The King: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

"Hiashi I have called you here in order to discuss the final wishes of the late Yondaime hokage." Hiashi stood before the Sandaime with his usual stoic expression. "I would like for you to read this letter that was left for me." With that the hokage pulled out a small envelope from one of the drawers of the old desk and handed it over to Hiashi. He took the letter and scanned the front which stated, Open in the case that both Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina have not survived the Kyuubi's attack, feeling a sense of dread he quickly opened it.

Hey there old man, if you're reading this it means that I succeeded in sealing the Kyuubi into my son. Obviously since we won't be there his heritage can not yet be known so it is probably best for him to take Kushina's surname at least until he can defend himself. I have been doing some research on Jinchuuriki and have found that they are either treated as a hero or a demon depending on the village they are raised in. I would love nothing more than for him to be seen as a hero, but I have always been optimistic in my views and that has cost me in the past. So I would like to leave my son in the care of my teammate Hiashi. Don't tell him I said this but he's like the brother I never had and I trust him with my life, he will know exactly what to do with my son. I leave everything, in regards to my son, to Hiashi's discretion. If I forgot anything else I'm sure you can find an answer to it.

Yondaime Hokage,

Namikaze Minato

At the end of the letter Hiashi could feel the tears that were in his eyes. He knew that Minato had died but he was so busy trying to keep everything together during the attack that the loss of his friend had yet to hit him. His best friend was dead and all that was left of him was a small child not even a day old. Not only that, but the boy was left in his care. Slowly he looked up to the hokage after once again schooling his emotions, "I accept and will raise his son as if he were my own."

"That is good to hear." With that the old hokage let a small smile make its way onto his face. "I am planning to show him to the people tonight..." unfortunately the hokage never got to finish his sentence as Hiashi quickly cut him off.

"No. The village will not be made aware of this child, at least not yet."

Sarutobi lost his smile as he heard this and decided to refute, "Hiashi this village deserves to see its hero. I am positive that he will be received with joy."

"I am sorry, but I cannot agree with you on this matter. If his burden is revealed he will become nothing more than a scapegoat for this village."

At that statement Sarutobi grit his teeth, "Do you honestly think so little of this village? They are a great people I know they will follow the wishes of the Yondaime." Even as Sarutobi made his passionate declaration Hiashi kept his face in a neutral expression and never broke eye contact.

"I know that they are a great people, Minato proved that to me long ago." Hiashi hung his head with a sad smile on his lips.

"If you know that how can you possibly deny them their hero?"

"Because unlike my teammate I know that they are still people. On top of that they have just survived the single greatest tragedy our village has ever had. If we give them the boy now they will not see him as a hero. So many people lost family, friends, and lovers and they need to cope with that. The boy would be the focal point for their despair and they would hate him for it." As the words sank in, Sarutobi knew the truth behind them and he gained a sullen look. "However, there is hope." At this Sarutobi looked up at Hiashi once more. When he met Hiashi's eyes a smile formed on the clan head's face. "You said it your self they are a great people. All they need is time to cope with their loss, a chance to confront their despair and overcome it. Then once they overcome this tragedy we will reveal their hero to them, and he will be received with love and respect as he should be."

Galvanized by the young man's speech Sarutobi could not stop himself from smiling "It would seem that my successor was very wise to choose you as his son's caretaker." Slowly the aged ninja stood from his chair, "I suppose it is time I took you to the child."

Hiashi stood in front of the large gates to the Hyuuga compound with a small wrapped bundle in his arms. The two guards bowed to him before they began to open the gates allowing him entrance. Hiashi walked across the walkway straight towards the main branch living quarters. As soon as he entered the mansion like house he turned to his right facing one of the many branch members. "Gather everyone to the clan meeting room I have an announcement."

"Of course Hiashi-sama." With that the branch member gave a small bow and left to gather the clan together. With that message sent he quickly made his way up to his wife. He found her in their bedroom pressing flowers. As soon as he entered the room she turned her attention to focus on him and noticed the small bundle in his arms.

"A gift for me," at that her eyes became large and began to water as she sniffed, "so you really are cheating on me." Hiashi already used to his wife's strange sense of humor simply smiled at her.

"Now, now Hikari this gift isn't just for you you'll have to learn to share." At that she crossed her arms and began to pout. However, that disappeared as Hiashi handed the small bundle to her. She quickly realized it was a small child and she nearly melted when the little child managed to pull one of his arms out to reach for her face. He had bright beautiful blond hair and very cute little birth marks adorning his cheeks along with the most beautiful pair of blue eyes that she had ever seen. "I'd like to introduce you to Hyuuga Naruto, the newest addition to our family." If Hikari even heard Hiashi she did not show it as she began to play with the little baby.

"Aren't you just the cutest, and such a strong grip for one so young." Hikari continued to just blab mindless nonsense as Naruto attempted to pull her finger and place it into his mouth.

That is until Hiashi interrupted with a small cough, "As much as I enjoy being completely ignored it is time for Naruto to be introduced to the entire family."

Hikari turned to him and stood up quickly, "Well then what are you just standing around for we need to get to the meeting." Hikari walked past him still cooing to the small child in her arms. Hiashi let a few tears fall as she left, he knew that his wife wouldn't pay as much attention to him once they had a child, but that was just cruel.

The entire Hyuuga clan sat inside of a single room within the main branch house. It was very large with hundreds of pads littering the floor; the pads were used to sit on during these meetings. They created a circle around the very center of the room where the person speaking would stand. Hiashi stood in the middle of the room stoic as ever with his wife just a few feet to his left holding the small bundle. Given the fact that she was about seven months pregnant she was situated in a chair instead of sitting on one of the pads. Hiashi took one final look around the room to make sure that everyone was in attendance before he spoke. "I have called this meeting for two reasons. The first reason pertains to the attack of the Kyuubi. As you know most of the village was destroyed; our own compound was spared since we were on the opposite side of the village. As such tomorrow all able bodied people except for the estate guards shall be heading out to help in the rebuilding of the village." Most of the older members had a grim look on their face as they recalled the past few days that the village had gone through. "The second reason I have called you here is to introduce my son Hyuuga Naruto." At this most of the clan had a confused expression on their faces, they knew that Hikari was due to give birth but not for a few more months. Hiashi walked over to his wife and took the small bundle from her and removed the cloth as he held the infant for everyone to see.

"This is insanity, you wish to make this commoner your eldest son and heir to this clan?" The man who made the outburst stood facing Hiashi his forehead bare marking him as a member of the main branch. Hiashi glared at his father with just enough killer intent to make him shut up.

"I do not recall claiming him to be the heir to this clan, but you will show him the respect he deserves." At this point Hiashi looked at everyone around him as he let his killing intent flow freely. "He is not my son by blood so he cannot be the heir; however, he shall be raised as my son. I give this warning now, should you raise a hand against him you will face my wrath, is that understood?"

His speech was met with a resounding, "Hai Hiashi-sama."

With that said Hiashi turned around to hand Naruto back into Hikari's waiting arms, "You are all dismissed." Everyone filed out of the room quickly leaving just Hiashi and Hikari. "Well that went much smoother than I expected." He looked up to Hikari and noticed she was playing with Naruto again.

She noticed him and looked, "Sorry dear, did you say something?" Hiashi just sniffled as he wiped a few tears from his face and motioned for his wife to make their way back up to the bedroom.

(December 27, Konohagakure Hospital)

Two months after the attack of the Kyuubi found Hiashi sitting next to Hikari in the hospital, his recently born daughter in the caring embrace of her mother. Both Hiashi and Hikari were relieved to have their little Hinata with them, but there was still an air of restlessness and unease about them. Although their daughter was perfectly healthy and normal their son was a different story. There were a couple of things wrong and they were waiting for the doctor to come back and give them the details on their child's various oddities. The first one they noticed on the very same night that Hiashi had brought him home. Hikari had stayed up all night attempting to get Naruto to go to sleep, but to no avail. Eventually Hikari had succumb to her own exhaustion and fell asleep sitting up with little Naruto in her arms. Hiashi awoke to see Hikari passed out as Naruto chewed on one of her long locks of hair. After a few nights of the same thing happening they brought him to the doctor. He was kept in a solitary room over night monitored by camera. He did nothing for six hours except to stare straight ahead, since the room was absolutely barren nothing caught the infant's attention. In the end the doctor said that Naruto was sleeping with his eyes open, But his parents had their doubts. The second noticeable oddity was that Naruto was the perfect child. He never cried even once, in fact the only sound he seemed to make was the almost constant giggling that accompanied his ever-present smile. However, all of this was nothing compared to his growth. He was growing exceedingly fast, only two weeks ago he had begun crawling around and only a week later he was beginning to stand on his own.

His thoughts immediately came to an end as the door to the room opened to reveal their doctor, Akio, and the Sandaime Hokage. In the Hokage's arms was Naruto attempting to reach up and grab the hat from the old man's head. "Hiashi, what I have heard about your son is very disturbing."

Akio took that as his cue to explain what he had found out about the young Hyuuga, "I have found multiple abnormalities in your son. Most noticeable is his rate of growth although he was born only two months ago he is physically about 18 months old. If this rate continues then we can expect his maximum lifespan to be no more than fifteen years." At this revelation Hikari grabbed her husbands hand and squeezed it tightly in her own. Hiashi turned his head and gave her his best reassuring look. "At the same time although all his organs are function properly he does not appear to need them." Seeing everyone's confused expression he continued his explanation, "I have noticed through a series of tests that he does not require rest or sustenance, his body just never gets tired. While my tests have only proved that to be true with his digestive system I assume it is the same with all his organs."

At this point the Hokage spoke up, "So as of now we know that this child requires no food or rest, and possibly may not even need to breathe. However it would seem that the cost of all these gifts is an early grave." With that a morbid silence fell upon the room as Hiashi contemplated what to do with his son. "You must choose now Hiashi. If the child is to become a shinobi he will have to begin training as soon as he can walk in order to combat his rapidly shrinking lifespan."

"He will need far more than that Hokage-sama. The fact that he does not require sleep will help, but it won't be enough. As soon as he is capable he will have to learn kage bunshin even if he can only create a single clone it should, theoretically, cut his training time in half." At this the Hokage nodded his agreement, and Hiashi turned to look at his wife. "Through tragic consequences Naruto's life has been cut short, but his will of fire will burn greater than any other, I know this to be true."

(3 years later)

Naruto laid on the roof of the main branch building staring up at the stars as they danced in the black sky. He had grown up now for all, intents and purposes he was an adult both mentally and physically. He was about 6' 1" with a lithe, but extremely powerful figure. Muscle rippled under his flawless skin, proof of his incredible regenerative abilities. His hair was left in a short spiky mess on top of his head and his eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the night. He wore a yukata much like Hiashi except that instead of it being white with gray trimming his was black with silver trimming. Under that he had black pants that were tapped at the ankle and connected to black standard shinobi open-toed shoes. He carried no weapons with him except for a single pack of one hundred senbon attached to his right thigh.

Naruto often used the night to simply relax and think. It was very calming to simply stare up into the stars and he would often spend hours doing just that. Tonight was no different as he found himself laying down on the roof of his home staring into the heavens. As Naruto allowed his mind to wander his thoughts slowly began to revolve around his training. Although he had physically grown at an astounding rate it was nothing compared to the growth of his skills in the shinobi arts. When he began training he grew at an acceptable pace, but once the hokage taught him kage bunshin and explained the secret to it, his training exploded. Every day he would create as many clones as he could and then have them do everything from charka control to learning the most advanced sealing theories. As all of the clones worked on the mental aspect all Naruto himself had to do was train his body. He would work to increase his strength and stamina and then go through all of the katas that his clones had learned. In other words as he trained his body to peak physical conditions his clones had sharpened his mind into one of the most dangerous in Konoha.

Naruto's thoughts were cut off as he heard a surprised gasp followed by muffled screams coming from beneath him. He froze as he realized that he was lying right above Hinata's room. His terror only grew as he heard the window slide open. He bolted upright just in time to see a figure dart out of the opening with a small bag over his shoulder.

Kijimuta Sadao the supposed diplomat from cloud was running as fast as he could through the dense forest of Konoha. He was making his way back to Kumo to complete the mission. He wore dark gray shinobi pants with a similarly colored shirt under a black vest. He had steel-toed combat boots and the symbol for Kumo was scratched into the steel toe covers matching the headband he wore proudly upon his forehead. He was currently about a mile north of Konoha and was moving at an insane speed. However, no matter how far he got Sadao could never get rid of the feeling that someone was watching him. He could not sense any charka signatures nearby and none of the traps he set had been triggered yet. He jumped to the next tree branch his left leg extended out to land on the next branch. Then seemingly out of nowhere a senbon pierced straight through through his left knee. It went about half way through and stuck inside the joint of his knee. As soon as his foot made contact with the branch all of his weight compressed his joint on top of the senbon. Sadao screamed in pain as he fell to the forest floor. The bag flew from his grasp and landed safely in the waiting arms of a man standing no more than three feet before him. Sadao snapped his head up to glare at his attacker; however, as soon as he saw the man's face all of his anger was replaced with shock as he looked at the man before him with one thought 'The Yellow flash is still alive, this changes everything'. Unfortunately for Sadao that was his last thought before the world blacked out; with a simple chop to the neck he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Wow that guy really spaced he didn't even seem to notice when I started walking towards him." Carefully Naruto set down the bag and opened it up to reveal a small three year old Hinata with puffy eyes and dried tears on her cheeks.

"Nii-san!" Immediately she jumped into his arms and began to cry into his yukata as she held him as tightly as her little arms allowed. "I was so scared nii-san." Hinata managed to choke out between sobs.

Naruto held her as he rubbed her back, "Don't worry Hinata I'm here and I'll protect you." Hinata pulled her head back a little so that she could look Naruto in the eyes. He gave her a comforting smile as he continued to rub her back. Naruto felt several presences approaching their position. Hinata had fallen asleep curled up in his arms her head resting against his chest. Hiashi and the Hokage along with several ANBU members landed in front of Naruto in the small clearing. Before any one could speak Naruto decided to give the status on the present situation, "I have apprehended and detained the attempted kidnapper." As he spoke Naruto looked directly into Hiashi's eyes, he could easily see the pride in his father's eyes.

Hiashi spoke first, "Naruto I am very proud of you, what you have done here today is quite the accomplishment."

Naruto responded quickly, "Well it really wasn't all that much."

"Not that much, are you kidding me?" The Hokage had a deadpanned expression on his face, "You single handedly stopped a man who was able to escape, without being seen, from a compound full of people who can see through walls. That is quite an amazing feat."

At that Naruto looked a little embarrassed as he grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Actually I just took out his knee. As soon as he saw me he just completely froze up. It looked like he had gone into shock or something. Finding it strange that any enemy would simply freeze up the Hokage wondered what could have caused. Suddenly the answer came to him as he looked at Naruto.

'Of course Naruto looks exactly like his father almost anyone would probably mistake him for Minato.' With that newest piece of information an idea began to hatch inside of the old man's head. 'I will have to have interrogation confirm my hunch', but if he was right and this Kumo nin thought that Naruto was Minato. Then a whole bunch of opportunities to put a little fear back into Konaha's enemies were presenting themselves.