Chapter 1: The Hero Of Konoha
It was a nice night when suddenly out of nowhere a nine tailed fox appeared, his tails lashed out smashing mountains and sending tidal waves crashing to the shores, the ninja rose up to defend their village, they tried to help it back, they tried to keep it away from the village until more help arrives, one shinobi faced the nine tails fox in mortal combat, he sacrificed his life to capture the beast and seal it in a human body, this ninja is known as the Fourth Hokage. His name is Minato Namikaze.
4 Years Later (Naruto age 4)
It has been 4 years since the Kyuubi attacked. The village is recovering at a nice pace but the loss of the fourth Hokage was too much. The third Hokage resumed his position until he could find a nice successor to choose his place. A 4 year blond was walking around the districts of Konoha at midnight. At the same time, a white haired man came out of the bar, he was drunk but he was still in senses. He saw the boy and went closer to him to take a good look.
'He is him' thought a white haired man with a curious expression on his face. He went closer to the boy, 'Yeah, it's definitely him, but what's he doing out here this late? He should be at the orphanage' thought the man. He went ahead and talked to him, "Hey kid, what are you doing here this late?" he asked.
"Please don't hurt me, I didn't do anything wrong" the blond kid pleaded as he saw the man walking towards him. He panicked and tried to run but the man caught him.
"I am not here to hurt you kid, just tell me what are you doing out here so late?" the man asked
"I don't have a place to go" he replied
"What about the orphanage?" the man asked
"They kicked me out 2 days ago" he replied
Anger rushed into his body as he thought 'They kicked him out, a mere 4 year child. He has been wandering on streets for 2 days, what's wrong with those people?' "Don't worry kid come with me" he said as he touched the boy and Shunshined to the Hokage tower, without giving the boy a chance to talk.
Hokage Tower
"Hey Sensei, tell me what's the meaning of this, the orphanage kicked him out and he has been wondering on the streets for 2 days, why didn't you do anything?" the white haired man spoke as he dashed through the window that was open.
The Hokage looked at blond for a moment and spoke "Jiraiya, I didn't knew about this" Truth to be told, he actually didn't knew about this, although the kid was protected by the ANBU 24/7 but at night they were all dismissed because he was supposed to be in the orphanage.
"How the hell didn't you knew about this, you are the goddamn Hokage, it's you job to know all this" the man now recognized as Jiraiya spoke. He was angry, who wouldn't be after seeing a 4 year boy roaming in the night.
"I know I should have known, but things are not the same as before" the Hokage replied and then took a sip of smoke from his pipe. He hoped that the villagers would get out of their hatred, but everything got out of his expectations, throwing out a 4 year boy from the orphanage, he didn't predicted that all of them would stoop so low, although he was glad that no attack on the boy happened, but still what happened was unforgivable.
"Well fine, but this kid is going with me" Jiraiya said
"But, what about the spy network" asked the Hokage
"I will make the toads manage it, Gamabunta always wanted to act as a spy let him do, I will check in once in a while, but I will stay on the move" replied Jiraiya who was also known as the Spy Master of Konoha.
"So you want to take him out of the village" the Hokage asked
"Yes" replied Jiraiya
"But, what about the council, you know they will demand reasons for this and I can't tell them everything. They will certainly not allow this" replied Sarutobi, the third Hokage. Although he was the Hokage and his words are the law, but still the council can be a pain in the ass in times, he still doesn't understand the point of the council, and he mentally curse his Sensei, the second Hokage for creating the damn council.
"It's your job to handle them, just remind them that I am a Sannin and as such I can train anyone. If something more, then just tell them that he is a civilian and no shinobi and as such, they cannot do anything about him. If they say something else, then manage it, after all you're the Hokage and your word is law" Jiraiya said and the Hokage simply nodded. He turned towards Naruto and spoke "Kid, you are coming with me"
"But why? Did I do something wrong?" asked the kid wondering what did he do this time? Although he was not attacked, at least physically, but still he was thrown out of the store, he was not allowed pretty much anywhere, he was ignored, people used to glare at him, and the worst thing, he didn't know the reason behind it.
"No kid, far from it, I am taking you with me to give you a better life. I will take you with me on a tour outside of this village and I will also teach you some cool things. So, how would you like to be with me" asked the Sannin with a wide grin and a look of concern which he mostly saw in parents of other children's. Maybe this man really wanted to help him? Without any second thoughts in mind he grinned and jumped on the news and decided to follow him.
A While Later – At The Gate
Naruto was happy, it was his first time leaving the village walls, he always wondered how the outside world would be, and now he got the chance to know. He was happy, jumping and a huge grin was plastered on his face. "So, where are we going first? What will you teach me? Will it be something cool like the other ninja do?" he started asking a barrage of questions, one after another.
"Will you stop asking" Jiraiya shouted, he understood why most of the ninja would never train a kid of his age, so much questions, so much pouting, but then again most of the kids have a normal life, not messed up like his. He thought for a moment and then decided to put some seals. "Alright, now I am going to train you, I am going to give you weights for training, and believe me kid, you will improve way faster with this" he said with a grin on his face.
"Really, I am going to be the best! BELIEVE IT!" he shouted and started jumping again, really how difficult could it be to stop a child from shouting and asking question or to simply put annoying. Jiraiya went through the procedure and placed seals around his body, he placed gravity seal and restriction seal on him to help him with chakra reserves and his physical strength.
"Ok kid, now I have placed two seals on you, gravity seal and restriction seal, gravity seal will act like weight and will help you with physical training which will make you a ninja in no time, the restriction seal would help you with chakra reserves so that you could perform some high level jutsu with ease" he said with a grin. He thought that the child would be impressed by his work and intelligence, but it was quite opposite.
"What do you mean?" asked the blond, not understanding even a single word that the Sannin spoke, heck, what was chakra? What are seal? How did he expect a child to know all these concepts, a child with no knowledge about all this?
"Never mind" he muttered, "You would be able to do flashy stuff with the help of those" he said so that the child would understand. And true, this statement was understood by the child and he started shouting once again, to make him quite, Jiraiya spoke again "Okay now carry all these –" he handed him the bags and made him carry those.
"But why?" asked the blond
"Believe me, it will help you to become the best" Jiraiya said and he started shouting to become the best again and then started running here and there, 'For a kid of this age, he sure has way more stamina, it seems that the seals didn't affect him, maybe I should increase the level to level 2' he thought
1 Week Later – Council Meeting
Naruto Uzumaki, the known troublemaker or the 'Demon' they keep referring was not seen around the village for almost a week. The civilian side was quiet as they thought that it was a good thing that the demon was nowhere to be seen but on the same hand they were quite curious as why has he not shown up within a week. But nonetheless the matter was because of the shinobi part of the council, namely the clan heads were worried for the wellbeing of the child, they did not see him as the demon but quite the opposite, although they never showed him any love either. So as to not show them so weak, letting emotions control them is not shinobi like, and the clan reputation can lower.
"May I know why this meeting is called?" asked the Hokage
"Yes lord Hokage, we just wanted to know the whereabouts of Naruto Uzumaki, we have not seem him in this village for quite a time" said Shikaku Nara, the Jonin Commander of Konoha, head of the Nara clan and was a member of an Ino-Shika-Cho trio alongside Inoichi Yamanaka and Choza Akimichi. He was one of the few who actually cared for the boy.
"Didn't most the village wanted him gone, now that he is gone, I fail to see the reason why you want to investigate about him" said the Hokage with a calm voice and a smirk in his mind. All was going according to his plan, he spent 1 week to get all the points together to outsmart the council and to give them a hard time for all that they did to Naruto.
"But, what if that thing is planning something against us" yelled a pink haired banshee, almost all the shinobi council face palmed them against this statement, how can a 4 year old untrained child do harm to shinobi?, while the civilian side only agreed with him.
The pink haired banshee, Mebuki Haruno, a retired kunoichi, is the main representative of the civilian side. The other members were each of several departments, like administrative, trades, etc. In total, there were 6 civilian members, 5 being tied to a department, and the main representative of the civilian side. Unfortunately, she is also a Kyuubi hater, for killing her husband.
"But he hasn't planned anything yet, so I cannot take any action" replied the Hokage. Yes, he was enjoying this, after all Naruto was like his own grandson.
Anyone can be fooled by his answers but except the one Shikaku Nara, who quickly understood that the boy was safe and hence he stayed quiet and decided to watch him play with all the fools. Watching him, Inoichi Yamanaka, clan head of the Yamanaka clan and Choza Akimichi, clan head of the Akimichi clan also kept quiet, after all they were part of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation. Following their example Hiashi Hyuga, head of the Hyuga clan also kept his mouth shut. Out of everyone, the only one's aware of the boy's heritage and his parents and his legacy were the members of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation and Hiashi Hyuga along with the third Hokage himself, and they were all good friends of his father too.
Murmurs were going through the council, mainly from the civilian side, he got annoyed and yelled "SILENCE!" and immediately the council was on order. "Now, any more discussions" asked the Hokage. He was really enjoying this day of his life, he wanted to play them for so long, but he never did, but today was his chance and he decided to make full use of it.
"But Hiruzen, he is our jinchuriki and thus we have to be aware of his location at all times" said Danzo Shimura, a guy who was covered in bandages on his entire left side of his body.
"First thing, the next time you address me, address me as Hokage and not by my name, Understood. As for his location, he is not in this village anymore" the Hokage replied, he did not like this person, but his hands were tied because of his importance to Konoha, although he is still waiting for the right moment to put him in his right place.
"This cannot be tolerated, he is our jinchuriki and as such he cannot leave the village without our knowledge" said Danzo along with the other two advisors Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
"No, he is just a civilian and as such he can leave the village whenever he wants, until he becomes a shinobi, you people have no right over him, for a matter of fact, you people have no control whatsoever on either shinobi or a civilian" spoke the Hokage
"It doesn't matter whether he is a shinobi or not, he is the jinchuriki of Konoha and as such he cannot do as he pleases, he must ask for permission to leave this village and that is too with a supervisor to watch him" said Danzo
"There is no law that states any sort of control over the civilians, all the laws regarding jinchuriki's are made assuming that they are shinobi of the village. And why do you presume that he did not ask permission, yes, I gave him permission to leave the village and there is also a shinobi to supervise if anything goes wrong" stated the Hokage
"This is intolerable, you cannot just allow him to do as he please" said Danzo
"And why can't I? May I know why I can't just accept the wishes of a civilian" asked the Hokage
"He is not a civilian, he is just a weapon to the village" replied Danzo
"Wrong, this is the sole reason why you didn't become a Hokage, because you have twisted ideals. I want to make one thing clear, that he is a civilian of this village and as Hokage I will not do anything that is wrong for the boy. His jinchuriki status do not blind my judgment and I will show same judgment towards anybody, no matter who he is. Do I make myself clear" replied the Hokage and the whole council nodded, the civilian side was not concerned because they saw this as a blessing that the demon was not in the village.
"May I ask who this shinobi is?" asked Koharu
"No, you can't, currently it's classified information. Now anymore discussions will be done later, the meeting is adjourned" replied the Hokage, classified, my foot, he was just pulling their legs and he did not wanted to tell them that Jiraiya had taken him to train.
After a while when the whole council left, the Ino-Shika-Cho came forward. "If you are so calm, then I will assume that the boy is in safe hands, but we would like to know if he will be returning to the village anytime soon, after all his father was our dear friend and as such it is our job to make sure the boy stays safe" said Shikaku
"Yes, he is safe and yes, he will return within a year, now I must take my leave" the Hokage said and took his leave. Yes, the day indeed went according to him, he played everything well, but he just wished he would had more fun, now he have to return to his worst nightmare, doing paper work.
4 Months Later – Away From Konoha
It has been 4 months and a few days since they started training, Jiraiya had Naruto run around with seals and extra bags to build up his body before he could start his actual training. During the months, his skills didn't improve that much, but he was physical strong to begin his training as a ninja, Jiraiya made sure that he would be ready, he make him run laps, he was total hard-core on him, he also made him vegetable and proper diet so that he would not suffer malnutrition. He taught him about chakra and other things on the move, he dictated all of it like a story, he told him stories about the kage's, especially his student, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. He treated him like his own son, took him out on lunch, dinner or breakfast, treated him sweets and ice creams and did everything a father would do. In the meantime, Naruto understood one thing, and that was the love of a father that he never had. In all sense of the world, he was truly happy to be with Jiraiya.
"Kid, tell me why do you want to become strong?" Jiraiya asked
"It is my dream to become Hokage, so that everyone would start respecting me, like they respect the old man. So that everyone would treat me like I am somebody, somebody important, and that's why I want to become strong, so that I can be Hokage one day." He replied with a complete serious face that Jiraiya had never seen before.
"Kid, if that's your dream, then it would be better to give up. It's not that easy to become a Hokage" he said with a wide grin. 'A nice goal, although the reasons behind it are childish, but he would understand it with time' he thought and smiled in his mind.
Now Naruto was furious, his dream was the sole reason he wanted to become strong, he was pissed right now and he stated with a calm and determined voice, but fury in his words "I won't give up, I refuse to give up, I won't ever give up, because if I ever second guess myself...that'll be the day when it's all over!"
'The guts to never give up' Jiraiya thought 'He is just like them, maybe I should tell him' "Kid, you have passed my test, now let's train you to become the best Hokage that Konoha had ever seen" he said with a wide grin and a happy and warm face.
"What?" Naruto asked not sure what he heard or not sure what he was trying to say.
"Kid, the most important ninja talent... is not the number of techniques one acquires. The most important thing... is a spirit that never gives up! And you got that spirit…you passed my test, I only train those who possess the guts to never give up" Jiraiya said with a large grin as he watched the happy as well as shocked face of the blond. "Okay, now kid I am going to teach you Taijutsu, I am not sure which style to teach you, so I am going to teach you my personal Taijutsu style, the Toad Style, however you will have to master many more stances on your own, and you have to create your own style, and all the while you would be wearing those seals, understood" he said as he looked towards the blond who was now a spitting image of the Fourth.
"Yes sensei" he said as he took the scrolls that Jiraiya gave him and then he started working on those, while Jiraiya went to do his research like usual. He would do his training and then when Jiraiya would return, then he would ask for pointers.
4 Months Later – Away From Konoha
Another 4 months passed, Naruto had completed his Taijutsu training with Jiraiya. The Toad Style Taijutsu was a difficult stance to master, but Naruto did it within 4 months. Now it was time to teach him about chakra, although Jiraiya already taught him the theory and moulding but still he had a long way to go. He was now ready to learn some chakra control exercises, but Jiraiya had other plans. His body was now built well, he doesn't need any more physical training, now all that was left was practice and learning chakra control.
'Now, let me see, he has way more chakra than his age, then he has the chakra of his tenant, I am definitely sure that he could pull at least one clone by now' Jiraiya thought. "Okay Naruto, come here" he called and waited for the blond to come there. When the blond arrived he spoke again "Okay kid, I am going to teach you a jutsu" he didn't get a chance to complete as Naruto started his chanting about learning a jutsu. But he shut him up and showed him a cross seal and yelled "Shadow Clone Jutsu" and a clone of Jiraiya appeared. He asked him to do the same.
It took him six hours to learn the jutsu, he kept going on until he collapsed on the ground, but at the last moment he finally succeeded, although the clone disappeared as soon as he collapsed, but the main point is, he succeeded. Jiraiya picked him up and went to the hotel and tucked him in his bed. The next day Jiraiya took him out to train again. He went to the same field and asked Naruto to make a clone, Naruto did as he was asked and created a clone. Jiraiya smile as he saw his godson pulled off a jonin level forbidden jutsu, although Naruto was unaware of this.
Jiraiya made a clone too and took Naruto's clone with him in a corner and whispered something, and then they both dispelled. "Hey, that is so not true" Naruto yelled as he got the memories of the clone. Jiraiya smirked and Naruto thought for a moment and spoke "Wait, how did I know that?" he asked
"That is not a normal clone Naruto, it's a shadow clone, and those are solid bodies which can assist in battle, unlike a normal clone. And once they dispelled, they return their memory to the original. But there is one limitation, this jutsu requires a high amount of chakra to pull it off, and only the memories gets transferred, and no physical strength is transferred." He explained him
"So that means what?" Naruto asked
"Think about it, if an exercise took you 1 year, then with the help of a single clone, it will take you 6 months, with the help of 12 clones, it will take you 1 month. Got it" Jiraiya said with an annoyed expression. 'The kid has a great potential, but at times he is a complete idiot, just like I was' he thought
"Yeah, I could use this in training, and reduce the time of it with the help of clone." Naruto said with starts and fire burning in his eyes. "Hey sensei, why didn't you teach me that early on?" Naruto asked when another thought came to his mind
"Because Naruto it's a forbidden jutsu, most jonin have difficulty pulling it off, it require lots of chakra" he explained. 'Maybe I should tell him, it his right to know that at least' he thought
"That means I am awesome, yeah I am the best, I just pulled a jonin level jutsu" he started chanting in excitement, but Jiraiya cut him off.
"Naruto I want to tell you something, something very important." Jiraiya stated as he saw that Naruto was now over his joy and he took that serious face again. "When the Kyuubi attacked the village, the Fourth Hokage went to fight it and killed it, you know that right" he asked and Naruto nodded.
"Of course I know that, the whole village talk about it, the Fourth Hokage is my idol, and I want to be just like him. I want to be strong like him" Naruto said with a happy smile, he was still unknown what was about to come next.
'Ironic' he thought and spoke again "But that is not the truth, he couldn't kill it, so he did the next best thing, to protect the village, he sealed it inside a new born baby, whose chakra coils were not developed, he sealed it inside of you Naruto"
Jiraiya saw the pale face of Naruto, he appeared to be in deep thought, Jiraiya decided to give a piece of his own mind again. "He entrusted you with the responsibility Naruto, he entrusted you with the responsibility to keep the fox at bay, and to keep the village safe. He entrusted you with his will of fire, you are his legacy" he said
"The one whom I looked up as my idol was the sole reason the whole village hated me. He sealed it inside me to protect the whole village, and made my life worse the same moment. But then again, he did it to protect everyone, including me, and because of that I was able to meet you, otherwise I would be a normal orphan living in a normal orphanage. Sure my life sucked before, but it can be changed. I will show the whole village that I am no monster, that I am Naruto Uzumaki." He said with a confidence in his voice and a hard gaze that made Jiraiya believe in him. "I am honoured he chose me with this responsibility, I will live up to his expectations, I will protect what he wanted, I will be the best Hokage that Konoha has ever seen, and I will protect my village"
"Very good Naruto, I am proud of you" Jiraiya said with a grin and smile. And then he laughed when he saw Naruto's smile and goofy grin.
"Hey, what are you laughing at?" Naruto asked with an angry face
"Your smile is my salvation Naruto, I am proud of you, and I am certain that you will be the one" Jiraiya said which was completely went over Naruto's head, and then they both laughed together. 'Well that went better than I expected' he thought mentally and grinned.
4 Months Later – Konoha (Naruto age 5)
The day in Konoha was going well, especially for the civilian and most of the village, since they have not seen the demon as they like to call him since a year. But today was the day when he was going to return, the Hokage was desperate to see him, he wanted to know what had Jiraiya taught him, and he wanted to see how the blond hero was doing, after all he was like a grandson to him.
The Hokage was sitting in his office going through the paper work, his worst nightmare as he so called him, then suddenly he heard a voice. "How it's going old man? Having fun" spoke the blond boy and the white haired sage in unison.
Seeing him his face instantly lighted up, he rose from his chair to take a closer look of the blond who was currently sitting on the edge of the window. 'He looks just like you Minato' thought the Hokage. "So how have you been Naruto?" asked the old man?
"That was the best year of my live, Jiraiya sensei said that he would take me on a trip again, I can't wait for it" he said in excitement.
"That's good and all, but you must be tired, so you should go home, I will talk to you later" he said and took out keys and handed them "These are the keys for your new apartment, ask Inu to get you there, I am sure he would be happy to see you again."
"Thanks old man" he said as he took the keys and went out.
They watched as Naruto went out. "So how does it all went? What are his skills? Did he enjoyed it?" the old Hokage kept on asking questions much to the irritation of Jiraiya.
"Geez, you worry too much sensei" Jiraiya said as he got annoyed at the outburst of the questions
"How could I not? After all he is like my own grandson" the old man said and Jiraiya only nodded, he can't deny the fact that his sensei saw the child as his own grandson, heck even he had started seeing his as his own son.
"It all went well, as for his abilities, he is currently academic level" replied Jiraiya
"What? But you took him for a year, and that's all you managed to train him, don't tell me that you didn't took his training seriously, and you spend your time peeking at the hot springs." Asked the Old Hokage, he was expecting that the boy would be now around low genin level, and with some more help he would be genin in a few months.
"No, that's completely ridiculous, and that is not peeking, its research. People die to read my literature, but I didn't took his training lightly, I did the best I could" replied Jiraiya
"Then how come he is still academic level, by now he should be around low genin level" asked the Hokage with curiosity.
"It's because I have to teach him from the scratch. His growth was sabotaged by the orphanage, they taught him wrong kanji, they didn't even teach him proper reading, they only acted to teach him, but it was all wrong." Replied Jiraiya
"I still can't understand the fact they saw the Fourth as the best ninja ever, yet they failed to trust his decision with Naruto. Well aside from the overall skill, fill me in on each level" asked the Hokage while Jiraiya only shook his head at the complete foolishness of the villagers.
"He is around high academic level to low genin level, his body is well built up due to the gravity and resistance seals that I placed on him, he knows my Toad Style Taijutsu, although his movements are still slippery but they can be polished, aside from that he know the leaf control exercise, actually he mastered it to the highest level. As for his Genjutsu, let's say he sucks at them, but with time he would know how to break free from them, his Ninjutsu, is quite good. His chakra reserves are high chunin level and he knows only one Ninjutsu, which is Shadow Clone Jutsu" he finished explaining everything to his old sensei
"Do you think it was wise to teach a kid a forbidden jutsu?" asked the old Hokage, a bit shocked and a bit angry at the fact that the forbidden jutsu could have kill him if he wasn't ready. But he has to admit, he never took Jiraiya to be this type of serious, to put gravity and resistance seals to build up his body and stamina was completely genius.
"Yup, it was wise, considering that he was not able to perform the normal clone at all. It is not possible for him to gather so little chakra, and with shadow clones, he can train and learn things faster" Jiraiya said
"Is that so, I understand, but don't you think it was a little bit early? Aside from that how many clones could he manage to make?" asked the old man
"No, I think it was the perfect time for it. He can make about 20 clones right now. And I also told him about the Kyuubi" Jiraiya said with a smirk knowing what was coming next.
"WHAAT?" the old man yelled, "How did he take it?" he said again as he calmed himself down. One hit after another, first he heard that the boy managed to learn a forbidden jutsu that most jonin have trouble, then he heard that Naruto could perform twice as much as a normal jonin, then he heard that Naruto knew about the Kyuubi, he only wondered what will be the next thing that will come out from Jiraiya's mouth?
"He took it well, he said that he was honoured that he was chosen by the Fourth for this responsibility and he said a lot more, and at the end he said that he will live up to his expectations and that he will protect the village just like the Fourth." Jiraiya spoke
"Ironic" the old man said as he smirked at the fact that Naruto wanted to be like the Fourth. It was not secret that his dream was to become Hokage, how could it be a secret when he used to screaming it in front of the whole village.
"Yeah, I know, I thought the exact same thing" he said, but then remembered he was getting late and spoke again "Sensei, I am going out to meet a contact, in the meantime provide Naruto with scrolls if he asks, and please tell him that I will come back soon, see you later" he said as he dashed out the window.
"Well I will gladly do that, see you soon Jiraiya" the old man said although he knew that Jiraiya was not in the room anymore, but he said it to no one.
1 Week Later
In a building, directly in the heart of Konoha, there was a man seated behind a desk in an office looking into a crystal ball. He was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Behind Hiruzen was another man with silver hair, dressed in all black with Grey armour, and a dog like porcelain mask. This was the ANBU captain code-named 'Inu'. With one of his most trusted ANBU behind him, Hiruzen could not keep himself from sighing from what he was viewing. 'The forest seems dull' he thought
"Hmm it does, that's odd. It's not supposed to look like that, the only times I've seen it look like that was when Hashirama-sensei was sad over something. At times like the death of a ninja, but that was only due to his connection to nature via his Wood Style...could it be?" stated a slightly shocked Hiruzen. "Kakashi, I want you to get me Tenzo, and ask him to be here with his ANBU uniform" said the Hokage. Kakashi nodded and left.
The next day, Hiruzen Sarutobi went to his apartment and took him for a walk. As they were walking around Konoha, the Hokage decided to ask Naruto a few questions, "Naruto, how have you been, I haven't seen you for a while?"
"I've been okay old man, everything's fine" Naruto said trying to mask his sadness from the Hokage. But he couldn't, after all the Hokage was supposed to know everything, and he was known as the professor for nothing, things like this is hard to keep from him.
"Really? Are you sure you're okay, you haven't been feeling a little down as of late, feeling lonely over how people seem to ignore you?" the Hokage said
Naruto stared bug-eyed at the Hokage. "How did you know?" he asked. He thought that he could hide it, he did not wanted him to know, he did not wanted to make him worried or anything, truth to be told he was gladly accepting the burden alone, although he was sad but he intended to show everyone that he was not the nine tails, but he was Naruto Uzumaki.
"I am the Hokage, I make it a point to know...How about you tell me over some lunch, hmmm? Have you heard of a place called Ichiraku's?" asked the Hokage. 'He has matured, no doubt, but he is still a child' thought the Hokage as he took him to get something to eat. He wanted to know about him more, he wanted to check his suspicion and what better way could it be, aside from having some food.
Several Minutes Later - Ichiraku's
"This is the Food of GODS!" stated Naruto as he happily devoured his 3rd bowl of the heavenly food called ramen. Not feeling at all depressed anymore from his earlier story to the Hokage of his lack of attention from the Konoha populace.
"Indeed it is Naruto, Ichiraku's has the best ramen in all the Land of Fire, possibly the world. And you are always welcome here" said Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku's.
"Really Old man? I can always come here?" asked Naruto, who stopped eating awaiting a response.
Before Teuchi could answer though, his young 10-year-old daughter, Ayame, answered first as she came around from behind the counter, "Of course Naruto, I'll always be here for you, we could be best friends, huh?" as she hugged Naruto around the neck.
Naruto became shocked, the girl he just met wanted to become his friend, his best friend...then he almost had a heart attack when she hugged him. It was his first hug from someone other than the Hokage and Jiraiya and he couldn't remember being happier. His first friend his age, Naruto felt immediate happiness.
As this was all going on, Konoha's plant life seemed to come alive. Trees grew seemingly immediately, flowers began blooming rapidly. Everything looked beautiful and to the one dubbed "The Professor", he had a pretty good idea what was going on, 'I think I know the perfect sensei for you Naruto. It seems something amazing has come back to the leaf.' thought Hiruzen with a smile.
1 Month Later
It has been a month since the old Hokage hunched that Naruto may have the ability to use Wood Style, so he asked one of his ANBU guards whose name is Tora to teach him how to utilize it. That life of moving to his own apartment, meeting his sensei, and beginning his journey to become the best shinobi he could be. He only knew him because of his tiger mask and his short spiky brown hair. The ANBU was a pretty cool guy in Naruto's opinion. He was a calm, collected person. He wasn't a strict teacher but he did instil a sense of perfection into Naruto's training. Tora was a very busy shinobi, so they decided that they would meet every weekend to do some training on chakra manipulation at a simple training ground.
Seeing how he couldn't do anything too strenuous due to not wanting to stunt the growth of a five-year-old kid, he thought that giving him some chakra control exercises would be good for now. But the plan changed when Jiraiya mentioned that he had took his leaf exercise to the highest level, so he asked Tora to let him do the stone exercise including all the task that he had done with the leaf exercise, which was twice the number of task that Tora had in mind.
The stone exercise was a common exercise in the ANBU. In this, Naruto had to use stone instead of a leaf, and do the required task, that is sticking it to the head, rotating it along the body, hovering it above the head, and other things like that. However somethings that Naruto could do with the leaf, was above normal exercises. Although the exercise at hand would only help him if he use less chakra, but if he wants to use more chakra, then he would still have to do more advance training like tree climbing. He did notice that somehow despite Naruto being a Jinchuriki, his chakra control was pretty good. It was shocking because usually people with higher reserves didn't have good control of it, quite the anomaly.
They thought that Naruto would at least spend some time on it, but Naruto was Naruto and he got tired, so he created 30 shadow clone to help him in the training and he completed the whole exercise within a month. Right now Naruto was waiting on his usual training ground for Tora and Third Hokage, today was the day when they decided that Naruto was ready to begin his chakra manipulation training; at least he was ready to complete the first level of it out of the two.
Naruto tilted his head towards a spot when he felt a different feeling that someone was about to get there, it was something new for him, it was the first time that he felt this, however he was not aware what it was? And then and there, the old Hokage along with Tora appeared with a Shunshin. The old man watched at the curious expression of the blond, like he knew where they were going to arrive, and decided to ask the question.
"Naruto, how did you know when and where we were going to arrive?" asked the Hokage with curiosity, which the blond felt. Naruto was still confused about it, he didn't knew what was happening but he was able to sense his curiousness.
"I don't know old man, I just kind of felt you both coming and that was the direction he was coming from. It's the first time this happened, it's kind of weird. I also know what people are feeling too." said Naruto unaware of what that meant exactly.
'That's the same as Lady Mito's Negative Emotion Sensing' thought the Hokage, "Well Naruto what are we both feeling at the moment then?" asked the Hokage wanting to check another suspicion.
"Hmm, you feel curious, proud and tired. And the man with the tiger mask is feeling a little anxious and kind of excited." said Naruto still unaware at the fact what he was doing? How was he doing? He just knew all that, it was just like sensing air around his body.
A quick nod from the ANBU, the Hokage said "Naruto it seems you're a sensor with abilities I've seen in only one person."
With a look of excitement, Naruto questioned "Who? Who? And is it that good?"
"Mito Uzumaki, she was the wife of the First Hokage. Before you ask, I'm not sure if you're related, I think your last names are just coincidental. And yes Naruto, it is one of the most powerful sensor abilities recorded and with that you're bound to be an amazing shinobi. No one would be able to deceive you, quite powerful indeed." Replied the Hokage
"Yay! I'll be the best shinobi in the world." said an overjoyed Naruto.
'You are full of surprises Naruto, I have no doubt that you would be a great shinobi in the future, I am sure your dad would be proud of you Naruto, you are truly unpredictable' the Hokage thought. "I am sure you would be, but for now we have to check you affinities" replied the Hokage to which the blond only nodded.
Tora looked towards the Hokage who nodded and he took out a piece of paper and handed it to Naruto. "Now, it is a simple procedure, all you have to do is to transfer a bit of your chakra through it. When you do so, the paper would either burn to ashes indicating that you have a Fire affinity, become soaked in water indicating Water affinity, crumble or turn into dirt indicating Earth affinity, crinkle up like a ball indicating Lightning affinity, or split in half indicating Wind affinity." He explained and watched as Naruto concentrated and passes some chakra through it.
The next thing that happened surprised the trio, although the Hokage had a smirk on his face, after all it was his hunch. The paper at first split into two, indicating that the boy had a Wind Affinity, and that too a very strong one indicating that it was his primary affinity, then half the paper soaked in water while the other half turned into dirt, indicating that he had Water Affinity and Earth Affinity as his secondary affinity. The most surprising thing was that the blond had three affinities, heck even most jonin's don't have three affinities.
"Whoa! Tora-sensei does that mean I have three affinities?" stated an excited Naruto.
As shocked as he was, Tora didn't allude to Naruto on that fact. He was an ANBU, he could handle shocks like this, but it was still impressive and you could tell from his tone when he said, "Um…yes Naruto that is extremely rare and very impressive. It's so impressive I think I'll teach you two jutsu for two of your affinities since they are both identical to mine. But you first have to carry out elemental manipulation for both and we may even find some elemental manipulation on wind too, but for now let's start with earth."
Tora handed him a leaf and told him to channel chakra into it and attempt to turn it into dirt. "Alright Naruto, channel your chakra through the leaf and try to turn it into dirt." And then he began to give him some more advice about it.
"Alright Tora-sensei, I can't wait for it, I'm gonna steal that hat from you old man. Believe it!" Naruto said as he began to channel his chakra.
"I have no doubt that you will my boy, now practice hard, I and Tora here –" he gestured towards the ANBU "have some things to talk about" he said and waved his hand, "Well, see you later Naruto" said the old man as he and Tora left from there with a Shunshin, the same way they came there.
Hokage Tower
They appeared there with a Shunshin, "So, what do you think now?" asked the old Hokage with a smirk. AT first when he mentioned it to Tora, he didn't believe him, stating that it was not possible, unless someone had experimented on him, but now it was different.
"Well, now that I have seen it from my own eyes, and the test states that he have the affinity for both water and earth, he may have a possibility to have Wood Affinity" Tora said, still surprised at the fact that the boy indeed have a chance for Mokuton.
"Not a possibility, he definitely have the Mokuton, I am sure of it. You should have seen the environment when I took him to Ichiraku's, he was so happy that the entire region seemed alive with plants and flowers." The Hokage said
"But why now? Why does it took so long for it to appear?" asked Tora
"Maybe for a fact that he didn't knew how to use chakra" replied the old man to which the ANBU only raised an eyebrow, "Jiraiya took him out with him to train as you know" he asked to which the ANBU only nodded, "He taught him how to properly mold chakra, before that the boy didn't know how to mold chakra. So maybe now that he know how to mold chakra, his hidden abilities are coming forth" the old Kage explained.
"Okay, that may explain it, but what about his sensing ability" asked the ANBU
"Maybe for the same reason, or maybe because he lacked the control for it. When he did the stone exercise, maybe then his ability for sensing started to come forth" replied the Hokage to which the ANBU only nodded and left for a mission.
Two Months Later
It has been three months since Jiraiya left him for a while, he read all of his scrolls and only found two useful jutsu's, Substitution Jutsu (Kawarimi) and Transformation Jutsu (Henge) and as soon as he read them, he began learning them using his shadow clones. He also trained with Tora every once a week, he also gave him pointers on earth manipulation, at first it was boring and when he got annoyed he created 40 clones and asked them to complete the training. One can say he was quite a genius, he completed the first level earth manipulation within two months' time span, although according to him, it took him more because he created clones, but nonetheless he completed it within two months month.
"Hey old man, where is Tora sensei, he haven't been here in a month" asked Naruto as he entered the room from the window.
"Oh Naruto, it's you, I thought it was Jiraiya, guess you picked most of his habits, I don't know why you both can't use a door for god's sake. Well Tora is on a mission and he will be here within the next month" replied the Hokage
"Oh come on, I have completed the first level of earth manipulation, he told me he would tell me what to do next, and now he just left me to have some fun on a mission" whined the boy
"Stop whining will you? Here –"he said as he threw a scroll "these are instructions on the first step of water manipulation. He left it, just in case if you completed the previous one"
Naruto jumped with joy and was about to leave when he noticed the face of the old man. 'Is he in any problem?' he thought. "Hey old man, what's up with the face?" he asked
"Oh nothing, I was just thinking for a name for my new born grandson" he said as he smiled a little thinking about his grandson.
"WHAT? WHEN? AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TOLD ME?" spoke Naruto
"Relax Naruto, he was born yesterday, and if you weren't busy in your training, you would've heard the news" replied the Hokage
"Oh, so any names that came up on your mind" asked the blond
"No, but I want his name to start from Konoha" replied the Hokage
"Hmm, how about Konohamaru?" asked the blond
"Yes, that's perfect, thank you Naruto for the name. Now you named him, so I guess you're his godfather" replied the Hokage, he's face lightening up
"Godfather… me… I don't know… I guess I would like to be his godfather, does that mean that I'll get to train him" asked the blond
"Probably yes" replied the Hokage still smiling and admiring the name given to his grandson by Naruto.
"Well alright then, now I better go and get to my training, then I gotta hang out with my friends too, so see you later old man" the blond jinchuriki stated and left through the window.
'He sure has matured' he thought and then looked towards the paper work and cursed 'Damn you Minato, why did you have to leave all this for me, damn paper work, I am getting too old for this'
Notes: Well what do you think? Naruto has three affinities, and he is related to the first Hokage, I will reveal that later, and no, he is not directly related to Tsunade. Good chakra control because his reserves are not large enough till now and his training is everything that he got in the ninja academy in the original series. And with respect to his age he has nice control which normally a 12 year dead last would have. Try to see it like this, a 5 year old boy with basic leaf control which is given in the academy and then some tree walking which is taught after team placement. Special thanks to Rasenkai.