Chapter 1: The Battle of Wills

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO- as much as I would like to, I don't. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto, a great author in my opinion. I just wanted to write a story about his characters. And a shout out to my beta-reader, Vaanarash, who helped me make my story better!

A quick warning, this story is quite different from the original. The bloodline will remain the same though.

(Thoughts)

"Speech"

"Tailed beast/Summoning talking"

The Kyuubi's Jailer

A/N: I've thought a bit about pairings, and when I looked a bit more closely at the story, I realized Anko may be an impossible choice to use as a Love interest, the same with Haku. So I'm opening it up to suggestions, Readers, who do you want to see Naruto with? All pairings acceptable. As long as it isn't yaoi. Naruto x FemSasuke or FemGaara will be accepted.

The Kyuubi jumped back, narrowly avoiding Gamabunta's blade. "Pathetic," The beast growled angrily. "You'll have to do better than that to defeat me." The Kyuubi boasted

"The seal is ready, Gamabunta!" Minato, the Fourth Hokage shouted.

"Alright, here we go!" Shouted the giant toad summon. He leapt at the Kyuubi, stabbing his blade through the Kyuubi's front right leg and tried to hold it in place.

"Fools," the Kyuubi laughed. "You actually believe you can take me, the Master of Demons, in a fight?"

"No," Minato smirked. "He can though." The Shingami appeared behind Minato, his hand reaching forward, poised to go through Minato and the small baby in his arms to reach the Kyuubi.

"What!" The Kyuubi gasped in shock. "No! I refuse to be beaten here!" The Kyuubi began struggling to escape but, unfortunately for him, his foot was still pinned and Gamabunta had him in a strong hold, refusing to let go.

In a desperate attempt to free himself, the Kyuubi sliced open Gamabunta's eye, causing him to howl in pain and release his hold on the Kyuubi. . Minato cursed as he began falling, but knew that the sealing was still foolproof, so long as the child's body wasn't damaged. Slamming into the ground, Minato gasped in pain as his ribcage was utterly destroyed, one rib piercing through his lungs. He shakily got back to his feet, allowing the Shingami to reach through his bruised, battered, and now utterly destroyed body.

The Kyuubi, knowing what Minato had planned , realized it was too late to stop the Shingami. Instead, it gathered its chakra around its mind. As the Shingami plunged its hand through Minato, the child, and into the Kyuubi, it pulled out the Kyuubi's soul, its chakra dragged along with it, just as Minato had planned.

However, the Kyuubi's mind also came along for the ride, and as it passed through the body of the infant in Minato's arms, Minato slammed his seal into the baby's stomach, locking away the Kyuubi's chakra and mind. The Shingami on the other hand, took the Kyuubi's soul and body to add to its collection, and before fading, it took Minato's soul as payment for helping to seal the beast.

Gamabunta, still howling in pain, was unaware of this happening. Minato began to struggle towards his summon, using his chakra to keep his injuries numb for the time being. Staggering and coughing up blood, only sheer willpower kept him moving. 'Naruto must have a good life.' He thought, looking down at his only child, whom he had just sealed the Kyuubi inside of. He stumbled, falling to the ground, ten feet and twelve stories from his goal, Gamabunta's pocket on his coat. Minato felt his strength leaving him, yet he kept trying to drag himself to Gamabunta.

With a sudden burst of energy, Minato got up and leaped through the air, landing on Gamabunta's coat hem and snapping his leg as he landed badly. Face as white as a sheet, Minato dragged himself up to the large summon's pocket, Once there, he looked down at his son, a small, bittersweet smile on his face as he whispered, "I'm sorry Naruto, my son, but I know the villagers will never treat you as the hero you are." Laying Naruto in Gamabunta's pocket, with two letters, Minato dispelled Gamabunta, who unknowingly took his summoner's child with him. Minato fell back down, coughing up blood, yet he had a smile on his face. 'Goodbye Naruto.' He thought as his heart stopped. His body stiffened, and then he heaved one last breath, the blood flowing into his lungs. Minato Namikaze died, hoping he had done what was right.

Chapter 2: A Trip to Konoha

As Gamabunta returned to Mt. Myobuko, his injuries healed, leaving only a nasty scar over his eye -which wouldn't heal due to the Kyuubi's poisonous chakra- as the only reminder of the battle which had killed his summoner and had nearly killed him. Out of nowhere, a loud noise pierced Gamabunta's ears. He located the noise, which was coming from his jacket's pocket.

He reached in and gasped in shock, pulling out the infant Minato had used in the sealing, and two letters, one addressed to him, and the other addressed to the young child he had just put down. He quickly skimmed through the letter addressed to him. After finishing said letter, he sighed. 'This isn't good."

___________________________Seven Years Later_____________________________________

Naruto stood in front of the three toad sages, Fukasaku-sama, his wife, Shima, and Jiraiya, who had taken him under his wing at the age of four.

"Ma, Pa, what's up?" Naruto asked the two toads who had trained him in Toad Sage Mode a year previous.

"What about me Gaki, don't I get any greeting?" Jiraiya asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Hi Ero-Sennin." Naruto said happily, glad to see his mentor again.

"Dammit Gaki, what have I told you about calling me that?" Jiraiya was immediately ready to smack Naruto upside his head. 'You take a kid peeping once and it automatically makes you the world's biggest pervert.' Jiraiya thought angrily. 'Though I can't remember him calling me a pervert when he was looking.' Jiraiya smirked.

Naruto shrugged off Jiraiya's words and asked his question again, hoping to get an answer. "So, what's up?" he looked at Fukasaku and Shima, hoping to get an explanation to why he was brought to their private council room.

"Well Naruto, we have something important to tell you. It is about your birth, and why you live here instead of with Jiraiya-boy." said Fukasaku.

"I thought I couldn't go with Ero-Sennin because he was always working on those books. Isn't that why you had me live here with you Pa?" Naruto questioned. Admittedly, he was excited to find out about his true heritage, but he also wanted to take one last crack at Jiraiya.

"No, the reason you really live here Naruto is because of two things." Fukasaku explained, knowing the boy was now interested. "The first reason is your last name, it isn't Uzumaki. It's Namikaze."

Naruto immediately recognized the name, hell, Jiraiya talked about the man so much, Naruto probably could have given a detailed account of the man's life without ever knowing him. "You mean, my father was the Fourth Hokage of Konoha?" Naruto asked in amazement.

Fukasaku nodded. "Yes, now do you wish to hear the second reason Naruto?" Fukasaku asked.

"Please continue, Fukasaku-sensei." Naruto said with respect. 'If Minato Namikaze was my father, I have to do his reputation proud.' Naruto thought.

"Alright, the second reason you were brought here is because when you were an infant, the Kyuubi, a fearsome, nine-tailed demon fox, attacked your village. The only way for the Fourth to defeat the Kyuubi was to seal it inside of you, his only son."

Naruto suddenly stood, shocking everyone. "WHAT!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Jiraiya punched Naruto in the head. "Calm down, Gaki." Jiraiya commanded. " We don't need you screaming like a banshee. Your father chose you so you would gain the Kyuubi's chakra, which is why your chakra levels are so high." Jiraiya said sternly. "We haven't even told you the good news." Jiraiya stated with a wide grin.

"Why wasn't I told about my dad earlier?" Naruto asked, still not unable to understand why he was just finding out who his dad was.

Fukasaku sighed. "Well Naruto, your father had many enemies, which is why we couldn't send you back. It was decided that Jiraiya will take you to your home village of Konoha to train you further, once I decide you are totally ready." Fukasaku said sternly, shooting Jiraiya a look. "You will have to also learn to stay away from the things Jiraiya does while he is there. Jiraiya-boy's actions almost always get him on the wrong side of the law, due to the fact he can't stay away from the bath houses." Fukasaku said, a small look of disgust aimed at Jiraiya, who had a dreamy look on his face. 'Why can't he just pick a nice healthy girl and stick with her?' He thought, unable to understand why the Sannin never married.

Fukasaku looked at his wife and grimaced. 'then again, the single's life isn't so bad.' He contemplated.

Jiraiya snapped out of his daze upon hearing what Fukasaku had said. "It's worth it." Was all he said before he went back into his fantasy, blood coming out of one nostril in a small, inconsistent, drip.

Naruto was a bit shaken over the fact that he was actually the Jailer of the great Kyuubi, who Jiraiya had told him about in their history lessons. Rubbing his stomach, Naruto contemplated why his father would do something like that to him. 'Was a village that important to him?' He thought, his mind torturing itself. 'Did he really value the lives of common villagers to be worth more than his son's?' He thought, allowing his childlike mindset to take over, forming a small amount of resentment for his village. ' I've got to see this place for myself.' He decided, planning to train harder and harder to get Fukasaku-sama to allow him to go back to the village. Naruto hardened his face before getting up and walking out to train. Jiraiya saw the boy's face and was undoubtedly worried.

"Do you think it was wise to tell him all of that Fukasaku-sama?" He asked, not wishing to incur the Toad sage's wrath.

Fukasaku sighed heavily, feeling the weight of his decisions already.

"No Jiraiya, I don't believe it was wise, but it was needed." Fukasaku said, his tone cold and hard, allowing no argument from Jiraiya before hopping away.

Jiraiya walked out of the chambers, not entirely sure why he was so worried. Remembering the look on the Gaki's face, Jiraiya shivered. 'The boy's never acted so cold before.' Jiraiya realized with a start.

'He's never had one mean bone in his body, but I could have sworn I felt killing intent in there.'

Jiraiya went to Naruto's hidden training grounds, intent on watching the boy more closely.

Naruto stood in the small field, breathing heavily as he started to succumb to the chakra exhaustion.

Naruto started to refill his chakra when he felt his rage spike yet again. Forming a Rasengan, he slammed it into the stone nearest him, turning it into dust. Naruto gained a small smirk on his face. 'Soon all those Konoha bastards will see the fury of the fourth Hokage's legacy.' Naruto thought menacingly. Naruto wiped the look off of his face when he sensed Jiraiya approaching him from behind.

Jiraiya walked up to Naruto, watching the boy as he stopped training.

'He must have sensed me.' Jiraiya thought, impressed with the boy's perception skills. 'I'll have to talk with him about his anger though.' Jiraiya grimaced as he remembered the look of sadistic pleasure Naruto had on his face when he had watched him train.

'He's almost as good as me with Sage chakra now to.' Jiraiya assessed Naruto as a possible future threat. 'It's unfortunate I have to think like this now.' Jiraiya thought sadly, remembering the three orphans from Ame he had trained, and how they had met their deaths fighting against Hanzo of the Salamander and Danzo's Ne operatives. Though Danzo had never been linked to it, Jiraiya knew that Hanzo had hired Danzo's forces illegally, seeing as the Ne forces were disbanded by the Hokage years ago.

Jiraiya reached Naruto and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hey Naruto, I was wondering if you want some ramen tonight." Jiraiya smirked as he saw Naruto's eyes light up.

"RAMEN!" Naruto shouted excitedly, remembering the first time he ever had his first taste of the heavenly food.

----FLASHBACK-----

Jiraiya sat in the tavern, women hanging off of him as he bought sake like it was going out of style.

Naruto, five years old at the time, sat across from Jiraiya with a scowl on his face, looking at the old man in anger.

One of the younger women hanging off of Jiraiya noticed Naruto's sour look.

"What's wrong cutie?" She asked, cooing as she looked at the little boy's cute face.

Naruto crossed his arms and deepened his scowl, only succeeding in looking cuter to the woman.

"I'm hungry." He said, mumbling as he shot a glare at Jiraiya, who was still laughing and drinking with

the other women.

The girl noticed the look Naruto shot at Jiraiya. Lightly smacking the drunken pervert, she pouted, looking up at him. "The little guy's hungry." She said, still pouting.

Jiraiya saw the look on her face and couldn't keep the lecherous grin off of his face.

"Alright, hey barkeep!" Jiraiya shouted to the grizzled man serving sake from the bar near the tavern's entrance.

The man looked up, annoyed that he was the only one working, and had to deal with all the drunken idiots. "What is it?" He yelled angrily, hoping to keep the man who was waving at him from the back table from asking anything.

"What do you have here that qualifies as food?" Jiraiya yelled back, not caring about the man's tone.

The man winced as Jiraiya's slurred voice came from across the tavern, echoing as it bounced of the walls. He scowled as he looked at the man. "Ramen is all that's left." He shouted, not wanting to make any fancy meals.

"I'll take one Miso ramen then." Jiraiya yelled, slurring his speech even more as he opened another bottle of sake.

Three minutes later, the Barkeep came over, bowl in hand. "Who's eating?"

Jiraiya just took the bowl from the man's hands and passed it to Naruto.

Naruto grabbed the bowl and a pair of chopsticks and picked up half of the noodles in the bowl. Stuffing them into his mouth, he slurped the noodles out of the bowl, somehow managing to eat the whole meal in under a minute. He lifted the bowl a drank the broth greedily, wanting every last drop of the delicious meal. Slamming the now empty bowl on the table, he looked at Jiraiya with puppy dog eyes. "Can I get more?" He asked pleadingly.

Jiraiya looked at the boy and sighed. "Fine." He relented, calling over the extremely pissed off barkeep again. "More ramen." Jiraiya ordered,going back to the girls he was with.

"Ignorant bastard." The barkeep muttered, going back to the bar to make the ramen.

Fifteen bowls later, Naruto fell asleep in his seat, full to the brim with ramen. The young girl who was next to Jiraiya giggled at the look of contentment on the boy's face. Jiraiya smirked, pulling her closer, seeing as she was the only girl still there. "So, how about me and you spend some quality time together?" He asked flirtatiously, hoping to get some action.

The girl looked at him, a blush on her face. "Well, I should probably be getting home." She said, looking at the clock nervously.

Jiraiya looked at her hungrily. "Come on, you know you want to." He teased, squeezing her rear. She gave out a small shriek of surprise, not expecting the man to touch her like that. A man heard her shriek and started walking in the direction of the shriek.

"Tsuke, is that you?" The large man called out, wondering why his daughter would be in a bar.

Coming up to the table, he saw a sight that enraged him beyond belief, a filthy old lecher feeling up his daughter. He gritted his teeth as he saw red. "TSUKE!" He screamed, walking Naruto from his sleep.

"Huh, what is it?" The boy mumbled, still half asleep. Vaguely, he noticed a man choking Jiraiya and the nice girl who got Jiraiya to buy him food looking on in shock. Thinking fast, Naruto grabbed one of the half full sake bottles on the table and slammed it over the man's head, using an extraordinary amount of force for a five year old. The large man felt the bottle hit his head and shatter, looking around, he identified his assailant as the small boy sitting across the table.

"Leave Ero-Sennin alone, you bully!" Naruto shouted, now tossing a ramen bowl at the man.

Jiraiya took advantage of the distraction and kneed the larger man in the groin, causing him to release his choke hold. Kicking the now castrated man away from him, Jiraiya grabbed Naruto and jumped onto the table before sailing over the crowd of people in the bar and slamming through the doors at a run.

A few of the drunker men looked over at the man on the ground and then back towards the door. Deciding to avenge their fallen friend, they ran after Jiraiya, picking up pitchforks and hoes from the farms nearby. The barkeep looked at the scene in amusement before he realized something. Jiraiya never paid. Shouting in anger, he grabbed the sword behind the bar before heading out after the mob.

Jiraiya made it to the cover of the forest, panting heavily as he rubbed his bruised neck. Ignoring his pain, he summoned Gamatino.

Gamatino looked around in confusion, having been about to go to bed. "What is it?" He asked irritably, noticing Jiraiya's bruised neck, and a mob of people coming towards the old man.

"Reverse summoning now!" Jiraiya rasped out, his throat still sore.

Gamatino looked at the pervert in aggravation before making his decision. " I should let you catch a beating for your attitude, but since Naruto's here, I'll give you a free pass." He said, forming the handsigns and transporting them all back to Mt. Myobuko.

Jiraiya massaged his bruised throat, trying to get some air. Gamatino looked at him angrily, turning away from the man, he hopped home, intent on getting a good nights sleep. "Ramen! Ramen!" Naruto chanted as he danced around Jiraiya in a wide circle. Jiraiya grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and lifted him up to face him.

"Never. Again. Will. I. Take. You. ANYWHERE!" Jiraiya yelled, dropping the boy on his rear. "Now go to bed." Jiraiya said, his voice starting to fade again.

Naruto looked up at the man with tear filled eyes. "But, the ramen." He whimpered, not understanding Jiraiya's problem.

"Bed!" Jiraiya ordered, not wanting to fight with the brat over the subject. "I'll take you out for ramen again if you behave." He relented, knowing it was the only way he would ever have peace. Naruto nodded curtly before running off to bed. Tucking himself in, Naruto went to sleep, a content smile on his face. 'Ramen tastes awesome!' He thought before going to sleep.

--------Flashback end------

Naruto's megawatt grin shined as Jiraiya confirmed it. "Yup, Ramen." Jiraiya smiled as the boy jumped in the air and ran around, screaming his head off in joy. 'Amazing how ramen makes him totally forget his bad mood.' Jiraiya smiled at Naruto, who had finally calmed down.

"You're the best, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto shouted, his voice echoing through the whole area.

"Well I don't know about the best." Jiraiya puffed out his chest before the rest of what Naruto had said clicked in his mind. "Wait, what did you call me?" Jiraiya asked, hoping he had heard wrong, and that wasn't what he had heard resonate throughout the mountains.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Naruto fell to the ground laughing. "You should have seen your face!" Naruto had tears of laughter trailing his face as he rolled on the ground laughing.

'Sometimes I wish he was different.' Jiraiya thought as he stomped away angrily. "Let's go brat!" He shouted over his shoulder over his shoulder.

Naruto kept laughing and rolling around on the ground, not even hearing his sensei yell. Naruto managed to calm himself down after a few minutes and looked up. Noticing his sensei's retreating figure, Naruto jumped up and sped after the older man. "Hey wait up!" He shouted loudly, catching up to Jiraiya in a few seconds. Jiraiya turned to his apprentice, his hands already going through the handsigns for a reverse summoning. Reaching the last handsign, Jiraiya released his pent up chakra, causing the pair to disappear.

Naruto ate the ramen with gusto, hoping to avoid what Jiraiya was going to bring up.

Jiraiya sat on the stool next to Naruto, turning his saucer of sake back and forth in both hands, looking into the clear liquid as if it contained all of life's secrets.

Naruto finished his thirteenth bowl of ramen and was getting up to go when Jiraiya halted him.

"Naruto, wait a minute." Jiraiya started, waving the boy back to his seat. Jiraiya took a deep breath as he began to find the words he was looking for. "Please don't hate your father for what he did." Jiraiya began pleadingly, hoping to appeal to the boy's better nature. "He did what he had to do in order to protect the Leaf."

Naruto looked at his sensei, not understanding what he was talking about. "I don't hate my dad sensei, he did what he had to do. I've just been wondering about something." Naruto said, his face downcast.

Jiraiya looked at his student in concern. "What's wrong then?" He asked, hoping the boy would talk to him. Naruto looked up at his sensei, not totally sure he wanted to hear the answer to the question that was about to ask the old man.

Naruto took a deep breath, preparing himself for the worst. "Whatever happened to my mom?" He asked, bracing himself for the answer.

Jiraiya's face hardened momentarily, before he formed his features into a mask of pity for the boy. "She died during the Kyuubi attack, moments after she gave birth to you." Jiraiya said, sounding as if he was being forced to tell Orochimaru that he was right in leaving the village to master all the world's jutsu.

Naruto's face fell as his last hope -feeble as it was- was dashed. He had really wished he would have been able to at least talk to one of his parents. Jiraiya seeing the look on his young apprentice's face, rapidly searched his mind for a way to cheer the boy up. "Hey Naruto, I missed your party this year didn't I?" He asked, a plan formulating in his mind. Naruto looked even more depressed, remembering how his idol hadn't been able to be there on his birthday.

"Yeah, you said you had to go on a mission to chicks-ville." Naruto said, feeling even worse.

Jiraiya winced as he remembered using that excuse, having been partially drunk at the time.

"Well, me and you are gonna celebrate your birthday together." Jiraiya proclaimed loudly, striking a Might Gai pose, giving Naruto a thumbs up and a huge grin that shined. "First things first." Jiraiya stated seriously, pulling an orange book out of his overly large coat pocket. "Your birthday present."

Naruto took the book from Jiraiya, a small look of disdain on his face. "A book?" He asked skeptically.

"This isn't another one on chakra control, is it?" He asked, having hoped for something better.

Jiraiya scowled as he looked down at the boy. "Hey, most people would give their right arm for a copy of that book with my signature!" He stated angrily.

In Konoha.

Kakashi suddenly sneezed, reflexively bringing his hands to his nose. Dropping his book, Kakashi realized his error one second too late to save his favorite book as it fell into a puddle of mud. Kakashi looked down in horror at his book, then at the genin he was testing. "Which one of you used the earth technique?" He asked, regret, sadness, and blood lust seeping from his very pores as he locked eyes with the boy in the middle of the group. The other two quickly moved to the side, hoping to distance themselves from the man in front of them and his wrath.

Back with Naruto

Naruto was enraptured with the book, enjoying every minute of it as Jiraiya led them somewhere.

Coming to a halt, Jiraiya grabbed the boy and dragged him into a sleazy looking building, his grin never leaving his face. Naruto still had his nose in the book as Jiraiya pushed him into a chair and gave one of the girls in the corner some cash. Going back to Naruto, he yanked the book out of the boy's hands.

"What was that for?" Naruto asked angrily, having been about to finish reading the dramatic love scene between the two main characters, where Sasune betrays Nayujo and leaves him for dead.

Jiraiya just grinned as he pocketed the book. "Trust me, you'll thank me later." He said mischievously as he started to head out of the room.

The girl he had handed money to looked at Naruto and then at Jiraiya, who was about to walk out. "Wait, he's just a kid!" She said, appalled that a man would bring a child in such a place. Jiraiya sighed as he turned back around, pulling out a thick wad of Ryo's.

"There." He said plainly, before turning and walking out. The woman quickly counted the ryo and sighed.

'Well, money is money.' She thought, before beginning her strip tease routine.

Naruto came out of the room twenty minutes later, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging. Jiraiya saw his look and smiled, looking like his face was going to split in half. "So, you enjoy your first lap dance kid?" He asked teasingly. Naruto nodded slowly, his jaw still hanging loose.

'What on earth was that?' Naruto thought, still not understanding what he had just experienced.

Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh at the boy's reaction. "Alright, then we're off to get you your first cup of saki!" Jiraiya shouted excitedly, dragging Naruto out of the strip club and running down the street to the nearest bar.

Jiraiya scowled a bit, glad that he had enough cash to cover the expenses it cost to get the boy a lap dance and some saki. Finishing his last saucer of saki, he grabbed the half conscious boy and slung him over his shoulder. Quickly forming the handsigns, Jiraiya summoned Gamacrangi, hitching a quick ride back to Mt. Myobuko.

Jiraiya opened the door to the small hovel Naruto lived in with the elder toad sages and saw Shima, sitting on a cushion at the small table, looking at him. Her eyes widened when she saw that Naruto was plastered. Then, all hell broke loose.