Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Zaion Indulias: This story is in response to a challenge put to me by one of my readers, Killjoy3000. When he sent me the challenge it instantly sparked some creativity, both for the challenge itself but also to hopefully get me past the writers' block I've had for the past couple of weeks. This story is the result of that challenge, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Bones of the Devil, Ice of an Angel

A Story by Zaion Indulias

Chapter 1: Pain and Rebirth

It was a day like any other in Konoha. The sun had been shining high in the sky. People bustled to and fro about their business while shinobi moved here and there amongst the crowd. Some were off duty, some were performing routine sweeps to look for any signs of danger in the village, and still others were gathering supplies to head out on missions.

The village itself was busier than usual in preparation for the annual Festival of the Yondaime. Most shinobi who were not assigned to crucial missions had the day off to celebrate and mourn with their families. This also meant that there were two few ANBU to spare for so-called "non-critical duties". Thus a young blond-haired child was left completely unguarded as he scurried to and fro on this most celebratory of days, celebratory for everyone but this small child that is.

Uzumaki Naruto was Konoha's dirty little "not-so-secret". He was the jailor of the Kyuubi no Yoko though he himself was unaware of this fact, and on this particular day, his life was about to change irrevocably.

As the blond boy scurried down an alley avoiding the big crowds with their angry looks and their cold shoulders, four cloaked and hooded figures watched him from the rooftop. Each of them wore standard ANBU gear, but their masks all bore the markings of the elite Ne Division. Silently they watched the boy before their opening appeared. Moving quickly the four dropped into the alleyway, the blond boy barely having time to recognize them as ANBU before one of the quartet struck him in the back of the neck. Naruto collapsed in a boneless heap like a sack of potatoes.

As one of the Ne ANBU lifted the unfortunate boy over his shoulder, the commander of the squad reached up to his ear and triggered the radio communicator in place there.

"Target has been acquired sir. Shall we proceed to the rendezvous with the Snake?"

There was a brief crackling over the line before a gruff scratchy older voice came through.

"Proceed with the operation as planned."

As the four ANBU moved out, heading for a secret tunnel out of the city, Danzo sat in his office and smirked. For five years the Sandaime had been refusing to allow him to take the Kyuubi jinchuriki into his Ne program. Now he found a method to make the child useful to his own goals without risking the Sandaime's wrath.

After all, it's not like anyone would be able to prove that HE had been responsible for the boy being traded to one of the village's most reviled nuke-nin.

Two Years Later…

A squad of Konoha ANBU silently dropped into the wreckage of what had apparently once been some sort of secret underground facility. The squad had been on their way back to Konoha, cutting through Ta no Kuni, when they had sensed a massive flare of chakra before a series of massive explosions rocked the forest. Even in the dim moonlight they could see a massive cloud of smoke rising up about a mile to the east of them, so they diverted to investigate.

When they had arrived they had stared in awe at the destruction before them. An area of forest nearly a mile across was just devastated, and from the looks of things, some sort of underground facility had been blown outward before the debris collapsed back upon it. As they looked they spotted dead and broken bodies scattered throughout the wreckage, but no signs of movement. Knowing that there was a distinct possibility that allies of whoever had been behind this hidden base could arrive at any moment, the team leader signaled for a quick inspection and then a retreat towards Konoha.

The four figures dropped into the crater of devastation and split up, each speeding through while looking for any sign of anything that could indicate who had been here or what they had been up to. One of the ANBU, a purple-haired young woman wearing a cat ANBU mask, was beginning to get frustrated. The only clue to who had been here were a number of the dead who wore hitai-ate with a musical note symbol that she had never seen before, and a large amount of what looked like scientific equipment scattered throughout the debris. Just as the time limit for her recon was about to give out she froze on top of a mountain of debris. The purple-haired girl focused her senses, tuning out all extraneous background noise.

Crumble.

There is was again! Quietly she moved over the debris towards a pile of what looked like smooth white bone. As the moonlight glinted off of it she realized that what had at first seemed like a pile of debris was in fact some odd flower. It was sticking out of one of the piles of debris and was entirely comprised of bone encased in a shimmering layer of ice. She was about thirty feet away when the "petals" of the bone flower suddenly began to creak and slowly folded open, ice dusting off of them like snow flakes. Behind her mask the ANBU's eyes widened at the sight before her.

As the 'flower' fully opened a young boy was revealed. He couldn't have been more than six or seven she thought, but with how haggard and malnourished he looked she couldn't be sure. His blond hair was cut short with some sort of striped pattern in it as well as his clothes. What little remained of them were a dark red, similar to the color of his skin. Suddenly, the ANBU realized that the boy was covered in blood. She involuntarily let out a gasp as the blond boy took a few hesitant steps towards her, his small body shaking and his eyes glued to the ground. Making a decision the ANBU took a few steps towards him, wary of any possible danger but trying to be as non-threatening as possible.

Slowly the boy approached until there were only a few feet separating the two, his eyes still downcast. They stood facing one another for several long moments before finally the boy raised his eyes to look at her. What the masked ANBU saw there nearly tore her heart in twain.

The poor boy's bright blue eyes were glistening from the tears that were filling his eyes and flowing down his cheeks, creating two clear paths through the blood that otherwise covered his entire body. She could barely make out three faint marks on each cheek under the blood and the stream of tears, his skin so pale that they barely stood out at all.

"They…" He croaked out hoarsely. "Why did they do this to me? They deserved to die!!"

The ANBU realized instantly that whatever this poor boy had been through it had traumatized him, and that right now he was feeling a mixture of remorse and self-righteous fury that were confusing him. Silently she knelt down and embraced the poor boy in a hug.

"It's alright now. No one's going to hurt you any longer." She said as she held the crying boy.

Her teammates found her five minutes later still holding the young child. He had passed out after a minute or two of crying into her shoulder, and she had lifted him into her arms while waiting for her teammates to converge.

"I found one survivor, taichou. We better return to Konoha immediately."

The captain of the ANBU team nodded silently in assent before the four moved out. The three other members arranged themselves in a defensive formation around the cat-masked ANBU as she was carrying the child.

One of the ANBU, masked in an Inu mask, narrowed his eyes. He recognized that child, and he blamed himself and the Hokage for his disappearance. For two years he had been requesting people be sent to find out who had taken him, and for two years the Council had blocked his requests.

When he got back to Konoha he would have some hard decisions to make, and by the end of it Konohagakure would be short one elite ANBU.

None of the ANBU noticed a pair of spikes sticking out of the center of the flower where the young boy had been standing, covered in blood, nor did they witness the ice begin to very slowly melt off of the flattened flower of bone.

Four Years Later…

The sun shone high over Konoha with nary a cloud in the sky. To the young blond boy who now stood before the entrance of the Konoha Ninja Academy it was a momentary reminder of 'that day'; that fateful day six years ago.

Shaking his head slightly he dismissed the memory, taking solace from the hand that rested lightly on his shoulder. Turning his head slightly he looked up at the purple-haired woman who stood beside him.

"Don't worry, otouto. You'll do great. I'm sure of it." She said softly to reassure the blond boy.

The blond boy smiled slightly back up at the young woman before once again facing forward, this time with determination clear in his eyes.

"I'll make you proud, Onee-san. Just watch me."

With that said Uzuki Naruto took his first official steps in becoming a shinobi of the leaf.

Umino Iruka already had a headache, and the new school year had only been in session for five minutes.

It was his first year teaching at the Academy, and already he was wondering why he had accepted the assignment.

Oh, that's right. I wanted an assignment that could let me stay in the village.

Iruka's class consisted of thirty or so prospective shinobi of the village, and was one of four such classes preparing to take the Genin exam in a year's time. Even though class had technically started the moment he had entered the room, he had instead spent the time running through a mental roll call and preparing himself for this task. That and he had been informed that his class was receiving a new student, and he really didn't want to have his authority as a teacher undermined on his first day of teaching.

Just then there was a knock on the door before it was slid open and a young woman with purple hair walked in. She appeared to be about twenty one years old and was wearing standard ANBU gear with an ANBU tattoo on her right shoulder. She regarded Iruka with a calculating look for several moments as the brunette Chunin stood before finally entering the room.

"I'm Uzuki Yugao, and this is my brother, Naruto." She said in a steady voice as the noise in the classroom died down, the students were all curious as to who the new arrival was.

As Yugao took a few more steps into the room and held out her arm to shake his hand, the students' attentions were drawn by the shorter figure that entered the room behind her. It was a short blond boy who looked to be about their age. His short spiky blond hair had several red stripes in it and was controlled by a slim black headband with a golden Konoha symbol on the front. His eyes were a clear bright blue and his skin had a healthy tan, drawing attention to three pale marks on both of his cheeks. He wore a pair of black shinobi sandals, a pair of loose black cargo pants with lots of pockets and pouches, a pair of fingerless black gloves, and a tight form-fitting black long-sleeve t-shirt. Over this he wore a long black battle-coat and had a chokuto strapped to his back just like the woman, who was obviously his sister.

As he turned and regarded his would-be classmates with an unreadable expression on his face, many of the girls in the room felt their hearts flutter. This boy was hot! Many of those who had spent the last five years of their lives chasing after a dark-haired brooding boy by the name of Uchiha Sasuke, began to wonder if maybe this new boy might be a better target for their affections. Amongst the group that began to wonder this were a blond girl with pale blue eyes and a pink-haired girl with emerald green ones. Another girl near the back of the classroom was trying hard to remain conscious, her pale eyes wide as she felt her heart beating faster than she had ever felt it in her entire life.

"Hokage-sama informed me that you would be bringing him today, Uzuki-san. I am however curious as to why he wasn't entered into the Academy when he was six like everybody else." Iruka said, obliquely asking his question. He was ashamed to admit it, but part of him wondered why he had to get stuck teaching the vessel of the Kyuubi no Yoko.

Almost all of the students were instantly alert, curious to learn anything they could about this new student, even a lazy-ass Nara in the first row. Several of the students kept their focus on Naruto himself, and thus noticed the way his jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed at Iruka's question.

"There were extenuating circumstances, Iruka-san. Needless to say, my brother has been fully trained by myself and several other members of ANBU. He is merely here as a formality so that he may take the Genin exam in one year's time. As such, I would appreciate it if you not punish him for doing self-study when you are lecturing on subjects which he already knows, particularly when it comes to things like history." Yugao replied with the faint hint of ice in her voice.

Iruka bristled at the way she addressed him but kept a smile on his face.

"Hokage-sama has informed me of the allowances that are to be made. However, I hope that your brother understands that he will be held to the same rules of conduct and behavior as everyone else, and his grades will need to show that he fully understands the material."

Don't worry about my grades, teme. I can feel your disdain for me, and it sickens me. Your logic is faulty and anything you would teach me anyway must be considered suspect. The blond boy thought darkly.

Yugao nodded her assent of the conditions as she glanced at Naruto out of the corner of her eye. She saw Naruto nod silently as well before she continued unaware of what her brother was thinking.

"He will do quite well, I assure you Umino-san." She said before turning and favoring the blond boy with a smile as she ruffled his hair, an action that caused him to growl in response as he tried to fight off the offending limb.

Yugao shot Iruka one last stern look and nodded before she turned and exited the room. Naruto watched her go with only a hint of apprehension on his face before he turned to face Iruka. He looked up at the brunette Chunin, and with a lift of an eyebrow questioned what was to happen next.

Well sensei? Are you going to prove my first impressions of you wrong?

Iruka sighed and waved one hand lazily towards the rows and rows of students.

"Naruto, why don't you introduce yourself to the class and then take the empty seat in the back of the room next to Shino." He said as he pointed towards an empty seat in the back of the room next to a dark-haired boy wearing sunglasses and a tall-collared pale coat.

Guess not.

Naruto nodded and turned to face the class as he stood at an almost ANBU-like attention.

"My name is Uzuki Naruto." Naruto began in a steady voice, informative but with a distinct lack of any clear emotion. "I am eleven years old and was born here in Konoha. I do not know who my parents were, nor do I particularly care. I have been well trained to protect myself, and as my sister stated I am only here in order to attend the mandatory year required so that I may take the Genin Exam and become a shinobi of Konoha. I like training, swords, and learning new techniques. I dislike those who hate people for no good reason, and I hate with a passion those who would experiment upon the innocent for no reason than to produce weapons."

Naruto's voice carried a bite of venom as he stated this last part.

"My hobbies include sword-smithing, carving, and tai chi. There is nothing more to be said."

Naruto straightened slightly and looked to Iruka for permission before he walked up the steps and took a seat next to Shino. As he sat down and crossed his hands on the desk in front of him, Iruka had to blink as he could have almost sworn that there were two Shino's sitting there with how impassive Naruto's face was.

The rest of the class was looking up at Naruto with a mixture of expressions plain upon their faces. Many of the girls were admiring Naruto's looks while a number of the boys were groaning at the thought of a new target for the fan girls to whine about. Many of the boys were also eyeing Naruto as a possible rival. Inuzuka Kiba was sniffing the air and trying to make sense of the myriad of odors that were coming off of Naruto, dirt and sweat and blood and oil covering the faint scent of bone and foxes. Nara Shikamaru was eyeing Naruto lazily wondering just what this blond would invariably end up doing to make his life more "troublesome". And Uchiha Sasuke was glaring up at the blond boy, wondering what made him so special that he got personal training from an ANBU officer.

Uzuki Naruto took their gazes in turn and ignored them, caring more about getting through his time at the Academy so that he could truly begin his training.

The first day of class was relatively uneventful for the blond shinobi-to-be. I say relatively uneventful, because compared to his usual training regimen the Academy was a complete bore to Naruto. The morning's lessons were entirely on history and general theory behind the usage of jutsu, all stuff that Naruto had mastered by the age of nine at the latest. So instead of paying attention Naruto had unrolled one of the many scrolls he had tucked into the many pouches in his coat and had begun to read. The fact that he was allowed to not pay attention earned him the almost continuous glare of one Uchiha Sasuke, but he ignored it. As far as Naruto was concerned it mattered not whether anyone glared at him or not.

Chakra storage seals are the basis of all fuuinjutsu. They can be modified for almost any capacity, and are often modified to develop new functions in seals or even to develop entirely new seals. Naruto read from the scroll.

However the young boy he was sitting next to kept glancing down at the scroll periodically, intrigued by what Naruto was reading. As soon as Naruto had noticed this he had subtly shifted the angle of the scroll so that Shino could read as well, earning an almost imperceptible nod from the stoic boy. Shino's interest in his reading material brought a faint smile to Naruto's lips.

Maybe being stuck here won't be so bad after all.

The scroll was a treatise on fuuinjutsu that had been written by the Gama-sennin Jiraiya, one of Konoha's three Densetsu no Sannin. Naruto had discovered early in his training with his sister that at some point while he had been in the custody of those foreign bastards who had experimented upon him, a seal had been placed upon his stomach. For some reason this disrupted his chakra flow, causing it to periodically spike and become more uncontrolled when he tried to use it. As soon as he had discovered this fact, something that apparently caused a great deal of worry for his sister although she would never say why, he had begun researching everything he could about seals. Thus the treatise before him on advanced sealing techniques. He still wasn't sure what the seal on his stomach was really designed to do, but he felt that he was close to finding an answer.

As Iruka droned on about the Third Great Shinobi War Naruto continued to read on the theories of the esteemed Jiraiya-san.

When it was finally time for lunch, Naruto merely rolled his scroll up calmly and stood up from his seat as most of the rest of the class chattered excitedly about the inanities of their lives. He nodded a thanks to Shino for being pleasant company before turning and beginning to walk down the steps towards the front of the class to exit, his coat billowing slightly behind him. He only made it about halfway down the steps however before he was confronted by a glaring Uchiha Sasuke, who was flanked by his army of adoring fan girls.

Naruto paused and regarded the glaring boy before him with emotionless eyes.

"Yes?" He asked with a single raised eyebrow. "Is there a reason you have chosen to impede my progress?"

"Fight me." The Uchiha replied causing many of those who heard to gasp in surprise.

Sasuke was after all the head of the class, and the brooding boy was known to be dedicated to training and becoming the strongest shinobi around. There were many rumors that his dedication to becoming strong was to kill his own brother, who was wanted by Konoha for the murder of his entire clan save Sasuke.

Idiots. All of them are illogical idiots.

Naruto regarded the dark-haired boy with the duck-butt hair cut for several seconds before replying.

"No, I don't think I will." Naruto said calmly before stepping to the side and attempting to pass the Uchiha. His progress was once again impeded by Sasuke grabbing his shoulder.

"I said fight me!" Sasuke growled out, louder than before.

This bastard did NOT just do that.

Naruto looked over at Uchiha with an annoyed look on his face as he reached up and brushed Sasuke's hand off of his arm.

"I see no gain for me in fighting you. I feel that I have made this abundantly clear, so I advise you to cease bothering me." Naruto said, his annoyance creeping into his voice.

Naruto faced forward again and stepped forward as the legion of fan girls moved aside in shock. No one had ever disregarded Sasuke like that! No one. Behind Naruto, Sasuke clenched his fists in rage before lashing out with a punch towards the back of Naruto's skull. His actions shocked the gathered watchers into silence as his fist approached the back of Naruto's head.

But just as it was about to connect Naruto bent forward and planted his palms on the ground. He continued his motion by kicking off of the ground with his legs and catching Sasuke in the chin with the back of his heel. Everyone gasped again as Sasuke was sent flying backwards and Naruto completed his flip over the heads of several of the shocked girls and landed firmly at the base of the stairs.

Naruto stood and dusted himself off, ignoring the shocked looks of many of his new classmates. He looked back over his shoulder at where Sasuke was slowly getting to his feet with bloody murder on his face and a bruise forming on his chin and narrowed his eyes. He spoke steadily with ice in his voice.

"I advise you to not try anything like that again. I do not suffer fools lightly, and the majority of my defense maneuvers are quite lethal."

With that Naruto turned and strode out of the room once again ignoring the shocked stares of his new classmates.

Idiots. They are all idiots.

After the incident on the first day of class things were pretty quite. Most of the class with the noticeable exception of Shino, one bruised-chin glaring Uchiha, and one or two fan girls who kept shooting Naruto googly-eyes stayed out of the blond boy's way and he in turn did nothing to actively interact with any of them save Shino. During the practical training he scored high, but always seemed to be holding back. Shino had noticed this and while walking back to class after lunch one day had asked Naruto about it.

All Naruto said in reply was "Only my scores on the Genin Exam truly matter. I see no reason to reveal my true abilities except to my eventual teammates."

Shino merely raised an eyebrow and nodded in understanding. After all, he too was concealing the true extent of his capabilities, like any good shinobi would logically do.

Sadly, Naruto's peace and quiet was not to last.

At the end of that week Iruka and his assistant Mizuki took the entire class out to one of the training fields on the Academy grounds for the weekly spar. Naruto had been bored nearly to tears by all the theoretical and practical exercises so far, and was dreading spending another year in this place where people either glared at him or avoided him, so the idea of finally seeing just what his classmates were capable of was…remotely interesting to him. At least he could determine which of his classmates had even half a chance of being a decent shinobi.

Very few of them, I would calculate. Too many of them are still just children, not yet cognizant of what it takes to be a shinobi.

As the class trudged out to the training ground Naruto began to breathe slowly and deeply. He knew that if he was going to spar with one of his classmates he'd have to keep a firm control so he didn't accidentally kill them. Silently he hoped that none of these foolish children got delusions of grandeur and pushed him too far. He had enough blood on his hands.

The first few spars were nothing impressive to Naruto. It was just a bunch of kids play-fighting with poor taijutsu skills and blunted kunai. The only matches he even bothered to watch with more than ten percent of his focus were when the boisterous Inuzuka boy fought with Shino, the rough and tumble style of the Inuzuka presenting an interesting contrast with the steady and controlled style used by the Aburame boy, and when the lazy Nara boy defeated a much larger boy by turning his own power against him and defeating him in as few motions as possible.

It wasn't until Uchiha Sasuke was called forth that things got…interesting; if you can call the arrogant heir of an arrogant clan acting out interesting that is.

"I want to fight Naruto." Sasuke loudly declared, interrupting Iruka as he was about to announce Sasuke's opponent.

Iruka groaned. He had been afraid of this all week, ever since Sasuke had challenged Naruto that first day.

"Sasuke, I don't thi-"

"It's alright sensei. I'll spar with him." Naruto interrupted calmly.

The blond boy stood and cracked his neck before shrugging off his battle-coat and handing it to Shino. As Sasuke stepped into the dirt circle that was used for training spars Naruto narrowed his eyes in focus, not noticing how many of the girls in the class were blushing at the way his t-shirt hugged his body and showed off his muscles. After a few moments watching Naruto stepped forward into the ring and took a relaxed stance. His hands were open and flat and his body relaxed but ready to react. Shino and Shikamaru both narrowed their eyes as they noticed just how perfectly Naruto was balancing his weight over both legs. His stance was miles ahead of any of the other students.

Just what sort of training did he receive? They both wondered.

Sasuke chuckled and drew a pair of kunai as he took up his own stance. Naruto narrowed his eyes and analyzed every detail of the Uchiha's motions. He noted the way Sasuke was balancing his weight on his toes, a clear give away that the Uchiha was preparing to launch an attack as soon as the match begun. He noted the loose way Sasuke gripped his kunai, indicating that he was preparing to either throw the blades or to spin them into a reverse grip. He noted the glint on the edge of the kunai, indicating that Sasuke had replaced his dulled kunai with sharpened ones.

Sloppy, just sloppy. I'm tired of these childish games. I'm going to finish this in one exchange so I can get back to studying. This child presents no challenge to me.

Naruto adjusted the position of his right arm slightly, chambering it for action.

"Ready." Iruka said as he stepped up to the side of the ring.

He clearly hadn't noticed Sasuke's sharpened kunai, though from the way Mizuki was smirking the silver-haired Chunin had and wasn't calling Sasuke on it.

Looks like Mizuki is one of those who hates me as well. Very well, that's one more person to be wary of.

"Begin."

Sasuke immediately leapt towards Naruto, launching the kunai in his left hand at Naruto's head while bringing the one in his right hand around in a slashing motion. Naruto narrowed his eyes and slashed his right hand upwards, catching the speeding kunai and tossing it towards the ground as he slid his right foot forward. He bent over backwards as he turned and used open-handed strikes to deflect Sasuke's arm over him, causing the Uchiha to overextend further than he already had. Reaching back towards the ground Naruto pressed his palms firmly onto the ground and pushed off with his feet into a backwards somersault, catching Sasuke's chest with his knee and lifting the surprised Uchiha into the air. As Naruto completed the somersault he launched Sasuke out of the ring, ending the match in one go.

"Winner, Naruto." Iruka declared in surprise. If he were to be honest with himself he had expected Sasuke to win as he had always dominated the spars before. Perhaps Naruto's special allowances weren't simply favoritism after all.

"He didn't win! I demand a rematch!" Sasuke yelled as he got back to his feet. Two of his more vocal fan girls added their two cents as well.

Children. They are all a bunch of children.

Naruto turned calmly and narrowed his eyes.

"The spars are until either one of us yields, is knocked unconscious, or is knocked from the ring. I sincerely hope that when you are defeated in battle you do not behave like such an immature child. Although with a showing like that, you are likely to not survive."

Sasuke glared and looked about ready to attack Naruto when the blond simply turned and walked back to Shino, accepting his coat back and slipping it on before running a hand through his hair to straighten his red and blond stripes.

"Sensei, I grow weary of these childish pursuits. I'll return to class on Monday." Naruto said calmly. "After such a tiresome week I require a spar that will actually test my ability. These children are merely holding me back."

Many in the class looked affronted at this, as Naruto was their age and yet he acted as if he were older than them.

Iruka regarded the emotionless blond for several long moments before finally replying, much to the shock of a smirking Mizuki.

"Very well, Naruto. As long as you have your homework completed before class on Monday you are excused. Everyone else, continue stretching."

Naruto, for the first time since the class had met him, actually smiled. It was small, and if they blinked they could have missed it, but it was undeniably a smile.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." Naruto said politely as he bowed. "Rest assured that the work will be completed on time."

Maybe you have some modicum of logic in there after all.

Naruto stepped away from his nearest classmates and the wind appeared to swirl around him momentarily before he suddenly vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves. The entire class blinked momentarily before a pale blond haired girl whose father was a shinobi realized what Naruto had just done.

"Cool!" She cried out, her heart beating fast as her crush on the blond boy had just gotten stronger. "He can use shunshin!!"

Those students who had heard of the technique used by higher-level Konoha shinobi dropped their jaws in awe. Shino adjusted his glasses as he filed this additional information away about his new friend. Shikamaru muttered something about 'troublesome blonds.' Sasuke glared at where the blond boy had disappeared.

How did that bastard get so skilled? I will find out who trained him and force them to train me as well.

Naruto appeared a few minutes later in a remote training ground in a swirl of wind and leaves. The lone figure waiting in the training ground staring silently at the pyramidal memorial stone turned slowly to regard him, the only sign of his faint smile the way the corner of his one visible eye curved upwards.

"You're early." Hatake Kakashi said, wondering if something had happened.

"Class was boring, the Uchiha has ego problems, and I refuse to waste any more time on their remedial exercises than I have to." Naruto replied calmly as he stepped forward, already drawing his chokuto with his left hand.

Come on, Kakashi-senpai. Show me a fight worthy of the training you have given me. Naruto thought as he took a stance.

"Very well." Kakashi said as he drew his own sword. "Then we shall begin."

Come on, little brother. Show me how much you have mastered. Kakashi thought as he took his own stance.

The pair vanished in a blur and reappeared halfway between their previous positions as their blades clashed. The spar had begun.

One Year Later…

Uzumaki Naruto walked into his classroom like any Monday morning. He had a text on some subject or other open and was reading it with half of his attention as the rest was focused on avoiding obstacles.

He walked to his usual seat near the back of the classroom and took a seat next to Shino, perhaps the only person in the class he could relate to. Shino had a similar devotion to logic and knowledge as Naruto's own, and the two had very quickly become friends.

He and Shino exchanged their weekly progress reports on their pet projects, preferring the silent reflection of reading to conversation. It was so much more efficient and logical.

And Naruto tried his level best to ignore the adoring gazes and googly-eyes of the small group of fan girls he had managed to acquire over the course of the year. They were a minor nuisance at best, but he could usually avoid them outside of school, although their resourcefulness at tracking him down at times was impressive. It wasn't that he didn't like girls after all. It was just that he hadn't met any who drew his attention.

Then again, he was a twelve year old boy with firm emotional control, so it's not all that surprising that he hadn't taken an interest in any girls yet. Especially since most of those he was exposed to were just flighty teenage fan girls.

Most of the class was chatting noisily as Iruka entered the room, but the moment he stood behind the podium at the front of the class everyone quieted down. There was an excited energy in the air, and even Naruto closed his book and put it away.

Almost through here… He thought as he focused his attention on his sensei.

"You have all done well over the past year, and everything you have worked towards has led to this day. Last week you completed the theoretical examinations as well as the major practical. All that is left today is for your jutsu examination. Those of you present today have scored high enough in the theoretical and practical to either pass without passing the jutsu portion or will need to be able to adequately perform the techniques to earn the final points you require. Keep in mind that your ability with jutsu can affect your team assignment, so I advise you to do your best." Iruka said as he held up a roll sheet for the class. "To complete this portion of the test you'll have to be able to perform the Henge no Jutsu and the Bunshin no Jutsu. We already tested your Kawarimi no Jutsu during the practical examination."

With that said Iruka called off the first name on the list and Naruto's desk mate, Shino, stood and followed the spiky-haired Chunin out of the classroom. Rather than stressing out Naruto removed his book from his coat and began to read again, seemingly oblivious to the admiring and nervous looks several of his female classmates kept shooting his way.

They really should be focused on preparing for the exam, not on me. They are still such children.

When it was finally Naruto's turn he followed Iruka quietly into the next room. As Iruka sat behind the desk next to Mizuki, Naruto stepped forward and stood with his hands clasped behind his back before them. He could feel the hostility radiating off of Mizuki despite the silver-haired Chunin's skillful attempts to hide it.

Less than a day and I can be free of that teme and his hostility.

"Ok Naruto." Iruka began as he crossed his arms behind the desk. "I want you to perform the Henge first, then the Bunshin no Jutsu."

Naruto nodded and brought his hands before him. Putting them in the correct seals he used the Henge to transform into a perfect copy of Iruka.

"Henge." He said calmly after the fact.

Child's play…literally.

Naruto shifted his hands into a new seal and was suddenly flanked by a pair of smoke puffs. The smoke cleared to reveal two more copies of Iruka standing there.

"Bunshin."

Barely worth the effort.

Iruka blinked in surprise. Performing a bunshin while maintaining Henge was difficult enough, but Naruto had managed to create bunshins already transformed into a Henge. That was impressive.

"Very good Naruto." Mizuki said with a false smile on his face. "You have successfully passed your genin exam. Congratulations."

Right, and pigs fly. Why don't you tell me what you really think sometime, teme. Naruto thought darkly.

Naruto stepped forward and accepted his hitai-ate with a respectful bow. He exited the room with it held firmly in his grasp, a faint smile on his face as soon as his back was turned to his two instructors. Finally he could get back to real training.

At last, free from these…children and their petty games. Finally I can get back to my actual training. This delay has been bothersome enough.

As Naruto exited the room Mizuki's eyes darkened.

Damn, I was hoping there would be an excuse to fail him. He would have made a good pawn. Now I have to rethink my plans.

When Naruto returned to his classroom there were cheers from his small following of fan girls, which caused him to raise his eyebrow slightly.

Still just children…but perhaps I can enjoy the congratulations…just this once. If only they knew my true power though, would they really be so excited?

"Was there ever any doubt that I would pass?" He asked, not really caring if anyone answered.

Naruto ignored for the millionth time that year a glare from Uchiha Sasuke as he walked back up to his seat. He ignored the excited chattering of his fan girls and the boring stare of one lavender-eyed girl and went back to reading his latest book.

When Shino glanced over to see what the book was he too had to raise an eyebrow, this time at the title. He had seen Sasuke reading the same book two years ago, and had been wondering how long it would take Naruto to discover its existence.

"How to Deter and Escape from Rabid Fan Girls, by Uchiha Itachi."

No one could claim that Itachi never did anything great for the world.

Later that evening Naruto was walking calmly through the streets of Konoha on his way home after training when he noted a sudden increase in the activity of both ANBU and standard shinobi. Wondering what was up he put his hand in a distinct seal and vanished in a flurry of wind and leaves only to reappear on top of a nearby roof next to an ANBU that had stopped to look around. There were ANBU on most of the nearby rooftops, but he had chosen this particular one because he had recognized who it was.

"What's the situation?" He asked calmly as he landed lightly on the rooftop, already crouching and ready for action. His nostrils flared confirming the identity of the purple-haired cat-masked ANBU beside him.

Yugao Uzuki. Friend, comrade, senpai, sensei, sister, family. Naruto instinctively categorized the woman, as he had every day since he had first met her….when she had saved him from that place.

"One of the students who failed the Genin Exam stole the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing from the Hokage's office." Spoke a calm female voice from behind the mask. "All ANBU and other on-duty personnel have been sent out to try to find him."

How would an Academy Student even know about that scroll?

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he flared his nostrils, focusing. The world around him seemed to shift for a moment before coming into a different sort of focus. Everything was clearer, and he could see farther, but the edges of his vision blurred as a result.

"How shall we proceed?" Naruto asked as he slid up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing a small storage seal on his right arm. His expression was not a happy one.

"Hokage-sama has authorized me to activate you for the duration of this crisis. You are not to break your cover at any time, as you are officially still a genin." The purple-haired ANBU replied, still looking around for any sign of the target.

Naruto nodded in understanding as he formed a hand seal and focused chakra into the seal on his arm. There was a small puff of smoke and he lightly caught the object that appeared in the air above his open palm.

It is time…I can do this…I've trained for this moment…

"Hone Kitsune, Reporting for duty." Naruto said emotionlessly as he placed the mask over his face, special seals on the inside of it reacting to his chakra and sealing it to his skin.

There was a burst of smoke and chakra that enclosed Naruto, and when it finished his hair had turned black as night and grown to several times its normal length, and red markings had appeared all over his clothes. The mask on his face was not the standard ANBU white either, but rather black. The mask was designed to look like a fox, and would certainly evoke terror in the hearts of his enemies. There were red triangles below the eyes that made it look like it was crying blood, and three red-rimmed white lines on each cheek denoting whisker marks. The ears were filled with a deep blood red color and the edge of the jaw was lined with four glimmering white spikes on each side. All in all it was a disturbing image.

"Neko-san, I will patrol the forest watching for intruders or any attempt of the culprit to flee. I sincerely doubt that any academy student could steal the scroll without at least some help. This just reeks of a conspiracy." Naruto said calmly, his voice sounding deeper than before thanks to special sound-altering seals inside his mask.

I bet Mizuki-teme was involved.

The Neko-masked ANBU nodded.

"Very well Hone Kitsune, move out. If you encounter the target you are to detain them by any means necessary. If the target is in fact a pawn you are hereby authorized to use lethal force against the true culprit."

Naruto nodded and then vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves. To the Neko-masked ANBU the atmosphere seemed to have gained a sudden biting chill.

Hone Kitsune reappeared at the edge of the forest bordering Konoha in a swirl of wind and leaves. As he stepped quickly into the woods to begin his hunt the moisture gathering on the ground behind him froze in his steps and the new red markings that covered his clothes glinted in the moonlight.

As soon as he had entered the forest and was out of sight of prying eyes, Hone Kitsune brought his hands together and formed a series of seals.

Time to bring in some backup. I'm glad Hokage-sama allowed Kakashi-senpai to teach me this technique.

He ended on a strange plus-shaped seal and was suddenly surrounded by twenty solid copies of himself.

"You know what to do." He said calmly.

All twenty clones nodded and then vanished in swirls of leaves and wind. Silently the fox-masked boy took a seat and began to meditate in the center of the forest, opening his senses fully to the nature around him, hoping to catch any clue that could lead him to the culprit, or his accomplices. Silently he let nature continue on around him as he waited.

It was over an hour of silence before Naruto had any clue as to his prey's location. One of his clones had discovered the boy, a sandy-haired kid Naruto remembered as being loud and a prankster, sitting on the ground near a run down old shack reading from the scroll and attempting futilely to learn a technique from the scroll. Knowing that there was no way the boy could possibly have done this on his own the clone opted to hide and leave the boy out as bait as he dispelled another clone to send a message back to the original.

Thus Naruto was currently racing silently towards the forest when he received a sudden burst of memory as one of his clones was dispelled. He shook his head for a moment to clear the fog caused when a clone specifically sent its memories back to him, and then his eyes widened behind his mask.

"No…" He whispered softly as his eyes shifted from their normal blue to a dark red.

I won't let that happen!

The air around Naruto suddenly seemed to blur before he vanished in a swirl of frozen wind and leaves. He reappeared halfway across the forest high in the branches of a tree next to a pair of his clones.

"Report."

"Iruka showed up to confront the boy. At first we thought he was involved, but it turns out he was just sent to find the boy. Before Three had a chance to react someone managed to strike him from behind, dissipating him. We just arrived a moment before you did, Boss, and we must assume that it was Mizuki who dispatched our compatriot." One of the clones said his voice deep and to the untrained ear emotionless.

However, to Naruto it was clear that both of his clones were seething with rage. One thing he had discovered recently was that his clones had a tendency to develop distinct personalities quickly, and that if he focused he could draw those personalities out when he summoned new ones. The fact that they were so easily dispatch able had of course led the clones to develop a distinct hatred for any opponent who dispelled one of their own. Because of this Naruto normally only retained three of the clone personalities, which while not the limit of what he could do was the limit that he felt comfortable doing.

Sounds like One is getting annoyed again. Sometimes I wonder about the viability of having more emotionally unstable clones at my dispensation. However, they do present a different view point that is at times useful.

Dismissing his train of thought Naruto focused his gaze on the clearing before him and had to fight hard not to snarl. Iruka was crouched over the shocked form of the child who was now clearly just a pawn of Mizuki. There was a large windmill shuriken sticking out of Iruka's back and Mizuki was smirking at him as he mocked the pair. Iruka may have been teaching mostly stuff that Naruto already knew, but the man at least had a passion for teaching. For that alone Naruto respected him, much less for the man's classified ANBU file. Don't ask how Naruto got his hands on that.

Time to take out the trash.

"One, Two, spread out and flank the target. When I give the signal I want Two to distract him while One grabs Iruka and the kid and gets them out of here. Once they are clear I will personally deal with this traitor."

Mizuki was wrapping up his taunting of his fellow teacher and the poor foolish boy he had coerced into doing his dirty work for him when his carefully laid plans went to shit.

First, as he had drawn his second windmill shuriken to finish the interfering Chunin and the brat, he had sensed a chakra signature and barely managed to dodge as a black and red garbed figure had come flying through the air where he had just been standing, kunai slicing for his throat.

Then, while the figure who was wearing a very intimidating black fox mask that looked like an inversion of the ANBU color scheme was busy attempting to strike him with a pair of kunai he had witnessed a second black-and-red figure swoop in and grab the injured Iruka and the shocked brat and disappear in a leaf shunshin.

Mizuki snarled and launched forward with his windmill shuriken as he saw a THIRD black-and-red garbed figure drop out of the trees and grab the Forbidden Scroll. The shuriken caught the first figure, causing it to explode in a burst of smoke that obscured the second figure for a moment. Mizuki tensed as he heard a clanging sound and watched anxiously as the smoke dissipated.

When he could once again see through it he snarled.

"Who the hell are you?"

Standing on the other side of the cloud were three identical figures. Two of the figures had chokuto drawn and crossed with the windmill shuriken hanging from them, obviously the source of the clang. Behind them the third figure stood with the scroll held in one hand.

"Take the scroll. I'll remain and deal with the trash." The figure holding the scroll said his voice deep and cold.

The other two figures nodded and let the windmill shuriken drop to the ground as they sheathed their swords and leapt backwards. One of the two grabbed the scroll and disappeared in a leaf shunshin, followed almost immediately by the second leaving only one of the fox-masked figures behind.

"I said who the hell are you?!" Mizuki shouted. He was extremely pissed that this unknown shinobi had interfered with his carefully laid plans.

The figure merely stepped forward and cocked his head as if listening to something. After a few moments he spoke.

"It seems that I know enough of what you were planning thanks to my clones observing you. It also would appear that no other shinobi is near enough to us to interfere." The figure said as he clasped his hands and cracked his knuckles. "Which means I can take my frustrations with you out on your traitorous hide before anyone can interfere."

The black-masked figure reached up and placed one hand over his mask, shifting it to the side. As the figure's face became visible Mizuki froze in terror. Above a whisker marked cheek a single ruby eye gazed out at him.

"Hello, Mizuki-sensei. Miss me?"

No one was near enough to hear Mizuki scream.

When Friday finally rolled around Naruto once again left his home as he did every morning, hugging his big sister Yugao goodbye before taking out one of his books to read on his way to the Academy. However, his mind was still distracted by the events of earlier that week. Having to deal with Mizuki had affected him more than he had anticipated, but he had to admit the disruption it was having on his mental state was not entirely unexpected. After all, it had been the first time he had killed someone since breaking free from Orochimaru's laboratory, and was the first time he had killed someone when it wasn't a matter of life and death…well, his life or death at any rate. Needless to say it had affected him.

"Greetings, Naruto."

Naruto looked up from his book at the sound of Shino's voice. The sunglass wearing Aburame boy was standing by a nearby bush and Naruto assumed that he had been watching the insects buzzing around the flowers.

"Good morning Shino." Naruto replied calmly. Only the slight curving of the edge of his eyes betrayed his emotions. "Find any interesting insects this morning?"

I wonder if he has discovered any new species that may have a use for him as a shinobi.

Shino nodded his head silently and then held out his open hand. Naruto looked and was surprised to see a colorfully winged butterfly with its wings spread sitting in Shino's palm.

"She almost fell to the ground when she exited her cocoon." Shino said in answer to Naruto's unasked question. "I saved her, but it will be an hour before her wings are dry enough for flight."

Or just an example that Aburame do in fact have emotions after all.

Naruto regarded the delicate beauty for a few moments in silence before finally replying.

"Then perhaps we should carry her with us until she is ready to fly free?"

Shino nodded silently in response before holding out his hand to Naruto's shoulder. To the surprise of several people passing by who had stopped to watch the two shinobi, one with his hitai-ate tied around his forehead with a blue band and the other with it tied around his right upper-arm by a black band, the butterfly carefully walked across onto Naruto's shoulder and took up position drying its wings. Naruto smiled faintly before he and Shino turned and walked towards the Academy.

At least Shino has good taste in insects.

When they arrived at the Academy the butterfly was still happily drying its wings on Naruto's shoulder and the pair of genin walked calmly into their usual classroom. Most of their classmates were already there and chatting excitedly, with the exception of a few late-comers and one or two who had failed the final exam, and Shino and Naruto presented a center of calm moving through that storm of activity.

They are finally shinobi and yet they still keep acting like children. For their sakes I hope they grow up soon.

They sat in their seats calmly and quietly, staring forward as they waited for their instructor to arrive to present the team assignments. They didn't have long to wait, and when Iruka finally finished his end-of-term speech (and had given a cleansed explanation of why Mizuki was no longer present) Naruto returned his attention to the young Chunin, a faint look of curiosity on his face.

After all, he might very well spend the next several years teamed up with whoever he was assigned to a team with today, and he wanted as much time to mentally prepare himself for whoever he had to deal with.

Since the only person here who doesn't act like a child is Shino…and maybe Shikamaru, when he isn't being lazy.

The first few teams Iruka read off didn't interest him much, as they were mostly students who had not managed to stand out to Naruto at all during the course of the year. He knew about the true final examination administered by each individual team leader and he had those teams pegged as most likely to fail. It was the seventh team that finally got his attention.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto could tell from the dark-haired boy's body language that he was smirking that arrogant smirk of his.

"Inuzuka Kiba."

From the way Akamaru growled and Kiba grunted Naruto could tell he was unhappy at being teamed with the Uchiha. Naruto didn't blame him. Sasuke was arrogant and had difficulty working with others.

"And Hyuuga Hinata."

From his position Naruto could not see Hinata directly, thus the blond boy was unaware of the very disappointed look that graced Hinata's face at not being placed on a team with Naruto. The girl had developed quite a crush on the stoic blond since his appearance, but she lacked the confidence to approach him.

Not that it would have done her much good.

"And your instructor will be Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight will consist of Aburame Shino."

Naruto was the only person in the class who could tell that Shino was suddenly paying more attention.

"Uzuki Naruto."

Naruto's eyebrow raised in surprise at this announcement. They were putting him and Shino together? He just knew that someone had to be pulling strings somewhere for him to be teamed with his only friend in the Academy.

"And Haruno Sakura."

Naruto had to fight not to let a groan out as the pink-haired banshee finally started railing about how unfair it was that she was on a team with that bastard who hurt her Sasuke-kun instead of on a team with her beloved Sasuke-kun. It was obvious that she STILL hadn't forgiven Naruto for showing up Sasuke each and every time they had sparred during the year.

Damn it all to hell. I had to get placed on a team with that childish IDIOT!

"Your instructor will be Mitarashi Anko."

"What the hell?!!"

Everyone in the class turned to look towards the back of the classroom. To the surprise of absolutely everyone, Naruto was standing and leaning over his desk with his palms planted firmly on the surface. His face was a mixture of fury, confusion, and fear, showing more emotion than any of his classmates had ever seen on his face. If they had only known just how much emotion it had taken to cause this outburst. In their surprise from his outburst no one noticed a small colorful butterfly lift off of his shoulder and fly out the window to safety.

"Naruto, please calm down." Iruka said. He was as shocked by all of this as his students were.

Naruto practically growled as his fingers dug into his desk.

"That maniac is my instructor?!!"

Before anyone even had a chance to wonder just what Naruto meant part of the outer wall of the classroom was shattered by a black blur. Two kunai shot out from it into the ceiling and unrolled a massive black banner while a single figure appeared standing in the center. It was a well-endowed purple-haired woman wearing a mesh bodysuit and a tan miniskirt and battle coat of a different design from Naruto's, and the banner behind her declared in large lettering "Mitarashi Anko. Single, Sexy, and Deadly."

"Oh no. Fuck me." Naruto muttered woefully as he dropped back into his seat, his outburst forgotten as all the females in the class were marveling at Anko's bust and all the males were, well, something else at it.

Shino looked over at his new teammate and raised an eyebrow in question.

"She is the single craziest shinobi I have ever met." Naruto muttered in response, head still held in his hands. "And the only one as dedicated to the same goal as I am."

Shino's curiosity was raised, but he kept quiet for the moment. He knew that if Naruto wanted him to know then he would tell him at his own pace.

"Okay brats, listen up!" A smirking Anko said as she looked out over the sea of surprised, envious, and drooling faces. "Where's my team?"

Shino stood up immediately followed shortly thereafter by Naruto, who had managed to return his face to an impassive state.

"Here, Mitarashi-sensei." Naruto said calmly, drawing a smile from the Tokubetsu Jounin. "Pinky crying there is our third teammate."

Anko looked down at Sakura and frowned. The girl had no muscle, and her outfit screamed fan girl to the psychotic woman. As Sakura looked up and gaped at Anko's outfit the Tokubetsu Jounin chuckled and resolved that she was going to turn this little simpering fan girl into a true kunoichi.

"Ok you brats! Get your asses to training ground twenty seven in half an hour. You have one last test and I'm not going to wait to administer it. I want to get you three working as soon as possible."

With that said Anko leapt out of the window. Shino and Naruto shared a look before the pair stood and walked down the steps to stand next to a shocked Sakura.

"Sakura." Naruto said calmly. "Are you going to come with us, or do you need to be carried?"

Sakura looked at the blond boy in surprise.

"I'm not going with you! I reject this team assignment! Iruka-sensei, I demand that I be put on a team with Sasuke-kun!!" She whined.

Naruto looked past her at Sasuke and saw the boy, who while he always seemed annoyed by Naruto at least respected the boy as a fellow target for fan girls, was mouthing a frantic "no" to Naruto. The blond boy sighed and refocused on the still whining Sakura.

Idiots. Every single one of them.

"Sakura, I will not allow you to cause us to fail this last test. We need to work as a team if we want any chance to pass, and I guarantee you won't be able to impress your Sasuke-kun if you are sent back to the Academy." Naruto said with a bit of force and faint annoyance in his voice.

Sakura looked at him, the tone of his voice shocking her into silence.

"Good. Now since you've already wasted some of our precious time I am going to carry you so that you don't waste anymore of it."

Before Sakura could react Naruto reached down and picked her up bridal style. The entire class could hear her begin to yell at him as the blond boy leapt out the window, followed closely by Shino.

In the front of the classroom, still obscured by the banner Anko had left behind, Iruka groaned. Naruto just had to spoil the final test, didn't he?

When the newly minted Team 8 finally reached their destination they found Anko standing on top of a post in the middle of a field of suspended posts. The ground below the posts was one big mud puddle, and promised an absolute mess to anyone who fell off of the posts. Naruto set Sakura, who had finally quit whining, back on her feet before turning to look towards his sensei. Shino arrived next to him a few seconds later.

"We are here, Mitarashi-sensei." Naruto said calmly, hiding his nervousness.

"I told you to call me Anko-chan!" Anko whined as she tried pout.

Sakura looked at Naruto in confusion as the blond boy let out one of his rare groans.

Why did I have to get her for a sensei? I mean, sure, we have the same goal, but she's insane. She's the exact opposite of what a true shinobi should be. Calm, collected, and precise. She's loud, crazy, and wild. Naruto thought as he remembered the first time he had met the psychotic Jounin.

He had only been seven at the time, and had still been covered in the blood and gore from the shinobi he had killed in his attempt to escape Orochimaru's lab. He would likely have been even bloodier, he mused, had he not accidentally clipped a gas line and lit up the entire facility like the Trinity bomb test.

"And as I told you before, only my sister and whoever I end up loving will be called –chan, even if you and I do share a passion for destroying a certain someone."

Sakura just looked even more confused while Anko smirked and straightened on her post.

"Very well gaki. Listen up brats! This test is the true final test. Fail this and the best you can hope for is to repeat your last year at the academy. The exam has a sixty six percent failure rate, meaning that of every three students to graduate the academy, only one is actually inducted as a shinobi." Anko began. "Now the test is simple. You have until sundown to capture me. If you fail to do so by the given time you will all be sent back to the Academy."

Anko smirked and Naruto tensed.

"Begin!"

Anko blurred and disappeared. Naruto groaned and turned to face his two teammates.

"Ok guys, I know she said the goal is to capture her, but I've spent too long around experience shinobi not to know when there is an ulterior motive to something. We are put on teams upon graduation for a reason. Stands to reason the real goal of this test is to see if we can work together as a team." He said calmly.

Sakura blinked and looked at him in confusion while Shino just nodded his head.

"It would seem so, Uzuki-san. Perhaps we had better assess one another's skills and equipment before we make our plans. We should make every effort to catch our new instructor, if only to prove that we can work together as a team and impress our abilities upon her."

Naruto nodded and then to the surprise of his friend and his new teammate smirked.

"You know, this will be exhilarating. It is the first time I've had cart blanche to cut loose around you children before."

"I am not a child!" Sakura yelled at Naruto as the blond boy stepped over to the nearest pole and pushed it, testing its strength.

She's still just an idiot, despite all her book learning.

"Sensei chose this battleground for a reason, meaning she has the home turf advantage. This means that we should devise a strategy to draw her out and discover why she chose this particular site. That is something that I believe Shino and my capabilities are best suited for."

Naruto turned back to look at his teammates.

"Shino, what do you think the purpose of our team is, given what you know about the three of us?" He asked.

Shino adjusted his glasses before replying.

"My clan has always excelled as trackers, and my logical mind makes me a skilled tactician. Sakura has weak physical skills and chakra reserves, but her chakra control is rated the highest out of anyone in the class and her intelligence when she applies herself rivals even you. You have extremely good chakra control, perhaps better than Sakura's. You are a brilliant and logical tactician, preferring to avoid confrontations or to end them with a minimum of effort. You have an immense chakra capacity, and have shown an immense capability of utilizing the simplest of techniques to great effect."

Shino paused for a moment before finishing.

"Given this team setup, I would venture the hypothesis that we were put together with a tactical support team in mind, one capable of commanding large groups of forces with ease and skillfully routing enemy formations."

Naruto nodded and then smirked again. The amount of emotion he was showing was surprising to Sakura, who hadn't thought of Naruto as anything more than that stoic bastard who beat her Sasuke-kun.

Not a bad calculation Shino, but your logic is flawed, through no fault of your own of course. You just don't have all the relevant information, my friend.

"You're half right with that assessment, Shino, but the fault is not yours. You do not know my full capabilities, and thus you analyze the situation based off of what you know."

Naruto held his hands before him in a cross-shaped seal that neither of his teammates recognized.

"Welcome to a crash course in 'Why Uzuki Naruto Should be a Jounin.'"

Naruto's smirk widened and his voice deepened slightly to a growl.

"Lesson number one. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The trio was surrounded by a massive cloud of smoke, and when it cleared over four hundred black-clad copies of Naruto surrounded them. Shino raised his eyebrow in surprise and appreciation. His teammate was even more formidable than his data had indicated.

"Kaze Tsunami!" Naruto cried out again, turning and pointing towards the field of poles with one arm.

All of the clones responded with "Ryoukai" before blurring and reappearing in two lines before the posts. The front line knelt down and both sets of clones began to blur through hand seals. When they had reached the final seal they all sucked in deeply before letting loose their attacks and battle cries.

"Suiton: Teppoudama!" The frontline cried out as two hundred balls of water shot forth towards the posts, merging to form a single solid wall of water that seemed to glisten on the surface.

"Fuuton: Renkuudan!" The back line cried out as two hundred balls of swirling air shot forth, merging with the water to drive the wall into a chopping frenzy as it blew through the posts.

Naruto's two teammates ducked to avoid the backlash from the technique while Naruto stood proudly in the wind, his blue eyes twinkling.

Finally I can cut loose! No way can those bastards on the Council do anything to me now that I'm officially a shinobi of Konoha.

Naruto waved his hand and all four hundred clones dispelled themselves twenty at a time over the next several seconds. When they had all gone Naruto shook his head as if to clear it before speaking again.

"Ne, Mitarashi-sensei!" Naruto called out as the wind died down and revealed the mostly devastated training ground. "Hope you aren't hiding under all that muddy water, or you might have a…chilly time of this!"

In the middle of the arena, hiding just as Naruto had suspected, Anko's eyes widened. She knew full well from her encounters with the brat that he was special, and that he kept most of his abilities well hidden. But there was one ability she did know about, and she immediately put two and two together.

"Lesson number two. Kori no Bun'ya!" Naruto cried out as he sped through a series of hand seals and then plunged his hands into the edge of the muddy water.

Sakura gasped and Shino raised an eyebrow inquisitively as there was a burst of chakra that spread out from Naruto moments before the field began to freeze over in one massive wave. The air around Naruto began to chill as well and Naruto's breath became visible. The field was half covered in ice when a massive purple snake broke through the center of the ice floe, heading straight for Naruto and his teammates.

"Lesson number three. Hone Tate!"

Sakura, who had stumbled backwards in fear upon seeing the snake coming watched wide eyed as Naruto, his hands still held to the ice of the pond, flared with power for a moment. At first nothing happened as the snake got closer and closer, but then suddenly massive white spikes shattered the ice before him, rising into the air like a massive skeletal hand to catch the incoming snake. The look on Anko's face as 'Sakura' and 'Shino' suddenly dissolved into clouds of Kikai bugs was priceless. So was the look when a pair of genin appeared beside her with kunai held to her throat.

"I believe this should count as us winning, sensei, as we have no desire to kill the one responsible for teaching us."

Anko looked at Shino out of the corner of her eye, and rather than looking angry she smiled.

"I think I could get to like you, gaki. You are clearly no ordinary genin." Anko looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, Sakura still needs a crash course to really be any good, but at least she can work with a team. And I already knew Naruto was special, just not…how special…"

Anko looked down at Naruto and licked her lips, wondering if his endurance matched his chakra levels.

Bad Anko. He's too young. Maybe in a few years…

"That's enough, Mitarashi-sensei." Naruto said as the massive skeletal hand sank back into the ground.

When it had disappeared completely Naruto stood and removed his hands from within the ice. There was a faint flare of chakra and suddenly a small cloud of white drifted off of his hands, leaving them completely dry.

"Tell me, gaki. How did you manage to setup such a plan? I was watching you the entire time and you never so much as used any hand signals behind your back." Anko said as Shino and Sakura stepped away from her and the snake began to lower itself to the ground.

Naruto smirked and tapped the side of his head.

"Mitarashi-sensei, the three of us have some of the highest intelligence scores of any shinobi currently serving." Anko wondered how he had gotten into classified records to determine that. "I figured out the goal of this exam before we even reached the training ground. I just had Shino create a pair of Kikai Bunshins and had them act like him and Sakura while they flanked you. That whole conversation was just a diversion to keep you occupied and distracted."

Anko groaned and shook her head resignedly.

"I'm never gonna live this down! Beaten by a bunch of brats barely out of diapers."

Naruto's eyes narrowed and suddenly he was standing right in front of Anko's face.

"Don't ever call me a child again, Mitarashi-sensei." He whispered harshly. "You and I both know that I had my childhood stripped from me. I haven't been a child since I was five, and I take great offense at being called one."

Anko, the snake mistress of Konoha, gulped and nodded, much to the confusion of Sakura and Shino as the pair of genin had not heard what Naruto had said. Naruto stepped back and his glare was suddenly replaced with the biggest smile any of the three had ever seen.

"Good. Now, shall we go surprise Hokage-sama by reporting our passing a day before the exam was supposed to be given? Then we can go grab something to eat as a team and get to know one another. Despite being in class with her for a year I will admit to knowing very little about Sakura beyond her official records." Sakura looked at him in surprise, wondering how the hell he had even gotten his hands on her records. "And despite our…mutual goal, sensei, I do not know as much about you as I would like. I feel it would be more advantageous to us working together as a team if I have as much information about my teammates as possible."

Anko smirked and then put her hands on her hips, purring sexily at Naruto.

"Well then, as long as you and I can grab dango afterwards, Naruto-kun."

Naruto groaned.

"I knew there was a reason Hayate-senpai warned me about you." He muttered as he turned and walked off, followed shortly thereafter by his new teammates.

Anko was the last to move, and she smirked before dismissing her snake.

At least training the gaki won't be boring. But you still owe me one Yugao-chan!

Elsewhere in Konoha a Neko-masked ANBU sneezed and shivered. She looked around, but seeing no sign of anyone looking at her she continued on her way.

AN: Here you go, the first chapter of "Bones of the Devil, Ice of an Angel". I spent over a week on this, and it is I believe the longest first chapter I have written to date. My beta I.E.T.S. did a wonderful and thorough job betaing it, and several of her suggestions allowed me to flesh it out, and I personally feel it is a much stronger chapter than I had originally written it.

As I said at the start of the chapter, this story is in response to a challenge put forth to me by Killjoy3000. I do not wish to spoil the plot of the story, but I will say that many of Naruto's love interests are…not the usual suspects. It is an interesting story that I have plotted out, and I cannot wait to work more on it. But alas, my other stories have suffered from a severe bout of writer's block, so I will endeavor to work on them before I write the second chapter of this story.

Until next time, jaa ne my loyal readers.

-ZI

Japanese Translations

Hone Kitsune – Bone Fox

Ryoukai – Roger

Kaze Tsunami – Wind Tidal Wave

Kori no Bun'ya – Ice Field

Hone Tate – Bone Armor/Shield