Taigon:*rubing the back of head sheepishly* Well, I haven't picked a name for this story, so...
Naruto & Ijirashi:*Jumping up and down excitedly* If one strikes you like lightning please PM Tai and she just might use it if she likes it!
Sasuke & Shinko: Tai does not own the anime Naruto and/or the characters from it. Only the idea and created characters belong to her. This is just for other's and her own entertainment.
Taigon:*jumping up and pointing up* On with the story! Oh, and please recognized that Namire is my middle name, people. Thank you!
Once, there was a kind man named Minato. He was the fourth Hokage and was married to a nice kunoichi named Kushina. They had a son that they named Naruto. He was the spitting image of his father, but had his mother's kind heart and fiery passion. After little Naruto was born, his mother was not able to be in the world much longer, for she died in child birth. Minato was very distraught at his wife's passing, but was not able to mourn her death. A demon attacked their village and having no choice, sacrificed himself to seal the demon away in his own son.
In the years after the attack, the villagers shunned and hated the little blonde boy. He grew up hated and unloved... neglected. Even though he didn't know what made everyone hate him, he remained smiling and ever kind to those who deserved it. Naruto stood by justice and fairness, despite that the prejudice of the parents passed to their kids without the reason why. The Sandaime did not liked to see the child he considered a grandson be treated as such, so one day, he changed it.
"Naruto." an old, yet warm voice called to the young child sitting in his office. A 5-year-old Naruto hesitantly met the Third Hokage's wise eyes. "Naruto... I think you know why you're here." Sarutobi deadpanned. Naruto sadly looked at aging man, but smiled. "Maybe... is it Kuu-chan?"He meekly asked. Sarutobi's eyes softened as he gravely nodded. "I...I understand. If you want me to leav-"He was cut off when the Hokage just shook his head. "No, nothing of the sort, dear child. I can not stand the behavior of the villagers, and can do nothing to stop it, I'm afraid. But I can offer you something that would be for your own good, and you would be able to have sanctuary somewhere safe." Sarutobi proposed.
Naruto looked surprised at the proposition, before it was explained to him. "I consider you like a grandson, Naruto. You have done nothing wrong, and it is an injustice to you to allow this to escalate farther than it already has. I know you are hurt deeply, Naruto, whether or not you show it. It pains me to see such a you, a young child barely six, being treated as you shouldn't exist. It's not your fault, and if what I hear from you is true, then its not Kyuubi's fault either." Sarutobi let it sink in for a moment as he watched the mask of happiness fade, and show Naruto's true feelings of depression and sadness.
"Why? Why are you giving me this choice?"Naruto asked solemnly. He watched the emotions on the Hokage's face flicker from concealed concern to pain and then to loving care, affected much by these emotions. "Because, Naruto, if anyone deserves happiness, it's you. Having to mature at a faster rate then others your age is not healthy for you. I wish to keep you safe, if you would be willing to hear me out, Naruto." He concluded with much care on his face. Naruto sat there, considering what was being offered to him, thoughts going in and out of his mind.
'Can I really have my own sanctuary? A place to call my own and not be found?' Naruto perked up hearing the familiar growls that he could understand, coming from the corner of his mind. 'Yes. You need to have a place of your own, somewhere you're safe and I don't have to worry about your safety,Kit. The old man knows what he is talking about, and also offering you a chance of safety. Take it wisely, Kit.' The voice retreated and let its host be to his thoughts and decide.
Sarutobi saw Naruto slight nodded as if coming to a decision. Naruto looked back at him and asked,"What's the deal, Oji-san?" Sarutobi sighed of relief and answered him,"There is a nice big house in the forest, where I know you like be most days. It has a barrier around it, that covers a square mile marking your territory and will prevent anyone that wishes to harm anyone inside the barriers or if you don't let them in. If any one goes through the barrier, they will just see forest and pass over your house, since you did not invite them. It must be an emergency to you or them if they pass through without being invited.
"Food will be unlimited, as there is a special jutsu over the house that makes everything replenish by drawing a little chakura from the owner of the house, or you Naruto. Any clothing will have to be bought with your own money. I know they won't give you good clothing, but it will keep the villagers from getting suspicious. The house will always have electricity and it has a natural hot spring behind garden. The only payment I ask in return is to give me status reports about the villagers, keep up with the training that I will be giving you, and keep a your facade mask on, so that you won't get hurt. Okay, Naruto?" Sarutobi finished.
Naruto absorbed all the information and conditions, and to him, it was a very good deal. "I accept, Oji-san! When do I move in, oh and start my training?"Naruto asked enthusiastically. "I thought, if it is okay with you, to move you into your new home today. I will take care of the lease of your apartment later. So go pack your belongings, and meet me back here, so that I can start you off with your training and take you to your new home, Naruto."Sarutobi smiled at the young blonde, who returned the smile and ran back to his house as fast as possible.
Sarutobi shook his head and chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm. "Ah, Naruto will be safer now. And that all that matters now."
"Oji-san! I'm back! I put all my stuff in here since I don't really a lot."Naruto came running back into the office with a medium sized suit case. Sarutobi looked up the cute sight of a small blonde dragging a suit case almost half his size. For his age, Naruto was very feminine, with his bright golden soft hair in delicate spikes framing his face, big innocent sky-blue eyes, and a very vulpine grin surrounded by three whisker marks on each cheek. He was slight of frame and had a bit of girly curves, as he had a slim waist, narrow shoulders, and delicate hips.
Naruto was also very smart and more aware for his age. He had a very large vocabulary, didn't mess up his pronunciations, and knew how to read and write. From what the boy had told him, it was Kyuubi who was teaching the boy, and was teaching him all different things from wilderness survival to the demon, animal, and different country's dialects of the Japanese dialect. The boy knew how to cook and clean, as well as keep his studies up. He was much wiser, beyond his years of experience even, in almost anything.'My, the boy has been blessed by many things, and how they could all hate such an angel is beyond me! The boy is definite one of the most rare treasures in this village, and hidden below everyone's noses as well.'Sarutobi thought in good humor.
"Come, Naruto, before we depart, I must tell you something very important." Sarutobi said seriously. Naruto recognized that this would be very important, so stopped struggling with the suit case and stood at attention with slight curiosity. "Now, would you like to know who your parents are? They were very special people and I'm sure you would like to know their names, though, please don't tell anyone. This is a village secret, and will cause a great uproar." he asked grimly, with the strict warning. Naruto stiffened in surprise before he nodded tentatively.'Who are my parents to cause such a important warning?'Naruto thought curiously.
Sarutobi relaxed, and took a breathe before saying,"Your father was one of great importance and so was your mother. Your father's name was Namikaze Minato and your mother's was Uzumaki Kushina. The fourth Hokage and his wife... are your mother and father."Sarutobi said seriously. Naruto sat in slight disbelief and shock. 'The Yondaime and his wife, the fiery beauty, are my parents!? I never expected this... but I feel...' Naruto had started to slowly smile a true soft and gentle smile, his eyes alight with the fire of happiness and pride.
Sarutobi's heart nearly jumped out of his chest as he stared at the soft, yet passionate look on the little boy's face. 'He looks so much like Minato and Kushina. The feminine features no doubt come from both sides of the family. He's calm and very innocent as his father was, though he has his mother's passion, prowess, and grace. How proud they would be able to see their son today.'
"I feel happy... I know who my parents are now, and now I can be proud to have known that I had parents. I now know... that the hurtful words of others about me having no parents, as well as anything else, will not effect me. Because now I can hold my head up high and be proud to know that I do indeed have other people, other than you Oji-san, that loved me."Naruto whispered, a few tears of joy falling.
Sarutobi looked on at the heart touching scene, finally feeling something he hadn't know had been broken start to heal. Then he felt something that came with no pain, the acceptance of his successor's and wife's death not being his fault, but their own will to keep the village and son safe. It felt as if the windows and doors of his soul had been opened, letting the healing breeze and water soothe and refresh his old broken soul.
Naruto had help him heal his warrior torn soul, and manage to clean out everything that was holding him back. He felt as if all his burdens were gone and he hadn't felt this way for longer than he could remember. It was just one of the many things that made Naruto the little boy-enigma he had always been. He seemed to change everyone that he came into contact with.
"Naruto, lets get you to your new home, and start your training."Sarutobi softly said as he got up and walked over to the boy. Grabbing his jacket, Naruto took a hold of his suit case and nodded in readiness. Sarutobi transported them with a pop and poof of smoke.
Suddenly, two people popped up out of nowhere in front of an old forest. "Naruto, follow me."Sarutobi motioned for the blonde to follow him into the forest. Naruto nodded and followed in pursuit, as Sarutobi had taken the suit case from him, to make the journey faster. Jumping up into the trees, they raced within the canopy of green, until Sarutobi slowed down and jumped out of the trees. Naruto landed gracefully next to him and looked around the clearing.
It was a fairly large clearing with a nice enough large sized house. The house was traditional and was painted a rich cream color and had a dark blue roof to complement it. The floor boards seemed to made from cherry wood and was a glossy reddish-brown. The landscape was beautifully made.
There was a small stone path that led to the porch and was lined with cherry-blossom trees. From what he could see there was a garden around the right side of the house and a small orchard with it. There was a bamboo coverage in the back, no doubt for the private hot spring in the back.
"Its beautiful, Oji-san."Naruto whispered, awed that it was his now. He was suddenly very happy and for once in his life, he felt safe. Sarutobi smiled fondly at the five-year-old and nodded."This is all yours. This is actually your father's and mother's house. They left everything to you."He said slowly.
Naruto whipped his head around to look at the old man in shock."My... parents? This is where they lived?" Sarutobi nodded again and replied,"If I remember right, there are some photos still in the house of your parents and their friends." Naruto's smile became even larger if possible. Sarutobi grabbed the little one's hand and gently led him to the house and unlocked the door before going into the interior of the cream colored house. "There is two bathrooms, four bedrooms, a very large kitchen, a living-room, and the private hot springs outside with a fence separating two areas of the spring, just in case you have a friend over who likes their privacy. The kitchen is very large, Minato liked to cook and bake and make new recipes all the time. Your mother, Kushina, loved to paint and sing. She was very talented in different arts, so there is also an art room your mother used. Minato and one of friends renovated the house a little before you were born, adding on a dojo with a complete equipment set. There is a big training ground a bit west of this house, if you just follow the path from the garden into the trees." Sarutobi finished explaining as he walked in to decent sized living-room and sat down on one of the cushions in front of the coffee table.
Naruto gaped at the man, amazed at the size and amount of land and things he had now. He shook off the shock and took one of the cushions on the opposite side of the table from Sarutobi. Sarutobi looked seriously at the young blue-eyed male across from, starting,"Now, in addition to what Kyuubi has you practicing, I'm going to give you a scroll to learn from since I won't be able to to teach you myself with me being busy all the time." Naruto nodded, knowing that he also had his duties as Hokage to carry out.
"These scrolls will teach you about chakara and how to control and manipulate it. It also will teach you some hand signs and a few basic jutsus and control exercises. Also to this scroll, I will be giving you a tough physical work out routine. Kyuubi can add to your learning or routine as he sees fit, so that you might keep excelling. I have one more scroll for you, from your mother. It explains some things to you, but it will not open until you have mastered the basics. I will leave you to your devices now. I hope you will be more happy here.
"The villagers will get suspicious if you don't show up in the village once in a while, so the best you can do is show up for a couple of times a week or so and if you get chased or anything else, run straight back here to safety where they can't get to you. There is the same jutsu on the medical supplies and ninja tools as the food. They will be there when ever you need them." Sarutobi finished speaking about the details of the house and his training, sitting back.
Naruto let everything sink in and looked back up at the old man."So I will be training by myself here?" Sarutobi nodded his head in confirmation."I know it's hard training by yourself, and alone. But it will be worth it and will make you stronger. And I had a feeling you would feel alone without a friend. So I got you something that will help a while back."Sarutobi grabbed a scroll out of his robe. Naruto could tell it was storage scroll by the seals that decorated the exterior of the scroll.
Sarutobi performed a rapid set of hand seals in quick succession, summoning a medium sized wooden box. He pushed the box forward on to the table as Naruto gazed at it curiously. "This, Naruto, is a soul-summoning box. Depending on the strength, purity, and personality of a soul it will conjure one companion. Your companion will forever be tied to you. It will have the same life expectancy as yours, be able to speak any language you can, and many more things. Because it is tied to your soul, it will die whenever you die. But it will never die so long as you are still alive.
"Minato had a small red frog as his companion, and Kushina had a blue bird as hers. The companion will reflect and understand every aspect of your soul, heart, and mind. This generation, every pre-genin will be getting them at the academy. You are getting yours earlier than everybody due to certain circumstances and my permission. All you have to do to is place a drop of blood on the carving in the middle of the box and it will give you a companion." Sarutobi smiled at Naruto's face of awe.
"A companion? I will have a … friend? Really?!" Naruto asked happily, very excited to be able to have a friend that will understand him. Sarutobi laughed merrily and replied yes, before removing a senbon from his pouch and giving it to Naruto. Naruto pricked his finger and let the drop of blood drop onto the carving of a intricate heart. Suddenly there was a bright flash of white light coming from the box, blinding the old man and five-year-old.
Then as suddenly as it had come, it was gone. The box was still on the table, but the drop of blood was gone. Naruto blinked his eyes to regain his sight and look around. Sarutobi jumped a bit when the box shook hard against the table, a yip coming from inside it. Naruto opened the lid of the box and gasped at what he saw inside it.
Reaching inside of the box he brought out a small ball of fluff. As Sarutobi finally recognized what exactly the ball of fluff was, he could not agree more that it certainly suit the young boy.
It was a small pure white-furred fox kit. It was small and slim, but otherwise very graceful and feline in it's movements. It's eyes were the most attention catching though. The right one was a cool silver with streaks of ultra violet that seemed to ripple like water. The left was molten golden with streaks of red-orange that seemed to flare out like fire. Very eye-catching indeed and most interesting for the fox to seem a silvery-white color as well.
"My, it seems to suit you very well. What is your name little kit?"Sarutobi asked the bundle of fur looking up at both of them at the moment. "Oh, my name is Ijirashi. I just prefer Ijira though. I don't like my name being so long."the little fox replied, giving them a vulpine grin. "Nice to meet you Ijira-chan! My name is Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto introduced himself happily, returning the grin with one of his own.
"Same here, Naru-chan! What about you, oji-san?"the little she-fox asked. Sarutobi laughed and replied,"Hiruzen Sarutobi, little kit. You are definitely like Naruto. I hope you two will enjoy yourselves here. This is the scroll, Naruto. I've included a training regime folded up inside. Now please excuse me. I must get back to my duties as Hokage and as much as I hate it, the paperwork. It will take forever to complete if it's piled up more since I've been gone. Be good now, and I wish you luck little ones."Sarutobi bowed and left the house with a poof.
Naruto and Ijira looked at each other and shrugged, going back to the scroll."So, Naru-chan, what are you going to do?"Ijira asked tilting her head in question. "Well, I want to get stronger, so that one day I will be strong enough to protect the village and my precious people, just like my parents! But every master started with the basics, so that's where I'm going to start. Kuu-chan says to get stronger I have to have the complete desire to achieve what I want to do. She called it 'motivation'."Naruto explained to his furry companion. Ijira nodded and snuggled into his lap, settling down to read the scroll with him.
*2 months after the move*
Sarutobi was walking down the path to Naruto's house to check up on the boy. He had seen a few glances of the young blonde around the village earlier that week. He however didn't see his companion, Ijirashi. He probably had left her behind to protect her and himself from the wrath of the villagers. It would make them wary to see a fox, white with two different eye colors no less, around the boy.
He opened the sliding front door and left his shoes at the foyer. Sarutobi opened his senses and felt the boy's presence in the garden outside. Quickly making his way to the open walk way that went past the garden into the next section of the house, he easily found the boy.
Naruto made his way to the next section of the garden to water the sunflowers. They were his favorite, apart from the orange trees and sunset roses that grew in his parents' garden. It had almost every flower and plant he could think of. In the orchard were apple, orange, peach, lemon, and even a couple of starfruit trees. His parents' garden was huge, growing herbs, fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
In the vegetable section was carrots, cucumbers, corn, lettuce, peppers, pumpkins, potatoes, and squash. His herbs were for healing, seasoning, and all around things. The fruits were blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon and a whole bunch more of them.
But his favorite part of the garden was the flower garden with the koi pond and bridge. In the flower garden was all kinds of flowers. Roses, lilies, tulips, daffodils, sunflowers, snapdragons, morning glories, marigolds, irises, daisies, and even the little buttercups he saw all the time in the village were there. It was beautiful.
Ijira was playing by the pond paw at the fish in the water from the small stone bridge going across the pond. It was a nice day as Naruto was finishing his chores of keeping the house in good condition. He had finished his training that morning and was going to do some more after lunch. "Naruto! Over here, little one!" Sarutobi called out to the young blonde who was now making his way to fetch the white fox playing by the koi pond, catching his attention.
Naruto looked up to see the old Hokage on the covered walkway waving at him. Smiling, he grabbed Ijira and made his way over to the walkway, taking his sandals off before jumping up onto the walkway."Oji-san! How are you? Did you come by to see me?"Naruto grinned up at the Hokage. "Actually, I wanted to ask on how you were doing on the scroll and techniques I gave you. So, how far are you, Naruto?" He replied, walking to the kitchen and taking a seat at he table, Naruto following him. On average of his age of five-years-old, he should have gotten at least ½ to ¾ of the scroll done.
"Oh, yeah, the scroll. Well, um, I already finished it, and Kuu-chan says that I've already mastered chakara control. She taught me how to walk on water last week. It was so much fun! I was practicing it on the hot springs. I learned how to walk on solid surfaces last month and it was really easy. My hand signs are good, but Kuu-chan says I could be faster, though I can go through all the signs in about a minute." Naruto replied enthusiastically, blue eyes bright with excitement.
Sarutobi was shocked.'My, my... It took his father about twice as long to master that scroll, and he was eight, not five! Looks like we have another genius from this generation. He maybe the smartest and strongest ninja of his age! The craftiest, too. Some of those pranks of his could be considered an A Rank trap, if not S Rank.' The old man's thoughts were swirling around in his head like goldfish racing around their bowl.
Water walking was a chunnin level chakara control exercise. Some of his oldest chunnin had a hard time with walking across a shallow puddle, not to mention a hot spring. It took at lot more control than people thought and was considered an advanced technique.
"Kuu-chan says that since I'm different from others, I can easily learn things others have a hard time doing. She wanted to ask if you had any more advance jutsu that I could learn, since I also mastered the ones you gave me. I had fun doing them! I can create clones without using my hands now! How cool is that?!"Naruto kept chatting about how he finished everything. Sarutobi finally came out of his thoughts to stare at the young blonde, before smiling and saying,"Yes, In fact, since you have finished the scroll, I think you are ready to read your mother's. You should have enough chakara control to finally read it, since you can use chunnin level chakara control."
Naruto gaped at him, before scrambling from his seat to the one next to the Hokage eagerly. Chuckling at the boy's eagerness, he reached into his robe pulling out the small scroll from before and handing it to Naruto."Focus your chakara on the Uzumaki symbol and it should open for you."
Nodding, Naruto closed his eyes, focusing on pulling on his chakara to his fingers and into the symbol onto the scroll. The scroll loosened and then rolled out by it self, laying peacefully in Naruto's hands.
Naruto took a deep breathe and started reading.
:Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto,
If you are reading this, that means both me and your father have passed and you have mastered basic control of your chakara. I'm sorry that Minato and I didn't get to be there for you, my koishi. I want you to know that no matter what, your father and I will love you always, no matter if we are not there. We are very proud of you.
This letter was to tell you of your heritage, including your inheritance from us. We formally leave you everything that we owned, the house and land, the left over money we left behind in a safe, and all the equipment and items in the house. We hope this will help you get by on your own.
Alright, I'll tell you this now, your godmother and godfather are to take care of you when they are not away from the village. Your godmother hasn't been seen for quite a long time and your godfather is one to travel and not to be found easily. We leave you in the care of the Sandaime, when they aren't there. Your godmother is Konoha no Namekuji Tsunade-hime, the 1st granddaughter of the the first Hokage and I named her as your godmother. Your godfather was named by your father, and is Jiraya Gama Sennin, your father's sensei.
What I'm about to tell you is to stay a secret, Naruto. These are family secrets and the only ones to know this are Jiraya, Tsunade, Sarutobi, and whom ever you marry. Its about your bloodlines from my side and your father's side of the family. My bloodline is now yours. Our bloodline come in handy for recon missions and hiding in plain sight. It is called Kawaru or 'change'. It allows us to shapeshift into animals, plants, or even other people. It's like a henge, but it is not an illusion. It's the real thing.
Your father's bloodline is a bit... troublesome. It doesn't show up until your 10-years-old at least, and thankfully. You will be able to see all of the red threads except yours and your soulmate's. Your father set all of our friends up and more. Bet you didn't know he was called the cupid of Konoha. Talk about a matchmaker.
Also, I'm not entirely sure that you will get the third one. It is an S-class secret of a clan that I'm descended from as well as your father. Neither of us had the bloodline, though it affected your father, but not to it's full extent. We don't remember what it exactly it is, or the name of it since it didn't show it's full effects on your father. All we know is that it has to do with seals and your chakara turning a color different than the normal white- blue. Your father's was a dark blue, which is quite strange.
I'm afraid those are the only two effects we know of, as we know there are more. Your father went to a bloodline seer, and she told him that he did not have the full bloodline, unlike his thread-seeing ability. His 'bloodline passage',as she called it, was not fully open, and it would not fully open, either.
Anyways, just be careful. And remember to keep these a secret, koishi. We love you very much and hope that you find your happiness. Behave!
Your mother,
Uzumaki Kushina
P.S. Look after your godfather and godmother, will you? They tend to get in too much trouble, even more so together than apart. Wish you luck, my little koishi.:
Naruto looked up from the scroll that his mother had written for him in complete awe. He knew that, finally, someone other than Oji-san loved him and was proud of him. Sarutobi watched in absolute awe as he watched Naruto's face changed. You could just feel as pure unadulterated joy and happiness flooded in to replace every worry or negative thought. The room seemed brighter and everything seemed like it was perfect, even just for a little time.
Naruto felt as if he had swallowed butterflies and they were bubbling back up to get out. It started out as a small shake of his shoulders, then it kept getting bigger, threatening to burst out, until he was shaking from the effort to keep them in. Finally, it just came out. Naruto started to laugh. Now, Naruto usually never really laughed. It usually was a chuckle or a fake obnoxious laugh to better suit his mask of 'village idiot dreamer'. But this time, it was a real laugh, and to Sarutobi it sounded like tinkling glass and bells.
"Oji-san, did you know that I had godparents?" Naruto asked, his laughing dieing down to occasional giggles. Sarutobi again looked shocked,"I'm afraid not. I didn't read this scroll, as I thought it would not be fair to you if I read it first." Naruto gave the old shinobi an understanding look and handed him the scroll to read.
"Hmmm... Very interesting. 2 out of 3 of the Sannin, and my former students, are your godparents. I find that funny, but understandable. Minato and Jiraya, student and teacher, were very close, as well as Tsunade and Kushina. Tsunade was your mother's midwife and helped bring you into this world, since the circumstances of your birth were special. I should probably send them a message about you." Sarutobi said out loud,"You need to have someone special people in your life. I could see if they would be willing to spend some time with you on and off. What do you think, Naruto?"
Smiling excitedly, Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Now since that's all over with and sorted out, why don't we go get lunch at Ichiraku's and get you that new scroll?" the old man grinned at the boy, standing up. Naruto jumped up at the chance to go get ramen, setting Ijirashi down quickly. "Yeah! Let's go, Oji-san!" Chuckling, Sarutobi took Naruto's hand and they started out of the house, the cherry-blossom's petals blowing around them.
Okay, thank you for reading the first chapter of my untitled story. Oh and up at the top I was serious about the name thingy. Please PM me if a name strikes you out of no where, I would be very happy to be able to name my story. It has a mind of it's own as of now, so I don't know what to call it.
Thank you for your time, and the next update will happen soon hopefully!