jutsus, were based off the principle of suction and breathing in air before letting loose the jutsu. Danzo had taken years to create each jutsu over the course of his whole life, so by teaching Naruto all his jutsus very early in Naruto's life, Danzo had allowed Naruto to create his own style based off the already completed Vacuum style. Naruto had gone one further than vacuum and had created what he called void. Using the principle of suction, Naruto pulled everything out of an area and created a void. I have trained a genius in jutsu creation, Danzo thought in amazement.

"Ne, Danzo-jiji, you ready to see my other jutsu I created?" Naruto asked excitedly. He could tell from the subtle signs Danzo-jiji was giving off that the man was impressed. Naruto couldn't wait to show him an even better jutsu than the void bubble.

Danzo's eyes widened very slightly at hearing of another jutsu. He would have figured that Naruto wouldn't have had the time to make another jutsu. Though Naruto had stated he had two jutsus, Danzo's entire attention had been only on analyzing the first one, so he forgot Naruto had mentioned a second one.

Naruto slowly breathed in and out before concentrating his chakra. He didn't have to do this for this jutsu, but he wanted everything to be right as he showed it to Danzo-jiji. This jutsu was also really hard because of all the shape manipulation in it, so Naruto's preparation actually helped him. "Futon: Dansu no Muko" (Wind Style: Dance of the Void), Naruto called out as he used the hand-signs: boar, bird, and dog.

Breathing in and then letting out just like with most of his techniques, Naruto delicately shaped his chakra to take on just the appearance that he wanted. What appeared in front of him and greatly surprised Danzo was what looked remarkably like a maiden. Using his chakra, Naruto had it do the function he named it for. Naruto made it dance.

Danzo looked on in slight disbelief. His apprentice had surpassed where Danzo had thought him to be. If that jutsu did what he thought it did, Danzo had to admit that Naruto could very well be one of the greater assassins in Konoha. He would have to make sure though...

"Naruto-kun, could you please explain to me just what does this jutsu do." Danzo asked with patience.

"Sure, Danzo-jiji." Naruto said politely. "As you probably noticed with the last jutsu, it had some problems. The void bubble has a very limited range of motion and is very slow. I can move it, but it costs a decent bit of chakra. This technique takes the same principle as used in the void bubble, but this one is designed for fast movement. Like the first one, I can control if the surface is hard or malleable. This jutsu is mainly designed to contort to the target's body and never let go. That is why I shaped it like a human maiden. The appearance along with the unqexpectable nature of the jutsu should allow for the capture and then death of any target." Naruto said.

"If worse comes to worse and an opponent breaks out of my void, then I can always harden the jutsu before it hits. This would result in a ramming effect which could then allow me to change the hardness and still get the target. I do believe that there is great potential in my jutsus. What do you think, Danzo-jiji?" Naruto asked with baited breath. He really wanted to make the old man proud. Danzo-jiji had trained him and looked after him. While harsh and at times cruel, Naruto still considered Danzo-jiji as family. He really wanted his acknowledgement.

Danzo rubbed his chin with his left hand. He had to give it to the boy. Naruto had come a long way. Now all Danzo had to do was compliment his apprentice enough were he would be proud, but not enough where he would get too arrogant. Danzo knew that Naruto could very well come up with jutsus that would help send Konoha to the top where it belonged. In two years the boy had come up with a whole new way to look at the wind element. If Naruto kept up with new jutsus and increased the versatility and power, then he could probably even start calling his techniques Void Style. Yes, Danzo was very impressed with his student.

"Naruto-kun... I have to say that I am very impressed." Danzo said with a smile. He knew how much Naruto prized getting smiles from his teachers. After all, not many people in Root smiled. "Not only have you created something that I had not even thought of, you have also advanced it to a decent level."

"Well, I am not done with it just yet." Naruto murmured with an embarrassed smile. He was not used to getting compliments from Danzo-jiji though he was giddy at getting the old man's acknowledgement. "I still want to make the void even more empty. Some day I want even gravity to be not present in a void I create. Though I know I have a long way to go before that comes about. I will still strive to make my void truly empty and more versatile." Naruto stated with conviction.

Danzo should have expected it. He didn't even have to go into the pitfalls about arrogance. Naruto-kun seemed to already grasped the lesson without him even saying it. The boy had always worked extremely hard though, so Danzo knew he shouldn't really be surprised. He was really surprised though that Naruto didn't consider his void complete. Naruto's future improvements sounded interesting. Danzo couldn't wait to see them.

Going back to his serious demeanor, Danzo proceeded to finish his analysis of Naruto-kun's newest jutsu. "The speed of your jutsu still needs to be increased. It would also be better if your void was able to not only pull out the air from its confines, but also pull the air from the target's lungs. If someone was able to hold their breath inside your void, it would give them more opportunities to break out. Either through the nose or mouth have the suction be able to pull the very breath from them. This should allow you better results in your void jutsu." Danzo tried to think of any more critiques, but he couldn't think of anything more at the moment. "If I think of anything more later, I will inform you."

"I thank you, Danzo-jiji." Naruto said with gratitude. Naruto went on to say, "In all honesty, it was through your aid alone that I have grown strong. You taught me almost all you know and even allowed me access to your personal summons. I know I am about to step out of the shadows of Root and into the light, but I want you to know that a part of me will always be a part of the shadows." Naruto stated with conviction. Naruto knew that killing and assassination would always be a part of him. "I thank you for all you have given me, Danzo-jiji. I know I can't really repay you, but I did get you a present for all your time and effort. I personally believe that you will enjoy it. Here, open it." Naruto said while handing over an envelope.

Danzo was interested. It had been a very long time since he had gotten a gift. Not many people gave gifts to people who ran ANBU operations for some strange reason. It had always baffled him. And now here was his only student giving him a gift. It was a surprisingly touchy moment for Danzo. He quickly crushed the feeling though because feelings had no place in his world. Danzo reached out and took the envelope and opened it. He was stunned to say the least.

Naruto smiled at seeing Danzo-jiji speechless. It was a good feeling. His gift must have been even more amazing than he first thought. Naruto hoped Danzo-jiji would appreciate just how awesome his gift was. It had taken him a week to think of it, and it had cost him a decent sum of money. It would all be worth it though if Danzo-jiji liked it.

Naruto actually got me this! Danzo thought incredulously as he looked at the piece of paper in his hands. It was a certificate stating that the recipient could order up to 30 bowls of any type of ramen at Ichirakus. I don't know whether to be angry or amused, and knowing Naruto, this isn't a joke. The boy really believes this to be the ultimate in gifts. I guess I should... thank him?

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. I am sure that I will put your gift to good use." Danzo said with a slightly forced voice. He got a very big smile in response. Now the real question is if I will ever redeem this personally, Danzo thought sourly. Danzo was a man who had never tasted ramen. This meant that he really had no idea if the food Naruto praised so much would be any good or not. I guess I should try it... if only for Naruto's sake. The people of the stall will probably inform Naruto that his gift was never used if I don't use it anyway. So... I guess I will eat ramen. Maybe...

Naruto was glad that Danzo-jiji seemed to like his gift. He had worked hard on it! Days of brainstorming had finally netted him the idea of ramen. It always seemed to be just the thing for him, so Danzo-jiji would probably enjoy it as well. Thus, Naruto came up with the idea for ramen as his gift. He just knew it would be perfect for Danzo-jiji. Naruto walked out of the training ground with a smile on his face. The smile stayed there until he was a long way away from Root HQ.

With Danzo

"That boy will go far in the service of Konoha. Void jutsus, huh." Danzo snorted before a slight smile appeared on his face. "Yes, Naruto-kun will go very far indeed. I guess I owe him that clone jutsu after all. Fu!" Danzo shouted.

Appearing from the shadows, Fu knelt. "Yes, Danzo-sama?"

"I want you to get Ezelia and have her teach Naruto-kun the Kage Bunshin. Shadow clones should help the boy greatly, especially with his chakra reserves. I want him to know the jutsu before graduation. And make sure he gets the information in this folder." Danzo said as an after-thought. He handed over a file from inside his clothes. "This information should prove beneficial to Naruto-kun very soon." Danzo then walked away.

Fu was intrigued. He had seen Naruto's new jutsus himself. They truly were great assassination jutsus. What made them even better was the ability to use them in direct combat outside of assassination. What amazed Fu the most though was the ability to cancel out a fire jutsu. With that kind of capability at this early stage in development, who knows how strong his void jutsus will be in a few years. It would be interesting to find out.

Fu went off to find Ezelia and complete his instructions. He would be visiting Naruto later to deliver the information, and he planned to see just how far Naruto wanted to go in his jutsu creation. Fu just hoped that Naruto could see how far he could really take his void jutsu.

End

A/N: I hate to say it but I think I will be using the teams from canon. I hate to do it because Naruto is not the dead-last like in canon, but I really need Kakashi to teach Naruto for plot reasons. Hopefully my ideas and explanation will overcome any ill will from using canon teams. I also had Sasuke discover his sharingan a month or so earlier than in canon. This won't really have a big impact on the story, but it seems more believable if Naruto is sending him to the hospital a lot.

Next chapter is graduation and the real genin exam plus some interesting developments.