Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 1: The Konoha Initiative
Six Years Later: Konohagakure
The sun rose on Konohagakure, greatest of the five major ninja villages. The Hokage Mountain shone brightly displaying the faces of the four men who had spent their lives building and defending Konoha from all invaders. The birds were chirping happily and the people were going about their morning routine to prepare for the day ahead, yes all was good in Konoha until…
"NARUTO NAMIKAZE, GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" The ground shook with the scream of Kushina Uzumaki, wife to the Hokage. Despite being a non-active shinobi now for six years, she was still known as one of the most fearsome kunoichi to ever come from the Hidden Leaf. Many shinobi and civilian feared her wrath, but none knew the fear her son Naruto was currently feeling.
Naruto peeked around the door of his room to see his mother standing at the bottom of the hallway's stairs. Her face was in a grimace that promised he would feel pain for whatever it was he did. Like any child wishing to avoid pain, he complied with his mother's request. As insurance, he turned on the legendary puppy dog eyes and pouted his lips and asked, "Yes mommy?"
Naruto's insurance paid off when his mother saw his face and her heart melted. All parents dreaded that look; it made it impossible to stay mad for long. Nevertheless, Kushina, with the icy sweet tone of all mothers asked her son "Naruto, would you like to tell me why your muddy footprints are on the ceiling all the way from the kitchen to the bathroom?" She had told him one hundred times to not track mud in the house already, how many times would it take?
For his part, Naruto answered in the blunt manner that all children understood the world: "well momma, you said to not get the floor dirty and my feet were all muddy, so I walked on the ceiling to clean them off in the bathroom."
Kushina wanted to slam her head against the wall, she couldn't rightfully be angry with Naruto because she had said the floor specifically. She took the high road however and decided to be constructive in reprimanding her child using the one thing that always held his interest: becoming a ninja. "Naruto, what do you want to become?"
"A ninja!" he replied enthusiastically.
"And what are ninja also called?" she inquired.
"Shinobi!" he replied.
"Good, now tell me what does shinobi mean?" the trap was set.
"A shinobi is defined as one who sneaks in unseen" he replied in a textbook manner. Upon finishing his words however his eyes bulged with realization, Kushina had caught him squarely in her trap.
"So tell me, what did you do wrong?" she sweetly asked him, forcing him to explain his now realized wrongdoing.
"I…tracked mud on the ceiling and someone could see my footprints which makes me a bad shinobi." Naruto was crestfallen; being a shinobi meant everything to him, failing in any aspect of it was the same as a sin to the energetic young boy.
"Good, I'm glad you understand now Naruto. In the future clean your feet before coming inside, OK?"
"Yes momma" he replied.
Seeing that her lesson hit home, she decided to restore her son's usual energetic visage. "Alright, now go back to your room and get dressed, don't forget today is very special, you start your training at the academy today!"
With that sentence Naruto's eyes went wide as saucers and he dashed off to his room without a single word. Kushina looked up at the trail on the ceiling and sighed remembering just how much unforeseen trouble her husband had caused for her and all other parents across Konoha.
Flashback: 2 weeks after Naruto's birth
Minato Namikaze stood before the Ninja Council of Konoha. They were seated in front of him in three tiers. The first and smallest tier consisted of the four noble clans of Konoha: the Uchiha, Hyuuga, Aburame, and Akimichi clans. The second tier were highly influential clans that joined Konoha shortly after its formation or became important to Konoha's survival. This tier contained the Inuzuka, Yamanaka, Nara, Sarutobi, Kurama, Hatake, and the newest addition Namikaze clans. The final tier consisted of minor and clan-less shinobi representatives for the general ninja populace. There were three general ninja representatives for each sector of Konoha, and then one representative each for the Genin, Chuunin, Jounin, and ANBU. The council consisted of a total of twenty-one members, with the Hokage and his two advisors being the final members. The actual vote count for the council however was twenty-five with the four noble clans receiving two votes each as per the Konoha charter. The Hokage however had the power of executive decision if he chose to enforce it that could only be overturned by a 4/5ths or greater vote against his decision, such was the trust and power put in the hands of the Hokage.
This council had been called to reconcile what Minato believed needed to be done to ensure the strength of Konoha for generations to come. He knew that some of the clans would be against the control it would place upon them as well as the separate civilian council that would have issue with their children being forced into training at such a young age. Minato however, truly believed that these were necessary precautions that would ultimately keep Konoha on top and thus needed the consensus of the ninja council before calling a grand council to order.
Behind Minato sat his two advisors, the elders of Konoha: Hiruzen Sarutobi the Third Hokage, and Shimura Danzo operator of Konoha's ROOT program. Many had disagreed with his positioning Danzo into such a high position of power, but Minato felt that Danzo did truly have Konoha's best interest at heart and that sometimes a stronger hand than what Hiruzen would offer was necessary achieve what was best for Konoha. This didn't mean that Minato fully trusted Danzo however, it simply meant he believed in the old saying "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Personally, he found it ironically entertaining that the so called 'Shinobi no Kami' and the 'Shinobi no Yami' operated as his advisors, creating a balance that many did not enjoy seeing, but he knew to be necessary to weigh all options accurately. Between these two advisors, who both knew of his plan, Minato knew that Danzo supported it for increasing Konoha's strength, but wished there was more to the plan. Hiruzen however thought it was too strong to ask young children to train so roughly at a young age and was primarily against the plan. Being unknowing of just how the clans would vote in this decision, Minato's advisors votes would play a pivotal role in this meeting.
"Thank you everyone for coming, in the light of the attack upon my wife during childbirth and the nature of the attack itself we are meeting today to discuss the future of Konoha's shinobi population. It is the belief of many others and myself that this attack is only a foreshadowing of events to come and so a great change must be made to protect Konoha from the coming storm. This plan has been named the "Konoha Initiative" and through it, it is my hope that Konoha will become stronger than ever before. Because of the gravity of what the Konoha Initiative entails, I am revoking the executive right of the Hokage to show you how much I value your input before this plan is brought to the grand council. I need all of your trust and help to ensure this plan goes through." The attack on Kushina and Naruto worried Minato greatly. The two weeks after he had spent nearly sleepless with Hiruzen and Danzo working on the greatest training shift in the history of the shinobi world. It was a gamble for Minato to forfeit his executive right, but one that just might win him the votes necessary to pass the initiative.
As per the Konoha charter, the clan with first rights to speak was the Uchiha clan. Representing them was a man with black hair and black eyes with strong frown lines, the head of the Uchiha clan and head of the Military Police: Fugaku Uchiha. "What a strong show of faith Hokage-sama, if you would be so kind, could you please explain this initiative to us before we take any consideration as to how we will vote?" The kindness of his opening statement was an obvious formality, but niceties had to be observed regardless.
"Of course Uchiha-dono" replied Minato "there are three major pillars to the Konoha Initiative with multiple addendums listed below each one, please allow me to explain the major points in full before questions are made." With the sign of approval from Fugaku, Minato began:
"First, it is resolved that the basic requirements for becoming a ninja shall be increased. Upon joining the academy a shinobi hopeful must be able to perform the tree walking exercise for at least one minute, additionally they must be able to perform fifty push-ups, sit-ups, and run for thirty minutes without stopping. Upon graduation, a student must be able to perform the water walking technique for at least one minute, perform one hundred push-ups, sit-ups, and run for half a day without stopping. In addition they must have mastered basic survival, tracking, and navigational skills. Finally they must be able to perform the substitution jutsu, the henge jutsu, and a clone jutsu other than the basic clone genjutsu. If any of these fields are not met adequately then a student must make up for them remarkably in other fields. The final decision will be made based upon the vote of the academy instructor, the Hokage, and his advisors. The secondary exam shall still be given by the chosen Jounin instructor to determine their teamwork skills.
Second, the ANBU program will be turned into a smaller group that reports only to the Hokage and acts on his orders alone. The rest of ANBU's original duties will be turned over to the ROOT program to provide increased strength to Konoha's black ops. ROOT will be made an entirely voluntary program with specific guidelines of training changed in accordance of agreement by the Hokage and his advisors.
Third, in accordance with the first resolution the academy's curriculum shall be rewritten with a higher focus on specific ninja related skills. The minimum entry age shall be 6 and the graduation age will be 12 regardless of skill, no more early graduations shall be permitted. Any child not qualified to become a shinobi by this time will be removed from the program and put into a new civilian police force to supplement the Military Police Corps, the Uchiha clan will have direct control of this new force. Upon the third year of the academy, students shall begin taking D-rank missions that will now be reserved solely for academy student training. Upon their fifth year in the academy students will be removed from standard classroom format and broken up into four main divisions focusing on their strengths. These four sections will be primarily focused upon taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and special divisions.
That is the Konoha Initiative as planned, changes or additions can be made accordingly, thank you for your time. I assure you that if this plan is accepted then Konoha's ninja will become the best in the world without compare and you can be certain your successors will surpass you and make your individual clans stronger than ever, that is all, I will now take questions."
"Troublesome" muttered Shikaku Nara head of the Nara clan. His single word echoed the emotions of the entire council. In addition to what the Hokage had just spoken, there were over a hundred pages worth of addendums. This Konoha Initiative would indeed change the way things were done in Konoha, and many of the clans were visibly not happy with it.
The first to speak up was the head of the Hyuuga clan Hiashi Hyuuga. "Lord Hokage, if I may, while the proposed plan would allow for a much stronger force, the Hyuuga have reservations based upon the regulation this would place upon clans within Konoha. What exactly does this mean for those clans that focus on certain fields?"
The question was not unexpected, Minato knew that the clans never enjoyed being regulated, and fortunately he had planned for this. "Your concerns are quite valid Hyuuga-dono, but I assure you there is nothing to overly worry about. If you take notice to the first pillar you will see that any ninja hopeful who excels greatly in certain fields will be able to make up for other fields that they lack in. In pillar three you will also see an entire year focused upon specialization, the section marked "special" will specifically be focused upon either students with remarkable skills not fitting into the basic three fields—such as clan techniques, or those with kekkei genkai. Rest assured the only regulations will be to ensure a basic knowledge of all fields that all ninja will benefit from knowing. Are there more questions?"
Indeed there were, and the questioning continued for ten more hours until all parties were satisfied. In the end, the council voted unanimously to pass the initiative. A week later the grand council vote was quickly decided in favor of the initiative; the civilian council enjoyed the prospect of a civilian police force that would not bow to the laws related to ninja alone. Within the month the Konoha Initiative began its implementation. When the first batch of academy graduates taught under the new program graduated, the results were so spectacular that the grand council voted unanimously to adopt the initiative as a new section of Konoha's charter.
End Flashback
It was true, the Konoha Initiative had achieved all that Minato had hoped it would and more, regrettably this led to most parents rushing their child's training, and a six year old on a sugar rush that could run on the ceiling was enough to drive any parent insane. Ultimately though Konoha was safer, and many parents slept far better at night knowing that compared to before, Konoha was now nearly impenetrable, a true safe haven for all under its protection.
Today was the beginning of a new group of students at the academy, and this group promised to be one of the most powerful to ever come from Konoha. Nearly every major clan was represented in this group and there was no lack of talent to be seen. Kushina, like all mothers was worried about how her son would do on his first day, but not because he might not match up to his peers, instead because he might outshine them too much. Being the son of the fourth Hokage, Naruto had very large shoes to fill, but even at his young age he refused to try and adopt either his mother or his father's style, he wanted to become his own ninja—a fact that made both Kushina and Minato proud, if a little crestfallen.
The devotion Naruto had put into his training, plus natural skill had made him excel farther than either of his parents had thought possible. At this moment he already had most of the basic skills necessary to graduate, all he lacked was the age. It was also interesting to see him advance so far without the aid of the Kyuubi. The new seal Minato had designed made Naruto quite literally the jailer of the Kyuubi; it had no capability to interact or contact Naruto in any way without his direct permission. This seal could also be removed and transferred to another person, effectively making it so that Naruto was not even a Jinchuuriki in the literal sense. Minato had been right about one thing, the ninja world was destined to change, it had already began, and Kushina was sure that her son would be one of the greatest trailblazers in this new world.
The Ruins of Sky Country
In an office room, long abandoned, a man with long black hair and snake-like yellow eyes was meticulously reading old research notes. This man was Orochimaru, the exiled Sannin. Once he was one of Konoha's greatest assets, now he was one of their greatest enemies. Several years prior he had been approached by a man in an orange mask asking him to join an organization known as Akatsuki. Initially Orochimaru had been apathetic at best to join the group, but he had been promised an endless supply of subjects and access to research material. As a scientist at heart, Orochimaru could not deny the opportunity. The increase in resources had allowed him to complete his immortality jutsu faster than expected and he had become stronger than ever before.
Now he was finishing researching what was rumored as the "zero-tailed beast", the Reibi. The actual beast had long disappeared with the remnants of the hidden sky village, but many notes on it still remained in the forgotten ruins. Through his studies, Orochimaru had come to discover that it was not truly a "tailed beast" like the other nine, instead a manifestation of all negative feelings and emotions turned into an unbeatable weapon, if it could be harnessed properly.
Orochimaru had originally considered the idea of possibly using the Sharingan to control the Reibi, but it seemed that little known aspect of the Sharingan's powers did not apply to the Reibi either—a gift and a curse. In addition, it seemed likely the fabled mokuton he had experimented on in Konoha would not have any effect either. The Reibi was simply too unstable to control in such a manner.
Orochimaru theorized that if the beast could be contained within a stable vessel and controlled absolutely, the one that wielded its power would be nigh invincible. But, as with all great power, there was a cost. In order to control such a creature, one would need to be virtually as strong as the fabled Sage of Six Paths himself, permanently tying oneself to the Reibi; he had no desire to become dependent on another being for power. Orochimaru made others depend upon him, not the other way around.
Because of this, Orochimaru concluded this research as fruitless and chose to discard of it. As he rose, he set the room on fire and left, seeking out his next research topic: the nearly extinct Kamizuru clan, ancient enemies of Konoha's Aburame clan. Despite being a snake user, Orochimaru had always been fascinated by the swarm mentality of insects and just how effective it proved to be, further "proper" research could only prove to be valuable to increase his power in the future.
What Orochimaru did not bother paying attention to amidst his inner monologue, was a black hand emerging from the ground to grab the burning journal of Orochimaru's research. The hand belonged to Zetsu, Madara's servant and fellow member of Akatsuki. Madara knew the value of the topics Orochimaru researched, and also knew that the snake had a tendency to destroy what he saw as fruitless. Madara however, had access to power beyond any other ninja, and could find fruit where others could not; as a result he commanded Zetsu to follow Orochimaru and pick up any of his discarded research to discover what he might be able to implement in the future. The Reibi was just one of hundreds of topics that Madara had recovered from Orochimaru, and already he had a plan forming in his mind of how to use it, but first, he needed to find it.
Author's Note
Well here you go, the first true chapter of Faith, Hope, and Love. The Konoha Initiative is inspired by my belief that Minato would be a pragmatist on top of being caring for his family and would have made many changes to Konoha had he survived in canon. There are several tiny details about the Konoha Initiative that I didn't write specifically, if you have questions feel free to PM them to me and if I think they're big enough problems, I will write the answers in later chapters.
There was a lot of foreshadowing both in the prologue and in this chapter in multiple sections, take your guesses and we'll see if you're right!
—KajiyaSatoshi