Prologue (What if I made the right choice?)
Author's Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. Thank you.
In the Naruto universes, or multiverses, whichever you wish to call it, there are an infinite number of situations that our protagonists get into. Whether it be romance with either gender, finding new powers hidden within the past or being saved by others from places far off from our blond haired hero's own, there are limitless possibilities that are written by many.
It is however, to be said that in these situations, there is a small choice. It doesn't seem major, but it is. In all stories that involve Konoha, there is a particular street. On this particular street, all previous stories have Naruto walking left. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but down this street is where Naruto gets beaten/raped/killed/saved/ect. It is only in this story where things get a little…different.
It is in this story that our protagonist decides to take a chance and, at the ripe young age of 6, walk his way down to the right instead. Again, a small choice, but one that will have earthshaking consequences. It is down this road that our Kyuubi prison will find a new set of possibilities. It is down this road that Naruto will find that while deception can be a ninja's best weapon, it can also be easily turned against its wielder.
Down this right road, lies Konoha's red-light district. One would think that possibly this den of immorality and hedonism would be the last place our social pariah would want to walk down. This, strangely enough, couldn't be further from the truth. It is here after that those who have a heart for the poor young boy frequent. Many ANBU, trying to escape their merciless lives and horrifying jobs come here to indulge their darkest sins. Drink and women are easily accessible, often in the same place.
One bar in particular however held our young boy's gaze. A small, out of the way place that not too many even knew about, much less drank at. However, it had an inviting look to it, less a bar than a resting place for those whom life became too tiresome. Without thinking, the innocent boy stepped inside, and everything went silent.
At this deafening silence the boy began to panic internally. This was usually a prelude to pain and suffering. Shaking with fear, the young boy made to back off, his bright blue eyes welling up with frightened tears. However, the young boy was shocked when a pair of strong arms grabbed him, picked him up and sat him down on the counter. He was then greeted by a scarred but smiling face. "Heh, what are you doing here Naruto? Aren't you a little young to be interested in this sort of place?"
"Nonsense, Ibiki!!" Yelled an enthusiastic voice, shocking both interrogator and boy, causing the second to jump and the first one to glare wrathfully at the long, white haired ninja sitting at the end of the bar, grinning like a madman. "You can never be too young to appreciate a fine female physic! Or a good drink for that matter. Why, the young boy probably is just getting ready for his life as a ninja!"
Another voice chimed in. "Jiraya! Leave the poor kid alone, he's probably just lost and scared. Give 'im a milk or something will you barkeep? I'll pay for it."
The barkeep, a large, balding man nodded warmly and gave Naruto a small cold glass of milk, which Naruto drank eagerly, smiling happily at the barkeep. The old man laughed and replied, "Ha! This isn't no demon. Those idiots have no idea what they're talking about. Poor kid was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Naruto then curiously turned to the white-haired oji-san, and walked over to him, looking up at him. Jiraya looked down at Naruto and laughed. "How are you doing there kid?" Naruto looked at him for a moment, cocked his head to the side and after examining him, looked down at the floor, obviously too shy to say a word. "Now come on, don't be shy! I'm not bad! Here, I'll show you a trick." Jiraya made sure he had Naruto's attention before taking out a small slip of paper and putting his glass on it. "Now watch carefully. This is a magic piece of paper! It can make things disappear! Watch…" The old man grinned mischievously and channeled some Chakra into the paper, activating the storage seal it contained. When the glass disappeared, the boy gasped and jumped back. "Impressive, huh?"
The barkeep rolled his eyes and replied with, "Stop teasing the boy Jiraya. Keep it up and it'll be no sake for you for a month."
Jiraya's eyes bulged comically and he jumped up, ranting. "Hey! I'm a Sanin you know! I'm a legend! A LEGEND I TELL YOU! Women love me! Men want to be me! I am the great, the wonderful, the SUPER PERVERT, JIRAYA!" The old man finished his speech with a comical pose and a yell, which was pretty much ignored by the rest of the bar. Naruto on the other hand just laughed as if he had been watching a clown. Jiraya sighed and sat down. "Gimme another drink will ya?"
The bartender complied quickly and handed the Sanin another pitcher of sake. Naruto had hopped up onto the barstool next to Jiraya and began to draw something with a broken crayon he found in his pocket, every once and a while turning to the storage seal and turning back to his creation.
After a few minutes, Jiraya poured himself some more sake into his dish and set the pitcher down, drinking the dish in one gulp. He smiled warmly and went to get himself another drink, when he froze. The pitcher was no longer there. This caused the Sanin to jump up and look around. "W-where's the sake?"
"You probably already drank it you alcoholic." murmured the bartender, who merely received a glare from the incensed old man.
Jiraya looked around the table, and froze, his face slowly becoming a mask of shock. Sitting right where he had put his sake pitcher, written in red crayon on a bar napkin was a perfect duplicate of his storage seal. The old man whirled around to where Naruto was sitting, only to find an even bigger shock. The Hokage. Nobody of course knew who he was due to a cleverly used henge, but Jiraya knew of the Sandiame's drinking habits and disguises. Naruto was sitting on his lap, grinning like the cat that caught the canary.
"Well, well…who would have thought…our little Naruto is a seal prodigy…Jiraya, you're a genius!" the young brown haired man exclaimed. The form was a very unassuming one, not a person who would easily draw attention. He could have been a random generic ninja in any given scene of the anime, so bland was the transformation.
"What? You're kidding me! No way. If you're going to try to fool me, at least give me the effort a ninja like me deserves." Jiraya scoffed.
"Fool you? What would I gain from doing that? I saw it with my own two eyes. This boy's a fuinjutsu genius, simple as that."
"You're trying to tell me, that this gaki at his young age was able to perfectly copy a sealing jutsu, and activate it at his age? You're pulling my leg!" Jiraya harrumphed and looked to the side, but this time he seemed ever so slightly shaken.
The henge'd Hokage sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm telling you Jiraya, this kid did it! Are you calling me a liar?" asked the young man in a, "I'm Hokage and you'd better listen to me," tone of voice.
"N-no! I'm just having a hard time believing it is all…I mean…think about it, at his age, being able to perform fuinjutsu like this…the kid could potentially surpass…well…me!" Jiraya replied, shaking his head back and forth.
The Hokage continued holding the young boy and adopted a thinking pose. He looked down, then at his white haired drinking companion, then back down again. Then, "And what's wrong with that?"
Jiraya laughed. "The only way he'd be able to pull that one off is if I was the who trained him."
"Sounds like a great idea, Jiraya!" The Hokage exclaimed.
The Toad Sage spat out a mouthful of sake all over the counter, angering the barkeep. "ME? No way! The gaki would get in the way of my research, and it would be far too irritating to have to train the little kid. I ain't doing it."
"At the waste of such potential?"
"Not my problem."
The Hokage sighed deeply, and looked around. It was fate that at that moment, two buxom but overly flashy women walked in. By the way their hips moved to their make up to their clothing, it was very clear that these women were involved in the oldest profession in existence. They were, in short, whores. Normally they would have immediately made a beeline to the white haired Sanin, as he was one of their best clients, but something stopped them. The sight of an adorable little Naruto on the lap of what looked like Kohona's most bland shinobi. "Awww!" one of them squealed and bent down, revealing far too much cleavage than was necessary, "He's SO cute!"
The old man had a brilliant flash of inspiration, and speaking loud enough for the sage to hear, spoke. "Yes, it's awfully hard, taking care of him all by myself…I didn't want to bring him here, but I don't have much of a choice. The poor boy lost his parents to the Ninetails, and left him in my care, and I wouldn't dare leave him to the world, not in this state."
"Oh!" The other whore sighed. "You're such a committed man…I like committed men…" The whore finished with a sultry look in the Hokage's direction.
Jiraya meanwhile was sputtering and stammering until he saw the reaction to the Hokage's story and immediately leapt to his feet. "W-wait! I never actually said I WOULDN'T train him!"
"No, no, you made your point quite clear. It's a pity, because I could see this boy becoming legendary…" The Hokage shook his head and got up, after gently setting Naruto on the floor. "Come on now, it's time to go back home, okay?"
Jiraya's face turned red. "WAIT JUST A SECOND! No way am I letting you hog all the glory-er- I mean, no way am I letting such potential walk out that door! I'm going to train that gaki and there is nothing you can say that'll make me do otherwise! I'll kidnap him if I have to!"
The Hokage began laughing, shaking his head. "All right, no need to twist my arm. When can I expect you to start? And will you be leaving the village?"
"Of course I'll be leaving the village. Hell, go bring that gaki back to his home and get him packed…we'll leave tonight." Jiraya stood up and stretched, throwing some yen down before walking out the door without another word. Naruto looked curiously up at the Hokage who smiled down on him.
"Come Naruto. The night is young and you have much to do. Let's go home." The Hokage smiled and both he and Naruto strode off into the night, but not before the Hokage turned to the two whores and snapped his fingers, dispelling the two henge'd clones in a puff of smoke.
*********
The moon was shining brightly over Konoha as Naruto and the Hokage walked silently to the gate. The white haired Sanin was already there, tapping his foot impatiently, eager to leave the village as soon as possible. As soon as he made eye contact with the duo he strode up, frowning. "Took you long enough. He got everything?"
The Hokage nodded sagely before kneeling down to face Naruto, a warm, yet sad smile spreading on his old wrinkled features. "Naruto, I want you to listen to me very carefully. I'm going to be sending you off with a trusted friend of mine, one of my favorite students. Listen to what he has to say. And remember, you always have a home here. I'll await the day you return to us Naruto, but until then, take care, and please, always try to remember Konoha fondly."
Naruto nodded and turned to the white haired Sanin silently. Jiraya stared back before finally breaking out into an exasperated grin. He then knelt and picked up the blond boy, hefting him up onto his shoulders. Naruto happily laughed. The Hokage smiled and extended a hand to Jiraya. "Thank you Jiraya. I can rest easy knowing he'll be under your care."
Jiraya laughed heartily. "Ha, when he comes back, you'll hardly recognize him! I'll turn him into a Class A ninja, no doubt about that!"
Sarutobi smiled and nodded. "Of course. Goodbye Naruto. I'll see you again."
Naruto cocked his head to the side, but smiled and waved goodbye to the old man. Jiraya then turned around, and in a swirl of leaves, vanished into the forest beyond. The Hokage sighed, standing alone in the open road. It would be a little less vibrant without Naruto around. Slowly, he turned towards the tower and hung his head. There was paperwork to be done, and knowing his aides, his little excursion out to the bar would get him chewed out. The title of Hokage wasn't nearly as glamorous as some thought…
*******
An undetermined amount of time later…
*******
Umino Iruka, for all his complaints and sighs in regards to his job, really loved teaching deep down in his heart of hearts. Knowing that it was under his tutelage that the newest batch of Genin would spring forth was both a source of pride and a comfort. And although there were exceptions, a number of students trusted him explicitly, often coming to him after class for advice and questions that he was only too happy to answer for them to the best of his abilities. He was also proud of his ability to size up his students at first glance, knowing their personalities from speech and gaze alone. It was for this reason that he couldn't help but feel the slightest tinge of apprehension when the newest student walked into his classroom.
"Everyone! Settle down! I would like to introduce a new student. He's been doing some training outside of the village and is going to be taking the Genin test with us this weekend. He'll be working with all of you from here on out, so please give a welcome to Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka proclaimed to the students.
Naruto strode forth, and the very first thing that Iruka noticed was that the blonde's gaze didn't hold the smile that his lips produced. They were moving around rapidly, taking in faces, calculating. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn the young man was looking for entrances and exits, a paranoid yet wise trait most ANBU and older veterans were known for. The young boy's steps were silent, but he strode with a purpose, stopping in front of the rest of the class with a mysterious smile gracing his lips. With the whisker marks on either cheek, he was vaguely fox-like, something that sent a shiver up Iruka's spine. "Hello everyone, I'll be looking forward to working with you all." Naruto murmured softly, his voice the sound of velvet, a hint of steel behind it like a sheathed sword. He had the inflection of someone who carefully weighed each word, testing it in his mind before producing it for the desired effect.
Iruka smiled down at Naruto, putting his initial nervousness at the back of his head, laughing internally at his own foolish thoughts. "Why don't you tell the class what you learned while you were away from the village? Or what style of combat you happen to use?"
Naruto put a finger to his chin and adopted a thoughtful pose, silent for a few moments. Finally, he opened his mouth and answered, "Hm…well, I'm going to assume that I've learned the same as everyone here. For combat…hm…I suppose you could call me a puppeteer, sou desu."
A haughty female voice rang out from the students, a voice Iruka immediately identified as Hinata Hyuuga, replying, "Puppeteer? Then where is your puppet?"
Naruto slowly turned to the lavender eyed girl, his smile widening until his smile resembled that of a beast, a feral grin that was full of teeth and ill-willed mirth. "Why, Hyuuga-san, don't you know? People make the best puppets," Naruto's eyes widened as he spoke, sending unconscious shivers throughout much of the room, save for a boy of raven-black hair and a lavender eyed boy, "All it takes, is the right kind of string." Silence followed Naruto's statement until suddenly he laughed and his face abruptly was that of an innocent young man, a warm smile spread from ear to ear. "Heh, gotcha! Nah, I'm straight up Ninjutsu, laced with some Taijutsu. Where would you like me to sit Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka shook his head and his usual smile returned. "You may sit next to Sakura-chan. She's the young woman with the pink hair." Iruka gestured in her direction. Sakura looked unnerved at this revelation, but struggled to maintain a friendly smile for the new student. Next to her, Uchiha Sasuke frowned deeply, staring at the young newcomer.
And sitting in his chair, up in the Hokage Tower, Sarutobi frowned as he read over a small orange folder given to him the day before, worry evident in every wrinkle in his face. For the first time in a while, he wondered if sending Naruto with Jiraya was such a wise idea after all…