Tap, tap, tap, the patter of sandaled feet as the run across a wooden floor. After a brief slide the door knob is turned and in walks a blonde haired whisker marked child of about five. Looking around the room with apprehension the young child slowly crept forward into his apartment checking to see if anything is out of place. He saw his lone table and chair sitting in the kitchen along with the piles of instant ramen packets all over the apartment and the window that was open. Wait he didn't leave his window open!

Swoosh, thump.

Pain shot through Naruto's shoulder. Looking at the location of the pain he noticed that it was bleeding and there was a Kunai buried to the hilt in his shoulder. "How does it feel demon brat! Does it hurt?" asked an Anbu masked ninja. "Do you feel the pain that you caused people five years ago?"

"Huh?" Naruto could barely think through the pain.

"I've planned this for almost five years demon. Worked to get into Anbu, went on the most dangerous secret missions to gain the Hokage's trust and finally tonight I've gained the duty to be your lone guardian. Say your prayers demon it's just me and you."

As the masked Anbu slowly walked toward him Naruto looked around frantically left and right try to find a place to run or hide. As the Anbu went to punch him he dropped into a crouch and rolled between his legs. Unfortunately he forgot about the Kunai lodged in his shoulder and as he rolled across his shoulder pain lanced through his shoulder causing him to jerk his body and slide across the floor on his back. Blood was flowing out of his wounded shoulder as he lay there in tears from the pain. Trying to stand back up using his good arm he slid in the pool of blood causing even more pain and discomfort. The masked Anbu chuckled as he watched Naruto flop on the ground helplessly.

"So you're not without tricks are you? Just what I'd expect from a fox."

Throwing another three Kunai, he hit Naruto's other shoulder, and both calves.

As Naruto started to black out from blood loss and pain the Anbu applied a shock tag to his back shocking him awake. Kicking him a few times for good measure he prepared his Katana for the final stroke when a blur shot into the room and knocked him down. Naruto looked up to see a two blurs apparently fighting each other before he passed out from blood loss.

Later.

Naruto lay in the Hokage's office bandaged and asleep on a couch while a very important discussion took place a few meters from his position.

"Damn it sensei if I hadn't shown up when I did that kid wouldn't be here!"

"I know Jiraiya but considering the precautions we've already taken there's nothing that we could have done to prevent what happened. I must honestly say I'm doing my best to keep him safe. We owe that at least to the Fourth for his sacrifice."

The already named Jiraiya didn't sound very pleased. "Don't tell me about my student's sacrifice! Your best isn't good enough, considering that you have an entire Anbu division at your disposal plus the rest of the village; you should have been able to protect him better. Why hasn't he begun ninja training yet? Does the kid even know how to read? If he knew about traps or maybe a simple jutsu he may have been able to defend himself and avoid the worst of his injuries."

"Jiraiya, you know as well as I do that I can't train the boy personally without it looking like favoritism. Not to mention that if our enemies found out I paid too much attention too one lone orphan they would start snooping around. We can't afford for someone like Iwa finding out that Naruto has the nine tails, or worse his heritage."

"Wait sensei, are you telling me that two of the most skilled ninja in the village can't figure out how to train a mere child? Deception is the greatest tool for a ninja. We should be more than able to secretly train this kid with the resources available to us."

Pulling out his pip the Hokage thought about the problem. "You're right, I never thought about it like that. With careful use of sealing, Kage bushin, and some scrolls we could conceivably make Naruto the most powerful ninja of his generation. Jiraiya, I need you to go to his apartment and place a series of seals around it. We'll need summoning, security, and silencing seals to begin with. I want his apartment on a level on par if not better than Anbu headquarters. I'll also need you to acquire the latest information on weapons and techniques found in the Ninja world that we can equip him with. We have to come up with a cover story on that will make his enemies believe that he's subpar until we are ready to show our hand."

Five years later

Naruto leapt across the roof tops and a moderate speed with multiple Anbu on his tail. This was just too easy he thought. First he painted all the buildings downtown orange. Then he lead the chunin that chased him on a chase that ended up with them springing a trap he set for them that involved sticky glue and feathers. Basically they thought they caught him in an alleyway with nowhere to rin until he started doing hand seals. Next thing they knew they were covered in a stickey tar like substance with feathers all over them. Finally the only ninja who stood a chance of catching him were the Anbu. He slowly led them on a seemingly random pattern through the streets and across the roof tops of Konoha. Dashing into one of the training grounds he apparently disappeared.

While the Anbu unit was searching for Naruto throughout the training grounds a small figure was walking through the streets toward a well known ramen stand. The figure was wearing long flowing monk like robes with combat boots and fingerless gloves under the robes he wore his trademark orange jumpsuit but under that he wore custom arm and leg bracers and a protective vest for his chest. Through all of this he had custom seals worked into the material created by Master Jiraiya and the Hokage. The outfit was completed by a hood that he wore over his head that cast a dark shadow over his face so only his lips could be seen. He walked into the ramen stall and sat down next to another ninja who looked like an average Jounin.

"One Miso ramen" the small figure stated when asked for his order.
"How did it go?" the jounin asked

"Better than expected" he said.

"Infiltration; complete, massive covert destruction; complete, evasion and survival; complete, ambush; complete, escape; complete, covert use of a mud clone jutsu; complete. The fact that I just beat half the ninjas in the village awesome, for everything else there's training!" Naruto laughed under his cowl.

The jounin nodded and walked out of the stand and into a near-by alley way where he disappeared in a puff of smoke. In a council meeting elsewhere in the village the Hokage smiled a little bit more receiving the memories of his shadow clone.