Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"Hello" - Regular Speech
'Hello' - Thoughts
'Hello Jutsu' - Jutsus
A young blonde boy exhaled heavily as sweat ran down his face revealing his bright blue eyes. One of his knees rested squarely on the dirt with his left hand clutching a uniquely familiar three-pronged kunai. Today was a particularly important day for him as he would finally be rid of the shinobi academy. The final test to see if he was truly ready to become a genin at the age of seven.
"Stand up, Namikaze-san." the command came opposite from the young boy from a much older man who donned the signature flak jacket indicating he was ranked chunin or greater. The older man's had black hair that was tied back into a spiky ponytail though his most notable feature were the two scars that ran parallel on the right side of his face.
"Don't call me that, it makes me sound old like dad!" the blonde boy coughed between words as he lifted himself up, exhaustion prominent on his face.
"Alright then Naruto—" before the older man could finish his sentence, a kunai flew past the older man, nearly grazing his face only to be greeted by a column on smoke that came from its trail.
Naruto dashed opposite of his own kunai and its smoke, scattering out an accompanying set of shuriken uniquely marked with a seal.
'I am not going to mess this up now.'
"Water Sealing Method: Release" Naruto unveiled a large amount of water from the shuriken that instantaneously flooded the immediate vicinity.
"It worked! It actually worked." shouts of elation came from the boy but were quickly interrupted by the older man's appearance voice that now came from behind Naruto.
"You didn't let me fini—" the older man's works were interrupted once again as Naruto replaced himself with a log and ran through the hand signs to let out his next technique.
"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet" multiple fangs surrounded and attempted to collapsed violently into the older man. Or it would've if there was anyone still there, the aquatic fangs clashed with each other and subsequently dissipated achieving nothing.
"Oi, Let me finish already!" irritation laced the older man's voice who appeared behind Naruto once again and this time the young blond was seemingly immobilized by a connecting shadow between the two of them.
"Shikaku-sensei?" Naruto questioned dejectedly, already coming to his own conclusion about the test's result. 'So, this is what it feels like to be in the Nara's signature jutsu…'
"You're quite troublesome you know, not letting me say that you already passed." Shikaku rubbed the back of his head in exasperation which the younger boy mimicked , the young blond was always too eager to prove himself the Nara just didn't expect it to be this hyperactive.
"I passed? I passed!" Naruto would've jumped if he wasn't bound by the Nara's signature jutsu but his tone conveyed more than enough.
"Yeah, so calm down already and don't jump me kid." Shikaku released the shadow bind and approached to hand over the Konohagakure forehead protector. Too engrossed in the new article of clothing in the blond's own hands, he failed to notice that Shikaku had already left the field.
Staring at his proof of being a shinobi of Konohagakure, he only had one thought that ran out of his mind:
"Where should this go?"
In what appeared to be an office with stacks of paperwork that were sitting on the desk and a view that overlooked the whole village, Shikaku Nara was delivering his report.
"So, how was he Shikaku?" An older replica of Naruto asked though most would recognize him as the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze. His tone was as jovial as the grin he was wearing,
"Well he certainly is your and Kushina's son, there's no mistaking that." there was a tiredness that captured Shikaku's tone, not really looking forward to the prospect of having a ninja that resembled one of the biggest headaches the village has had.
"Oh?" Minato prodded without shame, fishing for details about his eldest capabilities.
"For one thing, he doesn't know when to quit." Shikaku looked away, not really wanting to deliver this bothersome report.
"Quite determined." Minato absentmindedly nodded his head in approval.
"No, I mean Naruto doesn't actually realise that it's already over." the old Nara's eyes turned towards the Hokage this time, hoping that he wouldn't pry out more information about Naruto.
"Utterly tenacious then?" A smile grew on Minato's face, his though moving towards a certain red-headed habanero. Though another though crossed his mind "Don't tell me he barely passed Shikaku I trained him quite hard for this, it should've been an easy pass".
"Hokage-sama, I meant to say that your son kept fighting after he already passed…" an exasperated sigh finally escaped the Nara's lips.
"Huh?" Minato could only look back, utterly dumbfounded by the news.
"Naruto does not know when to stop, it'll be quite troublesome to add him to my team…" the prospect of being Naruto's sensei troubled the Nara, which was best expressed by the single word they used more than any other: troublesome.
"Ehehe… Sorry?" Minato had gathered enough shame to rub the back of his head in embarrassment. The blond father felt eltation at the prospect that his son had finally graduated though the news of him continuing to beat on Shikaku after he had passed, he could have done without. 'And I just wanted to know how good he was without my supervision…'
"Uh, thank you for the report Shikaku. You are dismissed." Minato quickly turns his attention back to the daily paperwork that was the true nemesis of all Kages.
"I feel like I should've just accepted that Jōnin commander post when I first got offered, couldn't be more troublesome than this." Shikaku mused to himself as he walked out of the office.
"I'm home!" Naruto shouted excitedly as he opened the door to what was just described as his home. It was a large building when looked at from outside with its two stories clearly visible from outside.
"Nii-san!" a small child had sprinted into an open hug, which really felt more like a tackle when going that fast. The small boy had spiky red hair, and violet eyes though he was much shorter and younger than the victim of the tackle-hug combination.
"Hello to you too, Menma-chan" Naruto proceeded to affectionately ruffle the little boy's hair. Naruto caught someone else at the periphery of his vision just looking at the two from afar.
"Come here too, Misaki-chan!" the now named Misaki approached at the sound of her name. Misaki had red hair not unlike Menma though hers flowed straight in contrast to the spikes of Menma. Her eyes were a similar deep violet pool that she shared with Menma. The two were twins which was difficult to tell by their demeanour though the three whisker-like birthmarks that adorned either side of Menma and Misaki's face was an indicator of their relation that is as clear as day.
"Welcome home… Onii-sama" Misaki soft spoken tone as she too hugged her older brother as affectionately as Menma had. The twins were oddly enough competing for his affection, each one squeezing the hug tighter in response to the other. Naruto honestly felt no discomfort whenever the twins decided to do this, but he came home with news, good news that needed to be heard.
"So is Kaa-chan home?" Naruto inquired loud enough so that anyone on the floor should've been able to hear him.
"Yes, Naru-chan?" A beautiful woman with long, red hair exited from the kitchen as she was still wearing her apron. Her eyes were as deep violet as the two younger twins which made it easy to tell who got what from within the family. She was known as the Red-Hot Habanero to some though she was better known as Kushina Namikaze nee Uzumaki.
"Look at this" Naruto directed his thumb towards his neck which was somewhat difficult as the twins were still clinging on to him. He had worn the forehead protector on his neck as a scarf instead of the more traditional fashion of using it as its name implied around the forehead.
"Woah! A forehead protector, is Nii-san a ninja now? That is so cool!" Menma beat everyone to the proverbial punch as he voiced his excitement. Misaki in turn fiddled with the new object pretending to be a scarf on Naruto's neck, indicating she acknowledged and congratulated him too.
"Congratulations Naru-chan!" Kushina dropped what she was doing in the kitchen and joined the twins in congratulating her child with an embrace.
"Ack! Kaa-chan, no air, help!" Unfortunately for Naruto, who was now short on breath, he was now surrounded from all sides by three very attached family members. Normally he'd voice out a complaint at this point but instead a timely interruption graced itself into the house.
"Am I interrupting something?" asked voice that accompanied a bright yellow flash, Minato had appeared instantaneously at the home which now housed the completed Namikaze family.
"Tou-chan!" Menma exclaimed as both the twins detached themselves from Naruto simultaneously and found their new target in their father. Kushina also released Naruto from her embrace and went over and gave her husband a swift peck on his left cheek.
"Now that we're all here, it'd be a good time to celebrate Naruto's official graduation don't you think?" Minato took the opportunity to redirect the attention of the two clingy rapscallions away from himself. Naruto and Kushina however had already left the three remaining members on their own with Naruto darting towards his room and Kushina returning to the kitchen.
"Really?" a sigh escaped Minato's lips. He at least admitted that the twin's behaviour wasn't unexpected given how often he was away from the house. 'This is nothing compared to how attached Naruto was at their age though' Minato reminisced on years gone by when Naruto was three years old like the twins were now. Though Minato did silently wish that for all the admiration the two held for their eldest brother, they wouldn't attempt to replicate his runaway success at the shinobi academy.
Menma and Misaki, the three-year olds they were, whilst in the grasp of their father managed to quietly fall asleep. Minato let them down gently as he let them recover from whatever tiredness could grow within three-year olds. His eyes widened at a sudden revelation 'How long were you two waiting?' a frown sat on Minato's face as he thought of his children and how little time he had to spend with them.
The Hokage's train of thought was interrupted by Naruto coming down from his room, tidied up and with a clean change of clothes. Naruto saw the twins asleep and instinctually took a blanket to cover both of them to prevent the cold from reaching them.
"I don't have to tell you I passed right?" a half-hearted joke, as the younger blond already anticipated why the report his father would've gotten from Shikaku.
"Naruto, Shikaku told me some interesting things about your performance during the test." a phrase meant to fish a response if ever there was one teased out of Minato's mouth.
"Uh, I'm sorry I guess?" Naruto nervously backpedalled away from his father.
"About?" Minato wasn't about to be the first one to crack 'I'm the adult here'.
"The test and m-me not listening?" Naruto awkwardly let out a shameful stutter.
"And why did you not listen?" the intense gaze Minato had levelled against Naruto only made the young boy squirm more.
"..." silence met them both.
"Well?" Minato pressed the issue with slightly more pressure.
"I didn't want to fail… I could've failed! I can't fail!" Naruto muttering grew increasing audible, almost rising to a yell. The voice might've been heard all the way to the kitchen, though Kushina did not make it known if she had heard.
"Why not? Is it about Ita—" Minato inquired sagely as he knew the budding rivalry between Itachi and Naruto however both the sentence and train of thought was interrupted-
"No! I mean it may be, kinda…" The initial denial was especially fierce however the following exchange made both parties doubt the words.
"Well I didn't want to lose to Itachi… that's part of it." a defeated sigh escaped Naruto's lips, there was no getting out of this now. Itachi has always been a rival to the young blond even if Itachi was a year older. Naruto's status as the eldest son of the Hokage and Itachi's as the eldest son of the Uchiha clan made them natural foils for the other.
"...I didn't want Menma or Misaki have an older brother that's worse than Itachi…" the open confession left Naruto's eyes staring squarely at the ground. He absolutely hated being compared unfavourably to Itachi and having to play catch up in the academy just because he was a year his junior only compounded the frustration.
'Ah, so that was it' Minato smiled gently at his eldest confession. For a such a young boy, his concern has always been directed towards the twins, Menma and Misaki.
"That admirable Naruto, the twins will be proud of you regardless." Minato's voice was brimming with confidence.
"But—"
"My turn to interrupt you son." the cheeky tone was matched with an equally cheeky grin. Minato held Naruto by his shoulder in reassurance. Minato then pulled his son into his own warm embrace, reminding Naruto that he was going to be fine.
"Your issue with Itachi will have to be resolved… which is why you're going to be assigned on the same team." a veritable bomb was dropped so nonchalantly on the young blonde. Naruto eyes widened and dimmed, almost being consumed by dread.
"O-on a t-t-team w-with I-Ita…" stuttering Naruto was never a good sign.
"The food is ready!" Kushina's voice rang out and reverberated throughout the entire house and somehow managed to wake the twins from their short-lived nap.
"Kaa-chan!" Misaki loud voice was rare sound, seemingly reserved only for food. The girl bolted up and dragged the still groggy Menma across the floor and towards the aroma that had been unleashed from the opened kitchen door. Minato worriedly followed the twins, the sight of Menma's small body being dragged across the floor being both humorous and disconcerting.
"I-Ita… t-team..." Naruto however stood still in shock, not fully registering what his father had dropped on him a while ago. The frozen Naruto contemplated the implications of being on a team with the Uchiha that was known to all, the prodigal child, the gen-
"Naru-chan. Food. Now." his mother's iron grip on his ear reminded him that there was a world outside of his own mind. Naruto's head decided to shelve his current predicament regarding Itachi, hopefully indefinitely, in favour of what is the most delicious food in the world.
AN:
This story is very much an AU
The changes will be detailed more in the coming chapters though the most obvious ones is that Naruto is older than his canon incarnate, four years older. The twins were born at the same time the original Naruto was, coinciding the Kyuubi's attack which is a big hint to one of the cornerstones of the Naruto world.
Oh, and this story will feature romantic relationships however they are already established in the story so no changing them now. Initial warning that it will not be between Naruto and Itachi.