Chapter One: Farewell Youth

When the sun fell against the horizon and dipped under to blanket the sky in indigo and navy, six year-old Uzumaki Naruto felt his breath leave his lungs in both awe and wonder. He was always fascinated by the sunset and how it hushed the bustling village in the distance. Konoha was a massive village spanning several thousand acres of real estate, divided into rings and subdivisions.

Young Naruto's humble abode was a few miles away from the great village's center, but he could see it coming to life against the night. His apartment was small, military-owned and managed, granted to him as a ward of Konoha since no family seemed to want to take him in. Not that Naruto minded anyway. He'd always been alone, but at least now the kids in the orphanage couldn't make fun of him. Or call him 'youma' like the adults did when they thought he wasn't listening.

The residence was usually quiet during the day, but it was in the middle of the Akaseno, so the real raucous action didn't start until the sun went down. Festivities that the Hokage had made sure to tell Naruto he was "Far too young to take part in". Just a block away from his apartment, the heart of the Akaseno was coming to life with the sounds of heavy music, happy voices and flashing neon lights that danced this way and that, battling with the last vestiges of daylight.

Snapping out of the trance the lights and music lulled him into, Naruto went back through his evening stretches. He would be starting his new life tomorrow morning, and the Hokage did say it was good to keep the muscles limber by stretching often. Having overlooked his past juvenile indiscretions to give him a chance at becoming a ninja was more than the boy could dream, and he didn't want to spoil it by not taking the venerated leader's advice.

Around set twelve of his exercise, he could start making out stars in the night sky. He stopped for a breather and rolled over in his bed, barely making out the calendar on his wall with the days crossed off with a red marker and tomorrow's date circled in blue. Briefly glancing at the shadows that fell over the empty ramen cups littering his floor with a child's smile, he eventually drifted off.

He dreamt of noodles, of rice cakes and rivers of ramen soup. Unaware all the time of the tumultuous chakra snapping and crackling beneath the seal on his belly.

And then morning dawned just atop the trees, bathing the horizon in a warm orange glow.

A sharp bark echoed outside his bedside window. Naruto didn't jolt awake; rather, his eyes slid open to the now soothing music and gentle voices further down the block. A morning scowl crossed his bleary features briefly as he rolled off his bed and stumbled along the darkness of his apartment to the bathroom.

Six A.M.

A lone kunai hung by a string on the back of the door, swaying from side to side. Even at first glance the kunai had a strange appearance. This kunai had three blades, and a piece of paper with odd writings wrapped around a red handle; a gift from the Hokage for Naruto's surprisingly easy entry into the academy, two full years earlier than most children could boast. The Hokage did say that he was going to be the youngest to enter the academy in several years.

Naruto stood to face his mirror as the toilet bowl flushed beside him, mentally checking through the routine the caretaker had put him through the week before when he had been placed here. She was only around for three days, but already the information was lodged deep inside his mind. Not many people took the time to teach him, other than the Hokage, and certainly not the caregivers at the orphanage, so he made sure to commit her every word to memory as best he could.

"Best start when you're young." She'd said and he repeated, doing his best to imitate the old, gingerly arthritic woman, with a sly little grin.

A few minutes later he walked out of his bathroom, dressed with clothes he'd laid out on the counter the night before, feeling refreshed and more awake than when he went in. His cupboards were not bare, but there were cups of ramen which he adored, so he filled three with water and put them one by one in his microwave until they were all done.

In the meantime Naruto eagerly and happily went over the pre-academy pamphlets, which were—unbeknownst to him—woefully out of date, trying to memorize the information about what kunai, shuriken, and jutsu were. This was of course made easier by the pictures and diagrams on the pages.

After eating his breakfast, he grabbed his keys and headed out the door, sparing his new apartment one last happy smile before departing, assured that his first day was already off to a pleasant start.

The seal on his stomach pulsed orange before settling. It never bothered the blond boy even once.

Hiruzen let the image in his crystal ball fade, and with it the light which plunged his office back into the dark. He'd been considering the ramifications of letting Naruto attend the academy this early, and thus far none of the problems he'd anticipated were coming up. It was at least a month since the council meeting and no one had approached him about it, which left him a bit disturbed by how simple it all was. In fact, looking a little closer at how withdrawn his colleagues were that morning, the whole affair was peculiar.

Though he couldn't argue with the results, there was a nagging suspicion in the back of his mind, and Hiruzen learned a long time ago to follow that instinct. Like a disturbance on the surface of a pond, Hiruzen felt the ripple of his visitor's chakra a few moments before the knock came at the door.

"You may enter."

"Sensei." said a deep voice, very curt and short. Inside stepped a very tall younger man with long, bleach white hair, yet looking very much as if he'd been rolling around in dirt for some time. His brow was beaded with sweat, his face drawn and haggard as if he had sprinted here.

"Jiraiya-kun, what brings you here?"

"Oh, this and that." The man called Jiraiya intoned dismissively, waving his hand. He slumped his shoulders, rolling the large three foot scroll off his back and leaning it against an adjacent wall. "How're things on the home front, sensei?" he said, taking a comfortable seat on the arm chair next to the window.

"As well as can be expected with my advisers and other interested parties vying for position behind my back."

All at once Jiraiya felt a rush of relief and concern. Relief that he didn't ever decide to become Hokage, and worry over his sensei. The man was far too old for this these days. "Politics," The toad sage grunted, adjusting his posture. "Never been a fan, myself."

"So you say. Under most circumstances I would probably be fine, but the old hawk has been running me ragged these past few weeks."

"Trouble with Ne?" Jiraiya peeked at him out the corner of his eye as he rubbed his sore calves.

"You could say that." Sarutobi sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. "They've been getting closer to some sensitive assets that I don't want him near. I have some leeway, but I cannot do it all."

"Assets such as . . . ?"

Hiruzen's eyes snapped open tiredly. "Well Uzumaki Naruto, for one." He didn't miss the way his student's eyes narrowed and his posture straightened. "He wants him for personalized training. He doesn't have many followers considering how much they fear it escaping but he's swaying them. Slowly but surely."

"He can't have Naruto." said Jiraiya firmly, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"That may not be up to you." Hiruzen admitted. "Last month one of his agents got too close, and started talking to the boy. One of mine reported it to me, and I took action. I enrolled him in the academy."

Jiraiya stared at him. "Yeah, two years early. I knew something was up when I heard, and now I'm here."

"You know how difficult it is to surprise me. I assumed that the information network was your love child."

Jiraiya chuckled. "When you live this long in this profession, and you lose more than you thought you would, a love child is the very last thing on your mind, sensei."

Hiruzen gave him a pitying look, touched with disappointment. "It has been rough lately, I will grant you that. But the past is past. All we can do is move forward with purpose." Pausing when Jiraiya looked away, his expression slackened. If he could go back and tell his past self that it would not be Orochimaru that would become his confidant but Jiraiya . . .

"How is the kid?"

A strained sigh followed.

"Lonely. Trying anything and everything to make friends. The adults pretend he doesn't exist, or keep their children away from him like he's diseased."

Jiraiya scowled. "Well you should never have told anyone what happened that night."

"What would you have had me do, ignore Minato's wishes and just make Naruto a nameless orphan?"

"Yes!" said Jiraiya, his voice raised a bit, dark eyes glinting like a blade of a polished kunai. "At least then he would have been safe. Onoki and the Raikage already know about Naruto."

Sarutobi Hiruzen had never looked so old.

So tired.

"Maybe I should have." he admitted.

"What's past is past, sensei." Jiraiya used his former sensei's words with an uncomfortable grunt.

Hiruzen nodded absently. "He wants to be Hokage, you know."

"Who doesn't?" snorted Jiraiya.

"Indeed. However..." he trailed off, unsure of how to tell Jiraiya what he wanted to.

The toad hermit raised a brow. "However, what?"

Hiruzen sighed, sliding his hands over his face and rubbing his eyes. "There was another reason I enrolled Naruto early. and not just because of the old hawk."

"The kid's not a genius," Jiraiya deadpanned with a snort. "I've seen the his school records."

Shaking his head, Hiruzen interlaced his fingers behind his head, elbows on the desk. "That still remains to be seen. Many of us do not achieve greatness until we mature. Nevertheless, it appears that he has a knack for the surprising everyone, and somehow managed to get into a scuffle with some other boys last month."

"Kids fight." he shrugged in nonchalance.

"Not like Naruto." Hiruzen rumbled gently, almost absently. His gaze was distant.

Jiraiya perked up, interested. "Meaning...?"

"He fought genin." Hiruzen clarified, still wistful. "Rookies, of course. But he fought."

"No way." Jiraiya breathed in exultation.

Hiruzen slid one of the files on his desk over to Jiraiya. The man rifled through the pages in new interest, a wry grin on his face. "Apparently he was able to fight them to a standstill."

"Any idea what caused the fight?"

The old Hokage hesitated, nervously recalling a certain incident in which his hair had been dyed bright orange. He never did manage to nab the culprit, however. "Naruto can be... impulsive and rash when-."

"When he's excited." Jiraiya finished for him, still smiling. The report had said that the genin weren't hurt too badly, but though there wouldn't be any visible, lasting scars, surely their pride would be wounded for quite some time. "The kid's a natural then, just like Minato."

Hiruzen cleared his throat, shaking his head. "Perhaps in some ways, though his temperament is more like his mother." he said, shivering a bit when he remembered how she'd been with Minato and other kids their age. The poor boys never stood a chance. "I figured it would be prudent to focus that aggression properly."

Jiraiya frowned when he happened upon something in the file. "His medical records say he didn't get a single scratch? He's that good?"

"Unlikely." Hiruzen denied. "He's had no formal training unless you count watching a few chuunin run drills 'training'."

"It can be." If he was a visual learner in some sense. It wasn't likely; the boy was probably a more kinesthetic learner like his mother, but perhaps he'd picked up some visual ability from his father? Jiraiya put the file down and closed it. "Anything else?"

"I was going to attend Naruto-kun's inauguration this morning. He doesn't have anyone else to see him off, and it would do some good for him to have some support today, even if it is not official."

Though unsaid, the intent in Hiruzen's voice was nonetheless clear. "What are you waiting here for?"

The day started off with a chill. The skies were cold and gray, and there was a subtle scent of freshly fallen leaves in the air. The precarious echo of thunder rumbled above. Training and recess areas outside the schools-the academy included-were probably deserted, and teachers would still be teaching their lessons despite the hard wind.

Naruto walked on, spinning the kunai in his hand along the loop to get used to the weight. It came in the kit given to him for orientation, and he spent the better part of a week learning how to handle it without nicking his fingers. As usual his gaze was pointed high in the sky, watching the approaching storm that, in Hi no Kuni, usually lasted several days or more at a time. The humidity of the fire country sometimes created irregular storms on harsh early mornings such as this.

The streets were still sparse when he sauntered through the marketplace. The world seemed to move in slow motion when he passed by mirrors with his reflection staring back at him with half-broken smiles like the remnants of a dream he had yet to awaken from. Most of the shops were empty and felt empty as well, but it was still early.

Down the street, his eyes happened upon a two-story building standing on its last legs on the corner of two connected blocks, presenting a tall, imposing front.

'The orphanage.'

His memories replayed some of his worst nightmares in that place. Surely his caretakers in there hadn't noticed his absence the past month, and would likely delight in his lack of presence. Their cantankerous, nasally voices echoed in the hollows of his mind, repeating like the dissonant till of cackling hyenas over and over again.

The front door opened, and children began to come out one after another. Some grouped together and some walked alone, but none of them ever looked his way. He was truly invisible to them; their ghost and watcher. It was only twenty minutes into his walk that it began to drizzle again.

Naruto heaved a sigh and ducked into one of the cafés on the corner, away from the tumultuous wind and the light rain. Inside it was warm and cozy, small like a quaint cottage hidden away from the main road. It was quiet save for the sounds of the coffee machines and the few scattered murmurs from a couple of the civilians present. Naruto sat in one of the booths and looked out the window up at the sky. Bathed in hues of orange against grey clouds, even the sun had a spectacular beauty that captured his interest.

"What'll ya have?" the waitress that suddenly appeared said, looking bleary-eyed and tired.

Naruto blinked up at her, expecting some kind of frown to form on her face, but it seemed that for the moment, she didn't recognize him. "Tea?"

The girl sauntered away with a brief nod and disappeared in the back. It was fortunate that Naruto had some money. Being in an orphanage he rarely ventured far from it, so he never spent the weekly stipends, and the yearly birthday money the Hokage saw fit to appease him with he didn't spend much of either. He never had to worry often about going hungry, at least. Considering the nasty weather though, he was probably due for a new, clean coat.

Pushing the thought of his former life to the back of his mind, Naruto ignored the pestering reminder of his the early hour with what was now practiced ease. He was happy enough to be able to pursue his dream, with no longer the distraction of civilian schooling to deter him. He needed to find some way of thanking the kind old Hokage for his support.

The waitress came back with his hot tea and a carefully neutral smile playing at her lips. The look she gave him however, was indifferent. Any optimism he might have had about her being a benevolent teenage girl immediately wilted in the face of her dispassionate gaze. Once again he was left alone to people watch as he sipped his tea. Either no one in the café noticed he was there yet, or they were doing a very fine job of pretending they didn't. At any rate, he certainly wouldn't let it ruin his mood.

He kept watch of the sky outside as the second storm unfolded. It rolled over the far mountains beyond the Hokage monument and crept across the forests surrounding Konoha until it stumbled against the nearby rooftops. He let his mind take him to another place and another time. His imagination ran wild as he thought about the founding of Konoha and the Hokage, momentum granted by the required reading for orientation. It made sense to make a village out here. Hidden in the deep forest, the hidden leaf was a difficult village to find for any foreign interlopers. Though he had to wonder about the many Nukenin that Konoha produced that perhaps may have sold secrets to neighboring villages. He wondered briefly, if he would be suited for the Hunter Nin profession. Could he slay traitors for the good of the village? That morbid thought gave way to a new train of thought. One he hoped he wouldn't have to think about for some time.

He shook his head to dispel the dour thoughts and glanced at the clock on the wall. Seven-thirty already? This place is really nice, I almost forgot what I was doing. But I should get going. Naruto let out a mild sigh and stood up, exiting the cafe in a dash and leaving money with a hefty tip on the table.

Naruto made it to the academy grounds and bent over, hands on his knees, his breathing harsh and ragged. Having run so far, so fast was a new experience.

The academy wasn't grandiose or imposing. But to a six year-old boy with big dreams, it was a towering red beacon that symbolized the first step toward his dreams.

Down the street, the tenuous sound of approaching footsteps echoed off the walls. Up above, the sky split in two, and a beam of sunlight lit the symbol of fire emblazoned on a rune atop the tower. A few seconds later, the voices accompanying the footsteps came closer, with parents and children filing through the opening in the school's high concrete archway. They lined up alongside one another, and though Naruto felt a pang of jealousy seeing his soon-to-be peers happy with their parents, he knew one day the whole village would look up to him as their leader, just like the previous Hokage.

Chapter 2: Kurama and Hagoromo