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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, probably never will. I write for fun, not profit, so please don't sue me. I don't own enough to take.

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For most people, their birthday is a day to celebrate. This was not the case for one boy in Konohagakure, because even though October tenth dawned with not a cloud in the sky, Uzumaki Naruto hated that day. He hated the day, because he himself was reviled throughout the village. The in the six years he'd been alive, not once had anyone said a kind word to him, and on his birthday, the only gift he could hope for was to survive the beatings the villagers inflicted on him.

Naruto ran, his lungs burning from the exertion, and found himself in a dead-end alley behind a bar. Oh, man, I'm screwed this time… There are Shinobi in the mob this year… I don't wanna die…

No one saw the old man walk out of the bar, nor did they mark the leather cases he carried slung across his back. But the man, seeing the crowd in the alley and hearing the curses flung to the unseen target of the mob's rage, he stepped closer. It was then that he saw a man at the front of the mob draw a knife and advance on a defenseless child…

Naruto watched as the first villager drew a kitchen knife and moved to attack. Naruto, resigning himself to his inevitable demise, closed his eyes and waited for the stroke to fall. But fall it did not. There came a sharp crack, and Naruto opened his eyes to see the villager upon the ground, a ragged hole in his chest, and the mob parted to reveal an old man in a long coat, holding a weapon such as Naruto had never seen. The man strode forward and stepped between Naruto and the villagers. His voice carried an odd accent when he addressed the crowd.

"You know, it takes a real man to gang up on a defenseless child. You call yourselves ninja; I call you cowards and bullies. If anyone else wants to try for the boy, they'll have to brace me first."

A villager yelled, "What boy? That's a demon! He's a danger to this village, and we'd be doing a service to be rid of it!" A chorus of agreements rose from the mob, and the stranger's eyes grew cold and hard.

"All I see is a young boy, being hounded by drunken fools and cowards, who have to beat on someone weaker than them in order to feel like men. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Now move out of my way." The crowd moved under the stranger's murderous glare, and he picked up Naruto, who by this point had passed out from exhaustion, and carried him to the Hokage tower.

When Naruto awoke, he was lying, not in the alley like he'd suspected he'd be, but on the Hokage's office couch. "Jiji-san, what happened?"

The Hokage answered, "You were nearly killed, Naruto. You passed out, from exerting yourself so much to try and escape the mob. This man, James-san, rescued you and brought you here." The stranger from the alley touched two fingers to the broad brim of his hat, and said nothing.

The Hokage continued. "He has also offered an idea to me, which I would like to put before you."

The man, now identified as James, put his hand upon the Hokage's shoulder. "Perhaps, Sarutobi-sama, I should explain." He turned to Naruto and looked him squarely in the eye. "You see, I'm an exile from my own land, far to the west of here. I'm also somewhat of a master, in the usage of a unique type of weapon, and I offer you the choice, Naruto, to either stay here, if you'd like, or travel with me, and learn my weapons as my apprentice. I promised Sarutobi-sama that I'd have you back in time to take the Genin Exam when you turn twelve."

Naruto's face lit up. "Unique? As in, very few people from here know it?"

James smiled, his eyes twinkling. "No one here besides me, you, and the Hokage, know my weapons."

"Ojiji-san, could I please go with James-niisan and train? Please?"

Sarutobi merely smiled, and went behind his desk to the bookshelf, pulling some scrolls out before handing them to Naruto. "These are manuals on the basics of chakra control, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. You'll need to study them, as well and James-san's weapons, if you want to become a Shinobi. Your things are already packed and waiting outside the office." Sarutobi knelt down, and gave Naruto a hug. "Take care, Naruto. I look forward to seeing you as Hokage."

That afternoon, Naruto set out with James, to train and move one step closer to becoming the next Hokage.

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As Naruto and James walked down the road, heading deeper into the forest which gave the Village Hidden Among the Leaves its name, the old man began to speak. "Naruto, just for the record, James isn't my family name. It's my given name, and you don't have to add any suffixes or honorifics to it. Just call me James. If you follow my instructions, and pay attention to what I'll teach, you and me will get along just fine."

The boy beamed. "Okay, James! What's my first lesson?"

James just pointed them down a road that led to a nearby trading town, and said, "First lesson is a dual one, both common sense, and fashion sense. We're getting you some proper trail clothes, preferably something that isn't brilliant 'Shoot-Me' orange."

"But I like orange!" whined Naruto, only to cut his next sentence off when he saw the reproving look on his sensei's face.

"True, I can tell you like the color. You don't have to give it up completely, just don't wear as much of it. The weapons I use rely on not only speed, but also steadiness of hand and eye, and a fair amount of stealth. Orange stands out, unless you're trying to disguise yourself as a pumpkin."

"I see," said Naruto. He grew quiet for a moment, then looked back at James. "James, what exactly is your weapon?"

James stopped, reached into his coat's inside pocket, and pulled out a shorter version of the weapon he'd used in the alley. It had the same wooden grip, the same metal frame, and the same pair of moving arms, one just above the grip, and one on the bottom of the frame, just in front of the grip. Inside the frame was a metal cylinder, and in front of the cylinder a hollow metal tube, of just about three inches length. "This is as good a starting weapon as any, I suppose. It's called a firearm, Naruto. More specifically, a revolver, or pistol. In my homeland, most simply call this and my other firearms guns." He handed the revolver to Naruto, and told him to put it in his jacket pocket, and not to mess with it until he was told to do so.

Three hours later the duo reached the town, a little collection of rip-sawed board buildings and thatch-roofed huts called Yumi. James led Naruto to a tailor's shop.

"Naruto, I won't always be around to tell you what to do, so you'll have to learn how to make decisions on your own. So, as a starting lesson on that, here is enough money to buy three or four good sets of clothes. I won't tell you what to buy, but I will offer a few suggestions. First, make sure it's durable. Denim or leather work, and cotton is light and breathable, so you won't overheat. Second, as I said earlier, using guns takes a fair degree of stealth, so orange in large amounts, or any bright color for that matter, is not advisable. Earthy colors, like browns and greens work well. Black also works. Now head on in there. If you need me, I'll be here in town." James then strolled away into the heart of town, leaving Naruto there outside the tailor's.

Two hours later, James returned to the tailor's shop to find Naruto sitting outside, dressed in his new outfit. Gone was the orange jumpsuit, and in its place was a pair of canvas cargo pants, an olive-drab tee, and a black denim jacket. Tied around his neck, Naruto wore an orange bandanna. "Did I do well?" asked the boy.

"You did fine, Naruto. Now let's head out of town a while, and I'll start teaching you how to use that gun in your pocket."

The two went to a clearing on the outskirts of Yumi, and James found a suitable log to use as a target stand. He set five empty sake bottles down on the log, and returned to Naruto. "Naruto, pull out your gun." The boy did, and James explained how it worked.

"This is a Colt's Pocket Navy revolver, the concealed-carry version of the Navy Colt I carry in my sash. It operates like so." He took the handgun from Naruto, and held it with the open ends of the cylinder facing upwards. "You pour a small measure of black powder into five of the chambers. Then, you place a small paper patch over the end of the chamber, then the projectile on top of that." James reached into his pocket and pulled out a small lead ball. "This is the projectile, known as the pistol ball, or bullet. Once you put the ball onto the patch, you press a little bit to seat it, and use the loading lever here under the barrel, to ram it home against the powder charge." James demonstrated each step as he explained it, while Naruto looked on in rapt attention. "The last step in preparing the weapon is to cap the nipples on the opposite end of the cylinder. You take this," said James, holding up a percussion cap, "and seat it firmly on the nipple here. This process is called loading." Naruto nodded his understanding and loaded four more chambers so he could learn how to use the pistol in combat…

Naruto was about to load the sixth and final chamber in the cylinder when James stopped him. "No, Naruto. Always leave one cylinder empty, as a safety."

"But why, James?"

James explained how, if one were to drop his revolver by accident, the impact could cause the hammer to strike the cap for the chamber under the hammer at the time. If that chamber were loaded, the gun would go off, possibly injuring or killing someone. So the revolver was always carried with an empty chamber under the hammer.

Weeks passed, and each day Naruto learned more and more. He studied and practiced the contents of the scrolls that the Hokage had given him, and though his chakra control was horrible, he swiftly mastered Kawarimi and Henge. He also started learning how to track, how to hunt, from James, how to survive in the wilderness and live off the land. Naruto learned swiftly the four main rules of gun safety:

1. Treat every gun, even one you know for a fact isn't loaded, as if it were.

2. Never, ever, point a gun at something or someone you don't intend to kill.

3. Always keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to fire.

4. Never draw a gun unless you plan to use it, and never use it unless you plan to kill with it.

Naruto quickly learned the pistol to a satisfactory degree, and moved on to other guns. He learned the destructive close-range power of the shotgun, and the speed of the repeating rifle. He learned the unflinching patience of the marksman's art, when he was trained to fire the big Sharps single-shot rifle. His body grew strong, as James always bought bar lead in town, so as to make their own bullets, and it fell to Naruto to carry it. The net effect was that they acted as improvised training weights. Naruto also grew taller, though not by much, and gained muscle mass and tone.

He grew fast, often having quick-draw contests or foot races against his sensei to determine who got the last bowl of soup, or who got the best cut of meat from the game they hunted. It didn't take long before Naruto was the faster runner, but it took two years for Naruto to finally best James in a quick-draw…

James often marveled at the kid. He learned fast, and despite the blockhead image, Naruto was actually fairly smart. He was a natural, taking to the gun like he was born to it. He healed so swiftly, that his wounds, his bruises and cuts and scrapes, never took more than a week to heal at most. James was in awe of this child, and watched with fatherly pride as Naruto grew stronger, and smarter, and faster.

But all good things must come to an end, and in this case, that end came on Naruto's twelfth birthday. James and Naruto had been on the road back to Konoha for a week or more, making their way toward Naruto's date with the Genin Exams. They were both tired, sore and stiff, and covered head-to-foot in trail dust, but they found the time to make camp, pull out a small stewpot and a dutch oven, and James made not only beef and chili ramen, but also a fresh apple pie for Naruto's birthday. Naruto loved apple pie, but he despised the taste of the dried apples that they often carried with their supplies. Naruto would often joke to James about it by quoting an old rhyme. "You can spit in my ears, and tell me lies; but don't try and feed me those dried-apple pies."

Out of the forest stepped a man, dressed in a black cloak with red clouds upon it, and a wide straw hat that shadowed most of his face. He wore a Konoha headband with a slash through it on his forehead, light occasionally gleaming off of it. "Are you the one they call Shootist?"

James stood, facing the man, who sounded as if he were not long out of his teenage years. "I am, though it is considered polite to introduce yourself before asking questions."

"My name is not important. All that matters is what happens now, Shootist," stated the man calmly. The man's right hand dropped to his leg, where he shifted the cloak back to uncover the kunai pouch on his thigh. "My apologies, Old Man."

Both men moved as one, so fast that Naruto had no time to react. James drew his Navy Colt and fired it as he dove to the left to avoid a thrown kunai. His pistol ball grazed the man's cheek, leaving a burnt marking across it. The man never made a peep, just kept moving and throwing, even as James returned fire with his revolver. Naruto watched in awe as James fired, each shot so assured to be on target, yet each shot missed by a narrow margin, inches in some cases. Finally, James's gun clicked empty. The man shifted and threw another kunai, striking James in the chest and penetrating deep. James slid limply to the ground as the man cut a strand of his hair and left. As he left, Naruto saw the man's eyes. They were bright blood red.

Naruto rushed to James's side and started to pull out bandages when James stopped him. "No, Naruto. I'm a goner no matter what. Before I go out, though, I want you to know a couple things. First, everything of mine, is now yours. My guns included. Second, I want you to remember my whole name. My name is Hickok. James Butler Hickok."

"Save your strength, James. You can't die! Didn't you always tell me that you were too damned mean to die? Huh?" Naruto was on the verge of tears, still futilely trying to stop the bleeding from his sensei's chest.

"Easy, Naruto. One last thing. I want you to know that I'm proud of you. You've learned well, and you're a truly amazing student and friend. Now go, Naruto, and take your stuff with you. You have an exam to take." James drew his Navy Colt from his sash, pressed the butt of it into Naruto's hand, and with a last, contented sigh, James Hickok passed away…