Chapter : 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Pathetic weak trash…" The stern man said and slugged at the young boy who dodged it narrowly. The man then backhanded him a stinging blow across his cheek. "Fear equals weakness in the Kaguya clan boy!" He yelled at the child. "Are you a weakling Scum?"

"N-No Father…" The Four year old replied hesitantly.

"I'll beat that weakness and gentleness out of you one day Scum." The boy's father said and left his son by himself.

The child watched him go as his father was Head and Ruler of The Kaguya Clan and he was heir to the clan. He was often looked down upon by the others for his gentleness that the boy had and some deemed him unfit to be The Heir and should be casted out of the clan. The boy's father was known for his cruelty and would punish him harshly if he did not live up to his expectations.

He heard a pair of footsteps and turned and saw a red haired woman in a blue kimono walking towards him. He reached his arms out to her seeing her.

"Kimimaro-kun." The woman whispered and took her son in her arms holding him and his head pressed against her shoulder. She stroked his hair and gently kissed his forehead as she tended to her son. She was the only one who could face her husband's fiery wrath and come away unscathed as she was an Uzumaki, the two having been married as an arranged marriage between the clans five years ago and she was protective of her son although in her youth she like her sister was a great fighter.

"Mommy…" The boy said and she laughed and smiled as she held him in her arms.

"No matter what happens my Kimi-kun, not matter what danger you face in your life. I will always be there for you."

Present time…

Kimimaro Kaguya sat by himself as he remembered his mother, Ayako Uzumaki. The woman who had given birth to him and showed him the different lifestyle he could have. That he wasn't just a mindless unthinking warrior that his father wanted him to be. She had protested his father's actions including locking him up when he was eight and visited him often.

She…had died along with the rest. He had lost her as well as every other member of his family and clan. Her death leaving a large hole in his heart. She knew that they were going to die that day and told him to run, to flee the field that day. He never bothered going back to the battlefield, knowing that she was gone.

And now only he and her nephew was all that was left. He had left the base earlier, making sure to cover his tracks in case the rest of the Sound Four particularly Tayuya, got suspicious and tried to follow him. From what he had found out, Orochimaru was not there. He instead was believed to be having talks with Sunagakure, having gone with one of his spies in the Leaf to The Hidden Village of Sand in the Land of Wind and wasn't expected to be back for at least a couple of weeks. This was good for him as it would allow him free access and he wouldn't know what he had been doing.

Once he had finished training his cousin he would return, a part of him thinking to bring (or in this case drag his unconscious body) Naruto back with him to Otogakure. Orochimaru would be most pleased with another Shikotsumyaku user and that would prove his worthiness and loyalty to the man. The Leaf Village didn't want anything to do with Naruto he saw, so why not just take the boy to a place where he'd actually be used?

He started to cough and took one of his medicine pills the illness affecting him. He swallowed the pill and felt it start to give him less discomfort. He sighed to himself wondering when the damn illness would be cured and leave him. It was starting to become a hindrance to him as it would almost cripple him. If it happened during a fight he would be helpless to defend himself.

Picking himself up he set off in a run heading back on the road to Konoha to continue Naruto's training.

Elsewhere…

Unknown to Kimimaro, Naruto wasn't at the Leaf Village. He and the rest of Team 7 had been given a mission earlier in the day by The Hokage. They had been granted a C Class Ranked mission to do and had been at it.

Their mission was to be the bodyguards and escort for an old man named Tazuna to Wave Village, a small island town that he was heading to go see his family, his daughter and grandson he had told them. But the man said he didn't want to risk going alone and so hired them to serve as protection from Bandits and thieves that often littered the area.

As Naruto walked alongside the old man who reeked of cheap sake, he noticed that Sasuke had been given him looks as of late ever since the day before when they sparred and he had completely outclassed him much to the Uchiha's and Sakura's shock. When he revealed that he knew how to walk on trees and water as well Naruto had noticed Sasuke giving him looks.

They where looks of…Envy? Disbelief? Jealously?

He couldn't believe that Mr. Uchiha, I'm an elite ninja and everyone else is beneath me would be jealous of him. Then again, Sasuke was proud. Prouder than his cousin and always held himself with a air of superiority towards others, even towards their sensei.

And now that Naruto had something that he didn't it was eating him up on the inside. After all, Naruto thought to himself, how could a last place dobe do something better than the prized prodigy of Konoha? And he had had the gall to demand him where his cousin had went and wanted to know where so he could find him and demand that he train him.

If he had told Kimimaro that he would be lucky if he left walking on his own feet as Kimimaro he doubted would take demands and orders kindly. Most likely Sasuke would find out the hard way what his answer would be.

As the group continued on their mission they came to a clearing and Kakashi called for a halt.

"Okay, I think we could all use a break right about now. We've been walking for the past couple of hours and Wave isn't too far from here." He said to them. "Let's rest here for a while, and then we'll continue on."

Naruto later on was by himself and doing a series of katas practicing his footwork and fighting stances. He was doing some training when he sensed a presence.

"You're a bit far off from you friends aren't you boy?" Tazuna asked the old man taking a seat at a stump of a tree and pulling out a hidden flask of sake he had. He unscrewed the cork and took a long sip.

Naruto allowed a dry chuckle. "They aren't really my friends old man." He said to him.

"I thought The Leaf Nins pride themselves on teamwork and working together. A group can't win if they are separated can they?" Tazuna asked him.

Naruto stopped his training and let out a sigh and the old man could see a burden in his eyes. "It's not easy to work together when your hated by your team and everyone else."

"Oh?"

"Everyone at Konoha is always looking down upon me, either they ignore me or mock me. Heck, the only reason I pulled pranks was so people would actually notice me. Even being yelled at is better than being ignored all your life." Naruto said to him. "Everyone there hates me."

"Haven't you got a mother or a father?" Tazuna asked looking at him.

"No…I don't have any family. Except for my cousin and he's aloof and distant. Nobody wants me around."

"I heard from your sensei that you plan on becoming Hokage." Tazuna responded to him.

"Heh, yeah in my dreams at this rate. I wanna become Hokage cause people would then respect me, and they would stop looking down at me."

"Respect is what you want? From your peers and elders?"

Naruto shook his head. "I want more than respect, I want friends, I want to be treated as an equal. Just once I want to know what it's like to be loved instead of always being treated like an outcast and have trash thrown at me. Sasuke people fawn over him all the time and would gladly have him walk all over him. Ever since he was born people have treated him like he's a god."

"It maybe their way of handling what happened to The Uchiha clan." Tazuna said with a shrug.

"But still, he's got the best teachers, a legion of fan girls a mile long, he lives like a king getting the best treatment and offers. Kakashi spends all his time training him everyday and Sakura spends all her time fawning over him along with the other girls. He has the entire clan's Scrolls containing Jutsu that he can learn and he's already shown to know most of them. I'm stuck and seen basically by everyone as nothing more than a dead last idiot who got made a Genin by a fluke. A dobe…" He said bitterly. "And now I'm finally getting somewhere, I'm learning more from my cousin than I'll probably ever learn from Kakashi and Sasuke demands that he is trained by him and odds are he'll probably get his way like he always does. It's not fair!"

"Life never is fair." Tazuna said not to chastise him but understanding the boy. He too believed that what had happened to his family and his home believed it wasn't just what had happened to them. "All we can do is go through the hurdles life puts in our way, often unexpectedly it seems like."

Naruto let out a sigh. "Just once, just once I'd love nothing more than to show them all. To show everyone that I'm not a dead last loser like they all claim I am as they judge me before they even know me. That I'm more than what they think I am. That I'm not a monster, or a demon. That my name is Naruto Uzumaki and I am a Ninja of Konohagakure The Hidden Village of The Leaf."

Tazuna looked at him and nodded and standing up went to join back with the others.

Naruto went back as well eventually enough and saw the others. Sasuke heard him coming and walked towards him.

"It's about time you got back, we've been waiting for you and our Client. Once we finish this mission and head back I can finally talk to your cousin and have him train me." He said to him.

Naruto glared at him at what he said but held his temper in check. "I'm telling you again Sasuke, Kimimaro won't train you." He said to him.

"He will train me Dobe." Sasuke said and turned and left.

"…Do you have a small penis or something?" Naruto called out to him. "Is that why you always have such a swelled head and ego?"

That stopped Sasuke in his tracks and he turned to glare at him. Sakura's face had turned into a tomato after what he just said.

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked him.

"You're compensating for something with how you act." Naruto said and folded his arms across his chest.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Sasuke shouted at him.

"I'm getting tired of this attitude of yours. You think you're better than me? Better than everyone else in the world and they'll bow to your every whim? I don't think so. You're not getting your way Sasuke, not this time." He said to him.

"You have no right to-" Sasuke started to say when he was cut off.

"I have every right in my mind to tell you what no one else has or will." Naruto interrupted him. "Welcome to the real world Sasuke, the world doesn't work the way your Daddy told you it would where all you have to do is stick your nose in the air and people will make a bridge for you out of their own bodies. No one cares that you're an Uchiha. I don't and neither does my cousin. I can walk on trees and water, so in my eyes, that makes me better than you since you can't do either. You want to get strong? Then get it off your own power, instead of trying to leech it off of others like a tick. That goes double for you Sakura." He said and turned his head at the pink haired girl "Earn your strength instead of demanding it be given to you. I'm earning my strength with the training I'm getting from my cousin. I don't care if your fan girls all yell at me or if The Villagers hate me even more, I'm not letting you get by with whatever you want all the time."

Sasuke glared at him as no one ever talked to him like that. How dare this fool try and tell him what to do?

"That's enough." Kakashi said having stepped back and watched it unfold. He had sensed something like this would soon happen with his dysfunctional team. "Both of you stop. I won't have you arguing and getting into fights during our mission. We still have a way to go before our client is safe."

Naruto and Sasuke glared at one another but left it at that.

"He has no right talking to Sasuke-kun like that!" Sakura said to Kakashi as they went on and her and him were in the back of the group. "How could he even think to say such things to him?"

"You shouldn't be so upset. You have work to do as well." Kakashi said to her.

"W-What?" Sakura said a surprised look on her face.

"Naruto has made an effort to improve himself these past days and he has gotten stronger. I would rank him almost even with Sasuke now with the new skills he's shown. But you haven't done anything." He said to her. "You have a lot of room to grow up. This isn't a school trip Sakura, this is serious. Those who are hindrances are of no use in the Ninja World."

"I'm not a hindrance!" She protested.

"You don't do much except gush over and watch Sasuke when he's training. You tire easily and have shown little to no improvement. If something happens all of us need to be ready, you just can't watch from the sidelines." He said to her and moved on ahead.

The group continued on their way when Kakashi called for them to stop. He walked forward and noticed a puddle in the middle of the road. He dipped a hand into it and pulled it out.

"Pretty warm day for a freshly made puddle in the middle of the road." He said as if it was nothing important.

Naruto suddenly felt two presences coming fast. "Watch out!" He shouted and two clawed and mask wearing ninjas with horns on their headbands descended from the trees and went to stab Kakashi who moved out of the way.

"Kill them…" One said and the other produced a chain with razor sharp edges. Whirling it overhead he lashed out at them and they just missed it. He spun it again and aimed it at Tazuna going to ensnare him. The old man stood helplessly when Kakashi appeared and grabbing him leapt out of the way.

"Stupid fools!" One of them said and started to charge after Sasuke who leapt over him. "Fire it!" He shouted at his sibling and he fired the chain and it locked together with their gauntlets and the two began zigzagging attempting to ensnare Sasuke who barely dodged them.

Naruto seeing this backed up a bit so no would notice him and focusing his chakra formed two bones coming out of his shoulders. Focusing he pulled them out and connected them turning them back into their five foot long combined blade and rushed forward.

"DIE!" The Two assassins shouted at Sasuke and leapt planning on ensnaring him with their razor sharp chain. Sasuke stood his ground as they descended down upon him ready to make a move when Naruto rushed past him and wielding a weapon he didn't see him produce leapt up and slashed at the chain which shattered into multiple pieces.

"W-What?" The brothers shouted in disbelief as their weapon was now useless. Roaring one attempted to stab Naruto and shred his face with his claws when Naruto backed up and blocked spinning his weapon to deflect his attacks. The claws met with his blade and a power struggle ensued.

Naruto grunted as the two struggled for dominance when he felt he remembered Kimimaro's lesson and words how he could use any part of his body to use it. "Drilling Bullets!" He shouted and the tips of his fingers shoot out fired and hit the ninja and he fell backwards with blood seeping from his wounds.

"I'll kill you!" The other seeing it shouted but he was struck down by Kakashi who knocked him out.

"How'd he do that?" Sasuke questioned as he looked at Naruto and the weapon he had. He had no summon scroll with him, nor any sheath. How did he produce that out of nowhere. What was more infuriatingly was that Naruto had saved him and held his own against them.

"That's over with." Kakashi said and producing a rope began tying the two up and bandaged the wound the other had gotten and tied them to a tree. "These two are missing nins, we'll leave them here and the proper authorities will get them. However, it seemed we weren't the target of their assault." He said and turned to look at Tazuna who had a sweat drop on his forehead.

"Is there something you forgot to tell us?" He asked the man.

Elsewhere…

"AAHHH! Please have mercy!" The thug said as the white haired figure planted a foot on his chest.

"Who is your boss?" Kimimaro asked and pressed his foot down harder.

"You killed him!"

"Liar…" Kimimaro said and reaching down picked the man up from the ground by his throat. Around them where several dead bodies.

Having not sensed Naruto's presence at Konoha, the Kaguya had went off in search of his cousin and easily picked up the trail to see what he was doing. Along the way he had been ambushed by a group of thieves and brigands. The simple thugs thinking numbers and size mean strength attacked him and had been slaughtered to a man without even landing a blow on Kimimaro.

"Tell me." Kimimaro said adding pressure knowing that this was more than just a group of vagabonds. "Have you seen a blonde haired boy come this way?"

"I don't know."

"…" More pressure was added.

"O-Okay Okay! I did see some kids and a jonin from the Leaf not an hour ago and one was blonde! Gato our boss wants the man they where escorting dead! We were going to ambush them when we where told not to by his newest man."

Kimimaro sensed the man was telling the truth and that his cousin was in danger. "What else?"

"The old geezer is wanted dead and we'll be paid a fortune for doing so! He threatens Gato-sama's business! This new guy, he's stronger than all of us combined. Than all of us put together! He's some missing nin from Mist with a big sword. He's a demon I tell you! Zabuza Momochi!"

Kimimaro recognized that name. He knew that very well.

"The Butcher of The Seven Swordsmen…" He said and the thug began laughing.

"Yeah, by the time he reaches those kids they'll be toast! You better get out of here as well unless you want to-GACKKK!" The man's words where stopped when a pair of bones sprouted into his neck from Kimimaro who withdrew the bones and dropped him to the ground.

Picking up the pace he broke off into a run as fast as he could knowing full well just how powerful Zabuza was and the danger he would have to his cousin.

A/N: That's it for this chapter. Review please