Naruto of the Fire Fist

Chapter 1 – How It All Started

"Naruto" - Person Talking

'Naruto' – Person Thinking

"Naruto" - Summons/Biju Talking

'Naruto' – Summons/Biju Thinking

"Shadow Clone Jutsu" - Justu/Technique

It was a great day for the villagers of Konoha. It was the 5th anniversary of the Kyuubi's defeat at the hands of their beloved Yondaime Hokage. Unfortunately, it didn't come without a price. Many of the villagers lost somebody precious in the attack, not to mention the loss of their Hokage. It is for that reason that this day is hated by young Naruto.

Ever since he was born he has been hated and scorned by villagers and ninja alike. The only people who don't despise him are his jiji, the Sandaime Hokage, and a couple of his personal ANBU.

Now Naruto isn't an idiot like everyone thinks him to be. He is actually quite smart and cunning. He knew that his jiji cared for him like his own grandson. He knew he would do damn near anything to make his life better, but he didn't. And that has always confused Naruto.

He says he can't do certain things because the council would have a fit, but isn't he the Hokage? Does he not have absolute and total rule over the village? Especially when it comes to shinobi affairs. Why did he allow the council and his advisers to rule over him? The council and advisers where just that, his council and advisers. They advised him in his decisions and when he had a difficult problem, he brought it to the council, and they gave him their opinions. The final rule rested with the Hokage. It literally boggled his mind to think that his advisers could overrule him on matters. It made not even a shred of sense and he just could not understand his jiji's way of thinking.

'Speaking of jiji where is he' mused Naruto as he ran through the streets of the red light district with a mob hot on his tail.

Shouts of "Kill the demon!" and "Go back to hell where you belong demon scum!" rang through his ears as he darted into a nearby alley. Unfortunately for him, the alleyway was a dead end. He turned around and sunk to the ground as he watched the mob close in on him

He knew what was to come. He had been in this situation more times than he would care to remember and every one of them ended up with him being hospitalized. The Chunnin who was leading the mob looked down on him, a malicious smirk of his face, and raised a kunai over his head as he looked around.

"Today is the day that we finish what the Yondaime started and send the demon back to where he belongs! In the fiery depths of hell!" the Chunnin shouted out much to the mobs approval. The crowd cheered as he brought the kunai down, intent on ending the demon, only to be surprised when instead of sinking into soft flesh, it was met with another kunai.

Naruto closed his eyes as he prepared to die. He knew that his luck had run out and no ANBU where coming to save him this time because they usually would have stopped this by now. He hoped that he would at least be able to see his parents before Kami sent him to hell.

Suddenly, he heard the telltale sound of metal clashing and looked up to see a sight that would forever be burned into his mind. The most hideously dressed man he had ever seen in green tights and orange leg warmers stood before him. The thing that amazed Naruto, however, was not his horrendous bowl cut or his impossibly bushy eyebrows, but that he had blocked the kunai that was on its way to being lodged in his head. This man, no matter how ugly he dressed, had defended him. Right then, Naruto swore he would do anything to show this man he was worthy of being defended, no matter what the cost.

"THIS MOB IS MOST UNYOUTHFUL. YOU ARE ALL SULLYING YOUR SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH! IF I CANNOT HELP THIS BOY, THEN I WILL RUN AROUND THE VILLAGE 500 TIMES ON MY HANDS!" Gai proclaimed loudly.

Now the villagers, being the civilians they were, knew that they were no match for this freak of a ninja and decided that the mob was over and the demon had gotten away again. They slowly started to leave, grumbling about lucky demons and how they would get him eventually.

The Chunnin, however, refused to be denied his vengeance and, in his drunken state of mind, decided that he could take on Maito Gai, taijutsu specialist, and without a doubt, the fastest person in Konoha, in a close quarters match and then kill the demon. So with a battle cry he rushed Gai at what he thought, in his arrogant and deluded mind, to be unparalleled speeds, when in all actuality a fresh from the academy Genin could keep up with him, with his fist cocked back and just as he was about to connect with the taijutsu specialists jaw, Gai suddenly vanished in a burst of speed, leaving behind a bewildered and confused ninja, and reappeared behind him only to chop him on the neck, sending him into unconsciousness, all the while shouting about his springtime of youth.

Naruto looked on in sheer awe. The pure speed this man possessed literally blew his young mind. 'Fast' thought Naruto. 'How did he get so fast. I can literally feel the power this man possesses rolling off him. His very presence would be intimidating if he didn't look like such a baka.' A calloused hand on his shoulder broke him out of his revere.

Gai looked at this young boy. He wore a dirty black shirt with a red spiral that he vaguely recognized as the Uzumaki Swirl. He also sported a pair of tan shorts that were torn and tattered. He had blonde hair that was caked with dirt and three whisker marks adorned each of his cheeks. He was short and unhealthy looking at about 3'4 and he had absolutely no fat anywhere on him. All in all, he looked terrible. Gai frowned. 'Is this what the village has done to you Naruto? Minato you would be ashamed at how the village you gave your life for has treated your son.'

He knew who this boy was. He was heir to the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans and yet here he was living in the squalor of the streets. Gai decided right there that he would adopt this child, who had been deprived of the warmth of a home and a loving parental figure, and show him what is was like to be cared for. And of course teach him the ways of YOUTHFULNESS!

"Hello Naruto-kun! Are you okay or do you need me to take you to a hospital?" Gai asked with a large smile adorning his face.

Naruto looked up at this man, searching his eyes for any hint of deceit or malicious intent. This had happened to him a lot before as well. People pretending to be nice to him only for them to try to kill him while his guard was down. He had learned out of necessity to find any hint of a lie. When he looked into his saviors eyes, he found only sincerity and incredibly bushy eyebrows. He then remembered his decision to show this man that he was worth saving and made a decision that would change his future and rock Konoha to the core. He bowed and replied, "Thank you but I am fine Gai-sama. I was actually hoping that you could teach me to become a shinobi of your caliber and strength. I will be forever in your debt if you would"

Gai, for his part, was stunned. At first, his intent was to adopt him and show him a great home and care for him, but the thought of having a young apprentice to shape into a great ninja was stoking his flames of youth greatly.

He gave his patented thumbs up and large smile and yelled, "YOSH! I SHALL ADOPT YOU AND TAKE YOU ON AS MY APPRENTICE FOR I CAN SEE YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHT MY YOUNG PUPIL! COME WE MUST MAKE THIS OFFICIAL WITH THE HOKAGE AND THEN WE SHALL TRAIN UNTIL THE SUN COMES UP!"

Naruto sweat dropped. 'Is this guy for real?' he thought. On second thought, this whole thing may not be such a good idea. But he did say that he would adopt him. That alone made up for any quirks this man could have. He actually wanted him. 'I'll have a home and maybe...maybe he would let me call him dad' he thought with a small smile.

He stood up and stared at Gai. "Do you mean that?" he asked softly. "Do you really want to adopt me?'

Gai looked him right in the eyes, understanding that his next words will be the deciding factor on whether or not Naruto will trust him, and replied, "Of course Naruto. I know this village hasn't treated you well and they have denied you the care you need but if you will let me, I will care for you like my own son" he replied, deathly serious for once.

Naruto's reply was so soft that Gai almost didn't catch it. "Thank you... tou-san." he whispered when suddenly he was engulfed in a hug. He flinched violently, a testament to the life he had led up to this point.

Gai frowned at his reaction. "You don't have to live like this anymore my son" he told him. "Now how about we go visit the Hokage and get this sorted out so we can go home huh Naruto?" Gai asked tentatively. A rapid nodding of the head was his response. He chuckled and scooped him up. "YOSH! WE SHALL SHOW THE HOKAGE OUR FLAMES OF YOUTH!" Gai bellowed as he took off at impossibly high speeds towards the Hokages's office with Naruto yelling at him to go faster.

(With Hokage)

The Hokage, for his part, was in his office working on the bane of his existence, paperwork! He just could not understand how Minato could have so much time to spend with Kushina with all this paperwork. He looked at the pile of it and sighed. He was almost done. He closed his eyes to silently thank the gods when he felt a small breeze. He opened his eyes only to see a stack of papers 3 feet high sitting on his desk. He then proceeded to cry anime tears while the ANBU guarding his office sweat dropped. 'Damn you Minato! When I get up there I am going to kill you for leaving me with this blasted paperwork!' Luckily for him he heard a knock on his door. "Enter" he intoned as Gai and, to his immense surprise, Naruto walked in.

"HEY JIJI!" Naruto cried as he bounded up to the desk while Gai silently followed him.

"Hello there Naruto, Gai. To what do I owe this pleasure?" The Hokage asked curiously. He had an inkling and if he was right, this could be a great thing not just for Naruto, but for the village. Naruto gets a loving parental figure and the village gets another taijustsu expert. Even if the council decided to try and intervene then he could say that it was for the good of the village and effectively shut them up.

Gai spoke up before Naruto could say anything. "Hokage-sama, I was hoping you could sign off on this adoption form. I have decided to adopt young Naruto here for his flames of youth burn brightly!"

The Hokage smiled, his suspicions proven correct. "And does Naruto agree with this?" he asked smirking slightly as he already knew the answer.

"YEAH JIJI! Pops is gonna teach me to be a super fast ninja just like him!" Naruto replied with a wide grin on his face.

"Then I will, of course, sign the form. Naruto can you please step outside for a minute? I have to talk to your pops about your training." the Hokage asked innocently hoping that Naruto took the hint and left without making too much of a fuss.

"Yea alright jiji. Good luck with all that paperwork!" Naruto replied cheekily as he left the office and just before he closed the door he heard the Hokage yell out in frustration as he discovered another 5 feet of paperwork on his desk. He smirked evilly to himself. 'That'll teach him to talk about secret stuff without me' he thought with a satisfied smile on his face. He wasn't so ignorant to think that they would actually be talking about his training schedule. 'He probably just wants to tell tou-san about my heritage or something' thought Naruto.

(With Hokage and Gai)

The Hokages face suddenly got very serious. "Gai, I assume you know who exactly you are adopting am I correct?" The Hokage questioned in a deathly serious tone. Gai subconsciously straightened up.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I know that he is the heir to two major clans and I know of his heritage. Minato was actually a very good friend of mine" Gai answered honestly. He didn't know where the Hokage was going with this but he assumed it was something important or pertinent to how he was going to be training him.

"Then you know of Minato's title of Seal Master and what that entails?" he asked Gai this time not icily like before, but with curiosity with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"Of course Hokage-sama. He was a seal master of prodigious skill. I also heard he created several original seals in short time as Hokage but he couldn't distribute them because his duties as Hokage and as a husband kept him from having much free time. But I don't see where you're going with all this" Gai replied confused as to what he was missing here.

The Hokage smirked, "Well you see Gai, when Naruto was born, Minato didn't just draw the Shiki Fujin seal on Naruto. He also applied some of his newly developed seals on him as well as a seal that would regulate them as he got older. I am the only one aware of this but Naruto has four resistance seals on him, one on each limb, as well as a gravity seal on his chest. The regulator seal ensured that they would go up one level when Naruto got used to them. Then with the Kyuubi in him, whenever the his muscles get ripped from training, then they would be healed at a greatly accelerated rate. I'm sure you know what this means Gai."

Gai's eyes were wide and his mind was in overload. Already he was thinking of the possibilities of this new revelation. 'Naruto could become faster and stronger than him by the time he was a Genin. He could have speeds unobtainable even when all eight gates are opened by the time he was a 15 with the help of some youthful training. He could become the best taijutsu user the world has even seen, far surpassing myself in all aspects of shinobi training. He has literally unlimited potential' he thought dreamily. "Do you know what level his seals are on right now Hokage-sama?" Gai asked.

"I don't. No one has checked them since he has had them on. I assume they are high though, with all the running he does." he replied with a somber tone thinking of all the times Naruto had been chased by the mobs. He brightened shortly after thinking about Naruto now. He knew with the information he just gave Gai, he could count on Naruto being Jonin level by the time he was a Genin. Especially the way Gai trained.

"I see. Well thank you for allowing me this honor Hokage-sama. By your leave" Gai asked as he began to walk out to find Naruto and get him settled in his new home.

The Hokage waved him off. 'Things are going to get really interesting in the coming years' he thought as he took a puff from his pipe and looked out at the bustling streets of Konoha with a small smile on his face.

(With Gai and Naruto)

"Alright Naruto, for tonight we will just relax and I'll show you around our apartment but for the next 6 years I will be training you into the ground. YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH WILL BURN AS BRIGHT AS THE SUN!" Gai screamed as Naruto sweatdropped.

"Do you scream like that all the time?" Naruto asked warily. He was forever grateful to the man for taking him in but all that screaming about youth or whatever would get annoying.

"HAI, AND IF I DON'T, I SHALL RUN AROUND THE VILLAGE 200 TIMES WHILE CARRYING A BOULDER!" he yelled again while giving his patented thumbs up pose.

Naruto sighed. 'I guess I'll have to get used to that' he thought to himself. He looked at Gai as he stopped walking.

"Here is your new home Naruto-kun. I hope it is to your liking. Your bedroom will be down the hall and to the left while mine is to the right. Both of our rooms have their own bathrooms so that won't be a problem. Why don't you take your things in and get settled in while I cook us up some dinner" Gai said as he looked at Naruto to judge his reaction. He was not disappointed.

Naruto looked at his new home with wide eyes. It was clean and fairly large compared to his old, ratty apartment, which was only a small 10x10 room that was mostly taken up by his bed. A smile lit up his face as he gazed into his room. It was painted a nice crimson color. In the middle of the room was a fairly large bed. Next to that was a small nightstand. In the corner was a door leading to his own, personal bathroom.

Naruto turned to Gai with tears streaming down his face and a huge smile and hugged him.

"Thank you so much for all of this" he sobbed into his chest while Gai just smiled sadly and patted his back.

"This is what you deserve Naruto-kun. You deserve this and so much more. You are a hero to this village" he told him.

Naruto looked up, confusion evident in his eyes. "What do you mean I'm a hero? What did I do?" he asked Gai.

Gai sighed heavily. "Naruto, on this night 5 years ago, the Biju known as the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. A Biju is a manifestation of chakra and are extremely powerful and cannot be killed by us humans. There are nine of them each with a certain number of tails. The tails represent how strong they are, one being the least powerful, while nine being the most powerful. Make no mistake though Naruto, even the one tailed biju could wipe out an entire village easily. The Kyuubi has nine tails and is the most powerful of them all. It was said that it could level mountains with just a swing of his tail" Gai informed his young charge.

"Whoa! How did we get rid of it if it was so powerful though?" he asked.

"That is the thing Naruto. As I said, us humans cannot kill biju, so the Fourth Hokage made the decision to seal the Kyuubi into a small child. His child to be exact" Gai stated sadly.

Naruto's mind was in turmoil. 'It was true. All of what the villagers say is true. I'm a demon. I've killed so many people' he thought sadly.

Gai sensed Naruto's internal struggle and decided to reassure him. "Naruto come with me" he said seriously as he got up and walked into the kitchen to grab a bowl.

Naruto sensed the seriousness in his voice and followed him dutifully wondering what his tou-san was doing.

"Naruto what is this" he asked as he held up the bowl so that Naruto could see.

"Uhm, it's a bowl" he answered while wondering if his adoptive father had lost his sanity.

"Correct. Now what is it" he asked again while pulling a kunai out of his pouch and putting it inside the bowl.

"Uhm, it's a bowl with a kunai in it" he said. Gai smiled brightly at him.

"Exactly. The bowl is still a bowl, no matter what is inside of it. Do you understand Naruto? You are still you. It doesn't matter if you have a demon sealed into you" he told his young son hoping that this would assure him that he was not a demon.

Understanding instantly dawned on Naruto's face. 'I'm still me, it's just that I have a demon in me. I really am a hero. I'm the only thing holding the Kyuubi back from destroying the village. And did he say that the fourth Hokage sealed it into his son? I'm the Yondaime's son!' he thought with a small smile.

"Now enough of all this depressing talk, why don't you sleep on what you've learned for now and tomorrow we'll go shopping to get you weights and whatever clothes you like?" Gai asked.

Naruto yawned and nodded sheepishly. "That sounds good pops. Thank you... for all of this."

"Think nothing of it Naruto" Gai responded with a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Naruto fell asleep that night happy for this first time in as long as he could remember.

Timeskip 6 Years

Naruto has grown a lot in the past 6 years since his tou-san adopted him. He was now 11 years old. He stood tall for his age at 5'4. He wore black ANBU pants that were taped up to his shin and black ninja sandals. He also wore a slate gray, high collared shirt with a red Uzumaki swirl on the back.

His pops had tried, repetitively, to get him into one of those horrid green jumpsuits he wore. He refused, every time, sometimes having to throw Kakashi under the bus to get his pops off his back by saying that Kakashi had issued a challenge or some nonsense.

Ever since he found out that he was the Fourth's son, he decided to honor his biological dad by cutting his hair exactly like his. This led to him looking like an exact copy of the Yondaime, minus the whiskers, and inadvertently gave all the villagers a wake up call.

They realized that they had been treating their beloved Yondaime's son like trash, and a majority of them tried to make it up to him. He, of course, forgave them and just asked that they judge him based on his personality not his heritage. Many had honored this request and began to get to know him. It was safe to say that Naruto was now well-liked by almost everyone in the village. There was still some people who hated him still, but Naruto could live with that.

Naruto was walking through the streets intent on getting to his favorite ramen stand, but not for their ramen. No, Naruto had an addiction to sweet tea and it just so happened that Ichiraku's not only had the best ramen, but the best sweet tea. Naruto made it a point to hang out their as much as he could to get some of their heavenly sweet tea.

This of course led to Naruto's multitude of fan girls to make it into their base of operations. Said fan girls all squealed when Naruto walked into the ramen stand.

He walked up to the counter and sat down in his chair. He came here so much, Teuchi and Ayame decided to get him his own chair and no one else was allowed into it. It even had his name engraved in the back along with the Uzumaki swirl.

"Hey Ayame-chan, I'll have a sweet tea please" he told the cute waitress with a disarming smile. He enjoyed the blush that crept up on her face.

"Of course Naruto-kun" she said bringing out a glass filled with his precious sweet tea.

"Thanks Ayame-chan, you're the best" he said before he took a long drink. She stuttered a little before blushing and going to take another order. He chuckled to himself and looked around the stand. Many girls he looked at would just squeal loudly, blush and look away and start giggling.

He sighed to himself. He enjoyed flirting with all of them but he would never date any of them. He wanted a real kunoichi, not one of these civilian or fan girls. He wanted a woman who took their ninja career seriously. A woman who could stand next to him as an equal and yet, make him blush like a schoolgirl when he looked at her.

He sighed again and finished the last of his tea while putting the money he owed on the table. 'Maybe I just have my standards set too high. Oh well, no use moping around, I've got training to do' he thought as he walked out of the stand.

Normally he would stay much longer and chat with a few people but lately he'd been obsessed with creating his own taijutsu style. He decided many years ago, as a thanks to his pops for taking him in, he would only use taijutsu, just like him.

His pops had been overjoyed at that and since then he had learned many different styles and trained impossibly hard. Since then, he had upped his resistance and gravity seals to level 10. He and Gai were perfectly even when it came to speed. They tied in races when they both released their seals and weights respectively and they tied when they had their seals and weights on as well.

Naruto though, wasn't satisfied with the taijutsu styles he learned. It always seemed that something was missing from them. One day he decided to check his elemental affinity just to see what it was. What happened shocked him. When he channeled his chakra into the paper, it burned so hot it just disintegrated. No ashes were left. He was amazed and asked Kakashi about it since he was more knowledgeable than his pops in the ninjutsu area. He told him that he had an amazingly high affinity to fire.

This intrigued Naruto and one night, while he was drinking his tea it hit him. He was going to create a style that used the basics of Tsunade-sama's super strength. What gave her the super strength was that right at the point of impact, she would release chakra from her fists, thus sending people flying. He would do the same thing, but instead of releasing just pure chakra, he would release his fire chakra.

It took him the better part of two years before he got the style down to an acceptable point. Both Kakashi and his pops were flabbergasted when he showed them. He demonstrated on a log and when he punched it the part he hit flash burned leaving a fist sized hole in it. They were both amazed to say the least.

That was 2 years ago and now he was almost done with mastering what he named the fire Fist style. He could send and release fire chakra instinctively through both his fists and feet now. He had completely mastered the Fire Fist and right on time. The Genin exams were just a day away.

His pops had made him sit through a year in the academy in order to spend time with kids his own age. Suffice to say it was a horrible experience. The academy was so pitiful that it disgusted him.

'l still don't know why the fuck flower pressing is a class. What the fuck is flower pressing going to do for you when you're fighting an enemy ninja?' he thought to himself as he lay on his bed. The civilian council may have been nicer to him, but they still had no business in shinobi affairs. 'Oh well, hopefully their sensei's kick them into gear' he thought as he drifted off to sleep.