Summary: Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime Hokage never gave away the biju to the other countries and with that he changed the course of history. Namikaze Minato is actually the only son of Senju Tsunade and Namikaze Jiraiya, and his wife Uzumaki Kushina, was the last remaining known survivor of the ruling clan from Uzushiogakure. What changes will this bring to the life of one Namikaze Naruto?
Hello there, for starters I would ask you to please go easy on me when it comes to grammar mistakes and stuff like that. English is not my native language and it is just recently that I started feeling more confident in my skills as to try and upload something again. This is the revised version of chapter one of the story I tried to write a couple of years back, and while I am quite certain that I do not have the will necessary to continue writing it, I would really like for someone else with the talent that I lack to perhaps take it from where I left off and turn it into something worth reading. If not then I will only say that this is a WIP and I can't guarantee that I would be able to update in quick succession or even steady intervals at all.
Disclaimer: Naruto wasn't, isn't, and will never be mine.
Chapter 1
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A tall, handsome blonde man was currently pacing nervously around the waiting room of Konohagakure's Hospital's fourth floor, otherwise known as the maternity ward. His wife, Uzumaki Kushina, was giving birth to his first child and his mother Senju Tsunade, who was regarded as the best medic-nin ever, was the doctor tending to her. After a long time of waiting he finally heard a loud wailing of a newborn, making him turn his head towards the sound so suddenly he was surprised he didn't give himself whiplash. Unable to help himself he raced towards the room he knew his wife to be in and practically slammed through the closed double doors, ignoring the startled nurses that, briefly stopping their previous activities of cleaning up, turned to look at him.
"Minato! What are you-?" Tsunade yelled at him, but then she caught his wide, exited blue eyes staring intently at the room's only bed and sighted heavily. She then told the nurses to finish up quickly and leave the room since she didn't need them anymore. Her son was too far gone now, if his expression was anything to go by, so why bother?
His mind was numb as he walked shakily towards the bed where his thoroughly exhausted wife was lying. Her red hair was sticking to her sweaty forehead, and her facial expression showed just how tired she was, but even her tiredness didn't stop her from holding very tightly and very close to her partially uncovered chest a little bundle wrapped in a blue blanket, her gaze wholly focused on the miniature body. When he finally was close enough to the bed he bend over and kissed his wife sweetly on her forehead before moving a trembling hand towards the blanket and pulled it out of the way, just enough to see the tiny baby boy, making soft grunting and sucking noises while being breast-fed for the first time by his mother. The nurses had cleaned him immediately after Tsunade had cut his cord, so his skin looked soft, his small hands were clutched tightly into fists, his closed, puffy eyes showed little movement under the lids and the smattering of blonde hair on his downy head was all Minato had been expecting and more. The sight alone caused his breath to hitch.
"Kushina…my love…he is beautiful" whispered Minato with awe in his eyes.
"Well, he does look just like you," replied Kushina, a tired smile on her face.
"He does?" the older blond started to caress very carefully and softly his baby's head. The infant's eyes opened a little bit, letting him catch the dark shade of blue through the thin slits. They were of a darker blue than his, but he had no doubt that later they will set into a lighter shade equaling his own. It proved her wife's statement true, since apart from his reddish-looking skin tone –which was normal for a newborn- he really did look like him. The baby decided that he had had enough and let go of his mother. The excess milk that slid through the corner of the tiny mouth and down his soft little cheek was immediately wiped off with a soft small towel by his redheaded mother before she fixed up her hospital gown. Minato gently took one of the miniature fisted hands, caressing the back of it with his thumb and then placed a kiss on the tiny crown of yellow.
"I'm a father," he said softly, using the back of his free hand to wipe at the happy tears that escaped his traitorous eyes, and looked at a smiling Kushina "thank you."
Tsunade just stayed there looking at them, a soft smile plastered on her lips, when a thought came to her mind.
"Minato, Kushina…had you already decided how you are going to name him?" she asked. The young couple stared at her and blinked twice in perfect synchronization.
"Well, actually, we haven't decided just yet but…" Minato's reply was cut short by his wife.
"Naruto, it's a beautiful name," she said while looking down at her son.
"Naruto? Like the character in Dad's first book? When did you decide that?" asked her husband.
"Just now! I think it would be perfect," she said with a gentle smile on her face.
"Are you sure? It's quite the unusual name," questioned Minato.
"Yes, I am sure," Minato seemed to be considering it for a moment, but then he gave a little nod and a smile.
"All right, then Naruto it is" he said.
"Thank you Minato!...What do you think Naruto-chan? Do you like your name?" asked Kushina while caressing his smooth cheek, looking at the infant as if expecting him to actually answer her.
"Minato, perhaps you should reconsider, you know perfectly well how Jiraiya came up with that name!" Tsunade whispered harshly, close to her son's ear, covering her mouth with her hand to minimize chances of being overheard and making motions with her other hand as if she were holding chopsticks, bringing them up and down from her mouth as if eating.
"I know but, I kind of like it, too… his name will be Naruto… in hopes that he grows up to be like the main character in that book…" he smiled at his wife and she smiled back. Tsunade could only sigh in resignation.
Suddenly, Naruto started to stir in Kushina's arms whimpering in discomfort. Kushina rocked him lightly and made placating noises, but the baby continued to grow more and more frantic.
"Maybe he's still hungry?" suggested Minato with a worried frown which was mirrored on his mother's face.
"No, I don't think that's it," Kushina shook her head, her face forming a frown as well and she never stopped swaying the baby slowly. Their anxiousness only grew when the baby passed from whimpering to full out crying.
"Mother, what's wrong? What's happening to him?" bellowed a hysterical Minato and Tsunade hurried to Kushina's side and started to check the blond baby with her softly glowing chakra, her hands hovering over the newborn's body.
"There's nothing wrong with him, not physically, at least!"
"Wait! What is that?" asked Kushina while looking at something that seemed to glow with a white light, as opposed to Tsunade's green-healing chakra, under the blanket; located right where her son's tummy should be. Tsunade stopped her technique and hurried to remove the blanket from Naruto's fragile little body and took a step back at what she saw, with her eyes wide like saucer plates.
"I-it can't be," she stammered. On Naruto's stomach was the glowing figure of a seal, imprinting itself on the baby's skin. As suddenly as it started, the white glow stopped, leaving behind a black inked tattoo-looking seal and an eerily silence, only broken by the blonde baby's hiccups after he had calmed down.
"Mother?" asked Minato worriedly and got closer to his mother, since he had moved back so that his mother could check the baby, and took a peak over her shoulder, causing his eyes to go as wide as his mother's had.
"God, is that-? But I thought-… is that what I think it is?" Tsunade nodded her head slowly.
"I think so, it's the only thing I can think of. Minato, take a look at it won't you? You know I've never been good with all those seals without medical applications."
"Yes, of course," Minato got closer to his son, and started to intently examine the fresh seal on his skin. Baby Naruto stared unfocusedly at his face and squirmed and made un-content noises when he touched the tender skin around the seal, moving the clipped umbilical cord out of the way when needed.
"It looks like a contract seal… unlike any other I've ever seen before, that's for sure, but familiar somehow. How in the world did it get there though?" asked Kushina narrowing her eyes.
"Don't worry Kushina, it's not going to harm him anymore. However, to understand what's going on you must know everything related to my family's history and specially, my grandfather, the Shodaime,"
"Of course I know about him, Mito-sama used to tell me stories about her beloved husband when I was a little girl. His advanced techniques and battle prowess are legendary! But what does that have to do with my son?" Tsunade adopted a serious expression.
"Simply put, there are certain facts that aren't common knowledge. As you most likely already know, my grandfather was said to be capable of controlling powerful evil-incarnate chakra beasts called the Bijuu, they were nine in total, each one more powerful than the last. What is not that well known, is that, with the use of his unique Mokuton ability, he was capable of not only controlling them; he dominated them and basically had them as tamed house pets. My grandfather was able to experience just how powerful, twisted and malignant those rotten entities could be himself, and decided that he couldn't allow them to fall into the wrong hands, or it would mean the end of the world as we know it. So, when he felt his time was almost up, he used the last of his chakra to perform a forbidden jutsu. So powerful, so precarious, that it basically took the life of the caster as payment for it to work… and with the help of my grandmother, Uzumaki Mito, he sealed the beasts away." Kushina gasped. She had heard of incredible fuuinjutsu her clan had knowledge of that were so powerful it was capable to achieve unheard of feats, but this? This was madness!
"How-? Where did they seal them?" was Kushina's soft, whispered question.
"My grandmother wasn't very clear the few times I asked her about it. She changed the location every time I did ask, though. It supposedly is impossible to reach, protected by something incredibly powerful which source is not from this world. What could that possibly be though, I wouldn't know. Some elders said that it was some sort of pocket dimension that holds the beasts captive utilizing the energy from the life sacrifice that the jutsu requires and some other force that I'm completely oblivious of to keep them there, unless… "
Completely enraptured in the story, Kushina didn't noticed her husband, that until now had been looking intently at the seal on Naruto, take a step back with wide, unbelieving eyes, and asked, "Unless?"
"The only way for any of the Bijuu to once again gain access to this plain of existence, is through the same blood that was responsible of putting them there. In other words, only the direct descendants of my grandfather and grandmother have the means to free the monsters… by being chosen by one of them. In which case, he or she gains a seal that marks them as such. Each beast has its own distinctive seal, which bestows the bearer the power to bring it out –and, hence, return it back in as well- from the pocket dimension where they are all caught and the birthright to utilize their power in any way he sees fit, as payment for the chance of being let out of their imprisonment even if just temporally, like my grandfather did when he was still alive…"
"But then that means-!" Kushina exclaimed, putting everything together. Tsunade only turned to look at her son, who by now had a calculative look on his face, as if contemplating the possibilities.
"It's never happened before, I believed it to be a story the adults came up with in order to explain the beasts' disappearance when my grandfather died. My guess is that your baby not only being a direct descendant of my grandfather but also having you, a full-blooded Uzumaki like my grandmother, as his mother increased the probability of him being chosen… so Minato, what is the verdict?"
"There is no doubt about it, this particular contract seal belongs to the Kyuubi no Yoko," if the women's eyes widened by a fraction of a millimeter more, they would surely pop out of their sockets, if possible. Kushina lowered her gaze to the infant in her arms and looked at him in amazement, only to find him staring back at her solemnly, as if he knew what was just being discussed and how much it would affect him in the future.
"This could turn into something very ugly, very fast, if the wrong people learn about it," Tsunade whispered.
"That's why nobody that doesn't need to know will be told," the blonde man retorted, and both women nodded in agreement.
"Be told what?" a grave voice asked from the door of the room, startling the people inside, who turned to look in that direction.
"Father," sighed Minato
"Jiraiya," Tsunade breathed out in relief that it was her husband and not someone else that had listened into their conversation, which in hindsight, they shouldn't even have been discussing such things without checking for possible eavesdroppers and securing the room beforehand, "I thought you wouldn't be in until tomorrow?" The man at the door walked into the room grinning like mad.
"And miss my grandson's birth? Not in a million years!" he walked to the red head and smiled at her then looked at the now yawning baby. "He looks exactly as I remember you looked like when you were born, Minato," stated the man caressing the infant's forehead softly with his thumb, "he's perfect…" he whispered, then smiled proudly. Tsunade and the young couple smiled as well. Then, Jiraiya's expression slowly changed to a more somber one before he asked, "Now, what was that you were saying again?"
"Wait a moment, before anything else is said, Minato, if you please?" Tsunade indicated the door while gesturing to her ear. The blond man immediately understood and almost kicked himself for not thinking about it before, then walked toward the doors and closed them firmly before pressing him palm flat against one of them. A spike of chakra and a skillful application of a privacy seal later, the man returned to stand next to his wife.
"He was chosen, Jiraiya. Chosen to command what could very well be considered a force of nature, and he is only a couple of hours old!" the medical expert started as soon as she was sure the room was now secure.
The man hummed thoughtfully.
"And you said it was a stupid fairytale," he grunted, "Which one?"
"Kyuubi,"
"Is that so?" he looked at the baby, "Not even a day old and you are already a handful. You really are a lot like your father," he smiled mischievously then turned to his son, "This really changes things. Something like this cannot be pushed back in the priority list. Measures must be taken to keep information from leaking out and preventive plans have to be thought out in advance. I know you were thinking on letting him choose whether he wanted to be a shinobi or not when he was older but that will no longer be an option for him, his fate was 'sealed' when he was chosen. It will be best if he began training as young as humanly possible, since it will not do for him to be undisciplined or underprepared to deal with this. We can't let ourselves be as naïve as to think that nobody will ever come upon this information with less than friendly intentions. It will not be easy, but hardly anything that is worth it is huh?" he smiled and the blonde smiled back at him in agreement.
His father had always been able to calm him down during stressful situations, and for that he was truly glad he was there at that moment.
"Who else should we trust with something like this? With helping us take care of our son when the time comes and we would no longer be able to follow him everywhere? At least until he is strong enough to protect himself and mature enough to keep his own secrets, we need some backing up," said Kushina.
"I already had some people in mind… Kakashi-kun was at the top of my list, he will be Naruto's godfather and hopefully his Jounin sensei after all, but that can wait until he absolutely needs to know to help protect Naruto better. Hiruzen should be informed, too, it would help to have someone as a bluffer with the elders,"
"I agree with Kakashi knowing when the time is right but maybe sensei is not a very good choice, son," said Jiraiya with a wince.
"What? Why not?" asked a surprised Minato.
"Because if you tell Sarutobi-sensei you take the risk of the rest of the elders finding out about it, and by the elders, I mean Danzo," explained the blonde woman. Minato frowned at the mention of the old war-hawk. He had been a torn on the blonde's side since the moment he took the Hokage hat from Sarutobi two years ago.
"Hiruzen would never betray my trust," assured the young man with conviction.
"Of course he wouldn't, that is something that we can agree with, but sensei is old, and he is tired. So is no surprise there that he is slowly losing his edge. Like it or not, that's the truth," Jiraiya insisted and Minato sighed.
"Alright, then only Kakashi will know later on apart from us four,"
"Good," smiled the white haired man, "This boy is destined for greatness Minato, I can feel it!"
"He will be a splendid shinobi," added the red head, smiling down at the infant. His only response was to yawn cutely again and close his eyes, ready to take a nap.
XXOXX
"Alright Naruto-chan, you are doing great with this. Fifteen more minutes and you can go practice your katas until your father gets home," praised a busty blonde woman as she watched a tiny blonde boy walking up a tall tree's side while making a leaf float an inch away from his forehead and his two hands. They were currently located in a big open space that was purposefully left devoid of trees inside the Senju estate specifically for this reason. As the considerably big ninja clan than they once were, they had some techniques that they preferred to practice in the privacy of their home, after all.
"Yes, Grandmother," replied the boy and then stopped his upward advancement to regain control over the leaves that wiggled dangerously when his focus was split between keeping them in place, sticking to the tree trunk and talking. He scrunched up his little button nose in concentration, then, when he was sure that he wouldn't fall down, or drop the leaves he continued on.
Naruto was now five years old, and he was looking more and more like his father with each passing day. Although his small body and face had the normal-for-his-age baby fat and his skin was as light as his grandmother's, his eyes and hair were the same exotic color as his father's. His spiky blonde hair was as wild and unkempt as the older blonde's and his bangs were now beginning to grow in order to frame his face in the same way his father's and grandfather's did, the only difference being that the rest of his hair was left long and tied in a messy little topknot ponytail. His eyes were wider, like his mother's, but the color was the same amazing blue as well. The little blond was wearing simple black training pants and long sleeved shirt, with the hems taped with white bandages -to keep them from flapping- around the forearms and shins, a white sash around his waist and standard black sandals clad his feet.
During the next several minutes the boy kept walking up to the middle of the trunk and coming back down using his chakra to repeat the cycle over and over again, all in addition to concentrating on the three leaves he was making float over his skin. Tsunade didn't let him walk higher up the tree just in case he fell. Then his grandmother called him down and gave him some water, to then make him start going over his taijutsu where he had left off the day before.
While observing him, Tsunade thought of how the little boy had been trained since he was just three years old. He had apparently inherited his mother's family's tendency to have naturally large chakra reserves with the addition of her own perfect chakra control. So while his reserves where larger than your average five year old by a considerable margin, he also displayed the innate ability to manipulate it at a whim. His physical training was kept at a level at which his young body could keep up and still be safe as to not stunt his development and his father had begun teaching him his own taijutsu style about a year ago.
Whilst Minato took care of his son's physical training and taijutsu and Tsunade managed his chakra control and was just starting to implement theorical medical lessons, Kushina took care of his 'brain training,' as she called it, training and testing his memory, reflexes, brain creativity, concentration, and logic, as well as tutoring him in calligraphy in preparation to teach him her family's legacy, seals. Jiraiya helped him with his ninjutsu -meaning the bunshin, kawarimi and henge at his current level-, in addition to instructing him on stealth, traps, and weapon's correct handling.
Although the boy was turning out to be extremely determined and a hard-worker of the highest caliber, he was allowed an alarmingly short time to be the kid that he was supposed to be. It saddened her, but she couldn't turn a blind eye to the fact that… well…
Naruto was a really awkward kid.
It was strange, seeing as the little blonde wasn't shy or unemotional in the slight-less, quite the opposite, really. However, he wasn't used to interaction with other people that weren't his immediate family and some other few exceptions. His awkwardness when dealing with new people stopped him from actively seeking other children's company, and in the rare occasions that they were able to take him to the park, instead of joining other kids in their games, he sat on the usually empty swings and played there by himself for the entirety of their visit, observing how the others interacted with an almost clinical focus. Of course, it didn't help that a lot of the kids felt somewhat self-conscious when they were around him. The few times that the blonde boy was invited to join them, they were either too scared of retaliation if they accidentally hurt him or practically let him win to appease him, even if by doing that they only ended up doing the opposite. He was the Fourth Hokage's son after all, the 'Honorable Son,' and as such he deserved their respect, or so their mothers told them. Sometimes she wished to completely cancel her grandson's training schedule and let him play and fool around and be a kid, just to see him smile, to give him a chance to make some actual friends and be a little less awkward at non-political social interactions.
'No, this is necessary; it will be the best for him in the long run. He NEEDS to be prepared; he has to be ready to handle everything the world throws at him'
So into her thoughts she was that she jumped in surprise when her son appeared besides her out of thin air with a happy 'Hey Mom!.' Looking up at the sun, she saw that a couple of hours have passed since Naruto had started his taijutsu practice, then she bumped the blonde man lightly on the head for scaring her.
"Don't you do that again, understand? I'm your mother, show some Goddamn respect!" she scolded him while admonishing herself for losing track of time and reality like that and he scowled lightly.
"Ok, ok, I just wanted to get here faster," he reasoned. It was then that Naruto, whose attention had been drawn because of her grandmother's raised voice, noticed his presence. The boy smiled widely and quickly came to stand before his father.
"Father," he greeted him while formally bowing in respect.
"At ease my little shinobi-in-training, now come here and give your daddy a hug," the man went down to one knee in order to be more at his son's level and opened his arms widely as the boy laughed loudly and threw himself at him. They embraced for a little bit, a content expression taking over Minato's face, only to break apart when the man took his little clone by the shoulders and held him at arms-length. "I see you were keeping up with your taijutsu training, having any trouble with any of the new forms so far?"
"A little, I can't get my feet into the right places at first but like Mom says, 'R-rehe-arsal is the key to perfection,' so I just need more practice!" answered Naruto.
"That's good," The man said, and couldn't stop himself from smiling at his son's adorable stumble over the complicated word and Tsunade's lips were twitching as well, "Now, I know we should get to it and continue with your usual physical routine, but I got something I need to discuss with you. So let's go inside and I'll tell you over some chichi dango and tea, yeah?" he said in a whisper so that Tsunade wouldn't hear him and then winked in a conniving manner. At the boy's energetic nod they both disappeared instantly inside the house.
"Minato! How dare you use your stupid technique and not take me with you!" screamed an enraged Tsunade that then sighed and began walking towards the house, "You birth them, raise them and love them unconditionally and this is how they repay you. I'm so glad I only have one," she mumbled angrily while stomping away.
XXOXX
Inside the house, Minato had secretly stolen some of the chichi dango that were supposed to be saved as today's dessert and quickly made some tea and took the teapot and two cups with him to his private office while Naruto followed behind him and tried to hide his amusement as his father kept looking from side to side and behind him so that a certain redhead wouldn't spot him. Once they were both safely inside Minato's study, he sat down behind his desk and Naruto took one of the chairs opposite him.
"What I wanted to talk to you about," began the man while serving both of them some tea, "it's about something that has come to my attention and that I decided it was to be immediately looked into. You see, I had a talk with Uchiha Fugaku today, he is the head of the Uchiha and of course, of the Military Police Force by consequence. We spoke about some boring adult stuff that I don't think you would like to hear-" the little blonde felt the urgent need to roll his eyes, "-and one thing led to the other until somehow we ended up talking about our respective families. Of course, I told him about you, Mom, and granddad and grandma and in turn he told me about his wife and his two sons. Lady Mikoto used to be a very close friend of your mom's but circumstances led to them losing contact and distancing a bit. Itachi is a very talented young man, he is ten years old and he just turned chunnin. Young Sasuke is your age, he is a very active child and-"
"Dad," Naruto interrupted his father, "you are rambling again," said the boy, repeating what his mother always told his dad while hiding a little laugh behind a chubby hand.
'In other words, he wants me to get to the point. Seeing as he looks like me he had to get something from his mother, I guess. So impatient.'
"Yes of course. The point is that I believe that it's time to let you begin making some connections outside of us four," the man said, referring to his parents, Kushina and himself, "to make friends. So when Fugaku told me that he was looking for a play mate for his youngest son, I told him that you will be delighted to go to several play dates with little Sasuke-chan."
"You what?" asked the boy in a whisper, face taking on a paler composition that what it normally was.
"Come on, musuko, I realized that maybe we've been pushing you too hard, that you are just a boy and that you should have time to play and do things other kids do on a daily basis. Many have not even begun using their chakra yet, heck, many don't even know what chakra is. You are very advanced for your age, there's no harm on taking one or two days off." He said, drinking the last of his tea and taking a bite off his last dango.
"B-but, dad, I am not used to doing things like that. Plus, I don't know how to-"
"Nonsense! How can you ever get used to it if you never try it? How can you learn if you don't experience it? Fugaku and I agreed to have you go meet Sasuke-chan later today. I'll tell your mother about it during lunch; she will surely love the idea of catching up with Mikoto after so long," then he dismissed the young boy, not giving him an opportunity to argue.
Closing the door to his father's study, little Naruto frowned, displeased. He obviously didn't like the idea of losing valuable training time playing with some random little kid… never mind that said little kid was the same age as himself.
XXOXX
Later that same day, found Naruto sitting with his mother in an unfamiliar house's living room. Lady Mikoto turned out to be a pale skinned woman with deep black hair and eyes, she appeared to be of gentle character and kind disposition. She had greeted his mother with a big smile and a hug, telling her how it had been too long, his mother's greeting being just as enthusiastic, if not even more so. Then she turned to him and smiled at him too.
"Hello Naruto-kun, I'm Uchiha Mikoto. Thank you for coming to play with my son. He has been a little restless lately, since his older brother, Itachi, became a chunnin and didn't have as much time to spend with him as before."
"Thanks for having me over, Uchiha-san, I appreciate the invitation," he had answered while bowing respectfully. His parents and grandparents made it a point to treat him and talk to him as if he was an adult, leading to his vocabulary being more advanced that what it usually was in others his age. Also, he was the village's leader's son, he had to have some semblance of manners when not in the comfort of his home.
"Such a polite boy! Perhaps Sasuke-kun can learn something good from you and not be so hotheaded all the time," she smiled and patted him on the head, "Please, make yourself comfortable while I go look for him," she said while leading them to a tatami floored room. As they took a sit on some cushions around the traditional low tea table in the center of the room she left to do just that.
While waiting they snacked on some bite sized daifuku placed on a plate at the center of the table. Around ten minutes have passed since the Uchiha woman had gone to look for her child, and that brought him to his current situation; with a red headed woman happily munching on the daifuku and babbling some impossible-to-understand stories about some problematic situations Mikoto and herself had gotten into in their youth, and the little blonde boy quietly pretending to listen and wishing this nightmare would quickly come to an end.
"Sorry for making you wait," Mikoto's voice came from the doorway, "Sasuke-kun made a mess out of himself and it was necessary to wash him and change him into a more presentable appearance," as she said this, she gestured to the little boy that was currently peeking at them from behind her legs. He was pale, with eyes and hair as dark as his mother's, with the difference that his hair had a dark blue hue to it. He was dressed in a pair of black shorts and high collared shirt. After watching them for a moment longer, he took a deep breath and stepped out from behind his mother.
"Hi, I'm Uchiha Sasuke," he said with a small childish smile.
"Hello, Sasuke-chan! I'm Namikaze Kushina, and this is my son, Naruto," the blonde boy took that as his cue and stood up.
"Hello, I'm Namikaze Naruto," he said in a quiet, awkward voice.
"Are you sick?" asked the little raven, and Naruto blinked.
"Huh?"
"I asked you if you were sick. When my dad is sick his voice turns rough and he talks real soft because he says it would hurt him if he talks louder,"
"I'm not sick," the little blonde stated dryly and his mother giggled behind her hand.
"Why don't you two go play while us adults use the time to catch up?" the red head said, completely ignoring the pleading look her son shot her way. The other boy in the other hand shrugged and went to Naruto's side.
"Do you like playing tag?" he asked.
"Eh, not really, I've never played it before,"
Sasuke blinked
"Hmph, so you don't even know how to play?" a little scowl made it's way to his face as he looked at the blonde as if he was stupid, "You will be 'it' first ok?" he said while starting to pull the other boy outside, determined to teach the dumb blonde how to play one of the easiest games ever.
"W-wait! Don't do that, quit pulling me!" Sasuke's answer came out muffled because their voices faded in the distance as they got farther away and both women chuckled at the display.
"It's seems that Naruto-kun doesn't really enjoy this kinds of things," Mikoto pointed out and Kushina sighed.
"It's not that, he just doesn't know how to act around kids his age. He is used to being around adults all the time, and all he does is train, train, train," Mikoto chuckled.
"It must not be easy for him, with all the pressure he must feel; it's only natural that he wishes to meet the expectations that pretty much everyone has for him,"
"At times I find myself wondering what it would be like were things different…" her dejected expression made Mikoto smile sadly at her and she sighed once more, "anyways," she smirked, "tell me, what have you been up to?"
XXOXX
Minato sat in his office at the Hokage tower, going through some urgent paperwork. It had been a busy week, since the start of a new school cycle was about to begin. He was currently checking the files of the future first grade class. He was required to take special care with this class specifically because of the unusual number of high standing children that will be in it. It seemed almost planned that all of those prominent clans have their heir of approximately the same age. There was the Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Nara, Uchiha, and Yamanaka heirs, and of course, his son.
'Naruto…'
His son was eight now, and he was his pride and joy. The boy was a genius hard-worker; it was ridiculously easy for him to learn and execute almost every jutsu Jiraiya taught to him in a matter of days. His superb chakra control made him the perfect student when it came to learning anything from ninjutsu and genjutsu to ijutsu and chakra nature. However, his innate talent with anything chakra related didn't exactly help him much with other, more physical aspects of shinobi life. While his taijutsu was above what you would expect from a boy his age, factoring the amount of time and determination he put into his training he should be even more advanced. The same could be said about his accuracy with projectiles and fixing up traps. The only thing that was up to par with his ninjutsu abilities was his speed and stealth proficiency.
After watching his father completely decimate his grandfather during a friendly spar simply by being too fast to be touched and for the white haired man to defend against his attacks, he was determined to reach that kind of speed himself. Stealth in the other hand, he turned out to be surprisingly talented with sneaking around and remaining undetected.
His other studies were coming along smoothly, according with what Kushina had told him. The red head woman exercised his strategic and logistic side by playing shoji and making him solve different problems by coming up with the best solution possible. She, along with her mother-in-law, was making him go through a watered-down version of the blonde woman's dodging training, to sharpen his reflexes and evasion skills. They studied a little history, geography and the like, but they had decided to leave the bulk of the boy's literary education to the academy instructors, they just showed him enough to not be completely clueless once he assisted said institution. Seal theory was going well, and his practical abilities were slowly going up, too; the taskmaster of a woman had finally deemed her son's calligraphy skills sufficient to begin practicing the lowest levels of sealing about half a year ago.
Lastly, Tsunade said that she had never seen such potential for the medical arts since she herself was young –which made her husband, son and daughter-in-law sweatdrop- and was determined to make the blonde boy the second coming of the legendary medic.
But not all was training and increasing his skills as a ninja. He smiled as he looked at one of the three picture frames placed on a side table by his desk. One was of his parents, his wife, his son and himself looking like a big, happy family. The other was just of his wife and himself. The last one was a more resent picture of his son, along with another boy his age, his bright, slightly longer blonde hair and blue eyes contrasting with the other boy's own black eyes and hair with a dark blue hue. Little Sasuke-chan was smirking in a very Uchiha-like way and had his arms crossed, and Naruto was resting his weight on the other boy's shoulder with his elbow and grinning widely while making a peace sign at the camera.
Sasuke had become his son's best and only friend. It had been quite amusing at first, seeing as Sasuke was dead set on showing Naruto how to play all those kid games that the blonde boy was 'too dump to learn on his own,' while Naruto was nothing but annoyed and angry at the 'jerk' who was 'full of himself.' With time, however, they both grew to be fond of each other and actually started to enjoy the other boy's company. Now they were almost always together and even sparred and helped each other train in the areas the other needed more help with. While Naruto had perfect chakra control but sucked at taijutsu, Sasuke was extremely talented with taijutsu, but his chakra control was average at best. The Uchiha wasn't exactly a ball of sunshine, but he turned out to be exactly what his son needed.
The blonde man frowned.
'What I wouldn't give, to go back in time and make things different for you, my son. We have taken away your chance to choose and your chance at a normal childhood… all for the sake of turning you into an efficient shinobi… but you have to be able to protect yourself if the need ever arises.'
Looking at the picture once more he couldn't help but smile again at the sight of his boy's smile. Sasuke had always had that effect on the blonde; the boy had the amazing gift of getting under Naruto's skin with an almost ridiculous ease and bringing out his emotions on an often enough basis to a level that nobody else but Minato could. Also, the boy had quite a mouth on him, which was surprising, giving his family. He was brought out of his musings by a knock at the door.
"Enter," he said with what Kakashi had labeled as his 'Hokage-voice.' The door opened and in came his personal chuunin assistant, a young lady by the name of Fumiko, what she was carrying on her arms made the feared leader pale a little.
"Pardon the intrusion, Hokage-sama, but the Elders would like for you to have these revised and signed by the end of the week. They said it was quite urgent," as she placed the considerable pile of papers on the free corner of the man's desk she found herself sweatdropping at the sight of the blonde's slightly green face.
"Thank you… Fumiko. You are dismissed," he said with a helplessness that was almost depressing, if not a little comical. The girl shook her head in amusement and left the man to continue to feel sorry for himself. He couldn't wait for the time he was supposed to go help Naruto with his training, seeing as it was the only time his darling wife allowed him to leave a clone to do his paperwork.
"The position of Kage is the most barefaced example of deception among ninjas," he lamented to himself before sighing and taking the paper at the top of the pile.
"Stupid old fools," he whined, referring to the Elders, reading the first lines of the sheet, resigned to his bad fortune.
_._._
An eight-year-old Sasuke was currently resting, sitting under a tree at the sidelines of the clearing used for training in the Senju estate, watching as his best friend's grandfather instructed him in a new technique. They had been sparing when the white haired man had appeared and announced loudly that he had finally been given the green light to teach him a certain jutsu.
"Listen up 'Ruto-kun, this jutsu it's not to be taken lightly, it could turn into your ace in the hole in the long run," the man said, and then he bit his right thumb hard enough to draw blood, did a short series of hand-seals and slammed his hand down onto the soil, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" there was a big explosion of smoke and after it cleared it left behind it an enormous amphibian, big enough for Jiraiya to stand on its head. It had orange skin with blue markings and bandages wrapped around his body and left foreleg. A big necklace with seven large beads on it with the kanji for loyalty on the central, largest bead was around its neck. It croaked lowly and then it stuck its long tongue out, letting the large scroll he had been holding in it roll on the ground to stop in front Naruto.
"The toad contract," whispered the blond boy with an unusual glint of eagerness making his blue eyes shine, one of his hands went up to his ponytail (1) and he pulled at it slightly in what had become a habit for the boy when he didn't know what to do with his hands. Meanwhile, the black haired boy stared at the big toad in awe.
"That's right!" Jiraiya said as he jumped off the toad's head to land soundlessly besides his grandson, "As you already know, the toad contract has been in my family for four –now five- generations. I got it from my father -who got it from his father-, and I passed it down to your father, and now, I give it to you," he said, touching the scroll with his geta sandal lightly to let it unroll, letting the boy see the short list of names written vertically on it until it stopped on a blank space, right besides his father's name. "Just write your name in blood and mark your fingerprints with blood below it as well. Use the hand you plan to use to summon."
The boy squatted down before the scroll with uncharacteristic excitement and, just as he had seen his grandfather do, bit down forcefully on his right thumb and wrote his name with stylized characters obtained from sealing practice using his blood as ink. Then he smeared the rest of his right hand fingers with his bloody thumb and pressed them down below his name on the scroll. When he was done, the white haired man rolled it back up with another soft touch of his sandal and the big orange toad retook it with his tongue.
"And that's that! Thanks Gama, you can go back now," the toad croaked again before going away with the now expected big puff of smoke, then he turned to Naruto, "the hand-signs needed are boar, dog, bird, monkey and ram in that order, remember that the amount of chakra used while summoning determines how powerful the summoned creature can be. With time, you will be able to summon a specific toad that you want, for now… just use as much chakra as you can and let's see what turns up!" he barked out a laugh and the blonde nodded while Sasuke, who had stood up and come closer when he was signing the scroll, gave him a thumbs up gesture. Naruto smiled lightly at him and took a deep breath, accumulating what he thought to be an acceptable quantity of chakra he performed the seals told and slammed his still bloodied hand on the ground before him.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" with a considerable smaller puff of smoke than the one Jiraiya had created when summoning Gama, a small orange toad with black markings around his eyes, mouth and stomach and wearing a blue sleeveless jacket appeared.
"Yo!" the little toad said, raising his right hand in the air as a greeting gesture, "who are you?" he asked the blonde, who couldn't help but smirk subtly at his success.
"I am Naruto," he answered.
"Well, I'm Gamakichi, now give me a snack or I won't come out and play with you next time you call me,"
"Wow, your first time summoning and you get a gluttonous little bastard," commented a smug Sasuke.
"Hey! Who are you calling a bastard?! Do you know who I am?! I'm no bastard!" yelled the little toad in the raven boy's direction, shaking a webbed fist angrily in his direction.
"But you don't deny that you are gluttonous," smirked Sasuke in amusement.
"Why you-!"
"Enough," said Naruto firmly and both boy and toad calmed down, "Sasuke, if you don't have anything significant to contribute, please, keep it to yourself," said blond and Sasuke frowned with a pout –that he would later on deny, Uchihas DON'T pout!-, "Gamakichi, right?" at the toad's nod he continued, "This was my first time summoning, so I didn't know I would need anything as an offering, so you will just have to wait until next time. Is that acceptable?"
"Sure thing, I like you! You are much nicer than that other guy with hair styling issues-"
Sasuke sneered.
"-so if you don't need anything else, I'll just get going, bro,"
"Of course," agreed Naruto, and the little toad was gone with a wave and a puff of smoke.
"That went well," commented an amused Toad Sage.
"If you call getting a greedy frog for the very first time you summon well, then yeah, that went well," the Uchiha boy expressed with a dismissive wave.
"Not a frog, a toad, and don't let them hear you calling them frogs; you will not like the consequences," warned Jiraiya.
"Whatever, I don't see what's so cool about having slimy amphibians as partners anyways,"
"This coming from the guy that couldn't see to be able to close his mouth at the mere sight of the summoning scroll; is quite ironic," Naruto commented sounding almost too casual and Sasuke blushed slightly.
"That was before I met that slippery little moron. I can see how you and him can get along though, you dolt," a vein popped on Naruto's forehead, but then he took a breath and apparently calmed himself.
"In that case, I don't understand why you were not able to feel the kinship," the blonde said before starting to walk back to the main house.
"Hey! Was that an insult?" Sasuke yelled as he followed after him.
"Whatever do you mean? I would never insult you,"
"Hn, would you stop being sarcastic for once?"
"Is automatic, I can't help it. You see, sarcasm is the body's natural reaction to stupidity,"
"ARGH!"
Jiraiya just watched them go, bickering all the way.
"Ah, kids shall be kids," he said, smirking.
_._._
A week later, children from eight to twelve years of age could be seen entering or gathering around the Konoha's Ninja Academy building. Several of the youngest children were accompanied by their parents, looking around with awe, excitement, nervousness and in a few cases, disinterest. Some were already trying to establish a place in the social hierarchy of their future classroom and others were gathering what would be their group of friends and cliques for the duration of their education.
Arriving at the front yard of the school, a family of three was the instant focus of attention of the adults and even some of the children present. They were respectfully greeted and some people even bowed as they passed by, which they returned with smiles or curt nods of the head. Finally, they stopped almost before the entrance door, and the redheaded woman crouched low to almost equate her son's height.
"This is it, 'Ruto-kun! Remember to be good and pay attention to your sensei alright? Here's your lunch," she said, handing the blond boy a regular sized bento box tied in a silvery-blue handkerchief which he gratefully accepted.
"Yes, mother," he said. Then, the woman's eyes watered and her chin trembled in barely contained emotion.
"Oh! My baby is growing up!" she cried out while crushing the little blond in a Bear Hug of Doom™, "I remember as if it was just yesterday the first time I had your perfect little body in my arms" she said, stubbornly holding onto her treacherous tears.
"Mother, please," Naruto gasped out, but the woman ignored him and continued to squish him to her chest and he quietly tried to understand why she was so emotional; it wasn't like her to show distress in public. The young boy's father simply sighted in resignation, but before he could do anything to get his wife to let go of their son, a tall man with long, straight brunette hair, dressed elegantly and with unusual pearly white eyes without pupils approached him. A little pale girl with short dark blue hair in a hime style shyly trailed behind him.
"Hokage-sama," said the man, bowing his head slightly as a greeting.
"Hiashi-san, good morning," replied the blond man while his wife straightened up and discretely composed herself after noticing the other man's presence.
"Kushina-sama," the now named Hiashi greeted her as well, respectfully ignoring her former emotional state.
"Hiashi-san, is there something you needed?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes I did. It was my intention to introduce my first born daughter and heiress to our clan, Hinata, to you," he said, and gently pulled the petite girl from behind him so that the prominent couple could see her. The girl bowed respectfully but still managed to look as if she was trying to hide into herself, timidly looking at them.
"Nice to meet you, Hinata-chan," the purple eyed woman said and the blond man bowed his head in her direction, both wearing a reassuring smile on their faces. Hinata smiled timidly back. It was then that the brunette man noticed the young boy quietly standing besides his mother.
"And this must be your son, Hokage-sama" noticing the man's eyes on him and the mention of his name the boy bowed slightly in his direction.
"My name is Namikaze Naruto, sir, nice to meet you," the Hyūga head was surprised by the boy's calmness for a moment, given who the boy's mother was. Kushina's exuberant personality and explosive temper was legendary, after all. Then he dismissed it as being reasonable for the boy to be used to this kind of situation being the village's leader's son, and telling the boy his complete name as well. The little girl in the other hand, just having noticed the boy her age there, couldn't help but bashfully stare at him a little before noticing what she was doing and bowing her head with an embarrassed red hue in her cheeks.
"I understand that Naruto-kun will be entering the academy this year as well, is he not?" the white-eyed man enquired of the boy's parents.
"You are correct Hiashi-san," Minato smiled and ruffled his son's hair softly.
"Well, as you perhaps already know, this is Hinata's first year too, but she is a little nervous because of the fact that she does not have any acquaintances and her shy demeanor makes it hard for her to mingle with her peers. So, I would like to know if Naruto-kun would agree to keep her company to make it easier for her to install and adjust herself to the lectures," Hiashi continued not missing a beat. The blond boy's instantly tensed posture went unnoticed.
"I don't see any problem with it, and I'm sure Naruto doesn't mind either," Minato answered while touching his son's shoulder and squeezing it gently in a meaningful way and the blond boy simply nodded, understanding. The girl blushed once more and lowered her head even more uttering a quiet murmur of 'thank you'.
"Thank you, I highly appreciate it,"
"Don't mention it, Naruto will make sure not to leave her alone," another soft squeeze.
"I am sure he will. Well, I should go now, Hinata, please behave and do your best. Hokage-sama, Kushina-sama, Naruto-kun, by your leave," Minato and Kushina smiled while Naruto simply inclined his head politely, then the man turned around and walked away with two other people –his bodyguards, perhaps?- that had appeared out of nowhere just a moment ago trailing him. When Hiashi finally disappeared around the corner, Minato turned to his son and the little shy girl that was sneaking glances at him.
"So, you should probably go in now, you wouldn't want to be late on your first day, would you?" he asked with a big smile and the two children shook their head. His smile turned a little softer and he placed a hand on his son's head, his eyes looking into a similar pair of blues, "I know I'll be proud, not that I aren't already," Naruto smiled.
"Ok then, go on!"
"Do your best 'Ruto-kun, and you, too, Hinata-chan," Kushina added. The boy nodded his head and the girl smiled shyly, then they turned and entered the building. The adults stayed until they couldn't see them anymore when they took a turn into another hallway and the woman sighted.
"They grow up so fast," she said.
Minato resisted the urge to roll his eyes and simply sighted as well.
_._._
Entering their assigned room, Naruto and Hinata looked around the room filled with other kids their age, talking among themselves and busing themselves with general mayhem. After a moment of standing by the door awkwardly, the boy turned to look at the shy girl, unsure of what to do now. The girl was just looking at the floor like it was the most interesting thing she had seen in a long while, poking her index fingers together in a nervous habit.
"Uh… perhaps we should find a place to… sit?" he asked her uncertainly. Jumping a little out of surprise that he spoke, as if she had forgotten he was there at all, she looked at him for a second with big eyes before directing them at the floor once again.
"I… suppose… that's a good idea," the girl said in a tiny voice, stuttering all the while.
"Ok then…" the blond looked around the room, and quickly located a row of three sits available in the middle row close to the back of the room, "Ah, I think there would be fine. Come on," the boy muttered before unthinkingly taking the girl's hand to pull her towards the empty spaces.
Hinata squeaked quietly at the feel of his hand in hers, looking at the joined hands as if they were radioactive waste. Her face turned an interesting red shade while trying to keep up with the boy's quick steps. So focused was she in not tripping over her own feet, that she didn't noticed the two young girls having an animated and somewhat heated discussion over something undiscernible walking inattentively towards her from the opposite direction. When the inevitable crash came her hand was brusquely ripped out of the blond boy's hold and the three girls tumbled violently to the floor. Loud screeching and yelling came from both the pink haired and blonde little girls. Wincing in pain when she tried to get up only to discover a sore right wrist, Hinata started brokenly apologizing.
"I am… so… so sorry! I didn't… see you! Please… forgive-" She flinched and directed her gaze to the floor once more when she saw the murderous looks the other two girls where giving her.
"What? Are you blind or something?! Look at what you did to my hair?!" screeched the blonde girl. The short platinum strands went from perfectly-fixed to perfectly-messy with a few spiked here and there.
"Your hair? Look at my outfit!" continued the green eyed girl pointing at her rumpled shirt and skewed shorts.
"I… I… I'm," she didn't know what to say with those two menacing stares directed at her.
"Hinata, are you ok?" asked another voice, breaking the tense moment by making all three girls look towards the owner. Naruto bend down and helped the girl to her feet by holding her arms, "I'm sorry, that was kind of my fault for dragging you around like that," he apologized.
"It's ok… Naruto-kun, I'm… fine,"
While the boy made sure that his new tentative friend was really ok, he didn't noticed the looks the other girls where giving him. The pink haired girl had a little blush on her cheeks while staring unabashedly at him, while the other blonde looked him up and down with slightly big eyes.
"You're the Hokage's son!" she said all of a sudden. The boy turned to look at her in the suddenly quiet room after her loud exclamation captured the rest of the room's attention. The rest of the children started murmuring and pointing in their direction, looking like little gossiping clones of their parents. Naruto's right eyebrow twitched.
"I do have my own name, I'm Namikaze Naruto, nice to meet you," the boy said giving her a little polite bow. The smile she gave him in response made him a little uncomfortable, if he was completely honest.
"Sorry," when they just looked at him questioningly he explained himself further, "for what happened, it was my fault for dragging Hinata around without thinking," the other girl was hiding half of her body behind him at this point, taking refuge in case the girls decided to go back to glaring at her.
"It's fine! It's not your fault, it was an a-," the pink haired girl spoke up for the first time, but was abruptly interrupted when the blonde boy narrowed his eyes and bend his torso and head slightly to the side, catching a pencil that had apparently been used as a deadly projectile directed towards his head in his left hand. Hinata had 'eeped' quietly and stumbled a little from behind her human shield. Turning their shocked looks in the direction from which the improvised missile had come from, the girls saw another boy standing by the door to the classroom. He was pale, with dark hair and eyes, a vicious smirk on his lips gave him an oddly amused look, and he was skillfully twirling what appeared to be a blunt kunai knife on his hand.
"You appeared way too comfy just standing there from my point of view, so I decided to do you a service by making sure your reflexes are up to par," he declared arrogantly. To the girls' surprise, instead of reacting badly to what was essentially a random attack on his person, Naruto smirked and straightened from his dodging pose, turning to look at the new boy.
"How thoughtful of you, Sasuke," his deadpan response earned a bark of a laugh from the recently named Sasuke, who then made his way over to the little group. Naruto raised a fist which the other boy met with his own in a fist-bump as soon as he reach him.
"I thought for sure I would get here before you," the brunette told the blond boy.
"Dad had a meeting early, since he wanted to drop me off along with Mom I arrived earlier than expected,"
"He wouldn't miss his baby's big day huh?" Sasuke joked, earing himself a halfhearted swing at his head from the blond. It was until then that Sasuke looked behind Naruto at the girl that had retaken her former place hiding behind him for the first time. Hinata blushed a little when she realized she had finally been noticed.
"Oh right, sorry," Naruto smiled a little chagrined and gently pushed the girl to stand in front of him, "This is Hyuuga Hinata-san, she is going to be joining us during lessons and also at lunch, if she wishes to, of course," he looked at the girl in askance.
"Y-yes! Please, I would like t-that!" she said, once again pushing her fingers together nervously.
"Cool, nice to meet you Hinata, I'm Uchiha Sasuke," the boy gave her a little smirk and a nod.
"Nice to m-meet you… too, Sasuke-san,"
"Just Sasuke is fine,"
"Of c-course,"
"Ah-hem!"
The sudden obnoxious and quite loud clearing of the throat had Hinata jumping and Naruto and Sasuke turning to stare dryly.
"Hello, my name is Haruno Sakura, I couldn't help but overhear, you are from the Uchiha clan, correct?" the pink haired girl said as soon as she got their attention, leaning her torso a little towards the dark haired boy, expectant eyes trained on his face. The boy leaned back as well, trying to reclaim his stolen few inches of personal space.
"Uh… Right?" Sasuke answered uncertainly, throwing a questioning sideways look Naruto's way, who just shrugged at him. The sudden shriek the girl gave had Sasuke jumping back, bumping into Hinata, who in turn stumbled into Naruto, who only managed to stay upright by grabbing onto a desk.
"Your clan is famous for helping found the village along with the Senju! As well as producing talented prodigy shinobi every single generation! You must be so good already!" She looked at him with stars in her eyes. Sasuke's only answer was to look at her, his own eyes wide.
"Excuse my friend, she gets easily exited," the blonde girl who had been quietly observing the proceeding until now pulled the green-eyed girl back by her shoulder grinning saucily, "I'm Yamanaka Ino, by the way," she introduced herself. However, while she was apparently speaking to Sasuke, her eyes kept traveling over to the bewildered blond.
"N-nice to m-meet you b-both," Hinata said, while the boys, quite unsure of how right that statement was, could only nod.
Ino grinned and took a step toward the blond boy, opening her mouth to say something but was interrupted when a loud male voice yelled for everybody in the room to please take their seats. The girl pouted but grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her to a seat a couple or rows over. The two boys and even the shy girl couldn't help but to let out a relived sigh.
"Come on, let's sit down," said Naruto, leading both the other children to the empty seats he was heading to originally. Hinata ended up taking the middle seat, with Naruto on her right and Sasuke on her left. Once all of the children were settled they focused their attention on the two men standing by the desk at the front of the class. One of them had shoulder length white, bluish hair, pale skin and dark green eyes, and he was dressed in the standard chuunin uniform with the flak jacket and forehead protector that he wore as a bandana. The other man was tanned skinned with brown hair that he kept in a spiky ponytail at the top of his head, dark eyes and a prominent scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. He also wore the standard uniform and forehead protector.
"Good morning class, my name is Umino Iruka your main instructor for the next four years, and this is Mizuki, my assistant," spoke the scarred man, gesturing towards the one standing beside him, "Welcome to your fist day in Konoha's Shinobi Academy. As first years, we will focus on educating you in the philosophy and the way of the shinobi as well as extensive mental training such as math, science, history, and specifically these things in relation to their uses in battle tactics. We can't train the body effectively without strengthening the mind first, after all." This declaration was met with quite a few disappointed groans and moans and even a few raspberries from the group of eight year olds.
"Boring! When are we going to start learning how to kick butt?!" a little boy with unassuming brown hair couldn't help but ask, getting a few agreements from several of his excitable classmates.
"It is good to see you so eager, however, you must first learn how to utilize all of the tools a shinobi has at their disposal correctly and responsibly. Can anyone tell me what the shinobi's greatest tool is?" a chorus of voices started yelling out answers.
"A super cool sword!"
"Butt-smacking karate moves!"
"Shuriken stars!"
"I like Kunai knives!"
"It is their minds!" the teacher had to raise his voice considerably to be heard above all the yelling, shocking his new students into quietness with his answer, "After all, how can one use all those cool moves and weapons effectively without a sharp mind to utilize them suitably in any possible situation a shinobi may find themselves in? There is one other thing that a shinobi must learn to employ to its greatest capacity in order to succeed in this line of work, however," the man paused dramatically, smiling a little at the children's excited faces, "Who here has heard about chakra before?" several noises of realization were heard, and most of the kids raised their hands, "Good, that is most of you! And who can tell me what it is?" the previously raised hands went down and the room became silent, "Nobody knows? I'm sure someone must have at least some idea…" the teacher insisted.
"… it is energy," an uncertain voice said almost at the back of the room, and everyone's gazes focused on the blond haired boy who had spoken.
"That it is, your classmate…" the teacher looked at the boy expectantly.
"Namikaze Naruto," a look of understanding passed through the man's face.
"Naruto is right. Chakra is a form of life energy, per say, that all individuals produce to some degree. It is produced within the "chakra coils" that surround and connect to each chakra-producing organ and it circulates throughout the body in a network called the "Chakra Pathway System", which is similar to the cardiovascular system." Iruka looked around the room at the children who were looking slightly overwhelmed and then, a bold little boy spoke up for most of them.
"Yeah, but what is it? Where did it come from? How come we can make it?" murmurs of agreement and quiet debates started up around the room.
"Chakra is energy…" Naruto repeated aloud, causing everyone to quiet down and look at him once again. Having everyone staring at him again, Naruto hesitated, but then continued, "It is created when two other forms of energy, or stamina, are molded together. Physical energy comes from the body's cells and is nurtured by training and exercise, while spiritual energy comes from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience."
"So since we all have this chakra, all we have to do is learn the techniques to become shinobi!" the same boy yelled out excitedly. Sasuke snorted.
"No you nitwit," the other boy pouted, but Sasuke just continued without a care, "It means that if you train in these two areas it will improve your chakra potency. So if you practice a technique repeatedly you will build up experience, increasing spiritual energy, letting you create more chakra and making your technique more powerful. The same applies for physical energy, but you would have to train your endurance instead. No matter the technique, you have to train a lot first to execute it right."
"Yes, you are both right," Iruka interrupted in case the children wished to continue arguing. He did, however, looked at the two boys with a pleased smile, they were quite knowledgeable in the theory behind jutsu already. With one being the Hokage's son and the other quite obviously a clan kid (Uchiha, if he went by the boy's physical appearance) it wasn't that unusual.
The two boys had also made an impression on their classmates too. The girls where giggling and gossiping while looking their way with clear admiration, while the boys were impressed and some even watchful of their knowledge.
"It will all be explained more thoroughly starting on page five of the books Mizuki-sensei will be passing out to all of you in a few minutes," Iruka nodded towards the other man and he moved to do as indicated. Then he continued while ignoring the wails of distress coming from most of the eight-year-olds, "I will select one of you randomly to read a paragraph out loud and we will pause for more in-depth explanations or if anybody has any questions. Is that clear?" a chorus of yes's took over the room.
"All right then, you, in the middle, please stand up, give us your name and start reading the first paragraph please…"
And so, Naruto's Academy life officially began.
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I've always had this idea of a Naruto with longer hair, which he keeps in a ponytail, sort of like Inoichi, Ino's father, but spikier. I don't know why I think it would look cool, but I do, so I decided to make it so for my story's Naruto.
Please leave your comments and opinions of my grammar and storyline, I'll really appreciate it.
Also, if anyone is interested in adopting this, then please PM me.