I figured it was about time I put up a story. Though I initially planned to do a Persona or Tales of The Abyss story first, I thought I'd give the ol' Naruto horse a shot. And for fair game, I'm going to give a warning about everything you can expect for this story beforehand so no one tries to kill me later for it.
There will be minor bashing. (Bashing and redemption. I love that concept) And it may be for EVERY character at some point. So just take it that the characters won't be perfect, especially Sakura and Ino.
I'm not sure if this will be a harem story or not, but there is a high chance of it. However, there will most certainly be ShikaTema and NejiTen.
There will be scenes of graphic everything. (Sexual, violence, language, etc.)
My main one, this story is not canonly correct. That's to say, I can and WILL change parts of the Naruto history to fit my own story. It's fanfiction, I have the right to do that you know. So I really don't want to hear "No you idiot, that didn't happen in the show! They were already dead," or "How can so and so happen if blah blah whatever." Seriously...don't do it.
Other than that, I guess I need to do this too. I don't own Naruto or any other appearing, copy-written characters who may cameo in this story. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and no profit is being made. There, the five billionth disclaimer to hit this site. If they don't know we aren't making money off of this by now, society has got some real problems...
Prologue: Diverging From History
As many misconceptions that surrounded Hiruzen Sarutobi, there was one that would forever be shattered from that day forth. Many people believed, and some still do, that the Council ran the village in Sarutobi's aging bout of weakness. To some extent, this was true. With the stress of becoming Hokage again after the untimely death of the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, Sarutobi admittedly needed some assistance. At the time, he thought that his choice would be a good idea, handing over a small percentage of his power so that the Council and his best friends, Homura and Koharu could help effectively run Konoha and keep it safe at the same time.
He was dead wrong.
Not even several months into his second term as Hokage did the Council, mainly the civilian side, start trying to change things to better fit their needs. Most of these things had to do with a certain blonde haired child who is the main focus of this tale, but those that didn't were meant to slowly siphon more power away from the aging man. They started by taking away his dealings in the markets, stating that since there were mainly civilian run shops, the civilian side of the council could deal with it accordingly. Sarutobi saw no problem with that. It escalated when the civilian council then added weapon, scroll, and ninja supplement shops to the list, giving them complete control over the secondary force of income to the village.
This was overlooked by the fact that even though some of these shops WERE owned by shinobi, the general income went more towards the civilians. Thus, the entire shopping district of Konoha left Sarutobi's hands.
Only several months later did the council kick back up again. Koharu and Homura, alongside the old War Hawk Danzou, began to coerce the shinobi side of the council into giving them more control over Konoha's global trade network. The trade networks from Suna, Taki, and even Kumogakure with their almost non-existent relationship to Konoha would be regulated by those three alone. At this point, Sarutobi was barely getting used to the work that he was undergoing, especially with all the threats they were getting once the rest of the hidden villages learned of their beloved Fouth's death. He felt it a godsend for the three to offer such a thing and they were given more power without a second thought.
Now over the next few years, things had started to calm down. No other villages carried through on their attacks, except for an attempt from Kumogakure to kidnap the heir to one of the villages strongest clans, being the Hyuga. It was thwarted and the problems that followed were dealt with by Hiashi Hyuga, the current clan head. The only other problem that Sarutobi had to deal with was that of the way the villagers were treating a 6 year old Naruto Uzumaki. He wished he could do more for the boy than just give him a shoulder to cry on every now and then but as Hokage of an entire village, their just wasn't time. The boy was staying in an orphanage, and Sarutobi knew they couldn't have been doing the child right for the fact that Naruto was constantly being sent to the hospital for 'accidents' that always tended to be healed by the time he got there. He would have done something about that, but the civilians had always owned the orphanage of the village and Naruto was still a civilian himself. While he loved the boy like a grandson, the council always tied his hands, screaming bloody murder if he showed Naruto any type of compassion over the rest of the children his age.
It was around this time that Orochimaru deserted the village. That heaped on a brand new pile of problems for the Third Hokage and the stress returned full force. This gave an opening that the council on both sides needed to make grabs for more power.
The biggest argument that Sarutobi tried his hardest to fight was that of Naruto entering the academy in two years time. The desertion of Orochimaru made people scared, and they began to wonder if Naruto would follow in the Snake Sannin's footsteps. There was no real just cause for such accusations, primarily being stated that Naruto had the Kyubi inside him, so it could influence him to do the same. The civilian wanted him either killed, exiled, or imprisoned for life. The elders, namely Danzou, wanted the boy to be groomed into the perfect tool, loyal to Konoha through and through with no emotions to hinder his judgment.
For the first time, Sarutobi put his foot down.
There was no discussion. The Hokage completely refused to let the council have their way with Naruto and made it clear with the massive waves of killing intent he flooded the room with. The council was reminded to why the man was Hokage in the first place and how he had acquired the title 'God of Shinobi'. The council learned that day that Naruto was out of reach to them legally. But that was when things only got worse for the boy. A few weeks later he was kicked out of his orphanage, the head saying that he was too dangerous and unstable to be around the other children. With the orphanage in civilian hands, Sarutobi didn't, not couldn't, force them to take him back in. Instead, he spent an entire day looking for someplace, anyplace, to house the boy. It ended with Naruto being placed in a rundown apartment building near the edge of town. The landlord was one of very few people who didn't mess with Naruto, though they didn't care about him. So for the time being, the Hokage thought the boy would be safe.
Another council meeting brought forth a new attempt, one that if the Hokage had been in the right mind, would have never allowed to happen. The civilian council somehow persuaded the Hokage and the Shinobi council to hand over the rights to the Shinobi Academy. Using the argument that most of the children attending the academy were from the civilian side of town, they wanted say in what was being taught and how it was being done. The Shinobi protested this greatly, saying that the academy was meant to train ninja, and could only be run by ninja. But with Homura and Koharu backing up the civilian council, saying that while the children were IN the academy, they were still civilian, Sarutobi had no choice but to grant the civilian council their greatest source of power, especially against Naruto himself.
Two years passed with the shift in power being quite evident to everyone around. Sarutobi felt that he was no more than a military general than the leader of the entire force itself. If it wasn't for his hidden intelligence network being done by Jiraiya, he would have sworn that he had absolutely no power as Hokage.
These thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind as he gave his speech to the incoming academy students and was happy to see that Naruto was amongst them. He had given the boy a choice of becoming a shinobi or remaining a civilian. The reason being that Homura, Koharu, and Danzou would once again start trying to turn the boy into a weapon once he became a ninja, regardless of how many times Sarutobi would shoot them down. He just didn't want to go through the headache, and didn't want Naruto to go through it either. The boy vehemently shook his head, shouting that he wanted to be Hokage one day, so he had to become a ninja first. This made the Third sad, knowing the true horrors of being Hokage. But he wouldn't spoil the child's outlook, especially if it was one of the only happy dreams in his life.
Sarutobi stayed and overlooked the classes, mainly the one being taught by an Iruka Umino and Mizuki Touji. During one of the breaks, he watched Naruto's interactions with the other students. At first the boy sat alone, not talking to anyone at all. But soon enough, several people went over to the boy. Sarutobi recognized each one by their resemblance to their parents.
One was a Nara who seemed just as lazy as his father as he merely flopped down onto his back next to Naruto. He said something that made Naruto look nervous before giving the blonde a smile that was returned sheepishly. The next was an Akimichi if the slightly bigger figure said anything. He sat down next to the Nara and began to chat with Naruto happily. The third was an Inuzuka and he brashly sat to Naruto's side and put an arm around his shoulder. Naruto looked uncomfortable for a moment before it turned into laughter.
"Naruto!"
A voice called from a bit across the yard. Sarutobi looked over to see Sasuke Uchiha running over to the group. Naruto's eyes lit up and he stood as Sasuke came over. The two rose their hands and hooked their pinky's together.
"Sasuke!"
The blonde shouted back. The Third had no clue how the two knew each other, but apparently they knew each other very well. He hadn't seen Naruto greet anyone like that, and Sasuke hadn't been out enough to meet many people. He had known that the two's mothers were friends, but Naruto's parents were killed the day he was born. Sasuke was born several months later, so they shouldn't have met each other. He would've chalked it up to Naruto and Sasuke meeting while Sasuke was out with his parents shopping, or with his big brother Itachi, but they seemed far closer than having met just a few times.
The truth was that Itachi himself had brought Naruto into the Uchiha compound on many occasions when he found out the way the villagers were treating Naruto. While there, Naruto became close to both Itachi and Sasuke, and even some of the other Uchiha. Sasuke's mother was like a mother to Naruto. They became brothers fast and Naruto filled that hole in Sasuke's heart that Itachi left when on missions, and that Sasuke's father had created by never being as supportive as he was with Itachi.
Looking to the gazes of others, Sarutobi saw the Hyuga heiress that had almost gotten kidnapped two years prior. Her gaze was lingering on the group with a blush on her face. Her gaze was directed solely at Naruto. With a content smile, Sarutobi left the academy, hoping that today would be a repeating factor in Naruto's life. The boy needed as much happiness as he could get.
Five months later was the Uchiha Massacre.
From that point on, Sarutobi's life was a blur. The paper work, the threats of war, assassinations, clan problems, council problems and the way his hands were tied in most cases kept Sarutobi from knowing how Naruto and Sasuke's lives had drifted apart, and from knowing just how much the civilians had grown to despise the former. Sarutobi hadn't seen much of Naruto in two years, outside of the few pranks that he pulled and would get in trouble with.
Another two years later, six months before Naruto's class was scheduled to take their final examinations, Sarutobi's life began to slow down once again. For the first time in four years, he decided to go to the blonde's apartment to check up on him. He would take him out for ramen and let him eat as much as he wanted to make up for it. Never would the old man have thought he'd find what he did. Upon knocking on the door to the apartment, he found it open already. With a cautious step, Sarutobi slowly entered the apartment
The apartment was ransacked. Furniture was turned over and some shredded. Clothes were tattered and cast all over the floor. Food was smeared across the walls. In general, the apartment looked as if an explosive tag had detonated right in the middle of the room.
"Naruto? Naruto where are you?"
Sarutobi's voice echoed off of each wall, showing just how quiet the ruined place was. A sniffle was heard in the direction of Naruto's bedroom. Shunshining into the room in case an intruder was still there, Sarutobi looked around to see the room in the same state as the rest of the apartment. He found Naruto sitting in his closet with nothing but his black shorts on, crying and shaking. The old Hokage was instantly by his side.
"Naruto, what happened? Are you alright? Who did this to you?"
Naruto looked up at the old man with red slitted eyes. For a moment, Sarutobi pondered if the Naruto in front of him was the real one or not. But after looking deeper into his eyes, he knew he could be no one else. His chakra wasn't tainted with that of the Kyubi's so why were his eyes red?
"I...I did this, jiji." Naruto spoke silently. "I destroyed everything...because I'm a monster, just like the villagers say..."
"Naruto, what are you talking about?"
"I know...I know that the Kyubi is inside of me. He wants to get out...to kill for me. To kill everyone that hurts me..." Naruto began to shiver again. "The nightmares won't stop...they won't stop jiji...make them stop!"
The Hokage pulled Naruto close, taking one piece of info at a time. His main concern was how Naruto found out about the Kyubi. None of the ANBU had reported a civilian or comrade breaking the law, and he was sure Naruto wouldn't have been able to find out on his own. Then the second piece of info hit him. Naruto had been in contact with the fox. How far the fox had corrupted Naruto, or even how far Naruto had fallen on his own was now in question. From the looks of things, Naruto didn't take the information too well, as he thought would happen if the secret was revealed to him at an early age. However, he also took it better than his worse case scenario, which would've been to completely turn his back on the village and go on a rampage. Not to say that it wasn't an option at this point, but as for then, it didn't seem like it would happen.
Regardless of how much Sarutobi had hoped the moment would never, EVER, come, he had already made a backup plan for such an event, albeit, with a much happier ending than ending the life of the child he thought the world of.
The Hokage took Naruto to his own residence and let him stay the night. The next day, he was kept from the academy so that Inoichi could perform a mind walk and see just how bad Naruto's psyche was holding up. Needless to say, the way Naruto learned of the Kyubi coupled with the nightmares he had been having for the past few weeks proved too much for his mind. He was on the verge of going legally insane. It was bad enough Sasuke's personality was spiraling in that direction, he most definitely did not need Naruto going insane too. Because unlike Sasuke, Naruto wouldn't have a village to back him up or help him through it.
After getting the confirmation that Naruto didn't blame him or the village, Sarutobi put his plan in motion, all behind the back of the council and the village itself. No more than three days later did Jiraiya arrive back in the village under the cover of the night. After a brief moment of catching up, Jiraiya informed Sarutobi that he had been in Takigakure and needed to go back there immediately after the meeting. The village had mutinied against their leader, slaying the man who had been trying to protect that villages jinchuriki, a young girl the same age as Naruto named Fuu. He had left the girl in the care of several of his toad summons but was afraid to be away from them for too long.
When asked why he hadn't just brought the girl along, his answer was that the entire area within 150 mile radius had a bounty on the girl. She couldn't be moved unless Konoha planned on starting a war with that entire area. Jiraiya, with all of his faults, was not a sannin for no reason. He was sure he could handle himself against countless enemies, but to do so while protecting the young girl from other people as well as herself would be short of suicide.
Due to the situation, the Third assigned two ANBU to accompany Jiraiya just in case, one from the Shadow-Ops division, code named Yamato, and the other who was no longer in the village. He informed Jiraiya that the second ANBU would meet him at the beta outpost, several miles east of Konoha. After the long business discussion, Sarutobi presented the true reason he had called Jiraiya back to the village.
"Three months? Are you sure that's not too much time?" Jiraiya asked with a pensive expression. Yamato stood in the shadows, observing silently. The Hokage sighed and blew smoke from his pipe.
"I understand your problems Jiraiya, but I can think of no one who could better protect the boy. You know he is Minato's son, and his legendary determination can just as well be put into destroying this village than protecting it. As farfetched as it seemed then, thinking that Naruto could follow in the footsteps of Orochimaru is a very intimidating yet plausible idea."
"I'd never let Minato's memory be tarnished like that, you know that!"
"Exactly! So with that in mind, think of another choice that we may have."
Jiraiya paused to actually give it some thought, but after a while knew that he would find nothing. That was alright though. Having two out of three of the strongest jinchuriki training under him would be just the focus he needed to start forgetting about her again...
"You're thinking of Tsunade?" The Third's wise voice spoke with a bit of mirth. Jiraiya smiled and shook his head.
"When am I ever thinking of anything else?"
The Hokage sweat dropped as his gaze shifted to his desk drawer, where a familiar orange book was nestled, but decided against speaking out on it. Instead he dismissed Jiraiya to his thoughts, as well as to get Naruto. He felt sorry for Naruto. He was leaving his home, if you could call it that, without being able to say goodbye to those who cared about him, even if it was only for 3 months.
Once Jiraiya, Yamato, and Naruto were safely on their way to the Beta Outpost, Sarutobi returned to his office. He looked towards Hokage mountain, seeing it illuminated by small torches. The faces of the First and Second Hokage sent a chill down his spine.
"I have not been living up to your expectations Hashirama-sensei, Senju-sensei. I will rectify this mistake, I promise."
That night, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat awake for hours on end. He was writing a brand new law. A law that would not be passed until the perfect time. But in light of the situation that forced his hand, it would be much sooner than anyone could anticipate. His true act as Hokage, the Hokage who runs an entire village in respect, love, and discipline. This one act of true leadership would be the changing tide of the Leaf Village's future. And there wouldn't be a damn thing the council could do about it.
She was known for being kind. She was known for being caring. To her few friends, these traits were cute, though a bit annoying. To her family, these traits were signs of weakness, of failure, and of mediocrity in a perfection driven society.
Hinata Hyuga was what the Hyuga clan elders called the 'Bad Sheep' of the family. Where the main branch was uppity, Hinata was humble. Where they were cruel, she was nurturing. Where they perfected the art of killing, she perfected the art of healing. In general, she was the complete opposite of what they wanted her to be. They called her imperfect.
"She is your daughter, Hiashi-sama, yet you just can't seem to realize your own rule over her!" One of the elders shouted in the main chamber. Hiashi Hyuga, the clan head, sat in front of the three Hyuga elders. It was the third time that week that they had been in this position, and Hiashi always wondered why he needed the loud wind bags in the first place. If it weren't for tradition, he would have had all three of them admitted into Konoha's home for the elderly.
"I know full well my rule over not just my daughter, but this clan as well. Hinata may be softer than most Hyuga, but she is not so far gone as to become a weak leader."
"She is already weak willed! How much farther can she fall?" Another elder called.
Hiashi glared at the man. It was what Hiashi had told Hinata no more than an hour ago. He had called her weak willed, though he regretted it right away. But being who he was, he didn't let it show. As much as he hated to admit it, he was almost just like this old fool.
"She is still dealing with the death of her mother and the kidnap attempt-"
"Both of those were years ago, Hiashi. How much longer does she need to wallow in self pity?"
The statement would hit Hiashi like a ton of bricks. Just what did they expect? For the girl to up and get over her mothers death just like that? To not be a bit traumatized by being kidnapped and almost defiled? That was it. The old bastards had gone senile.
The entire time, Hiashi avoided saying what was on his mind as well. Hinata was his daughter, and even though he didn't show it as much as he used to, he loved her with all his heart. So to hear them talking about her like that was really pissing him off. It was getting harder to control his anger the more and more they began to speak about her flaws.
"That damnable stutter of hers as well! It worsens whenever she is around that thing."
Hiashi's eyes snapped open at the elders words. "What did you just say?"
"...You're daughter. She has obviously become smitten with that Uzumaki boy."
Hiashi's heart skipped a beat. He knew all about Naruto, and about his heritage. Being one of the few people who didn't shun the boy, he was actually interested in what his daughters relationship was with him.
"Why have I not been informed of this?" Hiashi spoke, pretending as if the knowledge upset him. It was easy for a Hyuga to pretend to be angry.
"Well...we were afraid of what you might do to Hinata. Any more emotional stress could hinder her growth." The last elder spoke, for the first time since the meeting had begun. It surprised Hiashi. It seemed as if only two of the elders were completely against Hinata's appointment as clan head, though he would look into the sudden change later.
"Rubbish! It is this 'crush' that she has for the Uzumaki that is making her so weak! She has no time to run after filth like that while we are trying to craft the perfect clan head!'
Very bad idea.
The killing intent that filled the room would have made any ordinary civilian go into cardiac arrest. Three heads turned with sharp intakes of air to see the visage of a truly angry Hiashi Hyuga. The clan head was on his feet, his fiery gaze set on the elder who had just spoken.
"My daughter is not a tool to be 'crafted'! She is far from weak if her progression these past few days is anything to go by, and she WILL be the perfect clan head, WITHOUT you interfering. I will not sit by and allow you to talk about my daughter as if she were some puppet to act as figure head for this clan. If I so much as hear you utter another insult about her, I will have you branded with the caged bird seal so fast you wouldn't know you were ever part of the main branch!"
After the outburst, the two elders who were against Hinata open and closed their mouths like fish out of water. The third merely smiled slightly, having inadvertently succeeded in doing what he had planned since the death of Hiashi's wife, which was getting the man to come clean about his feelings for Hinata. From that day on, he knew they would be closer. Why? Because he had told Hinata to wait right outside the door for the conversation and had purposefully left the silence seals undone. Returning to the stone faced Hyuga 'bastard' that he had made everyone believe he was, he stood abruptly.
"Very well then. If that is all, please excuse us Hiashi-sama." He bowed rudely before turning and heading towards the door. Being the first out, he smiled at Hinata and walked with her to her room before the others could see them.
"Thank you, Shuichi-sama." Hinata whispered with tears in her eyes.
"Anything for you, tenshi. Now go to sleep and be prepared for the work out of your life tomorrow." He said before leaving the room.
Iruka Umino had been teaching at the Academy for 4 years now. It was a position he had wanted since he had become a genin. His Jonin sensei, being the fourth Hokage for all of one week, had inspired him. He loved children, and after training under Ibiki for the remainder of his genin years, he knew that no other position would suit him better than academy teacher.
Many people said this was a waste of his true skills. The very few people who knew Iruka knew his real strength, yet would never diverge it. And that's just how he liked it. Nice and simple.
But the news he had received from the Hokage several days ago made him want to say screw the nice and simple life and take a kunai to the entire civilian council, regardless of the consequences.
It had first come as a shock, but was instantly replaced by a rage that the Third had not seen in any one person since the second Shinobi war. Iruka was absolutely livid upon hearing that the council had the audacity to call for Naruto's death. It took the Third himself as well as several ANBU to hold the man down from marching through Konoha and dispatching of each and every council member.
So now Iruka was on his way to his class for the fourth day since Naruto had been away from the village. For the first two days, the class just believed the boy to be absent. During the third day, there were a few rumors going around the academy about the boy being killed or kidnapped, happily shared by some of the other teachers. Finally on this fourth day, Naruto had been temporarily removed from the roster all together. With a heavy sigh, he prepared himself for the questions he knew he would receive from the few that had been close to Naruto.
"Wait, sensei! You didn't call Naruto's name!" Hinata Hyuga spoke up loudly from the back of the classroom, surprising him once he had finished taking attendance for the day. The usually quiet girl didn't blush or hide her face once the class had turned their attention to her. Her eyes remained locked into Iruka's, almost as if pleading for an answer of where the boy was. She knew there was something going on.
"Naruto...won't be rejoining us for some time." Was all Iruka was willing to say.
"What happened to him? Where is he?" Sasuke called with his normal monotone. Though he and Naruto had drifted apart after the massacre of his family, Sasuke had always thanked Kami Naruto wasn't there. He had one family member left in Naruto. But he distanced himself from him as well, not knowing if Itachi was still watching and waiting to fix his mistake of leaving one piece of happiness in his life. He was worried about Naruto, and hearing that he wasn't coming back to the academy instantly made him think Itachi had done something.
"Don't worry, he's fine. Naruto is going through some tough times right now and just needs to be alone."
"Cha, yeah right! What type of problems could that baka be having that would make him miss school? I bet he just got expelled for being an idiot!" Sakura yelled out.
"Yeah! It's not like his entire family was killed or something since he doesn't have any! Sasuke-kun is the one that needed time!" Ino added right after. The waves of killing intent that rose from almost every other shinobi in the room, especially Hinata, Sasuke and Shikamaru slammed into both young kunoichi with a force begetting a ballistic missile. Both girls shrunk in their seats next to Sasuke and said nothing for the remainder of the day.
"Sensei, what has happened to Naruto?" Shino Aburame asked, his emotions unreadable behind his shades and trench coat.
"I'm sorry Shino, but I can't diverge that information. Just trust me, you all will see Naruto again." His eyes went into everyone of Naruto's friends, letting them know that everything would be alright.
From that day on, Iruka saw the changes. Almost every day afterward, he saw the improvements in each of the children, even those who weren't friends with Naruto. It was as if his absence made the children want to be better. Overhearing a conversation between Hinata and Ino, he realized that his entire class just wanted to be stronger for his return. Iruka didn't know why Naruto meant that much to them, but the fact that he did made him proud. They wanted to be stronger for Naruto...
The moment Naruto's foot set outside the village hidden in leaf, he had no clue what to think. He had no time to say goodbye to any of his friends, not that it would matter if they knew he was a demon anyway. He couldn't pack any ramen or any of his normal clothes for that matter and he was being sent away with two people he had never met in his life. When he asked the Third Hokage why, he was only told that it was in his best interest.
He didn't care though. As long as the village was being saved from him being there, he had achieved his goal of protecting people. That's all he wanted. He honestly believed that was the reason Sarutobi was sending him away. Because he was a threat to Konoha. Jiraiya had not introduced himself yet, and the man with the weird eyes had not spoken a word since they had met in the Hokage's office. He didn't even know their names. They traveled in silence, Naruto not looking at either one of them.
Jiraiya looked down at the young boy with sad eyes. He knew this must have been hard on him, and he felt bad for not talking with him right now. But he would allow Naruto to use this time to reflect on his own emotions. He knew Yamato was doing the same. They hadn't introduced themselves to the boy because they wanted him to become familiar with them as strangers before trying to put themselves into his life. Part of an unorthodox lesson they wanted to show the boy.
Once they reached the Beta Outpost, a little before sundown, Yamato surprised Naruto by performing a small wood technique and creating a sturdy tent suitable for all three of the shinobi.
"How did you do that?" Naruto asked, speaking for the first time since they had been together.
"What do you mean, Naruto?" Yamato asked, wondering if the boy new about wood techniques.
"You just used a mokuton jutsu! Only the First Hokage, Hashirama-sama knew how to do that!" Naruto said in awe and fear. His fear spurred from wondering who was this person that could use moves specific to the first hokage while his awe was for the same reason.
"Good observation, Naruto. How do you know the first is the only person able to use mokuton?" Jiraiya asked. He knew that it was a well known fact taught in the academy, but if his sources were correct, then Naruto was hospitalized during each and everyone of the tellings of the hokage accounts, except for the fourth, just so he could hear how 'he' being the 'kyubi' was defeated.
"Aunt Mikoto taught me and Sasuke about the Hokages..." Naruto said sadly.
"Mikoto? Mikoto Uchiha?" Yamato asked curiously. 'That's Sasuke Uchiha's mother right?' He wondered.
"Oh really! What else did she teach you?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk. It wasn't one of his lecherous ones. He was a bit happy that Naruto was opening up to them. He noted that he seemed to have an interest in not learning, but simply knowing about jutsu, just like his father.
However, before Naruto could answer, a powerful presence washed over them. Jiraiya didn't move, knowing exactly who it was, while Yamato stiffened a bit and Naruto visibly shook on spot.
"You're early." Jiraiya called. To his voice, a single shinobi wearing a raven's mask and full black shroud dropped down from the trees in front of them. "Looks like we won't need camp after all. Let's get moving."
Naruto looked at the masked man as he looked right back at Naruto. Yamato said nothing, having figured out who the person was right away. Naruto didn't know why, but for some reason this person felt familiar and distant at the same time. Something about him scared Naruto while another part of him felt as safe as possible around him. "Who-"
"We are being left behind." The person spoke in a smooth, calm monotone, indicating both Jiraiya and Yamato walking further ahead. Naruto paused for a moment, wondering where he had heard that voice from before. After a moment he simply put it off and ran to catch up with the others.
The masked man looked at the blonde jinchuriki with a sigh. 'He didn't mention he would be part of this. Sarutobi-sama, what are you planning?' Slowly moving to follow after the others, the man chuckled to himself. "This is going to be a long three months."