Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I do own my OC and plot line.
'This is Konoha huh? Doesn't look like much,' were the thoughts of a young woman as she strolled along the road that leads to the Hokage Tower. She stood out from the crowd because, despite it being a bright and sunny day, she was wearing a black hooded cloak that covered her form entirely. 'I can't believe I had to come all the way here from Kiri just to beg for asylum because of Yagura. That punk should be kissing my feet for everything I've done for him but instead he has the entire village try to kill me just because of my bloodlines, the nerve of that guy...'
"I didn't even get to eat lunch," she whined to herself while her stomach roared loudly, scaring a small group of kids nearby. 'Anyway I wonder how I should try to get asylum and some free food. Maybe I should play the young kunoichi without a home approach, or maybe I could try bargaining with him; valuable info on Kiri for safety.'
While she was going through different approaches she quickly arrived at the Tower and requested a meeting with the Hokage. Luckily for her the Hokage was in his office and was free for another hour so she was quickly led to the old man's office. Once her escort left she lowered her hood revealing her beautiful heart-shaped face, piercing grey eyes and her long electric blue hair that was styled in a high ponytail with bangs framing either side of her face.
"Who are you and what business do you have with me?" the old man asked, getting straight to the point.
"My name is Akari Tsukino; I'm a jōnin-ranked kunoichi for hire, sir. I've come to ask for asylum within the Land of Fire," she replied, seeing no point in lying to one of the most powerful and experienced shinobi in the world.
"For what reason?" he replied.
"I was employed by the Fourth Mizukage for sometime but this morning he tried to assassinate me. I believe it is because he fears my kekkai genkai," she explained calmly. "I'm concerned that he will continue to pursue me and..."
"And you came here hoping to get the strongest of the five major villages to defend you by joining Konoha's forces," he finished for her.
"Not exactly," she stated, surprising the Hokage that he got it wrong. "Don't get me wrong, I am looking to be protected from Kiri however I have no intention of joining the ranks of any village. Being tied down to once place doesn't appeal to me."
"Then what reason would I have to grant you asylum?" he questioned.
"I have classified info on Kirigakure such as movements in other, smaller, countries as well as the location of their two jinchūriki," Akari answered swiftly. The Hokage went silent and she could see that the gears were turning in his mind.
"Which kekkai genkai do you have?" he asked after a few minutes of silence, she was taken aback by the sudden and, seemingly, unrelated question but recovered quickly.
"I have the Poison Release and Dragon Release," she answered and couldn't help but smirk when the old man's eyes widened. "I see you've heard of one, if not both, of those."
"As a child I heard of the clan that possessed the Dragon Release from Hashirama-sensei and Tobirama-sensei," he reminisced. "They said that, in the era before shinobi villages, members of that clan were the only ones who could stand on even footing against the Uchiha or Senju. However the members of that clan owned their own territory that was prosperous so they never needed to work as mercenaries like other clans of that era thus there was hardly any conflict between them and other clans."
"I also have complete mastery over both of my bloodlines, if you were wondering," she said while the Hokage went silent once more.
"I have a proposal for you Tsukino-san," he said after a few moments. "I'll grant you asylum within the Land of Fire in exchange for all information you have on Kirigakure and that you will send a monthly report directly to me so that I can keep track of your whereabouts. And you will return to Konoha if the acting Hokage requests you to."
"Agreed," Akari said cheerfully while smiling.
"Good. Now, I want you to report all the information you have Kirigakure after you're done I'll sort out your travelling documents and arrange a hotel for you to stay at, you must be exhausted," he said with a warm smile on his face. The blue-haired girl nodded and began her report.
-Meanwhile-
Five year old Naruto Uzumaki was wandering aimlessly around Konoha like he always did if he wasn't planning/pulling a prank. He looked around at the villagers that crowded the street and was met with the same hate filled glares that were constantly directed at him. He couldn't figure out why the entire village, save for a handful of people, hated him. Sure he pulled a lot of pranks but the glares were there before he even thought of pulling pranks, hell, the only reason he started pulling pranks on people was because society isolated him and he wanted to be acknowledged.
'Why do they hate me? What did I ever do to them?' He thought while staring at the ground as he walked. Suddenly he stopped and looked up with determination burning in his eyes. 'It doesn't matter. When I join the Ninja Academy in a few months I'll start training to be a powerful shinobi and I'll make those stupid villagers respect me. Wait a minute...'
"I'm an idiot!" Naruto suddenly shouted loudly. He got odd looks from some of the villagers but the majority just ignored him, thinking it was some sort of trick to gain attention. 'Why do I have to wait till I start the academy I'm sure the old man must have some jutsu he can teach me now or at least some training methods.'
The boy quickly took off in the direction of the Hokage Tower, eager to start preparations for his ninja career and he wasn't going to let anyone stop him.
-With Akari and the Hokage-
"And that's the last of the info I have on Kiri, sir," Akari concluded.
"Thank you the information you have provided is definitely going to be of some use," the old man replied. "I'll prepare your travelling papers and they should be ready for you tomorrow."
"Thanks Hokage-sama, if you no longer need anything from me I think I'll be going..."
"Actually I have a request."
"Request?"
"Yes. I want you take a child called Naruto Uzumaki with you when you leave the village," he said seriously.
"Why?" Akari asked curiously.
"He is the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi and he has been ostracized by the entire village except for me and a handful of other people. I fear that his growth as a shinobi will be stunted due to many of the instructors at the academy fearing that if Naruto gets stronger so will Kyūbi."
"Why me? Surely there must be other alternatives for a teacher."
"There are but you are the only without other obligations within the village. If you take him with you, you will be able to keep him away from the villagers and their hate until I need you to return to Konoha which could be years from when he leaves."
"You do realize that he won't have a normal childhood if he's with me."
"Yes but he'll have a worse one if he stays here in Konoha," he said solemnly.
"Fine, I'll take him with me however I want two things in return," she answered.
"What?"
"One, I want funding for his training."
"I'll have a sum of money dispatched to you each month as soon as I receive your monthly report."
"Good. The second thing I want is...a meal that you will pay for," she said before her stomach roared loudly and she laughed sheepishly causing the Sandaime to sweat drop.
This is the scene young Naruto ran in on as he burst into the room with the receptionist yelling behind him.
"Hey old man, teach me some jutsu so I get a head start in the academy!" the blonde yelled, completely ignoring Akari.
"Hey you little brat leave the Hokage alone he's in the middle of a meeting!" the receptionist yelled at the kid.
"It's ok please return to your tasks," the Hokage said. Nodding the receptionist left closing the door behind her. "Naruto I can't teach you jutsu."
"Huh, why not?" the little boy asked as tears began to form in his eyes.
"Because you're going away to train with your new sensei tomorrow," the old man replied with a smile.
"Who? Are they an awesome ninja?" the hyperactive kid asked excitedly.
"It's this young woman in front of you," he said gesturing to Akari who smiled warmly at him.
"She doesn't look like much," Naruto said flatly.
"What'd you say you little punk!" she shouted at him in fury.
"I said you don't look like much," he retorted while a vein popped on Akari's forehead.
"Oh yeah then I guess you don't want me to take you out of the village for top-secret ninja training," she said flippantly.
"I'm sorry I take it back, please train me," Naruto started begging.
"I don't know. Maybe if you do something for me I'll say yes."
"I'll do anything just name it!" he shouted desperately, as soon as those words left his mouth he could have sworn he saw an evil glint in her eyes and a sense of foreboding wash over him.
"Anything?" the blue haired woman asked; her voice underlying evil.
"Y-Yes."
"Take me somewhere which serves good food," she groaned as her stomach roared yet again, instantly Naruto's eyes lit up.
"We should go to Ichiraku Ramen Bar!" he shouted enthusiastically.
"Ok take me there and we'll both grab a bite to eat, Hokage-sama is paying," she said before letting Naruto lead her to the ramen bar with Hiruzen following at a more leisurely pace.
By the time the Hokage arrived at Ichiraku's both Naruto and his new sensei had already wolfed down five bowls of ramen each and were working on the sixth.
"About time...you showed up...old man," Naruto said as he ate his noodles.
"You're still paying...right Hokage-sama?" Akari asked for confirmation as she too ate her noodles. He nodded and both student and sensei cheered and ordered another bowl each.
The trio stayed at the ramen bar for a few more bowls before Naruto and Akari ditched the Hokage, who had to pay for the two gluttons' meals as well as his own. Akari walked Naruto home but upon seeing the state of his apartment instantly decided she was going to let her student stay in a place as unsanitary as that. She had him pack everything he needed and then together they found a decent hotel for the night and booked a suite and told the receptionist to charge the overpriced fee to the Hokage before going straight to their suite.
"Can you believe the nerve of that guy," Akari complained as she led her pupil to their suite. "With the amount he charged us we could probably get a penthouse suite in the best hotel in all of Fire country."
"I'm sorry sensei it's my fault," Naruto said dejectedly as he followed her. Instantly she stopped, turned and knelt so she was eye level with him and grabbed his shoulders.
"Listen to me carefully Naruto. It's not your fault it's that guy's, you did nothing wrong. Understand?"
"Yes sensei," he said while nodding.
"Good," she said with a smile before continuing to their suite.
After dumping Naruto's stuff into the suite Akari proceeded to take him shopping for supplies that they would need such as kunai, shuriken, blank scrolls, spare clothes and food. She also bought him mesh armour to wear under his clothes and a cloak similar to her own.
-The next day-
"Where are we going to go Akari-sensei?" Naruto asked as they walked away from Konoha.
"We're going to go to some of the villages and towns near the borders. We should be far enough from any ninja villages that we can start your training without them noticing."
"Are you gonna teach me a super-awesome-jutsu?" he asked excitedly.
"Not immediately. First we're gonna work on developing your body and chakra control, after that...I don't really have any idea," she said sheepishly while scratching the back of her head.
"Are you kidding me?! You're supposed to be my teacher and you don't know what you're going to teach me?!" the blonde shouted at her.
"Hey can you blame me? You're my first student!" Akari yelled back before composing herself. "Besides I'll probably come up with an idea by the time we reach the first town."
"Baka-sensei," Naruto muttered quietly.
"What did you call me?!" she screamed at him while punching him on the top of his head causing a large lump to form
A/N: That's concludes the prologue, I hope you enjoyed it. This is my first time writing a fan fiction so I would appreciate any feedback you can give, negative or positive.
I haven't decided on a pairing for Naruto in this story yet so you can tell me in a review or private message if there is a specific pairing you like. I don't really mind making this a harem fic either so feel free to list any girls you would like to be Naruto in a review or private message. I would like it if you could give a reason for the girl/s you suggest as well as an idea on how I could introduce them into the story, you don't have to if you don't want to.
The only pairings that I refuse to include are Sakura and/or Hinata (I feel that both are overused to the extent that it borders on ridiculous and, personally, I don't think either would be a good match for Naruto in this story) or any yaoi pairings (I don't have anything against you if you like that I just personally don't like it).
Something else you should know is that I'm not entirely sure how often I'll be able to update. I'm aiming for once a week but school and social life will probably make it more like once every two or three if not more but I'll try my hardest to update as soon as possible.
Next time: Naruto returns to Konoha after seven years.