A dedicated teacher
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 1: The sealing
It had been only a few short hours since Naruto drew the short straw — in everyone's opinion, but his own — and he was matched up against his teammate Sasuke Uchiha for the finals of the Chūnin exams.
He had of course went straight to Kakashi and requested training, only to be stonewalled. Kakashi-sensei was 'busy'and didn't have time to look after Naruto. Which Naruto translated as, he was too busy training Sasuke — the more gifted of Kakashi-sensei's students.
So, he got pawned off to Ebisu — or as Naruto preferred to call him, closet pervert. Ebisu had explained to Naruto — in a great explanation that was all together long winded — that his biggest problem was his chakra control. Apparently, he was the absolute worst on his team in regards to controlling his chakra; in fact, if he had to explain it in ramen terms, Naruto brought the water and nothing else.
Ebisu, ended up taking Naruto to a training field that had all every growing shinobi needed to get strong. Namely: a large clearing — which to run or be beaten around —, a large lake — to swim in or to launch awesome Suiton Jutsu from —, a small forest — to practice tree climbing, stealth or the best part(in Naruto's personal opinion) traps... Er pranks — and finally target stumps and dummies — to practice your weapons accuracy when a live target couldn't be found(or was unwilling).
"What training are we gonna do here?" asked Naruto, confused.
"That my young disciple is quite simple. We are going to walk on water — well I am, you, on the other hand remains to be seen." said Ebisu in his usual long winded-style of speech.
"What'd you mean?" asked Naruto confused.
"Kakashi has told me that you have already completed the tree-walking exercise. Yes?"
"Yeah, what's that gotta do with anything?" asked Naruto.
"Well this is an exercise relating to that. You will note that to achieve completion in the tree-walking exercise, you are required to apply a fixed supply of chakra at the necessary place and time," explained Ebisu, his big words were a little confusing, but Naruto got the gist of it, "basically it teaches you how to gather a set amount of chakra and dispel it."
"I guess," Naruto shrugged.
"Now, the water walking exercise is different. To achieve success, you are required to alter the amount of chakra you expel at each instance if you want to stay afloat. This teaches you to always generate the exact quantity of chakra and release the same amount," said Ebisu.
"I don't know what you saying," Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "couldn't you say it like a normal person?"
Ebisu pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a breath, "It is better in your case to show you. You are more hands on afterall,"
Ebisu walked onto the water of the lake, and he didn't fall — sadly — into it like Naruto expected. Instead began to explain. "First you need to gather chakra to your feet, then you continually expel a set amount by matching the output to your body weight and changes in water flow, etc.,"
Naruto sort of understood what he was saying, but there was one problem. He really wanted to tell Kakashi-sensei about it, but since he wasn't here — and Naruto wasn't Kakashi-sensei's biggest fan at the moment — Ebisu...no, Ebisu-sensei would have to do. "Ebisu-sensei," Naruto said in an oddly respectful tone, "My chakra has been... Uhm I don't know, it's been weird since the second test."
"What do you mean?" asked Ebisu.
"In the forest, that snake-faced guy hit me with something in my stomach and it knocked me out. Ever since then, my chakra has been really weird," said Naruto.
Ebisu gave Naruto a thoughtful look, then he nodded his head. "Continue with the exercise anyway. I will investigate it further, but for now I want you to focus on your training."
"Alright! I'll do this in no time flat! Just you watch." Naruto grinned cocksurely.
Ebisu-sensei merely smirked as he waited for Naruto to begin the exercise. The blonde formed the Ram handseal, and he focused on gathering chakra to the soles of his feet. Once they were energised, he said, "Gather chakra to the bottom of your feet. Check!"
Naruto stepped onto the water, "expellll—" Naruto exclaimed as he fell straight through the surface of the water. "Yoww! That's c—cold!"
"As I expected," said Ebisu, pushing up his glasses, "unfortunately, the water is quite cold. So, you better master the exercise quickly. Unless you would like to become a Popsicle."
"Dammit!" Naruto growled, still shivering.
"Tick-tock, you best hurry Naruto-san, who knows what Kakashi-san is teaching Sasuke-san at the current moment. You do want to beat him don't you?"
Naruto growled, "I'm going to get this down no matter what! I won't fall behind, no matter what,"
Naruto got out of the lake and walked onto the lake again, managing to stay afloat, all of one second. Then he was immediately dunked below the surface of the water. He broke the surface not a moment later with a gasp, and went back to practicing.
(Ebisu)
Ebisu couldn't help but admire Naruto's work ethic. He may not be the most skilled, but he had the work ethic to compensate. Even now, Ebisu, could markedly see progress as Naruto improved every second he was in the water.
Kakashi hadn't actually came to Ebisu. No, he had put up a notice in the Jōnin lounge and he had sent out feelers to the other high-ranking ninja. Ebisu, was the only one who had shown interest in training the boy. He had a debt to pay to the boy, and he would pay it back with interest.
He had finally understood that Naruto was not the monster or demon that everyone thought he was. No, he was a proud ninja of Konoha. He had managed to get through to Konohamaru — where Ebisu had failed to.
Konohamaru no longer strived to find the shortcut to Hokage. No, now he understood that hard work and perseverance was the only way to achieve his goal of becoming Hokage.
Some time past when Ebisu called the training to a stop. "Naruto-san, I want you to take a break until tomorrow."
"But why? I can go for longer! I'll master this exercise in an hour!" exclaimed Naruto in determination.
"I know you can Naruto-san, but you still have not rested from your fight in the prelims. You need to rest. You can start from fresh tomorrow after you get a wholesome meal and good nights sleep." said Ebisu, "Additionally, there is an issue with your chakra, which I will need to investigate."
"Alright, I guess some ramen would be nice." said Naruto, sounding quite drained.
"Be here early tomorrow." said Ebisu before flickering out of view in a great rush of movement. He reappeared in the forestry surrounding the training ground. He watched Naruto all the way until he reached his apartment before he disappeared once more.
(Ebisu — Hokage tower)
"Is Hokage-sama busy?" asked Ebisu.
"No, he is currently unoccupied." said the female secretary.
Ebisu nodded, then he moved toward the door, knocking, and opening once he was given permission to do so.
"Ah, Ebisu-kun, it's nice to see you, but how may I help you? Don't tell me Naruto has been too much of a bother." said the Sandaime Hokage.
"Nothing of the sort, Hokage-sama, no he is actually quite diligent." said Ebisu, "My issue lies in the fact that your former student has also interfered with Naruto-san, much like he did with Sasuke-san."
"A cursed seal?" asked the Sandaime, in an alarmed tone.
"Not that I'm aware of. It would of become visible if he was given a mark, yes?" asked Ebisu.
"Only if he uses chakra." said the Hokage, stroking his goatee. "He made great use of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Shadow Clone Technique) and the mark made no appearance, while it manifested itself on Sasuke-kun."
"Naruto-san claimed that your former student hit him in the stomach—" Ebisu noticed the Sandaime's eyes widen marginally, "and it knocked him out, and ever since then he has had trouble controlling his chakra."
Ebisu, could only slightly pick up the troubled look on his leaders face. "Bring Naruto here tomorrow morning, I will have someone here to take a look at his stomach. If he finds nothing then we will have to take Naruto-kun to be diagnosed by a medical-nin,"
(Naruto — next day — Training ground 27)
Naruto awoke early, not wanting to miss but a second of time that could be used for training. There was no way that he was going to fall behind Sasuke. He started the morning with a quick run to warm up, and followed it up with a short burst of push-ups and sit-ups.
He then stripped down to his underwear and began the water walking exercise, as he stepped in his foot immediately sunk into the surface of be lake, but he quickly corrected himself, only to fall ankle deep with is other foot.
"Dammit!" Naruto exclaimed and cringed simultaneously, "T—this water is freez—zing"
Naruto steeled himself, As his teeth chattered, "Just one step at a time,"
He moved slowly to the center, his ankles sinking closer to the surface each time, before he knew it he was walking across the surface without sinking — albeit he wobbled and threatened to fall face first into the water with each step.
When he finally reached the center he jumped up let out an exclamation of pure joy. "I'm the best! 'tte ba yo!"
Then he came down, and there was no resistance, he broke straight through the surface. When he resurfaced, his face was marred with a bitter expression. "Dammit! I just had it,"
"That you did, Naruto-san," said the voice of Ebisu.
"Eeek!" Naruto squealed in fear, pushing himself off the surface of the water, and jumping almost ten metres into the air. When he finally came down, he had actually managed to land it — he was such a bad ass — then he somehow slipped — imagine that, slipping on water — and he was submerged once more.
"Ebisu-sensei, don't do that!" exclaimed Naruto, while giving Ebisu a baleful glare.
"My apologies, Naruto-kun, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up." Ebisu said, pushing up his glasses.
"Whatever closet pervert," said Naruto, turning his head away from Ebisu, as he absolutely wasn't sulking that anyone had managed to prank him, let alone the closet pervert. Nope, absolutely not.
"Hmff! As if I would lower myself to such despicable behavior," said Ebisu turning away himself, before he seemed to come to his senses, "Naruto, you need to get dressed, we're going somewhere."
"Huh? What'd you mean?" Naruto asked, in a perplexed fashion, "I have a lot of training to do, 'tte ba yo,"
"We have a meeting with Hokage-sama to ascertain what exactly Orochimaru of the Dentetsu no Sannin did to your chakra." said Ebisu. "Now, make haste, we do not want to keep Hokage-sama waiting."
(Hiruzen Sarutobi — Hokage tower)
The Shinobi no Kami, deactivated his signature spying technique and turned to his flamboyant student. He had a mane of white hair, brown eyes with red markings that ran down his cheeks and he was rather well built — more suited to a samurai than a shinobi.
"I do believe that Naruto-kun is in good hands," said the wizened old leader, "much better hands than Kakashi-kun."
"Ebisu is better than Kakashi?" laughed Jiraiya.
"In terms of combat? No he is not. However in terms of teaching ability there is no better. Ebisu-kun is very skilled at cultivating skill where there is none to be found. If you hadn't noticed Naruto-kun's potential is absolutely boundless. Unfortunately his teachers never saw it from the bigger picture. Not even Kakashi-kun with his patented 'underneath the underneath'. It's quite unfortunate, but I do believe Naruto will grow far under Ebisu-kun's guidance. It's only sometimes I feel like I made a mistake placing him on that team." said Hiruzen.
"You could of asked me to train the brat," suggested Jiraiya,
"No, you are always outside the village and moving around, besides your training method would not bring out Naruto's full potential. You are too used to Minato-kun, he was easy for you to train. My guess is, you would teach him Kuchiyose(summoning) and the Rasengan, and even then you would leave him to figure it out on his own." said Hiruzen.
"So? They are quite versatile, and combined with his Kage Bunshin(Shadow Clones) they are quite the deadly combination." shrugged Jiraiya.
"I do not deny that, however, that would severely limit Naruto as a ninja." he said, "Did you know that Naruto snuck into the Hokage's Tower? Passed all my ANBU, with nobody but myself knowing about it?"
Before Jiraiya could reply there was a knock at the door, "That must be them,"
(Naruto)
When Naruto entered the Hokage's office he was greeted by the sight of a tall, and obviously muscular man. "Woah! His so cool!" Naruto exclaimed, involuntarily, "Who is he? Is he gonna help me?"
"I'm glad you asked brat, for I am Mt. Myoboku's Gama Sennin —" said the white haired man, as he struck a ridiculous pose.
"And there I though you were cool, and you had to do something like that," Naruto groaned.
"Listen here brat, I don't like disrespectful brats, and I hate rude ones even more !" said Jiraiya, and he was real threatening too.
Naruto gulped, but he pressed on, "I don't care about that! If I see you doing something totally lame, you better believe I'm going to call you out on that!"
"What would you know about lame, Huh kid? You're wearing orange!" Jiraiya gritted his teeth.
"Well of course, it's the most amazing color in the world, you old fart! Get with the times!" exclaimed Naruto, gritting his teeth in return.
"Oh Kami-sama, there are two of them!" bemoaned the Hokage, "That's enough Jiraiya, Naruto, we need to focus on the subject at hand."
"I'm sorry Hokage-jichan," Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, only to yell out in pain, "Oommf!"
"Show Hokage-sama respect!" exclaimed Ebisu-sensei, "I will not stand for my student addressing respectable figures in such a way!"
"Do not concern yourself Ebisu-kun, Naruto-kun and I, are close." said Hokage-jichan
"No, I cannot abide by Naruto-kun showing such little respect to figures of authority. It may come to hurt him and the village in future, Hokage-sama." said Ebisu-sensei
Naruto growled, "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama," said Naruto, Ebisu twitching at the obvious sarcasm.
"Let us move move on," said Hokage-sama, "I fear, if we do not broach the real topic of this day, it may never happen, because I would have killed all of you for annoying me so."
Naruto grinned sheepishly, while Ebisu-sensei went the color of snow — which was quite the image accompanied by his darkly colored attire.
"Take off your shirt and jacket brat, I want to see what my old teammate did to you." said Jiraiya in a commanding tone.
"Wait, it was your teammate?! That snake-faced bastard is your teammate? Why would I want to show you anything?" exclaimed Naruto in outrage.
The white haired freak pinched the bridged of his nose and sighed, "Damned brat, I said he 'was' my teammate, that means past. So, you better show me where he hit you or you'll never get it fixed."
"Fine..." Naruto begrudgingly consented.
Once Naruto's torso was bare, Jiraiya asked, "Gather your chakra," and when Naruto gave him a questioning look he said, "just do it."
Suddenly to Naruto's surprise he noticed a seal manifest itself on his naval, it was a spiral around his bellybutton, which was surrounded by four prongs of kanji at the top and four at the bottom, and the whole seal itself was surrounded by five spiral flame symbols.
"Hmm, the Hakke fūin, and it's surrounded by the five elements seal." said Jiraiya thoughtfully, "It's really shoddy work, yeah this is more Orochimaru's style."
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.
"Kid, do you know that you have two chakra in you?" asked Jiraiya,
Naruto cocked his head in confusion, "Two types? What'd you mean?"
"I mean have you ever felt a special chakra that made you strong?" asked the white haired man.
"Well... Now that I think about yeah, when I fought Haku I guess," Naruto shrugged, "I don't really remember it."
"Alright," he nodded, "This seal holds that special chakra, and my teammate put a seal over your seal blocking your two chakra's from mixing."
"Wait a minute... Is that other chakra from the Kyuubi?" asked Naruto.
Jiraiya hesitated before answering, "Yes, it's the Kyuubi's chakra,"
"Then Snake-face did me a favour! I don't want anything to do with the Kyuubi! Just keep the seal on, I'll work on my chakra until it's perfect. The odds have been stacked up against me before, and I beat it; now isn't any different." said Naruto stubbornly.
"Do not be so rash Naruto-kun," said the Hokage, "we can remove the seal and reapply another one that will not interfere with your chakra."
"Sensei!" exclaimed Jiraiya
"It is his choice, Jiraiya," said the Hokage.
"But you know that the Yondaime designed the seal to mix in with his chakra; he wanted Naruto to use the Kyuubi's power to defend himself," said Jiraiya,
"We do not know his true intention Jiraiya," said the Sandaime, "You were not there."
"Woah! Hold up! What do you mean the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi in me?" Naruto interjected, bringing attention to himself.
"Yondaime-sama, sealed the Kyuubi into you. I'm sure you heard the stories that he 'defeated' the Kyuubi?" said Ebisu.
"Yeah, I did," said Naruto, contemplatively. "but I didn't know that he sealed the Kyuubi in me."
"Iruka-kun told me that Mizuki told you about it the night you stole the scroll of kinjutsu," said the Hokage.
"What? I don't remember stuff from that long ago," Naruto shrugged.
"Look Naruto, if you decide to keep the Kyuubi's chakra open, I'll take you on as my apprentice," said Jiraiya.
"Nah, I'm good," said Naruto, picking his ear. "I don't jump teachers because another could be a better ninja."
"That's pretty loyal, kid," said Jiraiya. "but loyalty to Ebisu won't stop you from dying on a mission."
"At least Ebisu-sensei is training me for the right reasons," said Naruto.
"Whatever kid," Jiraiya sighed. "Raise your arms and brace yourself."
Naruto complied, he wasn't prepared for Jiraiya's finger tips to become wrapped in blue flames, nor was he prepared for the strike to a gut. "Oooof!" he exclaimed, as he was bowled over.
"Dammit! What did you do?" Naruto asked, when he finally regained his breath.
"I unsealed Orochimaru's shoddy seal," said Jiraiya, "there was no other way."
"Give a guy some warning next time," Naruto grumbled.
"Quit your complaining and lay down on your back," ordered Jiraiya.
"What do mean lay down? So that you gut-check me again?" said Naruto, pointing his finger accusingly.
Jiraiya shrugged, "Then don't, I won't seal up the Kyuubi. How's that sound?"
"Fine..." Naruto reluctantly consented.
Jiraiya unsealed a few large ink pots, and brushes. Naruto watched him warily. He touched each ink pot lightly with chakra inflamed fingers. The brush tips were singed slightly by a flame that erupted from his finger tips.
When Jiraiya finally put brush to flesh, Naruto began to giggle, "Hey, quit it, that tickles!"
"Stop squirming brat," said Jiraiya, his eye twitching in irritation.
"But it tickles!" Naruto whined.
"Just stay still, brat,"
At The end of it, Jiraiya had painted four seals around Naruto's seal. They were the Kanji for the four elements: fire, water, earth and were surrounded by flame spirals with the tips pointing to the next seal.
"There, this Fūin will block out any of the Kyuubi's presence," said Jiraiya, looking at Naruto searchingly. "you can use it's power to protect yourself. You can use it to become powerful."
"I'm good, I can't use it to protect my friends, so, finish it," said Naruto determinedly.
"Got it," Jiraiya sighed in resignation. He flipped through hand seals, faster than Naruto could track. "Fūinpo: cardinal binding of the oiled toad."
"Aaaarchh!" Naruto exclaimed, excruciating pain overwhelming his senses.
"Uhahaha, did I forget to mention that it would sting a little?" chuckled Jiraiya.
"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed, and the look he gave him said it all. "Damn bastard!"
"Yeah, yeah," shrugged Jiraiya. "Ebisu take the brat out to lunch, it's on me."
"Woohoo! Ichiraku's here I come!" exclaimed Naruto, in excitement.
(Jiraiya)
When the blonde brat, and Ebisu left Jiraiya pinned his eyes on his sensei."What's wrong with you? I've told you about the Akatsuki, and with this new organisation that has sprung up, Naruto needs all the help he can get,"
"I understand your fears — truly I do — but it is Naruto's choice. If I wanted to turn him into a weapon, I would of given him to Danzō ages ago." said Sarutobi-sensei.
"I don't think you do," said Jiraiya. "from what I understand, The Akatsuki is an organization of S-rank shinobi, and their leader is a monster amongst S-ranks."
"No, you do not understand Jiraiya. This Organisation is hunting Jinchūriki, and it's very likely that they have been advised in — or their skills are suited to — capturing Jinchūriki and Bijū," said Sarutobi. "it is my hope that Naruto's true powers will awaken once his chakra is allowed to function independently."
Jiraiya's eyes widened in realisation, "I hope you're right sensei,"
(Naruto — training ground 27)
Naruto could now stand perfectly on the water surface, he could even walk — somewhat — naturally on it.
"Naruto-kun, I want you to stay on the water for the rest of the day," said Ebisu.
"Huh, why? I can already stand on it," said Naruto.
"Yes, but you must perfect the exercise," said Ebisu, "additionally due to sealing off the Kyuubi's chakra, you do not have as much chakra as before."
"What'd you mean?" asked Naruto.
"I mean, I have a minor sensing ability," said Ebisu, in explanation. "that means I can sense chakra."
"So? How do you know I have less?" asked Naruto curiously.
"Because you simply feel like less," said Ebisu. "I can't explain why, I am no professional, but my best theory is that you never had as much chakra as I thought you had."
"What do you mean? I thought the Kyuubi's chakra mixed with mine?" asked Naruto.
"Jiraiya-sama did say that, but I think that it was the Kyuubi's chakra that got you to this point of capacity." said Ebisu.
"You're saying all of my chakra comes from the Kyuubi?" asked Naruto.
"No, not all of it," Ebisu allowed. "but since the Kyuubi was sealed in you from a very young age your chakra has never been allowed to develop on it's own."
"But shouldn't I have the same amount of chakra?" asked Naruto.
"This is where my theory truly runs into guesswork. You see, I'm thinking what I sensed was your chakra, and the chakra that streams from your seal," said Ebisu.
"So, it's not my fault that I couldn't use the Bunshin(clone) from the academy?" asked Naruto.
"No, while a certain level of control is required, even you should of been able to control your chakra enough to create one clone," said Ebisu.
"How do you know?" asked Naruto.
"That's quite simple," said Ebisu, pushing up his glasses. "the academy system and curriculum was designed by Senju — who are well known for impressive chakra capacity."
"So, why wasn't I able to use the Bunshin?" asked Naruto.
"My assumption is that because of your constant connection with the Kyuubi, and the fact you are not truly connected to your chakra," said Ebisu. "you see, since it was constantly supplemented by the Kyuubi's chakra, it was never allowed to grow, and because of that you have a weak connection to your chakra as a whole."
"But I can stand on water, and it didn't even take me long," said Naruto.
"I'll have to go to Sandaime-Sama and Jiraiya-sama to confirm my theories, but I think that because you have spent your student and shinobi life wrestling with chakra that would not comply, you have somehow developed an incredible control of your chakra," said Ebisu.
"But you said that I sucked at chakra control," said Naruto, scrunching his face up in confusion.
"It's hard to explain, but I think that without the Kyuubi's influence your control of chakra is not hindered, so you do not have to spend so much time wrestling with your chakra," said Ebisu.
"Okay, but what about my — er — my bad connection with chakra?"
"I think all the time that you were disconnected with the Kyuubi allowed your chakra to form a greater connection with you," said Ebisu.
"Okay, so how much chakra do I have anyway?" asked Naruto.
Ebisu narrowed his eyes in focus, "I would say, somewhere near an experienced Chūnin, that specialises in Ninjutsu."
"How far away is that from before?" asked Naruto.
"In terms of size, your old capacity was an ocean, and you are now a small lake," said Ebisu.
"So, the Kage Bunshin(Shadow Clone)?" asked Naruto.
"Is not a viable option in battle at this stage," said Ebisu, "in terms of chakra capacity — in terms you can understand — you are around Sasuke-san's level."
"Dammit!" Naruto cursed.
"Do not trouble yourself with this," said Ebisu, "You have better control of you chakra now, which I intend to put to good use."
"What do you mean? How?" said Naruto, sounding giddy.
"I'll have to do some research, and speak with Hokage-sama, but I think I can make this work," said Ebisu, "for now, keep practicing the water walking — though if I were you I'd get off the water, you're running low on chakra."
"Oh, that's what that f—feels like," said Naruto, sounding drained.
Halfway back to shore, Naruto began to sink into the water, his eyes getting more and more droopy, he managed it back to shore though, and promptly passed out, the last thing he felt was Ebisu-sensei catching him.
(Ebisu — Hokage's tower)
Ebisu had taken Naruto home, and he was oddly surprised to find faded graffiti on his door. It was so faded, that the normal person wouldn't be able to even notice it, but Ebisu was a trained Shinobi, he knew exactly what he was looking at.
He knew that the village disliked Naruto, but to take action at such a young age, that was truly despicable. No wonder Naruto-kun resorted to his delinquent ways to express himself.
But was he so different? He judged Naruto-kun just the same without even a second glance. No, that is in the past; he decided. Ebisu would make sure that Naruto made Chūnin, he owed him at least that much.
"Hokage-sama, will see you now," announced the Hokage's personal assistant, jarring him from his muse.
"Thank you," Ebisu said, before entering the Hokage's meeting room.
He was kneeling on his slightly raised platform in Seiza. "What do I owe the pleasure of three visits in two days, Ebisu-kun?"
"My apologies for troubling you, Hokage-sama," said Ebisu, taking a seat.
"Not at all," smiled Sandaime-sama, "I always appreciate time away from my paperwork. I assume this is related to Naruto-kun?"
"It is, Hokage-sama and it pertains to his seal, and the Kyuubi." said Ebisu, explaining his assumptions to the man.
"Your theory holds merit," said the Hokage, "but, why did you truly come to see me?"
"Does the Kyuubi suppress the skills and development of Jinchūriki?" asked Ebisu.
"It hasn't been documented, but I assume it would depend on the situation," said Hiruzen.
"And if the Kyuubi was sealed in the container before their chakra network truly developed, would that be a situation where I am correct?" asked Ebisu.
"It could very well be," said Hokage-sama, taking a drag from his pipe.
"Is Naruto really an Uzumaki?" asked Ebisu.
"He may be, he is an orphan afterall, there is no telling what his family name truly is," replied Sandaime-sama, as cryptic as ever.
"Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama," said Ebisu gratefully.
(Undisclosed location)
"We have made contact with Orochimaru," said a deep voice.
"So he has agreed to let us in on his plan?" asked another voice.
"He has, as far as I know his made contact with the Kazekage, so that will leave us open to complete the plan," said the voice in reply.
"Dan, I want you to round up our men," said the voice, "Tell them we have our chance to get the Jinchūriki."
"As you say, Nawaki-sama," said Dan, his white hair trailing after him as he left.
"Are you sure that it's wise?" asked a woman, just as Dan left, "Konoha is still powerful, and I heard that Jiraiya-sama is in the village, he could be a problem."
"Do not worry about that, you will be getting your son out from Orochimaru's clutches," said Nawaki.
"I understand, Nawaki-sama," said the woman, she had sandy blonde hair that shinned like beach sand.
"Leave me, I need to make preparations," said Nawaki. "for my sisters arrival."
A/N: So, this is a story idea that popped in my head the other night. I've just sorta been writing and adding shit in as I went, I'm busy with another story idea, well it's not new, but maybe a little different, just adding a new element to an old idea.
Anyway, I know some of you will be a little annoyed by the pace and the route I went with Naruto's chakra, but it was a spur of the moment kind of thing, but I hoped that it was explained in a believable way.
If there are any suggestions or notes, I'm super open to any that you have for me, I'm trying to develop as a writer, so any help is appreciated. And if you can offer anything towards the story I'm open, because I'm basically flying by the seat of my pants.
I know that there are some guys that should be dead, but, I'll figure something out. I have explanations for one or two of them.
Thanks for reading!