A/N:
Well hey there. This is my first time writing a Naruto fanfic, in fact it's my first time writing anything other than anthropology and evolutionary biology essays.
Just writing this to say forgive any errors in facts or the going ons at the current time in the Narutoverse. I've got a whole epic story planned out but the continuation will be contingent upon reviews, if noone likes this there's no reason for me to continue!
The reason for this fic is that I just got tired of reading so many of the generic story line fics out there and felt inspired after reading some of my favorites like Mizukage, many of lord of the land of fire's works and others. I decided I wanted to write a fic that combined many of my favorite aspects from fics like Lost Soul and the other's on my favorites and, if I continue this fic, I will be boring unashamedly from many of these (I will attempt to give credit where credit is due, but will likely forget. Just yell at me if I steal an idea and I'll give you credit."
This will be a Naruto centric fic with good face time to Itachi, Sasuke, Hinata, Fugaku, Danzou, and probably Hiashi. It will ultimately be NaruHina, though I think I'll take it slow, and maybe some NaruYugito later on (haven't decided this part yet). Side pairings are undecided at this stage, feel free to give input though I'll likely just do whatever I want, that's why I'm writing this after all.
Gah! Enough rambling! On to the fic! Just remember, continuation is contingent upon your response, so if you never review again just let me know what you think of this chapter.
* indicates a footnote at the bottom, usually an explanation of something said in the middle of the chapter (I dislike user A/N in the middle of a fic, I find it too disruptive).
I Don't own me no Naruto. This applies to any future chapters as well.
A/N
It was the first day of academy... An eight year old Naruto was just waking, despite the blaring of his alarm clock for the past twenty five minutes...
"Crap! It's six already!?"
Konoha's number one prankster was running late.
Dashing through the streets he ignored the glares and curses of the village's citizens. He was almost there, just another minute, he'd make it on time! Screeching around the final corner Naruto noticed too late the red and white wall rushing towards him. A wall he recognized all too well. *SMACK*
"Sasuke-teme, watch where you're going!" his voice came out, muffled by his recent faceplant into the pavement.
Looking down on the blonde Uchiha Itachi was presented with what he considered to be a mildly amusing sight.
"Ah shit!"
"It would appear so." intoned the Uchiha.
"Eh?!? You're not Sasuke!" he exclaimed, attempting to wipe the dog crap from his face.
The Sasuke look-a-like was dressed in a navy blue shirt with a fishnet undershirt and black shorts, with a Konoha hitai-ite resting serenely on his forehead. Over the back of his shirt was imposed the red and white Uchiha family crest, a crest that would become even more prominent in the days to come.
"Indeed...Naruto-kun I presume?"
"Hah!" Naruto exclaimed, arms crossing his chest "I see you've heard of the Great Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage and number one most awesome ninja of Konoha!" his eyes alight and crap temporarily forgotten.
Uchiha Itachi stood, thinking. Naruto had just been the focal point of a very interesting and clandestine meeting he had attended. To think such a clumsy child could have a demon with untold power locked within him...and it was so clear that power was being wasted. Itachi had no illusions, this boy was no demon, but it was painfully obvious that he lacked any discipline or ninja skills whatsoever, especially if little Sasuke-kun's stories of his village-wide antics were to be believed.
In the mean time, having remembered his situation, Naruto was beginning to panick. He couldn't go into his first day of official ninja training smelling like last weeks bowel movement! He'd be the laughing stock of the school, not to mention his recently made best friend Sasuke-teme. The Uchiha bastard, as Naruto preferred to call him, had ascended to being his best friend rather quickly due to the lack of competing candidates as well as, more surprisingly, the encouragement of Sasuke-teme's father.
"Ah, water water, I need water!" he yelled, ripping at his hair in frustration.
"I believe these may be of some use." the Uchiha heir said, extracting a small washcloth and bottle of drinking water from somewhere beneath his shirt.
"Ah, Arigato!" Naruto exclaimed grabbing the bottle and splashing some water over his face and goggles. Wiping himself and his favorite head gear down with the washcloth he heard a loud ringing noise from ahead.
"AH, I'M LATE!" He screamed to the sky, dropping the forgotten bottle and washcloth to the ground in his panic. Looking to his savior, Konoha's self proclaimed number one ninja found himself both embarassed and grateful.
"Arigato, uh..."
"Itachi, Uchiha Itachi." His savior said, smiling slightly at the jinchuuriki's antics "It was a pleasure to make your acquaintence Naruto-kun."
"Ehehe, you too Itachi-kun!" Naruto responded, rushing towards the academy doors.
Three pairs of eyes followed the back of the orange-clad student as he dissapeared into the academy.
"The child has no discipline, such potential wasted because of the sentimentality of an old man." muttered the bandaged man standing off to the Uchiha heir's right.
"If the demon must live it should at least be made useful, not treated as some child to be coddled and cleaned up after!" spat another man adorning the Uchiha Crest.
"That will all change soon enough," intoned the first man, "you shall make sure of it Fugaku."
"Of course." the Uchiha head replied annoyedly. "You understand what must be done Itachi?"
"Hai Tou-san."
"Good," the bandaged man gave a genuine smile "In one years time Konoha will be put back on the path to strength and stability."
Meanwhile in Konohagakure's Ninja Academy:
The classroom was buzzing with excitement as the newest batch of Genin hopefuls met future friends and talked about their plans to be great ninja. All talk stopped as a man wearing a chunin vest and Konoha hitai-ite entered the room. He had on loose khaki pants and sported ninja sandal on his feet. His bright green eyes were only accentuated by the loose black hair that hung down his face, falling nearly to shoulder length and straight as a board. All in all he had an almost feminine appearance if it weren't for the four inch scar running almost perfectly down the left side of his face, just nicking the edge of his eye and his tanned, almost leathery skin.
"Hello everyone and welcome to your first day at the Konohagakure Ninja Academy, where I, Uzaka Kago, will be teaching you what it means to be a ninja and serve the village hidden in the leaves." the man said, gesturing to himself and then the class with a smile. "First I'd like everyone to introduce themselves. I'll start: I am Uzaka Kago, you can all call me Kago-sensei, and I am a chunin." At this statement many of his student's eyes lit up, this was a real life ninja and his only job was to train them! "I like teaching and learning new things and I believe every one of you has what it take to be a great ninja in..." *BANG*
Starting at the sound of the door slamming open Kago had no time to react as a blonde and orange blur ran straight into him.
"Ow ow ow…what's with today?" asked said blur as he again found himself facedown on the ground. " At least there was no dog crap this time." He thanked looking up. Uh oh, I think that's the teacher! He thought to himself. Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment he decided it would probably be best if he apologized. "Eh he he, sorry about that!"
"Don't worry about it kid." Kago said after putting his hands up to quiet the classes laughter. "We were just starting class introductions, so why don't you go ahead and introduce your self to everyone while you've got their attention?" he asked, grinning.
"Okay! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konohagakure!"
"What a loser" whispered a blonde haired girl in the back to her friend.
"Yeah, Sasuke-kun is WAY cooler!" whispered back a slightly overenthusiastic pink haired girl.
"Well of course, it's my Sasuke-kun, no one's as cool as him!" the blonde replied, glaring at the pinkhead.
Snickers were heard from the rest of the class at the crass new arrivals declaration.
"I'm afraid it would take much more then just words for you to become hokage kid…" said Kago, his grin gone. I can't believe my luck, the demon brat in my class? What did I do to deserve this? Not like I can go to the Hokage about it…Oh well I'll just have to deal with it. "Take your seat and we can get on with what we were doing before you interrupted" he commanded, glaring at the blonde.
Naruto looked around the room for a free seat, finally spotting one between his best friend and a girl with short black hair and a white jacket on.
Noticing his eyes on her the girl's face took on a much darker hue. He's looking at me! Wh…what do I do? He's coming right here! She panicked, scenarios running through her mind. What would she say if he asked her name? How would he respond? "Hinata-chan, what a beautiful name you have…could I have the pleasure of sitting beside such a beautiful girl?"
"Eep!" so lost in her thoughts she didn't even notice when Naruto had sat down beside her.
Looking at the girl beside him at her outburst and seeing her completely red face and connected index fingers Naruto turned and whispered back to Sasuke "Who's the weirdo?"
"Hn. Ask her yourself" Sasuke responded.
Shrugging the blonde turned back to the head of the classroom, where a pineapple headed boy was just beginning to introduce himself.
Weird… Naruto-kun thinks I'm weird… Hinata thought, on the verge of tears. He's right, I'm just a weak, weird, dumb girl. Why did I even think he'd notice me? What would someone strong like Naruto-kun want to do with someone like me… feeling disappointed in herself she put her head in her arms and lay down on her desk trying to hide the few tears that escaped her pupiless eyes.
And so the first day of Academy began; the seeds of competition sown between two best friends, hard feelings brought forth in a teacher, and a shy girl's hopes shattered.
Overall his day hadn't been half bad. Sure, he'd landed on his face twice, once in a pile of dog crap, but it was his first day as a ninja in training. And his teacher, Uzaka-sensei he had insisted on Naruto calling him, seemed nice and was always smiling. During recess he had hung out with Sasuke-teme and talked about the great pranks he was gonna pull on the Uchiha's annoying fangirl's (who had already made a point of trying to sit next to him during lunch while yelling about how Naruto wasn't worth or worthy of being sat with), with the Uchiha responding with his usual 'hn' and a poorly hidden smile. So he could deal with some dog crap, even if those annoying girls had mocked him for smelling!
"Aha! Not this time!" the blonde genin hopeful exclaimed laughing, coming up short before smacking into someone for the third time that day.
"It's good to see you in such a good mood Naruto-kun" stated the third Hokage, "I trust your first day at the academy went well?"
"Hey old man!" Naruto gave his usual greeting, drawing a slight sigh from Sarutobi "Yeah it was great. Uzaka-sensei seems real nice and he told us all about ninja and protecting the village and fighting enemy ninja," he began rambling "did you know he's completed more than fifty missions!?"
Chuckling Sarutobi decided to stop Naruto before he brought on a migraine, another side affect of his age he guessed. "Yes, I am aware of Kago-san's mission status Naruto." He said before the blonde could go off on another tangent. "Walk with me why don't you." Sarutobi began walking in the direction of Naruto's apartment. "So, did you make any new friends today?"
"Well… there was this weird girl who sat by me but she didn't really talk…Oh I met the teme's brother!" he yelled in realization. "That's right, Itachi-kun. He helped me…uh…" Naruto gave a furtive glance to the side "get to the academy…I uh…kind of got lost…hehehe." he lied, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
The third decided to let the obvious lie slide; he had talked to Itachi earlier and could understand the blonde's hesitance to share. "Well Naruto-kun, I'm glad you had such a good first day. Remember to do your homework, I'll even take you out for ramen later in the week if you do well…" he chuckled at the ease with which Naruto was baited, it was too bad he didn't have more free time to spend with him. A Hokage's duties were never done though.
"Really? I'll ace it for sure!" the blonde said, throwing a fist into the air.
Reaching the apartment Sarutobi knew it was time to get back to those duties, "You know Naruto, you should introduce yourself to some of your classmates, try to make some friends." Sarutobi said slyly, "After all, you can't rely on running into every person you want to be friends with." With a final puff on his pipe the Third Hokage turned around and began walking back to his office, after all if he shun-shined he's just be doing paperwork that much faster…
Naruto's look of confusion turned to one of realization as the old man turned the corner down the street. He knew! Dammit, who else knows then? Itachi-kun wouldn't tell Sasuke-teme would he? With a feeling of dread he retreated to his apartment where he could indulge in a cup of god's greatest creation; instant ramen.
Meanwhile, across Konoha, the demon vessel's future was being determined to varying degrees by the orders and discussions of only a few men.
"Contact as many of the civilian heads as possible."* a man commanded "Invite them to meet with me in my private residence. You have your orders."
"Hai Fugaku-sama." An Uchiha intoned, accepting the stack of sealed invitations given him. The Uchiha gave one last bow before turning on his heels and going to perform the clan head's orders.
"Send her in." a man said while working on a scroll in his study.
"Hai, Hiashi-sama." A branch member said.
Walking in Hinata had to resist the urge to lower her head and. She was always nervous around her father nowadays, she wished kaasan were still here. Ever since her death her father had become more and more distant and harsh in her training.
After being ignored for a few minutes and then exchanging greetings Hinata found herself discussing a topic she hadn't expected.
"You met Uzumaki Naruto today." It was not a question, but she still had to answer regardless.
"H-hai Otou-sama." The Hyuuga heiress said in slight confusion, falling back into her recently developed habit of stuttering.
Looking at his daughter the Hyuuga head seemed to consider her for a moment, debating internally "Be cautious with him…that is all." he said, returning to his writing
His dismissal was obvious. "Hai Otou-sama."
To say she was confused was an understatement. What did Otoutou mean be careful? Naruto-kun would never doing anything to hurt anyone…even if he thinks I'm weird.
With these thoughts the dark haired girl retired to her room to rest and prepare for the next day of academy.
Danzou was sitting in his study, going over the transcript of the emergency council meeting from the night of the Kyuubi's attack eight years ago when he heard a knock on his door. "Enter."
Opening the door, one Uchiha Itachi stepped in, carrying a file in one hand. Handing the file to Danzou he waited.
"Ah, I see you work quickly. Good." Danzou said looking at the file. "Very well, get him. Remember we need him alive and unmarked, preferably in his ninja attire." He commanded, throwing the open file onto his desk.
"Hai, Danzou-san" replied the Uchiha heir and ANBU member.
From Danzou's desk the picture of a dark haired and tan man wearing a cloud hitai-ite looked up at him.
A/N:
Well that's it so far, hope it wasn't too much thrown in your face too fast, let it suffice that a lot is being set into motion, some very serious, some not so much. Let me know if I should continue or not!
Also, anyone who knows the names of all of the council members a list would be greatly appreciated, I can only remember 11 for the life of me and google just brings up results for some Naruto game…
Also, Are there any Ninja currently in Konoha or elsewhere related to any past Hokage's? I know Tsunade (second Hokage right?), Asume (Surutobi duh), and technically clone dude Yamato (was it the first hokage?). Any other's would be good to know.
Hope I didn't disappoint! Any feedback on every thing from writing style to characterizations of Narutoverse characters is appreciated.
*During Fugakus's orders: In this fic there are an equal number of civilian council members as ninja ones. They are allowed to vote on matters not strictly related to the village's military (as determined by the Hokage).