A Thousand Miles

*a/n: thank you! kudos to kitsunekochan for correction of naruto's incredibly cheesy name -_-; i have no knowledge of japanese and it's just the little inner fangirl in me faking... *dies of shame* i'll learn it one day! i really will! *weeps* thank you so much*

a/n: i'm soooooooooooo soorrryyy!!!!!!! *kills self* i had work suddenly piled on me and life kind of got out of hand, soooo sorry!! i know that's not much of an excuse >_< please forgive, thank you for being so patient, my few readers out there, not that any of you were particularly waiting for this one anyway, but still. thank you. it'll be slower from here on out, school has started and such and the going will be slow. much sorrow, i apologise profusely *bows*. please bear with me. short chapter update because the next part is not quite developed and is not worthy of any kind of public viewing at all (not that any of this is, but still). i would like to request a beta of sorts, if that's not too much. not so much for the editing, though input and suggestions are good, but more for the get-your-ass-writing-and-updating aspect of it...-_-; ...anyone? please email me at Nielenon@gmail.com if anyone wishes to. thank you so much
now...on with the show...

*flashback * *
Finally, I was ready for my first mission. This would be the first of many long, endless nights. I was a genin. It was a little after Team 7's encounter with Zabuza and Haku. I was still only twelve, but I had mastered the basics of my training. The mission report so candidly written out by Kakashi-sensei, proved that I was ready to kill if I had to on a mission. That was the cue that Hokage-sama needed. I was ready to risk everything. And I was ready to kill.

I met with him on a day off for a bit of training. He broke the news to me then.

"Naruto..." Sarutobi-sensei starts.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?" I answer promptly. I have been trained to be keenly-tuned to even the slightest hint of his voice.

"Naruto. I will send you on your first mission tonight," he speaks as though he really does not wish to send me, but his words are what I must abide by. My eyes widen the slightest bit even still. Am I ready? Could I kill mercilessly? I knew the answer to that question, and a million more popped into my head, but I kept quiet, only waiting for orders. "I know that you have only been back from your mission in the Wave Country for a few days, but I know that you do not have another mission scheduled for another week at least. You must make this mission within that week. I know that this is a bit of a tight schedule for you, but you must become accustomed to this." I nod in understanding. There were to be no breaks for me. Ever. I was on the job full-time-- I had to be. I had to fill in where other ninjas had breaks or were gone on other missions.

"What must I do?" I ask simply. Excess words or enthusiasm are not needed. This is where my mask changes and I am who I should be with our Hokage-sama. The real me...that is yet to be decided, and yet to be let out.

"You are going to prove your acting skills to me and how quickly you can pick up the nuances of the character of another and imitate them. This may not seem as crucial as an assassination or a mission of that sort, but this also, in it's own way, is a very crucial mission. This will ensure your safety on future spying missions where your disguise will need to be perfect. You will not be going far, even if it is within Konoha, but you will go somewhere other than your familiar area and you will go and trail a ninja. You must have your chakra masked perfectly and not get caught. You know your normal attire is out of the question for this. The ninja you trail must be at least of Chuunin level. You would be shaming yourself to go after a genin. Even you must find that too easy. I am assuming that you can perfectly imitate your teammates now, and perhaps even do a close imitation of Kakashi."

This was going to be a long explanation. But I nodded anyway to acknowledge that even MY skills weren't THAT lacking.

"You will memorise everything about their character and their mannerisms. I suggest you do not go into enemy territory for this mission. This is only preparation. I do not want to have you killed on your first mission. You must then go somewhere in that area while that person is occupied and pretend to be them. You will either be believed and confuse the people momentarily and return, or you will be caught and act as though you were simply playing one of your infamous pranks. That really was a stroke of genius on your part, Naruto. You can get away with almost anything now, as simply a new idea for a prank." Sarutobi-sensei smiled for a moment, then turned serious again.

"You must report all happenings to me and you will not write a mission report of any kind. You must memorise everything that happens on your misisons and report them orally to me in private and within a magically-warded area as we are now. All your missions will be given orally and you must memorise them. Have you got all this?"

Wow, he took a breath. A wry smile quirked my lips.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," I answer. That was all that was needed.

"Good. Now one more thing. You cannot be called 'Naruto' when I call for you. I will call you Yoru no Kage, Shadow of the Night," the Sandaime adds.

"How...cliche," I remark with a wry smirk.

"As are all the names of moving shadows in the night. It is simple and no one would suspect anything of it. As cliche and as petty as it is. It works. And well, does it not? No one would suspect that of your sunny nature."

I have to admit...he's right. He usually is, but still...I sigh. "Hai, Hokage-sama. I'm going to go now."

"Good night, Naruto. Good luck." I leapt up into the trees and the wards came down to let me pass. I could almost feel the shadows clinging to me, now as one of them, and I let it happen as I leapt from limb to limb-- if I could convince myself that I am one of the night's shadows, then I would not be seen. The better for me.

I reached my apartment and thanked Sarutobi-sensei for sending me on random training camping trips and such that left my usual whereabouts unknown and spontaneous. This would be very advantageous, and not many people came to see me anyway. I opened the door and got the few things I would need. It was summertime, I would need no blankets. I opened the drawer that held the clothes I had set aside for this special purpose.

A tight-fitting black t-shirt that I had cut the sleeves off of and there were threads hanging off the edges. Better for splotchy shadows.

My arms are tanned, but not black, and so I had long, black, fingerless gloves that reached halfway up my upper arms. They were metal-plated on the backs of the hands and had little square metal segments that were just below the first knuckle of each finger that would make my punches have just that much more bite. The glove's fingers ended where the metal plates ended. Each of these metal plates, including the ones on the backs of the hands, were rubbed and polished with charcoal and engine oil, forever tarnished. The engraved Konoha Leaf symbol was completely black. We couldn't have the glint of metal give me away, now, could we? At the top of the gloves, were small pouches that reached to the elbow and were filled with miniature poisoned shuriken.

The same situation is posed by my face as my arms and I had a mask quite reminiscent of Kakashi-sensei.

Black, grey, and grey-green camouflage, cargo pants that were baggy enough for me to be able to move freely, but not so baggy that they were cumbersome.

A black bandanna streaked with grey to cover my head. Blonde hair sometimes isn’t the most useful attribute in the world.

And a second hitai-ate that had the same charcoal-oil mixture smeared on it and the same black Konoha engraved into it.

I donned all these and then stuffed my supplies into the large pockets of my pants, then tightened the drawstrings on them so they wouldn’t slide down. My kunai and shuriken pouch went into an easily accessible pocket. A fairly small pair of binoculars went into a slightly more out-of-reach pocket - it wasn’t of utmost importance in danger, but necessary for my observing. Several other odds and ends disappeared into various other pockets and I made sure that the pockets in my gloves were securely sealed and nothing would fall out of any of my pockets.

I felt my heart race at double speed in excitement. It was my first real mission. I grinned to myself and leapt off of the narrow windowsill after having closed the window behind me – unlike many of my counterparts...what was up with that anyway? It was rude, not to mention, what about the weather?

That was the last thought I allowed myself before I shut my mind down and focused on my mission.

*flashback pause * *

I blink. Something had drawn me from my thoughts. I look around me and notice the carnage. This could only be the work of Kyuubi. I sigh and see that my assumptions had proven correct. I look once more, ruefully, at the sight of dead ninjas around me and lost myself, once again, into the thick mist of my thoughts.


a/n: YAATTTAAAAA!!!!!!!!! I GOT THE ITALICS TO WORK!!!! i didn't know how to work it before, you must use html, apparently -_-; yayayayayayayay!!!!!!!!!! YOSH!
i just realised i'm writing an epic - in the style of Homer's The Odessey...-_-; journey, loooong flashbacks that tell story, going "home", action (simply because it's Naruto), etc etc....i just came to that realisation very recently....the things my brain comes up with... -_______-;;;;;;;;;; yea...that's just my brain farts for you, hehe...
until next time, m'hearties! ^-~