Yo! SamHetfield with another chapter of this story. Thanks for the quick reception, it felt nice. I hope it keeps going that way, and if it doesn't I'll just write a chapter with 30,000 words. And if that's not enough, I'll write 50,000 words, and if that's not enough, I'll - - - okay, my Rock Lee impression is over. Now for the replies... WARNING, I answer it as nice and good-mannered as I can, but I'm still ruthless against flamers.

Toche: Shut up. The Book of Log was one of the most awesome and creative things I've ever seen in my life. It actually makes a whole lot of sense, considering how often people use Kawarimi in the shinobi world. The fact that Konoha is an environmentalist community and the founder was a Senju who used Mokuton, and now that we finally have a world tree in the story (read chapter 646), it just makes this religion more likely to be used in fanfics and actually making sense. It's awesome and I like it.

If you guys are wondering if I'm going to praise The Log in this story, no I'm not. It was just a little inspirational touch I had, seeing that Kawarimi and Kage Bunshin are easily the most versatile jutsus in shinobi history and they should have religions of their own. It was just for the laughs. Although I do crave for a Log Pope award, so you guys better give me 400 reviews in this story, are we clear?

Mas2009: Sorry if prologues aren't your thing... I happen to like them, they give a nice perspective to how things might roll out. Most of the best games I've played in my life have Prologues, and that made me consider them important for the plot development. It gives you and edge, you know? :)

ViolatedMonkey: Probably my favorite line in this chapter as well. I'm very proud to have written it.

The Leader Of Monkeys: Yeah, I got the jumpsuit thing wrong. He wears it because of the attention he wants to get, so people can see that he exists. But by seeing how Naruto manages his money in the story (and yes, there are those moments, even being just one or two), it's safe to assume that he has problems with shops and such. And the jumpsuit is a mix of four things: lack of fashion sense, attention seeking, preference towards the color, and the fact that probably it was indeed someone's idea to give him that. I'm not a fan of fillers, but one of them (Shippuuden EP176) had a pretty vague idea that people DO NOT sell things to him. And even if they do, it's either crap, or they want him to go away and stop disturbing them.

About the spoiled food, that was on Chapter 3, way back in 1999. If Naruto had the choice of buying fresh milk, for fuck's sake, he'd buy the God damn milk and be done with it. He might be a bit dumb, but he definitely can read a expiration date tag and make basic calendar math. If he buys spoiled milk, it's not because he fucking wants to!

About Kushina... Dude... don't go that way. Kushina is motherfucking scary. She's an Uzumaki, she's a Jinchuuriki, and she got the nickname (didn't name herself, mind you) by beating the Academy boys to a pulp. Heck, she brought Genin down to their knees at what? 8 years old? That's badass right there, good sir... I'm pretty sure that she would give the Sannin a run for their money. Heck, she gave Minato a run for his money (that's a fact FROM canon, not fandom cliché, you can even look for it if you don't believe me). By the way, it was Kakashi who got the Number 1 Backwards Shinobi thing going around, so Naruto's not THAT idiotic to come up with that sort of marking for himself either.

Whew... that was long. Seriously, if you guys want to blame me for not knowing my shit, you could at least have a fucking backup plan. Kenchi618 rule number 11: If you wanna write a fanfic, at least have extent knowledge to make it enjoyable. And as my personal extension, which is rule 9, by the way... if you got something wrong, at least have the decency and creativity to work on the mistake to make it credible. If you don't like my work, fuck off!

sabery: In a way, that's almost like asking me if I'd make a NejiHina story. It's not something I frown upon (heck, I'd like to have my way with a few hot cousins of mine), but at the same time, it's just... no.

And I think that's it, for now... Anything else you'd like to point out, well... keep reading, I guess. Fair disclaimer, though: Kishimoto owns this shit. That includes rights to shut down this fanfic if he chooses to do it so, I think... So you might as well read it, before it's too late. Don't say I didn't warn you. Gosh, I'm doing everything Kenchi does, ironic disclaimers included. I call it good influence, though.

Konohagakure no Sato, 2 hours after last chapter... (wow, that was lame)

[Naruto OST: Fooling Mode]

Uzumaki Naruto and Umino Iruka stood in front of the old Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen. Naruto had on his back the scroll he stole from the old man's office, and he was sweating like a pig. Jiji was like the best old man in the world. A real grandfather figure. But he was the freaking Hokage. That meant something. And in Naruto's case, it meant...

A heavy scolding and many fair warnings about 'choosing the right people to trust' or something like that. Which he realized it would last forever. Kami dammit, he haven't slept in 25 hours! He woke up too early yesterday because he was too excited for the Genin Shiken, and he's been awake ever since.

"I understand you didn't have a proper education, and the village wasn't nice to you, but you should..." were some of Hiruzen's words from his long lecture, falling on deaf ears to everyone inside. Within Naruto's mind, the only thought he had was: "*loooong groan* just shut up already..." Iruka noticed how bored the young Jinchuuriki was. Heck, he was bored as hell too. Sarutobi, at the prime of his patience and understanding, noticed the bored people and motioned Iruka to speak.

"Hokage-sama..." he said, yawning. "I think that Naruto had quite enough for today. He had a terrible day at the Academy, he was tricked into stealing the Scroll of Seals, and he was finally told of his tenant..."

"And my parentage." added Naruto. Hiruzen couldn't help but cough the smoke from his pipe in surprise to what he just heard. Either that, or he finally gave in to tuberculosis, or lung cancer... No, wait, he didn't. He channeled chakra on his throat constantly to avoid the damages from the tobacco. Old bastard... "Now, now... Naruto, where in the world have you learned about-"

"Special comments section." Naruto said, cutting off the old Hokage. Said Hokage facepalmed himself. He never expected that Minato would somehow use the Scroll of Seals as if it was your everyday journey log. It made sense, though. Who in the world would actually read it, other than people which he trusted and knew about the darkest secrets of the village? Reckless, but still clever, in a way. Hiruzen extended his hand, and Naruto quickly understood that he actually wanted to see the contents which Naruto mentioned. He skimmed through the scroll, and got to Minato's statement.

When he actually saw Minato ordering Naruto to avoid repeating his mistakes and stop saying –Dattebane or its variants, he burst in laughter.

Naruto snickered in amusement. "I know, right?" he said. "Somehow, Tou-chan was absolutely positive that I would pull this off. Creepy, if you ask me..." Hiruzen chuckled to Naruto's remark. Iruka stood there, unsure of what to say. "Um... Naruto, when you say Tou-chan... who are you referring to, if it doesn't kill to ask?"

Naruto actually didn't know what to say. He looked towards Hiruzen, who shrugged. "Well, it actually DOES kill to say it aloud... But I trust you, and I'm sure Naruto also trusts you to keep the secret, so... We were both referring to Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. He is Naruto's father."

Iruka's reaction was a fish mouth agape. Hiruzen and Naruto glanced towards the fish, then at each other, and back at the fish. They scoffed a bit before laughing again.

[End OST]

Iruka facepalmed himself. "I've been looking at that face for TWELVE YEARS and I never even considered the slightest possibility that you were related to him... I'm so stupid!" Naruto and Hiruzen chuckled with Iruka's remark. Suddenly, the blonde Jinchuuriki stopped smiling and looked down on the floor.

"I still have one question, though..." he said. "If he was the one who sealed the Kyuubi in me... it means that he wasn't exactly nominated to the 'Dad of the Year' award back then, right?" Hiruzen sighed. It was a really delicate subject, to say the very least. He puffed some smoke from his pipe and looked at Naruto right in the eye.

"I'll be very clear, Naruto: your father did NOT want to do this to you. But he had no choice. The Kyuubi was razing everything to the ground, and there was a lot going on back then. He didn't want Konoha to lose control of its Bijuu. He couldn't just sacrifice someone else's son. And even if he did, he had... no, he STILL has absolute faith that you will someday be able to become a capable Jinchuuriki and use the power within you to protect Konoha. Because you are your father's son. And having unconditional faith in your children is a father's duty. Those were his words to me before he died."

"He wanted you to be recognized as the one true hero of Konohagakure. By keeping the Kyuubi imprisoned and becoming a loyal shinobi, you would become Konoha's savior... But people ignored your father's wish. A bit because of their lack of knowledge in fuuinjutsu, but mostly because they were blinded by hatred, fear and angst. You had no idea just how terrible that night was for all of us. That's why they resent towards you so much... But please, understand that it's not your fault. You father really loved you, and trusted in you to do the right thing, for the sake of Konoha."

[Naruto OST: Naruto Main Theme Slow Version / Naruto Shippuden OST: Sengunbanba also works]

Naruto had his eyes closed, listening to everything and organizing his thoughts. True enough, his father had indeed too many troubles to handle. But at the same time he rest all of his hopes within him. The Yondaime expected him, as his son, to do great things. He was expected to protect Konoha every day. And he would do it. He opened his eyes, looking back at Sarutobi.

"Then it's up to me to make it stop... Until yesterday, I just wanted to become Hokage so that people would recognize me. But now that I know the truth... it's not about simple recognition anymore. From now on... I have to prove people wrong. I'll show them that I'm not a monster. I'm a shinobi. I live to serve and protect the place I love and call home. And I'll honor my father's wish and become Konoha's hero."

Hiruzen and Iruka looked at that young boy with a proud smile in both their faces. Those eyes... that look... it belonged to a true shinobi. Hiruzen didn't see eyes like this since the boy's father. It meant serious business. He puffed some smoke from his pipe, and gave Naruto a warm smile.

"Come back in two weeks to take the picture for your registration, then. Don't forget to wear something nice and fill this form I'm giving you. I have nothing else to say, except... Welcome to the shinobi force, Uzumaki Naruto." he said, giving his surrogate grandson the registration form.

"You got it, Jiji!" Naruto answered, with his foxy-grin. His smile suddenly vanished and he tilted his head, as if he was curious. "Anosa, anosa... just a question... What about my Namikaze surname?"

"That will wait until you become Jounin, alright?" Hiruzen answered. "Get a bit stronger before being able to back up the name as you'll face your father's enemies. The Uzumaki name by itself is trouble enough as it is, and we don't want you getting into more troubles than you already do, okay?"

"Hmmm... *sigh* okay, then... No Namikaze until Jounin. Can I...*yaaaaaaawn*...go home and sleep now?"

"By all means, do it. You've earned your rest, Naruto. Come by as soon as you can, though. Minato left a few things for you, and it's about time you took a hold on them, since you're aware of your heritage now, even if it's not public knowledge yet..." Naruto nodded. That was something he didn't want to miss.

And so the young Jinchuuriki made his way home. He's been awake for over 27 hours by now, and not even Kami would disturb him, now that he finally reached his comfy bed. By the next 24 hours, he would have to start dealing with lost inheritances, something to wear for the registration... oh right, he wanted to put the Kage Bunshin to good use to train a lot and impress everyone at the team selection gathering. "For once, things are going smooth..." he thought, before slumber took his mind away.

[End OST]

Naruto: The Gutsiest Of All Tales

Chapter 2: Reopening Old Drawers... By The way, I'm Konohamaru, Kore!

24 hours later...

"Alrighty then..." said a enthusiastic Uzumaki Naruto, walking towards a midsized house in the east district. It was slightly close to the commercial district, but it was right across the street that led to the Akimichi and Aburame compounds, two of Konoha's four noble clans, alongside the Uchihas and the Hyuugas, which were located in far and opposite sides of the village. They didn't get along very well.

If you looked from the outside, there was a small iron fence, and the yard had a few paper tags stuck on the ground. "Hmmm... so these are the Kekkai seals Jiji was talking about..." Naruto thought. "Thank Kami I've never tried passing through this, or else I'd become miso meat..." He reached his pouch and took a small blue scroll. He unwrapped it, showing two kanjis: Kagi and Chishio.

"Now, what was that again...? Spill some blood in the Chishio part..." he cut his finger with a kunai and let some blood spill from the wound. "Now wrap the scroll around the gate... focus some chakra..." he formed a Ram seal to mold a bit of chakra. "aaannndd... Done! The gate is opening, which means I'm really his son and I'm getting some neat thingys... nice!" he thought, sliding the gate open and now heading to the door, which he opened easily enough, no fuuinjutsu required.

[Road To Ninja OST: Rainy Day – Put the song on repeat mode, specially if you're a slow reader...]

Naruto looked at the dark hallway that stood between the front door and the living room*. Many times he felt this void in his heart, whenever he came home with no one to greet him. This time it felt heavier. Probably because it's the house his parents have lived in, and the house he'd have lived in if they had survived 12 years ago. It was a new feeling, despite the homecoming sensation he had in his heart, as he opened the door to the living room.

"Tadaima...*" he said, hoping for anyone to answer 'O kaeri'*. It didn't matter if it was a whisper, the wind or even a ghost. He hoped to hear that soothing word sometime in his life...

No one answered, though.

Naruto looked at the empty living room. The lights were cut off, and the fact that no one entered this house for more than 12 years didn't contribute for the emptiness feeling Naruto had in his heart right now. For one small moment he hoped for a sign of life, but he couldn't find it. He walked slowly towards a few windows and opened them, to let the light enter the room and make his stroll through the house a bit easier. He noticed that the living room and the kitchen were mixed in one large room, separated by a thin wall, with no door. He figured that it would help in case of many visitors in a single afternoon.

He walked towards the left hall, and on the first door there was a restroom. It even had a tag over the door. It wasn't exactly odd, but it did feel a bit weird to have a restroom right at the beginning of the hall. Maybe it was meant to be used by the visitors, while the other bedrooms had bathrooms of their own. He decided to close the restroom and look around the other two doors.

The second door had a tag on top of it saying: PRIVATE. On the doorknob a small kanji for Chishio could be seen. "Must be Tou-chan's library..." Naruto thought. "Or maybe his office. Whatever it is, I'll check it out after I'm done with the other rooms." The third door had another tag: Naruto. He opened the door, and the sight of the room filled his eyes with water.

It was a small room, fit for a baby. The cradle in the right side was quite beautiful. It was white, although it had a few small orange details. On the ceiling, a small planetarium, with shurikens for stars and kunais for comets. Naruto chuckled at the scenery, and imagined a baby version of himself playing with it. The walls and ceiling had this odd combination of blue, yellow, red and orange. It didn't hurt one's eyesight, it was just... curious, also considering the white/orange cradle. "Is this supposed to represent my parents and I somehow...?" he though, thinking back of their markings in the Bingo Book. It actually made sense.

The toys spread around the room also made the room feel babyish. There was even a small orange fox plush doll. It looked a bit like the Kyuubi, although it didn't have nine tails. "They must have worked hard to find the proper toys for me to play with..." he though, a small tear running down through his face, as well as a faint smile. He closed the door and made his way to the right hallway, which also had three doors, although they were located at the other side of the wall.

The first room had another PRIVATE tag with a Chishio kanji printed on the doorknob. Naruto would check on that later, like the other room. If the first private door was his father's office, this one probably lead to the library. He looked at the next room. The tag "Minato & Kushina" was visible. "This is..." Naruto didn't think twice. He opened the door and saw yet another heartbreaking scenery.

A large queen-sized bed, with a small bed table on each side of it. On the top of the right one Naruto saw an odd-looking kunai. For anyone who saw it before, it was a sight for sore eyes. The tri-pronged kunai Minato used in conjunction for his own version of the Nidaime's Hiraishin no Jutsu, which granted him the Kiiroi Senkou name in the Bingo Book. There was also a simple-looking book. It didn't have any fancy cover like many others. It plainly had the title written on the front. Naruto picked it up.

"Tales Of A Gutsy Ninja..." he whispered. It looked interesting. On the introduction page, it contained some information about the author. Jiraiya... he saw that name before... "Oh, right. Special comments section of the Scroll... not that I paid much attention to his comment, anyway..." he thought. On a page that was supposed to be blank, an autograph of sorts:

"To Namikaze Minato, my most cherished apprentice, and the one I believe to be the Child of Prophecy. May this book's story motivate you to follow the righteous path towards true peace. -Jiraiya of the Sannin-"

Naruto was a bit impressed by this statement. Was his father supposed to save the world or something? Well, no one would know for certain now. Maybe if this Jiraiya guy that happens to be his teacher is still alive, he ought to know more about it. "Maybe I'll read the book later as well..." Naruto thought. He put it back at his dad's bed table, opened the drawer and saw nothing. He closed it and went towards the other one, which was from his mother Kushina.

On top of the bed table there was a small picture frame. Naruto picked it up, and as he saw the contents, he couldn't hold his tears any longer.

Minato had his right knee on the floor while his arms wrapped around Kushina's small back, and his head rest on her stomach, which clearly showed that she was at least eight months pregnant. Naruto stood there, crying his heart out. For more than 12 years he's been alone... people glared at him, called him names, and he had to take it all in. After a while the insults didn't hurt as much. But what REALLY hurt him more than anything... were the small acts of fatherly affection that he saw once in a while

When he saw a kid getting treated, or hugged, or holding hands at the playground... It always reminded him of something he would never be able to have. Someone to take him to bet and tell a story... someone to help him out with the lessons of the Academy... someone who made him breakfast and said "I love you"...

Someone that answered 'O kaeri' whenever he got home and said 'Tadaima'...

After a few minutes sobbing and weeping, Naruto took slow and deep breaths. He finally found out about his heritage, his status as Jinchuuriki and his role as Konohagakure's protector. From now on, he had to be twice as strong as he managed to be over the years. "Crying over what's history won't solve anything..." he thought. "I learned this the worst way a while ago, anyway... Today is a new day, and tomorrow will be even newer. I WILL honor my parents' legacy. Now, which of those two rooms is the library, I wonder...?"

And so, the young Jinchuuriki recomposed himself and took the first great step towards his dream to become Hokage... but this time, doing it the right way.

[End OST – Admit it, you teared up a bit]

Hokage's Office, 10 days later...

Sarutobi Hiruzen was now examining the picture taken by the young Uzumaki Naruto, alongside his shinobi registration and overall characteristics he put on the form.

Shinobi ID 102607, Uzumaki Naruto

Birthday October 10, currently 12 years old

"My hobbies include training and pranking. Miso Ramen from Ichiraku's is the food of the gods. My most precious belongings are Gama-chan, the goggles I got as a birthday gift from an anonymous source and a torn page from the Holy Book of the Log just for the laughs."

The picture... well, it wasn't Naruto...ish. The Uzumaki Naruto from two weeks ago would have probably put some random kabuki warpaint to look intimidating and idiotic at the same time. Mostly the latter. But true to his family roots, he was an unpredictable little guy. There he was, with a blue one-piece vest (much alike the standard Jounin vest), and over it a black jacket with orange details on the extremes and the inside. He also wore black pants, with orange side stripes, as well as a pair of black fingerless gloves, with red details on the palms. His blue shinobi sandals were also a part of the new set. And to complete it, the usual Uzumaki red swirl on the back of both the jacket and the vest (although you couldn't see it, but it was there anyway), and a white version of the swirl knitted just under the left shoulder.

Of course, you only saw half of it on the photograph. The rest of it (well, actually HIM in one piece, not just the other half) was sitting right in front of Sarutobi, with that 'now what?' look on his face. The old Hokage allowed himself a warm smile. Maybe it was a good idea to let him get his parents' inheritances. If he knew that Naruto would mature so much in the course of two weeks he should have tried it earlier. Oh well, crying over spilled milk was not an option anymore.

"Well..." said Hiruzen. "I expected some old school prank from you this time around, Naruto... but oh well, it helps having a decent registration, so good job on that one. Now, where is your hitaiate?"

"I'm saving it for the gathering, -Datebayo..." Naruto answered. "Besides, that one belonged to Iruka-sensei, so I gave it back to him. I found an old one back at the big house, and I polished it a bit." Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. He remembered Minato having his hitaiate on when he died that night. Chances are that the hitaiate Naruto polished must have belonged to Kushina... Well, it was a good thing. Suddenly, a faint sound of metal could be heard. Before anyone had the time to react, someone came in.

It was a small boy, probably around 9 or 10 years old, wearing a yellow t-shirt, grayish-green shorts and an odd piece of headgear that combed his brown hair like a Nara's pineapple haircut. The most noticeable trait was the large blue scarf wrapped around him. It was twice his height, for Kami almighty! Not even Vincent Valentine had a scarf this large, and we're talking about Vincent fucking Valentine here, just so you know.

[Naruto OST: Strong And Strike]

"JIJI! FIGHT ME, KORE*!" the bout shouted, rushing towards the old Hokage, with a shuriken in his hand. "TREMBLE BEFORE THE FUTURE GODAIME HOKAGE, KONOHAMARU-SAMA-"

[Abrupt OST cut]

Before the young brat could say anything further, he tripped on his own large scarf. Hah! Serves him right... Seriously, who bought him that thing? It was almost as bad as Naruto's jumpsuit, and Naruto could actually sneak around wearing that. This boy, though...

"Itaaaaai..." the brat whined. Naruto looked at him, his face deadpan, although he was mentally erupting in laughter. Hiruzen just adjusted his hat, and emitting a bored sigh. "Will he EVER quit...?" he thought. Before could anyone said anything else, the brat groaned again. "Who put a trap on the way, kore?" he asked.

A tall and skinny Jounin with the headband wrapped around the head, and wearing Aburame-like sunglasses came in, startled. "Dear me, are you alright Omago-sama? I've checked the vicinity, and no traps have been found!" he shouted, obviously worried about the brat. Although as he took a better look at the room, his eyes stumbled upon another 'brat', who was wondering who the hell were those weirdos. The Jounin looked a bit off. "That is..." is thought. "Hn... The Kyuubi gaki... The loser I hate the most!"

[Naruto OST: Fooling Mode]

The little punk started walking towards Naruto, with that 'I own this shit' walk, pointing his finger at his face. Before Naruto could say anything, Konohamaru beat him to it. "You! You were the one who put a trap on my way, didn't you, kore?"

Okay, now he's done it. Naruto popped a vein from his forehead out of the building anger and grabbed that Nara ripoff by the scarf. "You little teme! You fell your ass off by tripping in you own damned scarf!" The tall Jounin grimaced at the terrifying things the 'Kyuubi gaki' would do to Konohamaru, so he stepped in.

"Release him at once, you grunt! Don't you realize you are holding the Hokage's very own grandson?!" he shouted. Naruto rose an eyebrow. This was supposed to be Jiji's blood-related grandson? Man, it sure didn't look like...

Okay, maybe the lines close to the eyes... and the brown hair... and the stamina of a monkey with its ass on fire... oh what the hell, he was a proper bonafide Sarutobi, alright... Said Sarutobi looked at the Jinchuuriki who was this close to whacking him in the head. "Feh! He stopped dead on his tracks, just like Ebisu-sensei and everyone else. Loser..." he thought, before voicing his new-found superiority towards Naruto. "What's the matter, kore? Got scared of beating the Hokage's grandson and facing the consequences? You better-"

"I WOULDN'T GIVE A KYUUBI'S ASS IF HE WAS YOUR GRANDMOTHER! BAKA!" Naruto yelled, giving Konohagakure a well-deserved fist on the top of his head. The young Sarutobi yelped in pain. "This guy... is different from the others..." he thought, before going out cold. Ebisu stood there, absolutely frozen in disbelief. Someone actually knocked the Hokage's grandson out cold. "WHAAAAAAAAT?" he yelled. The old Hokage just sighed and shook his head. This was turning out to be a hell of a long day.

Damned Uzumaki and his tendency of bringing chaos wherever he went... What were Minato and Kushina thinking, giving their son a name that was synonymous to 'Maelstrom'? That was ensured chaos, for heaven's sake! And he just had to have the mother's personality and the father's looks as well. Oh well... Sarutobi just looked as Naruto went his way.

Meanwhile, Konohamaru got up, groaning in pain and annoyance. Ebisu approached him. "Omago-sama, I advise you to not associate with that scum." he said. "He will just hinder you. You do want to be Godaime Hokage, right?" Ebisu took a quick pause to adjust his sunglasses and smirk a bit. "Then do not worry. For I, Tokubetsu Jounin and Elite Instructor Ebisu, will show you the quickest way to reach your goal!" Sheesh, the guy was nearly Uchiha-like arrogant. Even Konohamaru knew that.

If you're wondering how one would know that, well... for starters, Konohamaru was already gone for quite a while. It took a few seconds for Ebisu to actually notice that and once again go full despair mode. "He's gone AGAIN?!"

"He seems to have gone after Naruto..." said Hiruzen, a bit bored. Ebisu just shouted "WHAT?" before going out, screaming in desperation "OMAGO-SAMA!" in hope of finding Konohamaru before he found Naruto. Hiruzen leaned back on his chair. A bit tired of all the action, despite being still early. "Yare, yare... that was the 20th attack just today..." he thought."And now he's after Naruto. I hope nothing stupid comes from those two hanging around together..."

[End OST]

Meanwhile, on the streets of Konohagakure...

Naruto was walking towards one of the deserted training fields on the outskirts of the village. Ever since he packed up his belongings to move in to his parents' house, he had a more thorough look on the two rooms he didn't visit so far. There was one room that he forgot to look on that day. It had no tag over the door, and the room itself was empty. Naruto decided to make it his personal bedroom. The other one was just too small for him, and he felt like leaving that room untouched, as a bittersweet reminder that his parents wanted him to be a happy child. The other bedroom belonged to his parents, and he wanted to keep that way as well. Besides, the deposit had a small space that could be used as a bathroom, so it helped.

The private room on the left hall was an experiment room of sorts. It had a small circular ring on the middle of the room and two large tables that filled one of the walls, and many papers on them, containing some sort of information regarding powerful ninjutsu. Naruto decided to leave the room untouched for quite a while. It would be better if he came back more experienced and prepared to face whatever his parents were preparing themselves to face dead on. He wanted to live a bit longer.

The locked room on the right hall was the library. It contained a relatively high number of scrolls, papers and many many more useful tools for a shinobi. The most overwhelming aspect was the absurd quantity of paper tags and ink. But then again, Kushina was an Uzumaki and Minato was a quick learner. Aside from all of that paper, there were several Fuuton and Suiton scrolls, as well as a few non-elemental ninjutsu. There were two boxes containing weapons, including Minato's Hiraishin kunais. Well, at least Naruto wouldn't be spending money with weapons for a while.

Through the last few days, Naruto spent most of his time summoning unheard amounts of Kage Bunshins to read through most of the contents and to put them to practice. He thought about it and it hit him: aside from his stealth skills and creativity to pull off pranks and traps, his general skills... well, they sucked. He decided to go over the Academy curriculum again, just to reshape his general knowledge of stuff. He owed Tobirama his deepest gratitude for creating this awesome jutsu. It certainly helped a lot. Yeah, your brain would mostly fry because of the overwhelming amount of information coming at once, but he was an Uzumaki. No worries there.

Hiruzen also helped out. Thanks to his position as Hokage, he could pull a few strings here and there to make Naruto's new house up and running again. Which would mean that it now had water and electricity again.

Yay.

But even with all of those great things going on, Naruto was still a little pissed off. Specially because of one small pebble on his way. Well, not a small pebble, actually. A rock. A huge square rock. With eyes. Creepy as fuck. After walking a bit more, it wasn't a rock anymore. It was a wooden wall. With the logs on horizontal leaning. Okay, enough of that shit.

"Will you stop following me already? You didn't even get the disguise right, you pipsqueak!" he shouted at the 'wall', which started laughing maniacally. "I see... you really are as skilled as they say." said Konohamaru as he put the 'disguise' away.

[Naruto OST: Konohamaru's Theme]

He walked towards the young Jinchuuriki.. "First you had my curiosity, now you have my attention. And that is why I decided that you are gonna be my sensei, kore!"

Right now, if a needle fell on the ground, you could probably hear it. Or maybe not, the streets of Konoha are known to be quite noisy. The wind also blows quite often. Maybe it's to create cool scenarios where two guys look at each other from a distance and the wind does that magic thing with the hair... But we're going off schedule enough as it is. Naruto looked at that noisy brat, his face deadpan.

"...Why?" Naruto asked. If he's gonna teach that pipsqueak, there's gotta be a hell of a good reason to do it, right? Konohamaru answered simply and bluntly. "I heard Jiji grumble something about you defeating him with a 'devastating Henge'. So if you know how to defeat Jiji, I want to learn it, kore!"

Naruto stopped for a while to think over. Now... when did that happen... Oh right, the Oiroke no Jutsu. Well, it certainly was a one-hit KO for an old pervert like Hiruzen. But he wouldn't teach that to a 9 year old that just happens to be the Hokage's grandson. That would bring him trouble. So he made his decision. "No."

Konohamaru quickly responded. "Please, please, please! I'll do anything, oyabun!*"

Okay, that make Naruto's ear perk up a little. After hearing Konohamaru shouting 'oyabun' a few more times, he felt a bit sheepish. "Okay, you leave me no choice, then... C'mon, I'll teach you. Let's head over to training ground 17, I have some work to do there anyway..." he said, as he started walking. Konohamaru was quick to obey him and follow.

[End OST]

Meanwhile, somewhere around the Hokage Monument...

Ebisu is not exactly the finest example of human being. He is arrogant and a bit of a hypocrite as well. But in no way he's a weakling. He might not have the brawls, but he has the brains. And for shinobis, that is by far the deadliest weapon you can have. And right now, his mind was simulating many ways to torture Naruto for being a bad influence for Konohamaru, in his convict opinion.

"I am Ebisu, the Elite Instructor of Konohagakure no Sato, and I personally taught many people who had the potential of being worthy of the title of Hokage!" he thought. "And I'll be damned if that... virus of a boy... ends up compromising Omago-sama's performance and future! Hokage-sama's favorite or not, I will remind him of his place in the world!"

And so, he vanished in a quick Shunshin no Jutsu, determined to find both boys.

Training Ground 17, 90 minutes later...

"See, I knew you could do it. Not so hard after all, uh?" asked Naruto, seeing a panting Konohamaru on the ground, who spent nearly all of his chakra trying to perform a perfect Henge no Jutsu, and by extension the Oiroke as well. It merely required a few, let's say... models of inspiration. Naruto's army of Kage Bunshin helped a lot, by transforming themselves in many different people, and mostly women. Really pretty women. Really pretty women with minimal amounts of clothing.

It actually helped the original to learn something else. The fun part of the Oiroke no Jutsu was not all about getting naked. The expectation was almost as good as the final package, so getting the picture of a woman as she slowly stripped down... oh, that would knock down ANYONE with a perverted mind. Even the sturdiest ones would fall. Naruto had just mastered his one, only and deadly ero-ninjutsu. Maybe teaching the young Sarutobi was a good idea after all. Speaking of Konohamaru, he looked like shit. So Naruto decided to carry him to a small snacks stand, so they could have a lunch break and regain their strength.

"So... I'm curious about something." said Naruto, as they sat on a log to stuff their stomachs. "Why do you want to become Hokage so badly anyway?" Konohamaru flinched a bit with Naruto's questioning. But he knew that Naruto wouldn't be one to judge so harshly, so he answered truthfully.

"Ojii-chan was the one who named me Konohamaru... both as an honoring to Konoha and for good luck. But even with this name... even when it's so easy to say it, people never do. They only call me Omago-sama, like you saw earlier with Ebisu-sensei."

"They don't see me for who I am... They only see the Hokage's grandson, and nothing else. And it pisses me off, because it's almost like I'm no one. So that is why I'm after the title of Hokage. That way... they'll have to recognize me, and not Ojii-chan."

Naruto listened to everything with a ghost of a smirk. "In a way..." he thought. "I used to be like him just a couple of weeks ago..." That made him think a bit more. True enough, people only saw the Kyuubi, and not him. But what would happen if they knew that he was the son of the Yondaime? Probably the same thing that happens now, only backwards maybe. People would see the Yondaime, but not him. But oh well. In the end, it's their fault for being too short-sighted.

"Feh... as if anyone would recognize a gaki like you..." he said, making Konohamaru jump from the log they were sitting and clench his fists. "If you want to become Hokage so badly... There's only one way to do it!" Konohamaru's ear perked up a bit. He definitely wanted to hear that. "...Show me the way, kore! What do I have to do to become Hokage?"

Naruto gave him a huge smirk. One that belonged not to a foxy boy, but to a full-fledged shinobi. "You have to beat me in a fight first, -Dattebayo!"

...What? You think that Naruto would let anyone steal his spot? As if!

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Tower...

Sarutobi Hiruzen had his gaze fixed on the stone face of his successor, and sadly predecessor as well. Minato was a brilliant man. More determined, capable and competent than he could have ever possibly imagined. He had projects to restore the lost strength of the Academy curriculum, avert the increasing power of the civilian council over shinobi matters, start the medical program that his student Tsunade has been asking for years... The guy was a godsend, a true legend among leaders. He was right there with his sensei Senju Tobirama as far as tightening up the pace and reminding everyone that Konoha is strong because of the union of its people through the Hi no Ishi.*

If only he had lasted 3 or 4 years, Konohagakure wouldn't be in the delicate situation as it has been over the last few years. Yeah, the economy was great. But the system was too corrupt and he was too old to fight it by himself. But he barely had time to think over these matters anymore, as Iruka came by to talk to him about a certain matter. "Sandaime-sama!" the scarred Chuunin said. "Did Naruto come by to register himself?"

"Yes." Hiruzen answered. "I could barely recognize him, though. New clothes and attitude... having the long awaited knowledge of his condition and responsibility towards Konohagakure has certainly made a fantastic impression over him."

"Indeed," responded Iruka. "That and my little motivational speech at Ichiraku's a few days ago. After I left the hospital, I took him there and explained to him about how he should behave now that he is a shinobi. And to make things better, Teuchi-san and Ayame-san told him a few stories about his parents. He swore in front of us that he would honor their legacy and become the best Hokage ever. It was heartwarming, in a way..."

[Naruto OST: Sadness & Sorrow]

Hiruzen never took his gaze away from the Yondaime. Almost as if he hoped Minato's stone face to smile at seeing how his son was doing fine now. But he knew better than most. "Naruto's dream..." he said. "Become Hokage... this dream might be much harder to come true than Naruto could ever imagine..." Iruka rose his eyebrows at hearing Sarutobi's words. Before he could ask him what did he mean, Hiruzen beat him to it.

"Iruka... As you probably know, the only one who know the truth about Naruto being a Jinchuuriki are those who fought against the Kyuubi that night and the shinobi from Chuunin rank and above... as well as the adult parcel of the civilians. And I've been very explicit about not revealing it, or even mentioning in public, under capital punishment which I personally carry out."

"The children, Iruka... they are Naruto's salvation. They don't know about his condition, and I make sure of explaining carefully and thoughtfully about Naruto when someone of the younger generation is allowed to know of these things. But I never expected that things would go so wrong for Naruto because of the adults..."

"They see him as if he was the Kyuubi itself. And they carry that fear, anger and hatred so deeply that it ends up being passed on the the younger people without they even thinking about it. It's automatic. The one hope for Naruto to have a normal childhood is wasted because of those who carry the hatred on..."

"Hokage-sama, if I may..." said Iruka. "I'm not sure if it's because I understand things better now, but... did it never cross your mind that... the minute Yondaime-sama turned Naruto into a Jinchuuriki... any attempts of a relatively normal childhood were downright futile from that point on?"

Hiruzen looked at Iruka with a curious glance. True enough, he never thought about it. Maybe the fact that he always treated Naruto like a normal child made him think that everyone else could, and should, do the same. Maybe Danzou was right all those years ago... Naruto's life would have probably been better if he didn't have to worry about being hated if he could be of service to Konoha with the power only a Jinchuuriki would be able to provide... by following the Hi no Ishi, that is. Hiruzen would never let the son of the Yondaime being turned into one of Danzou's mindless drones. Minato would come back from the Shinigami's stomach to kill him – and maybe destroy Konoha while he was at it – if that ever happened.

"I think you are right, Iruka..." he said, turning back to face Minato's stone face. "I never thought about it... You're right. Naruto could never had a normal childhood... By the way... did you know?" he asked, making the Chuunin answer with a simple 'Eh?'. Sarutobi took a deep breath. "Did you know that... when someone hates you and completely refuses to acknowledge your existence... that person's eyes... become disturbingly cold?"

Iruka couldn't answer... he might have looked at Naruto with contempt in the beginning... but he never gave him a look of abhorrence as the one the old Hokage described... He could only wonder who, or rather, how many people gave Naruto that look every day... and how the hell he overcame them...

[End OST]

Back at Naruto and Konohamaru...

"I found you two, at last!" shouted a voice behind Naruto and Konohamaru. It was Ebisu, who seemed really pissed. But then again, anyone who's been on the hunt for nearly two hours at the pace Ebisu was would be pissed off too. The guy wasn't breaking a sweat, but he did seem pretty anxious.

"Hn... Damned demon fox..." he thought, giving Naruto the shuddering glare worthy of the 9th circle of hell given its coldness. Naruto flinched a bit with that look. Even after years of receiving those glares, it was still a pain in the ass to receive them. "Shinobi glares are something else..." he thought. "They mix the glare with their killing intent, and that makes even me shiver!"

"So... let's go back home, Omago-sama..." said Ebisu. Konohamaru quickly responded. "No way. I'm staying here, training hard to knock down Jiji and become Hokage! Stay out of my way, kore!" Ebisu chuckled. How the hell was hanging out with the demon improve his skills, seriously?

"Please, Omago-sama... You should be aware of what it takes to be a Hokage. It takes years of practice to get the basic skills down. Your grandfather, for instance, knows more than a thousand jutsus, and you can merely wonder how much time it took him to learn and master all of them. I won't say it again, Omago-sama. Let us return home, so I-"

"Henge!" Konohamaru shouted, forming the Ram seal. Easily enough, the transformation was perfect. And the woman was REALLY hot. "Take that, kore! Oiroke no Jutsu!" Ebisu screamed on agony. But for some Kami forsaken reason, he didn't pass out from nosebleed. Maybe it didn't work...?

"W-w-w-w... WHAT SORT OF RUBBISH IS THIS?!" he yelled, his cheeks bright red from embarrassment, and a whole new lever of anger. "I am a GENTLEMAN, Omago-sama! For all that it's worth, such low-level jutsu would never work against my being!" He quickly approached Konohamaru and grabbed his scarf, dead set on dragging him if at all necessary to keep him away from Naruto.

"What did I tell you before, huh? Keep walking with that scum and you'll only compromise your future! You have to listen to what I say, for I WILL show you how to become Hokage! It's the QUICKEST WAY, do you hear me?!"

[Naruto OST: The Raising Fighting Spirit]

Naruto kept listening to that guy long enough. That man was clearly a hypocrite, arrogant snob, who refused to acknowledge both Konohamaru's talent to learn quickly and Naruto's skill as a teacher. This guy... would catch holy hell.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Ebisu and Konohamaru quickly stopped fighting to see Naruto's performance. Easily enough, the Uzumaki was able to produce nearly 40 clones in one go. And it wasn't even the Tajuu version, which meant that it was way too far from grasping the true measure of Naruto's chakra level. Damn, if chakra could be measured as light bulbs, Naruto easily had the energy of one, maybe two suns.

"Wooooow... Incredible, kore!" Konohamaru shouted. He only saw the Kage Bunshin being worked on, not actually being cast. So seeing all those physical clones being produced as if it was a normal Bunshin... it was just... wow.

Ebisu simply snorted. "Fool... I'm a Elite Instructor. Mizuki might have been easy for you to handle, but I'm far superior. Prepare yourself!" he said, walking towards the gathering clones.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen was watching Naruto fighting Ebisu through his crystal ball. "Now then... what will you do, Naruto...?"

As soon as Ebisu was starting to make his first move, Naruto beat him to it. Both the original and the entire clone brigade performed a Henge. Simple enough, right? Except for one thing...

[Abrupt OST cut - now playing Naruto OST: Sexiness]

Every single Naruto was now... Naruko. The Oiroke girl. And a whole bunch of them. And they all jumped towards Ebisu, grabbing him by every angle available. And they all moaned his name in quite a sensual way. "Ebisu-sama! What would you want us to do?" "Ebisu-sama! You're so handsome and manly..." and quite a few other phrases were spoken by the enormous wave of sexy blonde goddesses that were clinging on him.

Ebisu couldn't hold on much longer. Being the hypocrite that he is, his 'gentleman' attitude gave in space for his true nature within... the nature of a pervert. A closet pervert, but a pervert nonetheless. Being surrounded by all of those females, he did the only thing any decent manly man with testosterone and some fair sense of awareness of his surroundings would do.

Fly towards the sky and land flat on the ground due to massive nosebleed. Seriously, who could imagine that people would bleed so much from such small holes? Cases like this one are to show people that they should never underestimate the human anatomy. It truly is a surprising one...

Naruto dispelled all the Kage Bunshins and grinned at seeing Ebisu knocked out cold. "How was that, huh? I call it Harem no Jutsu, -Dattebayo!" he said. Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was watching everything from that crystal ball of his, could only sigh. "He mixed the Kage Bunshin and the Oiroke no Jutsu to create this... It seems that Naruto still has his devilishly prankster nature within..." he thought. "To create yet another stupid technique like that, you can count on that boy... although I do admit that I would fall easily for it..."

[End OST]

"*groan* I can't even beat my instructor, how the heck am I supposed to beat Jiji?" asked Konohamaru, upset with the fact that his Oiroke no Jutsu was not even close to Naruto's. "Just what am I doing wrong?! How in the world will I have the recognition I so crave for? I'm sick of being Omago-sama, kore!"

"Hey, hey..." said Naruto, trying to calm down the young boy. "Wake up and smell the coffee for a moment. You're talking about THE title of Hokage. Only the strongest, wisest and most capable shinobi in the village should carry that title, and for a damn good reason."

"You know... I face many hardships during my short life. And the worst of all? Being an orphan gave me a reduced number of people to count on, so I had to work my ass off and go through hell and back to get ONE person to acknowledge me. So you can only wonder how hard you're gonna have to work your way if you hope to become Hokage and drop off the whole Omago-sama thingy. So let me tell you one thing I learned a while ago. It's the best piece of advice I can give you..."

[Naruto OST: Morning]

The wind started to blow hard. That cool afternoon scenery with the main hero having his hair blown by the nice wind was taking place, and Naruto wanted to enjoy every single second of it. He turned around to face Konohamaru and gave him his foxy-grin with his eyes closed.

"The path to become Hokage... has no shortcuts at all."

Konohamaru stood there, slowly absorbing the piece of advice given by the blonde Jinchuuriki that spent the whole afternoon with him. He remembered the words he said not too long ago.

"If you want to become Hokage so badly... you have to beat me in a fight first, -Dattebayo!" Those words... he wasn't kidding. Naruto could probably go as far as killing people to make his dream come true. Such is a shinobi's life. Konohamaru made his decision.

"Feh... who are you to give me advices like Jiji does, kore?" he said, turning his back on Naruto, whose face was deadpan. "You know what? I've had it, kore! You're no longer oyabun. From now on..." Konohamaru turned around again to face the blonde.

"...we're rivals."

Both young boys smiled at each other. Man rule number 23, 2nd paragraph: 'rival' means 'bro'. Naruto had to admit: he liked Konohamaru's attitude. He reckoned that he earned his respect today. The boy would grow up to become a strong shinobi in the future, that was certain. Well, it was time to close off the day.

"Well, sorry to say this, but I'm done for today. Next Monday I'm starting my career as a shinobi of Konoha. And it might take quite a while for us to fight for the title of Hokage, considering that we're both way too young for that... I can promise you one thing, though..."

"I'm looking forward to when that day comes... Konohamaru."

The young Sarutobi simply stood there, shocked by what he just heard. Someone finally called him by his name. His true name. It was the first sign of honest acknowledgment and recognition he received in his short life. His smile and the tiny bits of water filling his eyes couldn't even begin to describe how happy he truly was right now as he saluted Naruto, who was walking away waving 'so long' to him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the old Sandaime, looked through everything. He was happy to see his grandson starting to mature thanks to Naruto's nice and strong words. The boy was truly Minato's son. A promising shinobi. And Konoha's savior, from both the Kyuubi, and from the village itself.

"Naruto..." he thought, as the image of the crystal ball faded away. "Your adventures as a shinobi are just at the very beginning... I'm looking forward to what the future will bring forth to you..." a smile ran across the old man's face, as he wished for Naruto the very best life could give him. Just like the book written by his old student Jiraiya. He hoped Naruto would be even braver and stronger than the one from the story.

The gutsiest of all tales... is finally about to begin.

[End OST]

A/N: Whew, I'm done. Nearly 10k words for a second chapter? Man, I sure do like to write. Where did all that inspiration come from, seriously?

Yeah, this story is just a new approach to canon, rather than an entirely original story. Or so it's what I am making you readers think... Next chapter has something I know none of you would ever guess what it could possibly be. But hey, that's the nice thing about fanfics, right?

Regarding the use of OST's, as some jackass shouted out on the reviews, that's entirely up to you guys to play the songs while you read. If you don't want to, don't ever put a song on. What I do in my story is what I've come up across writing that makes me feel comfortable while writing, and then reading a story. Getting to an emotional spot, and some emotional music playing makes my imagination go wild. The same with battle scenes, revelation scenes, character introduction... anything works for me, thanks to my imagination. If you're not so lucky... well, I'm not forcing you to actually do anything, so simply go on with your life, I won't harbor any hard feelings, I promise!

And right now, I can honestly say that I will go OoC. The Chuunin Shiken, for starters, will not be in Konoha, as I first planned. I'm leaving that one to The Orange Hokage, because it actually fits in a bit better. By the way, October 10 is Naruto's birthday, and I'm having ANOTHER new story published on this day. It's the Chibi-Sensei story I was talking about a while ago. I already have the plot of the first chapter down, and I'm sure you guys are gonna find it rather... unique, despite some canon here and there. Oh, what the hell, once I get the second chapter down, you guys are gonna shout out how truly awesome I am, and how I will become the next Kenchi618!

...Okay, maybe not so much... but that won't stop me from trying to become as great and famous as he is! Next chapter, Naruto starts his Genin career... or does he? It all depends on his 'teammates'... Until next time, then. See ya!