Hey everyone, sorry about all of this. As my note said (if you saw it before I decided to take everything down) I didn't like how things turned out the first time I did the story, so I rewrote it. The characters are going to mainly stay the same, unless of course I saw fault in them or decided that they needed to change then well of course they wouldn't be the same. Anyway, you know the drill by now I think. Read the story, comment/review if you feel like it (hell even PM me if you have questions or comments you'd like me to answer back to) and then just be happy ^-^

I don't own Naruto or anything in the Naruto world… I know I'm sad about it too.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Chapter 1

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Konohagakure

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

It was late at night, with a clear sky filled with the bright incandescent lights of the stars that dotted the dark canvas, showing themselves in seemingly random formations. Under this sky, in the great forest of Hi no Kuni, sat Konohagakure no Sato. Konoha was one of the great five shinobi villages that spanned across the continent, the other four being Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure. After the past decades, Konoha has proven itself to be one of the strongest of the five villages after surviving each war and coming out for the better on most parts.

In Konohagakure right now a festival is under way, celebrating the defeat of the Kyūbi no Kitsune 4 years ago by the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Everyone participated in the festival, as it was to honor the fallen hero's that held the beast back, and by doing so protected the villagers. Everyone partying and having a great time, well almost everyone, a single young boy was doing everything possibly could to remain unseen.

The boy's name was Naruto Uzumaki, and most in the village knew him simply as the 'Demon Brat' or even simpler the 'Demon'. The truth of the matter is the truth of the matter is that he was not a demon, he was in fact the Kyūbi no Kitsune's jinchūriki, but that didn't mean anything to the villagers of Konohagakure. He was seen by them as a stain of the memory of the Yondaime Hokage, and they did everything in their power to remove him. Whether it be from beating, or refusing him food that he was willing to pay for, they never could get over their hatred for the boy, which festered so much, that they even warned their children away from him though never telling them why because of a law the Sandaime passed that stipulated anyone talking about the Kyūbi that wasn't Naruto or the Hokage would be put to death on the spot, though they made sure he was left alone, his existence completely ignored.

During the festival every year since his birth, Naruto has done everything he can to seemingly disappear from the public eye, for fear of stronger beatings as they always seemed to come during his birthday. Normally a mob tries to hunt him down and he ends up the hospital for a few days because of injuries. There were a few people who didn't hate him, the Sandaime Hokage who after taking back up the mantel of Kage after the death of the Yondaime had tried to help Naruto as much as he could though Konoha's council kept making it more and more difficult as time went on. There was also a family that owned a small ramen stand that he went to all of the time, seeing as it was the only place he could eat without getting thrown out, known as Ichiraku's Ramen. With the help of these few individuals, Naruto seemed happy all of the time, always smiling despite all of the hate filled glares he received just by walking out his door.

On this night Naruto could be seen moving from shadow to shadow, using what skills he was forced to develop in stealth to their maximum potential. Naruto was a very small boy for his age, as not being able to get the right food and a healthy diet will do that to any growing child. He had sun kissed blonde hair, and brilliant cerulean blue eyes that stood out on his dirt covered face and body. His clothes holding onto the small and fragile frame, under his shirt you could almost see his ribs in clear definition. Despite the lack of food, you could also see the slow development of muscles as the reward for what little training he could do.

He had constantly gone and visited the Hokage, the elderly was like a grandfather to the child, and the elderly man considered him family as well. From the Hokage, he had learned about being a shinobi and he decided he had wanted to be one, so he could protect all of those that were precious to him. So to prepare for the, he had decided to start training in ways that he had seen others do. It had worked, but it wasn't great on his body, what with it lacking all of the proper nutrients to properly let his body grow.

So here is this boy, dashing from shadow to shadow, trying and hoping with every fiber of his being that he could just get home, and be left alone. He was certain, that if he got home, he could just curl up on his bed and everything would be over by the end of the day. 'Please, Kami if you can hear me, please just let me get home!' Naruto thought as he turned down an alleyway, using a shortcut to his apartment that was giving to him by the Hokage after being kicked out of the orphanage when he was 2 years old and walking.

Naruto quickly rounded a corner and bumped into someone, falling on his butt giving a little yelp. "Ouch, sorry I wasn't watching where I was going." Naruto said, quickly picking himself up and looking forward to see the crowd in front of him in fear.

"Oh, it's alright little… DEMON!" the man cried out, as he went to grab Naruto slipped out of his grasp and ran down the street, making a bee line for his home as fast as his little legs could take him. Due to the man exclaiming that the 'demon' was there, the surrounding people gave chase after the little boy.

'What the hell did I ever do to these people to make them so mad at me?!' Naruto thought as he continued to run from the growing mob of people, hell bent on causing him great bodily harm. As time kept up the mob started to throw things at Naruto, starting off with just rocks and empty alcoholic cans or bottles but slowly grew to include shinobi weaponry like kunai and shuriken, which signified that the shinobi that hated him had joined the chase as well. Soon Naruto's body was littered with cuts and he was bleeding a lot, which slowed him down from the loss of the precious liquid. As he was about to turn the final corner to get to his apartment and kunai imbedded itself into his right shoulder, the pain making him trip over his feet and fall to the ground. The mob was upon the defenseless boy, where they began beating him all together. They kicked him while screaming for the 'demon' to die, and some of the shinobi and a few civilians that had knives would cut him, and Naruto wondered if they would really kill him this time. He had lost too much blood and his consciousness was slipping away, and his body instinctively curled in on itself to protect his more vital areas as the abuse continued for several minutes.

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" a loud booming voice roared, filling the night with silence and stillness after the statement.

The owner of the voice was none other than, the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Around him were his personal ANBU forces, the elite of the elite. Taking in the situation, he quickly snapped his fingers ordering them to surround the mob of people. A single ANBU quickly jumped into the crowd and picked up the broken and bleeding body of the boy, only to move with speed that blurred before the civilians and even some of the shinobi present and was by his commanding officer, the Hokage.

"Inu-san, take Naruto-kun to the hospital right now. Keep an eye on him until I arrive there." Hiruzen ordered, his eyes not even looking at the ANBU operative but the group before him. His gaze alone spoke of murder for everyone in the mob.

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Inu said, quickly using a leaf shunshin to leave the area without a second look, his attention solely on the boy in his arms.

"All others, arrest everyone and take them to the Ibiki." The Hokage ordered, as he turned around to see a single person being to walk toward the elderly man. Hiruzen immediately recognized the man as one of those that held a council seat for the citizens.

"Hokage-sama, if I may…" the man began to say only to be interrupted by the Sandaime.

"No you may not. I don't care for your rank or station. You've assaulted someone in MY village, and I will see you all punished for your crimes." Hiruzen said, using a tone that brokered no arguments.

The man was scared so he disregarded the tone, "Look, I'm part of Konoha's council, you can't do this to me!" The man screamed.

"You may be a part of the council, but that only means you're too stupid to ignore the laws of this village, or think you are above them." Hiruzen said, turning his back as another squad of ANBU appeared to help with arresting the mob of people and transporting them to Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Department.

"Some Kage you are! You're going to punish people for getting rid of the demon that you refuse to?! The Kyūbi brat…" And that was as far as the man got before Hiruzen vanished from everyone's vision, moving at speeds almost never seen in a human, only to reappear in front of the man with a kunai sticking out of this chest.

"By order of myself, the Sandaime Hokage, I sentence you to death for breaking of my law to never speak of the Kyūbi." Hiruzen said in a calm voice and as removed the weapon from the body and let it fall on the ground. Turning around again, he made his way toward the village's hospital to check up on his surrogate grandson.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Naruto's Mindscape

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

'So cold…' Naruto thought, he could still feel all of the aches from his body, and he felt something wet on his body as well. Opening his eyes he could see what appeared to be a cement ceiling with pipes running along it and the walls. Slowly rising to a sitting position, Naruto could now tell that he had been laying in water, 'Great, so it's not good enough that they beat the crap out of me, but now they had to throw me in the sewer. Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk, time to find a manhole cover and get out of here.' Naruto thought as he got to his feet.

As Naruto began to move down the single corridor, he noticed that he could see around him, though he couldn't tell how. Wasn't it supposed to be dark in a sewer? And he didn't see any form of light or torches for him to see either. Shrugging it off, the little blonde boy continued to walk until he came to what appeared to be a room.

In the room was a massive gate, and to Naruto it looked as big if not bigger than the village gates he had seen when he had gone by the walls with the Sandaime. His curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto found himself walking toward bars.

"Why would someone put a gate here? Looks like whoever did it was trying to keep everyone out…" Naruto asked himself out loud.

"Or maybe it's to keep something else in…" A voice sounded through the room. Naruto was warring within himself on whether he was frightened of the voice or curious of it.

"Who's there?!" Naruto shouted out to the room, seeing as he didn't know where the voice had come from.

"Come closer kit…" the voice sounded, this time Naruto could tell it was coming from behind the gate. Again his curiosity outweighed his fear, and he started to shuffle toward the gate, small ripples formed in the water as he moved slowly. As he neared the gate, his protective instincts kicked in. These instincts had been honed over a 2 year period, and they almost always told him when something bad was going to happen to him. Naruto quickly threw himself to the side, water splashing around him as he belly flopped in the water.

Turning to see why his body moved the way it had, he could only see white for a second as laughter boomed in the air shaking the ground. As Naruto continued to stare at the white object, he finally realized that it was a claw that was meant to impale him.

"Ah, so the little kit is quick on his feet, hahahaha, that's good…" The voice boomed out, the laughter finally dying down to a chuckle as Naruto picked himself up and the claws retracted back, " Little Kushi-chan's was also quick on her feet as well. It's good to see you received that as well."

Naruto turned to the voice and he could see two huge red eyes with pupils formed into slits, staring down at him. As he focused more on the eyes, two rows of sharp teeth came into view, and slowly but surely the rest of the face and muzzle of a giant fox could be seen.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, though he did back up a little more now that his fear was able to properly war with his curiosity. The giant fox looked down upon the boy and just smiled again, he could see that he had scared him though in his opinion not enough.

"Hehe, I'll give you three guesses…" The fox said, while chuckling.

"Umm…" Naruto said, with an expression of wonder.

"I know what you're thinking… Kami herself? The Shinigami himself? HAHAHA and for you it's all correct!"

"Umm…"

The fox just stared at the small child smirking, until he noticed the facial expression. 'What the HELL?! Isn't he supposed to be scared by now?' The fox now irritated by the lack of a frightened container just gave a huff, blowing back Naruto's hair a bit, and laid his head upon his paws. "So what do I owe the pleasure of my oh-so great container blessing me with his presence?" The fox asked, the end of the statement just drowned in sarcasm.

"Container? You mean like the cup for ramen?" Naruto asked, which made the fox sweat drop for a second.

"Well that's one way of putting it…" 'Though not how I would have put it...' "Anyway, what has brought you before me?" The foxed asked, his tone now more bored than amused.

"How could I have been brought before you if I don't even know where here is, or who you are?" Naruto asked, sitting down in the water though still out of reach of the claws.

'Hmm… If my guess is correct, then he's down here because of some near death trauma but who would have done something to such a small kit?' "Kit, tell me what is your name?" The Kyūbi demanded.

Naruto having learned his manners from the Hokage, quickly moved to his knees and bowed, "Oh I'm sorry! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, it's a pleasure." Naruto said as respectfully as he could.

The Kyūbi was shocked to say the least. No one had ever been that formal or respectful. At least not like this, normally it's been out of the overwhelming fear everyone feels when even in his presence. He was shocked for a moment, though it took all of his years of experience to not show it. "Well Kit, that is an excellent introduction, and I guess it deserves one in return. I am the Kyūbi no Yoko." The great fox said with an ever so slight nod of the head.

Naruto bowed his head slightly, "It's a pleasure to meet you Kyūbi-san." The little boy said in a polite tone. This stunned the giant kitsune, though he didn't show it, he just continued to stare the boy down until he saw whatever it was he was trying to see.

"So Kit, why is it that you are here?" Kyūbi asked.

Naruto's face scrunched up as he tried to think, "Well the last thing I remember is getting hit by the crowd of people. After that I don't really remember much. I guess they probably killed me…" Naruto said, his voice getting quieter near the end of his statement.

Kyūbi was, in a word, livid. He may not like the fact that he was jailed inside this tiny human, but even he had standards and beating a child was crossing a line. He knew he'd have to help his container grow stronger, but he had no idea until one of the memories he was able to observe came into his mind. It was a memory of an old book that Naruto had picked up out of the trash, it had talked about a subject he himself knew quite a bit about. Genjutsu.

"Kit you aren't dead, but I have a question for you. Would you like to get stronger?" The giant kitsune asked in a light tone.

Naruto looked that the giant fox's eyes and thought for a second. 'Jiji is strong… Maybe I could be as strong as him…' Naruto thought before a disturbing thought came into his head, "Why would you help me? Everyone in the village calls me a demon though I haven't done anything to them. Why would you help me? What is it that you are going to get out of it?" Naruto asked his blue eyes never tearing themselves from the red eyes.

Kyūbi just laughed, the sound making the enclosed space rumble and shake. "Very smart Kit, very smart. Always checking to see if there is a catch to anything, especially if it seems too good to be true. The reason I'm offering this training is because I can't have my container being weak. I am the strongest of all of the Bijū, and as such I have a set standard for my containers. You right now don't meet said standard, so I'm willing to train you in a specialty of mine, an art you humans have called Genjutsu." Kyūbi said with a wide smile hoping that he had said enough to get the child's attention.

Naruto seemed to sit even straighter if that was even possible anymore, "You've given your reasons but now what you get out of it…"

Getting slightly irritated now, "I get a strong container damnit!" The demon roared out making the room shake once more and sending Naruto scrambling backwards.

"Fine, fine, fine!" Naruto quickly sputtered out.

"Good! Now what I want you to do when you wake up…"

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Private Hospital Room

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Naruto sat up looked around to see what appeared to be a bored and slightly worried Hiruzen sitting by his bedside. He quickly took notice and turned all attention to the boy with a slightly worried look. Naruto just smiled his mega-watt smile and said, "Hey Jiji!"

Giving a small chuckle, Hiruzen looked at the boy whose grin that looked like it almost taken over his face, "Well Naruto, how are you feeling?" Hiruzen said.

"I'm really good, I feel better than ever!" The boy said almost bouncing out of the hospital bed. "Umm I have a few questions I'd like to ask you if you don't mind Jiji."

The elderly man was quite taken back by the quick change in the boy's attitude. "Okay, what is it you'd like to know?"

"Well first I'd like to ask if I could start training to become a shinobi." Naruto said, the grin no longer on his face and his eyes held a seriousness to them that seemed almost alien.

Hiruzen was taken back for a quick second, he hadn't been expecting this. "Well now I have a couple of questions for you, why do you want to be a shinobi?"

Naruto stared into the his eyes and without flinching, "Well I want to be a shinobi so I can protect everyone I care about, and if I train hard enough then I'll hopefully be strong enough to protect myself soon then this won't happen anymore. Who knows maybe if I get really strong I might just take that funny hat of yours and people will come to respect me."

The elderly Sarutobi looked into the young man's eyes, seeing an unwavering flame in them, Hiruzen couldn't help but smile. 'Seems the Will of Fire still burns strong…'

"Besides, it's not like they hate me, they just hate what's sealed inside of me. I know why they attacked me, and I understand their frustration and fear for it..." And with that the little boy told the old man everything that the fox had told him.

The Hokage was stunned to say the least. No one could have anticipated that Naruto would meet the fox this early. He began to worry if the seal was still intact, and if the fox might be able to get out.

Naruto watched his surrogate grandfather thinking, and he wondered if he had done the right thing by telling him. 'Of course you did the right thing, besides you wouldn't be able to train without him allowing it so you were going to have to tell him sooner or later anyway.'

Naruto mentally sighed not at all deterred by the fact there was a voice in his head, 'Yeah I know I was going to have to tell him sooner or later, but I'm just wondering if he'll believe me or not and on top of that I don't know how he's going to react'

"Naruto take off your shirt for me if you would please, I need to make sure the seal is still intact for the safety of the village."

Quickly pulling off shirt he turned at hearing a gasp from an almost in audible gasp in a corner though he didn't see anything. The elderly man growled at the sight of the 5year old boy who had faint scars all over his almost sickly thin body.

"What?" Naruto asked looking at his Jiji's scowl.

"This is something that will be dealt with later," the Hokage said. He moved over to the young boy and channeled chakra into his palm to show the seal. After an inspection of the seal he declared to himself that it was still intact and safe. "Now Naruto would you mind telling me what you eat?"

"Well not a lot, I normally eat at Ichiraku's, every couple of days. The people at the market said I would be fine cause I was young, besides they charge me too much so I can't normally buy anything." After he finished saying that it was deathly quiet, as an angry aura seemed to sweep out of the Hokage.

The Hokage quickly asked for what stores he normally goes to and Naruto quickly gave up the names, hoping to not be in the elderly man's fury.

"Alright Naruto you can start training but because of this accident I'm going to have to assign you a little protection is that alright?"

Naruto nodded though curious, "Who is it going to be?"

The Hokage quickly chuckled, "Don't you worry about who it will be for now, but we will make sure that this never happens again, alright?"

Naruto quickly grinned his foxy grin at the old man while nodding. "Hey Jiji can I go home now since I'm all better?"

"No Naruto, you may have healed the injury, but you still lost a lot of blood. I know you heal quickly but your body can't replace new blood that quickly. I'll come get you tomorrow and then we'll go get ready for your training okay." Hiruzen said with a smile on his face, which got a pout from Naruto before he smiled again after resigning himself.

"Okay Jiji!" Naruto responded with an impossibly huge smile.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Seven Year Timeskip

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Naruto was walking through his door as he was gasping for breath while sweat was dripping off his body. Kyubi had come through when he said he would train him. He started helping him with physical training and chakra control. He found out that because he had so much chakra it was going to difficult to control so he drilled him over and over again in chakra control. That went on for the first year of his training. The second year he started to learn about Genjutsu, and he had to say he loved it. To be able to use his imagination and create illusions of whatever he could think of, he thought it was amazing. He spent the entire second year doing just that, mastering what he could about Genjutsu, still being drilled in chakra control and physical conditioning. At the end of the second year an incident when he was attack again ended up rather… interesting.

He had come to find out that he had a Kekkei Genkai called "Shakuton (Scorch Release)". He had ended up killing a chūnin that had attacked him, turning him into a dried up mummy. That alone had stopped all attempts against him. Well physical attempts. The civilian council still called for him head whenever they could. The Sandaime had chosen to help him master what he could about the bloodline, and so his third year was focused on elemental manipulation. He did it because his Jiji had asked him to, but he kept focusing more and more on his Genjutsu, even creating his own after a few 'discrete' visits to the library for research on it.

The next four years he learned to master what he could, whether it was the wise Kage's teachings on history or philosophy, or the fox's harsh training. The fox even taught him how to use a special sensory ability only he had, because he was the Kyūbi jinchūriki. He also developed his own Taijutsu style, though he kept that hidden. Most of his skills were hidden for fear of the council having some reason to disregard the Hokage's wishes and attack him again. Throughout the seven years he had received groceries from ANBU members, and he had learned to cook on his own. He actually became a little too good as it slowly stared fights in ANBU as to who got to bring him the groceries as he only really fed that person.

As he walked into his small apartment he began to strip off his clothes, tossing them into a dirty hamper that sat next to the bathroom and take a shower. As the hot water rushed down his body taking the sweat and dirt with it, he began to wonder if the fox was trying to train him or kill him.

'Oh come on, it's not that bad, besides we need to make sure your in top physical condition and bring up your stamina.'

'You keep saying that Kyūbi-sensei, but I already have good stamina.'

'Yes, well this is also helping with your speed, since you chose long-range fighting. When you capture someone in your Genjutsu you need to move quickly so you can make the kill and move to assist the other people around you.' The fox argued.

Naruto couldn't deny that's what he had to do, he just felt like complaining like any normal kid would.

Naruto and the Kyubi had slowly grown closer together over the last 7 years and he would happily talk with him about anything. Though it normally ended in an argument of some sort as both were very opinionated on the subjects they talked about. He ended finding out that he was quiet the prankster and he was slowly becoming that way as well. He had taken to pranking, much to the annoyance of the rest of the village, and he loved it. Whenever he was caught by the Hokage, which was rare, he just said that it was for the purpose of training. Which wasn't a complete lie, he was using it as stealth training and pranking the ANBU forces was just lots of fun mainly because they always gave chase. He even started to wonder if they too used if for training.

Naruto groaned as he remembered what he had to do tomorrow, 'Stupid test, I always hold back, since this is the last test I'm going all out!' Naruto thought to himself, though he knew the Kyūbi would hear him.

The Kyūbi didn't want him showing off any of this skilled and just get average grades. It was a deal based on a worry about what the village's response would be if he started scoring higher than anyone else. Since he had started being taught early on and he knew a lot more than what they taught in the academy.

He knew a so much that he would stop to help anyone who asked. Other students would actually come up to him during class and ask for his help, which he normally smiled and said sure. He still pranked everyone, but if someone wanted his help he helped in a heartbeat. Even the stubborn Uchiha Sasuke would ask every now and then when he was stuck on something though he still acted like ass. He had a small group of friends and he wasn't going to push to get more.

Naruto gave a small stretch before settling in the bed and quickly falling asleep.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Graduation Test

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

"Alright Uzumaki Naruto, come up." Iruka said.

Iruka was probably the only teachers that actually cared about Naruto and treat him like any other student. Most of the other teachers still saw him as the fox and mistreated him a lot of the time, but every time they either gave him a bad grade and he ended up getting hurt he just shrugged it off and went about his business.

Naruto walked into the room and stood before Iruka and another teacher named Mizuki. He didn't really like Mizuki, he just gave him the creeps and every time he talked Naruto felt the hatred and lies coming from him.

"Alright Naruto, I want to you before a Henge no Jutsu (Transformation), Bushin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu), and the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Replacement Jutsu)." Iruka said to him.

Naruto nodded and started off by using the Henge no Jutsu to look like the Hokage. As he exited the Henge Naruto could feel his chakra flux a little, and he knew he was under a subtle Genjutsu. He figured that this was also part of the test so he quickly dispelled it without anyone being the wiser.

He quickly made 3 clones with the Bushin no Jutsu and then Kawarimi no Jutsu with Iruka, who didn't even seem fazed by his new place as Naruto now sat in his seat.

Iruka nodded, "Good job Naruto," Iruka walked over to a sorted pile of Hitai-ate, grabbing one and tossing it to Naruto, "Congratulations, you pass." Naruto caught it with a cheeky grin. He had passed everything with flying colors. Acing the written test and even using his speed to finish the Taijutsu proportion, he knew he had scored at least in the top 5.

Be back here in one week to receive your squad assignments. In the meantime, make sure you go get your registration done this week as well." Iruka lectured on as Naruto nodded and bowed goodbye.

XXXxxxxXXXxxxXXX

Hokage's Office

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

The graduation test just finished, and the Hokage had called all of the possible jōnin sensei's to his office. As he himself was skimming over the results of the tests, he couldn't help but think, 'Hmm, I thought he was keeping his strength hidden for a while longer? Guess he got tired of holding back.' Hiruzen thought to himself. He also knew this would cause a ruckus within the civilian council, but he wasn't too worried. Not even the council would attack one of HIS shinobi.

He handed the results of the tests over to his assistant for the day, Umino Iruka. The chūnin instructor had said he had wanted to be there to help pick the teams as he knew his students personalities best, having been with them for the past year, and he could offer that knowledge.

Hiruzen let the jōnin talk amongst themselves for a few more minutes before he called everyone to silence.

"Alright, now does anyone have any requests that I should take into consideration right now?" Hiruzen asked, eyeing all of the jōnin present in front of him.

A jōnin with a gravity defying hair, a mask that covered his nose and mouth and his Hitai-ate over his left eye stepped forward. His name was Hatake Kakashi, an ex-ANBU captain and a well-respected jōnin, "I'd like to request Uchiha Sasuke," the jōnin said. No one was surprised by this as only he could really train the Uchiha in his dōjutsu, "And Uzumaki Naruto."

This caught quite a stir. Not anyone was expecting someone to actually request the "demon". Most were hoping they just wouldn't get stuck with him. There were a few you didn't care for his statue but they were in the minority of the group.

"Unfortunately I cannot give you Naruto. He will be placed on a different team." Hiruzen said, getting a confused look from the one-eyed jōnin.

"Hokage-sama, if I may…" Kakashi started to say.

"I'm sorry Kakashi, but my decision is final on this point. Now are there any others?" Hiruzen asked, putting the issue to bed.

A red-eyed kunoichi step forward, "Hokage-sama I'd like to request Hyūga Hinata be placed on my team. I have some personal experience with her before."

"Ah Yes Kurenai. That isn't an issue at all. She's actually already been placed with you as I knew of your prior experience. Now, anyone else? No? Alright then, I'm going to hazard to guess which of you want to know what happens to the rest of the heirs and heiress? Iruka please read them off first. After that we'll read the complete team rosters." Hiruzen said, sitting back in his chair and keeping a critical eye on everything.

"Yes Hokage-sama." Iruka said with a bow to the elderly Kage, "I'll start with Kakashi's team. It has been decided to consist of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Aburame Shino. Next team will be Kurenai's team which will consist of Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Uzumaki Naruto." This got a few hushed comments, but under the watchful eye of their Kage no one said anything out loud and allowed the read off to continue. During the comments Kurenai remained indifferent. She had nothing in particular against Naruto, and she refused to judge him until she had the opportunity to actually see him in action.

Iruka continued after getting silence again, "The last three will be place on Team Asuma, which is Akamichi Chōji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino." No one was too surprised by this, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio was legendary with their parents, it only seemed natural to see if they could get another group like that up again.

The rest of the genin were listed off and the sensei's were off to see use the next week to observe their knew charges.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

With Kurenai

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Kurenai was frustrated right now. It had been several days since she had been informed of her squad and so far she had only been able to observe two of her squad, and it wasn't for lack of trying. After the meeting had concluded she went right to the clan compounds and was able to observe Hinata and Kiba.

She found out that those two had fairly standard training schedules where they trained on their own for a couple of hours before training in their clan jutsu. This didn't come at a surprise at all, she was even able to see some of their behavioral quirks.

Kiba was loud. Like really loud, always trying to assert himself as the alpha, however at the same time he always tried to be as respectful as possible. Probably brought on by the fact that in the main house he was the youngest under two females, his mother the clan head and his sister.

Hinata she found to be shy, though she already knew that. She was brutally respectful, and often times went out of her way to try to help someone. However, what she observed was the fact that when someone pushed her, she really wasn't afraid to push back, and she was able to push back hard. Though when she used her clan's Taijutsu stance it seemed slightly unnatural to her body, she was rather proficient in its use though she seemed to keep holding herself back.

The only one she had yet to observe was Naruto, he somehow was able to evade her and the one time she was able to follow him, he lost her! Her genin had thrown her, a jōnin, off his trail. It was annoying to say the least.

She was about to give up and ask the Hokage for assistance, he had offered her any assistance he could at any hour. She hadn't so far as she knew she would feel guilty about not first trying, though at such a late hour now she was almost ready to cave. As she was heading back away from the training fields where she had been searching a sound forced her to stop.

The single sound became an enchanting song laced into the wind itself, floating and mingling in the forest, causing complete silence as if the music itself demanded utter silence. Kurenai sped off toward the music.

As she neared a training ground she looked up into one of the taller trees. There perched on the very top limb was Naruto, a flute in his hands. He was the cause of the heavenly music that seemed to seep into her very being and cause an calm she had never known. It affected her so much that she sat down with her back to a tree, facing away from Naruto just listening to him play.

[A.N/ The song I have playing is Infinite Undiscovery's Sloveny Serenade, I suggest youtubing it and giving it a listen.]

As the music continued, she slowly began to close her eyes and sway lightly to it. This continued for several minutes until she finally took notice that the music had stopped. She quickly and carefully took a look only to find that he was gone.

"Damnit! Where the hell does he keep going? And without me being able to find him!" Kurenai roared out in anger for having lost one of her charges yet again.

"He's probably gone home, as it is quite late Kurenai." A voice sounded behind the kunoichi, causing her to jump and whirl around.

"Hokage-sama!" Kurenai cried out. She again inwardly cursed not paying attention to her surroundings. It was not turning out to be a good week for her.

The Sandaime chuckled lightly, "Fear not, I only came to listen to Naruto play. He does it so infrequently that I must try to catch what moments I can." Hiruzen said as he just stared up into the star filled night sky.

"My apologies Hokage-sama. I've been trying to track the boy down but he keeps eluding me." Kurenai reluctantly admitted.

"Haha, Naruto was always a hard one to catch. Being able to sense chakra and emotions around him has always made it difficult to track him down. Just ask the ANBU who keep trying hahaha." Hiruzen laughed. This caused Kurenai to look at the elderly Kage with wide eyes.

'He take's ANBU on chases?!' She thought to herself.

"Hokage-sama, if I may; Can I ask why you placed him with me?" Kurenai asked, having regained her composure.

Hiruzen looked at her for a moment then nodded slightly, "Naruto has, despite my best efforts, decided to specialize in Genjutsu instead of Ninjutsu. He has quite large chakra reserves that he would be excellent for Ninjutsu, but he still chooses Genjutsu as his specialty. Since you specialize in Genjutsu I believe you are the one who can truly bring forth his potential, as well as help the Hyūga and Inuzuka." The elderly shinobi said.

With a better understanding of her charge, she was quickly given directions to his home.

'I will follow him this time damnit!'

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Team Placement

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Naruto was currently sitting in the noise classroom, he hoped for the last time. The academy was tedious, and he honestly thought that they didn't really teach anything useful. Beside him was his best friend Nara Shikamaru and beside him was Akamichi Chōji. Shikamaru was resting his head, most likely napping despite it being early in the morning, and Chōji was eating a bag of potato chips. Everyone else that had graduated was in the class, either talking to each other or in the case of most of the girls, fawning over Sasuke.

Naruto really hoped he wouldn't be placed on a team with him, he wasn't sure he could stand it. Over the past year Sasuke's ego seemed to have taken over, and now Naruto thought his head was getting too big for his body.

As Naruto began to think back over the last year the door to the classroom opened up, and in walked Iruka.

"Alright quiet down everyone. If you'll just give me five minutes I'll have this over with in no time." Iruka said, and for once everyone seemed to quiet down. "Good, now as you all know today you'll be getting your team placements. There will be three genin per jōnin sensei, as you all should know. Now in about ten minutes the jōnin sensei's will arrive to pick up their teams. From there I will no longer be your sensei, and I would like to say that it has been an honor to teach each and every one of you. Now those on Team One are…"

Naruto zoned out for a second, just waiting to hear his name and then who his sensei was going to be. He felt a nudge and turned to look at Shikamaru. "Hey you coming over tonight? Kaa-san wants to know if she needs to make a big dinner or not." Shikamaru asked without raising his head from the table.

"Haha sure, I'll come over. Hey what was the last count?" Naruto asked leaning back slightly in his chair.

"163 for me and 108 for you." Shikamaru said.

"Hey what are you two talking about?" Ino asked leaning over from the table behind them, having listened to their conversation.

"Shogi" both boys said at the same time.

"I said quiet down everyone!" Iruka said. Naruto then noticed that the noise level had risen considerable, he looked at Iruka and knew what was coming. Iruka's head quickly grew to ten times it's normal size in his in his famous Ōkina atama no Jutsu (Big Head no Jutsu), "SHUT UP!" Instantly everyone was silent in fear of the jutsu, after his head deflated back to its normal size Iruka continued, "Alright now where was I? Oh yes Team Seven will consist of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura…"

"YES TRUE LOVES WINS! SUCK IT INO-PIG!" Sakura jumped up and screamed causing everyone to wince at the volume.

"SHUT IT FOREHEAD!" Ino yelled back.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Iruka yelled up, and both girls quickly sat back down. "Now the last member to Team Seven will be Aburama Shino. Your jōnin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight will be Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Uzumaki Naruto. Your jōnin sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai."

Naruto quickly looked to his teammates and nodded. He could freely admit that he didn't know them very well as he generally stay to himself or with Shikamaru. He knew Hinata was a little shy, and Kiba was loud. Not Sakura loud, no one could be that loud without the use of chakra and a megaphone, but still he came close.

'Oh well, guess it could be worse. At least they don't hate me.' Naruto thought to himself.

"Alright, since Team Nine is still in circulation, that means Team Ten will be Akamichi Chōji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. You jōnin sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma. Well that's everyone, now I'd like to wish you all good luck on your future shinobi careers and I know you will bring honor to Konoha." Iruka said. He then gave a small bow to the entire class and then left.

Not ten minutes after Iruka left, the door to the classroom opened to reveal Kurenai. "Team Eight?" she called out and Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata stood up, "Good follow me."

The three fresh genin quickly hurried after her. As they ran outside, they found her sitting comfortably on a bench, with another one just in front of it.

"Come and sit down." Kurenai said with a slight gesture toward the other bench. As the genin approached Naruto quickly stopped them from trying to sit on the bench.

"I would if I were you." Naruto said, he himself took a seat on the ground. The others raised an eyebrow to this and Kurenai kept a blank face.

Kiba was the one to speak up, "And why not?" Kiba asked a little annoyance creeping into his voice.

"It's a test. Had you sat down, you'd have fallen through. Look around," Naruto said with a gesture, "The bench is in the middle of the walk way, it's obviously a Genjutsu."

Inwardly Kurenai was having slight mixed feelings, she was a little upset that she was found out so early, but at the same time happy that her team was able to, at least one of them, to notice a Genjutsu. And of course it had to be the one genin she hadn't been able to find in a week.

When she looked at her squad she noticed both seemed to have listened to Naruto on it, so she could at least tell there was some form of trust between the genin. "Alright, well you are correct to a point. It is a Genjutsu, but it wasn't really a test. Just some harmless fun." Kurenai said with a smile. The three genin shivered at that a little and thought the same thing.

'Kind of a harsh trick…'

"Well anyway, I may already know you but I'd like for us each to introduce ourselves. We'll tell our name, and then a little bit about us; Likes, dislikes, maybe even a hobby of some sort. Also I'd like to know if you specialize in anything or wish to specialize in something. I'll start: My name is Yuhi Kurenai, I'm a Genjutsu specialist. I like hanging out with my friend and reading. I dislike perverts," silently thinking, 'And if any of them are I'll break them of the habit'.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Far away

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

At a bathhouse near the border between Tsuchi no Kuni to Hi no Kuni, a white haired man sat outside of the fence as he was peering in. Every once in a while he would giggle and write something down in his notepad. All of a sudden he got a harsh chill up his spine that made him ubruply stand up.

'I just felt a disturbance in the Perverted aura…' The man thought to himself.

"OH MY GOD A PERVERT!" Girls in the bath screamed as they spotted the man almost instantly.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Back in Konoha

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Kurenai felt an overwhelming sense of pride in something, though she didn't know what. Shaking it off she continued, "Anyway my hobbies are training more in my Genjutsu, and taking care of my flowers. Now why don't you start." Kurenai said, pointing to Hinata.

"Oh, my name is Hyūga Hinata. I guess I specialize in my clan's Taijutsu, my likes include cinnamon rolls that I get at the bakery and hanging out with my sister. I also like a certain someone..." Hinata said, with a blush as she glanced at the brown haired genin, "I dislike a certain tradition in my clan and I hope to get rid of it when I become clan head. My hobbies include sparing with my little sister and father, as well as making our secret remedies." Hinata said.

"Very good, now you." Kurenai said, motioning for Kiba to speak.

"My name is Inuzuka Kiba, and this," Kiba picks up Akamaru, "Is my best friend Akamaru! I specialize in Taijutsu, as well as my clans techniques. I like my Kaa-san, Nee-san and Akamaru. I dislike those who pick on animals. My hobbies are spending time with Akamaru and taking walks." Kiba finished enthusiastically.

"Alright, and last but not least…" Kurenai said turning her attention to the blonde genin.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I specialize in Genjutsu as well as some Ninjutsu. I like a few things but I guess Ramen would have to be at the top of the list. I dislike those that blame others for something that was never in their control. My hobbies… Well I have a few but my biggest one would have to be taking care of my plants at my apartment." Naruto finished.

Kurenai quickly took in all of the information, and filed it away. "Alright, well now that we know each other let us get down to business. Normally I'd test you tomorrow, but seeing as we have so much time today we might as well start now."

"Kurenai-sensei, why are we taking a test?" Kiba asked, not understanding what the test was for.

"Well, you see it's a test to see whether or not you can be on the genin team. The other test was just to weed out those who were unfit to even be a genin hopeful. This test is to weed out those that can't stand up to Konoha's standards. Now the test is quiet simple, all you have to do is tag me."

"Tag you sensei?" Hinata asked, wanting to make sure there were no tricks as she really wanted to be on this team.

"Yes tag me. You all have to track me down and tag me. You all, if you pass, will be the next team of Trackers, which means you will need to excel in that. So I'm testing your abilities on it." Kurenai said, "Now you have until 3 o'clock this afternoon to tag me. You must get to training ground eight before your allowed to start, and I will know if you don't follow the rules. Everyone ready?" Kurenai asked looking at the genin as she stood up. When they all nodded she quickly used a shunshin and was gone.

The three genin quickly took off toward the training fields. As they traveled Naruto quickly spoke up, "Hey I think we all need to work together on this. You know, make it easier for all of us."

"Tsh, and why should we?" Kiba asked, looking back the blonde genin.

"Well for one our opponent is a jōnin, and we're just genin. And second, we have a greater chance at winning if we work together." Naruto explained.

Before Kiba could retort Hinata spoke up, "What did you have in mind, Naruto-kun?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Well…"

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Three Hours later

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Kurenai was currently sitting in a small clearing about half a mile from the training ground. She had made sure to leave false trails before she got there. She was no amateur when it came to tracking, it was one of the reasons she was placed to be the new tracking teams sensei.

She was just sitting in the sun, soaking in the warmth of the rays when all of the sudden she started to feel disoriented. Everything started to swirl around her, and she quickly realized she was in a Genjutsu.

'Damn, wasn't expecting them to find in so soon. I thought it would take them at least another hour…' Kurenai said as she quickly went to dispel the illusion.

As the Genjutsu fell, she felt her chakra being rapidly invaded and she knew Naruto was trying to cast multiple Genjutsu on her. It didn't help that as she dispelled the first Genjutsu that she saw Kiba rushing towards her.

Using a large burst of chakra, she dispelled all of the Genjutsu and leaped into the air, away from the charging Inuzuka. As she prepared to run, she felt a small tap on her shoulder. Turning her head she saw a small ruffle of blue hair pass her by.

"Damn…" Kurenai whispered to herself. All of a sudden Naruto came out on the limb above her and sat down with a smile on his face. Kiba had jumped to help Hinata, as she had used every ounce of strength in the jump and had almost flown off the tree limb going too fast.

"We win sensei!" Naruto said with a smile. Something about that smile made her want to hit him. Maybe it was the fact that she still didn't know the full extent to his abilities, but she also figured she'd just have to either ask him or figure it out during training.

"That was excellent teamwork you three. I can see great things for this team." Kurenai complemented, gaining a smile from each of the young shinobi, "Meet me tomorrow at Training Ground Eight, we're going to start training."

A/N: As you all can see I decided to keep Kiba in the Team and get rid of Shino, as well as nip Hinata's crush in the bud. Well not full I chose to move it over to Kiba, and it will be a background romance, only coming up when I feel I need filler. Well I hope you all liked how this went. I posted this right away after I took down the others as I wanted to get everyone opinion as well as hurry up with getting the others up to date. Because of the changes it will take me some time to get the others in order, and I will be keeping most of what I originally wrote, but I still have to go over all of it, thought I hope to get most of it out before the end of next week if I can. I make no promises.

Also side note to whoever Deflow as you don't seem to have an account (don't know why doesn't cost anything) I'm not going to use your rankings. By how you put it, you've already ranked her. My ranking system is weird yet similar to how most peoples are, but thank you for the possible use if I'd like.