Chapter 1
"Hokage-sama, I have come as you asked. What's going on?" Konoha's Handsome Beast asked, closing the door of the Leaf Village's Leader's office behind him as he stepped in.
As he took a close look around the old, incense-smelling workplace, he felt nostalgia strike him. He had been so many times there when he was younger, begging for exciting missions that would challenge his Taijutsu skills. I guess even I am growing old...
In front of him, the famous chair that had been passed down from Kage to Kage stood there, empty, right in front of the old man that Gai had an extreme respect for.
The man himself was standing in front of a window, looking down at the village, as if meditating on wether his actions were right or wrong. He was wearing the old white robs and red hat, but the Jounin knew better than to think those were the only things that covered Hiruzen Sarutobi's body, having experienced the sight of the Third's body armor and helmet a few dozen of times.
"Gai, I am glad you came so quickly! Please, sit down!" the Hokage snapped out of his trance, turning around and waving to the chair in front of his own desk.
After his subordinate adjusted his seat, he himself rested his own beaten up body, feeling pain in several different spots, memories of old battles he had had.
"Now, what I've called you here for is of the highest confidentiality. It's an Ultimate Secret. Understand?"
This made the green spandex suit-wearing man raise his right eyebrow in curiosity. Not once has Lord Hokage called me out for something like this.
None-the-less, he nodded. He wasn't about to disrespect his superior just because of an unusual situation. This seemed to relieve the old man of some of his stress.
"I am old, Gai. Very old now. There's little that can confort my fragile body, and I don't think I'm going to last many more battles like I did back in my youth. I should be retired by now. But that's no news. What I mean is, I'm too tired to deal with something of this caliber on my own, and I need you specifically for this." He confessed. Gai was dumbfounded with this whole speech.
"I will aid you to the best of my abilities, Hokage-sama, you know that! But please, you know I'm not one for riddles. Please, tell me what's going on!" he responded, seeing his leader smile in happiness and relief before sighing again.
"Alright. Please, try to not be shocked."
The old man rose from his chair and walked up to the door that lead to the bedroom he slept in when he had to work late and couldn't return home.
He took a deep breath, turned the handle and pulled it into himself, revealing the small room, equipped with a bed, a wardrobe, a bathroom and another, smaller desk.
On the bed sat a small boy, possibly six years old. He had a frown of sadness on his face as he looked at his own legs dangling from the edge of the bed. He wore a white t-shirt, a pair of black shorts, black sandals and nothing else.
His hair was shiny, clean blond, and his eyes were sky-blue. He had whisker marks on each of his cheeks. For a moment, Gai thought he was contemplating Minato when he was just a little child, before watching the boy look up at them.
"Gai, be honest, who does he look like to you?" the Hokage asked, knowing exactly what the Taijutsu master would say.
"He looks like Minato-sensei." the man confessed earning a nod from Hiruzen.
"Yes, yes he does. Which is kind of understandable, since his name is Naruto Uzumaki."
This sentence shook Maito Gai as he stood there, paralyzed in shock. Naruto Uzumaki? He couldn't possibly mean...
"Yes, Naruto Uzumaki. The son of Minato and Kushina, just like you're thinking..." most people had no idea what was the real name of the boy who had the Kyuubi sealed into him, and only seasoned Jounin like Kakashi and Gai knew about it.
"But I thought he had perished in the day Kyuubi was defeated! Just like Lord Fourth Hokage and his wife!"- Gai protested, trying hard to get his head around the information.
"No. That was a lie. One of many that make up a whole web which I'm going to take down for you today. First, Naruto did not die, and neither were he or his mother members of the Uzumaki clan like people had you believe."
Hiruzen Sarutobi walked up to the poor, saddened boy and placed a conforting hand on his shoulder, extending the other.
"Naruto, could I please have the letter for a moment?" he asked. The boy hesitated, but after a couple of seconds, nodded, delivering the piece of paper to his elder.
The Third Hokage accepted it, turning around and handing it to Gai, who reluctantly took it in his hands.
"That night, Kushina and Naruto were sent away by Minato so they could live in peace and without judgement. They were sent to Kirigakure, where Kushina's real family lived. She wrote this letter not five days ago before sending her son here. Read it."
Konoha's Green Beast looked down at the letter, immediately identifying the beautiful caligraphy as the one his old kenjutsu teacher had.
"Hiruzen-sensei, here I write my last words as a plea for help. Minato's plan to send us here let us live comfortably for little Naruto's first five years of life, but I'm afraid it's come to an end. My clan has decided it would be a good idea to try a coup on Kirigakure and an assassination on Yagura, the Mizukage. They are blinded to the truth by rage and blood-lust, but I know that this will be the end of our clan. As I write, my fellow clan members are leaving, ready for battle, and are calling me out. Unfortunately, as the Clan Leader ordered me to, I have to join myself.
But even though I have to die, Naruto doesn't. I can not trust anyone, and so, Naruto will go to Konohagakure by himself. Do not worry, he's capable in a fight. Enough to get there.
Getting to the point, I want you to protect him. As soon as we fail, I can predict that Yagura will plan to have the rest of our Kekkei Genkai users wiped out of the world map at all cost. I want you to take him in and have someone train him until he becomes an adult. After that, let him do whatever he wants with his life, but please take after him before. Put him in the Ninja Academy if that would help. If you can't do it for me, at least do it for Minato.
With hope,
Kaguya Kushina
Ps: The boy has awakened his Shikotsumyaku, and has shown great ability with it already. He has been trained by our top warriors in taijutsu and kenjutsu, so he could potentially become the heir to the Leader spot. Of course, that's not much of an option now. However, if possible, I'd like you to keep the fact that he is one of us a secret until he becomes at least a Chuunin. Otherwise, he won't be able to protect himself from the Mizukage's assassins.
Pps: I have cast the best genjutsu I have around him to hide his true hair, eye and skin colour and his Kaguya clan mark so that he has some sort of protection already. You may uncover it, but please, keep it only to those whom you trust.
Maito Gai rose his eyes from the letter up to the Hokage's eyes, his face one of pure shock as he was still trying to process the information that his brain had just received. Inside of his mind, the thoughts were something along the lines of: What? No, that, but, what? And alike.
Finally, he managed to drag out a few words.
"So, the boy here is the last decendant of the Kaguya? The last user of the Dead Bone Pulse?" he muttered, receiving a nod from his leader.
"Precisely. And that's not all. Look at him and perform the genjutsu disspelling technique."
Gai thought there was simply nothing else that could really impress him further, and he held his hands in the Ram seal.
"Kai."
Again, he was wrong. Naruto's image blurred before revealing his true self, which dragged a gasp out of the taijutsu-user.
The boy's hair was absolutely white. As white as the wall behind him and the clouds above the office, and as spiked up as a hedgehog's thorns. His skin was rather pale, and his eyes weren't sky-blue anymore, but blood red now.
Aside all that, though, the strangest thing were the two red dots on his forehead, which seemed like sharp fang incisions, but which to the more cult, were easily recognizeable as the Kaguya clan's traditional marking. At a wave of the hand, the Hokage had the Jounin return the letter before both left the room, closing the door for some privacy.
"W-Well...this proves it, I guess. But you still haven't told me why you've called me here, Hokage-sama." the man pointed out, too shocked to be even more shocked. Hiruzen sighed.
"The answer is simple, Gai. You know, just like any Jounin that the Kaguya , because of their Shikotsumyaku and natural talents were, and still are the best taijutsu fighters in the world. You and I both know that the best taijutsu user in this village is you." the Hokage responded.
"So you want me to be his mentor? But Hokage-sama, I thought we had already agreed upon me being the sensei of Neji, Tenten and Lee. I don't have vacant spots in my team. Besides, Naruto is two years too young to graduate at the same time as them! Can't you send the kid to Kakashi? He's got an empty spot, and he's better with Kekkei Genkai than me!" Gai retaliated.
The Third Hokage sighed. He always had been a patient one, and he couldn't really blame one of his top Jounin for feeling reluctant about entering a certain area of the ninja arts, but today was not the day for patience.
"GOD DAMN IT, GAI! LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY, WILL YOU?"- he shouted at the top of his lungs. Thank Kami for the privacy jutsu.
"Y-Yes, Hokage-sama. Forgive me for my insolence."
The old man took a few puffs out of the pipe he lit up, regaining his posture as he turned to the window in his office, contemplating his village.
"I have already thought about the matter. Lee could become quite the taijutsu expert, but I feel like his ineptitude for the other arts would end up in severe injury or worse. He will train with Kakashi, who will educate him in speed, ninja tools and genjutsu. I have a feeling that if we press the illusion arts further into the boy, he could very well become our next Uchiha Shisui."
Gai gave no answer, as he knew that it would only end in disrespecting and angering the old Hokage. Besides, what he had said was actually quite possible.
Hiruzen turned around, facing the Handsome Beast.
"Now you have a vacant spot. About the rest, everything is prepared as well. Naruto already has combat abilities well above the Academy Students, so it is quite possible for me to sneak him into said Academy right now."
"Tenten and Neji are already two years into the Academy and are both seven years old. Don't you think Naruto should be entering the Academy's first year now? I mean, wouldn't it be an overload for someone who's probably never had any formal education on chakra and any ninja ability?"- this time, Gai couldn't keep his mouth shut. And with a reason, it was insane to send a five year old two years ahead without having at least one year of studying. But to his luck, the Hokage simply smiled.
"It's specifically because of the overload that I'm sending him two years ahead. It all fits perfectly. He gets to graduate with Tenten and Neji, he gets to be busy enough not to worry about his clan's and mother's deaths, and he gets enough of a challenge to actually develop, instead of spending his first two Academy years bored out of his mind. Trust me, Kushina definitely educated him. She doesn't play around with those things."- he finished his case. Gai was convinced.
"Alright, Hokage-sama. I admit I was mistaken then. But what will you have me train the boy in? Taijutsu alone or more?"- he asked as the Third smiled, knowing he had won him over.
"Develop his speed and strength as much as you can, but don't overlook Kenjutsu. I also want you to train him in technique and weapon-using, since the Shikotsumyaku is very focused on that as well. Basically, give him the training you'd give Lee and Tenten. Now, Gai, can I trust on you to follow these orders?"
The Handsome Beast considered and pondered over the words for a few seconds, knowing that this could either be great or an extreme pain in the ass.
"You want me to train him after he graduates as I would train a son. I can do that, Hiruzen-sensei. But I want you to promise me never to interfere in our training. I know what I'm doing. For example, if I want to teach him the Hidden Lotus technique, you won't say a thing. That is the condition I have."
The Hokage thought about it for a moment before smiling.
"Alright."
…...
The Next Day
The small, five year old Naruto readied himself for the Academy as he threw on the clothes that the Third Hokage had given him for the day.
They were simple. A white shirt with long sleeves that went down past his arms and fists, and a pair of equally long pants, though the boy had tied them to his ankles with bandages. He still wore the black sandals his mother had given him before he came to the village.
The white-haired boy had spent the night in a room inside the Sarutobi Clan Compound, which was the same as saying he spent the night in a room as large as an apartment, inside a palace.
It was more than enough, but apparently, it wasn't quite enough for the Kage, as he carefully noted that it was just a temporary measure, while the builders he hired were working towards creating the Kaguya Clan Compound nearby. Of course, it was all a tremendous secret, and no one knew for whom the patch of land that was being worked on belonged to.
The Third had given Naruto quick directions to the Academy, and thanks to the boy's sponge-like mind, he quickly absorbed the information, knowing he'd have no trouble following it later.
From what he was told, the Kaguya heir was going to be tested on his first day, since he was two years too young to actually participate in the year. He would have to demonstrate his knowledge in Genjutsu, the little Ninjutsu he knew, and his Taijutsu abilities in a spar with another student.
Naruto didn't mind any of this, since it kept his head off of his mother's passing. Besides, making friends sounded exciting enough.
He walked out of the Compound, barely seeing anyone except the staff, before walking down the street.
He received weird looks from most civilians, since none recognized the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy that was heading to the Academy, but he managed to live it down, not really worrying himself with such things.
What actually worried him, though, were the shadows that skipped through the roofs on his peripherical vision, following him around. He didn't like it when people followed him around. It always managed to annoy and anger that other side of himself.
However, Naruto forced himself to calm down. After everything the Third had done for him, the least he could do was not kill anyone from the village.
…...
After ten minutes of walking, he finally came across the large building that was both the Ninja Academy, the Hokage's Office and the Jounin Standby Station.
The old man said to take the corridor on the left and enter the third door to the right. He thought to himself as he walked past the slide-door, closing it behind himself.
The small boy walked along the predetermined path as he checked the wall clock. He was just in time.
Naruto knocked twice before pushing the door to the side.
"May I enter, sensei?" he politely asked as he was instructed to do so by his mother everytime he was about to walk in on someone's territory.
"Of course! Please do! Class, meet Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka Umino responded with all the joy and excitement in the world. He seemed like a pretty fun person.
As soon as they heard Naruto's first words, the whole class turned their heads to look at the loose-clothed, blond boy with whisker marks on his cheeks.
Most girls blushed at his presence, most boys thought he looked cool, but one or two thought he looked like a cute child, just like all of them were.
"Thank you, where should I sit?" the boy interrogated, stepping further inside. It was a rather large classroom,with at least fifty students, each in one of the two-student tables.
"Oh, uh, why don't you sit next to Tenten over there? Would you mind, Tenten?" he suggested, receiving a shy shake of the head from the bun-haired girl. Naruto smiled and quickly hurried over, sitting next to her by the lower left corner of the classroom.
"Actually, could you wait just a bit and come here to my side so you can introduce yourself to the class?" Iruka asked, and he almost felt like slapping his own face. Of course he had to introduce himself, you can't just waltz into a classroom and sit down like it's nobody's business.
He walked over to Iruka's side and wondered as to what to say.
"Just say your name, age, where you come from and what you like doing!" the teacher suggested, happy as could be. He was a really nice person.
"Well, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. I am five years old, and I come from Kirigakure. I like meat, training and practicing with my sword." he introduced himself, making most of his class mates form perfect "O"s with their mouths, deep in awe.
"Kirigakure? Why did you live there? Was your family there?" a student asked.
"Yes, my family used to live there. My mom too, but, not anymore..."
"You said you were five years old. You do know that this class if for seven year old students, right?" another commented. Iruka laughed at this.
"That's right, and that would be the normal case, but Hokage-sama personally asked to let him into this class. From what he said, Naruto's really strong!"
After this response, all but one of the students were awed by the blond boy. The only one that remained emotionless and cold was a boy with long, brown hair and white eyes. However, he didn't say a thing.
"Now, if there are no more questions, Naruto, you can go to your place. I am going to ask you a couple of questions about Genjutsu throughout the class to see what you know, and will have you show me the Ninjutsu you know later. Is that ok with you?"
"Yes, Iruka-sensei. Thank you."
He hurried over to his seat, noticing that Tenten was smiling at him with her steel-gray eyes. He smiled back, naturally.
"Hey, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. It's good to meet you."
…...
Several Hours Later
Most of the day had already passed. The subject of said day was Geography and other Hidden Villages, where Iruka had Naruto speak about Kirigakure, how it looked like and what Genjutsu were common around the place, testing his knowledge.
A bit later, Iruka, accompanied by another sensei, Mizuki, took the whole class for the weapon-throwing range, where they tested the boy's aim with shuriken and kunai, and later, had him show his Ninjutsu knowledge.
In their opinion, at least on Genjutsu, Bukijutsu (Weapon Techniques) and Ninjutsu, the boy had straight A's, since he demonstrated great depth of knowledge about the first, fantastic ability in the second, an advanced arsenal of the third, not only made up of the Bunshin and Kawarimi jutsu, but also more difficult jutsu, like the Kirigakure (Hiding in the Mist) jutsu.
But the time to evaluate his skills in the third and final basic Shinobi ability, Taijutsu, had come. They gathered the whole bunch of students right in front of the Academy, so that they could have Naruto spar with one of them.
Iruka approached the blond with a clay pot filled with white balls.
"Now, Naruto, inside this small pot, each ball has a number. Take on out, and the number that you took will correspond to the student that you will face. Do you understand?" he asked, receiving an affirmative nod.
The boy placed his hand inside the container and rumbled through the bulk of the balls a bit before taking out a single one.
"Number Fourty-Seven." he announced as he read it.
Almost immediately, the enthusiasm and excitement of the students died out as their faces turned sad and pitiful.
"Awh, bad luck, man. You picked the absolute worst." one of them commented. Naruto seemed confused.
"I, Hyuuga Neji, am number Fourty-Seven." the long-haired, white-eyed boy claimed, calmly approaching Naruto.
As the blond looked to his side, Iruka was still smiling at him.
"Now, Naruto, you seem like a pretty polite, nice young man. But you can't be nice right now! You have to be as serious as possible so we can properly grade you, alright? You two will start the match when you perform the confrontation seal, and it will end when one of you can't continue, time where you will perform the reconciliation seal. Understand?"
Naruto nodded before facing his opponent. He looked serious and strong, but also had a tone of arrogancy in his stance, which meant the blond had something to exploit. When facing an arrogant opponent, hit fast and hard. Finish the match as soon as you can. It'll probably be your only chance. His mother's words echoed through his head.
Both performed the half Ram seal as a ways to start the match, but still, both stood in their places, trying to predict their opponent's actions.
Suddenly, Naruto pulled out a kunai armed with an exploding tag, and threw it straight at Neji, who simply catched it between his right index and middle fingers, spun and threw it back at its owner, watching it stick to the ground in front of the boy's feet and explode, creating a cloud of black smoke, more than enough to mask Naruto's movements for a few moments.
As the cloud dissipated and the boy was nowhere in sight, Neji grew frustrated and decided to bring out the big guns.
"Byakugan!" he proclaimed as he activated his Kekkei Genkai, drawing a gasp out of everyone. It was definitely over.
Out of nowhere, the Hyuuga sharply turned to the right to just barely block the right roundhouse that met his forearms with tremendous force. By Kami, it almost broke my bones!
The white-eyed boy decided to reciprocate by rotating his arms, ready to grab his attacker's leg, but it was no longer there, as Naruto had ducked under the grab.
Now, Neji was unbalanced, with his left leg up in the air behind him as he tripped on the blond, who quickly rose, lifting the Hyuuga with his back, ducking again, leaving his opponent in mid-air and rising one last time, effectively flipping the boy so that he was airborne while upside down.
Naruto spun and slapped an exploding tag on his opponent's stomach before hitting him with a right side-kick, making Neji double over and fall on his back, rolling around before springing up to his feet.
The Hyuuga had shock splayed on his face as he grasped his own torso in pain. Then, he remembered the exploding tag and quickly ripped it off, taking his time to read it.
After a second, he realized that it was a mere fake, and the symbols were a stupid, special ramen recipe.
The frustration and indignation that formed on his facial expression when he noticed he had been fooled were nothing compared to the agony and surprise that showed as soon as he rose his eyes to see Naruto's fist strike his stomach again, in a right uppercut.
He was again, doubled over, except he was hovering above the air for a second as the blond released him, following up with a right roundhouse which sent him tumbling through the ground and into the crowd of students, opening up a small area.
Naruto himself was serenity incarnate, as he slowly let his breath out.
Neji, though, was in a different state. He was trying to get up, but quickly gave up, knowing he was too beat up to do so on his own. Which only added to the shock he received when Naruto approached and extended his hand, helping him up. Hesitatingly, the Hyuuga accepted the request for the Reconciliation Seal.
"Just tell me and there will be no grudges between us. How did you beat me that quickly and easily?" he asked. Naruto smiled and shrugged.
"It wasn't easy. The thing is, you were underestimating me, which left you open for an attack. Always take your opponents seriously, and you shall never fail. Besides, you trust your eyes too much. No offense, but your eyes aren't of much use if your body is not trained enough to respond to quick attacks such as mine."
It took Neji a couple of seconds to digest the information, but ultimately just accepted it, smiling to the boy that would be considered his first real friend.
Chapter 1 for you, folks. I've actually wanted to do a Shikotsumyaku fic for a long time, and now that I've got the whole plot in mind, I'm putting it to work. I hope you all enjoy reading it, and if you do, please Follow/Favorite or Review. It helps a lot! Any suggestion or doubt you might have, either Pm me or Review, and I promise I'll answer as quickly as possible! Cheers!