Naruto regulated his breathing carefully as he forced his body not to twitch even a single muscle. Right now, he was in the darkened corner of an unassuming ceiling, thankful that the meagre candlelight in the room cast long and heavy shadows to hide in. Two men sat at a table, quietly discussing various unimportant topics over a simplistic kotatsu. The young blonde, now entering into his teen years at the ripe age of thirteen, had been trailing one of the men for almost a week now and he had to say it was quite possible one of the most boring assignments he had ever received.

Normally, considering his short fuse, it would have been a miracle he hadn't already attacked the man and decided to get the information that way, but it was undeniable Naruto had matured in his time spent in ANBU. Saru's idea, what had colloquially been called 'tomato therapy' due to Naruto's unwholesome reaction to people using the word around him, had been a tentative success. The blonde's emotional control had improved, and after a while, around five months, the flashbacks to Kushina's memories had stopped altogether. Naruto continued to wear the deactivated collar, as a reminder never to slip back into old habits.

His control wasn't the only thing to change though; he had grown up a great deal, reaching a height that could be called above average for his age group at one hundred and fifty-one centimetres. His training had given him a nice and developed muscle tone that showed clearly defined muscles without making him bulky like Kuma. His hair had also grown out, his spikes becoming longer and wavier; although over the years he was unsettled to find the occasional red hair in amongst his blonde locks. Any changes to his face though could rarely be seen, as the boy was seldom seen without his mask, save when it got damaged on missions… which was almost comically common.

All in all, one might say he had really grown into his role as an ANBU operative, and had garnered respect from a number of its members for the efficient way he handled missions. However, there was no changing the fact that he was on that squad and was bound to cause chaos wherever he went; it had simply become a part of life. Almost as much as seeing Kuma challenging other ANBU's summons to board games, Tako being thrown out of the women's hot springs or seeing Nezumi walk around the apartment complex almost completely naked.

He never said it was a normal life.

He stirred slightly as the two men exchanged farewells and quickly went their separate ways. Having no intention of losing his target, the blonde quickly made his own exit, using a chain from his back to lift up a ceiling panel and slip in. Normally his Chakra chains would have been terrible for stealthy missions like this due to their inherent glow. However over time Naruto had worked on it and managed to make them duller, becoming a pale grey colour; when he did this though they became woefully brittle and would likely break against bare skin. All the same, they sometimes came in handy and soon Naruto was out on the roof, sticking to the shadows the crescent moon cast.

He continued to stalk his target silently, an older man with a receding hairline in a rough and worn kimono that never seemed to stray much out of his routine of his home, his bar and his business meetings. Tonight seemed to be an exception, as he aprubtly ducked down an alley, quickly followed by his unseen tail. There was another man waiting for him by an unlit door and both were swiftly ushered in. Interest piqued, Naruto slipped in before the door could close, nothing but a vague breeze to the people inside.

"I'm still unsure of this location Aki; so close to Konoha? Why take the risk?" It was Naruto's target that spoke, in a low voice that matched well with his hefty weight.

"They will never suspect it Matsui; anyway Konoha only keeps a fledgling guard of the towns between them and Kawa," the new man explained as Naruto slipped into a more comfortable and secure position in the ceiling's corner. "Any greater presence and Suna might begin to take offence."

"Okay, okay fine; how are they? We need them in good condition after all for this to be an efficient process."

Naruto's ears twitched; the reason he was even on this mission was to investigate the disappearances of a large number of farmers and villager in towns around Hi no Kuni's border.

"They're just fine, fed and kept healthy just like we were asked." The new man led Naruto's target Matsui to a door set into the floor and the two quickly descended a set of stone steps into a basement. Naruto followed but slightly more unconventionally as he slipped through hand seals and dived into the ground using "Earth Style: Subterranean Voyage". When his head poked out into the basement his eyes widened marginally; it was a much greater room than he had been expecting and it was nearly packed to the brim with people in cages of various sizes.

"Is it almost finished?" Matsui asked, as he looked over towards a sealing matrix inscribed on an large scroll in the middle of the cages. They all seemed to be arranged around the scroll so they were an equal distance from it. The people inside looked pale and emaciated, none of them appearing to have the energy to move or cry out. All they did was shuffle on the floor or occasionally moan. Naruto quickly realised why when he felt a slight tug on his Chakra. Whatever the seal was, it was draining the Chakra from these people.

"It should be done now." The seal was pulsing excitedly even as Aki spoke and the man quickly walked over and rolled the scroll back up, carefully balancing the enormous roll of paper on his shoulder.

"Good, I hate being down here," Matsui muttered, rubbing his stomach slowly where he had no doubt felt the pull of the seal.

"Well it won't be too many more now, don't worry."

Naruto's face remained impassive as he sunk back into the earthen wall to report to his teammates. Something a lot bigger was going on than just kidnappings.

Naruto hovered at the back of the mission briefing room, idly swaying on his feet as he tuned out most of the conversation around him; Saru would tell him what he had to do later anyway. There were more ANBU in this one room than he had ever seen before, all of them watching as the ANBU commander allocated their roles in the upcoming operation. It had turned out something much larger than just run-of-the-mill slave kidnappings was occurring in Hi no Kuni. Apparently a lot of operatives had corroborated Naruto's information and similar such Chakra seals were being used throughout the border towns.

Currently they didn't know their purpose, but another squad had learned of a large gathering place for more than a few of their targets. They were going to go in, take out everybody there and stop what they were doing. If possible, they would also find out who was orchestrating the events. That was the jist of the meeting anyway, and beyond that Naruto didn't need to know much else. Go in… kill people; that was his job and he enjoyed it, especially when the people he had to kill really pushed his limits. There was nothing Naruto Uzumaki loved than a challenging fight; the adrenaline, the rush as he felt his opponent's fear, the pain keeping it all crystal clear.

It was intoxicating.

Suddenly people were moving. Naruto naturally migrated over to his squad, only to be diverted by Saru towards a small group of ANBU Naruto didn't know all that well. During his five years in the corp, Naruto had worked with many operatives; from veterans of decades or more, to rookies on their first missions. From what he knew, he could find no real link between this group, and they weren't a normal squad that he knew of.

"What's going on?"

Saru just kept a firm grip on his shoulder as he guided the blonde out with the other masked men and began quickly moving through the village.

"You weren't listening again, were you." It wasn't a question and there was no safe answer, so Naruto remained quiet. He still got cuffed around the back of the head all the same. It irked the blonde that his captain could still do that despite all the advances he had made in ANBU; his captain was just too damn fast. "You and I are on the sealing team; we're to stay on standby while the others perform the sweep." Naruto blinked; however he was unsurprised to learn his captain knew Fuinjutsu. The man's calligraphy was impeccable and Naruto was still convinced he secretly knew everything.

"Why?"

Saru didn't look around as they took the ANBU tunnels out of the village, skirting around the barrier surrounding the village.

"Because somebody is gathering a huge amount of Chakra in one place and they are using Fuinjutsu to do so." Saru intoned in a blank, intentionally emotionless voice. "Konoha needs to be prepared in kind."

Naruto growled lowly; a vast improvement on what he might have done a few years ago. He knew his captain knew exactly what he meant and was purposefully skirting the question.

"No, why am I on the team? I don't know anything about Fuinjutsu." By now the small, unorthodox squad that Naruto now knew to be Fuinjutsu users, had taken to the trees and their pace had picked up considerably.

"You may not, but…" Saru poked the blonde on the forehead, or at least on the mask's forehead "…somebody in you does."

Naruto looked down, his hand clenching for a moment, before he released a calming breath. He didn't like being reminded of his mother's memories, always niggling at the back of his mind. He was his own person… he was his own person… he was his own person. The mantra continued until he felt himself calm.

"Maybe, but evidently those memories haven't come to me yet." Despite that, he couldn't mask his curiosity when Saru produced a small scroll, opening it up to reveal a complex array on the paper.

"What is this?" He asked, still with that emotionless yet oddly conversational tone.

"A barrier seal," Naruto answered without even thinking. He blinked a moment later before scowling. "That doesn't mean I'll be much help in this squad; just recognising Fuinjutsu won't do a lot. I should be with the others, on the front lines, where I'm most effective."

Saru shrugged as he returned the scroll to one of his pouches. His squad mates often joked they were bigger in the inside. Considering the revelation that he knew Fuinjutsu, not an impossibility.

"Maybe, maybe not; your Chains have far more uses than you might imagine."

Naruto's scowl didn't change and he quickly turned away from the man, continuing to dash through the trees in silence for a few minutes.

"How do you know so much?" He couldn't see due to the mask but he was sure Saru smirked at him as the man tapped the side of his head knowingly. A moment later though and the man sighed, a sound rarely heard from the sagely captain.

"I knew your mother, Kushina." That little tid-bit nearly made Naruto stumble and fall off the next branch he landed on, only to catch himself with a chain and swing on.

"What? Since when?" Naruto felt his temper rising slightly only to wince as he felt the phantom shock around his neck and instantly calmed himself, looking at his superior questioningly.

"I was in the class above hers in the academy and later I went on many missions with her as a Chuunin before joining ANBU." He admitted softly, "When you joined the squad I had my suspicions about your heritage due to the chains, but I thought they might be a general trait of your family, so I couldn't be sure." He watched cautiously as Naruto went silent for a few moments; the boy had excellent emotional control normally but he could still be temperamental and unpredictable on bad days.

"Why did you never say anything?"

Saru nodded at seeing Naruto wouldn't fly off the handle at him, although the testy tone made him choose his words carefully.

"I thought it would impact negatively on our relationship as captain and subordinate for you to know."

It was hard, but Naruto could accept that at least. As long as he had known the man, Saru had never had anything but the squad's interests at heart.

"What changed?"

Saru looked at him and once again Naruto could feel the smirk behind the monkey-themed mask.

"You did. You are more mature now, better able to accept the information and think about it rationally. I couldn't say the same for your younger self, especially under the emotional stress you were already facing at the time from experiencing your mother's memories."

Again, Naruto was forced to accept this. He recognised that the him of today was very different to the one of three years ago.

"What does this have to do with the mission?" Naruto asked, eager to move the conversation on; he felt like prolonged reminders of his mother would only induce more of her memories; a state he wasn't happy to return to.

"Your mother's chains had the rather unique property of being excellent at controlling Bijuu; I believe it was due to their density. On the night of the Kyuubi attack she was purported to have held down the beast for almost half a minute as the Yondaime performed the sealing."

Naruto winced, feeling a phantom pain in his stomach as Saru mentioned that night; Kushina's memories of being impaled by a massive white claw were fresh in his mind.

"And you think my chains are the same? What good would that do?"

A small chuckle escaped his captain as the man leaped off another branch.

"If you had listened during the briefing you would know," Saru shot back, with more than a hint of amusement in his voice. Naruto just growled to show his displeasure; they should make the briefings more interesting if they wanted him to listen. "The ANBU commander believes that the people we are hunting may be trying to create their own Bijuu." Naruto's eyes widened, his hand moving to the seal inscribed on his stomach for a moment, a gesture not missed by Saru. "Oh no, nothing on the scale of the Kyuubi likely; human Chakra is not dense enough to form such a creature." Saru shook his head and returned his attention to the path through the trees in front of them.

"No, it would be a smaller, but by all rights no-less dangerous creature. It wouldn't be the first time somebody has attempted it after seeing the raw power the beasts control. They are never successful, and the process is almost always devastating. That is why we have to strike early before they can finish." For the first time, Naruto heard the slight twinge of nervousness in his normally carefree and sagely voice.

"So they need me and my chains…" He didn't finish, looking down as a small golden snake of links emerged from his wrist, the pointed end turning to him as if it was able to see.

"As a precaution in case they are successful, yes." Saru looked around at him and inclined his head in what passed for a smile in the ANBU. "You shouldn't be too worried about it though; Konoha has become quite efficient at stamping out such large-scale threats as these."

Naruto nodded back at him after a moment's hesitation; however at the thought of fighting a Bijuu the blonde couldn't help but feel his blood begin to boil. His hands clenched in anticipation and a small part of him actually wanted them to succeed.

He didn't voice his thoughts for obvious reasons.

As Naruto stared up at the hulking mass of energy and Chakra bearing down on their small group, he decided then and there that perhaps his Taichou didn't know everything. The operation had been going so well too; then something had gone wrong during the sweep of the compound. They weren't sure what happened but the end result was… this.

"It's big." Naruto's deadpan didn't do it justice; the light blue, slightly ethereal mass of Chakra towered above them, at least five stories tall. It seemed to lack any defined form or shape and if one squinted they could make out the stars through its glowing, translucent body. However, it had arms, big ones, that ended in very large and apparently very sharp claws that cut great gouges through the earth as it moved. The beast seemed in conflict with itself over what state it wanted to be in, as half the time the various Jutsu ANBU were throwing at it just bounced off, the other times they passed right through the creature.

It seemed confused as it thrashed about, raising up its massive, thick arms to ward off the Jutsu that didn't pass through it. It also seemed very angry, its large white eyes that were its only hint of a face narrowed as it let out an inhuman roar. The noise sent shivers through every operative's spine. Naruto looked towards his captain but the man motioned for him to wait. It was torture; the blonde was itching to move and do something. He couldn't just ignore the rampaging proto-Bijuu in front of him and his blood was calling for him to get involved. Thankfully, after a few minutes of the other ANBU ineffectually doing anything to stop it, Saru finally gave him the signal.

The other ANBU currently battling the creature with thinly veiled fear watched in confusion and shock as a small blonde meteorite suddenly passed overhead, screaming out his excitement as long golden whips speared out of his body. The proto-Bijuu didn't seem to know what to make of the new arrival and moved one of its great lumbering arms to swat it away. It was rightfully surprised then when the swaying golden tentacles suddenly separated before spinning madly, winding their way up the thick, bulbous arm like a family of constricting snakes.

Far from the Jutsu that had been thrown at it, the beast could feel every one of the chains holding its arm. A moment later, when Naruto landed on the ground in front of it, its surprise was once again evident as the boy squared his feet and pulled on his chains with a grunt of exertion. The beast vainly tried to pull against the blonde, but with chains emerging from his back and rooting him to the ground he proved the stronger of the two. With a mighty crash that set the ground around them rumbling, the Proto-Bijuu fell to the floor with an ear-screeching cry of anguish.

Naruto on the other hand grinned as he rocketed forward, hoping to take advantage of the fall and pin more of the beast down. He barely acknowledged the oppressive atmosphere affecting the other operatives and cried out in glee, swinging himself up and over the beast. A moment later he found his flight path radically altered. An enormous semi-transparent hand slammed into his body with the kind of force that should have shattered his spine. Just beginning to pick itself up the beast quickly identified Naruto as a threat and naturally tried to get the blonde as far away from it as possible.

Saru watched the small blonde blur with worry as he was sent careening back into the forest. He was forced to shelf his concern in favour of the mission, turning to direct the small sealing team into their positions for when the other operative managed to finally suppress the creature. Fuinjutsu was a delicate process and they would need all the time they could to get to have everything prepared. He allowed himself a quick glance at the path of destruction the blond's body had made, as a group of ANBU attempted to trap the beast in a large clay oven and roast it. It didn't do much.

Naruto lay in a small trench in the ground carved by his body. His eyes were wide and dazed and his mask was completely shattered; a few cuts littered his body and he was fairly certain his left arm was broken. All the same, an all-too happy grin split his features as he staggered to his feet, ignoring how the world seemed to lurch around him for a moment. His breathing was heavy but he wasn't exhausted, and there was an odd tingling sensation throughout his entire body, but he felt little pain. Slowly, as red began to descend over his vision and he felt the bones in his arm snap back into place, the grin on his features took on a more malicious aspect.

He didn't even realise when he started running. The world blurred around him as his periphery failed to keep up with his body. When the beast came into view from the treeline, a half-formed tail beginning to emerge from the base of what passed for its spine, he already knew what to do. Everybody else simply saw a vague red blur fly past but what was more important was how they felt. Everybody recognised the sensation of the Kyuubi's Chakra from that fateful day thirteen years ago; it was more oppressive even, than the beast's they were fighting.

"Hyaaaa!" The joyous, if not slightly sadistic-sounding, cry coming from the boy dissuaded some of their fears that he had lost control, but did little to ease the sudden unpleasant feeling in all their stomachs. When hundreds of bright, glimmering chains that looked as though they had been dyed in fresh blood suddenly erupted from the boy, they felt some of their worries ease. Flying through the air like that, with chains flaying out all about him without rhyme or reason, he almost looked like some kind of large sea-urchin.

The Proto-Bijuu noticed his arrival too and quickly made to swat the nuisance away again. The attempt was only met with pain. Numerous chains stabbed indiscriminately into its body, eliciting glass-shattering screams of fury that caused more than a few operatives to shield their ears and look away. Naruto took the distraction in stride and grinned wolfishly as he landed on the creature's chest, the chains around him thrashing and slashing like they were possessed. Every gash bled a weak blue-ish mist.

The beast began writhing madly in an attempt to shake off its tormentor. Nothing it did seemed to dislodge the boy. In fact, as Naruto slowly worked his way up the creature's body, more and more chains whipped out, tying up its arms, its neck, its body, until finally, with a stifled groan, the beast slowly toppled over to one side, completely immobilised. There was a shocked and awed silence for a long few moments as the ANBU simply looked at the red-tinged boy standing atop the Proto-Bijuu, panting and grinning madly.

The tension was broken the moment Saru began barking out orders, both to the regular operatives to attempt to secure the limbs properly, and to the Sealing team to get ready. He was worried about Naruto, especially about the deformed, spiked chains he was now producing, but that worry would have to wait until the creature was dealt with. Even so, he spared glances up at the boy, unnerved by the red-slitted eyes Naruto seemed to have gained at some point, and the increasing feeling of despair emanating from that noxious red Chakra.

The beast seemed to glow brighter for a moment as the sealing team began running through their long chain of hand seals, it's body becoming less solid. Greater wisps of a gaseous blue substance Saru could only assume was Chakra, began to leak from its many wounds into the air. However, just as he was beginning to think the sealing was working, the Proto-Bijuu managed to lift its head and let out a soul-shattering scream before exploding outwards. There was no great force or even a particularly loud sound, the beast simply swelled for a moment before bursting into that same blue mist. It quickly dissipated into the night air, leaving the clearing oddly quiet.

If Saru wasn't busy coordinating the operatives around him, he might have noted how the little specks of blue light dancing about before winking out of existence was rather beautiful. His concern right now though was more pressing… namely, Naruto. The boy was standing in place, looking around confusedly as his mutated and spiky chains swayed ominously, looking entirely like snakes waiting to come across a fresh meal. Worryingly, his eyes were still coloured red and the malicious, unnatural grin on his lips hadn't left his features.

Luckily for him, lucky in that he wasn't forced to intervene and take action against his young subordinate before he became a threat, Nezumi flickered next to Naruto's side. Saru genuinely though the blonde was going to attack her then, but apparently a few words sufficed to calm him enough that the oppressive feeling in the air lifted. His decidedly less evil-looking chains soon followed, retreating into his body almost churlishly. Nezumi handed him a replacement mask, and that was that; a potentially catastrophic crisis averted. Saru would have to ask Nezumi what she said later.

However, right now the cogs in the older captain's head were turning fiercely. He always knew this time would come, but he had hoped it would be in a few more years. With a sigh he placed his concerns to the side and turned his full attention back to the clean-up. Naruto could be dealt with back in Konoha.

Naruto clutched his head with a groan as he picked himself up unsteadily, the last few minutes a mashed-up blur in his mind. Shakily, he looked about the clearing, noting the large craters and gouge marks in the training ground that hadn't been there last time he was lucid. He looked down, only to jump back in shock as instead of his normal hand he saw his fingers bent into claws, his nails lengthening and sharpened. When he looked again it was gone, and his hand was normal; although he probably stared at it for a little too long.

"Another failure it seems," Saru said from somewhere to his left. A moment later the man, looking a little worse for wear with scratches in his uniform, appeared in the clearing, quickly followed by the rest of the squad. All of them looked a little beaten up, but none of them seemed angered or upset by it; perhaps just a little weary. Nezumi seemed worst off for it, her uniform shredded and her sword having gained a few new nicks to add to the collection. Naruto supposed it was because she would be the one fending off his chains when he was in that state.

For the past week or so he had been working with his squad to start to control the Kyuubi's power within him; it was part of his life as a Jinchuuriki and Naruto had accepted that. However it turned out to be a little more difficult than they anticipated. Accessing the Chakra itself wasn't all that problematic. Naruto compared it to how he would use his chains, simply digging within himself until he felt the right signature. However, the Kyuubi's Chakra was denser, angrier, it didn't respond as well to his directions and had a will of its own the blond had to constantly work to control.

The more Chakra he accessed, the more the Kyuubi's will bled through and the harder it was to control. It got to the point where their two wills began clashing, and his body, with the Chakra running rampant inside of him, went out of control and attacked pretty much anything in the vicinity with a heartbeat. It seems that was what had just happened, and it likely wouldn't be the last time. He was lucky to have his squad acting as a safety net until he could withdraw the potent Chakra back inside of him.

Nevertheless, he still felt enraged by his own lack of control.

Naruto breathed heavily, his eyes wide and bright as his mouth twisted into an animalistic grin that wasn't completely his own. He felt amazing, more powerful than he had ever felt as his body screamed with energy from his head to his toes. His chains swayed about him, spiked and ugly; however Naruto saw them as perfect, just right for ripping and tearing through his enemies. They felt natural, correct even, and it was almost as if they were agreeing with him. Just as they whispered to him that his job wasn't quite complete, and there were still people breathing around him, a familiar face flickered into view.

"Nezumi." His voice was gruffer than he remembered, like a much deeper voice was trying to overlap with his own. He grinned up at the woman; if anybody would understand his new power it would be his teammates; perhaps like this he would even be strong enough to take on Saru!

"I thought… you were stronger than this."

And just like that, Nezumi's words brought his reality crashing down. His mind cleared enough for him to realise what he was doing and just whose power he was accessing. He immediately stopped. He pulled back, fighting against the smooth voice whispering in his ear, and tore the power away from himself. Immediately he felt cold, weakened, but nonetheless he smiled; he was strong without the Kyuubi. He looked up and saw Nezumi nod once at him before vanishing off to help with the clean-up.

A strange, almost familiar feeling swelled in his chest.

Naruto wouldn't forget that. He hated the fact that he needed a reminder just to control that power, and he never wanted to feel that helpless again. He shook his head and removed the haze that had come over him; his arms were leaden and some of his muscles twitched without permission, but a quiet fire burned behind his eyes as he looked up at Saru.

"I'm ready to go again Taichou."

The man nodded, the chips in his mask revealing that the corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. Naruto would master this power. For some reason he felt safe, knowing that as long as he had his team to support him, he could do it.

Hiruzen sighed, blowing out a long stream of smoke from his pipe as he scanned through the reports on his desk from the recent Proto-Bijuu incident. He was delighted for his troops at how they handled it, even after the situation escalated, and it brought a small smile to his face. He compared it to a proud grandfather reading about his grandchildren's accomplishments. The smile turned melancholic as he read Naruto's name and just what he had done on the mission. It had been almost five years since his decision to place the boy in ANBU and, so far, he had seen nothing but good reports from his captain.

As he swivelled on his chair and began rifling through a cabinet his worries began to increase. It had been a while since he flicked through Naruto's file, mostly due to other matters occupying his attention and the fact the boy mostly flew under the radar in ANBU; or at least as much as he could in that squad. However, his eyes widened slightly as he began reading through the number of missions the blonde had performed in, not to mention the number of S and A-ranked missions alone.

Slowly the old Sandaime's already wrinkled brow began to furrow as he worried for the boy's continued mental stability if he continued to stay in the corp.