~~~
"You're progressing at a nice pace -- tremendous if we could call it," stated Tsunade, happily informing her proteges as she looked at her notes.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," both Sakura and Ino were pleased with their results from their numerous amounts of training. They stood still as Tsunade nodded her head at them.
"You two are free to leave for today. Come back here tomorrow if you need anything." They nodded once more, taking their leave from the Hokage Tower soon after.
Back when the Satsuki Retrieval Mission failed, the two were offered to be Tsunade's proteges due to their chakra control being excellent.
Obviously, they had no reason to decline and simply accepted the proposal. And that's what they have been doing for the past 2.5 years or so -- rigorous training by Tsunade.
"You mind if we stop by the training ground? I heard that my team was doing something there." Sakura nodded to those words and followed Ino's lead to their training ground.
Over the course of the 2.5 years of training, the village has changed only somewhat -- although there has been a few renovations that people were able to do because of the invasion that Orochimaru had done a few years ago.
"You know, Ino. I feel like Konoha hasn't changed one bit." She nodded, agreeing with those words as they got closer to the Team 10 training ground that has been used numerously.
"Yeah. . . I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." They both solemnly chuckled. Once arriving, they saw not just people in Ino's team, but also people from other teams as well.
"Yosh! Good one Shikamaru-san!" Rock Lee, fire burning from within as he saw Asuma trade fists with Shikamaru -- whom had a lazy look on his face as usual.
"So troublesome; why am I here again?" Shikamaru caressed his cheek, feeling the pain from the punch that he had received from Asuma.
"It's because you've been slacking off again." Shikamaru jumped back, sending off a pair of kunai as it was blocked off by Shikamaru. The failed retrieval mission caused everyone's moral to lower.
It took a toll on them, but they managed to move on and improve on themselves so they wouldn't fail next if they got a chance. Although the chances of that happening is very slim.
Even though everyone had made it out alive, both Rock Lee and Choji were in serious state. With Choji due to the poison that he suffered from using the Three Colored PIlls.
And Rock Lee due to him using 5 out of the 8 Gates. Kakashi had been the one to find Rock Lee laying on a random boulder on the Valley of the End.
And when he woke up -- he remembered nothing and how he got into this state. All he knew was that he was on a mission to retrieve Satsuki. Safe to say that he was out of commission for a quite some time.
"Hey, guys. Where's Naruto?" Asked Kiba, wondering if he was here. Everyone raised an eyebrow before they shrugged their shoulders.
"No idea. You do know that he usually doesn't go to these sessions. Always training, doing missions, or taking and reading books from the library. He likes overworking himself." Choji ate some chips as he said these words.
"Naruto-san should lighten a little! He should see how fun this is!" Rock Lee grinned, observing the fight closely.
"Just let Naruto do what he wants. I mean, it's working. I think." Kakashi had to put his 2 cents into this conversation.
He has tried reaching out to Naruto, but it seemed to never work out. Either because Naruto was busy or he was locking himself in his apartment just constantly reading books so he could develop more as a shinobi.
Hope you're doing ok, Naruto. Kakashi sighed, focusing back to his Icha-Icha while a battle was occurring.
~~~
Blurs passed through the trees that were far off from the village hidden in the leaves. Silence reigned over the area as 5 figures became known once they crouched on a tree.
They were looking down, observing the area as they saw their targets talking to one another. They moved to the trees in front of them. Their presence were masked as they continued to look down at them.
"You think we're far enough away?" Asked one of their targets. They wore a standard Konoha flak jacket that someone would receive once they become a Chunin and or above.
"I think so. I don't think anyone knew of us defecting." They were serving Konoha up until a few days ago when they decided to become traitors and become rogue.
"We're finally free. I can't believe it. Our plan actually--!" They were cut off as the same figures from before that were observing their movements came from above, landing in front of their way.
"Anbu?!" They exclaimed, raising their guards up instantly. There were quite a number of them that managed to defect.
7 people to be exact. To think there could be more people that want to defect from the village.
"Captain, what will we do to them? Retrieve them back for interrogation?" Asked a person with a voice devoid of emotion and thrill.
"No. He specifically told us to retrieve them back. We must listen to his orders," responded the leader, whom wore an outfit that resembled an Anbu outfit. Though he had an undershirt underneath instead of the usual sleeveless shirt.
A gray flak jacket covered over the undershirt. A cloak shadowed over him that had black and a think golden-colored outline that ran around the edges of his cloak.
His face was hidden behind a mask that deviated from the standard animal-type mask that an Anbu would wear. His mask was blank and featureless with a smooth surface.
"The what shall we do, captain?" It was an obvious answer for their captain to make. They were ROOT -- the unseen one that shall protect the tree of Konoha.
"Exterminate them all."
It was a simple order as a blade was appeared in the grasps of his arm, tendrils of lightning soon enveloping the blade. They all charged towards the fearful shinobi in front of them.
Blood was spilled on the ground, as the 5 moved as one unit, taking care of the traitorous targets in the blink of an eye. Once everything was done, piled up the bodies so they could turn them into pure ashes through the use of fire jutsus.
As the fire burnt, they witnessed the lifeless bodies of their former shinobi.
They had cleansed tree once more.
"Let's move," ordered their leader, getting nods from everyone before they all leaped back onto the trees illuminating from above.
It took some time, but they managed to get back to the ROOT headquarters that was hidden away from the citizens of Konoha. The arrays large pipes were shadowing over their body.
Arriving in a room, they saw an elderly man sitting in front of them.
"Your order was complete, Danzo-sama," informed their leader. Danzo was pleased with this information that he was just been given.
"Good. You all did your job well. And I suppose you disposed of their bodies?" They nodded, answering his question with that simple gesture.
"Very good. Now, everyone is dismissed except you." Danzo pointed at their leader. Everyone nodded, letting their leader stay behind. Once they were good, Danzo got to business.
"How well are they doing, Naruto?" He had asked him.
"They are doing fine, Danzo-sama. Their performance are more than just adequate." He had recently gotten this team to oversee, and it was quite an experience.
"Hm. I see. Do you think there are any problems with them?" Danzo had posed a following question to him.
"Not any that I am certain." Naruto was careful with the words that he had chose. Those words could be used as an excuse for Danzo to dispose of the people that are in his overseeing team.
"Well, do inform me of any. . . defections that they could possibly have. I'll fix that immediately. You are dismissed." Naruto nodded, seeing as he was correct. He had labeled potential flaws as 'defections'.
That was something Naruto was careful about when around Danzo -- to not say anything unnecessary that could be risky.
He turned and soon saw his team waiting for him. Seeing as they didn't have their masks on, Naruto did the same only out of respect. Maybe.
His striking features revealed themselves, and his bangs were a bit longer now. His obvious growth in height was evident. Although while he maintained a lean build, Naruto was a bit frail-looking. Only slightly.
"You all are dismissed, Sai-san, Kana-san, Youta-san, and Ainu-san. We'll be working as a team again soon." And with that, everyone dispersed and they were now on their own.
(A/N: I'd hate to do this, but everyone but Sai is a disposable character. I will have no hesitation when killing later on if I have to.)
Naruto sighed, putting his mask back on. It was now time to go back home.
~~~
3 people sat on different chairs. They wore a large black cloak with patches of red cloud insignias on the cloak.
"Things are once again moving," said one with orange hair, multiple piercings that covered his face and even more underneath the cloak. His voice was full of authority.
"It is. We've already caught the Nibi under our control. It is only a matter of time before we gain control of all 9 of them." Another male voice was made.
A voice that sounded like an exact replica of Madara's. His face was hidden with a cinnamon-roll mask that only revealed one eye.
"Orochimaru is also moving around lately. But that won't be too much of a problem," stated a woman with pale-blue hair and a labret piercing.
"He's being quite useful acting like an unintentional decoy, Konan." The same guy with orange hair stated, getting nods of agreeing from both parties.
"Indeed, Pain." The man with orange hair was now labeled as the individual called: Pain.
(Or Pein if you want to use the Japanese translation.)
"What are our plans for tracking the Kyuubi?" Asked Konan, seeing as the progress of finding the container of the Kyuubi has been a struggle for so long.
"I have that covered," stated the man that sounded like Madara.
"I only have one suspect, but they are highly probable to be the Kyuubi Jinchuriki." This brought out questions that needed to be answered.
"Is it the boy that Itachi and Kisame had confronted a few years ago?" Asked Konan, getting a nod of confirmation from the swirly-masked fellow.
"Indeed. He was later to be revealed as a 'Hidden Uchiha' due him hiding the fact that he was an Uchiha all along. But that doesn't mean he has no more secrets." Yes -- the hunt for the Bijuu was just starting to begin.
Uchiha Naruto.
~~~
"Naruto! Open up! It's me! The greatest author of all time!" Jiraiya banged on the door, needing to get into the apartment as soon as possible.
Naruto gave no response.
"Alright -- you asked for it!" Jiraiya yelled, before barging into his apartment with pure strength. He sighed, seeing the sight in front of him.
Naruto was sitting the chair, passed out with numerous amounts of books all over the place. Jiraiya grimaced at the amount of books that were needing to be tidied up.
"Man, you could've at least had a book of mine within these piles," muttered Jiraiya, takin pride in his masterpiece of a book as he shook Naruto up.
"Hm? What are. . . doing here?" Naruto squinted his eyes. He had no idea that Jiraiya was back in the village for the time being. Jiraiya pulled a chair and sat right on it.
"Important news." Naruto straightened himself up, placing the book that he was reading back on the table in front of him.
"And the news is?" Naruto asked, yawning slightly.
"The Akatsuki are making their moves and are moving fairly quick." Naruto hardened his features, taking this news to his ears.
"They've already gotten their hands on the Nibi -- the second tailed beast." Naruto sighed, seeing that their progression has made a tremendous boost.
"What about Gaara? He's the Ichibi Jinchuriki," Naruto questioned.
"Luckily, he hasn't been targeted just yet. But since Gaara is the Fifth Kazekage, he had directly asked Tsunade to have a group of shinobi ready just incase things go bad." Naruto nodded, seeing as he was one of those shinobi in the line-up.
Although that was an obvious fact. 'Cause it was fucking Naruto.
"I'm just here to tell you this. Be careful. Naruto. You're a very powerful shinobi and that's something the Akatsuki will be wary for." Jiraya patted Naruto's head, ruffling his head before he went back doing his daily research.
Naruto sighed.
It seems I'll have to kill Danzo much earlier than expected if Obito and the Akatsuki are moving this fast. Naruto thought to himself, glancing back at the book that he had been reading yesterday night.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to read just a tiny bit more." Naruto picked the book back up, not knowing that he was about to read for another few hours.
~~~
"I wonder how you're doing," muttered Satsuki, looking at Naruto's bingo book all alone in silence.
Her slender body had a black baggy pants and a long-sleeved black shirt with a black-vest that had many pockets to contain shuriken, kunai and scrolls. And her hair was a bit longer too.
(A/N: Ngl, I will never let her wear the canon Sasuke uniform that he wore during the start of Shippuden.)
Name: Ahihcu Naruto
Rank: A-S (Unclear as of right now)
Age: 15
Height: 5'9
Warning: Take caution when fighting him. Anything below A-Rank will die.
Bounty: 1,000,000 RYO (minimum) to anyone if they capture him alive or dead - Rich people
There was very little information on the bingo book and Naruto was being sought for by people like high-ranking bandits or stuff of that sorts.
Naruto has been taking out high-ranking shinobi that defected from their village without a problem. All the villages saw this added him due to his efficiency and skill.
Though, do not mistake this as being nice to Naruto. It was obvious to Satsuki that the other villages except Suna is wary of Naruto and his existence.
Satsuki got up, seeing a new pair of training dummies appear in front of her. Her face serious and cold, lightning started to form around her hand.
"Chidori Nagashi"
A stream of lightning roamed around the room that he inhabited, soon destroying and annihilating all the dummies that were in front of her.
She sighed, seeing as she wasn't getting much of a challenge anymore due to her being confined in such a facility. What she wanted was power -- constant growth.
Her growth used to be a lot more noticeable, but due to the very limited training that there is here, it was stunting her growth.
Does she regret going to Orochimaru? No, she doesn't. Don't get her wrong, she knows that Naruto is much stronger than her and he stayed in Konoha.
But that's the thing, Naruto was Naruto. An abnormality that will constantly involve in any environment when he pushes himself to do so.
But with Satsuki, only the right training for her can get her to the level of Naruto's. Is she envious of that? Yes, she is.
Does that changes anything? No, it changes nothing. Satsuki sighed, going back to her room. She was aware that Orochimaru's health was slowly declining due to him needing a new vessel.
And she was going to be that vessel.
Like I'm letting that happen. I'll kill him before he does. Satsuki thought, a dark glint appearing as the familiar scarlet eyes appeared with 3-tomoes.
~~~
In the endless sand in the Land of Wind, figures came emerging from the massive sandstorm that was currently happening in the Land of Wind.
"It seems we are stuck with this mission," a vile voice called out. He had wore the standard Akatsuki outfit that has rose in popularity due to the fear it gave people.
"So it seems. But this will be over quick." A tone of arrogance came from a young-man who looks to be about 19 or somewhere along that age. His hair was a bright yellow with part of it covering one of his eyes and the other tied into a ponytail.
"After all, I have my art." His hand lowering to a large pouch to his side. Unzipping the pouch, there was a large amounts of clay that laid inside of the pouch.
His hand hovering inside, the palm started to move apart, soon revealing that there was a mouth on the palm of his hand. Lowering his hand, the rather long tongue with saliva dripping down nommed down on the clay.
"Deidara, your art is absolutely awful." The blond that was now introduced as Deidara glared at the man right next to him.
"Tch. Explosion is the epitome of art. Your puppets are just plastic shit, Sasori! Have you seen the beauty of my explosions?!" They soon quieted down so they would instill fear in the guards with such ominous silence looming.
Soon enough, they saw the silhouette of the village that the Fifth Kazekage was residing in. Getting closer, they saw one man standing out in front of the entrance of the village.
"You did well, Yura. Good thing to know your loyalty lies with us and us alone." Sasori held a deadly tone as they approached the man that stood at the entrance.
Yura had black trousers and sandals. He had black hair that reached over his right eye, covering it and a goatee accompanying it. His attire was the standard clothing for that of a Suna-nin.
Behind him were the bodies of the guards that were protecting the entrance from any enemies that they would possibly encounter.
Yura was indeed a spy for the Akatsuki. Although Sasori was the person who had made those memories of him being a spy resurface from the depths of his closeted mind.
Yura gestured them to move on ahead.
"This place hasn't changed even one bit," stated Sasori, looking over the village of Suna alongside Deidara and Yura.
"Who cares. This is a chance for me to let loose for a bit. Now, stay here, Sasori. I'll handle this." Deidara threw a small clay bird on the ground, soon doing a few hand seals.
A puff of smoke appeared, shrouding the clay bird. Once the clouds of smoke disappeared, there was the said clay bird was enlarged.
Jumping on the bird, he took off his straw hat, revealing all of his features. With the wings of the bird flapping, Deidara took off from the ground, flying over the village as he left Sasori behind.
It's time to catch the Ichibi. Deidara thought.
~~~
Done. Decided that this was going to how the second half starts -- with a lot more appearances of the Akatsuki and the Konoha 11.
Anyway, made a lot of scene changes due to me investing my time to improve the character development of the whole cast. After this part of the story, the true divergence of canon will begin to show itself.
With me ending this chapter, I'd have accumulated over 3300+ words this chapter. Ngl, I thought I wouldn't get to 300 words this chapter. I guess I was wrong.
But anyway, this is the start of the second half of Grace. Thanks for reading. But until next time.
CYA!