Chapter 02

Naruto woke with a start and quickly realized he was in the Hokage's office. He surmised that either the Old Man knocked him out or one of his many lapdogs did. A tantrum wouldn't do him any good but he, to his mind, had every right to try to kill that helmet haired bastard. It was an unprovoked attack in the middle of official Konoha proceedings. The aged Hokage saw his guest had finally returned to the waking world and called him over, there was much they needed to talk about.

"Naruto, how are you feeling?"

"Like I got blindsided by a Jounin."

"Yes, yes, that was unfortunate and Gai will be here to apologize soon. He'd be here now if I hadn't told him he needed to wait so we can talk."

"Talk about what?"

"Oh, how you were going to attempt to kill a senior Konoha shinobi after attempting to kill a fellow genin. Who you'll be fighting in the finals and who will be training you."

"I don't see how there is much to talk about. Lee should have conceded but he didn't, I had every right to kill him and avoid taking damage in some desperation play. Gai had no right and no need to attack me. As for everything else, I'm pulling out of the exams."

"Why?" Hiruzen said evenly but was surprised Naruto would quit.

"Because you aren't going to promote me anyway. Now, my team makes it and I don't hold them back from promotion."

"Naruto, that isn't true. You have as good a chance as anyone, though what you attempted to do to Gai will have to be noted."

"Of course it'll be noted. I don't care, I'm done. There's no point to this. You won't let your pet fox have any kind of authority over someone so why pretend? So I can entertain people I don't like? No, I'm done."

"Naruto, I've never treated you like you were the fox. You may be unhappy with me but I deserve more credit than that."

"How do I know why you do the things you do if you don't tell me? Three years you left me in the reserves while people not as good or dedicated as me got a Jounin sensei. Three separate misranked missions, three recommendations I be promoted to chunin and you ignore them and won't tell me why. You ignored the last words of one of your shinobi! And my graduating class? Most of them wondered why I was still a genin. People who graduate early aren't supposed to be stuck on the lowest rung, they questioned my abilities and what could I say? You were intentionally holding me back? What a whiny asshole I'd look like then. It's bad enough you let them all treat me like an infectious disease and tell me to deal with it. It was worse still when you've lied to my face but tell me to trust you. But now, you won't even give me what I've earned and you want me to be happy about it."

Hiruzen knows Naruto is right, the boy has no reason to trust him. He is keeping things from him, trying to hide his past misdeeds, done with the best of intentions to protect the village and Naruto. But it's a house of cards, one in which Naruto acknowledged as an adult, by turning 16 or a Chunin would topple. He's worked hard to fix what he's broken but he hasn't managed it yet and Danzo has only made the situation worse. Hiruzen knows he should have killed the man years ago, he was always too light on those he considered friends and it allowed the man too much power in the shadows of the village. A village can't have two leaders just like a person can't have two masters. Something has to give and it has to be soon. He wishes he could tell Naruto everything, make him understand his reasoning but he can't. Especially not now, not when his former student has seemingly taken an interest in Naruto if what Anko said is true. He is either in danger of harm or being lured away with honeyed words and false promises. He wouldn't acknowledge her potential tactics are a lot like his own, his heart couldn't take it.

"Naruto, don't drop out of the finals. You have a chance, promotions are selected by committee."

"A committee of people that probably hate me? Or won't go against you? No, I don't see the point."

"Not everyone is against you and this is your best chance to get promoted. Even the Daimyo has a say if he so wishes, if you're impressive enough."

"Fine." Naruto relented but in no way believed the lying old man.

"Good, now I've arranged for my student to train you so you'll be safe. I don't know what Orochimaru wants but it is paramount she not get it."

"Tsunade's going to train me?" he said, somewhat hopefully.

"No, Jiraiya."

"The smut peddler? Not interested."

"Naruto, he trained the Yondaime and is powerful in his own right. You can learn a lot."

"But I don't know him. If protection is an issue I'll go train in my summon's realm. I had some things I wanted to work on anyway."

"Naruto, you will train with Jiraiya, that's an order." Hiruzen said, sternly, causing Naruto's eyes to narrow.

"Hai."

"Good, now let's resolve the Gai issue and you can be dismissed for the day.

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After his meeting with the Sandaime, Naruto headed to an isolated training ground, one he's used for years. He was curious what the missing nin would give him and why. He also wanted to be sure that should it be a trap it'll only affect him. He may dislike a great deal of Konoha residents but he doesn't want them dead, mindless slaughter isn't his deal. He activated the seal on the scroll and read the contents. He immediately recognized the handwriting, it was the same handwriting of the scrolls he would periodically receive with advance material he couldn't get from the shinobi library. Never any specific techniques, just theory or helpful hints. He always assumed the scrolls came from a Konoha shinobi that couldn't reveal themselves but if it came from Orochimaru, what does that mean? The scrolls, outside of the guidance of the panthers, were the greatest sources of help in his development as a ninjutsu inventor. He couldn't understand why she'd help him. This felt like the Old Man, a game was being played but he didn't understand the rules or how he fit in. He was just at the whimsy of others and he hated that feeling but didn't know how to break free of it.

He decided to just look at the material. True, he needed a plan but it wasn't going to come to him now so he'd focus on something he could do. The scroll listed a technique, the [Impure World Reincarnation] which was created by the Nidaime. It can bring souls back from the dead but requires a live sacrifice and genetic material from the one you wish to bring back. Enclosed in the bottom on the scroll was another sealing array, one for storage. He unsealed the contents to find two vials of blood. This was beyond creepy. The vials themselves contained a note and he could only dread what the lunatic snake summoner had written.

~~ Those with power create boundaries to horde and safeguard their power. Those without power stay within the boundaries to stay in favor of the powerful. Freedom is pushing against and through all boundaries, allowing your ambition to be your only master. Chakra is poorly understood but the potential is limitless; however our understanding is hampered by what many would call profane or "forbidden". Most shinobi are content to live in ignorance, to have a child's understanding of the very force they depend on. But I saw something different in you, a desire to understand like I have; that is why I've helped you and you've yet to disappoint. I chose to ignore decency and ethics in my desire to understand this energy and our world. I walked in the darkness without a single regret. But I want to see how far you can go while in the light. This technique is powerful but it is not perfect. You may want nothing to do with it, you may find it offensive so I've given you an extra incentive to improve upon it in your own way. The Sandaime has withheld many things from you, not just your status as Jinchuuriki. If you want to know more about your past, about your clan then the blood contained in these two vials will do it. Just remember, keeping people ignorant is not a method of protection but control; don't let anyone control you. Break free of anything that holds you back, burn it down and kill it if you must. I look forward to seeing how far you get by month's end. ~~

It could be a lie, he says it but doesn't believe it. He needs to know what these people know but he can't sacrifice people, not even to know more about his origins but she was confident he wouldn't have to. He needed to focus on this but with Jiraiya training him it is going to be difficult, the sensei of the Yondaime must be a real taskmaster.

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No, no he wasn't. He was a lazyass that put forth minimal effort and was constantly distracted with any halfway attractive woman around. Naruto would be annoyed, especially since this man was clearly here to be his watcher more than his trainer but his negligence was beneficial so Naruto wouldn't complain. Though, he'd rather train with Kurenai-sensei since she actually gives a damn and has been helpful coming up with intensive chakra control exercises for him. She, however, was called away on a special detail which Naruto found a little convenient. So, he was stuck with this idiot as a trainer. What were they working on? Initially it was going to be summoning until Naruto informed him he already had a contract. But he was insistent Naruto sign the Toad contract too so the elder toads and Bagheera, the Boss of the Panthers and Naruto's personal summons, were hashing it out so nothing more to do there. Drawing on the bijuu chakra? He can already do that and how can a non-jinchuuriki that has never trained one help him? So, the last project was the rasengan, the Yondaime's personal jutsu. It would be useful as an attack jutsu and helping him in perfecting pure shape manipulation. It was also a decent chakra control exercise. He was still on the second step after two weeks, not because he couldn't go farther but he was slow playing Jiraiya. No sense in doing this faster than necessary. Naruto practiced it while he sent an overcharged shadow clone to the panthers to unravel the Impure World Reincarnation.

The key to Naruto's understand of the jutsu was to remove the mysticism from it and think of it as a chakra exercise. A soul was not being called back. Yin chakra was. The genetic material was a bridge, it contained both the Yin and the Yang chakra of the person being returned. The sacrificial body was for the additional yang chakra, the seals not only called back the the Yin but helped convert the sacrifices Yang into a compatible half of the returned person's Yin, making it reminiscent of their true chakra imprint. This also, somewhat explains, how they can repair the damage. The pure Yin chakra is constantly creating or recreating their form. So, Naruto reasoned, he needy a vessel of as pure Yang chakra he could get. This meant attempting pure yang release. There isn't much written on it, what he could find states that some have a natural affinity for it but are unaware and chalk it up to other things, like those gifted with yin release make excellent genjutsu practitioners. It can be trained but it starts with being able to separate the yin and the yang within one's chakra. Some accomplish this through visualization, seeing the yin and the yang emerge from various points and calling upon one source or the other and with no other known method Naruto opted to try it.

Success has been varied. He knew without Kurenai-sensei's previous help he'd have no hope of accomplishing this but now that his chakra control was better, his flow almost calm, he could focus it enough on separating the most basic elements from each other. Truthfully, if he didn't have this deadline, given to him by Orochimaru herself, he'd probably be doing better. He isn't very calm as he has too many questions and he believes figuring out an ethical Impure World Reincarnation will help get them answered. But even if it does, what does it all mean?