Summary: Naruto never lived in the Leaf. In fact, he's never had a home at all. After the Kyuubi sealing, the Hokage sent him off to a friend. He's been traveling around with 2 nomadic clans for the major part of his life, training and traveling and eating ramen of course. But one day, he gets a clue to his real family and now he's traveling alone, looking for more clues to who his real family is and more specifically, where his father is as he's supposedly alive right now. And when he finds that many clues to his family lies in Konoha, what will happen when the Kyuubi container returns to the Leaf?
A/N – I've decided to write a Naruto fic. Why? I had some extra free time. This is more of an introductory chapter, since Naruto doesn't play a big part in this. This is more based on…a certain someone from the show. One quick non-spoiler, there will be 2 age changes for certain characters for the sake of story. Got it? So don't be surprised when you see some people older than they're supposed to be…
Disclaimer. NOT MINE. NOTHING MINE.
Chapter 1 – A Different DreamThe Water Country was a curious place to be at this time, being the former setting for one of the most bloodiest feuds in a while, the Bloodline massacre. In those days, fear of people or ninjas with bloodlines ran rampant, and within a matter of weeks, hundreds and hundreds of families with bloodlines were exterminated; even after the Bloodline Massacre, there were still many people who were afraid of bloodlines and would attack any suspicious looking stranger who would dare approach.
And nothing was more suspicious then the blonde haired, blue-eyed Uzumaki Naruto, with whisker marks on his childish face with an almost always-present grin.
He was traveling alone; something that most travelers never would have dared to try, for being caught alone in these days traveling in the wilderness was pretty much shouting for danger. Even though it had been around 20 years since the Great Shinobi Wars were ended, there were still many bandits that preyed on unwary travelers. In fact, traveling by yourself without a group of fellow travelers or ninja bodyguards was considered the dumbest things to do as of now, especially in a dangerous country such as Water.
Peaceful times were not always the safest; and many bandits, thugs, rogues, and thieves took advantage of any people who were caught unawares from the peaceful times they had now.
The blonde boy didn't seem to know that rule, being a child and still traveling alone by himself; though one could tell from the way he carried himself, he had done this by himself multiple times.
Naruto wore a large conical straw hat, with a white long traveling cloak that was flowing around the boy in the wind; underneath the cloak was a garb consisted of all black, from the shoes to the pants to the T-shirt and the long black jacket that rested over the T-shirt. Strapped to his back was a pair of identical sheathed shortened katanas in a crisscross pattern so the grip and a part of a sheath stuck out on each side of the body. Underneath his long black pants was a pair of black boots. Strapped over his black jacket's sleeves from was a rather bulky gauntlet made of a black metal that had an occasional stripe of silver metal. A large slab of silver metal was strapped around the palm; this slab went up to the knuckles of the hand, which underneath he wore a black glove that cut off half of the fingers.
The boy was currently walking in a forest where the sun filtered through the trees and a gentle breeze blew every few seconds or so, sending the boy's cloak billowing around him. The boy walked calmly, the edge of the conical straw hat covering most of his face.
Just as he reached the edge of the forest, a group of 4 men sprung out from a ditch near the road, brandishing long swords and screaming curses at the boy.
The leader of the group stepped forward and smirked "Alright little kid, give me all of your possessions, and I'll let you go away without a bruise…"
The young blonde paused and stood silent for a moment before opening his mouth to speak for the first time. His voice was rather carefree and childish, though it had an edge of experience to them.
"Ah…I'm sorry, but I don't have any possessions really…"
"LIAR! Those swords strapped to your back right there look like a beauty to me!" one of the members yelled, before being silenced by the leader.
"Look kid, you're traveling alone without any ninja escorts and you're up against 4 of us. What'd ya think ya can do? Just gimme those swords and all yer' money or else we'll beat the shit out of you!"
"I don't have any money at all and I'm afraid I can't give these swords up, sir." The boy replied politely.
"Then I'll take them from you! Get 'm guys!" the leader yelled and all four charged at the boy, screaming curses at them.
The 12-year-old blonde simply raised a hand and tipped the edge of the straw hat lower before lowering his upper body and speedily charging at the would-be muggers.
Before any of them could react, the boy suddenly appeared before them. A mugger swiped at him and smirked as he saw the sword was about to hit, but just at the last instant before the blade would hit, the boy seemed to just...float away from the blade quickly, quietly and with a deadly grace.
Within exactly 2 seconds , the muggers were on the ground unconscious. The boy acted as if nothing had happened and continued on his way through the path, silently thinking about what was going to happen.
Maybe I'll find the scroll here in this country... And when I do, I'll definitely find you, father.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In Konoha
"Congratulations on graduating from the academy! You are now shinobi of Konoha!" Iruka, the current chuunin instructor of the shinobi instructor called with a gigantic smile on his face at seeing his prized students become genin of Konoha. There was an eruption of cheers throughout the classroom and most of the students began jumping up in celebration while some of the more quiet ones stayed in their seats, looking annoyed at the sudden cheerfulness just from passing a simple genin exam.
"Yay! I'll be a shinobi with Sasuke-kun!" A pink haired girl yelled out in the celebration.
"What? Hell no! That's gonna be me!" A blonde haired girl yelled. The two girls began to fight and were soon joined by the other girls.
"I'm gonna be with Sasuke-kun!"
"No I will!"
"I will!"
A massive fight broke out and Iruka sighed before trying to break it up. This happened nearly every day…
The said boy, Uchiha Sasuke, sat brooding at his desk, annoyed at having to sit here and listen to this useless nonsense. He had some training to do, and he would be damned if he couldn't kill his brother, Itachi, because he had some annoying fan-girl on his ass every day.
Another boy sat and looked wistfully at the mass of girls that were currently being separated by Iruka. Will she ever like me? The boy gazed intently at a certain pink haired girl. He wore a new forehead protector was around his head, and a scarf wrapped around his neck. He had dark hair and a face that made him look younger than he was. He had barely passed, unable to create more than 2 bunshins rather than the prerequisite 3 due to his terrible chakra control despite having his own private tutor. The boy suspected it had something to do with who his grandfather was…
Damn you old man! I'm always in your shadow! The dark-haired boy was named Sarutobi Konohamaru
After Iruka finally broke up the mass fight, he returned to the front to finish what he was saying "I will assign you now to your teams. Team 1…"
Stupid perverted Ebisu-sensei! He never teaches me anything to help my chakra control! And he says he'll give me the shortcut to being a Hokage when he can't even beat my Oiroke no jutsu? Konohamaru furiously thought, angry that some of the teachers giving him special treatment just because he was the Hokage's grandson. Old man, I'll get out of your shadow and prove that I'm just as strong as anybody and not some spoiled brat! I'll become a better Hokage than you'll ever be! And maybe than, Sakura would like me… Konohamaru blushed a little as he gazed at a certain pink-haired Haruno Sakura that was fighting with Yamanaka Ino.
"Team 7…Sarutobi Konohamaru" Konohamaru looked up "Haruno Sakura" Konohamaru cheered and jumped up around at being on the same team with his crush. Sakura looked down-heartened at being on the same team as the dead-last of the year. Sakura believed the only reason that he passed was because he was the Hokage's grandson. "…And Uchiha Sasuke!" Sakura stood up and cheered this time, while Konohamaru looked down in anger while Sasuke seemed indifferent.
Konohamaru truly disliked the Uchiha genius since he always looked down on him. Sasuke acted superior to everyone just because he was the last Uchiha while treating Konohamaru as trash for being the weak dead last.
"Team 8… Hinata Hyuuga, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino." The only person that was mentioned that did anything to acknowledge being called was the always-loud Inuzuka Kiba, who yelled something about being the strongest one of them all. Hinata Hyuuga blushed deeply while Shino acted indifferently.
I guess we're not on the same team, Konohamaru-kun. Hinata thought as she gazed at the boy with a deep blush of red with her pale eyes of the Hyuuga bloodline; she had a long time crush on the boy, mainly for his determination and drive to be a Hokage. He was probably the only one in the class that had a real dream and goal unlike the girls who only vocabulary was Sasuke, amazing, and marriage. Hinata herself had no dream or ambition to drive her. One day,she saw Konohamaru training hard in the fields, yelling to himself that'll he'll become Hokage. Slowly but gradually, Hinata developed a crush on the boy, after spying on him whenever he was training.
"Team 9, Hyuuga Hanabi, Akashi Sora, Minazaki Akira" Hyuuga Hanabi, who was the twin sister of Hinata sighed deeply. Her team was just a bunch of nondescript ninja wannabes, she'd probably have to baby-sit them and they'd just drag her down. Hanabi and Hinata were twins but the only thing they shared was the birthday; they were completely different in personality and appearance and had absolutely nothing in common. Hinata was shy and quiet while Hanabi was arrogant. They were fated to fight for the head of the clan position in a few years when the current head retired. While Hanabi was a genius, excelling at all aspects just like Branch Member Hyuuga Neji had done, Hinata was merely mediocre, and who only half-heartedly fought with hardly any skill or grace at all. She was a failure while Hanabi was obviously superior. But she just couldn't see why her father seemed to like Hinata more when she was stronger. She had more than once complained that Hinata should just be sent to the branch house for her weakness but her father simply looked stern and said one thing "Physical strength and ability is not what makes a leader." Hanabi snorted. As if my weak sister could be a leader.
"Team 10, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru." Shikamaru and Chouji just simply accepted it while Ino, the blonde girl obsessed with Sasuke, cried and hit her head on her desk.
"All of you will meet here tomorrow to meet you Jounin teachers. You may go!Congratulations!" Iruka walked out of the classroom while the class rose, chatting excitedly on being a genin as they left. Konohamaru walked away with hands in his pockets and he was about to go home to go to his tutor's classes before someone bumped into him.
It was Sasuke, the top of the class and the hero of all the girls there. "Hmph, sorry there, dead last. Oh wait, I meant Sarutobi-sama. Don't try to hold me back when you're on my team, grandson of the Hokage." Sasuke smirked, knowing that it would piss the boy off, and he walked away, leaving a fuming Konohamaru.
Konohamaru stood there, his fist shaking in anger. He took a moment to control himself before a silver-haired chuunin named Mizuki walked up to him. Mizuki was Iruka's assistant teacher and was always kind to most of the students, but this time, he had an evil grin on his face.
"So, Konohamaru-kun, you want to get out of your grandfather's shadow?" Konohamaru jumped at the voice before nodding "Well, I'll give you a little shortcut right now. All you need to do is…"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In Water Country
"Get out of here, you damn brat!" An old man yelled, chasing after a certain blonde out of restaurant with broom.
"What the hell was that for? All I did was eat all of your ramen and not pay for it…wait, that sounds quite of bad…" Naruto said to himself, while running for his life from the angry owner of his bar.
"DAMN BRAT! YOU BETTER PAY FOR THAT OR WORK FOR IT!"
"Ah, Sorry, I dropped my wallet into the bottom of a river and by the time I fished it out, all the money had been eaten by the fishes."
"LIAR!" The owner through the broomstick at Naruto who grew a massive bump on his head from where the strike hit.
"OW!" Naruto yelled as the old man reached him and glared with angry eyes. "You are coming back with me and you are going to work off your bill got it, kid?" the man said dangerously.
"Ah, all this for ramen? Ramen is too good to be restricted like that, you know, it's wonderful goodness should be spread around the public!" the boy said as he was dragged through the streets to the stares of many strangers.
"SHUT UP BOY! You're gonna work non-stop for 3 days to pay off all you ate!"
"NOOOOOO!" Naruto pitifully moaned as he was dragged into the restaurant.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Back in Konoha
"Damnit! How the hell did this happen?" Konohamaru cursed as he dodged through the forest, Mizuki on his trail. Mizuki had told him shortly after the graduation that if he could steal the forbidden scroll of seals from the Hokage's office, and then learn one technique, then he would become one step closer to being a Hokage. Konohamaru easily took out the Hokage with his famed Oiroke no Jutsu, the #1 tool for any prankster like Konohamaru, and then took the scroll with no difficulty. He had just learned one technique when Mizuki appeared, yelling for the scroll.
Soon after, Iruka appeared, yelling not to give him the scroll and revealed that Mizuki was a traitor, using Konohamaru to gain the scroll of seals. Iruka then jumped in front of Konohamaru to protect him from a large windmill shuriken thrown by Mizuki and then told him to run.
And that's how Konohamaru ended up with a scroll full of kinjutsus on his back with an angry silver haired chuunin right behind him.
"Come on, Hokage's grandson! Give me the scroll! You're just a useless weak brat who lives in the shadow of his grandfather! You're nothing! You're no one! What can you expect to do against a chuunin like me?" The words stung Konohamaru like a hot knife through his heart. He knew it was true and that everybody thought of him that way, but no one dared to say it to his face directly like that
Konohamaru spent his whole life in a lie, trying to believe no one thought of him like that, even though deep within his mind he knew it was true. For someone to say what he unconsciously knew right to his face… it caused Konohamaru to stop running, allowing the chuunin to catch up.
"That's right Konohamaru-kun. Just give in to your fate and give me that scroll…that's all you'll be useful for anyways…" Konohamaru looked down, tears dripping from his eyes. Was he that useless? Was that all he would be, a tool to be used by people as they will? Was he that… weak?
Mizuki grinned and reached for the scroll only to dodge back as a couple of shuriken were tossed at him. Mizuki looked around to see a panting Iruka, who had blood staining through his chuunin vest where the windmill shuriken had hit.
"Heh, thought you'd be dead or at least unconscious by now. Caught yourself a second wind did you now?" Mizuki lauged evilly at the weakened Iruka, panting heavily. Iruka strained for a moment before saying
"K-k-Konohamaru-kun… Y-you are not…useless… you are… not weak… But if you…give in… now… You'll be exactly… as he…s-said…" Iruka weakly stated, his body drooping lower "Y-y-you want to be…acknowledged? I k-know the f-feeling… My parents…they were killed by the Kyuubi 12 years ago… I felt so lonely… I hated the fox…but I realized… it was m-my fault that I a-allowed myself to blame the fox…and be weak like that. I-I-I wanted so desperately to be acknowledged…t-that I did pranks just like you…" Iruka coughed out some more blood and he fell to his knees gasping for air.
"But if you want…o-others to acknowledge you… then… then…p-prove your s-strength! D-d-don't allow yourself to just w-wallow in your problems…overcome them… G-grow… and then rise from your g-grandfather's shadows…and become…your own person…a-and a strong shinobi…" Iruka gasped and he collapsed to the ground.
"Heh, so touching Iruka. But it's not gonna help! The boy! He hates this village for \ ignoring him! He wants them to realize his strength! I will help you to achieve that strength, Konohamaru! Now give me that scroll and I'll give you power!" Mizuki laughed and turned to Iruka "I'll finish you off now…"
Konohamaru looked surprised at Iruka, because no one would bother telling him things like these, not to the Hokage's Grandson. My own person? Overcome my own problems? I see…If I want to be acknowledged…by Sakura-chan, Ojii-san, Iruka, my classmates, and even Sasuke-teme… and the entire village…Konohamaru's memory flashed back to when his Grandfather had visited the academy to lecture the students.
"We shinobi are strong as one, but unbeatable together. Our true strength will manifest when we protect those we hold precious to us."
"Who is precious to you Hokage-sama?"
"Everyone in this village. Just like they were to you… " The Sandaime Hokage said, facing the statue of the Yondaime, the village's strongest Hokage.
Konohamaru looked up, a new resolve burning in his eyes. If I want them to acknowledge me…I will have to be strong…and to be strong…means that I will protect them with my life!
"DIE!" Mizuki yelled insanely and threw his shuriken at Iruka, who closed his eyes in defeat. Mizuki laughed insanely before realizing one thing; Konohamaru had caught the shuriken that he had thrown.
"As the future Hokage of this village…I cannot allow you to harm anyone!" Konohamaru yelled. Mizuki smirked after he recovered from the initial surprise.
"What can you do kid? I'm a chuunin, I'll kill you a thousand times over!"
"And I'll return that a thousand times over! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Konohamaru yelled and formed a cross seal, the only technique that he learned from the scroll. A new power that he never knew he had sprung forth from the deeps of his soul, and within moments, around 30 kage bunshins formed around the unlucky chuunin, who squeaked in fear.
Kage Bunshin? The technique that creates actual clones, not just illusions! No way, how did Konohamaru learn that? Iruka thoughts raced as the clones mobbed the unlucky Mizuki, revealing a beat up and disfigured Mizuki after the dust cloud from the clones died out.
Konohamaru stood over the body with a grin on his face
Iruka only laid there in shock as he couldn't believe that the newly graduated dead-last Konohamaru used a high-level kinjutsu with no problems at all and also defeated a chuunin. After Iruka recovered he managed to say to the currently silent boy "Konohamaru…you will be a great ninja…and a wonderful Hokage. I acknowledge you and I fully expect you to be a Hokage."
Konohamaru turned and grinned at Iruka once more "Thank you Iruka-sensei. Wanna go get some ramen after this?"
--------Somewhere in Water Country--------
"NOOOOOOOOOOO! PLEASE LET ME GO! CHILD LABOR! CHILD LABOR!" Naruto screamed as he tried to escape from the restaurant, a struggling old man holding him back to the door "IT'S FORCED CHILD LABOR! SLAVERY! NOOOOOOOOO!"
TBC
A/N Naruto may not have played a big part now nor was there any development on his past, but I'll take care of that later on. I'm just trying to establish the changes now that Naruto never lived in the Leaf. I've just changed Konohamaru's age just for this story to work, since I didn't want to make an OC to fill in the blanks of Team 7 nor did I want to rearrange the teams. I've seen those fics where the Teams are rearranged to where they make no sense at all with no balance. And Naruto always managed to end up with Hinata…so unoriginal… Oh, and I've decided to add Hanabi and change her to Hinata's twin because…well…I sort of like her and I want to see her as a genin, though she has no spot whatsoever in the anime, which allows authors to use their imagination for the character, though she's usually a stubborn stuck-up Hyuuga, like in this fic… hehehe… But other than that, she does play a part in the story but thats for later...
What's Naruto's goal in this fic? If you didn't read the summary, then you'll find out a little more about Naruto, his abilities and his past in later chapters. I tried to focus on creating the setting on this fic. Naruto's side might just be a comic relief until later chapters when he finally makes his appearance as the main character.
Anyways, hoped you enjoy this fic… please review… if you want to see a second chapter...