I don't own Naruto Masashi Kishimoto does, if I did I would not be on fanfiction I know the older naruto story has been done before and done very well probably much better than I will do it but I've got this plot stuck in my mind so I'm doing to going with it. This is obviously an AU so expect some different things probably different age characters and such and now that I've thought it over some more Uzumaki Namikaze is a really long and just annoying to write so they'll be going by just Uzumaki

Chapter: 2 Aftermath

The weeks following the Kyuubi attack were some of the longest in Naruto's life as short as it was. So much had changed for him he was living with the sandaime and his family he now had a baby brother but his parents were dead he may have only been 5 years old but he had heard his parents talk about the war and their fallen allies before especially Obito and Rin when they thought he couldn't hear he may not fully understand death but he did knew the most basic concept of it you don't come back from it Naruto had seen his father mourn the death of his students first Obito's then rin's he had seen him shed tears over them but he kept on pushing forward he put a smile on his face and kept walking forward his dad had always been his hero but it was that ability to keep pushing forward after something like that was what made Naruto think his dad was the strongest person ever he had asked him about it out of the blue one some night soon after the war had ended his father answered telling him about the will of fire and how it gave all the shinobi of hidden leaf village the strength to fight against all odds and that when someones passes there will of fire isn't extinguished but passed on to someone else to carry on so that's what naruto would do he would carry on his parent's will of fire he would keep pushing forward it's not like he could just wallow around he had a little brother who would need him so he'd be strong for him and because his parents would want him to be.

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Naruto quickly found his time split between watching over his brother and the academy which he had started to attend a little bit before the Kyuubi attack, granted the work wasn't hard as his mother who had semi-retired after his birth had taught him a lot of what he would need to know. He wondered if he should teach Kibo calligraphy the same way their mother had taught him when he was old enough. His class wasn't bad it was filled with tons of nice people there were even two clan heirs his friends Itachi Uchiha and Hana Inuzuka and add him the Yondaime Hokage's firstborn the class had potential though it was clear from the start that Itachi and Naruto were cut from a different cloth in comparison to their peers. Even though Naruto liked his classmates he found himself thinking about attempting to graduate early more and more often he couldn't take the looks his classmates particularly the girls in his class kept giving him after the Kyuubi attack as if he was made of glass and was about to break at any moment the only person in his class that didn't look at him like that was Itachi, they had known each other since they were born they as their mothers had been friends.

" I don't know why you like that Dango so much Itachi, I don't see what's so great about it, " said the Naruto looking to his side were an onyx eyed boy was eating a stick of Dango sitting beside him under a tree outside of the academy. Naruto honestly didn't know why people liked Dango so much it was too sweet; in his opinion, they should be eating the food of the Gods ramen.

" What would you say if I told you I was planning on graduating early Naruto?," Itachi asked completely disregarding his friend's previous question shooting Naruto a glance out of the corner of his eye

" that I'm planning on doing the same thing" the blond respond without hesitation pulling a book that looked slightly worn out of his back pocket

"What's that book you got their naruto?" the dark-haired boy asked his usual stoic demeanor was replaced with genuine intrigue his friend was very intrigued when it came to the ninja arts so it wasn't rare to see him have a scroll or book about ninjutsu or chakra control in hand but if it wasn't related to the ninja arts his friend couldn't be bothered to pick it up it was rare to see the blond willingly read a book that had seemingly nothing to do with the ninja arts.

" It's a book my godfather wrote it's called The tale of the utterly gutsy ninja it was my dad's favorite book it's where my name comes from " the blond answered his eyes never leaving the cover of the book

" come on naruto lets get going back lunch is gonna end any minute now," Itachi said standing up from under the tree the blond didn't answer with words just a nod of his head he quickly pocketed his book and stood as well. The two quickly fell in step with each other as they made their way back to their classroom, Hana and a handful of there classmates had already returned from lunch when the pair stepped through the threshold Itachi made his way to their seats in the top row silently as Naruto stopped and chatted with Hana before also making his way to his seat in the top row

" so Itachi is there a reason for you to want to graduate early because I want to graduate early just to get away from all the stares" the blond whispered to his friend beside him so no one could overhear them

" I don't have a particular reason for wanting to graduate early like you but why not keeping going advancing if I can" Itachi whispered back

"Alright then let's keep advancing together who knows maybe Kibo and Sasuke will do the same when they're old enough" the blonde responded instantly a smirk coming to his face

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To those of you that reviewed the first chapter Thank you all so much for your feedback and opinions and I'd also like to thank all the other for favoriting and following my fic id like to think I'll have the next chapter ready to go by next Saturday but don't hold me to it. I know where a long way off from where they'll even show up or be part of the plot but are there any pairings that anybody thinks will be interesting to see I've already had a couple of ideas but nothing definitive as of yet