A King without His Crown
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in anyway…. Though it may shock my friends that I don't
2nd Disclaimer: This is my first fan fiction in general, so constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome. Will NOT follow canon, if that's what you wanted just watch the show.
Prologue: A Request for Compassion
"Enter," Hiruzen Sarutobi called to the people on the other side of the oaken doors of the Hokage's office. He had summoned them as soon as he had returned from the funeral ceremony. The entire village had attended and could not be held on top of the Hokage's building as was custom, there had simply been too many people. Hiruzen had not seen such a gathering of grief-stricken people, himself included, since the death of his former mentors and the founders of Konoha. The loss was pervading, and he himself had lost his wife not to mention the two of the brightest minds Konoha had ever seen. And now here he was back in this forsaken office filling the role he had passed on not 15 months ago.
The doors opened and two confused looking adults in full jonin guard entered. "Hokage-sama," the both of them gave the honorific greeting that was customary as well a low bow. Neither of them were strangers to summons to the Hokage's office however the timing of this request was making them wonder what was needed of them in this time of grief, both of them were on extended leave for the birth of their son. "Hello Mikoto, Fugaku," Hiruzen smiled sadly at both of them, "How is young Sasuke?" The Third smiled honored that the Prominent Uchiha family had used his father as a name sake. "Well, Itachi is at home with him," Mikoto replied confusion still clouding her usually perceptive eyes, "That is not why you requested our audience though, is it?" Fugaku sat next to her silently an almost empty look in his eyes, the old Sarutobi sighed inwardly, he knew how close that Fugaku and Minato were. The two of them had been teamates since the academy under Jiraiya and had remained exceptionally close even after they had split.
"No it is not," Hiruzen replied, "I wish for you to take a ward, it will be good for young Sasuke to have a brother so close to his age and I fear that only you two will be able to raise this child properly."
The silence was palpable, of everything they had been expecting THIS was not it. Pulled out of his reverie Fugaku regarded the aged Shinobi in front of him, "Who is the child?" the Clan head inquired. "Uzumaki Naruto," Hiruzen replied solemnly. The two Uchiha's eyes snapped to the Hokage with an almost audible crack. They both recognized the surname being of their good friend, but it was Fugaku that put it together first. Only one person would have named their son after the protagonist of Jiraiya-sensei's first novel. The implications were mind blowing. Both of them had been completely in the dark about this, sure Kushina had been very reclusive and neither of them had seen her in the past few months, but they just expected that she was investigating the recent destruction of her hometown Uzushiogakure. Fugaku was sputtering, "Of course we will take the boy!"
Hiruzen nodded smiling lightly. He was happy that the couple had accepted, raising two young boys was by no means an easy task. "There are some…. Details you should be made aware of however," He muttered darkly. The old ninja sighed at the burden that he knew was already thrust upon the young Naruto, and the he himself was about to lay on the Uchiha couple. Steeling himself for what was about to be discussed, "Minato did not kill the Kyuubi." Mikoto flinched, however what shocked Hiruzen was Fugaku's nod. The Uchiha man accepted this and simply waited for the Hokage to continue. Pausing and regarding the middle-aged Uchiha man, he wondered just how much Fuuinjutsu Jiraiya had taught him or if he had picked up a few S-class secrets from his life-long friend. Looking more at Mikoto he continued, " He sealed the beast, inside his own son to save the village."
Mikoto and Fugaku looked at him incredulously, even with the preconceptions that Fugaku had neither of him expected to be raising Minato and Kushina's child and even less so expecting that child to be the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. That was when they understood why they were chosen. Only the closest friends of the Namikazes would be able to raise their son and look past the fact of the Kyuubi inside the child. Fugaku knew that the monster would affect the child but had more than enough faith in Minato's sealing ability. He knew his family would be safe but recognized that no one else was a acquainted with the Yellow Flash's full skill-set well enough to be wise of that fact aside from himself.
"That being said, this information is STRICTLY classified even from the rest of your family. The boy will be informed of his past and parentage when he is ready." The Third was relieved that the two in front of him accepted the facts calmly but knew that if the dark secret he just divulged to them ever got out that not everyone in the village would be as accepting of the boy. "The story as of now is he is an orphan from Uzushio with unknown parentage. With the treaties and the recent disaster that story will hold up," explained Hiruzen, then with a genuine smile on his face, "Would you like to see the boy?"
~~~~~~Kohoha Hospital, Nursery
The trio of Ninja looked down at the blond and blue eyed newborn. Mikoto picked the boy up gingerly, love already forming for young child in her eyes. "He is going to look exactly like Minato," Fugaku chuckled as taken with the child as his wife. "The paperwork is already filled out, for some reason I had a feeling that my choice of guardians was right," The Third smiled at them, happy that joy could be found on this dark day, "You can take him home today." Mikoto still enthralled with the young boy merely nodded, it was Fugaku that reached out and put a hand on the elderly Hokage's shoulder, "Thank you," he said. Hiruzen simply nodded in reply, it was all that was needed and he understood the Uchiha completely. Fugaku turned and followed his wife out the door with the Hokage behind him. Hiruzen watched and waved at the two as they strode towards the Uchiha compound before turning to return to his office.
~~~~~~~~Hokage's Office
Hiruzen Sarutobi entered the room and if he was surprised to see his old student, the white haired spymaster, He wasn't surprised. "I'm sure you are here wondering why I didn't leave the boy in your care," he said simply. "No," his student replied heftily, "I just wonder if leaving him with the Uchiha's is the best idea." "You know as well as I how close those two families were," the elder of the two stated calmly, "I couldn't just leave him on the street, and no one else would be able to see past the Kyuubi." "And what about me?" Jiraiya inquired somewhat insolently, "I am his god-father after all." "The boy needs a proper family growing up and you know that you can't provide that. Unless you and Tsundae-chan have shacked up with out me knowing," Hiruzen chided, teasing his favorite student, his tone serious again, "I made the best choice in my mind." "We both know that the best choice at the time isn't always the right one," Jiraiya replied before slipping out the window.
/END/
There it is! My first fanfic is finally started! I'm pretty excited and I hope it does well. A few things to explain about the story now is 1. To clear up why Mikoto and Fugaku didn't know about Naruto before hand is simple, he was being heavily targeted by Iwa still and didn't want assassins sent after Kushina to hurt him if people knew she was weakend by pregnancy so he kept it under wraps. 2. I favor LONG chapters so if updates are slow I apologize early for any of my to be fans. 3. This will be a multiple part series. This story will encompass an AU of the original Naruto series. Hopefully I will do a sequel that will be set in the Shippuden time frame and then MAYYYYBE one after to do an Akkipuden re-write. I really hope Masashi Kishimoto does one himself like I have heard rumors of. 4. There will be only the beginning of pairings in this story but they will be there. Keep in mind that at 12 most kids are more oblivious to love and crushes than not. I hate when people write love scenes for a young Naruto. Anyways, review and critique please and I will do my best to get the next installment of this story out J