Summary: Naruto of the Ishigan, he has poison chakra and an eye that turns people to stone. He has the knowledge of his family and a will to protect the village. How will he do in the face of war? How will he find love? Naruto and Hana, Naruto with a bloodline, smart Naruto. This is an alternate universe story that will see how Naruto develops given some very careful changes, some more important than others, but as they say, the wings of a butterfly can start a hurricane.
AN: Hello, while this is my first story on this account I have written fanfiction before. I never finished those stories and so I thought I would start fresh. I never put this much effort in before, my longest story previously was 36K words with 9 chapters, this time I am trying to make each chapter longer and more detailed. I hope you enjoy this story, I really wanted to write this story as it is one I have wanted to read for some time. Thanks and I hope you enjoy. If you have any criticism or comment feel free to message me or leave a review.
Chapter 1
"Naruto, there is something I have to tell you," The Hokage had been mulling over these words and their delivery for some time. He had carefully considered when Naruto should be told the truth, the whole truth.
"What is it Jii-sama?" the boy asked quietly and nervously. He was always afraid of authority, and there was no greater authority. Sensing the boy's concern Sarutobi smirked slightly at the boy's visible concern.
"Well Naruto, we have a lot to discuss. First, though, I want you to know that no matter what I will always take care of you and that those who love you always will." At this Naruto's face contorted into a puzzled look, he did not know where the Hokage was going. "Nine years ago you were born, on the same night the Kyubbi escaped and terrorized the village."
"Jii-sama I know all of that already, everyone does." The still young boy interrupted the old man.
"I know Naruto I was getting to the important part," the man sighed slightly. The important part is the hardest part. "The Kyubbi was not killed. The fourth Hokage sealed the fox inside a vessel, his son," the Hokage paused for a moment. "Naruto you are the son of the fourth Hokage, you hold the Kyuubi."
"The fourth was my father?" the boy asked with a whisper, the Hokage was certain the boy would have latched on to the latter.
"Yes, he was Naruto." As the words left the mouth of the Hokage Naruto began crying. The Hokage moved from his desk chair to behind the chair Naruto sat in, he put his hands on Naruto's shoulders.
"Am I a demon," the question was a whimper. Naruto sounded as if he was begging the Hokage to say no.
"Naruto, you are a hero. The demon is sealed inside you, it is not you." The Hokage said this with certainty. "Naruto do you think you can compose yourself for a moment, I know this is a lot, I have more to say." The boy sniffled and nodded his head, he was still visibly shaken. "Naruto, because of the demon you have more chakra. Because of your family you have another power, a bloodline," at this Naruto perked up if only slightly.
"Like the white-eyed people?" Naruto asked. He had not attended class the day that bloodlines were discussed and he couldn't quite remember the name of their bloodline. He had heard the name one time or another, but the only Hyuga he had interacted with had been girl from his class was quiet but he knew her family was very important.
"Yes, the 'white-eyed people' are the Hyuga clan they posses an ability called the Byakugan. It allows them to see in 360 degrees as well as the internal chakra system." The Hokage stopped for a second before continuing, "Your bloodline is slightly more complicated as it deals both with your chakra and your eyes."
"Is the bloodline from my father? I didn't know that the Yondaime had a bloodline," Naruto interrupted again. By now the Hokage would have been annoyed, but understandably the boy was just curious.
"No the bloodline is from your mother, Kushina Uzumaki. She was very powerful as a shinobi, she came from a village called Whirlpool and was the last holder of the Kyubbi. As for your bloodline...the first part of your bloodline involves chakra nature, do you know what that is?"
"No, isn't chakra just chakra?"
"Actually Naruto people have different kinds of chakra. My chakra for example is naturally more fire-like. It is thus easier for me to perform fire jutsu. The basic kinds of chakra are: fire, water, earth, wind and lightning. Some people have special kinds of chakra based on their bloodlines such as ice, typically it is a mix of two kinds of chakra." The Hokage paused for a moment, he knew that this was a lot.
"So Ice would be like water and wind?" Naruto asked, he seemed to have gotten over his initial shock.
"Yes. Exactly. Your bloodline is slightly different. Your chakra is not a mix of any two or three, it is completely unique. Your chakra is poison. That means you'll have a harder time learning elemental jutsu, but on the bright side you can learn jutsu that other ninja simply cannot." Naruto nodded his head and smiled in excitement. "That isn't the only part of your bloodline. The second aspect is like the byakugan, it lies in the eyes. At some point you will unlock the Ishigan. It allows one thing for you to turn enemies to stone at a mere glance."
"Really? That's incredible. How come the Uzumaki clan is not more powerful?" Naruto asked honestly. The ability seemed so strong.
"The Uzumaki clan was never a large or unified clan. Also there are some drawbacks. When someone unlocks the eye at first they can hardly turn someone to stone for more than a moment or so. It is only with great practice that someone can be turned to stone for a longer period of time. Some people are great masters. Your mother could turn people to stone for hours. She was a rare case."
"She was really powerful…"
"She was, as was your father. You will be too Naruto, if you try hard Naruto you have all the tools to be Hokage. To be great. Now Naruto, no one your age knows the truth of the Kyubbi. Only myself, the sannin Jiraiya, the Jounin Kakashi and the clan heads Tsume and Hiashi know the truth of your bloodline because they were close to your parents. I give you full discretion in revealing your secret. If you wish you can talk to these people or me about your parents anytime. I have also arranged for Kakashi to tutor you for five hours a week or so." The Hokage made the move from behind Naruto back to his seat. He smiled at the boy, the future of the village.
"Jii-sama thank you for telling me the truth. I will work harder than ever. I will honor my parents."
"I am glad to hear that Naruto. I have one more thing for you," The Hokage pushed a key across his desk. "This is to your new home, your parents home. You can live there now, I also stocked it with some new goodies for you. It is located next to the Hyuuga compound. I won't keep you any longer." The boy ran out of the room, waving bye to the Hokage.
...
Naruto darted through the village. He paid no mind to villagers who flung curses at him as he ran could spoil this. Eventually he was sprinting passed the clan compounds which were along the outer area of the village. He made it passed the Nara compound and finally found the Hyuuga compound. The estate had many houses since the clan had so many members. These people would now be his he finally made it passed the Hyuuga home he saw it. The house was huge. It was four times the size of what was the standard area of a single family Konoha home. On top of that it was three stories. There were trees surrounding the property and the land was covered in blooming wild flowers. He stood there for some time in awe. Eventually he took the key out of his pocket. He stared at it.
Naruto made his way to the pushed the key into the lock and entered the home; he pushed open the door slowly. It smelled like lemon-scented cleaning product. The floors were hardwood and all the furniture seemed brand new. On many of the walls were pictures of his family. His mother and father, other relatives he could not name.
"Naruto I-" Naruto jumped at the sound of a voice behind him, instinctively he grabbed the back of his neck and turned to face the man. It was a rather tall man wearing a mask. His headband covered his left eye. He had long silver spiky hair and a dead look in his other eye, he didn't appear threatening. "Sorry if I frightened you. My name is Kakashi Hatake," Naruto relaxed his posture slightly embarrassed. Kakashi was one of the names the Hokage had mentioned.
"I was your father's student, the only living one. I came because the Hokage asked me to train you. I figured I would introduce myself and show you around."
"Thank you Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said with a bow and a smile.
'I wonder if this is new behavior. Everyone is always calling this kid a brat, he seems polite enough.' Kakashi kept his observations of his pupil to himself.
For the next hour or so Kakashi gave Naruto the tour of the Namikaze estate. The home had 20 bedrooms and nine bathrooms. In addition to the three floors above ground there was a basement which featured a large training studio. There was a very nice kitchen as well, not that Naruto could cook anything that wasn't microwavable. In the backyard there was a larger training area, a garden for food and a private bath house. There was also a clan shrine to the Uzumaki, Naruto assumed that had been added after his mother's arrival. Naruto had been placed in the head room by the Hokage as that was where all the goodies were.
The Hokage seemed to spare no expense in the gifts that came in addition to the new house. The home came with a fully stocked kitchen, complete with fresh produce and other products. Most of these products were much healthier than what Naruto would normally consume. The Hokage had also managed to deliver quite a few instructional scrolls on jutsu as well as history and theory. Many of the scrolls included jutsu only Naruto could use. Beyond that Naruto was gifted an entirely new wardrobe and various other ninja tools like kunai and shuriken. The clothes Naruto would now be wearing was much less flashy than his trademark orange jumpsuit. He received a set of jackets shirts shorts and pants. The pants and shorts were both plain and black, they had several discreet pockets but not too many as to ensure they were not too bulky. The shirts were plain and gray, a darker shade that was hardly any lighter than your standard black. The jacket was clearly custom made. It was a a platinum color that really went well with the pants and contrasted with the boy's lightning-like hair. Near the heart was the logo of the village hidden in the leaves in red that seemed to be the same color as a living fire.. On the back of the, in the same color, was the traditional Uzumaki spiral, on the back of the hood, in Kanji, was the name of his father's clan "Namikaze" (波風).
After Naruto was done being in awe of the house and his new gifts Kakashi began to make a quick lunch for the two. They had much to discuss. The meal was nothing special, steamed rice and roasted pork. The two sat at a smaller table to enjoy their food and discuss.
"Naruto, as I am sure the Hokage has told you, I am to be your teacher," the jounin was admittedly nervous and so he was speaking at a slightly faster rate than normal. He had never been able to speak to his sensei's son, only watch from afar. "I am to teach you according to my mission for 5 to 7 hours a week directly. That is not much time considering that you are fairly behind from what I am led to believe." Naruto lowered his head in shame, he had never been an exceptional student. The teachers never gave him a fair shot and his chakra control was terrible. He had lost a lot of motivation to do well in the academy.
Kakashi saw the sad look in the boy's eyes and could tell that he was disheartened.
"Don't worry. I promise that you will be an excellent shinobi in time for academy graduation in three years," The boy looked a little more calm and Kakashi continued. "During these hours where we meet I want to spend time on jutsu and strategy, I don't want to worry about physical training. If I give you a regimen will you stick to it?"
"Of course Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, the look in the boy's eyes was eerie to Kakashi, it was a look one man was known for, Minato.
"Okay then. Here is the regimen," Naruto was handed a scroll. "Each week we'll set our schedule according to my mission load. I also want you to start trying harder in the academy. The teachers will not be giving you a hard time anymore," Naruto nodded in excitement at the prospect of a fair shot. "This week we'll do two hours every other day starting tomorrow."
"This is awesome, thank you so much sensei."
"Don't mention it Naruto. I just want you to be the best ninja you can be." Kakashi meant what he said genuinely. Minato Namikaze was one of the most important people in his life, that meant Naruto was too. Kakashi could count on one hand the number of important people to him, people he would do anything for.
"Sensei…" Naruto began meekly.
"Go ahead Naruto," Kakashi interjected encouragingly.
"Do you think you could tell me some stories about my parents. I want to know what they were like."
For the next two hours Naruto was enamoured, even after they had finished eating Kakashi kept going. The copy nin recounted numerous anecdotes of Naruto's parents. Kakashi typically a quiet man was willing to share these stories now. Normally he was sad when talking about his sensei, kushina and team minato but it all flowed out when he was speaking with Naruto. Eventually the elder shinobi left. Naruto washed the dishes and put them away. He set an alarm to wake up for school tomorrow and then knocked out. The blonde haired ninja in training had a long and adventurous day and now he needed his sleep.
...
Naruto was not the only soon-to-be ninja in Konoha to be experiencing a life-altering day. Naruto had run passed the Uchiha compound, he paid it no mind. Little did Naruto know that one of the most important historical events in the village's history was occurring on the inside of the clan walls: the massacre of the Uchiha clan.
Itachi Uchiha was careful, all good shinobi were. He was especially careful when it came to the completion of a mission. Today that meant the assassination of the entire traitorous Uchiha clan. Itachi would have become the head of the clan one day, but his father's actions ensured this would never happen now. Fugaku Uchiha had decided that the village hidden in the leaves belonged to him. Itachi on the orders of the Hokage had to clear the village of this conspiracy to take control. The only clean hands: Sasuke.
Itachi was leagues ahead of the rest of the Uchiha. Most of them were lazy with their powerful eye, they felt the need to not train and were complacent. Itachi was powerful and hard working, so the murder was simple. During that day, the day before the phoenix fire festival which every Uchiha attended, Itachi killed all of them. He walked slowly through the compound and setting killing glances and kunai toward his family.
By the end the compound was littered with dead bodies, most of the kills were clean, very little blood. Itachi then sat at his father's desk and wrote a letter to his brother, the one he decided to save. He told him the truth, this was a violation of the mission, but Itachi thought he deserved this much. He did not tell Sasuke that this was done on orders from the village, only that Itachi had decided to stop the sins of his clan. After the letter was written Itachi made his way to the front gate. He carried with him a blade that had belonged to the Uchiha for a century or so. He jammed the blade into his spleen and waited as he died.
Sasuke walked home from the academy the same way every day. Every day he thought about how far behind his brother he was, he loved itachi and wanted to be just like him. That was the reason Sasuke hated the academy, he saw it more as an obstacle than a tool. The path he walked was always very pleasant. The route took him through the market district and was typically met with many smiling faces. The people of Konoha loved the Uchiha, the police force was traditionally kind to them and so their crown prince belonged to the people as well.
Sasuke, after his leisurely venture home arrived at the clan gate, he opened it and walked in. What he saw next shocked him. His brother flopped over, a sword driven into him. Sasuke ran over to the lifeless body, pale as a ghost, cold to the touch. It was too much. Sasuke, holding his brother's hand, collapsed to the ground. The gate to the Uchiha clan swinging open in the wind of Konoha, all of this yet to be discovered.
Konoha's anbu regularly surveilled the village. They watched everything from the Hokage monument to the Ichiraku ramen stall. Originally it had been an issue as to whether the Anbu would be allowed to surveil the clan compounds. Eventually the clans and villages came to an agreement allowing it. The Hokage had sacrificed the ultimate authority on the team assignments in order to allow the Anbu to look into the compounds. This trade was worth it in the long run as it is what in part led to the discovery of the Uchiha coup plans.
"Rat, is the gate to the compound typically just open like that?" A man in a cow mask asked the woman next to him.
"No, let's go, be on guard." The rate responded quickly, the two shinobi rushed down. They saw the scene and checked Sasuke and Itachi's pulse.
"Rat, signal for assistance. I need to get Sasuke to the hospital, now," the cow masked shinobi picked up the boy and took off to the medical center at Anbu speed. 'This is not good, this is going to a long day.' was the thought running through the Anbu operatives head.
...
Sasuke snapped up, suddenly he was awake. It was as if he had woken up from a nightmare in a cold sweat, but sasuke was waking up to a boy immediately took in his surroundings. The hospital room was fairly large and private. There was a large window which opened up to the village. In the chair across the bed sat the Hokage.
"Hokage-sama!" Sasuke said shocked, he was in the process of getting out of bed to stand at attention for the sitting Hokage.
"Sasuke, lay down relax," the Hokage began with a sigh. This boy was about to receive the worst news of his life and of course it was the job of the Hokage to deliver such news. "Sasuke, I won't sugar coat things. Itachi killed the Uchiha clan, you are the only survivor," the Hokage stopped there to allow the boy some time.
Sasuke let his jaw fall open, he could not move, he could not think. He was no the Uchiha Clan. His brother killed everyone. 'How?' was all he could think and not a single answer came to mind.
"Sasuke, there is one other thing, your brother had a letter in his pocket. It was addressed to you. I'll leave you to read it, but Sasuke know that I will do anything I can to help you. You may have lost your clan, but this village, especially myself, care for you. You are not alone." With that the Hokage handed Sasuke a letter, it was inside a linen envelope with only the word 'Brother' written on the front. The Hokage bowed and exited the room, while he would have loved to comfort the boy the village was in crisis.
'What could he mean to say to me' Sasuke was dazed but he tore open the envelope to expose the letter itself. He took a deep breath, and another before he began to read:
Sasuke,
I know that you must be confused, hurt and beyond angry. I am sorry that you are without the clan now. I am sorry that it came to this. I would love to be able to tell you that this was not necessary, that I did this on my own whim and that you could simply hate me. That is not the case. The truth is that this had to be done, for the sake of the village and for the sake of the clan (as odd as that may sound to you know).
Our father was a proud man. So proud that when he was passed over for the position of Hokage, twice, he began his own path to taking over the village. He planned a civil war where the Uchiha would storm the village attack the other clans and then inherit the village. We would have lost. He had infected the entire clan. Our father ordered me to assassinate the Hokage, I could not complete that task, I am a Leaf Ninja. So how could I destroy our clan, our blood?The Uchiha clan is powerful and that is the heritage of your blood. You are strong Sasuke. We once relied on our power and used that power in noble ways to earn an honorable standing. Under our father's leadership our family had been corrupted; they turned against the village, accepted bribes, allowed members to rape prisoners. There are too many grievances to list. I was not immune, I was not without sin and so that is why I killed myself. You though Sasuke, you are pure, you are the future. I leave you with the words of our grandfather:
"The will of fire is the will of the Uchiha, we are the spark of this land. We can be powerful through our will, our eyes, our souls. So go forward as a part of this great tree, and grow with its intertwined branches."
With the sincerest apologies I can offer,
Your brother Itachi.
Sasuke did not know what to think. His family was full of traitors. They deserved to die, that was the law of shinobi. They were his family, still. The boy laid back lost in his thoughts and sadness.
...
Naruto woke up to the sound of his new alar. He got dressed in the new clothes the Hokage had purchased him. He had decided to discard what had been his signature orange outfit, in favor of his new sleek clothes. He then began on the training regimen that Kakashi had gifted him. The morning workout mostly consisted of a run and some other basic aerobic exercises, along with some push-ups. It was not more than he could handle. After that he spent some time practicing his kunai and shuriken throwing. He ended up having white rice and raw eggs for breakfast. After that he took off to school.
Naruto sat closer to the front than he usually did. As people poured into the room he noticed them chatting about his new appearance. He also noticed that Sasuke was missing from the class. Kiba Inuzuka sat next to Naruto, the two had never been friends but they were friendly acquaintances.
"Naruto, I have to say your new clothes are a huge improvement.'
"Thanks Kiba! I got some new clothes last night." Naruto wanted to invite Kiba to his house to train, but he knew it would be difficult to answer all the boys questions. "Kiba, you want to train for a bit after class tomorrow?" Naruto asked, he had new found confidence in his abilities and himself now that he knew who his parents were.
"Yeah, that sounds great Naruto. We can train and have lunch at my house. I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind." Kiba shot a smile Naruto's way, and naruto rubbed Akamaru's head.
"Hey, dog breath move I'm trying to get to my seat!" Ino yelled loudly as she pushed both Naruto and Kiba's chairs. Kiba responded with a growl, Naruto responded with a sigh. Neither of them could respond verbally as Iruka had walked into the room.
After Iruka took attendance he began his lecture.
"Can anyone name all five of the Great Shinobi villages?" Iruka raised the question knowing all, if not most of the class could.
Sakura's hand immediately shot up, always quick to show off. "The five great nations are Iwa, Konoha, Kumo, Suna and Kiri," she said it all with a smile clearly very proud of herself.
"That is correct Sakura," Iruka said happily. "Today we are going to learn about the village hidden by rocks, Iwagakure." With that Iruka dove into his lesson and began discussing the complex history of relations between the two villages. Eventually, Iruka discussed the fourth Hokage.
"The fourth Hokage killed dozens of Iwa shinobi over the course of the war and effectively crippled them for decades. He is considered to be Public enemy number one." At this Naruto raised his hand, he was eager to learn about the man who was his father.
"Iruka-sensei, what was the name of the Yondaime's signature jutsu?" Iruka was genuinely shocked, Naruto never participated in class.
"I'm glad you asked Naruto. The fourth had two signature jutsu; the first is the Flying Thunder God Jutsu and the other is the Rasengan. One effectively let him teleport and the other allowed him to form a ball of spinning chakra. They were S-rank and A-rank respectively." Iruka finished up, happy to see the blonde taking notes for once.
Class would eventually come to an end. Naruto would take his new route home. The only one to notice the change in his route was the village genius, Shikamaru. Shikamaru was typically too lazy to be curious, but this may have presented an exception. Shikamaru had never once seen Naruto in this section of the village.
"Oi! Naruto!" he called after the blonde. Naruto turned around hearing the familiar voice calling after him. He saw Shikamaru behind him and was suddenly nervous for some reason.
"Yeah, what's up Shikamaru?"
"What're you doing around here? I've never seen you around here before." Shikamaru asked trying to avoid any sort of accusation in his tone. He had known Naruto for some time and knew he didn't respond well to accusation or criticism.
"Oh, I moved in nearby. I asked the Hokage for a place near the outside of the city. You know I'm not exactly on the best terms with the villagers." Naruto tried to laugh at the end to mellow the message.
"Oh I see, that's pretty cool. You should drop by later and we can play Shogi or something." Shikamaru thought inviting people over was troublesome, but his mom raised him to be 'hospitable'.
"Sounds great Shika! I'll catch you later then," Naruto waved goodbye to Shikamaru and continued on his way to the place he now called home. Naruto enjoyed the new scenery of his walk home, he was greeted by beautiful trees and flowers rather than jeering eyes.
He made his way to the door and stuck the key in the lock. He had done this a thousand times at his apartment, but now it felt like more. It felt like he was opening the door to the life he could've had. But the life was his now and he knew that the possibilities were endless.
Naruto pulled the door open and almost had a heart attack at what was on the other side. A smiling Kakashi bent down at his level staring back.
"Aghhhhhhh!" the young boy screamed loudly.
"Shhh." The silver haired man said as he put his finger to Naruto's lips. "It's just me Naruto, are you ready to practice?"
Naruto gathered himself before answering his new sensei, "Yes, of course, I am."
The two of them made it to the back of the house to the training grounds on Naruto's land. Naruto stood across from his new sensei and waited for orders.
"Okay Naruto, first we are going to learn the three basic academy jutsu. Let's start with the clone jutsu." Kakashi quickly ran through the hand seals and three copies of him popped up beside him. Kakashi then motioned for Naruto to attempt the same thing. Naruto went through the hand seals rather slowly channeling the required chakra to no effect. Kakashi tilted his head slightly, he seemed to have done everything right. "Try again Naruto."
The boy followed orders, this time he went through the hand signs slightly more quickly. Again, nothing. Kakashi now tilted his head the other way. He was truly puzzled. No one should have chakra control this bad. He wondered 'Could it be the fox?'
"Naruto, I want you to channel as little chakra as you can into this piece of paper." Kakashi handed Naruto the piece of paper and watched as the boy complied. The paper turned a darker shade of blue. Kakashi was surprised, but that was hardly noticeable as you could only see his right eye. "Naruto this paper is sensitive to chakra. It changes color depending on how much chakra it has been exposed to. You channeled enough chakra into the paper to produce at least 300 standard clones." Naruto's emotions were not as concealed as Kakashi's and the boy was visibly shocked. Kakashi thought for a moment on how this could be resolved. Without a word Kakashi disappeared in a flurry of leaves and dust. Now it was Naruto's turn to be puzzled.
Naruto stood patiently and waited for his sensei to return. Eventually, he did, the same way he left, in an instant.
"Naruto, I have received permission to teach you a hidden jutsu of the village. You are not allowed to teach it to anyone. It could kill them. Because of your prisoner I believe you have chakra reserves larger than that of the Hokage himself." Naruto's mouth formed an 'O', he was not expecting that news. "Do you understand?"
"Of course Sensei."
"Okay, follow after me," Kakashi completed the single hand seal to him, from a cloud of smoke appeared an exact copy. Kakashi proceeded to high-five himself. This truly shocked Naruto. The boy in a rush to complete the jutsu channeled slightly more chakra than he should have. A large puff of smoke cleared to reveal around 45 Narutos.
"Naruto, this is amazing, that's more shadow clones then I could make right now. You have huge chakra stores." Kakashi knew that this would mean training would go much more smoothly. Naruto could use these clones to learn jutsu and tactics. "These clones are physical copies of you, they can mold chakra, and when they are dispelled they send memories back to you."
"So we can use them for training?" Kakashi nodded in response to Naruto. For the next hour and a half Naruto and his clones learned the tree-climbing exercise. The skill was not only useful as a skill, it also increased the control Naruto would have over his chakra. If Naruto could achieve even standard chunin levels of control he could create 1000 shadow clones. Kakashi could only imagine a thousand of the blondes marching into battle. Kakashi observed him and felt that he would be done with this skill by their next training session. Naruto was eager to learn.
"Dispel the clones and come here," Kakashi barked, it reminded him of his days as an Anbu captain. "Let's sit," they sat criss-cross across from one another, Naruto waited for Itachi to continue. "I want to teach you my first principle today. I think it is one that you will only understand as you grow, but one that should be learned young. Ninja who break the ninja code are scum, but ninja who betray their comrades are less than scum."
"But isn't the first duty of a ninja to their village?" Naruto asked honestly, they had learned that absolute loyalty was a key part of the shinobi way in the academy.
"In theory it is. On a mission and in combat your first responsibility is to your teammates, the second is to the mission." Kakashi truly believed this, as did Minato, as did Jiraiya, as did Sarutobi. "Naruto you did well today, next time we will go over a little bit more. Keep up with your training routine and if you can get to the top of a tree by out next lesson. Oh and I almost forgot the Hokage gave me this for you." Kakashi handed over a note to the boy.
Dear Naruto,
Hope you are adjusting well to the news and your new home. I set up a meeting for you with Hiashi Hyuga at 7 tonight. Please do not be late, he is doing both of us a favor.
Thanks.
Naruto looked up from the note to ask his sensei what he thought the meeting was about, but the copy ninja had already disappeared. Naruto checked his watch, it was already 6. He showered, changed and made his way over to the Hyuga compound. A week ago Naruto never imagined he would be setting foot in this place. He was beyond nervous. He approached the gate which was guarded by two members of the Hyuga clan. They had been told he was coming, one of them led him to Hiashi's office. Naruto saw Hinata, a girl in his class, on the way there and waved. Hinata was very confused as to what the village pariah was doing in her clan compound. Hinata did not feel that Naruto was a bad person, but she knew that most of the town did not look upon him favorably and assumed her father held the same position.
...
"I am glad that you are punctual Naruto. I had worried that you sensei had already taught you that being late was acceptable, he is rather infamously late." Hiashi made the rare joke hoping that it would relax the boy. Judging from his pulse, it didn't work. "The Hokage asked me to speak with you because one day you will gain a seat on the Council of Clans. This body is an advisory board to the Hokage on all sorts of affairs."
"Why did the Hokage chose you to be my tutor Hiashi-sama?" Naruto asked, he knew that the Hokage had listed Hiashi among the people who knew his parents, but he didn't know how. 'He is far more respectful than I would have guessed' Hiashi paused in thought before responding.
"You can just call me Hiashi, and if i had to guess the Hokage selected me because I was teammates with your father as genin. On top of that, I am one of the more powerful clan heads in the village." Hiashi scowled slightly, that statement was more true than ever with the Uchiha clan effectively wiped out. "Speaking of which I actually have a story I wanted to tell you about your father. It was a lesson he taught me some time ago. It is something I still consider whenever I make a decision and I think it is an excellent first lesson. You see your father and I were chunin on our first mission without a commanding officer…
"If we take all these people have then they won't be able to recover." Minato saw the obvious issue with taking all that these people had even if it was fair payment.
"They owe us for what became an A rank mission," Hiashi argued back.
"Yeah, but what if we get a promise to pay. Then they'll have a chance to recover and they may just be inclined to sweeten the pot. Not to mention we gain a possible regional ally." Minato was certain that the way to go was to allow these people time to rebuild and develop income channels for their village. Hiashi thought for some time and could not poke any holes in the man's logic.
...
"Eventually they did pay us, eventually they became a regional trading partner and 6% of Konoha's income comes from their contracts. We would have lost that as well as a powerful land ally if it weren't for your father." Hiashi thought fondly of his days as a youth, courting his wife and remembering his best friend. "Can you think of the lessons in this story Naruto?" Naruto thought carefully before he answered the man.
"Always think of the big picture." The boy's answer was simple, blunt and partially true.
"Good Naruto, that is one of the two main lessons in this story. The other is that of mercy. A merciful shinobi is one that does not have to look over his shoulder as much. Of course this does not mean that we do not kill it means that sometimes we will have the power to save lives and we should." Hiashi used these stories of Naruto's father to teach several lessons. All of this was prep for the more logistic lessons of being in the council and the laws of Konoha. After going back and forth for some time before Hiashi called it a night and asked Naruto if he had any questions.
"When will I have to fill my seat on the council?"
"At the latest you will begin attending meetings as a member of the council when you reach the rank of Chunin or turn 16. That being said, whenever I deem you ready the Hokage is prepared to allow you to attend and vote at meetings."
...
Sasuke walked into his clan compound for the first time since the incident. He had waited until it was dark out to leave the hospital. He knew that by now word would spread around the village, he was not in the mood to be showered in apologies by the villagers. He just wanted to go home and sleep. He had yet to decide when he would return to the academy. He had not lost his resolve to become a shinobi mind you.
Sasuke walked into his home, eyes closed, he made the trip to his room by memory. He did not want to see any of this, all of these memories. He still could not believe the truth of his clan, but that was something for later consideration. He made it to his room, changed into his clothes for bed, and went to sleep. Emotional exhaustion was very good for one thing, making it easier to fall asleep. Sasuke felt slightly more at peace than he had in the last couple of days. He drifted off to sleep eventually.
Sasuke was immediately wrapped in a dream, he knew it was a dream as he was floating about in a black void. This was far from typical for him, he hardly dreamed so vividly, this felt very real. All of a sudden he was no longer alone. Floating in front of Sasuke in the void, with bright red eyes, was Itachi Uchiha.
"Itachi" Sasuke uttered the name, shocked at who was in front of him. This dream felt so convoluted and real, in the confines of his mind he allowed something that he would never do anywhere else. Sasuke cried. His brother simply floated there waiting for Sasuke to collect his emotions. After Sasuke cried for what seemed like hours, his tears dried up. Itachi spoke.
"Sasuke, what is your dream?" the figure of Itachi asked his younger brother.
"I want to restore the clan, to its old honor and status," Sasuke answered quickly, he had given this much thought after reading the letter Itachi had left for him.
"Is that all?" The shadow asked again, seemingly surprised. "Where do your allegiances lie Sasuke?" This was a comment Sasuke had to think about. He considered the words of his grandfather, what is meant to be a ninja, and what it meant to be an Uchiha.
"It is in the blood of the Uchiha to be great ninja, it is our destiny. To be a great ninja one must consider the needs of their village above all else. My loyalty as an Uchiha lies to the village first, then to my clan and then to myself." Sasuke said this with certainty even though he had just now realized that this was how he ordered his priorities.
"So then I'll ask again, what is your dream?" Sasuke stared at his brother's dream representation and wondered why this was his dream. Nonetheless, he answered the question, this time with true conviction.
"I will become the Hokage and a great clan head, I will lead the Uchiha into a new era of prominence."
Itachi disappeared before Sasuke could finish his last word. Sasuke for the rest of the night was tossed into a whirlwind of his most pleasant memories. Even for someone who had gone through so much he felt happy, you could see the small smile on his sleeping face. All of this was bitter sweet, images of his father and brother in a simpler time. Before his father's hunger for power drove his brother to murder.
Sasuke woke up the next morning wondering about his dream, but he resolved the decisions he'd come to in the dream world. He would Hokage and no one would stop him. He would become the strongest shinobi in Konoha and protect all the village. He would reform the Uchiha clan, as it was meant to be.
With that decision made Sasuke made his way to the kitchen and made himself breakfast. He had never cooked for himself before, but it was not that hard to prepare steamed rice and raw fish.
...
"Yeah Naruto my mom said she's making some ramen for lunch today." Naruto licked his lips, ramen was without a doubt his favorite thing to eat. Kakashi had told him to cut back, but he wasn't going to say no if it was offered to him.
"That sounds awesome! So what kind of training are we going to do?" Kiba smirked in response.
"Well I figured we would spar for a while…" Kiba gave a toothy grin and Naruto waited for him to continue, "Then my mom said she would teach us the fire-ball jutsu." Kiba looked to see how Naruto would react and as he expected the fox boy was smiling ear to ear.
"That's great Kiba! I love almost nothing more than new jutsu!" Naruto screamed this and jumped into the air mid-stride. The boy could not have asked for a better day, ramen and jutsu were to him the best things in the world.
Some time after this the two boys arrived at Kiba's house. The entire time the two of them gossiped like teenage girls. They talked about the people in their class and discussed who would end up being the great shinobi of their generation. Naruto also told Kiba about his trip to Shikamaru's house the day before. Shikamaru taught Naruto how to play the game Go, he then proceeded to beat him. Many times, so many times Naruto was positive either Shikamaru had taught him the wrong rules or was simply the best Go player in the world. They also discussed the annoying Sasuke obsessed girls in their class and how they would become liabilities later on. That of course brought up the Uchiha massacre.
"I think tomorrow I'll go see how Sasuke is doing, it must be terrible being all alone in that big compound. We didn't exactly get along before, but he is a comrade. I'll do whatever I can to help him." Naruto said this solemnly, he remembered the days where he was alone without friends or family. Kiba nodded his head as they came to their end of their journey and reached the Inuzuka clan compound.
Naruto had never seen so many dogs. The Inuzuka clan was a mid sized one. Each member had a dog and in addition many dogs not assigned to a ninja partner roamed the compound. Naruto and Kiba went through the compound until they made it to Kiba's house. It was one of the larger homes in the clan. Kiba's grandfather, Okami Inuzuka, was the clan head. In the Inuzuka clan there was no direct transition of power. The clan head announced their retirement one year before. At that point any member of the clan could enter the competition to become the clan head. The clan head would choose his replacement and they would train over the course of the year in order to properly fill the role.
The two boys walked into the door.
"Hey Mom! We're home." Kiba yelled as he entered the home. Akamaru yipped as well.
"Oh hello Kiba, and this must be Naruto. How was your day?" Kiba's mother came from down the stairs she was dressed in her special jounin vest and a body suit.
"It was great! We learned a lot about the penalties of breaking ninja rules today." Kiba said this and considered what they had learned, everything was harsh in the ninja world.
"That's a very important lesson both of you, the penalties as you now know are very serious. It is one of the reasons being a ninja is not a joke. I'm going to finish up the ramen while you boys spar, after that I'll be out to teach you both the fire ball jutsu." Tsume turned to enter the kitchen, the boys nodded and made their way outside.
"Alright Naruto, what should the rules for our spar be?" Kiba began stretching his muscles as did Akamaru. The little dog was more than adorable as he prepared for battle. Eventually he would grow into a large combat ninja dog.
"I mean, neither of us know anything too dangerous, but how about we just use taijutsu. Of course you can also use Akamaru." Kiba stood up straight done with his stretching, and shook his head.
"That's not exactly fair, how about you can use one jutsu of your choice. I am a taijutsu specialist and my family jutsu are often based in hand to hand combat," Kiba yawned after he spoke he wasn't too tired but being in the academy all day often left him slightly tired.
"Sounds good to me. Let's go!" Naruto smirked and made the sign for his now favorite jutsu. "Shadow Clone!" Naruto called out and a cloud of smoke covered the training area. Naruto quickly commanded the clones and had them henge into sticks.
"That was a lot of pomp n circumstance for nothing at all Naruto. Let's go Akamaru." Kiba and Akamaru ran toward Naruto and moved forward ready to launch themselves at the boy. Akamaru went first and Naruto focused on him, but it was a feint. Akamaru went to the ground half way through the jump and Kiba launched himself from the other side with a kick aimed at Naruto's head. A shadow clone quickly unhenged and grabbed Kiba's leg and threw him down to the ground.
"Gonna have to do better than that Kiba!" Naruto called, still on guard waiting for the dog boy to get up. Naruto was focused on the downed Kiba and forgot again about Akamaru. Next thing he knew the dog had jumped and was biting the back of his neck. He drew just a little bit of blood. Naruto poofed out of existence. Kiba was shocked. He got off the ground and immediately launched an attack on the clone which had thrown him to the ground. The punch landed and the clone again simply disappeared.
Suddenly there were 10 Naruto's on the battlefield. Kiba was more than confused. He motioned at Akamaru. The two of them ran towards the group of Naruto's and got rid of most of them. Akamaru bit one of the Naruto's and it didn't disappear. Naruto grabbed the dog and drew a kunai quickly. He put it to the puppies throat, of course with no intention of harm.
"Alright Kiba, looks like I win." Kiba sighed as Naruto placed the pup on the floor and patted him on the head Kiba sighed loudly. The two of them bowed to each other at the end of the fight. Tsume who had been watching from the house started clapping and walked out toward the two of them.
"Naruto what was that jutsu, can you teach it to me?" Kiba yelled out loudly, he was very interested in the clones Naruto made.
"I'm sorry Kiba I can't. My teacher told me that it would be dangerous. You don't have enough chakra. I have a, uhhh, medical condition that made my chakra stores larger than normal." Kiba looked interested and was going to ask a follow-up question, but Naruto was saved by Tsume who approached just in time.
"Alright who is ready to learn the Great Fireball Jutsu?" Tsume said, she did not want Kiba asking more questions, she was sure Naruto would eventually run out of answers. "This jutsu is very destructive so we'll be pointing ourselves toward the open space." Tsume waited a while as the two boys turned to face the clearing in front of the. "Alright I'll call out the hand signs and you to make them. I want you two to channel the chakra into your lungs and then you should breathe out a fireball." The two boys nodded and Tsume began. "Snake. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger." Tsume did the hand signs and out of her mouth came a large well-formed ball of fire.
The two boys had different results. Kiba had a small amount of fire spurt out from his mouth and followed it up with a fit of coughing. It was to be expected. Kiba did not have large chakra reserves or great control, not to mention the fireball technique was not exactly easy. It was a C-rank technique which was no easy task for the pair of nine-year-olds. With some time it seemed that Kiba would be able to learn the jutsu. What occurred with Naruto was more than slightly different. The boy followed all the steps to a tee. Out of his mouth came not a fireball but rather a glob of purple-pink fluid, it was fairly small. The glob fell to the ground and was quickly absorbed into the dirt. The grass in the area quickly died. It seemed Naruto's poison style was quite potent.
"Naruto do you have your mother's bloodline?" the special jounin asked the boy. She had been good friends with Kushina and had been on the same team as her more than once so she was more than familiar with the bloodline.
"I do Tsume-san. But I thought I could still perform other jutsu. I am sorry about your grass." The boy bowed to the women in apology.
"It's fine Naruto. From what I know of your bloodline different people have different affinities to the poison style. Some people can only perform the poison jutsu no matter the jutsu they attempt to perform. These people often have very potent poison as well. But you need to be careful Naruto, from what I remember the chakra in your body can be very harmful to you as well." Tsume looked at the boy with great curiosity, he would truly make a special shinobi some day. "Let's go eat, you boys can practice more later."
Kiba was confused by the conversation that had just occurred. He didn't know anything about Naruto's family and definitely did not know his mom knew Naruto's. He would definitely be asking his Mom some questions later. Naruto was also intrigued by the conversation. He had learned a lot more than he knew about his bloodline, but now he had more questions. He needed some answers about his bloodlines. He didn't know where to find them.
...
"Shikamaru if you worked harder you could definitely be higher up in the class," Naruto spoke to his friends holding the ranking sheet in his hand.
"Y'know Naruto once upon a time you were at the bottom of the class, and you were okay with it." Shikamaru recalled the change Naruto had gone through over this school year and he was actually amazed. The blonde was now on his way to being a leaf shinobi.
"Yeah, but that was dumb of me. I started working hard and I moved up 21 spots from the bottom of the class." Naruto was very happy with how his day was going, he was excited to finally be in the top ten of his academy class.
"Eh, it's just not my style Naruto what can I say. I'm fine with being at the bottom two-thirds of the class." Shikamaru sighed and stared up at the clouds. "Let's just start enjoying our summer Naruto. We only have two months anyway." Naruto nodded and the two boys made their way to Shikamaru's house where they had taken to hanging out. Naruto eyed the top spots in the class and saw himself among them by the end of next year.
1. Sasuke Uchiha
2. Shino Aburame
3. Hinata Hyuga
4. Kiba Inuzuka
5. Sakura Haruno
...
There was a small room inside the Hokage monument. It was covered in about one hundred or so seals to protect it from being spied on or located from the room had few amenities and was in fact quite minimalist. There was only one door, it was chakra reinforced steel that was almost impervious to attack. On the wall opposite to the door were portraits to the four Hokage.
The room had only one long conference style table. It had 14 chairs. The one at the end was of course reserved for the Hokage. Seven seats were on each side, each one held a clan seat. Rather each seat was meant for a clan head and two were for the non-clan civilian shinobi representatives. Currently, there were four empty seats for the clans which currently had no leader: the Uchiha, the Senju, and the Uzumaki. The fourth empty seat was the Sarutobi clan seat, which was only unfilled because Hiruzen was the Hokage. The council members ranged in age and standing, but all were Jounin level shinobi and their combined force was very difficult to match.
The Aburame clan was led by a 40-year-old jounin named Shibi. The Akimichi clan was led by Chouza, a 38-year-oldd who was a member of the last great Ino-shika-cho team. His partners were about the same age, Inoichi was the head of the Yamanaka clan and Shikaku was the head of the Nara clan. Kakashi headed the Hatake clan and at 29 he was the youngest member of the council. Hiashi Hyuga led the most powerful clan in the village right now, the Hyuga were a very large clan and almost all members were powerful ninja. Okami was the leader of the Inuzuka clan, he was one of the older leaders, but not the oldest as he was still younger than Hiruzen and Danzo. Danzo was the oldest member and was the leader of the Shimaru clan, which was one of the oldest clans in the village. The ninjas who were not affiliated with clans were democratically elected and served 5 year terms. The current representatives were Hamaki Mimura a hero of the third great war who helped the fourth Hokage in battle. The second representative was a younger representative who served as the anbu liaison as well, his name was Hayate Gekko.
"Iwagakure has declared war on Sunagakure," the Hokage made the statement with little emotion. The room filled with veteran shinobi grew tense. Iwa was an old enemy and Suna was their closest ally. This meant Konoha was close to war.
"What has the escalation been Hokage-sama?" Hiashi asked, the council was a place of brutal formality.
"Iwa has invaded the land of stone and their troops are headed in the direction of Suna." The aging Hokage wore a tired face, he had lived through far too many wars. "I have recalled Jiraiya. I have also stopped all missions which are C-rank as is protocol."
"How much aid has Suna requested?" This time it was Kakashi interjecting.
"They have asked us now, only for 3 Jounin units(a unit is a team of 5)." The Hokage relied quickly, "But I expect they will need further assistance. I believe we should engage the protocol for a minor war. Specifically the protocol accelerating the academy. Two years total." Most of the clan heads looked down sadly, their children or grandchildren were in the academy.
The protocol for a minor war was to prepare for a major war. That means that they would attempt to first maximize the number of troops available and then increase the amount of training they would receive. Beyond that it was to minimize the amount of ninja leaving the village, that was completed by stopping C-rank mission which did not make the village that much money. But that was not all, border security was vital in addition to village security. Chunin would be stationed to patrol the borders of the land of fire, which was a vast territory. Jounin guards would be assigned to members of the royal family.
"Hokage-sama, in addition to the minor war protocol may I suggest an overreaction. Iwa has no allies at the moment. I suggest we send 8 Jounin units to Suna and suggest that they meet Iwa with a display of force at the border with the Land of Stone." Shikaku spoke with a lazy and annoyed voice that typically meant he was thinking hard.
"At this point it seems Iwa simply wishes to take land from the Land of Stone and the Land of Wind, probably at the behest of the Earth Daimyo." The Hokage responded, "I can agree with that position Shikaku, I assume you can organize the teams as Jounin commander." Shikaku nodded. "As for the academy students, let them enjoy themselves for two weeks, then they will begin the advanced accelerated training. We are now at war."