Chapter 1

Naruto was not normal. Never had been, never will be. He knew that, had come to live with it. Liked it, even. Liked the fact that he was distinctly different from everybody since he could remember, he had memories of people telling him he was special, that he should be proud that he stood out in such a way. That, no matter what, he would always be in a different category.

But as he sat on the tree swing outside the Academy, watching parents greet other children, and congratulate them for graduating, listening to their promises of a reward, their whisperings of 'monster' and 'demon' as they looked over at him in disgust, Naruto couldn't help but think that he wasn't special, that his difference from everybody else wasn't something to be proud of, but that he was a monster, a failure, a demon.

Dull blue eyes fixed on the brooding figure of Uchiha Sasuke as he walked away from the playground, ignoring the squealing girls running after him. Naruto took a deep breath and smiled slightly at the sight before sighing and preparing to get up, not wanting to watch the families anymore. Before he could do so though, a heavy hand landed on his left shoulder.

Frowning, Naruto tilted his head back to look at whoever it was touching him. He wasn't used to human contact, and so the touch startled him, but gazing up at the face above him, Naruto felt his surprise rise and his suspicion start to surface at the face of one of his teachers, Mizuki-Sensei.


The Hokage looked up from his crystal ball as the door to his office slammed open. Uzumaki Naruto walked through it, carrying the scroll of sealing in his arms. The huge scroll hid most of Naruto's small body from Hiruzen's sight, and the old man had to keep in a chuckle at the sight.

Naruto pluncked the huge scroll on the Hokage's desk, slouching back into the chair behind him as he rubbed his arms to get the feeling back in them after carrying the heavy thing for so long.

"He told me that I'm the Kyuubi." The blond said dully. "Why would he tell me that?"

Hiruzen heaved a sigh and settled back into his chair, ready to give the young boy a talk he had prepared to give for many years.

"Nearly 12 years ago, on October 10th, the Kyuubi appeared. He didn't reach Konoha, but the fox caused great damage to many smaller towns in Fire country. He had hardly reached Konoha's gates when the Yondaime appeared on a giant toad, carrying a small baby. That baby was you, Naruto. A Bijuu is impossible to kill, but they can be sealed. They can only be sealed in humans, and the younger they are, the less chance of their being too many side effects there are. These people are called Jinchuuriki. The Kyuubi was sealed into you on the night of your birth, Naruto, by the Yondaime Hokage."

"Why would the Yondaime Hokage seal the Kyuubi into me? How did he find a baby that was born to the exact needs that he needed? Why did he chose me?"

Hiruzen breathed through his nose, hoping he would have been able to stop the conversation there, not having thought he would have to tell the young Uzumaki this until he was much older.

"Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, was your father."

Naruto stared at the old man, the information slowly connecting to other pieces in his mind, as if they were puzzle pieces - why he looked so much like the Yondaime, why some of the ANBU kept looking at him as if he couldn't be real (he supposed that that was because their Yondaime had an Heir), but it didn't explain why the villagers hated him. Naruto didn't understand - if he was the child of their beloved Yondaime, why would they hate him, even if he did have the Kyuubi sealed inside him.

"What?" The Sandaime's steady gaze landed on the young blond, and sighing, Hiruzen continued to explain.

"You mother, Uzumaki Kushina, was the previous Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Kushina came from Uzushoigakure. Her great aunt was Uzumaki Mito, the wife of the Shodaime Hokage. Uzumaki's were the rulers of Uzushoigakure, and your mother was from the royal line. They also had special chakra, something that enabled all Uzumaki's to be the best choice to hold large amounts of chakra - specifically, tailed beasts. Kushina, your mother, also had this, and so was chosen to be the second Jinchuriki for the Kyuubi. Kushina was able to use a special jutsu called 'Chakra Chains' and in the fight against the Kyuubi, helped your father to subdue the fox. You inherited this special chakra, and as you get older, should be able to utilise it more easily. I have books that I can give you to help. . .

"Anyway, during pregnancy, your mother's seal weakened. You were born in a safe house on the outskirts of Konoha for safety reasons, with two nurses, one of whom was my wife, Biwako, and two squads of your fathers highly trusted ANBU. I am unsure as to what happened next, but what I do know is that the Kyuubi was released, and rampaged through the Fire country. I, myself, as well as many others were sent to the front lines to hold him off for Minato-kun. When he did, he appeared on one of his toad summons, Gamabunta. As you know, he was carrying you, his hour old son. He gave his life sealing the Kyuubi into you to save his village.

"As to why he chose you - well, would he rather condemn his own son, who he could believe in, that he loved unconditionally, that he could always trust, to be a hero, the one person to look after Konoha for the rest of his life, or some baby that he had never met, someone that he couldn't trust to always look after this village. Minato-kun had always beleived that his child would always love his home, even if they didn't particularly like the people."

Hiruzen sighed once again and leaned forward so that he could place his elbows on his desk, steepling his fingers and resting his chin on them, peering at Naruto from under his hat.

"Why wasn't I told this? And if I was to be hailed a hero, why was my childhood like it was?" Naruto was glaring at him, and Hiruzen sighed, preparing to tell Naruto how much he had interfered with his life.

"I didn't want to tell you until I believed you were ready, but lately, it has been my own cowerdice. No one else has said anything because of a law I put up the day after your fathers funeral, forbidding anyone of speaking of it on threat of death. As to your childhood, I can't say I know all that has been done to you, Naruto. I have tried my best to make it as nice as possible for you, but I suppose my plan for that failed. Naruto, you haven't been hailed a hero because no one knows who your father is apart from those that knew Kushina was pregnant. I have to admit, that that is most of the older Jounin and ANBU, but not many younger than 20 know about you being a Namikaze. Most people see you as the Kyuubi, not Naruto, someone who is himself. Civilians can't tell the difference between a scroll and the kunai sealed inside it. Children have grown up being told to stay away from you. And it is mostly my fault. For that, Naruto, I am sorry." Hiruzen didn't take his unblinking gaze away from the small boy in front of him, and his eyes saddened when he spotted tears dripping from the suddenly cloudy blue eyes.

"You kept this from me. Kept who my family is, my father, my mother. You kept what is sealed inside me a secret form ME, the one person who deserves to know more than anyone else. You didn't tell me why the villagers hate me, why they call me monster and demon, why they hit me, mug me, keep me from buying nearly anything but basic supplies. You kept from me a secret that half the village already know." Naruto was keeping his anger inside, but Hiruzen could see it bubbling to the surface like a witches couldron.

Naruto stood up abruptly, and held out his hand.

"I'll take those books of my mothers, now please, and then take my leave."

Wordlessly, not able to deny the blond this, Hiruzen got up from his comfy chair and walked over to his bookcase, using a handsign to dispel the slight genjutsu placed over it. He pulled down seven leather-bound books, the smallest one no bigger than a diary and the other longer than his arm.

"Here you are, Naruto-kun. I hope you enjoy learining more about your family."

Naruto took the books, almost stumbling at the weight of some of them, but gave the Hokage a polite nod and walked over to the door, stopping just before he walked out.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama.


Naruto gasped, sitting up sharply. He looked around frantically, not recognising the place he was in. It was a sewer, long dark hallways stretching out all around him. He could hear the drip, drip of water somewhere in the distance. When he stood up, the water on the floor reached his mid-calf.

"Where am I?" He whispered, his eyes darting everywhere, trying to see where he was. His eyes sharpened when a light turned on at the end of the hall directly in front of him. He swallowed, still not sure of where he was. He idly wondered if some of the villagers had kidnapped him and dumped him somewhere he had never even heard of before again.

Chewing on his inner cheek nervously, Naruto slowly ventured down the hallway that the light was in, cautiously putting his legs into the water as he went, not wanting to risk using chakra in case someone had something to repress it. It had happened before, and he had to stay in bed for a week because of the back lash.

He stopped when he reached a set of floor-to-ceiling bars, as if they were trapping something. There was a piece of paper in the middle of the bars, an elaborate seal painted onto it. Naruto squinted up at it, trying to see which seals were used on it to make it what it was.

"Puny human." An old, gravely voice came from the back of the room behind the bars.

"Who's there?!" Naruto shouted, curling a fist in preparation of a fight. He didn't know what the voice came from, nor did he know if it was hostile, so preparing himself for a fight seemed like the best option.

"Heh, heh, heh . . ." The voice sounded again.

Red eyes appeared in the otherwise endless black beyond the bars, glinting in the poor lighting coming from behind Naruto. The blond took a large step back, wanting to back away from the line of sight of those eyes.

Slowly, the eyes came closer, until Naruto could see the outline of a body. A fury body. The closer it came, the more distinct it was. Soon, a large, long body came into view.

A large fox, a shiny red coat of fur, two glinting red eyes and nine large tail fanning out behind it.

"Kyuubi. . ."


On the day the new genins were to find out their teams, Naruto arrived before anyone else. He got there before the teacher, even. Settling down at the back near the windows, Naruto pulled out an old, leather bound book refusing to stay full closed. There were tons of papers sticking out of it, making the book thicker than it actually was.

Naruto had been reading this book for a little over a day now, and had early on realised that the words written on the actual pages of the books were his mothers, and the words on the papers stuffed in the book were his fathers.

His mothers extensive writings started the day she arrived in Konoha, her days in the academy, her genin team. Then her kidnapping by Kumo, how his father rescued her and what happened after. Her chunnin exams and then her jounin exams and then her wedding. Then her pregnancy, how she was stuck on the missions desk for the first five months of it and then her adventures in the village for the other four.

Then his fathers, random, short but detailed, descriptions starting with how he saved his mother. Written flashbacks about his day as a genin under Jiraya, a few about his academy years. About how he became a chunnin and then a jounin soon after, getting his own genin a few months after that. Only one genin to begin with, though. Hatake Kakashi. And then two others. Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin - a girl from a branch family of the Inuzuaka's. His part in the third shinobi war, how Obito died during the destruction of the Kannabi bridge. How Kakashi got the one of the boys Sharingan eyes. How he got his name as the Yellow flash. How excited he was when he learned of his mothers pregnancy. How he planned for nearly the entire nine months so that things would be perfect. How his name came from his Godfather's - Jiraiya of the Sannin's - first book. How his Godmother was Tsunade Senju, another of the Legendary Sannin, a distant cousin of Naruto's apparently, through his mother. How he prepared the seals to help contain Kyuubi, who his mother was holding at the time - apparently, the seal weakened during pregnancy. And then the fun his mother and father had.

There were also jutsu's. Brilliant jutsu's, written in great detail with explanations on everything and how it works and how he can do it and pictures to help and diagrams and charts to help him understand.

And there were letters to him, asking him how he was and explaining things that only a parent could explain to their child. As he read through them, often going back again and again, so often that he was barely even a quarter of the way through reading it, to re-read what his parents had written, to know that two people loved him for no reason what so ever.

When other newly graduated genin started filing in, sometimes alone, often in groups of two's or three's, at the door, they all stopped and stared in shock at the sight that greeted them in the classroom. The bright, unruly blond hair that only belonged to one person in the entirety of the Elemental countries, only just seeable over a thick, leather books. Most of them blinked, and sat down in a seat quite a bit away from the boy, not really wanting to go near him.

Uchiha Sasuke walked through the door five minutes before they were supposed to arrive, not wishing to spend anymore time around fangirls than nesseccary,and immediatly looks around - discretely - spotting multiple fangirls, the occasional fanboy and a load of other people he did not want to sit next to. Then he spotted the blond, the boy that he had seen around the village a few times, the one he had seen nearly everyone avoid. Glancing around once more, and deciding that he seemed the best option to sit next to as other people seemed to just stay away from him.

Naruto looked up when Sasuke settled next to him, and Sasuke blinked in slight surprise at the sight of those blue, blue, soul searching eyes situated in the blonds still slightly child-chubby face. Sasuke noticed that the blond's face was much more mature than the rest of the class - bar his, of course. He is an Uchiha after all, and they only had chubby cheeks until the age of five.

Naruto cocked his head at the dark haired boy seated next to him, studying him slightly before he smiled slightly at the other boy before turning back to his books. He was just reaching a part where his mother told him about the Kyuubi.

Sasuke stopped the surprise showing on his face - an Uchiha rule; never show emotion unless extremely convenient - at the blatant honest of the smile and the hesitance that came with it. Sasuke knew the blond was the class dobe, and every other time he had seen him, the blond had been smiling a too big, too fake smile that Sasuke had never previously seen drop of his face for more than two minutes. And he has never seen the dobe read before; willingly. He knew that Naruto had been forced to before for school study. Sasuke had occasionally seen the blond and their instructor, Iruka-sensei sitting at the Ichiraku ramen stand or a park with the older male forcing the small blond to read a textbook.

Sasuke looked up when the door banged open and almost groaned when he saw two girls trying to force their way through the door at the same time. One had long pink hair hanging down past her shoulders and the other had long blond hair held up in a high ponytail.

"I got here first!"

"No, I did!"

"I did!"

"I did!"

The two girls continued to fight as they stumbled into the classroom. They only stopped when they spotted Sasuke sitting at the back of the classroom with one empty seat beside him. They completely ignored the blond boy sitting next to him with his face once again buried in his book. They both raced up to the last Uchiha still in Konoha, fighting over the seat once they got to the isle beside it.

"I got here first, so I get the seat!" Haruno Sakura, the pink haired girl, shouted, pushing the other girl out of the way.

"Sasuke like's me more, Forehead girl! So that means that I get to sit next to him! And I got here first!" The other girl, Yamanaka Ino, said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Naruto looked up when he heard the arguing, grabbing a piece of ribbon out of his pocket and using it as a bookmark before putting his book down. Glancing over at the two girls, he grimaced as he remembered some of their fights, and how hard Sakura could hit. He scooted away a bit, hoping they wouldn't see him and so she couldn't hit him. Her hits really hurt.

Iruka-sensei walked into the classroom seconds later, after the bell rang, and walked straight up to his desk, organising a stack of papers he had carried in with him, not even looking up at the class. When he had the papers stacked neatly on his desk, he turned around to face the classroom, just in time to see Sakura jump on Ino and start pulling the long hair.

"What are you doing?!" Iruka shouted, stalking up to the fighting pair and pulling them apart. "No fighting in the classroom!"

Sakura and Ino glanced at each other, obviously agreeing to agree to an excuse one of them was about to think up.

"Sorry, Sensei. We were practising, you know, being new Genins and all. We thought we'd need the practise."

Iruka looked at them through narrowed, suspicious eyes, judging them on their honesty. Not seeing any way to tell them off properly, and not wanting to as it was his last day with some of his students - and knowing these two, they were probably some of the ones he is unlikely to see in his classroom again.

"Alright then. Quickly find a seat."


It wasn't until much later, when the classroom was empty apart from three people that Naruto looked up from his book for the first time since his name and team placement was called out. Placing the piece of ribbon he used as a bookmark in between the pages, he closed the book and placed it in the pouch attached to his hip.

Looking up and observing the classroom, he saw Sasuke siting a few rows in front of him, gazing outside the window. Sakura was sat in the row in front of him, trying and failing to get his attention. Naruto had moved so that he was in the middle row of the classroom, preferring the rays of light that came through the large windows to the dark shadows of the back of the classroom where he was previously sitting.

. . .

Kakashi leaned against the wall next to the door of the classroom his possible new Genin were in. His precious orange book was held up in front of him, his eyes skimming the pages, not really concentrating on the words or the illustrations. He was concentrating on the sounds the three children were making, waiting for them to do something. He had expected at least one of them to do something - start screeching or screaming that he was late (actually, that had happened, but the too high-pitched girl's voice had been silenced before it could get past the 'he'), one of them setting up a prank (especially the little blond he knew was in there) or them leaving, thinking that he wouldn't show up. He expected any of those things, plus others, but he didn't expect to arrive at the classroom doorway and not hear anything but their breathing, a few grumbles every now and then and the turning of a page of a book from time to time.

Finally, three and a half hours after the appointed time of meeting, Kakashi walked the very short distance to stand in front of the door, and slowly opened it, enjoying the way it creaked ominously.

The last Uchiha looked up before he had even entered the room, and Kakashi observed that he had above average reflexes for someone of his status. The blond hadn't turned away from gazing out the window, and apart from the flicker of blue eyes over to him, Kakashi would have thought that his presence went unnoticed by the small boy. The pink haired girl, the only female on this possible squad, didn't even turn around from staring at the Uchiha until he'd stepped fully into the classroom and closed the door loudly behind him.

"Hello kiddies." He paused for a moment, looking around the room and peering at each child with exaggerated obviousness. "My first impression of you. . . your too different." He almost laughed at their confused faces. Almost.

. . .

Kakashi sighed as he leaned against the railing circling the rooftop. His three potential Genin had just arrived, and were sat on the set of steps in front of him.

"Ok, kiddies, let's introduce ourselves. Things like our names, likes, dislikes, hates, hobbies and dreams for the futures." He said lazily. He, of course, already knew all about the three children in front of him - at least, as much as their reports told him.

"Why don't you go first sensei? We know some things about each other, but we don't know anything about you." Pinkie said. Kakashi almost laughed at the look on Whiskers face - he knew the blonde knew him, and the child must have been confused as to why no one else here did.

He let out a put out sigh before answering the girl.

"Ahh, I suppose. Alright, I'm Hatake Kakashi, and I'm a jounin. I dislike a few things, hate a few more, and my likes . . . you're too young for that. My hobbies . . . Hmmm . . . you're too young for that, as well. As for my dreams - I don't have one."

Sakura stared at him in anger and surprise, but refrained from saying anything due to rank. Sasuke looked at him, his eyebrow raised a little bit. Naruto just stared at him, laughter in his eyes.

"Ok . . . Pinkie, you go first!" Kakashi said cheerfully. Said Pinkie glared at him, face going unattractively red.

"Alright, then." She huffed, turning her eyes away from the jounin. "I'm Haruno Sakura, and I'm a recently graduated Genin. I like Sakura tree's, books and. . ." She bit her lip, glancing over to Sasuke and blushing. "I don't like sweets, and I hate NARUTO!" She glared at the blond, who frowned over at her. Kakashi looked over at her disapprovingly. "I love. . ." She paused again, glancing back at the Uchiha, blushing even harder then before. "When I'm older, I want to. . ." Once more, she glanced at Sasuke, only this time a loud, ear piercing squeal accompanied the furious blush. "My hobbies are reading, going out with my friends and . . ." She licked her lips, looking over to Sasuke again, before looking away quickly, blushing.

Kakashi sweat dropped as he looked at the girl, studying her as she talked. She was of average size, in height and weight, with a fairly attractive face and large green eyes. Her hair, though, was a sickening shade of pink, and reached her mid-back. She was quite nice to look at, but that all went over the railing when she opened her mouth. Her voice was high and unpleasant, and the way she talked was much too arrogant for her looks and social status. Her personality was also a huge downside, and Kakashi hated that a fangirl was on his potential team for however long it took the three of them to be promoted to Chunin. She wore a tight dark pink dress with a slit up her right thigh. The dress had white circular designs, and tight green shorts shown underneath. Attached to her waist was a rather large pouch, obviously filled with everything she thought she needed. She had on the standard blue ninja sandals, and her forehead protector was being used to push back her hair away from her face, and the metal glinted happily in the sunlight. Kakashi sighed - he had a lot to teach her about stealth.

"Right, moving on." Kakashi looked between the two boys shortly, trying to decide who to pick on next. "Alright, you next, Broody." He said soon after, looking straight at the last Uchiha. He certainly looked more broody after that statement.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke. I like. . . " He paused, and Kakashi guessed it was because he wasn't used to talking about himself. "I like tomatoes, and I dislike sweet things. I hate fangirls, " Here, he shuddered, and Kakashi was glad his mask concealed his pained grimace at the thought. "and a certain man. I do not have any hobbies apart from to train. My dream - no, not a dream, an ambition, is to kill this certain man."

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, his steel grey eyes looking over the boy as he waited for Kakashi to move onto the last member of Team 7. The boy was rather tall for his age, with fine, strong bone structure and piercing onyx eyes. His blue tinted black hair was chin length, the back of it sticking up like the bottom of a duck, and the bangs framing his face. His body was vaguely thin, but he was already broadening out in the shoulders and chest. He looked like he would do well with Taijutsu based techniques. His personality would be something to work on, he needed to be more sociable, even if it was only with his teammates, but other then that, it looked like he could work as a ninja - of course, being an Uchiha probably helped as well, with all the ninja techniques his clan would have stored somewhere safe even in the case of death. He was dressed in a navy blue, short sleeved shirt, high collared shirt, with the Uchiwa stitched on the back and white baggy shorts to his knees. He, too, was wearing the standard blue ninja sandals, and his forehead protector was tied around his forehead in the usual place, the short ends sticking out on either side of his head. He on white arm warmers and he had a weapons pouch tied around his right leg, as well.

"You next, Whiskers."

The blond grinned at him, whiskers stretching out as his lips spread wide in the huge, partially fake grin he was shooting at his team.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like training, reading, ramen and pranks. I love chocolate and my hobbies are playing pranks and then running away from the ANBU. It's loads of fun." He paused to chuckle. "I don't like people who judge someone for something they had no part in, or people who keep something from someone who deserves to know it. My dream. . . I want to become a Tokubetsu Jounin or an ANBU and help defend those that deserve it." Naruto introduced.

Kakashi smiled sadly beneath his mask, knowing why Naruto said what he did about his dislikes. He had been called by the Hokage the morning after Naruto had been told and his ANBU guard couldn't find the Jinchuriki. He had found the blond sometime past noon, and had brought lunch with him, knowing the child wouldn't have eaten anything in a while. It had been an interesting talk.

- - - Flashback - - -

Kakashi sighed as he followed Pakkun through the forest, slightly worried where the small pug was leading him. The forest was still in Konoha borders, but outside of the gates, and he had told Naruto time and time again about leaving without one of his guard with him. The blond was a magnet for trouble, and the last time he had been in the forest alone, he had been attacked by a wild lion that Kakashi swore must have escaped from the Forest of Death.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the pale blond hair siting beside the lake that ran through the forest, his grey sweatpants rolled up so that they were up past his knees instead of the usual mid-calve length.

"Hey Naru." Kakashi greeted, kicking of his sandals and rolling up his own pants. Walking over to the child, he carefully picked him up, settling himself onto the ground he had just been vacated from, before putting the blond onto his knee, letting the small, thin legs dangle back into the water next to his longer, stronger ones.

"Hi, Kashi." Naruto whispered, staring into the water slowly lapping at his legs. "What're you doin' here?" He asked, his voice slurring slightly like it always did when he was tired or upset.

"Looking for you, Naru. You've been gone for hours, and your guard lost you. You know your not supposed to go anywhere alone. It's dangerous." He chastised gently.

"I know, but I needed to get away." Naruto said, turning his head so that he could rub his head against the rough cloth of Kakashi's Flak Jacket.

"Well, if you wanted to go somewhere, you should have at least told someone. But I suppose I can understand the need to get away." He added when he saw Naruto start to protest. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"You know anyway, so there's no point."

"I've heard Hokage-sama's side of the story, but I don't know yours. Tell me, Naru." He demanded gently.

Naruto sniffed, lifting his legs out of the water and turning so that his side was pressed against Kashi's torso, brining his legs up so that his feet were resting on the recently demoted Jounin's legs and he was curled up in a small ball.

"He kept something from me, something that nearly everyone else knew, and I didn't, when I was the only one who had the right. He kept from me who I am, who my parents were, he kept things belonging to my parents off me. He kept me ignorant of my entire being because he couldn't bare to face the guilt of having betrayed his successor of his last wish. But maybe if he told me I wouldn't have ended up like this."

Kakashi gazed sadly down at the tiny child curled up in his lap, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and shifting the other so it was underneath the boys knees. He stood up in one fluid moment, keeping a firm hold on the blond, shifting him once he had gained steady footing, holding him against his chest, one hand supporting his thighs so he wouldn't slide to the ground, the other around his waist to keep him steady.

"No more beatings, no more mobs, no more starvation, no more fear. No more living life like I do, no more running. The chance to live like I always should have."

Naruto grew silent after that small declaration, and Kakashi could do nothing more than hold the child tighter as he ran through the tree's.

- - - Flashback Ends - - -

Now, Naru looked much better than he did all those days ago. His pale blond hair fluttering around his face, thick blunt bangs falling across his forehead in uneven lines and into his eyes, pieces of hair curling into the shape of his cheekbones as they moved in the light breeze. His large, pale blue eyes peered up at him, high cheekbones, sharp chin and small nose making the colour stick out against tan skin. Naruto was tiny, barely looking ten then the twelve-year-old he was. Six sharp lines, three on each cheek, stood out stark on his skin, making his small face look vaguely fox like. He was dressed in light grey ninja pants, that closed in around his leg a little below his knee, with light, black boots covering the rest of his leg. He had on a lightweight, long sleeved mesh shirt, an elbow length dark blue t-shirt over the top. There was a red swirl on the left sleeve, and Kakashi hoped Naruto knew what it meant. His forehead protector had been put on a cloth of lighter blue, and was fastened around his neck. Kakashi could tell it was of thicker material, and that the two tails of it were loose and went down to the blond's waist. A thin white cloth was wrapped around the boys waist, and on it Kakashi could see a number of storage seals, as well as a small black pouch clipped onto it, resting against his hip.

Kakashi had looked after Naruto for many years, and knew what the blond specialised in, so he knew that he would have to concentrate on Taijutsu and other close combat fight techniques for the blond.

Looking at his possible team, Kakashi realised that the potential Team Seven was made up of a fangirl, a broody avenger, a deceptively fragile little boy, and a never on time genius (Him!). Team seven was made up of a theory genius, a Taijutsu specialist, a long range fighter and an all round lazy guy (Him!).

Team seven was a pretty all rounded team, but if they passes, Kakashi knew they'd need quite a bit of work.


Alright, I've been playing around with this for a while now, and thought that this was a good way to end. This is going to be a three part story, but I want to know if you have any ideas as to what to put in the next two parts. I think I know what I'll do already, but I want to know what you think before I start writing it.