Taijutsu Master: Maito Naruto!
Summary: The night of the Kyuubi's assault on Konoha, Naruto is adopted to give him a better life. Writing Influence: Minutes to Midnight by Linkin Park
The Sandaime Hokage sighed as he looked over the Jounin currently in his office. He examined each of them in turn. Hatake Kakashi. The 18 year old jounin (Not sure if this is right, just go with it) wore a mask over his face, his hitai-ate covering his left eye, currently holding his ever present Icha-Icha-Paradise book in his hand. Next to him stood Yuuhi Kurenai. Two years younger than Hatake she ha just been promoted to Jounin before the Kyuubi's attack. She wore her traditional white strip cloth dress. Next to her stood Sarutobi Asuma. He was smoking a cigarette as he always did. He wore his traditional vest, and slouched against the wall. At 25 he was uninterested in all of these meetings having seen them for years. Next to him stood Mitarashi Anko. She leaned on the wall eating a stick of dango garbed in her usual trench coat and fishnet ensemble. A Special Jounin at the age of 17 wasn't something to sneeze at. Lastly came Maito Gai. He wore a bowl-cut of black hair. His green spandex and orange leg warmers gave everyone a disturbing expression of him. At only 19 years old, Maito Gai was a self proclaimed 'Taijutsu Practitioner' and relied almost entirely on Taijutsu, giving others an idea of his true strength.
The Sandaime looked at the Jounin assembled in front of him. He took a long drag from his pipe before speaking. "As I am sure you all know. As of earlier today our beloved Yondaime sacrificed himself to kill Kyuubi. This is exactly why we're here."
"But the Yondaime killed Kyuubi, why do we still need to discuss it?" Kurenai asked perplexedly.
"Because, the Yondaime did not kill the Kyuubi. A creature of such immense power cannot simply be wiped off the plane of existence. Instead Yondaime sealed it into a young boy. And before any of you say ANYTHING about the boy BEING the demon, he is not. He is the cup that holds the water. The jail that holds the convict. The mind that holds the thoughts. But the real problem is the villagers, and most likely many of the shinobi, are too closed minded and will only see the boy as the demon. I don't want anything to happen to him, and since I can't adopt him myself, I'm asking one of you to do it." Sandaime spoke slowly iterating his point. Sandaime already knew who would be raising Naruto; he was just waiting to see if they would volunteer…
The first to volunteer was a surprise. "I'll do it Sandaime-sama. I owe it to sensei to make sure the child he sacrificed his life is fine."
"Oh no you don't Kakashi! You'll just pervert him with your stupid smut!" Kurenai yelled in protest. "I'll take him. He needs a motherly figure."
"You're too inexperienced right now Kurenai chaaaan. I'll take him! He'll be great with me!" Anko said with great glee.
"I don't think I can allow you to do that Anko. He'll have enough mental traumas without you. He needs someone down to earth. I'll take the boy." Asuma spoke up still smoking.
"I am afraid I cannot let any of you do it! This child must be trained in the ways of the body if he hopes to survive the extreme physical effects of the Kyuubi!" Gai said with conviction.
"Mental training is important too! If he goes with me he can train with Genjutsu to improve his mind!" Kurenai shouted at Gai.
"With me he gets both of them!" Anko yelled.
The Sandaime sighed. Here were five jounin fighting over who would take a small child as their own. Sandaime rubbed his head. "QUIET. I've decided that I'll send the child to live with Gai. He will be adopted under the name of Maito Naruto and will receive protection from any attacks from Gai. And all others will refrain from interfering without Gai's prior knowledge and consent. Very well. You are all dismissed. Except you Gai, I wish to speak to you for a minute." Everyone else shuffled out the door angry at the fact that they wouldn't get to mold the child into their successor. Gai hung back.
"What is it Hokage-sama?"
"There's a good reason I'm letting you take the child Gai. For one, you're the most responsible of them all. And the other is… you know how to care for a child." At this Gai hung his head down.
"Hokage-sama, I doubt that such a short time constitutes-" The Sandaime cut him off.
"Gai, I realize you're devastated by the loss of your fiancée and your child… But I'm sure Gekkoo would have wanted you to take him. That blow to the hospital that held Gekkoo and your child was an accident Gai. No one could have stopped it. She would have wanted you to take the child. Give him a chance at life; give him a chance at being loved."
"Sandaime-sama, I will not be as selfish as to do this for myself, or Gekkoo, or anyone else. I'll do this for the boy. He deserves that chance." The Sandaime nodded agreeing with what Gai was saying.
Author's Note:
Short first chapter I know. But it's just an exposition revealing the beginning of the plotline, and giving a tiny bit of background on Gai. Please leave me reviews, they make me happy!