"Do you see that baby that the Third Hokage is holding?" a woman said pointing over to the Hokage who was holding a little blonde baby.
"Yeah, who is he?" asked a younger woman who had her head bandaged.
"My husband told me the Fourth sealed the Demon Fox into it." The first woman said folding her arms over her chest.
"What? Why hasn't Lord Hokage killed it yet? We can be rid of the demon forever." The other woman asked in horror.
"He probably still hopes it's a baby, but I think the demons already taken over. How could something that evil not?" The first woman glared at the baby and shook her head.
"Let's just hope it doesn't go on a rampage." The second woman said, watching the baby in case it decided to do just that.
"I don't know what we would do then, the Fourth Hokage's not here to protect us anymore and the Third's getting on in years." The first woman said as tears welled in her eyes at the thought of the Fourth who had died saving their village from the fox only two days prior.
"We can only pray." The first woman nodded agreeing with the second.
XxX
"You little brat! Watch where you're going!" Shouted a man in the middle of the crowded street.
"I'm not a brat!" a small blonde boy of about five screamed back at him. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" and with that said he ran off.
A middle age woman standing with a group of her friends tsked. "How could they let that thing roam around free?"
"I heard that the Hokage wants to train it to be a weapon." Said another of the women.
"Shh, you know if we're caught talking about it we'll be punished!" Another woman whispered furiously, glancing around.
XxX
"What is that thing doing here!" a twenty something woman said, nudging her husband in the ribs.
The man followed her line of sight over to a boy sitting by himself on a swing. He had unruly blonde hair and strange whisker like markings on his cheeks. He was smaller than most of the kids his age and looked lonely. "What are you talking about; he's a kid who wants to be a ninja. To do that he has to go to the academy." Her husband said dryly.
"But it's that kid, you know he one." She whispered.
Her husband, who was a seasoned ninja didn't look nearly as upset about the kid being here as she did. "If I thought Ino was in danger around him I never would have let her stay in school." He said.
That didn't seem to have much effect on his wife's nerves but she let it go, occasionally glancing in the direction of the boy.
XxX
"My mom says you're a germ." A young boy with glasses said snottily.
"That's not nice." Another said with a wicked smirk. "Even if it is true."
"Well you're mom's as stupid as you are!" Naruto in question yelled.
The boy with glasses lunged at Naruto, his friend stepping in to kick Naruto in the ribs when the opportunity presented itself. The two boys scuffled on the ground for a few more minutes before a hand grabbed each of them by the back of their shirts and separated them.
"What's going on here?" A very angry chunin academy teacher demanded.
The boy with glasses immediately pointed at the bloodied Naruto. "Naruto insulted my mother."
"That's because you and your mom called me a germ!" Naruto shouted back as he made furious grabs for the other boy.
"At least I have a mom!"
Naruto let out a scream of rage as he struggled against his sensei's grip even more.
The chunin gave each of them a shake. "That's enough you two!" he said.
"Hibachi, I'll be sending a note home to your parents." He said to the boy with glasses. "Naruto, I'll be sending a note to the Hokage."
Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and looked furiously at the ground. "Whatever." He muttered before jerking free and running off.
"Naruto!" the chunin sensei yelled. "School's not over yet get back here."
"Don't worry about it Iruka." Another instructor said coming up behind him. "It's probably for the best."
XxX
"You little idiot!" The jonin yelled at Naruto, "What the hell were you thinking defacing the Great Hokage Monument?"
"Don't call me an idiot just because you don't have the guts to do what I did!" Naruto said with a cheeky smile. "Besides they look better with some color." And with that he laughed and ran off before they could do anything else.
The jonin made to go after him but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see none other than Kakashi Hatake. "Let him go Ebisu." He said calmly.
"Look what he did to the Great Stone Faces!" he cried in outrage.
Kakashi turned to look over his shoulder to where Ebisu was pointing. The face of the First Hokage had been messily painted to look like a clown; the Second had tears streaking down his face along with green paint from his nose to represent snot. The Third's hair and beard had been painted grey with black lines to indicate wrinkles all over his face. The Fourth's face had been given comically wide eyes with his tongue sticking out. Finally, the blank space next to the Fourth's face had the words 'Reserved for Naruto Uzumaki'.
"He's right," Kakashi said slowly. "They do look better with color."
And with that said he walked away, leaving the other jonin speechless.
XxX
"Can you believe Lord Hokage let Naruto become a ninja?" one of the chunin gathered together said.
"He stole the scroll of sealing and learned a secret jutsu only known to jonin and up, anyone else would have been sent to the prison." Another said.
"We're all going to be in danger if he lets the demon lose during a mission." A third said, shaking his head.
"Who's on his genin team?" the first asked.
"Some girl from a civilian family and Sasuke Uchiha." The third said.
"What?" The second asked startled. "What was the Hokage thinking, what if he kills Uchiha?"
"Wait, isn't Kakashi their jonin leader?" a fourth asked.
"Yeah, he was the Fourth's student." The third said.
"Hopefully he'll be able to contain the demon should it get lose." The Second one said.
"Let's just hope he dies while on mission so we can stop worrying about it."
XxX
"Did you hear?" Kotetsu asked.
"Hear what?" Izumo asked.
"Kakashi and his genin team came across one of the seven ninja swords men while on mission." He said as he stamped more papers.
"Which one?"
"Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist." Kotetsu said, causing his friend to look up.
"What happened?"
"They killed him." He said simply. "He was a rogue ninja."
"Well that's Kakashi for you." Izumo said. "Hey, isn't the nine-tails kid on Kakashi's team?"
"Yeah and so is the Uchiha." Kotetsu confirmed.
"Do you think they fought with Zabuza?"
Kotetsu took a moment to think about it. "The Uchiha might have but I hear the fox brat is an idiot."
XxX
"Go on and tell him Ibiki." Anko said with a wide smile.
Ibiki slide his supposed comrade a glare.
"Tell us what?" Kakashi asked, closing his little orange book.
"About how Naruto tricked Ibiki into passing him." She said, absolutely delighted at the very idea of it.
"Oh?"
"He didn't answer a single question on the test." Ibiki muttered.
Kakashi smiled. "I told you he was smarter than he seems." Kakashi said before walking off.
Anko gave another hoot of laughter before dragging Ibiki off.
XxX
"Can you believe that Naruto kid made it to the finals of the chunin exam?" A chunin asked another.
"I thought it was a mistake at first, but then he beat Neji Hyuga in the first match."
"He's no Sasuke Uchiha though, that kid's too good." He said.
XxX
"You'll never guess what I heard." A civilian woman said to another as her and her husband were fixing up their shop.
"What's that?" the other woman asked.
"Naruto was the one who protected and beat the Sand's Jinchuriki during the Sound and Sand attack." She said her eyes wide.
"What!" the other said. "That's ridiculous, are you sure it wasn't his teammate Sasuke Uchiha?"
"No, I heard that too." Her husband said. "Who would have thought he would have come so far from that little brat who used to pull pranks." He said with a chuckle.
"I don't know." His wife said skeptically.
XxX
"Look!" a woman cried. "It's Lady Tsunade!"
"She's going to be the Fifth Hokage." An older woman beside her said excitedly.
"Finally, I was worried that Master Jiraiya would never find her." The Husband of the older woman said.
"Hey isn't that-" the young woman started.
"Yeah, Naruto Uzumaki, I heard some of the shinobi talking about how Master Jiraiya was helping him train before the final round in the chunin exam." The older woman said.
"That's nothing." A boy who was their son said. "One of big brother's friends told me that they fought with Orochimaru and that Naruto helped."
"Naruto? Helping fight against Orochimaru?" The younger woman asked.
"Never thought he would come so far." The Man said with an approving nod.
XxX
"I haven't seen that kid around lately, what's his name?" A man asked. "Naruto!" he said, the name coming to him.
"Didn't you hear?" The woman he was selling fruit to said, astonished.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Sasuke Uchiha left the Village to go to Orochimaru and Naruto went after him with a couple of other genin and a chunin." She said, passing the money for her items over.
"What?" the man asked surprised. "Did they bring him back?"
"No, Orochimaru's followers managed to slow them all down. Neji Hyuga and Choji Akamichi are in critical condition. Kiba Inuzuka doing just a little bit better than them and Shikamaru Nara is fine for the most part. According to some of the Nurses at the hospital, Kakashi was the one who brought Naruto back unconscious but for the most part unharmed."
"I can't believe Sasuke would desert the Village like his brother." The man said shaking his head.
"I heard Naruto's taking it very hard." The woman said with a frown. "Apparently they were friends."
The man nodded. "That kid just can't catch a break, first the Akatsuki and now Sasuke."
"That's not all, I heard Lady Tsunade talking to one of the nurses saying that apparently Sasuke actually tried to kill Naruto."
"What a shame, I hope Naruto pulls through okay." He said.
"A couple of the volunteers at the hospital are putting together a get well basket for him; you know the poor boy never gets any visitors."
The man looked down at the assortment of fruit and candies they woman had just paid for. "Is all of this for him?" he asked.
"Yes," she nodded.
The man reached back into his cash register. "It's on the house if it's for Naruto; I have a feeling about that kid that he's going to be very important."
XxX
"Look there goes Master Jiraiya and Naruto." A woman pointed out to her husband.
"Where are they going?" he asked as he saw them head out of the Village.
"Ken said his team leader told him that they would be going out on a three year training trip." She said.
"He'll come back even stronger." The man said and looked over to his wife who was frowning. "What's the matter dear?"
"Well, it's just going to be quiet without Naruto around." She said.
"Don't worry dear, nothings quiet for long in a Ninja Village and he'll be back before you know it."
"I guess you're right."
XxX
"Naruto!" a pink haired girl screamed as she flew past the people in the Village to a tall blonde haired boy with strange whisker like markings on his cheek.
"Is that really Naruto?" A woman said peeking around her friend.
"Looks like it." She said. "He's gotten bigger."
"I wonder if he's gotten any stronger?" her friend said.
XxX
"Look here comes Naruto, back from a mission." A shopkeeper said to the man who owned the shop next to his.
"Some of my customers said that he actually saved the Kazekage from the Akatsuki." The other said.
"Wouldn't surprise me, I heard he even as his own nickname now." The first said.
"What's that?"
"The Number One Hyperactive Unpredictable Ninja." He said with a laugh.
"Seems to fit, I remember when he used to spray paint the side of my store." The other said with a shake of his head and a smile on his face.
XxX
"Aw man, Naruto's a genin and he's still surpassing us." Kiba said with a sour look on his face.
"What are you talking about?" His mother asked in annoyance. The one thing she could never stand was a whiner and that's exactly what her son was being right now.
"Naruto," he said with his arms folded over his chest. "He just got back from a mission where he and his team came across Orochimaru."
Tsume's interest peeked at this.
"According to Sakura he really had Orochimaru on the ropes." He said before he turned around and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To train, I can't let him beat me."
Tsume smiled, showing off her unusually large canine teeth. Naruto had come a long way since dead last and everyone in the village was taking notice.
XxX
"Look at that boy, son." A man pointed out to Naruto who had just ran past.
"Who's that Daddy?" the young boy asked.
"He's the one who helped save the village from the attack last week." He said with a smile at the wonderment on his young sons face.
"Wow." He whispered.
XxX
"Hey Ebisu." Kotetsu called.
The jonin turned around to face his subordinate. "Yes." He said primly.
"You remember that guy who killed Asuma?" Ebisu nodded. "Shikamaru killed him and Naruto killed the other one with a new jutsu."
"A new jutsu you say?" he asked adjusting his sunglasses.
"Yeah, he apparently improved the Rasengan by adding a wind element to it. Me and Izumo had to cart him in and according to Lady Tsunade every cell had been damaged." Kotetsu said.
"Kakazu was the one Naruto took out correct?" Kotetsu nodded. "I believe the First Hokage actually fought him at one time."
"You mean Naruto defeated a guy that not even the First could kill?" he asked with wide eyes.
XxX
"Hey Iruka, did you hear?" a chunin instructor asked.
Iruka looked up from grading papers. "Hear what?"
"Sasuke killed Orochimaru and now Naruto and a few others are out looking for Itachi before Sasuke can find him." He said.
"They're going to try and bring him back again?" he asked worried, thinking of the last time.
"Yeah, that Naruto never gives up does he?"
"Of course not, it's his ninja way." Iruka said with a smile, hoping Naruto succeeded this time.
XxX
"Poor Naruto." A nurse said to another nurse.
"What happened this time?" the other asked.
"Master Jiraiya died in battle."
The other nurse gasped and brought her hand to her mouth. "But who could do such a thing?"
"From what I've heard the leader of the Akatsuki, Master Jiraiya managed to send a message back to Lady Hokage though."
"How's Naruto taking it." The second one asked.
"I saw him last night after my shift." She said. "He was just sitting on a bench outside of a store crying. It nearly broke my heart."
XxX
Pain had attacked not three weeks ago and already the Village was under construction after the devastating blow it had received from the mad man. Man of the shop owners who were re-opening there stores lined the streets, putting the finishing touches on their store fronts.
"Hey Naruto!" one elderly woman called, waving over to the blonde.
Naruto looked up startled at the attention but waved back with a sunny smile.
Others in the street took this opportunity to join in on praising the Hero who saved them all.
"Naruto!" a man with a broom called. "It's good to see you back in the Village, it's just not the same without you."
Naruto's face began to burn with a blush. "He he, thanks." He said bashfully, scratching the back of his head.
Many others began to throw in their compliments and some even offered free goods to him that he embarrassedly turned down.
It had taken a while but the Village finally saw the Hero who had saved them all those years ago. Naruto was now a true hero.