I don't own Naruto.

One more shock racked through Naruto's body, making his heart shudder, skip, and halt.

"So I take it you haven't figured out the secret?" the Second Hokage asked. "You'll get it, I'm sure."

Minato gasped in pain as one of his fingernails was torn off attempting to Body Flicker at even higher speeds.

"A forbidden scroll?" he asked.

"Yeah, I read it once when I was younger, looking for cool jutsu," Jiraiya laughed. "But there might be something in there to help you out."

Sarutobi looked on as the young blond rifled through his office.

'Must this really become a rite of passage for our most promising ninja?' he asked himself.

"I did it!" Minato crowed, looking at his sensei. "But... the trick to it. It isn't... nice."

"Minato! Don't you dare use our son for this!" Kushina shouted.

"I have to, darling. He's the only way we can stop the Kyūbi."

As the two lovers lay dying, Minato looked at their son.

"We can seal the last of our chakra in along with him, to guide him when he's older," Minato said. Kushina nodded weakly and offered up her chakra. Her head then slumped to the side as she passed on. Minato pumped the last of his chakra into his son, but before he was finished, his eyes widened in horror.

His son had stopped wailing. He'd stopped moving. Minato's hands couldn't feel a pulse. As the last of his chakra left him, he moaned in disbelief. Demonic chakra flushed through his son's body and his eyes flashed red. The yang portion of the Kyūbi's chakra was pulled through the chakra connection Minato had made and joined the yin portion sealed within his son's body.

'I... I've died for nothing?'

The dripping of the sewer, at this point, was music to Naruto's ears. He'd forgotten how much time he'd spent here. Since he'd hypnotised himself in the interrogation room he'd lost track of time, and had ended up going over the memories of the Second and Fourth Hokages. Using the Absorption Soul Technique didn't just give a copy of the memories of the target; it created some sort of short term imprint of the souls. Naruto had been plagued by memories and impressions from the lives of the two men, and it had become difficult to distinguish who was who.

"Have you pulled yourself out of your funk yet, kid?" the Kyūbi asked.

"Hrf," he grunted.

A huge excitation flushed through the chakra pipes lining his mindscape, rocking Naruto back and forth.

"What was that?" he asked.

"You just died, kid," the fox said. "Those electric shocks finally stopped your heart."

"The secret..." Naruto mused.

"Are you seriously not going to react to this? Wow. And I thought you'd have worked this one out by now."

"What?"

"Not what. Who?"

"Who are you?"

"Who are you, yes."

"That's not what... I?"

"Finally got it? Then rip off this damned seal!"

Naruto swayed towards the seal and grasped it, pondering his hand. Minato had sealed him to protect him. But Minato had tried to kill him... He squashed the thought and ripped off the seal in its entirety.

"Yes! Finally!" the Kyūbi crowed as the cage doors swung open. The gigantic Bijū grinned before dissolving into an amorphous mass of red chakra that flowed into Naruto, burning him from the inside out. As his chakra coils burned with the fury of the world's most powerful demon, he didn't fall unconscious. He did the worst thing possible. He woke up.

After fifteen minutes of inactivity, Naruto's heart pumped again. The beat was followed by a scream of chakra that could be heard all the way on the surface. Gai, Tenzō, and the rest of their team quickly made their way to the outside, where they were joined by the two other infiltration teams, as well as Kakashi and Team Ro.

"Peacock, what was that?" Kakashi asked, dodging a frenzied blow from Jiraiya.

"Ah, my eternal rival, it was a surge of chakra like I haven't felt since the Kyūbi's attack!"

"Gai, you could have at least tried to keep your identity a secret..." Kakashi moaned.

"No! I was too late!" Jiraiya shouted. "But my backup should be here now."

As he spoke, several other ninja burst onto the scene and took defensive positions around their Hokage-elect. Asuma, Kurenai, Hiashi, Tsume, Koharu, Homura and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were all there, some looking more enthusiastic than others.

"What is it, Jiraiya-sama?" Hiashi asked.

"These traitors are trying to break into the T&I department and free a prisoner, despite orders to the contrary. And now they're trying to injure me in order to keep their identities secret."

"Secrecy? Ha!" Kakashi said, ripping off his mask. "This was to protect some of our members who have families in the village who might be affected by the fallout. But I have no shame in what I'm doing. Jiraiya, you've spat on Sarutobi-sama's wishes by imprisoning his last student and we're here to take him back!"

Their discussion was interrupted by a column of vicious fire that burrowed its way from the ground and out through the roof of the T&I building. The glare from the fire forced everyone to look away, and when they looked back there was just a lone figure standing on the roof.

Naruto's clothes had been burnt away, but his nudity wasn't visible; he was surrounded by a bubbling coat of red chakra, had deep furrows carved through his cheeks in the appearance of whiskers, and red, slitted eyes.

A few of the masked ANBU turned to each other in discussion.

"Is he losing control?" one asked.

"I'll leave and see if I can help." another stated.

The ANBU burst into smoke as it dispelled, sending a signal to one of the other shadow clones that had been meditating on the Hokage Monument. This clone dispelled as well, sending nature chakra straight to the primal main body, affecting the balance of his chakra and putting him off-balance. Before the nature chakra could war with the Kyūbi's chakra and turn him to stone, the Kyūbi's chakra eased off and reached a balance. The fox said nothing about this change; his cage empty.

The bubbling field of chakra around Naruto dissipated, revealing his nudity. Taking his appearance into account, the boy gestured and simple ninja clothes appeared on his body. His two eyes bored into the crowd - one with the Rinnegan and six spiralling tomoe, and the other in deep orange with a cross for a pupil - the horizontal bar of sage mode crossed with the vertical slit of his demonic mode.

"I found the secret," he whispered, before disappearing in a flash of red.

He reappeared next to Kakashi, the sudden pressure of his presence pushing down on everybody.

"Naruto - the Hiraishin-"

"Yes, sensei. I had a lot of time to think when I was trapped in that room. Alone with the memories of the second and fourth Hokages. You're right, Jiraiya," he said, turning to the Sannin. "I am dangerous. And until now I've used that strength to support and protect Konoha, but no more. Jiji told me to leave, that you'd try to kill me. And he was right. You did kill me. But you should have known, you couldn't kill me for long."

The crowd gasped as the boy made his announcement.

"You actually tried to kill him?" Shikaku asked.

"You died?" Yūgao asked.

"But I learnt the secret to the Hiraishin," Naruto said. "I got the opportunity to talk to my father, too. The secret is having a purity of spirit. A purity that you never had, Jiraiya. Your student, my father - he is so very disappointed in you. I pray that you never have to meet him in the afterlife. But, with the way you're going, I doubt you ever will."

Jiraiya lunged at the jinchūrikki, but he disappeared in a flash of red, along with the rest of his allies. Jiraiya was left alone with the members of his council.

"Where are we?" Boar asked.

"On the top of the Hokage Monument," Naruto said, striding over to the edge and staring at the village. The aura of power still seeped off him, and only Kakashi and Gai had the nerve to approach him. "Do you have an evacuation plan?"

"We did, but if you can teleport that many people at the same time..." Gai said.

"The number of people isn't an issue. I just need to know who they are."

"We had arranged for our allies to meet at the South Gate at 0515 hours, waring red armbands. After that we were to storm the gates and leave for Wave."

"Surely that wasn't it. You had plans for a distraction?"

"Some of our Hyūga allies alerted us of an explosive tag network concealed within Konoha. A few branch members have stumbled across it over the years, but kept it a secret in case they could use it. We were going to detonate a limited section of the network and flee while the shinobi forces responded to it."

"I have a better plan. The explosive network is a good secret to have in reserve. I can destroy part of the Hokage Monument. That will cause even more uproar."

"But I thought you respected the Kages!" Kakashi interjected.

"All of them but my father," Naruto said. "He has tried to kill me twice, despite apparently giving his life to protect me. They will rebuild the monument, but it will send the right message."

"I... alright. I doubt sensei would care too much about having his face on the Monument anyway."

"Good. Prepare yourselves."

In another flash of red, Kakashi, Gai, and the others disappeared and found themselves in the town square of Wave, with Naruto nowhere to be seen.

"I hope he knows what he's doing," Kakashi said.

"Neji-sama, where are the others?" a Branch member asked.

"I've told you to stop calling me that! And Sakura-san and my teammates should be here soon. We're slightly early."

"We call you that because you're Hizashi-sama's son, and he should have been the clan head. On top of that, you're more skilled as a genin as several Branch jōnin. And even further on top of that, you've found us a way to escape the tyranny of Konoha. No longer will we have to live under the threat of death at the hands of the Main House."

A shuffling of feet distracted them and the two span around, only to come face-to-face with Hinata.

"Where are you going, Neji-nii-san?" she asked. "And why is most of our family with you?"

"You-" Neji bit himself off before exploding at her. "Go home now and speak nothing of this."

"We can't let her live now that she's seen us," the Branch member said, throwing himself at her, Jūken strike ready. Before it could connect, a clawed hand caught him by the fingers.

"Now now, we don't need any killing today."

Neji looked at the tensed figure, before activating his Byakugan.

"Naruto-san?"

The figure looked at him before grinning.

"Feel free to call me that, I guess. I'm here to pick you up."

"You're going, Naruto-kun? Please, take me with you!" Hinata said.

"Hinata, we will be leaving Konoha behind. You will leave your father, your sister, and your team. You will be marked a traitor."

"I don't care! It was wrong, what they did to you, and I don't want to be a part of a village like this if you're not here any more."

"I'm not going anywhere with a Main House member," the Branch member said. "She could just activate our Caged Bird seals and kill us all."

Several of the Branch members behind him murmured in agreement, before Naruto stood before him, silencing the man with his presence.

"Have no fear," he hummed, poking the man in the forehead before he could react. "Blocking Technique: Absorption Seal."

The chakra from the man's Caged Bird seal flowed through Naruto's fingers and dissipated itself within his body, chakra spinning in the opposite direction and becoming one with him.

"It's gone!" the man yelled, turning to his family. "I'm not caged any more!"

Naruto summoned fifty clones and they worked through the Branch members, using the power of his Rinnegan's Preta Path to unmark them.

"There, now none of you should have any problem with Hinata. I know she may be from the Main House, but she's my age. She had no say in your enslavement. Has she ever used the seal on you herself?" Naruto asked.

A low chorus of 'no's came from the recently-unmarked Hyūga.

"She took the blame for me once when I ironed through the sheets," one said. More testaments to her kind nature came through. Naruto turned to Neji.

"Any more problems?"

"No, no more problems."

"Good. Now we just have to wait for the others. It's past 0515 hours."

"Naruto!" his teammate's startled cry came from the side as Sakura barrelled into him, Haku following close behind and slamming into the two of them. "So they got you out?"

"Not quite," he said. "They served as a distraction as I escaped, but Jiraiya moved me to a secret location. I'm fine now, though."

His teammates fussed over him as the rest arrived. Lee and Tenten moved to meet their teammate, congratulating him when they discovered his unbranded head.

"Naruto, Jiraiya's coming!" Anko shouted, as she jumped down from the rooftops. "Asuma is siding with Jiraiya, and I couldn't get Konohamaru out from the Sarutobi estate!"

"That's fine. Is everyone else here?"

"Just Ibiki and Konohamaru are missing. I think Ibiki was arrested for deactivating the T&I security seals."

"I will find them. For the rest of you, good luck!"

The others disappeared in a flash of red and Naruto turned around.

"Playing catchup again, Jiraiya-sensei?" he asked.

"Don't call me that!" he shouted. "I never taught you anything."

"Oh please, don't sell yourself short. You introduced me to the Toad clan, you showed me how they react to summoners who attack other clan summoners. You taught me the secret to the Hiraishin. I'm upset that you didn't teach me my father's other signature technique, but I think I have it down."

Using his father's memories, Naruto was easily able to form a spiralling sphere of chakra in his left hand, and with the mastery over the elements that the Rinnegan granted, he was able to add wind chakra to the matrix, forming a humming shuriken formed of rotating wind chakra.

"I call it the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, the ultimate evolution of my father's ultimate technique. I haven't tried throwing it yet, but I imagine it would cause some devastation."

He hefted the chakra shuriken, causing Jiraiya's delegation to flinch in fear. Hiashi, in particular, could see the chakra construct's inner workings with his Byakugan, and the control and power needed to form that many separate chakra strings didn't just impress him. It terrified him.

"Jiraiya-sama, we need to retreat," he said. "His chakra exceeds all of ours put together."

"Capacity is nothing over experience," Jiraiya said. "Hold fast."

Naruto let the Rasenshuriken dissipate.

"I wouldn't want to hurt anybody. After all, I'm only taking a brief break from this village so I can come back and take the hat. But first, I have a few people I'm planning to take with me, so I'm going to go and get them. Oh, and where did you put my Raijin, Jiraiya? Also, I'll be taking the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, considering that it's Senju property. No need to get it for me; I'll manage. You might have something else you'll want to deal with," he said, pointing at the Hokage Monument. "See ya!"

Naruto flashed over to the Sarutobi compound as Namikaze Minato's stone head crumbled, using his sage mode-enhanced chakra senses to find Konohamaru. Asuma was in the same room, and their chakras were angry, like they were arguing. Naruto let himself in through the door and revealed himself to the couple.

"Hey Kon!"

"Boss!" Konohamaru yelled, lunging towards his friend.

"I don't think so," Asuma said. "Konohamaru, you're staying right here."

"You're not my dad!" the boy yelled, trying to stamp on his uncle's foot.

"No, but I am your uncle, and it's my responsibility to look after you. Letting you become a missing-nin before you even leave the Academy does not count as taking care of you."

"I know you're trying to do what's best for your family, Asuma-san," Naruto said. "But the old man told me to look after Kon, that he didn't trust the subversive elements in this village any more. You know how I felt about the old man, and that I wouldn't let him down in this."

"You loved him, and you'll try and look after Konohamaru," Asuma agreed. "But taking him with you as a missing-nin is no life for him. You will be relentlessly hunted, not just for what you hold, but for the other power you have gained. That isn't the life I want for him."

"I'm sorry that it's come to this, Asuma-san," Naruto said. "But I'll let Kon decide." He turned to the young boy. "Do you want to stay here or leave with me?"

"I want to go!" Konohamaru shouted. "I don't like what that Jiraiya did to you and he's going to end up running this place. I'll take my chances in the wilderness!"

"Ha, well I'm not exactly planning to go and live in the wilderness," Naruto laughed. "But I'm glad you want to come. Once again, my apologies, Asuma-san."

The genin and the Academy student disappeared in a flash of red, one being united with the other rebels in Wave and the other shifting to the T&I building. He quickly dismantled the seals binding Ibiki and moved him to join the other rebels. He scoured through the building, looking for his other targets. Once he'd found them, assured them that he was there to free them, and sent them to Wave with the others, he was free to settle up in Konoha.

After that, it was the Hokage Tower. From his perch he could see the landslide of rubble formed of the Fourth Hokage's stone face and see the flurries of active ninja moving to shift the rubble. Naruto had ensured that the area of destruction was clear of people, but he hadn't needed to tell Jiraiya that.

The blond slipped through an open window and stalked through the corridors, working his way to the Hokage's office. Just as he crossed the threshold, his nature chakra dispersed and he left sage mode, Kyūbi chakra returning and bubbling in a misty red cloak. In the same moment, a sealing matrix activated, attempting to bind him in place, burn, and electrocute him.

"I thought we'd already gone over this," he sighed. A tendril of vicious red energy swung from his arm and shot into the chakra battery segment of the seal. All seals need energy to power them, whether it's pumped in by the person drawing it or converted from natural energy sources. Naruto pumped corrosive bijū chakra into it until the entire structure fell apart and released him.

"Disappointing, Jiraiya," he muttered. The man wasn't here, but he'd no doubt had a secondary seal tied to the first that would alert him when the primary seal fell. Naruto made quick work of collecting the Raijin and the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing. The Third's favourite bo-staff and spare were in the storage room, as well as a spare of the Hokage's stamp. Seeing no harm in adding more crimes to his name, even though they hopefully wouldn't be discovered, Naruto took them and left henged shadow clones in their place. The scroll and sword's theft would remain obvious, however. With a last look at the village he loved and the crumbling monument to its leaders, Naruto disappeared from it, leaving chaos in his wake.

AN: Wow, I got a lot of shit for the last chapter. It's like something I wrote annoyed you or somthing. Weird.

Anyway, this is the end of arc one. Not sure if I want to continue, but if I do I'll keep posting 'em here.