A few days had passed and Naruto was improving rapidly. He had begun to hang out with his friends more often and seemed to be much happier after his move to the new apartment. He was just about to head out when a knock came at the door.

He hopped up from his bed and opened the door.

"Hey Naruto! How's it going?" Yori asked with a grin.

"Good! Oh, um... why are you here?" He asked, trying not to sound rude, though the man didn't seem to mind.

"Just checking up on you. And for some news..." He motioned for Naruto to get closer and his voice lowered. "The council decided to help you become a shinobi." He whispered dramatically.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"What? What do you mean?" Help him become a shinobi? Why would they do that?

"Well pretty much the entire village knows you wanted to become a shinobi but weren't able to because of... well, circumstances. They think you have some potential and want to offer you a private sensei!" Yori stated, seeming to be excited for him. "You'll be able to catch up to your friends in no time, even surpass them! Plus I hear the person they have in mind is really strong. So, what do you say?" His smile faltered upon seeing the boy's hesitation.

"...I... I'm not sure." He struggled to get the words out. "It's really nice of them to offer that... but could you tell them that I have to think about it?"

Yori's expression soured for a split second before returning to a cheerful smile.

"Of course, I'm sure they'll understand. Anyways, I'll see you later!" He waved before disappearing, presumably to speak with the council members.

Naruto stepped out of his house and began sprinting towards the old training field.

"Sensei?" Naruto called to the familiar field. "Sensei are you here?"

No response.

He frowned, if she wasn't here then he wouldn't be able to find her. He's had no luck the last few times he tried looking for her. It was like she didn't exist outside of this place. He sighed, supposing that it was his fault for not coming for training in the past weeks. He hoped that she wouldn't be mad at him.

A figure strode through the tall trees, this was the deep part of the woods with twisting vines and little wildlife. It was as if the animals dared not tread there and even the insects refused to play their songs. Weak beams of light struggled to push through the canopy of leaves that hung high overhead, making the floor of the forest shadowy and difficult to see. The person, however, moved without hesitation in their step, they moved with purpose.

Then the figure stopped. They stood still for long while, as if they were listening to something that wasn't there. Suddenly, they glanced left and darted away. Voices could be heard approaching, they were quiet and difficult to hear but still comprehensible. For a moment, they seemed to grow closer but then slowly faded away.

A man with dull black hair approached the village gates, his eyes were a sharp green that greatly contrasted with his pale complexion. Once he reached the tall gates he was promptly stopped by two guards.

"State your name and-"

He held out a scroll, cutting them off.

One of the guards took the scroll and glanced over it. He then rolled it up again and nodded to his partner.

"You may enter."

The man tucked the scroll away and stepped into Konoha through the now open gates.

"Nishimura-san, good of you to come." A council member greeted the man. "Come in."

The man stepped into the Hokage Tower and was lead upstairs to a conference room, inside were a few elders and the other council members. Upon taking a seat, the talking began.

"Nishimura-san, I apologize for not giving you much information on this job, we simply could not compromise the security of the details by using messengers. I hope you understand. This job will be quite simple: we need you to train somebody."

The man named Nishimura frowned, he seemed to be offended at the mere concept of the task.

"With all due respect, Danzo, do you not have plenty of jounin that you can ask to do a teaching job?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

Frowns made their ways onto a few members' faces.

"Ah, yes, but this is no ordinary teaching job. The boy we need you to train is very important and we cannot allow the village to know about our intentions." Danzo answered smoothly.

"And what might those intentions be?" Nishimura questioned, now seeming more interested.

"I should not burden you with information that will not affect your job." Danzo stated while keeping a calm demeanor, effectively dodging the question.

"Whatever you plan to do with them, I'm sure you know what type of work I do, what kind of jobs I take. You must be aware that playing sensei is not one of them." He stated, standing up and turning to leave.

"Five hundred thousand ryo."

Nishimura stopped and slowly turned around, giving Danzo a suspicious glare. After a moment, the glare turned to a smirk.

"When do I start?"

The next day, a knock came at Naruto's door. He lifted his head off of the kitchen table where he had accidentally fallen asleep. With his hair still a mess, he quickly opened the door.

"Hello?" An unfamiliar man stood in front of him. The tall, dark haired man frowned noticeably.

"Uzumaki Naruto, yes?" He demanded sharply, causing Naruto to become uneasy.

"...that's me." He answered, unsure.

"I'm sure you've been informed of this, but I have been assigned to train you."

His eyes widened as his mind began scrambling for words.

"I-I said I wasn't sure if I wanted to become a ninja!" He blurted out.

The man stared at him for a few more seconds.

"I see. In that case, I will come back when you decide to accept." The man said finally, disappearing as the last word left his mouth.

Naruto stood shocked for a moment before rushing out of the building and hurrying towards the old training field, praying that Nina would be there.

"Sensei!" He shouted in relief upon seeing the woman sitting in the field.

"Hello, Naruto. You seem to be in a hurry." Nina observed.

"I was looking for you! I need to tell you something and I don't know what's going on!" He blurted.

"Take a breath and tell me what's happening." She gestured for him to sit down and he did so, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down.

"A week ago, someone named Yori came to my house and told me that the council had gotten me a new apartment since I couldn't stay in my house anymore, so I went with him and he helped me get to the apartment. He came back to check on me a few days later and said the council had gotten someone train me. I don't know why but I got a really bad feeling so I told him I would think about it. Then today, another man came to my apartment and said that he was the person the council had assigned to me. He was a little creepy but went away after I told him I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a ninja." He breathed, struggling to get all his thoughts into words.

Nina seemed to consider everything he had just said and her expression soured.

"Naruto, I'm going to ask you to do something you may not like. I need you to accept the Council's offer."

His eyes widened in confusion, he almost wasn't sure if he heard her right.

"But why? I don't want to train with that guy! Besides you're already my sensei!" He was thoroughly confused as to what she was thinking.

"I realize that you may not want to do this, but you must understand that it is so I can help you." She lowered her voice. "They are after the Kyuubi. They want his power, a power that they must not attain. I need for you to get closer to the man they hired and cooperate with whatever he asks you to do. Don't worry, they won't risk hurting you. While the Council is focusing on your progress, I will gather information on what they plan to accomplish and on who that man is. All you need to do is go with what the man tells you."

Naruto thought over her plan and slowly nodded, trusting that she knew what she was doing.

"Ok... so I should accept the offer?"

Nina nodded.

"In case they try anything, just know I'll be close." She reassured him. "Now go home and wait for the man to come back." She patted him on the head and he nodded, turning and heading back to his apartment.

Nina frowned, she hated to put him in a position so close to whoever that undoubtedly dangerous man was. She knew they wouldn't try to hurt him, in fact, there will probably be some anbu assigned to keep an eye on him and make sure he's safe at all times. She knew they were planning some sort of attack or invasion once they had Naruto under their control, but that wouldn't be happening.

"Hey!" Someone was standing in front of Naruto's apartment door. "I was looking for you!" The person waved enthusiastically.

As he drew closer, Naruto saw that it was Yori.

"What're you doing here? Did you need something?" He asked, knowing full well what he was here for.

"Oh, right. I just wanted to ask you to reconsider the training offer. You know the council really thinks you have-"

"I'll do it." His words surprised the man, causing him to blink a few times before giving a wide grin.

"You will? Great! Well I think the Council's going to send the person over sometime tomorrow. I'm sure you'll enjoy your training!" Yori gave him a thumbs up and a small wave before disappearing.

As Yori had said, the man assigned to train Naruto showed up at his door the next day, the same dull black hair and offsetting feel that Naruto had seen the day before.

"I hear you've accepted the offer, in that case, we will begin today. Come." He began walking to an unknown destination and Naruto hesitantly followed.

Not long after, the two stopped in a training field behind the Council's headquarters, a large, plain building with shinobi guarding each and every entrance. Naruto knew that this field was part of the councils reserved property and, at first, was rather confused about why they would be training here. When he remembered what Nina had said about them wanting to control the Kyuubi, things began to make a little more sense.

"First," The man's voice broke through Naruto's thoughts. "We will see how much you know. Throw this at that target." He tossed him a kunai and pointed at one of the red and white ringed targets.

Naruto stepped forward and gripped the kunai, he hadn't practiced in a while. The weapon ended up lodged in one of the outer rings. The man stared at it with an unreadable expression then turned back to Naruto.

"We will start with stances and movement, you won't be able to do anything with what you have now." He stated blandly.

Three hours later, Naruto was completely worn out. The man dismissed him only after seeing that his movements began to get unbearably sloppy. Naruto was now headed back home slowly as his muscles groaned in pain. All he wanted to do was go to sleep, not even having the energy to take a shower, but for a reason he didn't fully understand, he began to head towards the old training field. Along with the tangled grasses and stringy shrubs, Nina greeted him as the field came into view.

"Sensei?" He asked, confused as to why she was here.

"You did well today, that man doesn't seem to go easy on anyone." She said with sympathy in her tone.

"What? You... were watching?" He titled his head. Was she there the whole time?

"I saw your training, yes, don't concern yourself with the details. Anyways, I want to apologize again for this inconvenience on your part, I realize that this man has quite the disciplinary method. I hope you will continue to train under him until I have the information I need to help you." She seemed genuinely troubled by having him train with that man.

"No, no! I mean you're getting information so you can help me, right? Then I don't mind sticking with that guy for a while." Naruto assured.

"Good to hear. I will continue to get whatever information I can, after training you should go straight home, I will call for you when I have news." Nina told him.

"Ok, but how are you going to do that?" He asked.

Nina seemed to crack the slightest smile.

"You'll know. Now hurry home, it won't be long until they notice your absence." She urged with a gentle push.

Naruto nodded and started back towards his apartment. As he ran, he glanced back to see that she was already gone.

'Who did she mean by they?'

Danzo sat in his office, frowning at the scrolls on his desk. They were dozens of scrolls from the village archives that documented the history of the Uchiha Clan, on those scrolls was every war the clan ever fought in, every major decision they ever made, every leader they've ever had. However, that wasn't what he was looking for. He unrolled another scroll, only to find useless documentation on the events of the First Great Shinobi War. Finding the information he needed was proving to be quite the task. He had even gone as far as to capture and experiment on some Uchiha clansmen and even that yielded nothing worthwhile. How could he gain more information on the Sharingan? What would he have to do to understand? How could he harness its power?

He leaned back in his chair and sighed in frustration.

Knock knock

The sound pulled him from his thoughts, he quickly rolled up the scrolls and swept them into one of the drawers before calling out a "come in."

Nishimura opened the door and soundlessly stepped inside, taking a seat in front of the desk.

"What trick are you playing?" He demanded sharply.

"What?" Danzo frowned at his demeanor. "What are you taking about?"

"Have I not made it clear that you are to always tell me the truth regarding my tasks?" He asked, glare hardening.

"Have you reason to believe that I have not?" Danzo questioned.

"The boy is not a civilian." Nishimura stated blandly. "He's had prior training yet I was told he's never known a thing about the ninja world."

Danzo stayed silent for a long while.

"Impossible. The boy never would have had the chance to train." He said, he knew of Kushina's dedication to keeping her son away from anything dangerous and being a shinobi was at the top of that list.

"Are you saying my eyes lied?" Nishimura challenged. "His aim and movements were off but he improved quicker than what is possible for someone without previous training, as if he was only remembering something he's already learned. His chakra was strong and stable, that of an intermediate level shinobi. Chunin, as you call it. He would not have that kind of control without someone having taught him."

Danzo stared at the man, he could tell he wasn't lying.

But what did this mean?

"I guarantee you, Nishimura, the boy hadn't had any prior training as far as we know. But I thank you for this information, I will look into it further. For now, please continue to work with Naruto, keep me updated if anything else comes up." He said smoothly.

Nishimura frowned, not approving of the answer, but stood and left anyways.

Danzo leaned back in his chair, brows creased in a deep frown.

Months passed and things weren't easy for Naruto. Nishimura, whom he refused to call sensei, did not ease up on the training, each day was a new world of pain and ache and Naruto began dreading his lessons. Though he wasn't fond of the man or his teaching methods, he was improving noticeably: his aim was spot on, his stamina had doubled, and his chakra reserve was growing. Normally he would have been ecstatic that he was improving so fast but he didn't like training this way, he didn't enjoy learning from Nishimura both because of his harsh ways and his cold attitude. Days dragged on and his only redemption was hearing of Nina's findings. She told him about how she found a large stack of documents that recorded most known information on the Kyuubi and its former hosts as well as the old scroll in the elders' conference room that depicted the original sealing ritual for beast among many other discoveries. With each story, Naruto gained a new purpose to endure his harsh training, knowing that by doing his part, he would be helping to protect both himself and the village as well.

Nishimura sat on a branch that overlooked the empty training field, high in the air, arms crossed and waiting patiently. He watched as a woman with long white hair strolled into the field below, he could see that her face was blank and unreadable.

She stopped at the center of the field.

"So tell me, how did you find this place? Could I have miscalculated the position of one of your spies?" She called without looking at him, voice smooth and gentle.

Nishimura smirked and jumped down from the branch, landing not five feet in front of her.

"I'm pretty good at hiding myself, are you a sensory nin?" He questioned as green eyes met blank ones.

She remained silent, eyes blank and waiting for him to answer her question.

Nishimura smirked again.

"No, but you did forget to consider my position. I followed the kid one day and he led me straight to you. But enough about me," His eyes narrowed and glinted dangerously. "Who are you?"

"No one important. You, on the other hand, are quite well known throughout the Great Nations. In Konoha you are called Nishimura, in Suna you are Iseri, in Mizu you are Shimoda, and I can only assume you have many more names. You are a highly wanted man that does business with corrupt officials of the hidden villages." Nina stated. Her research had uncovered dozens of "interactions" between him and the higher-ups of Konoha, though most of the details were omitted.

Nishimura chuckled lightly.

"Impressive, I'm surprised you put it all together. That kind of information isn't easy to find, in fact, only one person has figured out that much before. Poor old man, I thought he would have put up a better fight, having been Hokage and all."

Nina's eyes narrowed and her hand twitched as she understood what he was saying. She forcefully suppressed her chakra that threatened to lash out.

"...Hiruzen." She mumbled solemnly.

Nishimura nodded.

"Yes, I believe that was his name. But anyways, I'll have to take care of you now. And what a shame, I usually don't like to hurt women." He grinned and took a step forward.

Nina stood her ground, her glare not faltering for a second.

He swiftly lunged at her and aimed a punch towards her stomach, she ducked under the fist, effectively dodging the attack and grabbed his arm. Twisting it, he was able to escape her grip and landed a few feet away only to dart forward again, this time with a kunai in hand and aiming for her neck.

Next thing he knew, he was pressed onto the ground with his arms twisted behind him, a cool, sharp sensation rested against his throat. His heart stopped as he felt a shift in pressure on his back, Nina leaned towards his ear and faint whisper drifted to his ears.

"I'll see you in hell."

A swift jerk of the blade and his world was plunged into darkness.