20 Steps.
1) Despite being absurdly small and quiet, the only give away to the fact that he's the youngest in the class is his atrocious handwriting. He doesn't see why a ninja would need good handwriting however, and so it doesn't particularly bother him.
2) He doesn't especially like to fight and so it takes a few months before anyone notices how absurdly good at it he is – once they do he graduates quickly.
3 )He is assigned a team with two other genin much older than him, because of this they assume that he's useless and beat him mercilessly when their sensei's not around.
4) When he finally cracks he stuns them all by pounding his team-mates into the ground, once the bones have healed and the bruises faded the three of them become best friends.
5) One missions he still messes up, his sensei tells him that there's a war on, if he doesn't fight then people will die, he then asks him why he doesn't fight. He says he needs a reason, when his sensei asks what, he says that he just gave him one.
6) After that his team is nominated for the Chuunin exams.
7) He passes first time despite the overwhelming odds; his two older team-mates do not.
8) They never really adjusted to taking orders from someone so much younger than themselves – he blames this as the reason for their deaths.
9) His sensei is inconsolable; he had to grow up even faster.
10) He's a Jounin before he's stopped mourning, but then he wonders if he'll ever stop.
11) His sensei tells him that he's still too young, his academy grades weren't that good, he should quit now – through the pain he fails to see that his sensei is trying to save him.
12) Instead of quitting, he works harder and develops his own jutsu to replace those which failed his team-mates, the first time he sees his sensei since their funeral is when he saves his ass on a mission. His sensei can only gape; he says that he will protect his precious people if he has to walk through fire to do it.
13) When his sensei tells his sensei that, the old man drops his pipe and smiles at something the younger man can't see.
14) He spends all night fretting about meeting his new team – he couldn't keep his own team-mates alive – however, when he meets them he vows that if he has to move heaven and earth he will.
15) His new title is made official when he proved his vow true and became the strongest ninja ever. When he protests that there are people with probably the same amount of physical power as him – the Sannin to name a few, the old man tells him that he hadn't really considered him strongest with regards to his physical power. He smiles not realising that not even the Sannin could take him down anyway.
16) Fire is made from red and gold she tells him, fire and water don't mesh he tells her, she only smiles.
17) She won in the end but then he didn't really fight all that hard and wasn't sure why he even put up a token resistance.
18) He makes his choice long before the day arrives when a huge smile greats him with wonderful news – that his family is growing ever larger.
19) As his world crashes down around him and all is lost, he fights his way out by not only moving heaven and earth but hell as well – all for a small bundle which will continue on when all else fell.
20) Heroes always return - just not in the way you might think.
Un-betad so please forgive any mistakes.
Review please - im feeling needy.
My other stories are not discontinued just temporarily on hold - never fear they will be completed.