AN ALTERNATE PATH (Ch.01)
It was the 10th of October, Naruto's birthday and the day of the Kyuubi Attack. Naruto being excited for his birthday, got dressed and ran to the Dining room of his gigantic house, it was obvious that the family of the Hokage would have a large house. At times, when he would invite over some of his friends, they would get lost in his home and as such he had to act like a guide of sorts for them. He went to the Dining room for breakfast which usually considered of ramen noodles and vegetables which he begrudgingly ate. After opening the Dining room door he saw his dad filling out some sort of form, which he was surprised by as he would usually be busy doing his Hokage duties, this early in the morning though on his birthdays, he would come back home earlier than normal.
He asked his dad," What happened, why are you still at home, shouldn't you be working at your office."
Minato replied," I am filling up your admission form for the Academy, after today's birthday you will be old enough to attend the Academy with all of your friends. Quite convenient that the new semester will begin two weeks after your eighth birthday. I expect you to be the top student of your class, my little champ. "
Naruto was surprised as knew that he would be attending the Academy soon but didn't know that it would begin so soon after his eighth birthday. After the brief discussion between son and father, his mother came in with a giant smile on her face and said that," Today will be an all-you-can-eat buffet of ramen for Naruto-kun's birthday."
Naruto grew even more excited and sunk his teeth into his bowl of miso-soup, pork ramen along with his family as the entire family loved ramen and if his father loved ramen any more then he would probably make a national holiday known as 'Ramen-day' and would proclaim it as the national food for the entirety of Konohagakure. After what probably would have been around half an hour of eating ramen, non-stop, Naruto was satisfied and patted his belly as a sign to show that he was full. After finishing his food he burped loudly and said," I ate 38 bowls of ramen, two ahead of my previous record." After proclaiming this however, Kushina grew a glint in her eyes and a dark aura started forming around her, scaring both the males in the room into submission after which she punched Naruto in the head with a large amount of force causing a bulge to form on his head.
Naruto complained with an almost betrayed voice," What did I do wrong?"
Kushina replied with an angry, booming voice," Where are your manners young man? You shouldn't burp loudly in front of others and your face is still covered with stray noodles and the soup from the ramen. Go wash your face and hands and then come back. "
Naruto scared, ran to the bathroom as fast as he could but accidentally slipped on the wet floor of the bathroom while running towards the sinks after which he stood back up and washed his face and hands after which he came back to the Dining room.
After coming back his father said," Just because it is your birthday is not a valid reason to stop training. Go do fifty laps of tree climbing exercises and thirty laps of water walking exercises. Also, do some wind and fire elemental training by putting a leaf on top of your head and cut it using wind chakra for the wind element and put a leaf in your hand catch it on fire using fire chakra for the fire element for half an hour each as well as fifty push-ups and pull-ups and running eighty laps around the garden and practice your taijutsu stance for one hour and your kenjutsu stance and sword practice for half an hour. "
Naruto protested to this saying," But I have been doing tree climbing exercises for the last two years and water walking exercises for the last year. I have also been doing the leaf exercises for one and a half years. "
Minato replied," You still have only enough chakra control to create two normal clones at a time and the amount required to pass the Academy is three clones and also there are many benefits to chakra control such as the fact that with fine enough chakra control, you can enhance your body strength, speed and jump height to superhuman levels, an example of this would be Tsunade of the Sannin who is famous for her chakra control which allows her to access such inhuman levels of strength; another use of chakra control is the fact that certain jutsus require a certain amount of chakra control before you can use them and just simply pouring all of your chakra to do it would be horribly inefficient and would require levels of chakra that not even the Uzumaki clan members possessed; Chakra control also lowers the amount of chakra you have to pour into a jutsu so you can use more jutsus before you need to rest or use a larger number of stronger, more chakra intensive jutsus, it can also allow you to use higher levels of jutsus which you normally without chakra control wouldn't have the necessary amount of chakra to use; Chakra control is also necessary for medical jutsus and in a mission the simple ability to perform basic healing techniques and first aid along with using chakra as a numbing agent to act like painkillers can be the difference between completing or being forced to retreat and failing a mission or even the difference between life and death if the squad's medic is captured, dead, unconscious, out of chakra or physically exhausted. Elemental chakra training increases your skill for that specific element and as such increases the power of jutsus you perform for that specific element, decreases the amount of elemental chakra you require to perform an elemental jutsu for that element and with training you can also to reduce the number of handsigns required to perform elemental jutsus for an element and with enough practice, you can perform a jutsu without the need of handsigns or calling out the name of the jutsus for increased focus, allowing you to perform a jutsus quicker than your opponent which could allow you to win the battle or at least gain a massive advantage over your opponent and also performing an elemental jutsus grants bonus marks during the final examination when you finish the last term at the Shinobi Academy. As you were protesting against the idea of training, you will do eighty laps of tree climbing exercises and fifty laps of water walking instead."
Naruto couldn't find an argument against what his father told him and understood the benefits of chakra control as well as practicing elemental exercises so he slowly walked over to the garden while hanging his head downwards in sadness and shame, and begrudgingly began his exercising routine.
After what he would have guessed as about five hours of training and exercising, he was completely soaked in sweat from head to toe and returned to his parents where they told him to take a bath, which he did and after washing off the water on him with the towel, he wore his birthday dress which was a traditional black kimono and white-coloured shoes.
After dressing up, he went to the living room where his parents were waiting for him and was told by them that they would be going to Teuchi's Ichiraku Ramen for lunch after which they would return home for his birthday party and that while eating ramen, his father would go to the Shinobi Academy and submit his admission application form there.
After travelling to Teuchi's Ichiraku Ramen which is about a twenty minute walk from their home, Teuchi said," It has been a while since the last time you all came to order food, business has been booming greater than ever after the recent news that the Hokage family comes to eat at our restaurant."
After Teuchi finished saying that, Ayame came out from the back of the restaurant and instantly embraced Naruto in a hug in such a manner that his face was covered by her breasts, after a few seconds of hugging, Naruto was having difficulty breathing and said," Please stop, Ayame-chan, I cannot breathe."
After which Ayame quickly ended the reunion hug and acted embarrassed for almost killing Naruto by asphyxiation.
The family ordered three bowls of ramen for each member and after a few minutes of waiting, received their order and ate the bowls of ramen, one after the other. After finishing the meal, Minato paid the price of the meal and teleported to the Shinobi Academy with his signature technique. 'He probably placed a Hiraishin seal near the academy in the case of an emergency so that he could protect me as being the son of the Hokage painted quite the large target behind my back', Naruto thought. After waiting a few minutes for Minato to teleport back to them again, he re-appeared and after saying goodnight and inviting them to come to Naruto's birthday party if they wanted to, to which they agreed, after which they walked back their home for Naruto's birthday party, to which most major clans in Konoha and other important political figures were invited to, as a way to form a good relation between Naruto as they knew he would grow up to be one of the strongest ninja in history and possibly even the fifth or sixth Hokage and as such forming good relations with him could be extremely beneficial to the clans as well as the political figures.
The birthday party itself was quite fun, Naruto got to meet members from many different clans such as the Uchiha, whose head he got to meet who was Fugaku Uchiha and their matriarch who was Mikoto Uchiha, he also got to meet their son who was Itachi Uchiha who was said to be one of the most talented and skilled ninja to ever be born, he decided to go talk with Itachi and see how he was like.
When he went towards Itachi, he asked him," What is your name?"
To which Itachi replied," I am Itachi Uchiha from the Uchiha clan and the son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha. Say, Naruto-kun, now that you are eight years old, you will be attending the Shinobi Academy, right? "
Naruto replied," Yes, I will begin attending the academy after two weeks. Are any members from your clan also going start attending the Shinobi Academy from this year?"
Itachi said," Yes, my little brother, Sasuke-kun, will start attending the academy with you. Would you mind being his friend? He is quite cold towards others and only cares about improving himself and is arrogant as he has already learnt the Fireball Jutsu, earlier than the average Uchiha, if you perform better than him it will be a humbling experience for him and will give him a rival a compete with, increasing the rate at which he grows stronger as I expect him to be stronger than any other student this year except for you."
Naruto replied," Yes, I would love to be his friend and for that last part, I plan on becoming the Rookie of the Year, so you didn't even have to demand it. Also, about the Fireball Jutsu, I know that it is a Jutsu exclusive to the Uchiha clan, but could you teach it to me. I have heard from Father that it is one of the easier fire style techniques to learn."
Itachi hearing that Naruto knew Fire style, was confused at first as he knew that Minato-sama knew Wind release and Kushina-sama knew Wind release and Water release and as such Itachi asked Naruto, "Naruto-kun were you born with an affinity for Fire release? From what I know, Minato-sama knows only Wind release and Kushina-sama knows Wind release and Water release."
Naruto said," My actual elemental affinities are Wind release and Water release however; I was thought Fire release and Earth release by Jiraiya-san. My strongest affinity is Wind followed by Water followed by Fire followed by Earth. I learnt Fire release as I knew that combining Wind release and Fire release, fanned the flames, leading to the formation of a giant, all-consuming flame. Though, Kakashi onii-san plans on teaching me a few lightning techniques while I attend the Academy. "
Itachi was surprised that a child of such a young age could know so many of the major five elements as even he only knew Fire release and could eventually learn all five of the major elements, which was a feat only achieved by Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage and that he was taught by Jiraiya-sama. Now, there was not even a shred of doubt in his mind that Naruto would be a worthy rival for Sasuke-kun and that Naruto would become one of the strongest ninjas in history.
He then pointed Naruto towards Sasuke who was sitting in a corner and looking at each guest for about half a minute after which he looked at the next and told me to introduce myself to him.
I went towards Sasuke with a smile on m face and asked him," You are going to start attending the Shinobi Academy after two weeks, right?"
To which Sasuke replied," Of course I am, or else how am I ever going to surpass Itachi onii-san in strength. Now, what do you want?"
Naruto said," Looks like a classic case of sibling rivalry, it seems. I came here to say hello and introduce myself to you as you looked around my age so I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself to a potential future classmate."
Sasuke said while being a little embarrassed about the sibling rivalry comment, that," Our father always acts like Itachi onii-san is his favourite son, he always compliments him but never me, I also think that soon he will make Itachi onii-san, the next head of the clan as well and as such to stop that, my only wish is to become stronger than him so that I can be Father's favourite son, instead."
Naruto knew that it must be hard for Sasuke to keep training even though his Father never complimented or supported him while he showered Itachi with praise but he knew that he probably loved Sasuke just as much as Itachi but hid it so that Sasuke would train and try to become as strong as Itachi, one day.
Naruto said," Sasuke, I know it must be difficult to train without the support of your family but I know that your Father loves you just as much as any other Father and that he only hides it from you to give you a incentive to become as strong as Itachi, and even if he doesn't like you as much, you can just train harder and become stronger than Itachi could have ever hoped of being and prove the old man wrong. Even I have had experience being under someone's shadow, my whole life. Most people only think of me as the Hokage's son first before thinking of me as a human being. You have probably already seen the countless politicians, here already. I know that they don't care about me and view me as a tool to be used for their own gain. That is why I train, so that I can become strong enough to finally escape my Father's shadow and be acknowledged as myself and not as simply, his son. "
Sasuke was surprised by Naruto's inspirational speech and the fact that even he had experience being under someone's shadow just like him being in Itachi's, and as such he thought that they should become friends or maybe even become rivals in the Shinobi Academy.
Sasuke asked Naruto," How about we become friends, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto replied," Of course, I would love to be friends with a future classmate."
After talking a little longer, Naruto politely asked to leave and went to Itachi and told him," Mission Successful."
After hearing that, Itachi smirked and said," I have never seen him become friends with someone this quickly. You sure do have your way with words, Naruto-kun. How about I teach you the Fireball Jutsu on this week's Sunday. That is the only time; I will be free from mission duty, this week. I will teach you it in Training Ground 7. "
To which Naruto replied with a sly smirk as well," I most certainly do."
After which he left Itachi and explored the Birthday party, ate some food, talked with some grown-ups who only saw him as the son of the Hokage and nothing more than a political tool and made a fake, empty smile for them and took their birthday gifts while barely listening to what they said.
After some time he noticed Fugaku coming towards him.
Naruto told him," Good evening, Sir. How are you? Is there anything I can help you with?"
To which Fugaku replied," No need to put up your of facade of politeness. I know you would love nothing better than to play with your friends and finally cut the cake so that the party can end so that you can stop having to do all this acting."
Naruto at first was surprised at the fact that he was not able to fool Fugaku with his facade but then he remembered that he used to be a professional ninja and was probably one of the most skilled ninjas in the clan as he was the Head of the clan.
Naruto asked," What is it you want, then?"
Fugaku replied," I noticed your conversations with my sons and was surprised by your maturity, the fact that you were able to befriend Sasuke-kun this quickly and the fact that you know all the major elements except for Lightning which you plan to learn as well. I know that you plan on learning the Fireball Jutsu from Itachi and wanted to say that, I am fine with it and that I am giving you permission to freely use it. Naruto-kun, you are welcomed to come into our household whenever you wish."
After saying that, he extended out his hand towards Naruto for a handshake which they did and after that Naruto left to explore the party further. While exploring the party he noticed multiple clans such as the Inuzukas where he talked to their son who was ill-mannered but full of energy. 'You could describe the entire clan as that', Naruto thought. He also played with their leader's dog who looked more like a wolf than a dog and Kiba's puppy.
He also met the Yamanakas who were known for their mind controlling techniques. He also met their daughter who was beautiful but extremely extroverted. He also met the Akimichis whom he gave a bag of chips to as a sign of peace and ate food with them. He even had ramen eating contest with their son, Choji, and won by one bowl. He also met the Harunos who were a primarily civilian clan who were known as being merchants. He was put off by the rather loud, almost screeching-like noises, which the females in the clan would produce while talking. He also commented about their daughter having a rather large forehead which caused her to start crying which he was forced to apologise for by his parents. He also met the Aburames whom he was scared by of at first as he was afraid of bugs but eventually he gathered enough courage to go out and talk with them. They taught him about certain bugs and how some of their body parts or venom has medicinal qualities which could prove useful during a mission. He then met the Naras who were famous for being incredibly intelligent and lazy as well as their shadow techniques. He met their head who was his dad's advisor on village matters and as such had met him plenty of times before but he got to meet his son for the first time today. 'Probably too lazy, to come to the playground or my previous birthday parties.' Naruto thought. He talked with him and learnt that the only things he enjoyed were cloud-watching, resting and sleeping and that he was forced to come here by his parents as Naruto was going to be one of his future classmates. He also met the Hyugas who were extremely polite and got to meet their Head, Hiashi Hyuga who had strange eyes and in the middle of their conservation gained veins around his eyes and his eyes slightly bulged, then he looked at him intensely and acted startled as he saw the massive amounts of chakra, Naruto possessed. He also met Neji who was the nephew of Hiashi; he was slightly older than him and acted extremely self-centered and like he was superior to anyone else at the party. He also met Hinata, who was quietly sitting in a corner and looking at him. He smiled at her which caused her to blush heavily and when he went near her, she fainted which he reported to Hiashi as he thought Hinata was ill.
After meeting all the clan members, he heard a noise at the door and the screams of women which he recognized as the direction of the hot spring and immediately recognised that everyone's favourite perverted toad sage had come to meet them. Naruto excitedly opened the door as quickly as he could and saw Jiraiya with a big smile on his face, ready to hug him. While embracing, he noticed a giant scroll on his back.
He asked Jiraiya," What is that scroll on your back?"
Jiraiya replied," It is a surprise for later. Now, don't you want to play with Kichi?"
Naruto asked," It has been a long time since I have seen you, what happened?"
Jiraiya replied," I have been maintaining my spy network as always. I have gathered some important info which I need to tell your dad. "
After the little reunion between Jiraiya and Naruto, he bit his finger and put it on the ground and said," Summoning Jutsu" and after the formation of a tiny cloud of smoke, Gamakichi appeared and talked with Naruto and plays games with him. They even went to the backyard to try certain collaboration techniques such as the 'Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet' in which Gamakichi would create some Toad Oil, which Naruto would light up with a simple D-rank or C-rank, Fire Jutsu and also the 'Wind release: Toad Oil Bullet' where Naruto would use a wind Jutsu to increase the speed and force of the Toad Oil Bullet.
While Naruto and Gamakichi were practicing, Jiraiya went to Minato to discuss what he had learnt.
Minato asked Jiraiya," Have you learned about the whereabouts of Orochimaru or evidence to convict Danzo, I know the old bastard is hiding something from us."
Jiraiya replied," I do not know where his base is exactly but I have learnt that he is hiding somewhere in the Land of Grass and for Danzo, there have been multiple sightings of Anbu-like characters wearing a mask which read 'Ne' by Jonins and my spies. That is the name of Danzo's disbanded Anbu division. They might be copycats; however trying to shift the blame onto Danzo but there is the chance that Danzo is the culprit, which would break Shinobi Law as no Shinobi is allowed to own an armed militia without authorization."
Minato was pleased that Jiraiya had gathered new information and told him that he could leave and enjoy the party now. He needed time to think about these new developments, should he establish scouts to locate the 'Ne' Anbu, or should he send an envoy to the Land of Grass.
After about half an hour of partying and playing, Naruto was told by his parents that it was time for him to cut the cake and for the party to reach its end.
Naruto went to his parents who were sitting side by side, waiting for him. When he reached there he noticed that the cake was huge in size, about half his height, it was orange in colour which was his favourite colour and had yellow dressing. The cake was arranged into a tower with each layer being smaller than the one below and at the top was a chibi figure of Naruto smiling and on each side was a chibi figure of one of his parents as well. With the help of a knife, he cut the cake and fed the first slice to his mother, then his father and finally ate the cake himself. After that his mother cut the rest of the cake and served one slice to each guest. They also gave a set of shuriken and kunai to the children as a gift.
After the commotion from eating all the cake died down a bit, Naruto went to the mountain of gifts that had been built up by all the guests and started opening them one by one. The Uchihas and Hyugas gave him a basic Shinobi starter kit which consisted of one hundred kunai as well as shuriken, forty food pills and thirty flash bombs. It also contained a set of rope and ten storage scrolls.
The Uchihas also gave him a book of Fire element exercises as they had learnt that Naruto knew Fire release, the book even contained information about some Fire Jutsus and how to learn them.
The Hyugas gave a book on Taijutsu and certain Taijutsu moves and how to use them.
The Akimichis gave him a large bundle of food which includes ramen, bags of chips and a variety of chocolates.
The Ichirakus gave him an unlimited supply of ramen for the next year as the year was about to end and it was not any longer as they were scared of becoming bankrupt and homeless.
The Aburames gave him an insect cage which contained a species of insects which released a deadly neurotoxin which he could lace his weapons with and another species which released a non lethal toxin which reduced the chakra control of the user and their body strength as well as reduce their reaction times which he learnt by reading a book which the Aburames put beside the cage. The book also contained details about how to nurture and take care of the insects and safely feed them as even though they aren't hostile to humans, accidentally touching the stinger can inject the poison into you.
The Yamanakas gave him a book about human psychology and simple tricks for deception and infiltration which were two fields Jiraiya-san had said he would start teaching him when he joined the Shinobi Academy. The book also included some basic info-gathering and torturing techniques.
The Harunos gave only five shurikens as well as kunai. 'Cheapskates' thought Naruto.
The Naras gave a multitude of history books, as well as books on chakra, ninjutsu and hand seals theory. They also gave some books on Fuinjutsu as they figured that I would have natural talent in Fuinjutsu as my parents as well as Jiraiya-san are all experts in Fuinjutsu.
After I opened up the gifts given by the clans, the rest were given by politicians and mostly contained either a large sum of money, expensive toys or foreign chocolates which he barely cared about.
After opening all the gifts which took about half an hour, Jiraiya came up to me and said," You remember the large scroll on my back, right?"
To which Naruto replied," Yes, I have been wondering for some time about what it is."
Jiraiya said," It is the summoning contract for the Toads; they will prove extremely useful during missions and are used by me and your father. I want you to bite your finger until it starts bleeding and write your name beside your Father's."
Naruto was honoured to have his summoning creature be one possessed by one of the Three Great Sannin and bit his finger with as much force as he could muster, at first it hurt but eventually the pain lessened and he wrote his name as, 'Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze'.
Jiraiya then said," I will make you practice the technique when you are in the Shinobi Academy."
Naruto was sad that he would have to wait to master the technique but knew that Jiraiya didn't have the free time to teach him whenever he wanted.
After signing the Toad Summoning Contract, Kushina came while holding a sword which was covered by a black sheathe with the pictures of the Uzumaki Whirlpool and the leaves of Cherry Blossom trees on it. The sword also had an intricately made handle which was golden in coloured and imbedded with gemstones and was made in such a manner to appear similar to a dragon's head.
When Kushina went towards Naruto she said," This sword is known as 'The Great Uzumaki Twister'. It is a renowned family heirloom and was given from one Uzumaki Clan Head to the next. As I was the last Uzumaki left, I was given this sword which was found in the ruins of The Village Hidden In The Whirlpools or Uzushiogakure. It is said to be one of the sharpest swords in existence and was forged in such a manner to be nearly indestructible. I want you to have this sword from now on as I have no use for it since I have retired as a Shinobi."
Naruto was surprised by receiving so many great gifts, all in one day and took the sword from Kushina's hands and take it to his room where he decided that he would test out the sword later. After thinking about that, he put the sword in a trunk in his room which he locked so that no one could steal it and hit the box under his bed.
Once he came back to the living room, he saw his father carrying a large number of items as well as books and asked him," Dad, Why are you carrying so many things? What are they for?"
To which Minato replied," These are the supplies required to practice Fuinjutsu and the books I, your mother and Jiraiya-san used to learn Fuinjutsu. Some of them belonged o and were written by the Uzumaki clan as well. I have even taken out my books on Space-Time Ninjutsu."
Now this caused gossip as the bit about Space-Time Ninjutsu made people believe that Minato was going to teach the Hiraishin to Naruto.
After some more partying, everyone got tired and finally decided to go home to sleep and rest and after everyone went home, Minato and Kushina tucked Naruto into his bed after which he fell asleep. After making sure Naruto was asleep, Minato and Kushina silently left the room to discuss with Jiraiya about village matters for some time and the question of when they were going to reveal to Naruto that he was the Jinchurikki of the Nine-Tails.
