A Shinobi's Roots

This is my very first fanfic, so please bear with me, any reviews/critics are welcome, however, if there are any flames, I expect ones that are reasonable and with advice/guidance at how to do better. I do NOT own Naruto. However, there will be some original characters here and there.

"Shadow" – Conversation

"Shadow" – Thoughts

"Shadow" – Biju conversing/jutsu title

"Shadow"_ Biju thoughts

During flashback:

"Shadow" – Conversation

"Shadow" – Thoughts

"Shadow" – Biju conversing/jutsu title

"Shadow" - Biju thoughts

Summary: AU. Denied of everything at a young age, Naruto makes a deal with the devil, in order to be strong, in order to be a Shinobi of the Leaves, in order to protect Konoha. No one will have any idea how his decision changes everything, including the devil himself.

Chapter 1: Will of Fire

(Hokage Tower)

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of the Hidden Village of the Leaves, also known as "The Professor" glared at his most hated enemy of all time, while thinking if it's worth it to just throw a few ninjutsus to destroy his enemy, which currently outnumbered him 1000:1 - paperwork.

The Hokage sighed then put both his hands on his face and hope for the village's sake, some sort of distraction would turn up soon; otherwise he might just take his Icha Icha collection and go nuke-nin on Konoha. Just as he was about to take out his kami-sent pipe and started opening his drawer to do some "private" reading...

*BAM

A kunai slipped out of his left sleeve into his hand instinctively... he turned his gaze to the fallen door, only to find a pair of sapphire orbs that can only belong to two people, one of them who is dead, and the other who frequently storms his office.

The person known as the "God of Shinobi" could only sigh in defeat as he put down his kunai and started looking for his matchbox as he watched the blonde ball of energy with the corners of his eyes. "Naruto... please stop kicking my door whenever you come in, this is the thirteenth time it's fallen out of the door frame, you aren't so little anymore..." The Sandaime was irritated by the blond orphan that, once realized he could generate enough power to break the door, kept on doing it as much as he could.

"HEY! What' sup old man! We haven't had ramen together for a while now, I thought you died or something!"

I'm getting too old for this... thought Sarutobi as he heard the 2 ANBU hidden in the shadows laugh at the display between their Hokage and the blonde Jinchūriki. Well, it's atleast a good thing none of my ANBU shinobi are trying to kill him atleast. Most ANBU operatives have some sort of required knowledge in Fūinjutsu, so none of them really think of the blonde as the Nine-Tailed-Biju, if he was, then there wasn't a point of sealing the Kyuubi in him in the first place. Due to the notoriety of the Fourth's abilities in sealing, none of the ANBU, or high-level ninjas of the leaf actually doubted the seal that was on the blonde. Furthermore, due to most ANBU's rounds at guarding the orphan throughout the village, most of them have a soft spot for the blue eyed little boy, who, in turn have lowered their various personal views, trust, and beliefs on most of Konoha, citizens or shinobi-wise.

"What can I do for you Naruto?" The Hokage asked, knowing exactly what it was that Naruto had come in for. Smiling with pride at the fact that Naruto was still able to smile and look excited with all that he had been through. While on the inside looked on sadly at the fake smile that seem to appear more and more often on the blonde's face, while also improving to the point where even he could barely tell the difference between a true, and a fake smile nowadays.

"Put me in the academy! Please! I am sooooo ready to be a NINJA! That, or you can just give me your hat right here right now, I'm getting it one day anyways, what's the difference between now and later?!" Naruto seem to be bouncing with energy as he screamed at the most powerful shinobi alive throughout the Elemental Nations.

Ignoring the seemingly constant sniggering by the 2 ANBU in the shadows, the aged Hokage could only sigh (he seems to be sighing more and more these days) knowing he can only deny Naruto the one thing he had in reality ever asked of him... The council will never permit it, 'giving the demon too much power,' they say, sometimes he wished he could just kill off the civilian's council and be done with it.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I have told you this many times before: I cannot put you into the academy, besides, you are only 5, and the academy begin accepting students from the age of 6. Even if you are 6, I'm afraid I can't simply put you in the academy. Not yet anyways, I will personally make sure your son atleast make it to chunin, Minato. Otherwise I'm not sure what Kushina will do to me once I die... The Council be damned.

"BUT whyyyyyyyyyy~" Not knowing anything about what the old man was thinking, Naruto could only do the one thing he could do in this situation, whine, and beg. "I'm very sorry Naruto, I just can't, my hands are tied at the moment. One day, maybe you will be able to be a ninja, just not right now." I won't make any promises Naruto, but I will try my hardest to do so, I owe you that much, you deserve that much. One day Naruto, one day...

(On the Hokage Monument)

Sitting on top of his idol's stone head, Naruto looked out to the village. He always come here whenever he was sad, lonely, or wanted to simply think. He loved coming here; just looking out at the village in front of him calms him down and takes all his hate, pain, suffering, and loneliness away.

"It's enchanting, is it not?" A low yet powerful voice brought him back from his thoughts.

Naruto whirled around, quickly putting his arms up defensively, expecting to block an unsuspecting strike of some sort, it's been a while since someone managed to sneaked up on him in order to give him a "lesson", Naruto mentally cursed himself as he had actually put himself at one of the most, of not the most solitary place in Konoha, now the ANBU won't be here to protect him from whoever that had just sneaked up on him.

(Minutes earlier)

Waving his two guards away, he slowly walked up to the Hokage Monument, while limping with his cane. This time of the day had always been his favorite time of the day, especially when he gets to enjoy a nice cup of tea on top of the monument with the best view of the village, he did not want his guards' presence to ruin the one and only moment he gets to truly relax and enjoy the view of Konohagakure in all of its glory.

As he walked slowly to his destination, he cannot help but curse the Council's stupidity regarding a certain decision.

(Council room) Earlier that day

"No! Why the hell would we give the demon even more power, we should've just killed him years ago, what the hell are you ninjas doing, and you are suppose to protect our village!" One of the councilmen from the civilian's side all but screamed, making everyone else wonder if he was of some relation to the Haruno family.

"I'd like to remind every civilian in this room that, all civilians have no say in any and all affairs/decisions made regarding any shinobi, retired shinobi, or will-be-shinobi. All in all, I don't even think any of you should be here for this meeting at all." The Inuzuka Clan head said with a bit of an edge in her voice, making some of the civilians' councilmen pale, while others only seem more agitated.

"I agree." Yamanaka Inoichi , the psychologist of the bunch was more than a little disgusted and annoyed by the constant interruptions of the civilians' council regarding decisions that concerned shinobi only in nearly every council meeting.

"I second that." Akimichi Choza, the Clan Head of the Akimichi clan agreed while eating a bowl of beef rice. Next to him Nara Shikaku only nodded his head while nodding his head off, acting every bit the Nara that he is. The Hyuga Clan Head said nothing, but most people who knew him took it as an agreement to what they were saying.

"I believe we are getting off our original topic, the main reason for this meeting, in which case, I deemed unnecessary in the first place. The boy is simply that, a boy. If he wishes to attain to the academy, then I do not see any problems that may arise regarding to such action." Aburame Shibi announced his thoughts to the council.

"I don't think that the boy would actually be of any use to our shinobi forces, he is but an annoyance, it is shown though his actions throughout the village every day, we cannot have a disobedient shinobi who is used to such... unsightly behaviour in our ranks." Utatane Koharu countered with an apprehensive expression on her face.

"I agree with Koharu on this... the boy is unusually hyperactive, and pulls pranks all day long, he is overly immature even compare to others that are his age. However, maybe in a few years, while he is more mature, then I believe it will be fair for him to receive a chance then." Mitokado Homura does not believe that the Uzumaki child can be of use to the village, but it is only fair to give him a chance. There are more than a few high-ranking ninjas that had came out of the academy as dead-lasts but prevail on the front lines, sometimes, one can never tell.

"Why not give the boy to me? With proper training, I can make the boy the strongest shinobi of the Leaf since the Sannin." Danzo said impressively as he put as much pressure as he could into his words.

Sarutobi spared Danzo a glance. No, I would never let you have Naruto, even if I have to make Naruto stay a citizen forever, I will never allow you to have him! Even if the aged Hokage knows that Danzo loves Konoha, and would do anything to protect it, he does it to the extreme, and he does have personal agendas that differ from everyone else's.

"Very well Homura, I agree with you, not matter what our decision is, Naruto is still young, and I will also try to convince him to think of another profession. In 2 years time, we will put Naruto in the academy," ignoring all the screams and angry cries from the civilians' side of the council, including Danzo's expected glare due to the fact that he(including all the other clan heads) completely ignored his suggestion, "this meeting is adjourned."

(Hokage Monument)

"Who are you? What do you want?" Naruto asked as he looked on with a cold stare and a completely different attitude that did not seemed to be there when he talked to the Hokage earlier. His face serious, his stand defensive. Shit! No escape routes, the only way for me to escape is to jump down from the Fourth Hokage's head.

So young, yet already such a developed mind...stealth...not to mention acting abilities, he is natural spy material, not to mention his kage-level chakra reserves due to him being a Jinchūriki. His Root agents in the ANBU have many times mentioned in their reports on the boy's abilities in leading the ANBU around all of Konoha, all the while executing well-developed pranks on experienced ANBU. He had also managed to broke into both the Uchiha and Hyuga Clan compound without being noticed, what sort of level of stealth ability was required, he didn't want to know, but to be successful in such infiltrations while wearing an orange jumpsuit without any training to boot...this boy is a natural gold mine, and the whole village is beyond stupid to let such a treasure go.

"Relax, child. I have no wish to harm you, my name is Danzo. I am only here to enjoy the sunset, this is a view that is most enchanting, and no matter how many times I see it, I feel like it is never enough.

It seemed to have calmed Naruto somewhat, but he was still suspicious, while still mentally beating himself up for letting his guard down. Letting his arms drop to his size, but not his gaze, he fully studied the man in front of him. The man named Danzo has black spiky short hair, his head and one side of his face is completely covered in bandages, covering his right eye. His face wrinkled and frail, with an X shaped scar on his chin. He wears a white shirt, with a black and grey robe over the top of it covering from his feet, to just over his right shoulder. His right arm is entirely covered from view. On his left hand holds a cane.

Seemingly finally convinced that if this man wanted to hurt him, would've done so a while ago already, Naruto turned his back on him facing the village once more.

"It's been decided that you will be put into the academy in two years' time. Uzumaki-san."

Naruto said nothing in response, while silently wondering exactly WHO was this Danzo character, there was only one Danzo that he had ever heard of, while listening to ninjas talking and gossiping around Hokage's tower, or in the village from time to time. Most of the time there wasn't much, because only the lower-rank ninjas actually gossip. There was only one term he remembered when the name Danzo came out.

"You, you're the War Hawk, Danzo…a member of the council…" Naruto commented while turning his head slightly so he can watch the old man from the corner of his eye.

Amazing…to actually know who I am is already impressive, but not only that, the term "War Hawk" did not come lightly, such information would not be known even to most chunins in the village. Danzo nodded slightly, gesturing Naruto to continue, while confirming the boy's suspicions. He wanted to see what else he is capable of.

"You are a member of the council, however, due to your outlook and injuries, you were clearly a ninja. I do not recall any member of the prominent clans named Danzo, meaning you are either a personal advisor to the Hokage's shinobi council, or a shinobi that contributed a little too much during the former shinobi wars…"

"…continue."

"You are here to tell me of the Council's decision. The old man isn't here, nor did he call for me in order for me to receive the news, which means more likely than not you are here…without the Hokage's knowledge." Naruto stopped himself for a minute to come up with more info, all the while staring at the "War Hawk". "You are called 'War Hawk'; you are here without the Hokage's consent, putting 2 and 2 together, it's obvious you two have different views on things… one of them... is me entering the academy in two years'time." Naruto ended it with a bit of a questioning gesture at the end, trying to get a response from Danzo.

Meanwhile, Danzo was wondering just what the hell is this kid. This kid is without any training, neglected by the orphanage to learn anything except to maybe talk, he had taught himself how to look for information, eavesdrop on atleast chunin level-ninjas for information, while displaying a large quality of common sense and problem solving abilities, able to analysis and logically dissects me and Hiruzen's relationship with just a title. Now I am wondering…should I just let him grow up on his own, or actually train him, either way he will be of great use to the village. He is also definitely a lot more intelligent than everyone, including me, gave him credit for.

"You are here…you may not have known I was here at this moment, but you wanted to contact me somewhat. Meaning there was something you wanted from me, isn't that right. Danzo-san."

"Your reputation does not give you due credit, Uzumaki-san."

"Just the way I liked it."

"Then I wonder why exactly you are showing this side of yourself to me..."

"Because my reputation as of now is unbreakable, no one would believe anything you say regarding to this side of me, you have nothing against me right now. I have nothing to lose," Naruto stopped for a moment, before adding, "that is, until I figure out what's in it for me, in whatever you are trying to pull right now."

Danzo looked at the 5 year old that seem to be talking more like an experienced businessman than the 5 year old prankster that everybody else in Konoha seemed to know. "What is it that you think I can give to you, Uzumaki-san?"

"I wish to serve Konoha, even if every civilian and shinobi despises me in this village, there ARE people I treasure here, not to mention…there is also my father to take into account…" He looked at Danzo's wide eyes, and then let a smirk slowly creep out of his face.

"Impossible! How?!" Danzo was stunned, in all the elemental nations; the people who knows of Uzumaki Naruto's heritage can be count on one hand. Jiraiya and Tsunade of the Sannin had never come in contact with the child as far as he was concerned. Hiruzen would not have told Naruto anything at all. How the hell did he know?

Naruto's smirk grew larger as he watched Danzo's face grew from stunned to confusion and finally took an inquisitive expression.

"I didn't, it's that simple." Danzo seemed to stared with even more intensity, believing that Naruto's just lied to his face.

Naruto, at this point, was hard-pressed to hold in his laughter. "I had my suspicions, I mean, com'on, I have been staring it at it in the face for years. Not to mention the furball that's in my gut." Once more nearly choking on himself enjoying the pokerface's expressions. "It was your face expression that confirmed it, Danzo-san. As for the Kyuubi, it wasn't that hard, I mean, everybody I saw, heard, listen to, except for about 3 people, calls me a demon. And the only demons in the world are the nine Bijus, only one of them have ever attacked Konoha, and it's also the only one that wasn't given to the other villages by the Shodai Hokage, and just to note, this village's security in the libraries suck. So far I have been able to look into chunin-level classified information without much trouble. After figuring out I'm the Jinchūriki for the Kyuubi, I was obsessed about why I was chosen, which was possibly even easier. There are very few clans with blonde hair, especially spiky yellow hair; the only one who can even come close is Yamanaka Inoichi. But we are talking about blue sapphire eyes and yellow spiky hair, the ONLY one is the Fourth Hokage. That, plus the fact that my birthday is on the day the Kyuubi attacked, was enough for me to finish up with all the lose ends."

Danzo was again speechless, he had a feeling this is just a glimpse of how dangerous this Uzumaki will become. He must make sure of his loyalty to the village. "What are your thoughts regarding to your father's actions, sealing the Kyuubi inside you?" Danzo did not really like the Namikaze Prodigy, but he was strong, and had no qualms about killing his enemies, his dead Iwa shinobi count showed that. It was also because of that, that a man like Danzo atleast partially respected the man.

"I hate it. I hate it to the core. I understand why he did what he did, so I do not hate him for it. But it does not mean I have to like it." Naruto stopped for a moment to figure out his thoughts. "I understand his need to put the village in front of his family. It helps that if, by chance, I can master the Kyuubi's chakra, I can easily become kage-level anytime I want. But I sometimes do wonder, even if I still care about some certain individuals in this village, and will protect it with my life. I sometimes wonder, if my father was alive, if he had seen and what the village did, still doing, and will keep doing to me, will he understand me, will he actually be proud of how the villagers are acting now? However, we are moving further and further away from our original topic, what is it you want from me?"

Danzo looked seriously at the boy again. His thoughts unseen, his poker face on. "What is the reason of you telling me all of this?"

"Again, I have nothing to lose, even if you go and tell everyone on the council that I have 300 IQ or some bullshit like that, there is nothing they can do to me. I am the fucking Jinchūriki, some way or another; I WILL end up as a shinobi no matter what, because that's what Jinchūriki are: uber-powered-up ninjas that do the village's bidding."

"...I can offer you training. I can offer you strength, I can offer you experience." Danzo's low voice seemed to cause ripples in the darkening night's silence.

"And I can offer you my loyalty, my allegiance, my service...but loyalty to Konoha, NOT you. Let me make that clear, Danzo, I will NOT be your puppet, I will be you ally, I will do your bidding, I will do whatever it takes to protect the village, like my father did, I will do any dirty work you need to get done. However, it only goes as far as I graduate from the academy...6 years from now, once I get my Hitai-ate, I will be the Hokage's tool."

"...any additional information, anything that you will know, knew, and know about me, will never leave your month, after you receive your Hitai-ate." Danzo said, with every bit of serious he can muster, with a few douses of killing-intent, to make it a decent enough threat.

"As you wish." Naruto stood up, walked up to Danzo, despite his short height, his eyes serious. He kneeled, and bowed his head. "Danzo-sama".

Chapter 1 finished!

Please review/follow!

Again, this is my first fanfic, please bear with me. Critics are welcome, so does advices and maybe some questions. This is my first chapter of the story. I may ve made Danzo a bit softer and less evil than canon, but the idea is his will of fire, I had a lot of inspiration from "The Sealed Kunai" fanfic, however, it will be completely different.

Some of you might think this is an Danzo n Naruto fanfic, it is not, this will be a straight fanfic, I have no yet chosen the pairings, suggestions(with reasoning) are welcome.