KG: Well I guess I just wanted to try to get my mind off my more popular stories for a brief moment. This just seemed like a good one to do since I rather enjoy writing it personally.

KG: Naruto's not here. Thank god, so I can probably write this without worrying about my life…or my soda. Seriously, why do you all target my cream soda? What did my soda ever do to you? Do you like spilling innocent soda just to get back at me? And I to think I thought of you all as my family. My very, very dysfunctional family.

Music of the Week: Lion by Hollywood Undead.

Quote: "Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage."by Ray Bradbury.

It was night time, the Sandaime sighed behind his desk as he signed some of his usual documents. The day's events grew on him making him weary of the coming other days. He just had received the latest reports from Tsubaki regarding Naruto and…what he had done just a couple of hours ago. Sarutobi had held his head down in utter shame as he had clenched the paper in his hands upon reading it. The mission was a success, but whatever sanity Naruto might have begun to recover was instantly overcome by his desire for his insanity. Hiruzen didn't know what to think of the report. He honestly just wished he could burn it and throw it into the trashcan, never to be seen again by anyone. However he couldn't do that. It was filed away for a later time. Slowly Sarutobi found it in him to return to his work, however the thoughts never left his mind. Konoha had broken its jinchuuriki. The fact that even some seasoned jonin and chunin wretched at the sight only confirmed Sarutobi's fears. Naruto had long since reached that point of no return. Hiruzen long since knew this, but the fact that this happened because of Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the very first village created by the benevolent Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was only something that left a bitter pill for Hiruzen to swallow, but if it was or the good of the village then he only hoped that when Naruto found eternal rest that he would find it in his heart to forgive him.

Because of these thoughts, Hiruzen was surprised to be taken from them by a set of footsteps. They were hard and firm. They also held a significant amount of anger. The chakra radiating from behind the door was something Sarutobi could easily identify, but he didn't shy away from it. In fact, he welcomed it. Tsubaki had said so in the report that someone found the…events that transpired those few hours ago…distasteful. There was a knock on the door. Whoever was angry still had the sense to remember who they were addressing. "Come in," Sarutobi said with a final sigh of resignation to his fate as he watched the door open. "What can I do for you…Ibiki-san?" Sarutobi asked. Somehow, Ibiki's form looked a lot bigger.

"Hokage-sama," Ibiki said as the head of the Torture and Interrogation Department of Konoha's structure marched towards his commander-in-chief. Hiruzen didn't look the least bit concerned or worried as Ibiki slammed his hands on the desk nearly shaking its very foundations. The stern look of disgust, anger, fury, and overall hatred of those past events was clear in the Sandaime's eyes. "What, in Kami's name, do you…think you're doing?!" Ibiki asked angrily and with a glare that could very well have destroyed the village faster than the Kyuubi did ten years ago.

Hiruzen took a deep breath of his pipe and exhaled. "You're going to have to specify. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of," Sarutobi said. Both were aware that the man was trying to stall for as much time as he could get. It was clear that it was annoying Ibiki greatly and Hiruzen wished he could apologize for it, but it would have been a rather moot point regardless. "If you have something you wish to say to me then please speak your piece," Hiruzen said as he continued with the papers that he was signing. He just couldn't bring himself to look Ibiki in the eyes.

Nails clawing at the desk, blood rushing through his body, Ibiki closed his eyes. "Hokage-sama, cut…THE BULLSHIT!" Ibiki said swatting the papers that Sarutobi was signing to the floor. The Anbu in the room flinched and seemed ready to move at a moment's notice, but didn't as there was no immediate threat. Plus some of the Anbu knew Ibiki. The man was about as loyal to Konoha as they came. "I want to be given two reasons as to why I shouldn't dislocate Tsubaki's head from her shoulders!" Ibiki said with a firm glare. Hiruzen looked up and into the eyes of his subordinate.

"Well, for one, this is a mission I had assigned Tsubaki to do. Which she had indeed proven herself very much capable," Hiruzen said holding up one of his fingers. With the second finger came a glare, a rather…fierce glare. One that made Ibiki give pause. "Second is that assault upon any Konoha shinobi is result in immediate imprisonment of the person who assaulted the individual for at least a minimum of ten years. I don't think you would like to spend such years in prison, would you Ibiki-san?" Hiruzen asked while Ibiki remained silent. Taking a deep breath, Ibiki slowly backed away. He went over to the fallen papers and slowly began to pick them up.

"Hokage-sama, I have been under your leadership ever since I was a fresh out-of-the-academy genin. Never once have I doubted your intentions towards Konoha…until now sir. Hokage-sama, how can you possibly think this is right? The things I saw, the things Uzumaki Naruto did, where is the benefit of Konoha in these actions?!" Ibiki asked as he continued picking up papers. Hiruzen looked down at the ground. "This…not even this happened for genin out of the academy during the Third Great Shinobi War. There…is no hope for the boy. Why make him suffer this way? Where is the Will of Fire here?!" Ibiki questioned adamantly. Hiruzen looked away. He didn't know. For once, he really didn't know. When it came to Naruto, Konoha's Will of Fire was merely drowned in a sea of hopeless despair and unforgiving, unrelenting sadness.

"It pains me Ibiki. I never wanted Minato's legacy to come to this. I read the reports from Tsubaki. She has a…vivid imagination. I got the experience. I can't tell you where it's all going Ibiki. I just hope that with this, Naruto will be able to protect Konoha from her enemies," Sarutobi said while Ibiki watched the man known as The Professor take his pipe from his mouth. Fumes exited his mouth as he closed his eyes. "There is nothing more I can do for Naruto-kun except make sure that his insanity works out in Konoha's favor. I can do nothing more," Sarutobi said and Ibiki watched with wide eyes as his Hokage put his head into his hands. Even now Ibiki could see the signs of aging in the form of wrinkles in the Hokage's face. How tired had the man been?

Silence reigned for a time until Ibiki spoke up. "Do you even have a plan for when he will graduate?" Ibiki asked as he placed the papers back on the Hokage's desk. He was very tired if he were honest. He just couldn't interrogate or torture anyone today. Not after today. "I can't imagine many people will be thrilled to be working with a psychopath. Much less a jinchuuriki psychopath," Ibiki said making Hiruzen nod his head.

"I have a plan for that already. In truth there was…is no purpose in sending Naruto-kun to the academy. Even I know he will never…like a normal person, comprehend the ways of chakra or the subtle natures of shinobi life. It's why I had long since arranged for him to be a graduate regardless of his scores. Granted he would be the deadlast, but given this condition then it's only what we can hope for. As for his jonin sensei then I'll have to give that job to Tsubaki as well as she's his handler," Hiruzen spoke making Ibiki snort at just the thought of the woman. His threat still stood.

"I see. Well Hokage-sama I highly disagree with this action and even more so I'm disgusted by it, but I will stay my tongue. Have a good day," Ibiki said with a bow before he closed the door. Hiruzen frowned before he placed a finger to his chin and for the umpteenth time, sighed. It was very late, wasn't it?

-x-

"Konoha has no need for things worse than scum….worse than scum….worse than scum…than scum…than scum!" Tsubaki opened her eyes and leaned forward from her bed. She took note of the drops of her sweat falling to the bed. Frowning, she dropped out of the bed and walked through the halls of Naruto's rooms in the apartment complex. She opened the door leading to Naruto's room and peered inside. He was sleeping soundly. How interesting that even the insane, when they slept, could pass off as normal. Slowly closing the door, Tsubaki walked to the fridge for a bottle of water. This was merely the mission. She had been ordered to do this. It's not like she cared about it regardless. Konoha wanted a weapon then it would get its weapon. It was no skin off her bones if when they took Naruto away they did as they liked with him. He was a tool just as she was only difference was that she was a rational tool. Konoha had no use for things worse than scum? People who didn't complete the mission and follow orders were lower than scum! People like Sakumo Hatake were lower than scum! It was just a mission!

"Well I remember reading that Morino-san was close to Hatake-san. No doubt he probably found the man's death to be unfair. It doesn't matter, this failure is not an option," Tsubaki said. Most would find her cold and heartless for dealing this way, but Tsubaki didn't care what people thought about her. It was one of the reasons why she had one of the lowest percentages for teammate-based assignments. She could never cooperate with others without some kind of conflict. Still she didn't enter into this profession to be liked. She merely entered into this profession because it was the only thing were doing. Nothing else mattered. No one else mattered. There was just…the mission.

As Tsubaki went back to her room, she closed the door. As she closed the door and slowly fell back to sleep, Naruto had woken up. The maddening grin on his face slowly appeared. He could feel his handler in the next room slowly beginning to fall asleep. Oddly enough, he didn't speak. The silence of his room was…humorous. Even now his body wouldn't stop shivering. All of the blood had most likely soaked into his body. He…had absorbed it. His mother never stopped whispering sweet things into his ears. He truly loved her very much and he was even more happy to know that she loved him. He would do anything to make her happy. "Sochi, we have company," Naruto's eyes seemingly brightened at these words. He stood to his feet and kicked away the covers. He slowly opened the door from his room and into the living room. He walked out. "The window. Towards the bright, shiny window," Kushina said with a wide smile. Naruto pressed his face to the window. It was out there that he could see them.

Five bodies, five pairs of eyes all looking at him behind animal masks. They seemed…surprised that he had spotted them, but they didn't move. Naruto's face pressed painfully into the wall. He grinned at them all and waved. Naruto didn't make the attempt to perceive that they were shorter than the standard Anbu that had been in the blonde's life. He only just looked at them. It wasn't long before they slowly faded out of existence. Naruto watched them go. "Anbu-niichans and neechans go bye-bye," Naruto said to his mother. She nodded from her place in the seal. She had watched them go as well. She wished that they had come over. The party that the kind kind leafy shinobi threw for her and her son just hours ago had left them wanting more. Unfortunately they had fallen asleep somehow and missed the festivities. People screaming was a good thing right? It was screams of excitement right? If Tsubaki had been awake, she would have seen the smile on Naruto's face slowly leave and a quick fit of anger overtake his features. Naruto growled like a untamed animal as he stared out over the Konoha village. So many squishy dolls…just waiting to be snapped up by a grinder.

A total of three days passed before Tsubaki allowed Naruto to continue to at the Academy. Their routine hadn't changed. Naruto's standing in the class continued to plummet from not completing his assignments. He was somewhere with the Inuzuka heir and the Nara heir in terms of academic standing, but more and more the Hokage and Tsubaki continued to tell the teachers that Naruto's grades wouldn't matter in the long run and that when graduation day came, they would give him his headband. After all, it wasn't like the insane could truly comprehend homework. Plus Tsubaki wanted to keep Naruto calm and relatively sane…relatively being the main word here. To be honest, the only thing that stopped Hiruzen from just plain giving Naruto his headband had been Koharu and Homura of his council. Now Sarutobi didn't believe the two held any ill will to the body, but questioning them they came out with stating that it would make Naruto too suspicious to not only the other academy students, but unnoticed chunin and jonin. It was something Hiruzen could understand. No one would have wanted to know that Konoha's broken, unstable jinchuuriki had graduated from the academy before everyone else granting him permission to kill in the name of Konoha. It was a chilling thought.

Tsubaki held Naruto's hand as she guided him towards the Academy. It was strange, but based on Naruto's current behavior, she wondered if he were still feeling the effect of the events of three days ago. He was a lot less jittery, but he definitely looked at the civilians more…closely. It was like he was eying and…picking his potential prey. "Now Naruto-kun, what are you going to do in class?" Tsubaki asked with a disarming smile. She had gotten a little used to smiling this way. Naruto slowly turned to her.

"Listen to my teachers. Don't let others crowd around me and don't pick fights. Naruto understands, that he does!" Naruto replied with a wide grin that told Tsubaki otherwise, but she nodded as they appeared before the doors. Effortlessly, Tsubaki guided Naruto to his classroom and slid open the door. Excusing herself, she bowed to Iruka and walked away leaving Naruto with his class. However on the outside, Tsubaki quickly hopped over the top of the building and landed in her clone's usual tree branch for a vantage point. One would think she didn't trust Naruto. They were absolutely right. Who would trust someone who slaughtered fifty inmates and convicts three days ago?

Meanwhile, Naruto took his spot at his seat, isolated in his little island of desks while the other students sat to the right of him. Naruto wasn't oblivious to the stares of malice on some kids and their faces. However they looked so…quirky. They looked just like clown faces. Naruto just kicked his feet across the floor. It was an…interesting way to spend his time. Scarface-chan went on about some things Naruto found funny like the Nidaime dying in the Second Great Shinobi War and talking about the Five Elemental Candies, or was it Counties? Mounties? Whatever it was, Naruto enjoyed it all the same. He was also happy that Scarface-chan indulged him with his jokes. The kids would always have on those fake expressions of terror that Naruto had seen in so many of his other playmates. It was a shame he couldn't play with them as Tsubaki warned him about large crowds. Naruto took it in stride. "Stridles!" Naruto suddenly shouted making the class jump. Tsubaki raised an eyebrow from her place on the branch as Naruto snickered to himself. Iruka turned to Naruto for a brief moment before sighing.

"Naruto-kun, please don't interrupt my lessons," Iruka said rather tiredly. It had only been about perhaps a few weeks to a month that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki attended the academy and already Iruka was feeling tense. What was the Hokage thinking? Iruka knew no doubt that the state of Naruto's condition was the village's fault. Perhaps even he had a part to play in it as well. Still, why was Konoha's number one insane jinchuuriki in a classroom with all the heirs of the clans and academy students? It made no sense to the chunin. "Am I just thinking about it too much? Other than his outbursts in class he's…generally a good students. Picks no fights, remains happy, and he doesn't antagonize," Iruka thought to himself before he shook his head.

"Sensei, I believe Uzumaki-san was referring to the striddle of items on your desk. He just mispronounced it wrong. It's a common mistake," came the voice of someone no one expected to talk. The Aburame clan heir turned a small glare toward the blonde who was in his corner laughing as he clutched his stomach while rocking in his chair. Ever since Shino had tried to figure out the anomaly that was Uzumaki Naruto, he had found himself paying much more attention to the blond than usual. Ever since Shino had see then the blonde…torture and finally kill one of the insects that he sent over, Shino had taken to watching Naruto out of the corner of his eye. The feeling he got from his insects was that Naruto was dangerous, perhaps even more dangerous than Shino actually thought possible. Shino hadn't had the…pleasure(?) of knowing people who acted like Naruto. He could tell something was off with the blond. No matter how the Academy or teachers twisted it, there was a reason the blonde was here and there was a reason that they let him get away with as many of the things that he did. Shino also had a sneaking suspicion that the Nara heir was the same way. Then there was that woman, Tsubaki who always came to relieve Naruto before taijutsu practice. Shino doubted Naruto had some kind of condition that kept him from being there as the blonde wouldn't have been in the academy if that was the case. Yet at the same time, Shino also wanted to ask his fellow classmate some questions, but he had the sneaking suspicion that…he wouldn't be alive in the aftermath if he did. He had remembered asking his dad about the enigma that was Uzumaki Naruto. His father only remained silent telling Shino to not meddle in affairs that weren't his business. It was one of the few times he had seen his father shaken up.

"Alright class, now we're going to have a test," Iruka said with a wide smile. The groans of the many students in his class was like musical bliss to his ears as he began to hold out papers. Slowly each student looked at the object of their disdain. Well, all except one. Naruto just looked out the window as he widely grinned to himself. Well to everyone else that's what was happening, but in reality Naruto was having a…talk with his mother about the big, yellow daisy in the sky and how it was the only daisy that made them funny inside. They also wondered if that large daisy would ever turn the walking dango sticks in the street into a crispy brown treat as the red delicious jam slowly oozed out of the bodies. Both Uzumaki found it to be an amusing thought. "Now then, you have thirty minutes to complete your test. No talking!" Iruka emphasized before sitting in his seat, however one of his students raised their hand.

"Oi sensei, what about the blonde weirdo over there? Why doesn't he get one?!" The Inuzuka heir asked with a small snarl. The other kids looked over and shivered as they watched Naruto making gestures with his hands on the desks as if performing some kind of play with said fingers. He seemed to really be enjoying himself and…whatever he was doing. It actually unnerved the students. "Oh wait, don't tell me he really is dumb," Kiba said with a small smirk that got a couple of laughs from the kids.

Iruka sighed from his place and moved to reprimand Kiba for his statement, but he chilled as he heard Naruto speak. "Puppy-chan ate some bad food one time. Puppy-chan wasn't feeling well one day. Puppy-chan knew he shouldn't have eaten those things, but he did. Slowly, Puppy-chan went to sleep whimpering, his mind twisting and turning. Puppy-chan…broke. Puppy-chan loved his master. Puppy-chan loved his household. Puppy-chan would do anything for his family. Puppy-chan just wanted to be happy. However Puppy-chan knew he wasn't normal. One day, the master came back home. He wanted to see his family, that he did. He went to his house and opened the door. Hehehehehe, do you know what master-chan found?" Naruto asked. The academy students stiffed as Naruto looked at them all with his wide smile. Tsubaki leaned a little forward on her tree to be ready to intercept at a moment's notice. "Master-chan found his family…laughing. They were all laughing with Puppy-chan in the living room, but Master-chan didn't know what was funny. He asked them what was funny and…they stopped laughing. In the light, master-chan could see white, thick whip cream on his daughter, son, and wife's faces. He…could see it on Puppy-chan as well. Puppy-chan smiled. He wanted his whole family to be with him. He wanted his whole family to be no different from him. Yet he was hungry. The family was hungry. Puppy-chan wanted to provide for his family. You know what Puppy-chan did? Puppy-chan bit Master-chan. Master-chan fell backwards as puppy-chan crunched on his bones. Slowly Master-chan's wife, son and daughter joined in as well. For days they feasted on Master-chan…and Puppy-chan was so happy. Now Master-chan would live inside him…forever!" Naruto said sending the point of his story home making children shiver. Shino and Shikamaru narrowed their eyes while the Uchiha heir raised an eyebrow. The other clan heads looked away from the…unsettling look in Naruto's eyes. Why did it look like he was about to attack them?

"And they all lived happily ever after dattebane," Kushina said as she hung upside-down from the ceiling of the mindscape. The wide smile that rested upon her features would have unsettled anyone before she made a handsign. "Puppy-chan no Jutsu!" Kushina said before laughing as her feet popped off the ceiling and left her dive head first into the sewer-like waters below. A deep plunge sent her going through the water depths.

On the outside, no one said anything for a minute before Iruka coughed. "A-A good story Naruto, but leave it for after classes if you want to scare your classmates. Now then Kiba, back to your question. The reason Naruto doesn't get one is because he's…exceptional. It wouldn't matter if he had to or not. Now all of you get to work," Iruka said before taking his seat at his desk to do some paperwork. Many of the students grumbled, but out of the corner of Shino's eyes he could see Shikamaru with his finger to his chin obviously contemplating Iruka's statement. Shino wanted to think more on it as well, but he decided not to do so, at least for the portion of the test. However, unknown to him, there was also someone else who was interested in the blonde.

Uchiha Sasuke stared at Naruto who was seated at the far back and far left of the classroom. Initially he had thought nothing of the blond or what reasons he had to join the class, but he was exempt from every taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and weapons-training class. Why would he…exceptional? Was he so good a shinobi that he didn't need the classes? Yet, there was nothing about the blond that reminded Sasuke of power. He would crack jokes in class that repulsed the class and the teacher or just suddenly shouted to himself before laughing like some kind of madman. Sasuke just didn't understand it. What the guy some kind of prodigy? Sasuke highly doubted it. Well, he would just have to focus on his test. It wasn't like anything else mattered at the moment.

In little to no time, the test had been passed by the students and, after three more classes, lunch time began to roll around. As per his instructions, Naruto remained away from the groups of students with his bowl of miso ramen and a small box with vegetables at a small bench. Naruto wanted to behave for Handler-oneechan. When Handler-oneechan was happy then Naruto and Kaa-chan were happy…for whatever reason. Naruto merely kicked his feet happily as he toyed with his food via his wooden stabby objects in his hands. One thing about the seal that Kushina had also found out…before the incident was that because she could experience all the things he experienced then she could even experience the rich tastes of the ramen that she so long missed. In her place, Kushina jumped for joy in the air multiple times having her hair flail around as she spouted out her praises to the ramen gods or whoever she was supposed to be praying to.

In a branch just a few feet away laid Tsubaki as she watched Naruto eat his food. It was strange. How could someone like Naruto even attempt to comprehend his situation right now? Tsubaki didn't know, but she also could feel that beneath this calm experience was a maelstrom of rage and anger that was only being…temporarily subdued at the moment. Tsubaki thought she was slowly beginning to learn Naruto's moods. He…didn't seem to have any backlash from the incident at the Konoha Prison three days ago, or so Tsubaki would have liked to believe. It was subtle, but she saw it. He was a lot more jittery even after taking the medicine a few times. Either the medicine was very, very slowly losing its effects or Naruto's chakra was so unstable that it was now having its highs and lows something Tsubaki hoped wasn't the case. She couldn't imagine if even the Anbu could safely apprehend the boy if he flew into a murderous rage. Tsubaki sighed.

"Hey guys, look. It's the blonde weirdo!" Tsubaki whipped her head around the tree and noticed a group of about five young male academy students grinning as they looked at the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. In contrast to her neutral expression, Tsubaki's mind was a storm of situations and possible countermeasures to those situations. There was a reason she didn't like the academy growing up. Well she supposed every kid had this growing up, such stupid false bravado. Truly she pitied the jonin-sensei who would get these kids, that is…if the kids even passed which she doubted highly. Such people were unfit to be shinobi. Still, Tsubaki had to move to intercept.

Meanwhile, Naruto didn't seem to acknowledge the children just yet as they walked over to him and…crowded him. "Oi, Iruka-sensei really seems to think your special. I've heard about you. My parents told me not to even bother associating with you. They call you a menace. You know what you look like to me? A damn chump and a weakling! There is nothing special about you or your damn jokes in class! Why is it that you get to goof off and not get scolded? Wipe that damn smile off your face!" The obvious leader of the kids snarled as Naruto looked down at the ground. Kushina's smile twitched sporadically. Naruto clutched at his bowl, no one saw it, but his nails scratched the outer rim of the bowl several times. His body shivered as if trying to find warmth in a blizzard of cold.

Slowly, so slowly, the menacing chains protruded from Naruto's backside. No, Naruto just had to leave. He had to remember Handler-oneechan's words. He…should just go back to the classroom and eat there. He had to behave. He would behave and would not get in trouble. He…he…he…promised. "I promised dattebayo. I p-p-p-promised," Naruto trembled. He slowly stood to his feet. Yes, he promised. He…swore. He…would never let his mother feel malice! Naruto chuckled as the chains exploded from his backside. The kids around him widened their eyes and fell backwards as Naruto's heart pumped. Yes, this feeling of insane death and excitement. He would get to play with Onii-chans and Onee-chans again! He would have toys to play with again! Up in the tree, Tsubaki stood to her feet ready to intercept. She would have a talk with the academy teachers at a later date.

However, fate didn't seem to be with Tsubaki as she covered her ears in shock and surprise as Naruto, and by connection Kushina, let out an unholy, unearthly, scream. The scream shook the five classmates as they covered their ears. "The…the world is spinning! Spinning! Spinning! Spinning! D-D-D-Don't…Don't look at me…with those eyes! D-Drown, drown it all away! I PROMISED!" Naruto shouted at he lunged for the lead boy of the group. His trap-like hands gripped the boy's throat as he squeezed. "I promised! I promised! I promised! I promised!" Naruto shouted over and over as he began to wring the life out of one of the academy students. The boy's coughing and gurgling were easily heard as he choked upon his own saliva and bile that began to rise in his throat. The four boys fell to the ground in shock as the chains flew into the air and wrapped around their throats. Screams along the academy grounds were as Naruto raised a fist into the air and bashed it into his tormentor's face that he had been strangling.

"Stay away! All of you! Stay away from my Sochi! You don't deserve him! You never deserved him! I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO DESERVES SOCHI! Kill them sochi. Kill them all. I love you Sochi. Kaa-chan loves you. Never will I let them hurt you. Never will Kaa-chan allow them to hurt sochi again! I will never let it happen!" Kushina said as the chains slowly began to coat themselves in fire and lightning. Her hair began to raise itself into the air in response to her maddening anger. The four boys bound by the chains screamed as they spasmed out of control and before Naruto could deliver a second fist, he felt his arm grabbed.

"Naruto, stop this right now!" Tsubaki said as she grabbed his arm to keep him from doing more. Naruto didn't respond to his handler as the chains only seemed to crush the boys' windpipes even faster than before. Their screams brought a number of academy teachers to the yard including Iruka and Mizuki as they watched in surprise and shock. Naruto cackled as his left hand still held the academy student by his throat. The boy gasped as tears fell from his eyes. He could see his friends' bodies twitching from the burning and the lightning in each body. The slow roasting smell of burnt carcasses filled his nose. Then he looked into Naruto's eyes. Those…those…sickening eyes. Those…demented, disturbed, inhuman eyes.

Tsubaki issued a small curse as two more anbu dropped to the ground. "Hold him now!" Tsubaki ordered and the Anbu quickly moved to obey. As both moved through their handsigns, stripes of earth erupted from the ground and wrapped around Naruto's body sending him falling forward. Naruto laughed as his left hand let go of the kid he was strangling. The academy teachers quickly moved to drag the boy away. The boy coughed repeatedly as Naruto was held down.

Putting a finger to his forehead, Tsubaki released a surge of chakra that quickly shut down Naruto's body causing him to fall forward and unconscious. However, the same wasn't said for Kushina. They hurt her baby. They teased him and sought to harm him. She wouldn't let it stand. She wouldn't let them stand. Toys broke all the time. Four more…wouldn't be a problem. "Don't worry sochi. Kaa-chan…will punish the naughty kiddies. They won't hurt you anymore," Kushina said and with that made the Anbu, Tsubaki and the academy teachers go speechless as the chains that surrounded Naruto's body, the same chains that held the boy's four friends in their grasp, tightened sickeningly crushing their esophagus, restricting airflow until the heads popped from the bodies and dropped to the ground. The four bodies twitched and spasmed before dropping down forward. The heads rolled into the bushes as the blood from the four bodies stained the ground and Naruto's clothes. One of the female academy teachers, Suzume, fainted before Mizuki quickly caught her. Iruka's body trembled. Out in the hot sun, four academy students laid dead at the unconscious Naruto's body. Everyone watched as the chains from Naruto slowly disappeared into his backside. Like clockwork, Tsubaki picked up Naruto into her arms.

"Assemble Hokage-sama and inform him 'The Day has shifted.' I'll take the Kyuubi jinchuuriki to a secure location," Tsubaki barked before swiftly vanishing away before the Anbu could even reply to her commands. However seeing that she left, they left as well leaving a confused, frightened and…horrified group of chunin teachers. However, inside the academy windows stood also two pairs of eyes that reflected that same horror and confusion as they stared at the four dead bodies of their former classmates and the deed done by another classmate, Uzumaki Naruto.

-x-

In an undisclosed location, Hiruzen, Tsubaki, Ibiki, Inoichi Yamanaka, head of the Yamanaka clan, Shikaku Nara, head of the Nara clan, and the head doctor of the Konoha Hospital watched as Naruto screamed against his restraints. Everyone watched the chains around his body swirl frantically. Naruto shouted out over and over as his chakra saturated the room with an unholy amount of anger, anguish, pain, and killer intent. It was no one's doubt that Naruto would have killed, or made the attempt to kill, them all if he could see them right now. "What happened?" the Sandaime asked slowly and, strange enough, calmly. Tsubaki took a brief look at the situation before turning to her superior.

"It was lunch time. A group of five children weren't…pleased with the fact that Naruto didn't have to take a test given by academy teacher Iruka Umino a period before the lunch time. They…crowded around him and antagonized him. It…didn't take long for Naruto's expression to turn violent. I apologize Hokage-sama. Had I acted quicker…," Tsubaki would have finished if the Sandaime hadn't raised his hand for her to stop. He took a deep breath and sighed as Naruto shouted his hardest once again with a maddening screech. His nails clawed at the bed as his chains whirled around. Tsubaki and some other anbu had just barely gotten him restrained in time for him to continue his rampage which also caused the death of one Anbu and one female nurse. That was ten minutes ago. No doctor dared go in with him like this.

Ibiki frowned as he watched. It still made his blood boil just…hearing the maddening cries of a child that was like this. Granted yes, Ibiki had indeed known the grim sides of the shinobi world, but…he had never seen this before. The chains swirled widely in the air as they bashed the walls and even the window separating everyone from the rampaging, demented child in the room. Shikaku's advice had been for everyone to just wait for him to tire himself out and then intervene. "Hokage-sama, we can't send him back to the academy. Not like this. Perhaps not at all! Also Tsubaki-san, you knew he would get like this with crowds! You understood that and sent us your report. Why didn't you react quicker?" Inoichi questioned as Tsubaki looked at him.

"I had not been entirely sure of the situation at the time. I had also hoped that Naruto would remember my instruction on what to do in crowded situations, but I had misjudged it," Tsubaki said rather calmly while Inoichi tightened his grip on his hands that turned into fists. How could the handler of Naruto actually speak so calmly? Didn't she know what had just transpired? She had to be a little concerned.

"You misjudged it?! Because of that misjudgment four academy students are dead in the morgue right now. Backlash from the civilians is only going to increase against Naruto-san as he grows up. The teachers are going to tell the parents of the deceased what happened. It's because of that misjudgment that Uzumaki Naruto is the way he is right this instant!" Inoichi said and just as he did a chain bashed against the window as the straps kept Naruto's form in place. Inoichi looked back at the blond before before he looked away. This…they couldn't have truly created…this, could they?

"People are definitely going to call for Naruto's blood in some way, shape, or form. One thing I don't understand though, Tsubaki gave him his medication before he entered the academy. By all accounts he shouldn't have been excited enough or had enough chakra to do those things that he did. Wasn't the medicine, not only to keep him in check, but to also help him retain some level of sanity?" Shikaku asked as Tsubaki looked away from the mirror for a brief moment.

"I did question that myself and I…have a couple of theories on that," Tsubaki said bringing everyone to her attention. Tsubaki found the extra seconds of time to catch her thoughts helpful before she began speaking. "At first I had theorized that perhaps his body was getting accustomed to his medication so the effects would gradually lessen over time to the point that they would be near nonexistent, but the effects of the medicine were definitely there when I gave it to him at the start of the academy. Naruto's mentality is that everything and everyone will in some way, shape, or form harm him and that harm triggers the hostile nature of his insanity where his body will instinctually protect itself from others. However unlike others, his insanity can be…controlled in the sense that one has to make it seem like a game for him to understand that no real harm was going to be meant to him, even if it were the opposite case," Tsubaki responded. Shikaku raised an eyebrow before he scrapped his scalp.

"While it is theorized that the mentally unstable are more prone to acts of violent behavior, I don't understand how that would single to the Kyuubi jinchuuriki that he can flip it like a switch," the head doctor said making Tsubaki look at him. "I mean, how do we categorize the mentally unstable? It's either by their moods or their behaviors. I dare say that the Kyuubi jinchuuriki is far more…unstable than we let on. The medicine that we gave him was also medicine that we tested out on the other patients. Some are still on that medication to this day from ten years ago. I don't believe Uzumaki Naruto would be able to grow accustomed to the drug in only a month," the doctor said again.

"What were the results after you gave the first test subjects the medication?" Ibiki asked with a stern look on his face that showed the others he was no amused by this situation. Well it was a given that no one was either, but it seemed to be much more apparent on Ibiki than anyone else. The head doctor turned to him for a brief moment. Ibiki could see the man was unnerved by his gaze. He obviously asked a question that the head doctor had hoped that no one would. Ibiki narrowed his eyes. The head doctor gave one last swallow.

"At the first results of the medication we were…amazed at how calm our subjects were. We had found a correlation between the chakra in the body to the insanity. As we all know, insanity or mental instability is a something done to the brain. Our search has shown that…chakra can also influence this instability based on how much chakra is contained within an individual. The chakra will stress the brain twice a normal stress amount times the base number of how much chakra a person has," the head doctor said.

"What do you mean by the base number of how much chakra person has?" Inoichi asked. The head of the Yamanaka could already see the head of the Nara clan already beginning to put the scenarios and calculations in his head. It sometimes amazed him that his friend was as analytical as always. It was only when Shikaku widened his eyes and stared at the frightened doctor that Inoichi could tell he wasn't going to like the answer to his question.

"If a normal person who has chakra of about fifty percent then that amount is added to how much stress it puts on the brain. The amount of pressure of chakra on the brain would be very odd, but…in Naruto's case, his base chakra is at least a bar over Hokage-sama's. That chakra is going to grown even more as he gets older. Add that to the Kyuubi's chakra then….there would be no one on earth who had as much chakra as Naruto," Shikaku said as the head doctor held his head down.

"Wait, I don't get it. So Naruto-san has an astronomical amount of chakra, that shouldn't be a surprise as most, if not all, jinchuuriki are known for having massive amounts of chakra that could equal or dwarf a Kage's," Inoichi said while Shikaku rubbed the top of his forehead, the headache slowly began to form. He looked at Inoichi for a moment before Tsubaki took the time to speak.

"I would have to imagine that we should use a rock and a glass of water for example. Let's imagine that the rock is the human brain and the glass to be the human body, lastly the water will be chakra. The glass always holds water of a certain amount. That certain amount is one that the rock can comprehend and adjust to. As the glass grows bigger, little by little the water gets bigger, but it's so small that the rock can keep up with it and adjust to it accordingly with minimal stress. This is more or less done through training of the body mostly by shinobi, but imagine if we suddenly drop the glass of water with the rock into the ocean. That much water would over time crush the rock from the depth pressure. Taking into account that the brain isn't as hard as a rock then we can surmise that…," Tsubaki didn't finish as the Hokage looked back to see Naruto still shouting like a wild, deranged animal.

"That the brain will be put under insurmountable amounts of pressure from which it would never adjust. The seal by the Yondaime Hokage was meant to filter the Kyuubi's chakra into Naruto so that he could use it if he needed to. However as he's like this, he's only increased his son's suffering," Hiruzen said while Tsubaki nodded.

"However…that's not everything. Isn't that right?" Ibiki asked glaring at the head doctor. The man swallowed the lump in his throat before finally sighing. He nodded as he took a step forward and placed his hands on the glass that kept Naruto away from them. The doctor's eyes were actually pretty tired from what everyone could see around him. He tightened his left fist into a ball before he placed his head to the glass.

"The results came back that the patient could retain some measure of their lost sanity by, for lack of a better word, taking the medication. It was basically to suck away all the chakra removing pressure from the brain and dispel it into nothing. However…returning results estimated that…the patient's returned chakra was much denser and his chakra coils…much more constrained. In other words, the person's chakra capacity had…grown," the doctor said. No one said anything. The gravity of the situation came crashing down on them all like an avalanche to the Land of Snow.

"As you all know, chakra coils are trained only at the expenditure of chakra. That is how the body works. When we drained their chakra to zero…that chakra returned at least a small percentage stronger. Draining the Kyuubi jinchuuriki's chakra with the medication for this last month has…without a doubt…perhaps doubled, worst case scenario tripled, his chakra and reinforced his chakra coils," The doctor said and suddenly he found his body slammed against the wall courtesy of Ibiki. The anger in the T&I department's leader was apparent as he held the head doctor by his throat.

"He hasn't even trained with it so it's a doubt that he'll access all of it, but it's still…unsettling to think about. Hokage-sama we have to stop the medication and come up with another countermeasure," Shikaku said while Hiruzen looked back at Naruto and widened his eyes. How hadn't they all noticed? Naruto stopped thrashing, right now he was just giggling and grinning as his eyes stared at the ceiling. The chains had disappeared.

"Do it now!" Hiruzen ordered fast. Quickly doctors and nurses rushed into the room. A couple of chunin held Naruto's body down as the doctor inject the blonde with anesthetic. Naruto's grin slowly faded as he closed his eyes. He dropped his head to the pillow, out cold. "Nighty-night sochi-kun," Kushina said as her body swayed left and right. Her eyes slowly got droopy. She fell into the water, knocked out as well.

No one moved for a moment as the nurses pulled up the covers up to Naruto's chin and turned out the lights. Everyone exited and most importantly, none were injured. Hiruzen watched the medical staff exit and breathed a small sigh of relief, but that didn't last long as he turned to the head doctor with a fierce glare. "How long has this information been hidden?" he asked. The head doctor hung his head down.

"Since…the medication's distribution," he said. Inoichi, Shikaku and Ibiki steeled their gazes at the man. Tsubaki, however was the only one that was looking at the sleeping blonde. An unsettling feeling seeped into her body as she watched his chest rise and fall. She then closed her eyes and turned around.

"We…are going to have a LONG talk very soon," Hiruzen said to the head doctor. The man just nodded as Ibiki dropped him to the ground. With him to the ground, the others continued talking about where things had to stand currently. It was weighing on their minds, the fact that they might just have made Naruto's insanity a lot worse with the medication that they were giving him a month ago.

"Well I also have to believe that despite the doctor's intentions, Naruto's body would have still grown accustomed to the medicine in time and its effects of attempting to drain his chakra would have been near nonexistent. The possible damages would have been far beyond our expectations, but Hokage-sama, I do believe we have been looking at this wrong," Tsubaki said as the others looked at her. Shikaku seemed to already know her thoughts so he spoke.

"You mean we wouldn't need the medication if we just kept him calm the normal way. But the case still stands that he is a threat to the people of Konoha. Even with your word Hokage-sama, we can't return him to the Academy after today. It would be blatant ignorance if we did so. I would suggest we just pass him early and…give him a team of chosen people and a sensei. I would suggest that we…put him down, but given that now then that might not be the best policy. Also we have no countermeasures against the Kyuubi if it gets loose. Bothersome. Why can only a Uzumaki hold the Kyuubi?" Shikaku questioned. His words were meet with individual sighs.

"Well, we'll discuss this for another time. I'll focus on quelling the anger of the civilians. Tsubaki will continue to monitor Naruto and be his handler. Ibiki will take care of the head doctor along with myself. Thank you for your time, Inoichi, Shikaku. You both my return to your duties," Hiruzen said. The two jonin quickly nodded before walking away. Tsubaki bowed as well before standing to watch Naruto in the room, his motionless body was oddly disturbing. Meanwhile, Ibiki dragged the head doctor away despite his pleas that he could walk himself. Ibiki wasn't going to give the man such a luxury. He had a lot that he would have liked to vent anyway. Sarutobi sighed.

"Tsubaki, I am going to have to change your mission parameters." The Sandaime said. Tsubaki didn't even register the command as Hiruzen slowly disappeared into the hall ways. Tsubaki watched him go before she looked back at Naruto. Tsubaki widened her eyes as she touched the glass window. Tsubaki trembled as she saw Kushina standing beside her son. The way the redhead's hair slowly began to form into nine…tail-like appendages. Could hair count as an appendage? Still, Tsubaki watched in slight horror of Kushina's eyes. Her blood, red eye slits glared at Tsubaki with something that Tsubaki couldn't identify. Was that hatred? joy? contempt? happiness? Tsubaki, for all her Anbu experience, couldn't place it. The hair…tails…things on Kushina's hair grew in size. The tails rushed at the glass and Tsubaki felt the sweat on her brow actually fall from her face as the tails cracked the glass just inches from her face. Tsubaki wasn't known to be terribly afraid of many things. Fear wasn't what she considered to actually rule aspects of her life, but…she could feel its claws slowly wrapping around her as Kushina stuck her tongue out at Tsubaki. Tsubaki then watched as Kushina leaned her head over Naruto's form and kissed his forehead. Her hair-tails(?) caressed his face lovingly. She then turned over to Tsubaki whose eyes never left the action. Kushina walked over to the glass and stood before Tsubaki. Tsubaki didn't realized it, but she swallowed the lump in her throat once Kushina opened her mouth. A type of screech exited her mouth forcing Tsubaki to cover her ears. It lasted only for a moment as Kushina closed her mouth. She raised her finger and pointed towards Tsubaki.

"You…sleep. Just. Like. SOCHI!" Kushina shouted as a mighty roar escaped her mouth and blew such a force against the mirror that Tsubaki felt her knees grow weak. As Tsubaki fell to the floor, she widened her eyes. The room was empty. Naruto was still sleeping silently. Tsubaki rubbed her eyes and stared forward. Nothing, there was no presence of Kushina that Tsubaki could glass wasn't even shattered like she had thought it was. There was just…nothing. Tsubaki placed a hand to her face. She looked down at the droplets of water. She had been sweating…hard. No way she could have imagined that could she? Standing to her feet, Tsubaki turned her heels and walked away. She needed to get some air. For once, she just wanted to be anywhere, but where she was. But she just knew that this wasn't going to be an easy thing to get accustomed to.

-x-

In the council room sat Sarutobi and his three council members, Homura, Koharu, and Danzo. The four members looked at each other before Koharu closed her eyes. "We should put down the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. He's not even a rational human being, let alone a weapon for Konoha. The news travels fast. Already people are going to be hostile towards him for his actions at the academy, especially the parents. They are questioning the Academy's actions in why Naruto was put in the classes in the first place. Four dead academy students, I don't think an Academy murder has ever happened," Koharu said. It was then that Danzo leaned forward as he turned a small look to Koharu.

"And just where would we put the Kyuubi? Or are we really going to rely on that foolish seal master, Jiraiya, to try and replicate a sealing jutsu of the Yondaime's caliber…without sacrificing himself? I don't think so. If there was one thing the Uzumaki always intrigued me with it was their abnormal longevity. Besides if we did somehow manage to transfer the Kyuubi we all know that it would be at most a year for the next jinchuuriki's seal to deteriorate again. We would keep transferring the Kyuubi after a death and release which down the road will only worsen Konoha and its population," Danzo said making the others in the room nod.

"Perhaps we should…donate some of the boy to the hospital. We could try raising some Uzumaki from there. There are a lot of women who lost their children in the Kyuubi attack who want children, but can't go through with adoption," Homura said making the others glance at him strangely. He admitted it was a…sensitive topic, but there wasn't much that he could do about it. They had to consider all topics and nothing could be off the table at this point. "We have to face facts that Uzumaki Naruto is not clear for the delicate work that a shinobi must do," Homura said while Danzo snorted.

"That is questionable at the most. His abilities are…interesting. Even against criminals who have committed heinous acts against the Land of Fire as a whole he still managed to instill utter fear and horror into their eyes. One even expressed so much fear that it swayed Ibiki Morino, one of Konoha's most ironclad shinobi, to show mercy and grant the man his freedom. He slaughtered everyone else…without a scratch to his person," Danzo said making Koharu raise an eyebrow.

"You can't possibly compare criminals to shinobi, can you?" Koharu asked while Danzo turned to her. His stare told her alone that more than a few shinobi had been in that slaughter and not one of them had walked away from the event. Koharu kept herself quiet as Danzo looked back to the Sandaime.

"Instead of sacrificing the entire future of Konoha to keep replacing the Kyuubi jinchuuriki I would suggest that we…sacrifice only two people. If Fate is lucky then they will emerge alright, but if its not then Konoha will know that their sacrifice for her sake would be appreciated," Danzo said. "At best we will be sacrificing two more genin or potential genin from the roster to…do what I suggest, but it's better than the alternative," Danzo said making the others nod. Hiruzen leaned forward.

"And what idea would that be?" Hiruzen asked. Danzo quickly stood to his feet and reached into his dark, black robe. Swiftly he pulled out a couple of papers and threw them to the ground. The Sandaime, Koharu and Homura each picked up some papers before Sarutobi widened his eyes. "This is…," Sarutobi turned a small glare to Danzo while Danzo looked down at him. He nodded. This was the plan. It was better this way. After all, shinobi were those who endured until they had no more to give. It was in this that the time of shinobi was instilled.

-x-

That night, Naruto slowly opened his eyes. The anesthetic was slowly working its way out of his systems. The large grin on Naruto's face returned. He…didn't behave. What were they going to do to him? The same thing the civilians did to him those many years ago? Naruto chuckled at the thought of it. "What do you do when you're hungry and with no food around? Eat your fingers, then your toes, and everything in-between dattebayo!" Naruto called with another small laugh. Trying to lean up, Naruto found his body restricted by a set of restraints. He chuckled. It was the same setup as his play suit. Naruto liked his playsuit that he did. He always wore his playsuit when the Anbu-niichans and neechans gave him food or when he had his psyche evaluations which…never lasted long anyway. Well it didn't matter. The playsuit was nice and…comfortable.

Slowly Naruto turned his head towards the door feeling the massive chakra signature behind it. He smiled. "Jiji, co~me in! I wan~na see yo~u dattebayo!" Naruto sang in a happily odd voice. He noticed the door slide open revealing the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha. Hiruzen looked to be holding a stack of folders. Naruto's blue eyes enlarged for a moment on them before looking up to see the Hokage's weary smile.

"How are you doing Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen asked as he took a seat at the bed. Naruto tilted his head to the side. He could feel the Anbu chakra signatures around…the funhouse he was in. They all seemed to be looking out into the distance. They were all like little birds…ready to be skinned by the claws of a cat just waiting to pounce on them all and devour their skin and bones like the puny, pathetic, uncaring, assholes that they were! They were all pathetic!

Slowly, Naruto somehow managed to find himself before looking back at Hiruzen. "I misbehaved Jiji. I…ate too much red dango. Will…I be punished? Will…you, my niichans, and neechans…kill me?" Naruto asked. For a brief moment, Sarutobi was sure that he saw a look of hoping in Naruto's eyes, but it vanished so fast that he questioned it. Hiruzen merely took a deep breath and stilled his voice.

"No Naruto-kun. We're not going to punish you and we're most certainly not going to kill you. However…we will not be returning you to the academy for this incident. However Naruto-kun, we…I…need to know something," It was then that Sarutobi held out the folder. A scattering of pictures fell on Naruto. The blonde raised an eyebrow and strained his neck to see, but it wasn't to any avail. "Pick two people, one male and one female who you…are interested in the most," Sarutobi said making Naruto blink. He then felt Sarutobi kneel and undo the blonde's restrains. Feeling freedom come to him, Naruto leaned up and snickered over the many walking meat-sticks that had faces. He looked them over for a second. He then touched a photo.

"Her, she is Bunny-chan! And him, he is Pine-chan!" Naruto said grinning as he pointed to two photos. Hiruzen looked down and he grimaced. Did her really have to pick the young one? Hiruzen trembled. How was he ever going to explain this to his friend? He didn't know. He was sure that the news would devastate the father and mother, but…it was for the good of Konoha. It would be fine. Hiruzen had to keep telling himself that it would be alright.

"Are you sure Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked making Naruto stare at him. Sarutobi was one guard as Naruto snarled suddenly. "Them. THEM! THEM! I LIKE THEM JIJI!" Naruto said angrily. Hiruzen just nodded as the smile seeped its way back into Naruto's features as Sarutobi collected the photos and began to put them away into the folder. He then stood to his feet.

"Very well Naruto-kun. Thank you for your input. Just understand that…you will have to wait two years for the girl and three for the boy. They are still in the academy after all. You get some rest. I'll organize everything," Hiruzen said. Naruto just looked at him as the Hokage turned to leave. "Oh and Naruto-kun, I…am so sorry," Sarutobi said as he closed the door to the room. Naruto was silent. His entire body trembled. He chuckled dementedly, but if anyone looked through his window then they would see the Kyuubi jinchuuriki laughing…as tears fell down his eyes and into his sheets. His broken laughter echoed through the walls of his room reverberating their madness. It would be a while before he stopped, but…he had all the time in the world.

-x-

Three years passed by for Konoha. The murder of four academy students was met with a harsh call for the Hokage to do something against the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Many people even convinced themselves that the Kyuubi had taken over the boy which only sent a majority of the village into mass hysteria for about three months. The disappearance of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki over the corresponding six months quelled…most of the people. Granted students were…scared of their former classmate hearing that the blonde was a part in the murders of some of their classmates.

It was truly a testament to the Sandaime's patience and will for the betterment of Konoha that allowed him to deal with the many complaints over those years. It had really waned on his will to keep it all up, but somehow he managed to persevere. The three years had been incredibly draining. Tsubaki still took care of Naruto or handled him as best she could, but even she had to admit that he was a handful at times. For the past three years, Tsubaki had lived with Naruto on the very top of the Hokage Stone Faces. She…still seemed to keep the Kyuubi jinchuuriki at arms length, but she was also picking up on his habits just as well since they lived together. Dare Hiruzen say that she was getting comfortable around him, perhaps not attached, or maybe never attached, but at least comfortable enough that she wasn't paranoid…much There was a little cottage up there for an retired innkeeper that had been sworn to secrecy or risk death if he disclosed the location. So far no incident had been reported over the last three years so the Hokage was sure that the man was keeping his side of the bargain.

Tsubaki had kept Naruto off the medication for those past three years and it was safe to say that his chakra and his coils didn't expand…enormously like they had three years ago when they learned that the medication was responsible for at least doubling his chakra capacity and the potency of said chakra. In hindsight it was a very good pill for shinobi if they could manufacture it, but Hiruzen already knew its side effects so he didn't bother with it. The losses far outweighed the gains. Still this was a day that Hiruzen was dreading immensely. It was…graduation day. It saddened his soul, but…it was for the village. He could only hope someday he would find solace in his actions.

A knock on the door forced Hiruzen to look up. It was Tsubaki who had come through said door with the same stern, professional look on her face that he always remembered. The woman really hadn't changed except her hair seemed to be more braided than normal. "I am to assume that I will be meeting Naruto's teammates at the cottage? The girl has already been a genin for a year so I suppose she'll have substantial skills, but the boy who just got out of the academy I will have to devise a test for him," Tsubaki said with a little disdain. To Sarutobi it was obvious that Tsubaki didn't want to become a jonin instructor. Even if her official status was an Anbu she didn't want to be in charge of little children with petty dream of stardom in the shinobi world.

"Hai, I will have them directed to you in a couple of hours. Tsubaki, I don't need to remind you of what their purpose is…do I?" Hiruzen asked making Tsubaki swiftly shake her head that she didn't need to be reminded. However that didn't mean it didn't leave a bad taste in her mouth. No doubt the head of the T&I department would be displeased with her…if she cared. Spinning on her heels Tsubaki walked out of the door leaving the Sandaime Hokage to his own vices. Hiruzen took off his hat and placed it on the desk. No amount of tobacco smoke would help ease his mind of these circumstances.

At this time, at the Academy, Iruka was looking over his students. Even now the mood for his class has never changed as most of his class still looked visibly disturbed that a murder had happened via their former blonde classmate. Most couldn't help at times looking at the place where the blonde once inhabited. If one wanted to be an outcast from the other students then some would have said that they missed the blonde if only because he at least made class…awkward and awkward was better than boring. Still the class was tense. Some of the students felt it prudent to…talk with councilors or their friends. Others tried bravado in dealing with it.

Sasuke Uchiha glared at the seat where Naruto once sat three years ago. When he had heard that the blonde had killed four academy students he had been skeptical. How could that clown have killed anyone? But Sasuke had felt a shiver when the lone surviving kid of the group of five returned to class. People had surrounded him and bombarded him with questions, but he was forever silent. It was only then that Sasuke learned the boy had lost his ability to speak from the horrific events that he saw. Sasuke had sought to actually find Naruto so he asked the teachers, but everyone was eerily silent. It was only Iruka who told Sasuke to let it go and to NEVER go looking for Naruto intentionally. Sasuke didn't understand all the fuss, but he did decide to let it go.

Shino and Shikamaru were also puzzled by these strange events. It was undoubtedly that they saw correct on that day. Shikamaru and Shino had seen their teammate, Uzumaki Naruto, behead four of their classmates while dropping their bodies to the ground with chains. Shikamaru had actually retched on the floor while Shino took him to the hospital. The mysteries surrounding the blonde only grew deeper as both heard that Naruto wouldn't be in class anymore. For Shikamaru it was a little bit of a letdown as he wanted to directly confront Naruto about that day. Shikamaru couldn't tell if the same was for Shino or not. Shikamaru's way of dealing with the events were to essentially not think about them, but for his type, that was kind of hard as it was always on his mind. He wanted to figure out he enigma that was Naruto. Not only did he not have to take assignments, tests or quizzes, but he also never got into ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu classes. Basically everything that the kids were there to do, he never did. It was like he was just there for the sake of being there. Then there was the woman who retrieved him everyday when the classes were just about over. Tsubaki-san, if he recalled it right. What was her connection to all this? Shikamaru didn't know. He would have liked to have talked with either Shino or Chouji about it, but both didn't seem to want to think about it. Ino and Sakura were quiet which was another thing Shikamaru and Shino noticed. They still bickered on annoying occasion, they were a lot more subdued. Hinata Hyuuga was a lot quieter if that were even possible. Kiba was…perhaps the least affected out of everyone. Still Shikamaru couldn't ever get this feeling out of his stomach. For the last year, his old man and mom had been spending a lot more time with him than normal. Whatever he wanted to do, whether it be train, look at the clouds or sleep they allowed him to do it without a word of complaint. Yet at times, Shikamaru was sure that his parents looked…sad. Almost like…he was going somewhere.

Currently he and the rest of his class had just graduated the academy. Their teacher was going on and on about what it meant to shinobi, their duties, how they were essentially the worst of the worst shinobi, but with training they would become more powerful and the Will of Fire, all that troublesome stuff. It was then that Shikamaru saw Iruka hold up a piece of paper. "That said, we will now fit you into teams as you wait for your jonin sensei to arrive. Remember that this is a first step for you. Team 1 Ami Kaido, Eiichiro Oda, and Akira Toriyama," Iruka said before continuing down the line.

"Team 7 will be Sakura Haruno, Uchiha Sasuke, and Tachibana Hatake. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake," Iruka said and suddenly the boys rolled their eyes and the girls snarled as Sakura jumped from her seat proclaiming the power of 'true love' and that dumb shit. Shikamaru glanced towards Tachibana and noticed his small scowl. Either he was upset with his placement or it was something else, Shikamaru wasn't sure. Well it seemed like Iruka was continuing regardless. "Team 8 will be Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Your jonin sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi," Iruka said then. Shino and Shikamaru shared a look before they looked back forward.

"Erm, team 9 is in a situation at the moment so I'll move on. Team 10 will be Chouji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, and Neji Hyuuga. Your jonin sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi. Chouji, Ino, Neji is from a…more recent team and will thus meet with you in this classroom a little later. The composition of team 9 came out with the conclusion that one of the other students would be the apprentice to the jonin, Maito Gai-san. That is all the teams for today," Iruka said closing the folder. Shikamaru widened his eyes as he leaned his head of the desk. Other students' eyes seemed to gravitate to his form before Chouji raised his hand.

"Iruka-sensei, what about Shikamaru? He passed just like everyone else. Why doesn't he get a team?" Chouji asked making Shikamaru sigh. If this was anyone else, Shikamaru would have been annoyed. Way to be the concerned friend there Chouji. Still it did puzzle Shikamaru that he wasn't getting a team. Was he getting some kind of special thing too, like an apprenticeship? Talk about troublesome. Shikamaru hoped to Kami that his master was lazy like him.

Upon hearing Chouji's question, Iruka's eyes fell downward and he frowned. Iruka took a deep sigh remembering the things he had discussed with the Hokage and a couple other teachers. Iruka pushed his hands inside his pockets and pulled out a piece of paper. Iruka stood before Shikamaru and placed the paper in front of him. "This is where your team will meet Shikamaru. You are required to be there in one hour from the time that class is to be let out. Be safe," Was all Iruka said and that didn't make Shikamaru feel like he won the lottery as Iruka walked away and closed the door thus signaling the end of the academy for all graduating students. Shikamaru looked down at the paper ominously. Chouji moved to sit next to him.

"That sucks. I was hoping to be on a team with you," Chouji said while Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. Shikamaru sighed once again. he was probably going to be doing that a lot in the near future. Thanks for stating the freakin' obvious Chouji.

"I'm assuming there is a reason he didn't say my team out loud or my sensei. Well if worse turns to worst then I'll just deal with it. It can't be that bad. Good luck with your team Chouji. Knowing you got Ino of all people, she'll probably boss you around like the troublesome woman she is. In any case I have to go. I'll see you around," Shikamaru said as he picked up his things and walked out of the door. Chouji watched him leave before he also noticed the various jonin sensei begin to come into the room. Chouji wished his friend good luck as well.

After leaving the academy, Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head as he looked at the direction. The map pointed to the very top of the Hokage Stone Faces. Whoever drew this map obviously would never cut it as an artist. Scratching his scalp, Shikamaru looked at the pictures of all the old geezers on the stone wall. "I have to walk all the way up there? Troublesome," Shikamaru said to himself.

Finally making it to the base of the Hokage Stone Faces, Shikamaru began to climb its very, very, very long staircase. He had to admit that the wind in his hair was an excellent breeze. All the while he did, he kept thinking about why his team was being structured the way it was…or if he was getting a team at all. He hoped that after this long walk he would get the opportunity to go over some things with the Jonin-sensei that he would be assigned to. "Perhaps I can also ask about that troublesome blonde from three years ago and that event," Shikamaru thought to himself before finally, oh gods finally, making it to the very top of the monument. Shikamaru took a small breath to ready himself. It was then that Shikamaru noticed someone else there. Obviously a girl. She was balancing a kunai on her fingertips. Her bun-shaped hair made Shikamaru raise an eyebrow as she looked at a piece of paper. Strange. He had never seen her in the academy before, but she had on a headband just like him. Please don't tell him he was on a team with a girl. Girls were troublesome creatures Shikamaru could never understand. Wiping the starting beads of sweat from his brow, Shikamaru stuffed his hands in his pockets and slowly made his way over to the girl.

"Can I assume you were called here too?" Shikamaru asked. The girl lowered the paper and took a good look at Shikamaru before she sighed. "Yup. Just got reassigned from my team today. Hokage-sama's orders or something like that. I was to report here for my permanent reassignment. Strange, I've never seen you before," She said while Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I've never seen your face in the Academy either. The name's Shikamaru Nara. I just graduated from the Academy a couple of days ago," Shikamaru replied making the girl widen her eyes. A recent academy graduate? Why was she being placed on a team without someone who was behind her? As far as she learned in her studies, this type of thing had never happened before. She had left a team that she had been growing so accustomed to and moved into one with a lower genin? A genin with almost no combat experience? Well she doubted she could handle even two chunin by herself, but the point still stood! Well her teammates had wished her well. Her jonin-sensei and his new apprentice had practically balled their eyes out talking about the 'springtime of youth' for her while the other just gave her a plain goodbye before talking about his reassignment as well.

"Well I've been a genin for about a good year now. My former jonin-sensei thought a C-rank would be fitting to say goodbye. I got about a rather minimal record for right now. 45 D-ranks at the last time I counted," she said making Shikamaru sweatdrop. 45 D-rank missions and a C-rank, potentially more, was minimal? He could tell this was going to be…interesting. "Well if we are teammates then nice to meet ya. I'm Tenten Higurashi," The young girl named Tenten said making Shikamaru nod his head.

No sooner than Tenten saying those words had both heard footsteps. Peering into the forest overgrowth they noticed a woman in a jonin vest coming up to them. Her eyes were cold, distant, calculating. It was like she was analyzing everything about them just from their appearance. Her presence and pressure were truly…formidable. It was almost otherworldly. "I knew I should have stayed in bed," Shikamaru thought to himself as the woman made her appearance before the both of them.

"Shikamaru Nara, Tenten Higurashi, on time as I expected you to be. Good work. I am your sensei, Tsubaki starting today. Tomorrow you will pack your things from your homes. I hope you made peace with your former lives with your parents and your homes because you will never return to those again until a long time in the future. Out here is a cottage which is supplied with all of your needs. You will be living here from now on. Any questions?" Tsubaki asked with her arms folded. Tenten held up her hand.

"Yeah, where our third teammate?" Tenten asked. Tsubaki narrowed her eyes at the girl. For whatever reason, Tenten thought she asked the wrong question as she withered under Tsubaki's gaze. Tenten swallowed the lump in her throat before Tsubaki turned around. She began to walk into the forests. Shikamaru and Tenten glanced to each other before they moved to catch up with their new sensei.

"He is already in the cottage. We will meet him shortly. However I will advise you right now, specifically you Tenten-san, discard the weapons and do not show them unless I allow you to do so," Tsubaki said making Tenten blink. She quickly pocketed her kunai while Shikamaru glared at the woman's back. He then closed his eyes. Looks like he would get his answers faster than he had assumed.

"You're…the woman who always looked after Naruto Uzumaki, aren't you? Is he our teammate?" Shikamaru asked and as expected of an Anbu, Tsubaki didn't lose stride in her steps. It wasn't so out of the ordinary that he had known who she was. She was actually surprised that he didn't pick up on it faster. Shinobi had to be aware of these things.

"I see the Nara are still as intelligent as always. That's right Shikamaru, I am Naruto-kun's handler. He is your third teammate," Tsubaki said and turned to get a good look at the reactions of her new team. As expected, Shikamaru widened his eyes while Tenten stopped walking entirely. She looked at Tsubaki like the woman was the most insane person over the face of the earth, but that was a title belonging to someone else. Tenten shivered. She had heard the stories. She had been in her second to last year of the Academy when she heard it happened.

"You mean we're going to be teamed up with a psychotic killer?!" Tenten exclaimed just ready to turn around and leave. To her credit, Tsubaki didn't let her new teams' reactions get the best of her. There were at least thirty different ways she could catch them before they even made it halfway back to the stairs of the Hokage Stone Faces. Shikamaru just looked hard at her something Tsubaki didn't really mind.

"You are shinobi of Konoha. It doesn't matter if you're on a team with a person who has killed one person or a thousand. Much blood will be spilled by the both of you in the name of this village. That is what you agreed to when you became shinobi of Konoha. I was told I had to design a test in order to truly prove you to be genin," Tsubaki said. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow while Tenten slowly nodded, but straightened up.

"You mean…we're not going to have a test?" Tenten asked. Tsubaki turned around. She stared the two straight in the eyes before closing her eyes. She really was no good with children. She would rather take facing a ton of A-rank missing in by herself with an arm behind her back, one eye closed, and a sprained ankle instead of children. Good times. Well adventure times were for…another time.

"I'll be honest. I find the academy that the two of you grew up in to be fickle, lackluster, and overall a shadow of its former self. In four weeks we will take a C-rank mission. If you pass then I deem you fit to become shinobi and if you don't then I drop you from the program. Hokage-sama has given me that authority," Tsubaki said which was a rather blatant lie. Naruto was the one who requested these two and Konoha needed Naruto calm, which meant they had to go along with most of his suggestions. However Tsubaki could see Shikamaru already sighing tiredly while Tenten just nodded. Good, at least there was no complaining from the two though she was sure that the Nara was just holding it in. That was also good. The teacher's word was the law for this team. Insubordination couldn't be tolerated.

"Anymore questions?" Tsubaki asked with a certain amount of patience that was quickly running thin. Shikamaru and Tenten glanced to each other before they shook their heads. Tsubaki nodded with them and proceeded to take them to the cottage without anymore distractions.

Upon reaching the cottage, Shikamaru and Tenten noticed that was it…nice. It wasn't the worst place they had ever seen, but it wasn't the best either. Still they wouldn't complain, though the ideas of not going home to their parents instilled a certain amount of fear in their hearts. "I would ask if you had any reservations and if you wanted to leave, but I don't care about that. This is your new life. Deal with it," Tsubaki said making Tenten and Shikamaru wince. It wasn't even long before Tsubaki opened the door that Shikamaru and Tenten had to do take a frightened step back as they noticed Naruto, the blond murderer from three years ago, standing at the doorway with a wide grin on his face. Shikamaru felt a bead of sweat fall from his face. Right now, he was regretting his curiosity. Naruto took a step forward and then another step. Tsubaki took a small glare at Naruto, but didn't move to stop him. Before long, Naruto stood before Tenten and Shikamaru who found the will to even try to move fleeting until it was gone.

"Bunny-chan, Pine-chan, you really came! I'm so…happy," Naruto said as he held out his hands and wrapped the two in a hug. Shikamaru widened his eyes while Tenten looked at the boy who was only a year younger than her. What was this guy's malfunction? What was wrong with him? Tenten couldn't even move her body to make the kid let her go, let alone tell him to move. Shikamaru was most likely in the same boat.

Seeing their predicament, Tsubaki gently patted Naruto's shoulders. "Naruto-kun, you promised to behave. Hokage-sama fulfilled your request. They will be living with us today. They will also be your new teammates," Tsubaki said. Naruto turned to her with hard, dilated eyes.

"Te…am mates? Tea…mmates? Tea…mates? Tea….apes? They are tea apes?!" Naruto asked with a loud laugh as he fell on his back and laughed. Shikamaru and Tenten looked down at him in surprise while Tsubaki closed her eyes. She could already feel the small headache beginning to form from Naruto. This guy had to have a few screws loose.

Shikamaru widened his eyes and glared down at Naruto. However he didn't get the chance to say anything as Tsubaki slowly picked up Naruto and dusted him off. "Hai, they are your tea apes Naruto-kun. Why don't you go back to your room and watch Tv while I hope your tea apes get settled in," Tsubaki said while Naruto nodded happily as he went back into the door.

"Bye-bye Bunny-chan, Pine-chan," Naruto said as quickly began to try to go up the stairs before Tenten caught herself and spoke. "Hey wait a minute. Why do you keep calling us Bunny and Pine?" Tenten asked like it was something to be insulted over. Tsubaki gave a look to Tenten before turning back to Naruto to see him look at her. His eyes focus on her dangerously…like the eyes of a snake seeking to devour a mouse and strangle it with its long, poisonous fangs. He pointed forward.

"Bunny-chan's hair looks like warm, sticky buns from a place handler-oneechan took me to. Therefore buns hair is Bunny-chan. Pine-chan's hair looks like a pineapple therefore he is Pine-chan. Bunny-chan and Pine-chan! Kaa-chan, they are Bunny-chan and Pine-chan!" Naruto said as he ran up the stairs laughing. Tsubaki frowned. That was also something that they had failed to get rid of. No matter what, either this person known as 'Kaa-chan' was being quiet the past three years or nothing had happened with Naruto. Tsubaki hadn't met that woman from three years ago at all in the three years and no reports from patrols or investigative teams in Konoha said anything about like the woman that Tsubaki mentioned. Tsubaki knew she wasn't insane. There had to be someone named 'Kaa-chan' in the village. Well whoever she was, she wouldn't know that Naruto was stationed here.

As Naruto's form slowly disappeared, Shikamaru and Tenten stood at the door. Shikamaru took a deep breath. "Tsubaki-sensei, is he…," Shikamaru prolonged sending the question that Tsubaki knew the two of them were asking. Tsubaki closed her eyes and nodded sending massive shivers down Tenten and Shikamaru's spine. That clenched it. It now all made sense. His constant bicker, the jonin who came to pick him up, and why he was stationed so far from the rest of the class despite being in the same room. Never would Shikamaru or Tenten have guessed it. Their teammate was…completely, utterly, and unequivocally insane.

"He is actually from the Konoha Ward. He is…its worst case. However, for reasons that I will not disclose to either of you at this time, he is greatly needed by this village and he wants you two for whatever reason. I will protect you both, but whether you can keep him calm is up to you. Now then, step inside. This is your life now," Tsubaki said to Tenten and Shikamaru. The bun-haired girl swallowed the lump in her throat and walked forward. Shikamaru looked at the ominous darkness and sighed before he walked inside. Troublesome.

KG: There was once another study of doctors and nurses administering a trip of drug to mentally unstable patients. The drug was meant to relax the nerves of the individual allowing for better thought processes and better awareness of surroundings. However the results were that it actually increased their insanity which had some in straitjackets because they actually thought that their bodies looked like food. The drug was discontinued not long after.

KG: I personally find insanity to be in three stages. 1, A person's perception of reality, or what they think the world acts like. 2, How they react to that reality or respond to it. Lastly, 3, how the reality reacts to them or what the reality does in acknowledgement of the person. Each of these stages happens to be a factor in how a person will respond either violently or nonviolently. Some believe that the insane have very brief moments of clarity or even times of genius thought, but its so few and far in-between that it can't be properly recorded. I imagine this to also work for Naruto. He is at least aware of other people, and more often than not will not attack unless provoked to do so. However because of his insanity and perception of blood as red-bean dango which is supposed to taste delicious then he is not above attacking a person to get that red-bean filling if his bloodlust is high enough or Tsubaki can't control him.

KG: I'll be the first to admit I wrote Konoha little…lenient with Naruto, but considering his…status I think he just puts them in a blind spot. Doctors usually say that the last thing a person wants from the mentally unstable is to provoke a fight or flight response as that response is 7 time out of 10 to be considered violent.

KG: Well that's all I guess folks. Stay Breezy, protect what's important to you, review, and YOU WILL ALL RESPECT THE FUCKIN' CREAM! I WILL BE THE NEXT ONE TO GO INSANE IF YOU DON'T!