Hello all! This is a story I've been fumbling around with. Everything has been explained in the intro, so I won't bore you and get straight to the story.


Normal speech: "..."

Thoughts: "…"

Bijuu speech or higher being: "…"


It was a rainy day in Konohagakure and it was an unusually heavy downpour for the particularly sunny village. A young man walks down the empty streets of the village, pushing a vendor cart with a tarp over it to keep his good dry. The man would stand out even if it weren't raining, dressed in steampunk attire; complete with glass vials and flasks strapped to his belt. If anyone were to look at him, they may confuse him for a pirate, but he was here strictly on business! Heading towards the academy's administrative office, the young man stumbles upon an odd sight.

In an alley, trying miserably to keep dry, was a small blonde haired boy; with whisker marks on each cheek of all things. Now a part of him told him to keep it moving and ignore the boy; it was very tempting, but he just didn't have the heart. Walking up to the boy he puts on his best smile, "Hello little guy. What's a child like you doing out here in the rain?" the little boy flinches at being noticed and cowers into a corner, "Whatever your problem is, I didn't do anything ok? Just leave me alone, why are adults here so mean to me?"

That confused the young man, why would this kid be so afraid of the adults here? This was turning out to sound really, really complicated and well beyond the scope of why he came here, but his curiosity was getting the best of him. "Relax kid, do I look like a citizen of Konoha to you? Come on, I have brown skin for Kami's sake!" the little boy took a closer look at the young man. His face was diamond shaped and had cocoa brown skin with dark hair. He had a top hat with goggles, a side button white shirt, dark brown frock coat, crimson pants, and brown boots. The little boy had never seen a person quite like the young man and felt like maybe the guy was different from the other adults.

"Ok... My name is Naruto... What's yours?" Naruto asks. The young man looks into his azure eyes and sees nothing but sorrow, loneliness and most of all confusion. It seemed the boy had no one in his life and if one were to go off the boy's fear of adults, the people here did not treat him well, but why?

"My name is Kyoodo Zhi, it's nice to meet you Naruto. Did you know your name means Fishcake?" Kyoodo asks causing the young blonde to puff his cheeks in frustration. "Yeah all the kids in the orphanage used to make fun of me for it!" Kyoodo can't help but chuckle, "Well you have to admit it's funny."

"It is not, Naruto is a cool name! It can also mean maelstrom ya know!" Naruto defends; Kyoodo was starting to like this kid.

"You do have a point there. Well young Maelstrom, I'm on my way to the academy to talk to the Hokage himself and I can't, in all good conscious, leave you out here to get pneumonia. How's about you follow me to the tower and tell me a bit about yourself?" Kyoodo suggests. Naruto gets ecstatic at having someone actually seem to care about him! He also would get to see his Jiji, since he had been kicked out of the orphanage for two weeks now. He had wanted to go to the Hokage as soon as it happened, but the Sandaime had left to renew the peace treaty between Konoha and Kusa and he didn't know when he'd be back. Suddenly, Naruto's stomach growls and Kyoodoo takes a good look at the boy. He looked like he hadn't eaten nor bathed in weeks and it pulled at his heart strings. Unclipping an orbed flask from his belt, "Here drink this, it's really yummy."

Naruto looks suspiciously at the flask of red liquid. Could he trust this guy, with his stomach demanding him to comply, the blonde shrugs and uncorks the bottle and chugs the concoction and can't believe how good it was. Not only did it taste like berries, but it was strangely filling and boosted his energy several folds! He felt like he had just eaten a full course meal in liquid form and taken a soldier pill, not that he knew what those were, all at the same time.

"Whoa that was awesome! Whatever it was I'll put in a good word for you with Jiji!" Naruto says, feeling relieved he'd be seeing the old man. He would surely help Naruto get back into the orphanage. He was sure Tenten was worried about him, in the entire orphanage, only the bun haired girl seemed to care about him. She'd share her food with him when they "forgot" to feed him or ran out of food just as it was his turn. She'd play ninja with him and had pretty good aim with those paper kunai and shuriken.

While the two walked to the academy, Naruto told Kyoodo as much as he could about himself. He told him about his life thus far and how everyone seemed to ignore or scorn him for something. He told him how he never let it get to him and how he'd show them he was going to be Hokage so everyone would acknowledge him, "I understand your dream Naurto-kun. Everyone wants to be acknowledged for something, just make sure that it's for a good reason. It sounds like the people here are hiding something about you. Something that makes them afraid of you, see fear turns to anger and anger turns to hatred. I think they're in the anger stage, but it doesn't take much for it to progress."

A question mark pops from atop Naruto's head as his head cocks to the side cutely. Kyoodoo sighs and reminds himself he's talking to a child, "Ok Naruto what are you afraid of?"

"G-g-ghosts!" Naruto proclaims almost shuddering at the mere thought of them. Now Kyoodoo couldn't help but chuckle, "Hey it's not funny man! You can't touch a ghost, but it can make things float in air and throw them at you! They can hurt you, but you can't hurt them; how scary is that?!"

"Haha alright Naruto-kun I get it. Anyway, you fear ghosts. IF you ever met one and it scared you, you might find yourself getting angry at it for scaring you. What did you do to it to make it scare you? Is it just a jerk or is there a reason? That anger could lead to you hating all ghosts, even the possibly good ones." Kyoodoo explains and can see the light bulb turn on in Naruto's head.

"OOOOOOH I get it now! Gee you sure are smart Kyoodoo-nii-san." Naruto says with a genuine smile. This was the first time he ever talked for so long with any adult besides his Jiji. Kyoodoo noticed the honorific and started to panic a little. Was the kid getting attached to him? He was only here to sell his potions and be on his way; he couldn't afford to have some kid tagging along.

Soon the two make it to the academy and walk up to the receptionist at her desk, "Welcome to the Hokage Tower, my name is Kikyo how may I… Naruto why are you here? You didn't prank this guy did you?" at that Kyoodoo raises an eyebrow and gives Naruto a look. Naruto rubs the back of his head, "Relax Kikyo-chan, this guy is cool. He found me in an alley trying to keep dry."

"What do you mean he found you in an alley? Why weren't you at the orphanage?" Kikyo asks, though she can hazard a guess as to why. In order to work for the Hokage you either had to be indifferent, but preferably nice to Naruto. Kikyo was one of few he honored the Yondaime's last wish and saw the boy as a hero; a mischievous hero, but a hero nonetheless. She saw the sad, lonely little boy he was and made it her mission to always feel welcome.

"I was… Kinda kicked out of the orphanage… Two weeks ago…" Naruto says nervously shocking both Kyoodoo and Kikyo. How had the boy survived on the streets for so long!? Kikyo was shocked and appalled by her fellow villagers; what was next a lynching mob? Kyoodoo was greatly impressed with the boy's will to live. Most kids his age if left alone wouldn't last.

"TWO WEEKS, UZUMAKI NARUTO WHY DIDN'T YOU COME STRAIGHT HERE? I could have easily given you a roof over your head and some food at the very least." Kikyo demands more than asks. Naruto shrank a little under Kikyo's blind fury. None of it was directed at him, but it was still scary.

"Well I didn't want to bother you and Jiji was out of the village… I didn't know what to do so I waited until he came back, but it took so long I got tired of waiting and decided to take care of myself. It wasn't so bad really, the Ichiraku's gave me a few bowls free ramen for a while now." Naruto says. Kikyo was still upset, but at least the boy wasn't starved. Kyoodoo was starting to get suspicious; in his travels he's only seen this kind of treatment for a few group of people. War criminals, traitors, and Jinchuuriki; he never got to know any of them personally, but it wasn't hard to spot one.

"Naruto, you don't have to suffer like that alone. You can come to me, if Hokage-sama isn't available. What kind of person would I be if I just ignored your existence? You're Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage after all." Kikyo states with a warm smile, Naruto wanted to say she'd be like every other adult in the village, but hearing her faith in him made him smile brightly.

"Ok Kikyo-chan. Is Jiji in his office, I kind of need to talk to him and Kyoodoo-nii-san has business to discuss with him." Naruto says.

"Oh I almost forgot about you Kyoodoo-san, please forgive me." Kikyo apologizes, but Kyoodoo just waves her concerns off. She looks through a book and finds his name on the list of people to see the Hokage, "Ah here you are. Yes Hokage-sama is expecting you. Naruto I suggest you be on your best behavior in front of our guest."

Naruto just waves her off, much to her annoyance, and the two walk through the door to the Hokage's office. Kyoodoo is impressed by the complex fuuinjutsu on display. To anyone not trained in the art, it would look like the Hokage was hanging his grandson's idea of art on the wall. "Ah Kyoodo-san I've been… Naruto-kun? What are you doing here, I hope you haven't caused our guest any trouble." The Sandaime says with a sigh. It wouldn't do for ANOTHER merchant to send him paperwork banning Naruto from there shop. It not for the orphanage, the Sandaime wouldn't know how to keep the boy fed since shopping on his own seemed to be an impossibility, "You would be ashamed of your village Minato-kun…"

"Why does everyone ask that? Kyoodoo-nii-san is too cool for me to prank." Naruto says with a huff causing both adults to laugh. Once they stopped laughing, Naruto explains how he was kicked out of the orphanage two weeks ago and answered the appalled old man's other questions such as why he looked so malnourished, why his clothes were no more than rags and why hadn't he told him sooner about his abuse. By the end of Naruto's explanation, the Sandaime was livid... He had entrusted the blonde to the orphanage, sent them money for not only the other kids but Naruto as well. Not to mention the money his student Jiraiya would send every week with a letter, but judging by the boy's neglect neither were ever given to him. Maybe he should have let the Toad Sage take the boy after all, damn those Councilors...

"I see... Well Naruto it's safe to say that you won't be returning to the Orphanage. Until I deem you mature enough to live on your own, you will be staying at my manor. We will discuss this in greater detail later. For now, I have a meeting with Kyoodoo-san here concerning some business." the Sandaime says, ushering for the young blonde to leave. Naruto pouts at the thought of having to leave, as the future Hokage he needed to see how to conduct business with people after all.

"Aww come on Jiji, can't I stay and watch? I promise not to bug you guys, I just want to watch Kyoodoo-nii-san at work! He gave me this bottle of red stuff that tasted awesome! Frankly, it's better than the food the orphanage used to give me." Naruto begs even resorting to the Puppy Eye no jutsu to seal the deal. The Sandaime sighs and looks at Kyoodoo for help. The young man just shrugs, "I say what the hell. Do you have a private site we can go to? I doubt my cart will fit in here." The Sandaime gives it some thought and decides one of the unused training grounds would be a good place to see the young man's goods.

Training ground 9

The trio made it to an unused training ground with the standard training posts and forests Konoha was known for. Along the way, Kyoodoo noticed the glares directed at Naruto and pretty much confirmed his suspicion, but it was clear the boy had no idea about it. Perhaps the Sandaime was waiting until he was older, but it still seemed like a cruel thing to do to a child. The Sandaime takes a sit on a stump along with Naruto. With his audience in place and the rain finally over Kyoodoo takes off the tarp and reveals all sorts of flasks in various sizes with all sorts of different colored liquids inside them. The Sandaime instantly knew what the young man was selling, "No offense Kyoodoo-san but potions are as old as I am and incredibly outdated. I'm afraid I'm just not interested in investing in a potion shop here in Konoha." The Sandaime says. While not known to most, any would be merchant looking to open shop in Konoha had to be approved by the Hokage first.

"Haha I figured you might feel that way, but allow me to show you the difference between my potions and the potions of old." With that said, Kyoodoo pulls out a knife and cuts his arm deeply, then pulls out a vial and pours its contents out on his arm and they watch as it begins to close the wound. Now the Sandaime was interested, most potions claimed to heal wounds but they all were more like placebos. It was the first time he actually saw one heal a wound before.

"I see I have your attention now. The thing that makes my potions so vastly different is that everything down to the way they are made is done with chakra. I bathe my plants in chakra, I extract using chakra even the flames are made by chakra. By applying certain types and levels of chakra I am able to make potions that range from healing to augmentation. The potion I gave young Naruto is made to boost ones chakra reserves to 45% while also giving them the nutritions they need to perform at their best. I call it Suiyakuton." Kyoodoo explains.

So basically it was an upgraded liquid food pill, "Potion Style eh? What are the side effects to both the potion you gave Naruto and the one you just used."

"The healing potion numbs up the area its applied to but not to where a shinobi couldn't still use it. It's also unsafe to drink the stuff. For the nourishing potion the only side effect occurs when you drink more than four a day and they are... Unpleasant to say the least." Kyoodoo shudders at the thought.

"I see well this has been rather impressive, but do you have a more... Practical potions? As in a more weaponized one." The Sandaime asks.

"I certainly do I wouldn't waste your time with just healing elixir." Kyoodoo says. He digs into his coat pockets and pulls out two glass orb flasks; one a deep crimson the other a light yellow. Uncorking both he splashes two posts with the liquid and the Sandaime is shocked when one bursts into flames and the other is electrified. Kyoodoo chuckles at Naruto's look of awe; it reminded him of when he first came across his style by complete accident.

"Well I'm sold. Before you open up shop I just need you to hold a demonstration in front of the shinobi council and take on an apprentice." The Sandaime explains. He could already see the implications of having a shop stationed in Konohagakure thay sold Katon and Raiton jutsu in a god damn bottle! The surprise element alone could boost survival rates.

"I see no problem with that. I would just need a few weeks to get... Wait why do I need an apprentice? " Kyoodoo asks. He never really thought about taking on an apprentice for the simple fact the Suiyakuton was insanely difficult to grasp let alone master. It took an understanding of botany, fuuinjutsu, chemist and great chakra control just to get started on the basics. The level of difficulty only increased as you got to more advanced potions like the Honoo (Blaze) potion.

"Well it's standard procedure for most if not all merchants to take on an apprentice to help the business. Now I may not know all the details about your style but I can guess that it requires specific plants from specific locations which means you'll be travelling a lot. An apprentice can ensure your orders are still being made while you're away." The Sandaime explains. Kyoodoo had to give it to the Professor since he had some good points. While he didn't intend to take on an apprentice maybe doing so wouldn't be a bad idea.

Meanwhile Naruto was in utter awe at the Suiyakuton effects. It was the coolest thing he had ever seen in his short life! "Look no further Kyoodoo-nii-san, I'm the best apprentice you could ever have!" Kyoodoo sweatdrops at the boy's arrogance and decides to pop his bubble, "Sorry but I don't think you're cut out for this stuff. The Suiyakuton is like an art form and only the most diligent and focused can even hope to grasp it."

"Oh yeah Mr. Smarty Pants? I bet I can learn your Soyakoton or whatever in no time!" Naruto declares. Kyoodoo smirks at the blonde Jinchuuriki, "That so eh? Tell you what I'll hold auditions in two weeks and if you beat all the other kids I'll teach you all I know about Suiyakuton."

"Why do they have to be children?" The Sandaime asks warily; the last thing he needed was another Orochimaru running around.

"The same reason you train children as young as eight to be shinobi, children are easier to teach than adults. Children can spend five or even ten years of their lives learning while adults just don't have the same dedication if they aren't interested in it and even then it takes a lot of effort they don't have." Kyoodoo explains before he throws the tarp back on his cart. Pulling out a large scroll from a holster on his back he unravels it and seals his cart inside it.

"If you're serious about being my apprentice spend the next two weeks studying up on these subjects." Kyoodoo states and hands Naruto a sheet of paper. With that he leaves to parts unknown. Naruto looks at the paper and frowns when he reads what was required.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun I thought you would be happy to have a head start over the other candidates." The Sandaime says. He knew the boy could read, hell he was the one who taught him after the previous head of the orphanage refused to. Needless to say the previous head retired early and it seemed the current one would soon be joining him; Ibiki could be very pervasive.

"I'm not allowed in the library. The lady never lets me in and throws book at me calling me a demon brat." Naruto says sullenly. "Maybe I'll let Anko-chan have this one. I hear the librarian has a terrifying fear of snakes..." the Sandaime grins Scilly and freaks Naruto out. It kind of reminded him of when he was about to pull off a prank but much darker.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. Yoy won't have any problems after today. I'll even go with you to recommend the best scrolls for you to get." The Sandaime says warmly at his surrogate grandson. The blonde Jinchuuriki beams with delight and jumps up and down cheering, "Yeah I'm one step closer to being Hokage Dattebayo!" The Professor simply chuckles at the boy's spirit. He reminded him so much of his mother it was scary. That's when he decided to give the boy even more incentive.

"Say Naruto-kun, remember how you asked me about tour parents and I told you I would tell you when I thought you could handle it?" The Sandaime says getting a hopeful look from Naruto. There was no way he could tell him about his father, but his mother was a different story. While a fierce kunoichi she didn't have a SS ranking in the Bingo Books.

Any orphan would kill for the chance to know even the name of their parents and Naruto was no different, "Does that mean I'm finally mature enough to know about them?"

"Not yet I'm afraid but if you get the apprenticeship under Kyoodoo-san I will tell you your mother's name and where you can find information on her. Your father will have to wait until you are Chunin at least." The Sandaime promises and watches the fire in Naruto burn even brighter than before.

"You got a deal Jiji, there's no way I'm going to fail now! Let's get started already!" Naruto yells dragging the Sandaime to the library like a rag doll. It didn't take long for them to reach the library and when Naruto walked through the door the glare he recieved could melt steel, "What did I tell you about demons not being allowed to learn?" The killer intent that washed over him was enough to bring him to his knees, when he looks up he sees a livid Sandaime.

"Naruto-kun go sit down while I talk to this ungrateful civilian." The Sandaime growls lowly. Naruto can sense the huge piles of shit the guy was in and decides to leave quickly. "Anbu, I believe this man has a date with Anko-chan. Make sure she shows him her snake summons." the Sandaime commands. Appearing from the shadows, an Anbu appears and grabs the man before he pulls him into the shadows kicking and screaming for mercy.

With that taken care of, the Sandaime walks up to Naruto and asks for the list he was given. He reads it to find that it has fuuinjutsu, botany, chemistry and chakra control written on it. The Sandaime begins to gather the necessary scrolls for our blonde hero, who sits and sighs at the thought of all the reading he'd have to do, but he would do whatever it took to learn about his parents. He would become the greatest at Suiyakuton and show everyone he was worth their love and admiration.

Two weeks later, Chunin Exam Arena...

It was a clear and sunny day in Konohagakure and the infamous Shinobi Council, along with the Hokage's advisors sat in the arena looking down at a supposed merchant with a unique product. None of them expected anything special just the standard merchant trying to start a business. They found it out the demonstration was being held at the arena but it beat doing it in the dreary Council Chambers.

The Sandaime along with young Naruto sat in the Kage booth waiting for the show to start. In the two weeks since he began his path to Suiyakuton, Naruto made some progress. He already had an interest in botany so he found the scrolls on that to be fun and learned about local plants in Konoha. The chemistry scrolls were by far the hardest thing he had ever read, he knew he would need some practical example to go off of before he learned anything. It was fuuinjutsu where he shined the most. He was nowhere near making his own seals but he could understand the material and was working on his calligraphy.

Kyoodoo lays out all the materials he would need. A few flasks filled with chemicals, some medium sized scrolls and a clone of himself. This told the audience he was no ordinary merchant and must have either been a shinobi or was taught the arts by a shinobi. Hiashi was weary of the man due to his dark skin, a common trait of people from Lightning Country.

Without further delay, Kyoodoo has his clone open the scroll as he holds the tiger hand seal and unleashes a torrent of flames at the clone. The flames are sucked inside the scroll until a kanji for fire appears in its center. Then the dark skinned man goes through a series of handseals, "Suiyakuton: Shuuren! (Potion Style: Extraction)"

Holding both palms out, his hands are lit ablaze with chakra that spirals counter clockwise and draws out the contents of the scroll but instead of fire a red liquid comes out and floats towards Kyoodoo. Once its close enough he uses his chakra to twirl the liquid like a spinning drill and rids it of impurities as black liquid comes flying off it. Once the liquid is free of impurities, he sends his chakra into the flasks and controls the chemicals inside to rise. Then he combines them with the red liquid and places the new concoction inside a clean flask.

Putting a cork on the flask, Kyoodoo tosses it at the great oak tree. On impact the entire tree is engulfed in an explosive fire that reduces it to ash in mere seconds. The audience is left speechless at the display before them. The dark skinned man takes a bow and the mutterings begin in full volume as discussions were being held, "I thought Hokage-sama said he was a potion brewer?" "What in the world was that? I didn't know potions could be used like that." "What is the Suiyakuton he spoke of?" the Sandaime could only whistle while Naruto was even more determined to learn Suiyakuton. After all the discussions were done, the council was in full agreement in allowing Kyoodoo to sell his potions in Konoha, Inoichi and Shikaku even decided to send their kids to try for an apprenticeship with the man.

"Thank you esteemed members of the Shinobi Council for allowing me to set up shop here in Konohagakure. I swear to bring even more prosperity to this great village and strive to help the shinobi, who risk their lives, a fighting chance at survival with my potions." Kyoodoo states before he seals all his equipment and leaves via Shunshin (Body Flicker).


Well I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Next chapter will feature Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru learning about the various steps to learning Suiyakuton. Who will get the apprenticeship and rock the Elemental Nations? Stay tuned to find out.