Summary: The Sandaime Hokage goes on his annual trip to meet the Fire Daimyo, he decides it would be a great learning experience for Naruto and brings him along. On the way to the capitol the Hokage, Naruto and the Hokage's guard are attacked by some missing-nins and bandits. He gets separated from the group and winds up wandering around the world making friends and allies along the way. War breaks out and the Diamyo's of Oto, Ame & Iwa send armies into Hi no Kuni in the hopes of gaining territory. Naruto joins the Fire Diamyo's army 2 years after the war has started at the age of 12.
AN: Academy grad is at 16 years old. I might be taking stuff from other animes but this is not a crossover. Definitely an AU story he will be traveling for around 10 years with people he meets Suggestions always welcome. Strong, Observant, Intelligent & Mature Naruto.
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO AND OTHER CHARACTERS I AM TAKING FROM ANIMES AND GAMES:(....
5 years after Kyuubi Attack
It was a peaceful morning in Konoha the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sun shone bright in the sky , no sign of clouds for miles and a calm breeze. The people of the village were merrily going about their business, the children were playing all in all it was the perfect day for everyone. Everyone except a certain 64 year old Sandaime Hokage.
Taking a break from the constant stamping and signing that is his job, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed "This paperwork will be the end of me." Pulling out his trusty old pipe he loads the bowl with some tobacco and uses a small fire justu to light it. Taking a few drags from it he stands and walks to the window and looks over his people.
"I wonder where little Naruto-kun is?" as soon as that sentence left his lips a chunin barged into the office and screamed. "Hokage-sama Naruto has been causing trouble again!" the Sandaime sighed thinking that Naruto's pranks were all well and good unless somebody gets hurt. "Dog!" the Dog masked ANBU appeared. "Locate Naruto-kun and bring him here."
"Hai Hokage-sama!" and with that said Dog disappeared to find the little blonde.
Sitting down in his chair Sarutobi begins to think about what to do with the energetic blonde. "What to do with you Naruto-kun..." throwing thoughts back and forth he begins to formulate a plan. "Well he will be starting the academy next year maybe he will calm down some." further thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of Dog and Naruto.
"You are dismissed Dog." ordered Sarutobi
"What'cha ya want ji-chan?" asked Naruto pouting slightly
Taking in the appearance of the 5 year old boy Sarutobi notices that his overalls are covered in some kind of substance from his prank earlier. He is a bit smaller than the average toddler. His blonde hair was spiked, his azure blue eyes shown with mischief, three whisker-like marks adorned both cheeks.
Leaning back into his chair Sarutobi takes a long drag of his pipe and replies. "What are your dreams Naruto-kun?" waiting patiently for his answer he observes the child in front of him. Expecting him to shout out his answer he was mildly surprised to see the shift in the boys behavior as the boy contemplates his reply.
"I want to become strong."
"Is that all Naruto-kun?"
"No, I want to become the strongest ninja so that I can protect myself." Naruto said while his eyes reflected pain. Now Naruto was not ignorant to all the latent hate and spite that most of the villagers and shinobi held for him he just didn't know why.
"Just yourself or are there people you wish to protect also?" looking into the boys azure blue depths.
"Of course ji-chan, theres you, Teuchi ji-chan, and Ayame-chan too!" Sarutobi's eyes looked saddened by the amount of people that were close to Naruto due to his burden. Which did not go unnoticed by the boy.
"Good, as long as you have someone or something to protect you will become strong." Sarutobi says thinking of something more to motivate him. "But you know as the Hokage I am the strongest in the village, so you will have to become stronger than me in order to protect me." smirking at the face that Naruto was making he waited for the boy to start yelling.
"Than I will become Hokage and become strong enough to protect you ji-chan!" he said pumping his fist into the air.
Sarutobi could see the fire in the boys eyes and chuckled. "I believe you will Naruto-kun but you will have to become a ninja first. You know you will start the academy next year why don't you try and get a head start on learning the things they learn there?"
"How will I do that I don't have anyone to help me, all the other kids have families to help them out?" Naruto looked down. Sarutobi saw this and decided to help him out.
"Well Naruto-kun how 'bout I help you out I will give you some books that will help you on your path to become the strongest Hokage." getting up he motioned for Naruto to follow. Walking to the office door they walk out. "Ah Shoki-chan hold all appointments I have some business to attend to with little Naruto-kun here." Sarutobi ruffled his hair at the end and chuckled seeing the pouting look on his face.
"Hai Hokage-sama! Hello there Naruto-kun how have you been?" replied the Shoki. She was in her mid twenties, she is a retired gennin that quit because she couldn't see herself going any further as a ninja. She had black hair in a ponytail going to the small of her back. Shoki was a plain looking woman though some would call her cute. She saw Naruto almost everyday when he would visit the Hokage, she knew he was the container of the Kyuubi but didn't see him as the fox. She believed in the Yondaime's skill in fuuinjutsu and knew the difference between the scroll and the kunai sealed in the scroll.
"I'm good Shoki-neechan, ji-chan is taking me to get some things so that I will be ready to go to the academy next year."
"Really, well you better do good than because becoming a ninja is hard work." she replied
"Hai neechan!" Naruto said with the utmost enthusiasm which made the Hokage and his secretary laugh.
"Well come on Naruto-kun lets see what kind of things you will need. I'll be back later Shoki-chan we'll leave you be now." Sarutobi said leading Naruto out of the building.
"Hai Hokage-sama see you when you get back. Bye Naruto-kun." Shoki said waving to the boy.
"Bye Shoki-neechan!" waving goodbye while he tries to keep pace with the Sandaime.
Walking out of the tower the Sandaime Hokage was once again thinking of what he can do for the blonde ball of sunshine next to him. "Well if he is anything like his father and mother than he has a lot of potential...hmm...well I will let him decide once we get to the library in my house." looking down at the boy he notices his behavior is quite subdued. He sees Naruto's eyes darting left and right at the stares and glares of the villagers and sighs. "If only they would stop and get to know the boy they would see that he is no demon." see his discomfort Sarutobi rest a hand on Naruto's shoulder and gives a reassuring squeeze seeing the boy relax somewhat into the comforting gesture he looks forward and notices they are almost to their destination.
"Where are we going ji-chan?"
"Hm, well we are going to the library in my house to get you some books that will help you figure out what you wanna learn."
"Oh, cool so I get to pick out which books I want then right?"
"Hai I might throw in a few books or scrolls that I deem necessary or feel you might like. Ah look we're here." says Sarutobi reaching for his key. Opening the door to his home and all the Hokage's before him he leads Naruto through it and towards the library. Upon reaching the library Sarutobi puts his bites his thumb and wipes it on the blood seal to allow entrance to the library. Recognizing the blood of Sarutobi the seal glows and then fades while a clicking sound is heard signifying that it is unlocked, pushing the door open so he can walk in he motions for Naruto to follow him in as well. The sight that greeted Naruto was a library so grand that there were shelves filled with scrolls and books from wall to wall.
"Well Naruto-kun let me list for you some things that you can learn they are Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Fuuinjutsu, and Kinjutsu. Many people prefer to use the flashy techniques so they choose Ninjutsu. In Konoha we only have one Taijutsu master and he is one if not the strongest Jounin we have. Genjutsu is kind of a lost art because people prefer Ninjutsu over the subtle Genjutsu but don't dismiss Genjutsu masters of this art can turn the tide of a battle with one simple illusion. Now in Konoha we only have one Kenjutsu master but in Kiri they have tons like the Seven Swordsman who are masters of this art and are deadly in the field. Fuuinjutsu not many are into this art because it is one of the more tedious ones to master but very few follow this path but if they do the versatility of this art is what many don't look at you can do many things like add seals to weapons to make them even more powerful or carry all your items in a single scroll. Kinjutsu is much more dangerous than the previous arts not many go after this because you can lose your life or some of the jutsu require require great sacrifices and some jutsu's are dark and twisted." Taking a deep breath after that long winded explanation of the arts that the ninja used.
"To use any of these except Taijutsu in some cases you must be able to use chakra. Chakra is important and so is being able to control your chakra. I myself am known as the "God of Shinobi" or "The Professor" due to my mastery and skill in all the jutsu known in Konoha. So now that you know some of the things choose which you would like to begin working on." Sarutobi concluded while taking a seat in a chair in the room.
Naruto sat there and absorbed the information that was just given to him by his ji-chan and thought. "Hmm well I know I wanna learn Ninjutsu, Taijutsu for sure...Hmm the Yondaime was also a master of Fuuinjutsu so I wanna learn that it would be good to also learn how to use a weapon so kenjutsu it is...maybe I could learn the basics in Genjutsu also so that I can dispel them and cast minor ones...OK I think I got it I'll let ji-chan know now." finishing his pondering Naruto turns to Sarutobi and tells him what he wants to learn.
"Ji-chan I wanna learn Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Fuuinjutsu, and Kenjutsu. But I also wanna learn the basics of Genjutsu to so I can learn to dispel them. If learn all these I will become a ninja that can be sent into different situations." Naruto says.
"Hm, that is a very big task to take on Naruto-kun It will take a lot of determination to accomplish this are you sure you want to do that?" Sarutobi said checking to see if his surrogate grandson had the resolve to complete this lofty goal.
Naruto just looked up at Sarutobi and locked the old man in a steely gaze that showed the fire in his eyes that he was willing to do what he said. "Of course I want to ji-chan if I'm gonna be the Hokage I need to know all these things so I can become a successful shinobi!"
"Alright Naruto-kun lets see if we can find you the books about the arts that you want to learn. Now remember none of these scrolls or books will hold jutsu for you to learn they hold information on them, they may mention jutsu but the books and scrolls don't have the hand seals to them." Sarutobi said before leading him through all the aisles of books and scrolls.
So the day went on with Sarutobi guiding little Naruto through the library picking out books and scrolls that caught his interest or dealt with the things that Naruto wanted to learn. He had told Naruto to pick the books and put them on a table and told him that if the scroll or book was one of a kind that he would write a copy of it and have it sent to him when it was done. The books ranged from the very basics of chakra to survival skills and even a few books on crafting items. When they had finished scouring the library Sarutobi had made several scrolls to seal the books and scrolls into. The scrolls were labeled and separated into basics, intermediate, and master.
Checking the material that he grabbed Naruto picked up the first book and read the title "Legendary and Mythical Items, People & Animals" he flipped it open and saw that the first entry in the book was about the Rikudou Sennin the founder of the ninja world. Closing the book he picks up another and reads the title "Fuuinjutsu through the Ages" by Minato Namikaze Naruto was excited he had found a book written by his hero the Yondaime. Thinking to himself that this would be the first book he was going to read he set it down and continued going over his miniature library of information. When he was done he watched as Sarutobi sealed the books and scrolls into the scrolls and handed them to him. Sarutobi showed him how to unseal and seal the books back into the scrolls.
After all the work was done Sarutobi noticed that the sun had fallen and it was now nighttime. Calling one of his trusty ANBU to escort the boy back to his apartment he walked back to his office. On his way he was deep in thought thinking about his decision today by helping prepare Naruto for the future sighing he thinks. "I know I made the right decision in helping him his life is hard enough with the villagers always holding him down due to the Kyuubi..." looking up into the sky all he can do is hope for the best.
